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People of The Living God |
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February 2019
WATCHMEN ON THE WALLS
Many Questions, One Answer
Alfred King
As Florida politicians and officials debate the issue of school shootings, arming teachers who have been taught in gun safety and gun control is presently on the table as one option to protect students in Florida’s schools. Presently there are several states which permit teachers to be armed in the classroom for their protection as well as the safety of their students. The problem of school shootings in America has increased over the past couple of decades and the future doesn’t look too promising as anger and hatred among young people seem to steadily increase.
In the area where I live, some of the local men talk about the days when they were in school forty or fifty years ago. They remember when, as boys, they would drive their pickup trucks to school with their rifles sitting in the gun rack behind the seat. The boys would show off their rifles to other students and debate about whose gun was the best and boast of their ability to part a mosquito’s eyebrow a half mile away. No one ever thought of shooting up the school or killing another student. What is the difference between then and now? Are children more evil than in the past? Is the propensity for sin greater today than it was fifty years ago? What has brought about this demoralization? What has transpired that has filled some young people with such hatred, anger and resentment that they not only desire to kill themselves but want to take as many others as possible with them in the process? How is it that the value of a person’s life has become no more than the stomping of a roach, swatting a fly or setting a trap for a pesky mouse? And what is even a greater question is “Why do politicians, school officials, and the general population not realize where the root of the problem lies?”
It is baffling as you consider that men will depart, not only from God and His divine word, but even from basic principles of morality and ethical standards of right and wrong that have proven throughout history (and particularly in America) to produce prosperity, peace, respect for others, and safety for all. Such basic common sense is becoming rarer and rarer in America. The great Deceiver has infiltrated men’s minds so that they make lies their refuge (Isa. 28:17). God’s word clearly declares in Galatians 6:7-8, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Men think they can mock God and get away with it but they have accepted the lie of Satan. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Has what America reaped over the past few years not awakened us to the fact that we cannot disregard God’s word and think we can escape the consequences of our ways? Are we so deceived as to think that we can commit abominations, and not only accept them but condone them, and think that we will still receive blessings from God? Can we expect our children to be indoctrinated by men and women in our schools and universities who hate God, hate truth, and are determined more to indoctrinate than to teach truth and facts, to come out of those institutions of learning with wholesome values, moral standards, and a determination to live according to those moral principles? And the most important question: Is it changing for the better?
“A Man’s Character Is His Destiny” - Heraclitus
While I don’t know anything about Heraclitus, I have heard this quote a few times over the years and pondered the profound truth contained in such few words. We might also add to it, “A nations destiny is determined by the character of its citizens.” I have come to see that this is an important truth. The problems in America and in the world rest upon the character which is instilled in its leaders and its people. The future of America and the world rests in the character of their young people. What they are taught WILL affect their future, the future of the nation and the world. When children are taught from an early age that they deserve anything and everything they want, they become selfish, self-centered, spoiled and, unless that train is derailed, they are heading for self-destruction. When children are raised in dysfunctional families, broken homes, are taught in God-forsaken institutes of learning, and are left with no moral moorings, no anchor upon which to build their lives, their destiny is sadly predictable. Few will escape the inevitable.
Why is it that men think they can sin and not reap its consequences? How can we greatly transgress by slaying millions of unborn children every year and think that all is well? How can Hollywood spew forth its violence, its moral degradation, it sexual filth, and its mockery of God and sing, “God Bless America”? What total blindness and deplorable hypocrisy. Until America repents (not just feel bad about sin but turn from it), God will not bless this nation. Instead, America will reap what it has sown. The present division in this nation is a disgrace at best and scary to say the least. Instead of repenting and turning from its evil, we attempt to solve one problem by adding another. For example, let us return to the issue of school shootings. Can man stop school shootings by arming teachers? Probably not. It may stop some shooters but not all, because many of them are determined to die in the shooting anyway. On the other hand: Are there some concerns and possible dangers with teachers carrying guns? Let me answer that question by asking a couple more. Are your boys and girls safe in schools from child predators? We read more about this problem with teachers than school shootings. Are you safe from road rage on our public highways? How then can we be certain that teachers in a moment of anger might use their weapon improperly? People need God, and without Him, they are controlled by their depraved, fallen, human natures. Men can attempt to solve the problems they have created by changing laws, implementing more safe-guards, posting more law enforcement, etc. but they are merely putting a bandaid on a cancer. It may cover the cancer but it will not heal it. Our hope is in the Lord. It is in living according to His divine laws. God created us and He knows what way is best for His creation. God lovingly and wisely gave us His laws for our benefit. God is love and His laws are not given with the intention of enslaving man but freeing him so he can live a good, safe, and prosperous life. The only way for this to happen is for men to live according to God’s holy law. May God awaken America and the world to realize this before it’s too late.
THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH – WHEN?
Randall Walton
There are many ideas abounding today about the catching away of the church, such as: “pre-trib,” “mid-trib,” “post-trib,” and “none of the above.” Most of us will agree that the most important thing is what God has to say about it. The object of this article is to present what we believe God has said concerning this interesting and vital topic.
First, it would be well for us to define the word “rapture” so that we will have a clear understanding of our subject matter. Since this word does not appear in the Bible, it will be necessary for us to consult the dictionary for our information.
Webster’s New World Dictionary gives us the following definitions of this word:
1. The state of being carried away with joy, love, etc.; ecstasy;
2. An expression of great joy, pleasure, etc.;
3. (Now rare) a carrying away or being carried away in body or spirit.
Definition #1 describes the state which every born again person has experienced, the joy of salvation, that ecstatic state that comes with the knowledge that one’s sins are forgiven, and that he is in fellowship with the Creator. Those who have been blessed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit have enjoyed this rapturous state to an even greater degree!
Definition #2 is the expression which accompanies these spiritual blessings. This, of course, sheds no light on the eschatological event which we are considering.
Definition #3 is what we are looking for: a carrying away in body or in spirit. Even though Webster’s says this is in rare usage, it more closely resembles the event of which we are writing: a movement of people in body, en masse.
Now We Go To The Scriptures
The next step in our search is to go to the Scriptures to see if one or more of these definitions can be found to exist.
In I Thess. 4:15-17 we find this: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (margin, precede) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord!”
There we have it!; unmistakable, irrefutable proof in God’s word of a vast movement of people in masse, carried away to meet the Lord in the air. The universality of this unprecedented feat is shown by the fact that all saints are included, not only those who will be living at the time, but also those who have lived previously and who will be resurrected.
A Biblical Fact
Now that we have firmly established the fact that there will be a “rapture” of God’s people, we will search the Scriptures for any clues that might indicate WHEN this glorious moment will occur. We will pursue this by combing through the above verses for any evidence that may point to a specific time for this event.
1. This occurs at the same time the Lord descends from heaven.
2. There is order in the staging of this rapture: first the dead saints will be resurrected;
then the living saints will be caught up with them in the clouds.
3. There is a shout.
4. The voice of the archangel is heard.
5. The trumpet of the Lord shall sound.
6. Those who are caught up (raptured) will be with the Lord forever.
Although we have gleaned several tangible circumstances from these verses, we still have no idea when this will take place. It seems logical, however, that if we look at other “second-coming” verses, we will find that they include one or more of the conditions which we have enumerated above, such as: raising of the dead, the clouds, the voice, the trumpet, the shout, etc.
The Clouds
The following verse in Revelation 1:7 speaks of Jesus’ return and also mentions the clouds: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Surely the clouds which Paul mentions in Thessalonians are the same clouds which John is writing about, but John adds a new dimension to the coming of the Lord: the presence of the wicked, both the dead and the living! The every eye includes everyone who has lived or is living at that time, both the saint and the sinner. If this is so, then the resurrection of which Paul wrote to the Thessalonians includes, not only the deceased saints, but also those wicked dead, even those who killed the Lord Jesus!
The Resurrection
For substantiation of this premise we go to John’s gospel, chapter five, verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine: “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and come forth; they that have done good (saints), unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil (sinners), unto the resurrection of damnation”! Paul’s statement that the Lord will descend with a shout, certainly agrees with this declaration that the dead will “hear his voice” and come forth from the graves. Notice also that both the good and the evil are included in this resurrection: perfect agreement with Revelation 1:7.
But another element has been introduced into our subject with this passage; it is most plain that this time of resurrection is also the time of judgment, for final rewards are given to those who are risen from the graves: the resurrected saints receive life, and the resurrected sinners are given damnation. And, of course, this agrees with Paul’s assertion that the “dead in Christ” and “we which are alive” meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever!
The Trumpet
Since our original text mentioned the sounding of the trumpet of the Lord in connection with His descending, it is enlightening to note what Paul said about this in I Cor. 15:51 and 52: “Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Now we have drawn together some more vital threads of this amazing fabric. Paul combines the sounding of the trumpet, the resurrection, and the giving of rewards (incorruption, immortality). This is at the time of the sounding of the LAST trumpet, and is in direct connection with the judgment, which Jesus said would occur at the LAST day (John 12:48).
More information about this trumpet is given in a panoramic view of this time by Jesus in Matthew 24:29-31: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Now Jesus tells us exactly when this great rapturous event will take place: “immediately after the tribulations of those days!!” He will not return before nor during the tribulation, but after! This is, of course, the most explicit description of the time when we may expect to see the return of our Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory. We still cannot deduce from these Scriptures the day, the hour, nor even the year that this event will take place, but we can be certain that His coming again will be in conjunction with the following:
The resurrection of ALL the dead
A great shout
The voice of the archangel
The sounding of the last trumpet
The judgment
The giving of rewards to all (eternal life, or damnation)
The cessation of celestial activity (sun, moon, stars)
The translation of the saints (rapture)
All of this occurs immediately after the great tribulation which He so vividly described in Matthew 24. A careful analysis of all other “second coming” Scriptures will reveal the amazing congruity and confirmation of these facts outlined here. Nowhere in the good Book is there a vague suggestion that prior to the day of great trouble and tribulation will the saints be secretly, silently, stealthily taken from the earth to escape the great wrath of the Almighty as He comes forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wickedness. The rapture is certain, but so also is the plan of God that His people be here on the earth during that time of great duress and trial. The rapture must take place at the last day when the plan of God is fulfilled and His family is taken to be with Him forever! The Word of the Lord is inflexible on this point.
One of the saddest facts of this hour is the awful lack of preparation among those who profess to be the followers of Jesus Christ. People are wasting precious time playing “church” and laboring for the meat which perisheth, when they should be making ready for the evil which lies ahead. These days should find God’s people in deep prayer, with fasting and seeking God for a closer walk with Him. These are times to examine ourselves, reconsecrate our hearts and lives to Him.
The average Christian today is so in tune with the world via television and entertainment, that his or her thoughts are constantly on the things of this life rather than on those things which are above (Col. 3:1,2). So many people have forgotten how to pray that it has become fashionable to have a time of silent prayer or have someone read or recite a “beautiful” prayer! Serious Bible study is left for the prospective minister or missionary. A spirit of deep sleep has settled upon mankind, and most of us are contented to have it so. In this unholy stupor, man has convinced himself that God loves him so much that He will never allow any harm to come his way. It seems that few people are acquainted with the faithful saints of Hebrews 11:36-39, who were obliged to demonstrate their loyalty to the Lord with their lives.
Many saints in other countries are already being terribly persecuted for their faith. Missionaries and their families are undergoing privations and tribulation that most of us are totally unaware of. And God has not seen fit to rapture them out of their troubles.
The whole world is in a state of ferment and agitation as the uncertainty of the future hangs over us. People are concerned, but not enough to renounce their own ways and turn to God. But Jesus stated that only a few would be saved and it will not be through the rapture of the church. It will be God’s way of protecting His people. God has promised to keep His people through the tribulation. Therefore, every Christian must align himself with God’s word, remain in a state of prayer and obedience so that he will hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in these last days. It is time to be awake, watching, alert and time to stay close to God.
HE IS KING…AT THIS PRESENT TIME
Lorraine Scullin
“NOW unto Him…the only wise God and Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and ever (Jude 24,25). Please observe that Jude ascribes the attributes of a Ruler unto the Saviour – majesty – glory – dominion – power. These are the characteristics of a King, and they are describing Him now, and not at the end of a thousand years!
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus…both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The word Lord in both Hebrew and Greek means supreme in power and Lordship. This verse furthermore states that God placed Jesus Christ in this position of supreme authority. Jesus did not put Himself in this role. The Father did this “when He set Jesus at His own right hand in heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20; Psalm 110:1; Heb. 1:13; Col. 3:1). These heavenly places are in no way related to earthly Jerusalem – the great city “which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8). There will never be any enthroning of the Lord Jesus Christ in the earthly city of Jerusalem, which is contrary to present day teaching.
In addition, this same verse of Acts 2:36 states in the plainest of English that this exaltation of Jesus Christ as Sovereign and King took place in the past. The phrase hath made is expressed in the present perfect tense indicating that the action of this verb has been completed in past time. His enthronement has already taken place! This is not a future event, as many teach, for the King is already seated on His throne!
Then why should God’s people be asked to look for a future King when He now is ruler and “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36)?
The Father also said to Jesus, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1; Heb. 3:1) – an absolute confirmation that Jesus Christ is now King; for He is at this very moment sitting on the throne of the universe. According to Heb. 1:3, “When He had by Himself purged our sins, He (Jesus) sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.” This verse in Hebrews plainly states that after Jesus had shed His blood for our sins, He took His place of kingly authority at the Father’s right hand. In Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, this phrase “on the right hand” indicates that Jesus had become a “partner in God’s universal government.”
What further evidence do we need to show that He is King …. Now?
Consider again the Father’s words concerning Jesus’ present status: “To which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool? But unto the Son He saith thy throne O God is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is (not: “will be”) the scepter of thy kingdom” (Heb. 1:3 and verse 8). The Father called Him “God” and is verifying here in Hebrews the fact that His Son has a throne and a kingdom, and not that He will have these royal prerogatives sometime in the future, for he has them now!
Concerning this authoritative position of Jesus, the Father said: “He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” (I Cor. 15:24-26). All enemies have not yet been brought under control. According to I Cor. 15:26, death is the last enemy to be destroyed. Therefore, Jesus Christ must reign…Therefore, Jesus Christ will continue to reign … until this last enemy – death – has been brought under absolute mastery.
Take cognizance also of what the Father stated regarding the extent of time during which Jesus will have this Kingdom and Throne. Not a mere thousand years – as is being promulgated throughout Christendom today, but rather forever and ever! Actually, His kingdom has no end, according to the angel’s message to Mary in Luke 1:26-33. “The Lord God shall give unto Him (Jesus) the throne of His Father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom, there shall be no end.”
Isaiah corroborates these same facts in chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even for ever.” (The Hebrew defines this word henceforth, as meaning: from this point on, and the dictionary verifies the same meaning.) Therefore, we understand from this expression that Jesus Christ was already King when the Prophet Isaiah gave this prophecy stating that He (Jesus) was ordering and establishing His Kingdom with judgment and justice from this point on, even for ever.
Then why are Bible teachers and preachers putting a terminating point upon His reign, when the Bible declares emphatically that there is no end to His royal rule? and when the King Himself declares in His Word that He orders and establishes His Kingdom with judgment and justice forever?
Isaiah himself was given a revelation of this great King in His royal state, for he said in Isaiah 6:1-7, “In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up…mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
David also spoke of an experience he had had in the sanctuary where he said in Psalm 63:1,2, “My soul thirsteth for Thee…to see thy power and thy glory so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” He said he had seen God’s glory – he had seen the King. David also knew the Lord was King at that time, for he said twice in the same Psalm, “For the Lord Most High is terrible (awe-inspiring); He is a great King over all the earth” (Psalm 47:2,6,7).
God revealed Himself to Moses, not only at the burning bush in the desert near Mt. Sinai (Ex. 3:2-4:23), when He gave him the great call to lead His people out of Egypt, but He must also have revealed Himself to Moses while he was still in Pharaoh’s court in Egypt. For we read in Hebrews 11:24-27 that “Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure in Egypt.”
How did Moses know about the reproach of Christ a couple of thousand years before Christ was born? Moses had to have had personal knowledge of Christ before Christ was born, and an understanding of Who He was before he could make any intelligent choice concerning Him. Therefore, in some way the Lord Jesus Christ made Himself known to Moses when he was yet a young man in Egypt. This revelation of the majestic Person of Christ so deeply affected Moses that he gave his heart to Him in total surrender and allegiance, counting all else as loss. Not one of the rare treasures in Egypt could ever have any further significance or appeal to him after this encounter with the mighty Prince of Glory – the Lord Jesus Christ.
Later, the God of Israel called Moses up into the Mount to commune with him. Moses was there with the King of glory for forty days and forty nights. “He did neither eat bread nor drink water” there in the divine presence of the Mighty God (Ex. 34:28). “When he came down from the Mount…Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone.” “And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face” (Ex. 34:33), so great was the reflection of the glory of the Almighty Ruler and Sovereign of heaven and earth.
Jesus Himself said in Matthew 16:28, “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.” They were going to see the King in His majesty and His glory. He was then shown as the almighty King and Lord at the Mount of Transfiguration when Jesus took Peter, James and John up into the Mount and was transfigured before them. Not only was His flesh changed before their eyes, but His garment also took on an appearance not of this earth. “His face did shine as the sun and His garment was white as the light…as no fuller on earth can white them” (Matt. 17:1-9). They were seeing the Son of Man in His kingdom, for the King stood revealed before them in His majestic glory.
Peter said, in II Peter 1:16-18, in reference to this extraordinary revelation of the Great King – the Lord of Glory, “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty…in the holy mount, for He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”.
Matthew’s account of this same appearance of Jesus (17:1-5) adds this fact that the voice also said, “Hear ye Him.” Luke’s account of this same event contributes another interesting facet in 9:30-32, “And behold, there talked with Him two men which were Moses and Elias who appeared in glory, and spoke of His decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem.” These two men from Paradise, Moses and Elias, were deeply interested in Jesus’ death, for as prophets they were aware of Jesus’ earthly goal – The Cross – with its profound importance and meaning for all men.
Here, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus received the Father’s approval and commendation for finishing His course on earth with honor. This was actually the Graduation Day of the Son of God. (We say this reverently and with the greatest deferential respect to the Living God.) Here on the Mount, Jesus was receiving recognition for the fact that He had reached the acme of the Christian’s walk on earth, the point of utmost attainment – full maturity in His devotion to the will of the Father. He had drunk the bitter cup to its complete depth – surrender of His own will, and because of the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despised the shame and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus, as the son of man, had “pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling” in God for over thirty years and on the Mount of Transfiguration Heaven recognized He had reached the goal. Through “humiliation of the soul, liquidation of the ego, dissolution of all earthly plans, hopes, ambitions, desires, and finally the utter abandonment of His spirit to the will of God,” the Son of Man had reached the summit of human accomplishment. He had entered the state of perfection.
A FRIEND
Jimmy Windham
Dear People of the Living God and all precious people reading the Testimony of Truth magazine. I greet you today in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior. My name is Jimmy Windham #127054. Some of y’all know me by some articles I’ve been honored by Bro. Alfred King to publish in this magazine, so y’all know that I’ve been incarcerated for nearly 34 years.
In 1987 I met a man who wasn’t a Christian, but I liked him for himself. We called him Bubble-up because he was a wild one who drank a lot. Bubble-up was a pill head, and many times I met him in the yard at Lieber Prison and I could tell he was very pill drunk and/or drunk on the home-made wine. Bubble-up not only stayed high on the pills and wine, but he also stayed high on other drugs. To support his habits, Bubble-up would sell drugs in the yard. We parted ways, but I never forgot him and I always prayed for him and all my old friends who started doing time close to when I came down. There’s just something special to all of us who became friends back then, and we never judged each other, for who can judge a person caught in Satan’s snares, just as you are? No one but God is our Judge.
So, then, in 2015 I was rushed to Trident Hospital in Charleston, SC, to have open heart surgery. Once my stay was over there, I was sent to Kirkland Prison infirmary for another two weeks of recovery. At Kirkland there’s a college program from Columbia Bible College that offers inmates, who are screened, a two-year associate of arts degree in theology. Once they’ve completed the two-year course, they’re sent back to a prison to work hand in hand with the chaplain’s office. They, also, had to do volunteer work on the week-ends in the Kirkland infirmary, such as taking Bibles and literature to the bed-ridden inmates there in the infirmary recovering from the various operations they had had. On a Sunday morning in Feb., 2015, I woke up by a pat on my shoulder and there stood my old friend Bubble-up. He told me that he was in the Bible college there. He leaned down and hugged me. I said, “Man, Bubble-up, it is so good to see you again.” He said, “Jimmy, my name is Scott, not Bubble-up, for, Jimmy, Bubble-up is dead now because Christ lives His life in me. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior and Lord.” What a happy time we had that day.
I left the hospital and in April, 2016, I came here to Lee C.I. I held prayer meetings and Bible studies in the dorm f-1 I was assigned to, and many inmates came in for prayer to accept Christ as their Savior. One day shortly after I arrived here at Lee in f-1 Dorm, my old friend William Scott Jones, aka Bubble-up, came from the east yard to the west yard to spend time with me. Brothers and sisters, I’ve seen this man’s changes and I know, personally, that he told me the day he visited me as I lay in that bunk at Kirkland Infirmary that Bubble-up is truly dead. God still saves by the Blood of His Son Jesus Christ, for I know He saved me, and I know my old friend Scott is living for our Lord. Y’all pray for us here in prison.
God bless y’all,
I remain, a prisoner of Jesus Christ
Jimmy Windham
Lee C.I.
PS. If Scott’s little article He wrote follows this that I’ve written, touches your heart as it did mine, let him know, for that would encourage and bless him.
REFLECTIONS
William Scott Jones
I take you back to a much gentler time, mid-November 1960: there were no smart phones, only men and women could legally be married, every morning the teacher led their class in prayer, and abortion was illegal in the United States of America. Everyone was free to practice the religion of their choice and most folks chose God. Inside the kitchen of a small wood home in a farming community called Home Branch located outside the town of Manning, S.C., there was a woman and a six-year-old boy. She was helping the boy memorize John 3:16 for his Sunday school class; the boy nailed it for the first time. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ lived inside this plain country woman and the simple wooden home; that love had the power to make the woman glow with great beauty, and the inexpensive house seemed like a mansion.
Even though the woman and the boy could not see him, someone else was there in that kitchen that beautiful morning. He was on a mission to kill, steal, and destroy the love that lived there! Looking into the boy’s very being, what he saw there brought a big smile to his face. Momma’s sweet little boy possessed a powerful addictive personality. He would use that addiction, not only to steal the love, but also to kill any chance the family had of a normal life, and one day, to destroy the boy. All the way to his next stop, the wicked one had a big smile on his face.
The devil used that powerful addictive personality to take the boy far away from the home where the love of Jesus Christ lived, to a house that was cold and dark. The boy spent ninety-five percent of his teenage/adult life in prison; the chains and the sin held the boy tightly even when he was not in jail.
Next stop, Orangeburg County courthouse December 16, 2000: having just read the boy’s entire criminal history, the solicitor pointed to the forty-six year old man who was beat down by life and said, “This, your honor, is the type of individual the three strike law was designed for.” The boy fought for control and tried to look tough; if the solicitor had his way, he would never see the streets again. In the last seat of the last row of the courtroom sat the adversary and he had a big smile on his face.
It was decided the world would be a better place without the boy; on December 16, 2000, the court sentenced the boy to life without parole under the three strike law.
March 17, 2002, all alone in hospital room laid the woman; she was confused and so very sick, and she knew her time had come. Even though she had spent half her life on her knees praying for the boy, she gathered herself one last time and cried out to God on behalf of the boy she loved so much. The dark one was glad to see the woman go; it would be much easier to finish off the boy with her out of the way. The thought brought a big smile to the face of the adversary.
November 22, 2013, Lieber Correctional Institute, Ridgeland, S.C.: The boy was at his weakest, physically and mentally, when the father of lies made his move. He spoke straight to the boy’s mind: “You know these people are trying to kill you; your sentence is life without parole and you have no family left alive. Take someone with you; at least you will still be a man. He tried every trick in the book; the devil held onto the boy’s mind as a bulldog does a hog. With nowhere to turn, the boy lay in his bed and began to reflect on his life. That morning in the kitchen, when he was six years old and the Bible verse his mother taught him came to his mind as if it was just yesterday. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son: that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
The power of this verse gave the boy something that day he never had before – courage – the courage to call on God. Jesus Christ answered the boy’s cry personally, and so very gently whispered to his troubled mind, “You are not going to die; you have just begun to live!!!” The woman had spoken of Jesus Christ many times, calling Him the Truth and the Life. In that special place, way down deep, the boy knew the things his precious mother told him all those years were true. He recognized the voice of the Shepherd and understood that the words Jesus had spoken to him were the most powerful truth he would ever hear and they truly gave life!!! The devil was there when Jesus came for the boy that day, but he was not smiling anymore.
January 20, 2016: The boy will never be the same; that love that the devil had stolen so many years ago now lives in his heart again. The power of God’s love gives the boy a peace that the human mind cannot comprehend, because it is not of this world. Even though the boy is still in prison, he is free, indeed, and happier than he has ever been in his life. Praise and glory to the kingdom of the one true living God!!!
THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT
Alfred King
The book of Psalms is a combination of songs written by King David and some of the chief musicians of that time period. Many of those psalms refer to the Babylonian captivity and Israel’s return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, and others are prophecies concerning Jesus, His life, His death, and His resurrection. However, many of those songs were about Israel’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt and Israel’s infamous wilderness experience, which experience was not too favorable in the sight of God. The Psalmist in Psalm 106:7 states, “Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt.” They could not see through the veil that hides from man the glories and power of the divine. Israel’s release from Pharaoh’s oppression was a foreshadow of how God’s salvation was to free man from the bondage and slavery of sin. Cloaked in Israel’s physical history, the divine design of God is unfolded. Paul refers to it as a mystery which had been hidden through the ages (Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:26), and Peter speaks of the glories of this mystery of which the angels desire to look into (I Peter 1:12). Israel’s bondage in Egypt and God’s miraculous deliverance reveals to sinful man, bound to the hopeless and relentless tyranny of that “old serpent, called the devil and Satan,” God’s way in which He would provide a most blessed and wonderful deliverance through Christ Jesus. The call of Israel to the land of Canaan was merely a physical representation of God’s promise of heaven for all who will believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. And portrayed in the shadow of the promise land was the guarantee of a “city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10), into which all believers shall one day enter. It is a heavenly land which God has gloriously prepared for those who will believe the Gospel and walk with Him in the midst of a dark and sinful world. Scripture, in view of this heavenly city, declares, “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (I Cor. 2:9).
As the cruelty Israel endured under oppressive taskmasters continued grievously year after year, they lost any sight of God’s love and His promises. The cruel slavery imposed upon them by a tyrant who hated them and forced them to serve Egypt with “rigor” had left them in dismal despair. Even their male babies were being slain before their eyes and the whip of their taskmasters was a frequent reminder of their insufferable bondage. Any relief from this constant hostile abuse seemed impossible, for their situation had grown worse and worse over several generations. To some degree, they had accepted this as their fate, for there were no signs of escaping the life to which they were destined. As young children, they had sat and listened to their parents and grandparents tell of their great ancestor Abraham and how God had appeared to him and promised him a land flowing with milk and honey. They heard how God had led Isaac and wrestled with Jacob, afterwards changing his name from Jacob to Israel. They still retained the names of those twelve patriarchs and knew they were the descendants of these great men of God. Yet, here they were several hundred years later, when the thoughts of the promises to Abraham seemed idle tales, possibly fabricated to muster some hope where there was none. And if those tales were true, they no doubt questioned what went wrong. Where was the promise of deliverance? Who was Abraham’s God and where is He today? Some may have become angry at times with those who continued to tell those stories which seemed so false and impossible.
And even as God showed His mighty power in Egypt and the exodus began, they did not perceive the matchless grace nor the mighty love of God which was extended to them. The years of slavery coupled with the influence of Egypt’s idolatrous culture had robbed them of any genuine comprehension of a loving God. The way God designed to deliver them out of the house of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh was not what they expected. When Moses, God’s deliverer, appeared on the scene, they had no idea of the many events which would transpire before they would march out of Egypt. Instead of immediate freedom and relief, Pharaoh’s hand fell more heavily upon them, so much so that they wanted to send Moses back to where he came. God’s man had not freed them at all, rather he had made their lives more grievous.
They understood not the divine favor God had placed upon these descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Psalm 95:10b the psalmist wrote, “It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Certainly, Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was unique, yet it was affective. Not only did it affect Pharaoh and his armies, but fear fell upon all those in Egypt and upon the nations of Canaan who heard of God’s mighty power. God’s ways are not our ways. The Bible says in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
The blood of those lambs slain 3500 years ago in Egypt foreshadowed The Lamb of God, whose blood was shed some 1500 years afterward, just outside of Jerusalem. Those lambs slain in Egypt were God’s way of preaching the Gospel to Israel. The writer of the epistle of Hebrews tells us that the gospel was preached unto them, but it did not profit them because of their unbelief (Heb. 4:2). While it was not possible that the blood of animal sacrifices could take away sin, it was the silhouette God used to communicate His divine plan in redeeming the world, a world which had been cast into Satan’s dungeon by Adam’s transgression, a dungeon in which, like Israel in Egypt, there was no means by which man could escape or redeem himself. It is into this world of sin’s bondage and slavery we are all born.
Like Israel of old, you may have heard from faithful Christians, now deceased, stories of how God moved in their past. They may tell of how God brought revival to their small church fifty years ago. No doubt you have heard of some of the great revivals of centuries past and wondered what has happened to bring the church to where it is today. Maybe you’ve read in the Bible how God healed multitudes, cast out evil spirits, made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, caused the dumb to speak, and raised those lame to stand upon their feet. Maybe you have heard messages by ministers preaching from the Bible and sat in church in your youth, but those words seemed so foreign and appeared so unrealistic. Perhaps things have happened in your life that have caused you to doubt God’s word. Whatever is your story, whatever your pain, whatever bondage holds you, God is still the answer.
Remember, Israel did not know God’s ways and they understood not God’s wonders in Egypt. As their burdens multiplied in Egypt, they failed to understand that God was revealing His power, not only to Israel so they would trust Him once they faced the adversities of the wilderness, but God was showing His power to Egypt and the nations round about. Those nations in Canaan were afraid when Israel began to enter their territory. Fear fell upon them. As the strategy was being formed by Joshua for taking Jericho, Rahab told Israel’s spies, “I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath” (Josh 2:9-11). One line in that famous song, “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” written by Sabine Baring-Gould reads, “Hell’s foundations quiver at the sound of praise.” When God’s people believe God and trust His word, they will give praise and honor to Jesus Christ, realizing that the victory is sure, for Jesus never fails. In the time of the Great Reformation when faithful men of God were frequently martyred, Martin Luther wrote a song entitled, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” One verse declares, “And tho’ this world with devils fill, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him – his rage we can endure for lo, his doom is sure.” If Israel had known God’s ways, they could have lifted their voices with shouts of praise and worshipped God instead of murmuring about their situation. How much better it would have been for them.
When Jesus condescended, lived as a man, died upon a Roman cross, was resurrected on the third day, and sat down at the right hand of God Almighty, He triumphed over all the powers of the devil. He conquered all enemies so completely that, today, the devils believe and tremble. He dealt completely with sin and the eternal death which sin brings. Just as God showed His power to all the nations around Egypt, He has shown His power through Jesus Christ to all the devils of hell. He has procured salvation for all men. His ways of bringing a soul to kneel at the cross is the best way. Our ways and ideas can never save a soul, however God’s divine plan has brought millions to the saving knowledge of Christ and has issued into His kingdom multitudes, as the stars of the sky and as the sand which is by the seashore. It was revealed to John on the Isle of Patmos that there is a company of saved souls who stand before the throne of God so great that no man could number them. All this brought about by a God whose ways are not our ways but whose ways always produce the desired end.
Consider briefly man’s ways. Man has attempted, through his own intelligence, to deal with problems existent in our modern world. They have addressed issues through their own intellect but void of the council of God and most of the time, they only add to the problems that already exist. Man without God is destined to self-destruct. Men have determined that global warming (or climate change) is threatening the world. (Whether climate change is a problem or not is not the purpose of this article.) The greatest threat to the world today is not the things men like to promote as a crisis; they are merely ideas that put fear into the hearts of mankind. The greatest threat to the world today is the lack of the fear of the Lord and the abandonment of God in our societies and in our cultures. Without God, there is purposelessness, a vacuum in man’s existence, and the only religion existent in our world that fills this vacuum is genuine Christianity. Islam will not fill it (Islam is a religion of hate.). Hinduism will not fill it, for it offers nothing but some miserable, fleeting hope of a better afterlife, which truly does not offer any peace in this life. Buddhism is just another branch of Hinduism and just as lacking. In Europe and America, and our most popular and growing religion in America, Humanism has taken root and is proving to be a failed idealistic philosophy that is bearing disastrous results. The division in our country today is the result of our abandoning of God and the rejection of His word.
God’s ways are the best. With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, the Israelites who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness. Those two men trusted God when the multitudes did not. They faced the same trials, the same difficulties, the same disappointments, the same burdens, and they probably had some of the same questions that plagued others. Questions like, “Is God with us or not?” or “Can God provide a table in the wilderness?” They were human, too. But while I’m sure, they didn’t understand all of God’s ways, they trusted Him and were confident that God’s way was the best way. They believed God’s word, obeyed His commands, and walked by faith. Faith is not tested on the mountain top. Israel believed and trusted God when they had crossed the Red Sea and looked back and saw Pharaoh and his armies destroyed in the sea, but as soon as they came to the water of Marah, their faith failed. Faith is tested in the furnace of affliction. Genuine, Godly faith grows and is strengthened in the valley of the shadow of death. Faith increases by keeping one’s eyes upon Jesus and believing His word. Peter was able to walk on the water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, but as soon as he looked away and saw the tempestuous waves and felt the fury of the wind, he began to sink. Lesson: Don’t look at the things around you that seem so impossible but look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Look to the One Who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before God’s throne.
THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
Harry R. Miller
It was on the day of Pentecost that the complete foundation of the true church of Christ was laid. The government was totalitarian: Jesus, the head of the church, was recognized as “both Lord and Christ” (Messiah, or Saviour). Our risen Lord directed His Church through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were not invested with absolute powers over the heritage of God’s people; but they were divinely appointed agents: chosen vessels, especially gifted as channels through which the Spirit of the Lord could work to the edifying of the church.
The book of Acts plainly sets forth the fact that all God-called leaders were leaders only as they were directed by the voice of the Holy Spirit. Scripture teaches us that leadership is always successful when it is divinely directed, but when leaders resort to the reasoning of the purely human variety disaster is inevitably the result. Leadership by the Spirit of God, under the terms of the New Covenant, is at the disposal of every member of the body of Christ. As a matter of fact, such leadership is evidence of sonship: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14). Such individual evidence of the leading of God is a personal affair and should not be confused with the greater gift of one called to lead the body of Christ.
In the twelfth chapter of first Corinthians we are shown how the apostle explained to the apostolic church that “God hath set” and endued certain individuals in the church for some particular ministry: “Now there are diversities of gifts…differences of administrations…diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all” (I Cor. 12:4-6); “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (I Cor. 12:28). Notice the variety of God-ordained ministers and ministries: a church endowed with such a variety of Spirit-led ministers is not likely to “fall into the ditch.” This type of ministry is full and rounded-out. A “one man” ministry, such as most assemblies have today, was an unknown thing in the apostolic times. Even those who called from door to door as traveling evangelists went out by “two and two.”
The Christian church of the first few decades after Pentecost was a body of Christ-devoted saints. They believed the words of Jesus and practiced the doctrine of Christ. Notice particularly what the condition of the church was at the time when three thousand souls were added to it in one day: “And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). At this time the works of the apostles and their doctrine were one; these people did not claim to believe one thing while practicing another.
Since doctrine is the basis of any religion, it appears evident that whatever the apostles’ doctrine was, it was the right and proper thing. Their works bore evidence that their doctrine was of God: “These signs and wonders shall follow them that believe” (Mk. 16:17); “God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost” (Heb. 2:4).
Remember that at this time the saints did not have a complete Bible as we have today. They did not have even one epistle; neither did they have the book of Revelation, nor the book of Acts! But they did have a complete record of the commands of Jesus.
The doctrine of the saints of Pentecost were based upon the plain words of the Lord: they believed Him and obeyed His words.
The word “doctrine” means “teaching.” So, the teaching of the apostles was the same as the teaching of Jesus. As long as the church obeyed the teaching of Christ, they prospered; but as soon as they began to water down His commands and lower His standards their spiritual power started to wane, and they walked in the flesh.
Only a trifler would dare to tamper with the teaching, or the “doctrine of Christ.” All substitutions for HIS doctrine are deliberate attacks of anti-Christ. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God” (II John 1:9). Many apostate teachers today claim that the apostle Paul taught a different set of doctrines than did His Lord. But Paul’s own words deny such a position: “I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19).
If anyone believes that the Gospel of Christ and the doctrine of Christ are two different things, let them consider the following:
In “the last commission” of Jesus to His disciples He commanded them – “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The parallel account is recorded in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations…to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (verses 19 and 20). “The Gospel,” and the things that Christ “commanded” the disciples, are one and the same.
The doctrine, or Gospel of Christ, was first brought forth at the beginning of His ministry, and shall continue to be in force until “the end of the world”: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:1,14,15).
The kingdom message was the message of John the Baptist, of Jesus, of the twelve, the seventy, and of every New Testament saint. The apostle Paul declared this message up until his very dying day: “Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 28:30,31).
“The gospel of the kingdom” spoken of in Matthew twenty-four, verse fourteen, and “the everlasting gospel” mentioned in Revelation fourteen, verse six, are one and the same message. It is upon this one foundation that the true church of Christ stands. All other foundations are “sand.”
The apostolic church in its infancy accepted the doctrines of Christ and, obeying every command of the Lord, put into practice the laws of the Kingdom of God. The result was that “great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked” (Acts 4:33,34).
In the midst of the church upon whom “Great Grace” did abide, the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit were freely given: “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11,12). Take special note of the God-ordained ministers in the early church: both male and female “servants” were used to minister to the church. Without church-boards, trustees, or a dominating one-man ministry, the body of the saints is edified by the varied ministries of the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever stopped to consider the great variety of religious functions and ministries that must have often held the apostolic congregations spellbound? Their gatherings were not brief, sixty-minute affairs: often they lasted all day, and sometimes they continued on throughout the whole night (e.g., Troas, Acts 20:7)!
Songs of praise were sung in those times even as we sing them today; but the ministry of the Word of the Lord was far greater then than is anywhere known in our present day. The apostle Paul exercised seven different oral ministries: Three of his gifts of utterance were rational accomplishments – he “reasoned,” presented logical arguments, and stated facts that were hard to dispute (Acts 17:2; 18:24; 24:25). He “persuaded” men: this was a gift to move men emotionally. By the use of clever words, he dug down deep into the recesses of human consciousness and urged his listeners with emotional prodding (Acts 13:43; 14:19; 19:26). He “disputed”: this was a gift that operated in open discussion from the floor while a congress of ministers were assembled. Unlike the debate, this sort of ministry invited joint-investigation into the subject matter (Acts 6:9; 9:29; 17:17; 19:8,9).
Besides these three rational accomplishments that were completely subject to the human reason and will, the apostle was endowed with four completely supernatural gifts which manifested themselves to the church through oral utterance: “Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with (1) tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by (2) revelation, or by (3) knowledge, or by (4) prophesying, or by doctrine?” (I Cor. 14:6).
(1) The tongues gift edified the individual, but not the whole church, unless someone received the interpretation to the Spirit Message. Let us not dodge the facts – the apostolic gift of tongues was not a gift of languages: “for he that speaketh in an (unknown) tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries” (I Cor. 14:2). Consider the fact that Paul said: “For if I pray in an (unknown) tongue my Spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (I Cor. 14:14). By the Spirit he was able to utter a prayer the contents of which his own mind had no comprehension. The rational consciousness, relative to the content of the message, is not a part of the tongues gift. However, when by the same Holy Spirit the message is interpreted, then the whole church is edified (I Cor. 14:5).
(2) The gift of revelation may operate by impression, or by vision. By the Spirit things are revealed to the one who has the gift: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit” (I Cor. 2:9,10); “by revelation He made known unto me the mystery” (Eph. 3:3). The revelations of the Spirit are many; and the books of the New Testament give many accounts of the different workings of this precious gift.
(3) The gift of knowledge, or rather, the “word of knowledge” (I Cor. 12:8), is in operation when a certain Scripture is “quickened” to someone. As ministers walk in obedience to Christ and to His Word, this gift operates and illuminates the written Word or the prophetic Word. A person with this gift has a divinely-inspired understanding of the Words of God.
(4) The gift of prophecy is a gift of the Spirit much to be desired. Such a gift is like a one-party-line to the very throne of Glory: the recipient of this gift is able to speak with the Lord; and the Lord speaks, in no uncertain terms, to him. Through the gift of prophecy many future things are foretold, and definite instruction is given to workers: “The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them” (Acts 13:2). This was spoken by prophecy.
When there are sinners in the congregation of saints, the very secrets of their hearts are often made known: “If all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest” (I Cor. 14:24,25).
Few gifts of the Spirit put such reverence and godly fear into the hearts of the saints as does the gift of prophecy. This is the gift that must be restored to the church of Jesus Christ before very much can be accomplished in preparation for His coming. As His voice again is heard there will be divine direction among the ministers; and the “house” of Christ shall be set in order. Then the ministry shall savor of the sweetness of heaven. No more will jokes be told in the pulpit; neither will fables be recounted in an effort to entertain the congregation. God’s family will hear from heaven; and the very spirit of heaven will fill the whole house in a greater Pentecost than the world has ever seen.
STRIVING TOWARD MATURITY
Wesley D. Owen
After we make the choice to repent and accept the Lord as our Master, there is a marvelous peace that settles over our inner being. This new life is inspiring, and often we desire to mature quickly to higher and better experiences. But, our Lord in His wisdom knows that man in all his weaknesses is not ready to accomplish this magnificent feat; however, man’s freewill does allow him to make choices. The fact that man has a choice glorifies God. We choose to repent and accept the Lord as our Master; therefore, the maturing in Christ must be by our choice, too.
The basic drives in nature are that life must be continued by production, maturing and developing. Without these steps death is the result. Since these elements are essential to life in the physical nature, why shouldn’t there be even a greater need of these elements in our spiritual nature?
“If some of the branches be broken off, and thou…wert grafted in among them…Boast not against the branches…thou standest by faith…If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also not spare thee…continue in His goodness: otherwise thou shalt be cut off” (Rom. 11:17-22).
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit…If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5,6).
God leaves the decision of our spiritual maturity to each of us. We can choose to be “lukewarm” and not grow; thus, losing our walk with the Lord.
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:16).
Therefore, if we choose to continue our walk with the Lord we are obliged to strive toward spiritual maturity or perfection.
Christ said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). “Perfect” as defined by Strong’s Dictionary Of The Words In The Greek Testament is “as complete (in various application of labor, growth, mental and moral character).” This Greek word telios comes from the Greek word tello meaning: “to set out for a definite point or goal.”
“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
What does it mean to pick up our cross? Of course, this cross is not a literal, wooden cross, but rather a figurative cross that deals with our spiritual development. It covers all aspects that would and do interfere with our spiritual maturity. This “cross” goes against our carnal nature. Our carnal nature is prone to wrong or evil which easily can slip into our speech and/or actions. It is this carnal nature that makes it much more pleasurable for us to believe and communicate the evil of others than to believe or speak of their good. To pick up our “cross,” we must be less ready to listen to or believe every tale-bearer about our neighbors (II Tim. 2:16; Prov. 20:19).
This carnal nature attempts to bind us to passions and lusts which hinder our walk with the Lord. When we meet with unfortunate happenings, we allow ourselves to be cast down; then we usually seek after human consolation rather than pick up our “cross” and turn to our Lord for assistance.
It is ever so hard to give up what we are accustomed to, and even harder to go contrary to our own will. But, if we don’t choose to take a stand and overcome the little and easy things, how can we ever hope to conquer greater difficulties? We must learn to resist our inclinations of wrong in the very beginning and correct any evil habits or they will continue to grow. By denying ourselves and picking up our cross we will obtain peace for ourselves plus the joy of overcoming our difficulties.
“We often know not what we are able to do, but temptation discovers what we are. Still we must watch, especially in the beginning of temptation, for then the enemy is more easily overcome if he be not suffered to enter the door of the mind, but is withstood upon the threshold the very moment that he knocks.” (Thomas A. Kempis)
A simple thought may enter our minds, then our strong imaginations take over, which is compounded with a sense of delight, then we give consent which begins the evil motion. Little by little this malignant force gains full entrance, if we don’t resist from the beginning by prayer.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13)
It is through the early resistance that we take up our “cross” for our Master. And it is after each fall when we regain our balance and continue on that we are bearing that “cross.”
As we strive to put down “the old man” within ourselves, we are maturing in our walk with our Lord. Our prayers and studies of His Truths will enable us to reach still a higher level or degree with God. Our growth and development in God needs no limitations. We must make the choice to obtain that glorious perfect state and die daily to our carnal ways while we grow in the knowledge and love of God’s truths.
THE TRUE REVOLUTION
Armando Montes
Every revolution implies a change. The word “revolution” is not once mentioned in the Bible. Nevertheless, from Genesis through Revelation, we find that God, down through the ages, has always called and invited man to make a deep change in his ways. As a matter of fact, the Bible speaks about the spiritual revolution.
The whole world is crying out for a change. The countries in Central and South America are in a struggle for a better way of life. The independence in the African nations has not been the solution to their problems. The countries in the Middle East are boiling in anger and hate one against the other…The nations are agonizing before the countless social, political and economic problems that face them each day. The countries are at a dead end. Revolution seems to be the only possible solution. It is a shame that man has forgotten the source of every true revolution: The Word of the Living God.
The Bible gives living examples of people whose lives were changed and revolutionized by God. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8). The Mighty Lord Jesus has power to take the life of any sinner and transform it for His glory. “The preaching of the cross is…the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18). The Word of God, applied to our lives, is “quick and powerful” and will bring about the changes needed in our hearts.
You, dear friend, if you don’t have the Lord Jesus in your heart, you also need a transformation, a change. Perhaps you have tried, in your own strength, to change your life in times past and everything has been a failure. TODAY, the Lord and Saviour Jesus is knocking and calling at the door of your heart. He is inviting you to take a step, a new step, that will surely revolutionize completely your life. The Captain of your salvation is asking you to give Him the helm of the ship of your life. He will guide you through safe paths in the stormy sea of this life.
Repentance is a biblical teaching. Every true repentance involves a change, a revolution within. It begins when you acknowledge that your life is a failure and you accept your inability to organize it. Then you seek and ask Him to help you. Then you decide to bury your old life, to start a new life totally surrendered to Him and you ask the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to come into your heart.
If you do this in honesty and sincerity, and you confess your sins to God, you will see a change in your life: the Father and Jesus, through the Spirit of God, will make their abode with you (John 14:23). Then make the Word of God an essential part of your daily life. Put into practice the words of Jesus and soon, very soon, you will notice that your life has been revolutionized. You will know, by your own experience, that the Word of God is the actual source of every true revolution in our hearts.
IN MEMORY OF MRS. PRAYER MEETING
Anonymous
Mrs. Prayer Meeting died recently at the First Neglected Church, on Worldly Avenue. Born many years ago in the midst of great revivals, she was a strong healthy child, fed largely on testimony and Bible study, soon growing into worldwide prominence. She was one of the most influential members of the famous Church family.
For the past several years, Sister Prayer Meeting had been failing in health, gradually wasting away until rendered helpless by stiffness of knees, coldness of heart, inactivity, and weakness of purpose. At the last, she was but a shadow of her former happy self. Her last whispered words were inquiries concerning the strange absence of her loved ones now busy in the markets of trade and places of worldly amusements.
Experts, including Dr. Works, Dr. Reform, and Dr. Joiner, disagreed as to the cause of her fatal illness, administering large doses of organization, socials, contests and drives, but to no avail. A post-mortem showed that a deficiency of spiritual food, coupled with the lack of faith, heart-felt religion, and general support, were contributing causes. Only a few were present at her death, sobbing over memories of her past beauty and power.