Church of God Tabernacle in Newark, Ohio I was …gospeltrumpeter.com/2012.March.pdf · Church of God Tabernacle in Newark, Ohio "I was glad when they said unto me, ... call ye upon

SOUNDING FORTH THE SEVENTH AND LAST TRUMPET

Vol. 42 March 2012 No. 3

C hurch of G od T abernac le in Newark, O hio

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1

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"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon himwhile he is near."

Isaiah 55:6

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation. . . ?"

Hebrews 2:3

Do Not Procrastinate

"For if the trumpet g ive an uncertain s ound,

who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETERUSPS #871620

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This periodical carries no subscription price; however,it is partially maintained through the gifts and offerings ofits readers, with the balance of the expenses being paidby the local congregation.

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This monthly religious journal is published for the benefitof the Church of God universally. It is our supremepurpose to reach the world for Christ through the printedpage. Our burden is to reveal the truth of God's Word toall mankind, to expose sin and error, war againstapostasy, and to eradicate the longstanding traditions ofmen that have no biblical foundations.

Brother Roger L. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EditorWorkers Too Numerous to Mention

T H E C HU R CH O F G O D BELIEVES IN :

A personal God (John 4:24)A divine Christ (John 1:1, 14)An infallibly inspired Bible (2 Tim. 3:16-17)Salvation from sin (Matt. 1:21)The new birth (John 3:3, 5-7A holy life (Luke 1:73-75; Titus 2:12)Sanctification (1 Thess. 5:23)Unity of God's people (John 17:21, Eph. 4)Divine, physical healing (James 5:14-16)The ordinances (Matt. 28:19-20; John 13; 1 Cor. 11:23, 34)Eternal life (Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:43)The Trinity (1 John 5:7, 8)

SO ME SPIR IT UAL FAC T S

PER T AIN IN G T O T H E C HU R CH

Jesus organized it (Matt. 16:18)On a good foundation (Eph. 2:20; I Cor. 3:11)Christ governs it (Eph. 1:22-23; Isa. 9:6)God admits members (I Cor. 12:13-18)Sin puts you out of it (Rom. 11:22; Ex. 32:33)The saved only are members (John 15:2-6)Membership is offered to all (Rev. 22:17)Final rewards (Rev. 20:12-15; 21:3-4; 22:14)Bible name of the Church (Acts 20:28; Gal. 1:13; John 17:11)

We reserve the right to edit and/or decline any materialfor any reason. We are not responsible for unsolicitedarticles or items.

CONTENTS

A New Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Ways That People Cut Them-

selves Off From the Fold . . . . . 7Especially for Young People . . . . 14Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16The Bad Bargain of Esau . . . . . . . 21Announcements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Vol. 42 March 2012 No. 3

The Lord graciously gives every man

and woman an allotted time to make his

or her decision in preparation for eter-

nity. Think about it. Eternity—it is time

without end. Sad to say, many people

put off the opportunities that God af-

fords them. Through procrastination,

multitudes allow redemption for their

souls to slip away.

Time is a precious commodity that,

when spent, can never be regained. God

has given some people more time and

opportunities than He has to others.

Since no one knows how much time he

or she will be given to make peace with

God, it behooves every individual to act

quickly.

D eath comes to the very young as

well as the middle aged and the elderly.

It may come suddenly and without warn-

ing. On the other hand, death may come

as a result of a prolonged illness that one

suffers. The time of death is not the

greatest issue, but rather it is the condi-

tion of the individual's soul when death

comes.

The younger generation often

entertains the thought that they have

plenty of time to decide their eternal

destiny because they are young. At pres-

ent, their lives seem to be going well,

not realizing that death could be very

near. Middle-aged men and women are

cumbered about with many things, and

being in the prime of their lives, they are

wrapped with getting and having. Their

health may be good, they may be blessed

with a good job, and they may be enjoy-

ing many of life's benefits and pleasures.

Being actively engaged in the affairs of

living, the thought of death never seems

to cross their minds. Then there are the

elderly who have wasted all their good

years on themselves and now feel that

they have nothing to offer God but their

wrecked and worn out bodies.

It is important to take advantage of

the time while it is being offered to you.

For this reason, those who are truly wise

ought to be diligent and grasp God's

offer to be delivered from sin and ruin.

Procrastinating, or putting off one's

salvation, is a serious matter, and it will

end with disastrous consequences. He-

brews 4:7 tells us, "To day if ye will

hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

In 2 Corinthians 6:2 we read these

words of admonition: "Behold, now is

the accepted time; behold, now is the

day of salvation." Today millions are in

a lost eternity simply because they put

off giving heed to the need of God in

their souls.

May we remind you that as we live

in the midst of life, we also live in the

midst of death? Just because all seems

to be well and good today does not mean

that it will always stay that way. Situa-

tions and circumstances can come about

that can drastically change you in a very

short period of time. Freak accidents

often occur without any forewarning and

take a person's life. It is possible that

tragedy can leave you in a mentally

incapable state where you cannot reason

soundly. There are times when one may

be stricken with a sudden illness that

quickly leads him to the grave. These

issues are not mentioned to try to scare

you, but rather to awaken you to the

realities that could face anyone at any

time. Our adversary wants to do his best

to blind the minds of men and women to

their need of real salvation and the final-

ity of death.[c o n t inu e d o n p age 26 ]

http://gospeltrumpeter.com

Sheri

GospelTrumpeter.com

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Ezekiel 36:25 Then will I sprinkleclean water upon you, and ye shall beclean: from all your filthiness, and fromall your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you,and a new spirit will I put within you:and I will take away the stony heart outof your flesh, and I will give you an

heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within

you, and cause you to walk in my stat-utes, and ye shall keep my judgments,and do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the landthat I gave to your fathers; and ye shallbe my people, and I will be your God.

29 I will also save you from all youruncleannesses: and I will call for thecorn, and will increase it, and lay nofamine upon you.

30 And I will multiply the fruit ofthe tree, and the increase of the field,that ye shall receive no more reproach offamine among the heathen.

Brother Roger L. Decker

"The Washing of Regeneration"

I thank the Lord for theprophesy in our Scripture text thathas come to pass. Earlier in thechapter, you can see that theprophesy is concerning the house ofIsrael. Second Peter 1:21 says, "Forthe prophecy came not in old timeby the will of man: but holy men ofGod spake as they were moved bythe Holy Ghost." The Prophet Ezeki-el said that God would sprinkleclean water upon you and youwould be clean. The Prophet Ezekielwas not talking about water bap-tism. He used the expression, "sprin-kle," and we know that water

baptism is by immersion. Also,water baptism is not always donein clean water. Sometimes peopleare baptized in a river, and thatwater may not necessarily be cleanwater.

What is it that God sprinkles onyou to make you clean? He was notspeaking of literal water. You arecleansed from all filthiness and allimpurities by the Word, and thenyou are to walk in His statues andkeep His judgments. That is thechange that took place when I wassaved. When I came to the place ofturning completely to the Lord, Ireceived forgiveness for all my sins,I forsook all sin, and a definite

change took place in my heart andlife. Clean water was sprinkled onme when I obeyed God's Word, andGod gave me a new heart.

What is this water that issprinkled on you? Titus 3:4-5 tellsus: "But after that the kindnessand love of God our Saviourtoward man appeared, Not byworks of righteousness which wehave done, but according to hismercy he saved us, by the washingof regeneration, and renewing of theHoly Ghost."

Ephesians 5 :2 5 -2 6 says:"Husbands, love your wives, even asChrist also loved the church, andgave himself for it; That he might


sanctify and cleanse it with thewashing of water by the word." John15:3 states, "Now ye are cleanthrough the word which I havespoken unto you." First Peter 1:23reads, "Being born again, not ofcorruptible seed, but of incorrupt-ible [seed], by the word of God,which liveth and abideth for ever."

What Is the Heart Capable Of?

What is this new heart, andwhen do you receive it? The heart ofman is the real you. The literal heartkeeps the natural man operating; itis the chief organ of physical life.Likewise, the spiritual heart keepsthe spiritual man alive. There aremany attributes of the heart. Theheart can do many things. The heartis capable of thinking. Jesus said inLuke 24:38, "Why are ye troubled?and why do thoughts arise in yourhearts?"

The heart is capable of beinghardened. We read in Hebrews 3:15,"While it is said, To day if ye willhear his voice, harden not yourhearts, as in the provocation." Theheart is capable of understanding.Proverbs 8:5 says, "O ye simple,understand wisdom: and, ye fools,be ye of an understanding heart."Also, the heart is capable of rejoic-ing. We read in 1 Samuel 2:1, "AndHannah prayed, and said, My heartrejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn isexalted in the LORD: my mouth isenlarged over mine enemies; be-cause I rejoice in thy salvation."

When you believe, you mustbelieve from the heart. In Acts,Chapter 8, you can read that a greatrevival broke out down in Samaria,and an angel of the Lord told Philipto go down from Jerusalem to Gaza.In the desert he met an eunuch.Philip preached to him, and theeunuch asked in verse 36, "Whatdoth hinder me from being bap-tized?" Verse 37 reads, "And Philipsaid, If thou believest with all thineheart, thou mayest. And he an-swered and said, I believe that JesusChrist is the Son of God." That wasmore than merely mouth confession;

it came from the heart.In Acts, Chapter 7, when Ste-

phen was being stoned, we see thatthe heart is capable of being veryagitated and enraged. Verse 54states, "When they heard thesethings, they were cut to the heart,and they gnashed on him with theirteeth." I wanted you to read thesefew Scriptures to show you some ofthe things the heart is capable of.The heart is the man on the inside.When you get saved, that is wherethe change comes, and that is wherethe believing is done. The outwardman makes a way for you to com-municate with others, and it carriesaround the real heart of man. Again,the soul (the heart) of man is capableof thoughts, of anger, of rejoicing,and of being hardened.

The Condition of the Heart

Proverbs 4:23 instructs, "Keepthy heart with all diligence; for outof it are the issues of life." The wellsof the east were watched over withspecial care. The heart is such afountain, because out of it flows theissues of life, and you should neverlet those streams become tainted atthe fountainhead. The condition ofyour heart reveals what you are. Thecondition of your heart determineswhether or not you receive anythingfrom the message.

It takes quite a bit to satisfypeople today. Some people thinkthat serving God is dull. ServingGod is a simple life, but I cannotthink of anything better than marry-ing in the Lord, raising a family, andgoing to church every Wednesdayand twice on Sunday, in addition torevivals and camp meetings. That isa good life, and it will save you fromlots of things. It is good to lie downat night with a conscience void ofoffense, knowing that if God were tocall you home, you would not havea worry about where you wouldspend eternity.

I repeat, the condition of yourheart reveals what you are, for outof it are the issues of life. Out ofyour heart come your actions, your

thinking, and your emotions. Out ofyour heart comes the real you. Con-sider the heart before conversion.Sin dwells in the heart. In Matthew,Chapter 15, they were arguing overthe traditions of man, eating withunwashed hands, and other things.

Matthew 15:16-20 reads: "AndJesus said, Are ye also yet withoutunderstanding? Do not ye yet un-derstand, that whatsoever enterethin at the mouth goeth into the belly,and is cast out into the draught? Butthose things which proceed out ofthe mouth come forth from theheart; and they defile the man. Forout of the heart proceed evilthoughts, murders, adulteries, forni-cations, thefts, false witness, blas-phemies: These are the things whichdefile a man: but to eat withunwashen hands defileth not aman."

Jesus was talking about whensin gets in the heart. When sin getsin the heart, out flow things such aslying, cheating, stealing, and so on.When does a person receive a newheart? The Prophet Ezekiel said inEzekiel, Chapter 36, that when thisclean water is sprinkled on you, youwill be clean. He said in verses 25-26of our Scripture text: "Then will Isprinkle clean water upon you, andye shall be clean: from all your filth-iness, and from all your idols, will Icleanse you. A new heart also will Igive you, and a new spirit will I putwithin you: and I will take away thestony heart out of your flesh, and Iwill give you an heart of flesh."

Quickened With Christ

What kind of heart is a stonyheart? The stony heart is an unre-generate heart that will not submitto God, His will, His command-ments, His Spirit, or His Truth. Thatheart must be removed in order foryou to serve God. When the stonyheart is removed, the Bible says thatGod puts in a new heart, which theProphet Ezekiel calls a heart of flesh.What is a heart of flesh? It is a heartthat is soft and subject to the will ofGod; it is cleansed from all sin.


Ezekiel said after the water issprinkled upon you, you will becleansed from all your filthiness.When does this take place? It takesplace when the clean water is sprin-kled upon you. When is the stonyheart removed? When there is faithin the water that is sprinkled uponyou. Verse 27 of our Scripture textsays, "And I will put my spirit with-in you, and cause you to walk in mystatutes, and ye shall keep my judg-ments, and do them." This is doneduring conversion. All sin is re-moved when one repents and trulyconfesses and forsakes sin.

In Romans 6:5 the Apostle Paulsaid, "For if we have been plantedtogether in the likeness of his death,we shall be also in the likeness of hisresurrection." When you die out tosin, just as Christ died on the Crossfor our sins, you will also be raisedup as He was raised up by the Spiritof God. When you come to an altarof prayer and confess and forsakesin, you will be raised up by thesame Spirit that brought Jesus Christfrom the tomb. There is Bible for it.There is only one Holy Spirit. Assaints, we are planted together likeseed that is sown in the earth, andwe grow together. The Bible says weare raised up together.

The Apostle Paul wrote inEphesians 1:19-20 to the Ephesians,a Gentile congregation: "And whatis the exceeding greatness of hispower to us-ward who believe, ac-cording to the working of his mightypower, Which he wrought in Christ,when he raised him from the dead,and set him at his own right hand inthe heavenly places." Paul wasspeaking of the death and the resur-rection of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-6:"And you hath he quickened, whowere dead in trespasses and sins;Wherein in time past ye walkedaccording to the course of thisworld, according to the prince of thepower of the air, the spirit that nowworketh in the children of disobedi-ence: Among whom also we all hadour conversation in times past in thelusts of our flesh, fulfilling the de-

sires of the flesh and of the mind;and were by nature the children ofwrath, even as others.

"But God, who is rich in mercy,for his great love wherewith heloved us, Even when we were deadin sins, hath quickened us togetherwith Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)And hath raised us up together, andmade us sit together in heavenlyplaces in Christ Jesus." I want you tothink about that last verse.

Again, Ephesians 1:20 reads,"Which he wrought in Christ, whenhe raised him from the dead, and sethim at his own right hand in theheavenly places." The same Spiritthat resurrected Jesus Christ and setHim in the heavenly places raisedus up and caused us to sit in heav-enly places. Paul stated in Romans6:6, "Knowing this, that our old manis crucified with him, that the bodyof sin might be destroyed, thathenceforth we should not serve sin."What does the word henceforthmean? It means "from now on."

Paul said, "Henceforth weshould not serve sin." According tothe Scriptures, when the "old man iscrucified with him, that the body ofsin might be destroyed, that hence-forth [from then on] we should notserve sin." When do you stop serv-ing sin? When you receive the HolyGhost, you stop serving sin; that iswhen you get real salvation. Do youhave to continue to sin? No! Youstop serving sin when the old man iscrucified, when the body of sin isdestroyed. I repeat, from that mo-ment on, you stop serving sin. If the"old man" were alive and well afterconversion, then you would still bea sinner. Friend, if you are doing thesame sinful things that you didwhen you were living in sin, youstill need to be converted.

Purifying Our Hearts by Faith

Acts 15:8-9 reads: "And God,which knoweth the hearts, barethem witness, giving them the HolyGhost, even as he did unto us; Andput no difference between us andthem, purifying their hearts by

faith." Those two Scriptures are usedto show that when you get the HolyGhost, the heart is purified.

Acts 15:1-5: "And certain menwhich came down from Judaeataught the brethren, and said, Ex-cept ye be circumcised after themanner of Moses, ye cannot besaved. When therefore Paul andBarnabas had no small dissensionand disputation with them, theydetermined that Paul and Barnabas,and certain other of them, should goup to Jerusalem unto the apostlesand elders about this question. Andbeing brought on their way by thechurch, they passed throughPhenice and Samaria, declaring theconversion of the Gentiles: and theycaused great joy unto all the breth-ren.

"And when they were come toJerusalem, they were received of thechurch, and of the apostles and el-ders, and they declared all thingsthat God had done with them. Butthere rose up certain of the sect ofthe Pharisees which believed, say-ing, That it was needful to circum-cise them, and to command them tokeep the law of Moses."

Some men came down fromJudaea to teach the brethren. TheJews told the brethren if they werenot circumcised according to thepractice of Moses, they could not besaved. The Scripture says that whenPaul and Barnabas disputed withthem, they arranged for Paul andBarnabas and some others to go upto Jerusalem to the Apostles. Thatwas to get the question settled onceand for all. They were sent on theirway by the church. They passedthrough Phenice and Samaria, andas they passed through, they toldthe story of the conversion of theGentiles, and that brought great joyamongst the brethren.

When they arrived at Jerusalem,they were received by the church,the Apostles, and the elders. Theytold the story of all that God haddone, but some men of the Phari-sees, who were converts, rose upand, in essence, said, "It is necessaryto circumcise them and to command


The path of theworld may seemspleasant enoughif you don't stopto think whereyou are going.

them to keep the law of Moses." Verses 6-12 read: "And the

apostles and elders came togetherfor to consider of this matter. Andwhen there had been much disput-ing, Peter rose up, and said untothem, Men and brethren, ye knowhow that a good while ago Godmade choice among us, that theGentiles by my mouth should hearthe word of the gospel, and believe.And God, which knoweth thehearts, bare them witness, givingthem the Holy Ghost, even as he didunto us [he was referring to whathad happened at Cornelius's houseand how the Holy Ghost waspoured out on the Gentiles]; Andput no difference between us andthem, purifying their hearts by faith.

"Now therefore why tempt yeGod, to put a yoke upon the neck ofthe disciples, which neither ourfathers nor we were able to bear?But we believe that through thegrace of the Lord Jesus Christ weshall be saved, even as they. Thenall the multitude kept silence, andgave audience to Barnabas and Paul,declaring what miracles and won-ders God had wrought among theGentiles by them."

The Apostles and the elders metto investigate this question. After agreat deal of discussion, Peter stoodup and said, in essence: "You knowthat in the early days God made Hischoice among us so that through mymouth the Gentiles should hear theGospel and believe. God, whoknows men's hearts, bare His ownwitness to them by giving them theHoly Spirit just as He had done forus. There was Pentecost, and therewas also the pouring out of the HolyGhost Cornelius's house.

"He made no distinctionbetween us and them, for He puri-fied their hearts by faith. So why doyou now tempt God by placing onthe necks of the disciples the yokes,which neither our fathers nor wehad the strength to bear? It isthrough the grace of Jesus Christthat we believe we have been savedin exactly the same way as theyhave been saved." The whole assem-

bly fell silent. They listened to Bar-nabas and Paul as they told the storyof all the signs and wonders Godhad done among the heathenthrough them.

Going back to verses 8-9, weread: "And God, which knoweth thehearts, bare them witness, givingthem the Holy Ghost [He was talk-ing about the Gentiles], even as hedid unto us; And put no differencebetween us and them, purifyingtheir hearts by faith."

How were their hearts purified?Were they purified by the HolyGhost or by faith? Again, verse 9states, "And put no differencebetween us and them, purifyingtheir hearts by faith." That is howyou and I were converted. When theGospel sprinkled clean water uponus, or on the inner man, we gaveobedience to that water that wassprinkled. God gave us conversionand purified our hearts by faith.God could not give the Holy Ghostto anyone who did not have faith.

Do You Have a Pure Heart?

Psalm 24:1-4 reads: "The earth isthe LORD'S, and the fulness thereof;the world, and they that dwelltherein. For he hath founded it uponthe seas, and established it upon thefloods. Who shall ascend into thehill of the LORD? or who shall standin his holy place? He that hath cleanhands, and a pure heart; who hathnot lifted up his soul unto vanity,nor sworn deceitfully."

That is an Old Testamentprophesy concerning the church.The question was asked, "Who shallascend into the hill of the LORD? orwho shall stand in his holy place?"What is the hill of the Lord? Psalm2:6 tells us, "Yet have I set my kingupon my holy hill of Zion." Zion is atype that represents the Church ofGod, so the Church of God is theholy hill—Mount Zion is the Churchof God. If you say there is still sin inthe heart when one is born into thechurch, then the message of holinesswould be a farce. When you areconverted, you ascend into the hill

of the Lord; in other words, youenter the church. If you were to saythere is still sin in the heart, then themessage would be against holiness.The message of holiness is not afairy tale.

In order for sin to be laid toone's account, two things must bepresent. This is how you can knowwhether something is sin or not: youmust have knowledge and will. Sincan be committed in two forms: thesin of omission and the sin of com-mission. First, let us read about thesin of omission. James 4:17 tells us,"Therefore to him that knoweth todo good, and doeth it not, to him itis sin." I want you to notice twowords in that Scripture: "knoweth"and "doeth," which take in yourknowledge and your will.

Next, there is a sin of com-mission. First John 3:4 reads, "Who-soever committeth sin transgressethalso the law: for sin is the transgres-sion of the law." God gives you theright to choose, just as He did Adamand Eve. Are not all souls theLord's? Is it not God who gives asoul? Inheriting a sinful soul wouldmean that God gives you a defiledsoul; therefore, one could come backand charge God. However, we knowthat is not true.

When one is saved, he receives aclean heart. He receives a heart offlesh that is receptive to God's laws,His commandments, and His will.You receive a new heart in conver-sion. As the Lord looks upon youright now, how does He see yourheart? Does He see defilement ordoes He see a pure heart?

(Compact Disc TR-765E)


John 10:7 Then said Jesus untothem again, Verily, verily, I say untoyou, I am the door of the sheep.

8 All that ever came before me arethieves and robbers: but the sheep didnot hear them.

9 I am the door: by me if any manenter in, he shall be saved, and shall goin and out, and find pasture.

10 The thief cometh not, but for tosteal, and to kill, and to destroy: I amcome that they might have life, and thatthey might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the goodshepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling, andnot the shepherd, whose own the sheepare not, seeth the wolf coming, andleaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and thewolf catcheth them, and scattereth thesheep.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he isan hireling, and careth not for thesheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and

know my sheep, and am known of mine.15 As the Father knoweth me, even

so know I the Father: and I lay down mylife for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have, whichare not of this fold: them also I mustbring, and they shall hear my voice; andthere shall be one fold, and one shep-herd.

17 Therefore doth my Father loveme, because I lay down my life, that Imight take it again.

18 No man taketh it from me, but Ilay it down of myself. I have power tolay it down, and I have power to take itagain. This commandment have Ireceived of my Father.

19 There was a division thereforeagain among the Jews for these sayings.

20 And many of them said, He hatha devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

21 Others said, These are not thewords of him that hath a devil. Can adevil open the eyes of the blind?

22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast

of the dedication, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple

in Solomon's porch. 24 Then came the Jews round about

him, and said unto him, How long dostthou make us to doubt? If thou be theChrist, tell us plainly.

25 Jesus answered them, I told you,and ye believed not: the works that I doin my Father's name, they bear witnessof me.

26 But ye believe not, because yeare not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

27 My sheep hear my voice, and Iknow them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternallife; and they shall never perish, neithershall any man pluck them out of myhand.

29 My Father, which gave them me,is greater than all; and no man is able topluck them out of my Father's hand.

30 I and my Father are one.

Brother Paul Prinkey

Benefits of Being in the Fold

I want to share a few thoughtsconcerning why the fold is a goodplace to be. The first good reason to

be in His fold is, Jesus said in ourScripture text in verse 9, "I am thedoor: by me if any man enter in, heshall be saved. . . ." That is a goodreason to be in the fold. He does not

merely save you from sin and giveyou salvation. Salvation is morethan that. He will save you from allyour troubles. David said in Psalm34:4, "I sought the LORD, and He


heard me, and delivered me from allmy fears." Today we are troubled onevery side, yet not distressed. ThankGod! Why? Christ is our Savior, andHe will save us. If you are goingthrough a hardship or if you areafflicted, God will save you fromthat.

The second good reason to be inthe fold is, you will find satisfaction.In the latter part of verse 9 of ourScripture text Jesus said, ". . . heshall be saved, and shall go in andout, and find pasture." I havewatched people take care of theirflocks and herds. As they take careof them, they work for the well-be-ing of the animals. They switchthem from one pasture to anotherfor them to eat. Those animals staysatisfied.

If you are satisfied in yourexperience, you will not search anyplace other than the Church of God.God has everything that you need inthe pasture of the Church of God.You will not try to fill up on some-thing else. You will put your legsunder the Father's table and begin tofeast.

The third good reason to be inthe fold of the Lord is, you will findmore abundant life. Jesus said inverse 10 of our Scripture text, "Thethief cometh not, but for to steal, andto kill, and to destroy: I am comethat they might have life, and thatthey might have it more abun-dantly." I am glad there is moreabundant life through Jesus Christ!Before I was saved, I was alive, butnot to God. I had a physical exis-tence, but I was dead spiritually.The day that God saved me, Hedelivered me from sin and gave menew life through the Spirit of theLord. I experienced abundant life,which goes far beyond a physicalexistence. I have life whenever itdoes not seem there is any reason tolive.

You may become discouragedand feel that there is just no use inbeing here. You can pray to God,just as Elijah talked to Him and said:"You might as well take me on to bewith my fathers. There is no use in

my staying down here." You mayfeel that way, but abundant life willstill carry you through, and it willgive you a reason for living.

The fourth good reason to be inthe fold of the Lord is, we will haveeternal life, not just abundant life. Iam not living merely for this tem-poral, physical world. There issomething beyond this world that Iam living for, and it is eternal life.Jesus told us in verse 28 of our Scrip-ture text, "And I give unto themeternal life; and they shall neverperish, neither shall any man pluckthem out of my hand." Eternal lifecan only come through Jesus Christ.You cannot have it any other way.

Last, a good reason to be in thefold is, we are under His protection.You would not be able to last a dayas a Christian without the protectionof our Heavenly Father. First John4:4 tells us, "Greater is He that is inyou, than he that is in the world."The one in the world is greater thanany of us. The only reason we areable to live and to be victorious isthat our Heavenly Father holds us inHis hands. He has the biggest handsof any person I know of, and He canfit all of us in the palms of His handsand keep us safe. He can shelter uswhenever the storms come, and Hewill keep us safe from all harm.

Divine Protection

God told Israel in Exodus 19:4, "Ibare you on eagles' wings, andbrought you unto myself." Theythought there was no hope, so theycried out to God for mercy. Whatdid God do? He sent Moses to bringthem out of Egypt on eagles' wingsto Himself; in other words, underHis protection. Today we have thatsame protection. Jesus said in John10:29, "My Father, which gave themme, is greater than all; and no manis able to pluck them out of my Fa-ther's hand." I thank God that wecan have this security. Friend, aslong as you want to be kept, Godwill keep you.

Jesus spoke to Jerusalem in Hisday and said in Matthew 23:37,

"How often would I have gatheredthy children together, even as a hengathereth her chickens under herwings, and ye would not!" Jesuslonged to be a protector to the Jewsand to have them as a part of Hisfold, but they rejected Him, andultimately, Jesus rejected them. Je-sus gave a revelation in verse 16 ofour Scripture text when He said,"And other sheep I have, which arenot of this fold: them also I mustbring, and they shall hear my voice;and there shall be one fold, and oneshepherd."

The Jews were selfish people, asa whole, and they did not want toshare Jesus with anyone. They didnot want to believe that He was theMessiah, and they got themselves ina place where Jesus was striving todraw them in under His protection,but they kept pushing Him away. Itwas not always that way in Jesus'ministry, you will find in His earlydays that the Jews held Him in highesteem.

In John 3:2 Nicodemus paidJesus a visit one night and said toHim, "Rabbi, we know [Who wasNicodemus talking about when hesaid we? He was talking about thescribes, the Pharisees, and the reli-gious hierarchy of that day.] thatthou art a teacher come from God."

The Jews esteemed Christ as agood teacher, but He started gettinginto trouble when He began to dealwith some of their traditions andtold them how they ought to live,who they ought to love, and the waythey ought to conduct their lives.When He got to the heart of thematter, they started to reject Himand said: "Who is this man? Whodoes He think He is? He cannot tellus to lay aside our traditions be-cause we are making the Word ofGod of none affect. He healed on theSabbath day, yet we have a law thatyou are not supposed to do that onthe Sabbath."

Therefore, the Jews began toreject Him. They turned from theirsupport of Christ to working againstHim. Jesus finally had to say: "Youare either for Me or against Me, one


or the other. There is no middleground. You must make yourchoice."

God gives each of us a choice.Every day you make the choice,"Am I going to be God's today?"Even as the Jews in Jesus' day tooksteps that effectively separated themfrom Jesus' care, people in our daydo things that separate them fromthe fold of Christ. It is not by chanceor by accident that people quitserving God. It is a result of con-scious decisions and actions whenthey end up leaving the fold.

Blaming Others

I want to deal with a few waysthat people cut themselves off fromthe fold. Too many people like toblame others for their problems.They like to say that the pastormade them give up on the Lord orthat some hypocrite in the congrega-tion drove them away. Some peopleblame their failure on problems atwork from a harsh boss or a wifewho does not understand or ahusband who gives them a hardtime about going to church. Peoplehave a host of excuses when theywant to turn their backs on God.

I ask you to give seriousconsideration to the ways thatpeople cut themselves off. No oneelse can cut you off from a spiritualexperience with God. If you are notliving for the Lord today, if you onceknew the Lord and have left thechurch, you cannot blame anyonebut the person you look at in themirror every morning. You are theone who is at fault. No one canmake you give up on God.

In the Scripture text you readthat no man can pluck you out of theFather's hand. Your wife or yourhusband cannot do it, your childrencannot do it, and your pastor cannotdo it. You have to remove yourself ifyou quit living for God.

You may say: "You don'tunderstand what I have to dealwith. I have an unsaved compan-ion." No, I might not understandeverything about that, because I

have never had to experience it; butI do understand my HeavenlyFather, and He has broad hands. Myhands are large, but they are nowhere near the size of God's hands.He has broad hands to keep you in.No man, no woman, and no creaturecan pluck you out. You may say,"But that person is evil." Neverthe-less, that person cannot pluck youout of God's hand. We have theWord of Jesus Christ, and I haveconfidence in His Word.

Disregarding God's Word

The first way that people cutthemselves off from the fold ofChrist is by disregarding God'sWord. Second Corinthians 13:1-3says: "This is the third time I amcoming to you. In the mouth of twoor three witnesses shall every wordbe established. I told you before, andforetell you, as if I were present, thesecond time; and being absent nowI write to them which heretoforehave sinned, and to all other, that, ifI come again, I will not spare: Sinceye seek a proof of Christ speaking inme, which to you-ward is not weak,but is mighty in you."

Paul made full proof of hisministry. He said when he went tothem, he did not go in words ofman's wisdom, but he went preach-ing Christ and Him crucified. Signsand works followed his preaching.Paul had to write to them a thirdtime. He said some had sinned, butall the others needed to listen too.He included everyone. So whenyour pastor is preaching, you shouldnot feel that he is picking on you. Heis preaching the message to thewhole congregation, whether youare guilty or not. If your face getsred and your heart gets heavy,maybe you need to pray. Your coun-tenance tells on you many times.Sometimes people have heard it,and they have heard it again, andthen the pastor tells them a thirdtime. Researchers say that peopleonly get one third of what they hear,so maybe that is the reason thepreacher has to repeat himself two

or three times. That way people willget 100 percent of what he says.

Some people say they believethe Bible, but they have troubleobeying the message that the pastorpreaches under the anointing of theSpirit of God. Are you living what ispreached? You may say, "Well, now,he is just a man." Yes, but he isGod's man. I always liked John 1:6,which says, "There was a man sentfrom God, whose name was John."Today God still sends men, and theyhave the authority to wield theWord. They are able to exhort andexert the authority that God hasgiven them. If you make concessionson God's Word, you are heading fortrouble. The process of cutting your-self off has already begun.

You must remember that muchof the Word of God was giventhrough a man, so you still have tolisten to a man if you are going tobelieve the Bible. The Word of Godwas sanctified by God and it wasgiven through holy men of Godanointed by the Holy Ghost. TheWord of God must be accepted asthe final authority for rules andguidelines and for the standard ofliving for our lives. God's Word isnot a suggestion to the child of God.God's Word is the final authority. Ifyou begin to wrest the Scriptures,resist them, and resist what thepastor is saying, you are settingyourself up for a fall. Then it willnot be long until the spiritual lifeyou have will be snuffed out.

God still means what He saysthrough the pastor, and God hasdesigned for every one of us to bepastored, or ruled. People do notlike the word ruled. It goes againstthe grain of some people, but Godintended His people to be ruled.Believe it or not, you need to be toldwhat you ought to do. You may say,"I am an adult now; I make my ownway in life." You are heading fortrouble, if you are not already there.I do not know of anyone who is aself-made man or a self-madewoman.

God's Word must be accepted asthe final authority. Do you listen to


your pastor? Does your life testify tothe message that he is preachingwhen you go out into the world?Are you tearing down the congre-gation and the message by the lifeyou are living?

Having an Independent Spirit

The second way that peopleseparate themselves from the fold is,they get an independent spirit. In2 Corinthians 3:5 Paul said, "Notthat we are sufficient of ourselves tothink any thing as of ourselves; butour sufficiency is of God." He said in2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have thistreasure in earthen vessels, that theexcellency of the power may be ofGod, and not of us."

Thinking that you can make iton your own and do all right is amistake. You need help from God,you need the help of your godlypastor, and you need help from thecongregation. There is somethingelse that God has put in each of usthat causes us to be a people whoneed to associate with others of likeprecious faith. When you get saved,something automatically happens,and that is, God will cause you towant to be with His people. Youwill want to attend church.

Before I got saved, I did not evenwant to meet the pastor at the doorwhen the service was over. I did notwant to be at the house of God in thefirst place, and the pastor probablynoticed it. Sometimes I would leaveby the side door so I could avoidhim, because he always stood at theback doors to shake people's handswhen the service was over. I wasliving wrong and feeling con-demned and convicted, so I did notwant to meet him or to be aroundhim. The closer I got to God's peo-ple, the worse I felt, so when theservices were over, I tried to get outof there as quickly as I could.

Something happened after Igave my life to God. January 1, 1986,a message was preached, and theSpirit of God got hold of my heartthat night, and I did not get away. Iknelt down at an altar of prayer and

prayed through, and God saved me.Next, I stood to my feet and made aconfession to the congregation.When the service ended, I did nothave any desire to run for the sidedoor anymore. I wanted to keepcompany with the people of God,shake their hands, and hug theirnecks. It has been that way eversince. I do not have to run awayfrom God's people. I want to bearound them.

There is a sense of fellowshipand a desire for unity that I havenow that I did not have before I wassaved. Where did it come from? Itcame from salvation through theSpirit of God. However, you have totake care, lest an independent spirittry to take hold of you.

Sometimes you may be temptedto keep to yourself. The devil trou-bles every one of us; no one is ex-empt. The devil will come around,and you may be in the midst of atrial or a battle and you do not wantanyone to know what you are goingthrough. When you hang on by yourown strength, or if you think youcan, you become weak. You cannotstand on your own. You do not haveany sufficiency of yourself. Paul toldus that our sufficiency is of God. TheChristian needs to pray and lay theirtroubles on the altar. You may needto counsel with the pastor. If you tryto bear the battle in your ownstrength, you will get weak, and thedevil will get his foot in the door.The next thing you know, you willbegin to miss the church servicesand make excuses about why youdo not go.

A person with an independentspirit is most susceptible to beingdevoured by the devil. In John 15:5Jesus said, "Without me ye can donothing." You cannot live a success-ful life without God. God will notsupport, promote, or back a self-sufficient attitude. You have to giveup self and allow God to take con-trol. Your pastor can be one of thebest persons to help you in yourhardest battles. Sometimes we eachneed help.

You may say, "But Paul told the

Galatians to bear their own bur-dens." However, he said in verse 2of the same chapter, "Bear ye oneanother's burdens, and so fulfil thelaw of Christ." Sometimes you maygo through troubles and comethrough victorious, but other timesyou might have to seek help. Oneway you can receive help is to talkto your pastor. God gives a pastorbroad shoulders to bear yourtroubles too.

Do not let the devil get theadvantage of you. Do not be igno-rant of his devices. He wants to getyou off by yourself and get you torely on your own strength, yourown knowledge, and your own un-derstanding. If you are not leaningon someone when you need to, thedevil will take advantage of youevery time.

Having a Love for Worldly Things

The third way that people cutthemselves off from the fold is byloving worldly things. Paul spokeabout his helper Demas in 2 Timo-thy 4:10 and said, "For Demas hathforsaken me, having loved this pres-ent world." This has gotten hold ofmore people than not. Probablymore than half of the people whohave ceased to follow God havedone so because they lusted after theworld; they lusted after worldlythings. Demas effectively cut him-self off from the fold by his love forworldly things. People try to placethe blame for their downfalls andshortcomings on other people orsituations, but the blame falls on theindividuals themselves.

Second Peter 2:20 says, "For ifafter they have escaped thepollutions of the world through theknowledge of the Lord and SaviourJesus Christ, they are again en-tangled therein, and overcome,the latter end is worse with themthan the beginning." Sadly, I havewatched this happen to many peo-ple. They are in worse shape todaythan ever before. It would have beenbetter for them to have never knownthe Lord than to have turned their


backs on Him. How do people become en-

tangled again with the world? Theyget too close to the world. You mustput a separation between you andthe world and keep your distance.Why? If you get too close to thethings of the world, you will end upbeing snared by them. Certain temp-tations may be greater than you canbear; therefore, if you put yourselfin a compromising position, youmay give in.

In the Old Testament Josephknew how to keep himself pure, andit required him to run in the face oftemptation. Some people need torun, because they are just too closeto being ensnared again and entan-gled in the things of the world. Theyare toying with what the world hasto offer, paying more attention to thebright lights than to the church sign.In just a matter of time, if they donot get close to God where theyought to be, their spiritual lives willbe snuffed out. You cannot toy withthe things of the world and get by.Some people have stumbled, andthen they have gotten down tobusiness with God and straightenedout their lives. God will tarry for awhile with you, but He will not waitforever. In the days of Noah Godtarried, but He did not wait forever.God still deals the same way today.The Spirit of God is still speaking.You need to listen. He is speakingfor your own good; it is for our ownbenefit. You will end up cuttingyourself off from the fold if you lustafter worldly things.

I have hunted a lot in themountains of Pennsylvania, and wehave green briars in the woods thatstay green even in the wintertime.The animals like to hide in thosebriars because predators cannoteasily get into those thick briarbushes. In order for me to get themout of there, I would go in there andstomp the bushes and spook themout so I could get a good shot atthem. I have gotten myself so entan-gled in those green briars that Icould hardly get loose. I would haveto set my gun down and start pick-

ing off the briars to make a path toget out because I had become soentangled. Sometimes that is whathappens to people spiritually. Theyget into the devil's briar patch wherethey do not belong. They get so tan-gled in the thorns and the briars thatthey are held captive. If you get intothe devil's briar patch, you cannotblame anyone else.

When I hunted and got intothose briars, more times than not, Idid not get what I was after. That isjust what the devil does to people.He sets up something that seems sogood, saying: "Ah, wouldn't you liketo do this? Doesn't that look enter-taining and good?" About the timeyou set foot in it, you are ensnaredand you never do get what you areafter. What are people after today?They are trying to find fulfillment,pleasure, satisfaction, and happi-ness. What do they get out of sin?They reap death, misery, grief, loss,regrets, depression, discouragement,and despair. Nothing good comesout of the world.

James 4:4 tells us, "Whosoevertherefore will be a friend of theworld is the enemy of God." Thatshould stand as enough of a warn-ing to every one of us as children ofGod. We must stay away fromquestionable things, things thatwould cause us to compromise ourstand for God.

Jesus said in Revelation 2:4,"Thou hast left thy first love." If youhave left your love for Christ, youhave developed a love for worldlythings. I can guarantee you that youare in love with something. If youdo not love Jesus, you love some-thing else. Maybe it is the boat thatyou have in the garage that youhave only used once. It is said thereare only two good days in owning aboat: the day you buy it and the dayyou sell it. People spend hours ontheir boats to keep them clean andto keep a tarp over them, but oftenthey never leave the driveway.

One fellow was so in love withfishing. He was a professed Chris-tian, and one Sunday morning hecalled his buddy and asked if he

wanted to go fishing. His buddysaid: "I have never fished with youon Sunday. I thought you alwayswent to church."

The man said, "Well, my wife issick this morning, so I couldn't goanyway."

Have you left your first love? Ifyou do not love Jesus, what do youlove?

Lacking Earnest Endeavor

The fourth way that peopleseparate themselves from the fold ofChrist is, they lack earnest endeavor.They do not put their whole heartsinto serving God. Hebrews 11:6speaks of God being a "rewarder ofthem that diligently seek him." Sec-ond Timothy 2:15 says, "Study toshow thyself approved unto God, aworkman that needeth not to beashamed." Many people have cutthemselves off by lacking the spiri-tual drive and the motivation theyneed. They have allowed thelaziness of the flesh to take over.Some people have become lazy.

One man spoke these words: "Ihave very little sympathy for anyman who has been redeemed by theprecious blood of the Son of Godand who has not got the spirit ofwork." If you are a child of God, youshould not have one lazy drop ofblood in your veins. If a man tellsme that he has been saved and doesnot desire to work for the glory ofGod, I doubt his salvation. Lazinessbelongs to the old man, not the newman.

D. L. Moody said: "In all myexperience, I never knew a lazy manto be converted, never. I have morehope for the salvation of drunkards,thieves, and harlots than a lazyman." Again, some people lack themotivation, or the earnest endeavor,of putting their whole hearts intothe work of God.

The faithful Christian wants tobe at church and wants to see if thepastor needs a helping hand. Hewants to be there listening when-ever the prayer requests are goingforth to bear the burdens of those in


The world doesn't need a

definition of religion as badly as

it needs a demonstration.

need. He wants to help where hecan. Some people get to the pointwhere apathy and laziness of theflesh sets in, and they begin to layback.

As young people come alongand grow up, we need to make aplace for them. It is time for them tostart to bear the yoke of the church.My father always taught me that Ineeded to learn to bear the yoke inmy youth, and that is good. Weneed more youth bearing the yokein the church, not just leaving it upto a few people to play musical in-struments, sing, and testify.

Young person, this is a commonsalvation. If others can do it, you cando it as well. You need to pray aboutit and ask God to burden your heartwith a testimony, a song, or a gift. Iwonder sometimes what the futureof the church is going to be if peoplekeep laying back and letting otherpeople do the work. You need to putyour heart into the work of God.

We need to have the spirit ofwork and the spirit of earnestendeavor. If you become lazy onGod, you will end up losing yourexperience over it. The laziness ofthe flesh begins to take over whenpeople quit seeking God's help intheir battles. In Psalm 63:1 Davidsaid, "O God, thou art my God; earlywill I seek thee." You should notwait until you are just hanging by athread; you must seek Him early. Assoon as I know I have a problem, Ibegin to pray and take my burdenbefore the Lord. His Word instructsme that I can cast all my cares onHim, because He cares for me; andthat is what I am doing. Jesus said inMatthew 21:22, "And all things,whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,believing, ye shall receive."

The laziness of the flesh beginsto take over when people quitputting forth effort to be in church.Often when you ask them about it,they give the halfhearted reply,"Well, I just did not feel up to goingthat night." What if every time thepreacher did not quite feel up topreaching he just sat there? Whatwould you think of him? People

think it is all right for them becausethey are just laity. They may say:"Don't count on me too much,preacher. I might be there and Imight not." They need an old-fashioned spiritual pitch fork to helpthem along.

One time when my parentsasked me, "Are you ready forchurch?" I said, "I don't want to go."Their reply was: "That's too bad. It'stime to leave. You have three min-utes to get ready." I knew whatwould happen after three minutes ifI was not ready. The board of educa-tion would have been applied to theseat of knowledge. You may say,"Well, I'm an adult now." Then youought to be more responsible. Youshould get your dress clothes on andget to church. Sometimes I marvel athow easily people put off going tochurch. If the smallest thing hap-pens, they are ready to stay home.One brother said, "Christians arejust like cars: they start missing be-fore they quit." That is exactly whathappens.

Some people get lazy when itcomes to studying the Bible. Howcan you learn more about Christ andGod's ways and how you ought tolive unless you study the Book? InPsalm 119:11 David said, "Thy wordhave I hid in mine heart, that Imight not sin against thee." I do notwant to be caught unawares andend up doing something that dis-pleases God. I want to learn moreabout His Word. Psalm 119:9 says,"Wherewithal shall a young mancleanse his way? by taking heedthereto according to thy word."

Some people get lazy and do notwant to study the Bible to get guid-ance from God. Sometimes peopleget to the point where they do not

want to seek council from the pastorwhenever they need it. If you have agodly pastor, he can be one of yourgreatest helps in your time of need.Sometimes you have to motivateyourself. Perhaps you have prayedand asked God to help you, but youare not getting the help you need.What do you need to do? Youshould go talk to your pastor aboutit and council with him. You mightbe amazed at how quickly you canget the victory once you talk to yourpastor. He is the watchman on thewall.

Are you cutting yourself offfrom the fold? Maybe you havealready cut yourself off from thefold. There is hope in the Lord. JesusChrist will receive you if you willseek Him. The Holy Scripturespromise that in the day that youseek Him with all your heart, youwill find Him. There could come atime in your experience when youcool off or drift away from God. Youneed to draw close to Him again.

Friend, you need to get down tobusiness with God and lay your lifewide open before Him. You maysay, "I did that when I got saved."Sometimes you need to do it again.You need to let God search yourheart and life. Where do you standwith Him today. Is everything clearbefore God? Have you let somethingdrive a wedge between you andGod? Isaiah 55:6 instructs, "Seek yethe LORD while he may be found,call ye upon him while he is near."He is near. His ear has not becomedeaf. He can still hear, and He canstill reach out and deliver. Won'tyou let God have His way in yourheart and life?

(Compact D isc TR-450M )


The Great Deliverer

There is no sickness but there is a balm;There is no storm but soon must come a calm;There is no broken heart but can be healed;No harsh earth noise but can in peace be stilled;No deep bereavement but shall find reliefDeeper and greater than was ere the grief;No bitter wail but shall give way to song;No sufferer whose sufferings may not cease;No prisoner who may not find release;No earthly sorrow but hath its reward—If only we will wait and trust in the Lord.

The Apostle Paul prayed for his fellow Christians atEphesus on his knees, saying to them: "For this cause Ibow my knees unto the Father of our Lord JesusChrist. . . . That Christ may dwell in your hearts byfaith . . ." (Ephesians 3:14, 17).

There is a great difference between visiting a placeand living there. To have a snapshot memory of abeautiful experience is quite different from enjoying itperpetually. The Lord does not desire an occasionalentry into our hearts or a weekend visit from Saturdaynight to Monday morning. He wants to live in our heartsevery day and night—continuously; yet how manypeople simply entertain Him over Sunday, and whenMonday morning comes and they must be about theirusual work, they go on their way without Him! They nolonger have room for Him. They do not arrange for Himto settle down and live with them permanently. What apity!

Some people often treat Jesus as a virtual stranger.Their conversation with Him is very limited. It is somuch like the language of speaking to someone in thehallway. It does not breathe the loving atmosphere ofliving together in the whole house.

In years gone by, the Lord raised prophets andapostles for a special task. Today He uses His calledministers of the Gospel, pastors, teachers, and others inthe church with their gifts and talents. What betterinspiration can there be for such grateful service than toexperience Christ living in your heart, making Hisdwelling and home within you by faith. May you alwayslet Him feel at home in your heart, thoughts, attitudes,disposition, conversation, play, and leisure. Then your

service for Him will be real, joyous, and fruitful.The Psalmist said in Psalm 143:5-6: I remember

the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse onthe work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands untothee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land.Selah." Today one wonders if a far deeper and moreblessed connection with Heaven in the form of prayerwere visible, how many hands of communication wewould see reaching up to Heaven? How many personswould bow their knees before God's throne? God sees.He knows if your life is marked by the up reach ofprayer.

In the hectic hurry and rush of our present time,many people have lost much of that leisurely commu-nion with God that marked the like of our spiritualancestors. In the beautiful language of the psalm, wehave a glimpse of the indwelling of Christ in us. Davidsaid: "I remember . . . I meditate . . . I muse on the worksof thy hands . . . I stretch forth my hands unto thee."

Today so much of people's time is spent relaxing.The sweet hours of prayer that used to call people froma world of care have shrunk to minutes and evenseconds. Short sermons, short meditations, short prayersare preferred and demanded. There is not much time leftfor God and His program.

Sadly, there is no room in the inn for the Christ, butthere is room for everything else under the sun. Howspiritually impoverished are many people's homes andhearts!

The greatest need to Christendom today is the needof a dynamic, magnetic power of the Holy Spirit tocleanse and purify and strengthen people and to drawthem closer to Him so that they may have the faith andthe power and the wisdom to defy Satan and overcomesin.

Selected


The word youth is defined as "atime of life when one is young; anearly period of growth and develop-ment." Even if you have walkedwith the Lord for many years, it isstill "an early period of growth anddevelopment" in the light of eter-nity. As a Christian, you want tocontinually be in a period of growthand development. If you are notgrowing in the Lord, you areshrinking. If you are not increasingin your love for God, His Word, andfor one another, then you are de-creasing and falling short. You areeither hot or cold, a saint or a sin-ner.

If you become stagnant, youbecome like an old puddle of water.No life can be supported in a stag-nant pool. Have you ever walked bya pool of water that has been sittingfor a long time? It does not smellgood, it does not look good, and it isnot appealing to anyone. Likewise,if you stand around and do not putyourself into serving God, you willnot be appealing to anyone. Thereis absolute beauty and value inyouth. Young people are very spe-cial in the eyes of God, and theywere special in the eyes of Christwhen He was here.

At one time in my life I believedthat life was not worth living. I hadturned my back on God and thepeople whom I loved and caredabout. I honestly thought the worldwould be a better place without me.The devil had convinced me of that.

One afternoon in the spring-

time, I stopped by the homes of oldfriends, places of work, and placesof business to say goodbye to people.As I was driving home, I drove bythe Stegmeier's house (pastor of theChurch of God in Canby, Oregon). Ihad not seen any of them for quitesome time, and I thought, "I amgoing to stop by and say goodbye." Iwas friends with many of the chil-dren. I walked in and sat down andsaid, "Hey, how are you all doing?"

Sister Stegmeier was teachingpiano in another room, and sud-denly she walked over to me andpulled me up out of the chair,grabbed my hand, and said, "Chris,we really love you." I looked at herand started to cry. She started tocry and said, "Chris, you need tomake things right." She was very intune with me as a young person,and I thank God for that. She sawin me the value of an eternitybound soul. She perceived that Ineeded a little encouragement andhelp in the place that I was in. Sheunderstands that youth can be avery difficult time in life.

There are many challenges inyouth that are not found in anyother time in life. There are difficultdecisions, difficult changes, and try-ing to understand exactly whatyour place is the world is. If you aresaved, you have the God of all cre-ation who can give you those an-swers. The God who created theentire universe and each of us is sointerested in you that He will takethe time to show you exactly what

you should be, who you shouldmarry, and what you should do inlife in the work of the church.

Some people pay big money tosit in the presence of what theyconsider greatness, whether it is asporting event, a political dinner, orto hear a prominent politicianspeak; yet the God of all creation isready to speak to people as soon asthey will submit to Him, but peoplelet that go as though it does notmatter. There is amazing potentialin youth. God has pastors, evan-gelists, song leaders, and preachers.Young person, He could call you toone of these positions as easily as itcould be the next person, but Godwants willing young people.

Sometimes it is difficult as ayoung person. Do you ever feel thatyou are hard to be understood? Iknow I did. Sometimes it seemedthat my mother did not understandme, and that is natural. God under-stands you, and though sometimesit may seem that an older personmay not understand, believe me,they do. They understand what youare going through, and they wantyou to be successful in your spiri-tual life.

I want to talk to you about themeaning of success from a spiritualperspective and the differencesbetween godly success and worldlysuccess, as well as some similarcharacteristics that all successfulpeople share.

If I could speak to you and askyou, "Do you want to be successful

Keys to SuccessPart 1


as a Christian?" if you were honest,you would say, "Yes, I want to be asuccessful Christian." One of thegreatest things about serving God isthat we each have the exact sameopportunity to be as successful asthe next. We all start at the exactsame place in our walk with God,which is at an altar of prayer. It allstarts exactly the same for a child ofGod, and there is no reason foranyone to be unsuccessful. We allhave the same exact means andways to be successful in the eyes ofGod. The thing that is beautifulabout this is that life turns out dif-ferently for every Christian. Though

we each can be equally successful inserving God, it does not mean thatwe will turn out just alike.

Young person, you have anopportunity to become hugely suc-cessful in the service of God. Godcan use you in your youth, He canuse you in your middle age, and Hecan use you as you get older. Justlike there is beauty and value toyouth, there is also real beauty andvalue to an elderly person.

As I talk about success, I wantyou to keep an open mind aboutwhat success is as it is defined bythe world and as seen in the eyes ofGod and godly individuals. I wantyou to determine in your heart thatyou are going to be a successfulChristian, no matter what.

The definition of success is "theachievement of intention; theachievement of something plannedor attempted; attainment of fame,wealth, or power; impressiveachievement, especially the attain-ment of fame, wealth or power;something that turns out well;something that turns out asplanned or intended; or somebodysuccessful, often defined as someonewho is wealthy, famous, or powerfulbecause of a record of achievement."

In simply reading this defini-tion, you can plainly see that theworld's view of success is pervertedand out of line with what God'sview of success is. How important isit in the ladder of success to God, toyour pastor, and to your parents

that you attain worldly fame,wealth, or power? It is not even onthat ladder at all. The things thatthe world defines as success arevain, empty, fleeting, and in manycases, sinful. As the people of thisworld look on success, they arelooking at it from their own per-spective; and that has nothing to dowith God.

Godly success has nothing to dowith societal stature, affluence,wealth, or popularity. None of thatmatters when it comes to godlysuccess. Unfortunately, it is thatworldly view of success that perme-ates young people today. You get itin school, over the radio, from otheryoung people, and on your job.What they consider to be success isso far removed from what Godwants in your life. The sad thing isthat being around this worldly viewand hearing it, you might soak it in.You cannot jump into a muddy pooland get out clean.

I understand that you have tobe in school, go to work, and bearound people who look at successtotally backward from what Godconsiders to be success. You have tobe careful that you do not let otherpeople's views of success cause youto think, "That would make mesuccessful." You have to guardagainst that kind of attitude. Thosewho hold a worldly opinion of whatsuccess is do not understand thatGod has a level of success that is somuch higher than any of that, andit is so easy to attain; they just can-not see it.

A study was done that askedyoung people as they graduatedfrom high school and college andentered the workforce what theyconsidered to be the most importantthing in life. The overwhelmingmajority of them replied that themost important thing in life wasmoney or the potential to becomewealthy. That is extremely sad.Even if you are unsaved, you knowthat money cannot buy happiness,bring satisfaction, or make yousuccessful in the eyes of God. Thereare lots of rich people who are the

furthest thing from success thatyou could ever see. Yet young peo-ple hear people say, "You have to bewealthy to be successful."

In the eyes of the world, money,prestige, fame, and power are themost important things that areneeded to be successful. This drivespeople to obtain the things theywant in life, but what did Jesussay? He said in Luke 12:15, "Takeheed, and beware of covetousness:for a man’s life consisteth not in theabundance of the things which hepossesseth." It does not matter whatyou have.

Almost every person, young orold, remembers that sometime inhis life when he received somethingthat he thought was very special. Itmight have been your first bike oryour first car. Do you remember asa child wanting something so badlythat you asked your parents for itrepeatedly? As a child, I wanted ablue bicycle that I thought was thecoolest bicycle I had ever seen. Iwanted it so much that I couldhardly wait for it. Now I think itwas the goofiest looking bicycle.Today I have no idea where thatbicycle is. It does not mean any-thing to me now.

No doubt, you have been excitedabout something in your life in thepast. There is not necessarily any-thing wrong with being excitedabout something. As excited as youmight have been about that onething that meant so much, where isthat thing now? The point is, mostmaterial things eventually losetheir luster and value.

Material things are so unimpor-tant in life, young person. Theyseem very important when you areyoung. For example, you may bevery proud of your vehicle. There isnothing wrong with that as long asyou keep it in proper perspective.You have to understand that whatJesus said way back then is just asapplicable today as it was then.Your life does not consist of whatyou possess. In other words, whatyou possess is not important.

[continued on page 24]


Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD

your God: ye shall therefore sanctifyyourselves, and ye shall be holy; for Iam holy: neither shall ye defile your-selves with any manner of creepingthing that creepeth upon the earth.

45 For I am the LORD that bringethyou up out of the land of Egypt, to beyour God: ye shall therefore be holy, forI am holy.

46 This is the law of the beasts, andof the fowl, and of every living creature

that moveth in the waters, and of everycreature that creepeth upon the earth:

47 To make a difference between theunclean and the clean, and between thebeast that may be eaten and the beastthat may not be eaten.

Brother David Watson

Perfecting Holiness inthe Fear of God

We are serving a holy God.Certainly God revealed Himself tothe people who came out of Egypt.Those people lived in Egypt for fourhundred years, generation aftergeneration, among all sorts of pagangods in Egypt. God revealed some ofthis in Ezekiel, Chapter 29, when Hecalled Pharaoh the dragon and hispeople the fish. The Israelites hadcome in contact with many gods andmany natures in Egypt. God spoketo His people about a different na-ture, a nature that was differentfrom any nature they knew. God hasa nature far different from any godon this earth. There are all kinds ofgods. There are all kinds of religions

in our world, but there is only onetrue God. He can only be knownthrough a divine revelation. Noother god is esteemed and lifted ashigh as our God. The Word of theLord speaks of the differencebetween the clean and the unclean.

In 2 Corinthians, Chapter 7, theApostle Paul wrote to the brethrenat Corinth. The Church of God atCorinth had some heathens mixed inthe congregation, such as the Greeksand others. In the first letter writtento the Church of God at Corinth, youwill find divers problems in thatcongregation. The Apostle Paulwanted the people to understandthe revelation of God, so he said in 2Corinthians 7:1, "Having thereforethese promises, dearly beloved, letus cleanse ourselves from all fil-

thiness of the flesh and spirit,perfecting holiness in the fear ofGod."

Paul admonished the saints atCorinth in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Be yenot unequally yoked together withunbelievers: for what fellowshiphath righteousness with unrigh-teousness? and what communionhath light with darkness?" You musthave a clean fellowship. Your righ-teousness must not be unrighteous-ness, as their righteousness was.Light cannot have communion withdarkness. There must be a total sep-aration between the true God andthe gods of the infidels. There isnothing else in this world like theGod whom we serve and God'schurch.

We know there are all kinds of


religions in our world and all kindsof beliefs among people. However,there is only one divine nature, andit is a holy nature. When you be-come God's child, you separate fromall filthiness of the flesh, fleshlyspirits, and the gods of this world.You become holy. The Bible teachesthat God's people are a peculiarpeople, a people who are a treasureto God, a people who are proudlyowned by Him. You see, we do notown ourselves. God owns us. Wehave sold out to the Lord, and webelong to Him. We have died to ourwill and to our own way, and weare guided and directed by the Spir-it of God.

The fellowship of Jesus forbidsthat we have fellowship with un-righteousness. The Spirit of Goddoes not agree with the temple ofidols and uncleanness. God forbidsthat His people are an unclean peo-ple, but we must be a holy people.Sometimes people think that theChurch of God is just another de-nomination and that we just call it aholiness church, but that is not true.You can write holiness on the out-side of the building and call peopleholy, but the people are not holyuntil they know the divine nature ofJesus Christ by revelation of theHoly Ghost.

Becoming a New Creature

It is the power of God thatbrings you from your own nature tothe nature of God. It is the power ofGod that changes you from whatyou were to what He wants you tobe. It is the power and the Spirit ofGod that cleanses you from all filthi-ness of the flesh. This is somethingthat you cannot do on your own.Many times, no doubt, you havefound yourself as I have found my-self, saying, "I will quit this" or "Iwill quit that," but I could not helpmyself. However, when God movedin, all of that moved out. I havecome to know that is a nature that Inever had until I met the holy God.

Holiness is not just holiness byname. It is something that you can-

not join. You cannot be literallybaptized into holiness. You cannotjust turn over a new leaf and say, "Iam going to be holy." Holiness is notsomething that man can set up. Ho-liness has to come through and byJesus Christ and the power of theLiving God. It changes you from thetop of your head to the soles of yourfeet. It moves out the old things inyou and makes you a new creaturein Jesus Christ, the Son of the LivingGod. Holiness means more thanwhat people sometimes want tothink it is. I thank God for holiness.

I think sometimes when peopleget saved that it takes a while tolearn some things. We are alwayslearning, and we are always movingto perfection toward God. I knewthe very moment that God savedme, and so did you if you are trulysaved. Something happened thatchanged me from what I was tosomething different in my soul. Itmade the difference between the lifethat I used to live and what I used todo. All things became new whenGod revealed Himself to me andsaved my soul from sin.

Paul, talking to a young con-gregation at Ephesus, said in Ephe-sians 4:24, "And that ye put on thenew man, which after God is createdin righteousness and true holiness."The righteousness of God is a differ-ent righteousness than I had everknown until I knew God. In Isaiah,Chapter 55, God let us know thatHis ways are not our ways and Histhoughts are not our thoughts. Hisways are as high as the heavens areabove the earth, and so are Histhoughts and His righteousness.

In the beginning I did not un-derstand His righteousness. I heardpreachers talk about righteousnessand holiness, and I wondered whatthey meant when they talked aboutholiness. The very moment Godsaved me, He made me a new crea-ture. There is a difference in makingme over and creating me. When Hecreated me, He brought me to aplace spiritually where I had neverbeen. I had experienced a lot ofthings in life, but I had never experi-

enced being created a brand-newperson in the Lord. When the HolyGhost got hold of my soul, He didnot just work me over. He did notbreak me down and recreate me inthe clay. He created me in His righ-teous image through the holy powerof Jesus Christ. I became a new crea-ture from the top of my head to thesoles of my feet. My conversation,my spirit, and my will all came to becreated through His righteousnessand the power of the Holy Ghost.This is what holiness is.

God Gives You a Place

Ephesians 4:25-26 reads:"Wherefore putting away lying, [Ifyou have a habit of telling lies andcannot quit lying, when God makesyou a new creature, you will quitlying. You will not do that anymore. When God moves in, the lyingwill go. You will not tell a lie or livea lie; you will be a reality in JesusChrist.] speak every man truth withhis neighbour: for we are membersone of another. [When you getsaved, you do not have to learn tolove others, but you will automati-cally love others. Salvation automat-ically fits you together in God'sgreat church. That is the reason theChurch of God does not have amembership book or letters. No manopens the door of the church. Noman baptizes you into the church orturns you out of it. When God placesyou in the body, you will automati-cally love your brothers and sistersin the Lord.] Be ye angry, and sinnot: let not the sun go down uponyour wrath."

Psalm 84:11 states, "For the LordGod is a sun and shield: the Lordwill give grace and glory: no goodthing will he withhold from themthat walk uprightly." You shouldnot let anger cause you to lose thatmarvelous light, that marvelousgrace, and that marvelous illumina-tion that illuminates your pathwhen you are a new creature inJesus Christ.

The devil will try to make youtake back everything that you


profess. He will jump on you andtry to make you angry. You need tohold onto God. He has given you anew life, whereby as a new creature,you can see righteousness and trueholiness in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:27 says, "Neithergive place to the devil." When Godsaves you, He gives you a place, andthat place belongs to you. It is a holyplace where you live with God. InJohn, Chapter 14, when Jesus wasgoing to the Cross, He said He wasgoing to prepare a place for you inthe Father's house. When He savedyou, He raised you up. Ephesians2:6 reads, "And hath raised us uptogether, and made us sit together inheavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ihave a place, and you have a place.In 1 Corinthians 12:18 Paul said thatGod sets the members in the body asit pleases Him.

I have a place in the body ofholiness, and I am holy because Godis holy. If the root is holy, thebranches are holy. If God is holy,then His people are holy. Therefore,I have a holy place with God, andthe devil wants to take that place. Ifyou yield your place, it will producegreat evil in your life. What mustyou do? You must stand by thegrace that God has given you andsay: "By His grace I am in the natureof God, a holy person, and I refuseto give up my holy place to evil. Irefuse to join the evil force." God'speople are a holy people.

The Holy Spirit Bears Witness

Ephesians 4:28 states, "Let himthat stole steal no more: but ratherlet him labour, working with hishands the thing which is good, thathe may have to give to him thatneedeth." God did not save you justto take you to Heaven. He savedyou to work for Him, to edify thebody of Christ, and to glorify Him.He did not save you just to be abench warmer. There is much workto do. The Bible teaches in the Bookof Ecclesiastes to work while it isday, for the night is coming when noman can work.

Some day this body, thistabernacle that is God's, is going todie. You are heading toward yourfinal destination, and you must layup treasures in Heaven, not onearth, "where moth and rust dothcorrupt, and where thieves breakthrough and steal" (Matthew 6:19 ).Everything in this life is temporary,but the things that you lay up withGod and the work that you do forHim are eternal. God has saved youto work for the church, to be a goodlaborer for Him, to plow in His field,and to take hold of life and endurethe things that come against you sothat you may prove to the worldthat you are holy since Jesus movedin.

Ephesians 4:29 reads, "Let nocorrupt communication proceed outof your mouth, but that which isgood to the use of edifying, that itmay minister grace unto the hear-ers." You must be keenly aware thatsomeone is listening to what yousay. Someone hears your talk, and itmust not be the talk of the flesh. Itmust be words that minister grace tothe hearers. The people who arelistening need to get the messagefrom God that His people are a holypeople and that we have somethingdifferent in our hearts.

If you look at Jesus Christ, theSon of God, you will see that He isyour pattern. What a conversationJesus had with those who listened toHim! They said, in essence, "Wehave never heard a man speak likethis man." People are listening asyou talk. The Christian ought tohave talk that he is not ashamedof—no vile words, no words thatcause him to look back across hisshoulder to see if somebody heard.The people who listen ought to hearJesus. I am speaking about the graceof God. After God saves us, He givesus plenty to talk about.

Ephesians 4:30 reads, "Andgrieve not the holy Spirit of God,whereby ye are sealed unto the dayof redemption." That seal covers alot; it brands you. When you aresaved, you do not have to wear agolden chain around your neck to

prove to people that you are holy.You do not have to put bumperstickers on your car to say that youare a child of God. You do not haveto jump up and down to show peo-ple that you are saved. It is the HolySpirit of God that witnesses that youare a child of God.

Paul said in Romans 8:16, "TheSpirit itself beareth witness with ourspirit, that we are the children ofGod." If you have the Spirit of Godand I have the Spirit of God, ourspirits will blend and witness thatwe have been with Jesus. The HolySpirit is the witness that we havebeen with God. There are manythings in life that people use to tryto prove to the world that they havebeen changed; but there is only onetrue Witness, and that is the HolySpirit of God.

Be Followers of God

Ephesians 4:31 reads, "Let allbitterness, and wrath, and anger,and clamour, and evil speaking, beput away from you, with all malice."People who are holy have a good,kind, loving, meek spirit that youwill not find in the world. Holypeople are not bitter. They are notinvolved in wrath or maliciousness.Sometimes people move in amongthe church and their spirits and theirattitudes are not holy. Romans,Chapter 16, says to avoid them. Paulsaid to mark those who causedivision.

God intends you to separateyourself from all evil spirits of theflesh and to be clean, lovely, andkind, not toting things that are un-just. The Bible says to have no unjustweight. Proverbs 20:10 says, "Diversweights, and divers measures, bothof them are alike abomination to theLord." You cannot live two lives atonce. You are either holy or unholy.You have to be on one side or theother.

Ephesians 4:32 states, "And beye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, evenas God for Christ's sake hath for-given you." You need to look to Je-


sus as an example. After going tothe judgment hall and enduring thewhip, being hit in His face, sufferingthe crown of thorns being put on Hishead, suffering the mockery, andbeing spat upon, then they took Himto the Cross and drove the nails inHis hands and in His feet. He suf-fered all of that at Calvary. Jesuslooked at the crowd that walkedaround the Cross mocking Him andsaying, "If You are the Son of God,come down and save Yourself."What did He do? He looked at themand said in Luke 23:34, "Father,forgive them; for they know notwhat they do." The flesh does notwant you to forgive, and the spirit ofevil does not want you to forgive.However, the real blessing of holi-ness will cause you to forgive, andwhen you forgive, how free andgood is that righteousness of Godthat you will feel within you! God'speople are tenderhearted andmoved with compassion.

I remember when I worked as asalesman. When I went to school, allI wanted to do was fight. After I gotsaved and started in sales, personali-ties affected me. One day God spoketo me and said, "If you are going tolet personalities affect you, you aregoing to lose a lot of sales." I kneltand prayed and asked for God'shelp, and I overcame it. Everyone,regardless of what his personality is,is the offspring of God. We are notto deal treacherously with others.We all came from God. Each of usmay be molded a little differently,but God saved us and created us tobe new creatures. We becametenderhearted and compassionate.We have love and possess a rightspirit toward others. God helps us inways that we cannot help ourselves.

Paul said in Ephesians 5:1, "Beye therefore followers of God, asdear children." As you follow Godand walk with Him, you learn ofHis holiness, His meekness, and Hisrighteousness. The more you know,the more you will realize what youdo not know. The more you see, themore you will see that you do notsee. The more you understand, the

more you will understand that youdo not understand. It just keepsgetting greater and deeper, and Godkeeps leading His church home. Heis leading you on the upward way.You need to be a good follower ofHim.

Numbers 23:10b says, "Let medie the death of the righteous, andlet my last end be like his!" It pleasesthe Father for His children to looklike Him. I remember when myoldest son was born. The nursebrought him out of the deliveryroom, and I looked at him and said,"He's a good-looking boy; he lookslike me." I was so proud of him. Godwants to be proud of you. Godwants you to be like Him and tolook like Him. The more you looklike Him in your daily living, themore holiness people can see. Paulsaid to the Hebrew brethren in He-brews 12:14, "Follow peace with allmen, and holiness, without whichno man shall see the Lord." If youwill follow God and follow His righ-teousness, other people will see thatyou are living for Him.

Walk as Children of Light

Ephesians 5:2 reads, "And walkin love, as Christ also hath loved us,and hath given himself for us anoffering and a sacrifice to God for asweetsmelling savour." Nothing inthis life of holiness is spoiled. Every-thing about it smells good. That isone of the senses in holiness. Wehave a sweet-smelling savor. Whatdo you do before you eat some-thing? You smell it. Your smell haseverything to do with what you eat.Also, your smell has much to dowith what you associate with. Youdo not hang around anything thatsmells bad. Holiness does not smellbad. There is no spoilage in holiness.The old tabernacle smelled good.The manna in the golden potsmelled good. God is a good God,and He is a holy God.

Verse 3 says, "But fornication,and all uncleanness, or covetous-ness, let it not be once named amongyou, as becometh saints." When you

are saved, you belong to God. Youare not a fornicator, spirituallyspeaking. You do not flirt with otherreligions in the world. Church, youhave no business flirting with Baby-lon. Have you ever read the letter tothe church at Thyatira in the Book ofRevelation? Jezebel was cast in abed, as well as those who committedfornication with her.

If you commit fornication withfalse religion, you will find yourchildren killed with spiritual death.Holiness does not tolerate othergods. In Deuteronomy 6:4 God toldIsrael, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord ourGod is one Lord." Paul said in Ephe-sians 4:6, "One God and Father ofall, who is above all, and throughall, and in you all." There is one Godand one true salvation. So, if youwant to be a saint of God, you mustcome out from among false religionand be separate. You can be His sonor His daughter.

Ephesians 5:4 reads, "Neitherfilthiness, nor foolish talking, norjesting, which are not convenient:but rather giving of thanks." Holi-ness is not a joke. You cannot makea joke out of real salvation. Livingholy is not a joke. You must be soberminded. We would be better off tohave more sobering thoughts ac-cording to the nature of God andwhat God would really have you tobe.

Verse 5 tells us, "For this yeknow, that no whoremonger, norunclean person, nor covetous man,who is an idolater, hath any inheri-tance in the kingdom of Christ andof God." I think Paul was pointing tothat Scripture in Revelation 17:5where John wrote, "And upon herforehead was a name written, MYS-TERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE

MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINA-TIONS OF THE EARTH." Isaiah 4:1 says,"And in that day seven women shalltake hold of one man, saying, Wewill eat our own bread, and wearour own apparel: only let us becalled by thy name, to take awayour reproach." The latter part ofEzekiel 16:44 says, "As is themother, so is her daughter." Wheth-


The measure of tru ly great

people is the courtesy

with which they treat others .

er it is the mother or her daughters,He is telling you not to go down toBabylon and mingle among the fles-hy people and yet think you canenter the Kingdom of God. Youmust separate from every spirit thatis not God's Spirit.

Ephesians 5:6-8 reads: "Let noman deceive you with vain words:for because of these things comeththe wrath of God upon the childrenof disobedience. Be not ye thereforepartakers with them. For ye weresometimes darkness, but now are yelight in the Lord: walk as children oflight." God wants you to be a light tothis lost and dying world. He wantsmen and women to see Jesus in you.He wants you to be separated and toprove to the world that you are pe-culiar and that you are God's trea-sure. He wants you to walk accord-ing to the nature of God so theworld can say, "There is somethingdifferent about that person."

I remember my former pastortelling about a fellow who had beendrinking, but one night he steppedup to the door of the church and puthis hands on each side of the door.He stood there and listened to thepreacher until he had finishedpreaching. Although he did not getsaved that night, he made the state-ment, "If I ever get saved, I wantwhat that man was talking about."Being true to God proves to otherpeople that you have been changedfrom the old man to the new man.There is a difference in your life.

Possess Your Vessel inSanctification and Honor

Paul told the Thessalonianchurch in 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13:"And the Lord make you to increaseand abound in love one toward an-other, and toward all men, even aswe do toward you: To the end hemay stablish your hearts unblame-able in holiness before God, evenour Father, at the coming of ourLord Jesus Christ with all his saints."Paul, who had a compassionate,loving heart toward others, wantedthem to have a compassionate, lov-

ing heart and to be established inthe good things of God. Friend, Godwants you to be unblameable so thatwhen the world brings accusationsagainst you, you can say, "I am free,and I am blameless." There is a dif-ference in being accused and beingblameless. People can say what theywant to, but if you are free in theeyes of God, you are unblameable asto what you are being accused of.God wants you to live a holy life.

Paul also told the Thessalonianchurch in 1 Thessalonians 4:4, "Thatevery one of you should know howto possess his vessel in sanctificationand honour." If you are saved, youare God's vessel. You should alwayspresent yourself before the Lord sothat you are always honorable be-fore Him. If you are found honor-able with God, then the Holy Spiritcan work in your life. The Lordwants your vessel sanctified andhonorable.

What is sanctification? That iswhen you walk in all the Truth andlight that you have received fromGod. You are not sanctified justbecause you bowed at an altar andprayed. Now that is good to do, butsanctification is being set apart forthe Lord's use by Truth. When Truthis lived and practiced, it bringshonor and a blessing, and it makesyou more like Jesus Christ. It keepsyour vessel as it ought to be.

Paul continued in verses 5–7:"Not in the lust of concupiscence,even as the Gentiles which know notGod: That no man go beyond anddefraud his brother in any matter:because that the Lord is the avengerof all such, as we also have fore-warned you and testified. For Godhath not called us unto uncleanness,but unto holiness." In 1 Corinthians,

Chapter 10, Paul warned the peopleconcerning fornication, worshipingwith those who offered their sacri-fices to idols, to esteem themselvesto be holier and cleaner. You are toseparate yourself from such and towalk as God has called you toholiness. God called you to live arighteous, clean, holy life and tobe a peculiar treasure among thisunfriendly world.

First Thessalonians 4:8 states:"He therefore that despiseth, de-spiseth not man, but God, who hathalso given unto us his holy Spirit."You do not have to handle snakes,jump over pews, roll on the floor, orspeak in an unknown tongue (lan-guage) to be holy. A deputy sheriffdown in the county where I wasraised was called out to a churchwhere people were handling cop-perhead snakes and rattlesnakes,and he was sent to put a stop to itbefore somebody got bit and died.When he got there, he called back tothe station and asked, "Do you haveanybody out there who has faith tohandle a snake?"

He was told, "That is the reasonwe sent you."

He replied, "I don't have anyfaith; I can't handle snakes. Youhave to find somebody to come whocan handle them." They did not haveanyone who could handle thesnakes. You do not have to handlesnakes to prove that you have holi-ness. God is holy. If you are Hischild, He lives in you and walkswith you. You are His child. Youmust live a holy life.



Genesis 25:29 And Jacob sodpottage: and Esau came from the field,and he was faint:

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me,I pray thee, with that same red pottage;for I am faint: therefore was his namecalled Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me this daythy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am atthe point to die: and what profit shallthis birthright do to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me thisday; and he sware unto him: and he sold

his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and

pottage of lentiles; and he did eat anddrink, and rose up, and went his way:thus Esau despised his birthright.

Brother Larry Dishman

Selling the Birthright

Esau is one of the saddestfigures in the Bible. He was thefirstborn son of Isaac and Rebekah,and the twin brother of Jacob,according to Genesis 25:21-26. Hewas loved by his father Isaac, and hewas a skillful hunter, according toGenesis 25:27-28. Esau was a manwho had a good side. He showedkindness to his brother who haddeceived him (Genesis 33:1-16). Youcan read that he helped bury hisfather in Genesis 35:29. Yet on twooccasions, he was manipulated byhis brother Jacob: first, when Esausold his birthright for a bowl ofpottage; second, when Jacob stolethe blessing designed for Esau,

which the Bible talks about inGenesis 27:1-41.

In this study I would like foryou to focus your attention on thefirst occasion and the lessons thatyou might glean from this un-fortunate circumstance in Esau's life.Esau sold his birthright. The phy-sical advantages of the birthrightin that day contained a doubleportion of the father's inheritances,according to Deuteronomy 21:17.The amount would have been very,very great, for what he eventuallyreceived was also great, according toGenesis 36:6-7. The birthright of-fered rule and authority over themembers of the family, according toGenesis 27:29.

The spiritual advantages of this

particular birthright were that hewould become the patriarch and thepriest of the house upon the death ofhis father, chief of the chosen family,and the heir of the promised bless-ings. This threefold promise was theissue at stake when Jacob and Esaubartered over the birthright. Esau'sbad bargain was that he chose theessential over the spiritual, and thatis a picture of what many people aredoing today. Just as Esau made abad bargain many years ago, so it iswith lots of people today. They aremaking a very, very bad bargainbecause they are choosing thetemporal over the spiritual. Whathappened to Esau? He gave in to thecraving of his hunger. He valued thered pottage more highly than his


birthright. For this reason, Hebrews12:16 calls him a profane person.Esau chose the present over thefuture. Oh, how many are doing thattoday! Oh, what a bad bargain!When we think about Esau, hetossed away future rewards forpresent gratification.

If you will look at sinners andbacksliders today, that is the exactsame thing they are doing. They aretossing away future rewards forpresent gratification. No doubt, thatpottage fulfilled Esau's hunger forthat day, but what about the future?You may say, "I am having pleasurein sin." Friend, the Bible tells usthere is pleasure in sin for a season;but sin does not have a pleasantending. The pleasure that you mightfind in sin will never make up forthe wages of sin and the price thatyou will pay in this life and in thelife to come for the bad bargain thatyou are making.

Are You Forfeiting aGreat Inheritance?

I want you to think about whatEsau did for temporary, physicalpleasure. Esau sold his birthright,and essentially that is what all sin-ners are doing. They do not want toget saved because of some type ofpleasure that they are having in theworld, so they hold on to thatpleasure in sin and lose their soulsfor eternity. In Matthew 16:26 Jesussaid, "For what is a man profited, ifhe shall gain the whole world, andlose his own soul? or what shall aman give in exchange for his soul?"

As you think about this sadstory, undoubtedly you would notconsider making the type of bargainthat Esau made, not with an earthlyinheritance that you might receivefrom your parents. However, whatabout your spiritual inheritance?According to Galatians 3:29, you arean heir according to the promise.According to Romans 8:17, you area joint heir with Christ.

Someone may say, "Well, I'm nota Christian." You can be! You can bea joint heir with Christ. As the

people of God, we are heirs accord-ing to the hope of eternal life,according to Titus 3:7. We are heirsof the kingdom, and those of us whoare saved are in the kingdom now.This is not a kingdom to be set uplater in the future, but we are enjoy-ing it now. One song says: "Tis thekingdom of peace, it is reigning within.It shall ever increase in my soul; Wepossess it right here when he saves fromall sin, And it twill last while the agesshall roll."

First Corinthians 3:21-23 letsyou know that all things are yoursin Christ, if you are saved. Someonemay say, "I do not have a part inthis," but you can have a part in it.When you go the way of the worldand turn away from salvation, youare forfeiting this great inheritance.The Bible lets us know in 1 Peter 1:4that this inheritance is "incorrupt-ible, and undefiled, and that fadethnot away, reserved in heaven foryou." What a wonderful birthright!It is not limited to the things here-after, or to Heaven. He gives usheaven to go to Heaven in.

Are you making a bad bargain?If you have been drifting along, ifyou are in the process of backslid-ing, if you are turning your back onGod, you are making a bad bargain.If you do not know whether you aresaved or if you know that you areliving in sin, I tell you on the author-ity of God's Eternal Word, you aremaking a very, very bad bargain.

The best trade that I ever madewas the night I got saved. I tradedmy sins for salvation. That was avery good bargain. I did not haveanything to bring to God. I tradedhate for love, bitterness for peace,and hell for Heaven. Just as surelyas an individual makes a good bar-gain by getting saved, the trade oflosing his soul by not getting savedis a very bad bargain.

Choosing Temporary PleasuresOver Future Rewards

Our spiritual birthright is farmore valuable than Esau's literalbirthright. You may ask, "How might

I sell my birthright?" Friend, you sellyour birthright by succumbing tothe passing, present pleasures of sin,lusting after the things of this world,and walking after the flesh ratherthan the Spirit. The Bible makes itplain in Romans 8:13, "For if ye liveafter the flesh, ye shall die: but if yethrough the Spirit do mortify thedeeds of the body, ye shall live."

The Apostle Paul stated clearlyin 1 Corinthians 9:27, "But I keepunder my body, and bring it intosubjection: lest that by any means,when I have preached to others, Imyself should be a castaway." Oh,may you hold on to your spiritualbirthright! Saint of God, you mustpursue peace and holiness and becareful that you do not fail of thegrace of God, as Hebrews 12:15speaks of as being a possibility. Youmust exercise discipline and godli-ness, and then you will not have toworry about this bad bargain.

Esau made the mistake ofdepreciating the value of his inheri-tance. If you could only see whatGod has in store for you, even in thislife, you would get saved and stayin the center of His will. God hasgreat things in store for you now,not to mention what is in store onthe other side of this life. Oh, thethings that God has in store for Hispeople!

It is possible to make the similarmistake that Esau made by not ap-preciating the value of your inheri-tance in Jesus Christ. That takesplace by giving in to the allurementof the immediate gratification of theflesh. That is exactly what happenedto Esau. He gave in to the immedi-ate gratification of the flesh. This isthe very thing that is causing manypeople today to lose their souls.Giving in to sin brings self-gratifica-tion, but oh, what a reaping comes!The price that you will pay for thebad bargain of selling your spiritualbirthright is not worth the high costthat you will have to pay. If you arenot careful, the time will come whenit will be too late. No matter howmany tears you may shed, it will betoo late to change God's mind. That


is the reason you need to heed thewarnings in the Word of God, andthere are many, many warnings.

Each of us has a danger setbefore us, and that danger is sellingour birthright. Esau's bad bargainwas that he chose the temporal overthe spiritual. He chose the presentover the future. Is that what you aredoing? Are you choosing the presentover the future? He tossed awayfuture rewards for present gratifica-tion. I want you to think about that,friend. Esau sold his birthright fortemporary physical pleasure. Whata bad bargain!

You may say: "How foolish Esauwas! What a bad bargain! What gotinto his mind that would havecaused him to sell his birthright fora little bowl of pottage?" Some peo-ple are selling their birthright forbitterness in their hearts, and theywill not give it up. That bitterness isgoing to cost them their spiritualbirthright. Others compromise, andthat will cost them their spiritualbirthright. Others have allowedjealousy to overtake them. Song ofSolomon 8:6 says that jealousy iscruel as the grave; yet some folkshold on to it rather than come cleanwith God.

Many people are selling theirbirthright for tobacco, or cigarettes.Some people have said, "I would getsaved, but I would have to give upmy tobacco." Friend, is tobaccoworth losing your soul? Is it worthbeing lost forever? Others sell theirbirthright because they are not will-ing to give up the alcohol. Oh, howthe bottle has hold of them! Theyfeel there is no way that they couldever lay it aside; but the truth is,God has the power to break thathabit. God has the power to saveyou and change you and cause youto hate the things that you onceloved and to love the things that youonce hated. He can break the chainsthat have you bound, even thechains of marijuana and other drugs.These things that I mentioned arecausing people to lose their spiritualbirthright, just as Esau did.

Some people are selling their

birthright for popularity. They arenot willing to suffer affliction withthe people of God, but they wouldrather enjoy the pleasures of sin fora season. Some people are boundwith illicit sex, fornication, adultery,and the love of this world. We haveexamples in the Bible of those whosold their birthright, such as Balaam.Balaam sold his birthright for popu-larity. King Saul sold his birthright,Solomon sold his birthright, Judassold his birthright, and Demas soldhis birthright. In 2 Timothy 4:10Paul said, "For Demas hath forsakenme, having loved this presentworld."

Seeking a Place of Repentance

We read in Hebrews 12:15-17:"Looking diligently lest any man failof the grace of God; lest any root ofbitterness springing up trouble you,and thereby many be defiled; Lestthere be any fornicator, or profaneperson, as Esau, who for one morselof meat sold his birthright. For yeknow how that afterward, when hewould have inherited the blessing,he was rejected: for he found noplace of repentance, though hesought it carefully with tears."

Esau was not nonchalant orcareless about trying to regain hisblessing. He cried about it and triedto think of some way to get the sell-ing of his birthright reversed. Hesought it carefully with tears, but hefound no place for repentance. Howsad it is when an individual is seek-ing a place of repentance but cannotfind it! You may be active in yourchurch and a good moral person,but if you are unsaved, you aremaking a bad bargain. Perhaps Godonce spoke to your heart and dealtwith you and showed you yourneed of salvation, but for years youhave said no to God.

The hardening of your heart isbecoming stronger, and your heartis becoming more calloused. If theSpirit is still dealing with yourheart, you are a blessed individual,because the Bible says that the Spiritof God will not always strive with

man. I have witnessed this. When Iwas still a sinner, I thought about aman that God quit speaking to, andthat caused me to fear, lest one dayI should end up in that shape. Yousee, if the Spirit does not speak toyou, you cannot be saved. Exceptthe Holy Spirit draws you, you can-not come. Sinner friend, you shouldnot live with the selfish attitude, "I'llget right when I get ready." Youcannot get saved on your ownterms; you must get saved on God'sterms. Today is the day of salvation;now is the appointed time. OurScripture lesson tells of one of thesaddest Scriptures in the Word ofGod. Esau sought for repentancecarefully with tears, but he found noplace for repentance.

I can imagine in my mindmillions of people in a lost eternity,lamenting over the bad bargain theymade in this life. I can imagine sin-ner after sinner, throughout theceaseless age of eternity, lamentingover the fact that they allowed thedevil to slip one over on them, andthey made a terrible bargain. Manypeople are in the process of makingthe bad bargain that Esau made.Dear one, will this be your cry downin hell? Will this be your lamenta-tion in a lost eternity: "Oh, what abad bargain! I only looked at thepresent. I partook of those sinfulpleasures, and now it is costing memy soul. What a fool I have been! Imade the same bad bargain thatEsau made, and I have lost my soulfor all eternity"? Oh, how sad! Esau"found no place of repentance,though he sought it carefully withtears."

Today you can find a place forrepentance. If God is dealing withyour heart, you can come to JesusChrist while the Spirit is dealingwith you. There is a place at theCross for you. You can repent now.If you reject His offer of mercy, theday will come when it will be toolate for you to change your mind.You may search for mercy but notfind any.



[Especially for Young People—from page 15]

You might have the fanciest carin the county where you live. If youwere to take me for a ride in yourcar, but you were not a very niceperson, do you think that car or thecar ride would mean anything tome? How you treat others leaves themost lasting impression, not whatyou have. It does not matter whatbrand shirts you wear or whatbrand shoes you wear. Do you knowwhat means a lot to me? It is yoursmile, your attitude, your love forGod, and your obedience to yourpastor. Those are things that leave amark on people.

What is godly success? It isbeing able to be a good influence onpeople. What you possess will notdo that. Some of the most beautifulpeople that I have ever met in lifehave had the very least.

Conversely, I have been aroundvery successful people in the worldwho have gotten more than theyknow what to do with. They showedme things that made my head spin;but I can hardly remember anythingthose people said to me. Do youknow why? They were too busyshowing me their stuff, and the stuffthey showed me a long time ago isnot worth much anymore. Theywere proud of their material posses-sions; yet they were as empty shells,because they did not have God intheir lives.

A person is really an emptyshell when he does not have Godin his life. What do they do? Theytry to fill that empty shell withmaterial goods. They buy every-thing they can and think it will getthem something, but at the end ofthe day, they still have an emptyshell. Their lives are so filled withstuff that they do not have room forGod. That is what happens whenpeople have a strong desire to be-come successful. They say, "I'm go-ing to be something, and I'm goingto make something." They do all ofthat and push things into the roomof their hearts that was originallydesigned for God. If you push Godout, what do you have left? You

have nothing but stuff.Sometimes I look back at the

people who have meant the most tome in life, such as my pastor and mypastor's wife. I had teachers in mylife who were very influential inhelping me to understand that lifewas worth living. I am thankful forthe people who cared enough aboutme to take time to talk to mehonestly and openly, who requiredme to look introspectively, and whocaused me to realize that I needed tomake a change in my life. Thosepeople are giants in my life. Thoseare people in life who help to makea difference in others. God makesthe change, but often He useshuman instrumentality to helpaccommodate those changes.

You need to understand thatyou have an opportunity to be huge-ly successful in the Kingdom of God,and it has nothing to do with mate-rial things or money. You need tounderstand that God has a level ofsuccess that is so far above what theworld has. Have you ever heard thatsaying, "You can be anything youwant to be?" We all have heard that.In the Church of God, when you aresubmissive and God uses you, Hewill enable you to be a stable Chris-tian and whatever He has called youto be. You will have more satisfac-tion in doing the perfect will of Godthan anything else you could everdo.

One of the greatest joys in mylife is being a husband and a father.As a child, I came from a brokenhome, and I saw some ugly things. Itis an ugly world out there, but Godhas a much better way. You do nothave to be part of that. If you willseek the Lord and be obedient toHim, you do not have to be stuck inthose types of situations. Accordingto the world, I did not have achance. I came from a broken homewith alcoholic parents. No one everwatched me, and I did my ownthing. As an eighth grader, I remem-ber lying in bed and crying myselfto sleep, saying, "I just want a fam-ily" because of the things that I hadseen.

Other boys my age were saying,"I want to be quarterback for theDallas Cowboys" or "I want to be apoliceman." Do you know what Iwanted to be? I wanted to be afather and give some child anopportunity to have a father wholoved him. Beyond a shadow ofdoubt, I believe that even as aconfused, mixed-up, unsaved child,God saw a heart that He could dosomething with. He saw someonewho could become spiritually suc-cessful if he did what God wanted.One thing that I enjoy in life morethan anything is being a husbandand a father to my wife and my fourchildren. One of my greatest joys isgoing home and seeing my compan-ion and my children and spendingtime with them. God has given mesomething that I really wanted. Hehas made me into something that Ienjoy more than anything that I everthought I could, and that is some-thing very simple. God will giveyou what you want, if you will learnto become successful in His eyes.

We must not measure ourselvesby anything other than the Word ofGod. This is paramount if you wantto be successful as a Christian. Isaiah55:8-9 says: "For my thoughts arenot your thoughts, neither are yourways my ways, saith the LORD. Foras the heavens are higher than theearth, so are my ways higher thanyour ways, and my thoughts thanyour thoughts." What you want andwhat you think would enable you tobe successful are not necessarilywhat God thinks will make yousuccessful in His kingdom.

If someone were to ask you,"Do you want to be successful?"you would not say, "No, I don'twant to be successful." Peoplewould think you were crazy. We allwant to be successful and good atsomething. What we have to under-stand is that we need to see whatGod's thoughts are and understandwhat His ways are. We must put ourthoughts, our desires, and ourwishes behind us and say, "God,what would make me trulysuccessful in Your eyes?"


What can be defined as godlysuccess? I would say that godlysuccess can be a life of service toGod, a life of service to others, and alife of stability to those around us.Some key elements would include beingconsistent in reading and studyingGod's Word, being consistent in yourprayer life, and being consistent inattending the house of worship. Whenthe doors of the house of worshipare open, you ought to be there, if atall possible. I understand that thingsmay come up, but again, what doesIsaiah 55:8 say? "For my thoughtsare not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways, saith theLORD." Unless it is absolutely impos-sible for you to be at the house ofworship, you need to be there. Arethere things more important in yourlife than the service of God? Youought to be consistent in attendingthe house of worship if you are go-ing to be successful as a Christian. Itis very important.

Another key element in the life ofservice to God is daily meditation. Youneed to stop, put things aside, and med-itate on the Word of God. I understandthat it is easy to get busy. I once reada study that said, "Children underthe age of eighteen spend an aver-age of nine hours of screen time aday." The nine hours of screen timea day is spent on the computer, textmessaging on a cell phone, and sit-ting in front of a television screen.That does not leave much time forGod, does it?

People are so busy that theycannot meditate daily on what Godhas for them. Young person, I un-derstand that you want to keep intouch with your friends. There isnothing wrong with that, but it canbe used as a tool for the devil, soyou need to be very careful. Also, ifyou would not say something to afriend of yours in the congregationwith your pastor sitting right there,you should not say it in a textmessage, an e-mail, or on a socialnetworking site.

I receive on average aboutseventy e-mails a day from thebusiness that I do, from people

inquiring about things and commu-nicating back and forth. Some ofthem I need to answer and some ofthem I do not. The point is, I getbusy too; nevertheless, I must taketime for daily meditation. I have toset aside time for God. I must get ridof all the clutter in my mind andtalk to God, read the Bible, andmeditate upon it.

In considering a life of service toothers, a key element would includehaving a thankful attitude. Beingthankful can be a real service toothers. Also, having a willingness towork together. How willing are youto work together with a brother or asister? You should have a humbleattitude and be available to helpwhen called upon; that is importantas well. These are attributes that willcontribute to your success as Godlooks down upon your life.

The Christian life is a life ofservice to God. If you are going to beconsidered successful by God, youmust serve Him. If you are not, youare failing. You are not a success inGod's eyes if you are not servingHim. God wants to see His peoplework together. He wants to see usdown at one another's feet, not atone another's throats.

You are not called to keepsalvation to yourself. You are calledto be saved, to spread the Gospel,and to make a brother's or a sister'sway a little easier. God requires it.

Another key element in living asuccessful life for God is having a life ofstability to those around you. In theEvening Light Songs book is a songentitled "Like a Rock in the Billows"by Barney E. Warren. It reads:

Like a rock in the billows I would stable be,

Till the storm is overpast;Then I long to harbor, Lord, with Thee,In my heav'nly home at last.

Like a rock in the billows, I would never yield

To the angry tossing wave;I would cling to Christ, my sun

and shield,For his pow'r alone can save.

Like a rock in the billows of a boiling sea,

When its waters leap and foam,I would rest secure, my Lord, in Thee. Till the trumpet calls me home.

Like a rock in the billows I wouldfearless stand,

And defy the threat'ning blast;For the Savior holds me by the hand,Till the raging storm is past.

That song portrays a beautifulpicture of stability, and that ought tobe something that you desire to belike. Jesus Christ was like that. Whatdid Jesus do in the face of adversitywhen men were spitting on Him,striking Him, and mocking Him?Did He say anything or did He restin God? He did not say a word; Hejust rested in His Father. He knewthat God had control of it all. It isbeautiful to be a stable Christian.That makes you successful.

If you are stable, you are notthrown about to and fro every timesomeone says something negative.That would not make for a verysuccessful individual. You need tobe stable, to stand firm, to be strong,and to rest in God.

The refrain for the song abovereads:

If I trust in Jesus and obey His word. If I lean upon his breast;If I keep low down at his feet, I knowHe will give me peace and rest.

Those are successful attributesof a Christian. I want to mention afew quotes of someone who was avery charismatic speaker and anexcellent football coach. His namewas Vince Lombardi. By many peo-ple, he is considered to be one of thegreatest football coaches the worldhas ever known. He had a lot to say,not only about football but aboutlife. He said some very interestingthings about success. Once he said,"Success demands singleness ofpurpose." If you are going to besuccessful in the eyes of God, youmust have singleness of purposeabout serving Him.


We have no right to sing:

“In the Cross of Christ I glory”

unless we are willing to add,

“by whom the world is crucified

unto me and I unto the world.”

I like this beautiful statementthat Vince Lombardi made: "Theachievements of an organization arethe results of the combined effort ofeach individual." Young person, thesuccess of a congregation is not justleft to the pastor and his wife, thesong leader, or the choir. Theachievement of the church can bethe results of the combined effort ofevery single member of the body ofChrist. You can play a very impor-tant part in the Kingdom of God. Ifyou do your important part as Godwould have you to do, you can beexactly what someone else needs.

Vince Lombardi also said, "Thedifference between a successful per-son and others is not a lack of

strength, not a lack of knowledge,but rather a lack of will." Somepeople do not want to give upanything to be successful. Mr.Lombardi said, "The harder youwork, the harder it is to surrender."Likewise, the more you put into theservice of God, the harder it will befor you to give up. One last quote byMr. Lombardi that I think is reallygood is this: "The only place thatsuccess comes before work is in thedictionary."

I want you to be aware thatwhen I encourage you to be success-ful, you need to realize that insuccess, even in God's eyes, youmust stay humble. If God makes youanything, it is only because He has

chosen to do so and you have beenwilling and obedient to be used inHis kingdom. You need to stayhumble and understand that Godcan take away that which He hasgiven you.

Another good quote says, "Thereis no failure more disastrous thanthe success that leaves God out."Remember, the most importantthing in your life is to be successfulin your service to God. Far aboveanything else is your success in theservice of God. How successful inGod's kingdom does your HeavenlyFather see you? You need to thinkabout that.

Brother Chris Wakefield

[Guest Editorial— continued from page 2]

Satan effectively uses two devices onmen and women in preventing them frombecoming Christians. These deceitfulmechanisms are procrastination andneglect. He knows that if he can convincesouls to be dilatory regarding their souls,eventually it will be too late. Therefore,he strives to occupy their minds with aconglomeration of things so that they donot give attention to spiritual needs. Evenwhen a soul begins to consider his needof God, Satan is there to try to get theindividual to put it off until some othertime.

Neglecting to humble your heartbefore God and repent of sin and takefaith in the shed blood of Christ is a very

serious matter. Refusing to receive JesusChrist and His pardoning love is to com-mit a grave injustice against the remedy.Our Savior came to earth, lived a righ-teous example, and willingly gave Hislife to save us from sin's awful bondageand consequences. It is man's responsi-bility to come to Christ when He callsand not just when he gets ready or feelslike it.

Our Scripture text states that we areto seek the Lord while He may be foundand to call upon Him while He is near.The admonition is to seek Him while Heis speaking to you. Too often many peo-ple have felt that they can be saved whenthey get ready. This thinking is surelyunwise. John 6:44 tells us, "No man can

come to me, except the Father whichhath sent me draw him." It is the Lordwho invites men and women to come toHim and be saved. It is His Holy Spiritwho calls you to forsake the life of sinand ruin and to walk with Him in holi-ness and victory. If His Spirit does notspeak and bring conviction and awaken-ing, then your own efforts will be futile.

Dear reader, do you feel the preciousSpirit of God working with you, strivingto draw you to Him? Do you long for realpeace of mind and soul? God has justwhat you desire and what you are lookingfor, but you must not procrastinate orrefuse His invitation.

Selected


Date Change for Canby, Oregon Camp Meeting

The new date will be July 9-15, 2012

Kensett, AR REVIVAL : Kensett Church of God, 409 Southeast 2 Street, Kensett, Arkansas 72082nd

March 9-11 Evangelist: Brother Roger L. Decker, Newark, Ohio

Service times: Friday 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 11:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.

For further information contact: Pastor Calvin Foster, Kensett, AR

Telephone: (Church) 501-742-3006 or (Home) 501-742-3961

Newton, KS REVIVAL: Church of God, 400 N. Meridian, Newton, Kansas 67114

March 14-18 Evangelist: Brother Roger L. Decker, Newark, Ohio

Service times: W ednesday-Friday 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.; Sunday 10:45 a.m.

For further information contact: Pastor Sandy Killfoil @ 316-842-5127

M edina, OH REVIVAL : Church of God, 6745 W ooster Pike, Medina, Ohio 44256

March 23-27 Evangelist: Brother David Stegmeier, Canby, Oregon

DATE CHANGE Service times: 7:00 p.m. nightly; Sunday 10:30 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.

(Extended 2 days) For further information contact: Brother Roger L. Decker, 83 DeCrow Ave., Newark, OH 43025

Telephone: 740-344-2543

Newark, OH REVIVAL : Church of God, 675 N. Cedar Street, Newark, Ohio 43025

March 26-April 1 Evangelist: Brother David Stegmeier, Canby, Oregon

CANCELED Service times: Friday-Saturday 7:00 p.m., Sunday 10:45 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.

For further information contact: Pastor Roger L. Decker, 83 DeCrow Ave., Newark, OH 43025

Telephone: 740-344-2543

Phoenix, AZ REVIVAL: Church of God, 3450 W est Grover Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85053

April 1-5 Evangelist: Brother Allen Polston, New Castle, Indiana

Service times: Sunday 10:15 a.m. & 5:00 p.m. and Monday-Thursday 7:00 p.m.

April 6-8 Evangelist: Brother Adam W olf, New Florence, Pennsylvania

Service times: Friday-Saturday 7:00 p.m. and Sunday 10:15 & 5:00 p.m.

For further information contact: Pastor C. H. Ferguson, 19237 N. 21 Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85027s t

Telephone: 623-516-0836 (Home) or 623-640-7679 (Cell)

M t. Pleasant, PA FELLOWSHIP M EETING : Church of God, 109 Salvation Lane, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania 15666

April 21 Service time: 10:30 a.m. A meal will be served by the local congregation.

MOTELS: Holiday Inn Express, 724-547-2095 (This is on the same road as the church. Please

mention that you are there for the church meeting.); Super 8 Motel in New Stanton, 724-925-8915,

on I-70W , (10 miles north of the church); Melody M otor Lodge, 724-628-9600 on 119N in Connellsville).

For further information contact: Pastor Paul W . Prinkey, 109 Salvation Lane, Mt. Pleasant, PA 15666

Telephone: 724-547-2151

Summersville, WV REVIVAL : Church of God, 74 Armstrong Rd., Summersville, W est Virginia 26651

April 30-May 6 Evangelist: Brother Allen Polston, New Castle, Indiana

Service times: Monday-Friday 7:00 p.m.; Saturday 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.

Visit our website @ www.ChurchofGodSummersvilleW V.com

For further information con tact: Pastor Earl R. Borders @ 304-872-4047

http://www.ChurchofGodSummersvilleWV.com

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