BY:J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 28,2019

I RECENTLY READ THOMAS ARNOLD’S COMMENT ABOUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’ WHEN IN THE “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS”, (FLEMING H.REVELL COMP., WESTWOOD,NJ,,1965),HE SAID, “THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY & ALL OTHER SYSTEMS OF RELIGION CONSISTS LARGELY IN THIS, THAT IN THESE OTHERS, MEN ARE FOUND SEEKING AFTER GOD, WHILE CHRISTIANITY IS GOD SEEKING AFTER MEN.” SO TRUE! BECAUSE IT’S HOLY GOD KNOCKING ON THE DOORS OF MEN’S HEARTS ASKING TO BE INVITED IN!

PROVERBS 1:22-29 TELLS US OF ‘SCORNERS & FOOLS’ WHO DESPISE THE ETERNAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE “LIVING GOD”! IT SAYS: “HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY? & THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNING, & FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE? TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF: BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, & YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, & NO MAN REGARDED;

BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NOUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, & WOULD (HAVE) NONE OF MY REPROOF: I ALSO WILL LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, & YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS & ANGUISH COME UPON YOU.

THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME; FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, & DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD.”

HOW INSPIRING, HOW AWAKENING, HOW TRANSFORMING DO YOU FIND THE WORD OF GOD, AND ESPECIALLY AS IT UNFOLDS ‘FALLEN MEN’S BLINDNESS’ TO GOD’S LOVE, HIS MERCY, & HIS GRACE? IN ISAIAH 65:2-12 WE READ, GOD SPEAKING, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL THE DAY UNTO A REBELLIOUS PEOPLE, WHICH WALK IN A WAY THAT WAS NOT GOOD (IS NOT NOW!), AFTER THEIR OWN THOUGHTS; A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKE ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY TO MY FACE; ( A LOT OF PEOPLE ‘THINK’, ‘LOOK TOWARD’, EVEN ‘REFLECT UPON “GOD”, BUT THEN LOOK INWARD TO A SELFISH LEAN RATHER THAN UPWARD TO A SAVIOR’S LOVE!); THAT ‘SACRIFICE’ IN GARDENS, & BURN INCENSE UPON ALTARS OF BRICK; (CHRIST JESUS ISN’T ‘BRICK’; HE’S THE ETERNAL “BLESSING” OF THE MIND, HEART, & SPIRIT OF HOLY GOD!); WHICH REMAINS AMONG THE GRAVES, & LODGE IN THE MOUNTAINS, WHICH EAT SWINE’S FLESH, & BROTH OF ABOMINABLE THINGS IS IN THEIR VESSELS;

WHICH SAY, STAND BY YOURSELF, COME NOT NEAR TO ME; FOR I AM HOLIER THAN YOU. THESE ARE A SMOKE IN MY NOSE, A FIRE THAT BURNS ALL DAY. BEHOLD, IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE ME:I WILL NOT KEEP SILENCE, BUT WILL RECOMPENSE, EVEN RECOMPENSE INTO THEIR BOSOM. YOUR INIQUITIES, & THE INIQUITIES OF YOUR FATHERS TOGETHER, SAYS THE LORD, WHICH HAVE BURNED INCENSE UPON THE MOUNTAINS, & BLASPHEMED ME UPON THE HILLS; THEREFORE WILL I MEASURE THEIR FORMER WORK INTO THEIR BOSOM. (IS THAT “HARDENING THEIR HEARTS EVEN MORE”?).

THUS SAYS THE LORD, AS THE NEW WINE IS FOUND IN THE CLUSTER, & ONE SAYS, DESTROY IT NOT; FOR A BLESSING IS IN IT; SO WILL I DO FOR MY SERVANTS’ SAKES, THAT I MAY NOT DESTROY THEM ALL. AND I WILL BRING FORTH A SEED OUT OF JACOB, & OUT OF JUDAH AN INHERITOR OF MY MOUNTAINS; & MY ELECT SHALL INHERIT IT, & MY SERVANTS SHALL DWELL THERE. AND SHARON SHALL BE A FOLD OF FLOCKS, & THE VALLEY OF ACHOR A PLACE FOR THE HERDS TO LIE DOWN IN, FOR MY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOUGHT ME. ( ARE “YOU” A SEEKER?).

BUT, YOU ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD, THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP, & THAT FURNISH THE DRINK OFFERING UNTO THAT NUMBER. THEREFORE WILL I NUMBER YOU TO THE SWORD, & YOU SHALL ALL BOW DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER: “BECAUSE” WHEN I CALLED, YOU DID NOT ANSWER; WHEN I SPOKE, YOU DID NOT HEAR; BUT DID EVIL BEFORE MY EYES, & DID CHOOSE THAT WHEREIN I DELIGHTED NOT.”

GOD SAYS, “I CALL, BUT YOU DON’T ANSWER?” “I KNOCK, BUT THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART, MIND, & WILL REMAINS UNDER YOUR SELF-PROTECTION?” “I LAY BEFORE YOU MY PROMISES, BUT YOU ‘REST’ IN YOUR PRETENSE?” OH, GOD ALSO SAYS, “I CRY, I MOURN, I LAMENT, OVER MEN,”LIKE THE WORD DELIVERED IN 1 TIMOTHY 6:1-6, & 11-12! IT SAYS: “LET AS MANY SERVANTS (ARE “YOU” A ‘SERVANT OF CHRIST” OR ONE CAPTURED BY ‘SELF-WILL, SATANIC INFLUENCES, WORLDLY, SELF-INDULGING IMPULSES’??).AS ARE UNDER THE YOKE COUNT THEIR OWN MASTERS (BOSSES) WORTHY OF ALL HONOR, THAT THE NAME OF GOD & HIS DOCTRINE BE NOT BLASPHEMED.

AND THEY THAT HAVE BELIEVING “BOSSES”, LET THEM NOT DESPISE THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE BROTHERS; BUT RATHER DO THEM SERVICE, BECAUSE THEY ARE FAITHFUL & BELOVED, PARTAKERS OF THE BENEFIT. THESE THINGS TEACH & EXHORT. IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE, & CONSENT NOT TO WHOLESOME WORDS, EVEN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, & TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH IS ACCORDING TO GODLINESS (1 PETER 1:14-15!); HE IS PROUD, KNOWING NOTHING, BUT DOTING ABOUT QUESTIONS & STRIFES OF WORDS, WHEREOF COMES ENVY, STRIFE, RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS OF MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS (ROMANS 1), & DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW YOURSELF. BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN.

THEN, 1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12! “BUT YOU, O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE THINGS; & FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS, GODLINESS, FAITH, LOVE, PATIENCE (OR STEDFASTNESS!), MEEKNESS, (OR TEACHABLENESS!). FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE, (&”DON’T LET GO”!!), WHEREUNTO YOU ARE “CALLED”, & HAVE PROFESSED A GOOD PROFESSION BEFORE MANY WITNESSES.”

THE HOLY WORD OF GOD, THE “LIVING PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IN YOU BY WAY OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK, & HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN YOU ILLUMINED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT”, & THE “WITNESS” OF HOLY MEN & WOMEN AROUND YOU IN YOUR DAILY WALK OF FAITH” – I TELL YOU, ‘YOU’ SHOULD NEVER “FALL AWAY”!!

IN PROVERBS 7:1-5 THE “WISE MAN” WROTE: “MY SON, KEEP MY WORDS, & LAY UP MY COMMANDMENTS WITH YOU. KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, & LIVE, & MY LAW AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE. BIND THEM UPON YOUR FINGERS, WRITE THEM UPON THE TABLE OF YOUR HEART. SAY UNTO WISDOM, YOU ARE MY SISTER; & CALL UNDERSTANDING YOUR KINSWOMAN: THAT THEY MAY KEEP YOU FROM THE STRANGE WOMAN, FROM THE STRANGER WHICH FLATTERS WITH HER WORDS.” THE “STRANGE WOMAN”? THAT’S THE SPIRITURAL OR LITERAL ADULTERER; THAT’S THE “PRETENDERS OF THE FAITH” APART FROM “POSSESSED & OWNED BY GOD THROUGH HIS “BLOOD PURCHASE”; THAT’S THE “WORLDLY” SOLD OUT FOR THE HERE & NOW IN THE ‘BEST’ (?) OF “FLESH, OLD SIN-NATURE ALLEGIANCE, & DEMONIC DECEPTION”?

IN HEBREWS 3:6-14 WE ARE ALERTED TO ‘UNFAITHFUL RELIGIOUS DEVOTION, VOID OF TRUE ETERNAL ONENESS IN & THROUGH CHRIST ALONE ! THE HOLY WORD SAYS: “BUT CHRIST AS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE; WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE IF WE HOLD FAST THE CONFIDENCE & THE REJOICING OF THE HOPE FIRM UNTO THE END. WHEREFORE (AS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE PROVOCATION, IN THE DAY OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS: WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME, PROVED ME, & SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS.

WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION, & SAID, THEY DO ALWAYS ERR IN THEIR HEART; & THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS. SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY REST.) TAKE HEED, BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED “TODAY”; LEST ANY OF YOU BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, IF WE HOLD THE BEGINNING OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEDFAST UNTO THE END.”

OH, THEN IN HEBREWS 4:9-11, WE READ ABOUT “THE REST OF TRUE FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK”! “THERE REMAINS THEREFORE A “REST” TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. FOR HE/SHE THAT IS ENTERED INTO “CHRIST’S REST”, HE ALSO HAS CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.” AND HEBREWS 4:15-16 NOT ONLY CLOSES THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER, BUT ENLIGHTENS TRUE BELIEVERS IN WHERE THEIR SPIRITUAL VICTORY OVER THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH HAS BEEN BIRTHED!!

“FOR WE HAVE NOT AN HIGH PRIEST WHICH CANNOT BE TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES; BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN. LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, & FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.”

I LOVE WATCHMAN NEE’S WRITINGS, & ESPECIALLY IN HIS BOOK, “THE SPIRITUAL MAN”, (COPYRIGHTED IN 1968 BY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK), WHEN HE WROTE(P.193), “FOR A BELIEVER WHO STRIVES AFTER GOD THE ELEMENT TO BE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT IS THE INORDINATE ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL BEYOND THE MEASURE SET BY GOD. THE SOUL HAS BEEN IN ASCENDANCY FOR SUCH LONG DURATION THAT IN THE MATTER OF CONSECRATION IT EVEN PRESUMES TO TAKE UPON ITSELF THE TASK OF REALIZING THAT ACT TO GOD’S SATISFACTION. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE UNAWARE HOW DRASTICALLY THE CROSS MUST WORK SO THAT ULTIMATELY THEIR NATURAL POWER FOR LIVING MAY BE DENIED.

THEY DO NOT KNOW THE REALITY OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT NOR THAT HIS AUTHORITY MUST EXTEND TO GATHERING UNDER HIS CONTROL THE THOUGHTS, DESIRES, & FEELINGS OF THE ENTIRE BEING. WITHOUT THEIR HAVING AN INNER APPRECIATION OF THIS, THE HOLY SPIRIT (THOUGH PRESENT) IS UNABLE TO ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING HE WISHES TO DO. THE GREATEST TEMPTATION FOR AN EARNEST & ZEALOUS SAINT IS TO ENGAGE HIS OWN STRENGTH IN GOD’S SERVICE RATHER THAN TO WAIT HUMBLY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WILL & TO PERFORM.”

LATER, (P.202-203), NEE SAID:DON’T MISS THIS! “WHAT SEPARATED THE HOLIEST & THE HOLY PLACE WAS REMOVED (THE VAIL WAS, IS, & FOREVER WILL BE REMOVED BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PRESENCE!). GOD’S AIM WAS NOT TO DWELL PERMANENTLY IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES. QUITE THE CONTRARY. HE DECIDED TO EXTEND HIS PRESENCE TO THE HOLY PLACE TOO. HE WAS MERELY WAITING FOR THE CROSS TO COMPLETE ITS WORK, FOR IT IS THE CROSS ALONE WHICH CAN REND THE CURTAIN & PERMIT GOD’S GLORY TO SHINE OUT FROM THE HOLIEST PLACE.” ( DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE “BLOOD-BOUGHT HEART, MIND, & LIFE OF THE REDEEMED SINNER” IS “NOW” GOD’S “HOLY TEMPLE”?).

I PRAY THAT THE WORD OF HOLY GOD IS NOT ‘TIRESOME’ TO YOU! JESUS SAID, “MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY (‘PHYSICAL’) BREAD ALONE; HE LIVES BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD!” AND, IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20 APOSTLE PAUL ALERTS US: “WHAT? KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOUR BODY “IS” THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST WHICH IS IN YOU, WHICH YOU HAVE OF GOD, & YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN?(THAT’S AFTER HIS “BLOOD-BOUGHT PURCHASE OF YOU” & YOUR REPENTANCE & ABIDING FAITH!). FOR YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY, & IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S.”

IF YOU WERE CONFRONTED, CONVICTED, CONVERTED, & CONSECRATED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH YOUR “PURCHASED BODY” NOW OWNED & INDWELT BY CHRIST JESUS, DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE IT’S YOUR ‘CHOICE’ TO DO AS YOU PLEASE? GIVE ME A BREAK!! IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, YOU ARE NO LONGER YOUR OWN TO DO AS YOU PLEASE!!!!!

IN THE OLD BROADMAN HYMNAL (PRODUCED BY THE BROADAMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, COPYRIGHTED IN 1940) P.75, IS THE HYMN, “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE.” IT SAYS: “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE, O WISDOM FROM ON HIGH, O TRUTH UNCHANGED, UNCHANGING, O LIGHT OF OUR DARK SKY: WE PRAISE YOU FOR YOUR RADIANCE THAT FROM THE HALLOWED PAGE, A LANTERN TO OUR FOOTSTEPS, SHINES ON FROM AGE TO AGE.

THE CHURCH FROM HER DEAR MASTER, RECEIVED THE GIFT DIVINE, AND STILL THAT LIFE SHE LIFTS O’ER ALL THE EARTH TO SHINE. IT IS THE GOLDEN CASKET, WHERE GEMS OF TRUTH ARE STORED; IT IS THE HEAVEN-DRAWN PICTURE OF CHRIST, THE LIVING WORD.

IT FLOATS LIKE A BANNER BEFORE GOD’S HOST UNFURLED; IT SHINES LIKE A BEACON ABOVE THE DARKLING WORLD; IT IS THE CHART & COMPASS THAT O’ER LIFE’S SURGING SEA, ‘MID MISTS & ROCKS & DARKNESS’, STILL GUIDES, O CHRIST, TO THEE.

O MAKE YOUR CHURCH, DEAR SAVIOR, A LAMP OF PUREST GOLD, TO BEAR BEFORE THE NATIONS YOUR TRUE LIGHT, AS OF OLD. O TEACH YOUR WANDERING PILGRIMS BY THIS THEIR PATH TO TRACE, TILL, CLOUDS & DARKNESS ENDED, THEY SEE YOU, LJC, FACE TO FACE!”

BUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’, ‘IMITATION-DISCIPLES’, ‘DECEIVED PASTORS’, EVEN SOME ‘INTELLECTUALLY-BRED, BUT HEART-DEAD, & MIND DECEIVED’ PROFESSORS & SOME ‘CHURCH-FOLK’, BOUND BY ‘RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS’, NOT ETERNAL BIBLICAL TRUTH, LIVE AS SUPERFICIAL THINKERS WHO CAN’T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, & SATAN’S DECEIT, LIVING ‘RELIGIOUSLY’ BUT BLINDED TO ETERNAL TRUTH!

I WANT TO LAUGH EVERY TIME I READ ROBERT BROWNING’S WRITING ENTITLED, “BISHOP BLOUGRAM’S APOLOGY”. “ALL WE HAVE GAINED THEN BY OUR UNBELIEF IS A LIFE OF DOUBT DIVERSIFIED BY FAITH, FOR ONE OF FAITH DIVERSIFIED BY DOUBT; WE CALLED THE CHESS-BOARD WHITE, – WE CALL IT BLACK.”

OH, & I WANT TO CRY WHEN I READ A PASSAGE LIKE MARK 4:40, DISCIPLES “WITH JESUS” IN A BOAT & A “STORM” ARISES! THE DISCIPLES SAID TO JESUS, “MASTER, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE PERISH?” & JESUS AROSE, & REBUKED THE WIND, & SAID UNTO THE SEA, “PEACE, BE STILL.” AND THE WIND CEASED, & THERE WAS A GREAT CALM. & JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, “WHY ARE YOU SO FEARFUL? HOW IS IT THAT YOU (DISCIPLES OF MINE) HAVE NO FAITH?” AND THEY FEARED EXCEEDINGLY, & SAID TO ONE ANOTHER, “WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS, THAT EVEN THE WIND & THE SEA OBEY HIM?”

“BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”? HOW ABOUT “BRINGING UNCERTAIN DISCIPLES TO THE CERTAIN CARE OF CHRIST?’ HOW ABOUT “BRINGING IMMATURE DISCIPLES TO THE SOLID FOUNDATION OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST?” WHAT ABOUT “BRINGING TIMID, TERRIFIED, TOUGH-LESS DISCIPLES TO THE UNCEASING, UNWAVERING, UNWEAKENING STRENGTH OF ALMIGHTY GOD?”

IN MARK 13, I WANT YOU TO FOLLOW ME IN VERSES 13-37, THAT’S 24 VERSES OF EMPOWERING TRUTHS FOR YOU IF “YOU” ARE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST WHO, YES, “CHRIST JESUS” CHANGES “FALSE RELIGIONS, FALSE PROFESSIONS & PROFESSORS, FALSE CHURCHES” INTO TABERNACLES OF HOLY PRESENCE”!! HOLD ON, THE STORM-CLOUDS, THE WINDS OF OPPOSITION TO DIVINE TRUTH, THE DEMONS OF DARKNESS MAY WANT TO INTENSIFY THEIR “ETERNAL DARKNESS” OVER YOU!! MARK 13:13-37!

“AND YOU SHALL BE HATED OF ALL MEN FOR MY NAME’S SAKE; BUT HE THAT SHALL ENDURE UNTO THE END, THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED. BUT WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, STANDING WHERE IT OUGHT NOT, (LET HIM THAT READS THIS UNDERSTAND), THEN LET THEM THAT BE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS; & LET HIM THAT IS ON THE HOUSETOP NOT GO DOWN INTO THE HOUSE, NEITHER ENTER THEREIN, TO TAKE ANY THING OUT OF HIS HOUSE: & LET HIM THAT IS IN THE FIELD (ON THE WAREHOUSE JOB, THE CITY GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, THE BANKING BUSINESS, THE HOSPITALS, THE DOCTORS’ OFFICES, THE PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, THE PILOTS, THE BUS DRIVERS, THE YARD CARETAKERS, THE ATHELETES, COACHES, & FANS),….NOT TURN BACK AGAIN TO TAKE UP HIS GARMENTS.

BUT WOE TO THEM THAT ARE WITH CHILD, & TO THEM THAT GIVE SUCK IN THOSE DAYS! AND PRAY YOU THAT YOUR FLIGHT BE NOT IN WINTER. FOR IN THOSE DAYS SHALL BE AFFLICTION, SUCH AS WAS NOT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION WHICH GOD CREATED UNTO THIS TIME, NEITHER SHALL BE. AND EXCEPT THAT THE LORD HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS, NO FLESH SHOULD BE SAVED; BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE, WHOM HE HAS CHOSEN, HE HAS SHORTENED THE DAYS. AND THEN IF ANY MAN SHALL SAY TO YOU, LO, HERE IS CHRIST;OR,LO, HE IS THERE; BELIEVE HIM NOT: FOR FALSE CHRISTS & FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE, & SHALL SHOW SIGNS & WONDERS, “TO SEDUCE”, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT. BUT YOU TAKE HEED: BEHOLD, I HAVE FORETOLD YOU ALL THINGS. BUT IN THOSE DAYS, AFTER THAT TRIBULATION, THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED, & THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT, & THE STARS OF HEAVEN SHALL FALL, & THE POWERS THAT ARE IN HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN.

AND THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN THE CLOUDS WITH GREAT POWER & GLORY. & THEN SHALL HE SEND HIS ANGELS, & SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH TO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE HEAVEN.NOW LEARN A PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE; WHEN HER BRANCH IS YET TENDER, & PUTS FORTH LEAVES, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR; SO YOU IN LIKE MANNER, WHEN YOU SHALL SEE THESE THINGS COME TO PASS, KNOW THAT IT IS NIGH, EVEN AT YOUR DOORS. VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS AWAY TILL ALL THESE THINGS ARE DONE.

HEAVEN & EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY; BUT MY WORDS SHALL NOT PASS AWAY. BUT OF THAT DAY & THAT HOUR KNOWS NO MAN, NO, NOT THE ANGELS WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, NEITHER THE SON, BUT THE FATHER. TAKE YOU HEED, WATCH & PRAY; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE TIME IS. FOR THE SON OF MAN IS AS A MAN TAKING A FAR JOURNEY, WHO LEFT HIS HOUSE, & GAVE AUTHORITY TO HIS SERVANTS, & TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK, & COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH. WATCH YOU THEREFORE; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE COMES, AT EVENING,OR AT MIDNIGHT, OR AT THE COCKCROWING, OR IN THE MORNING; LEST COMING SUDDENLY HE FINDS YOU SLEEPING. AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.” CAN I SUMMARIZE THIS TEACHING FOR YOU? BELIEVE I WILL! “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”?

• THERE ARE FALSE MESSIAHS, FALSE PROPHETS, FALSE DISCIPLES,

FALSE CHRISTIANS, FALSE MINISTRIES MORE INTERESTED IN YOUR ‘MONEY’ THAN YOUR ETERNAL HEALING THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST! BE CAREFUL! (MATTHEW 24:4-5)

2)THERE ARE WARS, TURMOILS, BATTLES, THREATS, ATTEMPTS AT …..MAJOR DECEPTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:6)

…..3)THERE ARE PERSECUTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:7-12)

4)THERE IS THE CHALLENGE TO ENDURE! (MATTHEW 24:13)

……5) THERE IS HOLY GOD’S, KINGLY JESUS’S, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S, YES, THEIR MANDATE ON MINISTRY AS A DISCIPLE! (MATTHEW 24:14)

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF 1940 OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION COPYRIGHTED THE SONG I WANT TO SHARE IN THE “BROADMAN HYMNAL OF 1940! IT’S ENTITLED: “IT IS FINISHED!” SAYING: “IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, AS HE HUNG ON CALVARY; OH, THE AWFUL PAIN & ANGUISH, SUFFERING THERE FOR YOU & ME.

“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, HE HAD WROUGHT SALVATION’S PLAN; SEE HIM, AS BY GOD FORSAKEN, HANGING THERE FOR SINFUL MAN.

“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOR, WON’T YOU TRUST THIS SAVIOR NOW? TURN FROM ALL YOUR SINS TO JESUS, AT HIS FEET, COME, HUMBLY BOW.

“IT IS FINISHED,” “IT IS FINISHED,” MY SALVATION FULL & FREE; JESUS PAID THE DEBT FOR SINNERS, WHEN HE DIED ON CALVARY.”

THE SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS, WAS GOD’S SACRIFICE FOR YOUR SINS! THE SAVIOR’S SHED BLOOD WASHED THE GUILT OF SIN AWAY, THE SAVIOR BURIED YOUR OLD LIFE AS HE TOOK YOU WITH HIM TO THE CROSS,DIED, BURIED THAT OLD LIFE IN HIS GRAVE, & AROSE TO SAY TO YOU, “COME TO ME, & I’LL GIVE YOU REST, RELEASE, RECOVERY, & REAL VICTORY OVER YOUR SINFUL WORLD, OVER YOUR SINFUL NATURE, & OVER SATAN’S DESIRE TO BIND YOU IN HIS CHAINS,HOPING NOT TO SEE YOU FREE FOREVER THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S ATONEMENT!!

OH, I KNOW, IN THIS 21^ST CENTURY WE LIVE IN A TIME PERIOD OF “SPIRITUAL PRETENSE” WITH MANY CHURCH MEMBERS PRETENDING APART FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, EXTENDING HIS ETERNAL MINISTRY THROUGH THEIR REDEEMED, REGENERATED, RESTORED TO ETERNAL GLORY HEARTS & MINDS, THROUGH HIS ETERNAL GRACE!

IN PSALM 37:34-40 WE READ: “WAIT ON THE LORD, & KEEP HIS WAY, & HE SHALL EXALT YOU TO INHERIT THE LAND; WHEN THE WICKED ARE CUT OFF, YOU SHALL SEE IT. I HAVE SEEN THE WICKED IN GREAT POWER, & SPREADING HIMSELF LIKE A GREEN BAY TREE. YET HE PASSED AWAY, &, LO, HE WAS NOT: YES, I SOUGHT HIM, BUT HE COULD NOT BE FOUND. MARK THE PERFECT MAN (IS THAT THE MAN TOTALLY PERFECTED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, BIRTHED AS GOD’S “NEW CREATION” TO BRIGHTEN THE WORLD AROUND THEM?), & BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT (UPRIGHT?) -(THAT’S NOT ‘PRIDE’ – THAT’S THE PRIVILEGE OF GRACE & MERCY & GOD’S LOVE!). FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE. BUT THE TRANSGRESSORS SHALL BE DESTROYED TOGETHER; THE END OF THE WICKED SHALL BE CUT OFF. BUT THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS OF THE LORD: HE IS THEIR STRENGTH IN TIME OF TROUBLE OR NEED.

AND THE LORD SHALL HELP THEM, & DELIVER THEM: HE SHALL DELIVER THEM FROM THE WICKED, & SAVE THEM, “BECAUSE THEY TRUST IN HIM.” TELL ME ABOUT YOUR “TRUST LEVEL” IN THE LORD!

PROVERBS 3:5-6 SAYS, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; & LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, (THAT’S DAILY, FAITHFULLY GIVING HIM THE REINS OF YOUR LIFE!!), & HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” THE AMERICAN HYMNAL OF 1940 HAS A HYMN ENTITLED , “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH.” IT SAYS: “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH, PILGRIM THRO’ THIS BARREN LAND; I AM WEAK, BUT YOU ARE MIGHTY, HOLD ME WITH YOUR POWERFUL HAND : BREAD OF HEAVEN, FEED ME TILL I WANT NO MORE; BREAD OF HEAVEN, FILL ME TILL I WANT NO MORE.

OPEN NOW THE CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN WHENCE THE HEALING WATERS FLOW; LET THE FIERY, CLOUDY PILLAR LEAD ME ALL MY JOURNEY THRO’: STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD; STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD.

WHEN I TREAD THE JORDAN RIVER, BID MY ANXIOUS FEARS SUBSIDE ; BEAR ME THRO’ THE SWELLING CURRENT, LAND ME SAFE ON CANAAN’S SIDE: SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE; SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE.” WHAT’S THE TITLE OF THIS TEACHING? “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO GOD’S TRUE FAITH!” HAVE YOU? ARE YOU “LIVING TRIUMPHANTLY IN GOD’S TRUE FAITH”?

BY:J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 18-19,2019

IN JUDE 3-4 (BARCLAY’S TRANSLATION) WE READ: “FOR CERTAIN MEN HAVE WORMED THEIR WAY INTO THE CHURCH – LONG BEFORE THIS THEY WERE DESIGNATED FOR JUDGMENT – IMPIOUS CREATURES THEY ARE – WHO TWIST THE GRACE OF GOD INTO A JUSTIFICATION OF BLATANT IMMORALITY, & WHO DENY OUR ONLY MASTER & LORD, JESUS CHRIST.”

HUMANITY WORLDWIDE IS EITHER LIVING UNDER THE DARK CLOUD OF PERVERTED GRACE, OR LIVING IN THE “LIGHT” OF GOD’S PERFECTING GRACE! THEY HAVE RECEIVED EITHER A ‘TWISTED GRACE’ THAT LEADS TO HELL OR THE “TRUTHFUL GRACE” THAT LEADS TO HEAVENLY LIVING WHETHER ON EARTH OR IN ONE’S AFTER-LIFE “IN CHRIST”!

MUCH OF ‘FALLEN HUMANITY’ HAS BEEN DECEIVED BY ‘CHEAP GRACE’ OR ENLIGHTENED & EMPOWERED BY COSTLY GRACE! ONE EITHER WALKS IN DANGER TODAY WITH A TRIFLING GRACE OR HE/SHE WALKS IN CONFIDENCE & ASSURANCE WITH THE TREASURES OF SCRIPTURAL GRACE BECAUSE HE/SHE LEFT ALL TO FOLLOW JESUS!

PERVERTED GRACE ALLOWS COMPROMISE IN A ‘SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN’ (?) TO MAINTAIN HIS FLESHLY, SINFUL, LUSTFUL, ‘DO-YOUR-OWN-THING’ LIFESTYLE BECAUSE UNDER THE “GRACE”, THEIR ‘FLESHLY GREASE’,THAT THEY ‘LOVE’ (?), THEY WALK RELIGIOUSLY BLINDED TO GOD’S PERFECTING GRACE ! BE ASSURED! THERE ARE THOSE WHO “TURN THE GRACE OF GOD INTO THEIR FLESHLY LICIENTIOUSNESS!”

IN HEBREWS 12:14-17 WE FIND CONVICTING & ENLIGHTENING WORDS!! “FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN, & HOLINESS, WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD; LOOKING DILIGENTLY LEST ANY MAN FALL SHORT OF THE GRACE OF GOD; LEST ANY ROOT OF BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP TROUBLES YOU, & THEREBY MANY BE DEFILED;

LEST THERE BE ANY FORNICATOR, OR PROFANE PERSON, AS ESAU, WHO FOR ONE MORSEL OF MEAT SOLD HIS BIRTHRIGHT. FOR YOU KNOW HOW THAT AFTERWARD, WHEN HE WOULD HAVE INHERITED THE BLESSING, HE WAS REJECTED: FOR HE FOUND NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, THOUGH HE SOUGHT IT CAREFULLY WITH TEARS.” HE CAME SHORT OF THE GRACE OF GOD? OH! AND THEN EXAMINE HEBREWS 10:29!! “OF HOW MUCH SORER PUNISHMENT, SUPPOSE YOU, SHALL HE BE THOUGHT WORTHY, WHO HAS TRODDEN UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, & HAS COUNTED THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, WHEREWITH HE WAS SANCTIFIED(OR ‘SET APART’), AN UNHOLY THING, & HAS DONE DESPITE TO THE SPIRIT OF GRACE?”

“PERVERTED GRACE OR PERFECTING GRACE”? IN ROMANS 6:12-18 WE HEAR GLORIOUS HALLELUJAH TRUTHS! PAUL WROTE: “LET NOT SIN THEREFORE REIGN IN YOUR MORTAL BODY THAT YOU SHOULD OBEY IT IN THE LUSTS THEREOF. NEITHER YIELD YOU YOUR MEMBERS AS INSTRUMENTS OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO SIN, BUT YIELD YOURSELVES UNTO GOD, AS THOSE THAT ARE ALIVE FROM THE DEAD, & YOUR MEMBERS AS INSTRUMENTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO GOD.

FOR SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION OVER YOU: FOR YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE. WHAT THEN? SHALL WE SIN, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE? GOD FORBID. KNOW YOU NOT THAT TO WHOM YOU YIELD YOURSELVES SERVANTS TO OBEY, HIS SERVANTS YOU ARE TO WHOM YOU OBEY; WHETHER OF SIN UNTO DEATH, OR OF “OBEDIENCE UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS”? BUT GOD BE THANKED, THAT YOU “WERE” SERVANTS OF SIN, BUT YOU HAVE OBEYED FROM THE HEART THAT FORM OF DOCTRINE WHICH WAS DELIVERED YOU. BEING THEN MADE FREE FROM SIN, YOU BECAME THE SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

“PERVERTED GRACE OR PERFECTING GRACE?”

FIRST:PERFECTING GRACE IS THE GRACE THAT UNVEILS THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST & BRINGS MOURNING! IN ZECHARIAH 12:10 WE READ: “AND I WILL POUR UPON THE HOUSE OF DAVID, & UPON THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, THE SPIRIT OF GRACE & OF SUPPLICATIONS; & THEY SHALL LOOK UPON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, & THEY SHALL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNS FOR HIS ONLY SON, & SHALL BE IN BITTERNESS FOR HIM, AS ONE THAT IS IN BITTERNESS FOR HIS FIRSTBORN.” DID YOU SEE ‘THE SPIRIT OF BITTERNESS’ OVER THE CRUCIFIED ONE WHOM FALLEN MANKIND ALL CONSENTED TO?

IN EPHESIANS 2:4-8 PAUL WROTE: “BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY,FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, HAS QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST, (BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED;), AND HAS RAISED US UP TOGETHER, & MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN HEAVENLY PLACES IN CHRIST: THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHOW THE “EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE” IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS. FOR BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED THROUGH FAITH; & THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.” GLORY!

IF YOU DIDN’T QUITE FULLY UNDERSTAND THOSE SCRIPTURES, EXAMINE HEBREWS 2:9-11 PLUS VERSES 14-15!! HEBREWS 2:9-11, “BUT WE SEE JESUS, WHO WAS MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS FOR THE SUFFERING OF DEATH, CROWNED WITH GLORY & HONOR, TO MAKE THE CAPTAIN OF THEIR SALVATION PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS. FOR BOTH HE THAT SANCTIFIES AND THEY WHO ARE SANCTIFIED ARE ALL OF ONE: FOR WHICH CAUSE HE IS NOT ASHAMED TO CALL US BROTHERS.

NOW!! HEBREWS 2:14-15! “FORASMUCH THEN AS THE CHILDREN ARE PARTAKERS OF FLESH & BLOOD, HE ALSO HIMSELF LIKEWISE TOOK PART OF THE SAME; THAT THROUGH DEATH HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM THAT HAD THE POWER OF DEATH, THAT IS, THE DEVIL; AND DELIVER THEM WHO THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH WERE ALL THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.” PERFECTING GRACE? THE GRACE THAT FREES ONE FROM ITS SINFUL SELF? THE GRACE THAT BREAKS THE BONDS OF SATANIC BONDAGE? THE GRACE THAT DECLARES ONE COMPLETE IN CHRIST LACKING NOTHING? THE GRACE THAT RECONCILES US UNTO GOD?

SECOND, PERFECTING GRACE IS SAVING GRACE THAT BRINGS FORGIVENESS OF SINS & BONDAGE TO THE SIN-NATURE! EPHESIANS 1:7-8 “CLEARLY SAYS”: “IN WHOM WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH “CHRIST’S BLOOD” THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE; WHEREIN HE HAS ABOUNDED TOWARD US IN ALL WISDOM & PRUDENCE.”

DARE “YOU” TO CONSIDER “THE RICHES OF HIS GRACE” THAT ABUNDANTLY FLOURISHES IN “THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS”? LUKE 1:77 DESCRIBES IT FROM GOD’S LOVING MIND, HEART, & SPIRIT AS FOLLOWS: “TO GIVE TO HIS PEOPLE THE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION “BY” THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS”! CHRIST JESUS, ON THE CROSS, BOTH FORGAVE OUR SINS & FREELY GAVE TO ALL FALLEN MANKIND “THE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION”!!

1 PETER 2:2 DECLARES, “AND CHRIST JESUS IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS: &NOT FOR OUR’S ONLY, BUT ALSO FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD”! YET, “FORGIVEN OF THEIR SINS” DOESN’T MEAN “RECONCILED “TO” GOD” WITHOUT TRUE REPENTANCE & EARNEST FAITH IN HIS “FINISHED WORK”! (DON’T YOU FIND IT HEART-BREAKING TO KNOW, THOUGH ‘FORGIVEN’, THERE ARE THOSE WHO MISS OUT ON THEIR ETERNAL HEAVENLY HOME TO ‘DOWN-GRADE’ TO HELL, TO SATAN, TO HIS DEMON FORCES, &, YES, EVEN ‘BELIEVERS’ WHO COULDN’T, WOULDN’T, DIDN’T REPENT & “REST” IN CHRIST’S SHED BLOOD & HIS RESURRECTION PRESENCE?!!?

IN 1 TIMOTHY 4:10 PAUL WROTE: “FOR THEREFORE WE BOTH LABOR & SUFFER REPROACH, BECAUSE WE TRUST IN THE LIVING GOD, WHO “IS” THE SAVIOR OF ALL MEN, SPECIALLY OF THOSE THAT BELIEVE (OR “TRUST”,OR “RELIES UPON”!!).

THIRD,PERFECTING GRACE IS INSTRUCTING GRACE THAT CALLS GOD’S TRUE SONS TO “HOLY LIVING”! IN TITUS 2:10B,-15, PAUL SAID, “…THAT THEY MAY ADORN THE DOCTRINE OF GOD OUR SAVIOR IN ALL THINGS. FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGS SALVATION HAS APPEARED TO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT, DENYING UNGODLINESS & WORLDLY LUSTS, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, & GODLY, IN THIS PRESENT WORLD,

VERSES 13-15 SAYING, LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE,& THE GLORIOUS APPEARING OF THE GREAT GOD & OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST; WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM ALL INIQUITY, & PURIFY UNTO HIMSELF A PECULIAR PEOPLE,ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS. THESE THINGS SPEAK, & EXHORT, & REBUKE WITH ALL AUTHORITY. LET NO MAN DESPISE YOU.”

“HOLY LIVING”? HEBREWS 12:14 SAYS, “FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN, & HOLINESS, WITHOUT WHICH NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD.” IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:7 PAUL EXPLAINED: “FOR GOD HAS NOT CALLED US UNTO UNCLEANNESS, BUT UNTO HOLINESS.” YET, HOW MANY HAVE YOU KNOWN IN “THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY” (?) WHO,YES, “PERVERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST”? (GALATIANS 1:6-7)!

FOURTH,PERFECTING GRACE IS REVEALED CLEARLY IN THE LABOR OF LOVE THAT CAUSES & CHALLENGES MEN TO LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR OTHERS!! IN 1 CORINTHIANS 15:8-20 THE APOSTLE PAUL WROTE, INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, “AND LAST OF ALL,HE WAS SEEN OF ME ALSO, AS OF ONE BORN OUT OF DUE TIME.

FOR I AM THE LEAST OF THE APOSTLES, THAT AM NOT MEET TO BE CALLED AN APOSTLE, BECAUSE I PERSECUTED THE CHURCH OF GOD.BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM: & HIS GRACE WHICH WAS BESTOWED UPON ME WAS NOT IN VAIN; BUT I LABORED MORE ABUNDANTLY THAN THEY ALL: YET NOT I, BUT THE GRACE OF GOD WHICH WAS WITH ME.

THEREFORE WHETHER IT WERE I OR THEY, SO WE PREACH, & SO YOU BELIEVED.NOW IF CHRIST BE PREACHED THAT HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD, HOW SAY SOME AMONG YOU THAT THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD? BUT IF THERE BE NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, THEN IS CHRIST NOT RISEN; AND IF CHRIST BE NOT RISEN, THEN IS OUR PREACHING IN VAIN, & YOUR FAITH IS ALSO VAIN. YES, & WE ARE FOUND FALSE WITNESSES OF GOD; BECAUSE WE HAVE TESTIFIED OF GOD THAT HE RAISED UP CHRIST; WHOM HE RAISED NOT UP, IF SO BE THAT THE DEAD RISE NOT.

FOR IF THE DEAD RISE NOT, THEN IS NOT CHRIST RAISED: & IF CHRIST BE NOT RAISED, YOUR FAITH IS VAIN; & YOU ARE YET IN YOUR SINS.THEN THEY ALSO WHICH ARE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST ARE PERISHED. IF IN THIS LIFE ONLY WE HAVE HOPE IN CHRIST, WE ARE OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE. BUT “NOW” IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD, & BECOME THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT.”

AND “RAISED FROM THE DEAD” SPIRITUALLY, TO “NEW LIFE IN CHRIST”,AS JESUS LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US, DOES THAT MEAN, “THANK GOD I’M SAVED”, BUT YOU HAVE NO CONCERN FOR OTHERS WHO NEED TO KNOW, MUST KNOW, WILL KNOW, BECAUSE “YOU” ARE HIS PRESENT WITNESS OF AMAZING GRACE & MERCY & LOVE? IN EPHESIANS 2:8-10 PAUL ALSO WROTE, “FOR BY GRACE ARE YOU SAVED THROUGH FAITH; & THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD; NOT OF WORKS, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST. FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS,WHICH GOD HAS BEFORE ORDAINED THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.”

HIS WORKMANSHIP? HIS NEW CREATIONS THAT ARE CREATED FOR & ORDAINED BY GOD TO BE HIS WITNESSES OF “REDEEMED IN & THROUGH & BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD,” CHRIST JESUS, GOD’S WILLING SACRIFICE, TO RECONCILE US UNTO HIMSELF?

AND “REDEEMED”, WE’RE NOT CALLED TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES IN REACHING OTHERS WITH THE “GOOD NEWS”? ACTS 4:33 SAYS, “AND WITH GREAT POWER GAVE THE APOSTLES WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS; & GREAT GRACE WAS UPON THEM ALL.” (OH, HOW WE NEED TO SEE AGAIN THE CHURCH , THE DISCIPLES, BEARING WITNESS TO “SAVING GRACE”!

FIFTH, PERFECTING GRACE IS “COMMITMENT” TO UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITY OF GRACE FOR EVERYONE! ACTS 11:18-23 TELLS US, “WHEN THEY HEARD THESE THINGS, THEY HELD THEIR PEACE, & GLORIFIED GOD, SAYING, THEN HAS GOD ALSO TO THE GENTILES GRANTED REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE."NOW” THEY WHICH WERE SCATTERED ABROAD UPON THE PERSECUTION THAT AROSE ABOUT STEPHEN TRAVELLED AS FAR AS PNENICE & CYPRUS, & ANTIOCH, PREACHING THE WORD TO NONE BUT UNTO THE JEWS ONLY.

AND SOME OF THEM WERE MEN OFCYPRUS&CYRENE, WHICH, WHEN THEY WERE COME TO ANTIOCH, SPOKE UNTO THE GRECIANS, PREACHING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. AND THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS WITH THEM; & A GREAT NUMBER BELIEVED, & TURNED TO THE LORD. THEN TIDINGS OF THESE THINGS CAME UNTO THE EARS OF THE CHURCH WHICH WAS IN JERUSALEM; & THEY SENT FORTH BARNABAS, THAT HE SHOULD GO AS FAR AS ANTIOCH. WHO, WHEN HE CAME, & HAD SEEN THE GRACE OF GOD, WAS GLAD, & EXHORTED THEM ALL, THAT WITH PURPOSE OF HEART THEY WOULD CLEAVE UNTO THE LORD.”

SIXTH, PERFECTING GRACE IS GRACE THAT GIVES WARNING & THE CALL TO JUDGMENT! ACTS 13:37-43 TELLS US, “BUT HE, WHOM GOD RAISED AGAIN, SAW NO CORRUPTION.BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU THEREFORE, MEN & BRETHREN, THAT THROUGH THIS MAN IS PREACHED UNTO YOU THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS: & BY HIM ALL THAT BELIEVE (OR TRUSTS HIS WORD!)ARE JUSTIFIED FROM ALL THINGS, FROM WHICH YOU COULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW OF MOSES. BEWARE THEREFORE, LEST THAT COME UPON YOU, WHICH IS SPOKEN OF IN THE PROPHETS; BEHOLD, YOU DESPISERS (OR SCOFFERS!), AND WONDER, & PERISH:FOR I WORK A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORK WHICH YOU SHALL IN NO WISE BELIEVE, THOUGH A MAN DECLARE IT TO YOU.

AND WHEN THE JEWS WERE GONE OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE, THE GENTILES BESOUGHT THAT THESE WORDS MIGHT BE PREACHED TO THEM THE NEXT SABBATH.NOW WHEN THE CONGREGATION WAS BROKEN UP, MANY OF THE JEWS & RELIGIOUS PROSELYTES FOLLOWED PAUL & BARNABAS: WHO, SPEAKING TO THEM, PERSUADED THEM TO CONTINUE IN THE GRACE OF GOD.” “WARNING &A CALL TO JUDGMENT? ARE “YOU” READY FOR YOUR CALL?

SEVENTH,PERFECTING GRACE IS GRACE THAT LEAVES US THE REMNANT OF ENCOURAGEMENT! IN EZRA 9:8 WE READ, “AND NOW FOR A LITTLE SPACE GRACE HAS BEEN SHOWN FROM THE LORD OUR GOD, TO LEAVE US A REMNANT TO ESCAPE, & TO GIVE US A NAIL IN HIS HOLY PLACE, THAT OUR GOD MAY LIGHTEN OUR EYES, & GIVE US A LITTLE REVIVING IN OUR BONDAGE.”

DO “YOU” KNOW ABOUT WHAT “A LITTLE GRACE” MEANS FOR YOU IN YOUR TIME OF ‘TROUBLE’? TO SAY THAT BELIEVERS NEVER FACE TRIALS IS TO LIVE WITH A MIND BLINDED TO “LIFE’S REALITIES” OF A TRUE BELIEVER LIVING IN OPPOSITION TO THE WORLD, THE FLESH, OR TO SATAN & HIS DEMON-HOARDES, WHO ARE NOT PLEASED WITH “SOLD-OUT, UNAFRAID, SPIRITUALLY IGNITED SONS & DAUGHTERS OF GOD LIVING AS SERVANTS UNTO THEIR LORD & SAVIOR”!

EIGHTH, PERFECTING GRACE IS GRACE THAT SAYS WHAT CHRIST JESUS SAYS!! IN PSALM 45:2 PARAPHRASED SAYS: “YOU, LORD JESUS, ARE FAIRER THAN THE CHILDREN OF MEN: GRACE IS POURED INTO YOUR LIPS; THEREFORE GOD HAS BLESSED YOU FOREVER & EVER!” AND CHRIST JESUS POURS HIS GRACE ALL OVER EVERY TRUE BELIEVER TO GUARD US, GIRD US, GRIP US,GIVE US, & GLADLY GLORIFY US JUST AS HE IS!!

IN COLOSSIANS 4:6 WE READ, “LET YOUR SPEECH BE ALWAYS WITH GRACE, SEASONED WITH SALT, THAT YOU MAY KNOW HOW YOU OUGHT TO ANSWER EVERY MAN.”

NINTH, PERFECTING GRACE IS REIGNING GRACE! HOW “GIFTING” IS THE WORD OF GOD’S GRACE! IN ROMANS 5:15b-21 WE READ OF “GRACE”, NOT GREASE! “FOR IF THROUGH THE OFFENSE OF ONE MANY BE DEAD, MUCH MORE THE GRACE OF GOD,& THE GIFT BY GRACE, WHICH IS BY ONE MAN, JESUS CHRIST,HAS ABOUNDED UNTO MANY. AND NOT AS IT WAS BY ONE THAT SINNED,SO IS THE GIFT: FOR THE JUDGMENT WAS BY ONE TO CONDEMNATION, BUT THE FREE GIFT IS OF MANY OFFENCES UNTO JUSTIFICATION.(“JUST-AS-IF-I’D-NEVER SINNED!!”).

FOR IF BY ONE MAN’S OFFENCE DEATH REIGNED BY ONE; MUCH MORE THEY WHICH RECEIVE ABUNDANCE OF GRACE & OF THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL REIGN IN LIFE BY ONE, JESUS CHRIST. THEREFORE AS BY THE OFFENCE OF ONE JUDGMENT CAME UPON ALL MEN TO CONDEMNATION, EVEN SO BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ONE THE FREE GIFT CAME UPON ALL MEN UNTO JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE.FOR AS BY ONE MAN’S DISOBEDIENCE (ADAM) MANY WERE MADE SINNERS, SO BY THE OBEDIENCE OF ONE SHALL MANY BE MADE RIGHTEOUS. MOREOVER THE LAW ENTERED, THAT THE OFFENCE MIGHT ABOUND. BUT WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE DID MUCH MORE ABOUND: THAT AS SIN HAS REIGNED UNTO DEATH, EVEN SO MIGHT GRACE REIGN THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO ETERNAL LIFE BY JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.”

ARE “YOU” ON “SHOUTING GROUNDS” YET TO HONOR KING JESUS WHO WILLINGLY TOOK OUR PLACE ON THE CROSS THAT WE MIGHT TRULY BE BLESSED, GIVING US THE FREE GIFT OF FAITH & TRUST IN HIS WORK AT CALVARY, BECAUSE WHEN HE DIED THERE, HE CARRIED YOUR SINFUL NATURE WITH HIM THAT YOU MIGHT WILLINGLY & LOVINGLY YIELD TO THE RESURRECTED CHRIST WHO IS THE KING OF GLORY, DESIROUS OF YOUR REDEEMED LIFE BY HIS BLOOD BECOMING HIS “EARTHLY RESIDENCE” WHERE HE CONTINUES TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU TO YOUR NEEDY WORLD! JESUS WANTS TO “REIGN” IN YOU & THROUGH YOU!

TENTH, PERFECTING GRACE “IS” GIFTING GRACE!! EPHESIANS 4:7-8 TELLS US, “BUT UNTO EVERY ONE OF US (THOSE “IN CHRIST”!) IS GIVEN GRACE ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF THE GIFT OF CHRIST. WHEREFORE HE SAYS, WHEN HE ASCENDED UP ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, & GAVE GIFTS UNTO MEN.”

WHAT’S YOUR GIFT IF YOU TRULY ARE “IN CHRIST”? I SLOW DOWN WITH REVELATION 22:22! IT SAYS: (SPEAKING OF THE “NEW JERUSALEM”!), AND I SAW NO TEMPLE THEREIN; FOR THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY & THE LAMB ARE THE TEMPLE OF IT.” IN THE OLD “BROADMAN HYMNAL” FROM THE BROADMAN PRESS IN NASHVILLE, TENN., (COPYRIGHTED BY BROADMAN IN 1940,P.284), IS A HYMN THAT SAYS: “IT’S SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, JUST TO TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD; JUST TO REST UPON HIS PROMISE, JUST TO KNOW “THUS SAYS THE LORD.”

O HOW SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, JUST TO TRUST HIS CLEANSING BLOOD; JUST IN SIMPLE FAITH TO PLUNGE ME ‘NEATH THE HEALING, CLEANSING FLOOD!

YES, IT’S SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS, JUST FROM SIN & SELF TO CEASE; JUST FROM JESUS SIMPLY TAKING LIFE & REST, AND JOY & PEACE.

I’M SO GLAD I LEARNED TO TRUST YOU, PRECIOUS JESUS, SAVIOR & FRIEND; AND I KNOW THAT YOU ARE WITH ME, & WILL BE WITH ME TO THE END.

JESUS, JESUS, HOW I TRUST HIM, HOW I’VE PROVED HIM O’ER & O’ER; JESUS, JESUS, PRECIOUS JESUS! O FOR GRACE TO TRUST YOU MORE!” AMEN?

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH”!

At a “National Hispanic Leadership Conference” in Houston, Texas, April 29, 2015, former Florida governor and presidential candidate, at the time, Jeb Bush, said: “There is no more powerful and liberating influence on this earth than the Christian conscience in action and today in America it is important to respect and to protect Christians acting on their faith…not just talking about their faith, but there is a constitutional right and more importantly for a loving society Christians need to have the space to be able to act on their conscience.” My only problem with his statement is, that often, the ‘Christian conscience’ is willful determination of ‘flesh’ opinions rather than Holy Word of God revelation!

It wasn’t long ago, maybe same day as Jeb Bush, that former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, said, maybe same conference, “We are living in perilous times where people who are Christian are on the brink of being criminalized for their convictions.”

And both men, stressing their beliefs, are easily, in this day and time, set aside and considered ‘radical’ by ‘godless’ or even ‘misinformed’ professing believers who don’t stand on the Word of God! It’s difficult to “stand for Truth” when one’s foundation is built on “self-evaluation” rather than “God-revealed-Holy Truth”!

We can go all the way back to Joshua’s day when in Joshua 24:14-15 we read, Joshua speaking, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We live in days as a nation that are not foreign to any nation, any people, or even to one, and can visualize what goes on anywhere, anytime, with any persons, just like the historical history of Christ’s crucifixion on the Cross several thousand years ago! Come with me to Luke 23, beginning with Verse 32! “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” {“If”? Are you aware of the reality of literally millions and millions, more likely billions, who understand, ‘There IS the King of the Jews, the King of all Americans, the King of every European, African, or Asian’ but who selfishly decide for themselves as to whether or not they will choose to serve the Lord?!?}.

In Luke 23:34 then tells us that Christ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” {Which is so true of literally millions and millions who do not know what they do when they trivialize Christ, join those who divide His garments and “roll the dice” hoping what He says is not true – BUT IT IS!}. Even the rulers of Israel SNEERED, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”

Don’t you find that so interesting? They had an inkling about ‘the Christ, the chosen of God,’ but couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t receive the prophetic word from many of their prophets hundreds and hundreds of years before His actual coming! Do you remember Jesus saying in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”? Verse 57 follows, Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” In Verse 58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” And their response? THEN they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them (the “stone-throwers”), and SO PASSED (THEM) by.” {Will Jesus have to “pass you by” when all are brought before His Throne of Judgment, whether you like it or not?}.

In Luke 23:36-38 we read: The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrews: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Didn’t we just read in Luke 23:33, “And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.” At least Luke KNEW Jesus was not a criminal, but, as God in the flesh, Who willingly offered Himself as THE sacrifice for the sins of all humanity! Even John, early in his writing of the Gospel of John, John 1:14, wrote: “And the Word (the Living Word of God!!) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” proclaiming in Verse 29, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

Examine John 1:32-35! And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ AND I HAVE SEEN AND TESTIFIED THAT THIS IS THE SON OF GOD.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of His disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

Dare I tell you that Christ Jesus IS “the Way of Life” that leads to the “way of death”? In Matthew 10:16-18,21-22 Jesus challenged the original ‘twelve disciples’, saying to them, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Verses 21-22 then says, “Now brother will deliver up brother TO DEATH, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

It is so evidently true that to “follow Christ Jesus” is to follow Him in every step He had to take, including the way of ‘suffering’, the way of ‘rejection’, the way of ‘obedience’, willing to fulfill the Father’s eternal will: death to Himself that resurrection life and hope could, would, and was manifested! Oh, and then in John 20, after His crucifixion and burial and resurrection, in Verses 19-21, we read:

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” John 20:30-31 then says: And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

And do you understand that “life in His name” does not come in full fruition apart from the awareness of and willingness to die daily to the ‘flesh’, the old sin-nature, and self-will, plus, a readiness of physical death by persecution if it comes your way, BECAUSE you will not deny Him?

In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 Apostle Paul wrote: “Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death (“the wages of sin is death”!), and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us…”! Did Holy God, the Father, allow Jesus’ death and then manifest His Holy Power to raise the dead after Jesus’ three days in the grave?

And, how pleased is God the Father for the willingness of 21^st Century disciples to offer their lives daily as a “willing sacrifice” taking that sentence daily to themselves that His Resurrection Life may be manifested in their mortal flesh?

Do you remember Paul and Silas imprisoned, Acts 16:20-24? It says: And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” ( Ever heard it yourself? “We’re free Americans and not interested in anything you ‘Christians’ have to say! Keep on, and we’ll have you imprisoned, or kill you ourselves!”}. [I actually heard that threat in India as I preached openly on the streets!].

Continuing in Acts 16:22-24, Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.”

That was a literal event for faithful believers, and it does still happen today that some believers are physically jailed for faithful testimonies in certain locations. BUT there IS a ‘symbolism’ which extends to many today who are vocal for the faith but ostracized by ‘friends’ and ‘family’, opponents shutting the door on them for their outspoken challenge to receive Christ!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? Are you aware of Christian Institutional and openly, strong, faithful disciples of Christ witnessing a rapidly growing opposition and threats because of many enemies of God who are becoming openly hostile to the Word and Will of God and against those who uphold “All Scripture is divinely inspired…”?

Prayer is rapidly being removed from classrooms with kids being told “School is not a place to pray!” Really? Yes, really! Ten Commandments are being removed from lots of places across the Nation where the banners of Truth used to fly! In Sweden pastors have been jailed for opposing homosexuality – and that threat is not far away in the U.S.A.!

There’s an active homosexual- sick man named Mitchell Gold whose diatribe against the Word of God and churches, pastors, and faithful disciples who stand on that Word of God, who has said, “They must be made to take homosexuality off the sin list,” and a New York Time’s writer, Frank Bruni, affirmed Gold’s obscene opposition to Holy God and His Word, saying, “His commandment (that’s Mitchell Gold’s commandment) is worthy – and warranted.”

And what sickens me is when I hear some say of their pastors, “They’ll not expose or speak the Truth because they don’t want to offend ANYBODY!” God, help us! It’s as if our formerly great nation, “one nation under God”, is fast becoming a nation under opposition to God!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? I want to urge you right now to commit yourself to reading faithfully, over and over, the Book of Daniel for at least a week! In Daniel you’ll find, not trivializing Truth, but many who want Biblical Truth obliterated from the national scene or stage! Follow Daniel 6:1-16!

It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm.

So the governors and satraps SOUGHT TO FIND SOME CHARGE AGAINST DANIEL concerning the kingdom; BUT THEY COULD FIND NO CHARGE OR FAULT, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him, “King Darius, live forever! All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisers, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

And the king, when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

SO the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.”

In Verses 21-22 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

AND the accusers, on the king’s command, were all cast into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den!!!

What was King Darius’ response? He wrote a proclamation! Verses 25-28 says: “To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end.

He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of lions.” So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Glory!

“CRIMINALIZED FOR STANDING FOR THE TRUTH OF GOD’S HOLY WORD”? John 8 is a strong chapter defining Christ’s strong “Personal Witness” against the ‘religious’ Pharisees who determined He deserved to die because He opposed their religious pretense and no true eternal foundation upon which they walked and talked “the game” yet they never faced their guilt, sin, and separation from Holy God, and certainly had no ears to hear both prophetic utterances from hundreds and hundreds of years before or His declaration of Messianic identity!

Jesus told them in John 8:19, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” Oh, and then in John 8:23-24 Jesus released the eternal arrow of Truth about the scribes and Pharisees and the ‘religious but unredeemed’ Jews: “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

In John 8:37-47 Jesus then said: “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I

heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father – God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

So…Christ Jesus Himself was ‘criminalized’ by the religious, unbelieving, unrepentant crowd and CRUCIFIED ON THE CROSS for all men because of God’s great love for the world!

What went on then still goes on today! The unbelieving world still condemns the holy and congratulates the hollow; the unbelieving world sentences the sincere and celebrates the sinner; the unbelieving world imprisons the faithful and frees the ‘foul’ from any and every offense; the unbelieving world still maligns the merciful and merits the ‘molded’ in mind and heart!

It was Harriet Beecher Stowe who once said: “No one is so thoroughly superstitious as the godless man. Life and death to him are haunted grounds, filled with goblin forms of vague and shadowy dread.” And, in most cases, it’s the godless man criminalizing those who stand for, in, and through the truth, resulting, for them, a Hell forever with the devil, his demons, and all rejecters of Biblical Truth, and all sin-infected ‘profound minds’, and all ‘superficial thinkers’ who know nothing about standing on Eternal Truth!

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, August 28-29, 2018

It’s so very, very obvious that there are “positive enemies” of the Living God, hostile to Him and to His Son, the Lord Jesus, and ‘closing the doors of both heart and mind’ to the Holy Spirit, choosing to ‘self-destruct’ in unbelief, rejection of Truth, and ‘content’ in their, yes, warring rejection, continuous assault, and stupid denial of His eternal Presence!

Very, very interesting, eye-opening, and, I hope, shocking is the revelation of the “positive enemies” but also the “perplexed pretenders”, and then, about the “Prince of Peace’s” unveiling, exposing, and convicting truth found in Galatians 3:10-14, 16-22!!

Galatians 3:10-14 first says: “For as many as are of the works of the law are UNDER THE CURSE, for it is written, ‘Cursed is every one that continues not in ALL Things which are written in the book of the Law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

And the law is not of faith (redemptive faith!): but ‘The man that does them shall live in them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made ‘A Curse For Us’; for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree; That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Oh, and then Paul wrote in Verses 16-22, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, ‘And to seeds, as of many’; ‘but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ.

And this I say, that the COVENANT, that was confirmed before of GOD IN CHRIST, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise; BUT God gave it to Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serves the law?

It was ADDED because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a ‘mediator’ of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

BUT the Scripture has concluded ALL UNDER SIN, that the Promise by faith of Jesus Christ (or in The “Finished Work at Calvary”) might be given to them that believe (or ‘trust in, rely upon, adhere to’).”

Aren’t you awed, alerted, and inspired, when you read Hebrews 4:1-2, plus Verses 7-12 and Verses 14-16? The Holy Word declares: Hebrews 4:1-2, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Isn’t that interesting? We don’t have to be concerned today about any “falling short”, do we?). For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: BUT the Word preached did not profit them, NOT BEING MIXED WITH ‘REDEMPTIVE FAITH’ IN THEM THAT HEARD IT.” (Intellectually adherent without inspirational obedience?).

Verses 7-12, “ Again, He limited a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’ For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward spoken of another day? There remains, there is, there always has been, ‘a rest to the people of God’. (“COME TO ME, I WILL GIVE YOU REST!” But YOU don’t receive it?).

For he that is entered into His ‘rest’, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Let us labor therefore to enter (or accept, receive) that ‘rest’, ceasing from ‘trying to prove a ‘work’ already completed by Christ Himself’, as God did from His! Let us labor (ceasing from “best effort”!) therefore, TO ENTER THAT REST, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. FOR the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Verses 14-16 follows, saying, “Seeing then that we have a Great High Priest (Christ Jesus!), that has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of infirmities; but WAS in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let US therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, AND find GRACE TO HELP in time of need.” WHAT AN AWESOME REVELATION!!

BUT, “Positive Enemies” then and now still live in the sad state of unbelief, of denial, of strong release of ‘self-determination’, ignoring God’s Call with ‘clogged ears, cold hearts, and corrupted minds’, powerfully influenced by the ‘lost’ world around them, the demonically-controlled mind in them, and, yes, by Satan himself, who provokes, who ‘lies’, who ‘twists’, and, as Peter said in Acts 5:3, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to ‘pretend’ that you did what He said, when you choose not to!!!!”

Either “Christ in YOU” IS ‘your hope of glory’ OR, rather than a ‘positive enemy’, you live religiously as a “perplexed pretender”!!

Whether a ‘positive enemy’, or a ‘perplexed pretender’, both CAN BE described as ‘heinous and heartless and, yes, mind-corrupted’, willfully, ignorantly, consistently, living a heinous, heartless, cold, iced, corrupt, Satan-inspired and deceived- birthing, but ‘trying to live a religious life overshadowed by a willfully chosen, a worldwide common acceptance of the fallen nature’, able to live acceptably in the ‘flesh-nature’ a sinful, religious life that IS devoted to ‘best effort’, even though falling short of what God offers, never fearing awakening to Hell’s unveiling of your Christ-rejecting, self-accepting sin nature that produced “death’ and ‘separation from God’, and, as one now sees himself as a true ‘self-pretender’, and then one says, after learning of their ‘pretense’, though unveiled by the convicting Holy Spirit, “God should be ashamed” as He turns from their ‘closed door of the heart and mind’, thankful, not for “pretense”, but thankful for the gift of repentance, relaxed, ‘resting’, rejoicing, released, and NOW bearing witness of, yes, eternal joy in and through Christ alone, so thankful, so appreciative, so rejoicing, that He’s able to exceedingly accomplish above all we think, consider, or try to instill ourselves, but a consistent heart-cry and mind-set: “Jesus, BE Jesus in me, no longer me but Thee, Resurrection Power, fill ME this hour, JESUS, BE JESUS IN ME!!” The question of the hour?

Are You a ‘positive enemy’, a perplexed pretender, or, yes, truly, a “Prince of Peace Disciple, follower, witness, royal ambassador, who understands “redeemed container”, where in and through, King Jesus reigns!”

Positive enemies, perplexed pretenders are, as Spurgeon used to say, “Sorry arguments in one’s pretense – ‘to be damned in a crowd is no more comfortable than to be damned alone.” And, yes, ‘positive enemies, perplexed pretenders’, are both under the eternal condemnation of King Jesus! That’s Galatians 3:10! In his book of “Spurgeon’s Sermons”, (Volume Four, p.229), Spurgeon said: “But,” says another, “there are many things I have not done, but still I have been very virtuous”, Spurgeon continuing, “Poor excuse that is, also. Suppose you have been virtuous; suppose you have avoided many vices: TURN TO MY TEXT. It is not my word, but God’s – turn to it – “all things.” It does not say “some things.” – “Cursed is every one that continues not in ALL Things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Now,

Have you performed all virtues? Have you shunned all vices? Do you stand up and plead, “I never was a drunkard?” – Yet you shall be damned if you’ve been a fornicator. Do you reply, “I never was unclean?” Yet you HAVE broken the Sabbath. Do you plead guiltless of that charge? Do you declare that you have never broken the Sabbath? You HAVE taken God’s name in vain, have you not? Somewhere or other God’s law can smite you. IT IS CERTAIN (let your conscience now speak and assert what I assert) – it is certain you HAVE NOT CONTINUED “in all things which are written in the book of the law.” No, more, I do not believe you have continued in any one commandment of God to the full, for the commandment is exceeding broad.” (Does James 2:10 tell us: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all”?). Spurgeon continued:

It is not the overt act, merely, that will damn a man; it IS THE THOUGHT, the imagination, the conception of sin, that is sufficient to RUIN A SOUL. Remember, my dear hearers, I am speaking now God’s own word, not a harsh doctrine of my own. If you had never committed one single act of sin, yet the thought of sin, the imagination of it would be enough to sweep your soul into Hell for ever.

If you had been born in a cell, and had never been able to come out into the world, either to commit acts of lasciviousness, murder, or robbery, yet the thought of evil in that lone cell might be enough to cast your soul forever from the face of God. Oh! There is no man here that can hope to escape. We must every one of us bow our heads before God, and cry, “Guilty, Lord, guilty – every one of us is guilty – ‘cursed is “every one” that continues not in “all things” which are written in the book of the law to do them’.” AGAIN, James 2:10! “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, HE IS GUILTY OF ALL.” Hear me! Merciful God warns you!

IF YOU ARE NOT COVERED IN THE BLOOD OF THE HOLY LAMB OF GOD, SATURATED IN IT FROM THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD TO THE TIP OF YOUR TOES, 99.9% covered, but a tenth uncovered, you’ll never enter the “Glory- land”! James 2:10! “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one little point, HE IS GUILTY OF ALL.”

For you and me? There’s no hope but to, yes, be crucified with Christ, the old man and his/her sin nature, crucified with Christ, no more enamored in sinful pleasure like a ‘hair’, but, yes, daily taking the sentence of death unto your old sin-nature that the Resurrection of the Indwelling Christ finds His home in the crucified life, but “new-born” into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

Are YOU not even aware of impenitent and, yes, unbelieving hearts and minds? But, if convicted by the Holy Spirit, convinced to ‘rest alone’ in Him, “washed in the blood of the Lamb, one is raised up , by grace and mercy, to be the tabernacle, the temple of Christ’s abiding Presence!” It’s why Paul said, “I DIE DAILY”, so the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested IN my mortal flesh!”

And Christ Jesus PROMISED: Don’t miss this! Luke 13:1-9, but also Verses 23-30!! FIRST, Luke 13:1-9, There were present at that season some that told Him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, “Suppose you, that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, No; but except YOU REPENT, you shall ALL likewise perish.

Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think you that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No: but, except you repent, you shall all likewise PERISH.” He spoke also this parable, Verses 6-9, “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit from the tree, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none; CUT IT DOWN; why comber the ground?

And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig it, and dung it. And if it bear fruit, well; if not, then after (the test!!!) you shall cut it down.”

OH!! And then Verses 23-30!!! And again Jesus said, “Whereunto shall I liken (or enlighten, inform, or unveil) THE KINGDOM-RULE OF GOD? It is like ‘leaven’, which a woman took and hid it in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”

And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto Him, ‘Lord, are there few that be saved?’ And Jesus said unto them (ALL!!), “Strive to enter in at the ‘strait gate’ (OR “The DOOR”!): for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able…

When once the master of the house is risen up, and has SHUT THE DOOR, and you begin to ‘stand outside’, and to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open unto us’; and he shall answer and say unto you, I KNOW YOU NOT…; Then shall you begin to say, ‘We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets.” But he shall say,

“I tell you, I know not from whence you came; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and you yourselves shut out!

And they shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down IN the KINGDOM OF GOD. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”

“Positive Enemies, Perplexed Pretenders, OR Prince of Peace “New-Birthed Disciples of Christ Jesus”?

Again, “Choose YOU this day whom YOU will serve, but as for me and my house, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!” Servant or ‘pretender’? A son/daughter of Holy God or a ‘slave’ of Satan? A “citizen of God’s eternal Kingdom under the reign of Christ or a ‘captive’ of the ‘dark kingdom’ of Satanic rule”?

GET READY!! Romans 7: 4-18, 20-25, followed by Romans 8:1-18, 24-30, and Verses 35-39, plus, Romans 9:6-8, and Verses 32-10:4, followed by Verses 8-13!!

CONFRONTED BY CHRIST AND HIS SPIRIT AND HOLY WORD, CONVICTED, CONVINCED, CONFESSED, CONVERTED, AND CROWNED WITH HIS “ABIDING PRESENCE” WITH HIM SAYING, “FOLLOW ME, AND I’LL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN, MY FAITHFUL WITNESS, FOLLOW ME, AND I’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU, FOLLOW ME, AND I, KING JESUS, WILL “BLESS YOU”! Psalm 103:1-12, and Verses 17-22 says:

Psalm 103:1-12, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, BLESS His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your disease; Who redeems the life from destruction; AND BEHOLD, crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfies your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.

The Lord IS merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Verses 17-22, But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. The Lord has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His Kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, you His angels (or His messengers!), that excel in strength, do His commandments, hearkens unto the voice of His Word. Bless YOU the Lord, all your hosts; you ministers of His, that do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion: BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL.” IS THAT YOUR TESTIMONY?

Do YOU “TESTIFY” that loving, merciful, gracious, caring God, CLAIMED YOU, EVEN AS HE “KNOCKED ON THE DOOR< AND INVITED HIM IN?”

Having “claimed me”, birthed me in His Spirit, then, DOES HE TELL US TO “TRY YOUR BEST”, OR “BE LED BY THE WORD, BY THE SPIRIT, AND BY HIS PROMISE: “I’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU”?, and knowing His “blessed assurance”, how could any ‘child of faith’ walk away from the “LOVER OF HIS SOUL?” How could a “born-again disciple of Christ” entertain a “tempting, untruthful, treacherous Satan or His demons”? Or, How could, yes, a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ “fall away” as a ‘victim’ of, yes, ‘worldly deceptions’?

It’s time to “Rise Up, O Men of God, Be Done With ‘lesser things’, Give heart and mind and soul and strength (and time!) To serve the King of kings!

Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet trod; As brothers of the Son of man, Rise up, O men of God!” AMEN?

Don’t we sing sometimes, at least we used to,: “Glory, glory, Hallelujah, glory, glory, Hallelujah, glory, glory, Hallelujah, HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON!!” And it never dies! But do you die, turning deaf ears and cold hearts to God?

“CROWNED PRINCES,CROWNED PRINCESSES

SERVING THE KING OF KINGS”?

OUTSTANDING, MIND-ILLUMINATING, HEART-INSPIRING WORDS FROM PAUL IN HEBREWS 2:14-3:1-14 THAT ALL “CHURCH-FOLK”& “ALL OUTSIDE OF CHRIST” MUST HEAR!! PAUL SAID:

HEBREWS 2:14-18, “FORASMUCH THEN AS THE CHILDREN ARE PARTAKERS OF FLESH & BLOOD, CHRIST ALSO HIMSELF LIKEWISE TOOK PART OF THE SAME; THAT THROUGH DEATH HE MIGHT DESTROY HIM THAT HAD THE POWER OF DEATH,THAT IS,THE DEVIL; AND DELIVER THEM WHO THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH WERE ALL THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.

FOR VERILY HE TOOK PART NOT ON HIM THE NATURE OF ANGELS;BUT HE TOOK ON HIM THE SEED OF ABRAHAM. WHEREFORE IN ALL THINGS IT BEHOVED HIM TO BE MADE LIKE UNTO HIS BRETHREN, THAT HE MIGHT BE A MERCIFUL & FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST IN THINGS PERTAINING TO GOD, TO MAKE RECONCILIATION FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE. FOR IN THAT HE HIMSELF SUFFERED BEING TEMPTED, “HE IS ABLE” TO SUCCOUR THEM THAT ARE TEMPTED. (SUCCOUR?IT’S A WORD DEFINED AS, “HELP,RELIEF,AID,ASSISTANCE”; THAT’S HOLY GOD ‘RUNNING’ TO HELP RAISE YOU OUT OF DEATH INTO “LIFE”, OUT OF BONDAGE INTO “ETERNAL FREEDOM”, OUT OF DEVILISH CHAINS “TO THE PROMISES OF YOUR LORD & SAVIOR OF GOD’S OVERCOMING STRENGTH”, OUT OF DEVILISH ACCUSATIONS “TO OUR LORD’S ABIDING TRUTHS”, OUT OF CONSTANT ACCUSATIONS BY DEVILISH DEMONS TO THE “LORD’S PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING”!). OH, NOW TO HEBREWS 3:1-14! WHEREFORE, HOLY BRETHREN, PARTAKERS OF THE HEAVENLY CALLING, CONSIDER THE APOSTLE & HIGH PRIEST OF OUR PROFESSION, CHRIST JESUS; WHO WAS FAITHFUL TO HIM THAT APPOINTED HIM, AS ALSO MOSES WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS HOUSE.

FOR THIS MAN (JESUS) WAS COUNTED WORTHY OF MORE GLORY THAN MOSES, INASMUCH AS HE WHO HAS BUILT THE HOUSE HAS MORE HONOR THAN THE HOUSE, FOR EVERY ‘HOUSE’ IS BUILT BY SOME MAN; BUT HE THAT BUILDS ALL THINGS IS GOD.

AND MOSES VERILY WAS FAITHFUL IN ALL HIS HOUSE, AS A SERVANT,FOR A TESTIMONY OF THOSE THINGS WHICH WERE TO BE SPOKEN OF AFTER; BUT CHRIST AS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE: WHOSE HOUSE ARE WE IF WE HOLD FAST THE CONFIDENCE & THE REJOICING OF THE HOPE FIRM UNTO THE END. WHEREFORE (AS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS), TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE PROVOCATION, IN THE DAY OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS: WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME (GOD, THE SPIRIT, JESUS, THE THREE IN ONE!),PROVED ME, & SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.

WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION, & SAID, THEY DO ALWAYS ERR IN THEIR HEART; & THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS. SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY REST “TAKE HEED, BRETHREN,LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD.

BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED ‘TODAY’; LEST ANY OF YOU BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE “PARTAKERS OF CHRIST” “””IF”””!! WE HOLD THE BEGINNNG OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEDFAST (OR FIRM) UNTO THE END.” WOW!!

CHRIST JESUS “IS” KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS, & IF KING JESUS IS IN US, HE’S THERE NOT SIMPLY TO BE ‘PRESENT’ BUT TO ‘PRESIDE’; HE’S IN YOUR HEART NOT TO BE PROMINENT BUT PREEMINENT; “OBEDIENCE” IS NOT AN OPTION IN THE “AGE OF GRACE”!! GEORGE MACDONALD, IN HIS WRITING “MARQUIS OF LOSSIE” (CH.72) WROTE: “I FIND THE DOING OF THE WILL OF GOD,LEAVES ME NO TIME FOR DISPUTING ABOUT HIS PLANS.”

THERE’S AN OLD HYMN WRITTEN BY A LADY NAMED MARY BROWN THAT SAYS: “I’LL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO, DEAR LORD, O’ER MOUNTAIN OR PLAIN OR SEA; I’LL SAY WHAT YOU WANT ME TO SAY, DEAR LORD, I’LL BE WHAT YOU WANT ME TO BE.”I ASK YOU!!!

ARE YOU (“IN CHRIST”) A “CROWNED PRINCE” OR A “CROWNED PRINCESS”? DO “YOU” LIVE IN OBEDIENCE TO KING JESUS?IN “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS”,(PUBLISHED BY FLEMING COM.,WESTWOOD,NJ),IS A COMMENT BY MICHAEL EYQUEM de MONTAIGNE: “THE FIRST LAW THAT EVER GOD GAVE TO MAN WAS A LAW OF OBEDIENCE; IT WAS A COMMANDMENT PURE & SIMPLE; WHEREIN MAN HAD NOTHING TO INQUIRE AFTER OR TO DISPUTE, FOR AS MUCH AS TO OBEY IS THE PROPER OFFICE OF A RATIONAL SOUL ACKNOWLEDGING A HEAVENLY SUPERIOR & BENEFACTOR. FROM OBEDIENCE & SUBMISSION SPRING ALL OTHER VIRTUES, AS ALL SIN DOES FROM SELF-OPINION & SELF-WILL.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, LIKE ADAM & EVE, MANY ‘PLAY’ BUT DON’T OBEY!! THEY STILL ‘SIN’ AS THEY ‘PLAY’ THE ‘RELIGIOUS GAME OF ‘PRETENSE’ HOPING OTHERS DON’T SEE THEIR SIN-NATURE IN OPEN DISPLAY AS THEY,YES, CHOOSE THEIR WAY RATHER THAN VICTORY OVER THEIR SIN & SIN-NATURE BY THE BLOOD SHED BY CHRIST ON THE CROSS, CARRYING HIMSELF &YOU TO CALVARY, TO THE GRAVE, BUT 3 DAYS LATER AROSE OUT OF PHYSICAL DEATH INTO SPIRITUAL VICTORY BECAUSE OF THE REVEALED WORD OF GOD! IT WAS JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER WHO WROTE YEARS AGO THESE WORDS: “IN SIMPLE TRUST LIKE THEIRS WHO HEARD BESIDE THE SYRIAN sea, LET US, LIKE THEM, WITHOUT A WORD, RISE UP & FOLLOW THEE.”

CHOSEN BY CHRIST! CONVICTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! CHRIST KNOCKS ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR – IF “YOU” INVITE HIM IN, HE OFFERS YOU THE FREE GIFT OF EVERLASTING LIFE, & IT’S YOURS BY REPENTANCE BEFORE GOD & FAITH IN “CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK”! & THE RESULT? HOW ABOUT CROWNDED PRINCES & CROWNDED PRINCESSES?

CROWNED PRINCES –CROWNED PRINCESSES?IF I REFER TO THEM, NOT AS SOME NATION’S KIDS UNDER A GOVERNOR’S RULE, BUT AS CHOSEN SERVANTS OF THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS, DO YOU GET A CLEAR GLIMPSE AS TO WHERE I AM HEADED IN THIS PRECIOUS WORD & WILL OF GOD?

1 PETER 4:10-19 INFORMS US: “AS EVERY MAN HAS RECEIVED THE GIFT (A MAN, A WOMAN WHO HAS REPENTED & TRUSTED!),EVEN SO MINISTER THE SAME ONE TO ANOTHER, AS ‘GOOD STEWARDS’ OF THE MANIFOLD GRACE OF GOD. IF ANY MAN SPEAK, LET HIM SPEAK AS THE ORACLES OF GOD; IF ANY MAN MINISTER, LET HIM DO IT AS OF THE ABILITY WHICH “GOD GIVES”; THAT GOD IN ALL THINGS MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, TO WHOM BE PRAISE & DOMINION FOREVER & EVER. AMEN (OR SO BE IT!).

BELOVED, THINK IT NOT STRANGE CONCERNING THE FIERY TRIAL “WHICH IS TO TRY YOU”(OH, BUT IN THE 21^ST CENTURY, ‘WE WORRY ABOUT THAT? THESE ARE ‘SMOOTH’ DAYS; RIGHT?). WRONG? THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN NATURE, & SATAN & HIS DEMONS STILL STRUT IN PROUD ARROGANCE TO TAKE YOU AS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS DOWN – THEY WANT YOU MARRED,SCARRED, & HARDENED BY ‘DECEIT, PRIDE,& THE PULL OF THAT DECEITFUL NATURE OF SIN THAT STILL CAN DECEIVE!). PETER GOES ON,

VERSES 13-19 SAYS, “BUT REJOICE, INASMUCH AS YOU ARE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS; THAT, WHEN HIS GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED, YOU MAY BE GLAD ALSO WITH EXCEEDING JOY.

IF YOU BE REPROACHED FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, HAPPY ARE YOU; FOR THE SPIRIT OF GLORY & OF GOD RESTS UPON YOU:ON THEIR PART JESUS IS EVIL SPOKEN OF, BUT ON YOUR PART JESUS IS GLORIFIED.BUT LET ONE OF YOU SUFFER AS A MURDERER, OR AS A THIEF, OR AS AN EVILDOER, OR AS A BUSYBODY IN OTHER MEN’S MATTERS.

BUT LET NONE OF YOU SUFFER AS A MURDERER, OR AS A THIEF, OR AS AN EVILDOER,OR AS A BUSYBODY IN OTHER MEN’S MATTERS. YET IF ANY MAN SUFFER AS A CHRISTIAN,LET HIM NOT BE ASHAMED; BUT LET HIM GLORIFY GOD ON THIS BEHALF. FOR THE TIME HAS COME (IS THAT TIME COMING AROUND OUR WORLD TODAY?) THAT JUDGMENT MUST BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD:AND IF IT FIRST BEGINS WITH US, WHAT SHALL THE END BE OF THEM THAT OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF GOD?

AND IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY BE SAVED, WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY & THE SINNER APPEAR? WHEREFORE LET THEM THAT SUFFER ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD COMMIT THE KEEPING OF THEIR SOULS TO “HIM” IN WELL-DOING, AS UNTO A FAITHFUL CREATOR.”

CROWNED PRINCES – CROWNED PRINCESSES SERVING THE KING OF KINGS? I WANT TO CLOSE THIS MESSAGE WITH THE HYMN ENTITLED “CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS”. (THE AMERICAN HYMNAL, BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.1933).

“CROWN HIM WITH MANY CROWNS, THE LAMB UPON HIS THRONE; HARK! HOW THE HEAVENLY ANTHEM DROWNS ALL MUSIC BUT ITS OWN! AWAKE, MY SOUL, & SING OF HIM WHO DIED FOR THEE; AND HAIL HIM AS YOUR MATCHLESS KING THRO’ ALL ETERNITY.

CROWN HIM THE LORD OF LOVE! BEHOLD HIS HANDS & SIDE,- RICH WOUNDS,YET VISIBLE ABOVE, IN BEAUTY GLORIFIED: NO ANGEL IN THE SKY CAN FULLY BEAR THAT SIGHT, BUT DOWNWARD BENDS HIS WOND’RING EYE AT MYSTERIES SO BRIGHT.

CROWN HIM THE LORD OF LIFE! WHO TRIUMPHED O’ER THE GRAVE; WHO ROSE VICTORIOUS TO THE STRIFE FOR THOSE HE CAME TO SAVE: HIS GLORIES NOW WE SING, WHO DIED & ROSE ON HIGH; WHO DIED ETERNAL LIFE TO BRING, & LIVES THAT DEATH MAY DIE.

CROWN HIM THE LORD OF HEAVEN! ONE WITH THE FATHER KNOWN, ONE WITH THE SPIRIT THRO’ HIM GIVEN FROM YONDER GLORIOUS THRONE! TO YOU,LORD,BE ENDLESS PRAISE, FOR “YOU” FOR US DID DIE; BE THOU, O LORD, THRO’ ENDLESS DAYS ADORED & MAGNIFIED.”

WOULD “YOU” DARE SHOUT: “GLORY BE TO GOD ALMIGHTY FOR HIS GRACE, MERCY, & LOVE, SO PROVEN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN SON THAT WE MIGHT BE RESTORED TO “HIS KINGDOM LIVING FOREVER & EVER”??!!

CROWNED PRINCES-CROWNED PRINCESSES? IN 2 PETER 1, VERSES 1-7, IS PETER’S INSPIRED WORD ON GOD’S GRACIOUSNESS & POWER THAT IS AVAILABLE TO ALL TRUE REPENTANT & FAITHFUL BELIEVERS! FOLLOWED IN VERSES 8-11,& VERSE 16, THEN I CLOSE THIS MESSAGE.

2 PETER 1:1-7 SAYS, SIMON PETER, A SERVANT & AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST, TO THEM THAT HAVE OBTAINED LIKE PRECIOUS FAITH WITH US THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD & OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST: GRACE & PEACE BE MULTIPLIED UNTO YOU THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, & OF JESUS OUR LORD,

ACCORDING AS HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN UNTO US ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN UNTO LIFE & GODLINESS,THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM THAT HAS CALLED US TO GLORY & VIRTUE: WHEREBY ARE GIVEN UNTO US EXCEEDING GREAT & PRECIOUS: THAT BY THESE YOU MIGHT BE PARTAKERS OF THE “DIVINE NATURE”, HAVING ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD THROUGH LUST. AND BESIDE THIS,GIVING ALL DILIGENCE,ADD TO YOUR FAITH VIRTUE; & TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE; & TO KNOWLEDGE TEMPERANCE; & TO TEMPERANCE PATIENCE; & TO PATIENCE GODLINESS; AND TO GODLINESS BROTHERLY KINDNESS; & TO BROTHERLY KINDNESS CHARITY.

THEN EXAMINE VERSES 8-11! FOR IF THESE THINGS BE IN YOU, &ABOUND, THEY MAKE YOU THAT YOU SHALL NEITHER BE BARREN NOR UNFRUITFUL IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. “BUT” HE THAT LACKS THESE THINGS IS BLIND, & HAS FORGOTTEN THAT HE WAS PURGED FROM HIS OLD SINS. WHEREFORE THE RATHER,BRETHREN, “GIVE” DILIGENCE, TO MAKE YOUR CALLING & ELECTION SURE;FOR IF YOU DO THESE THINGS, YOU SHALL NEVER FALL; FOR SO AN ENTRANCE SHALL BE MINISTERED UNTO YOU ABUNDANTLY INTO THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF OUR LORD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.” THEN, VERSE 16!! “FOR WE HAVE NOT FOLLOWED CUNNINGLY DEVISED FABLES, WHEN WE MADE KNOWN UNTO YOU THE POWER & COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BUT WERE EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY.” GLORY!!

ARE “YOU” AN EYEWITNESS OF HIS MAJESTY? HE SAYS, AS HE KNOCKS ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR, “OPEN THE DOOR OF YOUR MIND, HEART, & WILL, & I WILL COME IN! BY MY LOVE, GRACE, & MERCY, I’LL CROWN YOU AS “CROWNED PRINCES & CROWNED PRINCESSES” IN MY KINGDOM LIVING OF HEAVENLY GLORY, DIVINE LOVE & POWER,SONS OF ETERNAL FAITH! AMEN? & WE’RE CALLED TO BARE FRUIT

FARRELL FISHER

“Some read the Bible and gain an accumulation of information without a relational experience of Oneness with the God who wrote it.” FF

FOREWARD

After my major heart attack April 28, 2013, I knew our Lord wanted me to write – and I did. In just a brief period of recuperation, I began to write a book entitled “Resignation to Hopelessness” which really is a book about our eternal hope. But presently there is a “hopeless spirit” that is like a dark cloud heavy over our nation, the USA.

And I am firmly convinced what God did for me after my heart attack that He can do for our nation! Didn’t He say in II Chronicles 7:14 that if His people called upon Him, humbling themselves and praying, that He would forgive their sins and heal their land?

There’s a biblical command in Isaiah 60:1-3 which says to “us”: “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will rise over YOU, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

And since God is no respecter of persons or nations, will He not rise upon us if we humbly call upon Him? Oh, yes, HE WILL! One truth I’ve learned and allowed to be deeply imbedded on my heart and mind is that God is not interested in our ‘abilities’, if we have any, but God is interested in our availability to ALL HE IS!!

So…let’s not be “crushed” but truly converted, and in on what God is up to! Didn’t Jesus say, “Ask, and you will receive, seek, and you will find, knock, and it shall be opened to you?” Let’s do that together as we examine some of life’s greatest questions!

OUTLINE

QUESTIONS THAT CRUSH OR CONVERT

CHAPTER ONE: “YOUR STRENGTH OR GOD’S ABLENESS?”

CHAPTER TWO: “FALSE FREEDOM OR DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY?”

CHAPTER THREE: “MAN DIES! DOES HE LIVE AGAIN?”

CHAPTER FOUR: “LIFE AS A VAPOR? WHERE’S ITS SIGNIFICANCE?”

CHAPTER FIVE: “IS THERE WISDOM IN ‘WAITING ON GOD’?”

CHAPTER SIX: “IS IT COMMONPLACE TO BE DECEIVED?”

CHAPTER SEVEN: “IS THE GOAL OF CHRISTLINESS UNATTAINABLE?”

CHAPTER EIGHT: “IS IT SELF-MADE TOWERS OR HIS DIVINE HOLY PRESENCE?”

CHAPTER NINE: “FISHING FOR MEN OR A FATALISTIC MIND-CLOSURE TO MEN?”

CHAPTER TEN: “IS CONTINUAL SIN ‘OK’ FOR A NEW OR TRUE BELIEVER?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN: “IS ‘ALL STRESSED OUT’ THE EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE?”

CHAPTER TWELVE: “IS ‘SALT’ AND ‘LIGHT’ THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: “ARE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS BOUND OR BLESSED BY OLD TESTAMENT LAW?”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: “ARE TEENAGERS, YOUTH,UNMARRIED YOUNG ADULTS FREE FOR ROMANTIC SLEEPOVERS?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: “HOW WILL YOU PLEAD?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: “WHEN GOD SPEAKS?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: “THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD?”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: “THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN: “THE PEOPLE OF GOD?”

CHAPTER TWENTY: “ENTER HIS GATES?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: “THE WAYS OF GOD?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: “WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: “IS THERE IN YOU PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: “WHERE’S THE GRIEF?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: “WHY GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: “THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OT THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: “ON WHAT DO YOU MAJOR?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: “SAD DEFECTIONS OR SURE ELECTIONS?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: “IS THERE DANGER IN WILDERNESS WANDERINGS BECOMING PERMANENT?

CHAPTER ONE

“YOUR STRENGTH OR GOD’S ABLENESS?”

IF “Christ in you” IS “the hope of glory”, then why are there far too many ‘professing’ followers who attempt devotion as disciples in their own strength (?), which is nothing more than wilting weakness?” One’s personal determination to honor Christ in the best effort of flesh-living is setting aside Jesus in them to a ‘closet-residence’ and they are void of ALL HE IS!

If we know that Holy God made Jesus to be sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), then why assert your impotence to please God when Christ stamped us through His shed blood as 100% as righteous as He is?

This is why in I Corinthians 1:30-31 Paul wrote: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Oswald Chambers put it like this: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.149], “Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation.”

If, according to 2 Peter 1:4 we are “partakers of the divine nature,” then why reach into “the old man” and fail to “rest” in Him and all He is? Some are so deceived in their fleshly pride that participation in their spiritual journey is indulgence only in “the luxury of misery” and they miss out on the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ – and they do pay a high price in counterfeit devotion and discipline with no honoring of Christ alone.

Your weakness or God’s ableness? ‘Fleshly energy’ related to divine living is a blurring of the very Life and Presence of Christ! This is why in Romans 5:10 Paul wrote: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

It is not natural tendencies that honor our Lord but the supernatural triumph of His death, His burial, and His Resurrection Life that raised us up out of the pit of our own destruction to the throne of being seated with Christ in the heavenly place right now! This is why in 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul said, “Now thanks be to God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ.”

But until one hears the Gospel Truth, is convicted by the Holy Spirit, and then receives “the gift of repentance” from God Himself, men wander and don’t know the wonder of His grace, mercy, and love, so they measure themselves by the themselves; oh, they wonder, no doubt, they question, they seek – in the wrong places, with wrong intents – and miss out on the wonderful words of eternal life, eternal mercy, and eternal grace. They miss the Mark set by God Himself.

You’ll remember that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that “…He [Jesus] died for all, that they who live SHOULD LIVE NO LONGER FOR THEMSELVES, but for Him who died and rose again ON THEIR BEHALF.” And I know you realize that there are those consumed by, controlled by, and diseased by the poisonous passion of living for themselves!

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus spoke of those who saw themselves as very religious but had never been re-born in the Spirit realm: Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cat out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ‘And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness?’”

Do you understand the ‘lawless’ and those who practice ‘lawlessness’? Look at the “Ten Commandments”! Why were they engraved on those tablets? That we might ‘touch’ the tablets, OR, that we might see our lawlessness because to offend in even one point is to be guilty of all. In Galatians 3:24 Paul wrote: “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.” Justification by faith is the only open door into the Holy Presence and oneness with God Almighty!

Man’s self-weakness, even though he may believe he’s the strongest man God ought to accept because of that man’s own estimation of himself, is a self-portrait painted in dark, grotesque, dirty colors, denying God’s judgment that he’s a guilty sinner, short-circuited by continuous sin, alienated from Father-God, spiritually dead though he believes he’s living life in grandeur when in reality he’s bound in a dungeon-cell of personal destruction. The reason? Because if a man is not living for the glory of God alone, he’s bound in the goriness and deceit of a blinded, blackened, broken existence.

If you look at Romans 5 Paul describes those for whom our Lord and Savior died on the Cross:

• Verse 6, “For while we were still helpless (without strength), at the right time Christ died…”
• Verse 6, “…Christ died for the ungodly.”
• Verse 8, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Verse 10, “For if while we were ENEMIES, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…”; and Verse 10 doesn’t end with ‘the death of His Son,’ but with the “much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

Saved by your grit or saved by His grace? Saved by your determination or your dependence on His finished work? Saved by your abilities or saved by your availability to all God tells us? Saved by your efforts or transformed by Emmanuel? If we must ALL appear before the judgment seat of Holy God and give an account, on what or whom will you stand with? Your weakness or God’s ableness? Hebrews 9:24-28 says:

“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest ethers the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another – He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

This is why Oswald Chambers wrote: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.206], “The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of self-realization – ‘I am my own god’ – This disposition may work out in decorous morality or indecorus immorality, but it has the one basis, my claim to my right to myself.”

And do you understand that your claim to your right to yourself is your weakness substituted for God’s Ableness? Your grit, substituted for God’s grace, is vainness in place of the eternal victory of Christ in you and through you! Vainness is empty pride…Victory is Jesus’ eternal celebration. Vainness is a man’s constant pat on his back…Victory is Jesus’ Hallelujah Chorus that never ceases! Vainness is ineffectual effort…Victory is Jesus’ never-ending promise! Vainness is idle boastfulness…Victory is immense blessing out of the very heart of God that never ends!

Your weakness? That’s self-effort with “no wins”! God’s ableness? That’s divine initiative with never a loss! Your weakness? That’s your sin, your guilt, your penalty, your judgment that is not a ‘pretty thing’! God’s Ableness? His love, His power, His anointing, His never-ending provisions, His eternal watch-care, His faithfulness to see you through!

Your weakness? You are a descendant of Adam – hopeless, helpless, hollow – even though you’ve viewed yourself as fellow man’s greatest gift! God’s Ableness? In You? No hopelessness, no helplessness, no hollowness, no imperfections, just His divine clearance, His affirming voice: “This is My Beloved son in whom I am well pleased;” this is My perfect daughter, justified by faith, granted peace with God, and not a closed door ever to His perfect, powerful, promising presence!

Your weakness? Your worldly advantages become your heavenly bankruptcies; your tributes of earthly recognitions and earthly glories are described becoming nothing more of significance than before Holy God to be looked upon as “men of low degree, of mindless thoughts, of eternal emptiness” but, God’s Ableness? I don’t know who wrote it, but he/she said: “Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream, All the fitness He requires is to know your need of Him! This He gives you; it’s the Spirit’s rising beam!”

Is He shining His beams of glory on your life and your walk? Your weakness or God’s Ableness? I want you to think about Paul the Apostle – put yourself in his place momentarily! Your weakness or God’s Ableness? In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 we read: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected [or made perfect] in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Did you see it? Do you accept it? “God’s power perfected in what?” “God’s power ONLY perfected in your weakness!” What did Paul say in Philippians 4:13? “I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.” Do you see a man in his natural state super-empowered by Divine strength? And yet how many have y7ou witnessed who leaned to their own understanding of themselves and did not depend, trust, rely, or wait upon God Himself?

Your weakness? “I can handle this; I am able; I’ve so trained, disciplined, learned for myself – and I can achieve what I want to achieve, overcome what I need to overcome, win whatever war I need to fight!” And when it’s over, you witness a whipped, beat-up puppy dog – the Lion of the Lord is absent! Your weakness? That’s one who lives on wild imaginations but is void of divine inspiration; that’s one who is fleshly motivated and makes his/her own plans – and may see them come to fruition without any inspiration from God or for God’s glory! Intellectually they reason it all out – but spiritually there is no anointing and no glory for God alone!

Would that be your weakness scribbled over the canons of your life as an imprint of your best effort void of the invasion of the anointing of God’s Spirit and God’s power? When “best efforts” replace “blessed anointing” we see defected canvases that win no acknowledgement from God!

I don’t know how I want to say this, but I’ll try: There is truly a golden rule of honoring God and glorifying Christ that comes when a disciple or disciples are empty of self and full of Jesus, empty of pride and pressing in to His fullness, empty of self-effort and full of the anointing, leading, empowering, and illuminating of His true Spirit of light!

It was John Tillotson who wrote: “He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.” Have you witnessed men who build decent reputations through their walks and journeys of life and yet are void of glory and honor and praise of God? It was John Milton, in “Areopagitica,” who wrote: “God sure esteems the growth and completing of one virtuous person, more than the restraint of ten vicious.” But what if virtuousness is for self-glory with no intent of opening the door to the honor and praise of God? Some men are virtuous without any intent of thankfulness or tribute to God! Think about it – now many NFL players play to honor God and the Savior, Jesus Christ? How many businessmen open their doors of businesses or banks or law firms to reveal Jesus? How many medical physicians or nurses do you know who see their professions as opportunities of mirroring Christ?

Slaves to worldly systems or servants of the Lord Jesus Christ? Men of selfish indifference to others or men of selfless involvement to reveal the Savior? Preachers of a professional, stage, performance status or Spirit-anointed messengers of the Most High God? False witnesses or an earthly-revealer of the Indwelling Christ? Meaningless testifiers or the very indwelling Presence and Spirit of Jesus Christ?

Your weakness or God’s Ableness? It was JohannWolfgang von Gothe who wrote: “Epochs of faith, are epochs of fruitfulness; but epochs of unbelief, however glittering, are barren of all permanent good.” Didn’t Jesus say, “By their fruits you shall know them?”

Your weakness or God’s Ableness? Are you truly aware that as God has no confidence in your ‘fleshly’ abilities neither should you? This is why in Philippians 3:3 Paul wrote: “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Paul then in Philippians 3:17-21 wrote: “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies o0f the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glorious in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself.”

I know you see it! Now, deal with it! “Flesh or Spirit”? Fleshly religious activity and spiritual hindrances or a spiritual presence and spiritual helps that truly bear witness to the Resurrected Christ? Do YOU count all things as loss to gain Christ or does what you hold onto in your fleshly walk determine your journey? Paul said what was his goal? “That I may gain Christ!”

In C.A. Coates’ book “The True Grace of God,” he shared a hymn that says: [p.126], “Yet sure in Your presence My soul still constant were, My eye would more familiar Its brighter glories bear. And thus Your deep perfections Much better should I know, And with adoring fervor In this Your nature grow.” Are you growing? Is it wild berries or ‘true fruit’? Your weakness or is it God’s Ableness? What are you resigned to – or what or Who are you resting in?

Is your spiritual journey continuous efforts at irreparable attempts of making your present life better apart from God’s redemption and reconciliation and regeneration or are you of the variety who says, “God, be merciful to me THE SINNER?”

Is God able to choose a man and make him into the father of many nations? Is God able to sustain, prepare, and then lead His people out of their bondages into His land of promises? Is God able to choose, raise up, or even put down kings and leaders over people and nations? Is God able to shut the lions’ mouths and protect His servants, delivering them even out of the lions’ dens? Can God separate the sea of your suffering and lead you through the parted waters of trouble on dry, safe ground? Can your God heal the sick, raise the dead, shatter your prison walls and set you free?

Has God, will God, does God take wounded sons and daughters, terrorized by godless or faithless dads and/or moms, and raise up true princes and princesses in the Royal Family? Is the God you know, the God you serve, the God you celebrate, the God who makes you more than a conqueror because of His great love; yes, is He the God who takes you out of death into Life Eternal, out of sorrow over your own brokenness into delighting in His healing grace, out of your meaninglessness into His eternal purposes and plans? Is God able to raise you out of man’s religions into His divine relationship?”

Is God able to spiritually take you out of your extreme, painful circumstances of life and sit you on and in His lap for heavenly hugs and holy presence that makes you stand in joy and delight and celebration? Is the God of miracles still present with you in your high mountains of misfortune and disappointment? Is God able to transform your vain glory into our eternal presence of a glory that never fades away?

Has one thing God ever promised you ever failed? In your house of bondage, when God said He’d deliver you out and into His Land, did that never happen? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”

It was Peter who signed his name to his letter in 2 Peter 1:1-4, 10-11, saying: “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father o0f our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection o0f Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…Verses 10-11, Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

What did Paul tell Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:12b, “…for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Then Peter, again, in I Peter 4:19 wrote, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” What’s that about? In I Peter 4:14 Peter said: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He (Jesus) is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”

I felt I needed to share these next few poetic words God put on my heart after the “widow-maker” experience with a close call to death! It’s so important that we examine where we truly are in our spiritual journey: “Our Weakness or God’s Ableness”?

“Religions’ face is not divine but is so poorly displayed And rests in sad abandonment of all heavenly aid; Religions’ voices are so extreme in their delight, But cannot lift the heart when fear shatters the night.

Uninformed disciples, so distraught in their gaze, Wonder if it’s at all possible for their mortal hearts to be raised. Misfortune is their loss with no smile in their grief, There is no word of comfort to give any sweet relief.”

Religions’ face? They gaze and gaze and gaze each day, And religions’ vain glories never die away. Emptiness is their song and they wonder, ‘To whom do we belong?’ And because ‘their weakness’ is their scheme, God’s Ableness for them is a blank theme.

Heavy are their nights because God’s Presence is not in their sight. The lions they cannot tame because they never look to God who is the same. They live in the valley of the shadow of death and never know the God who gives LIFE.

Their lives are not temples but tombs of the devils’ prey, because in their hearts no allegiance to Christ holds full sway. Absorbed in self-indulgence, divine power is not in their play, Their hearts are so contaminated because ‘flesh’ holds the day.

Hopeless sighs are not Heaven’s songs, And the love of God is not a truth to which they belong. ‘Religion is self-effort’ they boldly proclaim, as the message of Jesus to them is so lame.

Then, there is that soul, upon its knees, who has a different theme, “God is my rescuer, and upon Him I lean. Jesus is my Savior, of Him I faithfully sing. He washes my sin in His own blood, and carries me faithfully over life’s great flood.”

Holy Presence in me is His eternal theme, and with the angels of Heaven, I faithfully sing. Lord of my life from now and forever, Word of my life that faithfully delivers. Jesus is able my faith to sustain, and upon me His Spirit does faithfully rain.

God is able to lift me up, and faithfully bless me with Heaven’s over-flowing cup. I am His, and He is mine – and upon my life His Sun still shines –

And the Day is soon coming, when at His table, I eternally will dine – because He and His disciples are mutually mine.”

CHAPTER TWO

“FALSE FREEDOM OR DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY?”

In John 8:31-36 Jesus so truly spoke of the true, spiritual, practical, personal, eternal freedom that comes only through Him. His Word says: Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. I Know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.”

There is no greater word for an enslaved humanity than the word ‘free’! And there is no greater man on earth than that man who spends his whole life on earth providing for or even fighting for or dying for the freedom of others.

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines ‘freedom’ as: “A state of exemption from the power or control of another (maybe Satan?); liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement…”

In Genesis 15:13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” AND THEY WERE ENSLAVED – but there came that day when God divinely intervened and “set the captives free”!

Are you aware that there are those who “settle in” to captivity and think that it’s normal or just divinely intended? I truly believe Paul was joking about the Corinthians when in 2 Corinthians 11:19-20 he wrote: “For you, being so wise, bear with the foolish gladly. For you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face.”

Ezekial 34 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. God is up to something good here for all of us who’ve been enslaved in false freedom. He searches for His sheep, He leads them out of bondage to false prophets, He cares for His sheep and delivers them from darkness, from their cloudy and gloomy days, bringing them “out” from a deathly state of life to live in blessing, in security, because “you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men and I am your god,” declares the Lord God.” Oh, how good and great is that?”!!

But then, just as there is, false freedom, we must understand it is promoted by false prophets! Peter calls them “wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” [2 Peter 2:17]. Then in verses 18-22 he exposes their deceptions and their end! “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought out of bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled again in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,’ and, a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Sadly, some precious people have been enslaved, ensnared, and entangled in various webs of deceptions – and we can only pray that, out of that web of deception, men can be set ‘free’ by our Lord’s “divinely validated liberty”! “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” And Paul, in Romans 8:21, speaks of that freedom as “the glorious liberty of the children of God”!

Let’s look at ‘false freedom’ first. I’m convinced some are in bondage to the ignorance of their own SPIRITUAL DEATH BEFORE HOLY GOD.

When the Word declares that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” some ignore or are truly ignorant of the reality that “the wages of sin is death.” If you’ve never been one who reads, studies, or applies the Word of God to your life, you more than likely do not know the war between ‘flesh’ and the Spirit – that’s your old sin nature, the old man, the one not in union with Christ – so Paul tells us in Romans 8:6, “For to be carnally [or fleshly] minded IS DEATH, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Why is that? Because Romans 8:7-8 declares, “Because the carnal (fleshly) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” That means that those controlled by, dominated by, captured by, devoted to their old sin natures are bound by that until “Christ sets you free”!

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul tells us, “For He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [in Jesus only].” I love Romans 5:10! It says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

‘False Freedom’? THAT’S CHAINED TO ONE’S HURTS AND PAINS AND ‘GHOSTS” OF ONE’S PAST! Are you aware of hurting individuals who strongly, steadily, and as sure as day follows night, push down, try to bury, and attempt to suffocate their lostness, deadness, doubtfulness about their true identity in the sea of their forgetfulness? There are people who live with 5 days, 5 years, 50 years of pain and heartache and, yes, ‘ghosts’ out of their former days, knowing nothing of “new creations in Christ Jesus”!

You are aware that personal reformation is not divine transformation. Adapting is not being atoned for. Education is not evaporation of the errors (?) in your life that you now endure. Cosmetic covering is not Christ’s conversion of your old self to new Life in Him. When Jesus said ‘You must be born again,’ He said it to a highly religious man of stalwart, religious prominence! But he HAD TO BE BORN AGAIN! And so do we all!

“False Freedom?” THAT’S THE HOME-MADE TIME BOMB OF EXPLOSIVE SELF-REFORM! And it is so prevalent and presumptuous! “I can handle my own life – I don’t need God. That’s for sissies, for the weak-minded, for the sad folks who can’t stand on their own.”

And all around you are so many who will not bow before Truth because they’ve convinced themselves of ‘the Lie’[“I can sin and not die!”] – and they live by ‘self-modification’ and not the “sure mercies of God.”

Are you understanding? Controlled ‘flesh’ does not bring one into a personal relationship with Holy God! Best efforts do not reveal or unveil Blessed Emmanuel! A ‘natural,’ independent, self-ruling man is not free but bound in his weakness, blind to the spiritual, and burdened [though he may not know it] by the heavy load of his GOD-LESS-NESS! Natural values and virtues hinder and bring one to that absolute necessity of “:new birth,” not even knowing Hell’s armies have surrounded them to hold them back from “crucified with Christ,” thus becoming a child of the King.

“False Freedom”? THAT’S ONE WHO “SAYS” HE IS FREE BUT LIVES IN BONDAGE TO HIS CARNAL DESIRES AND HIS INSTINCTIVE, INDULGENT INCLINATIONS! In I Corinthians 3:1-3 Paul spoke of some Corinthian Christians who were behaving like “mere men.” “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

And “mere men” are those bound to their carnal desires and their instinctive, indulgent inclinations! “Mere men”? “We must increase – Jesus must decrease!” “Mere men”? “We don’t need to ‘perfect holiness’ because we have no fear of God!” “Mere men”? “We live on a common-sense basis and are not goaded by a God you profess to know!” “Mere men”? “We don’t have to be still and we don’t have to know He is God!”

It doesn’t take long to “see” and to “know” where a man’s heart i9s – and if it’s a closed heart to God, you’ll see a man daily grinding at the mill of self-indulgence, smelling worse each moment because of his rotting sensuality, easily angered by any mention of Jesus, and either coming apart at the seams of his life or angered and fighting back because he’s yoked with the devil and the powers of darkness.

That man is not delivered FROM his sin but has been given over TO his sin. The prison cuffs become heavier and heavier – the demonic voices become louder and the demonic traps more frequent and devastating in nature. He’s bound like a Samson by the deceptions of the Delilahs!!

“False Freedom”? THAT’S ONE, YES, BOUND BY THE CHAINS OF RELIGIOUS SUPERSTITIONS AND DEMONIC PHILOSOPHIES! In Galatians 4:8-11 Paul so eloquently and in convicting fashion nailed, yes, some professing disciples who had decided for bondage rather than deliverance! He wrote: “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now, after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.”

In fact Paul was so bold to the church at Corinth that he wrote them: I Corinthians 8:9-12, “But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their conscience, you sin against Christ.”

Plus, in I Corinthians 7:35, he wrote: “And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.” But bound by the chains of religious superstitions and demonic philosophies is not true freedom! This is why we read in Colossians 2:6-10, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

“False Freedom”? Dare I say that some false freedom is also the result of POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENTAL BONDAGE BY LEADERS WHOSE INTENT IS TO DECEIVE AND ENSLAVE THE PEOPLE THEY SUPPOSEDLY ARE TO BE SERVING, SETTING FREE, AND WATCHING THEIR GODLY GOVERNANCE OF THEIR LIVES, FAMILIES, AND ETERNAL PURPOSES!?!

“If Jesus sets you free, you shall be free indeed.” And I believe eternal honor is given to those who expend and extend and express their leadership to free others from the chains of civil bondage and governmental imprisonment, seeing men possess, enjoy, and share in their God-given rights: LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF BLESSING – NOT ONLY BEING A USA PRINCIPLE BUT A BIBLICAL STANDARD FOR GOD’S GLORY!

I’ve only given you a sip, a taste, of ‘false freedom’ but what is our “Divinely Validated Liberty”? Again, John 8:36 says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

I pray you see, sense, and fully understand that this “Divinely Validated Liberty” IS THAT SOVEREIGNLY PLANNED BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THIS WORLD! Revelation 13:8 speaks of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” And if you have any doubts, the prophetic Word of Isaiah 53:4-7 tells us: “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

In John 1:29 the Holy Word tells us: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” And that was Jesus of Nazareth! Revelation 5:11-13 says, Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wisdom and riches, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I hear saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

It’s God who sits on the throne! It’s the Lamb seated on the throne who took our place on the Cross, died, and yet forever lives! And all of that is out of the heart of God who tells us: John 3:16-21, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

But also “DIVINELY VALIDATED LIBERTY” IS THAT WHICH WAS AND IS SACRIFICIALLY PURCHASED: It is ours because Jesus has revealed it as a sovereign work of His power, but required, in the mind and heart of God, as that purchased by His shed blood! This is why, in Acts 20:28, that we read, “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

No doubt this is why we read in I Corinthians 7:23, “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” That price was and is the shed blood of the Lamb of God whose name is Jesus. Are you truly aware of WHO Jesus IS and what Jesus DID AT THE CROSS? This IS the eternal Son of God, God Himself, who gave up His freedom and His very Life that you and I might be set free. Jesus gave up His freedom that you might be LIBERATED FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH! The old hymn says, “Jesus Paid it all, All to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!”

DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT, NOT ONLY PURCHASED BY HIS BLOOD, BUT SWEETLY PRESENTED BY HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE, POWER, AND PROMISE: Do you understand? In His love He bought you and by His power He raises you up to His throne of everlasting life – and by His grace He liberates you to live in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You may have been in sackcloth and ashes, but in your repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ, He clothes you in His righteousness and instills within you everlasting freedom and liberty. We’re no longer “bound” but “blessed”, not imprisoned by our old sin natures but liberated by His blood and power, not hidden in darkness but one celebrating in the Light, not by self-effort or personal merit but by the grace, mercy, and love of God!

Certainly, it was for sinners He died, because there was and is none righteous, no not one! But though bondage is a curse, through His blood He gives us blessing. Though bondage is a chain, through His blood He gives us freedom. Though bondage is darkness and the very valley of the shadow of death, our Lord dresses us in the beautiful gowns of freedom and liberty. Though bondage is always cruel darkness which stings us and strangles and stifles us, His True Light shines and the darkest midnights of the soul become the high noons blazing in His personal, abiding presence.

DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT WHICH, PURCHASED BY HIS SHED BLOOD, BECOMES THROUGH GRACE AND FAITH OUR PRESENT AND PERENNIAL POSSESSION: Do you understand “chained through the ages” but now, through His shed blood, we’re free in the eternal fresh air of holy presence? Bound with the guilty, but now free with the emancipated, bound with the dark ones, but now celebrating with sons and daughters of light, bound with the slaves of sin, but now servants of His holy righteousness, bound in the darkness of sinful hearts, but now servants of God by the dawn of new creation Light?

BUT, LASTLY, DIVINELY LIBERATED LIBERTY IS THAT WHICH, PURCHASED BY HIS SHED BLOOD, GRANTS TO US A PERFECT PARDON: Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love [or mercy]. Verse 19, He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You [God] will cast our sins into the depths of the sea.”

How does that happen? Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Yes, even King David knew and understood God’s perfect pardon! He said, Psalm 32:1-5, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand, God, was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

It was Spurgeon who said, “Forgiven sin is better than accumulated wealth.” The precious prize of pardon is a dark night turned into the brightness of Heaven’s eternal shining sun on a forgiven son whose sin has been washed and cleansed in the Lamb’s blood! Isaiah 43:25 says, God speaking, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Glory!

The memory of past sin, washed in the blood, is not to be like a hanging noose wrapped around your throat! What you were without Christ is not who you ARE in Christ now. Doesn’t His Holy Word tell us, Psalm 32:2, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity (or charge his account with), and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

If any man after death had any perception of a life of unforgiven sin and what he had in store for an unforgiven life of rebellion to God, I believe he’d fall before the Cross and empty tomb, confessing his sin, and calling out for mercy and grace. Oh, please hear Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.255]. He quoted Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified [or ‘set apart’].” Then Chambers said: “It does not matter who or what we are, there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and no other way, not because Jesus pleads, but because He died. It is not earned, but accepted. All the pleading which deliberately refuses to recognize the Cross is of no avail; it is battering at another door than the one which Jesus opened. I don’t want to come that way, it is too humiliating to be received as a sinner. “There is none other name…” The apparent heartlessness of God is the expression of His real heart, there is boundless entrance in His way. “We have forgiveness through His blood.” Identification with the death of Jesus Christ means identification with Him to the death of everything that never was in Him…The Atonement is a propitiation whereby God through the death of Jesus makes an unholy man holy.”

Divinely Validated Liberty, or freedom, is: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” []John 8:36].

CHAPTER THREE

MAN DIES! DOES HE LIVE AGAIN?

I don’t know of a more crippling question if one’s life has no foundation of saving grace or mercy, and he asks, “If I die, will I live again?” Death for many is, yes, death to truth because in their minds and hearts they wished to die, having no saving will to live! I saw recently in print a man speaking of “fine dying [which is] a man’s privilege…” But if he doesn’t know if he lives again, what is “fine” about that? That may be the wicked and the weary and the worn down who want what they’ve experienced to be over! But it’s not.

Death is not a ‘troubling dream’; death is not a punishment but an open door to a different state of life; death is either a dread because of the door it opens to some, but for others it is the gate of life opened to eternal blessing; it’s so sad but death for some is experiencing death without having appropriated the life God desired them to claim, while others continue their blessed life of faith even though they have died in resurrection hope, power, and promise.

It’s for certain that there truly is ‘a democracy of the dead’ in which equality is real and sure. It was the “Aerzte-Kalendar” from Germany that had a quote saying: “The thought of death leaves me completely calm because I have the firm conviction that our spirit is a being of indestructible nature, continuing from eternity to eternity; it is similar to the sun, which seems to set each night for us mortals, but which actually never sets, instead continues to shine uninterruptedly.,”

It is for sure our ‘being’ is of an indestructible nature and continues on and on and on either in Heaven or Hell! For some that eternal state after physical death is immeasurable blessing in fellowship with Holy God, with the Lord Jesus Christ, and engulfed in still greater blessings in and through the Holy Spirit; but the ‘lost,’ the unbeliever, the rebellious, the deceived, there remains forever eternal torment under the control of Satan and his satanic demons and armies forever and ever, experiencing a ‘death’ that will not die! For them, death is not the gate to heavenly pleasure but hellish dread.

I really do not know how the ‘godless’ even think about ‘death’ with its open door to continual corruption, demonic disturbance, and satanic slavery. But born-again believers? They take their “rest” on the bosom of Jesus, wrapped in His arms of love and grace and mercy! But the worldly? It was George Eliot who said: “Worldly faces never look so worldly as at a funeral.” IN Revelation 14:13 we read, “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: ‘Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘That they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”

That is an awesome word of encouragement and enlightment. There is a ‘rest’ from our labors, and what we’ve done in the earthly life follows us into the heavenly life! No doubt this is why the author of Hebrews wrote: Hebrews 4:9-10, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” And, in Hebrews 3:18-19, gracious God has given us a warning: “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” When I read these verses I realize that that moment of death is not as one embracing a moment of final sleep but entering, for them, a new and lasting awakening to the fullness of Heaven’s blessings or the fullness of Hell’s curses!

The Holy Word speaks of “rest” for the believer in death, but to the unbeliever Revelation 9:12 speaks of “One woe is past; and behold, there comes two woes more hereafter.” But the born-again believer? Look with me at I Corinthians 15:50-58!! Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

I pray you see and are fully aware that born-again believers know and are fully persuaded that death has lost its sting! Yes, for the true believer “death is swallowed up in victory”!

But not all men know “death swallowed up in victory” but death sounding with cruel cries, heavy hearts, and sorrowful loneliness. Eglon, king of Moab, had conquered Israel and ruled over them for eighteen years. But the Lord raised up a deliverer whose name was Ehud. Ehud came to the king carrying not only ‘tributes’ but trouble – he brought a dagger! In the presence of the king, Ehud said to Eglon, “I have a message from God for you.” The dagger was “death swallowed up in defeat!”

You may not have heard of the venerable English preacher, George Whitfield, but in his early ministry days he fell ‘deathly ill’, and was not sure he would live or die. He experienced an extremely high fever and thought his time had come. There was a blessed negro woman who was caring for him. She said boldly, “No, Mr. Whitfield, you are not going to die yet; you have thousands more to bring to Christ; keep up your spirits, for you will live and not die – the Master has a big job for you to do.”

Job no doubt wrestled with himself and God about the reality of death. In Job 30:16-23 we read: “And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; the days of affliction take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest. By great force my garment is disfigured; it binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and you regard me. But You have become cruel to me; with strength of Your hand You oppose me. You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success. For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.”

Spurgeon wrote in his “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 17, p.299], “It is the part of a brave man, and especially a believing man, neither to dread death not to sigh for it; neither to fear death nor to court it. In patience possessing his soul, he should not despair of life when hardly pressed; and he should be always more eager to run his race well than to reach its end.” Sound words of wisdom from Dr. Spurgeon!

I have a very solemn statement to share with you that I firmly believe can change your life forever if you respond positively to it. Here it is: “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.” That comes from Isaiah the prophet to Hezekiah who was sick and near death. [Isaiah 38:1].

Across the seventy-seven years of my life I have witnessed death in the old, in the young, in babies, in middle-aged men and women, scholars, athletes, doctors, housewives, mothers, fathers, soldiers, policemen, historians, prisoners, patriots – but regardless of their status economically, financially, socially, spiritually – whatever, they still died!

The psalm-song of David ought to be learned and sung over and over: Psalm 39:4-7, “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about as a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.”

It was Augustine who used to speak uncertainly, not sure whether he ought to call life “a dying life or a living death” – and it’s certain the temporal life is a dying life and we are living to die, but that’s simply earthly and fails to face the eternal! I’ll never forget my New Testament professor of preaching at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, who told us regularly: “Preach as a dying man to dying men!”

Again, Spurgeon, [“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” Vol. 17, p.301] preached: “Early in the life of my boys I took them to the old churchyard of Wimbledon and bade them measure some of the little graves within that enclosure, and they found several green hillocks which were shorter than themselves. I tried thus to impress upon their young minds the uncertainty of life. I would have every child remember that he is not too young to die. Let others know that they are not too strong to die.” Then Spurgeon shared about Paracelsus, a very famous physician of old time, who prepared a medicine that he believed would extend a life for a long time if taken regularly, and maybe never die, except of extreme old age; and guess what? Paracelsus died a young man!

Job not only believed though that the hour of death would come since “it is appointed unto men to die,” but that also, after death, there are “houses appointed for all living.” Beyond death, beyond the grave, there is Satan’s abode and the Savior’s home in glory. Where you spend eternity is to be settled in your own mind, heart, and will.

What did Job say? And did he say it because he truly believed it and rested in it? “I know that you will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.” Providential plans are firmly established for “life after death” because of His revealed Word: Didn’t David describe for us the joy in the true believer because of his after-death destination? Psalm 23:4-6 tells us: “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER!”

There is resurrection life AND resurrection hope! It’s Job again, Job 19:25-26, who cemented and celebrated for us the true believers’ after-life when he said: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, THIS I KNOW, that in my flesh I shall see God.”

Paul understood our future after our earthly departure. In I Corinthians 13:12 he wrote: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” And in Christ we are KNOWN BY GOD HIMSELF!

Do you know it, sense it, celebrate it, shout it out on the housetops? Didn’t we read I Corinthians 15:53? “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality?” Glory! Glory Hallelujah!! Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary describes “immortality” like this: “The quality of never ceasing to live or exist; exemption from death and annihilation; life destined to endure without end; as the immortality of the human soul – Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” [2 Timothy 1:10]. Noah Webster went on to describe immortality as “exemption from oblivion…existence not limited.”

And all of this is because, I Timothy 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God alone who is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” SO BE IT!

But I do know that there are so many people, even some in our local churches, who’ve never broken through their walls of fear about death to rest in the eternal hope of their oneness in and with Christ Jesus for the forever life in Heaven. Of course, some are afraid to die because they know they are separated from God, and intend to stay that way – but Hell scares them. I can only pray they get Hell scared out of them because Hell is real as Heaven is real, but it truly is a ‘hellish’ place!

Again, listen to the wise Spurgeon who operates as a surgeon on the disease of the fear of death and Hell: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 17, pps. 312-313], “When the decree of God is our delight, we feel no abhorrence to anything which He appoints either in life or in death. If we are living as Christians ought to live, we have denied our self-will, and we have accepted the Lord to be the arbiter of all events, the absolute ruler of our being. If your soul is truly married to Christ, you find your supreme bliss in the Bridegroom’s will. Your cry is, “Your will be done.” This should be our ordinary condition in daily life; and it is an admirable preparation for thinking of death with composure. Let me live, if God will be with me in life; let me die, if He will be with me in death. So long as we are “forever with the Lord,” what matters where else we are? We will not further ask when or where; our ‘when’ is “forever,” our ‘where’ is “with the Lord.” Delight in God is the cure for dread of death.” Amen?

Are you at peace that if you lie down in your bed tonight that it just might be your last night alive in your earthly body? The one thing I believe we gladly receive through the truth of God’s Word is that a man is not prepared to live fully if he’s not prepared to die in faith – not fear. How does that come to be?

RECFEIVE GOD’S FAITHFUL WORD FOR YOURSELF ABOUT LIFE AND ABOUT DEATH. What did Jesus tell us? “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” How’s your daily menu in God’s Word?

RECOGNIZE THAT YOU ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM DYING. Isn’t death appointed? It doesn’t matter where you live death occurs. It doesn’t matter how educated you are – one is not wiser than death. It doesn’t matter how physically strong you’ve disciplined y7ourself to be, that moment comes when death rules. It doesn’t matter how religious you’ve trained yourself – death is inevitable. Psalm89:49 says, “What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?”

RECOGNIZE THAT, ONCE DUST, TO DUST WE SHALL RETURN. Yes, Job spoke of ‘corruption’ that ‘you are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ alerting himself that he does go the way of all men – and he knew his time would come. Do you deny it? “In Adam all die”! But, praise God, in Christ we live forever even though the physical perishes!

RECOGNIZE, YES, THE WAGES OF SIN IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE ‘DEATH’! What does Romans 5:12 tell us? “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned – “ So, we’re hopeless? Look at Romans 5:17! “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Christ Jesus.”

RECOGNIZE IN YOURSELF THE REALITY OF YOUR OWN AWARENESS, ASSOCIATION, OR AFFINITY WITH THE INEVITABLE!! And do you know what happens when we get gut-level honest with ourselves? We begin to ask questions, to look about us to the overcomers of the fear of death, to truly ask, “Does God have a word for me?”, to set aside satanic influences of unbelief, doubt, or fear, and to begin a journey of faith and obedience to “my Savior” who died and rose again!

In Psalm 91 we find such a powerful word of enlightment, encouragement, and an enabling to live the overcoming life in Christ. It says: Verses 14-16, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Living in Christ is living abundantly because that’s LIVING IN AND THROUGH GOD ALONE!

CHAPTER FOUR

“LIFE AS A VAPOR? WHERE’S ITS SIGNIFICANCE?”

In “The Works” of Alfred Lord Tennyson, [p.546], the famous poet and writer of the past, wrote the following words: “Visions of youth – for my brain was drunk with the water, it seems; I had past into perfect quiet at length out of pleasant dreams, And the transient trouble of drowning – what was it when matched with the pains Of the hellish heat of a wretched life rushing back through the veins?” The very next writing?

“Why should I live? One son had forged on his father and fled, And if I believed in a God, I would thank him, the other is dead, And there was a baby-girl, that had never looked on the light: Happiest she of us all, for she past from the night to the night.”

A suicidal youth and a dead baby girl who never saw light! And some believe they’ve celebrated life by drowning or just dying right out of the mother’s womb? I believe I’d call that “maimed, marred, misspent living.” I pray that it would alarm you, stir you, challenge you, that you would discover multitudes around you who see for themselves no real value in living – as James 4:14 asks, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

And that’s true of masses of people! Certainly we were all created free to choose whether to live as a fleeting vapor or a victorious son and daughter of God Himself. But sadly, the paralysis of believing, of trusting, of obeying the God who made us, leaves one spiritually and morally empty, and he/she does as he/she pleases with desperate, darkening consequences. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Presumptuous people are for the most part people who are arrogant, filled with fleshly pride, irreverent to revealed Truth, ‘living’ unto themselves in a state of spiritual blindness, darkness, and unbelief. They defy conscience, promote vainness, and despise holiness and holy revelation.

Vapor victims? Life has no meaning for them, life purpose is a paralysis they think they avoid, life relationship to God is hollow for them, life values are personal merits rather than Prince of Peace mercy; life music has no sound chords but only death and dying, off-key rhythms; life’s ‘self’, as Francis Bacon wrote, is ‘the chiefest bridle of all vices’; “life is doubt so just do as you please;” life is for many an untruth that sprouts into total falsehood, becoming Satan’s sharp teeth to sink into others; yes, and vapor victims can be victims of religion apart from relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Robert Burns, in “The Cotter’s Saturday Night,” wrote: “Compared with this, how poor Religion’s pride, in all the pomp of method and of art, When men display to congregations wide, Devotion’s every grace, except the heart!”

In “Gentle Alice Brown” Sir William Schwenk Gilbert wrote: “Of all unhappy sinners, I’m the most unhappy one! The padre said, ‘Whatever have you been and gone and done?” LIFE IS A VAPOR! That’s “what you’ve been and gone and done!” How sad is Job 7:6-10? “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be. As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore.”

Fast, fleeting, hopeless days – a brief breath – a vanishing cloud – one who is no longer known – with Job at one point in his earthly journey even saying: Job 7:16, “I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are but a breath.”

“Life as a vapor? Where is its significance?” James helped us so much to understand “hope” when one sees himself as totally “hopeless”. In James 1:14-16 the brother of Jesus wrote: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” How did Paul the Apostle put it? Romans 5:10 says, “For id when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

Paul said later in his letter to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He [God] mahe Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s our eternal victory not temporal vapors! But the sad truth is some who profess faith in Jesus’ shed blood for their sin never consider5 its purpose in God’s grace and mercy to extend, express, and enlighten His righteousness through their daily journeys!

“My sins are forgiven!” SO? For what purpose and to whose glory? In Romans 5:14-17, 20, the Apostle of faith challenges us: “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more, the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus. Verse 20, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”

I’m not interested any further in elaborating on our death, our state of death, or our date with death, but that out of that spiritual death our Lord and Savior has released for us “resurrection life, resurrection power, and resurrection hope.” It’s so true that a man needs to understand his latter end and the briefness of his days on this earth, but more importantly one needs to grasp, “Why am I here? And, what is the purpose of my existence?”

Spurgeon said, [“Spurgeon’s Sermons”,Vol.15, p.54], “Among the earnest, the prayerful, the holy, many must own that the vaults of death have brought them spiritual health.” And I believe, even more, confronted by Christ, testified to by the lives of His servants, spiritually convicted by His living Word, one comes to the holy hour of divine confrontation and eternal intent!

Significant day? Significant life? I believe that’s the day of truly eternal significance when one is gripped, not by what today or tomorrow brings, but WHO HOLDS US IN HIS HANDS AND ARMS AND HEART OF SAVING GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE. Have you heard our Lord say to you: “You are Mine because I love you, I died for you, and I rose from the grave to draw YOU unto MYSELF?” In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we read, :For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Significant day? Significant life? At least “vapor” shows us how meaningless and fleeting we are in ourselves. I believe, by God’s Word and by God’s Spirit and by God’s faithful witnesses, that we begin to sense, receive, and stand upon our eternal purpose of “LIVING” in the glory and relationship of oneness with Him! Paul put it like this in Galatians 1:15-16, 24: “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me…v.24…And they glorified God in me.” In Galatians 2:20-21 Paul enlightens us even more: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God…”

Significant day? Significant life? The new disciple’s life is not for pats on our backs but for praises to the God of grace. In I Peter 2:9-10 Peter tells us: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

Paul, in Romans 1:3-5 speaks “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him, we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom YOU ALSO ARE THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST…”

“Obedience to the faith”? In 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 Paul wrote: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Ambassadors for Christ, messengers to a lost and dying world, witnesses of His amazing grace, love, and mercy, the story-tellers of eternal truth, the flag-carriers of kingdom allegiance – extensions of His life, expressions of His love, the proofs of His power!

Significant day? Significant life? What about safety? What about security? What about ‘settled into’? What about heavenly significance of service and sacrifice? What about life as a true hymn of faith? In Isaiah 33:14-17 the prophet wrote: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites; “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; He will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; they will see the land that is very far off.”

Spurgeon wrote: [“Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol. 15, p.31], “Safety in Zion belongs to those born in her by regeneration, reared in her by sanctification, enfranchised in her by faith in the Son of God, settled in her by fixed principles, confirmed in her by obedience to her laws, and bound to her by intense love of her king and her citizens. Such “shall dwell on high” secure from danger, and only such: the aliens and foreigners within her gates shall ere long be driven forth with shame.”

“Life as a vapor? And where is its significance? Just think for a moment about Paul’s challenging statement to the Galatian church – Galatians 4:19-20, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.” Do you grasp a present, participatory, praying spirit in the “professors of faith” around you? For many, rather than significant, saving faith, it is an attitude of shame toward God and they’re angry with Him. In Isaiah 45:22-25, God speaks: “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.”

That’s because some are so ‘self-sufficient’ that they believe God ought to bless them because of their meritorious ‘spiritual genius’ – and God laughs! But the ‘true Israel’ calls for mercy. The true Israel calls to God for new hearts. The true Israel cries out for grace to abound toward them more and more. The true Israel knows and understands there is no hope for them save in God Himself! Their faith and trust is living – not dead, it is dynamic – not dormant, it is heart-changing – not cosmetic!

Significant day? Significant life? Do you remember the angel’s description of John to Zacharias? Luke 1:16-17 says, “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Oh, how awesome is that! Our faith in Christ is a walk making ready people prepared for the Lord! YOUR LIFE IN CHRIST? It’s not a fictitious story of faithlessness but the true story of people preparing to meet their God!

What does Ephesians 2:8-10 tell us about our life and living in Christ in eternal significance? It says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

What is a ‘professed’ faith if there is no life change? Your outward life may be perceived as “All For God,” but if there is no new heart by the grace of God, it’s a sham, a pretense, a false witness! But grace, true grace, births a new witness – Titus 2:11-12 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age..” Then in Titus 3:5-7 he amplifies it to Titus, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

There’s nothing ‘skin-deep’ about saving faith in a “new life” – saving faith is the reality of crucifixion with and in Christ and raised up as a new creation. In Psalm 24:3-5 David wrote about the King of glory and His Kingdom citizens. He said: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

Oh, examine your ‘life’ of faith. Is it a true life of faith – redeemed by the blood of Christ, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and renewed by the Living Word of God? Are you a free man in Christ Jesus? Free from the darkened sins of your old sin nature? Free from the uncontrolled vices of guilt and shame and bondage? Free from the oppression and domination of the powers of darkness? Free from the fashionable sins of a perverted people? Free from the starvation diet fleshliness birthed in you? Free from the abomination of a defenseless nature of sin and death?

What did Jesus tell us? John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal live, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Oh, but that is not all you need to rest in!! Look at Romans 8:31-39!! What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol.15, pps. 46-47] Spurgeon said: “As for the waters, the living waters of grace and of the Holy Spirit, these shall always flow: in summer and winter shall the still waters be found at your side; yes, they shall be within you “a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” Words cannot tell the privilege of the man who lives in God and lives with God! He need not shiver in the damps of the earth – he lives on high; he need not fear the fury of the enemy, for he has a place of defence; he need not dread the lapse of time; his munitions are of rock; he need not tremble at famine and drought, his needs shall all be met by the care of heaven. The man who knows his sins are forgiven, who is covered with the righteousness of Christ, who is in vital union with the Lord Jesus, who is indwelt by the Holy Ghost: that man, I say, need not desire to be any other than he is, but may give himself up to blessing and praise and magnifying the Most High every moment of his life till he is caught up to the highest heaven, to dwell where enemies cannot threaten nor necessities arise.”

Always remember: self-righteousness is a curse – Savior-blessed righteousness is heavenly celebration daily; self-acceptance is deceit if Christ within you is not your delight; self-approval is blindness while Christ’s Atonement is true sight and heavenly vision; self-worship is the devil’s delight while “rejoicing in the Lord” is a disciple’s journey and eternal destiny’ self-will is spiritual sickness while divine will and blessing is healthy living, thanks to God’s love, mercy, and grace.

Psalm 39 is an awesome psalm of personal awareness and a psalm of one’s awareness of the great, great need of God to transform “vapors” into the eternal breath of God in us. The psalmist wrote: I said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.” I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up. My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned. Then I spoke with my tongue: “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am. Indeed, You have made my days as handbreaths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches and does not know who will gather them. And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of the foolish. I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it. Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is a vapor. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger with You, a sojourner, as well as my fathers were. Remove Your gaze from me, that I may regain strength, before I go away and am no more.”

Hear me! If your “life” is a life of significance and celebration it’s because you are “in Christ Jesus”! No other reason or explanation! So… “All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall; Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!!”

I truly celebrate Christ Jesus every time I pick up and read Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost For His Highest.” On pages 140-141 he listed Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him.” Then he said confirming words to this chapter: “The initiative of the saint is not towards self-realization, but towards knowing Jesus Christ. [I say, that’s true life!]. The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There is a reckless abandonment about him. The Holy Spirit is determined that we shall realize Jesus Christ in every domain of life, and He will bring us to the same point again and again until we do. SELF-REALIZATION leads to enthronement of work; whereas the saint enthrones Jesus Christ in his work. Whether it be eating or drinking or washing disciples’ feet, whatever it is, we have to take the initiative of realizing Jesus Christ in it! Every phase of our actual life has its counterpart in the life of Jesus. Our Lord realized His relationship to the Father in the most menial work. “Jesus knowing…that He was come from God, and went to God…took a towel…and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”…The aim of the spiritual saint is “that I may know Him.” Do I know Him where I am today? If not, I am failing Him. I am here not to realize myself, but to know Jesus…[the disciple’s] aim is to secure the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances he is in.” AMEN?

CHAPTER FIVE

“IS THERE WISDOM IN WAITING ON GOD?”

In “Tennyson’s Works” I do not know what spurred the following but it does speak, not to waiting, but postponing what could have happened earlier in two lives. Tennyson wrote: “And the wind began to rise, and I thought of him out at sea, And I felt I had been to blame; he was always kind to me, ‘Wait a little, my lass, I am sure it will all come right’ – And the boat went down that night – the boat went down that night.”

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines waiting as “staying in expectation.” I like that, but I also know that waiting can be ‘wilting’! Job said in Job 14:14, “…All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.” He didn’t want to be ahead of God or behind Him. Job said later, Job 17:13-15, “If I wait for the grave as my house, if I make my bed in the darkness, if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?”

There’s no doubt Job knew a ‘waiting’ apart from God can be so demonstrative of everything but Godly living and Godly expression and experience. He had learned to battle through dark moments and come out in eternal Light. In Job 19:25 he said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth, Verse 26, And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.”

Living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas, area it is not unusual to see a large number of auto wrecks daily, snuffing out lives by the hundreds over a year’s time, and some because of faulty brakes – but spiritually far too many outside of automobile wrecks have no wisdom, no understanding, no prudence to protect, but live so recklessly. Fleshly or carnal security is not exempt from spiritual stupidity. They don’t possess holy wisdom but learn self-pride and self-wisdom goes before a spiritual fall which can become so disastrous. Their lives have faulty spiritual brakes because they’re devoid of divine wisdom.

There is such an impressive, inspirational instruction in Isaiah 40:29-31. It says, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Of course, you are aware that “youths and young men” feel they are so invincible that they need no one, not even God! But they do “faint,” they do “fail,” and they do “fall.” Even “old men” wax “old” in foolishness and will “live” in spiritual death because they base their lives on fleshly desires, inordinate affections, maddening morality, and give no place for God in their lives! It’s not just old garments that become “ragged and torn”, but old men as well who have no wisdom.

Wanton, worldly wisdom waits not on God but wilts and dies because men build “houses” with no foundation of faith or on unstable, improper, yes, deathly foundations without God!

Knowing the reality of heavenly wisdom that comes from “waiting on God” comes because one recognizes truly that “in Him we live and move and have our being.” Apart from Him it’s death in full mode. And this, no doubt, is why inspired by the Holy Spirit, James wrote 1:5-8 which says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Lacking wisdom and knowing it is not a universal blessing but sadly a universal curse because most men really believe they are wiser than God Himself and more able to handle their own affairs leaving God Himself out of their lives. “If any of you lack wisdom” – how wise or insufficient of wisdom are you? Do you understand that when it comes to our lives in the spiritual realm that most have never had a tutor – they are content with spiritual blinders to ignore rather than have unveiled in them the wisdom of God.

But James told us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given him.” Let’s see what we can discover about the wisdom of waiting on God!

WE’VE JUST SEEN IN SCRIPTURE THE WISWDOM OF WAITING ON GOD THROUGH PRAYER: If we look at Ephesians 5:18 we hear Paul instructing us to “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” It’s for sure that “praying…in the ‘flesh’” is of no value but praying in and through the Spirit-Man opens the door to the very mind and heart of God.

In James 4:2 James said: “Yet you do not have because you do not ask.” Didn’t Jesus tell us in Matthew 7:7-11 about asking and receiving? “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

BUT ALSO THERE MUST BE THE WISDOM OF RECEIVING FROM “THE CLOUD OF WITNESSES” AS OUR EXAMPLE: In Hebrews 12:1-4 we see a challenging word for us: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Forconsider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted ti bloodshed, striving against sin.”

Tell me about that godly “cloud of witnesses” that you’ve allowed to surround your life – family, friends, ‘angels unaware,’ teachers, neighbors, classmates, the converted and transformed ‘drunk’ or drug addict, the friends whose marriages were saved by Christ Jesus, that holy professor whose presence constantly caught YOUR ATTENTION.

Acts 5:25-32 highlights for us godly witnesses that cannot be silenced or denied – and all around YOU are godly witnesses from whom you can and will receive their “cloud of glory” as they reveal to you their salvation journey. “So one came and told them, saying, ‘Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!’ Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!’ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.’” And doesn’t His Word speak about a “great cloud of witnesses”?

THEN ALSO THIS GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES IS THE WISDOM THAT ACCEPTS GOD’S EXCHANGE OF HIMSELF FOR OUR NOTHINGNESS: In I Timothy 6:7 Paul wrote: “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” To Titus Paul wrote: Titus 1:15, “…to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled…”

I don’t hesitate in saying to you that apart from God’s salvation in and through Christ ALL MEN are as nothing – that’s zeroes. No eternal LIFE, No eternal significance, and yet our Lord valued them enough to die on the Cross for their nothingness to bless them with Heaven’s everything and ALL!

Alfred Lord Tennyson, in “Despair,” wrote the following: [“Tennyson’s Works,” p.545], “Hoped for a dawn and it came; but the promise had faded away; We had passed from the cheerless night to the glare of a drearier day;….He is only a cloud and a smoke who was once a pillar of fire, The guess of a worm in the dust and the shadow of its desire – Of a worm as it writhes in a world of the weak trodden down by the strong, Of a dying worm in a world, all massacre, murder and wrong….O we poor orphans of nothing – alone on that lonely shore – Born of the brainless Nature who knew not that which she bore!….Trusting no longer that earthly flower would be heavenly fruit – Come from the brute, poor souls– no souls – and to die with the brute.”

In Isaiah 40:17 the prophet looks upon the nations of the masses of people and says: “All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.” But then, because of His great love and mercy, He chooses to die in our place that we might live in Him and through Him! In James 1:2-4 James wrote: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Do you see that? Out of a saving, tried faith, God’s people allow the steadfastness of God to do a perfect work in them, and they become mature and complete, lacking nothing. The “nothings” become inheritors of His everything! In Jeremiah 29:11 our Lord speaks: “For I know the thoughts that I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

ALSO, PLEASE NOTE, IT’S WISDOM, TRUE WISDOM THAT DISCOVERS AND DEPENDS UPON THE GREATNESS OF OUR GOD: One of the awesome passage of the Old Testament is found in I Chronicles 29:10-14 which says, Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said: ‘Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.”

A solemn, serious, sacrifice of praise is in order every day of a man’s life concerning the greatness of our God. In fact, I see it as indispensable – and apart from the worship and praise of God’s greatness, it causes me to wonder if they’ve truly entered a saving relationship with Holy, Merciful, Loving God. The greatness of God is immortal!

The greatness of God, yes, the awareness and acknowledgement of it by men, breeds eternal interest, abiding love for, and continual praise and bowing before and celebrating our great God! The absence of that in one’s life is evidence they’ve never met Him, or known Him, or loved Him, or celebrated Him. Psalm 48:1 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised…” Great in goodness, great in mercy, great in love, great in His activity, great in His wisdom, great in His deliverance, great in His salvation, great in His assurance, great in His glory, great in His power, great in His name, great God, great King, great Savior, great Lord, great Peace, great Joy – do you know, do you serve “The God Who Is Greater?”

THIS LEADS US TO THE WISDOM THAT OPENS THE HEART OF WORSHIP AND PRAISE AND ADORATION IN A TRUE BELIEVER’S HEART AND SOUL: In John 4 the woman of Samaria had come to draw water and Jesus asked a drink of her. The woman responded, verse 9, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” In verse 10 Jesus responded to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” What a curve-ball to a ‘strike-out queen! But, at least now, encountered by Jesus, she wants to know where one gets ‘living water’!

In telling her about the ‘living water,’ Jesus tells her that the water He’ll give to her will become in her a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life! Then, beginning in verse 21-26, Jesus reveals to her the heart of true worship! Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of [or through] the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

And who are the true worshippers? Philippians 3:3 says, “For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh [or one’s old sin nature.”

Revelation 4:8-11 is a picture of those who “bow” before Holy God and their Savior in an unending attitude of adoration and praise! It says: “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes, around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

I remember in my very younger years, maybe 8-11 years of age, when I visited my father’s parents in Athens, Tennessee, they had a large two-story home with a wrap-around porch from the front door all the way around to the back door. I often walked around the porch and would witness a woman on her porch on her knees with her hands lifted high. I asked my grandmother one day what the woman was doing, and she responded, “Why, son, she’s worshipping and praising and praying to God. She bows before Him every day.” I didn’t ask her but I should Have: “Mammaw, do you bow and pray every day?”

I would ask you right now: “Are you a disciple who bows, who prays, who worships God every day?” I love the statement that I heard on an occasion: “Worship is transcendent wonder.” It was Rufus Jones who once wrote: “Worship is the act of rising to a personal, experimental consciousness of the real presence of God which floods the soul with joy and bathes the inward spirit with refreshing streams of life.” WOW!

Psalm 95:1-7 says: “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

IT’S ALSO WISDOM THAT UNVEILS THE WILL OF GOD AND THE WAYS OF GOD: In Ephesians 6:6 Paul wrote: “not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART.” Then, in I Thessalonians 4:3 Paul said: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” And sanctification means what? That’s one “set apart” for the glory of God alone!

Oswald Chambers wrote in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.217], “Am I willing to let God do in me all that has been made possible by the Atonement? Am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me, and to let the life of Jesus be manifested in my mortal flesh?”

Then Chambers added: “All that Jesus made possible is mine by the free loving gift of God on the ground of what He performed, my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and degradation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itself to me in that while I cared nothing about Him, He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification. No wonder Paul says nothing is “able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Wisdom unveils the will of God which unveils the very ways of God! We know that Jesus says: “I am the WAY…” Is His way your way? In Luke 1:67-79 Zacharias had been filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Now, look at verses 78-79 again! “Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Are you a part of “the new and living way”? Hebrews 10:19-25 says: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.”

It’s my earnest prayer that “the new and living way” is your path, and that you choose God’s will and God’s way every day of your life! In Deuteronomy 30:11-20 we read: “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

But last of all, in this chapter, I WANT YOU TO SEE, SENSE, SEIZE, AND STAND IN THE WISDOM THAT SHARES IN THE WORK OF THE LORD: In Acts 9 we have recorded Saul of Tarsus’ conversion experience. As he was confronted by the Lord, at first he didn’t know who He was, but then in verse 6, “trembling and astonished,” Paul said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Far too many who have “been saved” (?) want the Lord’s stamp of approval for their plans of a disciple’s walk, but not His! In Acts 9:15 the Lord Jesus said to Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. Verse 16, For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

Paul was a “first round draft choice” by our Lord. And he signed on! In I Corinthians 9:19-27 he said: “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law, ( not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.” [Check out 2 Timothy 2:15-21!]

You do know that there is a night coming when no man can work. Don’t be delayed in fulfilling our Lord’s calling through your life and witness. Are you a laborer together with God? And, like Paul, we’ll not serve our Lord with our own preconceived ideas, but “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Oswald Chambers said: “One life wholly devoted to God is of more value to God then one hundred lives simply awakened by His Spirit….Unless the worker lives a life hidden with Christ in God, he is apt to becoming an irritating dictator instead of an indwelling disciple.” [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.83].

W.H. Bellamy and Wm. J. Kirkpatrick wrote the following old hymn: “O troubled heart, there is a home, Beyond the reach of toil and care; a home where changes never come; Who would not fain be resting there?…Yet when bowed beneath the load, By heaven allowed, your earthly lot; Look up! You’ll reach that blest abode; Wait, meekly wait, and murmur not….Toil on, nor deem, tho’ sore it be, One sigh unheard, one prayer forgot; The day of rest will dawn for you; Wait, meekly wait, and murmur not.”

WAIT ON THE LORD!! IT’S WISDOM!!

CHAPTER SIX

IS IT COMMONPLACE TO BE DECEIVED?

Thomas Adams once said: “The devil is no idle spirit, but a vagrant, runagate walker, that never rests in one place. – The motive, cause, and main intention of his walking is to ruin man.” If you have a problem believing in the devil, guess what? You’ve been deceived by the very author and master of deception! In I peter 5:8 Peter wrote: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.”

It was Shakespeare in “Comedy of Errors,” [Act 5, sc.1, l.9] who wrote: “He must have a long spoon that shall eat with the devil.” I’m not sure I agree with Thomas a Kempis writing that, “The devil does not tempt unbelievers and sinners who are already his own,” because entrapment, deception, a lying spirit, and, yes, temptation overflows out of him and his devilish army, not just to disciples of Christ but even to our Lord’s enemies.

But neither do I believe deception comes only from Satan. In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul wrote: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

Genesis 3 is our introduction to deception that becomes so commonplace – and the very first verse says, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Several things take place here that every man, woman, and child is susceptible to: 1) The devil casts doubt on the Word of God, 2) The devil twisted truth and distorted it, 3) The devil confuses – Verse 3, 4) The devil spouts the BIG “LIE” – you can sin and not die, Genesis 3:4 5) The devil breeds unbelief and then entices – Verse 6.

And look what happens as a result of a commonplace deception! Verse 7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made them coverings.” That’s the early birth of ‘FIG-LEAF RELIGION’ which dominates fallen humanity.

There are deceitful men whose evil hearts dictate commonplace deception. The Word speaks of “deceitful and unjust men.” In Psalm 120:2 the psalmist cried out in his distress saying to the Lord, “Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.” Have you tried to score that with your national leaders or your investment advisers or your children’s teachers or, yes, even your church’s overseers?

Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” And that surely can be more than the devil and his army! And if you, apart from Christ, have not learned it about yourself, get ready! Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, God speaking: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”

In Ecclesiastes 9:3 the “wise man” wrote: “This is an evil; in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; [do you think deceit might be included in “the hearts of the sons of men (who) are full of evil?] madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

What did God say through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 9:3-6? “And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,” says the Lord. “Everyone take heed to hios neighbor, and do not trust any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Mw,” says the Lord.”

There was a day, after serious preparation, that Jesus had left Jerusalem for Bethany, and He was hungry. In Mark 11:13 the Word says: “And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves…” The fruit had not been produced yet. And I wondered – does the Lord look for heavenly fruit on the trees of our lives or is He disappointed when He sees fruitless trees that deceive the public about our professional faith but are barren trees?

Deception? Commonplace Deception? Fallen men without Christ are specialists at examining one’s profession of faith – and sadly, too often, rather than a sacrificial life they see covetousness, rather than a servant spirit they see self-centered multitudes of church folk simply examining their spiritual navels! Spurgeon was right! “A false professor [of Christ] exposes Christ to ridicule.” Outward allegiance breeds individuals who inwardly are becoming “gospel-hardened.” Do you remember “the parable of the two sons” in Matthew 21:28-32? Don’t miss the “I go, sir,” but he doesn’t go! That’s deceit – not true wisdom!

Why is it that some know TRUTH but find that truth clouded over by fleshly lies that they have time to resolve their spiritual dilemma later? That’s deceit! Here’s how Spurgeon dealt with that attitude as he preached: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.9,p.198], “Pity the poor naked spirit which so soon will be quivering with utmost agony, a self-caused agony, an agony from which it would not escape, an agony of which it was warned, but which it chose to endure sooner THAN GIVE UP SIN and yield to the scepter of sovereign grace.” WHAT A DECEPTION!

Think about Adam and Eve in the Garden as Satan came to deceive them! And consider again that the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil was not, is not, never will be the fruit of the tree of life. And where has the majority of fallen humanity chosen to find their fruit? Bitter trees – blessed fruit? Or bitter trees of life – blessed fruit of life? The devil’s choice or the Savior’s sacrifice?

Deception! I’m sorry, so very sorry, for the millions who bow before idols and receive no salvation help. Deception! I’m sorry, so very sorry, for the millions who follow religiously dead men and know nothing about the Living Savior and Lord. I’m sorry, so very sorry, for, yes, masses of people who go to cemeteries without any hope of resurrection life and power. Deception!

Deception? The author of Hebrews calls us all to a high alert! In Hebrews 3:12-14 we read, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you8 an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”

“Departing”? Has the Hebrews author alerted, yes, ‘believers’ to the danger and a disaster of a life deceived by sin? He speaks of our “rest” but then in Hebrews 3:15-19 he says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

If a man is deceived, if a man is falling, if a man is falling because of disobedience, repentance is as necessary for the stumbling as it was for one’s conversion experience, which is why Hebrews 4:16 alerts us, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Thank God that grace and mercy is truly available to the brokenhearted over their deception!

We’ve already seen that Satan himself since the days of Adam and Eve has been busy with “deception” – “has God really Said?” “You surely shall not die”! “I’ll give you a kingdom to rule over!” But there is more: I Peter 5:8-9 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a rearing lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhoods in the world.”

I say to you with a heavy heart that I would be seriously concerned about a lost man or a believing man who would dare to say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about – I’ve had no threats from the devil?” Could that be because he’s already fully captured and controlled? And it’s more than deception, it’s more than even devouring – he wants to destroy your witness, destroy any faith you may have, destroy your ministry, destroy your family, destroy your circle of influence. He wants you so deceived that you’re no longer a threat to his field of operation.

But it’s not only the powers of darkness who want to paralyze you from seeing and walking in the highway of holiness – there are also worldly men who will, who do, who attempt to short-circuit your connection with faith in Christ. In Ephesians 4:12 Paul wrote: “that we should be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…”

Far too many believers are totally unaware of “the trickery of men”! The prophet Jeremiah looked around his community and country, and in Jeremiah 9:1 he spoke of his “eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” But God had to say in Jeremiah 9:3, “…they are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know Me.” And then in verse 6 the Lord told Jeremiah, “Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.

Then, in Matthew 24:11, Jesus moved away from ordinary men spouting deception – He said: “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” In Isaiah’s day, Isaiah 30:8-11, God told Isaiah, “Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and note it on a scroll, that it may be for time to come, forever and ever; that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord; who say to seers, ‘Do not see,’ and to prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get out of the way, tuen aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” And certainly this modern-day is a day in which rebellious people promote, allow, even love “smooth things”, and false prophets are raised up to “prophesy deceits.”

But God is so gracious. In Isaiah 30:21 He tells us, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.” You can trust God even when you’re attacked with ‘deception’ and you find yourself afraid. Corrie Ten Boom said before her death, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

Then there is another path you could find yourself on if you’re not alert, not careful, and not disciplined in “the way of righteousness.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 we read: “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Unrighteous deception? And notice, unrighteous deception because they “had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Didn’t we see in Hebrews 3:13 about some being “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin?”

Also there is the “mere men malady”! Look carefully at I Corinthians 3:1-3! “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” Then Paul later warned us and alerted us to the “blessed walk of faith.” That’s I Corinthians 3:18-23! But how does this “mere men malady” capture some in deception? Matthew 13:22 says, “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of the world and THE DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES CHOKE THE WORD, and he becomes unfruitful.” DECEPTION CHOKES TO DEATH – NOT LIFE!

Let me share one more dilemma that some find themselves in. In Colossians 2:8 Paul wrote: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Then he opened wide the door of faith and trust and hope and blessing when he said in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

Question? In your journey with Jesus, what is your greatest blessing outside of your oneness with Christ? Before going to the next chapter, please read Luke 10:1-20!!

CHAPTER SEVEN

IS THE GOAL OF CHRISTLIKENESS UNATTAINABLE?

There are those who truly believe that if their names are recorded in a church’s membership role then certainly all is right between them and the Lord Jesus. I don’t know anything any further from the truth than that statement. There are those who say they are probably more knowledgeable about Jesus because from infancy on they’ve attended a church regularly. But I have to ask again, “Does church attendance validate one’s salvation experience?” Does burial in a Christian cemetery assure that one buried there must have been a believer? And did that dead ‘believer’ conform his life to Christ’s life?

Even ordained ministers have often been deceived in their journeys – “why of course I am Christlike – if not, how was I ordained? Why, almost daily I am counseling needy souls and every Sunday I preach at least once – and you wonder if I’m Christlike?” Have you ever been around “a biblical scholar” whose daily walk has no resemblance to spiritual soundness and reflects poorly on the spirit of the power of Truth and gives no evidence of the “second birth”?

In a church community have you ever been around faultfinders or constant, unbearable, condemning gossips or condescending bullies? Slander is a chief weapon of those who “profess” Christ but know nothing of possessing or being possessed by the fullness and spirit of His Life! Their mission in life? To right the wrongs in every one’s ‘life in Christ’ but their own.

Have you ever heard it? “Well, I presume I am saved because I was baptized as a baby, as a child, as a teenager, or as an adult – of course I’m saved!” “Oh, I might not resemble Jesus – but I try.” “Yes, I’m a Christian – I may not look like Jesus – I may not resemble Him at all, but do you want to see my baptismal certificate?”

And I would ask: “Were you crucified with Christ? You know you live, but no longer YOU – it’s Christ in you who is the hope of glory? Did you die to your flesh [your old man, your old sin nature] so the Spirit of Christ might live in you and through you?” Have you passed from death unto life and that life of Christ sealed in you by His Spirit? Or have you suspended the journey because you believe since you were “saved and baptized”, beyond that it’s foolishness? I don’t think so!

“Patience for His perfect work?” “Why, I’m “saved” already, so what’s this business of a ‘spiritual perfect work’?” “You mean I’m supposed to look like Jesus in all I am or all I do or in all I say? That sounds like salvation by works to me. I’m going to stay away from those “work” words!” If one has been truly “born again,” he/she begins a journey of conformity to Christlikeness, taking the sentence of death daily that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested, fully released, each day.

“Patience for His perfect work” appears to many as a path to ‘rose-colored’ living without a single problem. When Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation,” to many that sounds like a betrayal of true faith even though Jesus suffered, bled, and died on the Cross!

What’s the question? “Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” Do you grasp the identification of the one who asks it? That’s the one who is not truly acquainted with the Word of God, not familiar with biblical truth, and, yes, not identifying with even the words of Jesus! They are influenced by the world, the world in the church, by the flesh, and by the devil himself – and the devil surely doesn’t want you to be even a believer who identifies with the Word of God! Darkness in the mind about one’s true identity in Christ is a devilish ploy to bring deception into fruition rather than a true believer standing on the Word.

I know there is ‘holy anxiety’ at times when one has known the Truth, walked in it, and, maybe, fallen away from it for a brief moment, but a “new-born” son or daughter of God will, I say WILL, arm themselves afresh and anew against sin and death. It was Spurgeon who said, “There is no temple of the Philistines which shall not fall beneath the might of our greater Samson.” I pray you receive that truth!! He then quoted a hymn with powerful words: “No power in earth or hell Can force me to depart; Christ is my strength unconquerable, He fortifies my heart…Fixed in His love I stand, And none shall drive me thence; Enclosed I am within the hand of Love’s omnipotence.”

Do you truly understand “abiding in Jesus”? There is JOY in abiding there! There is PEACE in abiding there! There is FULLNESS in abiding there! Paul told the church at Rome: Romans 15:29, “But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” What a word of hope and encouragement to us!

Christlikeness unattainable? It’s so opposite the holy work of the Cross and the empty tomb, so opposite the Word of God, and so opposite the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He magnifies in you the resurrected Christ! It’s not impossible in attaining Christlikeness. It’s not impossible for you daily to choose death to yourself so the resurrected Jesus can be fully released through you.

What did Paul say in Galatians 2:20? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” He then identified a major problem some ‘believers’ find themselves in when in Galatians 3:3 he said: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [or your old sin nature]?” He then asked the Galatians as I now ask you: Galatians 4:9, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire to be in bondage again?”

Are you aware that there are those who turn back rather than press in? Are you aware that some “professors” choose the weak and beggarly elements over the God-given provisions of Holy Presence, living promises, and fullness of divine life? It even happens with churches! Listen to Spurgeon: [“Spurgeon’s Sermons,” Vol.19, p.359], “The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world, and so include a larger area within its bounds. By semi-dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theater; they turn their services into musical displays, and their sermons into political harangues or philosophical essays – in fact, they exchange the temple for the theater, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men. Is it not so, that the Lord’s day is becoming more and more a day of recreation or of idleness, and the Lord’s house either a joss-house full of idols, or a political club, where there is more enthusiasm for a party than zeal for God?”

“Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” Yes, if a church doesn’t preach and teach faithfully the Word of God. Yes, if the church promotes and demonstrates worldliness rather than God-likeness. Yes, if pulpits are claimed by unregenerate men who’d just as soon deceive people than preach Truth. Yes, if church members are satisfied with dried-out bread, muddy water, and spoiled fruit!

Poor quality disciples become vessels unto dishonor because devotion to Truth wanes and wanes and wanes – and one then can’t discern a difference between a so-called disciple and the world around him/her. Divided allegiances between half-hearted disciples and the world will not usher in, demonstrate, or validate the very sovereign rule of heaven on earth. Our Lord wants disciples who know His kingdom rule and authority and cry out faithfully: “Christ’s kingdom come, Christ’s will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.”

“Is the goal of Christlikeness unattainable?” It certainly is if those professing faith in their redemption in Christ is squeezed in to a vessel that sees no problem if it’s dirty, impure, mixed, callous to the heart of God, compromised at every turn, and not protective of his/her or God’s reputation, certainly not sold out to a pure heart and washed in the blood of the Lamb!

It was Watchman Nee who wrote the book, “Changed Into His Likeness.” [Christian Literature Crusade, Fort Washington, Penn., 1973, p.52]. In it Nee said: “The Church counts for nothing in herself, save as a vessel to bring in Christ. God’s purpose is in the Son.” And if ‘your purpose’ is other than the Son, you’ll never see, sense, or celebrate His Life in you! And then on page 53 Nee really unveiled why many Christians miss out on the blessings from heaven. He said: “God does not only want right things done; He wants us to be the medium of right things that HE is doing.” That means a true disciple is the true vessel that contains the True Savior who does His heavenly work in an available human vessel. If you were crucified with Christ, why are you attempting to do His work? WOW!

Nee then said, “I am afraid this is not a popular thing to speak of. Preach to stir men to more evangelizing, more activity, more sacrifice, and they will listen and agree. But talk about the worthlessness of our work for God, even when it is not sinfully but well done, and we meet with disapproval and misunderstanding. Yet this is the central point in service. Whether we can bring in Christ to be God’s vessel of recovery depends on whether we can get out of the way to make room for Him…Only what He does in us and through us can satisfy Him.”

Do you see it? Our attempts at helping our Lord become major distractions to His working in us and through us. And when we are determined to serve Him through our best efforts, we shut the door to Him! We attempt – we fall short. We go out to serve – and come home empty-handed. We try in the best energy of our flesh, fail, and then question ourselves if Christlikeness is really obtainable! Then we learn: No – it’s not OUR trying but trusting Him to be faithful in His work through us.

That can be a tough place when a strong human will becomes a stumbling block to Christ Jesus Himself! It’s a challenge, I know, to be able to say every day or this particular day, right now, “Lord, I know it’s time I choose an end to myself where You can be in me and through me “My All In All.” But when we’re determined to chart our own course of Christian service, then the Christ in me is forced to a back-seat or a second-place. Do you see it? Extreme self-confidence detracts and even demotes Jesus to a behind-the-scenes watcher! Inflated egos close the door to Christ to do His work, His way, and in His will, but He has not, will not, force Himself in fullness on an empty, brainless, fruitless, “I can handle it, Jesus” kind of devotee!

“Well, I AM GIFTED!!” And they give no place to the GIVER! What does Romans 6:11 tell us? “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Have you failed to grasp what our Lord is telling us through Paul as he wrote in I Corinthians 1:26-2:5? “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 2:1-5, then says: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Self-will, fleshly power and determination shuts the door on the fullness of Christ in us! Oh, but we read in Colossians 3:1-4, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

I know it may be a ‘shocker’ to you, but God is not at all interested in your improvement – we all come up short, so God crucified us all with Christ! Get over your failure, rest in faith, let Christ stand in you as your hope of glory!

Christlikeness is not unattainable when I grasp that God’s desire in me is for me to be an empty vessel in which Christ Jesus is fully welcomed! I Peter 1:6-7 says, noting that the “revelation” we read about is “the unveiling of Christ in us and through us: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation [or unveiling] of Jesus Christ…”

Paul was a travailer in prayer. In Galatians 4:19 he said, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth [pains] again until Christ is formed in you.” He could have said he was travailing until Christ was fully released through you! Oswald Chambers said: [“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.268], “I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth. ‘You must be born again’ This is not a command, it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, His nature begins to work through me.”

How does that come into fruition in your life? You believe, receive, repent, yield to, and walk in Christ Jesus! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”

Do you see it? Self-energy blocks Christ’s fullness in you! Self-effort is like an earthly dam holding back His eternal supply of All-Sufficient Life, grace, power, love, and His faithfulness to Holy God through us. When Jesus is made Lord of your life, that tells me lordship has switched from self to the Sovereign Lord and Savior of the Cross and empty tomb – and if God raised Jesus from the dead, and He did, so can He raise us out of our state of spiritual death and resurrect us to allow Him to be Himself in and through us!

And because your body, your life, is now the residence, yes, of the very life of Christ, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Yes, the goal of Christlikeness IS attainable!

I close with statements by Oswald Chambers in his “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.56], “I have to cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit until both are in accord with the nature of God. Is the mind of my spirit in perfect agreement with the life of the Son of God in me, or am I insubordinate in intellect?” Am I forming the mind of Christ, Who never spoke from His right to Himself, but maintained an inner watchfulness whereby He continually His spirit to His Father? I have the responsibility of keeping my spirit in agreement with His Spirit, and by degrees Jesus lifts me up to where He lived – in perfect consecration to His Father’s will, paying no attention to any other thing. Am I perfecting this type of holiness in the fear of God? Is God getting His way with me, and are other people beginning to see God in my life more and more? GOOD QUESTION!

CHAPTER EIGHT

“IS IT SELF-MADE TOWERS OR HIS DIVINE HOLY PRESENCE?”

It didn’t take long after the “fall of men” for God to look down and see the following in Genesis 6:5-6, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved ion His heart.” But earlier, in Genesis 5:24, we read of a man that the Word says, “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.” What a contrast!

And over thousands of years things haven’t changed that much. There are still those who “give themselves over” to their wickedness, and there are still those who “choose to walk with God.” Without hesitation, I believe God is still “grieved in His heart” because of those who willfully choose to walk as ‘god’ unto themselves and refuse “Amazing Grace.”

But when you come to Genesis 11 and Genesis 12 you begin to see “The Beginning of Confusion” and “The Beginning of Unveiled Purpose.” Confusion can and often does erupt in some local churches among believers. In I Corinthians 14:22-23 Paul wrote: “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”

In verse 33 Paul then said, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”

The sad truth that grips my heart in 2013 is that far too many folks cannot, will not, have no intention of discerning between ‘peace’ and man-made confusion, yes, even in some churches! “Is It Self-Made Towers OR His Divine Holy Presence?” Have we chosen to live in “peace” or fleshly confusion? Do we choose “God’s Way” or the fleshly rule? Is it surrender to His voice or are most men directed by “the world, the flesh, or the devil”? Is it God’s conversion and His construction of heavenly life in you or is it man’s confusion and corruptness and clouding out of a God-ordained life or church fellowship?

In Joshua 24:14-15 Joshua spoke to the people of Israel and us when he said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Do you have an Angel guiding, establishing, protecting, providing for your every need? In Exodus 23:20-25 God speaks: “Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perezites and the Canaanites and the Hivities and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off. You hall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”

That is not simply an Old Testament promise to Israel, but when you read Philippians 4:19 you see a New Testament valid promise to men and women of redemptive faith. Paul said: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Isn’t this why David said in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”? Oh, fallen men may accumulate much, except for what the inner man wants and needs. Worldly men, void of God, remain empty, unfulfilled, and certainly not “blessed”!

Heavenly men? They are an “extension of God’s LIFE,” an “expression of God’s Love,” and “the proof of His never-ending power and glory”! Earthly men? They are as “sounding brass” and “clanging cymbals” with lives and instruments out of tune, off-key, void of a Director, and producing nothing but poor music in themselves and their walks.

In I Corinthians 15:47-49 Paul tells us, “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” The image of the heavenly man? That’s men of faith and trust and obedience bearing the image and likeness of Jesus Christ Himself because of repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

This takes us back to Genesis 11:1-9! Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel [Confusion], because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

I pray, having been confronted by “self-made towers” or by “Divine Holy Presence” and eternal purpose, that you choose to “walk with God” like Enoch, and that now you eagerly await God’s taking of you into His eternal home.

Notice: “Come, let us…” Where is God in all that? You’ll remember that Adam and Eve, deceived by Satan, thinking that “having their eyes opened, would be like God, knowing good from evil,” all of a sudden realize they had been lied to, and thus, [Genesis 3:8], “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” And men, in “self-made towers,” are still hiding themselves from the presence of the Lord with most of them not even knowing what they are doing!

“Come, let us…”! You’ve seen them, you know them, you’ve rubbed shoulders with them: “We’re the masters of our own destiny! We don’t need God! We’ll build ourselves and build our own cities, and they will reach the heavens!”

“Come, let us…”! “Who knows better than us what we want to do with our lives? Get this, you Christians: ‘us’ is more than you and collectively we’re smarter than your God!”

“Come, let us…” what we want to build, erect what we want to erect, construct what we decide needs to be constructed to “better our lives.” Really? Better when most are void of eternal purpose, void of a meaningful, blessed relationship with the God who made them, void of any desire of ‘Heaven is my home,’ settling for a hellish relationship that lasts forever with the devil and his demons?

“Come, let us…” live with our uncontrolled, lustful passions, live with our lives enslaved to worldly lusts, selfish ambitions, harmful spiritual diseases that steal true life from us, live dominated by the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil, bound and enslaved but never recognizing the spiritual chains and spiritual prison bars.

“Come, let us…” leave God out of our ‘life equations,’ because we’re able, we’re strong, we’re mature, we’re wiser than the wisest of that Christian community. The ‘lifelessness’ of godlessness, even in its sickness, is superior to a Godly submission.”

“Come, let us…” savor, cherish, hold onto our independence from God and His ‘unhealthy’ people – we’ll stand alone, on our own, free as a living prisoner can be.”

“Come, let us…” choose our selfish, limited, emotionally limited infancy of life that exposes our hollow hearts, our sinful minds, and our fallen natures that seek to hide us from God’s control.”

“Come, let us…” go on our own way without God, never realizing our steps away from Him produces in us a sad reality like suffocation or drowning or a deathly state of hopelessness that tries to deny, refute, or cover over the emptiness that unbelief in the God of eternal salvation produces.”

“Come, let us…” deny that the sacred nature of human life is more important than the secular and that choosing to walk independent from God is not sickly, deathly, or producing ‘killer’ viruses in us that God calls ‘sin’ or ‘sinfulness’ or ‘spiritual death.’” Really?

“Come, let us…” pump ourselves up in our egos with an unfounded confidence that ‘faith in God’ is unnecessary, unimportant, and really unfounded.” Really?

“Come, let us…” follow our own wishes, hopes, and dreams of anticipation of self-fulfillment that we know will satisfy our fleshly selves, our darkening desires, enabling our true selves to be birthed, raised, and matured to self-happiness.” Really?

“Come, lets us…” embrace a choice of lifestyles that is impurely self-centered, crowning ourselves as rulers over our hedonistic, sexually immoral activity that identifies us with a fallen world in general.”

“Come, let us…” head ourselves in the direction of a worldly happiness that has nothing to do with “Jesus joy” even though He said His joy was a joy that “remains in you and stays full.” Though happiness is fickle and unsure, we’ll gamble ourselves on ourselves to find our own happiness.”

“Come, let us…” live with the bread of our own achievements since the God of the Bible tells His people tribulation awaits His own. We, in the world, live with the fruit of our own labors.”

“Come, let us…” treasure our treasures, gloat over our accomplishments, forget God, lift up our hearts in pride, and set aside His biblical commands.” Oh, but I say to you, please receive Deuteronomy 8:17-18, 19c: “Then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives your power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant…” But if one says, ‘Come, let us…, then in verse 19c God says: “I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.”

Then, I know you’ve noticed in Genesis 11:4, And they said, “Come, let us build…”! Do you grasp who we are reading about in the early existence of human beings, birthed into fleshly life amidst the very handiwork of God in His masterful Creation? But they say, “Come, let us build…” Consider the universes, consider the planets, consider the vastness of our outer space and the beauty of earthly mountain-peaks and valleys, consider the awesomeness of oceans and majestic fields, consider the beauty of fields ready to be harvested, consider the Rose of Sharon, consider what He has built – and remember that Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…”

If you carefully read and receive the Book of Jeremiah, you will discover, not our ability to build, but one’s availability to all God is and to all God does! God told Jeremiah in chapter one, verses 18-19, “Therefore prepare yourself and arise…For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar…For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”

Yet, one chapter later, Jeremiah 2:32, God said: “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.”

“Build?” “Come, let us build?” Whatever man “builds” is a futile effort if they do not see, understand, or grasp for themselves what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:13-19! When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Do you understand that man “builds” tombs of death while God, through available men of faith and trust, build tabernacles of Holy Presence?

In Acts 20:32 Paul said: “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified.” Question! What is it to be sanctified? That word means “set apart” to the honor and glory of God alone – and whoever you are, whatever you ‘do,’ is to be or to build to God’s glory! That’s to be your ‘built business’!

But what happened in Genesis 11:4 as the ‘let us’ crowd began to “build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; [and] LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES…” This is in spite of Psalm 100:3 as David said, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.” “…we ourselves?” That’s those who say, whatever God has done, we can do better. We’ll make a name for ourselves.” But do YOU understand? Whatever you do of merit, the honor belongs to God alone, whether you give it to Him or not! This is why in I John 1:8 John wrote: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

In Isaiah 28 the prophet spoke of “scornful men” who in verse 15 said, “For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” Then, when you come to Nehemiah 1 you see a ‘vision development’ birthed out of a burden and Nehemiah praying for his people and for their opportunity to once again be favored by God. He wrote: Nehemiah 1:3-11,

And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said: “I pray, Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments, please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel, Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept Your commandments, the Statutes, not the ordinances which You have commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.’ Now these are Your servants and Your people, whom You have redeemed by Your great power, and by Your strong hand. O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer.”

But, hear me; just as Jesus ‘redeemed’ all of mankind at the Cross doesn’t mean all men are forever saved if repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of the Cross is not exercised! Nehemiah was passionate for his people as we ought to be for our people – but some are so intent on “making a name for ourselves,” Jesus is just an option for them that they never exercise! Again, Nehemiah said in verse 11, asking God to listen to those ‘who desire to fear Your name…’! Isn’t it tragic? How many do you know, even IN the church, who fear God’s name?

There’s a warning in Psalm 9:5 where the psalmist says, “You [God] have blotted out their name forever and ever.” And though their name has been erased from God’s remembrance, it doesn’t mean their eternal life is now extinct – they live forever under the curse of Hell’s flames, the devil’s domain, and cannot escape the “death that never dies”!

And then what happened in the fallen nature of men in Genesis 11:4 as they sought to “build ourselves…a tower whose top is in the heavens”? It was 400 A.D. when Augustine wrote the following in his “Confessions”: “How can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self? Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know You.”

Most ‘tower-builders’ do not know themselves and thus have no intimate knowledge of Holy God who longs to “birth” their lives in the Spirit as His earthly dwelling! Most ‘tower-builders’ are stuck in themselves and have no comprehension of God’s ‘tabernacle-dwelling’ in and through their lives. And that’s because their minds and hearts are clouded over concerning the intensity and power of evil.

My son, Stan Fisher, urged me to read Peter Scazzaro’s book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality.” In the third chapter, [pps. 42-43], Scazzaro spoke about “The Beast Today” out of Revelation 12, 13. He then said: “The beast tells us: *happiness is found in having things; *you should get all you can for yourself, as quickly as you can; *security is found in money, power, status, and good health; *above all, you should seek all the pleasure, convenience, and comfort you can; * God is irrelevant to everyday life; * Christianity is just one on many alternatives to spiritualities; * there are no moral absolutes; whatever is true for you is what is true; *you’re not responsible for anyone but yourself; and * this life on earth is all there is.

“Tower-builders or tabernacle-dwellings”? You do understand that ‘tower-builders’ choose darkness over light, the here and now over the eternal awareness, physical and earthly dividends over spiritual and eternal blessing, the temporary, fleshly satisfactions that soon disappear, waiting for a bigger and greater ‘hit’ that one received the last time around and still come up empty. OR,

What about tabernacle-dwellings? What did Paul tell us in Galatians 2:20? “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me..Verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God…!!”

Oh, but then in Philippians 1:19-21 Paul was so anointed in the Spirit as he wrote these words: “For I know that this [imprisonment] will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now Christ also will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

It was Francis de Sale who described the true eternal blessing in Christ as follows: “the mind’s loving, unmixed, permanent attention to the things of God.”

But if you haven’t been seeking after God Himself, be assured that God is in hot pursuit after you. You may, even at this very moment, not be a person who has anchored himself/herself to an inexhaustible search after Him, but be aware He’s ‘smelled’ you and is tracking after you. God’s search is unceasing to make every person a ‘child of the King,’ a son/daughter in the family of God, a servant like Jesus who doesn’t appear to be served, but to serve and give one’s life for the many.

CHAPTER NINE

“FISHING FOR MEN OR A FATALISTIC MIND-CLOSURE TO MEN?”

As I began to write this chapter, I had received word of the death of a son of a life-long friend. The man who died was about the same age as my son, Scott, who is 55 years of age. He had been on a trip to Alaska with his parents and his own family. They had flown in from Alaska to Atlanta and were taking a shuttle service to Chattanooga, Tennessee, near their home in Cleveland to get their cars. They didn’t get out of Atlanta before Scott Hicks collapsed with a fatal heart attack. My friend who informed me of his death said that Scott was sharing his faith in Christ with a man who was traveling on their shuttle – and he said, “Scott shares his faith in Christ with everyone he encounters. This man who had experienced saving grace and mercy and had become a new creation was relentless about sharing the faith, making disciples, and honoring Christ Jesus his Lord and Savior!”

I could not help but think: “What if every true believer understood their ‘calling’ to share the faith with others? What would happen worldwide? But also what has been the result of a ‘fatalistic mind-closure to men’? I’m convinced that as an American citizen of 77 years of age that I have witnessed a down-turn of Christians sharing the faith! I’m also convinced that most pastors and churches have not even begun to equip their people to share their faith with others. In Matthew 4:17-20 Jesus shared His heart with the lost and encouraged His disciples to be “fishers of men.” From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

There came a ‘moment’ after Creation that God looked upon the men He created and said, Genesis 6:6, “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth and He was grieved in His heart.” One translation says God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain. But then there was a Noah who “found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and Noah walked with God.” And ark-building began to rescue the drowning in the sea of their sins!

Jesus, our Lord and Savior, was just as much God as if He were not man, and just as much man as if He were not God. And, facing the Cross, Jesus prayed in Matthew 26:39, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as You will,” because He knew and understood the suffering of the Cross was the only hope of man’s redemption, so Jesus suffered, bled, and died in behalf of YOU and me. And that is not a fatalistic mind-closure to men! The ‘spirits’ of fallen men oppose the need of man’s redemption and their response in repentance and faith, but in I John 4:1 we read, “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if whether they are from God,” and FROM GOD there always has been and always will be the call to touch the lost with the message of grace, mercy, and love.

God’s inexhaustible grace and love at the Cross in Christ’s shed blood is indelibly placed at every turn that men need to be saved. Why should any true disciple ever question the equipping of the saints to share their faith with others? Could it be even possible that many who “profess” faith in Christ are really ‘believers’ who are buried in a casket of a false disciple? And I can only ask, ‘Is your Christ-spirituality a consciousness of the need of ‘witnessing to others’ or an ‘illusion’ that makes no sense of responsibility in you and through you?

In Acts 1:8 our Holy Word of God tells us, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES TO ME in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, we read in Matthew 28:16-20 about “The Great Commission.” It says: Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen!

Have YOU announced man’s ‘pardon’ by God Himself? The following story entitled “The Strange Case of George Wilson” came from an American Baptist Association Trust: “ In 1829 two men – Wilson and Porter – were convicted of robbing the United States mails, and sentenced to death by hanging. Three weeks before the time set for Wilson’s execution, he was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson…Strangely enough, Wilson refused the pardon. The case went to the Supreme Court (United States vs. George Wilson, 7 Peters’ Report, page 150) and the court finally handed down its decision: “A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it is rejected, we have discovered no power in this court to force it upon him.”…Most people would agree that Wilson was a fool for refusing to accept a pardon. Yet these same people daily reject the pardon which God has provided for them…Because God is just, He must punish our sins, But because God is merciful, He Himself suffered the awful penalty when Jesus Christ, His Son, suffered all the wrath of God against our sins as He died on the cross of Calvary. ‘For God os loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)…Your pardon has been signed by God Himself. Now all you need to do is accept it by telling God in prayer that you are guilty of sin; ask Him to pardon you, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). At the same time you call upon God trust Him to pardon you for Christ’s sake. Do this and God will deliver the evidence of your pardon and you will be released from the prison of sin. Unless you accept the pardon, you remain condemned. “He that believes not is condemned already.” (John 3:18). Wilson’s was a strange case. But then, Wilson was a fool.”

A pardon? A release from sin’s penalty and sin’s power and sin’s perversions? Men set free to be and become all God intends for them to be “in Him”? Adopted out of the devil’s dominance into the true liberty and freedom as sons and daughters of God? No debt due to sin? No bankruptcy due to one’s old nature? No brokenness and sadness due to separation from God? And you don’t have “good news” to share?

In Psalm 32:1-7 David wrote about “the joy of forgiveness,” but you “in Christ” don’t have a song to sing? “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” [Have you heard God singing over you lately?]. [Have you been singing to Him?].

And in Psalm 33:3 David, yes, spoke of “singing to Him a new song” that speaks of awe-struck wonder because of God’s “fashioning of the heart”! [I remind you that in I Samuel 16:7 the Lord said to Samuel, “…for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”] “The Fashioning of the Heart?” Psalm 33:15 says, “He [God] fashions their hearts individually…” In Ezekial 36:26 we read of God granting to repentant men and women, yes, and boys and girls, “a new heart.” In Hebrews 10:12 and verses 19-23 we read: “But this Man, [Jesus Christ], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…Verses 19-23, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

“The Fashioning of the Heart?” Acts 16:14 speaks of Lydia whom “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul,” but you’re unsure the Lord will do the same through your witness to others?

“The Fashioning of the Heart?” Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…”Do you truly understand your role in touching your world around you with His mercy, grace, and love? Your family, your friends, your city, your state, and nation, needs to know they are loved by God, loosed by God to His ultimate intention, led by God, lifted by God, and liberated into the fullness of Holy Presence in them from ‘doing’ to ‘being.’ 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” And you don’t have a word to share?

What about a “new song” to sing about our names written down in glory? Do you understand “new wine”? A “new covenant”? Could your lost and “alienated from God’ friends need a “new spirit”? Our Lord promises a “new heart”! Even “new, ripened fruit” can be your inheritance! Are “new tongues” a worthy consideration for a foul-mouthed old man? Don’t you believe the promise of a “new man” births hope in the hopeless? Oh, yes, there is a “new and living way”! SHOW THEM, TELL THEM, ASSURE THEM OF THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD’S PROMISES! In a hellish earth, hellish life, hellish home and family environment, a hellish existence, you don’t have a word about “a new and living way?”

Let the fresh, vibrant, life-giving words of Paul encourage you as you, in convicting fashion, receive what Romans 6:4 tells us: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” How encouraging is Romans 7:4 to you? “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” And didn’t Paul say in Romans 7:5 that men, when in the flesh [old sin nature], that “the sinful passions…were at work…to bear fruit to death”? But verse 6 tells us that once, having died to what we were held by, NOW we’re at work to “serve in the newness of the Spirit…”?

Could we, should we, be discerning right now that our new-found walk of faith is to be a walk under the control; and leadership of the Holy Spirit? As Paul wrote the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:2-6, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Is it possible that as a new believer in Christ or an aged believer that you have sensed the great need of being empowered by the Holy Spirit to become a valid, victorious witness of saving grace and you, right now, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit that you might truly be a vibrant witness?

Then, in 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Paul wrote: “Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech – unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing [or fading] away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

OH, and then look carefully at 2 Corinthians 4:1-6! “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Did the last verse we read say that God Himself commanded ‘light to shine out of darkness, shining in our hearts TO GIVE THE LIGHT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF JESUS CHRIST.’? Did Jesus Himself say anything different from what we’ve just read? In Matthew 5:14-16 our Lord said: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

But again in 2 Corinthians 4:7 Paul said, “we have this TREASURE in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” The “treasure” of Christ’s living presence in us, the “treasure” of redemptive truth, the “treasure” of God’s desire that through us, verse 11, “the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” AND WE TELL OTHERS! Do all that we tell about salvation believe, receive, and rest themselves in Christ? Jesus said in John 8:47, “He who is of God hears God’s words…” You can be at peace that if you faithfully share gospel truth you’ve done your part.

Prior to His ascension after His resurrection disciples asked Him, [Acts 1:6-8], “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” And Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Oh, and then Jesus was taken up, leaving the sharing of saving grace and faith to His earthly disciples!

In chapter two of Acts the Holy Spirit came! And “this” became “that” which was spoken by Joel the prophet: Joel 2:28-29, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit bin those days.”

And what an encouraging, uplifting, anointed word that we find in Acts 2:25 from David, “I foresaw the Lord always before My face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF WITNESSING TO OTHERS – THE LORD is at YOUR right hand! Plus, what was instilled within Peter must be instilled in every new disciple! Acts 2:36-40, 47 says: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Verse 47, “…And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

It is vital for you as a born-again believer to examine carefully every situational opportunity that you see the early disciples experiencing. Too often God’s people re uninformed or have overlooked situational witnessing! If, as Peter Scazzero said in his book, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” [p.109], that “Unhealed wounds open us up to habitual sin against God and others,” how many do you reach out to who exemplify “unhealed wounds” and “unhealed hearts” and “unhealed marriages” and “unhealed relationships” or even “unhealed churches”?

As you examine Acts 3, the very second verse shows us about “a certain man lame from his mother’s womb.” Remember that Acts 1:1 informs us “…of all that Jesus began both TO DO and TO TEACH…!” And the early disciples learned His lessons and examples fully! Have you?

I remember being in a huge government housing project in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, for a street meeting with Pastor Anand of Apostolic Christian Assembly. The musicians had sung, I had preached, and then I extended an invitation for salvation, for deliverance, or for our Lord’s healing grace. Before me a father and mother came carrying their 8 year old son who’d never walked since birth, in a blanket, laid him down at my feet, and then asked, “Can your Lord and Savior heal our son?” Anand and I laid hands on the boy and prayed, and then said, “Arise, young man, and walk!” Praise God, he did rise and walk.” I’ll never forget his toothpick legs, but then saw, through prayer, God giving him strong legs!

And if that wasn’t a ‘shocker’ enough for us, the very next night another father and mother carried to the front their 11-12 year old son who also had never walked! The same Jesus of the night before touched this young man and gave him new legs – and the family or families of both sons came to salvation in our Lord!

I like to call true disciples “The Appointed and Anointed” of the Lord! In Matthew 10:1 we read: “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirit, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sicknesses and all kinds of disease.” Jesus then said in verses 7-8, “And as you go, preach, [witness, testify], saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE.” [But do you not have anything to share? Maybe it’s time to “be born again!”]

One of the most heart-wrenching stories I’ve ever read about was a Miss Havisham from the novel Charles Dickenson wrote about called “Great Expectations.” The story is about this daughter of a very wealthy family who, on her supposed wedding day, received a letter at 8:40a.m. that her fiancé who was to become her husband that day informed her he’d not be there for the wedding. The story is that exactly at 8:40a.m having received this sad word, stopped every clock in her home at the time of the letter’s arrival, deciding to spend the rest of her life in her wedding dress, plus wearing only one shoe since that was all she’d put on, living that way into old age, choosing to live an unfulfilled past even to her death!

Is it possible some Christians “assume” they are married to Christ yet never bear children of faith? They talk about their wedding to the Lord but never consummated the marriage with holy vows and a holy heart like Him to touch their world with grace. Do you think her story, your story, might resemble Judas? Was his life a life of “wasted opportunities”?

For some, what I’ve just written is so true, but at the same time I would say, “it’s not true of all disciples.” In Matthew 10:16-24 and in verses 27-28 we hear Jesus speaking to us and warning us that witnessing is not enjoying a “nice piece of cake,” but, yes, trouble! Jesus said: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. Verse 27-28, Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” And that’s JESUS SPEAKING TO US!!

There is a serious word in Matthew 10:32-33! Jesus says: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Don’t you find Jesus’ words convicting and challenging? I don’t believe Jesus is speaking only of ‘public confession’ but also private and personal declaration of one’s need of the Savior and Lord of life, sharing with those around you of His love, grace, and mercy, that it was for them also that Jesus died on the Cross, and if they were the only person on the face of the whole earth, what He did on the Cross He would and did it just for them.

Jesus’ words to alienated sinners? Matthew 11:28-30 tells us: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Do you know anyone who “burns the candle at both ends” or “labors and is heavy ladened”? Do you know anyone who needs Christ’s ‘yoke’, yes, needs to be broken from their selfish, uncontrolled, untrained life? Do you know anyone who needs His rest for their souls? Then share the love of Jesus, share what He’s done for you, share what He’s done for your family and friends and classmates or business associates! Fishers of men or a fatalistic mind closure to men and their spiritual needs?

Christless lives are eternal disasters regardless of their earthly successes or lack of them. Christless families living faithless lives are void, yes, even destitute of the Lord’s eternal promises. It breaks my heart to say it, but Christless professors, so wise in the world’s ways, are ‘train-wrecks’ when it comes to eternal relationships and values and true wisdom of the One who made them. I don’t know of a sadder state of life than for one to be immersed in the non-reality for them of faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If “practicing the presence of God” is vital for true spiritual health in the life of a believer, what about “practicing the presence of needy people” concerning their need of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior? I’m personally convinced and appalled that too many pastors and churches in America have no awareness at all of what I call “intentional evangelism.” That means evangelism is intentional in all I am, in all I do, even expecting that every day, in all I do, He is reaching out through me to others who need His saving grace and mercy.

When it comes to “fishing for men”, have you considered prayer as a mighty war weapon for who and how we reach the lost, the unsaved, the deceived, the desperate ones who have no hope? In Philippians 1:9-11 Paul said: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” DO YOU PRAY FOR THE LOST?

Consider also your own life situations! Is every event, every good or bad experience just happen-chance – or is God up to something good through you? What did Paul say in Philippians 1:12? “But I want you to know, brethren that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel…”

Will you be a servant of Christ who exalts, magnifies, expresses, the beauty and blessing of His saving grace and redemptive acts and glorious work of lost mankind’s salvation? In closing this chapter, look prayerfully at Acts 3:6-9! Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”

CHAPTER TEN

“IS CONTINUAL SIN ‘OK’ FOR A NEW OR TRUE BELIEVER?”

I have no hesitation in saying to you that I know this chapter will cause a major ‘fuss’ with some because I grew up in a denomination that says one cannot do anything but sin until he/she goes to Heaven! That, I believe, is a perversion of biblical truth! I sometimes wonder if some ‘devotees’ to the Word of God are simply ‘kindergarten children’ who refuse to grow up, mature, and accept the Word of God for what God says or find it acceptable to claim that Word without its application to their own lives because they are comfortable with a ‘compromised’ profession of faith!

What did Paul say in Romans 6:1-3? “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we WHO DIED TO SIN live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” What an awesome, convicting, life-changing or life-condemning question!

Oh, but it gets better and better! Look at Romans 6:5-7! “For if we have been united together (us and Jesus) in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should NO LONGER BE SLAVES OF SIN. For he [that’s you or me] who has died has been freed from sin.”

These are some of the most liberating words you’ll ever find in God’s Word because you accept Truth that because of Jesus’ death on the Cross and your co-crucifixion with Him you are now no longer a slave to sin and your old sin nature but a transformed slave chained to God through the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross!

Look at Romans 6:17-18 and verse 22 and rejoice evermore! “But God be thanked that though YOU WERE SLAVES OF SIN, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 22, But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

John Piper said in his book “A Godward Life,” [p.161], “The old slave master [Satan] pays wages, but God gives gifts,” and then quoted Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Do you understand the ‘mind-set’ that many professing disciples operate by? “The wages of sin is death,” therefore many ‘strive’ to be overcomers of that which Jesus paid the ultimate price for while the revelation of God’s Word tells us, Romans 6:12-13, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Presenting one’s self to God on the merits of Christ alone, not one’s best effort!!

Are you truly, truly fully aware of 2 Corinthians 5:21? It says: “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God.” What’s your choice: ‘sinner separate from God or saint set apart as the righteousness of God?’ Oswald Chambers hit a historic ‘home-run’ when he wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.224], “That Christ died for me, therefore I go scot free, is never taught in the New Testament. What IS taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” [not- He died my death], and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: ‘He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM.’ It is not Christ FOR ME unless I am determined to have Christ formed IN me.” Amen? And that is the true battle-front in every believer’s life: Is it me or Jesus? Is it that I want the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ of me or my conformity to the image of Christ? Am I a ‘slave of sin’ or the servant of the Most High and Holy God? Will I be a victim of continuous sin or a victor because of the finished work of Christ at the Cross and His historic resurrection Presence in me and through me?

I do want you to KNOW without hesitation that the evidence of a spiritually born, new life in Christ, is that you are one man/woman. Boy/girl, who is passionate about Christ having His way in and through you, and His image becomes more real and clear through you! I know it’s a process, a continual activity of choosing the ‘Spirit-Life in Christ’ over the ‘old man, the flesh,’ but I have a biblical promise that never changes: I John 1:7, “If we [I, you] walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

The evidence? Didn’t Paul say that one should “examine himself/herself whether he/she is IN THE FAITH”? And this is so true when one hears Jesus say in Luke 12:35-47 the following: “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you, that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But KNOW THIS, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore YOU ALSO BE READY, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?” And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, AND WILL CUT HIM IN PIECES [in two] AND APPOINT HIM HIS PORTION WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.”

What did Paul say to young Titus as he wrote to him in Titus 2:11-14? “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

And when you read these verses, do you sense ‘performance’ or one’s position in Christ, that one ‘grinds’ out the faith or is graced, that one earns or is empowered and enveloped in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ? In Romans 5:17 Paul said: “For if by one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more, those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Continual sin? Is that possible if my “life is hidden with Christ in God”? Continual sin? ‘OK’ for a new or true believer? Continual sin? Some say, “What God says is for the future – it really can’t be for the present because I have a love for the flesh, the fallen part of me, and, yes, for my sin, but I know God understands, overlooks, and even excuses what I can’t help but do!” Really? Continual sin? “Well, the ‘gift of righteousness is a future reward, not a present reality.” Oh, really?

If the last paragraph is true, then it means that God’s verdict about our sin that was issued in the very Cross of Christ was a great injustice to the very name of Christ, but it is not! Jesus took your sin and mine, your old sin nature and mine, and we “died” with Him, in Him, and through Him!

What is Hebrews 10:14 all about? The author wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” The author had already said in verse 10, “By that will we have been sanctified THROUGH THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL.” Glory!

The blood ATONEMENT of Jesus Christ is not to give us a license to sin but our liberation from the tendency to sin! But, when we do sin, because our Savior promised and sent the Holy Spirit to inhabit ALL believers (Romans 8:9), the Spirit will do what? In John 16:8 we read, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”

What did Paul tell us in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10? “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

And ‘godly sorrow,’ birthed in us by the Holy Spirit abiding in every believer, arouses within us our failures, our falls, our fickleness, but also highlights God’s faithfulness in forgiveness, and continues to shape us in the very image and likeness of Jesus – conscious sorrow resulting in an appreciation of unconscious God-likeness!

Isaiah 32:13-15 gives us a picture of God’s people apart from the Holy Spirit but then what happens when there is yieldedness to the Spirit’s control. The prophet heard God speak: “On the land of My people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; Because the palaces will be forsaken, the bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks – Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.” And then He said that the peace of God will reign.” Is that true in you?

Let me share several things that I believe are of utmost importance for the true believer in overcoming ‘continual sin’!! Come with me to I Corinthians 9:27! There, Paul said: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

One translation says: “I buffet my body and make it my slave…” I believe Paul is telling us we are not to be blind to our progress or lack of it in being conformed to the image of Christ! If you haven’t learned it as yet, you need to know there is a spiritual war going on – and you do have a part in this!

In I Corinthians 10:1-14 we read: “Moreover, brethren I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the clod and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ,. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”

If Christ is your Rock, and you stand on Him, and keep on standing on Him, you are one who understands your completeness in Christ, and that there is a transition of identity – we’re not slaves to sin any longer but sons of God! But, it’s true, sometimes in our journeys as followers of Christ Jesus we do have to have ‘wake-up calls’! In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul wrote to each of us today. He said: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is perfected in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

In “Spurgeon’s Sermons,” [Vol. 19, pps.369-370], Spurgeon preached: “I am quite sure that some people think themselves very strong, and are not so. Their proud consciousness of fancied strength is the indication of a terrible weakness. We have among us ‘certain persons who think that they can do all that is needful for their own salvation’ whenever they please to do so. They can perform all sorts of good works, or at least quite enough to carry them to heaven. Their first idea is that they are to be saved by their own doings; and they really expect to be saved. They may admit that they have a few faults and flaws in their character; but these are so trifling as to be hardly worth mentioning, And God Almighty is too merciful to be very particular. Their lives have been excellent, their tempers amiable, their manners courteous, their spirit generous, and they quite believe that by keeping on at the same pace they will win the prize: if they do not, who will? The ship of their character is in fine condition; they have no leaks which the pumps cannot keep down; their sails are not rent, and they hope to sail into the haven of peace with a glorious cargo of merit, having an abundant entrance, and hearing a ‘Well done!” Ah, my friend! That consciousness of legal strength is a mere delusion, and it will have to be taken out of you. There is no going to heaven that way – by self or by works of self. Your error is a common one, but it is fatal. I have seen many epitaphs of persons, placed by mistaken kindness of friends upon their tombstones, which I felt sure would have been sufficient to shut them out of heaven if they had been true. These departed worthies do not appear to have been sinners at all; their virtues were superlative, their faults non-existent. Such wonderful people would appear from their epitaphs to have flown up to the gates of heaven upon the wings of their own virtues, and to have entered therefore without a passport of mercy, as burgesses by their own right of the New Jerusalem. I wonder how they would behave themselves in heaven, if they were really admitted there! All the rest are singing, ‘We have washed our robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” but these needed no washing, and so they would be likely to strike up a little song by themselves, and sing ‘Our robes never needed washing; we kept them as white as snow.’ What discord that would create in the music of the skies! What a division of character and feeling would be found among the celestials! I cannot see how there could be any harmony of sentiment among sinners saved by grace and righteous ones who owed nothing to mercy, nothing to the atoning sacrifice.” Oh, how truly spoken!

Then, could one be ignorant of the danger of “drifting away”, of “neglecting so great a salvation,” or ignoring the witness of God within or the gifts of the Holy Spirit”? That’s Hebrews 2:1-4! “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness, both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

When “self” begins to be supreme, drifting away becomes the end result! When “neglect” becomes a practice, the sea of identity “in Christ” becomes cloudy! When “Spirit-led” becomes weird, then true discipleship has begun to wane! And that leads one to:

TAKING ONE’S EYES OFF OF JESUS OUR LORD AND BEING LED AWAY FROM SPIRITUAL FREEDOM TO DEMONIC BONDAGE! Look with me at Hebrews 2:9-10, 14-15, “ But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings…Verses 14-15, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Subject to bondage?

Jesus even said: “In the world you will have tribulation,” but too many put on “rose-colored glasses” seeing ‘peace and safety’ when there is none! Didn’t we read “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” but you hear only that ‘peace and safety’ song?

One last thing I want to emphasize in this chapter: Submission to Christ, our Lord and Savior, is not an open door to disobedience which breeds hardness of heart through deceitfulness of sin!! Hebrews 3:12-14 says: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”

And that doesn’t put the fear of God in you? Look at Hebrews 3:18-19! “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

I urge you in the days ahead to major on 2 Corinthians 12:7-10! “for when I am weak, then I am strong”? Why? How? That’s eyes off self and eyes only on the Christ within! That’s eyes set, not on your weakness, but on God’s amazing strength and never-failing power! That’s a commissioned journey, not in yourself, but in His ever-abiding presence! That’s an awareness of hopelessness in one’s flesh but eternal hope in God’s Spirit! That’s faith, not in earthly dry wells, but faith in His eternal supply that never runs dry! That’s not awareness of who I am, but availability to ALL GOD IS – always has been, always will be! Amen? It’s not only our consciousness to all God is, but our complete surrender to His Sovereignty and His saving and sure ways!

Is your pilgrimage in Christ one of drudgery, duty, dejection, distraction, or is it discipline, dependence, discernment, destiny, and delight? Don’t forget Psalm 1:1-2! “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates days and night.” Is that your testimony?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“IS ‘ALL STRESSED OUT’ THE EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE?”

My wife, Sue, and I flew into Utah with her sister, Amy, and her husband, Joe Rodgers, to visit our son, Stan, and his wife Leann, and their daughter Katie, and their young families, Mr. & Mrs. Zach Fisher and Mr. & Mrs. Ben Fisher. What a delight! We flew in August 3, 2013, and on August 5 I was reading the news of “USA TODAY”. On the very front page was an article entitled “All Stressed Out?’ with a sub-title: ‘Buy some peace.’ It said, “Cloaked in anxiety, our 24/7 on-the-go nation produces stress-buckets. And, of course, one person’s angst is another person’s business opportunity.”

Then the article introduced Deepak Chopra (?) who said that he never feels stress, because he’s introduced his “Dream Weaver” ‘to aid relaxation, meditation, sleep.’ It’s a business idea – and he’ll probably make a small or big fortune that has absolutely nothing to do with “the peace that passes all understanding.”

In the article Ann Mack stated that “we’re entering the dawn of the super-stress era,” then stated, “since it’s become a cost issue and serious medical concern, you’ll see more efforts to prevent or reduce it. “ The article stated further: “Little wonder in a nation that could be the world’s poster child for stress. Last year, some 7 in 10 Americans said they regularly suffered physical symptoms due to stress, and 67% said they regularly experienced psychological symptoms because of it, reports the American Psychological Association. In a still-recovering economy, it’s no surprise that the top three causes of stress last year were related to money, work, and the economy, reports the APA.” David Ballard then said, “We’re just not very good at dealing with stress.” So, welcome Deepak Chopra’s Dream Machine! Really?

“Buy some peace”? You do understand that there are multiple ways to find a temporary, false, “never feel stress” peace that has nothing to do with the peace with God, the peace of God, or “the peace that passes all understanding” through Christ Jesus!

Thomas Merton has written in his “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” [New York: Doubleday, 1968, p.86], “There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence…activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence…It kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Do you recognize or even doubt that “stress” is not good, that “stress” is an evidence of absence of the Spirit and Word of God in one’s life? If “stress” is real, and it is, would we even dare consider that God Himself called a ‘Sabbath Rest’ as very good, Genesis 1:31, but some around you, maybe even yourself, truly believe “burning the candle at both ends” is not harmful but holy? I’m afraid for some, I DON’T AGREE!

In Peter Scazzero’s book “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” [p.170], Peter said: “On every Sabbath, we experience a sampling of something greater that awaits us. Our short earthly lives are put in perspective as we look forward to the day when God’s kingdom will come in all its fullness and we will enter an eternal Sabbath feast in God’s perfect presence. We will taste His splendor, beauty, greatness, excellence, and glory far beyond anything we ever experienced or dreamed.”

What does Exodus 20:8-11 tell us? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” So… on Sunday you just do as you please, and ignore God’s holy day? No wonder you’re “stressed out”!

Do you believe that Holy Sovereign God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that His Word about the “Sabbath Rest” is still an absolute essential in our spiritual, even physical pilgrimage? I’m sure it’s why7 David said in Psalm 84:5, “Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, O God.”

Angelo Patri, in “Redbook,” wrote: “Spiritual power is a hidden power, locked in the silence of the soul. We cannot force it to come at command o0f will. But when in extremity our strength is as water, our will as the sighing of the wind, when we yield all physical being and lean hard on the spiritual strength within us, the soul’s strength rises to assure us as the sun rises over the rim of night…This spiritual strength is man’s inheritance, the eternal power granted him at Creation. It is God’s breath within him. On that strength we can go forward; we can take whatever comes and know it is well with us always.”

What’s the title of this chapter? “Is ‘All Stressed Out’ The Evidence of a Spirit-Filled Life?” I don’t think so! The wiseman of Proverbs wrote in Proverbs 25:28, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” No walls of protection in one’s life breeds “all stressed out”! Earlier, in Proverbs 16:32, the author wrote: “He who is slow to anger is better than the might, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”

Could ‘all stressed out’ be true description of one who is “heavy ladened”?” In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you who labor, and are heavy ladened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The word ‘laden’ is a Greek word for ‘over-burdened’ or like a cargo ship that sinks because it was over-loaded! It also means ‘loaded up with spiritual anxiety.’

I hope and pray that you saw in the Matthew 11 passage the words “all you…” and “all you who are heavy laden…” and you latch on to Jesus words: “I will give you rest…” Do you understand that that is a divine promise from the lips of Jesus our Lord and Savior and Master of our lives? Then Jesus said: “Come…take…learn…and LEAN” on Him! But I also see and sense in another word of our Lord that when we come, take, learn, and lean on Him that He “gives” – and it’s not only a “rest” FROM one’s heavy load but a “rest” IN CHRIST HIMSELF!

Oh, but then our Lord said: “Take My yoke upon you…” which tells me my rest is not from inactivity but a walk, a work, a willingness to be “yoked” to the Master-Bull who “breaks” me from walking alone in my journey of faith to walking in step with my Lord and Savior!

Do you realize how easily frustration with your circumstances and fretfulness in your situation can disable a fruitful walk with your Lord? Shutting down is the dominance of our flesh, and, yes, even demonic activity to feed off of our weariness, our wilting, our warped spiritual activity and identity ‘in Christ’! But the question of the moment is: HOW HAVE I ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN? I’ll look with you at seven sources or roots:

FIRST, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A TROUBLED MIND. In 2 Thessalonians 2:2 Paul speaks of “not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or word or letter, as if from us…” which in context related to the ‘rumor’ that the ‘day of Christ had come.’ But the reality is that many are “soon shaken in mind or troubled” about many, various, different situations and circumstances – and it births various forms of even sickness: emotional, mental, physical, or spiritual!

To Titus Paul wrote: [Titus 1:15]. “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.” Do you understand “vainly puffed up by [one’s] fleshly mind”? And if pride goes before a fall, maybe one needs to examine his/her fleshly mind activities!

Paul gives us all valuable words of wisdom when in Philippians 2:5-11 he wrote: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

A spiritual mind-set is extremely important, I believe, to every day “set your Mind” in direction to, dependence upon, and devotion set to honor the Lord today, through you, His honor, glory, and praise! If that is an unimportant spiritual discipline, then it’s easy to experience a shriveled soul, a parched devotion, a flooded day of preoccupation with one’s “feelings”: rather than full faith and fellowship, and, yes, even distractions of eye-set and mind-set!

In Colossians 3:1-2 Paul challenges us all: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” How challenging is that?

SECOND, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A DIVIDED HEART. In Psalm 81 there is a sad but deliberate admonition from God concerning His own people Israel. God Said: Psalm 81:8-16, “Hear, O MY people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied them.”

The passionate prophet, Hosea, heard God speak from a broken heart when He looked upon His own people, Israel. In Hosea 9:10-12 we read: “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal Peor, and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird – no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception! Though they bring up their children, yet I will bereave them to the last man. Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!”

And, then, in Hosea 10:2-4, we read why it happened then and why it happens now: “Their heart is divided; now they are held guilty. He will break down their altars; He will ruin their sacred pillars. For now they say, “We have no king, because we did not fear the Lord. And as for a king, what would he do for us?” They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. Thus judgment springs up like hemlock in the furrows of the field.”

The word ‘divided’ means “divided in loyalty”. I don’t know how you read spiritual times and seasons in church life in your nation, but “divided in loyalty” is, sadly, an ‘in-time’ evaluation of church life in America – too many ‘Christians’ on Sunday would rather ‘play’ than pray, wilt, rather than worship, gad about rather than give God the sacrifice of Praise, even when God says: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy!” DIVIDED HEARTS!

THIRD, “STRESS” COMES THROUGH AN OVERLOADED STYLE OF LIFE. And that can be because of one’s true devotion to Gods and the opposition that arises against devoted followers of God. When Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation,” the flood of tribulation can be overwhelming at times. In Psalm 69 David cried out to God with an urgent plea for God’s help in David’s time of trouble! Psalm 69:1-18 says: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach. I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, hear me in the truth of Your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me. Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies.”

FOURTH, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A SPLIT FAMILY OR A FAMILY SO ENGROSSED IN ITSELF THEY STIFLE OUT GOD, AND WHAT THEY CONSIDER “GOOD” FOR THEMSELVES BECOMES A GRAVE OF THE HEART.

In Micah 6:8 the Word says, our Lord speaking, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, [or lovingkindness] and to walk humbly with your God?” It doesn’t get any better! In Micah 7:6 it says: “For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.” Could that be sons against a father or a father against his own flesh and blood?

It was Horace Bushnell who once wrote: “A house without a roof would scarcely be a more different home, than a family unsheltered by God’s friendship, and the sense of being always rested in His providential care and guidance.”

In Titus 1:11 Paul wrote: “…whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain…”Whether an unstable or stable family, both are subject at times to false teachers who would undermine faith, trust, obedience in families.

No doubt this is why Peter, in Acts 3:25-26, wrote or spoke the following, yes, to ‘stressed out,’ stifled, starving families today: “You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you, first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning every one of you from your iniquities.”

We know God established family life in order that families might “be fruitful and multiply,” that man might, together with mate and children, experience and enjoy God’s blessing, to picture up close Jesus and His precious body of believers, to instill parenting as a tool to, yes, reveal the very heart of God, to reveal mutual dependence upon Him whether parent or child, to establish, train, mature, and bring children up “in the training and admonition of the Lord,” and to exhibit in small form the large, very Body of Christ Jesus!

In America, and no doubt the rest of our known world, there is an assault on Godly family life. There is prevalent, right now, an infectious spiritual disease that is out to decay, disintegrate, and deplete Godly husbands and wives and Godly fathers and mothers. “The thief is out to kill and destroy marriage and family.” Yes, even in America, right now, there are those in governmental powers nationally who believe their ‘state’ powers are more sacred than families – they want to rule over, control, and direct6 your children to trust them more than they trust God or parents! And families are being split at a rapid pace!

FIFTH, “STRESS” COMES BECAUSE OF A CORRODED LOYALTY: I pray that I can say this without being harsh, super critical, or mean-spirited, but a corroded loyalty to our Lord is the under-pinning of corroded loyalty in the home and family. In fact, a corroded loyalty, I believe, is because of ‘false liberty’ one has professed in a Christian marriage ceremony as one who desires to honor Christ, and has ‘professed’ to a church congregation that same ‘false liberty’; therefore, loyalty to the Body of Christ quickly or slowly deteriorates.

A test of loyalty always emerges in a disciple’s life, in a pastor’s life, in a church’s life and relationships and responsibilities, in a family’s close relationship and responsibility, and, yes, even in a business! And when corroded loyalty has run its course, “stress” breaks out like an infectious disease! Loyalty is because of love, not love because of loyalty. Jesus proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners He died for us!

Corroded loyalty is evidence one has forgotten “crucified with Christ”! In Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.228], he wrote after quoting Galatians 2:20, “These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me3 up to the point 365 times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It6 means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus.” Tell me! In you, right now, this very moment – are you standing in absolute loyalty to Jesus or has your loyalty been corroded?

SIXTH, “STRESS” IS BIRTHED BY THE SEED OF A COMPROMISED ETHIC: In John 6:60-71 we read a heart-wrenching story of defection from Christ. It says: Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to Him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”

A safe description besides “a compromised ethic” would be “the internal assaults” on the Savior and His people. I don’t believe our Lord and Savior was ever overcome in any way by a compromised ethic or the internal assaults, but I assure you that there are numerous believers who’ve been overwhelmed by that “stress”! “Will you go away”? because of oppositional forces to your faith? “That’s a tough word, Jesus”! “That’s an offensive word, Lord”! “That’s exposing our prejudices, Master”! “That’s contradicting and compromising for us what we really think, Jesus”!

Have you ever heard an unbelieving husband berate his ‘sold-out’ wife for her devotion to her faith and church family – and see her begin to back off? Have you ever witnessed a “big boss” come down hard on a few employees for their “stand” concerning their Savior and see them go silent fearing a loss of their jobs? Have you ever sat through a condemning session by a university professor that threatens devotees of our Lord – and they become like dunces in a corner of the class? Have you seen the end result of the ‘party’ class of young people to side with godless fraternity brothers or sisters and become totally delinquent as to a stand for the eternal faith?

Deceivers, denouncers, yes, demonstraters against biblical faith can call out that response of a compromised ethic, but at the same time some “feed” on trash and not the treasure of God’s revealed Word and they starve the soul – the bread of life is substituted for foul crumbs trying to survive on a spiritual starvation diet!

And, “God, help us”! a compromised ethic is often the end result of a poor choice of friends – some are swayed to evil rather than a biblical ethic by carelessly associating with immoral men, loose women, or lewd conversation that darkens not enlightens one’s conscience and convictions.

In “Mrs. Browning,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wrote: “The Soul Travailing,” [pps. 80-81], about the “stress” of ‘traveling vainly.’ She wrote: “Always! Always! Must this be? Rapid Soul from city gone, Dost thou carry inwardly What doth make the city’s moan?…Must this deep sigh of thine own Haunt thee with humanity? Green visioned banks that are too steep To be overbrowsed by the sheep,…May all sad thoughts adown you creep Without a shepherd? – mighty sea, Can we dwarf Thy magnitude, and fit it to our straightest mood?…O fair, fair Nature! Are we thus impotent and querulous Among thy workings glorious – Among Thy fullnesses that still Leave us vacant and defiled,…And wailing like a kissed child, Kissed softly against his will? God, God! – With a child’s voice I cry, Weak, sad, confidingly – God, God!…Thou knowest eyelids raised not always up Toward Thy love (as none of ours are) droop, As ours, over many a tear!…Thou knowest, though Thy universe is broad, Two little tears, suffice to cover all! – Thou knowest – Thou, who art so prodigal of beauty – we are oft but stricken deer, Expiring in the woods – that care for none Of those delightsome flowers they die upon!…O blissful mouth, which breathed the mournful breath We name our souls! (self-spoilt!) by that strong passion Which paled thee once with sighs – by that strong death Which made thee once unbreathing – from the wrack, Themselves have called around them, Call them back Toward Thee in continuous aspiring!…For here, O Lord, For here they traqvel vainly; vainly pass From city pavement to untrodden sward,…Where the lark finds her deep nest in the grass Unswept of its last dew! – Yea, very vain The greatest speed of all these souls of men, Unless they travel upward to Thy Throne! There sittest THOU, the satisfying ONE, With blood for our sins, and holy perfectings For all requirements – while th’ archangel, raising Toward Thy face his full ecstatic gazing, Forgets the rush and rapture of his wings!”

SEVENTH, “STRESS” ERUPTS IN THE VOLCANO OF A WOUNDED SPIRIT: In Proverbs 18:14 we read, “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?”

A broken spirit is one who has been exchanged at a loss for an impoverished spirit! There is nothing proud for one to brag about when a wounded spirit bankrupts one’s faith, one’s devotion, or one’s dependence upon God for healing grace in a time of trouble. Most, rather than looking up, are now looking in – and wounds birth an overwhelming attitude of “poor me”!

Grasp what Jesus was saying in Matthew 26:41 when He said: “Watch and pray, lest YOU enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I want to close this chapter with a letter I recently received from “Circuit Rider Ministries,: the support arm for Andy and Rebecca Brink’s on-going ministry of the Faith. Rebecca wrote THIS letter, yes, about “stress”. I called Andy and Rebecca and asked if I could print it in this chapter – they were glad to! Here it is: [Their address? PO Box 6241, Tyler, Texas, 75711 – phone #: 281 – 755 – 4030], and if you don’t know, their 7^th child will be birthed soon!! Are YOU ready? Rebecca wrote:

“Well, I would love to say that having another baby on the way has just been a breeze as if I have this thing down by now, but it just hasn’t quite worked out that way. There haven’t necessarily been any real complications, but man has it been hard not to sink into a major funk over the little things: -/ I have thought many times while unable to move due to utter exhaustion, “I am getting way too old for this!” I have been so easily frustrated when the kids are just being kids, and it’s not simple and easy…as if having kids is EVER simple and easy?? I think I literally spent the entire first trimester either wanting to throw up, cry, or just crawl in bed and sleep for weeks, hoping it would all magically be better when I woke up. I kinds though I had a legitimate “bone to pick” with God, that by number 7, I should have had some sort of right of passage into an easy pregnancy. I felt pretty justified in my way of thinking, until it was clear He was not being a team player. Well, then I was just plain mad! I sort of felt like I had been tricked into this deal, and the road ahead seemed impossibly long and weary. So I am going to be brutally honest here because this story has a GREAT ending!…

So, flash forward to my second trimester and you will find me in the depths of self-pity over how hard my life seemed, barely functioning from complete exhaustion (thinking FOR SURE something was wrong with me)…and only FIVE more months of pregnancy to go. Ouch! I finally had a chance to get away one weekend with some dear friends and spent the whole first day crying, wondering why this pregnancy still had to be so hard. I mean, the second trimester is supposed to be a breeze! I was desperately needing God’s grace, strength and encouragement, but was too mad at Him to ask for help[. Everyone that weekend was so sweet and attentive, but I just felt kinda numb inside. After dinner the first night, a dear friend spoke up and shared with the group something she had recently learned about Psalm 46:10. Well, some of you may remember from the last newsletter that that was the exact verse that had so impacted me the year before: “Be still and know that I am God.” My ears kinda perked up as she shared, and I began to try and let His Word penetrate my heart…

The word “still” in that verse literally translates as follows: “to cease from striving, to lay your hands down, letting God intervene in your situation without your interference.” As my friend was sharing this, I felt my heart beginning to soften. I was also struck that evening by a song that was shared. The words went something like this: “I’ll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered…all I am is Yours.” Those words began to chip away at the hardness of my heart. Later that night, in the privacy of my room, I began to lay it all out before the Lord and genuinely ask Him for His help. I realized that when Andy and I had “abandoned” ourselves once again to God’s sovereignty, trusting that this new life He had given us was a part of His plan, I had an expectation that God would be so pleased, that He was just going to lay out a bed of roses for me to relax on for the next nine months! (Mistake #1). I was horrified that things were actually harder on me than they had ever been before, and that there might be more difficulty and suffering ahead: – / All of a sudden, I could see my heart so clearly…I was willing to “abandon and surrender all” as long as there was no inconvenience to me. And as long as it all made me feel and look good, I was all in! But to think that you can step out in faith and choose to trust Him for something hard, and then suffer for it??? I wasn’t up for that one. (Mistake # 2), Then I remembered Daniel and his faithfulness and commitment to God, and what did he get for it? A trip to the lion’s den, with an unknown outcome! He had no idea that God had a great purpose in Daniel’s suffering, and was prepared to send His angels to protect him that fateful night, but Daniel sure didn’t know it. He had already calculated the cost to his life, but it was worth it to Daniel…I guess the real question is, was He worth it to me? Did I really want to give the Lord everything, so that I could sing the words to that song without feeling like a complete hypocrite? “I’ll stand, my soul Lord to You surrendered, ALL I am is Yours!” Really? Even if it means more children? Even if it means less money because it has to stretch over so people? Even if it seems like I will NEVER get to enjoy a day of rest and relaxation without rearranging the entire universe so that all seven children are cared for in my absence? And for what? Why do I have to abandon and surrender anyway? My wrestling match with God!…

“Be still and know that I am God” continues to take on deeper meaning for me as I am learning to cease from striving when things get hard. For those of you that have had children, I am sure that at some point during childbirth classes, someone told you that you have to relax during contractions or they will be entirely ineffective, making your labor much more painful. Our midwife always has to gently remind me at the end when things are beyond tough, to let even my facial muscles relax throughout the pain so that my body can get it over with faster and easier. It sounds crazy, but it has totally worked! And I can tell you, in the very same way, that this pregnancy was so much harder than it had to be for me because I spent the first five months of it tense, frustrated and angry. When I literally chose to surrender, lay my will down, and trust that this whole thing is working for my good, my body began to respond well and it got so much easier! I went from not being able to get off the couch, to actually feeling pretty good and excited about the whole ordeal! Now did my troubles vanish? Not any more than the pain of childbirth, but there has been a special grace to get through it much easier! The incredible thing about the pain of childbirth is that when you think you cannot take it another second, that little life is right around the corner. And when that baby arrives, the pain is forgotten and totally worth it. What a perfect picture!” AMEN? THANK YOU, REBECCA BRINK!!

CHAPTER TWELVE

“IS ‘SALT’ AND ‘LIGHT’ THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?”

As Matthew 5 opens, in Verse one, it speaks of “His disciples came to Him,” and then Jesus began to teach them. And I want you to contemplate so seriously the words that our Lord spoke to them and us in verses 11-16! “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so the persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

In Luke 6:22-26 Dr. Luke gives us a broader picture of both true and false disciples when he wrote: “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

It would do you well to spend months in the four Gospels learning not only the Life of Christ but also the lives and ministries and troubles and heartaches of His true disciples. Did you catch, were you shocked by, was self-examination the result of reading our Lord’s words in Luke 6:26? “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

This chapter is not to be an examination of false prophets but it does amplify for us His “true prophets” and the clear evidence describing them is “persecution for righteousness’ sake.” Has it not dawned on you yet a fallen world’s despising of the message of Christ Jesus? Our Lord and Savior became the ridicule, abuse, and slander of even the religious crowd of His day, but the identifying mark of false prophets was their extreme popularity!

Jesus never said that His disciples would find a world awaiting their ministries and rejoicing with them in what they had to say. In fact, in John 15:18-25 Jesus said: “If the world hates you, you know that i9t hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept Mt word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

And before our Lord’s betrayal and arrest in Gethsemane, He had gone aside to pray. John 17 is Jesus’ passionate prayer for His disciples right before a religious crowd in a diabolical frenzy with the soldiers arrested Him, bound Him, and led Him to Caiaphas who told the Jews that it was advantageous if one man should die for the people! John 17:6-19 tells us: To the Father our Lord prayed: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father, keep through Your name these whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Hear me! Being true to Christ and His word and His mission means a world ‘out there’ will declare an unholy war against you, your family, your fellowship, and the more loyal you become in your commitment to Him alone the greater your opposition!

What did Jesus say in Matthew 5:11? “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Was Paul on target when he told Timothy in his letter to him, 2 Timothy 3:12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And, then, in Acts 5:41-42 we read: “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

But there is an encouraging word for all true believers in Romans 8:16-19! “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”

Then, a heavenly word follows for us in Romans 8:31-39! “What then shall we say to these things? If God id for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His Own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now, FIRST QUESTION: “IS SALT THE REDEEMED ONE’S TRUE CALLING AND MISSION?” What do we read in Matthew 5:13 as Jesuis says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

And, I wonder, does ‘salt’ lose its saltiness when it’s never sprinkled on what it has the potential to preserve, influence, add a better taste to? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of ‘salt’: “To sprinkle, impregnate or season with salt, as to ‘salt’ fish, beef, or pork…To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.” Do you see it? A ‘ship of life’ but no ‘salt’ as a preservative; a ‘ship of faith’ but no salty influences; a ‘ship of proclamation and testimony’ but no salt to capture the pure taste of our Lord and Savior!

Genesis 18:16-19:24 is an awesome lesson about the saltiness of God’s people. Sodom was spared for a time because of ‘salty’ Lot in its borders. And in Genesis 18:26 the Lord said: “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous men within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.” Do you grasp why America hasn’t fallen yet? Oh, it’s been grievously wounded, it rests at a place of desperation this very moment, but God “SEES” the righteous few and withholds His judgment!

In Exodus 32 we find Moses looking upon “the people of God” and he saw them “unrestrained,” verse 25. Moses called out at the entrance of the camp: Verse 26, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side – come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.” But judgment fell upon 3000 of the people that day. More were ready to die, but Moses intervened! Look at Exodus 32:30-35, Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin – but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.” So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.”

That’s not the end of the story of salty grace and mercy! In James 1:27 we read: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” You do know how “spotted” your world is with immoral activity, in the lowering of biblical standards of holy behavior, in making dishonesty a public norm rather than a disgrace, of promoting impurity and ungodliness as an acceptable pattern of life, of advancing deliberate temptations to sin and violate even the laws of God, of wiping out, of tarnishing the righteous rather than the unholy, of promoting the unprincipled as leaders of our nations, of abusing the Ten Commandments as illogical, ‘off-the-wall’ suggestions, of disdaining biblical truth as that which helps ‘monkeys’ not people!

Oh, there’s more! Esther! What a story! Esther’s husband was the king, and Esther’s people came under the king’s judgment, and many were slaughtered! Mordecai came to Esther to inform her that she would not escape any more than all the other Jews, and she had to take a stand. Is that being ‘salt’?

Mordecai told Esther, [Esther 4:4], “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” And Esther responded: “If I perish, I perish.”

Does that speak to you and you in your nation, in your family, in your school, in your community and state, in the time of the lowering of standards, in the time of betrayal of marriage oaths, in the time of bosses or employees going under-handed betraying ethics, morals, laws, or truths of God’s Word? Does ‘salt’ preserve from corruption, deceit, incest, dirty jokes? Is a disciple of Jesus a “cleansing agent or remedy” for a people who are about to be destroyed by bad, yes, evil choices?

And I don’t know about you but I love “salt” on my summer-grown garden tomatoes! WOW! What a flavoring miracle! Do you hear it around your kitchen table? “Pass the salt, please.” And that’s to be a believer’s life, his/her testimony, even a gift of saltiness in the Spirit-realm to flavor a tasteless life!

I love what Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say once, “I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers.” Preachers, pastors, parishioners aren’t to be offerers of ‘death’ but announcers of ‘life’, of ‘saltiness,’ of ‘blessings’ – not a dark, dead, dismal curse! A depressed world needs divine salt, divine joy, divine peace, and divine usefulness with an eternal taste – not a savorless life, or a savorless ministry, or a savorless marriage, or a savorless man! “God, help us!”

In “Tennyson’s Works,” Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote: [pps.3-4], “O God! My God! Have mercy now. I faint, I fall. Men say that Thou didst die for me, for such as me…Patient of ill, and death, and scorn, and that my sin was as a thorn Among the thorns that girt Your brow, Wounding Your soul. – That even now,…

In this extremist misery of ignorance, I should require a sign! And if a bolt of fire would rive the slumbrous summer noon While I do pray to Thee alone, Think my belief would stronger grow! Is not my human pride brought low? The boastings of my spirit still? The joy I had in my freewill All cold, and dead, and corpse-like grown?…

And what is left to me, but You, And faith in You? Men pass me by;- Christians with happy countenances – and children all seem full of You! And women smile with saint-like glances Like Your own mother’s when she bowed Above You, on that happy morn When angels spake to men aloud, And You and peace on earth were born…

Goodwill to me as well as all – I one of them; my brothers they; Brothers in Christ – a world of peace And confidence, day after day; And trust and hope till things should cease, And then one Heaven receives us all.”

That was written before 1892! Do you understand a redeemed man’s true calling and mission? ARE YOU SALT? But also a redeemed man’s true calling and mission is not only his spiritual saltiness but the reality of heaven’s LIGHT! Matthew 5:14-16 says: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

It is absolutely so amazing to me – I become awe-struck every time I read it or hear it when I know that Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” This is why in I Thessalonians 5:5 Paul said, “You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.” He told the church at Ephesus, Ephesians 5:8, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”

To the church at Galatia, Galatians 1:15-16, Paul said that it was the very “pleasure of God” to separate Paul from his mother’s womb, call him through His grace, for the purpose and plan of “revealing His Son in me,” and in you! If you haven’t heard, haven’t understood it, having received it as yet, your “old man” was “crucified with Christ; it is no longer I [YOU!} who lives, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God.” That’s Galatians 2:20-21!!

In Christ, you and I, children of faith, are vessels, containers – and every day we are to choose death to ourselves that the resurrection Light and Life of Christ might shine through us. That’s Luke 8:16 where Jesus said: “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter [or those you encounter] may see the light.”

You’ll remember that Jesus told the people of His day about the witness of John in John 5:35, “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” And have you fully absorbed Peter’s testimony in 2 Peter 1:16-19? “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came down from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

“Dark places – shining lights!” “Dismal circumstances – a shining Light!” “Defeating darkness – overcoming Light!” “Downcast spirit – uplifting Light of glory, honor, and praise!” “Doom and gloom attitudes – songs, singing, and shouting the Light of our Savior’s glorious praise!”

True light is seen, true light is radiant, true light reveals, true light exposes, true light overshadows, true light enhances and encourages, true light warns and illuminates dangers, true light glorifies God!

William Barclay, in his Daily Study Bible Series on Matthew wrote: [p.122], “One of the old historians wrote of Henry the Fifth after the Battle of Agincourt: ‘Neither would he suffer any ditties to be made and sung by the minstrels of his glorious victory, for that he would wholly have the praise and thanks altogether given to God.” The Christian never thinks of what he has done, but of what God has enabled him to do. He never seeks to draw the eyes of men to himself, but always direct them to God. So long as men are thinking of the praises, the thanks, the prestige, which they will get for what they have done, they have not really even begun on the Christian way.” SOBERING WORDS!!

The only significance to your life is the Light of Christ within you – all else is sinking sand of selfish insignificance! If your life does not radiate the Life of Christ within it’s like ‘a boundless ocean of existence’ without eternal meaning and mission!

Darkness? Self-enhancement! Light? Christ-honoring! Darkness? A little dishonesty! Light? Living in Truth! Darkness? No sympathy! Light? Mercy and grace and kindness! Darkness? Self-promotion! Light? Self-denial to honor Christ alone! Darkness? Reckless abandonment to one’s sin nature! Light? Complete surrender to our Lord’s Lordship! Darkness? An incapacity to walk faithfully, holily, righteously before God! Light? One faithful unto death and crowned with the Light of Life!

Light? O.D. Kretzman, D.D., in the “Illinois Medical Journal,” once wrote: “If we are to survive the atomic [nuclear]age, we must have something to live by, to live on, and to live for. We must stand aside from the world’s conspiracy of fear and hate and grasp once more the great monosyllables of life: faith, hope, and love. Men must live by these if they live at all under the crushing weight of history.”

Do you understand the chaotic darkness of godless lives? And are you blessed by those God-filled lives of light and liberty and the love of God? I love what Philllip Brooks once said: “Be such a man, and live such a life, That if every man were such as you, And every life a life like yours, This earth would be God’s Paradise.”

What about St. Irenaeus, in “Adversus haereses, V, who wrote: “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of Hid great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what He is Himself.” “Glory!”

In John 1:14-16 we read awesome words of heavenly intent for the “salt and light” folks of redemptive faith, full surrender, and awesome transformation: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”

W. Russell Bowie, in “The Chaplain,” [December 1960] wrote: “The doctrine of the incarnation is no unrelated speculation. It is the truth by which we find God, and are found by God, both in the common times, and the times of crisis. It says to us that the glory of God can be revealed in the little place and in the everyday event, as it was in the earthly life of Jesus; and it makes us trust that the divine redeeming purpose cannot be killed by the evil which may crucify it, and that in the love of Christ the power of God stands by us even when the world is dark.” GLORY AGAIN!

“Salt and Light” for me are the seeds of God’s everlastingness, the living fruit of His eternal vineyard, the healing touch of His grace of transformation, and the blessed flood of immortal living in His holy presence.

“Salt and Light” for me, because of our Lord’s saving grace, and His eternal mission, is the evidence of His indestructability of the Spirit-man and his role in touching God’s chosen with mercy!

“Salt and Light” is God’s “academy awards” not of fiction but the fact of eternal salvation and your participation in it. “Salt and Light” is God shining, unveiling, revealing the birth of immortality for all men if they but repent and put their faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

“Salt and Light” may have as its stage appearance the dim but darkening reality of a man’s separation from God, but its second and final drama is reconciliation with God, regenerated by God, and a renewal into God’s eternal intent for your life in Christ!

“Salt and Light” are a modern-day Job’s statement of faith and reason and revelation that “I know that my redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” [Job 19:25-26]

“Salt and Light” are the thoughts of eternal “rest”, eternal “restoration,” and eternal “consolation,” that says though earthly life was brief, eternal life in Him is forever!

“Salt and Light” are living hopes beyond the shadows of earthly dreams. “Salt and Light” are abandoned clothes in a casket because of absence from the body is presence with the Lord.

“Salt and Light” has a ring of nobility to it because to be in Christ is to be a part of a new creation that honors, blesses, and praises God and worships the King.

“Salt and Light”, white and bright, are those radiant colors of eternal hope, given to us that does not make us ashamed but continually blessing our Lord and being blessed.

“Salt and Light”, reminders of sins forgiven, the Savior present, the Spirit ruling, and Holy God being praised. “Salt and Light”, the great open door to our eternal home, the gathering of all the saints past, present, and future – and rejoicing in the angelic chorus at the throne of God as we all bow, adore, praise, exalt, and celebrate the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

“Salt and Light” – night and darkness are behind us and day and light ever before us, never diminishing but intensifying in our Lord’s eternal glory. “Salt and Light” – yes, it’s the heavenly language of our Lord and Master who tells us our value and worth is discovered as we look to His cross and resurrection.

“Salt and Light” – Joseph Addison, in “Cato,” [Act V, Sc 1] wrote: “The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But YOU shall flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.” Why? In Christ, through Salt and Light, you have become a part of a new day, a new way, a new heaven, a new life, a new future!

“Salt and Light” – an anonymous author penned these words: “Think of stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven! Of taking hold of a hand, and finding it God’s hand, Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial air, Of feeling invigorated, and finding it immortality, Of passing from storm and tempest to an unbroken calm, Of waking up, and finding it HOME.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“ARE NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS BOUND OR BLESSED BY OLD TESTAMENT LAW?”

It was four years ago, 2009, that I had had printed in India my book entitled: “Dangerous Trends From The Denouncers Of Truth.” In that book the thirteenth chapter is entitled: “The Grace of the Law – A Necessary Revival.” I’m including that chapter in this book as another question: “Are New Testament Christians Bound Or Blessed By Old Testament Law?” In Hebrews 2:14-15 the author said: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus] shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” And the fear of death is more than, yes, the fear of the devil, but even the fear of the broken law of God! Are you ‘bound up’?

If you’ve ever heard the statement, “We are people no longer under the Law but people under Grace!”, then you need to immediately pause, thoroughly examine the scriptures, and then respond to either the truth or error of that statement. There is a need, especially in America, for a necessary revival – THE GRACE OF THE LAW.

Without the resurrection of the grace of the law in this country, our nation will not survive these decades of decadence and immorality. God will not allow us to do so. Those who “take His name in vain” and bow down to the gods of their depraved flesh “will suddenly be broken and that without remedy.” In Matthew 5:17 Jesus is very clear: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”

The truth is that the law of God is either being fulfilled in you, through the presence of the indwelling Christ, or you find yourself under the Lord’s judgment because you are walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit! In Romans 3:31 Paul asks a vitally important question: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith?” (Then he answers his own question), “on the contrary, we establish the Law.” That word “establish” is translated from the Greek word “his–te–mi”, and means “to make to stand.” Because I’m a disciple of Jesus, I have become one who is to ESTABLISH again the law of God; I am to be one who MAKES TO STAND forever that which God requires; I am to be one who abides ‘in the Law,’ not in order to be saved, but BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN SAVED! Submission to the law of grace or transgression of that Law is the benchmark of either my obedience or my rebellion to Holy God!

In Ezekial 36 a prophetic picture is painted by the Lord. It is a picture, not only of those in Israel, but of the Church of the last days. Read carefully verses 17–31. What is God saying about that new, bold covenant that would see its fulfillment in Christ Jesus? Note especially verses 25–27: “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols, (see also Colossians 3:5). Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

There is a new Law now! In Romans 8:2 Paul says it is “the Law of The Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.” And then he says that as a result of the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, our Lord has done what? He “has set you free from the Law of sin and death.” I grew up singing an old hymn, “Free from the Law, O happy condition!” It was not until later that I finally learned it was not freedom from the Law of God, but freedom from the Law of sin and death! Paul clearly states, in agreement with the previously mentioned words of Jesus, in Romans 8:3, that “[God] condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Jesus issued a strong warning in Matthew 5:18–9: “For truly I say to you, until Heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of Heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall b called great in the kingdom of Heaven.”

There are some who “keep” and don’t “teach.” There are some who “teach” and don’t “keep.” But our Lord says we are to be those who “keep and teach” even the least of the commandments. Sadly, today, our nation, and even our churches, have bought into a teaching that we are “free from the Law of God.” The result has been devastating! The Law of God has become a strange thing. Some church members will even get angry with you when you read the scriptures that the requirement of the Law of God is to be fulfilled in them! Ask me how I know!

In Hosea 8:12, speaking of Israel and prophetically of last days churches, God says: “Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of my law, they are regarded as a strange thing.” In Hosea 4:6–7 God called the nation of Israel to accountability, and He’s doing the same today to “religious America,” the nation that is “supposedly one nation under God.” Listen to what He says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children.” Several years ago, my son, Scott, wrote an article entitled The Law of God Today. Let me quote from that article: “We are living in the midst of one of the greatest times of apostasy in the history of the world. Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:1 that “in the last days difficult times will come.” He went on to describe these difficult times in the following verses: “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” Many teach that this is a description of the condition of the world in general during the last days. If that is true, what is so unusually different about that as compared with any other time in history? Unregenerate men have always lived that way! The tragedy of this passage is that PAUL IS DESCRIBING THE LAST DAYS CHURCH!” And Scott spoke the truth!

As one reads through the Bible, it becomes very clear that God hates sin, in fact, He says, “the wages of sin is death.” But today the church is sending a confusing message to the world. As revelations of sexual immorality in the form of pornography, adultery, and homosexuality among preachers become a common occurrence in the national and local media, the church preaches more loudly than ever “the unconditional forgiveness of God.” The message of the gospel has been lowered to a “bumper–sticker theology” that says, “Christians aren’t perfect – just forgiven,” and so they keep on sinning.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been neatly packaged into “Madison Avenue” slogans and phrases to make it more palatable to the masses, the goal being to present the “good news of God’s forgiveness” in a ”positive” non–offensive manner. All reference to man’s absolute depravity and his status before God as a sinner condemned to death apart from repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus alone, is completely ignored, and even labeled as harsh and unloving. A man like Robert Schuller can make the following statement and still be recognized as one of the leading evangelical ministers in the entire world! “I don’t think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counter–productive to the evangelism enterprise than the often CRUDE, UNCOUTH, AND UNCHRISTIAN STRATEGY OF ATTEMPTING TO MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF THEIR LOST AND SINFUL CONDITION.”

It is not crude, uncouth, and unchristian to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition! It is not crude, uncouth, and unchristian to make the church aware of sin that leads to death! I guess Schuller doesn’t appreciate Jesus saying that if He hadn’t come they wouldn’t have known their sin! They have forgotten what James said – or they make light of it and say it doesn’t really say what it says. But it does! James 5:19–20, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Please hear me, the grace of God, the marvelous, matchless grace of God is not an excuse for sin. Grace is not licentiousness but liberty. Grace is not a frivolous teaching allowing you to flirt, court, or get into bed with any sin your heart desires. But grace is that fiery teaching of liberation and freedom emancipating you to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” (Titus 2:12). In I Timothy 1:5, Paul tells Timothy: “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” And that’s God’s desire for His people. Notice Three Things:

First, LOVE FROM A PURE HEART.

Look at Psalm 24:3–5, “Who may ascend unto the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Living in the presence of Almighty God is conditional!

In Isaiah 59:1–2 the Lord specifies the consequence of sin upon our relationship with Him: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; neither is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.” But remember that Ezekial 36:26 reveals God’s provision for His people – “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you.” And what was the evidence of a new heart and spirit? “By My Spirit, you’ll keep the Law in your heart!” In fact, Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

There is no pure heart apart from a new heart. In the New Testament the same message is born out in I John 2:3–6, “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him, the one who says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same manner as He walked.” And how did Jesus walk? He walked in heart purity! He fulfilled, established, made to stand, the Law of God.

Second, A GOOD CONSCIENCE. The Word has much to say about conscience. In I Corinthians 8:7 Paul issues a warning about conscience, “a conscience being weak is defiled.” That is why Paul challenged Timothy in I Timothy 1:19, to maintain a good conscience. In I Timothy 3:9, he again challenged his spiritual son to hold “to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” And I assure you that the mystery of godliness is not being held onto in a lifestyle of law–breaking!

In I Timothy 4:2 Paul speaks of men who “by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own consciences as with a branding iron.” A seared conscience? There is no doubt what it is, it is those who violate the Law of God and feel no qualms about it – outside the church and within it, sometimes even in the pulpit! But there is hope! Hebrews 9:14 says, “how much more will the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

The prophet asked, “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” In Luke 6:46 Jesus asks, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ yet do not do what I say?”

Third, A SINCERE FAITH. Does that mean there can be an insincere faith? Of course it does! But what is a sincere faith? Romans 3:31, once again, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law [of God]!” Do you understand that? An insincere faith? In I Timothy 6:3 Paul describes it as “anyone who advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness.” A question – did the Lord Jesus set aside the Law of God or did He intensify its demands? I read a review of a supposedly “Christian” book in an India newspaper by a doctor of theology there. There was a quote from his book that said, “Jesus hated the Old Testament Law.” I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It was another confirmation of what the prophet Jeremiah called “the lying pen of the Scribes.”

In I Timothy 1:8–11, Paul instructs us in the purpose and proper use of God’s Law. He says: “But we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

Look carefully – “realize the fact that the law is not made for a righteous man.” A righteous man? I John 3:7 says, “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” There is by the grace of God an imputed, credited, declared righteousness through our faith in Christ that is real! But the deeper truth is, that imputed, credited, declared righteousness becomes the consuming passion of a man’s life, he’s not a play–actor (hypocrite), but a participant in the fullness of Christ’s indwelling Life. A “righteous man” is one who has been swallowed up by Life – one who has been clothed with His dwelling from Heaven. That’s Jesus, who fulfills the Law! And the man “in Christ” is the man indwelt by and overflowing with the spirit and attitude of Jesus, “I do always those things that please My Father.”

There are many who say, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior,” but it’s a matter of the head and lips, but not of the heart; it’s a matter of culture and convenience not commitment and consecration; and it’s often a matter of family tradition not a living, life–changing, vibrant, all–consuming passion and faith! In Matthew 7:21–23 Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of the Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Listen with your heart to Romans 6:19 if you are a Law of God violator! “I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For first as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in your sanctification.”

I wonder why these verses are seldom read in many churches today? Look at the warning from John found in I John 3:4, “Everyone who practices sin also practices ; and sin is lawlessness!”

To practice lawlessness brings a curse and separation from God! Paul tells us in Galatians 3:13 that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Not though, REDEMPTION IS FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW, NOT THE REQUIREMENT OF THE LAW! Galatians 3:14 continues, stating that through Christ we “receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The Spirit? The promise of the Spirit? Through faith? In Acts 5:32 the Word emphatically states who can receive the Spirit of God: “And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Look at Abram – he’s a pagan living in Ur of the Chaldees. He’s called out, chosen by God, and found faithful. His name is changed. The “AH” out of YAHWEH is added to signify his relationship with Almighty God. His life is changed, he receives the promise of the Spirit, and lives a life of obedience and submission to God. In Galatians 3:17 Paul says, “What I am saying is this: The law, which came 430 years later…” Why 430 years

later?

Because there was that long and unusual period in the history of God’s people when they walked in faith and obedience. It was not true in man’s early history! Genesis 6:5–6 says of the generation that was destroyed bt the flood, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; and the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart!” There’s the flood and a Noah. Then in the sovereignty of God, He looks to Ur of the Chaldees, to pagan Abram, and raises him up to bless him and to make his name great and to bless through Abram all the families of the earth! For 430 years there is a new spirit and attitude in the hearts of men toward Holy God! Then comes the Law! Why? Galatians 4:19 asks and answers the question: “Why the law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator until the seed should come to whom the promises have been made.”

Look to Galatians 3:21, “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be!” Now please look back to I Timothy 1:8. It is highly critical for your understanding, and mine. “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.” How does one use the law of God lawfully? Whenever there is lawlessness and rebelliousness, the law of God must be upheld. Whenever there is a compromise with the unholy and the profane, you must uphold the law of God. Whenever there is immorality and sexual perversions, the law of God must be upheld. Why? The Law leads us to Christ! In Galatians 3:24 Paul says, “Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.”

I want to quote again from Scott’s article “The Law of God Today.” “Jeremiah prophesied of the New Covenant that would be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jeremiah 31:33, h said, “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it.” In Hebrews 10:15–16, after stating that the Holy Spirit bears witness to us, Jeremiah 31:33 is quoted as applying to us, “I will put My law upon their heart.” In Psalm 40, a Messianic Psalm, Jesus says in verses 7 and 8, “Then I said, Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Your will, O My god; Your law is within My heart.”

The New Covenant that we have in Jesus Christ leaves no room for lawlessness; instead; the promise we have is that He will give us A NEW HEART, a heart that DESIRES TO DO HIS WILL. In Ezekial 36:26–27, we are told, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.”

Rather than resisting the true nature and character of God by justifying our rebellion, we are to have a heart like David, who said in Psalm 119:97, “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

Israel had a law written on tablets of stone that God said was not too difficult for them to keep. We have the law of God written upon the tablets of our hearts and the Holy Spirit living within us to cause us to desire to do His will; that is why the writer of Hebrews warns us in Hebrews 2:3, after reminding us that every transgression and disobedience by Israel received a just recompense, ‘how shall we escape (judgment) if we neglect so great a salvation? We are without excuse!”

THE GRACE OF THE LAW – A NECESSARY REVIVAL BECAUSE:

Number one: MEN DON”T KNOW THEY ARE SINNERS!

There must be the necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because there are multitudes in sin and they don’t even know they’re sinners in danger of the eternal judgment of God! There was a French evangelist who said on an occasion of a deep burden over the lostness of man to a friend: “Oh, I wish I could find a sinner; I’ve got such good news to tell him.” The friend responded: “Find a sinner? Why, the world is filled with them.” And the evangelist answered: “I know, but it’s one thing to be a sinner and quite another to know it!”

Listen to Paul in Romans 7:7–12, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the law; for I would not have known about coveting if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment producing in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the law sin is dead. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me. For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good!” Examine Romans 3:20b,

“For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Isn’t it convenient that our nation’s courts have seen fit to remove the Law of God from hanging on the walls of courts and schools? Do you realize how rampant the violation of the Law of God is across the world today? And there must be a “voice raised in the wilderness declaring – Make His paths straight!”

*“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

*“Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Matthew 7:23

* “I have seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. Transgressors will be altogether destroyed; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.” Psalm 37:35–36, 38.

*”Zion will be redeemed with justice, and her repentant ones with righteousness: But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, and those who forsake the Lord shall come to an end.” Isaiah 1:27–28.

* “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15. That’s not a good thing!

The Grace of the Law!

Number Two, MANY CHURCH MEMBERS HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THEY ARE NO LONGER ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR SIN.

There must be a necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because there are multitudes of churches filled with many people who truly believe they are no longer accountable to the Law of God, and even feel they are free to continue in sin because they believe they couldn’t do otherwise until they get to heaven! Yet, that is not the testimony of scripture or the truth of Christ’s triumphant victory over sin at Calvary! To the woman taken in adultery before Jesus, after her accusers left, said to her after forgiving her sin, “Go and sin no more.” That was also Paul’s challenge to the church at Corinth. In I Corinthians 15:34 he said, “Become sober–minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God; I speak this to your shame.” I pray that as a disciple of the Lord that you will be mastered by the truth of Romans 6:12–22. It is truly one of the most liberating passages in all the Word of God. Remember Jesus’ words in John 8:32, “and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free!”

Look with me at several verses from Romans 6:12–22:

*6:12, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts.”

*6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law (of sin and death), but under grace!”

*6:18, “and having been freed from sin, you became servants of righteousness.”

*6:22, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit (grace, the Word, the Spirit) resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.” (Read also Romans 8:12–14!)

In I Peter 4:17–18 the Word declares that “it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved (and it is), what will become of the godless man and the sinner.”

A number of years ago, I was pastoring Highlands Baptist Church in Ocala Florida. On a Sunday morning there was a handsome, striking couple that visited our fellowship. They signed a visitor’s card indicating they lived in the apartment complex across the street from the church. As usual, I visited all visitors the following week. I was not prepared for what I learned. This man had been a well–known pianist for churches and quartet ministries across the U.S. and Canada. I learned that the woman was not his wife, but that they had met and “fallen in love.” He left his wife; she left her husband and children. He informed me that before they made their final decision to break up two families they sought the counsel of “leading pastors” in the U.S. and Canada, and had been encouraged to “follow your hearts.” I was stunned! I paused! Then I excused myself, but asked the man to come by my office. The next morning he came. And with smiles on his face he asked me, “Well, Pastor, what do you think?” I didn’t have to think! I pointed the “finger of God” in his face and said, “Sir, you are an adulterer. I don’t care what your ‘leading pastors’ had to say, you are a lawbreaker. If I believed what you and those pastors believed, I’d close my Bible, close the doors of this church, and tell all the people to go home – it’s all a lie. But it’s not, and unless you and that woman repent you are both going to Hell along with those false prophets who counseled your rebellion to the Law of God. And, sir, until you repent, you are not welcome in this church.” I then walked out the church door and left him standing in the foyer in shock and dismay. He never came back. But a year later, 2a.m. in the morning, I got a long distance telephone call. There was a man on the other end weeping. He gave his name. It was the adulterous gospel piano player. He said, “Farrell, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You were the only man to tell me the truth. By the Word and the Spirit and your testimony, I finally saw the truth. I was convicted. I repented. The relationship was broken off, and by the mercy and grace of God my marriage has been restored. My wife and I would like to come to Ocala and tell what God did in our marriage. He’s even given us a ministry to hurting couples and troubled marriages.” He came – and we were blessed! I later saw him on national television playing the gospel of Christ piano and music with the countenance of Christ all over him!

Number Three, THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE. There must be the necessary revival of the Grace of the Law because this nation has lost sight of the “divine intent” of truly being one nation under God. Proverbs 14:34 states: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

Abimelech, king of Gerar, asked an interesting question in Genesis 20:4, “Lord, will You slay a nation?” He has in history, and He will also do so to our nation, unless our nation repents and returns to righteousness!

Deuteronomy 32:28 describes our nation today, “For they are a nation lacking in counsel, and there is no understanding in them.” Verse 29 says, “Would that they were wise, that they understood this, that they (as a nation) would consider their latter end or discern their future.” Listen to David in Psalm 9:15–20, “The nations have sunk down in the pit, which they have made; in the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. The wicked will return to Sheol, even all the nations who forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged before You. Put them in fear, O Lord; let the nations know that they are but men.”

In Isaiah 1:4, the Lord prophesies to Israel of their decline, and it is so applicable to America today, “Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons, who act corruptly! They have abandoned the Lord! They have despised the Holy One of Israel! They have turned away from Him!” Bill Bennett, former secretary of education and drug czar has written a book entitled “The Devaluing of America.” It should be read by every school board member in America. At one of the Republican conventions he made this statement, “There is a FRAYING of the social fabric of this great nation!” That’s true, but more than that, there is a fraying of the spiritual fabric of this once great nation! The garment of faith and obedience to Almighty God is being rent in twain from top to bottom! How does it happen?

Study Psalm 2. Look carefully at the first two verses! “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed.” Then in verses 8–12, look at the end result of that! Don’t miss it! “Ask of Me and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now, therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”

The Lord said to Samuel (I Samuel 8:7), “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.” We saw in the beginning of this third theme how (Proverbs 14:34) “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Let God bring conviction to you over the spiritual condition of our nation – and let’s pray together for genuine revival!

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“ARE TEENAGERS, YOUTH, UNMARRIED YOUNG ADULTS FREE FOR ROMANTIC SLEEPOVERS?”

Again, when my Sue and I were in Park City, Utah, for about 12 days, August 3-August 15, 2013, I read another “USA Today” newspaper with an article entitled: “Let Teenagers Have Their Romantic Sleepovers,” with a picture of Angelina Jolie in 2001 with her mother, Marcheline Bertrand. It stated that when Angelina Jolie was 14 years of age, her boyfriend had been allowed to move in.

The article was written by Amanda Marcotte. She wrote: “While state education boards across the country are still embroiled in a debate over whether to even accept the realities of sex before marriage, in the real world, widespread acceptance of premarital sex and cohabitation has opened up a debate about whether parents who still have kids in the house should let them have romantic sleepovers or even let boyfriends or girlfriends move in…In 2011, Angelina Jolie shocked her fans with the news that she had lived with her boyfriend when she was 14, and that she planned to be just as liberal in the living arrangement department as her mother was. When the shock wore off, two years later, Henry Alford in “The New York Times” opened up the possibility that such a move might even be the smart one for parents and kids. It might even improve relationships between them.”

Amanda Marcotte then spoke of these “trends” as that which, she believed, was “reflective of a larger shift in American life,” which is true because the larger shift is a greater disgust of the Law and Word of Holy God. “Let’s take the Ten Commandments off the walls of our legal centers, schools, homes, and, yes, even churches – we just might offend somebody!”

Amanda Marcotte wrote: “The old-school parental claim that their offspring should never have premarital sex under their roof is yielding to a more accepting attitude about their growing and grown children’s sexuality.”

“The real world”? Yes! Enemies of God and His Truth, enemies of holiness and righteousness, enemies of the call to pure hearts and cleansed souls, enemies of anything or anyone that suggests we have a call from God to obey His Word, enemies of anyone who challenges sexual immorality is an offense against Lord God Almighty and a violation of His covenant-law and even His covenant-grace!

We live in a time period of American history of “misplaced, lost, and buried shame”! Shame over known-sin has been shed just as shame over lust, license, and the dark moments of adultery and fornication have been denied! It’s as if a former ‘stable society’ has given over to lawless claims of liberty and freedom to do as one pleases failing to recognize spiritual anarchy!

I do want you to know that I believe there is a time, there is a place, there is a ‘line’ that can be crossed – and when it’s crossed, Holy God will shut that door of opportunity to turn to Him – and judgment is birthed! Adultery, abortion, and, yes, animosity toward the God of Calvary’s love – and they shake their fists in defiance of God and His Word – and turn inward on themselves to satisfy their shameless lusts!

Do you remember Judges 17:6? “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Isn’t that true for a significant number of American citizens including many youth in our culture? And a word of warning from God’s Holy Word is essential here and now! Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”

Are you aware of how much justification of wickedness goes on in America today? Yes, even in the White House and presidential quarters day after day after day – and there will come a time when they stand before Holy God to give an account of their words, their deeds, their actions that shame His Word, His gracious deeds, and His atoning actions!

And promiscuous young people today? In “Aurora Leigh” Elizabeth Barrettt Browning wrote: “I felt so young, so strong, so sure of God,” but many youth have said by word and deed, “I feel so free to do as I please, really, so weak morally, but I’m a believer,” and deceive themselves in a licentious fashion indulging their fallen flesh to express their independence, believing they are unrestrained by God or His Word, by parents, by their school leaders or teachers, and they become loose in thinking and deeds when in reality they strap themselves tighter and tighter in fleshly and demonic bondage.

In Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1,13-14 we read: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity. Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’ Verses 13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: ‘Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

I want you to grasp, young people, that liberty in Christ is not a license to Sin! There are those who will excuse your sin, give you false feelings of assurance as you sin, and even take advantage of you in participating in your sin. But neither in them or you yourself is there any genuine spiritual life at all if you bow before the American idol of sexual immorality!

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus speaks: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practices lawlessness.’”

John Piper wrote: [“A Godward Life,” p.256], “the evidence of being savingly known by Jesus is to be an evildoer no longer, that is, to have righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. Religious zeal and even miracle working do not prove a new heart of love.”

Do you ‘profess’ a marriage to Christ or look forward to a wedding to come? I think about those youth, the collegians, young adults, who have been ‘reared’ with no holy revelation, or of youth who’ve had great moms and dads, but are totally untethered to anything that godly parents taught them – oh, but they do ‘profess’ Jesus as they “call their own shots,” “determine their own way, deny discipleship demands, and even say, “I acknowledge You, Lord, but when it comes to sexual preferences, I’ll do as I please.”

But look at Matthew 22:2 and verses 10-14! “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son.” Verses 10-14, “So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Are you unaware of the lack of holy wedding garments in one’s marriage to Christ? Wedding garments? Wedding garments in the spiritual, heavenly realm? No heavenly wedding garments – no marriage to Christ! Have you, young people, overlooked Titus 2:14? “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

I don’t hesitate in saying to youth and to adults that broken vows of honoring Christ through illicit, immoral sex-capades, deface and defame the precious picture of a Savior who washes our sins as white as snow! And forgiveness IS granted through the shed blood of our Lord, IF we accept His Word, “Go, and sin no more!”

Why was God’s law given? Romans 3:20 says, “…for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” And by the Cross and the shed blood of the Lamb of God the guilt of sin is washed away! Paul went on to say in Romans 3:21-26, “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Faith in Jesus is not a license to continue in sin, but liberty from the very power of it! And a young person who has embraced sexually immoral behavior, longing to be free of its curse and condemnation, repents and keeps on repenting, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of his/her faith, and establishes, not impure, but pure relationships with one of the opposite sex.

I don’t have to tell you that there are always consequences to broken laws of God, consequences to broken precepts of holy living before the Lord, and scars that often remain like a bad dream you can never forget. And the devil will surely remind you of what he believes is your unworthiness to receive God’s forgiveness. But it’s there, and there forever!

God is a good and gracious parent. In Hebrews 12:6 we read, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.”

That’s not ‘jail-cell’ confinement imprisoning you as punishment, but an act of heavenly correction. In Hebrews 12:10-11, we learn what His conscientious purpose and plan is: “For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Young people, ‘painful’ correction or discipline spiritually is a high and holy calling AND ‘privilege’ but Jesus said in John 12:26, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me,” and the attitude of our Lord concerning Father-God? In John 8:29 Jesus said: “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, FOR I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM.” What a calling! What a mission for your life, young person! What holy privilege – “don’t cast your pearls before swine!”

There is no blessing in a scheme of law of God rejection or a personal pursuit of satisfaction of sexual tendencies that declares one guilty of breaking, defiling Holy Law in the pursuit of self-satisfaction of one’s “glands”! Again, John Piper wrote: [“A Godward Life,” p.119], “If you love God’s good gift of sexuality, take a stand for treating it like precious gems rather than common gravel. Guard it in the velvet-lined safe of steel commitment. Don’t strew it on the street or in the press.”

I pray that every young person in America would memorize Psalm 1! I believe a huge youthful transformation would occur concerning their response to youthful sexual immorality. Psalm 1 says: “Blessed is the man [the young person] who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

But I also believe that as Timothy, young Timothy, received counsel from his spiritual elder, Paul, if young people today would receive Paul’s words, a deepening of true faith would occur and a great respect for honoring God with the bodies would become a holy, heavenly reality! In 2 Timothy 2:19-22 Paul wrote:

“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

I want you to know, young person, that it is God’s desire, His heart and passion, to redeem young men and young women but it is not His intent to celebrate your depraved decisions that satisfy your lusts and clashes with His Truth!

In James 3:13-17 the brother of Jesus wrote: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.”

John saw the “holy city,” the “New Jerusalem” in a vision in Revelation 21. And God spoke to him in verses 7-8 saying: “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Hear Jesus, young people – don’t turn a deaf ear to our Loving Savior and Lord! In Revelation 22:12-19 Jesus said: “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.. Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Do you remember Joseph, the youngster, who honored God? In Genesis 39:1-9 there is an awesome example for youth today!! It says: “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and he served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had put under his authority. So it was, from the time he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

I want to share a word from Josh McDowell from his book, “Beyond Belief To Convictions.” He said: [p.166], “God is so passionate about his relationship with us and our kids that he has personally – and miraculously – provided the inspiration of his word, supervised its transmission, and repeatedly reinforced its reliability so that all those who have open eyes and open hearts may believe it with assurance and conviction. Nations may have rejected it, tyrants may have tried to stamp it out, heretics may have tried to distort it, but the evidence of the Bible’s reliability is sufficient to assure us and our kids that it has remained a true reflection of reality – of who God is – and that it is “stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth,” [Luke 16:17]. Moreover, an examination of how God has meticulously and miraculously protected the integrity of His Word will impress us and move us with the depth of God’s love for us and His faithfulness toward us.”

Oh, youth, young people, those caught in a cruel trap of self-indulgence and sensual, sexual ‘pleasure’ – it is out of the very pit of hell to steal from you marriages; greatest gift for a husband or a wife – the gift of sexual pleasure untainted but celebrated on a wedding night and for untold years to come! Oh, understand it, grasp it, hold out for it – the gift of purity, saved for your wife, saved for your husband!

In sexual relationships there is a high mountain of the very glory of God in your marriage, where the armies of Satan celebrate and get their “fix” in every diabolical sexual perversion! If you’re there, you are “feeding” the demons! And most youth have never been told they “entertain” demons unaware!!

Has the ‘voice’ of shame deceived you, blinded you, deafened you? Has a fallen society so corrupted you that you cannot begin to hear God’s passionate voice about fighting the fight of faith? Has even a divided, deceived church community ‘brain-washed’ you that pre-marital sex is no big deal? Are ‘common-place’ professors violating you with ‘uncommon,’ ‘evil,’ ‘fleshly’ thoughts about what’s normal to them – immoral, perverted lifestyles?

Too many youth are garrisoned by the godless and consider they’re OK to do and be what their fatalistic friends do and are! Too many youth are entrenched in the norm of a fallen society producing in them a spiritual stagnation, refusing to even LOOK God’s Way! Too many youth are “comfortable” with a Christless crowd where their dispositions become boxed in to immoral living, sexual perversions, illicit activities, so guiltily playing “the fool” with their souls.

Oh, youth, “you must be born again”! Of, youth, “you must be born of the water of God’s Word and born of His Holy Spirit”! Oh, youth, Jesus loves you and wants YOU to be His Bride! Oh, youth, Jesus must increase and you must decrease! Oh, youth, recognize that you were crucified with Christ, yes, YOU, 2000 years ago! Your old sin man died on the Cross with your Lord and Savior! There’s forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation, renewal, residency with your life His home on earth!

What does Isaiah 45:22-25 tell us, young people? “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. He shall say, ‘Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come. And all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.” How does: “shall be justified and shall glory” sound to you?

I do care about where you’ve been by the choices you’ve made and what you’ve done by the choices you’ve made because there are consequences, yes, good and bad – but more importantly the Word tells me, yes, that God Himself is so pleased when one youth turns to Him!

In Acts 26:12-19 receive the testimony of Paul! “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith.’ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”

Oswald Chambers wrote in his “My Utmost For His Highest” valuable words for the understanding of every young person. He said: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Our Lord said, in effect, to Paul – Your whole life is to be overmastered by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine. I HAVE CHOSEN YOU!!”…When we are born again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained. It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ. Verse 16 is immensely commanding – “to make YOU a minister and a witness.” There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person not a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing else, he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

What about you, young lady? What about you, young man? To Whom or to what do you belong?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“HOW WILL YOU PLEAD?”

Have you ever witnessed a court-room scene when someone is being arraigned for a crime and the judge asks, “Mr. So & So, HOW DO YOU PLEAD?” Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of “arraign”: “To call or set a prisoner at the bar of a court, to answer the matter charged against him in a indictment or information. When called, the indictment is read to him and he is to plead guilty or not guilty and to elect by whom he will be tried.”

Before the judgment bar of Holy God, how will YOU plead? Before the judgment bar of Holy God, who do you choose to be your advocate? Before the judgment bar of Holy God, what’s the case you lay out before Holy God? Think about it! Why?

In Romans 2:1-3 Paul wrote: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Paul said to the Corinthian congregation in 2 Corinthians 5:9-11, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.”

Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Peter had a challenging word to every man. In I Peter 4:14-19 he wrote: “If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

Oh, I do like what Anthony Hoekema wrote in his book, “The Bible And The Future,” [Grand Rapids: Wm.B. Eerdman’s Publ. Co., 1979, p.259], “The failures and shortcomings…of believers…will enter into the picture on the Day of Judgment. But – and this is the important point – the sins and shortcomings of believers will be revealed in the judgment as forgiven sins, whose guilt has been totally covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And I know this is why David wrote in Psalms 19:9-10, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

But pity and pray for those who see the finger of God writing over their judgment page the word “TEKEL”, [Daniel 5:27], “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.”

When I married my wife, Sue, she was of the Methodist persuasion, and still is! There’s an old Methodist hymn with these words: “Are you ready? Are you ready? Ready for the Judgment Day? When the saints and sinners shall be parted right and left – Are you ready for the Judgment Day?”

And do you remember Julia Ward Howe’s words in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”? “He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat, He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgment Seat”? Oh, think about it! Press in to it! Have you heard the arguments?

ONE, “I’M A RELIGIOUS MAN”!! But I’m not ashamed to bust that bubble that that man based his life upon because ‘religion’ has never “REDEEMED” any man! Do you really differentiate between ‘religion’ and what Jesus said, “You MUST BE BORN AGAIN, born of the water of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit”?

Religion began in the Garden of Eden! Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; AND THEY SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGETHER (“FIG-LEAF RELIGION”) AND MADE THEMSELVES COVERINGS.”

That’s man-made creations! That’s religious invention that has no intention of being reconciled to God God’s Way! From “Confusionism’ to Hinduism to Islam-ism, that’s men’s intent on doing their own thing in their own way, deciding for themselves what makes them look good before a ‘god’ they claim to know.

Religion has been confronted by Christ as empty of redeeming merit! Do you remember Nicodemus, a religious man, a spiritual guru of Judaism? We read about him in John 3:3-11!! Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what we know and testify what we have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”

Do you remember Paul before King Agrippa because of the Jews’ condemnation of him after his conversion to Christ? In Acts 26:5 we read, “They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our RELIGION I lived a Pharisee.”

But was he “saved,” was he “redeemed,” was Paul at that time, under Pharisaical religion saved? NO!! I remember Major Ian Thomas of England speak of those who are “awakened souls, but unregenerate in spirit.” SO TRUE!

Religion may awaken a soul to some form of conscience but it cannot transform into a “new creation.” Religion may excite with mandates of some shades of truth but it doesn’t, hasn’t, and never will lead to DIVINE TRUTHY except by the shocking awareness of religion’s EMPTINESS! Have you heard it?

TWO, “I LIVE BY THE GOLDEN RULE.” Do you realize how that flies in the face of God?

If the “golden rule” is redemptive, then why did God decree “the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world”? If the “golden rule” is regenerative, then why the Cross of Christ? If the “golden rule” SAVES, then why did the SAVIOR SUFFER? If man’s initiative transforms, then why the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? If you’ve determined that all you need is to live by the “golden rule,” then you’re the goose that is about to be cooked because all you can lay are brass eggs, trying to pass off as “golden,” when it’s only “fools’ gold.”

Golden rule mentality, spiritual mentality on your terms, is ‘self-determination,’ and “my best efforts ought to be acceptable even if God chooses the death of His Son.” BUT LISTEN: 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 tells us: “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation…that is, that GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to ud the WORD OF RECONCILIATION.”

THREE, “I’VE DETERMINED I AM A RIGHTEOUS MAN.”

That’s man’s unsound declaration revealing how far he is from Holy God! What does God say? “…ALL (ARE) LIKE AN UNCLEAN THING, AND ALL (THEIR) RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE LIKE FILTHY RAGS…” [Isaiah 64:6].

Do you remember how that happened? Genesis 2:16-17 says, “And the Lord God commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”

The trees of the garden of which we may freely eat? “The tree of life!!” That is Living By The Life of Another [Jesus Christ], that is Living In And Through God’s Life, That is Partaking of the Fruit of Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

But the “Good Old Boys” Network ‘measures themselves by themselves,’ and partakes of the fruit of “good and evil.”

Here’s the “shocker,” my friends: Holy God took your best and your worst, BOTH, and judged them worthy only of the Cross! In Christ Jesus God crucified your best AND your worst! “I am crucified with Christ!”

Two thousand years ago Holy God hung you on the Cross with Christ: your goodness was judged worthy of death – your evilness was judged worthy of death! And you ‘think’ you have something to offer to God? So, when you stand before the Court of God, how will you plead? Who is your advocate? What will be your defense?

“I’m a religious man”? “I’ve lived by the Golden Rule”? or “I’ve determined, God, whether You like it or not, I’m a righteous man”?

But there is another option, another life choice, another Way…it’s called the Way of love, grace, and mercy, in and through the sacrifice of Christ in YOUR behalf! And consider this: If you were the only person who ever lived, what Jesus did for the whole lost and dying world, He would have done what He did just for YOU!!**

“My faith has found a resting place – not in device or creed! I trust the ever LIVING ONE – HIS WOUNDS FOR ME SHALL PLEAD… I need no other argument, I need no other plea; It is enough that Jesus died, and that HE DIED FOR ME.”

Your life, its foundation, is built on either selfish gratification or on Sovereign Grace. “And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued? AMAZING LOVE! HOW CAN IT BE, THAT THOU, MY GOD, SHOULD DIE FOR ME?”

You’re familiar with I Corinthians 11 where Paul talked about the Lord’s Supper. In verse 28 he said, “But let a man EXAMINE HIMSELF, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

This IS examination time, encounter time, entreaty time. It’s “TERROR OF THE LORD” TIME or “TRIUMPHANT MERCY, LOVE, AND GRACE TIME.” This is “pump my flesh time” or “falling on the Rock of Jesus time” This is “self-measurement time” or “Sovereign mercy time.” This is “grit time” or “marvelous grace time” from our loving Lord.

This is the “mountain top of self-approval time” or the “fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins time”. This is “boastfulness and willfulness of self time” or the “bread and wine time” of God’s redemptive plan. This is the self-written “book of accomplishment time” or the “Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine time”!

Are you familiar with the old hymn entitled “At Calvary”? “Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died, AT CALVARY…Mercy there was great and grace was free, Pardon there was multiplied to me…There my burdened soul found liberty AT CALVARY.” Have you been there?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“WHEN GOD SPEAKS?”

It happened many years ago when I was pastoring a church in a southern city in the U.S.A. I was sitting in my church office intent in preparation both in the Word and in prayer for the coming Sunday services. All of a sudden, I sensed a strong and powerful “Voice.” “Your friend, [I’ll leave him unnamed] is involved in an adulterous affair. Go tell him to repent or I’ll strike him dead.” I was stunned! (“What was that? Who was that? It wouldn’t be God. My friend is happily married. My friend is in church every Sunday. My friend is so hospitable to me and my wife. My friend is a successful businessman.”) That sure was strange – and I shut it down.

Three months later it broke wide open. It was true. A relationship had been going on for three years with a ‘lady’ (?) in the church unknown to no one, we thought, but later we learned from a few of our church youth they had known and had been following the couple to their ‘hidden’ rendezvous. The man’s marriage was rescued. The woman walked away from her husband and children.

Was it God speaking and I couldn’t hear? I believe it was without a doubt! Jack Deere, in his book “Surprised By The Voice of God,” [p.20], wrote: “The God of the Bible reveals much more to us than the sins of others. He speaks about many things. Sometimes we fail to hear Him because He says more than we want to hear. Sometimes we fail to hear Him because we are ignorant of the varied ways in which He chooses to speak to us. And sometimes we fail to hear Him because His voice is drowned out by competing voices that masquerade as God’s voice, throwing us into confusion.

Listen to the Word of God!! His voice is on every page: In Jeremiah 7:23-24,26, we read: “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. Verse 26, Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.” It didn’t get any better at this time for God’s people!

Jeremiah 11:10 says, “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who REFUSED TO HEAR MY WORDS, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”

So God asked a question! Jeremiah 23:18, “For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?” And here comes a challenging, convicting, mind-clearing, and will-engineering word that should shake you to the core!! Jeremiah 25:4 says: “And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.”

Did it say, “rising early and sending them”? Was that early a.m., early morning, early in their pilgrimage, or was it that God, early on, “read their mail,” “watched their reluctance early in their journey to submit themselves to Him,” or God foreseeing, after their choices of deafness to His voice, the perception of their falling away?

In Matthew 10 Jesus had just sent out His twelve disciples, and in verse 27 He said: “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” He had just said in verse 26, “…and there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and HIDDEN THAT WILL NOT BE KNOWN.” [HOW’S YOUR FEAR OF GOD DOING?].

Paul was giving his defense in Acts 22 after the commander was about to arrest him – and he told of Ananias coming to him, sent by the Lord. In verse 14, Ananias said to him, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that YOU SHOULD KNOW HIS WILL, AND SEE THE JUST ONE, AND HEAR THE VOICE OF HIS MOUTH.”

If you’ve ever been under my preaching ministry at all, I know you’ve heard me preaching over and over again: “God is no respecter of persons. What He’s done for Moses, Paul, David, John, He’ll do for you.” And that includes conversational language concerning His good, acceptable, and perfect will for your life!

And God is still speaking as He did to Abraham, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or James because His love for us is as great as it was for them. Our Lord is still speaking because of the intensity and overflow of His heart, purposes, plans, and missions because they are as great or greater now than they were then.

He’s still speaking because HE WANTS US TO HEAR HIS VOICE in order to know Him more perfectly, maturely, and intimately.

He’s still speaking because, like a little child with a loving father, He wants to build our confidence and assurance as to our Holy Family Heritage.

He’s still speaking because like a small ship in a big ocean we need the ‘Heavenly Stars of His Priceless Words” to give direction to our lives!

I picked up Larry Lea’s book “The Hearing Ear” a few years ago. I finally started to read it recently! I was overjoyed by what I read. In the “Preface,” Lea said: “Most of us can point to some specific time and say, ‘That was the turning-point in my life.’…I certainly can… (Lea said:), When I think of my turning point, I remember that day back in 1968 when, for the first time in my life, I heard the voice of God… I was 17 years old and I had lost my mind. Locked inside the psychiatric ward of Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, I spent most of the time lying on my bed in a drugged stupor with my eyes rolled back in my head. I thought that the lady who cleaned my room was my mother and that the patient across the hall was the doctor…

But one day the horrible mental fog around my brain cleared just long enough for a shining ray of hope to penetrate my senses. Falling to my knees, I prayed the only prayer I knew how to pray. Pleading, weeping, I cried out to God, over and over I sobbed out His name: ‘Jesus! Jesus! Oh, merciful Jesus!…

Suddenly, I heard a voice speak in my spirit: ‘Now, you are My son. You will take My message to this generation. You will be My mouth and My minister.’ Then the voice told me I could get up and go home…In less than a week, I walked out of that hospital, and I’ve sought to walk by that same still, small voice ever since.” [THANK YOU, LARRY LEA!!].

Over and over again in the Word, it says: “He who has ears, let him hear!!” NOW, LISTEN TO JESUS!! In John 8:42-47 Jesus said: “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God, HEARS GOD’S WORDS; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Isn’t it amazing that what some call “dumb sheep” Jesus talks about them “hearing His voice”! In John 10:3-5 Jesus said, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Oh, and then Jesus said in verse 16: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

I tell you, Jesus HAS SPOKEN TO YOU whether you’ve heard and responded to His voice or not! He SPEAKS – you should listen! Then, in John 10:27-18 Jesus continued: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

So…what is this really all about “When God Speaks?”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF FRIENDSHIP AFFIRMATION! In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron had just spoken against Moses, and God showed up!! Numbers 12:6-8 says, Then God said, HEAR NOW MY WORDS: ‘If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream… Not so, with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house -…I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings, and he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?’”

We see in Exodus 33:11, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” There’s an old hymn entitled “Day By Day.” It says: “Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find, to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for weary or for fear. He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure Gives unto each day what He deems best – Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest…Every day, the Lord Himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He Whose Name is Counselor and Power; The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; “As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,” This is the pledge to me He made.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF INSTRUCTION:

I want you to come to Deuteronomy 4:10-12, 33, 35-36, and verse 39: The Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the midst of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice…Verse 33, “Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?…Verses 35-36 “To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord Himself is God; there is none other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.” …Verse 399, “Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

What is His Holy Word telling us as He speaks to our hearts? 1) “That they may learn to fear Me –“ In Matthew 10:28 Jesus confirms the legitimacy of one “fearing God” when He said: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather FEAR HIM who is able to destroy both soul and body in HELL.”

Have you seen the truth of the everlasting gospel in Revelation 14:6-7? Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has comer; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

2) “That they may teach their children –“ Do you have a passion that your own children grow up with an intensity of godly identification? “Our parents birthed us, but we’ve chosen to truly be children of faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” WOW! How good is that?!? And, thank God, for parents who do not ignore the spiritual training of their children!

3) “That they may know the Lord Himself is God; there is none other.” I pray that you remind, teach, instill within your children and family Exodus 20:3-6!! “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Now…

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF WITNESS AND WARNING:

In Psalm 81:9-16 we are “admonished”: “There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

The prophet Ezekial received a word from God in Ezekial 3:17, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning for Me.”

It’s why the psalmist in Psalm 95:7-8 recorded God’s heart-cry: “Today if you will hear His voice:…Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion; and as in the day of trial in the wilderness…” I ask YOU: Was the day of trial in the wilderness of God?

In Isaiah 30:9 God said to the prophet, “this is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear THE LAW OF THE LORD.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS THE VOICE OF DIRECTION FOR YOUR LIFE, YOUR WITNESS, YOUR PERSONAL MINISTRY, YOUR OWN SPIRITUAL HEALTH:

In Isaiah 30:21 we read, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’ Whenever you turn to the right or whenever you turn to the left.” His voice of direction? I Corinthians 16:9 speaks of “…a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries…” Why the adversaries? Why the opposition? Because there are those who have no desire to be led by God!

In Revelation 3:7-8 we read, “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things say HE who is holy, HE who is true, HE who has the keys of David, HE who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens…I know your works. See, I have set before you an OPEN DOOR, AND NO MAN CAN SHUT IT.” Oh, and then there is Colossians 3:14-17!! “But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through Him.”

To Noah, God said: “Make yourself an ark,” even if he didn’t know what an ark was! To Abraham, God said, “Get out of your country, from your kindred, and from your father’s house to a land I will show you…I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing…in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

To Moses, God said, “Come now and I will send you to Pharoah that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” To Paul, God said, “Rise and stand on your feet: for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things I will yet reveal to you.”

A poem written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox says this: “One ship drives east and another drives west with the selfsame winds that blow. ‘Tis the set of the sails And not the gales which tells us the way to go.”

What’s the “set of the sails” for your life? Has God Almighty “set your sails”? Or is it self-will, self-rule, self-pleasure, self-direction, or the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God? In Genesis 24:27 we read, “I being in THE WAY, the Lord led me…”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF JUDGMENT UPON THE NATIONS:

In Isaiah 34:1-6, 8, we read astounding words about the voice of God’s judgment – and not one nation is spared!! “Come near, you nations, to hear; and heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the Lord is against the nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down as the leaf falls from the vine, and as fruit falling from a fig tree. For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Verse8, For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”

It was Thomas Carlyle who once wrote: “Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice, but only accident here below. Judgment for an evil thing is many times delayed some day or two, some century or two, but it is as sure as life, it is as sure as death!” [Get ready, America! God has set you in His sights!}

In Isaiah 42:13 we read: “The Lord shall go forth like a might man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.” Are you ready for the march of the mighty man, God, as He comes and clearly calls your name to stand before Him and give an account? Why? Isaiah 65:12 says: “Therefore I will number you for the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter; because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear, but did evil before My eyes, and chose that in which I do not delight.”

Have you heard some say: “Old Testament! Old Testament! We’re of the New Testament crowd!” Really? In Revelation 6:12-17 we read: “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and ion the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from THE WRATH OF THE LAMB! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

But men of saving grace and faith and mercy who truly have heard His voice and responded in true repentance and faith? Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:17-18, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES:

In Isaiah 42:5-9 we read: Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Aren’t you awed as you come to the Book of Acts and read about Philip? Acts 8:26-35 says: Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Etiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this: [Out of Isaiah 53], “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.”

[And aren’t you amazed as you read Acts 9:1-20 and see the blessed conversion of Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the Apostle? Please read it!!].

Isaiah 43:18-21 tells US of OUR NEW OPPORTUNITIES!! “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.”

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF HOPE: Ezekial 36 and Ezekial 37 are both clear passages of understanding about the heart of God and His voice of hope, yes, in you and in me!

In Ezekial 36:24-30 we read, God speaking: “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.”

And I pray you will pause, right now, and turn in your own Bible to Ezekial 37, reading the first ten verses! You’ll be awed by what you read. It’s God’s promise of new life, new breath, new blessings!

Dead-bone nations have a sunlight of hope! Dead-bone people like you and me have a revelation- ray of holy sunshine and hope shining on us! Dead-bone churches can be raised up to resurrection life and light by Jesus only! Dead-bone marriages can, and, yes, will be renewed by the miracle of grace and mercy! And, dead-bone visions and dreams will hear His voice of hope!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE FROM THE BONDS OF SPIRITUAL DEATH:

In John 5:25 we read, “Most assuredly, I SAY TO YOU, the hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD; AND THOSE WHO HEAR WILL LIVE.”

Jesus now, yes, NOW, stands before the tombs of multitudinous lives “dead in trespasses and sins,” and says, “Lazarus, COME FORTH!” “FARRELL, COME FORTH!” “ANGIE, COME FORTH!” “CALEB, COME FORTH!” And His Word says: “and he who had died came forth…!” Amen?

William T. Sleeper and George C. Stebbins wrote the old hymn: “Jesus, I Come.” It says: “Out of my bondage, sorrow and night, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come; Into Your freedom, gladness and light, Jesus, I come to You; Out of my sickness into Your health, Out of my want and into Your wealth, Out of my sin and into Yourself, Jesus, I come to You!” Amen?

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF DIVINE CONVICTION:

Jesus said in John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.” Divine Conviction? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says of conviction: “The act of convincing, or compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sin or sinfulness; the state of being convinced or convicted by conscience; the state of being sensible of guilt; as, the ‘convictions’ of a sinner may be temporary or lasting and efficacious. By ‘conviction’ a sinner is brought to repentance. Men often sin against the ‘conviction’ of their own consciences.”

• There is THE DIVINE CONVICTION OF HOLY PRESENCE: Luke 5:8 says, “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ feet or knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF HOLY LAW: Romans 7:8-9 tells us, “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY GHOST: John 14:8-9 says, “And when He [the Holy Ghost6] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…of sin because they do not believe in Me…”
• There is THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY WORD: Psalm 119:133 says, “Direct my steps by Your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.” Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.” Oswald Chambers, in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.254], has written: “Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God – “against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” The marvels of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven man who is the holy man, he proves he is forgiven by being the opposite to what he was, by God’s grace. Repentance always brings a man to the point: I HAVE SINNED. The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says it and means it. Anything less than this is remorse for having made blunders, the reflex action of disgust at himself.” [Where is God in that? ‘disgust at self’, but no shame before God?]

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF AWESOME, MYSTERIOUS REVELATION:

In 2 Corinthians 12:1-5 we read of these mysterious revelations. It says: “It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast except in my infirmities.”

Isn’t it amazing to you? Here’s Paul. He knows of others who’ve been blessed, encouraged, and uplifted by these awesome events of ‘hearing God’! Then Paul hears Him! And he wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. ‘Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When our Lord speaks to you, you be strong in Him!

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF UNVEILING OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST:

Oh, get ready! This is so good! Revelation 1:9-20 is a word from John for every believer! It says: “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodecia.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with Me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”

This is so similar to what Peter, James, and John experienced as Jesus took them up on a high mountain, Matthew 17:1-6, “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.” Have you entered the “glory-cloud” of holy presence lately?

WHEN GOD SPEAKS, UNDERSTAND, IT IS WITH THE VOICE OF VICTORIOUS CONQUEST:

In I John 5:4-5 John tells us: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

There is such an encouraging, inspirational word for us in John 4:42 which says: Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Spurgeon wrote: [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial library, Vol.13,p.225], “Appointed, anointed, commissioned of the Father to speak to us, to confer with us, to make known among us the mind and will of our great and gracious Sovereign,…[Jesus spoke} and we should heed and hearken to His words.” Have YOU heard the voice of God speaking to you?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD?”

As we begin this chapter study together, I want to lay the foundation with three different passages of God’s Word: First, Psalm 139:1-6, 16-17, 23-24, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Verses 16-17, Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. Verses 23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Philippians 4:4-6 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Jeremiah 23:23-29, “Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off?” Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord. “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord. Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

How is it with you as you face yourself, your walk, your pilgrimage, your journey as a follower of Christ when you come to such a word as Psalm 139 and Paul’s letter to the Philippians? Or what about Jeremiah’s deep awareness of God’s eyes on him?

Do you read it with the same insight David wrote with, or Paul, or Jeremiah? “MY LORD IS NEAR TO ME!!” When Paul wrote Philippians he was “chained,” yes, “imprisoned,” bound, not knowing if he would live or die! In Philippians 1:13 he said, “it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that MY CHAINS ARE IN CHRIST.” *QUESTION!!*

Are the “chains of YOUR circumstances ‘IN CHRIST’?” Is what happens to you seen as an opportunity “FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL”? Do you see every situation, event, happening, as another giant step of you “being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of others’ faith?

Paul faced tremendous problems, and yet he saw them as OPPORTUNITIES because “in nothing was he going to be ashamed, [but that] now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

And when in Philippians 4:5 Paul said, “The Lord is at hand,” he wasn’t talking about the Lord’s bodily return, or His second coming, but about HIS ABIDING PRESENCE! He eagerly waited for the Savior’s “coming again,” but here he’s gloriously overwhelmed by the deep awareness that Paul’s life was enveloped, en-sphered, encircled, en-grasped, enraptured with the precious presence of the Prince of Peace.

Do you live OVERSHADOWED BY THAT DIVINE CLOUD OF GLORIOUS PRESENCE? Spurgeon said he could not recall ever spending even a short 15 minutes without the profound thought of the presence of Christ!! “The Lord is at hand!!”

How did David put it? Psalm 139:7-12 and verse 5 says, “The Lord is at hand!” F.B. Meyer, in his Devotional Commentary on Philippians, [p.209], wrote: “We all know times like that. We have been walking in the midst of some beautiful landscape, the river rushing past, flowers dipping their cups silently into its brink, the gentle air moving through the quivering leaves above, the insect life humming its varied music, and all nature suffused with the smile of the sun. Then, all of a sudden, there has been borne in on us the consciousness of a spiritual presence; we have FELT A BREATH ON OUR FACES, A THRILL IN OUR HEARTS, [“THE LORD IS NEAR”]…In church, when saying your prayers mechanically, falling in with the murmur of repetition as you’ve done a 1000 times, standing listfully listening to the people singing, or joining them without much heart; sitting apparently intent on the words of the minister while your thoughts have been far away on business or pleasure. SUDDENLY there has been as if it were the music of GOLDEN BELLS, and YOU HAVE REALIZED THAT THE OLD PROMISE WAS BEING FULFILLED: “THERE AM I IN THE MIDST.” Without opening the door, without the sound of a footfall the Lord Jesus has glided into the shut apartment of your nature, and you have said, ‘The Lord is NEAR.’”

One of the awesome truths of life that needs to be awakened in your heart and mind is the reality of God’s desire for you TO KNOW HIS NEARNESS, for you to know His love for you, how ‘precious’ His thoughts are TO YOU, and how the Living God, the Resurrected Savior, and the reigning Holy Spirit is as much with you and for you as if there was no one else on the face of the earth – just you and Him! Let’s look at this “nearness”:

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD EVEN IN OUR FALLEN STATE AND NATURE:

What does Romans 3:23 say? “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Oh, and then Isaiah 59:2 reminds us, “your iniquities have separated you from God.”

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s Word and bought into Satan’s “LIE” that you can sin and not die, they died spiritually and all of a sudden realized their spiritual nakedness and the separation of their souls from God.

Even then as now they began to think, “God is far away,” or “there is no God,” or “if there is a God, He doesn’t care about me,” or “If there is a God, and He knows my condition, He’ll not want anything to do with me.”

And the problem is because our own hearts, in our fallen state, are so far from God, WE CONCEIVE THE FALSE IDEA THAT GOD’S HEART IS FAR FROM US! But look at Genesis 3!!, and especially verses 4-9! What did they do?…”hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.”

Do you know about hiding? Men hide themselves in their depraved thoughts. They hide themselves in their religious deceptions. They hide themselves in their busyness. They hide themselves in their alcohol, drugs, or sexual addictions. They hide themselves in their self-made, personally designed, fleshly goals, aims, and ambitions building towers to make a name for themselves. They hide themselves even in the pews of “Cultural Christianity”!

Then…all of a sudden, “Adam, where are you?” In his hiding place – and it’s God seeking Adam! It’s not man who seeks after God. What does Romans 3:10-12 tell us? As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.

We didn’t seek God – GOD SOUGHT US! It’s not our voice, “God, where are You?” It’s God’s voice – “Adam, where are you?” [And you do know, don’t you, that God knew exactly where Adam was: geographically or positionally”]

God’s “The Seeker.” God’s “The Hound of Heaven.” It’s not “search and destroy,” but “seek and save”! What does “Immanuel” mean? God With Us. God In The Flesh. John 1:11-12 tells us: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

Listen to Spurgeon, [Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons, Vol.18, p.270], “Friends, I remember well when I was in the death-cart, and Jesus came to me with PARDON. Death and hell were before me; I rejoiced exceedingly when I SAW THE NAILPRINTS IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, and the WOUND IN HIS SIDE. When He said, “Your sins, which are many, are all forgiven,” I thought I never saw such loveliness before, and never heard such music in all my days.”

What did David say in Psalm 40? “HE BROUGHT ME UP OUT OF A HORRIBLE PIT, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps…He has put a new song in my mouth…PRAISE TO OUR GOD!”

What does that great old Hymn say? “Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary…[But] by God’s Word at last my sin I learned – Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary…O the love that drew salvation’s plan! O the grace that brought it down to man! O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary!”

Forever man should know of God’s nearness because of that mighty span of the Cross of Jesus! But also..

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN NEED OF PERSONAL REVIVAL:

In Psalm 85:6 the question of this hour, today, right now, comes forth: “WILL YOU NOT REVIVE US AGAIN, THAT YOUR PEOPLE MAY REJOICE IN YOU?” What did Paul say in Philippians 4:4-5? “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, REJOICE!…Let your [steadfastness] be known to all men. THE LORD IS AT HAND.”

When you come to Psalm 119:67 you’ll hear King David say: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” In verse 149 he said, “Hear my voice, according to Your lovingkindness; O Lord, REVIVE ME according to Your justice…” and then said in verse 151, “You are NEAR, O Lord…” Personal Revival Needed? REVIVAL BECAUSE ONE LOSES THE JOY OF SALVATION, REVIVAL NEEDED BECAUSE ONE HAS WILLFULLY GONE ASTRAY (Psalm 119:176), “I have gone astray like a lost sheep…”, and, yes, corporate revival because the church as a whole has lost the desire to pray, (Psalm 80:18), “revive us, and we will call upon Your name,” revival because one has lost that glorious inner countenance – days without number He has been forgotten – 3 times in Psalm 80 David cried out, “Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved;” and revival because one can find himself/herself in bondage – Ezra 9:8 says, “And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our Gods, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.”

Vance Havner, now deceased Southern Baptist prophet, wrote a little book entitled “Repent Or Else.” [pps. 14-16]. He wrote: “Revival is a work of the Spirit among God’s own people whereby they get right with God and with each other…Revivals should not be necessary…but so long as we have such a malarial brand of Christianity, a fever and a chill, a fever and a chill, we shall need revivals…The church needs time out to tune up. We are so busy building a bigger orchestra, that we cannot stop to tune our instruments…We never need to go to the mourner’s bench more than when we feel least like it. [Then quotes Finney]: ‘Revival is nothing less than a new beginning of obedience to God, a breaking of heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and obedience to God, a breaking of heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and forsaking of sin.”

And what did David say? “You are near, O Lord…” IN THE MIDDLE OF MY MESS, Our Lord is at hand. In the middle of our darkness, our Lord shines His Light. In the middle of our rebellious wanderings, our Lord finds us! “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our Helper He amid the floods of mortal ills prevailing.”

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN NEED OF CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE:

Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m not sure I can make it. I’m not sure I can hold on. I’m not sure I can enter in. I’m not sure I can overcome. I’m not sure I can make it to the ‘finish’ line. I’m not sure.” But Psalm 121:1-2 says: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Are you aware of the ‘infancy’ of Israel’s faith in God as they began to follow Him out of Egypt, into the wilderness, and on in to the promised land? There were times they said, “We wish we were back in Egypt!”

The pilgrim journey was new to them – “we’ve never passed this way before!” Spurgeon said: “…their newly found liberty was darkened by a terrible fear of RECAPTURE!” But listen to Exodus 13:20-22, “So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.”

What does Exodus 14:19 tell us? And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.”

In Hebrews 13:5 God Himself said: “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.” Have you forgotten or overlooked God’s word to Joshua? Joshua 1:5 says, “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.”

Is that any different at all from Matthew 28:20 when Jesus said: “Lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE.”

You may never see visibly a natural cloud that bursts into a flame, but because of God’s promises YOU CAN STAND ASSURED, “God Is With ME and His Power, Protection, Provision, Presence ABOUNDS TOWARD ME to see me through.”

Exodus 14:19 again? “And the Angel of God who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and STOOD BEHIND THEM!!” STOOD BEHIND THEM – STANDS BEHIND ME – STANDS BEHIND YOU!!

It’s settled from God’s point of view! It’s permanent from God’s side! It’s forever, a done deal! The Glorious Angel of God is permanently fixed, shrouded in the clouds of heavenly glory, with sword drawn in His hand. Isaiah 52:12 tells us: “For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”

[Please read Romans 8:31-32, 29-30, 37-39].

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IMMERSED IN THE DEEP WATERS OF WORRY, DOUBT, OR FEAR:

Look with me at Philippians 4:6-7, 13, and 1:28! “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus….Verse 13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 1:28, And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.”

Have you heard them? “I have God’s blessing as long as I am real positive. I have God’s blessing as long as I am really ‘spiritual’. I have God’s blessing as long as I am real up-beat, as long as I give the appearance of being strong. I have God’s blessing as long as I am a ‘super-saint’. I have God’s blessing as long as I am an extra-ordinary disciple. I have God’s blessing as long as my thoughts and affections are set on things above. I have God’s blessing as long as I’m walking in perfection.” NO!! A 1000 times, NO!

In Proverbs 3:5-6 we read, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Have you seen “The New 23^rd”? “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in meadows green and leads me beside the quiet stream;…He keeps on giving life to me And helps me to do what honors Him the most, Even when walking through the valley of death, of death, I will never be afraid, For He is close beside me…Guarding, guiding all the way; He spreads a feast before me In the presence of my enemies [worry, doubt, fear!!]… He welcomes me as His special guest, With blessing overflowing, His goodness and unfailing kindness Shall be with me all of my life and afterward I will live with Him forever, in His Home.”

ALSO, IS THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES ISOLATED BY THE JUDGMENTS OF MEN:

Please come to Genesis 16:1-9, 13-14, Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.” So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.” Verses 13-14, Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You-Are-The-God-Who-Sees;” for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; [Well of the One Who Lives and Sees Me!]…”

Do you know about ill-treatment, misjudgment, harsh and cruel renderings against you – the besmirching of your name, honor, character? What about the purloining of your good and godly reputation? Even Jesus was not exempt from this attitude or action!

Luke 6:7 says, “The scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely…THAT THEY MIGHT FIND AN ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM.” Jesus’ own family was saying, “He’s lost His senses!”

I want you to come with me to I Peter 3:13-17 because “the Lord is at hand” – He is so near to you as you are maligned, ridiculed, even lied about!! “And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Did Jezebel misjudge, threaten, and isolate Elijah? I Kings 19 says Elijah “arose and ran for his life…” He ran to the wilderness, ended up in a cave. Oh, but then, LISTEN!! I Kings 19:9, “…Behold, THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ELIJAH…Verse 11, Then God said to him, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And BEHOLD THE LORD PASSED BY!

Do you remember Jeremiah’s pilgrimage? The weeping prophet was being walloped! Look at Jeremiah 32:1-3, 31:3, 11-14, and Jeremiah 33:1-3!

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord; “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it..” Jeremiah 31:3, 11-14, The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you…Verses 11-14, For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord – for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; their souls shall be a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow. I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 33:1-3, Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, “Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord id His name): Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

You’ll remember John on the island of Patmos in Revelation 1 imprisoned for the faith! YOU are going to be wronged, but “Look up! YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWS NEAR!” You will be misjudged! Get in the Spirit and hear God’s trumpet blow His rallying cry for your defense!

THERE IS THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE INTENSE BATTLES OF THE FAITH:

In 2 Chronicles 20 the people of Moab with others came to battle Jehoshaphat. He was afraid and began to seek the Lord, and Judah gathered together to seek Him. They knew they didn’t have the power to stand against their enemies so they set themselves together to seek God’s help. They “stood before the Lord” and cried out for His help. In verse 15 the Spirit of the Lord had come upon Jahaziel and he heard God speak: Thus says the Lord to you, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

Thank God for Isaiah 54:17 which tells us: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.

I love Deuteronomy 28:7 which tells us, “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face: they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” SCATTERED AND SHATTERED BY GOD HIMSELF!

Do you remember the three young Israelites in the fiery furnace because they would not bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image? Daniel 3:24-25, we see and hear the king saying, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?…Look!! I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire: they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God!!” WOW! In Daniel 6:22 Daniel had been cast into the lions’ den because of the battle of praying to God! “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouth, so that they have not hurt me…” GLORY!

Paul was in that “good fight of faith”! He told Timothy (2 Timothy 4:16-18), “At my fist defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

When Sennacherib king of Assyria came and entered Judah, Hezekiah gathered his people and gave them encouragement. 2 Chronicles 32:8 says, “With him is an arm of flesh: BUT WITH US IS THE LORD OUR GOD, TO HELP US AND TO FIGHT OUR BATTLES.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah.”

And what did John say in I John 4:4? “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because HE WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THAT HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD.”

THERE’S THE NEARNESS OF OUR LORD WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES SURROUNDED BY THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINEYARD:

Have you ever seen the “FOX” of envy or strife? Philippians 1:15-16 says, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add afflictions to my chains.”

Have you ever seen the “FOX” of disinterest in the progress and joy of faith for others? Philippians 1:24-26 says, “Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith.” Paul never displayed disinterest in others’ spiritual progress – it was his heart and mind every day, every way, everywhere! But too many Christians exhibit disinterest in where other young believers are – there is no concern by them for your spiritual maturity.

Have you ever witnessed that “FOX” of disunity? Philippians 2:1-4 says, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

What about that “FOX” of unbelief, false doctrine, false worship? In Philippians 3:1-3, 18-19, we read: “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Verses 18-19, For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame – who set their minds on earthly things.”

Have you ever been shocked by the “FOX” of pettiness between women? Look at Philippians 4:1-3, “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I also urge you, true companions, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” Consider “wild cat female kittens” at one another’s throat – watch out!

Have you ever been around that “FOX” of selfishness? That’s not the Philippians because we read in chapter four, verses 15-17, of THEIR unselfish support of Paul, but I remember a church financial secretary telling me on an occasion that she did not comprehend that the most vocal opposers, disrupters, antagonists in a church business meeting were always the ones who supported the church financially the least of all!

How does one raise up stones to break bones when the Lord is at hand? How does one center so much on themselves in selfish fashion when the Selfless Savior is at hand? How does one center so much on themselves allowing pettiness to permeate them when the Prince of Peace is present? How does “my way” or the highway rule some hearts when the Marvelous Master moves among us? How does unbelief and false doctrine get a foothold in some lives when the God of all Truth rules the day?

Here’s how Paul dealt with it. Listen carefully and prayerfully to his words in Philippians 3:7-16, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.Yet indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upwards call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”

The last point in this chapter? THERE IS NEARNESS OF OUR LORD IN THE TIME OF OUR DEATH:

You do know! We are going to die! How about YOU reading Psalm 23 right now as a refresher course! The Nearness of our Lord even in our fallen state and nature! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves in need of personal revival! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves in need of confidence and assurance! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are immersed in the deep waters of worry, doubt, or fear! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are isolated by the judgments of men! He’s drawn near to us! The Nearness of our Lord when we are in intense battles of the faith! “The Lord stood with me!” The Nearness of our Lord when we find ourselves surrounded by the little foxes that spoil the vineyard! “I am with you, in your midst!” The Nearness of our Lord in the time of death! “You are with me, I’ll fear no evil!”

Is our Lord near us now? Remember Gethsemane? There Jesus knelt to pray, “Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from ME; NEVERTHELESS not My will, but Yours be done…And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood flowing to the ground.” WHY? “Because “I AM NEAR YOU AND FOR YOU!”

He was before Pontius Pilate, falsely accused, condemned by a thoughtless, truth-less crowd: “I take your condemnation, judgment, guilt, sins upon MYSELF, because “I AM NEAR YOU AND FOR YOU.”

Watch as He plods the streets, beaten unmercifully in the scourging, bleeding already profusely, carrying that “Old Rugged Cross” because “I AM NEAR YOU AND I AM FOR YOU.”

At this very moment He’s your Advocate, your Heavenly attorney, at the right hand throne of God, having pled your case before that eternal throne of the Most High God, because “I am near you and I am for you.”

When He comes in that heavenly cloud of glory, the second time, not as the suffering servant, but the conquering King of kings and Lord of lords, when that glorious trumpet sounds, you’ll hear Him say, “Because I’m near you and I am for you. Come on – let’s go to our eternal gathering together and to our eternal home!” AMEN?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?”

In Isaiah 40:18 there is a powerful question. It says, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare Him with?” Our God, Jehovah God, the one and ONLY TRUE AND LIVING GOD IS BEYOND COMPARISON! Would you try to compare Him to the world’s wealthiest man who holds in his little fingers the destinies and fortunes of corporations and crowds of employees?

In Isaiah 1:3 it says, “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” And too many don’t know and don’t understand that He is the OWNER of it all! Haggai 2:8 says, “The silver is MINE, and the gold is MINE,” declares the Lord of hosts.

In Psalm 50:10 we read, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a 1000 hills.” Would you try to compare Him to the world’s wisest men who hold in their little fingers papers or degrees of their intellectual accomplishments?

I Corinthians 1:19-21 says, “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

There used to be a song we used to sing about that said something about God holding the whole world in His hands – and HE DOES!

In Isaiah 44:6 the Word speaks, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the first and the last, and there is no god besides Me…”

Rahab stood on her gift of revelation faith and said to Joshua [Joshua 2:11], “for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” And she rested her life on “the scarlet thread.” And it hasn’t changed.

2 Chronicles 6:14 declares, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.”

I want to challenge you, if you haven’t been already, right now, with Isaiah 26:4 which says, “Trust in the Lord forever. For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.” And the God we serve is no respecter of persons or peoples: Deuteronomy 7:21 says, Moses speaking: “…the Lord your God is IN YOUR MIDST, a great and awesome God…”

Deuteronomy 10:17 tells us, “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe.” It gets better!

Look with me at Deuteronomy 32:3-4, [but let me insert first Deuteronomy 31:3 where Moses declared that, “It is the Lord your God who will cross before you!” Don’t be afraid! Moses then wrote a song in chapter 31, verse 19, that he tells them about, and we find it in the 32^nd chapter!] – Deuteronomy 32:3-4, “For I proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

And we also are on a journey, and there are new horizons before us all, even battles to be fought and heavenly reserves to draw upon in our most difficult and blessed moments! So, Psalm 70:4 says, “Let God be magnified!”

“THE GOD OF THE PEOPLE?” OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER: [Let me say to you, right now, that you don’t have to have full or complete understanding of a truth to stand upon it! Remember that!].

In Genesis 21:33 the Holy Word says, “And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the EVERLASTING GOD!”

God didn’t begin – HE IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE! We read in Jeremiah 10:10, “But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” Then come to verses 12-13, “It is He who made the earth by His power (don’t ever forget it!! Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created [made] the heaven and the earth” –In fact, in Hebrews 11:3 we read, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”),…who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens…When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth: He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouse.”

Psalm 100:3 declares, “KNOW that the Lord Himself is God: It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…” Now,

Come to Isaiah 40:9-14, and 28-31! “O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up to the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “BEHOLD YOUR GOD!” Behold the Lord shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding? Verses 28-31, Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

And the meaning of what we’ve just read? “NEVER FORGET THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER!” This is why, in your spiritual journey, that 2 Corinthians 5:17 is so important! “Therefore, if ANY MAN is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; and behold, new things have come.” He said in Revelation 21:5, “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things NEW!”

Ask the “born again” – New Life! Ask Peter after he failed – New Beginning! Ask parents who know – New children! Ask children who know – New Parents! Ask businessmen who lost it all – New Opportunity! Ask ones who know of fractured, broken marriages – New Grace, Holy Households! Ask nations once ruled by tyrants and dictators – New Nations with God As Their Lord!

The church of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is to be the people who herald the “NEW HOPE”!! David Chilton wrote an exposition of Revelation entitled “Days of Vengence,” [pps. 547-548]. Listen to what he wrote about Revelation 21:5!! He said: “…The only essential difference between the subjects of 2 Corinthians 5 and Revelation 21 is that Paul is speaking of “the redeemed individual,” while John is speaking of “the redeemed community.” Both the individual and the community are recreated, renewed, and restored to Paradise in salvation, and this cosmic restoration has already begun. John sees that what has begun in seemingly (to the eyes of the first century) isolated instances is really the wave of the future. The new creation will fill the earth; the whole creation will be renewed. This is true definitively, it will be absolutely true eschatalogically – and it gives us the pattern for our work in between, for it is also to be worked out progressively. The New Creation must be unfolded, its every implication understood and applied, by the royal priesthood in this age…The great church historian Phillip Schaff understood this: ‘To the Lord and His kingdom belongs the whole world, with all that lives and moves in it. ALL is yours, says the apostle (ICorinthians 3:22). Religion is not a signal, separate sphere of human life, but the divine principle by which the entire man is to be pervaded, refined, and made complete. It takes hold of him in his undivided totality, in the center of his personal being; to carry light into his understanding, holiness into his will, and heaven into his heart; and to shed thus the sacred consecration of the new birth, and the glorious liberty of the children of God over his whole outward and inner life that may not be glorified. The creature, in the widest extent of the word, is earnestly waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, and sighing after the same glorious deliverance. The whole creation aims toward redemption; and Christ is the second Adam, the new universal Man, not simply in a religious but also in an absolute sense. The view entertained by Romish monasticism and Protestant pietism, by which Christianity is made to consist in an opposition to the natural life, or in ‘flight from the world,’ is quite contrary to the spirit and power of the Gospel, as well as false to its designs. Christianity is the redemption and renovation of the world. It must make all things new.” Can you say AMEN to that?

In Isaiah 42:5-9 we read, Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

And then Isaiah 45:18, 22-23 tells us, For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. Verses 22-23, “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.” And, remember, as we’ve begun this study, we’ve seen THE GOD OF ETERNAL, CREATIVE POWER – at this given moment we need to bow before Him and declare our allegiance to Almighty God!

OUR GOD? OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF CONSTANT CALLING:

In Genesis 3:9 Satan had come and deceived Adam and Eve, and they rebelled and sinned, then realized their ‘nakedness’ before Holy God. Then they were feverishly ‘fig-leafing’ their lost and sinful condition, had hidden themselves, they thought, and then in verse 9, “Then the Lord God CALLED to the man, and said to him, “Where are you, Adam?”

I tell you, God is not blind. He knew where Adam was and what condition he was in spiritually. God said, “Adam, look where you are at this point in your life. Look at what disobedience has produced. Look at the absence of God from your life. Look at the end result of devilish deception and fleshly indulgence!”

Do you remember Hagar when God spoke to her in that isolated place? She said, (Genesis 16:13), “You are a God who sees.” And because He sees, He calls. In Ezekial 33:11 we read, “Say to them, ‘As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?”

We just saw in Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto Me, and be saved, all the earth: for I am God and there is none else.” Paul told Timothy (I Timothy 2:4) that God “will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Notice, it’s God who takes the initiative! I Thessalonians 5:24 says, “Faithful is He who calls you.” It’s God who sends the prophets! It’s God who produces the beautiful feet of those that preach, witness, and bring glad tidings of good things. It’s God who inspires the songs of deliverance, salvation, and healing grace. It’s God who speaks through the partner or the parent or the child! It’s God who calls to us even in the crisis of circumstances. It’s the GOD-BREATHED WORD OF HOLY SCRIPTURE BY WHICH WE ARE TO LIVE! God does it!

In Deuteronomy 30:19 we read, God speaking, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” Don’t let it be said of you, Proverbs 1:24, “I called and you refused…”

And old hymn says it so clearly: “Jesus Calls Us,” written by Cecil F. Alexander. It says:

“Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult of our life’s wild, restless sea, Day by day His sweet voice soundeth, saying, ‘Christian, follow Me.’…Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store. From each idol that would keep us, saying, ‘Christian, love Me more.’…In our joys and in our sorrows, Days of toil and hours of ease, Still He calls us in cares and pleasures, ‘Christian, love ME more than these…Jesus calls us: by Thy mercies, Savior, may we hear Your call. Give our hearts to Your obedience, Serve and love You best of all.”

OUR GOD IS ALSO THE GOD OF CLEAR UNVEILING:

In Genesis 17:1-3 we read: “Now when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; walk before Me and be blameless…And, I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.’ And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him…”

David said in Psalm 48:10, “As is Your name, O God, so is Your praise to the ends of the earth.” You’ll remember God coming to Isaac in the contentious land of the Philistines and saying to him, (Genesis 26:24), “I am the God of your father Abraham…”

To Jacob, God said, (Genesis 31:13), “I am the God of Bethel…” the God of encounter, anointing, and promise. And you’ll remember that Jacob had his name changed – “Israel of God” – and he was praying for Joseph with whom he had been reunited and in that prayer said, (Genesis 48:15),, “to the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day…”

In Joshua 24:19 Joshua called Him, “…the holy God, the jealous God.” And, yes, He is THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS, GOD MY HELPER, the sustainer of my soul, the God who works wonders, My Father – the rock of my salvation, God of our salvation, God our refuge and strength, The Lord – the God of Heaven, the Lord – your God, God of Israel!

Isaiah 9:6 says He is “the Child born, the Son given, upon whose shoulders the government rests – His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And how could anyone ever forget Matthew 1:21? “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Then in Matthew 22:32 we read: “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

JEHOVAH M’KADDESH (Sanctification), ROPHE (Healer), NISSI (Shepherd), SHALOM (Peace), JIREH (Provider), TSIDKENU (Righteousness), ROHI (SHEPHERD), SHAMMAH (Present).

Have you heard it before: (?) “Oh, that I may know Him…” And John 17:3 says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”

OUR GOD IS GOD OF CONTINUOUS CARE TO THE GREAT NEEDS OF FALLEN AND REDEEMED MANKIND:

Do you remember what Isaac asked his father on that mountain? “Father, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Genesis 22:7-8, Abraham responded in faith and confidence: “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” He knew the heart of God and the promise of God – and he was sure!

What does 2 Corinthians 5:19 tell us? “God was ‘in Christ’ reconciling the world to Himself…” Are you reconciled to God? In verse 21 Paul wrote: “He (God) made Him (Christ Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Catherine Marshall, in her book “Something More” (p.7), wrote: “Our God is the Divine Alchemist. He can take junk from the rubbish heap of life, and melting this base refuse in the pure fire of His love, hand us back – GOLD!” It is our salvation – the sustenance of the soul and spirit! LOOK AT HIS WORD! REJOICE AND RECEIVE!

Deuteronomy 8:2 He “led you in the wilderness…disciplining you.”

Deuteronomy 9:3 He “crosses over before you as a consuming fire,”

Deuteronomy 9:6 He “gives you a good land”

Deuteronomy 12:7 He “blessed you” Deuteronomy 12:9 “giving you the inheritance,” Deuteronomy 13:3 “testing you” Deuteronomy 20:4 “goes before you”

Joshua 1:13 “gives you rest”, Joshua 23:5 “promised you,” Joshua 23:10 “Fights for you”

I Samuel 9:8 “tells us our way, I Samuel 10:9, “changes the heart,” I Samuel 10:10, “comes upon us mightily,” 2 Samuel 22:48, “executes vengeance for me,”

I Kings 4:29, “gives wisdom,” I Kings 18:21 calls us to “Follow Him,” I Kings 18:24, “answers by fire,”

I Chronicles 4:10, “grants what we request,” I Chronicles 12:8, “helps you,” I Chronicles 14:11, “breaks through my enemies,”

2 Chronicles 9:8, “delights in you,” 2 Chronicles 25:8, “has power to help,” 2 Chronicles 26:5, “prospered him,”

Ezra 2:8, “hand of God is favorably disposed to all who seek Him,”

Nehemiah 7:5, “puts His will in our hearts,” Nehemiah 9:17, “God of forgiveness,” Nehemiah 13:2, “turns the curse into a blessing,” Nehemiah 13:26, “loved by God,”

Psalm 14:5, “with the righteous,” Psalm 18:28, “illumines my darkness,” Psalm 18:32, “girds with strength,” Psalm 43:2, He “is my strength,” Psalm 43:4, “my exceeding joy,” Psalm 43:5, “the help of my countenance,” Psalm 46:1, “my refuge,” Psalm 49:5, “redeems my soul,” Psalm 50:2, He “shines forth,” Psalm 53:6, “Restores His captive people,” Psalm 56:9, “for me,” Psalm 57:2, “accomplishes all things,” Psalm 60:2, “Through our God we shall do valiantly,” Psalm 62:11, “power belongs to God,” Psalm 71:5, “my confidence,” Psalm 71:7, He “taught me,” Psalm 77:14, “works wonders,” Psalm 84:11,” a sun and a shield,” Psalm 86:15, “merciful and gracious,”

Ecclesiastes 3:14, “whatever God does will remain,”

Isaiah 5:16, “shows Himself,” Isaiah 40:1, “comforts His people,” Isaiah 40:3, “in the desert a highway for our God,” Isaiah 40:10, “comes with might,” Isaiah 50:4, “gives me the tongue of disciples to know how to sustain the weary one with a word,” Isaiah 51:22, “contends for the people,” Isaiah 62:5, “rejoices over me,”

Daniel 2:28, “reveals to His people,” Daniel 3:17, “able to deliver us,”

Amos 7:1, “shows me,”

Luke 1:78 revealed “the tender mercy of God,” Luke 7:16, “visited His people,” Luke 8:39, “done great things for us,” Luke 16:15, “knows our hearts,”

Acts 10:41, “chosen beforehand – verse 42, appointed by God,”

Romans 8:31, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 15:5, “gives perseverance,” Romans 15:13, “fills us,” Romans 15:33, gives “peace,” Romans 16:20, “crush Satan,”

I Corinthians 10:13, “faithful,” I Corinthians 15:28, our “all in all,”

2 Corinthians 1:9, “raises the dead,” 2 Corinthians 9:8, “able to make all grace to abound toward you,”

Philippians 2:13, “at work in you,”

Colossians 4:12, “assured in all the will of God,”

I Thessalonians 2:4, “approved by God,”

Ephesians 1:6, “accepted in the beloved,”

Hebrews 2:4, “bears witness with us,”

James 4:8, “draws near to us,”

2 Timothy 4:17-18, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…” Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

And then I tell you, it is not a trite verse but the center of all glorious truth, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

And, then, Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” AMEN?

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF THE “BURNING BUSHES” ALONG LIFE’S JOURNEY:

In Exodus 3:1-6 we read: Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of God appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near to this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”

And then in Deuteronomy 5:22-24 there are awesome words of hope! “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.”

Creation itself is a ‘burning bush’ – Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God: and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

The two tablets of stone by the finger of God is a ‘burning bush’ – Psalm 19:7-8 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple…The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

The Prophetic Word is ‘a burning bush’ – “Thus says the Lord…”

The cross of Christ is a ‘burning bush’ – Romans 5:8, “God proved His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Holy Spirit’s presence in us is a ‘burning bush’ – John said when Jesus came (Matthew 3:11), “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Do you remember? There was the “burning bush” in Genesis 3:8 when Adam and Eve “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day” and they HEARD HIS CALL! It got their attention!

There was the “burning bush” in Genesis 12 when a pagan man in a pagan land heard the divine command and obediently “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.”

There was the “burning bush” in the isolation of ‘escapism’ in the midst of broken rlationships when (Genesis 28:12) Jacob saw a ladder, heard a voice, and declared “Surely the Lord in in this place, and I did not know it.”

There was the “burning bush” of a prophetic finger when David learned: “You’re the guilty man who needs to be reconciled to God.”

There was the “burning bush” of the ‘second chance’ when Jesus appeared to the distraught Peter who had bungled badly his oath of allegiance.

There was the “burning bush” of an obedient Phillip who went to the backside of a desert to witness and proclaim Christ to a confused yet hungry Ethiopian.

There was the “burning bush” of a flashing light on the Damascus Road that humbled Saul of Tarsus and changed him to a Paul the Apostle. [Examine Psalm 139:1-18!!].

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF THE SINGING SYMPHONIES OF PRAISE:

Psalm 40:1-3 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord: and He inclined to me and heard my cry…He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay: and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm…And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God: Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Yes, the Word speaks of the songs of God in I Chronicles 16:42! Daniel Webster said to have HYMNED is to have SUNG, PRAISED, OR CELEBRATED IN SONG! Psalm 47:6 says, “Sing praises to God, sing praises: Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” In Psalm 69:30 the psalmist says, “I will praise the name of God with song, and shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Have you ever considered it? Why is there such a vast storehouse of Gospel Music all over the world in the Christian faith but in other ‘religions’ there is little if none?

And there is an answer! Religions are of the ‘head’ while the Christian Faith is of the heart! True salvation births “new songs”! God’s sustenance and faithfulness overflows into our celebrations! A filling and anointing in the Holy Spirit of the Almighty erupts into “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with our hearts TO THE LORD.” Just consider the awesomeness of Handel’s “Messiah”!!

Psalm 146:2 says, “I will praise the Lord while I live: I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” [Look at Psalm 150!!].

OUR GOD IS THE GOD OF SMITTEN SALVATION:

In Isaiah 52:13-53:12 we read, “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. Isaiah 53:1-12, Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground, He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

What does I Corinthians 1:18 tell us? “The word of the Cross…(is what?)…THE POWER OF GOD!!”

“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt…Yonder on Calvary’s Mount outpoured – there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt…Sin and despair, like the sea-waves cold, threaten the soul with infinite loss: Grace that is greater – Yes, grace untold – points to the refuge, the mighty Cross…Dark is the stain that we cannot hide – what can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide – whiter than snow you may be today…Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe! You that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?…Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, grace that is greater than all our sin.”

So Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow: though they are red like crimson they will be like wool…”

OUR GOD ALSO IS THE GOD OF THE SPOKEN WORD:

In Isaiah 46:5-11 we read, “To whom will you like Me, and make Me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place, and it stands; from its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men; recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’ Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed, I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”

God spoke to men like an Abram and a Moses. He spoke to nations like Israel. He, yes, spoke to pagan kings like Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar. He spoke to cities like Nineveh. God spoke in certain times and seasons. He’s even spoken in circumstances or events we all face at times. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

We have the promise of Jesus in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I WILL COME TO YOU.” In 2 Samuel 7:29 David said excitedly, “…For You, O Lord God, have spoken: and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

In Numbers 24 God met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and sent him to Balak. And, in verse 19, when he met him he said: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

Sometimes it’s “the seven peals of thunder,” that have spoken. (Revelation 10:4). Psalm 60:6 says, “God has spoken in His sanctuary.” Isaiah 1:20 affirms it, “Truly the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

And then in Jeremiah 25:3 we read, “I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.” Are you listening? Are your ears tuned to hear God speak?

A failure to listen for God to speak to you is tragically what Oswald Chambers called “incarnate unbelief,” which means one has no faith, is god unto himself, is guided by personal feelings, and shutting the door in the face of God. This is not the day nor the time, really not ever, to shut God out of your life or ministry! Look to Him, listen for His voice, and rest in His Sovereign leadership and guidance – yes, hear Him speak to you!

Ezekial heard God!! In Ezekial 5:13 we read, “…then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.” Then, Paul, in I Thessalonians 2:13 wrote, “…we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which performs its work in you who believe.”

And what did Paul say to Timothy? “ALL Scripture is GOD-BREATHED!!” Do you accept Jesus’ word? Matthew 4:4 says: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

“Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, you are mine; Mine to tell me from where I came, mine to teach me what I am…Mine to chide me when I rove; mine to show a Savior’s love; Mine you are to guide and guard, mine to punish or reward… Mine to comfort in distress, suffering in this wilderness, mine to show by living faith, man can triumph over death…Mine to tell of joys to come, and the rebel sinner’s doom, O Thou Holy Book divine, precious treasure, YOU ARE MINE.”

OUR GOD IS THE GOD ON FINAL, EARTHLY SUMMATION AND FULL, ETERNAL GLORY:

In Ephesians 1 Paul talked about the WORK AND WILL OF GOD, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father of us all! He said: Ephesians 1:3, “He’s “blessed us,” Verse 4, He’s “chosen us,” Verse 5, He’s “predestined us to adoption,” Verse 7, He’s “redeemed us through His blood,” Verse 8, He’s “lavished upon us the riches of His grace.” Then…

In Ephesians 1:9-12 we read, “He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him…(LISTEN!)…with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things in the earth…In Him…also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestine3d according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ, should be to the praise of His glory.”

There is such a strong, powerful, illuminating word in Colossians 1:18 which says: “…that in all things He [Jesus!] might have the preeminence!

Our lives are to be summed up in Christ! Our marriages are to be summed up in Christ! As parents we are to so live and teach our children that their lives also are summed up in Christ! Your business and work ethic are to be summed up in Christ! Your friendship relationships are to be summed up in Christ! Your visions, dreams, goals, aims, aspirations are to be summed up in Christ!

Does Jesus reign in your heart and in your home and in your work-a-day world?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD?”

I want you to come to Ezekial 36 first. We’ll share together verses 22-28, and then Ezekial 37:24-28, and then Hebrews 8:1-2, 6, 10.

Ezekial 36:22-28, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I m hallowed in you before your eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.”

Ezekial 37:24-28, “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

Hebrews 8:1-2, 6, 10, “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. Verse 6, But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Verse 10, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

When you think about those who were not a people but now they are, when you think about those who were void in mercy but now filled with it, and when you think about those who had no abiding name but now they do, what do you say of them?

They’re called “the believers of the faith, saving faith,” “the Body of Christ,” “the Army of God,” “the soldiers of the Cross,” “the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ,” “the baptized ones,” “the Covenant crowd,” “the Christ-tians,” “the followers of the Way,” “the Born-again-ners,” “the sheepfold,” “the children of the Way,” “the children of Light,” “Wisemen,” “the Promised Bride,” “the Brotherhood of Love,” “the Israel of God,” “the sons of Promise,” “the citizens of the Kingdom,” “the Family of Faith,” “the branches of the True Vine,” “God’s Household,” “a habitation of God through the Spirit…”

But I like that holy covenant of Promise Word we just read, Ezekial 36:28, “So you will be My people, and I will be your God!” In Scripture, you’ll find “My People,” “Your people,” “His people,” “the people of the Lord,” “the people of His pasture,” “the flock of His people,” “Your great people,” “Your own people,” “the people of the God of Abraham,” “Your people called by Your Name.”

Samuel said in I Samuel 12:22b, “…the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.” But you do realize that there are multitudes of people who have no desire at all to be the people of God.

Jude 12 speaks of those “caring for themselves,” and Genesis 11:4 speaks of those whose all-consuming life passion is to “make a name for ourselves,” a people of the world who’ve been squeezed into its mold, a people who think only of flesh, the temporal, and not of the Spirit or the Eternal!

But then there are “the people of God”! Who are they?

You’ll remember Exodus 32 and 33 and the “golden calf” madness of a people who rode “side-saddle” on the calf of deception, idolatry, and spiritual foolishness. And they heard from God, “I’ll see that you get to the land I promised you, but I will not go up in your midst.” And our God will never be with our deceptions, idolatries, or our spiritual foolishnesses!!

But THEY humbled themselves, and Moses interceded: Exodus 33:15-16, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all other people who are upon the face of the earth?” Who ARE these “distinguished” People of God?

IT IS THOSE WHO LIVE IN “THE REST” THAT THEY ARE CHOSEN OF GOD:

In Deuteronomy 7:6 Moses said, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God: the Lord your God HAS CHOSEN YOU to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Psalm 33:12 says, ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” I would remind you of what Paul said to the church at Rome, (Romans 3:10-11), “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no not one…there is none who understands, there is none who seeks after or for God.”

But if now there are those ‘seekers for God,’ what happened? In Jeremiah 31:3 the prophet tells us, “The Lord appeared to me from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

Do you remember John 6:44? Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” He said later in John 15:16, “You did not choose Me, but I CHOSE YOU.”

In Revelation 17 it says that there will be those who “wage war against the Lamb.” It’s the way it has been and the way it will be! But also it says in verse 14, “and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, [LISTEN!}, and those who are with Him (in Victory) are the CALLED, and CHOSEN, and FAITHFUL.”

So in Colossians 3:12-15 Paul says to us: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put o love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

Then, in Hosea 2:19-20, 23 we read, “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. Verse 23, Then I will sow her for Myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are MY PEOPLE!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO IN REPENTANCE ARE BROUGHT TO HIM:

In Luke 1:17 we read, “And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous: so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John the Baptist was raised up with the ministry of repentance. Jeremiah was a major Old Testament prophet of repentance! In Jeremiah 5:3 he spoke: “O Lord, do not Your eyes look upon truth (and for truth)? You have smitten them, but they did not weaken. You have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock: they have refused to repent.”

John, in Matthew 3:2, began his ministry, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus, then, in Mark1:14-15, came “preaching the gospel of God,” saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe [or trust in, rely upon] the gospel.”

Before His ascension, in Luke 24:47, Jesus commissioned His disciples “that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed on the basis of His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Paul, to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:21, stated he testified to both “Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you remember when Peter went before the elders in Jerusalem about Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit? When he explained the elders glorified God saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life!”

Look at 2 Corinthians 7:9-11! Paul said: “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO ARE JOYOUSLY REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB:

In Matthew 1:21 we read, “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” And do you remember when the mouth of Zacharias was opened that he prophesied? Luke 1:68 says, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people.”

Peter later said, I Peter 1:18-19, “you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers…but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” Redeemed, not by religious activities, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by valiant attempts to live by the Golden Rule, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by consecrated devotion to the traditional teachings of men, but by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, not by manly attempts to live a moral life, but by the blood of Christ.

Titus 2:14 tells us, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Jesus was and is “the merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. [Hebrews 2:17]. Then, Hebrews 13:12 tells us, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people THROUGH HIS OWN BLOOD, suffered outside the gate.”

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO ARE JUSTIFIABLY RECONCILED TO GOD:

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-19 we read, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

Did it say “reconciled us to Himself through Christ”? And he said it not once but twice! “RECONCILED”? There are two words here: ALLASSO, “to change, alter, exchange,” and KATA, “according to”. That’s ‘according to’ HIMSELF! He changes us, alters us, exchanges us “according to” JESUS!

We are reconciled to His PERSON – “we shall be like Him.” We are reconciled to His PURPOSE – “…saved us and called us with a holy calling…(2 Timothy 1:9) I Peter 4:2 says, “…live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” We are reconciled to His POWER – I Corinthians 1:24, “Christ, the power of God…” In His prayer for the Ephesian church Paul prayed, (Ephesians 1:19), that they might know “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” We’re not the impotent – we’re the empowered; we’re not the addled – we’re the anointed; We’re not the empty – we’re the FILLED IN ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that the word of the Cross of Christ IS the very power of God. [I Corinthians 1:18].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. [I Corinthians 2:4].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the faith that rests not on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. [I Corinthians 2:5].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth for our raising up through power. [I Corinthians 6:14].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the surpassing greatness of the power that is of God and not of ourselves. [2 Corinthians 4:7].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that though we know we are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him and in Him because of the power directed toward us. [2 Corinthians 13:2].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth of the working of His power. [Ephesians 3:7].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the power of His resurrection. [Philippians 3:10].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth that we have been strengthened with all power according to His glorious might. [Colossians 1:11].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the truth of the glory of His power. [2 Thessalonians 1:9].

“In Christ” we are those who know and live by the power of His indestructible Life. [Hebrews 7:16].

“In Christ” we are protected by the power of god. [I Peter 1:5]. So, Revelation 19:1 says: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” – and to Him we have been reconciled!!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ROYALLY BLESSED BY OUR FATHER-GOD:

Psalm 144:15 says, “How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!” Then in Psalm 67:7 the psalmist said, “God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”

The first two verses of Psalm 67 says: “God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us – that Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all the nations.”

If you haven’t read Ephesians lately, you need to be blessed by Ephesians 1:3 where Paul said that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” BLESSED US?

He’s blessed us because we’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 22:14. He’s blessed us because our hope is only in Him, Titus 2:13. He’s blessed us because we’re of the faith of Abraham, Galatians 3:9. He’s blessed us because we’ve been willing to be reviled for the name of Christ, I Peter 4:14. He’s blessed us because we died “in the Lord,” Revelation 4:13.

I love Deuteronomy 28:6 which says, We’re “blessed when we came in, and blessed when we go out!” And then in Verse 8 it says that God even commands the blessing! Glory!

Disciples of Christ are not foolish fanatics but faithful men and women who’ve become devoted to Holy God because of His undeniable loyalty to His servants! He’s “blessed us” and He keeps on “blessing”!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN THE FULLNESS OF HIS HEAVENLY AUTHORITY:

In John 20:21 Jesus said, “Peace be with you: AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, I ALSO SEND YOU.” Is that a call to a few or a calling for ALL His chosen disciples?

Revelation 1:5-6 tells us, “…To Him who loves us, and has released us from our sins, by His blood…and He has MADE US TO BE A KINGDOM, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

One of the great theological differences of men’s ministries is when the kingdom of God begins. For some it’s future while for others it is present, NOW. Let’s look at the Word!!

I Timothy 1:17 says, “Now to the King Eternal (of the ages), immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” Then, in I Timothy 6:15 Paul called Jesus “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”

And then John, in Revelation 1:9 gives us insight: “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and the kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus…” Is that clear to you? THE KINGDOM IS IN JESUS!! Then our Lord, in Luke 10:19 tells us, “Behold, I give you authority…” Then boldly in Romans 5:17 Paul illumines us more: “…much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will REIGN IN LIFE through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Did that say “reign in life” or reign when you get to heaven someday? To the Ephesians, Ephesians 3:10-11, Paul wrote: “grace was given…[LISTEN!]…in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places…This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which God carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What about what Jesus had to day about all disciples, then and now? In Luke 12:32 our Lord and Master said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM.” That’s THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THE KINGDOM RULE, THE KINGDOM AUTHORITY, THE KINGDOM PURPOSE AND PLAN, THE KINGDOM PROVISIONS AND POWER!

Didn’t He teach us to pray: “…YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ‘ON EARTH’ [in the here and now] AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” GLORY!!

Jesus calls you in Christ “the salt of the earth,” “lights on the hills,” the Ezras and Nehemiahs building greater cities than old Jerusalem – we’re ushering in the New Jerusalem! And Daniel 11:32 says, “…the people who know their God will display strength and take action…” Tell me about your personal ‘game plan’ in helping Jesus Christ change the world!

Daniel 12:3 says, “And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” Then in Daniel 7:13-14, “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”

Isaiah saw it! And he cried out: “Here am I! Send me!” God said, “Go, and tell this people!” And with that heavenly authority, we are His witnesses, we are “Kingdom” ambassadors of our Lord Jesus Christ!

THE PEOPLE OF GOD? THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ORDAINED AS TRUE WORSHIPPERS OF THE ONE TRUE AND LIVING GOD:

Isaiah 43:21 says, “The people whom I have formed for Myself will declare My praise.” It was the psalmist, in Psalm 102:18, who said, “Let this be written for the generation to come; that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”

Oh, I pray Jesus’ words in John 4:21-24 will truly speak to your heart and open it wide to worship and praise the Living God! It says: Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Our Lord said in Luke 19:40, “I tell you, if these (disciples) become silent, the stones will cry out!” The angels bless the Lord (Psalm 103:20). Even “the morning stars sing together for joy” – symphonies of praise to our God.

Why were the “Pharisees” so “in the face” of the disciples and so opposed to their joyful praising of Jesus? I like Arthur Pink’s definition of worship and it explains the void within the Pharisees and scribes. [It’s in his volume on John, p.208], “Worship is a redeemed heart occupied with God, expressing itself in adoration and thanksgiving.”

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to print – disciples were devoted to the Prince!

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to the page – disciples were devoted to the Author!

The Pharisees and scribes were devoted to the scroll and their interpretation of it – disciples were devoted to the Spirit of it and their need of Christ the Savior!

In closing this chapter, do you remember when the Word of God was rediscovered in the reign of Josiah, how it was read in his presence, and how he tore his cloths at the reading of the Word of God? Why? Because he knew that there was such a vast difference in what he heard and what he knew he and his people were or did or did not do! He was heart-broken!

Listen to me! “In Christ” we’re the people of God. We’re the Church, the Body of Christ, the fellowship of the believers – that’s those who are to BE the People of God. And yet too often there is such a difference in what we hear and know and what we do!

So what does God say? II Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Paul really nailed it down for us when in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 he wrote: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

How could a believer forget Jeremiah 2:32? “Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number?” But we’ll not be those who forget – we’ll be those who fill Heaven with praise and adoration! We’ll not be those who wilt – we’ll be those who worship with great passion and fidelity! We’ll not be those drifting into complacency and indifference – we know Him, love Him, and will serve Him faithfully. We’ll not be those who look and act like unbelievers – we’re those who are “Living Stones,” true memorials to our Lord and Savior! We’ll not be those who are silent – we’ll sing His High Praises and make joyful sounds of true devotion to Christ Jesus!

Oh, don’t miss this: I Peter 2:9-10, “But YOU are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” Glory!!

I close this chapter with words from Habakkuk 3: 17-19, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.”

“The People of God”? That’s those who have come to God’s open door to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of our Lord Jesus Christ”!! That’s those who say with Paul, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and, yes, even the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ENTER HIS GATES?”

It’s one of the greatest statements of faith found anywhere in the Word of God. It’s one of the most loved Psalms, Psalm 100: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!…Serve the Lord with gladness…Come before His presence with singing…Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves…We are His people and the sheep of His pasture…ENTER INTO HIS GATES with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise…Be thankful to Him, and bless His name…For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”

And His “enduring truth” still says to us, “ENTER HIS GATES”! In Luke 13:23-24 one said to Jesus, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And Jesus said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” What an awesome encouragement and warning!

Psalm 122:1-2 is entitled “A Song of Assents” – and I would ask you, are you ascending into the “gates of the Lord”?

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!”

Bill Bennett, in his book, “The Book of Virtues,” [Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993, pps.479-480] included Henry van Dyke’s “Doors of Daring.” It says, “The mountains that inclose the vale with walls of granite, steep and high, Invite the fearless foot to scale their stairway toward the sky…The restless, deep, diving sea that flows and foams from shore to shore, calls to its sunburned chivalry, ‘Push out, set sail, explore!’…The bars of life at which we fret, that seem to prison and control, Are but the doors of daring, set ajar before the soul… Say not, “Too poor,” but freely give; Sigh not, “Too weak,” but boldly try; you never can begin to live until you dare to die.”

And Jesus our Lord straightforwardly declares: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me.” The steps of Jesus led Him straight to Jerusalem for an appointment with death!

There was a physical sacred city called the city of God, Jerusalem; also called the holy city. And just as God ordained its building with “gates,” what He did then He has done now. The “holy city” of the Spirit has “gates” they’re not “doors of daring”, but “doors of dependence”! They’re not gates of timbers and iron, but gates of eternal truth and heavenly inspiration and instruction!

We know what God had to say to Obadiah about Edom and Esau because we saw in the Word “The Advancing Amalek Army.” But we also need to learn of “the reasons of God’s judgment.” Listen to Obadiah 10-11, 13: “For your violence against your brother Jacob, Shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever…In the day that you stood on the other side – In the day that strangers carried captive his forces, When foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem – Even you were as one of them…Verse 13, You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.”

Will you stand within the gates of grace or will you be a violator, a foreigner, a stranger standing within the gates of judgment? What did Jesus say? “…for many, I say to you, will seek to enter (the straight and narrow) gate, AND WILL NOT BE ABLE!!”

Edgar Guest wrote “The Things That Haven’t Been Done Before.” It says: “The things that haven’t been done before, Those are the things to try; Columbus dreamed of an unknown shore At the rim of the far-flung sky,

And his heart was bold and his faith was strong as he ventured in dangers new, and he paid no heed to the jeering throng or the fears of the doubting crew.

The many will follow the beaten track With guideposts on the way. They live and have lived for ages back with a chart for every day.

Someone has told them it’s safe to go On the road he has traveled o’er, And all that they ever strive to know Are the things that were known before.

A few strike out, without map or chart, Where never a man has been, From the beaten paths they draw apart To see what no man has seen.

There are deeds they hunger alone to do; Tho’ battered and bruised and sore, They blaze the path for the many, who do nothing not done before.

The things that haven’t been done before Are the tasks worthwhile today; Are you one of the flock that follows, or Are you one that shall lead the way?

Are you one of the timid souls that quail at the jeers of a doubting crew, Or dare you, whether you win or fail, Strike out for a goal that’s new?”

I want you to know there is the goal of a new and living way – it’s the gates of God that lead to His eternal life and His eternal day. What did Psalm 100:4 tell us? “Enter His gates with thanksgiving…”

In Ezekial 43:5-12 the prophet tells us: “The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Then I hear Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost, with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. Now let them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. Son of man, describe the temple of the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.” [Did you notice: “its exits and its entrances”?]

Now come with me to Nehemiah 3=

Let’s LOOK AT THE LAMB’S GATE: Nehemiah 3:1, Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors…”

We certainly are His people and the sheep of His pasture, but to enter the Holy City, there is only one way! In John 10:7 we read, Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” Again, in verse 10 our Lord said, “I AM THE DOOR. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Remember, it’s called the “Sheep Gate,” or the “Lamb’s Gate.”

In Exodus 12:3-8, 21, we read: “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assemble of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.” Verse 21 then says: Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, AND KILL THE PASSOVER LAMB.”

And you’re unsure about the identity of the “Passover Lamb”? In Isaiah 53:7-11 we read “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was ‘led as a lamb’ to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken, And they made His grave with the wicked – but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” Its verification?

In John 1:29 the Word of God says: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!”

In Revelation 12 John informs us about the ‘great dragon’ and our war with the Devil or Satan, and then in Verse 11 informs us: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Don’t take lightly your own spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness but, at the same time, rest in the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world that Revelation 13:8 tells us about: “All who dwell on the earth will worship him [that’s yielded to and devoted to the Devil himself] whose names have not been written in [God’s] Book of Life of the Lamb…”

Revelation 14:1 tells us, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” And they are busy preparing for the “wedding” of the Lamb and Is Bride! Revelation 19:7 tells us, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” WOW!

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s entrance to God’s City of “Rest”! Matthew 11:28-29 says: Jesus speaking, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Charles Spurgeon, in his Memorial Library series, “Spurgeon’s Sermons, [Vol. 13, pps 311-312], wrote: “The gospel of Jesus Christ is intended as a refuge for those who have broken the law of God, whom vengeance is pursuing, who will certainly be overtaken, to their eternal destruction, unless they fly to Christ and find shelter in Him. Outside of Christ the sword of fire pursues us swift and sharp. From God’s wrath there is bout one escape, and that is by a simple faith in Christ. Believe in Him, and the sword is sheated, and the mercy and the love of God will become your everlasting portion; but refuse to believe in Jesus, and your innumerable sins, written in His book, shall be laid at your door in the day when the pillars of heaven shall reel, and the stars shall fall like withered fig-leaves from the tree.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of our eternal home!

It’s “a promised home” – John 14:2 says, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I GO TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU.” Paul clarifies it to the Philippians and us when in Philippians 3:20 he wrote: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It’s “a permanent home” – Philippians 3:21 says, “WHO WILL (might, maybe, possibly?) transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body,…”

It’s “a prosperous home” – Revelation 21:21 says, “And the twelve gates of heaven were twelve pearls (priceless): each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.”

It’s “a pleasurable home” – Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of abundant provisions! Doesn’t Philippians 4:19 tell us, “And my God SHALL SUPPLY all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

The “Lamb’s Gate”? That’s the entrance to God’s City of separation from all that is behind us! Judges 2:1 says, “Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers.” Oh, and listen carefully, thankfully: God leads US up from the world, from bondage, from sin and death, from a meaningless existence, from hollowness and helplessness, from the deception of the fruit of good and evil to the eternal fruit of one tree of hope and help of an empty tomb!

Let’s look at THE FISH GATE: Nehemiah 3:3 says: Also the sons of Hassenaah built the FISH GATE; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.” So.. what significance does that have for us today?

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus is calling His first disciples, saying to them, and us: “Follow Me, And I will make you [to become] FISHERS OF MEN!!”

In Romans 10:12-15 we read: “For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’”

Gabriel Marcel said: “Conversion is the act by which one is called to be a witness!!” Isn’t that what the Resurrected Christ told His disciples just before His ascension? Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Come to Acts 8! Acts 8:4 says, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” ‘Preaching’ is the Greek word: evangelidzo!! That’s evangelizing, sharing the Word, sharing the faith, reaching out in the name of Christ Jesus!

Acts 8:5 says, “Then Phillip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.” The word ‘preached’ here is the Greek word, KERUSSO, or “to herald,” “to blow the trumpet.”

Acts 8:6 says, “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Phillip…” The word ‘spoken’ is the word “LEGO” or conversationally speaking to another!

Acts 8:25 says, “So when they had testified…” That word ‘testified’ is the Greek word ‘MARTUREO’ meaning “bearing witness to a fact you know about even to giving up your life if needed.”

Are you getting this beautiful picture? Deuteronomy 12:3 says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” It’s why the wiseman of Proverbs said, Proverbs 11:30, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”

Again, “Conversion is the act by which one is called to be a witness!” Psalm 126:5-6 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy…He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing Bringing his sheaves with him.” IT HASN”T CHANGED! “RESCUE THE PERISHING!!”

Let’s look at “THE OLD GATE”: the Farrell Fisher translation? “The ANCIENT Gate”!

Nehemiah 3:6 tells us: “Moreover Jehoida the son of Paseah and Meshullum the son of Besodeiah repaired the OLD GATE; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.” [Just a question since I’m fast approaching the age of 78!! “What’s so bad about the ‘old’ or ‘the ancient’?]

In Jeremiah 6:16 we read, THUS SAYS THE LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘WE WILL NOT WALK IN IT.’” Later, in Jeremiah 18:15 God spoke again, “Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to worthless idols. And they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways and not on a highway…” [Could that be no desire to walk on God’s “Highway of Holiness?”] What is “The Old Gate”?

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF THE SOVEREIGN RULE OF HIM WHO IS CALLED THE ANCIENT OF DAYS! Daniel 7:9-10 says, “I watched till thrones were put in place, and THE ANCIENT OF DAYS was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire…A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened.”

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF THE APPOINTED KINGDOM RULE OF HIS HEAVENLY SON!

Daniel 7:13-14, 18, says: “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him before near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Verse 18, “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

That’s the “ANCIENT GATE OF PROMISED VICTORY FOR THE SAINTS!

Daniel 7:21-22, 26-27 says: “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them,…until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. [But the beast arises, “speaking pompous words against the Most High,…persecuting the saints of the Most High…intending to change times and law”]. Verses 26-27, “But the court shall be seated And they shall take away the beast’s dominion, to consume and destroy it forever…Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”

Oh, yes, there is another Gate!! IT’S “THE VALLEY GATE”! Nehemiah 3:13 speaks of “the low place”. It speaks of the gate or the way of humility!

In Philippians 2:3-8 we read, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

For “proud societies” I know it’s difficult but James 4:10 tells us, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” And God’s vision is not impaired!

I Peter 5:5-6 says, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud; but He gives grace to the humble.’…Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”

How powerful and liberating and challenging and convicting is the Word of God!! 2 Chronicles 7:14, “humble yourselves and pray – God answers! Psalm 10:17, God hears the desires of the humble. Psalm 25:9, God teaches the humble His way. Psalm 34:2, The humble hear and they rejoice. Psalm 37:11 The humble inherit the land. Proverbs 29:23 The humble obtain honor. Luke 1:52 God exalts the humble. James 4:6 God gives grace to the humble. James 4:10, God lifts up the humble.

What about in Nehemiah 3:14 the “repairing of the REFUSE GATE”?

Do you remember Exodus 12 and the preparations for Passover? Exodus 12:15 says, “..On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” What is the Word telling us about “refuse”?

In I Corinthians 5:8 there is a word about “the leaven of malice and wickedness.” If you look at Verse 7 it speaks of “clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”

Paul’s word to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:20-22 is so on target, not only for youth worldwide, but on target for all! “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself for the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, and prepared for every good work. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Do you know and understand what the will of God is for your life? In I Thessalonians 4:3 Paul said, “For this is the WILL OF GOD, YOUR SANCTIFICATION; that you should abstain from sexual immorality.” The word “sanctification” is a word that fundamentally tells us we are “set apart” for the honor and glory of God alone, set apart for His usefulness in kingdom allegiance!

It’s why in I Thessalonians 4:7 Paul said, “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” We cleanse ourselves because “in Christ” we serve, represent, and honor the King of kings and Holy God. But beyond what we just read, what about what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:1? “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

We cleanse ourselves because we’re called with a high and holy calling. We cleanse ourselves because we possess a holy hope – being like Him. We cleanse ourselves because of our ministries of salt and light. We cleanse ourselves so Christ feels at home in us. We cleanse ourselves because cleanliness in Spirit is better than dirtiness of the flesh. Next Gate?

There is “The FOUNTAIN GATE”: Nehemiah 3:15, “ Shallun..repaired the Fountain Gate.”

I want you to look first at John 7:38-39 where Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water…But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Then later, in John 16:7 Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage (necessary) that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

Oh, and then, in John 20:22, after telling the disciples that ‘as the Father has sent Me, I also send you,” Jesus “Breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Some appropriate little brooks – others choose the flow of the mighty Niagara Falls. Some choose to dig in desert sands for a small drop of water – others choose the flow of a mighty Amazon or Nile River of the Spirit.

The Fountain Gate speaks of entering the flow of God Himself. The Fountain Gate speaks of standing on the promise of available power. The Fountain Gate speaks of resting in the fullness of Him who fills all in all. The Fountain Gate speaks of receiving available provisions of the fruit of the Spirit. The Fountain Gate speaks of trusting the baptism of Holy Ghost fire sweeping over us like the wind of a fire-cloud into the very glory of God. The Fountain Gate speaks of the acknowledgement of our impotence, but also the announcement and availability of His inexhaustible supply of His great power.

Acts 4:33 says, “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

Jack Taylor, in “The Key To Triumphant Living,” [Broadman Press, Nashville, 1971, p.81], wrote: “How marvelous is the figure of a RIVER…a RIVER: is involuntary and doesn’t have to try. A river is unselfish and available wherever it goes. A river is the picture of confidence and power and doesn’t have to babble like a brook! A river is consistent and keeps on keeping on. You don’t have to prod it. A river is a picture of constant cleaning. Cast pollution in it and it will sweep it away. A river is a symbol of courage. Put obstacles in front of it, and it will overwhelm them. A river speaks of available power. It runs factories and turns lights on all over the country.” Do you see the necessity of the Fountain Gate? No production, no power, no lights apart from the anointing of the mighty Spirit of God!

This is why Paul wrote Ephesians 5:17-18, “Therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is…And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT!! Let the river flow through you!

But Jeremiah 2:13 says, God speaking, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.” And then in Jeremiah 17:13 God says, “Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth. Because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.”

But there is another option!! Zechariah 12:10 says, God speaking, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Let’s meet together, right now, at “THE WATER GATE”: Nehemiah 3:26 says, “Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the WATER GATE…” How absolutely thrilling is God’s precious Word!

Come to Nehemiah 8:1-6, 8-9, Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose…and Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground….Verses 8-9, So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.”

In Ephesians 5:25 Paul spoke of how Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it…and then in Verses 26-27 he said, “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word…that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” I pray you are familiar with the ministry of the Word of God – individually, as a family, as a nation, and, yes, throughout the world!

Psalm 107:20, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” But come to Psalm 119!! It majors on God’s Word: Psalm 119:9, “How can a young man cleanse his way> By taking heed according to Your word.”

Psalm 119:11, “Your word have I hid in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” Verse 25 speaks of “revival” according to God’s Word! Verse 28 speaks of “strengthened according to God’s Word!” Do we walk around with fleshly, spaghetti, or like muscles or mighty muscles of Almighty God?

Psalm 119:49 says, “Remember the word to your servant upon which You have caused me to HOPE.” Then verse 89 speaks of God’s Word “settled in heaven – FOREVER.” In verse 105 the psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Then in verse 165 he said, “Great peace have those who love Your word, and nothing causes them to stumble.” Receive His holy Word as your daily bread!

Next, let’s look at “THE HORSE GATE”: Nehemiah 3:28 says, “Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.” The HORSE GATE?

Proverbs 21:31 speaks of “The Horse prepared for the day of battle”! Tell me about your own spiritual preparation to “fight the good fight of faith”! Jeremiah 8:6 speaks of “The Horse rushing into battle!!” Oh, but then it gets really personal here when in Zechariah 10:3b we read: “For the Lord of hosts will visit His flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as His royal horse in the battle…!”

What does Revelation 19:19 tell us? “And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”

Ernest Shurtleff wrote the great hymn entitled, “Lead On, O King Eternal.” It says: “Lead on, O King eternal, the day of march has come; Henceforth in fields of conquest Your tents shall be our home. Through days of preparation Your grace has made us strong, And now, O King Eternal, We lift our battle song…

Lead on, O King Eternal, Till sin’s fierce war shall cease, And holiness shall whisper The sweet Amen of peace; For not with swords loud clashing, Nor roll of stirring drums, With deeds of love and mercy The heavenly kingdom comes…Lead on, O King Eternal, We follow, not with fears; For gladness breaks like morning Where’er Your face appears; Your cross is lifted o’er us; We journey in its light: The crown awaits the conquest: Lead on, O God of might.”

Let’s look at “THE EAST GATE”:

Nehemiah 3:29,”…After him Shemaiah …the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.” Malachi 4:2 says, “But to you who fear My name the Sun of righteousness SHALL ARISE with healing in His wings.”

Without a doubt I believe this East Gate is that gate of looking, preparation, anticipation, even longing, for the soon return of the King of kings and Lord of lords! Matthew 2:2 says of ‘the wise men’ from the East that they came seeking: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him!”

Matthew 24:27 makes it even clearer: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

But God’s Holy Word inspires us to always ‘be ready’ as if today were the day keep your eyes fixed on the East! Revelation 22:12, 16 says, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work, Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Almeda J. Pearce wrote a classic hymn entitled “When He Shall Come.” It says: “When He shall come, resplendent in His glory, To take His own from out this vale of night, O may I know the joy at His appearing – Only at morn to walk with Him in white!…When I shall stand within the court of Heaven Where white-robed pilgrims pass before my sight – Earth’s martyred saints and bloodwashed overcomers – These then are they who walk with Him in white!…When He shall call, from earth’s remotest corners, All who have stood triumphant in His might, O to be worthy then to stand beside them, And in that morn to walk with Him in white!”

Revelation 3:4, Jesus speaking, “You have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

Lastly, let’s look at “THE ASSIGNMENT – APPOINTMENT – RECRUITMENT GATE”: Nehemiah 3:31 tells us about Malchijah making repairs…in front of the Miphkad Gate, “inspection” or “recruiting gate.”

In 2 Timothy 1:9 Paul shared with Timothy the call to share in the sufferings ‘FOR THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE POWER OF GOD,’ telling him, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works [or plans], but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before time began…Verse 10, but now has been revealed…”

Do you remember as we began this study that we heard Jesus say, “Strive to enter through the NARROW GATE?” O but now, listen to Psalm 31:8, “You, God, have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; YOU HAVE SET MY FEET IN A WIDE PLACE!!”

I tell you, it’s a wide place of spiritual adventures. It’s a wide place of touching the infinite and laying hold of the supernatural. It’s a wide place of expanding horizons within the Sovereignty of God. It’s a wide place of grasping the heart and ministry of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It’s a wide place where the bubbling of the spring becomes a mighty river of incomparable love feeding the world with grace and mercy.

Disciples of Jesus are not those confined in a small place suffering from ‘cabin fever’ – they are the ones who’ve entered the gate of holy calling and soar with Christ in the heavenly places. Though they may live in a small town they are consumed with the spirit of global-mindedness. They’re those who’ve been lifted to the vast vistas of world vision. With Abraham their desire is to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.

John saw a vision in Revelation 5:9-10 – it’s of those singing THE NEW SONG: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation…And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”

Luke 13:22-30 is both a warning AND a reason to rejoice in the Lord! It says: “And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, ‘Lord, are there few who are saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us, and He will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where you are from; then you begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say to you, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

It was Bob Moorehead, pastor in Seattle, Washington, in the book “Standing Tall” by Steve Farrar, who wrote: [pps. 165-166], “I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look up, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, stored up, and stayed up the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.”

And I’d say Bob Moorehead’s color is “blood-red” from the very veins of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God! Amen?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“THE WAYS OF GOD?”

I did a message a number of years ago entitled “Restraining Affection.” One of those restrained affections was ‘the restraining affection of a limited knowledge of God.’ Several things I want to make mention of to introduce “The Ways of God”: Romans 10:1-2 showed us those who “have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge.” In Titus 1:16 we learn of those who “profess to know God, but by their deeds deny Him.”

It doesn’t let up much at all! In John 17:3 Jesus said, “this IS eternal life, that they might KNOW YOU, the only True God and Jesus Christ whom You sent”, but how many really “know” Him? We learned in that message Hebrews 10:30-31, “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengence is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people – IT IS A TERRIFYING THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

And then in Hebrews 3:10 we read, “Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts; and they did not know My ways…(as a result) Verse 11, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.’” How serious does it sound to you to know God and His ways? But God is gracious and merciful which explains both Jesus’ presence AND the Cross!

So our Lord and Savior tells us in Matthew 10:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Moses learned the grace and mercy of God – and I don’t want you to miss what Moses said: Exodus 33:11-14, So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, SHOW ME NOW YOUR WAY, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.’ And He said, “y Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” The psalmist wrote, Psalm 103:7, “He [God] made known His ways to Moses.” And if He did that for Moses, will He do that for you?

There are those who profess that they’re the people of God – they ‘profess’ that they know His ways, or they profess they want to know His ways, but in Psalm 95:10 God declare, “…they do not know My ways…” But then there are those who come to the spiritual crossroads of life and say, “I don’t even want to know Him or His ways.”

In Job 21:7, 13-15, are words you can hear regularly, and your heart is broken. Listen, and choose Him, not a sin-blackened heart! Job 21:7 says, “Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?” A sobering question – or should be! Then, Job 21:13-15 says, “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?’”

There are those who settle for the fringes of His ways – Job 26:14, “Behold, these are the fringes of His ways: and how faint a word we hear of Him!” The fringes of – but not His ways!

But then, there are those who hunger, long, desire, walk with the very breath of life in them only to know Him: Philippians 3:10 is Paul saying, “that I may know Him!!” And Daniel 11:32 gives people like Paul a heavenly promise: “…the people WHO KNOW THEIR GOD will display strength and take action.” There are several things I want you to clearly understand:

One, GOD WANTS US TO KNOW HIS WAYS:

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” I sense God focuses on us because of His great love for us – the man who is the furtherest throw away from God is the man loving God is most concerned about!

2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are completely His, whose hearts are steadfast.” But you must understand and be genuinely awakened in Truth: God doesn’t unveil Himself to the divided heart! Psalm 25:9 says, “…He teaches the humble His way…”. God doesn’t reveal Himself to the proud and arrogant! Psalm 25:12 says, “Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose…” Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant.” David put it even stronger in Psalm 103:17-18 when he wrote and sang: “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them”

God doesn’t manifest the beauty and glory of His life when there is no fear of Holy God. David was so bold about himself before the Lord. In Psalm 25:4 he cried out to the Lord: “Make me know Your ways, O Lord.” He said in verse 5, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” Are you seeing “the surrendered life”? Are you sensing a hungering heart? Do you possess a longing soul for God Himself? Or are you ‘blind’ to what or WHO you need to see?

Understand: God doesn’t pull back the curtain to a prayer-less, self-satisfied heart.

Two, GOD NOT ONLY WANTS US TO KNOW HIS WAYS, HE WANTS US TO BE ONE WHO WALKS IN HIS WAYS:

In Deuteronomy 8:5-6 are two significant, eye-opening verses that should awaken you if you’ve lapsed into indifference to God and His ways – “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. THEREFORE you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to WALK IN HIS WAYS and to fear Him.”

You know Moses had a true heart for God – and Moses had a heart for His people also. In Deuteronomy 28:1-2,Moses said: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord.”

Didn’t Jesus ask a very pertinent, pointed statement when He said, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, but you do not do what I say?” I hate to be the one to shock you to your senses, if needed, but ‘obedience is not an option in the day of grace’! Obedience is the hallmark of one who has truly been born again!

In Deuteronomy 19:9 we read: “and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three..”

Have you truly come to grips with the evidence of “saving grace”? Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience…” Paul said later in Ephesians 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”

But the Word of God, the Holy Word of God, exposes the false foundations of disobedient, reckless, self-centered living, when in Isaiah 42:24, we read God’s response to that kind of a lifestyle: “Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not the Lord against whom we have sinned? And in whose ways they were not willing to walk? And whose law they did not obey?”

Here they are! They knew or know His ways – but they chose, then and now, not to walk in them! Doesn’t Jeremiah 5:1-5 give us a saddened picture of, yes, even modern-day rebellion concerning those who refuse to walk in His ways? It says: “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her. Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely.” O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor, they are foolish; for THEY DO NOT KNOW THE WAY OF THE LORD, the judgment of their God. I will go to the great men and speak to them, for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God.”

The Book of Hosea is one great prophetic word, yes, for our modern world to discover the ways of God! In Hosea 14:9 His Word tells us, “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous WILL WALK IN THEM, but transgressors will stumble in them.”

God’s Holy Word overflows with “promises” He makes – Zechariah 3:7 says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, “IF you will walk in My ways, and IF you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among those who are standing here…” How exciting is I Kings 3:14? “And if you WALK IN MY WAYS…then I will prolong your days.” It’s in Isaiah 58:13-14 where God gives the challenge of us, all humanity, desisting from all our ways, and yielding ourselves to God’s ways, delighting ourselves in Him, then He will cause us to ride on the high hills of the earth and feed us with the heritage of Jacob.

But commitment is required! Psalm 37:5 is so clear: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” Then in Psalm 50:23 we read, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright, I will show him the salvation of God.” As a result of the eternal choice of God’s ways for your life, Psalm 138:5 says, “And they will sing of the ways of the Lord: For great is the glory of the Lord.” Are you singing yet?

Three, WHAT ARE THE WAYS OF GOD?

Without hesitation, it’s easy to say God’s ways are the ways of greatness! Deuteronomy 10:17 says, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality or takes a bribe.”

He’s great and awesome in His creative power: Genesis 1:1 begins, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The prophet Isaiah hear Him speak: Isaiah 45:6-8, “That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things. Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.”

He’s great in the eternal Cross of Christ: I’m sure you know John 3:16 by memory! But you haven’t attached eternal significance to Christ’s shed blood and broken body dying on the Cross for your salvation?

He’s great in His character and great in His awesome acts! Deuteronomy 7:21 says, “… for the Lord your God, the great and awesome God, is among you.” I Chronicles 16:25 says, “For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised…” Has your life of faith matured to the point that you have become one disciple who more and more erupts in praise and adoration for the glory of God like a spiritual volcano that never subsides?

How does the Word describe His greatness? “Great deliverance,” “great judgments,” “great power,” “great terrors,” “great fires,” “great voice,” “great work which He did,” “great wrath,” “great name,” “great things He has done for you,” “the greatness of His victory,” “great mercies,” “great lovingkindness,” “great compassion,” “great goodness,” “Great King of all the earth,” “great peace,” “great glory,” “great sword,” “great wisdom,” “great law,” “great faithfulness,” “great vengeance,” “great signs,” “great day of the Lord,” “great love wherewith He loved us,” “great salvation,” “great Shepherd of the sheep”!

In Mark 10:42-45 we learn about “sharing” in His greatness! But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Yes, there is the way of greatness!

There is the way of the mother hen! Matthew 23: 37-38 says, Jesus speaking, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate..”

His way is the way of blamelessness or “having integrity”: 2 Samuel22:31, 33 tells us, “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.. Verse 33, “God is my strength and power, AND HE MAKES MY WAY PERFECT.” This is why in Psalm 101 David wrote: Verses 2-3, “I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.”

His way is the way of straightness! In Acts 13:9-10 Paul confronted Elymas the sorcerer: “Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?’” Oh, but of course, we don’t have to worry about that attitude in America, do we? Again, David, in Psalm 125:5 said, “But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.” Do you remember John beginning his public ministry, and they asked him, John 1:23, “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord.’”

His way is the way of LIFE: I love what Peter said in the beginning of his public ministry in Acts 2:25-28, “For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades [or “among the dead”]. Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.” But you have a better way of life than Jesus’ way?

His way is the way of Righteousness and Truth: In Revelation 15:3 we read, They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints!” Isaiah 64:5 says, “You, God, meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways.”

His way is the way of Blessing: Psalm 67:1-2 the psalmist gives us both an invocation and a doxology. He wrote: “God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” Have you ever heard someone say, “God wants me to be happy.” No, He wants you “blessed” – happiness is here for a moment, then gone away in the dark clouds! But God’s ‘blessing’ is forever. Plus, God isn’t interested in your happiness – He wants you to be HOLY!

His way is the way of the stronghold: Proverbs 10:29 is so clear: “The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright.” In Him, you don’t have to be uptight when you walk upright because we have a mighty fortress in our God, a bulwark never failing. It’s a stronghold of strength, love and compassion, protection, provision, and Holy Presence! Psalm 48:3 says, “God, in her palaces (the Holy City) has made Himself known as a stronghold…”

His way is the way of Sovereign Leadership: In Genesis 24:27 we read: And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.” Isaiah 48:17 says: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who LEADS YOU BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD GO.” And, praise God, that Word is still true today. He will open doors for you, and He will close the doors you do not need to be headed toward!

His way is the way of PEACE: Isn’t it interesting as you look at world events, national crisis, family eruptions, church splits – Isaiah 59:8 says, “The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace.” Don’t you remember that Jesus’ promise is for the “peace that passes all understanding”! Glory!

Then, lastly, His way, is the Everlasting Way: Habakkuk 3:6 simply says: “His ways are everlasting..” In John 10:27-28 Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

In Oswald Chambers’ book “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.93], he wrote: “God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ’s life, and there are to be none in ours. “This is life eternal, that they might know You.” The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.” That central place of power? Walking in His ways, walking in step with our Lord and Savior, and, yes, walking in step with His people!

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES?”

The question of this chapter is what Gideon asked the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6 – and it is a pointed, personal, powerful question for all disciples of our Lord to be examining! Certainly, Gideon was asking concerning three areas of a disciple’s spiritual journey: 1) “Where are all His miracles …that our fathers told us about, 2) that our nation once knew, 3) And that our walk with God experienced in the infancy of our faith and pilgrimage.

Thomas Fuller, in his book entitled “Church History,” [Vol. 2, p.239) said: “Miracles are the ‘swaddling – clothes’ of infant churches.” No doubt that statement is truer, but miracles also are the garments of salvation disciples are to be walking in! Miracles are not to be the exception, but the explanation of the Indwelling Life of Christ in every true believer! That’s those believers made totally available to Almighty God and the Resurrected Christ and the very present power of the Holy Spirit!

In Numbers 11:23 the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power limited?” It’s not the Lord’s power that is limited but the limitations of the Lord’s people that they carry around, even doubting its modern-day availability!

Deuteronomy 3:24 says, “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours?”

But the psalmist asked, Psalm 79:10, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where Is Their God?” But is it God that is the problem when miracles appear as ancient acts or is it us? Must we have to say to the nations, ‘Our God is asleep?’ ‘Our God doesn’t do what He once did?’ Or ‘Miracles were for another day and age and no longer are they applicable to New Covenant people!’ I don’t think so! GOD IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER!

Hear what Spurgeon had to say, and receive it, walk in it, and apply it to yourself and the church of these ‘last days’! [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol. 17, p.95], “Some deny miracles; and if they also deny God, I will not at this time deal with them. But it is very strange that anyone who believes in God should doubt the possibility of miracles. It seems to me that, granted the being of a God, miracle is to be expected as an occasional declaration of His independent and active will. He may make certain rules for His actions, and it may be His wisdom to keep them; but surely He must reserve to Himself the liberty to depart from His own laws, or else He has in a measure laid aside His personal Godhead, deified law, and set it up above Himself. It would not increase our idea of the glory of His Godhead if we could be assured that He had made Himself subject to rule, and tied His own hands from ever acting except in a certain manner. From the self-existence and freedom of will which enter into our very conception of God, we are led to expect that sometimes He should not keep to the methods which He follows as His golden rule. This has led to the universal conviction that miracle is the proof of Godhead. The general works of creation and providence are to my mind the best proofs; but the common heart of our race, for some reason or other, looks to miracle as surer evidence; thus proving that miracle is expected of God.”

A miracle? What is it? Listen to Robert South: “A miracle is a work exceeding the power of any created agent, consequently being ‘an effect of the divine omnipotence’!”

I want my life, my family, my ministry, my church, my nation, to be an effect of divine omnipotence! It was Vance Havner, in his book, “Repent or Else”, [p.18], who said: “A lot of Sunday-morning Christians, who want to sit with folded hands and listen to a mild discourse on the Teacher of Galilee, need to be aroused from their stupor by a vision of the flaming Christ of the Candlesticks.” I’m telling you, the church TODAY needs to become a true body of believers ‘ship-wrecked on His Sovereignty and stranded alone on the Sea of His omnipotence!

Isn’t it absolutely amazing to you that Jesus had to say to a church, [Revelation 3:20], “Laodecia, Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.” “WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES”?

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN “BURIED IN THE ATTITUDE OF SELF-PITY” IN THE MIDST OF LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES RATHER THAN THE APPROPRIATION OF GOD’S AVAILABLE PRESENCE, PROPHETS, AND PROMISES TO SEE HIS SERVANTS THROUGH:

In Judges 6:1, 6-10 we read, “Then the children did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. Verses 6-10, So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. Also I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.”

Do you understand “pity parties”? That’s a trap we set for ourselves binding us in our natural inabilities while thanksgiving is release to the availability of God’s supernatural power! Pity parties are paralyzing, but appropriation is liberating!

In Acts 16, beginning at verse 16, as Paul and Silas were ministering to a slave girl who possessed a spirit of divination and received deliverance, her masters were more than annoyed by Paul and Silas – they had them imprisoned! Opportunity now for a “pity party”? No! How about appropriation through prayer to Holy God? Acts 16:25 says, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns, and the prisoners were listening to them.” The result? A great earthquake, prison doors opened, chains loosed, and a multitude of prisoners get saved!

We fix our eyes on ourselves so often, on our circumstances, on our enemies, that we cannot see or recognize the awesome hand of God! The Word doesn’t say, “Fix your eyes on your circumstances!” It says, “Fix your gaze upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith!”

We need to see every moment of every day the crucified, risen, ascended, reigning, glorified and coming King of kings and Lord of lords who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we ask or think! We need to see the Christ of the Golden Candlesticks whose countenance overshadows us, brighter than the noon-day sun, whose eyes are like fire, and whose voice is like the sound of many waters.

We need to see Him (Colossians 2:15) who “disarmed the rulers and authorities, who made a public display of Satan and the powers of darkness, who stripped them naked, triumphing over them.”

If we really bow down to the Lord Jesus, if we really submit ourselves to His authority, if we gladly become His servant, under His Sovereign control, there is no circumstance we are not over! Why? Because He rules and He reigns – and we learn to let God be God in us and through us! If you haven’t, then confess your self-pity, abandon it at the altar and receive the prophet’s word and walk on with God in His miracle-working deliverance!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY A WALK OF DISOBEDIENCE RATHER THEN OPENED BY A WALK OF OBEDIENCE:

In Judges 6:10 we read, ‘Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice.” In Deuteronomy 7 we read about God’s passion to bless those who obey Him – and you would think that that is the desire of every believer, but sadly it is not! Deuteronomy 7:9-14 tells us: “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who Keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them. THEN it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples…”

Do you remember His Word? “Tell the sons of Israel, ‘Go forward,’” and as they did, the Red Sea was opened and they walked on dry land and the armies of the enemy were destroyed! Do you remember? “Stretch forth the withered hand” – and as he did, the hand was restored! Do you remember? Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” “I have no bread, only a handful of flour and a little oil.” “Make me a cake first, then you and your son. For thus says the Lord, ‘the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor the jar of oil empty until the day that the Lord sends rain on the field of the earth.’ She went and did as Elijah had spoken.”

Where are all His miracles? There was a poll nationwide that said 90% of Americans believe in God, and we know there is a church just about on every corner of American cities big or small, yet the spiritual climate of America is in a sick stage near death. It doesn’t seem to equate! You look at the seven churches in Revelation 2, 3, and 5 were in great need of the miracle power of God restoring them to their first love! And if we are going to see God’s miracles again, there must be a ‘revival’ of obedience!

Listen to Finney, quoted in Havner’s book, “Repent or Else,” [pps. 15-16], “Revival is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the conversion of sinners to God. It presupposes that the church is back-slidden and revival means conviction of sin and the searching of hearts among God’s people. Revival is nothing less than a new beginning of obedience to God, a breaking of the heart and getting down in the dust before Him with deep humility and forsaking of sin. A revival breaks the power of the world and of sin over Christians. The charm of the world is broken and the power of sin overcome. Truths to which our hearts are unresponsive suddenly become living. Whereas mind and conscience may assent to truth, when revival comes, OBEDIENCE to the truth is the one thing that matters.”

HIS MIRACLES ARE BARRED BY A LACK OF APPRECIATION OF GOD’S DIVINE MANDATE: Again, in Judges 6:14-16, hear the word of the Lord: “Then the Lord turned to him (Gideon) and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’ So he said to Him, ‘O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manessah, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

Is there an appreciation, a deep appreciation, for the mandates of our Master and Lord? In John 20:21 He said, “Peace to you! As My Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And they go in their own strength? No! John 20:22 says, And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” With have the Master’s Divine Mandate plus Holy Spirit anointing!

In John 14:12 our Lord says even now to us: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do because I go to My Father.” What an amazing word! Do you possess heavenly appreciation for our earthly mandate?

HIS MIRACLES ARE BOUND UP IN FEAR, EVEN FEAR OF FAILURE, RATHER THAN TRUE BIBLICAL FAITH THAT CALLS UPON GOD TO SHOW HIMSELF STRONG:

In 2 Chronicles 16:9 we read, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

Do you have even a faint idea of the dilemma of one who has no idea of the God who has shown Himself strong but they settle in to try and stand on a false foundation of fear?

I want you to come back to Judges 6 and follow carefully every word in verses 17-24: Gideon said, to God, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And God said, “I will wait until you come back.” So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”

Then in verses 36-40 Gideon is either unsure of God, afraid of his own failure, or doubting himself that God could use him as a leader! That’s what these verses are about! Gideon didn’t need a fleece – he needed the unconditional offering of full surrender to the will of God for his life, submission, yes, even celebration that God had confidence in him whether he did or not! Gideon had been touched by the signature of God on his life – but he was genuinely afraid.

Is God with us? Is God with you? Why not say to Him, “Lord, consume my fears and give me a strong faith; Lord, light the fire of your blazing glory in me; Lord, show yourself strong! A fleece? Why not faith in the faithfulness of God! But, at the same time, I don’t believe it was ‘doubting Thomas’ but a man who wanted only in the divine certainty of the Living Christ’s presence, power, plan, and promise. We should not be those who ‘kick against the pricks, but those subject to the hands of our Lord’s control!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BETRAYED AND BLOCKED BY THE ACQUISITION AND ACCEPTANCE OF IDOLS AS AN ORDINARY PART OF ONE”S LIFE:

Look again in Judges 6:25-29! It says, Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and TEAR DOWN THE ALTAR OF BAAL THAT YOUR FATHER HAS, AND CUT DOWN THE WOODEN IMAGE THAT IS BESIDE IT; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down. So Gideon took ten men from among his servants AND DID AS THE LORD HAD SAID TO HIM. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”

Do you remember the word of the Lord coming to Ezekial? Ezekial 14:2-3 says, And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?” I believe you know the answer!

And, sadly, most Americans don’t even know what ‘idolatry’ truly is from God’s perspective! But Colossians 3:5 informs us: “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, WHICH IS IDOLATRY.”

Are you aware of what you’ve just read? The Holy Word of God explains much of America’s fall into idol worship, even by many in the church! Rather than devotion to Christ Jesus, many faithfully bow before their idols in their minds, bodies, and, yes, their hearts – they’re captured, bound, imprisoned, to the world, the flesh, and the devil!

Have you cut down and burned the idols in your own heart and mind? Is your life hidden with Christ in God? To what or who do you bow before each day? “Where are all His miracles?” In the born-again, surrendered, yielded life – not to idols, but yielded to Christ alone! That’s THE MIRACLE!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BESEIGED BY A FEAR OF MAN THAT LIMITS THE FULLNESS OF GOD:

In Judges 6:30-32 we read: Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar!”

It’s for sure: Joash had no fear of man, but at least he did have a fear of God. Proverbs 29:25 tells us, “The fear of man brings a snare [a trap], but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe [or secure].” The fear of men is wicked, but the fear of God is heavenly blessing. But it is true that some earthlings have no confidence in God Himself but fear of men dominate their every turn – and they suffer with a spiritual disease that is quickly cured when God has His rightful place in their lives. If we know God is our ‘help’, why should one ever fear?

It’s faithlessness in God Himself that breeds fleshly fear of fallen men! God doesn’t birth cowards – He births sons of God. God doesn’t birth men who are overcome by the fear of what men could do to them, but births men who know God is their defense and their defender!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY FLESHLY DEVOTIONS RATHER THAN FAITHFUL DEPENDENCE UPON THE SPIRIT OF GOD:

There is such an interesting verse in Judges 6:34 which tells us: “But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon..” Came upon? It’s a word that basically means “took possession of”!

But those who doubt, are afraid of, or ignorant about the Holy Spirit’s ministry in their lives offer God “best effort” which shuts the door on God’s blessing their lives in the anointing of His Spirit and power – they want to “wing it” on their own, producing only death not heavenly life.

Do you remember our Lord’s words to His disciples right before His ascension? John 20:21-22 says: So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!!” Has that changed? Not from Jesus’ point of view, but certainly from those who trust in fleshly devotions, miracles are strange events they want no part of.

In Luke 5:17-26 you find Jesus forgiving and healing the ‘paralytic but also you see the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, and the scribes, who in their ‘fleshly devotions’ are opposing Jesus! That attitude has not changed even today!

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLOCKED BY THE INTELLECTUAL RATIONALIZATIONS OF NICKLES, NUMBERS OR NOSES, RATHER THAN THE INFINITE REVELATION – “GOD IS ENOUGH”:

In Judges 7:2 the Lord spoke to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’”

In that story God shared with Gideon that if Israel went out on its own to defeat the Midianites that they would internalize the victory and it would be their personal glory – not God’s. So, He told Gideon, “Too many men, Gideon! Send home those who are afraid, and 22,000 left the battlefield!” Another large number of Israelites failed God’s test the second time, leaving only 300 men against a strong nation’s might! And their weapons? God, torches and trumpets!!

Look at Deuteronomy 8:10-20! “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. BEWARE that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest – when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end – then you say in your heart ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ And you shall remember thye Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods and serve them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God.”

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN, ARE, WILL BOOMERANG THROUGH DOUBT AND SPECULATION OF THE UNUSUAL, MIRACULOUS, SUPERNATURAL, RATHER THAN RECEIVED IN AN ATTITUDE OF HUMBLENESS, PRAISE, AND WORSHIP:

In Judges 7:12-15 we read, “Now the Midianites and Amalikites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude. And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”

In Matthew 13:53-58 we read about Jesus going back into His own country. He went into the synagogue to teach them, but they doubted Jesus and His teaching! They were “offended at Him” – and verse 58 tells us: “Now He did not do many mighty works THERE because of their unbelief.” Does that attitude of unbelief still hinder Jesus’ miraculous ministry?

How about Abraham? Romans 4:20-21 says: “He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being FULLY PERSUADED that what God had promised, He was also able to perform.” Amen?

HIS MIRACLES HAVE BEEN BLIGHTED BY A SPIRIT OF “FALLING SHORT” RATHER THAN ENDURING TO THE END:

In Judges 8:4 we read: When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three men who were with him “crossed over”, exhausted but still in pursuit.”

Isn’t it interesting to you that Jesus said in Matthew 20:16 that “Many are called, but few chosen”? You are aware, I pray, that you as a man, like Gideon, are chosen to fulfill God’s purpose in and through your life! No doubt this is why Paul said of himself, in I Corinthians 9:22, “…I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Life with eternal purpose, life with a divine design, life with eternal intent!! But the spirit of “falling short” of God’s plan short-circuits one’s walk of faith! Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.221], “All God’s men are ordinary men made extraordinary by the matter He has given to them. Unless we have the right matter in our minds intellectually and in our hearts affectionately, we will be hustled out of our usefulness to God.”

And I pray that is not an indictment of your spiritual walk and journey but an illumination of God’s intent for your spiritual journey – YOU WILL BE ONE AVAILABLE TO GOD FOR HIS MIRACULOUS MINISTRY!!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“IS THERE IN YOU PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS?”

The calling of God on a man’s life is such a high and holy calling. To be ‘in Christ Jesus’ is to be a vessel, a container, set apart for the glory of God through availability to the Indwelling Lord and Savior and Master of life.

I want you to read so carefully and prayerfully Revelation 1:4-6, “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and HAS MADE US KINGS AND PRIESTS TO HIS GOD AND FATHER, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Do YOU say ‘Amen’ to that?

In I Peter 2:4-5, 9, we also read: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Verse 9, But YOU are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

Then in 2 Timothy 1:8-9 we read, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” WOW!

Next foundational word for this chapter? I Peter 5:10, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

God’s Holy Word is so inspirational, instructive, illuminating for us His divine intent laid out from the overflow of His heart and mind before the world had even been established! In Leviticus 16:21-22 we read about “the scape goat”! The Lord had spoken to Moses with instructions: “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

And if you haven’t learned it as yet, “Christ Jesus IS God’s ‘scape goat’ in our behalf on the Cross with His broken body, shed blood, and dying form! Yet, many have not returned to the Lord! In Amos 4:11-12 the prophet spoke: “I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord. Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, PREPARE TO MEET YOUR GOD!”

Holy God is concerned, not only with the lost, the separated, the unbelievers, but also His own children of faith who take lightly spiritual preparedness and readiness. This is what apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are all about because we read in Ephesians 4:12-16, that these teacher-servants are given “for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” What an awesome foundation for us in this chapter!

So Jesus in His loving spirit of compassion said to us in Matthew 24:42-44, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

What was it Jesus said to Simon Peter about preparation and readiness? Look at Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said to Simon, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” The wise man of Proverbs 24:16 told us, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” Who are you? The righteous man who falls and gets up or the wicked man content in his calamity?

In Matthew 22:8-14 Jesus speaks to us all about preparation and readiness. He Said: Then the king said to his servants, “The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Preparedness and Readiness? What is it all about?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS OF THE HEART:

In Psalm 78:7-8 we learn absolute essentials for reconciliation to Holy God. It says, “That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that DID NOT SET ITS HEART ARIGHT, and whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

2 Chronicles 12:14 tells us about King Rehoboam. It says: “And he did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.” And that’s the calling on every man’s life, past, present and future: Prepare your heart to seek the Lord!

Samuel had gone to Bethlehem at the Lord’s request, and he saw Eliab, saying to those around him, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!” But I Samuel 16:7 is God’s response to Samuel’s flawed response about Eliab. God said: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Do you remember the question David asked in Psalm 23:3? “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?” And God’s response? Verse 4, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart…”!! Well, that’s certainly a dilemma if you look only inwardly to yourself and do not look to the God who graciously offers “new hearts”! Isn’t that what God tells us in Ezekial 36:25-27? “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I WILL GIVE YOU A NEW HEART and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

In John 7:38 Jesus tells us, “He who believes in Me, [that’s trust in, rely upon, adhere to], as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Since the lost man’s heart is a diseased heart, spiritual heart-transplant is his only hope of being reconciled to Holy God. Prepare, get ready to meet Him face to face!

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO REMOVE EVERY OBSTACLE:

2 Timothy 2:19-22 hits the nail dead-center on the head of God’s concern for every disciple of Christ. Paul wrote to his young spiritual so, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,” and “let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Our journey of faith in Christ is not ‘happen-chance’ but holy commitment to be, to become, all God desires of us – and that’s explained in Colossians 3:9-10, “Do not lie to one another, SINCE you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have PUT ON THE NEW MAN who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

Here’s how Oswald Chambers explained it in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.222], “When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say – What wonderfully astute wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The astute mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God’s wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.” Oh, how strong and on target is that!

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE SPIRITUAL BATTLES EVERY DISCIPLE FACES:

In John 16:33 Jesus speaks to us as His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

There’s an interesting word Paul shared with the church at Corinth when in I Corinthians 14:8 he said, “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” That may explain the Ephraimites when Asaph said in Psalm 78:9, “The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.”

The Christian walk, the path of true disciples, the highway of holiness, always leads to a battlefield. For some it’s in their marriage, for others it’s parental-children conflicts, for businessmen it’s war with a crooked associate, for college students who serve Christ it’s war with a godless professor, for churches it can be a ‘false preacher’ who betrays the Word he professes loyalty to, for true pastors it’s ungodly men who see themselves ‘sent by God’ to keep the preacher straight –spiritual walks in Christ always leads to ‘your cross,’ ‘your war,’ ‘your test,’ and you cannot escape it, but you can prepare just like a soldier on his way to a war-front! Antagonism to the true faith and loyal disciples of Jesus is the recognition that trouble is rooted in everyone’s journey with Jesus, but there is the promise of His people leaning on Him coming out a ‘winner’ not a loser, a victor not a victim, a champion not a dejected, defeated, defiled son!

I love 2 Chronicles 20:15 which says: Thus says the Lord to YOU, “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” Amen?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO KEEP OUR LAMPS ALIGHT:

In Luke 12:35-37 Jesus tells us, “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching.” Are your lamps burning?

The call on your life as a disciple is the call to walk in the light as He is in the light, yet many ‘professing disciples’(?) choose to walk in darkness. And the ‘darkness of disillusionment’ is a black cloud, not only overshadowing many, but producing doubt, cynicism, and even rejection of the Christ-life they claim to hold.

I pray what Jesus had to say in Matthew 25:1-13 will be a light exposing your darkness if you’ve let it in or a light that reveals your devotion to the only Lord and Savior: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now, five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

In John 5:35 Jesus described John like this: “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” Will Jesus rejoice over your light as it reveals His fullness in you?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE APPROVAL OF GOD:

I Corinthians 9:23-27 informs us not only of the approval of God but “striving for the crown.” I was a high school and collegiate football player for my high school team in Cleveland, Tennessee, and was on football scholarship at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. I can assure you that I never played to lose but to win! What did Paul tell the Corinthians? “Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a partaker of it with you. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

To Timothy Paul wrote: 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth.”

Yes, and did you know or did you fly by what Paul said to the Corinthians why he disciplined himself in the things of the Spirit-real? BECAUSE HE HAD NO DESIRE TO BE DISQUALIFIED!! That is NO APPROVAL FROM GOD HIMSELF! That ought to scare the living—– out of you!

But there are ‘professors of faith’ who are not possessors of the true faith – they are ‘pretenders’! And in Titus 1:15-16 Paul wrote: “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” But is it your strong desire to be “approved by God”?

THERE IS THE PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO DIE:

In 2 Timothy 4:5-8 Paul wrote: “But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

I’ve already told you earlier in this book of my heart attack on April 27, 2013. My son Scott took me to the hospital just moments after we arrived back from Houston, Texas, having attended a three-day conference there. I had chest pains from across my left shoulder straight across to my right shoulder. At the emergency room an EKG was ordered: Two minutes to do the EKG, two minutes for the emergency room doctor to read it, and immediately he said to the 7 or 8 attendants working on me: “Get him out of here to surgery; he has less than an hour to live!”

Down that hospital corridor they ran with me, up an elevator, into the surgical wing – and at 8:30 on a Saturday night, there was my heart-surgeon doctor ready to perform a miracle: my main artery was 100% closed, there was a huge blood clot ready to break loose and kill me, but Holy God intervened! And here’s the miracle of grace: I had no fear AT ALL – if my Lord wanted me in Heaven, I was ready to go! Are YOU prepared to die?

I ministered for 25 years all over India leading pastors’ conferences, open-air crusades, and youth evangelism outreach. On one of my memorable trips I so clearly heard God say to me: “The church of India will blossom, but it will blossom by the blood of the martyrs.” India’s pastors are prepared to die!

THERE IS PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS TO PREACH, TEACH, OR SHARE THE WORD OF GOD:

Thank God for Paul’s passionate concern for the young Timothys. He wrote in 2 Timothy 4:1-2, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, PREACH THE WORD! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”

Why is that? Because in the ‘last days’ church of the 21^st Century, Verses 3-4, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Do you realize and understand what Paul was talking about as he shared the “falling away-ers” from the true faith and word because of their “itching ears”? Well, be assured, God hasn’t called you to “scratch” itching ears but to preach, teach, and share with others the revelation of God’s Holy Word! And that’s even if it costs you your life! Beware of any “community of faith” (?) that has no real emphasis on the revelation of God’s Word!

In I Peter 3:15 Peter wrote: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Are you ready?

THERE IS PREPAREDNESS AND READINESS FOR THE WEDDING DAY:

In 2 Corinthians 11:3 Paul challenged the church in Corinth and, yes, churches everywhere: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” Does it appear to you that some “professors” might not prepare for the wedding day?

In Revelation 19:5-8 John heard a voice from heaven saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, AND HIS WIFE HAS MADE HERSELF READY.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

There should be no surprise as to who the “bride” is preparing for the wedding day, but Revelation 17:14 tells us: “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and THOSE WHO ARE WITH HIM are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Romans 5:10 opens the door to your preparation and readiness for that eternal “wedding day”. It says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.” Are YOU “being” saved by His life?

In 2 Corinthians 7:1 Paul wrote: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” The “bride” prepares herself, making herself ready for the wedding day. And verse 3 of this same chapter lets us know this bridal path preparation when Paul said the Corinthians were in his heart “to die together and to live together.” I thought it was ‘live together so they could die together.’ That may be the natural world, but in the Kingdom of God it’s daily taking “the sentence of death” that we might share in resurrection life, resurrection power and resurrection hope – dying together so we eternally live together wedded to our Lord and Savior!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“WHERE’S THE GRIEF?”

In Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 are words that express true cycles and events of a pilgrim’s journey. It says: “There is an appointed time for everything…A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” But for Israel Jeremiah had to ask, Jeremiah 15:5, “Indeed, who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem, or who will mourn for you, or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?” Certainly God’s “chosen people” have little support – and if Israel was destroyed [which it won’t be] who would mourn but those who share God’s heart?

In Matthew 11:16-17 Jesus said: “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to other children…and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and yet you did not mourn.”

No grief or no mourning about personal, spiritual tragedies, or, yes, national reversals from God-fearing to a godless society, is like an evil ‘scum’ settling over the population at large! Rather than a genuine Godly sorrow, many societies just settle into a gall of bitterness. You’ve sensed it no doubt when spiritually there is no clear shining sun, no fresh spring rains of revival or renewal, no cooling clouds – only horrible spiritual hurricanes that pummel your life –only spiritual volcanic eruptions all around you, only dark, dark clouds of suffering, demonic attacks, Satanic interference…and no one seems to care!

But you don’t mourn or grieve alone – if you – because in Matthew 5:4 God’s Holy Word tells us, Jesus speaking, “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” I pray that you understand if you are one who does grieve over the spiritual climate surrounding you that you understand that your “grief” is but the shadow of God’s Holy Presence!

In Isaiah 53:3 the prophet tells us about Jesus: “A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Grief or sorrow is out of the divine nature of God Himself! Grief or sorrow is assurance of eternal presence! No grief, no sorrow over the spiritual condition of individuals or a nation is evidence of a spiritual disease that needs and must have divine healing.

In Ezekial 9:4-6 The Lord said to the prophet, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” To the others He said in my hearing, ‘Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is a mark; and begin at My sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were before the temple.”

Why was that? Because there was little grieving and mourning over the sins of the city and the nation! And God said, “Begin with the elders in leadership of My temple!!”

There’s another prophetic word God gave to Amos. Notice Amos 6:1-8, “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes! Go over to Calneh and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory? Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, who cause the seat of violence to come near; who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David; Who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with the best ointments, BUT ARE NOT GRIEVED FOR THE AFFLICTION OF JOSEPH. Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquets shall be removed. The Lord God has sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts says: ‘I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.” No grief, no mourning – and God moves in judgment!

To mourn? The dictionary says, “to express grief or sorrow; to grieve; to be sorrowful…mourning may be expressed by weeping or audible sounds, or sobs, sighs or inward silent grief…to lament.”

To grieve? “To feel pain of mind or heart; to be in pain on account of an evil; to sorrow; to mourn.” Do you understand whether its grief or mourning over a broken marriage, or a wayward teenager, or a rebellious nation, or godless leaders, or a compromising pastor or church people, or lost family members and friends separated from God, your brokenness can hold back God’s judgment?

Is it possible that, “where there is no grief or mourning or sorrow” over the situations of life you find yourself in, that we can [and will] have God’s grief birthed in us if we call on Him? Yes, if one is willing to accept it and share it with Him! It begins with:

THE GRIEF OF GOD OVER THE SIN OF MAN THAT YOU WILLINGLY ACCEPT:

In Genesis 6:5-6 we read: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and HE was GRIEVED IN HIS HEART.”

The author of “Green Pastures” wrote: “It ain’t no picnic bein’ God…”. [That was John Jasper.]. And you begin to understand and grasp the awesomeness of God’s heart for you and me! John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

In Isaiah 1:2-9, 18-20 we hear both the mind of God and the heart of God, His grief and His grace: “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me; The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.’ Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers devout your land in your presence; and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah. Verses 18-20, Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Listen to Jesus and the grief in His own heart as He spoke about Jerusalem: Matthew 23:37, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” And the result? Verse 38, See! Your house is left to you desolate!” But you don’t believe that’s our Lord’s concern about you or your nation?

WHAT ABOUT THE GRIEF OF CARING MEN OVER THE LOSTNESS OF OTHERS AND THEIR SEPARATION FROM GOD?

In Romans 9:1-3 we read the heart of Paul the Apostle: “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.”

One of the greatest dangers any professing disciple of Christ faces is a cold, cold heart concerning the lost, the perishing, the alienated from God folks! If there is no sorrow and grief over the separated from God people, it means one has become extremely shallow in his faith. And I’m not thinking of the sorrow of the rich young ruler because riches had become his god – his sorrow was because he had become disillusioned when he realized the bondage of self-love and what possessed him – and he certainly was not willing to let it go! But Jesus reached out to him, He sought to touch him with grace and mercy, He targeted what had his heart and sought to truly make him rich in faith! Who do you reach out to?

Do you remember Psalm 126:5-6? It says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seeds for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

What was our Lord’s commission to the early church and has it changed? “You shall be My witnesses…!!” Are you busy about the Father’s business?

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF THE FALLING OF THE MIGHTY:

I Samuel 15 is such a powerful word to all of God’s people, and, yes, a word of warning concerning our obedience or lack of it as the Lord commissioned us. It’s about Saul as Samuel came to confront him. The commission of God to Saul was to go and Amalek and utterly destroy that people – none were to be spared!

Saul did attack them, but I Samuel 15:9 says, “but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep…” Look with me at I Samuel 15:13-23. We read: Then Saul said to Samuel, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.’ So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” Verse 35 then says, And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” Enough said here!

THERE IS ALSO PARENTAL GRIEF OVER THE FALLING AWAY FROM GOD OF SONS AND DAUGHTERS:

Proverbs 10:1 is so very clear, “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother..” And then in Proverbs 17:25 we read, “A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.”

Isn’t it absolutely sad for parents who live Godly lives, lay their lives down in ministry and service to their sons and daughters, and, yes, train them well in the Word and by example, to have to face the devastation of their sons and daughters because they choose the world not God’s will, they choose fleshly devotion to a fallen self not faithfulness to a loving Savior, they choose loose living morally to living in and by the Holy Word of God!

For parents that is horrendous, a heavy weight hard to carry, and even a hellish assault on their own faith! Rather than God’s spirit of grace on their sons and daughters some parents are crushed as they witness sons and daughters bound by spirits of deception, bound by the control of demonic spirits that have taken their children over with hellish mind control, broken-hearted as they watch sons and daughters sold out to the spirit of godlessness.

How sad is it when a broken-hearted parent reads a passage like Proverbs 19:16 which says, “He who keeps [God’s] commandment keeps his soul, but he who is careless [reckless] of his ways will die.” And at least those parents set aside to the glory of God grieve over wayward children.

THERE IS THE GRIEF OF A DEPARTED GLORY:

Ephesians 3:21 says, “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” That’s God’s aim, His divine will and pleasure, His goal for every life to live under the glory cloud of Holy Presence, for the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ to reign supreme in every heart, every home, every church, every life – glory all around!

But when you look to Lamentations and then look around you, one is heavy-laden by the absence of God’s glory cloud! Lamentations 1:20 speaks of one in great distress because of that recognition that His glory has departed. It says, “See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled; my heart is overturned within me, for I have been rebellious. Outside the sword bereaves, at home it is like death.”

Why is it? You know what Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” But that’s so difficult for many to face up to – so they substitute glory in God for a spirit of godlessness in themselves!

It may be hard for a godless society to accept, but I believe the Holy Word is convicting and convincing, so follow carefully I Corinthians 5 which says: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles – that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner – not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF THE WORD-TESTING:

Didn’t we just read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 5 two statements “inspired by God’s Holy Spirit” – Verse 9, “I wrote to you in my epistle…” and Verse 11, “But now I have written to you…”

In 2 Corinthians, again, Paul stresses the vital importance of openness and obedience to God’s divine will! 2 Corinthians 6: 11-12 the Apostle said, “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.”

Do you grasp what we’ve just read? Grief always overshadows a life that is resistant to the Holy Word of God! Didn’t Jesus tell us in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”?

Go to Genesis and read carefully God testing Abraham. Remember? “Take Isaac to the land of Moriah, offer him as a burnt offering on the mountain.” Abraham told his two servants traveling with him that “we will come back to you.” He was going to be obedient and offer Isaac, and he expected “a resurrection”! In verse 12 of chapter 22 of Genesis God said as Isaac laid on the altar, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.” [Check out Ezekial 21:1-17!!].

BUT ALSO WHERE IS THE GRIEF OVER THE NEEDY?

In Job 30:25 we read: “Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?” And there is no doubt God’s compassion SHOULD flow through us to the poverty-stricken physically, but just as passionate God’s people must “care” for the spiritually poor! Isn’t spiritual poverty as great a threat to a society as physical poverty? Neglect of either is not an option God’s people should hold!

Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Then in Psalm 35:9-10 David was being persecuted, but he called out to the Living God because he knew God’s heart: “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation. All my bones shall say, ‘Lord, who is like You, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?’

But we who are in oneness with Jesus have no concern, no ministry, no outreach, no compassion for the poor? “As Jesus is, so are we in this world?”

THERE IS THE GRIEF OF A POTENTIAL BETRAYAL AND A PERILOUS FALLING AWAY:

In Matthew 26:17-25 we learn about Judas! But then follow carefully verses 31-35! Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

Do you understand the fragileness of ALL disciples when persecution is unleashed? In Zechariah 13:7 it says: “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the Lord of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered…”

Mark 14:21 should plant the fear of God in any and every true believer! It says, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

The Prophet Jeremiah puts before us awesome words of warning when he told us in Jeremiah 22:8-10 these words: “And many nations will pass by this city; and everyone will say to his neighbor, ‘Why has the Lord done so to this great city?’ Then they will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.’ Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; weep bitterly for him who goes away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.”

THERE IS THE GRIEF THE WALK OF DEATH PRODUCES:

In Matthew 26 Jesus had gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. In verses 37-39 we read about this momentous night in the life of our Lord AND three of His disciples: And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

And you do understand – I’m not only talking about one’s facing the reality of physical death that can produce ‘grief’ about dying in many hearts, but I’m talking about the struggle between ‘flesh’ and Spirit that we all must face and fight, and some ‘fear’ that death to self or, yes, death to their old sin natures! There’s no doubt that ‘grief’ concerning a sharing of “the afflictions of Christ” that Paul talked about has and will generate grief in some hearts, but here is to be a “continuing” in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you’ve centered your life in! Hold on! Don’t give away to ‘grief’ the walk of death can produce!

THERE IS, OR SHOULD BE IN EVERY BELIEVER, GRIEF OVER HARDENED HEARTS:

In Mark 3:1-5 we see this possibility for today: And Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there with a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”

Did you notice Jesus “grieved by the hardness of their hearts”? And I have no doubt about some who hear the demands of discipleship, His call to be broken bread and poured out wine, His call to disciples to take up their own crosses and follow Him, and they say, “I’ll not be squeezed by anyone, crushed by anything to make His wine, or accept the call of a cross for anybody or anything,” and as a result, they walk away from the greatest relationship and opportunity they could be a part of – they don’t – and Jesus grieves over hardened hearts.

THERE IS ALSO THE GRIEF OF “TOO-LATE” TEARS:

Oh, how I pray that the Holy Spirit will come fully upon you and bring holy conviction on you if these verses relate to you: Hebrews 12:14-17 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.” “Too-Late Tears”!! “Too Late!!” Some determine they have time – but it was “too late”!

I close this chapter with James 4:7-10. I pray you receive it right now: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Would you please go to Revelation 21 and read carefully Verses 1-8, and verse 27!

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“WHY GLORY IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST?”

I know as well as you that modern men major on an awful lot of things, but it certainly doesn’t mean that most men ‘glory in the Cross of Christ’! Modern men, separated from God, indulging fallen flesh, and possessing no interest in our Lord’s death on the Cross, are totally devoted to the ‘old man,’ to their fallen flesh or old sin nature, and though they do not know it or understand it, they are bound by the powers of darkness and serve like a slave of the old Roman empire!

Fallen men, away from God glory in themselves, glory in the accumulation of more and more money, glory in their fame or name that they make for themselves, glory in their indulgent, fleshly, sin natures, and really do celebrate and rejoice in their sinfulness!

I love what Oswald Chambers had to say when he said, “The evidence that I am delivered from sin is that I know the real nature of sin in me.” And sadly most men do not know that “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.” You would think that would be good news for a sin-bound man, but some find their bondage enjoyable and saving faith a “downer”!

But in Isaiah 52:13-15 we read, “Behold, MY SERVANT shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.” And that certainly is my desire for every alienated soul living apart from “amazing grace” that they shall see His face, hear His voice, sense His Spirit, and repent toward God and put their faith in the finished work of Christ at the Cross!

I don’t know if you know it or ever really considered what happened to Jesus as He was beaten, battered, spat upon, and, yes, stripped naked as they nailed Him to the cruel Cross – it was shameful! And no Roman was ever put to death on a cross – but they nailed Jesus to the Cruel Cross! But the question is: “Why [should you] Glory In The Cross of Christ?”

If a ‘self-glorying’ man ever slows down long enough, opens his ears to gospel truth, becomes sick with ‘amiable religiosity,’ is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his sinful bondage, and pauses long enough and seriously enough to view naked Jesus on the Cross because of Jesus’ love for that man to forgive him and set him free from his sin problem – if “he lifts up Jesus in His mind and his heart, Jesus will draw him unto Himself” in saving grace and mercy!

This is why Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest,” [p.264], “The calling of a New Testament worker is to uncover sin and to reveal Jesus Christ as Savior [and I say Lord also], consequently he cannot be poetical, he must be sternly surgical. We are sent by God to lift up Jesus Christ, not to give wonderfully beautiful discourses. We have to probe straight down as deeply as God has probed us, to be keen in sensing the Scriptures which bring the truth home and to apply them fearlessly.” If that’s true – and it is – let’s begin:

WE ARE TO GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY SATISFACTION OF OUR SIN DEBT BEFORE HOLY GOD:

God set the terms of your ‘sin-debt’ forgiveness! Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of God’s grace…”

There is another vital verse that must penetrate all of our minds and hearts. It is I John 2:2 where John wrote: “And He Himself [Jesus] is the PROPITIATION for our sins, and not ours only, but also those of the whole world.”

What did John the Baptist say when he saw Jesus coming? “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!!” One of the old, old hymns that still holds a special place in my heart is the hymn, “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood”:

“There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel’s veins, And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains…The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day, And there may I, tho’ vile as he, Wash all my sins away…E’er since by faith I saw the stream Your flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die…Then in a nobler, sweeter song I’ll sing Your power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering tongue, Lies silent in the grave.” This hymn was written by William Cowper.

Paul told the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

I pray you have understanding of our Lord’s revelation! I Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit…”

Isaiah 53:10 tells us: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.” Why? Because Verse 11 says, “He shall see the labor of His soul and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.”

Hallelujah! Jesus took our iniquities and nailed them to His Cross Himself as He suffered, bled, and died to take away your sin! Glory in Him!!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS BECAUSE IT OPENS THE DOOR TO THE HOLY PLACE:

Hebrews 10:19 is so very, very clear. It says, “Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus…”

Do you know what the Great High Priest used to do before he entered the Holy Place in the tabernacle? Only the Great High Priest could go in once a year only, and that after great spiritual preparations! But in case he overlooked something and died on the spot as he entered the presence of God, he had tied a long rope around his ankle so the priests outside could drag him out from the presence of God. But NOW?

In Matthew 27:50-51 we read, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit…and behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom..” What is that all about? That is our Lord, through the Cross, opening the door to the Holy Presence to all of God’s people!

Hebrews 6:19 says, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters the veil!” But you see no reason to glory in Christ Jesus?

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS BECAUSE IT REVEALS THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE FOR US:

Romans 5:8 is so on target! It says, “But God proved His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

But I do believe some take God’s truth and twist it, determining for themselves, not His Word, that His forgiveness is a license to do as I please since God is so loving and forgiving! How preposterous and unbelieving is that! Do YOU really believe the tremendous price of Jesus’ suffering and death on the Cross was to give you an open door or free pass to sin as you please?

If, according to Isaiah 49:5, that God formed Jesus “to be His Servant” and through conversion we’ve been made One With Christ, how is that freeing us to do as we please in a ‘free-sinning lifestyle’?

Consider again John’s message in John 3:16-21! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

And, Romans 8:35 asks, and then answers: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” I have a question: “Does your trouble or troubles traumatize God? Does your bad experiences in life limit what God can do in your behalf? Are your “wounds” exempt from the wonders of His love, grace, and mercy?”

Listen to me – I’m telling you: “In Christ” even “bitter seasons” become “sweet blessings” because He will never leave you nor forsake you! Spurgeon preached a message that caught my attention. It was based on Ecclesiastes 11:3 which says: “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth,” and his message was entitled “Black Clouds and Bright Blessings.” [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.11, p[.225].

Look with me at Ephesians 3:17-19! It says: “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST which passes knowledge; THAT YOU MAY BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.”

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT RELEASES THE VICTORY TO OVERCOME SIN IN OUR DAILY LIVES:

Romans 6:14 is so very, very clear: “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are no longer under the law (of sin and death!!), but under grace.” And God’s grace is greater and stronger than your old sin habit! But it does require our yielding ourselves as servants of our Lord and Savior and not to our old sin nature – we yield ourselves to the victory of His “Blood Atonement”!!

If our Lord and Savior said, “Go and sin no more,” then when do some professing believers say they can’t do anything but sin until they get to Heaven? How convenient for the compromisers!

If our Lord and Savior said, “Go and sin no more,” then why do fleshly pleasure seekers shut their ears and their hearts to the finished work of Christ on the Cross in their behalf? Do you remember Jesus having a woman caught in adultery brought to Him by the Pharisees? That’s John 8. And in verses 10-12 we read, When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Romans 6:22 tells us: “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.”

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE WAY OF EXALTATION:

Come to Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on the earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted, lifted up. Jesus made Himself of no reputation and was exalted. Jesus took the form of a bondservant and was exalted. Jesus humbled Himself and was exalted. Jesus was obedient to the point of death and was exalted. But as His “followers” we are free to choose a different way to be exalted? I don’t think so!

It was Phillips Brooks who said: “Jesus Christ, the condescension of divinity, and the exaltation of humanity.” His guiltless blood was shed for men’s guilty hearts so that through repentance and faith they may be exalted with Him!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY SOVEREIGN GOD DETERMINED SALVATION BY FALLEN MEN COULD BE OBTAINED:

Acts 4:12 is the foundation of building a lasting ‘house of faith’ in God! It says: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” And that name that saves? Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Emmanuel –“God with us”!

Paul told the Corinthians in I Corinthians 15:1-3, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, IF you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES…”

Do you understand ‘reconciled to God’? And if it is necessary, essential, and is by God’s determination alone – what does His Holy Word tell us? Romans 5:10 says, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be [being] saved by His life.”

You are not put into a right relationship with Holy God because you are ‘religious,’ or because you do religious acts, or because you, at least, try to obey Him. You’re saved only through the sacrificial death of Christ on the Cross, and you ‘rest’ in His finished work there! Religious or “In Christ”? Good deeds or “In Christ”? Church attendance or “In Christ”? Super efforts or “In Christ”? “Others speak well of me” or “The Spirit Himself bears witness with My Spirit”?

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE IT PROVIDES A NEW DYNAMIC OF TRUE LIFE:

In Hebrews 10:10, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of Jesus Christ, once for all…” What will? The will of God from before the foundation of the world – Christ Jesus as the Lamb slain in the mind and heart of God BEFORE the world was even established!

Hebrews 10:14-17 tells us: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their Minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’”

“Sanctified”? That means ‘set apart’ by God for His glory, honor, and praise! “A New Dynamic”? Glorying in the Cross to the glory of God alone! “Living”? To honor Him alone and fulfill His eternal purposes!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THE CROSS WAS GOD’S WAY TO TRIUMPH OVER OUR ENEMY, SATAN:

In Colossians 2:13-15 we read: “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, having triumphed over them.”

John illumined our victory over the powers of darkness in I John 3:8 when he wrote: “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of Satan.” The works of Satan? To dismantle you! To so tempt you that you fall away! To capture you, yes, for Hell itself!

Look at Hebrews 2:14-15 and glory in the Lord Jesus’ rendering Satan powerless: “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil:…and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

When the psalmist said in Psalms:136:24 that “[God] rescued us from our enemies, for His mercy endures forever,” don’t you think the devil and his demons are your enemy? And Jesus handled your dilemma with the devil! And you have reason to glory in Him!!

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THROUGH THE CROSS THE GREAT POWER OF GOD IS RELEASED:

Just listen and receive I Corinthians 1:17-18, 23, which says: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should be made void…For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…WE PREACH CHRIST CRUCIFIED!!”

Why was Paul sent? “TO PREACH THE GOSPEL” which we just learned that the word of the cross not only “saves us, reconciles us, redeems us,” it is also the great power of God released through us in an overcoming life, in spiritual warfare, and the release of His great power through us to honor Christ by ministering in His Name, by His available anointing and empowering!

You may face disillusioning battles but the power of the Cross promises you victory. You may face a world of trouble, but His Cross is the power of God to overcome. You may face closed doors, but the great power of God opens those doors or better doors.

WE GLORY IN THE CROSS OF JESUS BECAUSE THROUGH THE CROSS THE WORLD’S PULL HAS LOST ITS POWER:

Galatians 6:14 says it so encouragingly: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The world pull, yes, has lost its power through the Lord Jesus. Settle it: ALL THAT MATTERS IS JESUS!

There’s an old hymn that says: “This world is not my home, I’m just a’passing through, My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” That’s Heaven – my eternal home around God’s throne!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OR THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?”

I wonder if you’ve ever said it or experienced it, “I am going to get this done right this time,” but again you fall flat on your face. You have great confidence in yourself and you try but you’re soon crushed. You’re blessed with lofty ambitions but you live with LIMP ACCOMPLISHMENTS. You dream and drool with the drippings of SELF-DETERMINATION but end up with the nightmare of constant failure.

You know the STANDARD of moral accountability and responsibility but find yourself flawed with the reality of SIN in the heart. You aim toward “the mark” and you miss it. You RACE toward the finish line of personal faithfulness and you stumble and fall.

You reach up for the shining star of light and “GLOW-FUL-NESS” but radiate only the darkness and despair and dismay of wanting to do right but wallowing in the wrong.

And the powerful truth of the revelation of the Word of God is that a self-sufficient, self-motivated man never finds the witness of a royal release while the weakness of self-willed resolve is hidden from our eyes.

The great depth of our own weakness is a mystery to a man who is disciplined and determined to make it on his own without any outside help including God. Do you understand? STRONG CONSTITUTIONS can be our undoing. Brave soldiers are beyond numbering in basic training, but when the real battle commences few heroes are to be found with medals of HONOR.

I’m not sure if you’ll be familiar with the story called “STYX” in which THETIS dipped ACHILLES everywhere but the heel by which she held him. He was so strong and so invulnerable wherever the water had touched him, but remember, the heel hadn’t been covered by the water, and all of a sudden PARIS shot the arrow into the heel, and ACHILLES DIED.

Most men think of themselves as completely INVULNERABLE but fail to remember there is a HELPLESS HEEL. The one thing I want you to know is that without the Spirit of Christ controlling our lives we are all “SHORN SAMSONS”! Dr. Watts had a verse in one of his hymns that said: “SAMSON, when his hair was lost, Met the Philistines to his cost; Shook his vain limbs with vast surprise, made feeble fight, and lost his eyes.”

YOUR strength is your greatest weakness! YOUR proud consciousness is a strong indication of personal corruptness! YOUR ship of flawed character has had a major leak since its inception and is about to sink! YOUR own flight to the gates of heaven on the wings of self-estimation of acceptable virtues has an unacceptable visa and passport.

Why did Jesus die if we could earn our own way to heaven? Why was His blood shed if your best could merit the favor of God? TRUTH IS NEEDED!!

Listen to Spurgeon [Vol.19,p373, Memorial Library, Spurgeon’s Sermons]: “Sinner, if you grow no sweeter flowers than the dunghill of your own nature can nourish, you will die amid poisonous weeds. If you never drink of better water than the filthy well of your own heart will yield, you will perish of thirst, or of a deadly drought.”

The weakness of personal resolve is a field of broken promises. The weakness of personal resolve is a playing field of despised vows. The weakness of personal resolve is a dirty pig-lot of vain imaginations.

I’m not asking you to get a better “grip” on yourself; I’m asking YOU to let go of yourself. I’m not asking you to make a better resolution of self-determination; I’m asking you to be finished with yourself. I’m not asking you to start another chapter entitled “Better Effort;” I’m asking you to give yourself the “Blessed Encounter” with Jesus.

I’m not asking you to make a new avowal of attachment to the rod of self-improvement; I’m asking you to surrender to the rod of Spirit-anointing!

Do you know what Romans 7:18-25 says? In Romans 7 there has been a big struggle in Paul’s life because as yet he hadn’t learned Romans 8! We’re talking about a believer, a follower, a new servant of Christ with a major war going on. How do we know? Look at Romans 7:22!! “For I DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF GOD (or Word of God) ACCORDING TO THE INWARD MAN.” No unbeliever DELIGHTS in God’s Word. No unbeliever even has an inward man! But Paul did and you in Christ do!

Paul wisely shares his struggles. He wisely shares the maturing process. He wisely shares the absolute spiritual necessity of accepting one’s impotence to fulfill the purposes of God on his own. Do you remember Peter’s vow of determined resolution? Matthew 26:35, “Even if I have to die with You, Jesus, I WILL NOT DENY YOU!” “And so said all the disciples.” And the truth is, the disciples fled and Peter denied!

William Barclay said, [his Romans study, p.103], “The human will unstrengthened by Christ is bound to crack.” And it’s not that we’ve cracked – we’ve been shattered into pieces because we majored in our weaknesses rather than be mastered by the witness of the Holy Spirit!

Dr. Griffith Thomas, in his devotional commentary on Romans, [pps. 192-193], wrote: “The key to the meaning of the entire section is found in the repetition of “I” 30 times in the chapter, without a single mention of the Holy Spirit. It indicates what “I” am struggling to do, and utterly fail to do in my own strength.”

THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE OR THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE?

It’s said of Muhammed Ali while flying to one of his events that his flight got into some turbulence. The seat-belt sign came on and as usual the stewardess checked it out and all had complied but Ali. She asked him to fasten his seat-belt, but the “Lip” responded, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” And the stewardess replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either.”

THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE: LISTEN TO GOD”S HOLY WORD!!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE RECOGNITION OF FLESH’S IMPOTENCE: In Mark 14:37-38, as Jesus was going to Gethsemane to pray, he came back to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to them, “Could you not watch one hour?…Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK.” And whether or not YOU recognize the ‘flesh’s’ impotence, God Does! HE KNOWS about our weaknesses!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE DETERMINATION AND JUDGMENT UPON THE ‘FLESH’: Listen to I Corinthians 15:50, [And by the way, ‘flesh’ is your old sin nature!], “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood CANNOT INHERIT the kingdom of God.” We must learn quickly, early, life’s crossroads – Flesh or Spirit? Old man or new man? Sinner or saint? Sin nature or partaker of the divine nature? Earthly living only or Heavenly minded?

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE DECLARATION OF HOPE ONLY IN CHRIST JESUS: John 1:12-13 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who will believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, NOR of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE INSIGHT THAT PROMOTION OF THE FLESH LEADS TO A GREATER PERVERSION OF THE SAME: Look at Romans 6:19, “I speak in human terms because of the WEAKNESS OF YOUR FLESH. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, AND OF LAWLESSNESS LEADING TO MORE LAWLESSNESS…” Do you understand that? When ‘religious flesh’ gets involved it builds a bigger BARRIER between Holy God and sinful man! When ‘willful flesh’ is released for either good or bad, it leads to a greater divide between presumption and personal salvation!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE EXPLANATION THAT THE “HOW TO” NEVER COMES TO FRUITION WHEN I’M “INTO” WHAT GOD IS “ONTO” IN HOLY JUDGMENT AND CONDEMNATION: What did Paul say in Galatians 2:20? “I am crucified with Christ…” My evil and my good were both nailed to the Cross! But, for Paul, in Romans 7:18-19, he’s been struggling because his ‘religious self’ rather than his ‘redeemed, regenerated self’ has been in control. Listen to Romans 7:18-19, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) NOTHING GOOD DWELLS; for to WILL is present with me, but HOW TO perform what is good I do not find…For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, THAT I PRACTICE.”

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF RESOLVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE REVELATION THAT SELF-PROMOTION NEVER PLEASES GOD: Romans 8:5 is so very clear: “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh..” And the result? Romans 8:7-8 says, “the fleshly, (carnal) mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be…So, then, THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD.” Don’t forget what ‘flesh’ is biblically: your old sin nature!

THERE’S THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE UNVEILING OF FLESH’S ULTIMATE END: Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally (or fleshly) minded IS death…!!” Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh YOU WILL DIE…” Alexander Maclaren put it like this so plainly and powerfully: “That which of all things unfits man for the reception of Christ as Savior, is not gross profligacy and outward, vehement transgression, but it is self-complacency, fatal self-righteousness and self-sufficiency.”

Jean Nicolas Grau, in the “Alliance Weekly,” wrote: “Do not shelter the mirror which reflects your soul’s lack of beauty; rather welcome the truth, and believe that next to the knowledge of God nothing is so precious as the knowledge of self.”

Listen to James Milner!! “While a man rests on his own merits for acceptance with God, it is of little consequence whether he be a pagan idolater, or a proud, ignorant Pharisee. – I do not know which of the two is most distant from the kingdom of God.”

Now, let’s shift gears, and get in full throttle!! LET’S LOOK AT “THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE”:

Come to Romans 8:1-2!! “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, WHO DO NOT WALK ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, but (WALK) according to the Spirit…For the law of the SPIRIT OF LIFE in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Notice, in fact, in verse 4, that EVEN “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled IN US who do not walk according to the flesh BUT WALK ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT…” In John 16:7, prior to His departure, Jesus said to the disciples, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage (necessary) that I go away; for if I do not go away, the HELPER will not come to you: but if I depart, I WILL SEND HIM TO YOU.”

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY BECAUSE OF OUR “BIRTHING” IN THE SPIRIT: In John 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus in verse 3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born AGAIN, he cannot SEE the kingdom of God.” Verse 5 then says, Jesus speaking, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless on is born of the water (of the Word) AND the Spirit, he cannot ENTER the kingdom of God.” And then in verse 6 Jesus explains: “That which is born of the flesh is FLESH, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

In the natural we’re all born physically alive but spiritually dead to God. Romans 3:10-18 says, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one…There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God…They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one…Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit…the poison of asps is under their lips…Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness…Their feet are swift to shed blood…Destruction and misery are in their ways…And the way of peace they have not known…There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

OH, BUT WE’VE COME TO CHRIST JESUS! How? John 6:44 says, Jesus speaking, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;” WHAT A REVELATION!! And LISTEN! Because of true “repentance toward God” AND “faith in the finished work of Christ” alone at Calvary, we’ve come out of DEATH into LIFE by the same Spirit who raised Christ from death in Joseph’s borrowed tomb. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, HE WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD WILL ALSO GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES THROUGH HIS SPIRIT WHO DWELLS IN YOU.”

In fact Romans 8:9 clearly says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. NOW IF ANYONE DOES NOT HAVE THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, HE IS NOT HIS.” BIRTHED AND INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! GLORY!

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY BECAUSE OF THAT ADDED BLESSING OF OUR “BAPTISM” IN THE SPIRIT: Right before His ascension, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples. Look at John 20:19-22, “Peace be with you…” [What is that? It’s a fruit of the Spirit!]. He said again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Listen to verse 22, And when Jesus had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’!” IMPARTATION!!

Then come with me to Acts 1:4-8, 2:1-4, And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to part from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, “you have heard from Me.; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But YOU SHALL RECEIVE POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Then in Acts 2:1-4 we read: When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. What do you see in these two different passages?

Well, there is an Indwelling – but also an Overflowing. There is a residence – but also a release. There is an enveloping – but also an enduement of power from on high. There is the presence – but also a powerful anointing. The Holy Spirit is the Mighty Breath of God imparting Divine Life, but He’s also the Mighty Wind releasing God’s directional force, and also the mighty river sweeping us up in a delightful flow of heavenly blessings!

Don’t ever forget Acts 19:1-6!! And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.”

You’ll remember that John the Baptist went out into the wilderness of Judea preaching and multitudes came to him. In Matthew 3:11 he said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall Baptize YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE.” Is there the spiritual fire of God in your bones?

HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISM IS FOUR ILLUMINATING REALITIES: 1) IT’S A CERTAIN EXPERIENCE! They tarried, they anticipated, they obeyed, and a transformation occurred. Listen to Arthur Wallis! (“In The Day Of Thy Power,” pps.69-70), “These who but a few days before had slunk into the upper room and bolted the door for fear of the men who had murdered their Master, are now standing in the open and alleging that this Jesus is alive, and accusing their hearers of murder. Peter, who a month and a half before had denied his Lord at the jibe of a servant-girl, now stands before the multitudes in the very city where He was crucified, and asserts that God had made this Jesus ‘both Lord and Christ.’ Certainly something very definite has happened to these believers…IT IS THE BIRTHRIGHT OF EVERY CHILD OF GOD TO RECEIVE THAT ANOINTING, AND TO KNOW THAT HE OR SHE HAS RECEIVED IT.”

2) IT’S A CLARIFYING EXPERIENCE! It’s so evident: “He’s not ‘fleshly,’ he “walks in the Spirit.” It’s not the ordinary for her, “she walks in the supernatural.” There’s nothing ordinary about them, “they walk in the dimension of the extraordinary!”

In Acts 2:5-18 read carefully these dynamic events in the early church! And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs – we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days,” says God, “That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” It happened just as God said: He clarified it for them!

3) IT’S A COMPULSIVE EXPERIENCE! “Compulsive”? It means “The application of a force that is irresistible.” Luke 24:49 says, “Clothed with power from on high.” Acts 10:38 speaks of “anointed…with the Holy Spirit and with power.

To the church at Corinth, I Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul said, “And my speech and my p[reaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but IN DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER…THAT YOUR FAITH SHOULD NOT BE IN THE WISDOM OF MEN BUT IN THE POWER OF GOD.”

E. Paul Hovey wrote: “The word ‘Comforter’ as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally, it means ‘with strength.’ Jesus promised His followers that “The Strengthener” would be with them forever. This promise is no lullaby for the faint-hearted. It is a blood transfusion for courageous living.” AMEN!!

4) IT’S A COVETED EXPERIENCE! In Matthew 5:6 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.” Are you ‘hungry’ for Spirit-anointing?

In Isaiah 44:1-3 we read, “Yet hear now, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you; ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.” Do you understand how ready God is to pour out His power and anointing on a thirsty, hungry soul?

THE WITNESS OF A ROYAL RELEASE BECOMES REALITY AS WE BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE OURSELVES THE BLESSINGS OF SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING: Consider the Blessing of Confidence and Assurance: Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Let it well up within you: “I KNOW, I REALLY KNOW, I’M A CHOSEN GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, GOD’S OWN SPECIAL PERSON, I’M NOW A PART OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD! HOW DO I KNOW? Because the Spirit of God has written it on my heart!”

Consider the Blessing of Unshakable Awareness: I John 3:24 says, “…And hereby we know that Jesus abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given us.”

Consider the Blessing of Unveiled Encouragement: John 14:26, “But, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” In fact, in Luke 12:12, Jesus assures us, “For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say.”

Consider the Blessing of An Opened or Closed Door: Acts 13:2 says, “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” OPEN DOOR! But in Acts 16:6 we read, “Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.” CLOSED DOOR!

Jonathan Edwards, one of God’s appointed-anointed leaders of the Great Awakening wrote: “God has had it much on His heart, from all eternity, to glorify His dear and only begotten Son; and there are some special seasons that He appoints to that end, wherein he comes forth with Omnipotent Power to fulfill His promise and oath to Him; and these times are times of remarkable pouring out of His Spirit, to advance His kingdom; such a day is a day of His power.”

And here you and I are. What about us? Will it be, “The Weakness of Resolve or the Witness of a Royal Release?” Will it be, our testimony, our epistle, read of all men, as that of the Flesh or that of God’s Spirit through us? Will it be self-determination or Spirit Dependence?

Will it be active, animal like acceleration or mighty anointing of His Spirit? Will it be a shallow stream of self-effort or an ocean of omnipotent occupation? Will it be fleshly energized excitement or a Spirit- quickening of the saints in the fires and rivers and baptisms of the Holy Spirit?

Will it be man at his best that falls so short or God unveiling Himself in irresistible power and anointing? Will it be man taking the field to play his understanding of the religious game or God’s Spirit at bat in the excellence of His extraordinary enduements on the evangels of the faith?

Will it be us in our masterful, fleshly manipulations or the manifestation of God’s Falling Fire kindled in Heaven and in His heart?

God gives us a promise in Ezekial 34:26. It says, “I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their seasons; there shall be showers of blessing.”

And I believe our nation and our churches have not been in seasons and showers of blessing, but in spiritual drought and dryness because we’ve tried hard and at the same time resisted the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! And God is saying, “There’s going to be a change. Get ready. The Fire is going to fall!!”

Listen to Spurgeon’s powerful prayer and let’s make it our own: “O God, send us the Holy Ghost! Give us both the breath of spiritual life and the fire of unconquerable zeal. O You are our God, answer us by fire, we pray! Answer us both by WIND and FIRE, and then we shall see You to be God indeed. The kingdom comes not, and the work is flagging. Oh, that You would send the wind and the fire! You WILL do this when we are all of one accord, all blessing, all expecting, all prepared by prayer…

Lord, bring us to this waiting state! God, send us a season of glorious disorder. Oh, for a sweep of the wind that will set the seas in motion, and make our ironclad brethren, now lying so quietly at anchor, to roll from stem to stern!…

Oh, for the fire to fall again – fire which shall affect the most stolid! Oh, that such fire might first sit upon the disciples, and then fall all around! O God, You are ready to work with us today even as You did then. Stay not, we beseech You, but work at once…

Break down every barrier that hinders the incoming of Your might! Give us now both hearts of flame and tongues of fire to preach Your reconciling word, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“ON WHAT DO YOU MAJOR?”

In Philippians 1:21 Paul shared his heart: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Think about that with me: “For to me…” My choice, my selection, my determination…! But remember, it’s God Himself who reaches out to us! In fact, in Proverbs 1:24-25, we read: “Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out My hands and no one regarded, because you disdained all My counsel, and would have none of My rebuke…Verse 26, I’ll laugh at your calamity..” God said a similar word in Jeremiah 7:13, “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer.”

And then, “For to me to live…”. For most it is a life-long search for ‘life’ but always in the wrong places with the wrong persons and for the wrong reasons. But Jesus said in John 10:9-10, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief [Satan the liar], does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

“For to me to live IS CHRIST”… Jesus IS the eternal reality of Heaven’s pre-ordained plan and blessing for fallen men. And without Christ we are separated from God, lost, on the wrong foundation, majoring on the minors that sound out the ultimate chord of sadness, separation, and senselessness instead of the desires of God for us. Augustine said it: “Restless are our souls, O Lord, until we rest in You.”

Do I major on my faults and failures or on Christ’s strengths and His redemptive conquests? Do I major on un-acceptance before others or that I am “accepted in the Beloved”? Do I major on the inevitable defeats or on His eternal victories that always cause me to triumph, declaring me a “winner” in my journey?

Do I major on my fear that no one really loves me or that God proved His love for me in that while I was yet a sinner Christ died for me? Do I major on a search for personal identity or do I major on the fact of a true, fulfilling identity of who I am “in Christ”? Do I major on my sinfulness and the filthy rags of attempts at self-justification or on my declared redemptive righteousness “in Christ”?

Do I major on my weaknesses in a debilitating fashion or magnify my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me? Do I major on the oldness in the old sin nature or on the fact that I am a new creation in Christ and declared by God to be a ‘saint’ or one set apart to the glory of God?

Do I major on cultural or familial curses that want to dominate me or on the kingdom of Christ and the faith-filled blessings of His kingdom that liberates me?

Do I major with the psalmist on the sad fact that no man really cares for my soul or on the glad fact that God has loved me with an everlasting love and drawn me with His lovingkindness? Do I major on the futility of the fleshliness of First Adam or on the finality of Spirit-Life in the Second Adam?

Do I major on what I was before Christ or on who I am in Christ? Do I major on the reigning death of my old sin nature or the reign of righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior?

Do I major on the reality of earthly opposition, that so many are against me, OR on the blessed truth that Almighty God is for me? Do I major on my own personal ineptness in things of the Spirit-realm or that I am more than conqueror through Him who loved me?

Do I major on my feebleness in human effort of being a witness to my world around me or on the fullness in divine oneness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do I major on my fears of war with the powers of darkness or that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under my feet?

Do I major on my inability and shortcoming of impacting my world effectively or on Him who is able to establish me redemptively in my world? Do I major on my personal poverty in the Spirit-realm or that I am already enriched in everything spiritually by my Lord and Savior?

Do I major on my earthly learning that never brings me to the knowledge of the truth or on the benefit of the new blood covenant in Christ where I receive His wisdom and His mind? Do I major on my continual war with temptation or on the truth that my God made a way of escape from it?

Do I major on my restlessness in life or that there is rest in Christ now and a rest that remains for the people of God? Do I major on that in my life that is unsure and fading or upon the anchor of my soul that is both sure and steadfast and which enters into the Presence of God behind the veil?

Do I major on my tendency to wander and draw back or upon the faith and trust and reliance upon Him that causes me to press in to the saving of my soul? Do I major on my sorrowful chastenings or do I look beyond to the yielding of the peaceable fruit of righteousness by which God trains me?

Do I major on all that can be shaken in my life or do I rest and receive in its fullness the kingdom of Christ which cannot be shaken? Do I major on the passion for the praise and honor of men or am I consumed with the passion for the praise of God alone?

Do I major on the works of the law by which no one is ever justified or on the deeds of the law written on the tablets of my heart by the finger of God through the blood of Christ? Do I major on the fallen life of my former self without Christ or on the redeemed life in Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me?

Do I major on setting aside the grace of God in me and focusing on “grit” or do I stand in the grace of God and focus on His glory as His gift to me? Do I major on being made perfect by the flesh or do I major on having been perfected by the Spirit?

Do I major on the weak and beggarly elements of life that leads again to bondage or on the joy of the Lord that is my strength and the blessed revelations that lead me to true freedom and liberty? Do I major on the entanglements of the world, the flesh, and the devil that leads again to bondage or do I stand fast in the liberty by which Christ Jesus made me free?

Do I major on the less of my former, unredeemed life or on the “much more” of reconciliation, being continually saved by Christ’s Life?

Do I major on what I was without Christ, without strength and ungodly, or on the revelation, Ramah Truth, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and by His grace be being continually transformed to the kingdom of the godly?

Do I major on personal condemnation incited by the accuser of the brethren or on a powerful confidence inspired by the affirmer and advocate of the elect? Do I major on the power of sin in the old man or on the truth of power over sin because I know I died with Christ at the Cross, my old body of sin, and that now sin is no longer my master but Jesus is?

Do I major on the law of sin and death or on the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus who has made me free from the law of sin and death? Do I major on the emphasis of a carnal mind that is enmity against God or on the Leadership of the Spirit that is life and peace?

Do I major on the program of “of me,” “through me,” “for me,” or upon the ministry of “of Him,” “through Him,” and “to Him” to whom be glory forever? Do I major on making constant provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust or do I put on the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do I major on the kingdom of food and drink or on the Kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost? Do I major on the emptying of my life of faith of all confidence or assurance or on the God of hope who fills me with all joy and peace in believing that I may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit?

Do I major on my sadnesses and sorrows or on the provision of Holy God that I can live before others with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed and renewed with them as I walk by faith? Do I major on my earthly, fleshly house that is daily dying or on the eternal Temple of God which is my body where the Holy Spirit of God dwells?

Do I major on the kingdom that is word only of men or on the Kingdom that is of God filled with Holy Ghost supernatural power from on high? Do I major on the mindful discouraging picture of what I was or on the truth that I’ve been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God?

Do I major on the constant attempts of the thievery of your time or on the redemption of your time and the revelation of truth that you may serve the Lord without distraction? The Christ-Life in you is not a small compartment but the total summation of ALL HE IS and ALL HE DOES through your available life!

Do I major on the sounding brass and clanging cymbals or on the greatness of that which abides: FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE? Do I major on the fact that I have many adversaries as a disciple of Christ or on the fact that through it all God has opened a great and effective door for me?

Do I major on that which was buried with Christ and it stinks or on the fact that through the new birth you and I are of God now and by His grace we have become the fragrance of Christ? Do I major on the letter that kills or on the Spirit who gives life? Do I major on the ministry of condemnation from the devil or on the ministry of righteousness that comes from God abounding in His glory?

Do I major on the veiled face of an unrepentant heart or on your unveiled face by the grace of God that continually transforms you into the same image from glory to glory? Do I major on despair because heaven’s treasures are in an earthern vessel not discerning it’s God’s design so the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us?

Do I major on the fact that I’ve lost heart because my outward man is perishing or on the glorious fact that the inward man is renewed day by day? Do I major on selfish living for the satisfaction of SELF or on living no longer for myself but for Him who died for me and rose again?

Are you yielded to the domination of the old man or on the discipline of the new creation miracle of God? Do you major on the restriction of your own affections or on the marvelous truth that the love of God has been poured out in your heart by the Holy Spirit who was given to you?

Do you major on the reality of trouble on every side, that without are conflicts and within are fears, or on the reality that nevertheless God comforts the downcast? Do you major on the poverty of your personal soul life or on the grace of the Lord Jesus who for your sake became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich?

Do you major on the emptiness and void of your former life without Christ or that in Christ by the grace of God you always have all sufficiency in all things to every good work? Do you major on measuring yourself by yourself and comparing yourself among others or on the Holy Blessed Gospel that as He is, so am I in this world?

Do you major on the thorns that pierce your life or on the grace that is sufficient to see you through? Do you major on what was crucified with Christ, dead and buried, or on that resurrection life, hope, and power of God?

Do you major on the futility of your former self with all its deeds of fleshliness or on the fruit of the Spirit? Do you major on your doubts and uncertainties or on the fact that, having believed and trusted, you’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise?

Do you major on those accusations of the powers of darkness of your former emptiness or on the truth of Jesus, the fullness of Him who fills all in all? Do you major on the fall-out of having been a child of wrath or on the fill-up of the truth that I’m a son or daughter of God now by grace and faith?

Do you major on your perplexities, conflicts, and anxieties, or on Him who is your Peace? Do you major on the heartache of living in a loveless world or on the joy of knowing the love of Christ which surp[asses knowledge?

Do you major on your own personal ineptness in your spiritual journey or on God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think? Do you major on your sadness for no greater progress in your spiritual maturity or on the confidence that He who began the good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ?

Do you major on the failures of the past or on forgetting the things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before you, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? Do you major on the temporariness of your earthly home or on the blessed truth that your citizenship is in heaven?

Do you major on all the sad events of your life and maybe even multiple sorrows or do you REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS? Do you major on being anxious about everything or in everything do you pray to God and find the peace that passes all understanding?

Do you major on the kingdom and the power of darkness around you or on the holy truth that God has translated you out of that kingdom into the Kingdom of the Son of His love? Do you major on the emphasis of your reaching earthly stardom for earthly glory and recognition or on the emancipation of your soul and spirit as you discover Christ only ‘in you’ is the hope of God’s glory?

Do you major on the shadows of former things from the past, even in the historic events of scripture yesterday or on the substance Who is Christ? Do you major on the involvement of earthly attractions or on setting your mind on the things above?

Do you major on your inability to speak the Gospel like Moses and Jeremiah both did or on the revelation that you’ve been approved by God, entrusted with the Gospel to speak faithfully its claims not as pleasing men but God?

Do you major on the establishment of your place in the world or that God desires to establish our hearts blameless in holiness before our God? Do you major on your short-comings or on the gracious fact that God counted you worthy of the Kingdom of God?

Do you major on your unworthiness of Heavenly Kingdom Life or that God from the beginning CHOSE YOU FOR SALVATION through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth? Do you major on the reality of having made shipwreck of your faith at some point or on the rescue of God like the restoration of Peter?

Do you major on the mystery of iniquity or on the mystery of godliness? Do you major on the earthly opposition to the Gospel that sometimes makes you feel ashamed of the testimony of our Lord ( the Gospel is an offense, it brings reproach!), or do you major on the glorious truth that He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us before time began?

Do you major on what you don’t know about the things of God or on what you do know – whom you believed and how you once were persuaded that He is able to keep what you’ve committed against that day?

Do you major on the discouragement of having been a vessel of dishonor or on the promise that he who cleanses himself WILL BE a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master and prepared for every good work?

Do you major on the forsaking of friends and family because of your faith or on the glorious truth that the Lord stands with you and strengthens you, delivering you from every evil work and preserving you for His heavenly kingdom?

Do you major on earthly blessings alone in this present age or are you majoring on looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ? Do you major on the hopelessness of your flesh or on the hopefulness in Christ that is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which does enter the veil of God’s Holy Presence?

Do you major on the prayerlessness of men in your behalf or on Christ who ever lives to make intercession for YOU? Do you major on religiosity and ‘churchy-anity’ or on pure and undefiled religion before God the Father?

Do you major on the aftermath of your old sin nature, on the burial clothes from your death in trespasses and sins or on the truth that you’ve been made a partaker of the divine nature? Do you major on the disappointment of lost battles in the spiritual war or on the truth that you are of God, you HAVE overcome, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world?

Do you major on the fact that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one or that you are of God and have overcome him through the blood of the Lamb, through the word of your own testimony, and that you truly don’t love your life, even unto death?’ Do you major on your ‘trip-ups’ or on Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy?

I don’t really know what all this is about…why the Lord poured these questions into me. But I was reading Revelation 3 as the Lord spoke to the pastor or messenger at Sardis, and in Verse 2, Jesus said: “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.”

And I know in one sense He is saying, “You’ve not been mature in your understanding of who YOU are IN CHRIST.” Proverbs 23:7 says: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Out of the passion of his soul for the church at Rome, Paul wrote: Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world but be [being] transformed – BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND – that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

With the renewing of your mind fresh this very moment, consider Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever thing are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of a good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – think on these things.”

And we know from I Peter 2:10- that though once we were not a people, “but..now [we are] the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy!!”

Have YOU obtained mercy? Are YOU the person of God, His son, His daughter? Are you His own special people? Are you a holy nation? Are you a royal priesthood? Are you the chosen race?

Listen carefully: I’m not asking you to take the name of the Lord your God in vain – I’m asking you to take His name in Victory!! Confess? That means agree – same the same thing as:

“I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS!” “I AM BLESSED WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS!” “I AM MADE ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST!” “I AM SEATED WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES!” “I AM BORN AGAIN!” “AS JESUS CHRIST IS IN THE WORLD, SO AM I.” “I AM BORN AGAIN BY THE WORD OF GOD.” “I AM KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD.” “I WAS REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB!” I AM COMPLETE IN CHRIST LACKING NOTHING.” “MY SINS WERE NAILED TO HISW CROSS – THE BLOOD COVERS THEM.” “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!”

And on and on and on, God celebrates who we are “in Christ!!” Why don’t you celebrate right now, and continue to identify who YOU ARE IN CHRIST!

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“SAD DEFECTIONS OR SURE ELECTIONS?”

Every pastor with a shepherd’s heart and every small part of the Body of Christ knows that the greatest calamity that occurs to a fellowship of believers is not outward assaults from the Church’s or disciples’ enemies, but inward assaults from wounds in the house of our friends, from the wiliness of warped false teachers, from even the wars of the apostates and traitors to the truth.

Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ has grieved and been broken-hearted over supposed sanctified selfishness when people save themselves for themselves and have nothing to pour out for the greater body of Christ.

Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ has experienced a Judas with his sop and his subtle, severing kisses and maybe hollow hand-shakes. Every true shepherd’s heart and even every small part of the Body of Christ knows the sickness of slander, the sickness of a ‘good-by, been good to know you salute, the disease of loose tongues, and the death of divisiveness of lies about God’s people – and they have no shame. But we can overcome all that.

The greatest heart-ache, the heaviest, sickening feeling and emotion that God’s people experience is when there is out and out DEFECTION. They are here, they are with us – but then, even though we didn’t see it or sense it, they’re going back to Egypt!

Numbers 11:5 says, “We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic.” AND THEY TURN BACK! Numbers 11 is not much different from John 6. There had been a great deliverance, a heavenly provision; it’s not manna out of heaven now but the “living bread” and the call of true discipleship to “eat My flesh and drink My blood!” Then listen to John 6:60, 66:

“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’…Verse 66, FROM THAT TIME MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK AND WALKED NO MORE WITH HIM!!”

Then Jesus turned to the 12 and said, Verse 67, “Do you also want to go away?” And Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”

The devil is a “genius” at finding ways to make run-a-ways from the faith to really feel at home in the strange land and making “feeding swine” feel as if it’s a royal service.

Every “Samson” has his “Delilah” who is out to say “The Philistines are UPON YOU, Samson.” They long to see you grinding at the mill, spiritually blinded to your hope and help, chained to them and not to Christ!

Every DISCIPLE has not only a demon but Legions that stand at his door demanding, demeaning, deceiving, desiring to steal, kill, and destroy – but you don’t have to open that door!

On the High Mount of Transfiguration we stand in the Glory-cloud of God’s Presence and right below us the devil rages in a young son in an epileptic fit. If Satan will ask of Christ Jesus to bow down and worship him, will he bid to us, call to us, come to us in frequent solicitation to cross the line and stand on his side? You can bet your last dollar on that – unless you already are His lo0ck, stock, and barrel!

WHAT IS IT THAT SO DRAWS TO THE DARK CLOUDS OF SAD DEFECTIONS?

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION OF ANSWERING THE CALL OF THE WORLD AROUND US:

Song of Solomon 6:13 says: “Return, return, O Shulamite: Return, return, that we may look upon you!” I want you to notice several things about the timing of the call to defection! For one, it’s in the high moment of spiritual ecstasy – she’s just heard from Jesus! Verse 4 says, “O my love, you are as beautiful as TIRZAH, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners!”

It’s in the holy moment of confidence and assurance! Verse 3 says, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine. He feeds me among the lilies.”

It’s in the hand moment of busyness about the Father’s business. Verse 11 says, “I went down to the garden of nuts to see the verdure of the valley, to see whether the vine had budded and the pomegranates had bloomed.” AND HERE COMES THE WORLD!! “Return, return, O Shulamite: Return, return that we may look upon you!”

That’s the call that appeals to pride: “that we may look upon you!” It’s the call of past haunts, pleasurable indulgences, the call of paralyzing persons of emptiness and shallowness, appealing to one’s flesh! The voices of the sirens are the calls to the old slavery of the sisterhood of selfishness and the manhood of ego-madness, manipulation, and misery – all coated with the poisonous sugar or poisoned essence of peppermint – looks sweet, then kills!

It seems so innocent, so beneficial, so pleasurable! And then, ensnared, it becomes so deathly! 2 Timothy 4:10 says, “…Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

Spurgeon, in his “Spurgeon’s Sermons, [Memorial Library, Vol.15, p.18], wrote: “When the world loves the holy man it is the love of the vulture for the sick lamb.”

It’s why J.B. Phillips said: “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold!”

THERE ALSO IS THE SAD DEFECTION OF NEGLECTING THE HOLY SPIRIT:

In Matthew 25:1-13 listen carefully: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were wise took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

You should know and receive faithfully Galatians 5:16, “I say then, ‘Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” But what if you do? What if you’re deceived, distracted, detoured away from following the Holy Spirit’s lead? Look at Galatians 6:7-8, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

And I’m convinced this is why Paul was so clear to the church at Thessalonica! In I Thessalonians 5:19, he said: “DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT!” To the Ephesians he wrote in Ephesians 4:30, “And do not GRIEVE the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

The prophetic word of Isaiah 63:8-10 reveals so much about God’s people and their relationship with the Holy Spirit AND God’s concern for His own people’s reaction to the Holy Spirit. He said: ‘Surely they are My people, children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior…In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old…But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.”

To neglect the Holy Spirit is: 1) Shutting the door to conviction – John 16:8 says, “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin…” 2) Shutting the door to remembrance – John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” 3) Shutting the door to guidance into Truth – John 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” 4) Shutting the door to testimony and the glorifying of Christ – John 15:26 says, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” 5) Shutting the door to the Spirit is deciding to live by the letter only that kills – 2 Corinthians 3:6 “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Hebrews 10:29 makes mention, yes, of the danger of “insulting the Spirit of grace…!” Yield to the Spirit, don’t ‘yelp’ like a deranged dog!

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF AN ATTITUDE OF COMPLACENCY AND INDIFFERENCE:

Look with me at Luke 12:35-41! “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them to sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do you speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

It might be best for us all to consider carefully whether or not we’ve been truly devoted to the honor of Christ alone or have we drifted into complacency or indifference Why? In Luke 12 look at verses 42-46! And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.”

“Cut in pieces”? “Sweet Jesus” doing that? In Jeremiah 34:18 & 20 the Lord speaks: “And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it – Verse 20, “I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth.”

Complacency and indifference is like partaking of poisoned “Kool-Aid”!

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF THE BIRTHING OF A GREATER LOVE FOR SENSUAL INDULGENCE THAN THE SACRED LOVE OF HOLY GOD:

In Proverbs 21:16 we read, “A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the congregation of the dead.” What congregation do you want to dwell in? The congregation of the dead or the congregation of the living? For you, is it the congregation of ‘fleshly’ pleasure or the congregation of the priceless pleasure of Holy Presence?

In I Thessalonians 4:3-8 we see opposite points of view as to a selection of a lifestyle that honors or shames Holy God: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

Didn’t Paul tell young Timothy, I Timothy 5:6, “…she who lives in pleasure is DEAD while she lives.” You need to be so aware and alerted that all around you in a godless society are those who take pleasure in unrighteousness!

Spurgeon, [Spurgeon’s Sermons, Memorial Library, Vol.12, p.303], wrote: “Certain it is that the pleasures of sin for a season fascinate their minds till they sacrifice their souls at the shrine of sordid vanity…they have renounced the pleasures that never pall, the immortal hopes that never fail, and turned their backs upon that blessed Savior who gives and feeds the tastes for joys unspeakable, for joys of glory full…,” for transient joys, temporary pleasures, and tantalizing terrors that seemed so full of good and acceptable.

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE OF ONE’S MEDDLING IN MYTHS AND SPECULATIONS MAKING SHIPWRECK OF THEIR VESSEL OF FAITH:

In I Timothy 1:18-19, Paul wrote: “This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophesies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck…” And I have no doubt that Paul was referring to what he’d already written in verses 3-7 of the same chapter: “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia – remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.”

He gave Timothy a greater challenge in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”

Do you understand that for some myths and speculations become more palatable than the meat and surety of God’s historical, holy Word? Have YOU grasped the reality that to eat His flesh and to drink His blood is to take on Christ Jesus – His Spirit, His way of bringing about victory; that death, burial, and resurrection is the only path to true salvation?

And, as a result, the Gospel becomes offensive to some!! Remember the disciples saying to Jesus, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

Do you realize how many people say, “I just don’t understand what the Bible is saying,” when in reality the TRUTH of God’s Holy Word has clashed with their personal prejudices and their pride? Do you understand why many choose to walk no more with Him because His cause, His character, His claims and demands of discipleship kick against the goads and they won’t have it any longer? THIS FAR AND NO MORE, for them!

Can’t you see that private stronghold, those long-held habits, or maybe their favorite ‘pleasures’ finally bringing one to that place where they say, ‘No More!’ and in an unholy huff, they turn away?

THERE IS THE SAD DEFECTION BECAUSE THE GOD OF GRACE, MERCY, AND LOVE HAS TO TAKE A BACK-SEAT TO THE GOD OF GREED:

In I Timothy 6:6-11 Paul wrote, “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Luke 12:13-15 tells us of a man who sought to get Jesus to help settle a dispute over an inheritance: Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Yet, how many do you know who would react to Jesus Himself saying to Him brazenly, “O YES IT IS!” And they walk away from the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

In his book, A Minister’s Obstacles, Ralph Turnbull has a chapter entitled “The Dry Rot of Covetousness”. [Fleming Revell Com., 1954, p.26 & p.32]. And many never know that the disease of the dry rot of covetousness is consuming not only their lives but their faith and ministries.

Turnbull quoted D.R. Davies in his “The Sin of Our Age” calling attention to this “dogma of increasing wants.” And once the seed of greed is implanted in the heart it ever grows in an increasing appetite for more and more.

Chuck Swindoll in “The Quest For Character,” [p.22], wrote: “Nobody ever withstood greed without a fight that was both relentless and fierce. The god FORTUNE dies a slow, painful death.”

But please REMEMBER – it’s not money but “the love of money” that is the root of all kinds of evil. Money or greed becomes an idol in the heart that men bow down to! Now…

Remember we began with the question, “Sad Defections Or Sure Elections?” Come with me to 2 Peter 1:2-11, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” NOTICE, “SURE ELECTIONS”!

• In the context of 2 Peter 1, we CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THAT SALVATION IS NOT ONLY DEPENDENCE BUT ALSO A “DOING OF THE WORD.” It’s actively “Standing On The Promises!”

The overcoming attitude of “sure election” is the attitude of “add-to-it is.” Salvation is not stationary but a progressive walk in the way, the will, and the Word of God.

Our walk in salvation is not only EARNING A LIVING but BUILDING A LIFE! It’s why in I Peter 2:2 Peter said, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow up into your salvation.”

2. We know our calling and election is SURE BECAUSE WE ARE “PRESSING IN TO CHRIST!!” I Peter 2:21 says, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”

It’s that spirit and passion of Paul in Philippians 3:7-14, “But what things were gain to me, these things I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

3. We know our calling and election is sure, being made sure, BECAUSE WE LOVE SIN LESS AND LESS AND LONG TO FULFILL ONLY THE WILL OF GOD MORE AND MORE:

I Peter 4:1-2 says, “Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose or mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…that he NO LONGER should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

In verse 17 Peter puts it in a little different way but so enlightening: “If anyone ministers, let him do it with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:14 says, “…be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.”

……….4. We know our calling and election is sure BECAUSE IN THE WAY OF HUMILITY WE’VE BEEN DRAWN NEAR TO GOD AND LONG TO STAY THERE:

I Peter 5:5-7 says, “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for…’God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble…’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

………..5. We know our calling and election is sure BECAUSE WE REST ON THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD’S WORD: [I’m going to close this chapter, this last point on sure election, by asking you to read carefully and over and over for several weeks Psalm 119!! Will you?}

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“IS THERE DANGER IN WILDERNESS WANDERINGS BECOMING PERMANENT?”

The title of this last chapter sounds so foreign to the purpose of God in the leading of His people – and yet ‘so true’ for far too many disciples! The wilderness pilgrimage is ‘legitimate’ and according to the sovereign purposes of God in leading His people from the beginning of the journey to its completion; from the infancy of faith to its full maturity, from “little children” to “young men” and beyond to “fathers of the faith,” according to I John 2:12-13; from a land of spiritual bondage and slavery to the promised land of “the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

In Deuteronomy 6:1 the Word says, “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, THAT YOU MIGHT DO THEM IN THE LAND where you are going over to possess it.” And then in Verse 23, “and HE BROUGHT US OUT…in order TO BRING US IN, to give us the land which He had sworn to give to our fathers.” Our God has sworn to give us the land which has been promised to us, just as with the children of Israel in the wilderness, and that promised land for you and me is that He has predetermined from before the foundation of the world, that we should be conformed to the image of His Son. It’s His desire, His purpose, even His provision of all-sufficient grace that we finish the course. But sadly, not all pilgrims successfully pas through the wilderness; what is intended to be temporary becomes permanent, instead of the door to life and oneness with Christ it becomes their door to death and eternal separation from God.

Why the wilderness? Deuteronomy 8:2 tells us: “…God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, TESTING YOU to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” [If YOU have a problem with this, ask yourself why Jesus said, “Why do you call Me Lord and do not do what I say?”]. I heard a friend once teach, “whatever God makes, He tests.” Peter said the same thing in I Peter 4:12, “Beloved, DO NOT BE SURPRISED at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you FOR YOUR TESTING, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” Jesus Himself was tested – by the devil, in the wilderness. In Luke 6:40 Jesus tells us, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been FULLY TRAINED, WILL BE (JUST) LIKE HIS TEACHER.” We are instructed to expect this time of testing in the wilderness to find out what is really in our hearts, “whether (we) would keep His commandments or not.”

In I Corinthians 10:1-12, the apostle Paul warns us to learn from what happened to the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings because it is an example for us in our wilderness walk. In Verse 1 he says, “For I do not want you to be unaware, BRETHREN…” about what happened to our fathers in the wilderness. They had taken into themselves the Passover Lamb (in I Corinthians 5:7 we are told that Christ is our Passover Lamb), they were delivered out of the bondage of Egypt (we are delivered out of the world and the bondage of Satan), they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea (a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the “washing of the water of the Word”), they had experienced the power of God as He delivered them over and over again with mighty signs and wonders, BUT “THEY WERE LAID LOW (DESTROYED) IN THE WILDERNESS!”

Why were they destroyed? Because of their evil desires, idolatry, immorality, they tested God, and they grumbled and complained about the difficulties and hardships they were encountering along the way. Contrary to popular evangelical belief, God did not destroy them because “they were ruining their witness of earth, so He decided to bring them on home early,” God’s destruction is forever, and one lives in a state of death that never dies! And Paul says to you and me in verse 11, “Now these things happened to them as AN EXAMPLE, and they were written FOR OUR INSTRUCTION, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Then follows a staggering warning that most people today simply choose to ignore. “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

It is not God’s desire that any disciple perish but that all come to repentance and walk in holiness, finishing the course, obtaining the witness, not aborting the formation of Christ within us, but going on – going over into the land promised – completion in Christ, “the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:13). After the Lord had led Israel into the wilderness He gave them a choice – “See, I have set before you today LIFE and prosperity, and DEATH and adversity…So CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may live…by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life…” His desire for them, as well as for us, was that they follow Him fully; the Word tells us that He does not will for anyone to perish. But He clearly placed the choice of life and death in their hands. “If your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that YOU SHALL SURELY PERISH.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20).

Many of the children of Israel chose to die in the wilderness, they chose not to go all the way with Christ; for them the wilderness became permanent. Why does the wilderness that God intends to be temporary become permanent in the lives of His people? Psalm 106 gives an account of Israel’s wilderness wanderings, and it is a solemn warning for you and me.

THEY FORGOT HIS WORKS

In Psalm 106:13 we are told that “they quickly forgot His works.” This is really an astonishing statement. The mighty works of God were demonstrated before the whole world as a testimony of His power and His choosing of Israel, all of the nations had heard of the works of the God of Israel and it struck fear in their hearts. But Israel forgot! They forgot the power of God that was released in their behalf to deliver them from the captivity of Egypt. They forgot the plagues, they forgot the death angel, they forgot the Blood that spared them, they forgot about the opening of the Red Sea and the destruction of the enemy, they forgot about His provision of manna and the water that came from the rock. The tragedy is that they forgot all of this in just a few short years!

The result of their forgetfulness is found in verse 15, so “He sent a wasting disease among them.” His judgment was released upon them. Now remember that P{aul had told us that “all these things happened as an example, and were written for our instruction…” Is it possible that we could follow in their example of forgetfulness? In Revelation 2 we hear the words of Jesus to the church at Ephesus. “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. REMEMBER from where you and fallen, and REPENT and do the deeds you did first; or else I am coming to you, and I will remove your lampstand out of its place.” Ephesus forgot. They forgot His mercy and love that He had extended to them. They forgot what they were like before He saved them. They forgot the hell they were living in and the hell they were destined to before He snatched them out of the fires.

Have you forgotten what Christ did for you at Calvary? Have you forgotten the price He paid to redeem you from every lawless deed? Have you forgotten that it was He who sought you out, not you who sought Him out? Paul reminds the Corinthians in I Corinthians 6:9-11, “that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God…neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. AND SUCH WERE SOME OF YOU, BUT YOU WERE WASHED, BUT YOU WERE SANCTIFIED, BUT YOU WERE JUSTIFIED…”

Have you forgotten that while you were an enemy of God living in the futile way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, “foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another…” Titus 3:3; the kindness of God then appeared to you and saved you? Peter tells us in II Peter 1:9, “For he who lacks these qualities (the character and nature of Jesus Christ) is blind or short-sighted, HAVING FORGOTTEN HIS PURIFICATION FROM HIS FORMER SINS.”

Remember Jesus, remember the price He paid, remember His works! Don’t ever let the enemy cause your mind to become so cluttered with self and the affairs of this life that you forget His works, as Israel did.

THEY DID NOT WAIT FOR HIS COUNSEL

Psalm 106:13 also tells us that “they did not wait for His counsel.” His desire for them was to follow the leading of His Spirit, He would show them the way. In Isaiah 30:21 He tells them, “And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Jesus told the disciples in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” There is the reality of following the voice of Jesus, the counsel of God, waiting upon Him. And yet the testimony of so many today is to rush out in the impulsiveness of human will rather than the absoluteness of divine will.

The true disciple of the Lord Jesus who wants to go on will not follow the voice of strangers. Many strangers rose up among the children of Israel with ‘a word from God’ to go back to Egypt, to build a golden calf, not to go in to the promised land, not to drive out the nations, to marry foreign women. But God’s word is forever settled and not one jot or tittle of it has passed away. In Jeremiah God addressed the problem of following the words of men rather than the words of God. In Jeremiah 23:16 He said to them, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; THEY SPEAK A VISION OF THEIR OWN IMAGINATION, NOT FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LORD.”

How do we know or recognize a stranger? By knowing the voice of the Lord, by knowing His Word and His Spirit. When you acquaint yourself with The Shepherd you’ll have no problem discerning strangers. Paul foresaw this problem when he gathered to himself the elders of the church at Ephesus. In Acts 20:28-30 he said to them, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit haqs made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure SAVAGE WOLVES WILL COME IN AMONG YOU, not sparing the flock; and FROM YOUR OWN SELVES MEN WILL ARISE SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS, TO DRAW AWAY THE DISCIPLES AFTER THEM. Therefore be on the alert…” His advice to them was to discern the difference: “And now I commend you to God and TO THE WORD…”

THEIR HEARTS CRAVED EVIL THINGS

Another sign that the wilderness is dangerously close to becoming a place of permanent torment is found in Psalm 106:14, “They craved intensely in the wilderness.” Their hearts turned back to Egypt. Suddenly the wilderness struggle that God was using to work His character and His nature into them, to bring them to a place of total dependence upon Him, became too difficult. And although they were free from slavery, slavery began to look good to them once again. In Numbers 11 we find that they had “greedy desires.” And although they had FORGOTTEN the works of God, they REMEMBERED “the fish we used to eat in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.” Their hearts turned back to Egypt and they began to long for having their fleshly desires fulfilled once again. It did not matter that it meant enslavement, they were like Esau, willing to trade their inheritance for a bowl of stew

There is the reality of the inward struggle, the battle to bring our minds and bodies into subjection to the will and the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is just that, A STRUGGLE! Jesus said in Mark 8:36, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him DENY HIMSELF, TAKE UP HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME.” Paul knew the reality of this struggle when he wrote in Galatians 5:17, “The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another.” But if you desire to enter in to the promised land, “you may not do the things that you please.”

In the same way that we were formerly slaves of sin, we are to now become slaves of righteousness. How? In Romans 6:12,13 Paul said, “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness.” We are not to allow our fleshly cravings to control us, but we are to bring our desires into conformity with His Word. Paul spoke of buffeting his body and making it his slave; bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ; and no longer carrying out the desires of the flesh.

In II Timothy 4:10 Paul sadly reports that “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.” In Philippians 2:20-21, in recommending Timothy to that church he admitted the loneliness of his walk; “For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. FOR THEY ALL SEEK AFTER THEIR OWN INTERESTS, not those of Christ.” In the same way that Israel was warned the people of God are warned today, but just as the nation of Israel, many of the people of God today are “craving intensely in the wilderness.” Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “No one, after putting his hand to he plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” An example of the judgment that comes upon those who look back is found in Lot’s wife, who looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. In Luke 17:32 Jesus simply said, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

THEY TESTED GOD

Psalm 106:14 also tells us that “they tempted God in the desert.” They expected Him to perform for them regardless of the rebellion in their hearts. There came a time in their wilderness walk when there was no water. Instead of crying out to “The Lord Your Provider,” instead of calling upon the name of “Yahweh,” the great “I AM,” they quarreled with Moses. In Exodus 17:3 we read, “The people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses.” Moses cried out to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

In their hearts they were saying, “perhaps God could save us from bondage and slavery, but surely He’s not able to give us water!” “God could provide the blood to save us from sin and death, but surely He’s not able to provide us with our daily bread.” “God could thwart the mighty attack of the enemy, but surely He’s not so personal or thoughtful as to be concerned with our physical sustenance.” “He may be mighty, but He’s not “ALL-MIGHTY!” In Psalm 78:18-19 we read, “And in their heart they put God to the test by asking for food according to THEIR OWN DESIRE. Then they spoke against God; they said, ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?’”

In Matthew 6 we find the reality of a caring, loving, providing father who so cares for us that the very hairs of our head are numbered. His name reveals His character, “I AM.” “I AM whatever you have need of.” Do you need food? “Look at the birds of the air…Your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they?” Do you need clothing? “Observe how the lilies of the field grow…if God so arrays the grass of the field… will He not much more do so for you?” “I AM YOUR PROVIDER.” Do you understand that He is able to meet every need that we have according to His riches in glory? What does He ask of us? “Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; or for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?…For ALL THESE THINGS THE GENTILES EAGERLY SEEK; for your Heavenly Father KNOWS THAT YOU NEED ALL OF THESE THINGS. BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU.”

THEY REBELLED AGAINST GOD’S AUTHORITY

In Psalm 106:16 we read that “they became envious of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.” This tragic event is recorded for us in Numbers 16 and it is called “The Rebellion of Korah.” Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with two hundred and fifty leaders of the people, “men of renown,” rose up against Moses and Aaron. Verse 3 records their charge against Moses, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the people the assembly of the Lord?” This sin is prevalent in the church today as men and women begin to experience the presence of God and then the rebellion that is in their hearts begins to manifest against God’s appointed leadership.

Both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about false prophets who mislead the people by not turning them away from their sins, who for the sake of material gain begin to compromise the Word of God. Nowhere in this Word are we told to submit our li9vesw to the teachings and authority of false prophets. But the history of the church reveals that “The Rebellion of Korah” is a common occurrence among the people of God who become enlightened by His Word and become partakers of His Holy Spirit, and then rebel against godly authority. “We are ALL HOLY.” “We have no need that ANY MAN should teach us.” “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us.”

In the 1740’s during the “Great Awakening,” George Whitfield came to America from England preaching a fiery message of holiness and repentance. Sadly, he encountered great opposition from a very ritualistic religious establishment. He later recorded his observation of the state of the ministry in New England in his journals, saying, “Many, nay most that preach, I fear, do not experimentally [or experientially] know Christ.” What George Whitfield spoke was true! But the result of his authoritative blasting of the ministry among the thousands of new converts in the Great Awakening period produced a rebellion to ALL preachers and a spirit of anarchy that nearly destroyed any lasting fruit of that great revival. When Whitfield realized what was happening, he wrote with humility, “Alas, alas! How can I be too severe against myself, who, like Peter, have cut off so many ears, and my imprudencies mixed with my zeal, have dishonored the cause of Christ.”

There is the scriptural precedent for the role of overseer or elder as well as the reality that all who are born again by His Spirit are a part of the body, and each part is “being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part…” [Ephesians 4:16]. But that is not to the exclusion of God-ordained leadership. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul described the “gifts of men” from God to the church, “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, FOR the equipping of the saints FOR the work of service, TO the building up of the body of Christ…”

Paul told Titus, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might SET IN ORDER what remains, and APPOINT ELDERS IN EVERY CITY as I directed you…” Paul then gave very specific guidelines that these men were to meet. He told Timothy in I Timothy 3:1, “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man ASPIRES TO THE OFFICE OF OVERSEER, it is a fine work he desires to do.” Notice that Paul commends that desire, he did not condemn it. James warned us in James 3:1, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” We serve a holy, sovereign God who is the God of order and not the author of confusion. He has anointed men and placed them in the Body with the responsibility to watch over it, to feed it with the pure word, to protect it from savage wolves and to lead men and women into the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ.

With the scriptural understanding of the role of overseers, Paul boldly proclaimed in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” It is amazing how we as Christians like to “pick and choose” through the Word of God. The rebellion of Korah is a solemn warning for you and I today; God judged Korah, Datah, and Abiram as well as all who followed them. In Numbers 16:32, 33, we read, “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol.”

THEY DESPISED THE PROMISE

Psalm 106:24 says, “they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe in His word.” They left Egypt with their eyes fixed on the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, but when it was time to take possession they refused. The spies who were sent in to the promised land returned with “a bad report,” saying, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us…it is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.” [Numbers 13:31-32].

In the same way, we have been delivered out of the world, ruled by a harsh taskmaster, even Satan himself; a land of sin and guilt, of bondage and slavery, of rebellion and disobedience, and have been given a promise – the promise of being changed, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Peter tells us that through His precious and magnificent promises we may “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Imagine that! You and who “were dead in our trespasses and sins…and were by nature children of wrath,” (Ephesians 2:1-3), have the opportunity to be “made alive together with Christ…and seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

We must also encounter the trials of the wilderness so that we learn to trust Him in all things, but as we enter the times of testing we are to “greatly rejoice…that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” But sadly, today there are many voices crying out, “the bad report” that the promise of Jesus Christ is unobtainable, that it is vanity for a man to believe that he can be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ in this life. Yet for those who have the spirit of Joshua and Caleb, who are willing to be the only ones to go in and possess the promise, Paul said in II Corinthians 4:11, “For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

Will you be like Paul who was able to say at the end of his life, “I have finished the course, I have kept the faith…” and like Joshua and Caleb of whom the Lord spoke in Numbers 14:24, “But My servant Caleb, BECAUSE HE HAD A DIFFERENT SPIRIT AND HAS FOLLOWED ME FULLY, I will bring into the land…”; or will you be like “the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land and who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report concerning the land, even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord?” Numbers 14:36. The reason they died? They did not believe His word!

THEY JOINED THEMSELVES TO IDOLS

There is no subject in the entire Word of God that is more directly spoken to by God. In Exodus 20:4,5, He told them, “You shall not make for yourself an idol…you shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” The Lord instructed them to drive out all of the nations in the land they were going in to possess because He knew their hearts would be drawn away from Him. They were forbidden to mingle with the nations for this very reason, yet we read in Psalm 106:35, “They mingled with the nations, and learned their practices, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.”

God called this harlotry, spiritual adultery and prostitution. In Deuteronomy 31 the Lord revealed to Moses what would happen to the people as soon as he was gone, and Moses prophesied to the people in verses 16, 17, “this people will arise and PLAY THE HARLOT WITH STRANGE GODS OF THE LAND…and will forsake Me and BREAK MY COVENANT which I have made with them. Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I WILL FORSAKE THEM and hide My face from them, and they shall be consumed.” And just as the Lord said it would be, it was; in Psalm 106:28 we read, “They joined themselves to Baal-peor.”

The prophet Jeremiah saw what was happening in the land and it absolutely broke his heart. He is called “the weeping prophet” because with brokenness he prophesied to Israel about the impending judgment; he saw how Israel had turned away from the Lord and said in Jeremiah 3:9, “it came about because of the lightness of HER HARLOTRY, that SHE polluted the land and COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH STONES AND TREES.” Paul warned us in I Corinthians 10:7, “And do not be idolaters as some of them were,” and in verse 14 said, “Therefore, my beloved, FLEEE FROM IDOLATRY.” The very last words of John in the book of I John are, “Little children, GUARD YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS.”

“Oh, preacher, pastor, prophet – that would never happen to us!” Really? Listen carefully to Colossians 3:5! “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth; fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” And YOU ARE UNSURE AMERICA IS FAST BECOMING AN IDOLATROUS NATION? Oh, and by the way, Colossians 3:6 tells us: “Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.”

We are warned that in the same way the wrath of God came upon the children of Israel and they were destroyed in the wilderness, the same thing could happen to us if we turn away from following the Lord to worship other gods in this world! “Oh, God, HELP US!”

THEY RESISTED THE HOLY SPIRIT

I want you to look carefully at Psalm 106:32-33 because there is no doubt this is a problem in modern church life today! “They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses on account of them; Because they rebelled AGAINST HIS SPIRIT, so that he spoke rashly with his lips.”

It gets clearer when you read Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You ALWAYS resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” And that is not good! What about you?

In Romans 8:13-14 Paul tells us: “For if you live according to the flesh [your old sin nature] you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

It is the Holy Spirit of God within a true disciple that honors, exalts, and glorifies Christ, not anything that has to do with one’s “old man or fallen flesh.” And when the Holy Spirit is received, acknowledged, and yielded to, a disciple, then, sees the Spirit at work in Him to lift HIGH Jesus Christ and empower one to live victoriously, not as a defeated disciple! Don’t RESIST the Holy Spirit!

What does John 16:14 tell us? “He, the Holy Spirit, shall glorify Me.” I pray that your very body has become a temple of Holy Presence and that you live a life led by the Spirit of God and not your flesh! And, I pray, you clearly understand Holy Spirit Presence and never yield to defile that temple! Amen?

CONCLUSION:

This has been an interesting, inspiring journey for me and I pray for you also. My heart attack on April 27, 2013, was an awareness of life’s uncertainty, but also a deep awareness of God’s holy presence in and through an available vessel – and that He is in charge!

I’m thankful He gave me extended time to write the book entitled “Resignation To Hopelessness” and this book “Questions That Crush Or Convert.”

And I’m thankful you persevered through 29 questions! And I pray your question or questions have been answered. I encourage you that “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” Eat heartily!! Amen? Farrell Fisher

By: J.Farrell Fisher, July 25-28, 2018

In late July, 2018, on television, I heard Jeff Sessions speak about America’s ‘liberals’, addressing them as “supercilious snowflakes”; in other words, ‘temporary voices in crucial times’! And when I heard that I had to think, consider, resolve, for myself, whether many ‘church folk’ today are the same in their divided allegiances as “supercilious snowflakes” professing allegiance in God’s Kingdom as they ‘try to serve both Spirit and ‘flesh’!’

In the ‘world-wide’ Christian communities, without a doubt, one will find the “supercilious snowflakes” or the “set-apart saints of God’s birthing”, ‘supercilious snowflakes” or “sons and daughters of the Eternal Father”; pretenders with divided allegiances know nothing about ‘forsaking all and following Christ’! But there are “solid-rock citizens of God’s Kingdom”! There are “foundation-stones in God’s Holy Temple”! There are “redeemed witnesses of the Lord’s Saving Grace”!

In the modern-day religious world of ‘professing Christianity’ one will be able to discern the differences between ‘presumptuous estimations’ or “Prince of Peace Declarations, revelations, and manifestations”, “partial compromise and commitment or Sold-Out Allegiance”!

Some ‘religious folk’ are good at ‘self-imposed allegiance’ but choose it rather than “Christ in you the hope of glory” willingly yielded daily to His Sovereign Will”! Jeweled flesh is NOT Eternal Presence and Anointing and Empowering of the Holy Spirit!!!

In Luke 16:14-15 Jesus said to the Pharisees, Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard these things, and they despised Jesus. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but GOD KNOWS YOUR HEARTS. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” And Holy God knows all, sees all, and is able to discern in religious men true devotion or ‘flesh pretence’!

By J.Farrell Fisher, June 3-5, 2018

I don’t know how this title question hits you, but I’m convinced large numbers of “religious ‘professors of faith’, pastoral leaders, ‘faithful’ (?) church folk, modern-day teachers, denominational leaders, national ‘religious’ devotees, are going to be absolutely shocked and amazed when, before the eternal throne of glory Jesus sits, then says to them, Matthew 7:21-23,

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Jesus affirmed Himself “Lord” twice through the false professors saying that there are those who know His name without being united in the Spirit of His mission! It’s not simply knowing His name by even affirming His Lordship; many have that record and acknowledgement ‘without submitting to His authority’, allowing Him to do His work in them, or obeying His commands.

In fact, many living in ‘religious fantasy’ rather than “redemption’s reality” are void of the importance of truly ‘taking heed to themselves’, just as Jesus spoke in Luke 21:34-36 when He said them and, yes, TO US: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For IT WILL COME AS A SNARE ON ALL THOSE WHO DWELL ON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH. Watch therefore, and pray always, that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Dare I tell you? Believe I will! “Carousing and drunkenness is more than careless indulgence in alcoholic beverages and ‘strong drink’, but even, yes, the ‘indulgence’ in religious activity apart from being “born again”, apart from being vessels of Holy Presence, apart from being instruments of His righteousness, or commissioned under His authority allowing Him to be Himself in you and through you! God isn’t interested in what you do ‘for Him’ but only in what YOU allow Him to be and do in you and through you as, yes, His temple of Holy Presence!

The validation of true disciples is not in what they allow themselves to do ‘for Christ’, but for them daily taking the sentence of death to themselves that give Him the open door to manifest Himself through them! It’s a matter of availability for Him to be Himself through yielded, surrendered, opened doors of the heart for Him to walk in and through! How many have you known who owned pianos but never learned to allow the “Master Pianist” to play through them? True Christians are not defined by what they do for Jesus but by being individuals who allow Him to be Himself in them and through them! True Christianity finds its eternal identity in allowing Jesus’ Resurrected Presence to find ‘open doors’ for His Eternal Presence to be Himself in them and through them as Holy God has found them to be available vessels of His Holy Presence!

Much of supposed Christianity across our world today is ‘pretense’ of the true revelation! Most of the modern Christian world today sees their faith as ‘church membership’ apart from Resurrection Presence and, yes, Christ being Himself through them! What did Paul say in Colossians 1:24-28, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the “mystery” which has been hidden from ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

Are YOU aware of, yes, “the mystery of the glory” of the church at large, which IS “Christ IN Jew and Gentiles who make themselves available to all Jesus IS and always has been – the Conquering, Victorious, Reigning Lord over sin and death”? In the known world of today how many have you witnessed who truly grasped “Christ in me my hope of glory”?

Our known world is barren of true redemptive faith; it is bewildering by those who challenge them to be free of ‘self’ as Jesus crucified it and therefore gladly and continually rejoicing yielded themselves fully to His Resurrection Presence! Most of the known religious world of today is embittered that God saw them worthy only of crucifixion with Christ! They’ll privately and publicly blaspheme His Holy Name when they learn the Truth of “crucified with Christ”, from the strongest intellectual to the limited mind, from the strongest of human flesh to the weakest physical body trying to be spiritual, from the fleshly proud learning life without God’s Resurrection Presence is nothing more than the ‘stench of death continuing to die’!

Though ‘fallen humanity’ has been deeply wounded and ‘fallen away from God’, the truth of the Word of God is that Holy God reached down, out, and around to the fallen, knocks on their hearts’ doors, unveils the awareness of their need of “new life, new hope, new power, and new purpose”, seriously wounded by their native, fleshly, self-fulfilling natures, but by the grace, mercy, and love of God, through Holy Spirit conviction and by the ‘gift’ of repentance offered as the ‘door opener’ between God and man, and ‘the gift of faith’ gladly given, one grasps the full, true meaning of the work of Christ at Calvary’s Cross, with sinners becoming saints in and through Christ alone! A ‘saint’? One set apart as “His temple pf Holy Presence”!

God isn’t interested in religious or spiritual robots that have no say in a choice or lack of it when it comes to spiritual devotion. Every human life must decide “on their own they choose to serve Me or not – I will not stamp mankind’s devotion to Me unless it is only in and through their response to Christ’s knocking at their heart’s door and the offering by Him of the gift of His shed blood, the blood of the Lamb of God, crucified so that they may desire by Me my offering of grace, mercy, and love through My Son’s finished work at the Cross.”

A few words I’ve written for hopefully greater enlightenment for sinners and the saints. I wrote:

“Though wounded we may have been by our natural, native, fleshly sin, by the grace and mercy of God through the Spirit-conviction and repentance, we receive inheritance of the gifted Presence of Holy God, through Christ’s blood, and now sealed by the Spirit as sons and daughters of God!

Christ in you the hope of glory – what an amazing, eternal reality! Though having strayed and become ‘lost’ on our own ‘self-ordained range,’ God sought us out to bring us to His home through divine ‘heavenly change’.

Christ’s Resurrection Life is man’s eternal hope, but how many do you know who live as if the Savior doesn’t exist? Once again, even often, they will sense “His knock at the door,” but because of unbelief and religious rationalization they will not soar in heavenly places, but sorrow in tears and sadness forever – because they know, “We didn’t answer!”

Some have discovered: “To Be Is To Live For the Purpose and Plan and Power of God”, but never ask about “The Door” to His Holy Presence, and are spiritually illiterate about His “keys to the Kingdom”!

Yet some know of the keys to the Kingdom yet hidden them away in their personal heart-deception, never desiring to take and insert the keys of repentance and faith into His everlasting Kingdom!

But it’s time to awake, time to arise, time to surmise, how to stand up and look into His merciful, gracious, loving eyes, repenting of your sin, resting in His blessing, turning to His promises of one’s eternal residence.”

But does pride, prejudices, or personal persuasion speak to you identifying afresh the reality of sad but certain ‘godless living.’? Or, possibly, is there in YOU the comforting, strengthening, enlightening, assuring Word in you, “Christ in Me, my hope of glory”, authored by the convicting Holy Spirit?

To be “in Christ” is no longer one’s identity in the register of all fallen sinners, blinded mankind, or Satan’s fallen and conquered captives, but one “in Christ” who knows “blood-forgiven,” blessed with repentance and faith as new-born sons and daughters of the eternal family of God, no longer descendants of Satan’s deceitful clan, captured, blinded, and forever ‘perishing’ but never dying family of Satan’s devotees to faithlessness, indifference, and strong unbelief in the eternal purpose of Holy God, yet gloriously Holy Spirit convicted, convinced, and converted into the “new identity” of divine royalty, sons and daughters of God because, soldiers of the Cross, yes, and truly “washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, God’s Son” as “new creations” of His “Amazing Grace”!!

It was Robert H. Coleman of Dallas, Texas, who in 1933 had a hymn entitled “O Happy Day” published by the Broadman Press, written by Philip Doddridge and E.F. Rimbault entitled, “O Happy Day”. It says: “O happy day that fixed my choice on You, my Savior and my God!

O happy bond, that seals my vow To Him who merits all my love! Let cheerful anthems fill His house While to that sacred shrine I move.

It’s done; the great transaction’s done! I am my Lord’s, and He is mine; He drew me, and I followed on, Charmed to confess the voice divine.

High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily hear, Till in life’s latest hour I bow, And bless in death a bond so dear.

Happy day, happy day, When Jesus washed my sins away! He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day; Happy day, happy day, When Jesus washed my sins away!”

You need to “get on board”, and never tire as you travel together with Him and His growing ‘family of faith and obedience’, submitted hour by hour, day by day, with the Prince of Peace Presence, with His Kingly Persuasion, and with the Spirit’s Power Anointing, fulfilling your calling as His earthly representative! You no longer are turned to the world’s opinions but to the Savior’s Holy Word, not to self but to the savior, not to appearances but to the reality of His abiding presence in the life of faith He’s chosen to be His earthly Tabernacle!

The Lord Jesus describes the true children of faith when in Matthew 20:25-28 He said: But Jesus called them to Himself and said: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – JUST AS the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

How different from the man-made philosophies of fallen men who ignore the Eternal Presence of the Resurrected, Reigning, Enriching Savior and Lord! In Romans 1:24-25 Paul wrote, “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, WHO EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR THE LIE, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

At the same time consider Hebrews 9:14! “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!”

And upon His discovery and enlightment to the “Amazing Grace”, he wrote to all believers, Colossians 5:13, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh (which is your old sin nature!), but through love serve one another.”

What a difference between the “old man” and the “new man in Christ”! The “old man”? Barren of divine life and holy presence, bewildered through indifference to the call of God, bitter in the inner man, easily blaspheming the name of Jesus, blind to the Truth, blotted, bonded and enslaved with a dangerous breach from God’s Presence, definitely breached away from Eternal, Abiding Presence as “the chief musician sang in Psalm 60:1-5, O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again! You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion. (Yet) You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand and hear me.” [Do YOU call out to God to hear you because of your passion concern for the “lost” who surround you?].

THIS IS A “NEW DAY” OF DIVINE OPPORTUNITY TO BE “RESTORED”, “RENEWED”, “RE-BORN”, “REGENERATED”, “REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB”, “REFITTED WITH HOLY PRESENCE, HOLY PURPOSE, AND HOLY POWER”! Bow down before Him so He can raise you up, confess so He may cleanse you and wash pure as the blood of the Lamb of God is pure, “RELIGHTENING YOUR MIND AND HEART TO ETERNAL TRUTH”, “RE-EQUIPPING YOU WITH THE CHOSEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SEND YOU OUT TO THE NEEDY LIVES SURROUNDING YOU”, AND “CHOOSING TO BE THE DIVINE REPRESENTATIVE OF HOLY PRESENCE”, YES, FOR THE WORLD AROUND YOU TO WITNESS HOW TO EXCHANGE THE LIE OF THEIR LIVES FOR HIS ETERNAL TRUTH , CHRIST JESUS WHO NEVER CHANGES”!! Amen!

BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, NOV. 21-22, 2017

In addressing, affirming, and alerting the young disciples of Corinth, and us ‘young disciples’(?) in our modern-day, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, Paul wrote: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? FOR YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD. As God has said:

‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” That’s collectively all the truly repentant, faith believing and trusting, all the “soldiers of the Cross”, and individually, yes, “the least of these”!

As a result of awareness of one’s true repentance, then exercising the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit, yes, CHOOSING to “rest” in Christ alone, in 2 Corinthians 7:1, Paul also said: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Do YOU see yourself as a Foundation Stone of the Holy Temple of Christ?

Come with me to 2 Corinthians 5:17-21! Buckle yourself in tight to Biblical Truth about our identity “in Christ”!! It says: “Therefore, if anyone in IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become NEW. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION.

Now then, WE (In Christ!) are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He (God the Father) made Him (Jesus the Son) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ”? God’s ministry to us and through us? In 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 Paul lays a strong foundation upon which “true temples” are birthed, survive, and prosper! He said: “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Are YOU aware of “commanded light shining in you and through you to reveal to others ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ as The Holy Spirit, yes, “forms” Christ in you by your submission and obedience to the Living Word”?

A foundation stone of the Holy Temple of Christ’s presence is a “blood-bought vessel”, and Paul says the ‘treasure stone’ is your earthen life, an earthen vessel, (2 Corinthians 4:7), “that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” And, “a bondservant”, as His earthen vessel presence, radiates “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”!

You’re aware that early disciples were of Jewish descent, and, no doubt, were looking or hoping for a new physical tabernacle to be rebuilt, because of prophecy, they knew the “Temple” in Jerusalem would soon be destroyed, but, immaturely, they hadn’t seen themselves as the True Temple of the Resurrected Christ! In Hebrews 8:1-2 we read: Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest (Christ Jesus), who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary AND of the true tabernacle (or Temple) which the Lord erected, and not man.”

Have YOU ever considered the “revelation-truth” that redeemed, born-again lives, become, by His grace, His mercy, His eternal intent, that “redeemed lives” become holy temples with each new man or woman of faith being a “foundation stone” of the ‘over-all structure of His abiding Presence in us’ as “true temples”? It’s THROUGH YOU, man or woman of true faith, that the Light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who IS the image of God, should shine in you and through you!

Reflect upon Hebrews 3:5-6! “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house (Is that the ‘wilderness’ tabernacle”?) as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, BUT CHRIST as a Son over His own house, whose house we are IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.”

YOU must examine the Holy Word and reflect upon whether or not you are a true son or true daughter in God’s Holy Family! The Hebrews author continued expanding understanding about “Holy Temple soundness”! In Hebrews 3:7-19 we read, examine, and determine to what or Who we are truly committed!! It says:

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, IF you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” THEREFORE:

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another DAILY, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ IF we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, DO NOT harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

For who, having heard, rebelled? Did the Hebrew author speak of those who possess evil hearts of unbelief and willfully depart from the living God? Did he also alert us to mind, will, and heart-hardening through the deceitfulness of sin? Oh, and is there also the tragedy of hearing the Word, knowing the Word, but it didn’t and doesn’t profit some because of “Not being mixed with faith IN those who heard it”? Remember, Jesus said to some, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, BUT you do not do what I say”??!!

Do you see “obedience to the Word of God in Christ” as evidence that one has been born again? In Romans 16:25-27 we read, “Now to Him who is able to establish you (or ‘make you to ‘stand in Him’ completed, obedient, and Christ-honoring!!) according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, FOR OBEDIENCE TO THE FAITH – to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

You do understand: “obedience is not an option disciples of Christ hold”, but it is the outward expression of Who healed us, honored us by choosing us for Himself, and Who reminded disciples then and disciples now: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’, BUT you do not do what I say?” Do you do what Jesus says as His earthly mediator between Holy God, King Jesus, and His Holy Spirit to the unredeemed around you, even to your own family and friends?

In Colossians 1:9-18 we’re given another ‘wake-up call’ to true disciples. Paul was concerned that some in the Colossians community had very little understanding of the “preeminence of Christ in them”. It says: “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience (or steadfastness) and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has QUALIFIED us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image (exact likeness!) of the invisible God, the firstborn over all (new) creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (I’d be amiss, off-track, deceived, uncaring for you, if I didn’t ask you: “Does Christ Jesus have preeminence in you, over you, through you, leading you to let Him have His way in your heart and life?”).

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ?” And those are “living stones”, but so valuable in unveiling Christ to all those who come in contact to the “Holy Temple of Christ,” YOUR redeemed, born-again, Spirit-filled life, walk, and personal testimony! I’m sure it’s why in 1 Peter 1:13-16 we read as a “wake-up call” in our Spirit-Kingdom Presence: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober (or serious minded!), and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation (or unveiling) of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also BE HOLY IN ALL YOUR CONDUCT, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” AND THAT’S NOT AN OPTION YOU HOLD BUT A VISIBLE DEMONSTRATION OF AN INWARD REALITY OF THE WORKING OF SOVEREIGN GRACE AND MERCY!

“Foundation Stones of the Holy Temple of Christ?” Continue in 1 Peter 1:22-2:10!! It says: “SINCE YOU HAVE PURIFIED YOUR SOULS IN OBEYING THE TRUTH THROUGH THE SPIRIT [Can’t you hear the ‘naysayers’ rising up? “That’s ‘salvation by works’!” NO! That’s obedience to the Word because one has been ‘born again’ by faith in Christ’s Work at the Cross and empty tomb!] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another with a pure heart, HAVING BEEN BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God WHICH LIVES AND ABIDES FOREVER, because

‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, BUT the word of the Lord endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

1 Peter 2:1-10 follows, convicting, educating, and inspiring us: “THEREFORE, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, and evil speaking, (That, my friends, IS what true, born-again, yes, maturing children of True Faith DO!), as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may GROW THEREBY, IF INDEED you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.(“IF”? Does that mean true discipleship is ‘conditional’?).

Coming to Him AS A LIVING STONE, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, AS LIVING STONES, are being built up a spiritual house, (THAT IS, “a holy temple, an earthly kingdom of grace and mercy and love, Holy God’s spiritual family of “blood-bought faith”), a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is also contained in Holy Scripture: (Isaiah 28), “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” Therefore, to you who believe, (trust in, rely upon, adhere to!), He is precious, but to those WHO ARE DISOBEDIENT, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” (Psalm 118), AND “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they were also appointed. (2 Timothy 2:19!). BUT you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but ARE NOW the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now HAVE OBTAINED MERCY!”

There’s an old, old hymn that was written by Julia H. Johnston, who entered high school in about 1865, but started writing hymns and songs when she was about nine years of age. It was 1911 when she wrote the following hymn: “Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, what can avail to wash it away! Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; Whiter than snow you may be today.

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace, freely bestowed on all who believe; you that are longing to see His face, will you this moment His grace receive?

Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.”

It was Dwight L. Moody who once preached: “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him.” And to the ‘fully consecrated man’? In Ecclesiastes 2:26 the “wise man” wrote:

“For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; (That’s the man whose daily aim, ambition, and faithful desire IS to Please God!) but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good (or godly) before God.” HOW SWEET IS THAT?

By: J.Farrell Fisher, Sept. 2-3, 2017

I was deeply moved, reminded of, and, yes, convinced of “life experiences’ being either closed doors to the desire of God to “Bless” us or convinced “I’m on my own, and I’ll try my best to overcome all that I’m facing without anybody’s help, including your God!”

Life apart from trouble, heartaches, disappointments, producing frustrations like an explosive volcano, are at times seemingly out of control. And, of course, one has to ask: “Well, in this present life situation, who IS in control?” Do you understand, sense, and become aware of those who are ‘shaken’, yes, even in every good or bad moments of their lives and circumstances, and they crumble right before your eyes because they’ve never looked in to the heart and mind or UP TO THE LOVING GOD AND FATHER WHO’D LIKE TO INTERVENE!

Guided by present failures or disastrous events, the independent mind senses no need of God’s help or His people’s help – “I can make it on my own!” One thing is sure for me in Texas today in this time period of ‘natural disasters’, most Texans are thankful for His people’s help AND HIS FAITHFUL INTERVENTION AND BLESSING OF THE TROUBLED MINDS, HEARTS, AND FAMILIES WHO STAND IN NEED! And God arises!

In His “Rising Up” in the time of trouble, He calls on His people, whether some know Him or not, to hear the call to duty, to receive the rallying cry of ‘community cooperation’, to pause, reflect, pray, saying, “Lord, what would YOU have me to do?” In every life there are those life-circumstances where one must stop, ask Him, evaluate under His Spirit’s control and oversight, of what is necessary, what is vital, what is valid, and what is of most importance to ME as a vessel of His Holy Presence, fighting the good fight of faith, understanding and resolving what my present responsibility is – but is it to MY world, MY flesh desires, or even a ‘vessel’ of invasion by the powers of darkness that limits God’s Compassion, ignoring God’s eternal purposes, OR what is most important to Him and His ministry in, to, AND through me?!? Isn’t there historically present from our world’s foundation and creation the activity of God seeking to BE the difference in the betterment of human lives and human affairs? Yet many ignore or even buy in to Satan’s lies! “Has God really said…?” Isn’t that what Satan asked or spoke to Eve and Adam? And doesn’t Satan still continue to degrade, deny, or denounce His eternal Truth in the Word or in the Living Word of Christ’s Presence?

But in 2 Peter 1:1-4 Peter wrote and testified, yes, to “the Grace of God’s Intervention” for our blessing, multitudinous benefits, and as a barricade against Satanic, worldly, or fleshly interference! Peter said: “To those who have obtained like precious faith with us BY the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness”, THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US BY GLORY AND VIRTUE, by which HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US exceedingly great and precious promises, that THROUGH THESE you may be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

And remember! It is His glory and His virtue that you by repentance and faith receive! They are “gifts” of His grace, His mercy, His love, poured out upon YOU in extending His Kingdom ministry, extending His Kingdom calling, and Extending His Kingdom care through You to others around you!

And did Peter say He “called us” BY HIS GLORY AND HIS VIRTUE? It was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his writing, The Children of the Lord’s Supper”, (l.177), who said: “The glory of Him who Hung His masonry on naught, when the world He created.” And, no doubt, it was why Isaiah was inspired to write: (Isaiah 6:3), “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”

And, I pray, you understand that it’s His desire to have your redeemed life by the blood of the Lamb through repentance and faith to become the Holy Temple, YOUR LIFE FILLED WITH HIS GLORY as His Resurrection Life in you unveils, shines, and releases His glory in your walk! This is why in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that Paul also wrote: “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, you are to do all to the glory of God!”

But remember! We’re looking in the Word first about lives guided by present failures, disastrous events, or beyond that, the foolish ‘decisions, omissions, and intended affronts’, an affront being disrespectful of others, trying to intentionally shame, intentionally abuse, or unnecessarily even defame one of honorable and proven reputation! And when the abuses are occurring, Holy God may or will call on you to step in where at times even angels fear to tread! And that can happen, yes, for the decency and concern of human care from unbelievers, whether they learned to bow before King Jesus or not! Jesus said, “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve and to give My life as a ransom for the many.” And, at times, unbelievers are, yes, used by Christ Himself to help , myself as a young, little boy of eight to twelve years of age even considering or remembering family members, unredeemed, yet voluntarily putting on the soldiers armor and going to war! What some do in life’s journeys is not for the glory of God but, at times, the release of fleshly, human decency!

And that does help in the midst of human catastrophes because few godless or Godly people will go through their life without trouble, without heartaches and disappointments, needing, at times, the care of the human family, whether it’s extending God’s love or a release of human decency. But ‘human decency’ is no evidence of “reconciled to God” or “re-born by the Spirit of God in Christ” to “new creations.” Sadly, across my 81 years of life, I’ve seen unredeemed men used by Holy God to care for others while the ‘church’ sat in their pews satisfied in their ‘religious devotion’ – and, at times, true disciples want to throw up, sickened by the neglect of a supposed ‘caring community’!

Are you aware of Holy God rallying unbelieving armies in Old Testament days, used as His “war weapons” of leaders, nations, or people who shamed human decency, and HE inspired them to be His judgment tool, His weapon, and His arm of, yes, annihilation?

In John L. Bray’s book entitled “Matthew 24 Fulfilled”, he unveiled the destruction of Jerusalem AND the “Holy Temple” (?), so loved by the ‘religious Jews’! Bray said, (p.84), “The Romans once again urged the Zealots to surrender so that their religious laws and sacrifices could continue, and once again were ignored. Josephus himself, acting as translator for Titus, said, “It is God therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of pollutions.” (Josephus, 432).

And in the very next paragraph John Bray wrote this: “One woman who had lost everything but her baby to these bloodthirsty Jews, then killed her baby son, “and then roasted him, and ate the one half of him, and kept the other half by her concealed.” When the seditious men smelled “the horrible scent of this food, they threatened her, that they would cut her throat immediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten ready. She replied, that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them; and withal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized with a horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight; when she said to them, ‘This is mine own son; and what hath been done was mine own doing! Come, eat this food; for I have eaten of it myself!’ The men left, trembling and frightened. The whole city was overcome by distress when they heard of such a thing.” (Josephus, 443-444).

What have you heard of lately that distresses you concerning lives, families, cities, businesses, nations, where even the worst of human indecencies, though sorrowful, doesn’t turn a needy soul, family, business, city, state, or nation to the Throne of merciful God? Indecencies are often overshadowed by indecisive “do-nothingness”!

Are you aware of and alerted to the reality that in many communities disastrous events, futile failures, ARE NOT “WAKE-UP CALLS”, but fretting, fussing, and fighting for one’s own way without “resting IN the Lord Himself”? But in Psalm 91 we learn of the reality of opportunity of “abiding under the shadow of the Almighty”! Receive the Word:

He who dwells in the secret places of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways (Yes! Praise the Lord! Angelic Oversight!). In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread (metaphorically!) upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Because (Farrell Fisher) has set his love upon Me, therefore I WILL DELIVER HIM; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” Glory! Praise the Lord! Bow before Him in full repentance and faithful worship, surrender, and service to the glory of His Name by being daily dead to yourself, but “Yes”, ALIVE IN CHRIST! Do you know what 2 Chronicles 16:9 says?

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” In your journey of life, YOU WILL FIND superior, fleshly forces out to take you down, BUT GOD IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE AND BEYOND IN ALL WE NEED AND MUST HAVE FROM HIM!

Often times God sovereignly chooses to allow open doors of opposition to Him to come against YOU! (Don’t miss this!), Because He wants YOU LEARNING IN FAITH to “lean not to your own understanding, but in all the ways and places and circumstances you choose, He wants you “trusting Him with all your heart, leaning not to your own understanding; desiring YOU choosing to acknowledge Him, giving Him His rightful place as Lord, Savior, Master, Director, Liberator, and Conqueror”!!

In Romans 8:35-39 Paul wrote: “Who (Or what?) shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” YET, IN ALL THESE THINGS, WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVED US. For I AM PERSUADED, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You do understand that Sovereign God, at times, in and through the burdens He allows, like Spurgeon wrote, “The burden God places squeezes the grapes and out comes the wine; most of us see the wine only;” and there’s a reason for that! We want no part of ‘trouble’ that turns us outside ourselves, no part of ‘testing’ that reveals our ‘faith-trust’ as poor as we lean to our own determination to have, face, win or lose, but especially to “my glory”, because “I believe, I’m able”! Really?

Commonplace lives, confident in ‘self’, are not “high-noon” lives living in the brightness of their own glory, but deceived lives trying to live in incarnate laziness and indifference to the necessary Help of God Almighty! The “best” of flesh, of self-will, self-determination, with self-assured brilliance and a marvelous, fleshly, carnal mind, (even ‘hanging around’ in some believers!), is the call of God, by His Spirit of conviction, appealing to you to “shake off your incarnate, spiritual laziness, and, yes, “Fight the good fight of faith”, until in you and through you, you see the Victory of the Resurrected Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and His inspired Word overcoming any and every worldly, fleshly, or demonic intrusion YOU ALLOW! Stand UP! Fight the Good Fight of Faith!

Do you understand, comprehend, claim, “rest in” what the Holy Word declares? What Christ Jesus declared? John 8:31-32, “IF you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” But what happens in the journeys of many professing disciples?

For some, there comes a time of a mixture of motives between ‘flesh’ and the Spirit of Jesus. At times some believers wander from their calling of honoring and glorifying God in their daily walk, and what becomes for them, a mundane journey, not being fully instilled in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ; and, yes, some ‘adult, having matured some, slips back into childhood carelessness, forgetting, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God!”

I was amazed reading Spurgeon tonight when he said: (“My Utmost For His Highest,” p.238), “It takes God’s Spirit in us to make us so absolutely humanly His that WE ARE UNNOTICEABLE.” Is it God’s purpose, His intention, His eternal plan, even before the foundation of the world, that men would, under His Spirit-conviction, come to the end of themselves and allow “Christ Jesus to be their All in All?” Yes! That’s God’s desire, His “high calling” for you to BE THROUGH WITH YOURSELF, and let Christ Jesus reign in and through you by the power of His Holy Spirit!

OH, THAT YOU BE GRACED BY GOD’S INTERVENTION!! Charlotte Homer and Charles Gabriel wrote an old hymn published in the 1933 The American Hymnal. It’s entitled, “Draw Near Immanuel”. It says: “Draw nigh to us, O God of hosts, And fill us to the uttermost With zeal to work for You today, In Your all-wise appointed way; Reveal Your will in us, and show Your hand divine, That we may know We are Your children, You our Guide and hiding-place, what-e’er betide.

Draw nigh to us, O Mighty One! Our shelter be from sun to sun; Our Alpha and Omega YOU Before whom every knee shall bow; Deliver us from every sin; In us a mighty work begin; Increase our faith, our strength renew, Fit us a mighty work to do.

Draw night to us, Immanuel, You Mighty God of Israel! Once more from Sinai’s flaming height Speak, that we may be led aright; Almighty, everlasting King of kings, with contrite hearts we sing, The righteous majesty and love of Him who built the heavens above.” And do you see yourself as the special work of God Almighty, “crucified with Christ”, and raised up to walk in the “newness of life” which is only our Lord’s “Resurrection Life”!

You “draw near” daily to take the sentence of death to yourself that Christ’s Resurrection Presence is manifested through your mortal body! “Jesus, be Jesus in me, No longer me but thee, “Resurrection Power” fill me this hour, Jesus, be Jesus in me!” AMEN?

BY

J. FARRELL FISHER 2013

PAGE OF DEDICATION

OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION by Farrell Fisher

Chapter OneThe Drama Unfolds

Chapter TwoThe Divorce Occurs

Chapter ThreeDisciplines Birthed

Chapter FourA Disappointing Summer Chapter FiveA Successful Fall, Scholastics & Sports Chapter SixNew Year’s Nightmare

Chapter SevenIntervention Time

Chapter EightBasketball Heaven

Chapter NineBig Joe’s Troubles -Winter & Spring Chapter TenPressures Mount

Chapter ElevenLaying The Groundwork of Deception

Chapter TwelveTarget Time

Chapter ThirteenLate Spring "Fling of Faith"

Chapter FourteenDavid’s Dream Shattered Chapter FifteenSheriff Gets A Call Chapter SixteenThe Care-Givers Rally Chapter SeventeenLost Year or Life Gained? Chapter EighteenSenior Year -No Tears

Chapter NineteenCollege Bound -More Sound Chapter TwentyCareer Goals? Saving Souls? Chapter Twenty One Married His Bride – God On His Side Chapter Twenty Two Torturous Time, David’s Parents Die Chapter Twenty ThreeBabies Birthed – Golden Worth Chapter Twenty FourGifts Abound -Ever So Sound Chapter Twenty Five Tragedy Strikes -Ministry Alights Chapter Twenty SixCareer Clear – Stardom Near

Chapter Twenty SevenWife Dies -Faith Defies

Chapter Twenty Eight Funeral Dirge or Disciples Celebrate Chapter Twenty Nine. Military Hears -No Fears

Chapter ThirtyOrganization or Organism? Chapter Thirty One.Children Emerge – Quite a Surge

Chapter Thirty Two. Military Ministry, Master-Piece Painting

Chapter Thirty ThreeTwo Widowed United

Chapter Thirty Four The Bell Sounds -The Angel Calls

PAGE OF DEDICATION

One of the greatest privileges a pastor or missionary has is to walk beside a man of faith who exemplifies the Spirit of our Lord and Savior. I have had that privilege, especially for a period of eight years, as I lived next door to Doug and Guyan Wood in Belton, Texas. Doug is a Baptist pastor and counselor.

In those eight years Sue and I had the blessed opportunity to learn from a man who truly is a modern-day Job. I do not know of a man who has suffered more in his life than my brother in Christ, Doug Wood. Over those years we encouraged one another, prayed for one another, challenged one another.

When Doug was a sophomore in high school, having broken both ankles pole-vaulting

for the track team, home from school, he was the victim of a horrible fire that destroyed the family’s two-month old home. Doug was burned over ninety per cent of his body. They didn’t move him from the hospital in Dumas, Texas, because the doctors told his mother and step-father he wouldn’t live through the night.

At that time none of the family were Christians. In fact, the step-father would not allow

any Christian radio or TV in the home. Doug only had one scene indelibly placed upon his mind, when on one occasion, he saw a pastor lay hands on another man and say, "Jesus loves you and wants you well." Suffering through that tragic day, weeks, months before him, what Doug heard over and over was, "Jesus loves you and wants you well." Two years later he came to faith in Christ on his own. No one witnessed to him, no one led him to faith in Christ, but Jesus led Doug to Himself!

Having come to Christ, he felt led to go to Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. There he met his beautiful wife, Guyan, who gave Doug two sons and two daughters, and all of these many, many years has stood by him faithfully and lovingly. Together they have been through trauma after trauma after trauma, still standing in full faith in the faithfulness of God to see them through.

Even after thirty-five years Doug still bleeds from the burns. I came home from India many years ago deathly ill. I told Sue to go next door and ask Doug to come and pray for me. He had been out to dinner with his wife. When he came into my bedroom with his white pants and black shirt, he got on his knees, laid himself across my chest, and began to pray. I don’t know how long he prayed, but when he got up his knees were red in blood. I said, "Doug, what is wrong?" And he responded, "It’s from my burns in the house-fire that have never healed."

After he left I broke out in ferocious sweats, and in thirty minutes I was healed, by the

grace of God and "Prayer-Warrior" Doug Wood.

Doug inspired this fiction book called "Job’s Journey," and I have written it to honor my friend and inspire others to "Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Amen?

 INTRODUCTION BY FARRELL FISHER

Disrupted families, tormented souls, sick societies, wounded children, aimless men and women, heartless and heavy-handed disciplinarians, mean-spirited parents, evil-at-the­ core moms and dads; these seem to be sadly the rule rather than the exception of what, at least at one time, was a ‘sane society,’ or at least was hidden behind closed doors. But now that ‘sane society’ seems to be deteriorating rapidly into an ‘insane society.’

Are you alarmed or shocked when you read in newspapers or watch on television the report of another parent killing her child or children?

 Does it alarm you when you read of more and more one-parent families? How frightened do you become when you witness or learn of parents abandoning their children for the grandparents to raise? What about young teenagers killing their parents or carrying guns to school to gun down their classmates? Does it shock you when you read of parental child molestation or the priests taking advantage of their altar boys? Are you scared when you learn statistically more than half of our high school students are sexually active and do not plan on ceasing even if they become pregnant? More than half of the marriages in America end in divorce -does that trouble you?

And in the dark horizons of sick societies is there a ray of hope? When life could not be more troubling, are there those, maybe even a few, who surmount their personal torment to soar above tragedy, and not only survive, but conquer; who not only escape but create; who not only fight off that intent of personal destruction but somehow, some way, some­ ‘Who’ become a celebration of a worthy life not a wilted life, a celebration of conquest­

-not defeated; a celebration, not of ‘made it on my own,’ but one impacted by the few

who know "This young man is intended for better things than he’s experienced through his family!"

This is not a ‘personal story,’ although experiencing a family split; it is an overview of similar sorrow and pain, an understanding of "David’s" troubles and heart-aches, a picture of "like" doubts and fears, a re-run of opportunistic discovery, "I was meant for something different- I don’t know what!"

There is the reality of"Job’s troubles" lived out on various stages of life, lived out for

boys and girls somewhere on God’s green earth, lived out in secret, lived out totally defeated or lived out on the screen of one’s life, "Job’s Journey."

It is my desire to touch the chords of someone’s heart who has lived David’s story, never

knowing there is the hope of different determinations than sordidness, sorrow, pain, frustration, despair, a giving-up-on-life attitude, but a "more than conqueror" spirit! It is my desire to see, even one, who has lived in the dark shadows of despair rising to the ride of his life on the beautiful clouds of personal discovery, "I can overcome! With God’s help, I can be more than I thought I could!"

"JOB’S JOURNEY"

 CHAPTER ONE THE DRAMA UNFOLDS

Most people are not unfamiliar with the name, Job. The world is aware of Job’s sufferings!

In the Bible, Job 1:1, speaks of this man from the land ofUz, "and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." The biblical Job lost

his property, lost his children, lost most of his friends, and almost lost his wife -she was ready for Job to "Curse God and die!"

But Job of the Bible was a man of total trust in God Almighty, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." He knew he came naked from his mother’s womb and that naked he shall return there. It was, in Job’s faith, the Lord who had given him life, and the Lord was taking it all away. And all Job could do was to say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."

That our world today could view a modern day Job! That our world today could see

before their very eyes a man who is not overwhelmed by suffering but overcomes it! That our world today could be educated and encouraged and inspired and uplifted by a man who will not succumb to life’s tragedies but bears witness of a triumphant spirit "through it all.!"

There is such a man. It all begins in the beautiful Tennessee Valley of East Tennessee

where no one would ever expect beauty to be the birthplace of blight, where no one would ever imagine that behind the doors of a beautiful home death reigned, where no one could even begin to fathom the depths of suffering family life could sink to, even for the children, where sane society (if there is such a thing) begins to sink because it witnesses the quagmire of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual heart-ache and despair, where evil takes on a new face when everything appeared so good.

The Matthews family, strong in cultural and community involvement, even the big city

church, was led by a Dr.Jekyl/Mr. Hyde man who possessed two faces -one to the community and church, and the other to the family behind closed doors. He was a leader in the local civic club, chairman of the board of a strong local bank, and he was an elder in his local church.

At home Vestal Matthews, husband and father, was a man tormented by his own special demons. The only explanation for his sordid, sick lifestyle behind closed doors was an unregenerate, fleshly, immoral, out-of-control soul dominated by the "foul spirits" of lower earth. He truly hated himself, hated his wife, hated his children, hated his pretense, hated his totally split personality, hated what he did in the light, and hated what he did in the darkness. He was a hopeless man convinced there was no help for such a sick soul. Vestal was not an expert in the choice of his women in life, before marriage, or as a result of his marriage. His wife of twenty-five years, though from "the other side of the tracks," was a social climber without any social skills. She was of the sort, "Whatever it takes for me and Vestal to succeed, I’m willing to do!" And sadly that led her down many dead­ end streets and darkened alleys.

Vestal was a wife-abuser in every way- emotionally, physically, mentally, sexually,

financially- a ‘pro’ at "dumbing down" his wife especially but even his children. He had two daughters and two sons.

From about eight years of age onward he began to sexually abuse his two little girls. That lasted until his two daughters schemed of escape when they were in their late teen years, never to be heard from by the parents again, at least the dad. In their early teens the two girls even discussed killing the father but were never able to follow through with it. They endured weekly abuse from a man the social community considered making "Father of the Year." Thank goodness, that proposal failed!

When his twin boys reached thirteen years of age, he knew it was time for them to become real men, and he traveled to the nearest big city to find a brothel where his two boys could "become real men." He didn’t want someone else to indoctrinate his boys in the "ways of the world;" he was determined to do it himself!

 The twins were totally different in their responses. Don, even at thirteen years of age, was evil to the core, just like his Dad -overjoyed at the step down into the dark world of prostitution. David, on the other hand, was not of the same ilk. He was upset, he was angry, he was defiant, and refused to participate in his father’s "foolishness." There was something about David that neither his father, Vestal, understood or his mother, Vera. These were parents oblivious to divine destiny- and though David himself had no comprehension of what was going on within him, he knew there was a different life or lifestyle ahead for him -not like his parents, or his brother, Don, or even his two sisters that fled the home. But something was going to happen, in a redemptive way, and he knew it, not understanding what would be happening in the years ahead.

David had only a vague knowledge of God, a lesser knowledge of Jesus, and was

certainly illiterate concerning the Bible. But one day soon he would learn Jeremiah I :4 was also about him! The word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you ("Marked out"); Before you were born I sanctified you ("Set you apart"); I ordained you a prophet for the nations (Appointed you with a heaven-sent responsibility)."

David was one of those young men who would one day say, "I never knew God cared

about me! I never knew His eye was on me! I never knew he had a greater plan, eternal plan, more enriching plan for my life! But now I know!" That day did come, and it can come for you. The God of the Bible is no respecter of persons -what He does for one, He’ll do for all!

For David it was as if every step was a step down a trail of desperation that finally broke

through to the Valley of Hope, but he didn’t know it and could not comprehend it all at this early stage. Beyond his understanding his eternal life was being shaped and fashioned by Unseen Hands and a Loving Heart called God Almighty! Flood waters would rise around him, and he feared of dying! Troubles would explode, and he felt he was about to implode. Loneliness, aloneness beckoned, and he often wondered if anyone cared. Tears were easy in the bed alone at night, but never for public view -for those around him he was stoic and quiet while within he was a raging volcano of varying emotions. Did anybody care? Were there really "friends" in his world? Was there truly a purpose to life he had yet to discover?

 CHAPTER TWO THE DIVORCE OCCURS

Vestal and Vera come to the end of the road in their marriage. Divorce is the path they choose to take- "greener grass on the other side of the fence!" You’ve heard it! Then after awhile they realize that that grass on the other side still has to be mowed! Same circle around the same mountain -neither learned, and suffered as much in the next marriages as previously.

Don chooses Daddy! Surprise, surprise! And David chooses Vera, in his teen-age eyes, "the lesser of two evils!" And the interesting thing is that David, never again, hears from his father or brother. But the divorce opened a door for David and his mother, Vera, to be reunited with Marian and Misty, his two older sisters. Though David never lived with them, he was able to have a semblance of healthy contact with his two sisters, who genuinely loved David and wanted nothing but the best for him.

About one year later Mama Vera begins to visit the bars -frequently. She begins to

 drink like she never has before, and then is introduced to drugs. Her "boyfriend" is the local "pusher" and pimp. Oh, he’s making "good money" and Vera and David, she believed, would be well taken care of if she married Big Joe Hestert. You’ve seen him – tattoos on both arms, black leather jacket, red bandana on his head, leather britches, black boots with shiny ornaments and silver-toes, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth all the time, a constant odor of nicotine, if not booze and drugs, long hair, full beard, and a foul­ mouth! Oh yes, just exactly the new father David needs, right?

And it happens -the wedding takes place. And Vera becomes Vera Hestert. At least Big

Joe had a house! He even had about 150 acres that he tried to farm. He ran cattle and had a number of fine Tennessee walking horses, very expensive!

It’s been about a year since their marriage and Big Joe has decided he needs to build a

show-place barn to take care of all the hay he was producing for the horses for the winter. He needed plenty of stalls for the horses also. He wanted a vet’s office, surgical wing, exercise pool for his fine horses, and big enough barn on the ground floor, wide­ open space for barn dances. So Big Joe convinced Vera to sign onto his bank note for

$400,000 for his show-place barn! He had his stable of Tennessee Walking horses

insured for over $1,000,000.

During this time David has had a spark of interest in sports. He’s growing, he’s maturing, and a lot of his new friends are athletic. He’s not a speedster for track, or strong for what can be called "brutal, violent football," but he’s good at basketball. He picked it up from the goal Big Joe hung on the garage. David began to love that sport. Early in the morning, after breakfast and before the school bus arrived, David would shoot and shoot and shoot; he’d dribble and dribble and dribble, at first with one hand, then both hands -and he

was becoming highly proficient shooting the 3-pointer and foul shots.

For some it’s amazing that sports can be a young boy’s salvation in his early years. He’s certainly not learned anything helpful from Vestal Matthews, and Big Joe Hestert is not providing skills for life success in a difficult world. But Coach Stephens has had his eye on David, takes him under his wings, and begins to impact him positively, not only in basketball skills but life skills. Coach Stephens is more than a friend -he’s a father­ figure. The coach is a family man. He knows how to truly love his wife well. He knows

how to motivate, inspire, and discipline his children. He knows how to interact effectively with his fellow teachers and administrators. And he knows how to love and inspire young men like David to reach beyond what they think they are capable of! The coach sees his role as placing vital stepping stones for young men in their pilgrimage of life. He’s not afraid to confront when confrontation is called for. He doesn’t find it

difficult to "praise" when praise is so deserving. And he doesn’t find it out of his realm of

responsibility to speak words of wisdom to a David when wisdom is what a David needs to learn and discern.

Even Big Joe Hestert is pleased with the new direction of David’s life because it has

 opened a new market for him in both drugs and prostitution. He’s excited for David because of what David is going to do for him, though David is unaware that Big Joe has set his sights on the high school campus that David is becoming an important part of. It hasn’t hit David yet that a man would use his family to further his corrupt plans! Big Joe has already sensed that it’s not David that he can use to infiltrate the high school campus, but David’s questionable friends and teammates that have no desire to learn from Coach Stephens and his "style of life." In so many young people around David there are those "bent downward," there are those who major on experimentation, there are those willing to be used as "practice dummies" by others who have no desire to bless them but to curse them, there are those whose motivation is to "fit in" when that only means doing that which is illicit, destructive, stealing any virtue that might have existed from family, church, school, or civic influence.

But it was not only Coach Stephens who had a positive relationship with David; there

were some quality teachers and outstanding students who had not sold their souls to fit in to the downward spiral of moral and spiritual vacuums; they were bright and shining lights that touched David like the bright rays of sunlight warming, not his body but his soul! Godless governments and compromising school boards may have their "bans" – but the countenances and convictions and commitments of great souls cannot be

muzzled! Caring kids and adults can penetrate war zones and bring opportunity for a

confused "David" to find hope. Kind words can soothe crippled emotions. The "oil and wine" of good friends can touch wounded kids and see amazing healings. Standing for the "right" can bring inspiration and instruction and identity to one consumed by the "wrong" around him, with most kids like that feeling they caused it! Words of compassion and counsel and challenge to "rise above" are often the saving words of grace to sustain a troubled teenager like David -and there were many of those words of sustaining strength from many of his high school family.

Because of the horrific example of his former Dad in the matter of church relations, David was always skeptical of ‘church folk.’ He tried to keep them at a distance, but was being dramatically impacted by some teachers and classmates that caused him to ask regularly, "Do they have something I don’t know about? What makes them so distinctively different? Why does peace and blessing and joy seem to permeate them and not others?" David would find his answers in time!

 CHAPTER THREE DISCIPLINES BIRTHED

Though Dad Vestal had been a successful businessman, for some unknown reason, that success standard was not translated to home and family. Vestal was totally disinterested in "training up" his daughters and sons -he was more interested in using them. Mama Vera was empty of parental instincts, concerned only about her interests and her

satisfaction with her fleshly desires. Even in her second marriage, though she had custody

 of David, there was no motherly ambition to "raise him right." Her distance from her own son was emotionally and mentally damaging to David -worth, self-esteem, value, significance, purpose were absent from his young life. It was if he had the weight of the whole world pressing down upon him, and he never believed there was much hope for him. His time alone at his own basketball goal his freshman year in high school was

about the only sense of success he saw. But it was a start.

 Then there’s Big Joe Hestert, David’s step-father, drug pusher, pimp, and part-time farmer. And isn’t it amazing! At least in that area of farm interest there were vital lessons David would learn and needed to learn through Big Joe. Big Joe is one "tough hombre"! At least his soldiering produced a little bit of true manhood in him. He knew about discipline, hard work when he’d set his mind to it, the little things that would help him hopefully make some profit on his 150 acre farm. And he knew he had a farm hand whether David wanted to do it or not. From Big Joe’s perspective his "training" of David was strictly with himself in mind -not David.

Daniel Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines discipline as "to instruct or educate; to inform

the mind; to prepare by instructing in correct principles and habits; as to discipline youth for a profession, or future usefulness."

David’s step-father was not instructing or educating for David’s benefit; he wasn’t

informing David’s mind so it would be better equipped to succeed in life; correct principles and habits were far from Big Joe’s pattern of living; and he certainly didn’t have in mind David’s future profession or usefulness -he could care less!

Webster’s definition of "undisciplined" fits Big Joe’s lifestyle: "Not disciplined; not duly

exercised and taught; not subjected to regularity and order; raw; as undisciplined troops; undisciplined valor." For him there was no regularity and certainly no order! And to see him with your own eyes, "raw" is a perfect description!

But his desire to "use" David built into David’s life certain characteristics that would help him positively in future days. It was David’s responsibility, every day, to feed the chickens and gather the eggs; it was David’s responsibility, every day, to make sure the prized horses had plenty of hay and water in the barrels; and, every day, David had to make sure that around the immediate barn-yard, it was clean. And once a week he had to clean the chicken yard! Not his favorite responsibility!

Then there was spring and summer; and especially while he was still in school,

availability to help Big Joe, was limited to Saturdays and Sundays. There was no modern farm equipment for David to use, so when the time came to prepare the fields for the corn planting, David was trained to plow behind mules -row after row after row! David was never excited for those spring days to rise up! It was strenuous, tiring, demanding -but he had to do it. Then there was the planting of the corn seeds by hand and covering the

 seeds over with a shovel. And without that modem farm equipment David, with the other farmhands, used burlap bags with strong straps, and row by row by row handpicked each ear. When the bag was getting heavy, they took it to a farm wagon and emptied the bag, then back to it!

When it came time to cut and bail hay, again, no modem equipment like a tractor-just

those mules! And after the hay was cut, there was the raking, tossing onto a wagon, taken to the barn, and lifted to the second store for winter feed. Demanding? Certainly. But David actually loved the smell of new-mown hay, he loved the physical labor making him more fit for his love of basketball, and he loved the fact that he was learning and discerning things that would have life-long benefits for him. And especially he loved the creek in front of Big Joe’s house and the plunge into the one deep area of the creek with the other farm hands that helped with the harvesting! It was a blast!

But one of the most appreciated blessings for David was the main farm hand of Big Joe, a black who lived on the farm in a small shanty hut with his family, his wife and two small children, a man in his late thirties and a man who loved to sing his spirituals of faith and tell David of his "loving Savior." David had never, ever, been around a man who so radiated his faith with a loving countenance like Samuel Etheridge! Samuel was certainly a "spiritual seed" planter who really believed there would be a harvest of faith in David’s life someday. In fact, Samuel prayed for him daily. One of Samuel’s favorite people was Ethel Waters, the beautiful lady who sang so many times for Billy Graham’s crusades.

Her favorite song was "I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free; for His eye is

 on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!" And Samuel sang it frequently while working with David. Ethel used to also say, "Now, boys, God don’t sponsor junk. You’re special." Samuel would say to David, "Now, David, God don’t sponsor junk. You’re special to Him," although at this point David didn’t understand- he’d seldom heard the name of Jesus, "Who is He?" David would ask. But those seeds were being planted. With the other few hands Big Joe employed for spring or summer jobs, David got a huge education from those who’d rather play than work, lazy bums who needed a few dollars, procrastinators waiting around for David and Samuel to do the bulk of the work, and as a result, for David, pictures of choices for him were getting clearer about a good "work ethic." Samuel used to quote to David regularly that verse that says, "Now, David, if a man will not work, neither shall he eat!" David did like to eat.

And then there was Coach Stephens who was the right hand glove of inspiration about discipline just as Samuel had been the left hand glove of motivation concerning disciplines that David needed built into his life whether he knew it or not.

A neighbor of David’s, who had been a former basketball player himself, came to Coach

 Stephen’s office to tell him to keep his eye on a freshman named David Matthews whom he’d seen shooting the basketball on a garage-goal. "He’s young, Coach, but he has potential. He’s doing some things with the basketball in his hands that I’ve seen very few freshmen do."

Coach Stephens was very thankful because graduation was depleting some good players

from his team. He decided to follow up immediately without David’s knowledge and see if David was someone the coach should really invest some time in.

But as the coach surveyed and inquired about David, he knew it was for more than developing a good basketball player, but to be an important part in developing a godly young man.

The coach went to the home of David, his step-father and mother, to ask permission to help David with his basketball skills. It certainly was favorable to Big Joe because those dollar signs for drugs and prostitution flashed before his eyes. Mama Vera was pleased that someone really showed interest in her son. And David was ecstatic, overjoyed, thrilled that he really might be able to play basketball! The fall and winter active season for the team is over which leaves the spring of David’s freshman year quality time with Coach Stephens. And the disciplines begin!

When school finished at 3:00pm, David reported to the gym by 3:15, dressed with his

 gym clothes and new tennis shoes. He was so excited, but not fully aware of the physical demands getting ready to be put on him by Coach Stephens! His new coach is quality personified -body, soul, and spirit. He’s demanding but gentle; he’s insistent yet understanding of the learning curve for a new prospect; he’s an appraising coach but at the same time one who applauds good effort; he’s a stickler for team-play but a promoter of leadership by the development of individual skills and strengths; and his aim is for personal excellence, body, soul, and spirit!

Because it’s the spring Coach Stephens has a good eight weeks before final school testing

begins. It’s his desire to really work his new team hard getting ready for the next winter basketball season, and David Matthews is a new part he wants to work in.

And the disciplines begin, every afternoon for an hour and a half. David is so amazed. He’s known hard work on the farm, but the strenuous times on a gym floor are something new for him. Coach runs them and runs them and runs them! It’s his contention games can be won or lost in the fourth quarter dependent upon a team’s conditioning.

The drills are numerous, consistent, and beneficial -ball-handling, dribbling, two on one, three on one, defense, full-court-pressure, set plays, foul shooting, the three­ pointers, rebounding, full speed, slow-down game etc.

And Coach Stephens is thrilled by what he sees in young David Matthews, rough edges,

of course, but basic, fundamental skills that can make young David an important part of next winter’s team. David is already standing at six feet and one inch with more growing time ahead! Good hands, good foot maneuverability, good eyes, good instincts, and a great determination to succeed- he’s going to be a special addition on this young team! David can play guard or forward depending upon what other team members are able to contribute or not. He’s an excellent ‘fit’ to Coach Stephens’ philosophy of basketball. Scrimmages have been very important in the young team’s development, even if it’s only for twenty minutes each practice, but the coach knows his boys must get used to the floor as a team.

To end the spring practice Coach Stephens decided to hold an intra-squad game. And it

was an eye-opener for a lot of people who came to watch because young, sophomore, David Matthews scored 21 points! His team won by ten points.

CHAPTER FOUR

A DISAPPOINTING SUMMER

Summers are for vacation times, right? Summers are for play, relaxation, fun-times with friends, right? Summers are to be break-times from school, team, and home disciplines­ everybody just has fun, right?

It may be for some, but not for young David. His summer is heavy-duty work on Big Joe’s 150 acres! It was not a possible expectation -it was a requirement for young David. He really thought as he was growing up the summer disciplines on the farm would lessen. But they didn’t; they intensified. Big Joe put more and more demands on David’s time with very little time to practice his favorite sport.

But it was not only the work load that stressed David out- it was the major

disappointment of not being allowed to go to a one-week summer basketball camp with most of his team members. The University of North Carolina held these camps for young high school teams to get a first-hand look at potential prospects for college ball. Coach Stephens made the request, but Big Joe refused permission for David to attend. He needed David on the farm!

It was really interesting for David what the Coach had to say to him after this huge

disappointment. "David, summer camp at the university would really be healthy for you, But more important is your attitude toward Joe -not resentment, not bitterness, not anger, but ‘Yes Sir; whatever you’d have me to do, I’m willing.’" That was a total shock to David but he appreciated the assessment Coach Stephens made concerning David’s attitude.

At this time in David’s life he’s really made some good friends, quality young people

who are aware of "the higher calling." They are Christians, church-attenders faithfully and regularly. But there’s a problem-David’s mother has no desire for spiritual matters, and Big Joe is an unannounced atheist. When David requested permission to attend a church service with some friends, his parents said ‘no.’ When David asked, during the week, to go to a friend’s home for a mid-week Bible Study and prayer meeting, his parents said ‘no.’ Even invited to Coach Stephens’ home for a youth get­ together, his parents said ‘no.’

This is the summer before his sophomore year in high school. David really wants to build

 some strong ties with young friends who can show him more of a quality life than he’s found before now. He desires a "barn-sleep-over" with some of his teammates so they can get better acquainted, but especially to take them swimming in the creek! You know the answer.

Marian and Misty, his two older sisters, are not very far away from the Hestert farm.

Both are married now and doing very well. The two sisters married men who are not spiritual midgets, but men on ‘the grow’ with their Lord and in their businesses. Marian and Misty know how meaningful it would be for their husbands to build a relationship with David. But Big Joe has no interest in David spending time with ‘squares’; he has no interest in their family lives, their jobs, and especially not their churches. When David sought to bridge the opportunity to spend time with his sisters’ families it was a resounding ‘no.’

The summer has been moving very fast, but not moving is David’s opportunity to be stretched in many ways. ‘Disappointment’ is a word that leaves a bitter taste in him, and Coach Stephens has seen it.

At least the Hesterts will allow Coach Stephens to take David out to dinner one night a

week. And what a divine appointment that came to be for a struggling high-school-er who hadn’t ‘found’ himself yet. He was so encouraged by his coach every time they got together. David could ask his coach anything and the coach would not be surprised or upset or disappointed, whatever David asked, with a young man who had no home guidance. Coach gave David advice that was so sound, so sure, so strengthening, so stabilizing. It was words right out of heaven itself- and someday David would know where it came from. Sound words from a loving friend are like a soothing ointment on sore wounds of the soul. A substitute father-image has been the salvation of many young men who wondered growing up if anybody cared -and then, here comes "Coach!"

And then, what a disappointment! David asked Coach Stephens about dating girls, and the coach’s response was totally unexpected: "David, my teen-agers don’t date. They have no desire to date at this point in their maturing process because they clearly understand how "glands" are not the determining factor of a healthy dating relationship. Our kids, with our encouragement, are waiting to much later to look for their mate, not their playmate!" Disappointment? To a degree because David hungered for

companionship, relationship, someone who cared, someone who would validate his worth and value and importance to the world he was so much a part of. Disappointment? David wondered what it would be like to hear someone say to him, "I love you. Yes, David, you are loveable!" He’d never heard his Dad say, "I love you;" he’d never heard his mother say, "I love you." He’d never had a friend who said to him, "David, you’re my brother­ and I love you." But he was beginning to understand, through his clouds of uncertainty, "There is a coach who loves me, whether he tells me or not. I know it!"

Disappointment? He thought he ought to have a car, even at just fifteen years of age. His parents could lie about one year. But it didn’t happen -David was not the owner of even his own ‘junk-heap.’ He would have to do riding on the back of Big Joe’s motorcycle to get to school or back home after school was out.

Disappointment? Projections are his high school basketball team will be low-man on the

totem-pole of district play because Coach Stephen’s team had been so depleted. That didn’t sit well with David because of a burning attitude within himself to succeed, to be a winner, to be the best. He really wanted to help build a strong team.

David translated discouragement into opportunity and potential to be more than anyone

thought he or Coach Stephen’s team could be. Discouragement was David’s door-opener to success. He would not settle for less!

CHAPTER FIVE

A SUCCESSFUL FALL, SCHOLASTICS AND SPORTS

What an absolute delight to David that the summer was over and his ‘fall’ had begun! He was thrilled! No more plowing, no more baling, no more picking ears of corn, no more dirt and grime from field labor. Sweat was no problem for him when it came from the basketball court in fall practice. He loved it. But sweat in the farm fields was not ‘sweat equity’ for David’s young mind. There was something instilled within David that he was ordained for success, and he would not settle for less than that.

 Coach Stephens confirmed it for David as they looked to the fall season of his sophomore year. Coach Stephens had checked the records, evaluated the psychological profiles, witnessed a unique work ethic, and had resolved within his own heart that David had

been set aside, by God, for greatness.

As they met together with the school counselor, Coach Stephens felt it to be very important that they pray, even about David’s six classes and his basketball practice session. They did and the counselor was not opposed to inviting God in to the planning of David’s fall schedule. It was an awesome time for David-he was beginning to sense that there were those who were genuinely concerned about his welfare, body, soul, and spirit. This wasn’t ‘ego’ pump time -this was a precious time of assurance that God Himself was in on what David was to be about in his earthly life. It was a spiritual stroke of genius for David -he didn’t become arrogant, he was humbled.

His schedule was planned with college in mind. Coach Stephens genuinely felt David would be one of the few he coached who could go to college with the potential of even the NBA! That schedule included mostly college preparatory courses even as a sophomore. David was pleased because he loved being challenged and stretched. Then, of course, there was after-school basketball practice that would take David up to about 5pm when Big Joe would take him home.

Of course with college preparation in mind, David was heavy in his schedule on math and

science classes. That was no problem for him; for David, the tougher the better. He loved being challenged. And then there was English, history, a foreign language with Spanish his choice. He couldn’t wait for the first day at school -he was so excited, because he also knew fall basketball practice was just around the corner.

 It amazed Coach Stephens and his high school counselor that David was so focused, so eager, so determined to make this school year his best ever. David really didn’t know what his enthusiasm was all about but he was beginning to grasp that "God?" meant him to be more than he ever thought he could. A fabric of faith was being sewn into David’s life though as yet the Gospel of Redemption had not been fully explained.

David, in his young years, had been a part of two dysfunctional families, and there were

very few outsiders who really took the time to invest themselves in David’s life. But the few who did were making a profound difference in David concerning ‘life purpose.’

One month of the fall schedule has already past; and now, October 1, David is so thrilled

that basketball practice has started. His grades are excellent, his study habits far beyond most of his classmates, and his excitement about basketball practice beginning, sheer delight.

David’s math and science teachers had told Coach Stephens they would keep him posted as to David’s progress -and they raved about his maturity on the learning curve. He is doing so well that his teachers call on David to assist the strugglers which he is always happy to do. He is truly a friend’s friend. Even as young as he is David loves to help others and will either get to school early, miss his lunch break, or meet someone after practice. His compassion for others calls for unselfish commitment to help those who need it.

And then it’s fall basketball -and David is ready for the fun times to begin. He practices as if he’s playing for an Olympic ‘gold medal.’ His enthusiasm for the game calls out for the best, even in the three seniors on the team. The younger players are drawn to him like a magnet. And Coach Stephens is thrilled. He told one of his close friends that David Matthews, already, was probably the best basketball player he’d ever coached. Coach didn’t know for sure what God’s ‘life plan’ for David was, but he knew his young player would impact many lives.

Within the first two weeks of fall practice it was Coach Stephens’ intent to have a

 scrimmage with a team from another community close by. In fact the coaches agreed to play at the other school in less than two weeks from their first scrimmage. The visitors were not scheduled to be the State Champions, but Coach Stephens knew that team would give anybody a run for their money. He knew it would be a good test for his youngsters.

In their first meeting David and his team kept it close but lost that scrimmage by ten

points. David scored sixteen points in that first scrimmage. Second-time around there was a dramatic turn-around. Coach Stephens saw his team blossom faster than any team he’d ever coached. They won by twenty-two points, and David scored eighteen points in a very strong effort -scoring, rebounding, defense -he showed he was ready for a good year.

After that unofficial win Coach Stephens sat the team down to temper their enthusiasm

and put it in balance concerning the rest of the things they were to be majoring on. He said: "I couldn’t be prouder than I am right now. Your play was excellent. But one thing I must remind you of- basketball is temporary, your studies are for the long haul. And I want you to know that I am in touch weekly with your counselors, and if I see or hear of any one of you slacking off on your studies, the bench will be a good place for you to catch up. Do you understand what I’m saying? Your studies and grades are more important than how many games we win this late fall and winter. Agreed?"

The team knew what Coach was saying to them. They received his encouragement to be a

better student than basketball player! With that intent the coach with the help of counselors enlisted top students in their studies to assist his players in doing well with their studies. One night a week, after practice, the top students were present to give the team one hour of their time to help them smooth out any rough areas in the players’ studies. And for a few, it was extremely helpful, but for David? He was helping the top students!

Basketball kicked off after Thanksgiving and how excited Coach Stephens and his young

team was. They knew they had about three weeks, playing twice a week, and then the Christmas -New Year’s tournament, in preparation for three more intense months of play. Coach Stephens’ team won the tournament with four straight wins, but the last finals’ game went into overtime over the projected district and regional favorite. And it

was David Matthews who hit a long jump-shot at the buzzer to win it for his team. The school, the crowd at the game, the city went into orbit celebrating one of Coach Stephens’ biggest wins ever.

The coach understood clearly how big this win was for the team and the school, but as a new week began and school had re-started, Coach called in the counselors for an evaluation of his team’s grades. His starters had far succeeded his expectations, but of the remaining seven on the team, two were very low.

As Coach Stephens met with the two with low grades, all evaluations had been completed. He let the two team members know how vital they were to the team’s success or failure. He had to know, "Are you guys on board for our team’s success on and off the court? Are you willing to pay the price to pull up your grades while, at the same time,

we’re going through our toughest basketball schedule ever? Do I need to call your parents

in or should I look for two on the junior varsity to take your place?"

It was the shock therapy that these two team members needed. They were very apologetic and even asked for permission to speak to the whole team before practice started. And with their apology the team rallied around to guarantee next report date would see these two succeeding!

Team sports is often seen about what team members do on the court or on the field, but

not for Coach Stephens. It was his philosophy that to be a good coach you majored on both the court and the classroom. His philosophy was beginning to pay major dividends! He was far more interested in building character in his players than good statistics on the court. And the one thing he was so thankful for was a young man like David Matthews who exuded such confidence, commitment, and self-control on and off the court. What David did in the locker-room was as important to Coach Stephens as what David did on the court.

CHAPTER SIX

NEW YEAR’S NIGHTMARE

 There was a New Year’s party David was permitted to go to because Big Joe and David’s mother had planned a party of their own. It was not what David had hoped for because he knew Big Joe’s friends, and David did not want to be around. The ‘fall’ experience for David had been excellent, and the friends he had made were of a totally different variety than Big Joe and Vera. At least in David’s circle of friends it was not "anything goes,"

but a circle of friends that majored on moral and spiritual excellence, a strange outlook in the ‘post-modern’ world especially among youth with indifferent parents.

David informed his mother where he would be and gave her the phone number of the parents hosting the teen party. He informed his mother he’d be home a little after midnight, but that he would not be coming into the house, he was planning on sleeping in the barn. He had no desire to be around the crowd that would be in their home probably until daybreak. It was OK with Vera.

Big Joe’s crowd was made up of his ‘business associates’ in the drug and prostitute arena

plus the ‘rough and tumble crowd’ from around the county and neighboring counties. It was really a sad gathering of a very successful criminal element of East Tennessee, including a mayor of a neighboring city who called a lot of the shots in the illegal drug trade. He was a ‘big hitter!’ He and Big Joe had run together for a very long time, and the two of them were basically the ‘mob bosses.’ Nothing illegal happened in their areas that did not have their stamps of approval plus a ‘cut.’

David’s party is in the home of the parents of one of the juniors on the basketball team.

They were great parents that were examples to other parents plus an inspiration to their own son, his friends, and his teammates. The food, of course, was what the growing teenagers really enjoyed, and the McAllen family did it up right. There was just about anything the teenagers desired and loved to eat. They all ended up stuffed to the nth degree.

Games were also fully available, whether a pool table in the basement area to volleyball

in the back yard, or different card games the kids were into.

 But what amazed young David was what took place between 11pm and midnight. All the chaperones, some parents, and the teenagers gathered in the big living room of this plush home, and under the direction of a local Youth Minister, they began to sing their favorite Christian songs, choruses, and hymns. David had never been a part of anything so moving, so enriching, as hearing teenagers sing from their hearts testimonies of faith. Then there were those pre-arranged to share what Christ Jesus meant to them. Several, with tears running down their cheeks, thanked the Lord God for the saving grace

extended to them. David didn’t have a clue of what they were talking about, but it was

recorded in the deeper recesses of his brain!

 Oh, but then this house full of people began to "pray in the New Year!" They were giving God His rightful place in their hearts and homes; they were thanking Him for past blessings and future blessings; they were praying for one another and for their own families; they were praying for the New Year to be a year of spiritual breakthrough in their community and high school; they were praying for ‘the lost’ or ‘unsaved;’ they were praying for the teachers and coaches to be a godly witness wherever they walked.

And all David could say was, "What are these people all about?" David knew about ‘plowed fields’ but he knew nothing about the plowed field of his heart. And the spiritual plow was going deep into David’s heart getting his field ready for the planting of spiritual seeds. A spiritual harvest was on the horizon in David’s life.

David’s seeing in the New Year was not the nightmare but a celebration. And it’s so amazing that this young man, on one hand, can experience a dynamic, God-honoring time, while not far away, in fact in his own home, the Nightmare begins. Approximately forty people were anticipated to be a part of the Hesterts’ New Year’s party. Approximately half the group was married and the other half were just dating partners, playmates, shared social junkies, and a few were picked up from the local bar before joining the house party.

It started rough and it stayed rough. Drinks were like the bursting of a dam and the

 following flood. Illegal drugs were available upon request. Gambling was big on the dining room table with thousands of dollars flowing on any hand. The bedrooms of the Hesterts had "Do Not Enter" signs posted when a man could sneak a playmate away for the satisfying of his personal drives for illicit sex. Certainly this was not the place or events David Matthews should enter.

At about 12:45a.m. of New Year’s morning, David was dropped off near the barn and away from his family’s home. He didn’t want the friends who brought him home to lmow anything about what was going on at his family’s party.

But as he entered the barn he knew this might not be a restful night for him even though

he’d always loved sleeping in the hay. David kept two blankets rolled up by hay’s edge to keep him warm. He tried to lie down, close his eyes, go to sleep, but the noise from his house was loud, scary, and pain-filled. He knew, "Somebody is going to get hurt

tonight."

David did finally drop off to sleep, but it didn’t last long because all of a sudden he heard what seemed to him to be an explosion -glass breaking, doors shattering, curse words like drunken sailors but these folks are just rebels to the core, screaming from women, and then a gun shot. And David was chilled to the bones with fear. He didn’t know what to do but to keep quiet and let the mayhem cease!

He heard cars screeching off wildly from his folks’ driveway- and then there was

 silence, total silence, and in pitch-black darkness he felt so afraid and so alone. He didn’t move for hours, and of course, could not sleep. He waited and waited and waited -then finally at daybreak David decided to go to the house and check on his mother and Big Joe.

He could not believe what he saw as he entered the rear door to the kitchen. Food was

scattered everywhere from shattered platters and plates. Drink glasses, he knew, must have been used to toss as weapons. The swinging door to the kitchen had been broken off its hinges, windows were shattered by someone tossing chairs through them, beds were broken, books became ammunition, liquor and beer bottles must have been like grenades, and there was blood everywhere!

David was so shaken. Then as he paused, he thought, "Where’s my mother, and where is

Big Joe?" He went to the only bedroom he hadn’t checked, and there he found Big Joe on the bed totally out of it either from drugs or liquor or both. David could not rouse him. He wasn’t sure what to do, then finally decided to ride his old bike to the neighbors and call Coach Stephens. He would have been surprised if the neighbors had not heard what he

heard! Surprisingly, they only were awakened by cars blowing horns as they sped past their home.

And of course the coach was more than willing to come to David’s aid. He was always

available to his boys, whatever they encountered on their journeys. As Coach Stephens arrived at David’s home, David met him out front because he wanted to explain to Coach what he’d found.

This was not an easy time for David; he was ashamed; he was fearful; he was so unsure

about what to do. The coach was an adult who couldn’t be shocked by anything David would tell him or show him. Over the years of his coaching career, he’d been around this mountain a number of times. He’d seen the best-he’d seen the worst.

David tried as best he could to explain the last five or six hours to the coach, and then, led him into the home through the shattered front door. They went directly to the bedroom where Big Joe was still passed out. Coach told David to wet a towel with cold water and bring it to him.

As the coach covered Big Joe with the wet towel and rubbed it around his head, Big Joe

began to arouse. David began to yell at Big Joe, "Where’s my Mom? What happened to my Mom?" And Big Joe said, "She went home with a friend who had been beaten up by her husband for trying to make out with a stranger!" At least David was relieved that his mother was alive!

 CHAPTER SEVEN INTERVENTION TIME

In the modem days of the twenty-first century, television audiences are able to watch a show that does "Horne Makeovers," which relates to the old houses that someone longs

to see made new. But for several thousands of years there are those who major on "Horne Makeovers of the Heart and Spiritual Health of families." This has being going on behind the scenes for centuries because of a genuine love of the faithful for the fallen.

 Coach Stephens said to Big Joe, "Joe, I’m not here to embarrass you but to embrace you; I’m not here to shame you, but to share with you, "There’s a better way of living;" I’m not here to single you out and come down on you harshly, I’m here to say I am available to you, to Vera, and to David, to help your family be all God wants you to be."

Big Joe responded, "Coach, I’m glad you’re here, and especially for David’s sake. And David, I’m sorry for what you’ve had to be a part of the last few hours. Things just got out of hand and violent men did violent things in our house. I hope it never happens again."

At this point all David wants to know is name and address of where his mother is located.

 Big Joe told him, and David asked the coach if the two of them could go find her. They left Big Joe to try and start the clean-up so they could learn if David’s mother was OK. She was not "fine as wine in the surnrne1tirne," but she was glad to see David and Coach Stephens. She also was very apologetic but sadly without the ring of sincerity. Traveling back home she said to David, "I’ll try to see this never happens again in your young life!" As they arrived home Big Joe was sitting in the swing on the front porch. He was not a "happy camper;" what happened in his house the last few hours was not anything he expected. It was not that he was disillusioned about his friends or what went on, but upset that they just trashed his house!

As the four sat together , David was the first to speak: "I’ve heard your home is supposed

to be a haven but you all allowed it to become a hell-hole. I’m ashamed of what I know went on in this place the last few hours. What am I supposed to do, give you my OK that everything is alright? It’s not alright, and I don’t know that I can stay here."

Coach Stephens interrupts David to say, "Joe, you and Vera do understand why David is

upset, don’t you?"

Vera responded quickly because she’d learned the trade of getting along even if you had to fake it! "Coach Stephens, Joe and I are so sorry you had to be here on New Year’s day when you could be with your family. I know it means a lot to David to have you here. And Big Joe and I will try to see something like this never happens again."

"Yeah, Coach, Vera and I hate the party got out of hand; we’ll do better next time." That

was Joe saying, "Things might change -but only a little bit."

David responded, "A little bit? Is that all you can say? Our home is filthy because of what went on here last night. And what went on in my bedroom? It looks like trash was

dumped from a dumpster!" His mother said, "David, I’m sorry; I’ll clean it up."

Coach Stephens stepped in "where angels fear to tread!" "Joe, Vera, I’ve been around for a long time. I’ve witnessed a lot of families with disappointment, heartache, frustration, doubts and fears, uncertainties as to the next step. And I want to be available to the whole family. What I’d like to suggest is a ‘cooling-off period,’ maybe a clean-up time, a rest

 for a day or two, and then let me come back with two friends, one for you, Joe, one, for you, Vera, and one for David -and let’s put it all on the table and see if we can help each other. David needs to get this behind him, not only for the winter push of basketball but his school grades also. And Vera, as a mother, I know you want what will help David through this difficult time. Joe, would you agree for me and two friends to come to your home Wednesday night?" Joe agreed- reluctantly.

David walked Coach Stephens to his car, so appreciative of what Coach had done. He couldn’t thank his coach enough. And the one thing Coach wanted to leave with David was, that out of the worst of circumstances, some good can come. He told David, "Please, David, don’t be angry with Joe and Vera. Don’t take the offensive against them. Let’s let the next two days "cool" them and yourself. It’s not going to accomplish anything to intensify the war that seems to be raging. I just want you to know that I’m praying for the "peace that passes all understanding" to wrap itself around the Hesterts and you."

David was so appreciative of that and promised Coach he would zip his lips! He said,

"Coach, I cannot tell you how thankful I am that Joe agreed to meet Wednesday night. And I believe it will be a healthy time for all."

Coach Stephens left prayerfully in his heart for David and the Hesterts. He longed for

divine guidance, and as he headed home his automobile became a prayer altar. It was his specific request, "Lord Jesus, who is it I should involve in this intervention?" And without hesitation the Lord impressed upon his mind and heart Richard and Patty

 Sullivan. Richard owned the local building materials and hardware store and Patty was an elementary school teacher. Both were about the same age of Joe and Vera. Their hearts were ministry -oriented with great compassion for the troubled. In fact their home church had developed a ministry to troubled families and both Richard and Patty were heavily involved. When Coach Stephens called them after he arrived home they were more than willing to be a part. Their church family had an intercessory prayer ministry and they gladly contacted that team without names being involved but were encouraged to pray about a "home and family intervention" scheduled Wednesday night.

It also tells you a lot about the Stephens family also. When he arrived home his wife, two sons, and a daughter were having a late breakfast. They were anxious to know what had been going on with their husband and father. And though he didn’t go into graphic detail, he told them enough that they were as vitally concerned as the Sullivans. Around the breakfast table they had an old-fashioned prayer meeting, confident in their hearts that God is still "the God who answers prayers."

At the Hestert home it’s walking on pins and needles. Nobody is happy or celebrating the

New Year. Mom Vera wanted to fix her boys some breakfast, but with what? Then she explodes, "Why did we allow this white trash into our home? How could we have ever promoted something so vile? Joe, is this what you want our home to be like from now on because if you do, David and I are out of here!" That’s Mom hoping to make a few points with David when in her heart she was in her radical element, just frustrated at the mess she’s got to clean up!

Then Big Joe is hot! "These aren’t just my friends -you invited most of them. And so,

they made a mess! I’ve seen worse. At least no one is dead! Some of these were my business partners and they will be back, but I’ll just carry a bigger stick if have to." David remembered Coach’s words and just "cooled his jets!" More than that, without a word, David began in the kitchen with all the broken glasses, dishes, and platters and

began to clean things up. It took about an hour with brush and broom to clean the floor and counter-tops and, yes, wash what few dishes were remaining, unbroken.

Vera and Joe began to assess the damage in the other parts of the house with Joe knowing he must get the windows and doors repaired before it turns really cold. New Year’s Day was not going to be an easy time to get new glass, doors, and hinges, but maybe he could call in a few favors by using businessmen who used his services! Vera wanted the beds and bathrooms cleaned, so she started her mammoth project. Within seven or eight hours, they finally felt like they may be able to stay in their own home on New Year’s Night. As they came to the end of the day, that nightmarish time period, especially for David, they sat down together in the living room, subdued but not quiet. And surprisingly, Joe was

the first to speak. "David, I really want to thank you for your attitude about all this. I have to tell you, as a young man your age, I would not have done what you did today. I would have said, ‘You made the mess-you clean it up.’ I want to thank you."

Here comes Vera, "Joe, he’s my son. I’ve really sought to raise him up right. David is a good boy." (Here we go, Mom trying for a few points with her ‘sweet boy.’ Help us, Jesus!)

Then David calmly said, "It will be good to have Coach Stephens and his two friends to

come Wednesday night and give us a hand. The family that says that it has truly "arrived" is probably the family who needs help the most. But we haven’t arrived and we do need help."

And Big Joe said, "David, I will welcome them into our home. You won’t be ashamed." David responded," Big Joe, I really am thankful for your attitude. It says a lot about what is going on within you."

Of course, from Big Joe’s perspective it was a business move, an opportunity to learn

about expanding his frontier of involvement in the school and county with his ‘trade.’ Early afternoon Coach Stephens called Joe at home. "Joe, Richard Sullivan owns the local building materials store and hardware in the city. He and his wife, Patty, have agreed to come Wednesday night with me. But Richard says if you need anything today that he will go and open his store for you."

"Coach, that means a lot, but we’ve got so much clean-up to do, tell him I’ll come by tomorrow. I’ll just use card-board over the broken windows. Thanks."

It’s now Wednesday night, 7pm, and Coach Stephens and the Sullivans arrive at Joe and

Vera Hestert’s home with a great determination to be vessels through which God Himself reaches out.

After the introductions Coach Stephens asks if he might begin with a word of prayer. Big

Joe was agreeable. "Lord Jesus, we come into this home tonight in Your name. It’s our desire to bring Joe, Vera, and David into Your presence. Lord, the three of us are not healers, but You are the great Healer; we’re not their saviors, You are the gracious Savior and Lord. We bow before You tonight and ask You to wrap this family up in Your great arms of love and mercy. Amen."

"I think that Richard, Patty, and I would like to begin on an individual basis. Would that

be OK with you? Richard, how about you and David go to the kitchen? Patty, you and Vera go to a bedroom, and Joe and I will stay right here." Agreeable to all.

As Coach and Joe settled in to the living room, it was surprising for Joe to ask to speak

first. He was very bold as always saying to Coach Stephens, "I’m glad you came with the Stephens tonight, Coach, and especially for David’s sake. But one thing I want you to

understand, I’m not interested in this Jesus stuff, never have been and never will be. I can make it on my own. But you are welcome to speak about what you think Vera and I need to hear in order to help David."

 Coach Stephens wasn’t shocked or surprised or upset about Joe’s attitude. In fact he anticipated it. "Joe, the Sullivans and I are here for family intervention. We’re here to make ourselves available to the three of you. We’re here to hear you, help you, hold you, and lift you up wherever you need to be lifted to. I am not embarrassed to say to you that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. If He were not that to me I doubt I would be here tonight. The world attitude is, ‘every man on his own, his way, or the highway.’ But I believe we’re a fabric being sewn together and we need each other. Someday you’ll know how valuable you are to God, because if you were the only man who ever lived, what Jesus did at the Cross 2000 years ago, He did just for you alone. My question to you

• tonight is, how can I genuinely help you and Vera and David? I know this is a tough

time; there’s a big fracture in your relationship, and healing is needed."

Joe responded, "I believe that tonight about all we can say to one another is, "I’m sorry." Then maybe we can begin to better our family relationship." Coach replied, "I believe that’s a good beginning. Let me pray for you again." And he did.

Patty and Vera are in the master bedroom and quickly Vera takes the reins, "Patty, Joe and I are glad you all are here, and especially for David’s sake. I hope you understand that I’ve ALWAYS been a Christian and church-goer until I married Joe. But his influence has not been good for me or David. I let him pull me down. But I want to do better, I want to be a good mother, and I want to be an example."

And Patty is thinking to herself, "Then what about the first marriage and the second marriage -the fractured relationship, the poor witness. What really has your ‘faith’ done for you?" But she didn’t!

"Vera, this is intervention time for the specific purpose of helping you and Joe and David, but I must tell you there can be no intervening in family ruptures without the Lord’s help. You must open up the door of your heart wide, repent, and give Jesus His rightful place in your heart and home." And of course Vera responds quickly, "That’s what I want," when she has no intention of such a thing!

This is Richard’s first time to sit down with David also, but he had met him through school functions and basketball. He’s excited about David. And he knows enough about David’s background to settle on "plowing the field, planting, watering, and hopefully getting the harvest of his soul in time." But David also takes the initiative:

 "Mr. Sullivan, I know you haven’t known me very long, but this is my mother’s second marriage. My father was a successful banker, church leader, strong civic supporter, but a devil in disguise. I had to be in church with him and Mom but never listened. If what they had was real, I didn’t want it! And I’m not sure now except for the fact that the few years here has cracked the door a little bit. I see a lot that I don’t understand and can’t explain, but I know you’re a part of something different. Be patient with me."

Richard responded, "David, I know it’s been tough for you growing up. This has not been

God’s choice for you in family lifestyle, but you and your family, like mine and Coach Stephens, we were all a part of the fabric of fallen family humanity. We all were in on the fall in the Garden with Adam and Eve. We took on the curse, not the blessing. But God is our Rescuer in Christ at the Cross."

David interrupted, "Can we move on to where we are tonight? How do I relate to Joe and my mother in this horrible nightmare?"

Richard does not hesitate: "David, on the Cross of Christ, He looked down on those who

abused Him, accused Him, cursed Him, spat upon Him, stripped Him naked, and helped to crucify Him, and said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And I say to you, David, that you must learn to walk in forgiveness right now. Unforgiveness is like personal suicide -it will get you nowhere but dead! Forgive Joe and forgive your mother."

As the six re-assembled in the living room, in spite of all, it was a very moving time.

David took the lead and asked for Joe and his mother’s forgiveness for becoming so angry with them. He cried, not as a little baby, but a broken-hearted son- and it genuinely moved Joe and Vera.

There was a hugging-one-another time, and Coach and the Sullivans knew it was time

for them to leave.

 CHAPTER EIGHT BASKETBALL HEAVEN

 January and February are the months of preparation for "March Madness" even in high school basketball! It is so intense because every school, coach, and team want to make it to the top-tier championship game. Coach Stephens is no different, and the players know when that first winter practice begins it’s going to be ‘serious,’ very serious. It is his responsibility and personal desire to get the most out of his players taking them to the highest rung of their potential. He wants them well-trained, skilled in all areas of basketball, physically fit for the full four quarters and beyond, a team welded together as a unit that can play with anybody across their State. He knows he lost a few key seniors through graduation and that the new group coming in must meld quickly. He saw through December great potential from this group, and, of course, he’s really high on the sophomore, David Matthews.

Only three days of practice in the New Year and they take on last year’s District

Champions that went on only to lose in the Regional Finals. This is going to be a big test for this year’s team, but Coach believes they are ready for the challenge.

Practice majors on the picks, the rolls, the fast-breaks, and strong ‘in your face’ defense. He knows his team must score and score often, yet at the same time hold his opponent below their season average. And again, he majors on sprints after sprints after sprints because his team must be in better shape than their opponents.

At the end of every practice, before showering, the team must each do 100 foul shots with

a teammate spotting under the basket to hopefully help point out any mistake in a missed shot. He wants them helping one another.

It’s Friday night and the gym is jam-packed! People are as close to the out-of-bounds line the referees will allow them to sit. It’s a boisterous crowd as the teams come to tip­ off!

And Coach Stephens planned a pick and roll on the tip-off because he knew his center

could out-jump and put the ball where he wanted it. And quickly the Stephens crowd is up on the Browder crowd. The team is sharp, quick, on the money with their shots, and by halftime are up by ten.

But that’s not the way it will stay. Quickly Coach Browder made some major changes in

 defense and by midway of the second half has his strong team even. With a vital timeout Coach Stephens makes his own adjustments and shifts the major scoring to David. His teammates know he’s strong on the three-point, strong on driving the middle and picking up fouls, and soon the local team is back on top by ten as David picked up four three­ pointers and four points on fouls -16 points in the last ten minutes. Great win to start the New Year!

Before the Christmas break, Coach Stephens’ team, Altoona High of Altoona, Tennessee, were 4and 2 in the first three weeks, losing to a AAA division school by 15 points and a AA division school from another district by 11 points. Then they won 4 straight in the Christmas -New Year’s Tournament to go 8 and 2 for the new beginning. They win the first game of the New Year and go to 9 and 2. The local paper is ecstatic as they promote "maybe Coach Stephens’ best team ever!"

But the Coach has a good philosophy -he tells his team members to stay away from news articles until after the season is over. "Let your Mama cut out clippings and save them for you to read when the season is over." He didn’t want them influenced with prideful words or words of condemnation. They were to focus on the Coach and team alone!

Over January they go, in the last four weeks, 6 and 2, with an overall record of 15 and 4.

Their two losses were again to AAA teams but not by much. In February they had two weeks of play before the District Tournament and they won all four AA games to go 19 and 4 for the season.

David Matthews was such an integral part of the success of the team. He’s going into the District with an 18 point average with one big game of 28 points!

It’s good that this year’s district play is in Altoona. And they have a good seed and will

have to play only three games to go all the way through. And they do with no pressure at all -it was a breeze through to regional play where it will be much tougher. Three of Coach Stephens’ players make All-District including David!

They get another good break with a good seeding in the regional tournament and have a huge game the second night of the tournament. They must play Klinton High who only lost their district finals by one point to probably the best team in both districts. It was a ‘barn-burner’ with Altoona High winning 82 to 80 after David Matthews stole the ball

for a lay-up as the buzzer sounded- a great, great win! Their next two games are just as tough but Altoona wins the regional tournament and is headed to State next week!

The city of Altoona is so thrilled with this young team. This may be the year for their first

 State title. They go to Nashville and Vanderbilt University gym to take on a team from Memphis the first night of the tournament-Memphis Tech High School! The gym is packed -Altoona must have uprooted the whole city and traveled to Nashville. This is their year.

But sadly they are shocked in defeat by the Memphis team by 20 points! Now they

wonder about next year. Will they improve? Will they find another young David Matthews? Will their record be better than this year’s record?

Coach Stephens is not disappointed. Of course he would have loved to go deeper in the State tournament than they did, but he is pleased with this year’s team -and he knows the junior varsity will help next year and there is one or two freshmen who may blossom. He’s ready for a break, and then spring practice!

David was disappointed in their State play, but he knew this was a good year for Altoona

High and for himself. He rang up both District and Regional honors! He cannot wait for next year, he is so excited about his basketball future!

CHAPTER NINE

BIG JOE’S TROUBLES -WINTER AND SPRING

Big Joe’s troubles are so far beyond what happened New Year’s Eve in his home. That was certainly a ‘nightmare,’ but Joe’s troubles had been mounting behind the scenes by poor ‘business practices’ and poor oversight. He is in debt enormously and knows that something must be done to help him get out of this bind.

Joe’s "friends" aren’t about to help because if he fails that opens the door for more business for themselves! Even his close friend, mayor of another city, refuses to help Joe out of his financial crunch because he considers Joe to be a very poor credit risk. He’s not about to get in the middle of Joe’s "woes."

There was a strong consideration by Joe to put his prized horses out on the market for sale, but it’s a down market at this particular time and Joe cannot afford to take a big hit or loss on his horses. He’s got to hold onto them at least until the market turns upward again.

Joe even considered down-sizing both his prostitution ring and drug ring, but that only

makes the noose tighter around his neck. That is not an option. Plus the guys and girls that have worked for him have stood by him in other down times and he has no desire to cut the strings with his business associates.

Then Big Joe decided to call together his inner circle and lay everything on the table. He wants to pick their brains about how and how quickly he can solve his financial crunch. One said, "Joe, we’ve done it before and we can do it again -what about robbing a few banks? Will that be a good option? We have some experience."

But Joe says, "No go! We were younger, we had good training, and we had some success. But the problem is, a slip-up, and we all face 25 years or more in the penitentiary. I say, "No."

One of the other ‘hoods’ said, "It’s possible we could put together a strategy for kidnapping and a hefty ransom. We’ve got loads of wealthy East Tennesseans who would pay a small fortune to get a son or daughter back. And we have the caves around East Tennessee, Alabama, or Georgia; we could stash someone away unnoticed for a very

long time if necessary." And that at least caught Joe’s attention. But he needed time to work through it.

Vera is not aware of the financial predicament that Joe is in right now, but Joe knows she

must be brought into the loop. He’s not concerned about her reaction- she loves money and will do whatever is necessary to keep it flowing. Remember? "Whatever it takes, I want a pleasurable time in spending your money, Joe!" She likes the better things of life and doesn’t care what it takes to get whatever she wants! So Joe decided to set a time and bring Vera into this loop of strategy about financial recovery.

What a shock to Vera! She thought she’d arrived on ‘easy street’ with Joe because the

money flowed so freely before they married and right after their wedding. Vera never dreamed what signing a $400,000 bank note might mean to her personally. And she certainly never anticipated that the money Joe had allowed to slip through his fingers would come back to haunt her. Joe is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, the cash

flow has shrunk dramatically, there’s the big bank note on the new barn, and pressure is mounting from the Columbian drug cartel that has carried Joe’s indebtedness for months and months!

 Joe wants to be as gentle as possible with Vera and not over-sell the dilemma he’s now facing, but he’s got to have her on his side without hesitation. She came into their marriage with at least a half of a million dollars from her divorce settlement from Mr. Matthews, the banker. And she has held on to it with a stout hold. Maybe, just maybe, he can persuade her to release those funds and at least get him half-way home of his debt. But Joe is not surprised, shocked, or alarmed -Vera isn’t using her funds to cover his poor practices! That will never happen. She trusts herself to manage her own money and Joe will not get one dime from her. Vera is making certain she and David have something to "bank" on if the Hestert marriage doesn’t make it.

Joe has no desire to bridge with her what some of his friends suggested concerning a

bank robbery or a kidnapping because Vera never knew the depth of Joe’s criminality from the past although she was fully aware of the prostitution and drugs. That part didn’t seem to be a problem with Vera.

 Then they turned to the farm itself and possibly selling off those beautiful Tennessee Walking horses valued and insured for more than a million dollars. Joe has to tell her of the down market on horse prices right now and rules that out of bounds for consideration. They discuss selling acreage off the farm and at least stop the ‘blood flow’. But Joe says, "We’d never get the value for what it’s worth now, plus, with the $400,000 mortgage on the new barn, most folks will run from it as fast as possible!"

The one conclusion they both realize, "We have a major problem!" I guess you would

 call it that if you are about $800,000 in the red! And, of course, Big Joe just can’t understand how it happened! He knows he has a few months before the ‘big squeeze’ comes, and he cannot postpone figuring out how to solve his problem. Vera said to Joe, "Will you please keep me in the loop and please tell me if those you owe start to come against you? I don’t want any more surprises." Then, of course, she began to reflect upon the possibility that this criminal element Joe is involved in could come against her or David or both. Now, she’s really on edge!

Sleepless nights begin to be a pattern for Vera -and of course she has a solution, just

take all the sleeping pills you need! That really alleviates her problems, right? Then she begins to take those pills with Vodka so Joe wouldn’t know she’s drinking, as if she could fool him.

Peace is not a description of the Hestert household right now. "Troubled waters" is a

better description. There is such an air of uneasiness, a tension as thick as butter itself, an attitude of doubt and fear, almost like a haze or fog that has settled over the two. And, sadly, there is no such thing as saving or redemptive faith in their marriage. They are not individuals who have chosen to walk with God, led by the light of a holy sovereignty over their lives. They are in control and they handle their own problems! They call the shots, make the decisions, devise their own plans, and solve their own problems! Oh, sure, and how blessed they appear to be! Aren’t they a picture of married bliss, the modem example of holy matrimony, the academy award of enriching love, faith, and hope? No, their relationship is cheap, cosmetic, corrosive, corrupt, and crumbling. What is in store for Joe and Vera with David surviving because of his studies and his love of basketball, but what does tomorrow hold?

CHAPTER TEN

THE PRESSURES MOUNT

Juan Cruz is not a name that many East Tennesseans find familiar. But of course Big Joe knows him because he is the distant front man for the Colombia drug cartel. Big Joe knows him quite well! But that is the only name he has had ever heard relating to the drug business.

Juan Cruz is a Miami resident who travels frequently throughout the Southeast. That area is his zone of operation. And over the years he has miraculously stayed under the radar of the Drug Enforcement Agency. He’s never been arrested. He’s never been approached by the DEA-he’s ‘clean’ in the southern drug business.

Juan met Big Joe in Daytona at a big "Bike" rally as thousands and thousands of bikers came to Daytona to visit with their friends and acquaintances, make their business contacts, build their networks for drug and prostitution, and "party!" That certainly has been Big Joe’s life-style mode -party, party, and more party. This was before he and Vera married.

It was in "The Cowboy Saloon" in Daytona where Juan and Big Joe met, at the bar, as they shared a drink. Juan is always so very, very careful as he sizes up potential dealers, and it doesn’t take long to believe Big Joe will be a potential client. But he certainly isn’t ready to bridge that possibility just yet -time will tell. Juan is really interested because of the Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville triangle with Memphis as an add-on. Juan was amazed that Big Joe was so upfront about his prostitution ring. In fact, it was a negative for him as he thought about bringing Joe into his loop of "drug service."

But then there is a major and dangerous eruption of their conversation as a bar fight

breaks out, and this is no place for a ‘foreigner’ as the fists fly, bottles break, blood flows, and gunshots ring out! Big Joe doesn’t hesitate -he covers Juan and leads him out the back-door into an alley where for the present moment he’s safe. Juan was not frightened because of what he had witnessed before in the Miami area, but he was certainly appreciative of Big Joe’s quick thinking and gushed with many thanks for getting him

out. A bond is made.

After the bar room melee is quieted by Daytona police, Juan and Joe decide to meet for lunch the next day at a local cafeteria. It’s a good place for Juan to really question Joe and see if there is a ‘fit’ with Juan’s business -or should I say again the Colombian drug cartel. This will not be a quick decision on Juan’s part -the final decision rests in Colombia by bosses that he cannot even name. The cartel is smart, savvy as to good personnel, separated in a way even the CIA or FBI would have a hard time in identifying any of the ‘owners’ by name.

As the luncheon began Juan was up front with Joe assuring Joe he’d already checked him out through crime contacts in the Tennessee area and that he was not hesitant in possibly offering Tennessee to Joe, based upon mutual agreements finalized by the top echelon people in Columbia.

And, of course, Big Joe is interested because prostitution alone does not provide him with

the big bucks he really wants for himself. He knows if he can tie into the drug cliental in a big way he’d be set for life. But Juan wants to know, "What is your tie-in to local law

enforcement? Will they be a problem? Joe is able to assure Juan that it will cost him a percentage personally but there are those who will ‘turn the other way,’ be blind to what Joe does, as long as their share is fair. That’s sweet music to Juan’s ears -he loves having local law enforcement hungry for money beyond their salaries!

But, of course, there is the huge discussion about money and Juan doesn’t hesitate in saying to Big Joe, "Your cost is higher initially, but as you prove yourself trustworthy you get a bigger share. Do you understand that?"

And Joe asks, "What is my testing time?" Juan responded, "We adjust at the end of one year, depending upon your payments, your volume, and your non-identity. Can you personally stay under the radar with the DEA?" Joe has no qualms in assuring Juan he ill run the cleanest operation in the U.S.A.!

Now, Juan must explain to Joe that Joe’s connection is dependent upon the Columbia

 drug king-pin. And it takes time because there are so many loops to jump through. Juan tells Joe, "I do not have a single name in Colombia. Everything is hush-hush. It will take at least a week to get an answer, another week to set up payment plans, and another week to establish the pipeline that protects everyone." And Juan wants to know how long it will take Joe to establish his ‘up’ and ‘down’ line.

Joe assures Juan he’ll be fully operational within a month. And it happened big time. Joe became one of the leading producers for the drug cartel. He did it year after year.

Then, of course, because of a flawed character to begin with, Joe began to skim more and more off the top for himself. He became one of "the big-time spenders" and began to get behind his drop payments in Miami to Juan. It hasn’t been day after day or month after month, but has stretched into well over a year that Joe falls behind.

This does not sit well with Juan or the Colombian ‘big dogs!’ Juan had to make a special trip to Tennessee to set up a personal meeting with Big Joe. It’s all on the line, and Juan’s bosses have said to him, "Give Joe four months, and if he is not debt free with us, he will be indebted, and that’s not a good place for Joe Hestert to be! Make sure he understands –

– ‘we mean what we say!’ "

There is one thing Joe clearly understands: "He’s in major trouble and what he just heard he understands puts his very life on the line!" And the one thing Joe understands is, he cannot turn this problem around in four months without a major cash infusion. Where does it come from? That’s his dilemma. Now he must come up with a huge web of deception and ease his own pain.

That certainly shouldn’t be a problem because Joe has never been an honest or honorable

man-he has thrived on deceit and doesn’t see it as a character flaw, just a way of life in the rough and tumble world he’s been a part of all his life! His philosophy is, "Everybody is a cheat-look at how they ‘cook the books’ with the IRS!" He sees no wrong in prostitution, no wrong in mistreating his employees, no wrong in the use of illegal drugs, no wrong in robbing banks -he’s a modem-day ‘Robin Hood,’ taking from the rich to give to himself! He sees no wrong in cheating on his wife! Joe is a cheat! He sees no wrong in using young university girls in prostitution or supplying drugs even to Middle Schools!

But now there is a ‘higher power’ over his life, and it isn’t God for him, it’s the

Colombian drug cartel! And their judgment day is about to come for Big Joe, unless he can scheme his way to debt relief. What will he do?

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK OF DECEPTION

It’s early March into the New Year and Joe knows his problem must be solved between mid-May to June 1. Time is short, the clock is running faster than Joe wants it to, and he knows he must make a decision quickly about easing his financial pain.

It’s also time for Joe’s inner circle to meet and resolve what Big Joe will do to remedy his situation. Joe has three former "Hell’s Angels" that he’s known and worked with over the last eighteen to twenty years. They basically have grown up together in the crime world with Joe being "the cream that rises to the top." It’s no problem for the other three because they have been treated fairly by Joe and have more than just enough to eat.

Of the three, one has overseen the prostitution in Chattanooga, one in Knoxville, and one

in Nashville. It has been a thriving business in each city, but even with their success, it was never enough for Joe. When the drugs entered the picture, the same three looked after their own city area, but of course required additional leadership in a dangerous business.

And, before, they had never witnessed Big Joe skimming off the top for himself and delaying payment to the ‘bigboys’ in Miami and Colombia. This became a different ballgame than any of them were used to, but Joe had been their huge ‘financial cow’ and they were not going to abandon him.

The four meet in Gatlinburg for a weekend of hammering out whatever plan Big Joe came up with. Whatever he decided, they were on board, and they would carry out his plan to the minutest detail. They know, whatever, it’s going to be risky for them all, and

they must cover every possibility thoroughly. They also understand that whatever plan is settled upon, it must look like an out-of-state job with no way to trace any activity to the

four of them.

Joe had made his decision before the meeting was set up, and the other three knew it was not open for discussion. As the meeting was opened in Gatlinburg at their hotel, Joe was certain he had made the right decision, but it was going to take meticulous planning. He wanted no slip-ups, no leaks, no strangers involved in the event, and absolutely rock­

solid protection for the four of them.

Joe establishes a budget of $100,000 to carry out his plan. Each of the four would have

$25,000 a piece to fulfill whatever role they played, and, the less they spent on others or materials, the more for their own pockets.

Here’s the plan: They are going to devise a plan to blow up Joe’s new barn which cost

him $400,000 to build, insured for about $600,000 with insurance on his dozen and a half horses at $1, 250,000! Joe’s only problem will be the replacement of his horses on down the line, but with insurance money he can rebuild plus pocket about $200,000. With the insurance money from the horses, he can pay off the drug cartel and still have over

$500,000!

The three team members are ecstatic -they believe it can be done easily without great

risk to any of them. They do know the care that must be given for the selection of an out­ of-state bomb maker and how he’ll propose to do it. Joe let’s them know it is their responsibility in selection and financial payments out of the $25,000 he’s given to each

 one. Out of Joe’s $25,000, he’ll use it to lay the groundwork of deception, pointing everything away from the four and on to someone in Colombia with Juan kept out of the loop along with those who lead the cartel that he doesn’t even know by name. Joe has planned a trip to Miami to draw Juan in to help him establish people that Joe will be able to blame the bombing on. It may cost him $10,000 -$15,000 for Juan, but it will be worth it in the end.

Before they leave Gatlinburg, they’ve narrowed down "the bomber" to a few former soldiers, now retired, in Columbus, Georgia. There are at least two men that they believe will work together to see that the barn comes down and burns with no way for the horses to survive. These guys were in the army together and even spent time in the brig for their brawling fun with young, immature soldiers. They were close and feel the door will be open with the right dollar amount. The three responsible for this part figure they’ll start at

$10,000 and limit it to no more than $15,000. That’s only $5000 a piece out of their

$25,000. They’ll have expenses in travel from Tennessee to Georgia, but they ought to come out with at least $17,000-$18,000 each.

 The three associates pre-arrange a meeting in Columbus, Georgia, at the Holiday Inn the following weekend. The Georgia boys are alerted to the significance of the meeting and to not call attention, in any way, to this meeting. It will not be a problem because these guys are not on anybody’s concern list. For the criminal element, they are trustworthy! When the meeting begins that Friday night, on the way down, Joe’s three front men get greedy and decide they’ll keep their financial offer at $8000. When the two former soldiers hear that figure, they get up to leave. Of course, it was a bluff. The "bombers" insist that $8000 is not worth the risk, plus they’ve been informed, whatever price they settle on, these two must pay for the materials needed to bring down an 8000 square foot barn! It doesn’t settle in at the top dollar of $15,000-the three finally agree to $18,000. The price is set, the agreement is made, and they target the barn for destruction on May 25! It is settled that there will be absolutely no contact between Joe’s three point-men and the bombers. They do settle on the blast taking place at 4a.m. The guys who devise the plan will do it remotely after they’ve wired and set up everything the previous evening by 10:30 pm. They want to be able to set it up, drive a good ways away from the barn, and then at 4a.m. make the call that will set it off. Everybody agrees!

Big Joe is going to Miami "on vacation," and, of course, without Vera! He only plans two

or three days there to convince Juan and drop a "bundle" on him for his help. He flew, and then took a taxi to one of the best hotels near the airport. After a good night’s rest, he planned a breakfast meeting with Juan.

As he laid out his plan for securing the funds he needed to settle with Juan’s bosses in

Colombia, Juan was not shocked but a little surprised. He didn’t know the depths of depravity Joe would sink to solve his financial woes. But it doesn’t bother Juan, he’s always liked Joe and wants to help him any way he can- for a price!

Juan responds, "How can I help you from Miami carry out what is going to happen on

your farm in Tennessee?" Joe is clear and to the point, "I need your help in setting up a fall guy, someone who knows nothing of the barn’s destruction, but is in the area with plans to rob my home. He comes in at least a day and a half before May 25, in a Florida tagged automobile, he cases out the farm, and has instructions to rob my safe in the house on the morning of the 26th before noon when everyone will be out of the home. Your associates will have placed into the trunk of his car in a way that he cannot find it, wiring,

 some ammonium nitrate, and whatever else would link him to the explosion! The police will be alerted after the morning of the bombing about a strange car in the area the last two days with Florida tags. And, of course, you cannot be identified with him. Keep him far away from you. My max financially for you and him will be $20,000, but you could work out with him funds up front and then a cut of what he was supposed to take from my safe. That won’t happen so you may be able to get by with a few thousand dollars up front. Just be sure he’s the one you don’t like and you’d like to see him in prison for the bombing!" Juan says without hesitation, "It’s Eduardo Montoya! I don’t know him personally but my bosses in Colombia say he’s been a thorn in their sides!"

Juan responded to Joe, "What should he be told about what is in your safe?" And Joe

says,

"Get the word to him there will be $250,000 cash and jewelry worth $100,000, monies that I have saved from my two businesses. Whoever is your front man will work out an agreement of a fifty-fifty split. OK?" Also Joe insisted that the front-men be Colombians who would gladly go back there until the smoke clears. They agreed.

Juan wants to know how long he has to set up Montoya? And Joe says, "Only one week,

because if you can’t lure him in, we’ve got to move in another direction." If the two retired soldiers are in, Joe will get materials from them to plant in Eduardo’s car.

It’s settled with Juan and the plan is in full motion. But now Joe must sit Vera down and let her know what is about to happen. He has no qualms about the barn and horses being gone.

As Joe sits down with Vera, she had heard a lot of the potential options that Joe had, but

when he laid out the "bomb blast", Vera was elated. She saw the plan down to the

minutest detail- and she sees it as fully safe for herself, David, and Joe. For Vera, it’s a "thumbs up!" She lets Joe know that David will not be in any danger because he will be away about two and a half days on a school "Faith" retreat. He’s scheduled to be home by noon on May 26.

Now, Joe’s biggest challenge is deceiving local law enforcement and other agencies that

Joe is in danger, that he’s been receiving anonymous phone calls with threats on his life, that he has an enemy he knows nothing about, and that more news about his demise will be coming soon!

Through Juan Joe had pre-arranged for the mailing of a death threat on his life, the threat

coming from someone in Florida, and that it would happen by June 1. The locals go to work trying to discover who is behind the threats but it is a cold trail; they are not able to find even a small crack of opportunity telling them who is behind this. Juan and Joe have covered themselves well!

Chapter Twelve TARGET TIME

It’s really amazing how this web of deceit is unfolding. Remember, two retired soldiers are on board to carry out the bombing, and Eduardo Montoya is set up to be the fall guy. Columbus, Georgia, is the city-location for Fort Benning, the largest army facility in the nation. And, of course, many soldiers retire there when their career is over simply because of the commissary and the tie with war buddies and their families.

 Retired sergeant, Steve Lowery, and retired Lt. Colonel Jim Fingers, are the two men that Joe’s buddies have lured into the circle of criminal activity once again. The brotherhood of crime is strong, and these two guys are also bored! They want "on the edge" again; they want to be tested; they want to see how far they can go without being caught; they want to see the law officials baffled, scratching their heads, and wondering who could have pulled off a horrific bombing! There is no question that they’ll be fully involved.

But they began to have questions among the two of them: how do we bring that barn down, how do we make sure the horses don’t get out, what materials do we use, how long will it take for us to get set up, what is the trigger mechanism, any chance we could be identified? It was day after day that they sought to hammer out their strategy. They definitely knew they had to sneak around Joe’s farm and barn; they knew they had to

have everything pre-set; they knew they had to be far way when the explosions took

place; and they knew what ever materials they used could not be traced to them. They ARE soldiers, and they plan well.

How careful these two planners are! They know the materials they must use and they

know that not even a wire, a timer, or inflammatory materials can be traced to them. They understand they’ll have to use some form of backpack to hold the inflammatory

materials, and that becomes a major concern. How easy would it be to trace four or five backpacks with maybe name labels on them, or trace wiring? They realize they have their work cut out for them. Even the purchase of ammonium nitrate could be traceable.

They come to the conclusion that everything they use will have to be stolen and taken somewhere a great distance from Columbus, Georgia. They began to use maps, they began to check out businesses that use materials they need, and they know wiring and timers will be a key element. Colonel Fingers is sure he can build the timers with untraceable materials and find essential wiring without any problems. They also decided they’d take sports backpacks from a school far away from Ft. Benning. This is really coming together and they are well pleased!

Of course, they are going early, well before their target date to survey the situation at Big

Joe’s farm. They’ll do it quietly in the middle of the night, mapping out every detail of timer location etc.

Then, there is Eduardo Montoya. And he has his own plan to devise, not knowing he will

be the fall guy. But he is a covetous man, and when he learns of a big heist in a home, he is ecstatic! He’s sure this is going to be the easiest robbery he’s ever been a part of. He doesn’t even need a helper -this will be a "piece of cake." But he’s never been in the

exact area where Big Joe lives in Tennessee, and he knows he must make a scouting trip before the target date.

In Miami Juan’s distant helpers have drawn the noose tight around Eduardo. They will plant strong incriminating evidence against him in the car or van he uses before he leaves for Tennessee the second time. Everything matching the soldiers’ materials will be in Eduardo’s car or van. He won’t have a chance of missing arrest!

Eduardo gets all the information he needs to locate Big Joe’s home and farm. As he drove toward Tennessee he made his list of everything he’d need to blow a small safe. It’s possible he can pick up his materials in Atlanta going or coming.

 When he arrives in Joe’s city, for some unknown reason he is emboldened to check into a local motel with a restaurant attached. And, of course, the motel manager recorded his license plate number, but Eduardo is only thinking, "This is about eight weeks away. No problem in recording my information."

The next morning he drives to Joe’s farm, checking mileage and time factors. When he arrived at the farm, he checked the best location to park his car near the home, but far enough away not to be spotted by anyone traveling by.

He’s been told where the safe is located in the house so he is not going to make a home invasion at this time. He’s measuring time and miles and the route to get him to the interstate highway as quickly as possible. He doesn’t know he will never leave his motel the morning of the bombing because the motel manager, having heard of the bombing that fateful morning, will call the sheriff’s officers about a suspicious individual!

As Eduardo was driving back through Atlanta, he remembers an old buddy living in

Atlanta who had been a part of several ‘jobs" and would know the availability of materials to blow a safe. He finds out his old friend’s address and drives to his home. Anesto is glad to see Eduardo but surprised he is still interested in blowing safes! He felt sure that Eduardo was way beyond that, but is convinced this is something he’s going to do and opens the door to a supplier in Atlanta who can meet Eduardo’s needs and keep quiet about it. It will cost him but is not a big hit into what Eduardo will make for himself. He’s set.

Arriving in Miami he continues to plan, plan, plan. He wants no slip-ups on his part for pulling off a heist worth at least $250,000, not counting any jewelry or other valuables in Big Joe’s safe.

Now it’s focusing in on what, at one time, he did with the greatest of ease. He studies any materials he could locate, even through his local library, on safe-cracking. When the time comes he knows he’ll be able to do it with the greatest of ease.

Eduardo is so arrogant he begins to consider safe places of investments with a good return. He is planning on a generous retirement fund and this job is a huge contribution to his future. He is smart enough that no one from Miami is brought into the loop, only the guys from Juan’s camp. This is "sealed lips" time, and Eduardo is a master at that.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LATE SPRING "FLING OF FAITH"

Not many schools are blessed with such a strong contingent of Christian coaches and teachers; in fact the school principal is a faithful believer. Everything is voluntary but there is a huge response from cheerleaders, team members, and coaches of all sports. They begin on a Thursday night and finish the retreat with lunch on Saturday.

It’s really interesting that David Matthews has never had any interest in the Christian faith because of what he experienced from his father in Vera’s first marriage. His ears have been closed to any Christian motivation. But Coach Stephens passionately encouraged every basketball team member to participate. They were not going to lose a position if they didn’t attend, but David knew Coach really wanted him there. The clincher that convinced David he should attend was when he saw Paula Pressley was going to be singing!

Paula is a sophomore like David, a cheerleader, strong student, and vocalist for the school

choir and her church choir. David has never known Paula on a personal basis -they’d pass in the hallways and David would notice her cheering at his games. He’s motivated to attend strictly because he may be able to get acquainted with her.

Also there is a professional football player speaking one session and then a University of

Tennessee college basketball player that has set a few records at UT. He’s going to give "a personal testimony." David doesn’t know what that is, but he decides he needs to attend the "spring fling of faith."

Big Joe purchased an older car for David after his good play in basketball and David was excited that Joe and Vera allowed him to drive it to the retreat with another friend riding with him.

Thursday night, May 24, and the retreat is on. The popular youth leader from one of the

growing churches in the city is the master of ceremonies, the music leader with a high school group from the band plus a choral ensemble lead the worship. There is over one hundred athletes, boys and girls, from the high school in attendance. David is not only unsure about his presence but uneasy because something is happening, (good for the

glory of God!), but not good as David sees it. He wonders how many hypocrites there are

in attendance like his father!

 Oh, but then the youth leader introduces Paula Pressley to sing before the UT basketball player gives his testimony. David had heard Paula in the school choir but never singing a solo. The choice she made was the song, "The King Is Coming." And the saying, "She sang the stars down," was really how David felt when he heard Paula singing. And to himself he said, "I wonder if Paula would ever have any interest in me?" There was one thing he knew -he must get to Paula when the night service is over and let her know how much he appreciated her singing.

The UT player shared his testimony, but David really didn’t understand what the young

man was saying, or more honestly, didn’t want to know what he was saying. Coach Stephens was asked to close the first night’s service in prayer, and it struck a chord with David, but he wouldn’t admit it.

 Coach prayed, "Lord Jesus, thank You for this first service of the "Spring Fling of Faith." We know you sovereignly led every one of us here tonight. This is Your divine appointment with many, many young people. Like Jeremiah, You are drawing them to Yourself with Your lovingkindness. Thank You for those already saved, thank You for those whose hearts you are touching for the first time, thank You that You knock on the doors of all our hearts wanting to come in. Give grace to many the next few days so that they will understand what You want to do in and through their lives. May they sense Eternity in their hearts over these days and understand You made them, lost them, but You bought them with a price, the precious blood of the w01ihy Lamb of God. Amen." Immediately after the closing prayer David made his way to the front of the auditorium where Paula was standing. He had to get in line, but it didn’t matter to David, he would stand there all night if he could just introduce himself to Paula.

Finally, he’s there, in front of Paula, and with a smile he said, "I know you don’t know me, Paula, but I’m David Matthews, and I loved your singing." Paula responded, "David, you don’t have to introduce yourself to me. I know who you are. And I love the way you play basketball- and someone told me you are an ‘A’ student in your classes. That’s great."

Sheepishly David dismissed himself from Paula’s presence with a glimmer of hope, "She

knows who I am!" It was hard for David to fall asleep that night because he had Paula "on my mind." He couldn’t wait for the morning session to start because he knew he’d see Paula. And he was wondering, "I wonder if she would sit with me if I asked her." But David couldn’t or wouldn’t bring himself to ask her. He thought, "Maybe she’ll have lunch with me, but again he was too shy to be so bold!

But something else was really bothering David. The music, Paula, the UT player, the high school classmates and teammates seemed to have something David had been running

from all his life. He wouldn’t admit it, but the Lord Jesus was making deep and strong strides into his mind and heart; and at this point, David did not like it.

David didn’t even look for Paula, not only for lunch, but for an afternoon walk. He just wandered around the campgrounds wondering if he could even handle the night service, but he wanted to see and hear Paula sing again.

The night service was a joyous "blast" but David could not bring himself to join in

though he really wanted to. He knew nothing about Holy Spirit conviction, wooing him, drawing him to Christ Jesus. He resisted strongly.

The planners had invited a very strong youth choir from another city to sing three songs

in the early part of the night service. They were outstanding, and David could not grasp how so many young people could be so "deluded." Then after more group singing the host introduces Paula again. David was awed by what he heard, Paula singing, Sandy Paty’s "We Shall Behold Him." She was so free, so angelic, so certain that what she was singing was true, and it threw David for a loop. He didn’t know how to respond. He only knew he couldn’t stay around for the late-night commitment service. When the first session was over he went straight to Paula. "Paula, your singing really touched me. I’d love to hear you sing again sometime. Is it possible I could take you for a milkshake sometime?’

And she agreed! David was ecstatic, but had to say to her, "I can’t stay for the late night

service, but I’ll see you at school Monday." Paula was disappointed, but told David she’d look forward to the milkshake.

It’s about 11:l 5p.m. when David leaves the campground. He decided to stop by a quick­ serve and get a hamburger before he goes home. It’s about midnight when he arrives on the farm, all the lights are out, and so David decides to sleep in the barn and not disturb Joe and Vera. He spread out his sleeping bag and slept on top of it on the hay. It’s been a very long day and David has no problem falling asleep.

 CHAPTER FOURTEEN DAVID’S DREAM SHATTERED

Of course David is totally unaware that the retired sergeant and colonel are in on Big Joe’s scam with the intent of blowing up the barn at 4 a.m. on May 25. The two had already been to the barn several hours ago and had placed each backpack where they needed to be, wired the timers and set each to go off at that early morning hour. The two retired soldiers are long gone -no one saw them enter and no one saw them leave.

In the mean-time Eduardo had checked in again at the same motel with attached restaurant. "No problem -They won’t know what I’m in town for." His target time is twelve noon to rob Joe’s safe, but Joe and Vera are going nowhere.

Eduardo does not know that in the tire well Juan’s associates had placed wiring, an extra timer, and scattered a little ammonium nitrate. He is set up for a downfall!

At 4 a.m. the timers go off and there is a huge explosion and fire that rages throughout

the barn. David is thrown from the upper barn hay-storage area, losing his right arm and right foot and was burned over about 70% of his right side. He miraculously landed in the shallow end of the horses’ swimming area, the place they walk into to get their pool exercise. He also never lost consciousness and was able to turn himself over, lying in shock on his back.

Samuel Etheredge was the first on the scene followed closely by Big Joe and Vera.

Samuel was horrified, with his big spotlight, to go right by the pool and see David lying in the pool. He carefully pulls David out of the water just as Joe and Vera arrive. They are shocked, horrified that David was home and in the very heart of the blast. The barn is collapsing, the fire is raging, a few of the horses survived the initial blast, but soon there is no sound of horses crying within the debris.

Big Joe yells at Vera, "Get to the house, call for an ambulance and a fire truck, then call

the sheriff’s office. Tell them to get here fast.

 Samuel finds some clean rags tossed out of the vet’s office and begins to press them around David’s right shoulder area where the limb was ripped off and over the foot area that had been tom away. David was in excruciating pain from the tom two limbs and the bums. He goes in and out of consciousness before the EMT’s arrive. They are about fifteen minutes away, and Samuel and Big Joe do all they can to keep David comfortable. In fact, Big Joe sits on the ground and carefully pulls David toward him. He held him tenderly, and for probably the first time in his life as an adult male he cries over David. "David, David, what were you doing in the barn. We thought you were at a retreat!" But David couldn’t answer. The shock was really taking hold.

Finally, the EMT’s arrive and Joe and Vera are so thankful. They do everything they can

on site before getting him in the ambulance and speeding to the local hospital. The EMT’s instruct Samuel, "Get some help and at daybreak see if you can find David’s arm and foot." But it didn’t happen- at daybreak the barn was now just smoldering ashes. All the horses were killed and very little of the barn remained.

Joe encourages a sheriff’s deputy to get word to Coach Stephens at the campsite where

the retreat was being held. He had to awaken a number of people before he found out where Coach Stephens had bunked. But when he found him, awakened him, and told him of David’s condition he wept like a baby as he awakened other coaches and drove to the

local hospital. David was one of the few "once-in-a-lifetime" players a high school coach has the privilege of coaching, but now he knows basketball is not one of David’s options!

When Coach Stephens arrives at the hospital, he quickly finds Joe and Vera and the three embrace and weep together. Coach asks, "Will he make it?" And Vera says the doctor on duty says it is likely he’ll make it but with a very long recovery.

After several hours of emergency care, Joe and Vera are allowed in to see David, but only

for a short visit. They have David heavily sedated to ease the pain. The bleeding from his lost arm and lost foot has stopped, and his burns have been cared for as much as possible. The doctor tells the family and Coach that David will eventually have to have a large number of skin grafts, but that will be sometime way ahead before they can start.

David is not conscious enough for them to say anything to him, but the three stand around his bed with tears streaming down their faces.

At breakfast at the "Fling of Faith," the news is shared, and it is a sad and somber morning. The organizers decide that they will have a major prayer session for David and then dismiss them to go home or whatever. And after the prayer meeting over a hundred teenagers and leaders go directly to the hospital. Of course they can’t get in to where David is, and so they stand around in small groups continuing to pray for David. Coach Stephens came out when he learned the students had come and shared with them David’s condition. He urged them to continue praying.

 Paula Pressley caught the coach before he was back inside the hospital. "Coach, David asked me last night if I would go with him for a milkshake. I told him I would. Can I go with you to tell David not to stand me up with the milkshake invitation?" Coach Stephens said, "I’ll see if they will let you in. But are you sure you can handle his condition?" And Paula said, "I have to handle it for his sake." And the two of them head to intensive care. Coach Stephens introduces Paula to Joe and Vera, and Vera said, "Paula, David has spoken of you often. I’m so glad to meet you. But are you sure you want to go in – David is burned over about 70% of his body and he lost his right arm and right foot."

Paula responded, "I’ll only stay a minute. I want him to know when he’s able I’m

bringing him the biggest and best milkshake in town."

Paula is allowed in for only a brief time and Coach goes with her. David is barely alert but he knows them and begins to cry, "Paula, you shouldn’t see me like this." And she responded, "Oh, yes, I should because I’m holding you to our shake date, and when you’re able I’m bringing you the biggest and best milkshake in town. OK?" David just continues to cry. He’d hoped Paula might be the love of his life-but now?

The city and the school rally to David’s support with a constant 24-hour prayer chain. They rally to Joe and Vera and food is provided in their home day by day. They organize supporters to be at the hospital day and night to do whatever Joe and Vera might need. They reached out to Samuel Etheridge and his family because they knew how much Samuel loved David.

The next evening Coach Stephens is back at the hospital to relieve Joe and Vera and

spend time with David. As the coach entered intensive care, David was elated to see him. He told Coach Stephens, "Coach, last night I had a dream. Jesus appeared to me standing before a bridge that spanned a deep chasm. He said, ‘David, follow Me.’ What was He telling me, Coach?" And Coach Stephens responded, "David, God loves you more than you love yourself. He sent Jesus to tell you He took your place and mine on the Cross

 because of our sin. His invitation is forgiveness, and a bridge over that chasm of suffering, shame, and our sin. He takes us unto Himself and leads us in His life, not our own." And David said, "I want to follow Jesus. Will He have me like this?" And Coach responded, "David, I can’t wait to see what God will do through you. It’s going to be miraculous, melodious, and moving, for all to see what He can do through one life." And right there Coach led David in the sinner’s prayer! When word gets out, the city rejoices! Oh, but the next night Coach is back. David was so anxious to see him. "Coach, the Lord Jesus came to me again in another dream! He was standing in front of a beautiful mansion with the front door open. And Jesus asked me again to follow Hirn. He walked up a beautiful, flowing set of stairs to an upper level. Then He stood by what looked like a throne. And He said to me, "David, come and be seated here!" What does that mean, Coach?" And Coach Stephens began to weep, then gained control of himself, and said to

David, ‘David, in corning to Christ, He raises us up to be seated with Hirn in the heavenly

places. The Bible says, ‘As He is so are we in this world.’ He’s given you His throne­ seat, His heavenly authority, His ministry of laying down your life for others, and His inheritance. You are joint-heir with Christ!’ He’s going to raise you up to more than you ever thought you could be!" Hearing that, David peacefully falls asleep.

After one week in intensive care, and probably five to six weeks more, Paula asked the

 doctor if she could bring David a milkshake. He gave his permission as long as she kept his intake minimal and her visit minimal. David was so appreciative of what Paula had done and kept thanking her over and over, then said, "When I’m over all this can I take you out for the milkshake I promised you?" And Paula said, "I can’t wait. But you must do all the doctors and nurses tell you so you can speed up the process. When you’re ready, I’ll pick you up at your home and we’ll go get that milkshake like you promised." David had to share with his mother and Joe the two dreams he’d had about Jesus corning to him. It wasn’t easy because of their longtime resentment of anything spiritual. But after several weeks David felt he was up to it and boldly declared his allegiance to Christ

Jesus. They weren’t surprised nor alarmed but a little aloof about it. "David, we want you

following your heart." That’s all they could say, but deep down David hoped he’d at least planted a few seed to germinate in their hearts.

Three months have passed and the doctor says to Joe and Vera and David, "I believe

David can go home. But you do understand he is going to have a tough year ahead of

him. There will have to be a series of skin grafts, but at this point there isn’t much we can do about his arm replacement and foot. That needs to come after the skin grafts have properly healed. I’m suggesting that you talk to school authorities immediately and arrange for at least David’s junior year he be tutored at home." They understood.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN SHERIFF GETS A CALL

It’s early morning, after the bombing at Joe Hestert’s farm, and the news is out, including what happened to David Matthews. The local motel owner has a suspicion about a guest, Eduardo Montoya.

Hurriedly he calls the sheriffs office that he believes he has a suspect registered in his motel, and he hasn’t checked out. He informs the deputy that this man, from Florida, was also checked in five or six weeks ago. He believes the man should be checked out.

The deputy informs the local sheriff and immediately he sets in motion the local swat

team. But first the sheriff has his office personnel to put in a request to Florida law enforcement any information of an Eduardo Montoya from Miami. They arrive on the scene in a matter of minutes and cover the motel front and back.

Then the leader, having been informed of Eduardo’s room number, goes to the door with

several officers and knocks. Eduardo opened the door surprised that a swat team was standing at his door with guns drawn. Immediately he’s put on the floor and his room is searched. He then asks Eduardo which is his car and does he give them permission to search it. He does because his safe-cracking materials had been left outside the city well­ hidden. He doesn’t have anything to worry about, so he thinks!

 The officers swarm over Eduardo’s car, front and back. Nothing is found up front that heightened any suspicion, but when the trunk was opened and the tire well searched they found incriminating evidence: a timer, wiring, and traces of ammonium nitrate. Immediately Eduardo was placed under arrest and read his rights. He was shocked, argumentative, insistent that he knew nothing about what the officers found in his car. When he was booked and jailed the sheriff read the information sent from Florida about Montoya. He was suspected as a drug dealer with ties to the Colombia cartel, but had never been arrested. He had served eight years of a fifteen year sentence for robbery, paroled on good behavior.

It didn’t take long for officers to begin questioning Montoya intently. Without a doubt

they were confident they had their man. They had "the goods" on Eduardo!

But then he insisted he was being set up. He wasn’t there to blow up a barn! Then he told them that he planned on robbing Joe Hestert’s safe with $250,000 cash and jewelry worth

$100,000.

Oh, but here’s the clencher for the investigators: They had the note sent to Joe Hestert

threatening violence if he didn’t pay up, and on the paper was a fingerprint of Eduardo Montoya, with the envelope mailed from Miami.

But Montoya doesn’t give up so easily. He identifies two men in Miami who recruited

him, but they are no longer in the country. He told them where he had hidden his safe­ cracking tools and even offered to guide them there. They agreed; and at least on one count Eduardo proved to be right.

It didn’t in any way change or alter how the investigating officers felt about the man they

just arrested. They have their man!

As the day progressed the officers felt it to be very important that they get Joe aside and let him know about the arrest. They want to know if he has any idea about who Eduardo Montoya is, and Joe insists he’s never heard of him. They also want to know what he has

in his safe in his home, and Joe again insists, "I don’t have a safe! I sure don’t have

$250,000 or $100,000 worth of jewelry! It’s preposterous!"

 They then inform Joe of what they found in the tire well of Montoya’s car. Joe is relieved that they found their man so quickly!

It happens two years later, but Eduardo Montoya is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison! No tie was ever made to the Colombian cartel, their point-men, Juan, or Big Joe Hestert. Montoya takes the hit!

And the sergeant and colonel, retired soldiers who carried out the bombing? They were

back in Columbus, Georgia, before the bomb blast, and by noon were on a plane to Barbados for vacation with their wives!

The local motel owner who called the police the morning of the bombing is honored by the city with a commendation. He was key in so quick an arrest.

 When David was able to ask questions and talk to Joe and Vera about what had happened, Joe was able to let David know it was an attack on Big Joe for debts owed.

David had no problem understanding that -he regrets leaving the retreat early, but in all things he understands God has worked it for His good, and He has a new, devoted follower named David Matthews.

The sheriff and swat team leader came to the hospital early in the following week and

received permission to visit David in intensive care. They presented David with a deputy’s badge and a swat team jacket.

The next day Coach Stephens brought the basketball team, and with the doctor’s permission they were allowed for a brief moment to visit David also. They had a plaque "For The Champ" naming him honorary team captain for the next two years! David wept

-and the team wept with him.

Later in the week the youth leader David had so much respect for came with Paula to present David with a new New American Standard Bible. David tried his best to say "Thank You," but it was just too difficult. It eased for him when Paula said, "As soon as you are out of intensive care, I will be here after school to read to you from your new Bible." THAT was Kingdom of God therapy for David that no doctor could do with medicines!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE CARE-GIVERS RALLY

The Hesterts are awed by the community commitment to work with David as long as needed. The school board is totally behind the community in providing whatever care David needs to get by the next few years.

One of the amazing things for the Hesterts was the fact that the city and surrounding areas raised the necessary funds to see that David’s college education is fully provided for. The funds will be in a savings account for the two years of David finishing high school, so he should have extra funds to make it easier for him.

A very successful car dealer in the county has volunteered to give David a new car as soon as he is able to drive. That may be at least a year because of the numerous skin­ graft operations David will have to undergo.

Retired teachers lined up to volunteer their services for David’s education. Over the next school year he has a different teacher for every school day of each week. They will work in cooperation with the scheduled classes and subjects that David would be covering through his junior year.

Classmates have volunteered on a rotating basis to help David with any homework assignments. Of course, Paula was the first volunteer.

 When David was able to go home after three months in the hospital, nurses from the surrounding area volunteered both day and night to assist Joe and Vera with David’s care. Concerning meals and David’s feedings, the community worked out a three-month meal preparation schedule and volunteers to assist Vera in feeding David each day.

All of this was astounding to Joe and Vera -they couldn’t figure out "the servant spirit"

thing that was so pervasive. They couldn’t relate a "Christian spirit" to their attitudes about helping others. Joe would always volunteer to give a few dollars, but time, energy, effort?

On one occasion as Coach Stephens was visiting David after he returned home, Joe was scratching his head about all the volunteers and he asked Coach why. Quickly, Coach Stephens took David’s new Bible and read to them from Philippians 2:5-8,

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." "That’s why, Joe; those who have come to Christ have taken on His nature and character, and servanthood is their way of Life. The night before our Lord died He was at the Table with His disciples, but they didn’t "serve" Him, He served them. He took a bowl of water and a towel and washed the feet of His disciples –

and we are those who take on His "foot-washing" Spirit! It has everything to do with the Christ within us, not us!" Big Joe is still scratching his head!

Coach Stephens knew he had a tremendous opportunity to impress upon the mind and heart of Joe and David the spirit of Jesus. He said, "Let me give you a quote from Frederick Robertson: ‘It is not the possession of extraordinary gifts that makes extraordinary usefulness, but the dedication of what we have to the service of God.’ The people you have witnessed through the hospital and your home are ordinary people

consumed by the passion and love of God to be your servants. David, I know from your English class you remember Shakespeare’s word in "Henry VIII," "Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in my age have left me naked to my enemies." The Lord God Almighty is clothing you, David, in the most beautiful attire you could ever clothe yourself with, the servant spirit of Christ. You didn’t know it, but even before you came to Christ, He was already preparing you and clothing you in His own servant spirit. God is going to use you in amazing ways. You are destined for greatness in the servant spirit of Christ."

David’s first response was, "How will He be able to use me in the shape I’m in?" And Coach responded, "David, only when Jacob’s hip was out of socket was God able to use him powerfully! Only out of the failure of denial did Peter become a vibrant witness! Only through multiple sufferings did Paul become the strongest New Testament witness! Your life of service to honor Christ will flow out of your tragedy as He makes you a triumphant witness!"

Joe’s attitude had always been, ‘what you gain makes you great,’ not what you give. He really has a hard time with a ‘servant spirit,’ even though he has seen its vibrant witness in ministry to David and to Vera and himself.

Coach said to David: "David, it was John Greenleaf Whittier who said, "If but the least

and frailest, let me be evermore numbered with the truly free who find Your service perfect liberty!" You are a young man who will know that ‘perfect liberty,’ and will daily lay your life down for the glory of your Savior and Lord." To that David said, Amen!"

 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN LOST YEAR OR LIFE GAINED?

The summer is over, David is home after three months in the hospital, the new school year is beginning, and the question is, ‘Can David handle the recovery, the skin graft operations, school work at home with someone different every day?’ Will Joe and Vera receive with class the many offers to help? Is this going to be a year before David that he loses hope or will it be a young man surmounting and overcoming adverse circumstances in his life? Lost year or life gained?

And you know the answer! The flood of compassion, devotion, service in the spirit of

Christ, has opened David’s eyes to ‘life in the Spirit’ like he never knew before. His coach was more than a God-send- he was like a substitute father! The youth director that David had admired so much became a vital friend and companion. And Paula Pressley was "the shining light" for David as faithfully she took David’s new Bible to read him vital words for his maturing faith.

The volunteer teachers were superb. They did not push David in any way, but allowed

him to do what he could do without overly tiring him out. Of course, he cannot write – he lost his shooting arm for basketball and his writing hand. The teachers used tapes for David to speak into as he was able to do the schoolwork; then the tapes went to the high school teachers to grade. David did amazingly well under the volunteer-tutelage.

As honorary team captain for this year’s basketball team, David was really anxious to progress by December to the point, at least in a wheelchair, that he could go represent the team he’ll never play for again. They set a target date, depending upon David’s progress, for the Christmas tournament. David’s only comment was, "Don’t schedule another skin­ graft around tournament time. I want to be with my team."

One night a week the school chorus came to David’s home to serenade David. They were

a talented singing group and always sang outside David’s bedroom window. David was always overjoyed every time they came.

Occasionally David would be surprised by the cheerleaders as they would come by to

have a rousing pep rally for David. Paula was a part of that group and, of course, really encouraged the cheer group to do this for David.

Every month his scheduled classroom teachers came as a group to update David on his

class studies. They were all so pleased that David was doing as well as he had with his limited motion. He always commented, smiling, "My brain wasn’t seared!" And the teachers would smile with him.

It’s Christmas season, and David cannot wait to hear all the beautiful music about the

season. His favorite was "Joy To The World, The Lord Has Come!" And David knew the Lord had come to him.

And Christmas season brought on the Christmas basketball tournament. The city knew,

the school knew, the team knew, "David is coming to the first game, but will be in a wheelchair." There was excitement all over the city. The radio broadcast the news every day, "David will captain his team!" There wasn’t even standing room -the gym was packed! When David was wheeled in by his team members and Coach Stephens, there was a deafening roar of applause, and then all of a sudden, total silence, until Coach announced the starting five with David Matthews serving as honorary captain, and the

 gym erupted again in applause with tears flowing on almost every face. Paula led the cheerleaders in pushing David to the center of the gym where flowers were presented to David with an honorary plaque designating him team captain. Then Paula kissed David, and he began to weep- the crowd was hushed, stilled, teary, and then the choral group sang the national anthem. Again, a silence was over the huge crowd as they stood in awe of the moment; then David said, "Thank you!" And the crowd erupted in applause as David was pushed by Paula to the bench of his teammates. And his team scored a runaway victory! He was too tired to come back again, but his team made it to the finals again before losing out.

In the fall of the year David had two skin-grafts scheduled, but from January 1 through

May 31, his doctors have scheduled three more. That doesn’t make it easy for David’s studies, but David is so determined to score well in class that his teachers are amazed. He’s still an excellent student.

Even more daunting is David’s growth spiritually. Between Coach Stephens, the youth

director, and Paula, David is growing spiritually in a dynamic way. Paula has him memorizing scripture and David is loving it. One of his favorite verses was Romans 8:28, "And we know that all thing work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose." David was learning that he was ‘the called’ according

to God’s purpose, and it was to his good and God’s glory. He was so anticipatory of what

God was going to accomplish through him!

David really wanted to be baptized, but the doctors told him it would have to be after the last skin-graft had healed.

The spring is a rich time for David. He loved being in a rocker on the front porch on the warm days. He loved the sound of the birds around him. He was thrilled to see the grass beginning to turn green. He loved watching Vera put out new flowers. The spring aroma gripped him and especially as he watched the sun set. David was beginning to be deeper in love with life than he’d ever experienced before.

But the summer was not an easy time for David -the heat seemed to be against him. The doctors had warned he may have a problem with sweat glands, but they provided medication to ease the stress .Also many of the helpers had scattered with summer vacations in front of them. But there were a few who would not let the summer interfere with their ministry to David: Coach Stephens, the youth director, and Paula. They were around, not every day, but almost.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN SENIOR YEAR-NO TEARS

It’s been over a year since the bombing, and David has made tremendous strides. The skin-grafts are finished, and now he’s in the healing mode plus the doctors have said they are ready with prosthesis for both arm and foot. David is extremely excited about that.

For now he’s using a small motorized wheel-chair.

Also he’s been given permission to return to school, but only for an evaluation of how he does. He may stay in all five days or possibly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After two weeks the doctors decide he can stay every day. David is thrilled.

David’s experience his senior year with his presence in daily classes has not been "pump

my flesh" time; David is so beyond that. He sees his role now as a ministry to other youth as Christ’s ambassador! He is thrilled that one on one or in a group setting he can share boldly what Christ Jesus means to him. This is a young man that has truly experienced resurrection Life and is glad to shout about it.

After David had adjusted to his new experience as a student after a year’s absence, the

 principal asks David if in November, right before Thanksgiving break, if David would like to have a chapel program to share with the student body all that he’d been through. David was like a rocket just shot off from Cape Canaveral! He couldn’t believe what he’d just been offered, but of course he accepted it with great joy. His only request was that

his favorite youth director lead the school in singing, that the school choral group be allowed to sing strong gospel music, and that before he spoke Paula Pressley be allowed to sing, "We Shall Behold Him." The principal agreed.

Of course, it was voluntary, but the entire school showed up. Not one student or teacher

was absent. And, "Heaven Came Down," could not adequately describe what the service was like. The youth director was superb, the choral group was given a standing ovation by the student body, Paula Pressley hit a "grand slam," and David poured his heart out from the pain to the gain, from the suffering to the celebration, from the "Why me?’ to "Thank God for what He has shown me "Through It All."

Christmas will be very special for David this year -because of his new-found faith, his

prosthesis for arm and leg, his captaincy of the basketball team for the Christmas tournament, plus a growing vibrant love for Paula Pressley who also senses a divine love for David growing in her heart. David has a hard time believing it -he’s so scarred on his right side and face, she’s so beautiful, body, soul, and spirit, "and she loves me!" He has no hesitation in believing Paula is His second most perfect gift outside of Jesus!

It was no surprise to David that his high school team that he captained won the Christmas

tournament in a big way. Everyone was surprised because of David’s absence from playing, but with two new transfers as juniors who had been excellent players where they came from pushed Coach Stephens’ team well beyond what everyone expected.

Now begins for David the push for his final semester in high school. He really wants to score well because it would help with scholarship funds even though his community raised enough for four years of his college education. With scholarships, the monies raised still belong to David. And the interesting thing is David and Paula are the top two seniors in grades!

It is a very competitive winter-spring semester between the two seniors who study together regularly.

One of the things that has been a highlight for David his senior year was the time he made available for younger struggling students. He helped them with their study habits, but also built a bridge every week in sharing his faith with younger students. He looks upon this now as more rewarding than winning basketball games. And the younger students know they have a true friend in David Matthews.

Also a highlight for David his senior year was spring break when Joe and Vera decided to take David and Paula to Florida. The two seniors had a week to relax from the school

grind, enjoy one another’s company, grow in spiritual grace, and even have an opportunity to witness to Joe and Vera. Vera and Paula roomed together and Joe and David. Paula made tremendous inroads with Vera, but Big Joe is still Big Joe and nothing has really humbled him.

When graduation time comes David finished one grade point ahead of Paula and was named Valedictorian of the senior class and Paula Salutatorian. It was a rich testimony to the whole city, but especially rewarding to the high school students and junior high students to witness a godly, pure love between classmates!

Back in the winter the two of them had decided they definitely wanted to be at the same

college. It was not a hard decision for them because they wanted to attend a Christian­ centered college and they settled on Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

When the decision had been made and acceptance granted, David was contacted by the

basketball coach there wondering if David would consent to be honorary captain . He was elated! And then the cheerleader overseer contacted Paula urging her to try out for the squad. She made it!

The summer was so different for David than the summer two years before. What a

struggle then through that hot muggy summer after the bombing. But now David lives with keen anticipation for his future. He doesn’t know all that it holds, but he knows Who holds his future, and he is at peace.

As David reflected upon the last two years, he remembers the time Coach Stephens sat

him down after David had received Christ as his Lord and Savior. Coach said, "David, people all over the world are searching for happiness. But I want you to know and understand the great difference between a man’s ‘achieved happiness’ and the joy of the Lord. Happiness depends upon circumstances and are so fickle. But the joy of the Lord is permanent and abiding. The Lord’s joy never changes, and it is your strength." David knew and understood "peace that passes all understanding" more than most adults!

After graduation David was highly sought after for summer youth camps all over the

 South. He accepted as time allowed but conditional on Paula coming also to sing before he spoke. Every camp leader agreed. It was a busy summer for the two of them made easy in travel by the local automobile dealer that had given David a new car.

 In their travels together to and from the camps they had lots of time to talk. Both knew they wanted to share their entire lives together. They didn’t want to be immature and rush in to marriage and a family, but they agreed to sit down with both sets of parents and talk it out. They had decided that their desire was to marry the summer after their sophomore years in college. The parents agreed. What a celebration for two young people passionately in love with each other!

 CHAPTER NINETEEN COLLEGE BOUND -MORE SOUND

It is amazing to so many people that David and Paula walk through his pain and suffering together and come out of it so mature in their pilgrimages. There is such a depth to their faith that it radiates in even their physical countenances. One former teacher said, "To see Christ on earth, look at the relationship of Paula Pressley and David Matthews!" They were such a strong, vibrant, dynamic witness of saving grace.

 It was Robert Leighton who wrote: "Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with." That would sum up the walk David and Paula shared through their last two years of high school as the fires of trouble and the furnace of affliction brought them through with the quality of pure gold -the act of God upon both their lives.

 You cannot look to these two young people and talk about belief apart from behavior. That’s hypocrisy or play-acting, and that could never be said of these two precious young people. The story of their beautiful walk with Christ is summarized by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in Rhyme of the Duchess May, when she wrote: "And I smiled to think God’s greatness flowed around our incompleteness, -Round our restlessness, His rest."

To David and Paula behavior was not suppression but expression of the crucified life. They understood taking their cross unto themselves that the resurrection life of Christ could be expressed through them. They knew the wars, the battles, the fights with old sin natures, but they also knew the divine reality of walking "by the Spirit" and not the best efforts of their flesh. They knew the difference between walking in grace or striving by grit!

 It was the famous India missionary, E. Stanley Jones who wrote in "The Way," (Abingdon Press), "Grace binds you with far stronger cords than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when once you take it you are bound forever to the Giver, and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like. Grace makes you gracious, the Giver makes you give." And these two young people had given themselves unreservedly to God because of His grace fully expressed in Christ -and as a result they were not only bound to the Giver, but bound to lay their lives down in the true spirit of Holy Grace.

College bound-more sound! One of the great lessons learned through ‘lived-out-grace’

is the reality of a healthy soul and spirit. That God has two residences is fully understood when one concedes Heaven is God’s dwelling place but also the home of the heart where, because of their love of Jesus and His Word, Holy God with His Son feels "at home"

with David and Paula. And when that assurance and confidence grips the hearts of devoted young people, nothing is a barrier to their walk of blessing, peace, and contentment. They are fully His!

Alonzo B. Bragdon, in "When the Day is Done," wrote these words long before David or Paula had been conceived in their mothers’ wombs, but it is so expressive of their faith: "From fibers of pain and hope and trouble and toil and happiness, -one by one,­ Twisted together, or single or double, The varying thread of our life is spun. Hope shall cheer though the chain be galling; Light shall come though the gloom be falling; Faith will list for the Master calling our hearts to His rest, -when the day is done."

 Young people called of God, and assured of it, walk in boldness, confidence, and overcoming faith of any boulders placed in front of them on life’s highway. They serve the God who lifts them over highway boulders!

David and Paula had understood and grasped that their love of their Lord and Savior, their love of each other, and their love for the ‘lost’ was because they saw Heaven’s grafted love in them like a natural spring of those ‘rivers of living water,’ and the longer it flows in them the deeper that love grows for all around them.

College bound- more sound! They know their covenant marriage is two years away, but they clearly understand preparation time, with God’s help, for the cutting of that covenant with one another. Paula had found a statement by Benjamin Franklin that she

felt she and David should use as a spiritual guide in their preparation. Franklin said, "God governs in the affairs of man; and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" Paula said to David, "My beloved, my heart-felt desire for our future marriage is that all around us they say, "That’s a God-thing!" And David said, Amen! Marriage -an Empire of God!

College bound- more sound! David asks, "What’s our direction? What is the goal we

want to have accomplished after four years of college? In what type service area do we want to commit ourselves to? What will our degrees be in?" And the truth is both had genuinely felt they should be school teachers or coaches or both. The one thing they knew was that their Lord would give them clear direction, and every day, every year, His calling upon their lives would be clearer with that peace in their hearts ‘passing all understanding.’ When David spoke to Paula about their goals, he said, "I’d like to be another Coach Stephens!"

College bound- more sound! The two of them remembered English and reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning in "Aurora" when she wrote, "I felt so young, so strong, so sure of God." What a holy place to be when in the freshman year of college two youth like David and Paula are young, strong, and so sure of God!

College bound -more sound! A heavenly race, a sure place, a saving grace. "Grow in

grace and in the knowledge …of our Lord and Savior." Grow in the graces, which is the outworking on the indwelling Christ. There was a call upon David and Paula to grow in wisdom also because Proverbs 9:10 has told them, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." And they understood the holy calling of God upon their lives.

College bound- more sound! Philip Doddridge wrote: "Awake, my soul! Stretch every

nerve, and press with vigour on; A heavenly race demands your zeal, and an immortal crown." They knew there was a crown before them, and they longed for it!

 College bound- more sound! These were two young people committed to each other, committed to their Lord, committed to be equipped in education to help other youth face their futures with confidence and assurance, and committed to be all God had foreordained them to be for His glory and honor and praise.

 CHAPTER TWENTY CAREER GOALS? SAYING SOULS?

There is not a young person who comes to Christ without reservations who does not consider, "Should I be a missionary? Am I called to be a pastor or a pastor’s wife? What is ultimate service to Christ that honors Him the most?"

 And though David and Paula had seemingly settled it in their hearts to be teachers, there were still nagging questions in their hearts the first two years in college. They decided to seek counsel with their favorite youth leader, with Coach Stephens, and with Paula’s pastor.

They took a weekend to travel back to their home community, having pre-arranged with

 all three, to counsel them on Saturday. It was interesting that all three of the people they had the most confidence in shared the same verse of Scripture as they closed out each counseling session. It was Colossians 3: 15 from the Amplified translation: "Let the peace of Christ act as umpire in your hearts, settling with finality all questions or decisions that arise in your minds." How awesome that was for the two of them! All three encouraged David and Paula to pray daily for sovereign leadership in their hearts.

After several months of prayer it was their conclusion, with peace, that they were originally on track in determining that they were to invest their lives in teaching. But in that two-month period it was also confirmed to David that he was to go on into graduate school and get a higher degree in school administration. And Paula confirmed it and assured David as soon as she finished her under-graduate degree she would begin teaching until he had finished. She wanted him to stay until he’d finished his doctor’s degree.

Career goals? Saving souls? Both knew God’s calling to be His ambassador, His witness,

His evangelist, the bearers of Good News to all around them. That spirit never diminished in their hearts. In fact, each summer they were booked all over the nation for youth camps and youth rallies.

On campus they were both graciously confrontational -no one was exempt from a witness! Campus Crusade ministry was a big help to these precious witnesses plus they also were tied in with the Navigator’s ministry for discipleship training. They understood "making disciples, teaching them all things."

Both were well-grounded and growing in their own faith and spiritual understanding. And they were fully aware of the need of birthing the babes of faith but not leaving them in cribs under-nourished and under-fed!

In Exodus 31:2-3 it speaks of Bezalel and God says, "I have filled him with the Spirit of

 God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship." This is how David and Paula saw themselves, two young people who were daily being equipped by God concerning their life calling. They understood being clay in the hands of the Potter. Both thanked God for the college education they were both receiving, but they clearly understood that was not enough in qualifying them as ministers of Christ, priests in the kingdom of God, or witnesses to a lost and dying world. These were qualities of character only God could birth within them. Their hearts and minds were blended as one in the goal, not of being a ‘success,’ but of being of eternal value to God!

It was Robert Southey who so wisely wrote: "It is not for man to rest in absolute contentment-he is born to hopes and aspirations as the sparks fly upward, unless he has brutified his nature and quenched the spirit of immortality which is his portion." God filled David and Paula with holy desires, eternal purposes, and the never-dying aim of honoring Jesus in all things.

There was seldom a weekend the two of them had free in their first two years of college. Somewhere, every weekend just about, they would travel, Paula would sing and David would testify! They saw hundreds coming to Christ because of their witness.

Each of those first two years in college, with their favorite youth director’s help, they led one weekend a year what they called "Youth In The Crossroads." It was usually held in a local civic center that would hold up to 2000 youth. With the cooperation of youth

leaders all over their area, they filled the centers each year, and hundreds more came to Christ.

"In everything God works for good, to those who love Him, and are the called according to His purposes!"

 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE MARRIED HIS BRIDE -GOD ON HIS SIDE!

For two long years David and Paula had waited for this historic day when they entered in together to the covenant of marriage. Their parents had given their consent for their union after they finished their first two years at Carson-Newman College. And for the first two years of college they prayed, counseled, and labored over their wedding plans.

Paula was a very gifted girl and decided to make her own wedding dress with her mother’s help and a few friends who were good at sewing. It was an arduous task but Paula was up to it. She wanted to surprise David that her dress was her own creation. The two of them did much, much reading about marriage and family, recommended by their three favorite people outside of family, the pastor, the youth director, and Coach Stephens.

Even before counseling, the pair of precious lovers believed marriage was for life, just

like their union with Jesus!

David found a powerful quote from Edmund Burke and shared it with Paula in one of their many discussion times about their coming marriage. Burke said: "The Christian religion, by confining marriage to pairs, and rendering the relation indissoluble, has by these two things done more toward peace, happiness, settlement, and civilization of the world, than by any other part in this whole scheme of divine wisdom." They knew what they were becoming part of, and their marriage would be to the glory of God and the honor of Jesus Christ!

In their devotions together recently they were reading Ecclesiastes and came to chapter

four, verse 12: "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken." They saw themselves as the two, and then, with joy, they celebrated that God Himself was the third strand of the strong cord of holy marriage!

They understood marriage and union, marriage and celebration, marriage and maintenance, marriage and the miracles of child-birth, marriage and spiritual maturity, marriage and mutual honor and blessing, and marriage to show forth the Bridegroom and the Bride! These two were not immature children trying to act like adults -they were maturing adults entering a God-ordained relationship.

As often as possible they met with their pastor in their hometown and home church where

they would be married on June 15. It was such an enriching time for them. The pastor always gave them reading assignments to cover between visits, but while they were with him in the counseling sessions he would major on one particular phase of the marriage relationship.

Without hesitation the pastor always discussed the foundation necessary for a blessed marriage -the foundation of Christ alone. He emphasized that Christ is not only Lord over the Church, Lord over life, but also Lord over the home.

The pastor was also adamant about ‘role’ ministry in the marriage with the husband interpreting Christ and the wife interpreting the Church. There was major emphasis on the husband and father as ‘spiritual priest’ over the family- not ‘boss,’ not dictator, not

ruler, but one who walked in the servant-Spirit of Christ Jesus. The husband is to love his

wife as Jesus loved the Church!

The pastor majored also on finances because he had witnessed over the years stress upon marriages because of irresponsibility with money. Of course he emphasized the tithe and giving beyond that. Of course he majored on budget accountability to one another. Of course he majored on savings as a way of life for the long haul. It was truly rich for both David and Paula.

The pastor majored on the marriage relationship of sex as God’s covenant blessing, how "Marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled." Too many young people in their day and time had had that beautiful relationship colored by off-color comments even from parents! The bold pastor said to Paula, "Paula, you are to be a lady in the living room, but when it comes to marriage, you are to be a passionate tigress in the bedroom." And David smiled!

The pastor even majored on child-rearing. It certainly was in David and Paula’s hearts to have three or four children. And they so appreciated the pastor’s efforts in equipping them to be godly parents who truly loved, taught, disciplined, equipped, encouraged, and motivated their children to honor God with their lives.

The pastor majored on God’s Word as being so vital to their individual faith, but also their family faith. Together they should rally around the Word for the health of their marriage and as their children came to teach the Word to them.

The pastor majored on "forgiveness." "Kids, I want you to know that, in Christ, God sees us as finished products, complete in Christ lacking nothing. But in reality and experience we are babes, adolescents, young adults, and maturing adults. None of us ‘have arrived.’ There will be those moments when you will need to walk in forgiveness with each other. Alice Cary wrote: ‘Nothing in this lost and ruined world bears the meek impress of the Son of God so surely as forgiveness.’ "

Both David and Paula wanted to be intimately involved in the planning of the wedding. They asked the pastor if it was OK if they wrote their own vows and then he could adapt them to the spirit of his own heart as he led in the ceremony. He was happy they wanted to be involved. Their one theme about their ceremony? Christ-honoring in all things. Though she had not talked to David about it, Paula wanted to sing a love song to David at some point in the ceremony, and she thought, "Maybe while the unity candle is being lit, by video!" She was excited!

Both had concluded, four ushers and four bridesmaids, with best man and maid of honor.

David wanted Coach Stephens to be his best man and Paula wanted her mother’s closest friend who had been a mentor to Paula to be her maid of honor. David was adamant that Samuel Etheridge would be one of his ushers along with three former basketball teammates. The bridesmaids would be four former high school classmates, dear friends of Paula.

Here’s the exciting thing for David and Paula: Vera, David’s mother, the weekend before

the marriage told them, because of the spirit of their lives, she had committed her life to Christ and would be baptized the Sunday night before their wedding! What a gift! They were like a new spaceship launched off the pad! They couldn’t wait for the whole city to know! They were so excited for Vera and witnessed before their very eyes true life­ change! Vera was a joy to be around.

David is really going to be surprised because Paula will be singing to David by video a

love song of her choosing as they are lighting the unity candle! She’ll video-tape it in her handmade wedding dress that she personally made! What a beautiful wedding gift for

David because he so loves Paula’s singing. Oh, but here’s the kicker- David has been secretly taking voice lessons at college, and he follows her with his own song, love song of devotion to his bride! And neither knows what the other is doing!

It was a beautiful wedding service that truly honored the Lord Jesus. The music was superb and so heart-warming. The pastor touched God’s throne with great words of wisdom. The vows of David and Paula challenged every couple already married and the young people who were looking forward to their day. The exchanging of the rings was so uplifting as they fully surrendered themselves to one another. The unity candle was being lit -and down comes the video screen with Paula singing to David as they held each other’s hands and watched the glow of the one candle:

She chose Irving Berlin’s song "Always." It says -"Everything went wrong, and the

whole day long I’d feel so blue -For the longest while, I’d forget to smile -Then I met you. Now that my blue days have passed, Now that I’ve found you at last, I’ll be loving you, ALWAYS, with a love that’s true, ALWAYS. When the things you’ve planned Need a helping hand, I will understand, ALWAYS, ALWAYS. Days may not be fair, ALWAYS, That’s when I’ll be there, ALWAYS -Not for just an hour, Not for just a day, Not for just a year, But ALWAYS." [Irving Berlin Music Corporation, 1650 Broadway, N.Y. 19, N.Y.] And it’s over. Right? Wrong!

A new video begins to play, and there on the screen is David singing to Paula Carrie

Jacob’s-Bond’s song, "I LOVE YOU TRULY!" And the words brought a thousand people to tears as David sang to Paula:

"I love you truly, truly, dear, Life with its sorrow, life with its tear, Fades into dreams

when I feel you near, For I love you truly, truly, dear. Ah! Love, it’s something to feel your kind hand, Ah! Yes, it’s something by your side to stand; Gone is the sorrow, Gone doubt and fear, For you love me truly, truly, dear."

What an explosion of true emotion between David and Paula, the wedding party, the

pastor, his best man, her maid of honor, and the whole church! And then the two kneel together at the altar and Coach Stephens, Samuel Etheridge, and their favorite youth director come and lay hands and pray prayers of dedication and blessing upon this union. Then the pastor introduces Mr. & Mrs. David Matthews, and the church erupts in applause as they make their way out! What a wedding celebration!

 CHAPTER TWENTYTWO TORTUROUS TIME-DAVID’S PARENTS DIE

Eduardo Montoya has never been a man to roll over for anybody. He knows he was set up by someone, but he doesn’t know who. He’s been in prison now for about two years. It’s never an easy place to live when you’ve had such a rich, indulgent lifestyle from his criminal ways. Every day he is determined to find out who set him up. The authorities were no help: "We got our man." But we know they didn’t get the right man.

Gangs operate in the prison system just like they operated on the streets of most

American cities. Eduardo found it easy to move between gangs in prison. He wasn’t afraid or alarmed about what might happen. He knew fertile ground for the knowledge he needed would most likely filter through some gang member. That’s why for two years he quietly moved through different gang elements building confidence in them.

He also had access to plenty of money through his natural family and his criminal "family." He began to lay the ground work of his own investigation in the prison. It was perilous work but he was good in building bridges to criminal contacts. He knew what motivated them, and he understood after a period of time they would be putty in his hands, and especially because of "big bucks!"

Montoya has been in prison now for a little over two years. In his immediate family visits

he’s been able to share his desire to settle the score with whomever. He knows he’s not going to be out of prison for a long time. He told his father and his wife on the last visit that he must have funds made available to the one who will point the finger at who is responsible. They agreed. The father was ‘mob boss’ in Miami for years and is very wealthy. He told Eduardo, "Whatever it takes, you’ll have the money."

The Tennessee prison has one gang that was tied to a southern motorcycle gang. These

were tough men without consciences. They had been in crime most of their adult lives. One particular inmate came from around the area where Joe Hestert’s barn had been blown up. Montoya took a special liking to this inmate and felt, maybe, "I’ve found the man I need to tell me info that will explain why I’m here."

Over a period of three to four months, having already made his acquaintance, Montoya

began to really befriend the Tennessee inmate. And finally the inmate told him, "Big Joe Hestert paid a lot of money to have his barn blown up with the Tennessee walking horses in it for the insurance money, but there is no way to prove it. They set you up from the ‘get-go’ because of your Miami connections! He owed a lot of money to the Colombian cartel."

Eduardo said to him, "I know you’re getting out soon. What would it take for you to get

yourself on your feet quickly by killing the Hesterts after you get out?" His fellow inmate said, "I’ll do it for $50,000! No one will ever know. But how will you pay me in such a way neither of us will have the finger of law enforcement pointing at us?" He was

assured that Montoya’s father would put it in an off-shore account under a false name the

inmate would decide. The agreement was made-honor among thieves!

The inmate knew exactly where the Hesterts lived, how they lived, even with unlocked doors day and night. He had assured Eduardo that he would use a silencer and that both of them would be dead within two weeks of his dismissal. It would be a clean hit with no chance of survival.

David and Paula have been so pleased with Vera’s growth as a Christian. The mother had seen the dynamic changes in her son’s life and had a godly desire to share in what he had to grip Vera’s heart. She had that passion to grow as David had grown. What was about

to take place had never entered Vera’s thought processes.

She and Joe had had the insurance companies to settle many months ago, the Colombian cartel had been paid off, and Joe had enough to build a new barn and begin to buy horses again.

 David and Paula were settled in at Carson-Newman and were diligently studying in their junior year of college. They were so happy, so blessed, and were being so fulfilled in

their marriage and their Christian walk and ministry.

The prison inmate Montoya had bonded with was Ed Smith. He didn’t live where the Hesterts were located, but in the past ran in the same crowds as Big Joe. Years and years before Big Joe had stiffed Ed on a drug deal and he’d never been repaid. No one knew of this but the two of them, so Ed Smith felt extremely safe. He was very careful in

planning. It took him three or four days to lay out his plan. Then the time came. Ed Smith

knew that the two Hesterts were home and tucked in for the night.

He waited until about two o’clock in the morning, made his way quietly into the home, and found his way to their bedroom. Both of them were in a deep sleep and never knew what hit them. Ed Smith fired two shots in each one, one to the head and the other to the heart. He made sure they were dead, then made his way back to his hidden car.

When he arrived home he called Eduardo Montoya’s father to let him know the job was finished. He’s now $50,000 richer than he was when he got out of prison.

It was Samuel Etheridge who found the bodies because early that morning he and Joe

were going on a buying trip for supplies for the farm. He went to the house; both cars were still there; he knocked on the door -no answer; he opened the door and called their names -no answer; and then he knew he must enter and check on both of them. And the shock of his discovery crippled Samuel for a few moments, and then he ran to the phone to call the sheriff.

What a debilitating shock to David and Paula when the college chaplain called them out

of classes and broke the news. They both wept and wept and wept! Then, of course, they made their way back to their hometown and to Paula’s parents. They had to make funeral arrangements and then later follow up with settling the estate.

David and Paula wanted to sit down with the sheriff and find out what he knew, but sadly

the sheriff told them both this was a very cold trail. Law enforcement have no clues concerning who could have carried out this horrible crime. All David could say to him was, "Check out any information you have on the drug dealers and their backers." But no doors were opened there.

The funeral was at David and Paula’s church with their pastor conducting the service.

The church overflowed with a cross-section of the city including a long line of motorcyclists who wanted to be a part of the funeral procession. It was a very sad time for two beautiful young people, but they reached way down in their hearts for divine strength -Paula sang at the graveside and David gave a strong witness of saving grace to the many that gathered around the grave site. His last words were, "Vengence is Mine; I will repay," says the Lord!

 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE BABIES BIRTHED-GOLDEN WORTH

[TWO YEARS LATER]

 It’s not only college graduation time but time for the birth of twins to David and Paula, a boy and a girl! They have been so excited that their first are twins. At the same time they are preparing for graduation with the news David is valedictorian and Paula salutatorian! It’s been a phenomenal six years from pain to gain in the lives of these two precious young people. It’s been years of caring, years of spiritual growth, years of marriage love and maturing, years that have brought them not only to college graduation but to the birth of a growing family.

And they make the graduation event before the birth of the twins. They were glad though it was not easy for Paula. Their graduation speeches were so heart-warming and Christ­ honoring! These two will be long remembered by the faculty, classmates, communities that they’ve touched, and the camp-settings where they’ve deeply implanted a living, abiding, conquering faith.

But now, ten days after graduation, Paula gives birth to Mark and Mary Matthews, beautiful twins five pounds each! What a thrilling time for David and Paula’s parents, Coach Stephens and his family, and the pastor and youth director, and a few close friends, when they see the babies rolled out from the delivery room!

David began to weep and to say to those around him, "With God’s help Paula and I will give our children a home that is a haven of rest, a heaven on earth, and a witness of saving grace and triumphant faith. Coach, would you offer a prayer to that end?" And he did.

Then David had the privilege and blessing, with the nurse, to roll them into Paula’s room

and rest her new-born twins in her arms. Then David bent over to kiss his beautiful bride and the mother of his children. They cried together, between tears, saying, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

Davis said to Paula, "I want to pray to our Lord and Savior and thank Him for the gifts of our beautiful children." Which he did:

"Father God, Lord Jesus, Paula and I thank you for drawing us together as brother and sister in Christ, as man and wife, and now as parents to Mark and Mary. You’ve been so gracious to us. You’ve stood with us in tragedy and triumph, and now you stand with us as parents. We dedicate ourselves afresh and anew to love You, to serve You, and to

bless You as we commit ourselves to raise our children on the foundation of saving grace.

We commit ourselves to honor You as loving, caring, responsible parents who will seek to reflect You in all we do with our children, Your gifts of grace to us. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen."

Soon they are back to their campus apartment with their twins. This is not an easy

arrangement, but they haven’t had time since Joe’s and Vera’s deaths to really think about better home arrangements. There has been so much to do, yes, over two years in settling an estate, trying to wrap up their last two years of college, preparing for the births, fulfilling their commitments in testifying and singing. But now they know something must be done.

They don’t want constant distractions from their responsibility of caring and nurturing their children. That is uppermost in their thoughts.

 So with their children in mind they began to wrestle with the possibility of even moving back to the farm that David inherited. It would put Paula near her parents, back in their home church, and even nearer to a university where David could finish his Masters and Doctorate programs in school administration. Money is not a consideration because of the amount Vera never dipped into from her first divorce. It had grown to over $600,000 and was left to David. Even Joe, after paying off his drug debt, left over $600,000 to David, plus the farm and the home. They decided to totally renovate the home on the farm and make that their personal residence. David even received a substantial settlement from insurance after the bombing, so they are well-set for many years. Plus, David would be able to have a day to day relationship with Samuel Etheridge and his family. He longed for that, and so did Paula. She wanted their children raised under the powerful witness of Samuel. She wanted her children to hear him sing to them, "His eye is on the sparrow,

and I know He watches me!"

It was Horace Bushnell who once wrote: "A house without a roof would scarcely be a more different home, than a family unsheltered by God’s friendship, and the sense of being always rested in His providential care and guidance." Their lives were "covered" by God’s grace and mercy- David and Paula knew that! Their lives were being built on the Godly foundation of Christ alone. They were encircled by His loving, protective arms.

 They were blessed as "chosen vessels," aware of His ultimate intention and eternal purpose. They hadn’t sold out to a world culture, but sold out to Christ alone. Their choices were not for the ditches of fleshly life but the Highway of Holiness. There was no desire to bear the marks of worldly imprints, but only the brand-marks of Christ’s nature and character. And they knew it was their life responsibility to build that into their children’s lives as they walked, talked, and taught them the Living Faith. What a joy and what a delight!

There are those where homes have been nothing more to them than the "graves of the

heart" when God intended it to be The Divine School Of Eternal Life And Purpose. Daily David and Paula prayed that they might not fail their children but feed them the faith of loving God and a caring Savior.

By Christmas the farm home had been totally renovated and the family was able to move in. David had not planned on enrolling in graduate studies until the family was settled in to the farm home. They were so pleased that they had decided, at least through the graduate programs, to live on the farm raising the children of "golden worth."

The ties of true family faith are not ties void of love, devotion, discipline, inspiration, encouragement, the validation of worth and value proven by Christ’s death at the Cross as if they were the only family to ever live, but for that one family He would lay down His life. They didn’t teach their children to be overly introspective but only Holy Spirit convicted and led. In their relationships with others they were not to be exclusive but inclusive teaching them to care for others as their Lord cared for them In their walks, even as children, they taught them the higher calling of divine providence and their submission to it. Their one desire was not to raise children who emotionally remained in

 ‘baby beds’ or nurseries, but children who knew the risk of the reach for the higher things of God.

 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR GIFTS ABOUND -EVER SO SOUND

[TWO YEARS LATER]

David has finished his Master’s Degree at the University of Tennessee. He’s so excited to make this tremendous stride in his educational goals. He wants to be so prepared in

strong development of educational advances for youth, like his own children someday. And he does get accepted for the doctoral program at UT, another three years of advanced studies.

 Paula is expecting the birth of their third child and it’s only a week away. They know it’s going to be another boy, and they’ve decided to name him David Matthews Jr. They are on pins and needles expectantly awaiting the birth of David Jr. The twins are now two years of age and excited they are going to have a baby brother. Can you imagine the great times these three children are in for as they grow up together? Already there is such a strong bond between Mark and Mary, even at only two years of age. They love each other so much!

 Gifts abound- ever so sound! Ephesians 4:7-8 says, "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."’ That’s men inclusive of women also! Why? Because God spoke through Paul in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Is that clear in your family of faith or do we substitute men’s interpretations for God’s revelation?

 David has been blessed of our Lord, having blessed him, as well as each of us, "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." He’s blessed with ‘the word of wisdom’ far beyond his age both naturally and as a child of the King. The word of knowledge flows through him like spiritual giants of the past with multitudinous years of experience. He flows in the gift of evangelism without a calling on his life to be a Billy Graham. But even more than all that, his giftings of the Spirit flow in "the best or greater gifts," which are faith, hope, and love! Even now, at twenty-four years of age, his ministry is so widespread as time allows. But remember, his first time priority is with God, second with his wife and children, third with his job or studies, and fourth with his church. Out of those priorities he flows into his world with grace and mercy and love – and the world around him becomes a better place!

Being in graduate school has opened doors of witness with both faculty and students and, yes, especially basketball athletes, both young men and young women. David has been sponsoring weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings that has grown to about two hundred in attendance every week. When she’s able Paula has come to share her testimony and to sing and sometimes to teach.

But Paula’s primary ministry has been to really young marrieds, some of them teen-age

mothers who had to get married because of unexpected pregnancies -so much to deal with there because of grave and serious immaturity. And, of course, David was involved with young marrieds who hadn’t planned on it, but at least stepped to the plate to marry the one they impregnated to give their child a name. This was not an easy ministry for either one of them, but they knew someone had to care and reach out to those in desperate

need with words of hope and encouragement. Paula’s mother got involved often to either help in teaching or babysitting her twin grandchildren. In Paula’s ministry to the young, immature married women, as it expanded to the young husbands, she began to develop a curriculum. It all revolved around the Word of Christ as Lord, laying down their lives, ministering and caring in the nature and spirit of Jesus as a servant.

To those young men she developed a number of ministries: The diaper ministry, the

dishwasher ministry, the devotion of commitment of time so the young wife and mother could have ‘alone’ and ‘rest time,’ the discipline of date-time with his young bride, the determination ministry of leading his wife in Bible study and prayer, the dare-to-be­ strong ministry of faithfully standing upon Christ Jesus as their ‘sure foundation.’ Every week it seemed as if her ministry was growing in spiritual depths and new young families. And David was a central figure in it all as it continued to expand.

Gifts Abound -Ever So Sound!

 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE TRAGEDY STRIKES -MINISTRY ALIGHTS

David had finished his Master’s program at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and when in the first year of his doctoral program tragedy struck the faculty of the university. Three professors were traveling to a continuing education seminar in another state when a semi-truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed over the median hitting the professors’ car head-on, killing all three instantly. These were three of the finest college professors UT had on staff, greatly loved by all the other faculty and students.

 The university president called, not only upon pastors of these professors, but he asked David if he would reach out to the grieving wives and children, and, also, if he would speak at the president’s convening of a special chapel service in memory of these three professors. Of course, David wanted to be a part, but was a little shocked when the president asked him to make the main speech. He also requested David to speak on the theme, "From Tragedy To Triumph." It was something David had experienced in his young life, and the president knew it would be words of great encouragement to grieving families, faculty, and students. There were nearly 10,000 in all who gathered in the university gym for this special service.

One of David’s strongest words was the fact that in the blackest darkness God’s greatest

"Light" shines. He knew that when Samuel Etheridge pulled him from the shallow end of the horses’ swimming area that it was God’s hands through Samuel that wanted to save him for a better tomorrow. David had learned as a teenager that God whispered so quietly in the bright days with soothing grace but shouted so loudly in the midst of David’s pain and suffering and sorrow.

To that sorrowing audience he quoted Romans 8:22-25, "For we know that the whole

 creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope; but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." Then he quoted Romans 8: 38-39, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present not things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Out of the pit of sorrow and suffering, God raised David to a new platform of ministry

opportunities especially with men in higher education and the business world around Knoxville and with high school coaches, teachers, and administrators.

Over the next few years Almighty God exploded within David various phases of ministry. Here’s a select few of ministries God birthed within David’s heart, mind, and spirit":

"Hip socket out of place" ministry!

"Sitting by a well or seeing the burning bush" ministry! "Denial of our Lord or returning to bless others" ministry!

"Saving your life for yourself or If I Perish, I Perish," ministry!

"No one stood with me, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened" ministry!

"Killing the babies or saving the child in the womb" ministry! "Losing the lonely or finding the lonely" ministry!

"Personal withdrawing or pressing in to Jesus" ministry!

"Weary with the wounded or witnessing, touching, interceding for the wounded" ministry!

"The greatness of our God worthy ministry of praise, worship, and adoration"! "Time alone with God" ministry

"Wounded wing and missing foot" ministry!

"Prayer alone for world redemption" ministry!

"The Christ alone" ministry for divine forgiveness and fulfillment!

"The blessing of the husband and father upon his wife and children" ministry!

Are you getting the picture? Are you capturing the Spirit of what God is able to do through one available life to ALL God IS?

In Matthew 23: 11 Jesus speaks: "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant." That is the picture the Master-Painter was stroking on the canvas of David Matthew’s life, and he was truly reflecting the glory of Christ who was our servant, laying down His own life in our behalf at the Cross!

It was John Greenleaf Whittier, in "What of the Day?" who wrote: "If but the least and

frailest, let me be Evermore numbered with the truly free Who find Your service perfect liberty!" The true testimony of David Matthews in his "Hip out of socket" ministry!

But of course David had major responsibilities in completing his doctoral program in

education. It was a demanding responsibility. He had a required seventy hours to be completed, internship, plus his doctoral thesis. David faced a wide-range of courses to be completed, he hoped, in three years.

There were courses in the foundations of education, education developmental stages,

leadership supervision, the history, philosophy, and ethics of education, statistics, school law, research developments in education, advanced curriculums, counseling, and a variety of other essential courses.

He was a top level student always setting the curve in most courses. And because of his

Master’s degree, he was called upon often to assist professors in their classes, grading, and planning, even doing some of the teaching occasionally

 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CAREER CLEAR- STARDOM NEAR?

[THREE YEARS LATER]

David has now finished his doctoral program in school administration, and there were those saying, "David’s "star" is about to rise in the skies around us." But they didn’t understand the full work of sovereign, saving grace already at work in David’s life because of that true commitment, that repentant heart, the mind of faith that brought David to the place of so desiring to "become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom [David] shines as a ‘light’ in the world, holding fast the word of life.." [Philippians 2:15-16] The exciting thing before David now is the job offer of associate professor in the department of education at UT in the school administration division. This is so advantageous for David and Paula because, from the farm home, David is in driving

distance daily to UT. They don’t have to move! Both are extremely excited because they

truly wanted to raise their children on the farm near their church, friends, Paula’s family, and schools they had been so much a part of. David accepted the position after he and Paula had prayed it through and knew that "peace that passes all understanding." They had learned from reading John Bunyan that "Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God has promised." And they saw, through prayer, God Himself opening the door to the UT faculty!

It was President Theodore Roosevelt who made a speech in New York City, December

 30, 1900. He said: "The true Christian is the true citizen, lofty of purpose, resolute in endeavor, ready for a hero’s deeds, but never looking down on his task because it is cast in the day of small things; scornful of baseness, awake to his own duties as well as to his rights, following the higher law with reverence, and in this world doing all that in his power lies, so that when death comes he may feel that mankind is in some degree better because he lived." Theodore Roosevelt did not know he was speaking prophetically about David Matthews, but he was! Lofty of purpose, ready for a hero’s deeds, following the higher law, so committed to making a difference in the world he was a part of by laying down his life for others as Jesus did for David Matthews!

The lofty purpose of David Matthews is the recognition, by the grace of God, that Holy

 God has placed David in a unique position and place of redemptively influencing hundreds and hundreds, even thousands, of students who will become teachers and administrators, impacting their lives with a true sense of divine destiny and sovereign purposes as "chosen vessels" to touch young lives with grace.

 Since his conversion, his transformation, his salvation experience, David has not been a young man cloaked in an unholy web of self-importance, but a young man who has grown into "Master" manhood, going into his world to honor his Lord and Savior. For him it was not larger influences through him because of his educational status, but the reality of a simple man who walks with God and makes himself available to all God is and desires to do through David Matthews.

It was Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in "Content in Service," who wrote:

"I was too ambitious in my deed,

And thought to distance all men in success,

Till God came to me, marked the place, and said, ‘Ill doer, henceforth keep within this line, Attempting less than others’ -and I stand

And work among Christ’s little ones, content."

David was that young man who so desired to "keep within this line," the line God had graciously drawn around his life and to His eternal purpose. He stood content to pour his life of faith into God’s "little ones."

 There are so many things David has had to work through in his "liberal education" framework which every true disciple must do. One of the biggest dilemmas he had to face was "education apart from Truth," "education apart from the Author of Truth," and "education apart from a biblical foundation," which is the direction a godless world and godless governments want to lead a faithless society. That was not David Matthews. He knew what the end result was of nations that forget God, that place earthly wisdom in direct opposition to divine wisdom, that place independence of men above dependence upon God alone! And sadly, this will cause trouble for David on down the line, but it doesn’t concern him because he is a young man sold out to Truth and Him alone.

It was Horace Mann who wrote long before David’s time: "Keep one thing forever in view -the truth; and if you do this, though it may seem to lead you away from the opinion of men, it will assuredly conduct you to the throne of God." And that’s where David wanted to live and teach and educate and point young lives always to The Greater Truth!

CHAPTER TWENTY- SEVEN WIFE DIES – FAITH DEFIES [FOUR YEARS LATER]

 [Sarah Doudney, "The Christian’s Goodnight," "Sleep on, beloved, sleep, and take your rest; Lay down your head upon your Savior’s breast; We love you well, but Jesus loves you best- Goodnight! Goodnight! Goodnight!"]

It’s been such a blessed time for David and Paula. The twins are now nine years of age and David Jr. is seven. They are growing up so quickly it seems. All three love school so much -they are like sponges absorbing water!

David now has four years behind him as professor, still assistant, in the School of Education at UT. He has been fast-becoming one of the students’ favorite professors. They genuinely love and adore this professor who loves them more than they love themselves! They know his heart is building into them more than foundations of education but also foundations of faith. They see him genuine in his faith through and through.

Paula’s ministry to young marrieds has continued to explode! David has even been able

to help her open more doors in the university, schools around Knoxville, and churches. Now Paula sponsors a quarterly retreat for either the engaged or newly-weds. It has been so very healthy for these young people as they hear from someone like Paula who has walked out her faith in her own marriage relationship. Knoxville television stations have given her and David quality time to promote their caring ministries.

Paula’s parents, Paul and Brenda Pressley, have been such a huge part of David’s and Paula’s lives, along with the children. Paul, like Coach Stephens, has been a true father­ figure to David, and Brenda has been ‘true-blue’ mother to both Paula and David. They have had such a rich, rewarding relationship, and especially sense they are so close to the Pressleys’ home.They eat together several times a week.

Paula and Brenda do a lot of shopping together, share often in grocery shopping, and, of

course, Brenda is a huge help when Paula has to take all three children to the doctor. There is such a strong bond between mother and daughter, and, yes, between grandmother and her grandchildren. But also they are partners in ministry. Brenda has been made such a vital part of what the Lord is doing through Paula. And their openness with one another in the conferences and retreats they do together has built such a great desire among young wives to reach out to their own mothers and mothers-in-law and to build great lines of communication and respect.

Brenda is a great grandmother. She dearly loves her grandchildren and would do anything

in the world for their health, strength, education, and witness of a maturing faith in them. That’s what these last few days have been about. School is out for the summer and Morn and Grandrnom have been on a shopping spree for the kids for the summer.

They were in two cars because Brenda had to go early into Knoxville for a personal

check-up with her doctor. Paula met her for lunch at the mall with her three children and then the two of them would pick out new summer clothes for the three children. It’s now late afternoon and they know they must wrap up the shopping and then drive home from

Knoxville, get supper ready, and relax for the evening.

 Grandmother wants Mary to ride with her and Paula wanted the responsibility of two busy brothers! They began the ride home, about twenty miles, and Brenda would drop Mary off before she went on home.

Mark and Daniel are in the back seat of Paula’s car, a little on edge with each other, tired, bored, picking at each other as brothers sometime do -and Paula reached around to make sure their seatbelts were fastened, but she had to release her own to do it.

 Another scene began several years ago but is just now playing out on this two-lane road that Paula is driving on. Her mother is about a quarter of a mile behind her. Coming from the opposite direction at a very high rate of speed is an eighteen year old young man who has been on drugs for several years. He had quit school as a Junior, he had no job skills, he’d been involved in home burglaries, his girl-friend had just kicked him out of her home, and he was extremely high on drugs. And his decision? "I might as well be dead, I’m a loser."

As Paula turned around, without her seatbelt on, the young man headed his car straight at

Paula’s car. She swerved to miss him but he caught her almost head on. Paula’s car was spinning around and around as the result of impact and she was thrown from the car. She was killed instantly and the eighteen year old also died. Miraculously the two boys, in the back seat, stayed in their car-seats although bloody from flying glass.

Brenda witnessed this tragic accident and saw her daughter fly out of her car. She was

screaming with emotional pain not knowing the end result of this horrific crash. She called 911 immediately, told Mary to remain in her seat-belt, cried to the boys, "Mark, David, stay in your seatbelts. I must check on your Mother!"

And when Brenda saw her on the ground she knew Paula had died! She knelt down and

pulled her beautiful daughter close to her and wept uncontrollably. Then she went to the young man’s car to check on him- and she knew he was dead. She didn’t know he had committed suicide and taken her daughter with him.

She called her husband to come as quickly as possible and as she hung up she saw

David’s truck driving up because he heard the crash from their farm. "Oh, David, David, please don’t look. Please take care of the two boys and let me get Mary. David, please don’t look."

But David could not avoid what he knew has happened. He went straight to Paula and

cradled her broken body in his arms and wept. "My Bride, My Beloved, no, no, it can’t be! You can’t be gone!" But she was.

As sheriff’s deputies, ambulance, and EMT’s arrived, David gently laid Paula down for

the workers to do whatever they needed to do. David went to Brenda’s car where his three children sat in shock, weeping and crying, and not fully realizing their Mother had died. But precious David cuddled all three and wept with them, and then had to say, "Mother is gone. She died, she’s now resting in the bosom of Jesus."

Paul arrived very soon after Brenda had called. He couldn’t believe what he saw, but it

didn’t take long for it to sink in as he watched David and Brenda try to console Mark, Mary, and David Jr. Paul stepped in to take control of his family. He knew they needed to get the children away from this tragic scene. David and Brenda agreed and David said, "I’ll take the three children in my truck. You all follow. And, Paul, please call the pastor and youth director and Coach Stephens for me. OK?"

 When David arrived at the farm Samuel was in the front yard mowing the grass. David had to tell him that Paula had died in a car crash. They stood with their arms wrapped around each other, weeping and crying, as three children held tightly to Daddy’s legs. Paul and Brenda arrived in the cars and joined the circle of mourning.

Samuel Etheridge began to pray over the family, "Lord Jesus, we are Your children. We’re the children of faith, but we don’t understand this. But I know You promised the Holy Spirit as our Comforter. You said He would comfort us in all our tribulation. Holy Spirit, please touch David and the children. Please touch Mr. Paul and Mrs. Brenda with Your comforting grace. I don’t understand, Father-God, but I believe out of this tragedy You will honor Your Son and our Savior. In Jesus’ Name, Lord, release Your healing grace upon us. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen."

And they all stood together in a circle of sorrow and wept.

It wasn’t long until David’s three mentors arrived at the home. To say they were shocked is an under-statement! They were broken also! In Paula they had witnessed God’s maturing grace, raising a daughter of faith to a plateau of ministry and service seldom seen. They saw a depth of love of a wife for her husband and children and others on a plateau that you see very infrequently. Paula was a model of ministry in every facet of her young life, and because of it, with David, had touched thousands of lives. And they know, "People are going to be asking, ‘Why? Why?"’

 And David’s comment to his family and friends? "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" Only a deep, abiding faith can sustain a man in the greatest hour of pain and loss, and that faith was David’s in abundance. Already he is a tower of strength through his tears. Already he walks with a thankful heart for the many years he shared with Paula, for her love and devotion to a young man who so easily could have gone another way, for her superb devotion to her marriage vows, to her husband, to her children, to her friends, and to those God was most concerned about who could have been left in ditches, except for Paula’s sacrificial love. Already David’s life is permeated with, not only overcoming grief, but overcoming faith, trust, and dependence upon the God who sovereignly brought David and Paula together.

David then asked for time alone with his three children. He took them to his bedroom and

sat down with them to pray over them, to console them, to cry with them, to build, yes, even a stronger faith in the Lord in them, to take his Bible and read the resurrection passage from John 11. And wherever allowable he put Paula’s name in that resurrection passage and assured his children, "One day we will see your Mother again. And she’ll greet us with open arms."

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

FUNERAL DIRGE OR DISCIPLES’ CELEBRATION?

[Thomas Carlyle: "He who has no vision of eternity has no hold on time."]

 So many people across our world face death and seek to frame it in the immediacy of the moment-David’s one desire was to frame Paula’s death in the Eternal! He mentioned to his friends Shakespeare’s statement about those who "sells eternity to get a toy." That was certainly not Paula nor David. The two of them had resolved their marriage vows with the Eternal in view- and Paula’s funeral would not be that sad song, but disciples’ celebrations of the glory of God and a saving faith that transcends one’s death!

 As David met with the church staff in planning Paula’s service of commitment to God for His glory and honor and praise, it was his desire that a large choir be available to honor Paula’s Lord through music. Of course the pastor will preach, and David said, "Preach Christ crucified, Resurrected, and Coming Soon!" The choir will sing right before the pastor preaches. He asked that the huge choir sing, "Peace! Be Still!"

"Peace! Be Still!" which says:

 "Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is over-shadowed with blackness, No shelter or help is nigh; "Do you not care that we perish?" How can You lie asleep, When each moment so madly is threatening A grave in the angry deep? "The winds and the waves shall obey My will, Peace, be still!" Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, Or demons, or men, or whatever it be, No water can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean and earth and skies; They all shall sweetly obey My will; Peace, be still! Peace, be still! They all shall sweetly obey My will; Peace, peace, be still!"

David also asked that two hymns be sung with Coach Stephens reading scripture between them. The first song to be sung is "All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name!" And the second hymn is "We’ve a Story To Tell To the Nations."

The pastor said to David, "David, it is not possible anywhere in our small city to contain the crowds that will be here for Paula’s funeral. I do not hesitate in saying that there will be between 5,000 to 10,000 people who attend this service. I’m suggesting to you that we hold the service at UT in an auditorium that will hold up to 10,000. David agreed.

David had two other suggestions for the service: One, as the family leaves first, I want the congregation to sing, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again!" Second, I want Samuel Etheridge to speak at the graveside and you, Pastor, have the final prayer. Is that OK?" And the pastor responded, "That would please Paula so very much. Of course, I want Samuel to share."

The pastor asked, "David, on the back of the program I want to have printed the words to

a very old hymn written by Katharina von Schlegel. The hymn says:

"Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to Your God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly Friend, Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God does undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: the winds and waves still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored. Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last." David responded, "I genuinely pray that those without faith will have faith birthed within them as they read these words. Thank you, Pastor. The hymn says so much that I need to be reminded about."

Arrangements were made at the university in Knoxville. There is an auditorium there that will seat up to 10,000. Newspapers, radios, television stations have majored on Paula’s tragic death and the death of the young man who hit her almost head-on. The news goes out about the 3pm Sunday afternoon service at UT’s auditorium. David had asked for "no flowers," but gifts for Campus Crusade and the Navigators.

The funeral home provided a limousine for David and the children, Paul and Brenda, and

 Samuel Etheridge’s family. At 2:30 pm they arrived at one of the side entrances to the auditorium and made their way to a small lounge area. There the pastor, Coach Stephens, and a few other close friends met them to pray together before the actual service started. Organ music and piano accompaniment had already begun. By 3pm someone told them that a crowd between 8000 to 10,000 had assembled!

It was a glorious hour, as David had requested, centered on Christ Jesus because his Lord and Savior, and Paula’s, had led them in a victorious walk together. Nothing would

please Paula more than pointing to Jesus, uplifting His name, rejoicing in His saving grace.

 The congregational singing was heavenly. The choir was angelic in its ministry of music as they sang "Peace! Be Still!" Coach Stephens, before he read the scriptures out of John 11 said, "Paula Matthews was a chosen vessel of God’s grace and mercy. Her faith was not something she simply believed in her mind -her faith gripped and guided her walk. She had a divine, eternal mission in her life, and she walked it out every day as she laid down her life for others. In all of my years of working with students, seeing them in the age of discovery and days of demonstration, I don’t know anyone who walked with such integrity, with inspiration, with holy ideals birthed so practically in how she cared for others, especially David and her children. Her countenance reflected faithfully the nature and character of Christ. She loved God’s Word and desired it daily for her family and friends. She didn’t idolize the Word, but inspired devotion to that which is "living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword." And then he read John 11 and turned everyone’s attention to the reality of Resurrection Life, Hope, and Power.

Paula’s pastor was moved with deep emotion and heartache. The one he was to eulogize had touched the chords of faith in his own heart so deeply. He was like Coach Stephens, "In one’s pastoral ministry there are usually only a few who touch a pastor and a church and a community as deeply as Paula touched us. We’ve been so blessed of God to

witness a dynamic woman of faith who lived out what she believed." And then he poured

out his heart with Paul’s word, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." He knew Heaven had a standing ovation for Paula as the angels escorted her through the Pearly White Gates into the presence of her Lord and Savior!

And then at the end of this memorial service, as the family was ready to leave first, behind the casket, the congregation sang, "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." When they came to the graveside with a huge crowd of several thousand, (they’d pre­ arranged for sound equipment), Paula’s pastor introduced Samuel Etheridge to the huge gathering. Samuel was as confident as a Billy Graham as he stood to share his heart. He’s

not a preacher but a disciple deeply in love with his Lord. For years he’s been pouring his

faith into David. What a celebration, even through tragedy, when he saw David come to Christ. And he knew Paula had played such a huge role in David coming to Christ.

As he stood by that graveside with the microphone in front of him, all he wanted to do

was to pray:

 "Lord Jesus, Author of healing grace, I come to You alone in the time of our need. You alone are our salvation; You alone are our purpose; You alone are our freedom and deliverance from everything and anything that would sweep us away from Your loving care; You alone are our comforting grace because You tell us to come to You and You’ll give us rest. Father, David and his children are not strangers to You -You are their Eternal Friend. You are not their cruel task-master, but their sure salvation. You are not the hammer to crush them, but The Holy One to comfort them. You are not dogmatic

God to whip them into line, but the Holy Spirit of comfort to ease the pain of their loss of

wife and mother. You are not mean but merciful; You are not dictatorial but disciplined in Your grace and mercy; You are not angry with them and Paula, but You are their advocate, atonement, and eternal aim of blessing and fulfillment. Dear God, touch Your children with comforting grace. Touch them and draw them into Your arms of love. Touch them with the Eternal, and give them eyes to see beyond this grave. Let them know "Your Eye is on the Sparrow, and You care for them."

And then Samuel began to sing over the family and the large crowd, remembering Ethel Waters as she sang this song at Billy Graham’s crusades often:

"Why should I feel discouraged, Why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home, When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He;

His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear, And resting on His goodness, I

lose my doubts and fears; Though by the path He leadeth But one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me."

David and the children arose from their seats before Paula’s casket, went to Samuel, and

embraced him and cried with him as he broke down with many tears following his ministry song.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE MILITARY HEARS -NO FEARS [FOUR YEARS LATER]

It seems impossible that Paula has been gone from the family four years, but it has. With Brenda’s help David and the children have survived. David has been a very devoted father who has not hesitated to love his children well. After Paula’s funeral he knew the weighty responsibility that was his to nurture his children in a way that would bring healing to their hurting hearts.

In that stretch of four years, not only have the children been blossoming, but David’s educational career made major strides. He was promoted to full professor two years after Paula died. In that four years David leaned more and more to the counseling ministry God had put on his life. It even fit well in UT’ s Department of Education. In that four years David even began to take more and more counseling courses as his counseling ministry increased across the South.

 Then comes a very interesting call from Washington, D.C., and the office of Chief of Staff for the military. The chief of staff, General Michael Montgomery, was on the line with a very specific request. "Dr. Matthews, our office has had its eye on you for quite awhile. We have been deeply impressed by what we know is a ministry more than educational requirements. We’ve seen the large sphere of influence you have from Junior Highs through universities and beyond. The Joint Chiefs have asked that I invite you to Washington to sit down with us and see if we could work together in ministering to wounded soldiers, physically, emotionally, and mentally with the target including their wives and children. Would you consent to come?"

At first David was shocked, but then he reminded himself, "I’m not in control. God opens

doors and He closes them. At least I need to make a step to see if my Lord is in this." And he did. His one request was that he be able to fly his three children with him for the interview. The General told David that he would personally see that David’s children had the best tour guide in Washington! The twins are thirteen years of age and David Jr. is eleven. This will be a great trip for them with their father even though they are unsure of all its implications.

They left from the Knoxville airport for Washington on a Joint-Chiefs’ small jet arriving

in about an hour in Washington. Their hotel reservation was in one of Washington’s finest hotels. They flew in on a Friday morning and were scheduled to fly back on Sunday afternoon.

The children were chaperoned by two young officers, one male and one female, and had

the time of their lives seeing all of Washington’s historic places. Dad David had interviews scheduled for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. On Friday night David and the children were scheduled for dinner with the Joint Chiefs. David felt blessed of God having himself and his children eating dinner with these famous men and their wives.

In the Friday afternoon interview General Montgomery shared the vision of the Joint

Chiefs. They have been so concerned about their soldiers’ mental, physical, and spiritual

health. David’s ministry across the South and beyond caught their attention. They’ve

been following his ministry for years and are one hundred per cent committed to establish a ministry to soldiers and their families out of the overflow of David’s ministry educationally and spiritually. It’s their desire to establish at Ft. Benning, Georgia, a training center, under David’s supervision, that would include officers and chaplains and others as the vision grew, equipping men and women to reach out and touch those in

need. They know the loss of limbs that David experienced through the bomb blast at the barn, they know his conversion experience, his education, his marriage, and his ministry. They want David to establish and build both curriculum and facilities.

 They told David he would be well-paid beyond a UT professor, insurance, retirement, a beautiful officers’ quarters home, education for his three children in the best Christian academy in Columbus, Georgia, and ample time for his own ministry outside Columbus. He wanted to share the proposal with his children after dinner tonight and then would come back Saturday morning for whatever else they had to share plus any questions that were flowing through him. The children were overjoyed with their Washington experience and especially meeting all the generals and admirals! David and Paula had built into their children’s lives a great respect for the military.

Now, it’s crunch time! David must share the new job opportunity, the possibility of moving to Columbus, Georgia, a new school, new friends, a good distance from their home in Tennessee and their grandparents, and many other things. But as David shared the Chief Joints’ vision he was amazed at his children’s maturity and spiritual insight. It was if they understood God planning for their father to lead in a healing, counseling ministry with soldiers and their families. They were genuinely excited for their father and the opportunity for them to be educated in a very strong Christian school that majored on college preparation.

On Saturday morning David called General Montgomery to see if it was OK for his

children to be with him, and of course it was OK. As they met David had numerous questions but he knew they didn’t have all day. Questions? Project launch time, budget, staffing, curriculum, and one other vital question -"Would I be restrained in my Christian approach in any way?" And the Joint Chiefs assured him his faith and ministry were what led them to David!

As they came to the close of the morning session, David said, "Please give me one week to pray about this with my family and friends and I’ll then get back with you with my answer." They agreed.

After a week in prayer with family and friends, David agreed to accept their offer and to

be in Columbus after spring semester had been completed and he and the children had their vacation. David does not have to move his furniture because the beautiful home they are providing is fully furnished. His one request of the Joint Chiefs? "I want Coach Stephens to be my staff leader under my authority. I know of no man better suited to help me get this program off the ground." Coach Stephens already had enough years in for early retirement from the school system -this will be icing on the cake for him. And the Chiefs agreed. It’s David’s call.

Mark and Mary and David Jr. are really excited. They sense so maturely the God-given

gifts in their father, and they believe this is going to be a good fit with the military community. And they are thrilled about Coach Stephens and his family being a part of this new adventure.

 CHAPTER THIRTY ORGANIZATION OR ORGANISM?

It was George Eliot who once wrote: "It is vain thought to flee from the work that God appoints us, for the sake of finding a greater blessing, instead of seeking it where alone it is to be found- in loving obedience."

 You will no doubt remember Saul of Tarsus and his Damascus Road experience. We know it was true conversion when Saul asked Jesus, "Lord, what would You have me to do?" And without any reservations, when David Matthews heard from his Lord, he promptly obeyed! It was letting "peace act as umpire" in his heart "settling with finality all questions or decisions that arise within one’s heart." (Colossians 3:15, Amplified Bible)

Now before David there is the challenge of putting together a ministry team that is

infused with the very Spirit of the life of Christ. That is his desire, his goal, his plan. He does not want an organization but an organism that breathes the Lord’s nature, spirit, and character. He understands how vital his department is to the health of soldiers and their families mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. He knows the best of medical doctors and nurses will be taking care of them bodily, but he has the responsibility of soul and spirit.

 Coach Stephens and his family were thrilled to join David in this new phase of his life and theirs. The coach believes, without a doubt, he can be a major contributor to what David wants to accomplish. The coach’s wife will also truly be a great helpmate. Her heart and spirit was so much like Paula’s in reaching out to young marrieds and youth. Temporary offices were set up at Ft. Benning, but plans are to use a huge, unused hangar and convert it to David’s offices. It will be nice because it is big enough for all of his team and big enough to hold conferences or retreats.

Of course, another huge responsibility is putting together his team. The Joint Chiefs gave him a free rein in the selection process with a more than ample budget to meet his staff needs.

He and Coach Stephens had begun to evaluate their needs even before they arrived at Ft.

Benning. It became a huge prayer priority because they both understood the vastness of this division’s responsibility. They begin at Ft. Benning but then expand across the U.S. and even to military bases overseas. It is a massive endeavor. It is definitely a multi-year development.

David had come to the conclusion, at least on a temporary basis, that he needed a team of at least 28-30 people who worked with him daily in initial development. All of these leaders were to be strong Christians with a shared vision of "touching their world with grace." This did not include secretaries etc. David and Coach Stephens knew it would take a number of months to finalize who they wanted and where they would be situated with offices, strategy rooms, training facilities, and conference rooms. But they had finalized their plans:

Four chaplains from various military services, four pastors from four different regions

from across the U.S., four men or women with doctorates in counseling, four counseling­ degreed military wives, four grass-roots military personnel (not officers of high rank), four sports leaders, four medical doctors, and two professional children’s workers.

These would form the initial nucleus of David’s ministry team. The Joint Chiefs were ecstatic with David’s plan and endorsed it unanimously.

 Over the next six months, having settled into their new homes, the Matthews and Stephens were getting acclimated to their new responsibilities. David’s children were thrilled with their new school and new friends, so many of them from military families.

The recruiting process had begun intently, and both were thrilled with the quality of

people available to them in the selection process. Of course, there were those David knew personally that he wanted on his team. The question was, did they share his vision?

 It was James L. Christensen who wrote many years ago, "The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life." David had certainly not avoided difficulty in his life -he suffered through traumatic events, much like Job, but came through triumphant because of the witness of others in a saving, redemptive, transforming faith. By God’s grace divine character was being shaped in him like clay in a potter’s hands. He knew the God who was given His rightful place in David’s life could do the same in anyone’s life. Already David’s Lord and Savior was building into his life a deep, rich, abiding love of the soldiers and their families. It was his one desire to see men and women and families becoming vitally connected to Christ. Daily the staff prayed together before assuming their individual responsibilities. David was so strong concerning the prayer ministry of his team. It was not an option they had; David considered it a divine imperative. Jesus had said, "Men ought always to pray and not to faint!" And David believed Him.

Many of his new staffers were strong in the ministry of prayer and others were learners. Some were intimidated by strong prayers and had to learn from David that their prayers were not measured by a certain degree of eloquence but by the passion of earnestness; it was not what one called "artful monologue," but a child’s vocal and heart-felt dialogue with his Father in heaven; it was not a determined drawing down of God into our situations but an aligning of our hearts to God’s eternal purposes; it is not "gimme, gimme, gimme," but "God, as your ambassador in this world, what are Your orders for me today?" David’s thrust in prayer is and has always been dependence, the need of direction, the determination of God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will, and the discipline to stand in faith until God alone answers. That spirit of prayer ingrained in his associates leads this new ministry to great heights. They are touching so many lives!

Someone asked Henry Drummond, "Why do you believe in miracles?" Drummond

answered, "Because I see them everyday in the changed lives of men and women who are saved and lifted through faith in the power of the living Christ." David would only add, "And because someone prayed believing for another’s salvation, healing, and deliverance!"

If this ministry impacted the military positively, it is because team members prayed and

prayed and prayed. David was a leader who groped "for the keys of the heavenly harmonies." [John Greenleaf Whittier]

 CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE CHILDREN EMERGE – QUITE A SURGE

You know the depths of a parent’s true love when you see their passion for their children’s spiritual success "in the Lord." Too many parents are overcome with desire for their children’s earthly success without any consideration of their children’s intimate. personal relationship with God. Because many parents don’t live with a consciousness of God’s presence with them, in them, over them, around them, they don’t encourage their kids in the greater knowledge and wisdom.

But David’s fatherly passion for his teenagers was a home that was God’s workshop in developing love, faith, and hope within them, developing a deep hunger to honor God in all things, to develop Christ-like aims and purposes with Eternity in view. They’ve already learned the uncertainty of time as they witnessed their mother’s death. And they’ve witnessed God at work in their father’s life. They want a similar testimony!

 The twins are almost fourteen and David Jr. almost twelve. And what a major responsibility for him now that Brenda is six hours away! Coach Stephens’ wife will be available some of the time, especially "crunch time," but David has the weight for his children’s training. He understands the next few years are not going to be easy, but, with God’s help, he’ll see his children through! He knows his family was ordained of God, and He will not leave David hopeless. He knows his major ministry is training up his children well. The Word will be so very imp01iant in their young lives in the immediate years ahead of them, and David understands his "priestly ministry."

It is not in God’s will to isolate children from the world, but to insulate them from the

world’s ways by his example, teaching, and majoring on the Word in their daily lives. Psalm 119 was one of the major passages that David used for the next several years. He always brought them back to that powerful word about the importance of the Word in their walk with Christ. He had them reading one chapter from Proverbs over and over, month after month, and year after year. They did "Word" studies in the New Testament. They had memorization responsibilities. I and II Timothy were major with David and his children. He understood God’s Word will "make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." [II Timothy 3:15]

Mark Matthews is going to be one tall dude. And, he takes after his Dad in his passion for

basketball. Though only fourteen in his first year at the Christian school, he will no doubt be a team leader his four years there.

Mary Matthews wants to be a nurse, but also she has a passion for music just like her mother, singing in the school chorus and church youth choir, plus singing on her own as a soloist.

David Jr. is a very strong student with a desire to get a medical degree and care for

people’s needs. He isn’t "nerdy" but borderline.

The interesting thing is that Mary and David Jr. want to go back for university studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Mark has his eyes set for West Point and a military career.

It’s not coincidences that David’s children are finding their way in academic circles.

Father David always majored on "The Virtue of Vocation." It wasn’t incidental to him, but fundamental, "If a man will not work, neither shall he eat!" Is that clear to you?

But the major reason David’s children were so stable, so sure of their identity in Christ, so settled in life’s purpose was the regular "blessing" David placed upon his children’s lives by his verbal expression of his love for each of them, by his prayerful intercession daily for them, and by his "laying on of hands" with a spoken blessing of God on their lives.

You’ll remember Isaac’s blessing upon Joseph and his sons found in Genesis 48:15-17! In earlier verses Joseph had brought his sons before Israel and Israel "kissed them and embraced them." Then in verses 15-17, (Read carefully and thoughtfully!), "And he blessed Joseph, and said: ‘God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

One of the explosive dilemmas David Matthews saw around him was fathers who did not

truly love nor bless their sons and daughters. The Jewish community understands obedience to God’s Word, and you do not find many criminals in prisons across America who are Jewish because the fathers still "bless the lads."

David Matthews knew, without a doubt, that one of the major responsibilities he had was leading soldier-fathers to bless their children. He knew it was a mandate from God, and that faithfully and regularly he was to encourage fathers to bless their children.

David’s children grew in blessing because David understood "The Virtue of Vision."

 And it always came back to Saul of Tarsus’s spirit, "Lord, what would you have me to do?" That became a key component to the children of David Matthews in their walk with Christ. David understood "vision" (from God) was the key that unlocked the door to heaven’s blessing upon one’s life; he understood it was that kindling flame that lit a fire in one’s heart and mind that could not be put out; he understood ‘vision’ diminished darkness in one’s mind and let "The Son" shine in; he knew vision cemented wings in one’s life that helped him soar in the heavenly places; he understood "vision" was the overcoming spirit of death itself granting resurrection life and hope in any circumstance; And David understood "vision" birthed an untiring, undying spirit in one’s life that raised him from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary, from the natural to the spiritual, from the temporal to the eternal. His children had that lovingly taught by their father in both example and rote memory!

David also majored with his children upon "The Virtue of Victory." How omitted this is

 in most modern-day circles of those called Christians! David regularly took his children to Colossians 2:9-10! This was a "mirror verse" for them constantly. It says, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; AND YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM …" David taught his children that victory in Jesus is immediate because of His finished work at Calvary; that God sees each of them complete in Jesus, lacking nothing; and that, in Christ, they are "more than conquerors!" He understood "Identity" from God’s point of view. The sad thing is Satan himself fills the minds with doubts and fears and untruths. David also majored with his children on "The Virtue of the Virgin-Spirit!" David had been blessed by those who faithfully discipled him in the Word of God. He grasped

Paul’s explanation of the adulterer in Romans 7 who lived for the "flesh" though married

to Christ! But that struggling disciple found in Romans 8 the victory that comes through yieldedness to the Spirit. He understood "the Virgin Spirit" that enters in because of their

faithfulness in keeping their lamps alit by the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit! That’s Matthew 25:4 where Jesus speaks of "the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps." Jesus also spoke of the foolish who delayed preparation for the coming of the bridegroom, and in verse 10 of Matthew 25, Jesus said, "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut."

Mark, Mary, and David Jr. rejoice with their father in the awareness they are "chosen vessels" in the plan of God to touch their world with the amazing love of God and allow Him, through them, to reveal the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. They celebrate the fact regularly, as a family, that they are instruments in God’s hands unveiling the resurrected Savior and Lord of life who leads and guides and directs the very footsteps of His children of faith.

It was William Paley in "The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy" who wrote:

"Virtue is the doing good to mankind in obedience to the will of God, and for the sake of everlasting happiness."

David and his children are totally yielded to being vessels of honor to the glory of God

because of His saving grace and because of the example of their Lord in laying down His life as a servant unto others. They long to live a "footwashing" life in caring for others. One other thing that David instilled within his children as they came to the teen years. He said to them often, "God was gracious to me in that He led me to your mother and your mother to me. It was His will for the two of us. You must remember that, even now, you pray regularly for Him to lead you to His choice of a mate to share your life with. Marriage is of the Master, not simply ‘glandular gladness!’ Protect your heart, your spirit, your soul for God’s plan of marriage in the Spirit!"

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

MILITARY MINISTRY-MASTER-PIECE PAINTING

No one should ever assume that any calling on one’s life from the Lord comes easily or without opposition or suffering through intense times of frustration. Satan is never pleased when someone steps to the plate and can hit a homerun to the glory of God, or stands before the easel of life to stroke a masterpiece to the honor of one’s Lord and Savior, or reports for duty before the ultimate "Commander-in-Chief," ready to fulfill His good, acceptable, and perfect will, understanding opposition will arise.

David Matthews knew he was under unsealed orders from the headquarters of God

Himself! There was never any doubt in his mind that he was on a mission to honor Christ. He had that peace that passes all understanding because of his submission to this calling upon his life.

But he clearly understood opposition. There would be those opposed to Christian

involvement in the military, whether Army, Air Force, Marines, or Navy. He also understood divine support and disciples’ commitment to walk with him through the mine-fields of explosive resentment.

Paul had been an example to David and his teenagers as he majored, with them, on Paul’s writings to Timothy. There were those moments when Paul saw no one standing with him. He knew the reality of co-workers, friends, and fellow disciples forsaking him. But David learned through Paul, "But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom." On that Word, David stood strong also.

Over the first four years of military ministry, David’s department had mushroomed all

over the United States. Now there are four regional offices scattered across the U.S and even offices across Europe and into Asia. It has been such an accomplishment that all can only say, "This is a work of Jesus Himself!"

 That was truly David’s heart, spirit, vision, and personal desire: "All glory to Him alone." His team knew that, the Joint Chiefs understood that, the military leaders and families knew that, pastors and churches all across the U.S. knew that. The Lord was being honored and glorified as David stepped further and further into the background. His team of visionaries were coming into their own under the Lord’s permissive and perfect will. Time and space does not allow even attempting to enumerate the vastness of ministry opportunities that had been birthed through David’s humble beginnings at Ft. Benning. But regional events are happening on a monthly basis; local events in military areas on a weekly basis; national events on a quarterly basis; and, yes, even conferences all over the world.

Chaplains and pastors are front-men in every area where the department ministry has

penetrated. Under regional directors these men and women pray regularly together for the guidance of God. They pray, ‘brain-storm,’ deliberate, discuss, form, and carry through those ministries that God births within their hearts. Of course, David makes himself available for, not only regional meetings, but sometimes local meetings at military bases or churches.

There are times David takes his three teenagers with him to deal with grief and sorrow,

one-parent parenting, teenage wars and battles that must be fought, the "fleeing" call

upon every Christian teenager’s walk, praying for the godly mate, resolving inter­ relationship problems of brothers and sisters and friends, learning communication skills with parents etc.

But as David has entered into his fourth year with the military, he’s beginning to sense a ‘wind-change.’ He begins to contemplate if this is the "Wind of the Spirit" with that moving cloud by day and fire by night.

On one of the last trips when his three teenagers were with him, he began to talk with them about what he was feeling. "Is my time with the military coming to a close? Can I say God is through with me in this role and is opening another door? Is this a selfish thing or the sovereignty of God in operation?"

 And all three kids said, "What do you believe the Lord would have you to do’? Are there many doors open or do you sense only one door?" David responded, "At this moment I want to go home, to the farm, to Paul and Brenda, to Samuel and his family, to our church and friends, and maybe to the University of Tennessee if they’d have me." The children were absolutely elated! Mark is going to West Point, Mary is going to UT, and David Jr. would have two years in his Dad’s high school before he would graduate. Nothing would please his children more than "going home."

Then David said, "There is another reason why I am considering this, and it relates to

someone I have met through the military ministry. She is a military widow that I met over a year ago in a conference. She was sharing the weekend I was there. She is from Knoxville and has recently been employed by UT because of her doctorate in counseling and her experience through the ministry at military bases. I want you to know we are only friends now, but I sense it may become more than that." The children? Ecstatic! "When

do we get to meet her? What is her name? Who is she?" And David said, "Ginger Granger. That’s all you need to know right now!"

And David decides, "This is a done deal. It’s back to the farm and hopefully UT staff." He contacts the administration at UT and receives a positive endorsement. No interviews necessary, only, "When can you begin?"

Employed by the university in Knoxville, David submitted his resignation to the Joint

Chiefs and encouraged Coach Stephens be appointed his successor. And it happened!

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

[One Year Later]

TWO WIDOWED UNITED

How great is the God of the Matthews and the Grangers! There is no doubt that God sealed something in David’s and Ginger’s hearts the very first time they met. There was a connection that was more than physical -it was spiritual, a divine endorsement, "This is of God!" Ginger had had no children but was thrilled that she was going to become substitute Morn to David’s children although two were already in college.

Though having met several times when David was attending military conferences, and

having arranged to see each other when possible, the intenseness of the relationship grew when they both settled around Knoxville and began work at the university. Their dating was on the fast-track almost immediately.

Mark was the only one of David’s children who hadn’t gotten acquainted with Ginger

because of his move to West Point, but Mary and David Jr. kept him filled in week by week. By the end of their first six months at UT, David and Ginger announced their engagement. There was great joy in both households, and, yes, even with Paul and Brenda. They fell in love with her the first time they met her and were delighted for David.

This gave them six months to plan their wedding which was not going to be a huge event

but actually a small family and close friends’ wedding at the farm. They had decided that was where they wanted to live.

But David had a surprise for Ginger and his three kids. He wanted to give to Samuel

Etheridge the home he and Patty had renovated for Samuel’s own home with a few acres around it, and then build a new home on a special place on the farm where he felt the original farm-house should have been built.

That thrilled Ginger, David’s three children, Samuel and his family, and anybody else

 who’d been a part of the Matthews life. They began immediately, and the builder promised he could have the new home finished within six months. It was David and Ginger’s commitment that this would be their retirement home though both had many, many years before them before retirement became a reality. They wanted a home big enough for David’s three children to feel they still had a bedroom of their own during college vacations. Other than that David gave Ginger a free hand in designing their new home. It was a blast for her, but at the same time she always sought David’s approval. One of the things David requested was a big back yard with a huge patio, a big swimming pool, and lots of gardens for beautiful flowers, shrubs, and roses. He wanted his grandchildren to have great memories about granddad and grandmama’s home!

 Ginger not only met with the architect and builder, she also met regularly with David’s pastor because he was going to do the wedding. They had to fit the ceremony in around Mark’s, Mary’s, and David Jr.’s college schedule, but it all worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.

The wedding is scheduled for June 20 which fits into the children’s summer schedule to

be at home. David and Ginger wanted to make sure they’d be a part of the ceremony. It’s interesting that Ginger had no problems at all in having Patty’s best friend to sing at the

wedding. She was excited that Coach Stephens would again be David’s best man. David had no problems with Ginger’s former mother-in-law being her maid of honor. Head usher? Samuel Etheridge!

The wedding event is scheduled outdoors in a beautiful, beautiful setting, but they did add a tent for the reception and back-up just in case it rained. They invited about two hundred people to the wedding. Afterwards a full course dinner was planned for everyone.

Following the wedding David and Ginger planned their first night of the honeymoon in a

hotel in Knoxville and then planned to fly to Florida for the rest of their honeymoon. These two are deliriously in love -so thankful to God for bringing them together. They have a strong commitment to the Lord, they love the ministry of counseling, they love reaching out to youth and young adults with the claims of Christ as the sure foundation of good marriages, and they love sharing weekend conferences together.

It was William Shakespeare, in "Henry V," (Act V, sc. 2, 1.799) who wrote: "God, the

best maker of all marriages, combine your hearts in one." And that is so true of David and Ginger! They were one in the Spirit of Christ, one in vision of ministry, one in the understanding of "chosen vessels," and one in purpose of being examples to David’s children and others about a fulfilling, prosperous, Christ-honoring marriage.

 They had such a rich, rich time on the honeymoon. Both had been so deeply wounded years ago over the loss of their marriage partners. But after years of aloneness and the healing grace of God, they were ready to find someone to share their lives with. Divine appointments are truly a reality if one has the spiritual eyes to see! And David and Ginger "saw." This wasn’t a David and Bathsheba kind of thing but a David and daughter of God experience!

After a week in Florida they were anxious to get back to their newly completed home and

to Mark, Mary, and David Jr. They did not know it but the three kids planned a small "Welcome Home" party with close friends. And the three kids planned the meal, prepared it, and served the newly married couple and guests. The dinner was served on the new patio around the beautiful new pool.

Before serving the meal Mark asked for a few moments to share the hearts of him and his

brother and sister:

 "As you know Mary, David Jr. and I have the greatest Dad in the world. We thank God every day for a father who cared for us more than he cared for himself. There was never a day any one of us doubted his love. And we had the greatest Mom in the world, for a very short time," hesitating as tears began to well up in Mark, "but I want you to know that the three of us are so very blessed to have Ginger as our Mom now, and we thank God for bringing her into our Dad’s life. Ginger, thank you for loving us and welcoming us into your life. We bless and honor you as our divinely appointed Mom. To God be the glory." And the small crowd stood and clapped and cried as David’s three children embraced him and Ginger. It was a sweet, tender, touching time for all who were there.

Mark then asked Samuel Etheridge to come and pray over David and Ginger and the

three kids and then bless the meal. What a moving prayer as Samuel prayed the stars down! There was a deep awareness of a "glory-cloud" all around that patio as Samuel committed David’s and Ginger’s marriage to the honor of Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

THE BELL SOUNDS – THE ANGEL CALLS

[FIFTEEN YEARS LATER]

 Someone wrote the following words anonymously: "Some day the bell will sound, Some day my heart will bound, As with a shout that school is out, And lessons done, I homeward run."

 These are not words of a troubling dream, a delusional nightmare, the figments of one’s imagination, dark thoughts of a divided mind, or a funeral for faith and hope -they are words of one who knows the earthly journey is complete and the heavenly journey is on the horizon. They are not words of hopelessness but the words of satisfaction of a job "well done" and words of peaceful rest, "My eternal home awaits me."

Jesus gave us luminous footprints through the dark, cold grave that each man faces to the

Light of the eternal treasures of faith fulfilled, hope completed, and love enriched in the grandeur of the glory of God and the graciousness of His sweet embrace with His words, "Welcome Home, My child," as one rests in the bosom of Jesus.

It’s been a blessed, fulfilling fifteen years of marriage for David and Ginger. Their commitment to one another was in the treasure of desire to honor their Lord in their relationship -and it was so evident. Both were professors at UT, highly respected, even honored by the university; both were still growing in their faith and understanding of God’s call upon their lives; both still walked in that servant spirit imaging their Lord and Savior; and both were still highly active in the Christian retreat and conference ministry for youth and young marrieds.

One year ago David was asked by his pastor to share what was on his heart in a Sunday

morning service. For days and days he prayed for guidance from Christ Jesus and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. He so wanted his words to minister Life to the hearers. When that morning came David had been deeply moved by the Spirit of God in what to share. For one of the first times in speaking David was uneasy, even teary, but deeply confident in what he was to say. It was recorded. Listen to David’s words:

"A tragic, traumatic childhood can be the springboard into hellish living or the stepping stone into the very garden of God where He walks with me and talks with me.

Living in a family without faith can become a life void of the richness of relationship with a personal God or the awareness that there’s something more for me my earthly family could not provide.

The emptiness of parents who refuse to acknowledge the need of God in their lives can either become the confidence of rebellion in their children or the conviction of the need of "the risk of the reach" in reaching outside a child’s life to the God of revelation. Homes that are not a taste of heaven can lead one into deeper bondage and captivity or lead one to cry out for something or Someone the present home knows nothing about. There are families that are nothing more than a gathering of natural seed or they are families of the gift of the spiritual Seed.

There are families that truly love this world and all that it has to offer or families that

truly love God and all He has to give to them in a victorious faith and an eternal reason for living to the glory of the Redeeming God of Calvary.

There are families totally committed to see that their children are educated and validated as a member of family faithlessness, rich in what the dying world has to offer but bankrupt in the significance of eternal purpose and bankrupt in the need of Dad and Mom and sons and daughters reconciled to God.

But there are those who know "faith living;" they know the reality of repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ; they know the reality of regenerative grace; they comprehend ‘reconciled to God;’ they experience "born from above, born of God, born of the Spirit, born the second time" by the gift of God’s love, grace, and mercy.

I came out of the heartache of a broken family. I lived through the emptiness of a God­ less family. I was, as a child, the recipient of parents who were ‘play-actors’ concerning faith and a right relationship with God. If anyone has ever experienced ‘hell on earth,’ they understand my first fourteen years of up-bringing, which was an attempt to bring me down.

Divorce occurs, separation is a reality, questions abound about what life is all about, and

then Mother steps from the frying pan into the fire.

Love is absent and lust becomes the calling card of debased living. Alcohol and drugs become "the milk of godless living." Abuse, verbally and physically becomes the primary activity of loveless living and loveless marriages.

Then comes the heartless bombing where a sixteen year-old loses an arm and a foot,

burned over seventy per cent of his body. But he gains a spiritual family of faith, he gains a substitute father rich in faith, he gains a youth leader who truly cares, and he gains a young lady who knows my only hope was ‘in Christ.’

 She became my Bride, the mother of my children, having led me to an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus, and what was God’s true intention in the love of a husband and wife.

Paula and I were married, God gave us three beautiful children, and we were living our

dream. And then, she’s gone- struck down by a young man who wanted to end his own life in a head-on collision, not knowing what he was stealing from me.

The children and I survived together by the grace of God and with the help of family and friends. The children have matured so much in their faith and their walk with God; they know their identity in Christ and their eternal purpose as "chosen vessels."

It hasn’t been easy for Dad; there has been such a void in my heart and life; the woman who taught me true love and devotion was translated into God’s eternal presence, her heavenly home and eternal family; and for years there has been a deep well of emptiness within me.

But then God led Ginger Granger into my life. She was a military wife who lost her

husband through war. Now she’s Ginger Matthews, my Bride who has restored light in my inner man. I continually thank God every day for His gracious gift to me in Ginger. The last fourteen years have been so rich for both of us.

We’ve seen Mark finish West Point, presently serving as Lt. Colonel Mark Matthews,

stationed in Germany. He’s married to a beautiful, strong Christian young lady who has given him two beautiful children.

Mary is an RN, her heart’s desire from childhood. She’s Mary Alford and the mother of

three children.

David JR. is a medical doctor, always his life’s ambition, majoring in orthopedic surgery, and anxious to create a better arm and foot for his Dad, married to a doctor who shares in his practice of orthopedic surgery. They have two children.

And now, here I am, fifty years of age, wondering what tomorrow holds. I don’t know of a man on the face of the earth that has been more blessed than I’ve been blessed!

I am the richest man on the face of the earth in the things that truly count for eternity’s sake and the glory of God alone -but there’s a rumbling within my spirit, a restlessness about what tomorrow holds, a questioning in my spirit about whether or not my earthly usefulness is coming to an end.

Ginger and I have talked about this openly. We know "three score and ten," the "long life" promise of Scripture to the man of faith, but I also understand life’s uncertainty, even an indefinite tomorrow, and I wonder if God is saying to all of us, "Time is short, closing time is near, eternity is about to dawn experientially for you."

I don’t fear death- I embrace it, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

I’m not running from death -but resting in faith. I’m not resisting death but putting my arms strongly around the Life of Christ.

I don’t know or understand fully what this pulling is within me, but I believe God is saying to each of us, "Look up for your redemption is drawing near."

I know He is saying to me, "Live every day as if it were your last." He’s saying to me, "Listen for the music of the angelic chorus." He’s saying, "Get ready- I’ve got a new robe, a ring for your finger, new shoes, a fatted calf, and the party-band is playing. This

is your Heavenly Father speaking, and I say, Get ready- it’s about time for you to come home."

It may be that my early life was like Job’s journey, but the majority of my life on earth has been a journey with Jesus. It’s been a full and rich life, not under the curse but under the blessing. It’s been a life in the blessing of the Holy Spirit, not a life in the futility of the flesh or the old man or the domination of that old sin nature.

It’s been a life, not with the falseness of Satan and his friends, but a life rich in the

fullness of God-like friends and companions.

I pray that you understand, know, and experience the life of blessedness that I have known and experienced for over thirty years -and Heaven awaits my arrival!

Look to Jesus! Lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge Him. Give Him His rightful place in your hearts and in your homes, and He will guide your every step."

And when David finished and sat down, there was total silence. No one moved. For a

long time the pastor sat in his chair on the platform. Then he arose to stand behind the pulpit. He began to weep uncontrollably. He fell across the pulpit stand continuing to weep. One by one the congregation stood and then made their way to the altar. Many were weeping also.

And then someone cried out, "Oh God, that we all might be ready to further our journey

with Jesus beyond this fleshly life into the region of eternal, holy presence with You and Your angelic chorus!"

One year after this historic night of David’s testimony, at David’s funeral, having

dropped dead from a massive heart attack, the pastor reminded the family and friends of, what he called, "David’s prophetic words about himself." He reminded the multitude,

"No one was more prepared to die than David Matthews. Are you prepared to die? No one truly lives who is not prepared to die!"

Hundreds stood beside the gravesite as the casket of David Matthews was brought in. The pastor had shared the Holy Scriptures and given last words of encouragement to Ginger, David’s three adult children and David’s grandchildren, and friends. And then he asked Samuel Etheridge if he had words he wanted to say before the pastor prayed the closing prayer. Samuel started to sing "His Eye Is On The Sparrow," but he broke into tears again and just sobbed. But David’s children and grandchildren, with Ginger, picked up

 Samuel’s desire for that song and began to sing with the hundreds gathered around the family. It was a touch of heavenly grace poured out on the mourners! To God Be The Glory!

Then Samuel, composed in heart and mind, shared for a moment: "David’s departure from this earth has left us so lonely for his presence, his goodness, his witness, and his love. But he has climbed the mountain and looked beyond. He has seen that land of promise, and guided by the love of God and graced in the wisdom of God, he said to His Father, "I’m coming home." David has climbed the celestial stairs, knocked on the Pearly Gates, and heard that holy angel say, "Come on in, David Matthews; we’ve been waiting on you." And my brother in Christ said to the angels, "Lead me into the presence of Jesus

and let me love Him for about ten thousand years; then I’ll look for Paula and I’ll look for

my Mom. Then, I’ll wait for Ginger and my kids and grandkids while I rest on the bosom of Jesus, looking for those blessed companions of the past from my yesterdays and longing with anticipation for the reunions of tomorrow. Death may be a stepping stone we cannot avoid, but eternal Life in Christ is an empty tomb we joyously walk through. Rest, my brother, David, rest in the arms of Jesus."

 Several weeks later, when it came time to read David’s last will, the attorney shared that Ginger, Mark, Mary, David, and Samuel Etheridge shared equally in his estate with forty acres for Ginger and their home of the last fifteen years, and the three children forty acres each of the family farm, and Samuel Etheridge forty acres around David and Paula’s original home already given to Samuel, plus a five-way split of David’s monies. Ginger was well-cared for in both of David’s retirement incomes from education and the military. This all had been worked out between David and Ginger long before his death. And the spirit of David’s sacrificial service was carried on!

John Bunyan said it so dramatically and true when in "The Pilgrim’s Progress" he wrote:

"My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles who now will be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which as he went he said: ‘Death, where is your sting?’ And as he went deeper, he said: ‘Grave, where is your victory?’ So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side."

BY J.FARRELL FISHER, AUGUST 30-31, 2018

Browsing the inner-net on my computer recently, from HTTPS://www.divorce source. Com/ main/U.S. divorce – rates –and Statistics -1037.SHTMl stated: “The U.S., since 1980.- ‘we have about 2.4 million marriages a year and 1.2 million divorces a year.’”

I hope you won’t think I’m “scandalous”, paraphrasing passages in James related to ‘disciples’, but I want to use the context of the passage to relate it to “marriages and divorces in the U.S.A. today”! James 4:1-10, paraphrased by J.Farrell Fisher, says:

“You ask, and receive not, because in ‘your marriage-dilemma’ you ask selfishly, that you may continue in your selfish, self-serving way. Adulterers and adulteresses (even spiritually), do you not know ‘friendship with the world’s false marriage ways’ is enmity with God?

Do you think the Holy Word says in vain, ‘the marriage-spirit’ that dwells in you ‘lusts’ in envy’? But Holy God gives more grace. Wherefore He resists that ‘self-centered-marriage-indifference’, but gives and keeps on giving grace to the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist Satan, as he seeks to destroy your marriage faithfulness, and he will flee from you. When ‘temptations’ come to walk away from your ‘marriage vows’, cleanse your hearts, you sinners, and Satan will flee from you.

Draw near to God; and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and wash your minds and hearts in the blood of Calvary’s Lamb, you ‘twisted-mind’ professor of faith. Be broken by the Spirit and the Word, weep, and mourn; let your ‘fleshly laughter’ be turned to mourning, and your ‘fleshly joy’ to extreme heaviness of heart. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will SAVE YOUR MARRIAGE!”

The end of Verse 29 in Luke 12 says, “…don’t be of a doubtful mind”, yet carelessly, when wounded by marriage infidelity, some choose to just ‘walk away’ ignoring God’s Word, Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.”

But many have problems about ‘marital infidelity’, because of their even ‘mixed up’ religious, personal, or ‘brain-division’, like Einstein, though seemingly ‘religious’ in a sense, who once said: [From Manu Varghese, Nikea 1100 to I phone 5’s], “I do not believe in a personal God and I never have denied this but have expressed it clearly,” or, “clearly, I’m not a disciple of Christ, or a personal God.”].

And when it comes to “marriage and/or divorce”, many, certainly, are assured in themselves that “He has no place in what they decide to do for themselves”!!

But Edmund Burke once said: ( The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, edited by Frank S. Mead, Fleming H. Revell Company,p.296), “The Christian religion (or Faith), by confining marriage to pairs (husband and wife!!), and rendering the relation indissoluble, has by these two things done more toward the peace, happiness, settlement, and civilization of the world, than by any other part in this whole scheme of divine wisdom.” SO TRUE!!

It was William Wordsworth, in “Excursion”, (Bk.VI), who wrote: “Why do not words and kiss, and solemn pledge, And nature that is kind in woman’s breast, And reason that in man is wise and good, AND fear of Him who is a righteous Judge, – Why do not these prevail for human life, To keep two hearts together, that began Their spring-time with one love.” Great question!

I don’t know who wrote it, but I read it a long, long time ago, and kept it for such a time as this: “If a child of God marries a child of the devil, said child of God is sure to have some trouble with his father-in-law.” Classic word!!

There is no doubt in my mind and heart that the sanctity of marriage and the family relationship is one of the strong pillars of a nation’s foundation that keeps it up to the glory of God, but when the majority of a nation grants ‘acceptance’ of divorce as ‘OK’, it signs the beginning of its own ‘death warrant’ as ‘one nation under God’! At the same time, irresponsible spiritual ‘professors’ of faith in marriage, see it as ‘vital’ in ceremony but optional when ‘heat’ arises!

For some, ‘fleshly pleasures’ outside of marriage are ‘OK’ as long as one continues to attend church on Sunday! Some see marriage as acceptable, but they’ll scream that marriage without leniency in outside ‘fleshly indulgence’ is unacceptable to them. ‘Love pretense’ is not the same as ‘divine love practice’! There is no ‘peace’ when marriage vows are seen as unimportant or unnecessary when ‘one’ or both in supposed ‘holy matrimony’ accept the ‘promise’ but without consequences if one chooses to ‘play’ the ‘flesh, worldly, or Satanic way’ in marriages!

Matthew 19:5-6, Jesus speaking, declares, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Holy God didn’t INSTITUTE marriage with ‘options’, nor does He overlook or excuse marital infidelity by ‘promiscuous intercourse’ of ‘friends’, but HIS ‘faithful marriage vows’ are intended to promote marriage faithfulness and, yes, protect children that come from their supposed loving relationship.

I’m now 82 years of age, but still have, yes, pain over the divorce of my mom and dad when I was three years of age. After the divorce, my mother took me to her parents, where from 3 years of age to 12 years of age, I was with my grandparents, but also with my mother’s two sisters, one just two years older than me and the other about six years older than me – godly grandparents were needed, but those two sisters, my young aunts, compassionately and faithfully loved me, plus, in church attendance with them, I was blessed by faithful men, disciples of Christ, who went out of their way to love, serve, bless, and encourage me!! My mother re-married, her husband unsaved, but after about seven years with mom and him, then Baylor University and Seminary, just about three weeks before he died at 78 years of age, he said to me, “Farrell, all these years you’ve shared the gospel truth with me – one more time would you share it?” I did! He prayed! About three weeks after, one of the retirement nurses called Sue and I asking, “What has happened to Frank Callaway? He’s not the same man – he travels the halls and cafeteria telling everybody about Christ Jesus!”

Even ‘divided marriages’ at times have ‘flashes’ of Light in Christ that can, do, and will make a difference in some children’s lives, because the ‘believer’ intercedes to the glory of God for all the family, including maybe an unsaved partner.

THERE ‘IS’ MARRIAGE MADNESS, FOR SOME! There was a statement in “Changing Times” years and years ago that stated: “Marriages may be made in heaven, but man is responsible for the maintenance work”, and seriously sad that often times neither one or the pair understand “maintenance work”. And some accept no responsibility OR accountability in seeing the “marriage honors God”!

It’s so interesting AND convicting that 1 John 3:8 talks about “Christ coming to earth to destroy the works of the devil”, but you yourself see no marriage conflict as the ‘works of the devil’, so, you assure yourself you can handle marriage difficulties without the help of “the Savior”! How clueless is that for some in the midst of ‘marriage turmoil’?? Both individually and as a twosome in marriage, we both must see the eternal purpose of our marriage union, AND togetherness in seeing it exists for the spiritual purpose of glorifying the God who brought ‘us together’ and who wants to see our marriage problems resolved in full surrender to Him.

But across America, most in marriage unions fail because, though believing in God, He surely cannot be the foundation of their ‘fleshly union’, even when He instituted His eternal purposes in marriage before its foundation of the earth! When the marriage union, yes, often shuts God out, they willfully do so with no hope of Him fulfilling His eternal plan through their marriage union!

But hear me! In “Christian marriages”, Christ IS to have His rightful place in the union as His gathering place of both “salt and Light” to honor Himself and to sustain a sacred marriage for the enrichment, blessing, hope, and fruit of the Spirit in both husband and wife, plus the ‘kids’ that usually come!!

What does Matthew 5:14 tell us? “You are the light of the world. A ‘marriage’ that exists through Me is set on a hill”, yes, as shining lights to a needy world around you!! Do you understand? He’s not telling YOU in marriage union to ‘go out and find a light’ – “in Christ”, whether husband or wife or the union of the two, “Let Jesus’ Light shine through each of you to one another”!

Tony Evans, in his book, “America’s Only Hope,” (published by Moody Press, Chicago, in 1990), told the following ‘eye and heart-opening statement’ about Matthew 5:14: “Notice, that Jesus didn’t say, ‘Go out and get the light so you can brighten things up.’ He said, “You ARE the light.” When you are something, you don’t have to go out to find it. All you have to do is discover what you are,” (and I say, ‘discover who Jesus is in you!). Evans went on:

“There’s a story about a little eagle that fell out of its nest and landed in a turkey farm. The eagle grew up among the turkeys and, although he looked a bit different, learned to waddle like a turkey, bob his head like a turkey, and act like a turkey.

One day the young eagle looked up into the sky and saw a beautiful eagle soaring above. The little eagle in the turkey yard thought, “Oh, I’d love to be able to do that!” As the eagle soared overhead, it looked down and saw the young eagle below. Suddenly it swooped down to the ground and asked, “What are you doing here?” The little eagle replied, “I’m just here in the turkey yard where I’ve always been.”

The great eagle looked and said, “Spread your wings, boy. You do just what I do. Follow me.” Then he flapped his wings and lifted off the ground. The young eagle tried it, too. “Whee! This is all right!” “See,” the mature eagle said, “you’ve been living among these turkeys so long that you were beginning to believe you’re something you’re not! Follow me, and you’ll find out what you really are.”

“But I’m scared,” the little eagle replied. “I won’t know what to do when I get out of the turkey yard.” “When you get out of here, you’ll find out,” the big eagle answered. So the little eagle began to soar and fly. He loved it. But the turkeys down below called out to him and said, “Hey little guy, what are you doing up there? You belong down here.” .. “No, I don’t,” called out the young eagle. “I used to belong there, but now I’m what I was created to be. I don’t belong with you turkeys anymore.”

Question! Do YOU truly know to Whom you belong in your world? To the world, your old sin nature, to Satan? OR, are you owned by Christ’s blood purchase, and do you see yourself as truly “the Son of God in and through Christ alone, MARKED BY THE INDWELLING PRESENCE OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT”?

Another book I’ve treasured is a book by Jerry B. Jenkins entitled “Loving Your Marriage Enough To Protect it”, published by Moody Press in Chicago in 1989, 1993. He wrote: “One of the saddest and scariest stories I’ve ever heard on this subject was about a young evangelist. He was just barely twenty-one, on fire for God, effective in his preaching and soul-winning, and in great demand from local churches. He had preached several large crusades and was soon invited to an area-wide effort at which he would be the main speaker.

Though he was not yet out of college, he was a protégé of international evangelist Sammy Tippet and was admired and considered wise. Though he didn’t have a steady girlfriend, he dated regularly at Bible college. Spiritually he was alert and mature. He was, however, naïve. The first night of the crusade he headed up the counseling ministry in a large room near the pastor’s study. A beautiful teenager asked if she could speak with him personally. He tried to assign her to someone else, but, when she persisted, he agreed for her to wait until he was finished with the others. More than an hour after the meeting had ended, the rest of the counselors and counselees had left, and he was alone with the young girl. A few minutes later she burst from the room screaming, “He made a pass at me! He wanted to make love to me!”

That very night the pastor of the host church and a small group of the crusade planners confronted the young preacher and demanded an explanation. He denied the girl’s charge but had no witnesses. The girl had seemed an upstanding young woman in the church, and there was no reason to disbelieve her story. “What did happen in that room?” the pastor demanded.

“To tell you that would be to make an accusation behind someone’s back,” he said. “Which is what happened to me. I ask only that I be allowed to face my accuser.” The pastor and the others canceled the rest of the crusade and agreed that the young woman should be asked to face the preacher in their presence. Two nights later she showed up with her parents at a private board meeting. The pastor asked if she would care to speak about her charges against the preacher.

“She has already said all she has to say,” her father said sternly, her mother nodding and glaring at the accused. “Would you, son, care to share your version of what happened in that room the other night?” “No sir,” the evangelist said. “I see no future in that. Only she and I know the truth, and I cannot defend myself. I’d just like to say this to her. Cindy, you know what happened and what didn’t happen in that room. If you don’t tell the truth, I will be branded and may never preach again. This will damage my reputation and that of the church and even that of God. If I did what you say I did, I deserve no better, but we both know that is not the truth. I’m begging you in the name of Christ to set the record straight.”

The silence hung heavy as the board and her parents watched her face contort into a grimace before the tears began to flow. “I lied”, she said quietly. “I’m sorry. I lied. He didn’t make a pass at me; I made a pass at him. When he turned me down I was so embarrassed and ashamed and angry that I made up that story. I’m so sorry.” That preacher is no longer young. He has never again allowed himself to be alone in a room with a female to whom he is not related.” For YOUR testimony to the glory of God, is your marriage the testimony of God’s blessings because of His promises and your faithfulness to your marriage, or sadly, do you have to admit that you’ve allowed your marriage vows before Holy God to just wither away? Sadly, too many marriages today, with both husbands and/or wives are allowed to ‘wither’ rather than be a testimony that glorifies Christ Jesus and His Word! Why not, “Our marriage IS the ‘new creation’ in Christ, and ‘in Him, by Him, and for Him, to the glory of God!”

SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD?”

BY:J.FARRELL FISHER,JUNE23-24,2019

I REMEMBER A PHRASE OF ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING WHEN SHE WROTE: “THE BLUE OF HEAVEN IS LARGER THEN THE CLOUD”; & IT’S SO TRUE THAT “SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES DO LIVE IN ‘DARKNESS’, OR ‘THE CLOUD OF SELF-INTEREST ONLY’,REGARDLESS OF THE PRICE TO BE PAID TO KEEP ONE IN THE ‘DARK WORLD’ OF THEIR SELF-SERVING LIFE, BUT THE SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD LIVE IN THE “LIGHT” THAT NEVER CEASES TO SHINE, EVEN WHEN THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, OR THE ‘FLESH’ WOULD LIKE TO OVER-RULE THE “LIGHT” SO THEY CAN CONTINUE IN THAT ENSLAVING WORLD CULTURE OF ‘DARKNESS’!

BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THERE ARE, EVEN IN THIS 21^ST CENTURY, MILLIONS & MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CHOSEN BY GOD HIMSELF TO BE HIS SERVANTS, “FOOT-WASHERS OF KING JESUS”, &,YES, WILLING SERVANTS OF THE “SLAVES OF WORLD-CULTURES” SO THAT THE ‘SLAVES’ CAN AT LEAST ‘SEE THE LIGHT’ WHETHER THEY CHOOSE TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A WILLING SERVANT OR NOT!

SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES ‘LIVE’ UNDER THAT ‘CLOUD OF DARKNESS’ THOUGH THEY THEMSELVES INTERPRET ‘DARKNESS’ AS ‘light’ FOR THEIR WORLD! SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES SEE NO NEED OF GOD ABIDING WITH THEM SINCE IN THEMSELVES THEY’VE DISCERNED THE ‘FLESH LIFE’S’ “WISDOM” (?) TO THRESH OUT FOR THEMSELVES WHAT THEY ‘SEED’ IN THEIR SIN-NATURED SOULS!!

YET, SINCE THE BEGINNING OF EARTHLY HUMAN EXISTENCE, THERE HAVE BEEN INDIVIDUALS WHO DISCERNED, BY THE GRACE OF GOD EVEN THEN, THAT ‘THEY’ ARE ON THIS EARTH WITH ETERNAL PURPOSE INTENDED, &,YES, LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEY NEITHER SHEDDED OR THREADED THE “NEED” OF THE “BLOOD ATONEMENT” THROUGH THE ‘COMING’ SACRIFICE OF THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS, BIRTHED BY MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, WHO THEN FACED THE “CROSS”, “DEATH”, & “RESURRECTION” TO REIGN SUPREMELY FOREVER AS THE VICTORIOUS CONQUEROR OVER THE ‘FLESH’, THE ‘WORLD’, & YES, OVER SATAN HIMSELF! “JESUS IS LORD OVER ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER”!!!

IN THE OLD “BROADMAN HYMNAL” OF 1940, (PUBLISHED BY “BROADMAN PRESS”, NASHVILLE, TENN.”) IS A HYMN WRITTEN BY FANNY J.CROSBY & ROBERT LOWRY ENTITLED, “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME.” IT SAYS: “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; WHAT HAVE I TO ASK BESIDE? CAN I DOUBT HIS TENDER MERCY, WHO THROUGH LIFE HAS BEEN MY GUIDE? HEAVELY PEACE, DIVINEST COMFORT, HERE BY FAITH IN HIM TO DWELL! FOR I KNOW, WHATE’ER BEFALL ME, JESUS DOES ALL THINGS WELL.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME, CHEERS EACH WINDING PATH I TREAD, GIVES ME GRACE FOR EVERY TRIAL, FEEDS ME WITH THE LIVING BREAD. THOUGH MY WEARY STEPS MAY FALTER, & MY SOUL ATHIRST MAY BE, GUSHING FROM THE “ROCK” BEFORE ME, LO! A SPRING OF JOY I SEE.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; OH, THE FULLNESS OF HIS LOVE! PERFECT REST TO ME IS PROMISED IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ABOVE. WHEN MY SPIRIT, CLOTHED IMMORTAL, WINGS ITS FLIGHT TO REALMS OF DAY, THIS MY SONG THRO’ ENDLESS AGES: JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY.”

BUT! “SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE”, WARPED, NOT ONLY BY THE ‘FLESHLY’ REIGN OF ONE’S OLD SIN-NATURE, NOT ONLY BY THAT WARPED, GODLESS CULTURE, BUT ALSO BY SATAN HIMSELF? IN LUKE 22:31-32, THE LORD SAID TO SIMON PETER, “SIMON, SIMON, BEHOLD, SATAN HAS DESIRED TO HAVE YOU, THAT HE MAY SIFT YOU AS WHEAT: BUT I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU, THAT YOUR FAITH FAIL NOT: & WHEN YOU ARE CONVERTED, STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS (IN THE FAITH!).” AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE THOSE WHO DO NOT CHOOSE TO LIVE IN THE “UNCHANGING, ETERNAL, REDEMPTIVE TRUTH” FOUND IN THE “SHED BLOOD”, THE “BURIAL”, & THE “RESURRECTION OF THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST”!

IN EPHESIANS 2:12 PAUL WROTE: “THAT AT THAT TIME YOU WERE WITHOUT CHRIST, BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, & STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, & WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.” HAS THAT CHANGED? IS THERE STILL THOSE IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO ARE “STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, WHO (IN THEMSELVES) HAVE NO HOPE OF A BLESSED, ETERNAL LIFE, WHO, SADLY, LIVE WITHOUT HOLY GOD IN THEIR EVERY-DAY LIVES”?

“SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE”? IS THAT THE “SPIRITUALLY UNCLOTHED”? HOW CLEAR WAS JOHN WHEN HE WROTE IN 1 JOHN 3:10 HE WROTE: “IN THIS THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE MANIFEST, & THE CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL: WHOSOEVER DOES NOT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT OF GOD, NEITHER HE THAT LOVES NOT HIS BROTHER.” IS IT CLEAR TO YOU THAT TRUE UNBELIEF IN GOD HAS MORE TO DO WITH WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE FOR YOU THROUGH CHRIST AT THE CROSS & EMPTY TOMB, READY, UPON YOUR WILLINGNESS TO OPEN YOUR HEART’S DOOR & ALLOW HIM TO COME IN? (HE’S KNOCKED BEFORE – HE’S STILL KNOCKS TODAY UPON EVERY LIFE, EVERY PEOPLE, EVERY NATION, EVEN EVERY MODERN-DAY ‘CHURCH GATHERING’, ASKING TO COME IN!) BUT: “SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE” LIVE BOUND UNDER THAT ‘CLOUD OF UNBELIEF’! MAY 10, 2016, I WROTE THE FOLLOWING WORDS:

“UNBELIEF IS THE ROAD TO SUPERSTITION WITH THE DEVIL’S INTENT OF GOD’S ELIMINATION. TO HIM, TRUTH IS A LIE, AS SOULS TO HIM EASILY DENY THE ONE TRUE GOD & SAVIOR OF MEN, TO BE DECEIVED BY SATAN’S DECEPTIVE SPIN.

“YOU WON’T DIE” WAS HIS VOICE TO EVE, AS HE CAME TO EASILY DECEIVE, TO TURN HER FROM GOD TO THE FLESHLY SOD, SELDOM EVEN GIVING AN INCH OF ‘A FLESH NOD TO GOD’!

‘WISE MEN’ ARE THE DEVIL’S ‘DUMBED-DOWN’, EVENTUALLY CHANGING THEIR SMILES INTO FROWNS; ‘PLEASURE-SEEKERS’ ARE HIS MAIN TARGETS, “PLEASING GOD?”, NOT EVEN A NOD!

“SIN IS GOD’S TERM,” SATAN SO EASILY SPOUTS, BLINDING MEN TO WHAT GOD’S ALL ABOUT. SEPARATION FROM “TRUTH” IS HIS MAIN OCCUPATION: “QUIT LISTENING TO THOSE WHO SPEAK OF “GOD’S RESTORATION”!”

SATAN WANTS YOU BOUND, SPIRITUALLY UNSOUND, INDULGING THE ‘FLESH’ TO YOUR OWN SATISFACTION. TO HIM, GOD’S INTENT HAS NO RELEVANCE TO A DEVIL’S PROGRAM OF ONE’S PERSONAL DEVASTATION.

“ME, MY, MINE” ARE HIS THEMES OF PERSONAL PRAISE, WITH NO DESIRE OF HEAVENLY ANTHEMS RAISED” – ‘DENY YOURSELF’? WHAT A RIDICULOUS REQUEST! GIVE ME YOUR ‘WILL’ AS YOUR MOST BELOVED BEQUEST!”

BUT THE SAVIOR OF MEN, CHRIST JESUS IS HIS NAME, NEEDS NO ‘HALL OF FAME’, BECAUSE ACROSS OUR VAST WORLDS IS HIS SIGNATURE STAMPED, & ESPECIALLY IN THE LIVES OF MEN WHO WITH CHRIST HAVE CAMPED.

FORGIVENESS OF SIN IS HIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT & RENEWAL OF TRUE FAITH IN THE SAVIOR’S ANOINTMENTS – “FREE AT LAST” IS THEIR HOLY CRY AS UPON THE SAVIOR THEY FAITHFULLY RELY.

“SET APART” TO HIS GLORY, TRANSFORMING MEN HIS EVERLASTING STORY, WITH REPENTANT MEN BECOMING WITNESSES OF HIM, EXTENDING HIS KINGDOM, YES, WITH REDEMPTIVE HYMNS.

SPENDING THEIR LIVES IN HIS GLORIFICATION, DAILY DESIRING HIS CONTINUOUS EXALTATION, TRUE MEN OF FAITH WILL HONOR THE SON, AS DAY BY DAY, PERSON BY PERSON, THEY SHARE CHRIST’S TRUTH OF DIVINE RESTORATION.

THERE COMES A TIME WHEN ONE EXAMINES HIS LIFE, & BEGINS TO EVALUATE, “HAVE I ENDED SOME STRIFE, AS I POINTED OTHERS TO THE SAVIOR OF THEIR LIFE?” “HAVE I SHOWN THEM THE DOOR TO THE FRUIT OF HIS SPIRIT,” FULLY DESIRING HIS HOLY BLESSING AS I SHOWED THEM “THE DOOR” TO HIS PRECIOUS RESTING”?

“COME UNTO ME”, IS STILL HIS CALL, AS REPENTANT MEN FAITHFULLY FALL, RESTING IN HIS ‘FINISHED WORK’, THEY RISE TO DUTY & CALLING THAT THEY’LL NEVER SHIRK!

BUT IF YOU’RE NOT PREPARED FOR THE DAY OF DEATH, WHAT WILL YOUR FLORIST HAVE TO POST ON YOUR DOOR? DEAD FLOWERS FOR A LIFE POORLY LIVED, OR A WELCOMING WREATH TO GOD’S HOLY PRESENCE, BECAUSE YOU AT LEAST BOASTED IN HIS FINISHED WORK & YOUR RESTORATION?

BIRTHED TO “NEW LIFE” – & IN HIM YOU NEVER DIE, BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE, YOU ETERNALLY RELY – FROM THE DOOR OF DEATH TO HIS THRONE ON HIGH, YOU GIVE EVIDENCE: “ON HIM, I’LL NEVER DENY”, BUT CONSTANTLY HEAR HIS FAITHFUL REPLY: ‘YOUR WALK OF FAITH HAS FINISHED ITS COURSE – WELCOME HOME, SON, TO YOUR MERCIFUL REWARD.”

EXAMINE FOR YOURSELF EPHESIANS 2 WHERE HOLY GOD INSPIRED PAUL TO EXPOSE THE SINFUL CONDITION OF ALL MEN, TO UNVEIL SALVATION THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD, & TO UNVEIL THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GOD FOR JEW & GENTILE! “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD!”

SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES OR SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD? IN 1 KINGS 18:21 ELIJAH CHALLENGED MEN THEN & NOW WHEN HE ASKED, “HOW LONG HALT YOU BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM; BUT IF BAAL, THEN FOLLOW HIM.” AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”

YES, “SLAVES OF ‘RELIGIOUS’ WORLD CULTURES FACE THE SAME ETERNAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD’S DETERMINED OPPOSERS OF GOD’S MERCY, HIS GRACE, & HIS LOVE – THEY WANT TO ‘PROVE TO THEMSELVES’ THAT THEY DIDN’T THEN NOR NOW DESERVED ‘CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST’!

SEVERAL THINGS YOU MUST BE AWARE OF RELATED TO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ‘FLESH-RELIGIOUS-CULTURES’ & THE ETERNAL TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST JESUS! WHAT WAS IT THAT ELIJAH WAS INSISTING UPON?

FOR ONE THING, PROPHETIC MINISTRY DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN ‘RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY –LIKE THE WORSHIP OF BAAL OR ANY FALSE GOD’ & THE TRUE WORSHIP OF HOLY GOD APART FROM ANY COMPROMISING MIND HEART, & SPIRIT!

SECONDLY, PROPHETIC MINISTRY DOESN’T WASTE TIME WITH FOLKS WHO WANT TO ‘THINK’ ABOUT BOWING BEFORE GOD OR NOT! WHAT DID THE PROPHET SAY? “HOW LONG HALT YOU BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM: BUT IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM.” AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”

HOW LONG HALT YOU? HESITATING ELDERLY MEN STILL SHAKE WITH A CANE IN HAND, BUT THEY STILL CAN’T DECIDE ABOUT THEIR ‘GRIT’ OR GOD’S GRACE! IT’S NOT MORE TIME THAT YOU NEED, BUT TRUE TRUST IN THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO SEEK YOU OUT, EXPOSE YOUR STATE OF MIND & HEART, & UNVEIL FOR YOU HIS BLESSED FINISHED WORK THROUGH THE WILLFUL YIELDEDNESS OF CHRIST TO TAKE YOU TO THE CROSS WITH HIM & GET RID OF THAT SATANIC, SIN-CONTROLLED MIND & HEART!

IN THE THIRD PLACE, SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES, THOUGH ON THE SURFACE, APPEAR TO ‘BE RELIGIOUS’, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YIELDING TO AN ALREADY “FINISHED WORK”? DOES “LIMP-LUSTER” ALLEGIANCE DEFINE TRUE DISCIPLES? IT WAS SPURGEON, IN HIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY SERIES, (VOLUME 3,P.183-184), WHO SAID: [IT’S AWESOME! GET READY!!], “I SPEAK NOT, THIS MORNING, TO THE THOROUGHLY WORLDLY; WITH THEM I HAVE NOTHING NOW TO DO; ANOTHER TIME I MAY ADDRESS THEM. BUT NOW I AM SPEAKING TO YOU WHO ARE SEEKING TO SERVE GOD & TO SERVE SATAN; YOU WHO ARE TRYING TO BE CHRISTIAN WORLDLINGS, TRYING TO BE MEMBERS OF THAT EXTRAORDINARY CORPORATION, CALLED THE ‘RELIGIOUS WORLD,’ WHICH IS A THING THAT NEVER HAD AN EXISTENCE EXCEPT IN TITLE. YOU ARE ENDEAVORING, IF YOU CAN, TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND WHICH IT SHALL BE; YOU KNOW YOU CAN NOT SERVE BOTH, & YOU ARE COMING NOW TO THE PERIOD WHEN YOU ARE SAYING, ‘WHICH SHALL IT BE? SHALL I GO THOROUGHLY INTO SIN, & REVEL IN THE PLEASURES OF THE EARTH, “OR” BECOME A SERVANT OF GOD?” NOW, I SAY TO YOU THIS MORNING, AS THE PROPHET DID, ‘HOW LONG HALT YOU?’ SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN HALTING UNTIL YOUR HAIR HAS GROWN GRAY; THE SIXTIETH YEAR OF SOME OF YOU IS DRAWING NIGH. IS NOT SIXTY YEARS LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR CHOICE? ‘HOW LONG HALT YOU?’”

FOURTH, SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD? OH, THAT WALK OF FAITH IS SO FAR BEYOND ‘MENTAL ASSENT’ – IT’S FOUNDATION IS RESPONSE TO JESUS’ CHALLENGE IN LUKE 6:46-49 WHEN HE SAID: “ & WHY DO YOU CALL ME, LORD, LORD, & DO NOT THE THINGS WHICH I SAY? WHOSOEVER COMES TO ME, & HEARS MY SAYINGS, & DOES THEM, I WILL SHOW YOU TO WHOM HE IS LIKE:

HE IS LIKE A MAN WHICH BUILT A HOUSE, & DIGGED DEEP, & LAID THE FOUNDATION ON A ROCK; & WHEN THE FLOOD AROSE, THE STREAM BEAT VEHEMENTLY UPON THAT HOUSE, & COULD NOT SHAKE IT: FOR IT WAS FOUNDED UPON A ROCK. BUT HE THAT HEARETH, & DOEST NOT, IS LIKE A MAN THAT WITHOUT A FOUNDATION BUILT A HOUSE UPON THE EARTH; AGAINST WHICH THE STREAM DID BEAT VEHEMENTLY, & IMMEDIATELY IT FELL, & THE RUIN OF THAT HOUSE WAS GREAT.”

I MUST SHARE PAUL THE APOSTLE’S WORDS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-4:21!! (READ ALL!)

I WANT YOU TO HEAR WORDS FROM “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL” OF A HYMN BY DANIEL C.ROBERTS & GEORGE W.WARREN ENTITLED, “GOD OF OUR FATHERS, WHOSE ALMIGHTY HAND.” IT SAYS: “GOD OF OUR FATHERS, WHOSE ALMIGHTY HAND LEADS FORTH IN BEAUTY ALL THE STARRY BAND OF SHINING WORLDS IN SPLENDOR THRO’ THE SKIES, OUR GRATEFUL SONGS BEFORE YOUR THRONE ARISE.

YOUR LOVE DIVINE HAS LED US IN THE PAST, IN THIS FREE LAND BY YOU OUR LOT IS CAST; YOU BE OUR RULER, GUARDIAN, GUIDE & STAY, YOUR WORD OUR LAW, YOUR PATHS OUR CHOSEN WAY.

FROM WAR’S ALARMS, FROM DEADLY PESTILENCE, YOU BE OUR STRONG ARM OUR EVER SURE DEFENCE; YOUR TRUE FAITH IN OUR HEARTS INCRESE, YOUR BOUNTEOUS GOODNESS NOURISH US IN PEACE.

REFRESH YOUR PEOPLE ON THEIR TOILSOME WAY, LEAD US FROM NIGHT TO NEVER-ENDING DAY; FILL ALL OUR LIVES WITH LOVE & GRACE DIVINE, & GLORY, LAUD & PRAISE BE EVER THINE. AMEN! OR “SO BE IT!!” CAN “YOU” SAY AMEN TO THAT?

IS YOUR ‘LIFE OF FAITH IN CHRIST’ LIVED VICTORIOUSLY BECAUSE OF HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN YOU, OR ARE YOU STILL HELD BACK FROM HIS ETERNAL VICTORY BY THE “BEST” YOUR ‘FLESH’ HAS TO OFFER? OR, UNDERSTANDING, MY OLD SIN-NATURE WAS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, AND WHEN THE RESURRECTED CHRIST KNOCKED ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR, DID YOU WILLFULLY OPEN THE DOOR FOR HIM TO COME INTO YOU, EXTENDING HIS LOVE, EXPRESSING HIS POWER, & YOU, ‘DEAD TO SELF’, INVITED THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU, REIGNING SUPREMELY AS “VICTOR OVER THE WORLD, YOUR SIN-NATURE, & SATAN HIMSELF”?? AND,DO “YOU” ‘DIE DAILY’, TAKING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH UNTO YOURSELF IN ORDER THAT HIS RESURRECTION PRESENCE WILL BE MANIFESTED IN YOU & THROUGH YOU MOMENT BY MOMENT, DAY BY DAY, YES, ETERNALLY IN HIS EVERLASTING KINGDOM RULE OVER THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH?

IN “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL” PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN., IS A HYMN ENTITLED, (P93), “YOU SERVANTS OF GOD, YOUR MASTER PROCLAIM”, (BY C.WESLEY & F.J.HAYDEN.). IT SAYS: “YOU SERVANTS OF GOD, YOUR MASTER PROCLAIM, & PUBLISH ABROAD HIS WONDERFUL NAME; THE NAME ALL-VICTORIOUS OF JESUS EXTOL; HIS KINGDOM IS GLORIOUS, HE RULES OVER ALL.

GOD RULES ON HIGH, ALMIGHTY TO SAVE; & STILL HE IS NIGH- HIS PRESENCE WE HAVE; THE GREAT CONGREGATION HIS TRIUMPH SHALL SING, ASCRIBING SALVATION TO JESUS OUR KING.

SALVATION TO OUR GOD, WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, LET ALL CRY ALOUD & HONOR THE SON; THE PRAISES OF JESUS THE ANGELS PROCLAIM, FALL DOWN ON THEIR FACES & WORSHIP THE LAMB.

THEN LET US ADORE & GIVE HIM HIS RIGHT, ALL GLORY, & POWER, & WISDOM & MIGHT; ALL HONOR & BLESSING WITH ANGELS ABOVE, & THANKS NEVER CEASING, & INFINITE LOVE.”

DO “YOU” HONOR HIM & BLESS HIS NAME FOR THE ETERNAL SALVATION HE BOUGHT & BROUGHT TO YOU THROUGH HIS “BLOOD SACRIFICE”?

SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD?”

BY:J.FARRELL FISHER,JUNE23-24,2019

I REMEMBER A PHRASE OF ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING WHEN SHE WROTE: “THE BLUE OF HEAVEN IS LARGER THEN THE CLOUD”; & IT’S SO TRUE THAT “SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES DO LIVE IN ‘DARKNESS’, OR ‘THE CLOUD OF SELF-INTEREST ONLY’,REGARDLESS OF THE PRICE TO BE PAID TO KEEP ONE IN THE ‘DARK WORLD’ OF THEIR SELF-SERVING LIFE, BUT THE SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD LIVE IN THE “LIGHT” THAT NEVER CEASES TO SHINE, EVEN WHEN THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, OR THE ‘FLESH’ WOULD LIKE TO OVER-RULE THE “LIGHT” SO THEY CAN CONTINUE IN THAT ENSLAVING WORLD CULTURE OF ‘DARKNESS’!

BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THERE ARE, EVEN IN THIS 21^ST CENTURY, MILLIONS & MILLIONS OF PEOPLE CHOSEN BY GOD HIMSELF TO BE HIS SERVANTS, “FOOT-WASHERS OF KING JESUS”, &,YES, WILLING SERVANTS OF THE “SLAVES OF WORLD-CULTURES” SO THAT THE ‘SLAVES’ CAN AT LEAST ‘SEE THE LIGHT’ WHETHER THEY CHOOSE TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A WILLING SERVANT OR NOT!

SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES ‘LIVE’ UNDER THAT ‘CLOUD OF DARKNESS’ THOUGH THEY THEMSELVES INTERPRET ‘DARKNESS’ AS ‘light’ FOR THEIR WORLD! SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES SEE NO NEED OF GOD ABIDING WITH THEM SINCE IN THEMSELVES THEY’VE DISCERNED THE ‘FLESH LIFE’S’ “WISDOM” (?) TO THRESH OUT FOR THEMSELVES WHAT THEY ‘SEED’ IN THEIR SIN-NATURED SOULS!!

YET, SINCE THE BEGINNING OF EARTHLY HUMAN EXISTENCE, THERE HAVE BEEN INDIVIDUALS WHO DISCERNED, BY THE GRACE OF GOD EVEN THEN, THAT ‘THEY’ ARE ON THIS EARTH WITH ETERNAL PURPOSE INTENDED, &,YES, LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEY NEITHER SHEDDED OR THREADED THE “NEED” OF THE “BLOOD ATONEMENT” THROUGH THE ‘COMING’ SACRIFICE OF THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS, BIRTHED BY MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, WHO THEN FACED THE “CROSS”, “DEATH”, & “RESURRECTION” TO REIGN SUPREMELY FOREVER AS THE VICTORIOUS CONQUEROR OVER THE ‘FLESH’, THE ‘WORLD’, & YES, OVER SATAN HIMSELF! “JESUS IS LORD OVER ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER”!!!

IN THE OLD “BROADMAN HYMNAL” OF 1940, (PUBLISHED BY “BROADMAN PRESS”, NASHVILLE, TENN.”) IS A HYMN WRITTEN BY FANNY J.CROSBY & ROBERT LOWRY ENTITLED, “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME.” IT SAYS: “ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; WHAT HAVE I TO ASK BESIDE? CAN I DOUBT HIS TENDER MERCY, WHO THROUGH LIFE HAS BEEN MY GUIDE? HEAVELY PEACE, DIVINEST COMFORT, HERE BY FAITH IN HIM TO DWELL! FOR I KNOW, WHATE’ER BEFALL ME, JESUS DOES ALL THINGS WELL.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME, CHEERS EACH WINDING PATH I TREAD, GIVES ME GRACE FOR EVERY TRIAL, FEEDS ME WITH THE LIVING BREAD. THOUGH MY WEARY STEPS MAY FALTER, & MY SOUL ATHIRST MAY BE, GUSHING FROM THE “ROCK” BEFORE ME, LO! A SPRING OF JOY I SEE.

ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME; OH, THE FULLNESS OF HIS LOVE! PERFECT REST TO ME IS PROMISED IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ABOVE. WHEN MY SPIRIT, CLOTHED IMMORTAL, WINGS ITS FLIGHT TO REALMS OF DAY, THIS MY SONG THRO’ ENDLESS AGES: JESUS LED ME ALL THE WAY.”

BUT! “SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE”, WARPED, NOT ONLY BY THE ‘FLESHLY’ REIGN OF ONE’S OLD SIN-NATURE, NOT ONLY BY THAT WARPED, GODLESS CULTURE, BUT ALSO BY SATAN HIMSELF? IN LUKE 22:31-32, THE LORD SAID TO SIMON PETER, “SIMON, SIMON, BEHOLD, SATAN HAS DESIRED TO HAVE YOU, THAT HE MAY SIFT YOU AS WHEAT: BUT I HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU, THAT YOUR FAITH FAIL NOT: & WHEN YOU ARE CONVERTED, STRENGTHEN YOUR BROTHERS (IN THE FAITH!).” AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE THOSE WHO DO NOT CHOOSE TO LIVE IN THE “UNCHANGING, ETERNAL, REDEMPTIVE TRUTH” FOUND IN THE “SHED BLOOD”, THE “BURIAL”, & THE “RESURRECTION OF THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST”!

IN EPHESIANS 2:12 PAUL WROTE: “THAT AT THAT TIME YOU WERE WITHOUT CHRIST, BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, & STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, & WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.” HAS THAT CHANGED? IS THERE STILL THOSE IN THE WORLD TODAY WHO ARE “STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, WHO (IN THEMSELVES) HAVE NO HOPE OF A BLESSED, ETERNAL LIFE, WHO, SADLY, LIVE WITHOUT HOLY GOD IN THEIR EVERY-DAY LIVES”?

“SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE”? IS THAT THE “SPIRITUALLY UNCLOTHED”? HOW CLEAR WAS JOHN WHEN HE WROTE IN 1 JOHN 3:10 HE WROTE: “IN THIS THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE MANIFEST, & THE CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL: WHOSOEVER DOES NOT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT OF GOD, NEITHER HE THAT LOVES NOT HIS BROTHER.” IS IT CLEAR TO YOU THAT TRUE UNBELIEF IN GOD HAS MORE TO DO WITH WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE FOR YOU THROUGH CHRIST AT THE CROSS & EMPTY TOMB, READY, UPON YOUR WILLINGNESS TO OPEN YOUR HEART’S DOOR & ALLOW HIM TO COME IN? (HE’S KNOCKED BEFORE – HE’S STILL KNOCKS TODAY UPON EVERY LIFE, EVERY PEOPLE, EVERY NATION, EVEN EVERY MODERN-DAY ‘CHURCH GATHERING’, ASKING TO COME IN!) BUT: “SLAVES UNDER A WORLD CULTURE” LIVE BOUND UNDER THAT ‘CLOUD OF UNBELIEF’! MAY 10, 2016, I WROTE THE FOLLOWING WORDS:

“UNBELIEF IS THE ROAD TO SUPERSTITION WITH THE DEVIL’S INTENT OF GOD’S ELIMINATION. TO HIM, TRUTH IS A LIE, AS SOULS TO HIM EASILY DENY THE ONE TRUE GOD & SAVIOR OF MEN, TO BE DECEIVED BY SATAN’S DECEPTIVE SPIN.

“YOU WON’T DIE” WAS HIS VOICE TO EVE, AS HE CAME TO EASILY DECEIVE, TO TURN HER FROM GOD TO THE FLESHLY SOD, SELDOM EVEN GIVING AN INCH OF ‘A FLESH NOD TO GOD’!

‘WISE MEN’ ARE THE DEVIL’S ‘DUMBED-DOWN’, EVENTUALLY CHANGING THEIR SMILES INTO FROWNS; ‘PLEASURE-SEEKERS’ ARE HIS MAIN TARGETS, “PLEASING GOD?”, NOT EVEN A NOD!

“SIN IS GOD’S TERM,” SATAN SO EASILY SPOUTS, BLINDING MEN TO WHAT GOD’S ALL ABOUT. SEPARATION FROM “TRUTH” IS HIS MAIN OCCUPATION: “QUIT LISTENING TO THOSE WHO SPEAK OF “GOD’S RESTORATION”!”

SATAN WANTS YOU BOUND, SPIRITUALLY UNSOUND, INDULGING THE ‘FLESH’ TO YOUR OWN SATISFACTION. TO HIM, GOD’S INTENT HAS NO RELEVANCE TO A DEVIL’S PROGRAM OF ONE’S PERSONAL DEVASTATION.

“ME, MY, MINE” ARE HIS THEMES OF PERSONAL PRAISE, WITH NO DESIRE OF HEAVENLY ANTHEMS RAISED” – ‘DENY YOURSELF’? WHAT A RIDICULOUS REQUEST! GIVE ME YOUR ‘WILL’ AS YOUR MOST BELOVED BEQUEST!”

BUT THE SAVIOR OF MEN, CHRIST JESUS IS HIS NAME, NEEDS NO ‘HALL OF FAME’, BECAUSE ACROSS OUR VAST WORLDS IS HIS SIGNATURE STAMPED, & ESPECIALLY IN THE LIVES OF MEN WHO WITH CHRIST HAVE CAMPED.

FORGIVENESS OF SIN IS HIS DIVINE APPOINTMENT & RENEWAL OF TRUE FAITH IN THE SAVIOR’S ANOINTMENTS – “FREE AT LAST” IS THEIR HOLY CRY AS UPON THE SAVIOR THEY FAITHFULLY RELY.

“SET APART” TO HIS GLORY, TRANSFORMING MEN HIS EVERLASTING STORY, WITH REPENTANT MEN BECOMING WITNESSES OF HIM, EXTENDING HIS KINGDOM, YES, WITH REDEMPTIVE HYMNS.

SPENDING THEIR LIVES IN HIS GLORIFICATION, DAILY DESIRING HIS CONTINUOUS EXALTATION, TRUE MEN OF FAITH WILL HONOR THE SON, AS DAY BY DAY, PERSON BY PERSON, THEY SHARE CHRIST’S TRUTH OF DIVINE RESTORATION.

THERE COMES A TIME WHEN ONE EXAMINES HIS LIFE, & BEGINS TO EVALUATE, “HAVE I ENDED SOME STRIFE, AS I POINTED OTHERS TO THE SAVIOR OF THEIR LIFE?” “HAVE I SHOWN THEM THE DOOR TO THE FRUIT OF HIS SPIRIT,” FULLY DESIRING HIS HOLY BLESSING AS I SHOWED THEM “THE DOOR” TO HIS PRECIOUS RESTING”?

“COME UNTO ME”, IS STILL HIS CALL, AS REPENTANT MEN FAITHFULLY FALL, RESTING IN HIS ‘FINISHED WORK’, THEY RISE TO DUTY & CALLING THAT THEY’LL NEVER SHIRK!

BUT IF YOU’RE NOT PREPARED FOR THE DAY OF DEATH, WHAT WILL YOUR FLORIST HAVE TO POST ON YOUR DOOR? DEAD FLOWERS FOR A LIFE POORLY LIVED, OR A WELCOMING WREATH TO GOD’S HOLY PRESENCE, BECAUSE YOU AT LEAST BOASTED IN HIS FINISHED WORK & YOUR RESTORATION?

BIRTHED TO “NEW LIFE” – & IN HIM YOU NEVER DIE, BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE, YOU ETERNALLY RELY – FROM THE DOOR OF DEATH TO HIS THRONE ON HIGH, YOU GIVE EVIDENCE: “ON HIM, I’LL NEVER DENY”, BUT CONSTANTLY HEAR HIS FAITHFUL REPLY: ‘YOUR WALK OF FAITH HAS FINISHED ITS COURSE – WELCOME HOME, SON, TO YOUR MERCIFUL REWARD.”

EXAMINE FOR YOURSELF EPHESIANS 2 WHERE HOLY GOD INSPIRED PAUL TO EXPOSE THE SINFUL CONDITION OF ALL MEN, TO UNVEIL SALVATION THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD, & TO UNVEIL THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GOD FOR JEW & GENTILE! “GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD!”

SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES OR SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD? IN 1 KINGS 18:21 ELIJAH CHALLENGED MEN THEN & NOW WHEN HE ASKED, “HOW LONG HALT YOU BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM; BUT IF BAAL, THEN FOLLOW HIM.” AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”

YES, “SLAVES OF ‘RELIGIOUS’ WORLD CULTURES FACE THE SAME ETERNAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD’S DETERMINED OPPOSERS OF GOD’S MERCY, HIS GRACE, & HIS LOVE – THEY WANT TO ‘PROVE TO THEMSELVES’ THAT THEY DIDN’T THEN NOR NOW DESERVED ‘CRUCIFIXION WITH CHRIST’!

SEVERAL THINGS YOU MUST BE AWARE OF RELATED TO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ‘FLESH-RELIGIOUS-CULTURES’ & THE ETERNAL TRUTH OF THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST JESUS! WHAT WAS IT THAT ELIJAH WAS INSISTING UPON?

FOR ONE THING, PROPHETIC MINISTRY DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN ‘RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY –LIKE THE WORSHIP OF BAAL OR ANY FALSE GOD’ & THE TRUE WORSHIP OF HOLY GOD APART FROM ANY COMPROMISING MIND HEART, & SPIRIT!

SECONDLY, PROPHETIC MINISTRY DOESN’T WASTE TIME WITH FOLKS WHO WANT TO ‘THINK’ ABOUT BOWING BEFORE GOD OR NOT! WHAT DID THE PROPHET SAY? “HOW LONG HALT YOU BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM: BUT IF BAAL, FOLLOW HIM.” AND THE PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”

HOW LONG HALT YOU? HESITATING ELDERLY MEN STILL SHAKE WITH A CANE IN HAND, BUT THEY STILL CAN’T DECIDE ABOUT THEIR ‘GRIT’ OR GOD’S GRACE! IT’S NOT MORE TIME THAT YOU NEED, BUT TRUE TRUST IN THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO SEEK YOU OUT, EXPOSE YOUR STATE OF MIND & HEART, & UNVEIL FOR YOU HIS BLESSED FINISHED WORK THROUGH THE WILLFUL YIELDEDNESS OF CHRIST TO TAKE YOU TO THE CROSS WITH HIM & GET RID OF THAT SATANIC, SIN-CONTROLLED MIND & HEART!

IN THE THIRD PLACE, SLAVES OF WORLD CULTURES, THOUGH ON THE SURFACE, APPEAR TO ‘BE RELIGIOUS’, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YIELDING TO AN ALREADY “FINISHED WORK”? DOES “LIMP-LUSTER” ALLEGIANCE DEFINE TRUE DISCIPLES? IT WAS SPURGEON, IN HIS MEMORIAL LIBRARY SERIES, (VOLUME 3,P.183-184), WHO SAID: [IT’S AWESOME! GET READY!!], “I SPEAK NOT, THIS MORNING, TO THE THOROUGHLY WORLDLY; WITH THEM I HAVE NOTHING NOW TO DO; ANOTHER TIME I MAY ADDRESS THEM. BUT NOW I AM SPEAKING TO YOU WHO ARE SEEKING TO SERVE GOD & TO SERVE SATAN; YOU WHO ARE TRYING TO BE CHRISTIAN WORLDLINGS, TRYING TO BE MEMBERS OF THAT EXTRAORDINARY CORPORATION, CALLED THE ‘RELIGIOUS WORLD,’ WHICH IS A THING THAT NEVER HAD AN EXISTENCE EXCEPT IN TITLE. YOU ARE ENDEAVORING, IF YOU CAN, TO MAKE UP YOUR MIND WHICH IT SHALL BE; YOU KNOW YOU CAN NOT SERVE BOTH, & YOU ARE COMING NOW TO THE PERIOD WHEN YOU ARE SAYING, ‘WHICH SHALL IT BE? SHALL I GO THOROUGHLY INTO SIN, & REVEL IN THE PLEASURES OF THE EARTH, “OR” BECOME A SERVANT OF GOD?” NOW, I SAY TO YOU THIS MORNING, AS THE PROPHET DID, ‘HOW LONG HALT YOU?’ SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN HALTING UNTIL YOUR HAIR HAS GROWN GRAY; THE SIXTIETH YEAR OF SOME OF YOU IS DRAWING NIGH. IS NOT SIXTY YEARS LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR CHOICE? ‘HOW LONG HALT YOU?’”

FOURTH, SERVANTS OF THE ONE TRUE GOD? OH, THAT WALK OF FAITH IS SO FAR BEYOND ‘MENTAL ASSENT’ – IT’S FOUNDATION IS RESPONSE TO JESUS’ CHALLENGE IN LUKE 6:46-49 WHEN HE SAID: “ & WHY DO YOU CALL ME, LORD, LORD, & DO NOT THE THINGS WHICH I SAY? WHOSOEVER COMES TO ME, & HEARS MY SAYINGS, & DOES THEM, I WILL SHOW YOU TO WHOM HE IS LIKE:

HE IS LIKE A MAN WHICH BUILT A HOUSE, & DIGGED DEEP, & LAID THE FOUNDATION ON A ROCK; & WHEN THE FLOOD AROSE, THE STREAM BEAT VEHEMENTLY UPON THAT HOUSE, & COULD NOT SHAKE IT: FOR IT WAS FOUNDED UPON A ROCK. BUT HE THAT HEARETH, & DOEST NOT, IS LIKE A MAN THAT WITHOUT A FOUNDATION BUILT A HOUSE UPON THE EARTH; AGAINST WHICH THE STREAM DID BEAT VEHEMENTLY, & IMMEDIATELY IT FELL, & THE RUIN OF THAT HOUSE WAS GREAT.”

I MUST SHARE PAUL THE APOSTLE’S WORDS IN 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-4:21!! (READ ALL!)

I WANT YOU TO HEAR WORDS FROM “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL” OF A HYMN BY DANIEL C.ROBERTS & GEORGE W.WARREN ENTITLED, “GOD OF OUR FATHERS, WHOSE ALMIGHTY HAND.” IT SAYS: “GOD OF OUR FATHERS, WHOSE ALMIGHTY HAND LEADS FORTH IN BEAUTY ALL THE STARRY BAND OF SHINING WORLDS IN SPLENDOR THRO’ THE SKIES, OUR GRATEFUL SONGS BEFORE YOUR THRONE ARISE.

YOUR LOVE DIVINE HAS LED US IN THE PAST, IN THIS FREE LAND BY YOU OUR LOT IS CAST; YOU BE OUR RULER, GUARDIAN, GUIDE & STAY, YOUR WORD OUR LAW, YOUR PATHS OUR CHOSEN WAY.

FROM WAR’S ALARMS, FROM DEADLY PESTILENCE, YOU BE OUR STRONG ARM OUR EVER SURE DEFENCE; YOUR TRUE FAITH IN OUR HEARTS INCRESE, YOUR BOUNTEOUS GOODNESS NOURISH US IN PEACE.

REFRESH YOUR PEOPLE ON THEIR TOILSOME WAY, LEAD US FROM NIGHT TO NEVER-ENDING DAY; FILL ALL OUR LIVES WITH LOVE & GRACE DIVINE, & GLORY, LAUD & PRAISE BE EVER THINE. AMEN! OR “SO BE IT!!” CAN “YOU” SAY AMEN TO THAT?

IS YOUR ‘LIFE OF FAITH IN CHRIST’ LIVED VICTORIOUSLY BECAUSE OF HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN YOU, OR ARE YOU STILL HELD BACK FROM HIS ETERNAL VICTORY BY THE “BEST” YOUR ‘FLESH’ HAS TO OFFER? OR, UNDERSTANDING, MY OLD SIN-NATURE WAS CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, AND WHEN THE RESURRECTED CHRIST KNOCKED ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR, DID YOU WILLFULLY OPEN THE DOOR FOR HIM TO COME INTO YOU, EXTENDING HIS LOVE, EXPRESSING HIS POWER, & YOU, ‘DEAD TO SELF’, INVITED THE KING OF KINGS & LORD OF LORDS TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU, REIGNING SUPREMELY AS “VICTOR OVER THE WORLD, YOUR SIN-NATURE, & SATAN HIMSELF”?? AND,DO “YOU” ‘DIE DAILY’, TAKING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH UNTO YOURSELF IN ORDER THAT HIS RESURRECTION PRESENCE WILL BE MANIFESTED IN YOU & THROUGH YOU MOMENT BY MOMENT, DAY BY DAY, YES, ETERNALLY IN HIS EVERLASTING KINGDOM RULE OVER THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH?

IN “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL” PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN., IS A HYMN ENTITLED, (P93), “YOU SERVANTS OF GOD, YOUR MASTER PROCLAIM”, (BY C.WESLEY & F.J.HAYDEN.). IT SAYS: “YOU SERVANTS OF GOD, YOUR MASTER PROCLAIM, & PUBLISH ABROAD HIS WONDERFUL NAME; THE NAME ALL-VICTORIOUS OF JESUS EXTOL; HIS KINGDOM IS GLORIOUS, HE RULES OVER ALL.

GOD RULES ON HIGH, ALMIGHTY TO SAVE; & STILL HE IS NIGH- HIS PRESENCE WE HAVE; THE GREAT CONGREGATION HIS TRIUMPH SHALL SING, ASCRIBING SALVATION TO JESUS OUR KING.

SALVATION TO OUR GOD, WHO SITS ON THE THRONE, LET ALL CRY ALOUD & HONOR THE SON; THE PRAISES OF JESUS THE ANGELS PROCLAIM, FALL DOWN ON THEIR FACES & WORSHIP THE LAMB.

THEN LET US ADORE & GIVE HIM HIS RIGHT, ALL GLORY, & POWER, & WISDOM & MIGHT; ALL HONOR & BLESSING WITH ANGELS ABOVE, & THANKS NEVER CEASING, & INFINITE LOVE.”

DO “YOU” HONOR HIM & BLESS HIS NAME FOR THE ETERNAL SALVATION HE BOUGHT & BROUGHT TO YOU THROUGH HIS “BLOOD SACRIFICE”?

IN THE HEART!”

BY:J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 26,2019

A VERY SIGNIFICANT WORD OF GOD IS FOUND IN 1 SAMUEL 16:7 WHEN THE LORD SAID TO SAMUEL ABOUT ‘MOURNING FOR SAUL’, “LOOK NOT ON HIS COUNTENANCE, OR ON THE HEIGHT OF HIS STATURE; BECAUSE I HAVE REFUSED HIM: FOR THE LORD SEES NOT AS MAN SEES; FOR MAN LOOKS ON THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE, BUT THE LORD LOOKS ON THE HEART.”

WHAT AN AWESOME WORD FROM HOLY GOD! WHY? BECAUSE IT’S TRUE THAT ‘NATURAL MAN, BIRTHED IN ADAM,CHOOSING TO WILLFULLY SIN FLESHLY & IN THE BODY & MIND’, IS BIRTHED WITH THE CHOICE OF YIELDING TO THE ‘FLESH’ OR WILLFULLY SUBMITTING TO HOLY GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS BY, YES, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK ON CALVARY’S CROSS!

BUT MAN, FALLEN AWAY FROM GOD IN HIS BIRTHED ‘SINFUL NAURE & CHOOSING TO SIN WITHOUT ANY CONCERN OF A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD’, WILL OFTEN CHOOSE ‘RELIGIOUS APPEARANCE’ APART FROM “REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD”, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! “TALL IN THE BODY & MIND, BUT TAINTED IN THE HEART” ARE MEN, EVEN SOME ‘RELIGIOUS MEN’, WHO ‘LIKE’ RELIGIOUS APPEARANCE & WILL WORK FOR IT, BUT THE “HEART” IS TRULY SPIRITUALLY DEAD AND IN NEED OF THE “SECOND BIRTH THAT IS SPIRITUAL”, NOT “BEST-EFFORT RELIGIOUS ATTAINMENTS”!

DO YOU REMEMBER “THE ‘WISDOM’ OF SOLOMON IN PROVERBS 1:22-33? “HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY? & THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNING, & FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE? TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF;BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, & YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, & NO MAN REGARDED:

BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NAUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, & WOULD NONE OF MY REPROOF; I ALSO WILL LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, & YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS & ANGUISH COMES UPON YOU. THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME;

FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, & DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD; THEY WOULD (HAVE) NONE OF MY COUNSEL: THEY DESPISED ALL MY REPROOF. THEREFORE SHALL THEY EAT ‘THE FRUIT OF THEIR OWN WAY, & BE FILLED WITH THEIR OWN DEVICES.’ FOR THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE SHALL SLAY THEM, & THE PROSPERITY OF FOOLS SHALL DESTROY THEM. “BUT”,VERSE 33, WHOSO HEARKENS UNTO ME SHALL DWELL SAFELY, & SHALL BE QUIET FROM FEAR OF EVIL.” OH, BUT THE “WISEMAN” WAS NOT THROUGH WITH HIS ‘RECEIVED, ACCEPTED, & WISE WORDS FROM HOLY GOD’!

IN PROVERBS 3:5-12, THE “WISEMAN” WROTE: “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; & LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, & HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS. BE NOT WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES: FEAR THE LORD, & DEPART FROM EVIL. IT SHALL BE HEALTH TO YOUR NAVEL, & MARROW TO YOUR BONES. HONOR THE LORD WITH YOUR SUBSTANCE, & WITH THE FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL YOUR INCREASE.

SO SHALL YOUR BARNS BE FILLED WITH PLENTY, & YOUR PRESSES SHALL BURST OUT WITH NEW WINE. MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD; NEITHER BE WEARY OF CORRECTION: FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CORRECTS; EVEN AS A FATHER THE SON IN WHOM HE DELIGHTS.” WHAT AN AWESOME, ENCOURAGING, INSPIRING WORD FROM A TRULY WISE MAN!!

QUESTION! “ARE ‘YOU’ A SEEKER AFTER HOLY GOD”? IT ALWAYS AMAZED ME TO READ THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, OLD TESTAMENT AS WELL AS NEW TESTAMENT, LEARNING THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE HE CAME, THAT GOD THE FATHER “PROMISED” THAT HIS SON, THE LORD JESUS, WOULD COME TO RECONCILE SINFUL MAN TO GOD THE FATHER BY HIS OWN SHED BLOOD ON CALVARY’S CROSS! IN ISAIAH 55:1-7 WE READ,

“HO, EVERY ONE THAT THIRSTS, COME YOU TO THE WATERS (THE ‘WATERS OF THE HOLY WORD OF GOD’?), & HE THAT HAS NO MONEY; COME YOU, BUY, & EAT; YES, COME, BUY WINE (THE ‘WINE OF THE WORD OF GOD’?) & MILK WITHOUT MONEY & WITHOUT PRICE. WHEREFORE DO YOU SPEND MONEY FOR THAT WHICH IS NOT BREAD? & YOUR LABOR FOR THAT WHICH DOES NOT SATISFY?HEARKEN DILIGENTLY UNTO ME, & EAT YOU THAT WHICH IS GOOD, & LET YOUR SOUL DELIGHT ITSELF IN FATNESS.

INCLINE YOUR EAR, & COME UNTO ME; HEAR, & YOU SHALL LIVE; & I WILL MAKE AN EVERLASTING COVENANT WITH YOU, EVEN THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID. BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN HIM FOR A WITNESS TO THE PEOPLE, A LEADER & COMMANDER TO THE PEOPLE. BEHOLD, YOU SHALL CALL A NATION THAT YOU KNOW NOT, & NATIONS THAT KNEW NOT YOU SHALL RUN UNTO YOU BECAUSE OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, & FOR THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL; FOR HE HAS GLORIFIED YOU.

SEEK YOU THE LORD WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND, CALL YOU UPON HIM WHILE HE IS NEAR; LET THE WICKED FORSAKE HIS WAY, & THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAN HIS THOUGHTS: & LET HIM RETURN UNTO THE LORD, & HE WILL HAVE MERCY UPON HIM; & TO OUR GOD, FOR HE WILL ABUNDANTLY PARDON.”

ON JUNE 12,2019, I WILL CELEBRATE MY 83^RD BIRTHDAY! IT IS AMAZING TO “ME” BECAUSE MY GRANDDAD FISHER & MY DAD, JIM FISHER, BOTH DIED AT 78 YEARS OF AGE! I’M SURELY CONVINCED THAT HOLY GOD HAS EXTENDED MY LIFE, EVEN FOR THE ‘SOVEREIGN PURPOSE’ OF HIGHLIGHTING, & I PRAY, INSPIRING YOU TO “REST” IN THE LORD LIKE “WISE” SOLOMON, “WISE” PROPHETS & TEACHERS & FOLLOWERS OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, WHO ‘WAITED’ IN FAITH ON CHRIST’S LITERAL COMING, HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY, & HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH AS THE TRUE “LAMB OF GOD” SHEDDING HIS OWN BLOOD TO “WASH AWAY SIN & ITS NATURE” ON HIS “CALVARY’S CROSS”!! AND THE EMPTY TOMB PROVES IT! HE AROSE FROM THE DEAD AFTER THREE DAYS, & STILL, THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER, SAYS, “COME UNTO ME, & I’LL GIVE YOU REST!”

IN THE OLD “BROADMAN HYMNAL” (P.84), (PUBLISHED IN 1940 BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN.), IS A HYMN THAT IS ENTITLED: “REST FOR THE WEARY.” IT SAYS: “IN THE CHRISTIAN’S HOME IN GLORY THERE REMAINS A LAND OF REST; THERE MY SAVIOR’S GONE BEFORE ME, TO FULFILL MY SOUL’S REQUEST.

HE IS FITTING UP MY MANSION, WHICH ETERNALLY SHALL STAND, FOR MY STAY SHALL NOT BE TRANSCIENT, IN THAT HOLY, HAPPY LAND.

PAIN & SICKNESS NE’ER SHALL ENTER, GRIEF NOR WOE MY LOT SHALL SHARE; BUT, IN THAT CELESTIAL CENTER, I A CROWN OF LIFE SHALL WEAR.

DEATH ITSELF SHALL THEN BE VANQUISHED, & IT’S STING SHALL BE WITHDRAWN; SHOUT FOR GLADNESS, O YOU RANSOMED! HAIL WITH JOY THE RISING MORN.

THERE IS REST FOR THE WEARY, THERE IS REST FOR THE WEARY, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN, IN THE SWEET FIELDS OF EDEN, THERE IS REST FOR THE WEARY, THERE IS REST FOR YOU; WHERE THE TREE OF LIFE IS BLOOMING, THERE IS REST FOR YOU.”

IN GENESIS 27:41-28:5a, WE READ ABOUT JACOB ESCAPING FROM ESAU WHO HATED JACOB & WANTED TO KILL HIM. SO INTERESTING WHAT ‘SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS’ DOES IN MEN’S HEARTS & MINDS & WILLFUL DISGRACE TO HOLY GOD! FIRST,GENESIS 27:41-46 SAYS, “SO ESAU HATED JACOB BECAUSE OF THE BLESSING WITH WHICH HIS FATHER BLESSED HIM, & ESAU SAID IN HIS HEART, ‘THE DAYS OF MOURNING FOR MY FATHER ARE AT HAND; THEN I WILL KILL MY BROTHER JACOB.

AND THE WORDS OF ESAU HER OLDER SON WERE TOLD TO REBEKAH. SO SHE SENT & CALLED JACOB HER YOUNGER SON, & SAID TO HIM, “SURELY YOUR BROTHER ESAU COMFORTS HIMSELF CONCERNING YOU BY INTENDING TO KILL YOU. NOW THEREFORE, MY SON, OBEY MY VOICE: ARISE, FLEE TO MY BROTHER LABAN IN HARAN. & STAY WITH HIM A FEW DAYS, UNTIL YOUR BROTHER’S FURY TURNS AWAY, UNTIL YOUR BROTHER’S ANGER TURNS AWAY FROM YOU, & HE FORGETS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO HIM; THEN I WILL SEND & BRING YOU FROM THERE. WHY SHOULD I BE BEREAVED ALSO OF YOU BOTH IN ONE DAY?”

OH, THEN FEAST ON THE FAITH OF ISAAC! GENESIS 28:1-5A: THEN ISAAC CALLED JACOB & BLESSED HIM, & CHARGED HIM, & SAID TO HIM: ‘YOU SHALL NOT TAKE A WIFE FROM THE DAUGHTERS OF CANAAN. ARISE, GO TO PADAN ARAM, TO THE HOUSE OF BETHEL YOUR MOTHER’S FATHER; & TAKE YOURSELF A WIFE FROM THERE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF LABAN YOUR MOTHER’S BROTHER. & MAY GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS YOU, & MAKE YOU FRUITFUL & MULTIPLY YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE AN ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLES; & GIVE YOU THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM, TO YOU & YOUR DESCENDANTS WITH YOU, THAT YOU MAY INHERIT THE LAND IN WHICH YOU ARE A STRNGER, WHICH GOD GAVE TO ABRAHAM. SO ISAAC SENT JACOB AWAY.”

SECOND,QUESTION! ARE YOU A “DESCENDANT” OF A BLOOD-BOUGHT FAMILY OF FAITH & OBEDIENCE & TRUST IN THE COMMISSIONING & ORDERS & INSTRUCTIONS OF GOD THE FATHER THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD? IN GALATIANS 4:3-20, PAUL IN A LABOR OF LOVE ‘EXPOSED’ COMPROMISE AS AN ENEMY OF GOD WHEN HE SAID OF SOME ‘PROFESSING GALATIANS & EVEN ‘MODERN-DAY’ PRETENDERS,’ “EVEN SO WE, WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN, WERE IN BONDAGE UNDER THE ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD. BUT WHEN THE FULLNESS OF THE TIME HAD COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, BORN OF A WOMAN, BORN UNDER THE LAW, TO REDEEM THOSE WHO WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS.

AND BECAUSE YOU ARE SONS, GOD HAS SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT OF HIS SON INTO YOU HEARTS, CRYING OUT, ‘ABBA,FATHER’! THEREFORE YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE BUT A SON, & IF A SON, THEN AN HEIR OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST. BUT THEN, INDEED, WHEN YOU DID NOT KNOW GOD, YOU SERVED THOSE BY NATURE WHICH ARE NOT GODS. BUT NOW,AFTER YOU HAVE KNOWN GOD, OR RATHER ARE KNOWN BY GOD, HOW IS IT YOU TURN AGAIN TO THE WEAK & BEGGARLY ELEMENTS, TO WHICH YOU DESIRE AGAIN TO BE IN BONDAGE? YOU OBSERVE DAYS & MONTHS & SEASONS & YEARS. I AM AFRAID FOR YOU, LEST I HAVE LABORED FOR YOU IN VAIN.

BRETHREN, I URGE YOU TO BECOME LIKE ME, FOR I BECAME LIKE YOU. YOU HAVE NOT INJURED ME AT ALL,YOU KNOW THAT BECAUSE OF PHYSICAL INFIRMITY I PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO YOU AT THE FIRST. & MY TRIAL WHICH WAS IN MY FLESH YOU DID NOT DESPISE OR REJECT, BUT YOU RECEIVED ME AS AN ANGEL (OR MESSENGER) OF GOD, EVEN AS CHRIST JESUS. WHAT THEN WAS THE BLESSING YOU ENJOYED? FOR I BEAR YOU WITNESS THAT, IF POSSIBLE, YOU WOULD HAVE PLUCKED OUT YOUR OWN EYES & GIVEN THEM TO ME. HAVE I THEREFORE BECOME YOUR ENEMY BECAUSE I TELL YOU THE TRUTH?

THEY ZEALOUSY COURT YOU, BUT FOR NO GOOD;YES, THEY WANT TO EXCLUDE YOU, THAT YOU MAY BE ZEALOUS FOR THEM. BUT IT IS GOOD TO BE ZEALOUS IN A GOOD THING ALWAYS, & NOT ONLY WHEN I AM PRESENT WITH YOU. MY LITTLE CHILDREN, FOR WHOM I LABOR IN BIRTH AGAIN UNTIL CHRIST IS FORMED IN YOU. I WOULD LIKE TO BE PRESENT WITH YOU NOW & TO CHANGE MY TONE; FOR I HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT YOU.”

THIRD:DARE I SAY IT? BELIEVE I WILL! HAVE YOU EVER HAD ‘DOUBTS’ ABOUT YOURSELF, OR ‘DOUBTS’ ABOUT FAMILY MEMBERS, OR ‘DOUBTS’ ABOUT ‘FRIENDS OF THE FAITH’, OR ‘DOUBTS’ ABOUT A WANDERING, MISGUIDED, WORLDLY INDULGENT TEACHER OR PASTOR? I READ AN ANONYMOUS QUOTE YEARS AGO THAT SAID, “A GREAT MANY PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS READY TO PRAY WHEN THE DEVIL GETS THEM INTO TROUBLE; BUT WHEN THEY GET OUT OF TROUBLE THEY SOON FORGET GOD.” IT WAS E.STANLEY JONES, IN HIS WRITING, “THE WAY”(P.235, ABINGDON PRESS), WHO WROTE: “THE CHRISTIAN UNDER TROUBLE DOESN’T BREAK UP – HE BREAKS OUT.” SO TRUE!

“TALL IN THE BODY & MIND, BUT TAINTED IN THE HEART”? IN ONE OF HIS WRITINGS ENTITLED, “HYMN” (ST.5), HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW WROTE: “O HOLY TRUST! O ENDLESS SENSE OF REST! LIKE THE BELOVED JOHN TO LAY HIS HEAD UPON THE SAVIOR’S BREAST, & THUS TO JOURNEY ON!” HAVE YOU ‘COLLAPSED’ AS A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST? HAVE YOU CRUMBLED? HAVE YOU SETTLED FOR A FAITH THAT TELLS YOU TO TRY YOUR BEST, EVEN IF YOU FAIL 0R FALTER, BUT NEVER TELLS YOU: “FINISHED WITH ‘FLESHLY BEST’ THAT CHRIST JESUS MAY BE MY ALL IN ALL – EVEN EVERY TROUBLING, DISABLING, STRUGGLING, HEART-BREAKING EVENT I MAY FACE?”

“TALL IN THE BODY & MIND, BUT TAINTED IN THE HEART”? MAYBE SO, BUT JOHN KEATS, IN HIS WRITING, “LETTER TO J.H.REYNOLDS” SAID, “THERE IS AN AWFUL WARMTH ABOUT MY HEART LIKE A LOAD OF IMMORTALITY.” FOR SURE, THE HEART OF MAN IS EITHER TAINTED IN SINFUL, SELF-INDULGENCE, OR TRIUMPHANT THROUGH THE SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST, HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD, & HIS PRESENT REIGN ON THE THRONE OF TRULY REPENTANT, TRULY “BLOOD-BOUGHT SAINTS”, GUIDED & GUARDED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE REDEEMED LIFE “IN CHRIST”!

FOURTH,“TALL IN THE BODY & MIND, BUT TAINTED IN THE HEART?” THAT DESCRIBES ‘PROUD’, ‘SELF-INDULGENT’ ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENDERS’ WHO SEE ‘RELIGION’ AS MEN’S MINDS TRYING HARD TO IMPROVE THEMSELVES RELIGIOUSLY, BUT VOID OF “WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB”! MAN’S INVOLVEMENT IN “ESTABLISHED RELIGIONS” WORLDWIDE IS WHAT WALTER BAGEHOT SAID YEARS & YEARS AGO, THAT “MAN’S INVOLVEMENT IN ESTABLISHED RELIGIONS WHICH ARE “STREWN WITH CREEDS & INSTITITIONS WHICH WERE INVALUABLE AT FIRST, & DEADLY AFTERWARD.” AGAIN, SO TRUE!

“TALL IN THE BODY & MIND, BUT TAINTED IN THE HEART?” THAT, TO ME, IS ‘ANTSY RELIGIOUS PARTICIPANTS BIRTHING ITCHY MINDS, FLESHLY WILLS, ‘DECENT PERFORMANCES’, BUT IT IS NOT “GRACED LIVING IN DIVINE PRESENCE WITH CHRIST REIGNING IN THEM AS THEIR THRONE OF ETERNAL GLORY!” HOLY GOD HAS NO INTEREST IN RELIGIOUS MEN’S “PRODUCTION” OF ‘AFFILIATED BIRTHING’ BUT NO “TRANSFORMED LIVES” THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN THE “SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST JESUS” THE CRUCIFIED “LAMB OF GOD”!

‘RELIGIOUS GENIUSES’ ARE INNUMERABLE IN THIS DAY OF RELIGIOUS ‘HISTORY’, BUT I WROTE YEARS AGO A WORD THAT CHILLED A GREAT NUMBER, EVEN CHURCH-FOLK WHO RESENTED IT! I SAID: “IN THE ABSENCE OF TRUE BIBLICAL FAITH MEN ESTABLISH RELIGIONS, & ALL OF A SUDDEN REALIZE THEY’VE ENTERED INNUMERABLE GORILLA CAGES!”

FIFTH,IN JAMES 1:26-27 THE BROTHER OF JESUS WROTE: “IF ANY AMONG YOU SEEM TO BE RELIGIOUS, & BRIDLETH NOT HIS TONGUE, BUT DECEIVES HIS OWN HEART, THIS MAN’S RELIGION IS VAIN. PURE RELIGION & UNDEFILED BEFORE GOD AND THE FATHER IS THIS: TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS & WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION, & TO KEEP HIMSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD.”

IT’S MORE THAN ‘NORMAL’, IT’S “ABNORMAL”! “ABNORMAL” WHAT? THAT’S ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENSE’ VOID OF THE “NEW BIRTH, THE NEW HEART, THE CRUCIFIED LIFE MIRACOUSLY RAISED UP “IN CHRIST” BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”! THAT’S ‘DECEIVED, RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUALS’ WHO CANNOT, WILL NOT ‘UNDECEIVE THEMSELVES’ BECAUSE “GOD SHOULD ACCEPT JUST AS I AM”, WHEN GOD “CRUCIFIED THEM WITH CHRIST” JUST AS THEY WERE OR STILL ARE IN, BECAUSE RELIGIOUS PRETENSE IS AS DEADLY AS ‘BORN IN SIN’!! ACTS 3:19 SAYS, “REPENT YOU, THEREFORE, & BE CONVERTED THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED OUT.” AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN! “CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST” “IS” “THE ONLY WAY” YOUR OLD SIN-NATURE IS DONE AWAY WITH! “TRYING NOT TO SIN” IS NOT “TRUSTING IN OUR SAVIOR’S FINISHED WORK AT CALVARY’S CROSS!!!

IRA D.SANKEY & E.PAGE,IN THE OLD “BROADMAN HYMNAL”, PUBLISHED BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENN., IN 1940, P.328, IS A HYMN ENTITLED “TRUSTING JESUS.” IT SAYS: “SIMPLY TRUSTING EVERY DAY, TRUSTING THROUGH A STORMY WAY; EVEN WHEN MY FAITH IS SMALL, TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IS ALL.

BRIGHTLY DOES HIS SPIRIT SHINE INTO THIS POOR HEART OF MINE; WHILE HE LEADS I CANNOT FALL; TRUSTING JESUS THAT IS ALL.

SINGING IF MY WAY IS CLEAR: PRAYING IF THE PATH BE DREAR; IF IN DANGER, FOR HIM CALL; TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IS ALL.

TRUSTING HIM WHILE LIFE SHALL LAST, TRUSTING HIM TILL EARTH IS PAST; TILL WITHIN THE JASPER WALL, TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IA ALL.

TRUSTING AS THE MOMENTS FLY, TRUSTING AS THE DAYS GO BY; TRUSTING HIM WHATE’ER BEFALL, TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IS ALL.”

SIXTH,BUT, GOD CALLED & YOU REFUSED? JESUS KNOCKED, BUT AWARE OF YOUR ‘SUPREME RELIGIOUS DEVOTION’ YOU SAW NO NEED TO OPEN THE DOOR & INVITE HIM IN TO DO ONLY WHAT HE CAN DO? THE HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTED YOU, BUT YOU CONVINCED YOURSELF “YOU’RE ABLE; TRY YOUR BEST, GUT IT UP, BE STRONG!”, WHEN IN GALATIANS 1:6-10 THE SPIRIT-INSPIRED WORD DECLARES, PAUL THE APOSTLE WRITING: “I MARVEL THAT YOU ARE TURNING AWAY SO SOON FROM HIM WHO CALLED YOU IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST, TO A DIFFERENT GOSPEL, WHICH IS NOT ANOTHER; BUT THERE ARE SOME WHO TROUBLE YOU & WANT TO PERVERT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.BUT EVEN IF WE, OR AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, PREACH ANY OTHER GOSPEL TO YOU THAN WHAT WE PREACHED TO YOU, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. AS WE SAID BEFORE, SO NOW I SAY AGAIN, IF ANYONE PREACHES ANY OTHER GOSPEL TO YOU THAN WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. FOR DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN, OR GOD? OR DO I SEEK TO PLEASE MEN? FOR IF I STILL PLEASED MEN, I WOULD NOT BE A BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST.” ARE “YOU” ‘TRYING’ OR “TRUSTING”, ‘ATTEMPTING OR “ATONED FOR”, ‘STRIVING’ OR ACCORDING TO COLOSSIANS 1:11, “STRENGTHENED WITH ALL MIGHT, ACCORDING TO HIS GLORIOUS POWER…”, WHICH MEANS: “WE TAKE THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY TO OUSELVES, & ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO FAITHFULLY “GUIDE US INTO ALL TRUTH”!! AMEN? IN THE OLD “AMERICAN HYMNAL” OF 1933 PUBLISHED IN NASHVILLE, TENN., BY BROADMAN PRESS, IS A SONG ENTITLED “LORD, I AM YOURS, ENTIRELY YOURS.” IT SAYS: “LORD, I AM YOURS, ENTIRELY YOURS, PURCHASED & SAVED BY BLOOD DIVINE; WITH FULL CONSENT YOURS I WOULD BE, & OWN YOUR SOVEREIGN RIGHT IN ME.GRANT ONE POOR SINNER MORE A PLACE AMONG THE CHILDREN OF YOUR GRACE; A WRETCHED SINNER,LOST TO GOD, BUT RANSOMED BY IMMANUEL’S BLOOD.

YOURS WOULD I LIVE, YOURS WOULD I DIE, BE YOURS THRO’ ALL ETERNITY; THE VOW IS PAST BEYOND REPEAL, & NOW I SET THE SOLEMN SEAL.HERE AT THAT CROSS WHERE FLOWS THE BLOOD THAT BOUGHT MY GUILTY SOUL FOR GOD, YOU, MY NEW MASTER, NOW I CALL, & CONSECRATE TO YOU MY ALL!PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSING FLOW; PRAISE HIM ALL CREATURES HERE BELOW; PRAISE HIM ABOVE,YOU HEAVENLY HOST; PRAISE FATHER, SON, & HOLY GHOST.” AMEN?

CHAPTER TWO

“STALL OR CALL?”

In Acts 24:22-27 we find an interesting, yet sadly, too often, passage about Felix, the procurator over Jerusalem, having been appointed by Rome. It says: “But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case (referring to Paul the Apostle).” So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.

And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.”

Felix, the procurator over Jerusalem, representing the Roman government, came very, very close to ‘surrender’ to Christ-allegiance, but he ‘stalled out’ and ended up neglecting ‘repentance toward God and faith in Christ alone’, maybe consent to Christ’s reality was enough for him, which it never is!

A “staller” is a man confronted with the reality of God and his need for Him, but far too often is a man who has invested in himself far too long, and has so invested in his own independence from God, to surrender to Him is painful! One doesn’t easily ‘sin’ and then want to commend himself to God without a heavy, heavy struggle with the necessity of repentance and faith in His Word! Sin confessed but not forsaken is not sovereign grace at work but sentimental, religious judgments that remain ‘deadly’!

What was it Felix said? “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” THAT could easily be defined as “procrastination”, or putting off a necessary decision, or delaying one’s commitment or lack of it, for ‘some other time – not now!’

Sometimes “stallers”, unimpressed by devoted followers, go on their own to “invent” what “tempers” their rebellion and unveils “desires” for the false and not the True or Christ, the Author of Truth! In Exodus 32 Moses was on the mountain-top fellowshipping with Holy God and the people were impatient with him. Exodus 32:1 says, the people ‘gathered together to Aaron’, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.

Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.”

“Stallers” are creators who invent, create, or substitute “things” for the Living God, whether idols of their imagination, or “businesses” before which they bow, or ‘monies’ rather than God’s mercy, or ‘pleasures’ rather than the peace that passes all understanding, or ‘pretense’ rather than Divine Reality and Holy Presence in and through Christ’s Resurrection life, power, and hope! They settle for the ‘fleshly’ – not the Life of the Spirit of Christ!

And dare I tell you that “stallers” can be, and often are, inventors of their own altars, ‘fleshly fires’, and are verbal declarers of their imitation ‘faith’, inviting the world to follow them? And they have success. Many are ‘wealthy’ word-ers of their perverted, yet often, fleshly profound thoughts and ‘ideas’, and as Horatius Bonar once said, unbelievers promote two things: “a good opinion of one’s self, and a bad opinion of God.” “Stallers” see themselves as individuals with a “perfectly full-orbed, man-made existence, worthy of the praise of a god if there is one”!

“Stallers” are really unbelievers. And Friedrich Wilhelm Krummacher once wrote: [The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, Fleming H. Revell Comp., Westwood, New Jersey,p.457], “Unbelief does nothing but darken and destroy. It makes the world a moral desert, where no divine footsteps are heard, where no angels ascend or descend, where no living hand adorns the fields, feeds the birds of heaven, or regulates events.” And its ‘stallers’, who are ‘unbelievers, who reward themselves with darkness and personal destruction, with some only gathering the full impact as the devil opens hell’s gate to welcome them!

“Stallers”, for the most part, are governed by their natural inclinations and in their fleshly manners have determined they are too intelligent to believe in or trust the God of Creation and the Cross to make any difference in their natural-born life! Some even attribute their unbelief to their studious thinking when a godless mind is nothing more than superficial insignificance to life itself! That’s ‘surface living’ with no true foundation.

Would you even consider “stallers” to be “pagans”? The Random House College Dictionary (Revised Edition of 1975) defines a pagan as “an irreligious or hedonistic person”, or ‘a worshipper of false gods’, or one who bows down to self alone! I love Frederick William Robertson’s statement from the same “Encyclopedia..” mentioned earlier, (p.464), “What the world calls virtue, without Christ, is a name and a dream. The foundation of all human excellence must be laid deep in the blood of the Redeemer’s cross and in the power of His resurrection.” “Stallers” are like ‘passing shadows’ that take steps in God’s universe dressed in its’ ‘sensuality’ that is nothing more than the graveyard of one’s soul, waiting for the devil’s call rather than the call of God to the glorious destiny of a redeemed, blood-bought life through Christ!

“Stallers” are authors of the scripts of naked souls, the inventors of fleshly indulgences, sold out to the temporal but bankrupt when it comes to the Kingdom of God rule and reign! That’s like an “Esau” who in Genesis 25:33 sold his birthright! And, sadly, how many do you cross paths with every day who sell themselves for fleshly concerns, resulting in aching voids, and temporal impulses, unaware of the destinies of eternity? The bondage of fleshly indulgence is a soul enslaved to fleshly will, worldly aims, demonic intents, and slavish impulses – divine will to them is a “No, no”! And you are aware: there are many who want elbow-room away from God so they can do as they please without any sense of guilt! That’s why in 1 Peter 2:11 Peter said: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”; but sadly, the ‘staller’ yields to the flesh, indoctrinated in darkness!

Listen to Christ Jesus in Matthew 16:24-27! Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life (and I say, FOR himself!) will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. “

Do you think this just might be why Joshua was so inspired to write his challenge in Joshua 24:15? “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.” His name is Christ Jesus, Emmanuel (“God With Us”!), Messiah, Master, Savior, and Lord, the Son of God, the Atoner and the Atonement: “His shed blood on Calvary’s Cross”! Oh, but also the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords Who rules and reigns in the Kingdom of God now and forever!

SO, IF YOU’RE THROUGH WITH “STALLING”, WHY NOT “CALL” ON HIM? Do you recall the Word of God through Joel? Joel 2:28-32 declares: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; [Dare I say that there is not one person worldwide, then or now, who has not been “poured upon” by the Spirit of God to turn them from self to the Savior?] Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth; blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be SAVED. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls.”

There was a “remnant” in Joel’s day – there’s a “remnant” even now – there will be another “remnant” in future days to come! They “hear the call” and they respond in repentance and trust of the saving power of the blood of the Lamb of God!

Aren’t you both convicted and enlightened, unveiled as the ‘sinner’ and revealed as the ‘saint’, through the blood of the Lamb? Isaiah so challenged every man, every lady, every boy or every girl, when in Isaiah 1:16-20 he was divinely inspired to write: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. CEASE TO DO EVIL. Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. ‘COME NOW AND LET US REASON TOGETHER’, says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. IF YOU ARE WILLING AND OBEDIENT, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.”

Are YOUR EARS, MIND, AND HEART ATTUNED TO THE MOUTH OF THE LORD THAT HAS, DOES, AND WILL SPEAK TO YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN? I love Oswald Chambers’ word in his book, “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.12), when he wrote: “The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah’s soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.” Dare I ask YOU? “Have YOU been ‘profoundly altered’?”

Follow carefully 1 Peter 1:17-25! “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish or without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Have YOU “called on the Father”? “IF” YOU call on the Father, the door of your redemption has been opened wide! “IF” YOU repent, the amazing grace of God is released for your divine transformation from a son/daughter of the devil to a son/daughter of faith in the family of God! Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,” and that “presence of the Lord” IS Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

Dare I tell you that “repentance toward God” is often denied, overlooked, or even considered unimportant, as long as one says, “I believe in Jesus,” and they fail to see the divine intent of being “vessels” through which God does through them what He did through His Son! In John 5:17-30, 35, 38-40 we find a powerful, convicting, unveiling of eternal Truth! It says:

But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” THEREFORE the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, [modern-day opponents aren’t interested in His death any more than they are of His Resurrected Presence at their heart’s door!], because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD. Then Jesus answered and said to them (and to YOU?), “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does also in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteousness, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. Verse 35, “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in His light.” Oh, but then Verses 38-40 says, “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe (trust in, rely upon, or adhere to!). You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

Have you received, leaned on, accepted the truth of 2 Corinthians 7:10? “For godly sorrow produces repentance LEADING TO salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Godly sorrow, true repentance, opening the door to Salvation, but fleshly, worldly sorrow never opens the door to divine transformation through the Resurrected Christ! That just opens the door to a local church assembly but not to oneness in Christ and His eternal, resurrected family of faith and hope! Oh, but when one sees himself as God sees him, “a sinner truly in need of the Divine Savior,” then a holy hymn of praise begins to be written about his/her life:

“My sins, borne to the Cross by God’s Lamb, my sins, not in part but the whole, my Savior willingly carried them Himself to be forgiven and freed from by His blood!

My sins, and its nature, deserving of death, He willingly accepted, and gave His own life for my soul; sin forgiven, death’s debt paid, my relationship to God fully restored!

My sins, so imperfect, closing the door to God’s kingdom of faith, He willingly accepted, and shed His blood that a new door would open, and access gladly given, as broken-hearted men reached out to God in His name and fame.

My sins, no longer the scar that defames, but my sins forgiven brings glory to His name; by my Savior’s offering on Calvary’s Cross, by God fully accepted, and my life of faith perfected in the Name above all names!

My sins, the closed door to God’s wisdom, His righteousness, His sanctification, His redemption, but faith in Christ Jesus and His finished work of the Cross, is clear indication of one’s desire to be dead to himself, but alive in Him, and an open door to all God desires to be in us.”

Receive 1 John 5:11-13! “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in [trust in, rely upon, adhere to], the name of the Son of God, that YOU MAY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE, and that you may “CONTINUE” to believe in the name of the Son of God.” DO YOU CONTINUE TO BELIEVE, REST IN, ASSURED OF ETERNAL LIFE IN AND THROUGH CHRIST ALONE?

I was impressed and encouraged by Dr. Charles Stanley’s “In Touch” publication, April, 2016, entitled, “Qualifications for Sainthood,” [p.28], when he wrote: “Many people hold an unbiblical view of sainthood. Their idea of a saint is one who has led such an exemplary life that he or she is venerated by the church, but God’s Word presents quite a different picture. The Corinthian church struggled with all sorts of ungodly behaviors, yet Paul describes them as “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints,” (1 Cor. 1:2)…saying in the closing paragraph: “Just think – God set you apart for a sacred purpose. That means you are here, not to live as you please but to bring glory to Him. He calls us to live according to our new position in Christ. When we accept this responsibility of sainthood with gratitude, we bring joy to the Father’s heart.”

Sainthood is not a position earned, but a declaration clearly made by God alone! No doubt this is why Asaph, one of David’s chief musicians sang in Psalm 50:2, “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth,” and then in Verse 15 of the same Psalm, Asaph heard God say, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Yes! “The called of the Lord” are vessels through which God honors the Son and lifts the saints and they glorify God!

Don’t you rejoice in a Simone Biles, several times U.S. Olympic gymnast victor who openly professes her faith in Christ Jesus? And I’m sure she’s one who thanks God for her giftings physically but more importantly spiritually – she’s an ambassador of Christ Jesus as well as a U.S. sports representative – and she’ll strongly influence many aspiring youth in faith, fame, and fortune! Amen? She “heard the call”! And, I pray, she never “stalls” or “falls away”!

I’ve prayed for her that she never “stalls” out but remains firmly planted on the solid foundation of “Amazing Grace”, and continues to honor the Lord faithfully! By “Amazing Grace” she understands NO STALLING, but faithfully calling daily to Him as she leans, rests in, and presses into the King of kings!

Fallen mankind, alienated from God, independent of God mankind, is no more able to live the “blessed life” apart from grace than he is settling and controlling the universes and stars as God does!

Don’t you see, grasp, understand, or stand in His Word alone, that only the grace of God builds hope in the heart and life through Jesus Only? That’s Christ Jesus, the Son of God, bruised for our iniquities, crucified willingly on the Cross in and through Holy God’s willingness, and designated, by God, as the only redemptive way, by grace, for sinners to be reconciled to Him!

Has ‘church membership’ become the fallen man’s religious choice and his/her ‘self-made ticket’ to religious activity, affirming his/her harlotry, apart from accepting the Lamb’s Blood for death to self, washed in that blood, and affirmed by God’s grace as a true son or daughter in the Kingdom of ‘grace-fitted’, ‘God-implanted’ resurrection life, power, and hope?

Omnipotent grace has reigned, does reign, and forever will reign to assure the truly repentant and grace-gifted, and faith-lifted of our Lord’s victory over the devil, your enemy, and your weak or strong ‘flesh-nature,’ plus the deceiving influences of an enslaving world-mind-set, as if one ‘enjoys’ the world as he/she cooperates with Hell!

Do you comprehend that it’s only the grace of God that closes the door on the “stall” and brings you to the foot of the Cross and to the “empty tomb”, revealing to you the Resurrected, Reigning King of kings and Lord of lords? Loving God “calls” YOU by name, appealing to you to open your eyes and see the “Savior” AS IF it was FOR YOUR SIN ALONE He suffered, bled, and died on the Cross?

Hear me! “Stalling” and not calling, no death to your sin and old sin nature will NOT open the door to God’s mercy and grace, but only bind the door stronger to keep Christ out of your life! Deception about your sin is not deliverance from it! If a man refuses to open the door of deliverance from sin by Christ’s sacrifice, he/she reinforces the door from the Savior, Lord, Master of God-pleasing submission and obedience!

When divine sovereignty is denied or ignored, it interprets a life void of grace but still writing one’s ‘best-seller’ of meaningless existence, a marred imitation, and his/her ‘Master-less’ portrait of even a ‘religious self-effort’.

Have you ever come to the place of deep awareness and conviction of God’s ‘knocking’ on your heart’s door, but ‘self’, sin, the world, or the devil deceives you that reconciliation with Holy God is an unnecessary door to open because you’re ‘OK’ with the life you have under your own control and you don’t want to be governed by God, governed by His Word, or governed by His Spirit, or governed by “Emmanuel, God with us”?

No fear of God is not an open door into His presence! And grace IS the only key available to sinners that opens that door for those who fear Him! Where grace abounds in one’s life, though the devil wants you dancing to his tunes, Christ Jesus has you daily dancing to His “Amazing Grace”!

I pray, right now, and again and again, that YOU will not be one who “stalls” but one who “calls” on the God of Grace! I can tell you that it is an easy matter to cross the line from devotion to Christ to, yes, a ‘vile imitator’ of grace and faith, because someone told you that it’s OK to be a ‘disciple’ and ‘sin’ with the lusciousness of their old sin-nature still alive, and “God understands”. Really? Again, were YOU “crucified with Christ”? If so, when ‘sin’ calls, you immediately lean not to your former ‘mind-understanding’ of that old sin-nature, but “Look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith by His “Amazing Grace”!

REVELATION

BY: J. FARRELL FISHER

JULY – AUGUST, 2018

INTRODUCTION

It’s absolutely amazing as one walks with the Lord through the door of faith and trust: – the walk begins, you’re on the Way, and you believe that ‘soon this amazing walk of faith will be over’, but He reminds you, “You’ve just begun! There’s more to see, understand, receive, exercise, release as YOU then share with others!”

At 82 years of age, as of June 12, 2018, I’m STILL “awed” about more and more of His revealed, Spirit-inspired, necessary and essential, Word of Truth! The “inspirational part” NEVER LET’S GO! You know you’re “hearing from God Himself”, and that, it is not only for you, but all the world around you! By the Spirit, you KNOW you’ve opened the Book of divine revelation, even “GIVEN” understanding, that as human food is necessary to sustain the human body, so the Bible is ‘spiritual food’ to nurture the “new-born journey” into adult spiritual identity – without the Word, babes, children, teenagers, young adults, older adults, never come into the fullness of Christ!

The Word is our milk, our water, our ‘bread’, our ‘meat’, our necessary ‘food’, to mature us in our walk with Christ! We’re not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is”, nor should a true disciple ever be in his walk of faith void of devotion to the Holy Word of God! Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!” Return to the Word so His Word may faithfully return YOU to Him in ‘fullness, completeness, and abiding joy’!

How many do you know who’ve “professed faith”, and yet, have not come into its fullness, because, sadly, the Holy Word of God has not been their spiritual nourishment in a ‘well-fed walk’ by the Word of Holy God being released in them and through them? Word-less ‘disciples’(?) live ‘deceived lives’ because, yes, they still feed on world wisdom, but not His divine revelation and eternal promises!

How many do you know who will submit themselves to every ordinance of man but stubbornly ignore the mandates of the Master?

It was Simon Peter who wrote so wisely and in eternal understanding, saying in 1 Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the ‘sincere milk’ of the Word, that you may grow.” Some “professors of faith” live ‘stunted lives of faith’ because they ignore the Holy, Spirit-inspired Word of God Almighty! AND He wants you blessed, anointed, maturing into the fullness of Christ! Let me help!

OUTLINE

CHAPTER ONE: REMAINING ‘FLAWED’ OR “FAITHING THE FINISHED WORK”?

CHAPTER TWO: SETTLING THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT BY ‘FLESH ALLEGIANCE’ OR IN “AMAZING GRACE”?

CHAPTER THREE:THE ‘ACTS’ OF TRUE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST!

CHAPTER FOUR:

CHAPTER FIVE:

CHAPTER SIX:

CHAPTER SEVEN:

CHAPTER EIGHT:

CHAPTER NINE:

CHAPTER TEN:

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

CHAPTER TWELVE:

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

CHAPTER NINETEEN:

CHAPTER TWENTY:

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:

CHAPTER THIRTY:

CHAPTER ONE

REMAINING ‘FLAWED’ OR “FAITHING THE FINISHED WORK”?

How aware are you of the ‘deception’ fallen men and women live with as they are confronted with Eternal Truth and minimize its’ importance in, they assume, the ‘supposed’ walk of faithful disciples as they, at least, admit to knowing about? How many do you know who will even ‘profess faith’ about Christ, but they hold onto “the heels” of a dead, condemned, Christ-less life, ‘hoping’, though hopelessly in reality, to maintain both the world, the flesh, and the devil, as they declare their ‘belief’ in Jesus, assuming by ‘head knowledge’ alone that one can be reconciled to God! Really? As they dance with the world, the old sin nature, and Satan himself, even enjoying the devil’s ‘fleshly music’?

Like a ‘government’ of ‘functional service’ apart from the grace and mercy of God, so, many ‘believers’ today in, at least, the ‘professing church’, PROFESS, apart from being “possessed” by the Indwelling Christ, but continue to live under the strong influences in an unbelieving world, adoring the seeming satisfactions of their sin natures, sadly avoiding but attempting to imitate Jesus in “best effort” demonstration and activity, blind to the reality that their ‘best effort’ was also crucified with Christ! But they continue, at least, every Sunday morning, the “Sabbath” day, to celebrate ‘IMITATION’, that is, yes, a ‘false impression’ of the True Christ, continuing to use His name, pretending Him apart from His Indwelling, Resurrection, Reigning Presence!

‘Sinners’, who are determined to remain as they are, still at times, will acknowledge the ‘name of Jesus’, ‘profess a flawed faith’, join ‘a church’, being ‘flawed disciples’, asserting their ‘faith’ as a believer, but within their mind and heart are blind to one’s “completion in Christ”, not by what they try to do, but by what He and He alone has done at the Cross and empty tomb, thus releasing a “new, eternal agenda” with Christ Jesus as the only “Commandeer-in-Chief” who rules, guides, inspires, comforts, empowers, and, yes, corrects, when necessary, through you by His Resurrection Presence!

You, no doubt have heard it, or at least sensed it, maybe said it: “Oh, I ‘believe’ in Jesus, as long as He allows Me to be myself. I want to be with Jesus, but if I must die to myself, to my old sin nature, forsaking devotion to a world philosophy and worldly pleasures, even, at times, agreeing with Satan’s false assertions and the desires of fleshly demons, I’ll just have to pay the price for a stubborn heart, mind, and life – ‘good-by, Jesus’!” So, by God, He decrees you: “Assigned to Satan, to the world spirit, and the bad fruit of your ‘flesh’ or old sin nature”!

Do YOU remember ‘Pharaoh of Egypt’ in Exodus 5:2 in response to Moses who confronted him for God? Pharoah said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” It wasn’t long until God’s judgment WAS released upon Pharoah, as it will be released on every opposer, mind, heart, or will, of the grace, mercy, and love of God!

Fallen mankind does not truly KNOW God, though inclinations about Him remain hidden in their dark minds and dark hearts – maybe only a ‘reflection’, but they DO KNOW HIM! Men, unbelieving men, though spiritually ignorant, ARE birthed, by God’s design, with, at least a “primitive knowledge or awareness of the ‘CREATOR GOD’”, even though ‘fools’ say, “There is no God!” But, in spite of unbelieving stupidity, the awareness of God IS written on the mind, even if the heart remains ‘dark’, or ‘cold’ to the love of God!

The Bible does declare of unbelievers, “The way of peace they know not”, so they create ‘crooked paths’! Often one’s awareness of God is crowded out, shoved into the back recesses of the mind, or ‘short of God’s righteousness’, they fabricate their own, even giving God credit, though THEY “warped” their own view of Him, but they still wanted to verbalize His name without any devotion or commitment to His will!! They refuse to submit to “the righteousness of God”! “Blindness of heart” IS a serious disease or ‘dis-ease’, because one will never be “comfortable” with himself apart from “saving grace, mercy, and love of God”!!

In Jeremiah 4:22 God spoke about His “created people”! It says: “For my people is foolish (Is there a tribe, a nation, a brand of human people around that God didn’t ‘make, birth, or brand’?), they have not known Me; they are ‘sottish’ children, and have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to DO GOOD they have no knowledge.”

‘Sottish”? The Random House College Dictionary” of 1975, published by Random House Inc., New York, NY, defines it as: “stupefied with or ‘as with drink’” – that means “drunk”, and certainly, ‘strong drink, stupid thoughts, always intoxicates one’s mind, thoughts, and spirits’ – also the dictionary said: “given to excessive drinking” – unbelieving thoughts WILL stupefy!! ARE YOU SOBER OR STUPIFIED, OR “SET APART BY HIM TO HIS GLORY”?

In Jeremiah 6, as the prophet Jeremiah was sent BY GOD, yes, to His own ‘chosen people’, he wrote, in Verses 13-16, about God Himself speaking, Oh, so clearly and in convicting passion! “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Were they (My people) ashamed when they had committed abominations? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; THEREFORE they shall fall AMONG them that fall; at the time that I VISIT THEM they shall be cast down, says the Lord.

THUS SAYS THE LORD, Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We, yes, have chosen not to walk THAT WAY any longer!”

Don’t YOU thank Almighty God for sending ON-TO-US-FIREY-PROPHETS to shock His own people in hopefully responding to His insightful Word?

In Jeremiah 7:23-24, again, God speaks: “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they did not hearken to me (shutting their ears so they wouldn’t hear His voice of mercy), nor incline their ears, BUT walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went BACKWARD, and NOT FORWARD.”

Have you witnessed it? “Sold-out disciples of the Savior, deflecting their eyes AND heart AND will away from Him, absolutely ‘straying’ into what is absolute, infinite nothingness in place of the “fullness of the blessing of the Resurrected Life in Christ”?

And, I’m not highlighting ‘atheists’ or ‘agnostics’, even though they stupidly deny God’s existence, but “His own”, who, deceived by Satan, the old-sin-nature, and the world around them, are “led astray”, “caught up by ‘fleshly’ passions”, and intentionally ‘deceived by Satan and his demon forces’, are ‘turned’ away from Truth to be made spiritually ill by the disease of literal deception! Aren’t you aware that, yes, some believers are led astray by ‘spirits’, by uninformed Bible-believers who mix their ‘flesh-natures’ that were crucified, but won’t let go, and see no problem with holding hard to ‘untruths’ that they held before ‘salvation’, but now, though ‘saved’, decide it’s OK to pour their ‘old’ captive thoughts in with “Divine Truth”?

‘Compromising disciples, ‘intellectual’ preachers, ‘highly-fallible-folks, seeing themselves as ‘smarter than God Himself, immature, untrained, yes, neglected ‘babes in Christ’, WILL unashamedly wear “messy diapers”, and the “smell” is real! True disciples must not be betrayed by ‘split-allegiance-folks’ who claim Christ but unveil their spiritual stupidity!! Some ‘disciples’, yes, ‘set aside’, minimize, or, for a time, will forfeit ‘revealed Truth’ for “humanistic ideals, but absent of God’s Truth”!!

‘Compromising disciples’ often see themselves in their ‘spiritual fantasies’ as “Superman, Super woman”, living on the basis of fleshly, academic, worldly ‘truths’, promoted by ‘intellectual, spiritually ‘brain-dead’, men or women’, but ‘high-class’ in ‘godless theology’, or their ‘interpretations’, and,yes, with ‘religious minds’ but ‘godless hearts’! Reasonable revelation is forfeited for ‘restricted truths’ enlightened by their own persuasions, not guiding by God’s Spirit!

Have YOU ever even considered at all God’s INTENT in the ‘humans’ creation? If you haven’t, then I’m persuaded, for you, revelation-Truth is a ‘joke’ promoted by ‘religious fanatics’, and not to be ‘studied’, as a true disciple does!

What was Paul’s ‘inspired word’ to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15? “Study to shew yourself approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”

Rather than ‘study’, too many ‘believers’ “rest themselves” on the divided explanations of ‘prophets’ or ‘teachers’ or ‘professors’ who, subtly believe, though you’d never hear them say it, that, really, they are smarter than God Himself!

Again, the Prophet Jeremiah quoted God, saying, in Jeremiah 23:21-22, “I have not sent ‘these prophets’, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they ‘prophesied’. BUT, if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have turned them from THEIR evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”

So, of course, the question remains: Are YOU, at all, concerned about what Holy God has spoken about, yes, the precious words of Jesus, and, also, what the Holy Spirit directs you to in “guiding you into all Biblical Truth”? Jeremiah 23:28-29 also challenges all “followers” of God: “The prophet that has a dream, let him tell his dream; and he that has My word, let him speak faithfully My word. What is the chaff to the wheat, says the Lord. Is not My word like as a fire? AND like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

THE HOLY WORD OF GOD “IN CHRIST” DOES AND WILL SHATTER THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, AND SATAN WITH HIS DEMONS DAILY, ‘IF’ YOU “TAKE THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY TO YOUR OLD MAN THAT THE NEW MAN, LIVING BY HIS PRESENCE WITHIN, BY HIS ANOINTED POWER, AND HIS GRACIOUS HEART, AND GUIDING HOLY SPIRIT, IS, YES, WILLFULLY RELEASED TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU?

Far too many “professors of faith” live, behave, and share from a sad foundation of willful, ludicrous loyalty, while neglecting one’s “Life-Blessed Loyalty of the Indwelling Christ”!!

I don’t even know who said it, but I held onto it, over my 82 years of life, a statement someone wisely made that says: “Virtue in distress and vice in triumph makes atheists of mankind,” of course, knowing, as Psalm 14:1 declares, “The ‘fool’ has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’. For, they are corrupt, they do abominable works, none seeks the good,” because all ‘fallen men and women’ want ‘the good’ on their terms, not God’s will, Word, or His Way only in and through the Resurrected, Reigning Christ Jesus, the ONLY “Blood-Atoner”!

Have YOU ever turned to the ONLY “Blood-Atoner”? Of course not, because no man ever has “sought Him” without Him coming to “knock on your heart’s door and the intellect of your mind”, even offering “the gift” of understanding, from which, or out of His graciousness, one discerns the sad estate of his/her life, existence, and affairs, absent of His “abiding Presence”, but He says, “Open the door – and I’ll come in to make your life My “dwelling, My residence, My earthly Temple”!!

Do YOU “wait on the Lord” or continue ignoring Him, living in a self-initiated, fleshly lifestyle, ignoring the “knock”, strongly convinced you DON’T NEED HOLY GOD, because for you “self-determination and self-will” is sufficient to “fill’ your godless life, therefore no need of a Lord or Savior, even learning by biblical revelation, that He “knew” you before He ‘birthed’ you on earth!

One’s “true identity” is wrapped up in the eternal love of God for “coming mankind”, though as yet, you hadn’t even been born! Matthew knew that eternal truth when in his ‘gospel’, the ‘gospel’ according to “Saint Matthew”, in Matthew 1:1-17, there is found the historical record of God’s initiation of His own people and the birth of His Son through Mary! It’s so awesome! Verses 18-25 tells us: “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER (in holy wedlock!), she was found with child by the Spirit implanting Holy Ghost seed in her womb (though she “never knew any man in a physical, sexual relationship!).

Joseph was so confused: he was a just man and had no desire to expose Mary publicly, and considering his dilemma, Verse 20 says, “behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto yourself Mary as your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GOD WITH US.’

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took Mary unto himself as his wife; and knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called His name JESUS.” Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit who guides us into ALL TRUTH!

Not long after, God raised up John the Baptist to begin preaching “repentance” because, yes, the Kingdom of Heaven was to be established on earth as it is in Heaven, through redeemed prophets, disciples, evangelists, yes, “PREACHING CHRIST AS THE SAVIOR AND LORD OF ALL, AND ESPECIALLY IN AND THROUGH THOSE WHO REPENT, RECEIVE, AND RELEASE THE ETERNAL TRUTH OF CHRIST JESUS AS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS OVER ALL!

EVEN HOLY GOD BEGAN TO SPEAK FROM HEAVEN, SAYING, “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED”, with the continuing call even unto today, “Be clothed in the righteousness, through repentance and faith, that only comes when YOU make Christ Jesus Lord and Savior of your life!!”

T.O.Chisholm and C. Harold Lowden, in the old, “The American Hymnal, (Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee)”, wrote a hymn entitle “Living for Jesus” which should have been entitled as “Living IN Jesus”. It says: “Living (in) Jesus, a Life that is true, (yes), striving to please Him in all that I do, Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Living in Jesus who died in my place, Bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace, Such love constrains me to answer His call (That’s daily, even moment by moment!), Follow His leading and give Him my all.

Living in Jesus wherever I am, Doing each duty in His holy name, Willing to suffer affliction or loss, Deeming each trial a ‘test’ in my cross.

Living in Jesus thro’ earth’s little while, My dearest treasure, the light of His smile, Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem, Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.

O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I (moment by moment) give myself to You; For Your, in Your Atonement, DID give Yourself for me; I own no other Master, my heart shall be Your Throne, My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ in You alone.”

But many are so ‘fleshly soulful’ that BONDAGE holds until you know, lean on, and rest in His Word: “As God knocks on my sinful heart’s door, wanting residence in me, so that, through me, an earthly vessel, He can be Himself in Christ’s Resurrection Presence, yes, “guiding me by the ‘Spirit-Teacher’, the Holy Spirit, constantly, day by day, perfecting the Word of God faithfully, receiving, partaking, standing in, obeying the Eternal Word of God, because, the alternative, life without Christ, life without my “Trainer and Equipper”, life apart from being a member of His Holy Body, would be to disgrace God’s promises, deny His Spirit’s work, and shame the “Truth” He gave Himself for, that I might be free from guilt, godlessness, and ‘gory’ fleshly, sinful, imprisoned living under control of Satan and his demon soldiers, denying the blessing of the “gift of Eternal Life” living in the ‘curse’ of self-will, self-pleasures, AND satanic bondage!

Holy God, the true Heavenly Father, has said, and continues to say, “I called, I knocked, I atoned, I overcame the world, your sinful nature, and your devilish chains – but in unbelief and ‘fleshly resistance’ you chose the path of darkness, the deception of Hell’s ruler, the blindness of unbelief, so you could indulge, bow before, entertain, even worship the government of Hellish allegiance – you continue to ‘live’ with no thanks, no appreciation, even blinded to My “Amazing Grace”, – I gave “gifts” and the “gift of everlasting Life in Christ”, but YOU rejected Him, turned inward only, and continue to pursue your ‘own way’, your ‘darkened desires’, and your ‘devilish loyalty to darkness’, not allegiance to Him who IS the “Eternal Light”! You ignored your ‘cleansed ledger’, rejected my ‘deposit’ of Christ’s offer of eternal freedom through His shed blood; I even deposited on your eternal account, “Forgiven through Christ”, but you settled for the deathly participation in self-will, self-determination, and self-glory, REJECTING JESUS’ invitation, “Come unto Me, and I will give you “rest”! Yes! I deposited YOUR NAME in the eternal ledger, “Forgiven through My shed blood!”, but you refused to hear, you shut your ears to My loud

knock, you chose ‘self-indulgence’ over My grace, mercy, and love!” And, yes, sorrowing God has to say, “Good-by”, because YOU chose ‘sinful flesh’ over being His “new creation”!!

Is it for you, “Remaining Flawed”, or “Faithing The Finished Work?” P.P. Bliss, in the old, “The American Hymnal”, published by Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1933, has a song entitled, “Almost Persuaded”. It says: “Almost persuaded” now to believe; “Almost persuaded” Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, “Go, Spirit, go Your way, Some more convenient day On You I’ll call.” Really? There are many who never answer the Spirit’s call! Will YOU?

CHAPTER TWO

SETTLING THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT BY ‘FLESH ALLEGIANCE” OR IN “AMAZING GRACE”?

By: J.Farrell Fisher, Sept.9-10, 2017

In Isaiah 44:8, Holy God said: “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no god,” saying again Verse 8b, “You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides ME? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

Would you, in your mind, heart, and spirit ever fall into the deception of “many gods”, and that we who are ‘Christians’ should not be concerned ‘who’ anybody else worships? According to the Word of God, 1 Corinthians 10:7, Paul said, “And do not become idolaters as some of them were. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” False gods, idols, mind-made gods of marred men are nothing more than cheap, lifeless imitations of God, if even that, because ONLY GOD REIGNS – but foolish men reject Holy Scripture, reject His purpose in earthly life, and reject His Son, the Reconciler of alienated, separated from God men and women who decide ‘religious activity’ is more important to them than the “Blood Atonement”!!

In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we read, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him.” And whether ‘unredeemed’ or a part of the “best effort” of fallen humanity and, maybe, even attempting religious activity, ‘the natural man’, does not receive Truth, but rolls around “behaving like mere men”, which the natural man can get one of those ‘Hollywood – award winning’ medals for ‘cheap imitation’, and Paul says they are ‘behaving like mere men.’

Serving in the flesh “the god of coldness and deadness rather than the God of Heat and Life in the Spirit” is voluntarily and willfully choosing by a stubborn, self-sufficient mind to ignore the grace, mercy, and love of God, upholding, insisting, demanding, ignoring, and I say, ‘yes’, never surrendering one’s God-given right to attend the eternal funeral of one’s own independence, denying the need of the mercy and grace of God for a “new life” He longs to give!

But Galatians 5:24 declares: “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Independent, self-sufficient men and women are what I’ve entitled “godless ‘lapsers’”, accepting less than God promises! That’s ‘lapsing’ from grace and mercy and shutting the door of one’s heart and mind in order to fall away spiritually from “Amazing Grace”! God knocks – they refuse!

In Matthew 16:24 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Verse 25, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” To be lost, to be alienated and separated from God, to be a ‘self-promoter’ at the expense of missing out on Christ, to be the most ‘religious’ man in your community apart from the “New Birth” and a personal relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords, is to willfully choose to be a part of spiritual coldness and deadness and indifference to the “shed blood of the Lamb of God”!

Oswald Chambers wrote in “My Utmost For His Highest”(p.256), that “it is not a question of giving up sin, but of giving up my right to myself, my natural independence and self-assertiveness, and this is where the battle has to be fought.” That’s: “Who rules? Sovereign God OR my ‘selfish flesh’?” Chambers went on to say:

“It is the things that are right and noble and good from ‘the natural standpoint’ that keep us back from God’s best. To discern that natural virtues antagonize surrender to God, is to bring our soul into the center of its greatest battle. Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good. It is the good that hates the best, and the higher up you get in the scale of the natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Christ’s.”

In Galatians 6:14-15 the Apostle Paul wrote: “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.” Are YOU “new-born”?

“The ‘god’ of coldness and deadness”? It’s easily bowed to before ‘church-pretenders’ and unbelievers in the world because its instigator is Satan himself who is a ‘master deceiver’ who encourages ‘world opposition’, and then, like meeting Jesus Himself in the Gethsemane garden, he knows YOU have your own ‘garden’, and at stake is your ‘spiritual destiny’ inspired by him, or your ‘spiritual destiny’ designed, declared, and unveiled by Father-God for His Son and the Son’s re-born, regenerated, and released sons and daughters of “Follow Me”! And if the Lord Jesus, yes, suffered in His Garden of Gethsemane, settling His purpose, so you and I will find ourselves in opposition to the very powers of Hell itself – and YOU will have to settle who, yes, gets your heart, mind, and will – your own ‘self’ or a life to the honor of King Jesus!

“The ‘god’ of coldness and deadness” ?– and I say spiritual coldness and spiritual deadness! Dare I tell you that your enemy, Satan, has no desire for you to discover a “fire of God in your bones”! “The god of coldness and deadness” is not interested in seeing any man even turning an ear to the voice or Word of God, but is delighted when he hears that, sadly, there is no fear of God in many lives! So he encourages independent, fleshly walks with no eyes toward God or His Word! His major message to the unbelieving? “Trust yourself – you don’t need God!”

John MacArthur Jr., in his book, “Ashamed of the Gospel”, or sub-titled, “When the Church Becomes Like the World,” wrote: (p.28), having exposed a popular ‘market-driven’ ministry philosophy, said: “It caters to a people whose first love is with themselves and who care not for God – unless they can have Him without disrupting their selfish lifestyles. Promise such people a religion that will allow them to be comfortable in their materialism and self-love, and they will respond in droves.”

And reading recently, again, Chuck Colson’s book, “Burden of Truth,” (p.275), he was writing about “Costly Grace”, sub-titled The Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, saying: “Costly grace led Bonhoeffer to stand against a turncoat church that mixed Nazi doctrine with Christian truth.” But it doesn’t matter if it’s Nazi doctrine or modern-day ‘intellectually elite’s perverted ideas’ (?) who deny the Word or even one’s own parents or family, God’s Eternal Truth still stands – and He bids you “Come to Me, and I will give you rest!”

BUT, ‘the god of coldness and deadness’ still seeks to hold onto what he’s already enslaved! And, are you acquainted with one of his favorite deceptions? “I am seeking to become the ‘best’ version of myself that I dream I may become”! Really? Eternal Truth is the last thing, yes, most Americans want to learn about! Oh, there are those who like the ‘sound’ of the bell of “church attendance”, but to “Take up YOUR cross and follow Me” which Jesus spoke, are words they consider too spiritual, reserved for just a few of the spiritual elite. But no cross, no death, no burial, and then, no resurrection life, hope or power!

Oh, but then in Hebrews 10:14 we read, “For by one offering (that’s Jesus’ death on the Cross!) He has PERFECTED FOREVER those who are being sanctified,” and “sanctified” is a life “set apart” for the glory of Christ alone, one’s Lord, one’s Savior, and the only Master of his/her life!

Dare I ask? Believe I will! Have YOU “in Christ” BEEN PERFECTED FOREVER because YOU no longer look inward into yourself but you “rest” in His finished work at the Cross AND the empty tomb and His ascension, seated at the right hand of God as VICTOR over sin and death and your representative before Holy God? I love Oswald Chambers statement in “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.255), “Identification with the death of Jesus Christ means identification with Him to the death of everything that was never in Him.” Sinless Jesus took your sin and mine, and though He never sinned, He paid full price in our place for the sinful nature and practice of what killed Him!

And Hebrews 10:19 tells us: “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” And dare I tell you the “pure water” is the water of the Word of God that applies the blood of Christ and washes us clean in the blood of the Lamb of God – Jesus?

Oh, and I do want to scare the Hell out of you! Hebrews 10:26-31 says: Are you ready? Do you have your marking pen out? It says: “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no longer a sacrifice for sins, BUT a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fiery indignation which will devout the adversaries.

Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. OF HOW MUCH WORSE PUNISHMENT, Do you suppose, WILL BE THOUGHT WORTHY WHO HAS TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT THE SON OF GOD, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge (Who?) His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Bu around you are ‘some’ who (Verse 39) “draw back to perdition”, rather than trusting, relying upon, obeying, and day by day, yes, forever, yield to the Savior, or daily bow before the King, and moment by moment walk in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ, fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit to moment by moment guide you in His Truth and expose your enemies!

Do you recall what Christ Jesus said in Matthew 12:25? “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, AND every city or house divided against itself WILL NOT STAND,” and that “STANDING” DIVIDED says to Satan: “My divided, compromising, on-again-off-again ‘romance’ with Jesus is truth – but I hope I don’t get what Jesus says I’m in for!”

Dare I tell you? Believe I will! Only Jesus, only the Christ in you can resist and resist and keep on resisting the powers of darkness because your old ‘flesh’ lives in doubt, defeat, and destruction by a yielded mind and heart to darkness rather than holding on to Eternal Light!

In Luke 11:20 & 23, Jesus said: “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Verse 23, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”

Are YOU with Jesus or against Him? Are you “kingdom living” or religiously dying? Are you gathering in or are you a stumbling block to those blinded by the world, the flesh, and Satan Himself?

Are YOU extending His kingdom, expressing His love, and proving His power? The ‘church’, the family of God, the assembly of born again believers, the atoned, the anointed, the appointed are men and women, boys and girls, even young children who’ve met the Master and surrendered to His sovereign control and daily take the sentence of death to themselves that Christ’s Resurrection Life may be manifested in and through their mortal flesh!

It’s “Jesus, be Jesus in me”, or it’s “me being me in me” or “Satan being ‘me’ in me,” or “world, school crowd, neighborhood friends, you have your way in me.” Churches aren’t to be on the things you like about it but on the basis of its faithfulness, commitment, and stand for Eternal Truth!

Do you remember Psalm 23:4? “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, God, and Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me,” and because YOU DO, Psalm 23:6 says:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER.” Is your room reserved in His eternal house forever? 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, Paul the Apostle speaking, “EXAMINE yourselves as to whether YOU are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified. But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified (the Apostles who all died for the True Faith!!).”

Look also at Colossians 3:3 where we read about “true believers”: “For you died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” What an amazing, awe-inspiring Word that necessitates taking that sentence of death daily that, yes, His “Resurrection Life” may be manifested IN our mortal flesh! Amen?

By: J.Farrell Fisher, Sept.20-22, 2017

You are aware that in the early days of human existence, physically breathing because of the grace of God, that much of fallen humanity ‘bowed’ before idols of theirs’ and Satan’s manufacturing, because Satan for sure didn’t want to see his ‘captives’ turning to the One True Living God! Yes, Satan in different disguises wanted humanity in his kingdom of darkness, self-worship, and deep depravity! Sadly, across the world there are still many under his dark cloud!

Intellectual ‘geniuses’ are mindful of the mind but oblivious and darkened in the heart, guided by ‘pigs’ ears’! Sadly, most of fallen humanity still lives with the dangerous plague of unbelief and self-deceit, fully confident in themselves to do “as I damn-well please”, deafened to the loving call of God because of a serious plague and sickness of ‘flesh-stubbornness and mindful ignorance’ of the eternal need of Holy God to make the difference in their earthly existence!

They either know and don’t care or know but desire to please ‘flesh’ first, and if they have time, maybe later, they’ll consider the claims of Christ! They resist Paul’s holy word in Romans 6:4, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death (That’s “crucified with Christ!”), that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, EVEN SO we also should walk in newness of life.”

But, enjoying the ‘old man’, even knowing it WAS “crucified with Christ”, unbelieving men and women ‘live’ (?) to ‘enjoy’ the rotten fruits of the ‘dead tree’ of their own hearts! The truth is, some delight in their old sin natures, EVEN fully aware the Word declares, because of Christ’s blood sacrifice, “sin shall not have dominion over you,” (Romans 6:14), with Paul then hitting the “grand slam Of Biblical Truth” in Romans 6:15-18, when he said: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not (May it never be!)! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you ARE that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But GOD BE THANKED that though YOU WERE slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. AND having been SET FREE FROM SIN, you became slaves of righteousness.”

And, if you are a ‘slave of righteousness’ through Christ’s finished work at the Cross and the empty tomb, why would one even ‘think’ that sin in the flesh is still “my option because ‘Jesus understands’”?

The brother of Jesus, James, was inspired to write a very powerful word in James 1:2-8 when he said: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a “DOUBLE-MINDED MAN”, unstable in all his ways.”

Are you aware that a “double-minded man”, unstable in all his ways, professing faith in Christ, will insult the Spirit of grace as they, yes, willfully and rebelliously resurrect the old, crucified remains of the ‘carnal life’, revealing a ‘love affair’ with one’s still ‘independent individuality’ as deserving indulgence in it as often as he/she feels ‘constrained’ to bow before the idol they loved so dearly without God interfering?

Oh, and for those who don’t believe their careless indifference to their “old” sin natures makes a difference in their NOW professed faith, consider what John records about Jesus in John 2:23-25! “Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”

In Luke 12:41-46 the disciples then learned what awaited wise and unwise followers of Christ or the faithful and evil servant. Jesus said: “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, that he will make him ruler over all that he has. BUT if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” (Check out Jeremiah 34:18-20!). Does that speak of believers forfeiting their salvation in Christ because of a ‘greater love for sin than the Savior’? Did Jesus say ‘the master’ cuts him into and appoints his portion with the unbelievers?

I don’t believe you’ll find anywhere in the Word that if Holy God says, ‘Come to Me and I’ll give you rest’, that that ‘rest’ is relief from trouble, storms, dark clouds or dark moments, even trials, tribulations, or ‘testings’ of our true faith in Christ as our Lord, Savior, and Master of our lives. Christ Jesus WALKED on the stormy seas – He wasn’t exempt from them and neither are you or me!

In Romans 8:35-37 Paul wrote: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And, hear me! The Christ who lives in you lives in you in the fullness of God’s amazing love for Him and for you! And if Christ does live in you by your repentance toward God and your faith in Christ’s finished work at the Cross, and that He lives resurrected right now at the right hand throne of God, He does so interceding in your behalf, releasing His overcoming power and might to strengthen you, sustain you, and empower you to overcome through Him any or all satanic, demonic, worldly forces who’d rather see you dead than “Living in Jesus”! If YOU are “in Christ”, you WILL face trouble on the horizon if it hasn’t already come! Your enemy? The world, your old sin nature, and Satan himself AND his numerous demonic forces!

In Matthew 11:28-30 Christ Jesus said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Have YOU ‘taken Christ’s yoke’ upon your life of faith, trust, and obedience to the King of kings and Lord of lords? Sadly, some have substituted Christ’s yoke with ‘church membership’, refuting the necessity of, yes, ‘being bound’ under His Lordship!

It’s really amazing and uplifting to receive and rest in Hebrews 10:12-14 as the Holy Word declares: “But this Man (speaking of Christ Jesus!), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Through Christ’s shed blood Holy God “justifies” us as we repent and turn fully to Him, but the Word declares our “sanctification” as a “being sanctified” process as day by day we take the sentence of death daily to our old sin natures, choosing by His grace, mercy, and love of the Father, to be BLESSED with “being changed” into the likeness and image of our Lord and Savior! And Jesus said, John 16:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds (or “comes out of the Father”!) from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

The necessary question right now to every believer? “Having trusted Christ, are YOU obeying His Word to, yes, all disciples then and now”, John 20:22? Jesus breathed on His disciples, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!”

Earlier, in John 16:7-14, the Lord Jesus clearly explained the necessity of every ‘new-born life’ receiving the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit. He said: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. AND when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they do not believe Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

The question of the moment for you? Have YOU received the “faithful guide”, is Christ being “glorified” in you and through you, and is He, the presiding Holy Spirit, daily sustaining and unveiling to you ALL CHRIST JESUS WANTS YOU TO KNOW BY HIS PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT?

In Psalm 143:8-12 David sang another song of entreaty for, yes, the guidance of the Holy Spirit in his life. He said: “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; in You I take shelter. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness. Revive me, O Lord, for Your name’s sake! For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble. In Your mercy cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul; for I am Your servant.”

Is it, for YOU, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit who glorifies Himself through you, or, have YOU been deceived into a mind-set of “fleshly best” with a ‘demonized attitude’ of your best in place of “crucified with Christ” and “raised to new life” in and through the Holy Spirit? In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul wrote: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” In fact, earlier, in 1 Corinthians 12:3b, Paul said: “…and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit,” explaining in Verses 7-11, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to EACH ONE for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually AS HE WILLS.” How clear is that to you, and if someone says to you, “If you don’t speak in tongues, you don’t have the Holy Spirit,” just how clear is their deception to you?

I ask YOU: “Is your life in Christ the resident temple-presence of the abiding Holy Spirit?” Yet, how many do you know who are ‘dumb-founded’ by the truth that every disciple in Christ is a tree of life upon which the Holy Spirit manifests the “FRUIT” of the God-head bodily in them?

In 2 Corinthians 13:4-5 read carefully!! “For though He (Christ Jesus) was crucified in weakness, YET He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you.” If you are “in Christ”, have you never sensed, been awakened to, or been empowered by the ‘surging wind of Holy Spirit presence and empowerment’ in you? You have “no waves” of strong Holy Spirit presence? It may be time to seek counsel from a truly gift-bearing servant of Christ known by his or her fruits!

In Matthew 7:15-20 the Lord Jesus said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. THEREFORE by their fruits you will know them.”

What ‘world’ have you chosen to live in? The world where you “call the shots”, the world that has so attracted your ‘flesh’ that the Holy Spirit is shunned, the world where the ‘worldly man’ is satisfied with satisfying his old sin nature, turning away Christ’s knock at his heart’s door and mind? When the remnants of the old sin nature call, many, professing faith, will run to the door to welcome the world, the flesh, and Satan himself, because they, yes, choose darkness rather than light, this world around them rather than the Kingdom of God, and the enticing ‘friends’ of “Christ-forsaken” rather than choosing to be “the friend of God”!

It was Robert Burns, in his writing “The Cotter’s Saturday Night”, who wrote: “Compared with this (true devotion and Redemptive Faith!), how poor Religion’s pride, In all the pomp of method and of art, When men display to congregations wide, Devotion’s every grace, except the heart!” Does that ring a warning bell in your heart and mind as to ‘who’ really and truly walks with Jesus as Lord, Savior, and Master over their hearts and lives?

The wise man of Proverbs, Proverbs 16:18-19, wrote: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” Earlier the wise man wrote in Proverbs 3:34-35, “Surely God scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble. The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the legacy of fools.”

Be assured: The scornful, the proud, the unbelieving who resist God’s grace, love, and mercy inherit the ‘shame’ of unbelief and take their place in eternity within the palace walls of Hell itself with Satan and his hosts who reject the amazing love and grace of Holy God! And, yes, there are ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing who come to you to lead you astray in their ‘way’ which is not “The Way” of Christ alone!

By: J.Farrell Fisher, August 9-11, 2018

It’s absolutely so sad to observe God-birthed individuals who, deceived by the powers of darkness, possess no fleshly desire to follow the Holy God who birthed life, eternal purpose, and holy awareness in them, with merciful God granting ‘free will’ as to whether or not one will serve Him or self! Merciful God was not out for ‘robots’ doing His ‘thing’, but willing individuals who were and are submitted to His eternal authority and His Loving Presence, following in repentance, faith, and trust in His willingness to bless and honor Him, through submission to His loving presence in the repentant heart and life!

“Falling away” from Him was assuming personal authority and lordship over one’s own life without any consideration of divine, eternal intent! In Romans 11:1 Paul asked, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life’? But what does the divine response say to Him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace…And if by grace, then it is no longer works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Just as it is written: ‘God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see And ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”

THERE IS “THE GORINESS OF FLESHLY LIFESTYLES” OR “THE GLORY OF THE INDWELLING LIFE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST”! Even the prophet Isaiah saw the ‘goriness of fleshly lifestyles’ in the imitation lifestyles of the ‘religious people, Israel’! He heard God say, in Isaiah 29:13-16, Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?” Surely you have turned things around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed him, “He has no understanding”?”

Did the Word strike a reminder cord in your mind and heart about the reality of “these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed (or kept) their hearts far from Me”? How many do you know or have crossed paths with who are “trying” rather than “trusting”, resting their own “faith-fable” on ‘best effort achievement’ rather than “washed in the blood of the Lamb”, and allowing “Resurrection Presence” to knock and enter, substituting their best effort of an ‘all out attempt’ at proving their worthiness in place of “Christ’s finished work” at the Cross, AND through His third-day-Resurrection? OR, consider also that there are many who have no desire at all of considering the importance of God in their life’s journey – “that’s religious nonsense that I want no part of” – and they go their own “demented way”, void of spiritual mind or spiritual heart or spiritual Life, even fully pledged to a “godless life” in place of “eternal purpose”!

I dare you to consider, right now, in this present moment, the right, the privilege, the eternal intention of Holy God choosing your heart, your mind, your life, in which He desires to establish the extension of His Eternal Reign from Heaven to earth in your reconciled, redeemed, reclaimed body with the very Spirit of the Resurrected, Victorious Christ and His Spirit, extending His life, expressing His love, proving His power through you as His “vessel”, His “tabernacle”, with your “blood-bought life” the dwelling place of King Jesus! Does that make any difference at all in what you choose to be, to do, to try? Does your walk, your life choices, your doors of opportunity, have anything to do with what Christ wants to accomplish through you, or is it, “All that matters is what pleases and satisfies me”?

How many times growing up did you hear about the journeys of ships on perilous journeys encountering the results of “stormy seas” with the ship’s captain saying, “It’s time to abandon the ship to save our lives – the ship is fractured!” But they had available ‘life vests’ and substitute boats’! “In Christ” is the only God-declaration of “eternal safety” from fractured, disabled, sin-nature existences! More than that, only “In Christ” is there victory over world influences, flesh domination, and devilish deceit, satanic domination, and a devilish attempt at the dissolving of what IS God’s “shining Light and Eternal Glory in and through Christ alone”! Satan is not at all interested in YOU possessing even an ‘inkling of God’! In fact, he’ll promote “canned religions, false faiths, deceitful proclaimers of ‘our way of coming to God’ void of THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life of the Resurrected King of kings and Lord of lords”!

The ‘goriness of fleshly lifestyles’ void of, absent from, or even “not interested in spiritual things” is rampant across both the known world AND the religious worlds! But in Matthew 16:24 Jesus said plainly, bluntly, lovingly, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” But the gory lifestyle, being Godless, is determined to save its life for it’s self with no interest, time of day, or intent on accepting “the need of the Savior”! That is below and beyond his human understanding! Dr. James Dobson said in his book, “When God Doesn’t Make Sense”, (Copyright @ 1993 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.), “A person who grows accustomed to life’s good things may not be drawn naturally to THE SACRIFICIAL WAY OF THE CROSS. Like the rich young ruler who walked away from Jesus, a wealthy person may find it more difficult to follow this Master who calls us to make the supreme sacrifice.”

The modern, Godless mind? “Go after a religious ‘freak’ in the Christian world when I have before me a highly enjoyable opportunity of ‘flesh indulgence in the natural world of ease, of comfort, of indulgence in what gives me pleasure,but not in what your God demands’?”

The modern, Godless mind laughs, mocks, and insults Holy Scripture, like when in Romans 5:3-4 Paul said: “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Even some modern-day ‘theologians’ (?) mock at “taking the sentence of death daily that the Resurrection Life of Christ may be manifested in mortal flesh”! “Death to self daily when I’m determined to honor Him in all I do,” totally blind to “Christ in you, through you, for you – your hope of glory”?) “But suffering? Why? You’re telling me that it produces perseverance, birthing and releasing more and more of His Holy Presence in me, chipping away the natural to unveil more and more of the Eternal Christ in me, even allowing the ‘storm-winds’ to blow in our ship of faith so we can “see” Him standing up in us to say to our raging storms: “Peace be still”; and the ‘winds of opposition’ stop, the ‘troubled waters’ around us calm, and we hear Him say to us, “Yes! Peace be still in My servant, My child, My faithful family member!”

No wonder Henry Lyte, in 1824, was inspired to write the words to “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken”, saying: “Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow You; Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, You from hence my all shall be: Perish every fond ambition, All I’ve sought, and hoped, and known; Yet how rich is my condition – God and heaven are still my own!

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain! In Your service, pain is pleasure; with Your favor, loss is gain. I have called You, “Abba, Father”; I have stayed my heart on You; Storms may howl, and clouds may gather; All must work for good to me.” (Have YOU ever known “the peace that passes all understanding”?).

The goriness of fleshly lifestyles! It doesn’t take long in modern America to learn how Hollywood has almost fully embraced “godless living as natural as breathing”! The ‘seas’ of one’s life can often upsurge in ‘stormy waves and ways’, with James, the brother of Jesus, telling us in James 1:13-15, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is DRAWN AWAY BY HIS OWN DESIRES AND ENTICED. THEN, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” What PATH are you walking on today? That PATH producing more and more of death OR the PATH OF CHRIST ALONE with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”?

Continuing in James 1:16-25, the brother of Jesus said: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. OF HIS OWN WILL HE BROUGHT US FORTH BY THE WORD OF TRUTH, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be DOERS OF THE WORD, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”

What an awesome unveiling of conflicting, diverse, totally opposite life-choices or life-styles – one aware but forgetful of what God says, or one aware and yielding to what he/she hears God say to them determined, settled, resolved, and committed to, “Yes, Lord, whatever You say, I want to be obedient to Your way, Your Word, and Your will!” Are you simply a “hearer” but not a “doer” of His Word? Is your testimonial walk one of disobedience or obedience, a walk of “Yes, Father-God”, or “Lord, that request doesn’t fit what I think and desire for myself”, or “Lord, You have demanded of me more than I’m willing to be submissive to; can You, God, not accept me as I am?” NO! You were crucified with Christ! And Holy God is honed in on repentant men and women who are completely dissatisfied with the “flesh-walk” and truly hungry for ALL Merciful God has to offer them! In James 2:17-24 and Verse 26 we read, (Remember! This is the brother of Jesus enlightening us!!), “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works (or obedience to Christ’s revealed Word!), is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God (obeyed God), and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only”, followed by Verse 26 which says: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

In a modern-day ‘Christian world’, there are many who have assumed that “Now, since I’m in Christ, I don’t have to be concerned about my sinning; Jesus forgives and keeps on forgiving”, not convinced but deceived that sin doesn’t breed death, nor unveils the fullness and blessing and completion of “Christ in me my hope of glory”! The ‘old man’ void of Christ? It’s that life under the domination of the world, the flesh, and Satan! A life convinced sin does not lead to death is a life whose mind is twisted, and even blind to the scriptural truth that sin always breeds death! But the hopeless life that looks to “Jesus only” is the life aware of sin and death but “rests” in Christ’s “finished work at the Cross”, with Christ crucifying sin and death, and through death and Resurrection Power, offers eternal Life, eternal Presence, and eternal Hope in “the fullness of the blessing of the Resurrected, Reigning Christ” within the truly repentant heart! In fact, in Colossians 4:12 Paul wrote: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that YOU MAY STAND PERFECT AND COMPLETE IN ALL THE WILL OF GOD.” (And is THAT ‘trying’ or “trusting”?).

The Apostle Paul was totally honest when in Romans 7:18-8:8 he, illumined by the Holy Spirit, tells us of the “overcoming Life of faith and trust in Christ only, one’s hope of glory”! He said: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do (in ‘flesh’ choices!), I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice (in ‘flesh rebellion’!). Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” The Holy Spirit came, and still comes, yes, to convict of sin, opening the heart’s door to the opportunity of repentance and rest in Christ alone, OR, choosing to live in self-condemnation rather than Christ-restoration!

Romans 8:1-8 continues! “There is therefore NOW (Since he’s surrender to Christ’s Lordship, fully in tune with Christ’s every demand!) NO CONDEMNATION to those who ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. FOR THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS has made me free from the law of sin and death.For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh (or according to one’s old sin nature!) but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live ACCORDING TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” ARE YOU LIVING YOUR LIFE TO SATISFY OLD SIN-NATURE ACTIVITIES OR ARE YOU, “IN CHRIST”, LIVING IN SUBMISSION TO THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN OBEYING HIS EVERY WORD, TAKING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY THAT CHRIST”S RESURRECTION LIFE MAY BE MANIFESTED IN YOUR MORTAL BODY? Now, examine Verses 12-14! “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

I doubt that there is one single believer that doesn’t understand or comprehend “the goriness of fleshly lifestyles”! But MANY true disciples of Christ are living, ‘trying their best, but blinded and deaf in the ears to the voice of the Holy Spirit who guides us into all biblical Truths! Did the Word say, “It’s by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, that one learns to put to death the deeds of your old man, or what you once were without Christ, but in Christ you are anointed with the resident Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth! And the Spirit certainly emphasizes that “man does not live by physical bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”! Which explains why many ‘believers’, void of the discipline of the Word of God, live clueless concerning the overcoming, victorious life of the Indwelling Christ; they ‘try’ rather than “Trust”!

Do YOU “trust” the Holy Spirit in your daily walk for the “overcoming, victorious, life in Christ”? In Romans 8 also, I want you to see Verses 26 through 27! Paul says: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints (“set-apart-ones”!) according to the will of God.”

How many in the Christian community have you encountered who look upon Holy Spirit dependence as a weird and strange thing, even with Christ instructing His own disciples that when the Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth? Also, how thrilling is it for you to read in Acts 8 about the Holy Spirit’s ministry intended for ALL true believers? Acts 8:14-25 enlightens us saying: Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.”

Dare I tell you? Believe I will! This is the moment, the hour, the day, the time, for YOU to cry out to God for the full manifestation of the Holy Spirit in your life, your walk, your ministry as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ! Are YOU willing to be indwelt of the Holy Spirit, to be guided by the Holy Spirit, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to abound in the gracious gifts of the fruit of the Spirit, even daily greatly enlightened by the Holy Spirit in all the truths of the Word of God? I tell you, the Holy Spirit is your heavenly armor against Satan and his demon armies!

FOR YOU, IS IT “THE GORINESS OF A FLESHLY LIFESTYLE”, OR IS IT “THE GLORY OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST AND THE FULLNESS OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT”? There’s an old “prayer hymn” by Isaac Watts in the old Broadman Hymnal entitiled, “Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove”, that says: “Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, With all Your quickening powers, Kindle a flame of sacred love In these cold hearts of ours.

Look! How we grovel here below, Fond of our earthly toys; Our souls can neither fly nor go To reach eternal joys… Come, Holy Spirit, With all Your quickening powers; Come, shed abroad the Savior’s love, And that shall kindle ours.” IS YOUR HEART “QUICKENED, KINDLED, OVERFLOWING IN SPIRIT-ANOINTED LOVE FOR OTHERS?” OR, DOES CHRIST’S PRESENCE IN YOU ABOUND IN SPIRIT EMPOWERED LOVE FOR THE LOST, THE UNBELIEVERS, THE GODLESS MASSES?

THE REIGN OF LIGHT?”

By J. Farrell Fisher, June 22-23, 2017

You do realize that multitudes of people today, even like the ‘play-actors’ in Jesus’ day – the ‘religious’ Pharisees, rulers over Israel – ‘professed’ the reign of Light, yet crucified Him, as they devoted themselves to “the rule of darkness”! And in Matthew 24:31-36 we read, Christ Jesus speaking, “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Therefore, indeed, I (CHRIST JESUS) send you prophets, wise men, and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”

And, Jesus said, “I say to you – judgment is coming upon this generation.” Which it did! And in 70 AD the world witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple they so desecrated!

My only concern? As a result of God’s faithful judgment upon Israel because of, yes, their submission to the rule of darkness even though they ‘professed’ loyalty to the light they had, is the same judgment on the rule of darkness occurring even if one “pretends” allegiance to the reign of light? Has the rule of darkness so blinded some that they naturally devote their ‘religious hours’ to creating “fetishes” of their assumed faith that has nothing to do with being “born again”, supposedly becoming disciples of Christ when their heart-allegiance is, yes, to the “rule of darkness” under Satan’s manipulating strategies?

Here’s how Oswald Chambers saw it in his day: “My Utmost For His Highest”, (p.237), “It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul, because there is something amazingly humbling, particularly to our religious conceit, in being loyal to God.” Have you ever witnessed “warped loyalty” as one professes Christ but his/her fruit is more of Satan’s manifestation through his trees in his vineyard?

“The Rule of Darkness Or The Reign of Light?” How clear and revealing do you find the words of Paul, when inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wrote in Galatians 5:24-25, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh (old sin nature!) with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” A ‘flesh-walk’ unveils an allegiance to the world, the flesh, and to Satan, But a “Spirit-walk” IS “Christ in you the hope of glory” led by the Indwelling and anointing of the Holy Spirit!

In Galatians 5:22 Paul unveiled the evidence of a Spirit-anointed, Christ-honoring life! “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” But in Galatians 5:16-21 he unveiled “the works of the flesh” which have Hell’s inspiration and Satan’s “rule of darkness”! Paul said: I say then: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (inspired by Satan!). For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Dare I say “under the law of sin and death?”).

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: (Dare I say “Satan’s portrait unveiled by the Holy Spirit?”), adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, AND THE LIKE; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in times past, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”

The “Rule of Darkness” IS the devil’s domain – and the citizens of his ‘kingdom’ feed eternally on the bad fruit of death in Satan’s rule! But, at the same time, I must ask: “Have YOU rested in the immutability of God’s Word, God’s promises, and God’s grace, mercy, and love?” Or, are you out to ‘prove’ your best, your strategy, and your self-dependence? Does ‘your best’ change? Has your ‘self-dependence’ ushered in “the kingdom of God on earth”, or is it “improved flesh” camouflaged by Satan? Christ’s presence in you is unchangeable, but Satan’s image is like an impish, mischievous, fleshly desires-rebel doing as he pleases!

The “Rule of Darkness” is every man’s ‘right’ to choose for himself what he/she determines to have their time and effort – and “If it satisfies my sin-nature, let it be!” And Satan certainly considered, and still does, “The hope of self-righteousness, as I determine what self-righteousness is, is my ‘religion’ even if it produces only a ‘death-state; because for me, Satan, that’s better than being under the Sovereign Rule of your Holy God’!”

Yes, there is a huge difference between Satan’s “Rule of Darkness” and God’s “Reign of Light”! Have you bathed yourself recently in Psalm 91? Follow with me!!

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. [ Satan’s snares? Satan’s ‘perilous pestilence’?].

He (Holy God) shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings YOU shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. (Examine someday what “the high wages” really are that Satan uses to subsidize his deception on the “free-swingers away from God’s oversight”!).

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. (Yes! Hallelujah! ANGELIC OVERSIGHT!!).

In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. (In my early days as a child and a teen-ager, on a Saturday morning usually around our Courthouse, I would watch the ‘snake handlers’ as they professed their stupidity not having a clue about metaphorical language that “lions and cobras” were Satan’s soldiers who promoted demon’s “sharp teeth” and demons ‘poisonous venom’ – yes, even a child of faith knows Truth and Christ or Falsehood and demons!).

In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and cobra (the demons are under your feet of faith!), the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Godless lives live not only with the absence of ‘divine life’ but they live under the curse of the sin nature, corralled by a ‘flesh-centered’ world, and corrupted by Satan with ‘solemn groans, and hollow moans, and shrieks of tortured ghosts’! And Satan wants to seal in you, in your state of unbelief or even ‘half-hearted allegiance to Christ’, his “curse” of death, not life, his “purpose” of poisoned pleasure, not eternal blessing, his “award” for a reputable performance, not a Spirit-transformed new creation! Without Christ as Lord and Savior every man lives under the domination of the devil’s darkness – and to him and them, “The Light of the world” makes no sense since he takes pleasure in the darkness of men’s souls!

In the ‘mortal nature’ of all men there is ingrained the kingdom of darkness, the dominion of evil, the sway of Satan, the lure of demonic activity, the marks of fleshly imperfections, the ‘floating phantoms’ of the defiled sin-nature that is not of God but from the heart, mind, soul, spirit of “born in sin”! The ‘old self’ is enough to open Hell’s doors for us, but Satan wants to insure he takes advantage of any crack in your life that will allow him in to reside and re-assign you from God’s purpose and plan to his perverseness and Hell’s ‘peasant’ status!

It’s so encouraging and powerful and, yes, redemptive to read John in 1 John 3:7-8, and then Verses 10-12: “Little children, (in the Faith, not age), let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness (Biblical righteousness, not one’s fleshly or demonic interpretation!) is righteous, just as He (Jesus) is righteous. He who sins (present tense, continuous action) is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.” Then…

Verses 10-12, In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? BECAUSE his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”

Cain was “of the wicked one”? And you’re not sure that was Satan? Do you remember Jesus talking to His disciples in Matthew 13:36-43? The disciples had asked Jesus to “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

Jesus answered and said to them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.[Do you think there is someone else other than Satan who is the wicked one?]. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels (or messengers of God!), (the end of the age is the end of the Old Covenant, the Judaisation system). Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. (70AD & the end of the Judaistic system!). The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In 2 Timothy 2:19-26 Paul, again, is instructing his spiritual son, Timothy, and us – and I believe here he’s nailing down understanding for all believers about Satan’s snares! He said: Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity,” (unless you’ve been ingrained by “false professors” that ‘YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING BUT SIN UNTIL YOU GET TO HEAVEN’!!).

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (not the works of Satan!). Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue (press into) righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, having been TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM TO DO HIS WILL!”

Are there in God’s awesome, created world men of honor and men of dishonor? Are there ‘clay vessels’ that are invaded by Satan, and through his demonic agents take up ‘residence’? It’s interesting to read in Amos 4:11 where the prophet illumined the danger Israel was in as a nation BECAUSE, hearing God, he wrote: “I overthrew some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and YOU WERE LIKE A FIREBRAND PLUCKED FROM BURNING; yet you have not returned to Me,” says the Lord.

Again, why did Jesus teach His disciple to pray, “Deliver us from evil” or “Deliver us from the evil one”? Do you receive the biblical truth of Hebrews 2:14-18? “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham (sons of redeeming faith!). Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”

Have you come to the understanding, by the grace of God, of the need of “The Reign of Light IN and Through Christ ALONE”, because you’ve been made aware through ‘life experiences’ of “The Rule of Darkness” in your life apart from Christ? Yes, are YOU assured, that Christ Jesus, in YOUR behalf, “that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (or Satan), and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”? Have YOU prayed to Jesus: “Lord Jesus, free me from the law of sin and death, AND destroy Satan, in my behalf, because I know he still wants me all of my lifetime subject to his bondage and seeking to blot out of my life Christ Jesus’ “rescue story” for me!”

I pray for you right now: “Lord Jesus, enlighten every reader to the blessings of the Master’s blood redemption, and open every believing eye to His ransom purchase of their freedom from the bondage of the old sin nature and the bondage and blasts from my Satanic enemy and demonic forces, in honor of Christ alone! Amen!!”

I want to lay the foundation for this chapter in Romans 1:16-24! Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for IT IS THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES (trusts in, relies upon, and adheres to!), for the Jew first and also the Greek. For IN IT the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: ‘The just shall live by faith.’

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, (sponsored by Satan!) who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for GOD HAS SHOWN IT TO THEM. For since the creation of the world the invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God (knew He existed!), they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Darkened by the willful rebellion of Satan in heaven BEFORE THE WORLD WAS EVEN CREATED?).

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and (in cooperation with Satan!) changed the glory of the incorruptible God into ‘images’ made like corruptible man (and Satan himself!). Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves (as Satan does with his demonized partners!), who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, (“The Lie?” “Satan said, YOU CAN SIN AND NOT DIE!”), and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

Though fallen man does not realize it, he ‘worships’ Satan and his ways, even in the “best of ‘flesh’ adoration”! So… God gave Satanized-mankind up “to their vile passions,” “to debased, devilish minds,” ignoring “the righteous judgment of God” against Satan and his ‘disciples’!

By J.Farrell Fisher, March 23-24, 2017

Ravi Zacharias, formerly of India, as he reflected on his past life without Christ, stated: “Life with all its hurts and pains squinted at you, squatted before you, and stared you down daily. This was the street where I grew up.” And, no doubt, in those early days he ‘wondered’: “What is life all about?” Is there today, still, a spirit in fallen men, alienated and separated from God of ‘squinting’, ‘squatting’, or ‘staring you down daily’ with “What is this fleshly, earthly life all about?” Some don’t even ask – they ignore eternal purpose and live in their ‘fleshly indulgence’ acknowledging and bowing before continually their “idols” of self-importance and self-awareness and self-pumping of the fallen sin-nature!

It was Theodore Parker, in his writing “Critical and Miscellaneous Writings: A Discourse of the Transient and Permanent in Christianity” who said: “Silence the voice of Christianity, and the world is well-nigh dumb, for gone is that sweet music which kept in order the rulers of the people, which cheers the poor widow in her lonely toil, and comes like light through the windows of morning to men who sit stooping and feeble, with failing eyes and a hungering heart.”

But before coming to “Wondering? Wandering? Or Willfully Worshipping?”, are you aware of those Francis Thompson wrote about in his writing “The Hound of Heaven”? He wrote: “I fled Him down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him, and under running laughter.”

But some have “no tears” about God because they are consumed by “me, mine, my way – and your God means nothing to me!” Yes, there are those consumed by “there is no God,” because they live in their cocoon of self-indulgence and are guided and motivated only to be what their minds agree to – and the atheists willfully denounce one’s faith in God as they submerge themselves in a sea of unbelief!

And, of course, there are those “on the edge of belief in God”, but all that they can agree to is, “if there is a God, He’s UNKNOWN – and WE cannot KNOW Him.” How sad is that? At the same time there are those with ‘religious, magical wands that they wave’ convinced they can mentally reject ‘superstitious spirits’ and ward off being confronted by a caring, merciful, loving God!

Have you ever crossed paths with an agnostic?? The Random House Collegiate Dictionary of 1975 defines an agnostic as “a person who holds that the ultimate cause (God) and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or, a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study…”, adding ‘agnosticism’ as “an intellectual doctrine or attitude affirming the uncertainty of all claims to ultimate knowledge.”

Dare I express eternal truth? I believe I will! Christ Jesus said, John 14:6, “I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father-God except through Me!” And that eternal truth has never changed, regardless of the mindless, heartless denial of His Eternal Life!

“Wondering?” It was Sir Winston Churchill who, in his writing entitled “Information”, said: “Truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.” In Galatians 1:1 Paul describes himself as “an apostle (not from men nor through men, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father Who raised Christ Jesus from the dead).” And Resurrected King Jesus is still “guiding us into all truth;” YOU don’t have to ‘wonder’! It’s best you bow before Him and worship!

But even the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 53:1, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” He was fully aware, even before Christ was miraculously, supernaturally birthed to Mary, that, Isaiah 53:3, “He(Christ Jesus) is despised and rejected by men,” the prophet seeing Him as “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we (Israel, and even some Americans today!)) hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Has that changed in the hearts and minds of many who “wonder”?

There IS a strong force called ‘doubt’ that IS a ‘spiritual grave-digger’! Enoch Fitch Burr once said: “In the hands of unbelief half-truths are made to do the work of whole falsehoods. – The sowing of doubts is the sowing of dragon’s teeth, which ere long will sprout up into armed and hostile men,” who choose godlessness as their false armor! I love what Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote! “Never be afraid of doubt, if only you have the disposition to believe.” So true! There has never been any person void of questions about his/her doubts or fears – but the battle is: “In what, in who, or why do YOU personally ‘rest in’ God’s revelation rather than fallen mankind’s bankruptcy of the ‘soul-life’ at its best but short of the manifested glory of God in a “blood-bought” heart?”

Faith is not, “it smells good”, but true faith is “looking up to Holy God, looking in to one’s needy heart, and ‘born again’ looking around to a world of “wondering”! A “new-born child of King Jesus” is always baffled by the unbelief of the Creator, Sustainer of all life, and the Savior and Lord over the falseness, futility, and faithlessness of ‘rejecters’ of the King of kings and Lord of lords!

I found Oswald Chambers’ words in his “My Utmost For His Highest” book, (p.128), on target and to the very core and center of a godless man’s need of the Savior! He wrote: “The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship; it establishes a mutual regard for the fact that the basis of life is tragic. Always beware of an estimate of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.” And the eternal truth of every man birthed into human ‘existence’? “BORN IN SIN, BORN WITH THE NATURE OF THE POWERS OF DARKNESS, BORN WITH THE VOID OF HOLY PRESENCE!” Which is why the Lord Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, King of kings and Lord of lords said: “You MUST BE BORN AGAIN! BORN OF THE SPIRIT! DEAD TO ADAM’S NATURE AND CHARACTER, RAISED IN CHRIST’S ‘NEWNESS’ OF RESURRECTION LIFE, RESURRECTION POWER, AND RESURRECTION HOPE!”

I’m sure this is why Martin Luther, in “Table Talk,” once wrote: “Superstition, idolatry, and hypocrisy have ample wages, but truth goes a begging.” So true! There ARE “men of Truth”, but also “men of The Lie – ‘One can sin and not die!’” Malachi 2:5-6 speaks of Levi – hear it! God speaking! “My covenant was with him, one of life and peace, and I gave them to him that he might fear Me; So he feared Me and was reverent before My name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and equity, and turned many away from iniquity.” Why? Because “the soul that sins, and keeps on sinning, abides in sin and death,” not liberty and freedom from sin’s controlling, damaging, suffocating, continually blinding of the love, mercy, and grace of God!

Do you think this might be why Paul said of some Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 6:13, “You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.” What is it or Who is it that has your heart, mind, and will? This just may be why David asked in Psalm 15:1-2, “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill (or divine Presence!)? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart,” or do you ‘live’ (?), speaking out of both sides of your mouth? A divided heart is not a united heart with Christ! If “God divided the light from the darkness”, in Christ does He still divide? Certainly! There are, will be, times when you are confronted: “My way or His Way, my desires in the flesh or His ultimate intention AND provision in the Spirit?”

What did King Jesus say in Revelation 2:7? “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Paradise living is, without hesitation, being dead to one’s self but fully “alive” in Christ, yes, “our tree of life”, resting in His inspirational Truth: “In the world you will have trouble, tribulation, trials – but BE OF GOOD CHEER, I HAVE OVERCOME YOUR WORLD!” But how many do you know in their fleshly mental state who “frustrate the grace of God”? Isn’t that why in John 5:38-40 the Lord Jesus said to the unrepentant Jewish ‘followers’ (?), “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them YOU THINK you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. BUT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO COME TO ME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE,” because they were bound in their ‘religious pretenses’!!

Do you remember John 10:25-31? It was the time of the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, AND IT WAS WINTER – the Abiding Presence of Jesus among the Jews, but they said in Verse 24, “If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them: “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep HEAR MY VOICE, and THEY FOLLOW ME. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Do YOU hear His voice? Are YOU following Jesus wherever He leads? Are YOU “led by the Spirit of God” (?) – Romans 8:14! Do YOU hear God in Christ through His Holy Spirit speaking to YOU, yes, daily, even at times: moment by moment! It was A.W. Tozer, in his book, “The Pursuit of God” (Harrisburg, Penn.:Christian Publications, Inc. 1982, pp.80-82) who wrote:

“The Bible will never be a living Book to us until we are convinced that GOD IS ARTICULATE IN HIS UNIVERSE. To jump from a dead, impersonal world to a dogmatic Bible is too much for most people. They may admit that they “should” accept the Bible as the Word of God, and they may try to think of it as such, but they find it impossible to believe that the words there on the page are actually for them. A man may “say”: “These words are addressed to me,” and yet in his heart not feel and know that they are. He is the victim of a divided psychology. He tries to think of God as mute everywhere else and vocal only in a book…

I believe (Tozer continued) that much of our religious unbelief is due to a wrong conception of and a wrong feeling for the Scriptures of Truth. A silent God suddenly begins to speak in a book and when the book was finished lapsed back into silence again forever…

I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not only a book which was once spoken, but a book which is “now speaking”. The prophets habitually said, “Thus says the Lord.” They meant their hearers to understand that God’s speaking is in the continuous present.”

HOW AWESOME IS THAT? AND DO YOU LISTEN TO HIS VOICE IN AND THROUGH HIS HOLY WORD? There was a journey Jesus took, led of the Spirit, that every true disciple of Christ must walk through and learn from. It’s found in John 4:1-4 – don’t miss His message to us today!! Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he (the tempter! The devil!) said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Oh, how thrilling, life-changing, eternally daily reminding us, is John 6:53-58!! Jesus speaks to us now! “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father (now in human flesh!), so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Hear me, disciples of Christ Jesus! John 14:16-18, spoken by Jesus, says: “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

Well then : Who are the true sons and daughters within the Holy Family of God? Are you ready? Examine Romans 8:12-14 the Holy Word declares: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh (Old sin-nature of devilish driven men!), to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

‘Led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God?’ You can tell that I’m a strong fan of A.W.Tozer’s writings! In “Echoes from Eden,” (p.62, Christian Publications, Inc., 1981), Tozer wrote, “Just the words of a Scripture text falling upon a human ear may not mean anything,” saying later: “I believe that God has related these somehow: the voice of conviction in the conscience and the Holy Spirit, the point of contact, witnessing within man’s being. A person has not been illuminated until that voice begins to sound within him…Men and women need to be told that it may be fatal to silence the inner voice. It is always perilous to resist the conscience within, but it may be fatal to silence that voice, to continue to ignore that speaking voice within.” And that voice IS the Holy Spirit!

Are you “an illuminated life” to the voice of Truth, to the tender, yet strongly convicting voice and instruction and guidance by the Holy Spirit? In Chuck Colson’s book entitled “Life Sentence” published by Chosen Books, he introduced Chapter Twenty-two with a statement by Henry Fairlie, Fairlie saying: “It is the characteristic of our age that people want to have God but do not want the devil. People are inventing gods for themselves…their Do-It-Yourself-God-Kits. But they are gods who do not demand much…who [do not] punish, [but] absolve them from conflict and doubt, massage them, pat them on the head, and rather like their [parents, tell them to run along, get stoned if they will, pick marigolds, and love. So easy it is to love! But above all they are gods who will not trouble them with…problems of evil, suffering, and death…The recipes are too easy…Universal harmony has never been offered so cheaply before.”

Do you understand that most Biblical language is unacceptable in the vocabulary of some pastors and a lot of “professing believers” who speak about “joined to Christ” but know nothing about His demands? You are aware that our “so-called ‘Christian nation’ today, governed by ‘voiceless, non-assertive, conscience-less leaders’ are trying to silence God and His Holy Word so the nation can be guided by “men’s best”, asserting “we only want to elevate our nation by man’s best not God’s blessing.” So…we witness the “curse” not the blessing! Fallen men are out to wean our nation from our Lord and Savior’s eternal wisdom and witness. Stand up!

Do YOU ‘wonder, wander, or willfully worship, bow before, surrender to the King of kings and Lord of lords?