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Thought for Today 2003. 07-01 Making Jesus Lord" During a road trip, my attention was caught by a billboard along the highway containing these puzzling words: Jesus is Lord of all. Make him yours today. I believe that the people who paid for that billboard had the very best of intentions. I believe that they were trying to do a good thing, wanting to serve Jesus and to help people. And I believe that God has probably blessed them for what they intended to do. At the same time, when I read the billboard they put up, my spirit was grieved, for I knew that their billboard would not serve its intended purpose. I knew that I was seeing another of example of God’s precious children trying to do something right but doing something wrong instead because of a lack of knowledge. The billboard makes no Biblical, rational, or theological sense whatsoever. It makes no Biblical sense because there is no account in the Bible of anyone "making Jesus Lord" except the Father, who highly exalted Jesus and made him "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). It makes no rational sense because it is impossible that any creature should have the power to "make" the Creator anything. Whatever the Creator can be, he already is, and no creature can add anything to him. It makes no theological sense because if Jesus is Lord of all, as the Bible clearly states that he is, then he is already everybody’s Lord, whether or not anyone knows it or likes it. In short, by saying "make Jesus your Lord", the billboard is exhorting its readers to do something that is impossible for anyone on earth to do. Many, many times, we have heard Christian evangelists or pastors plead with sinners to "make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior." But how do they propose that those poor sinners do that? The Bible never tells people to make Jesus their personal Lord and Savior, much less does it offer advice on how to go about doing it. What directions would you give, my friend, to a person who was trying to make Jesus Lord? What Makes Sin, Sin If Jesus is Lord of all, then he is Lord of all. The word "all" means "everything and everybody, everywhere", and that means that Jesus is Lord even over demons. That is, in fact, precisely why demons tremble when they think of him (Jas. 2:19 ). They know that their Lord is greatly displeased with them and that he will shortly cast them all into the Lake of Fire. Moreover, if Jesus is Lord of all, then Jesus is Satan’s Lord, too. After all, it was because Satan rebelled against his Lord in heaven that he was cast out of heaven, wasn’t it? And Satan also knows that his Lord will soon cast him into that burning Lake of eternal torment, along with all who are like him. The Bible tells us that he is bitter and angry because of what he knows his Lord will shortly do to him (Rev. 12:12), but there is absolutely nothing that he can do about it. Jesus holds the keys of both death and hell (Rev. 1:18). As for us humans, whether or not we acknowledge that Jesus is our "personal Lord and Savior" and obey him, Jesus is our "personal Lord and Savior" because God made him everybody’s personal Lord and Savior a long time ago. That is the very thing that makes sinners, sinners. They are sinners because they are disobeying their personal Lord and Savior. If Jesus were not the Lord of sinners, then they would not be sinning when they disobeyed his commandments. What is sin, but disobedience to the Lord of all? And where there is no Lord, there can be no sin. Sin is sin because Jesus is Lord of all. So, how are people supposed to make Jesus their Lord, when "Lord of all" is what he already is? What sense does that billboard message make? And what are Christian evangelists asking sinners to do, when they plead with sinners to "make Jesus Lord of your life"? To make such a statement, spiritually speaking, is insane. Who was the first person to use that phrase? and where did it come from? I do not know who first used that strange phrase, and it has been in use for so long now that it is doubtful that anyone living knows. But it did not come from God, and from that, we can safely conclude that it originated in the heart of the prince of darkness, to accomplish some evil purpose. Shaped By Doctrine Thinking that you have the power to make Jesus be something will puff you up, just as Satan became proud and exalted himself against Christ. My friend, beware! When you receive any doctrine into your heart, you will be shaped by it to become like the maker of that doctrine. Whenever you welcome the truth of Christ into your heart, you will be made more like God by doing so. Whenever you receive a lie into your heart, you will be made more like Satan, the "father of lies". Your soul is shaped by what you believe in your heart. Solomon made this true statement: "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." When the truth is preached and believed, it creates humility in a person’s heart, for it reveals to sinners that they are in danger of provoking the wrath of their Lord. It destroys pride because it reveals to men that God is great and that they are not. The truth reveals to sinners that God loves them and that they have not loved Him. It creates fear of God in men because it reveals to men that God has power either to destroy them or to make them live forever, and that they have no power whatsoever to make Him do or be anything. The truth exalts God; it does not mislead men and puff them up. "Make Jesus Lord of your life"? I tell you that Jesus has always been Lord of your life, and always will be. Before you heard and understood the truth and repented of your evil doing, you were a sinner because you were not keeping the commandments of your Lord. When you repented and submitted to his will, you did not "make him your Lord"; you merely acknowledged that "Lord" to be who he already is. Now that you are obeying him, you are acceptable to him, and you can rejoice because "in the king’s favor is life." The Real Reason The truth about the New Birth is so important to the unity of the body of Christ that Satan will stop at nothing to keep the children of God in the dark about it. If the children of God around the world ever learn the truth about the New Birth, they will at long last come out of Christianity and begin to be healed and united. And if they ever become one in the faith, Satan will no longer be able to hide among them, manipulating their hearts, shaping their spirits, and influencing their conduct with doctrines that are not true. God’s truth is the saint's only hope of spiritual purity, and without that purity, the body of Christ will never be free from Satan’s influence and be prepared for the Lord’s return. Without knowledge of who is born again and who is not, we cannot know who is in the body of Christ and who is not. And if we don’t even know who is a brother and who is not, how can we ever be united in Christ? Satan’s real purpose for the phrase, "make Jesus your Lord", and other phrases like it, is to prevent the body of Christ from knowing the truth about the New Birth. The Christian minister’s call to "make Jesus Lord of your life" is merely one of Satan’s many alternatives to the true new Birth: Jesus’ baptism of regeneration, which is the baptism of the holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking with other tongues. Satan’s cleverly devised phrases may sound good, but their effect is to make people think they are right with God without receiving Jesus’ cleansing baptism. Don’t even try to "make Jesus Lord of your life". You cannot do it. The best you can do is to confess that he already is Lord of both your life and everyone else’s, and then do whatever he says to do. If you do that, he will fill you with his Spirit, and the Spirit will then guide you through this bewildering earthly existence. The Spirit is life; stay full of it. The Christian phrase, "make Jesus Lord", is not life; it is meaningless talk. It is nothing more than vain religious blather, which is all that Satan has to offer to men. Jesus offers true, everlasting life, the eternal Sprit of life that comes from the Father. His offer is not "in word but in power", and all wise men choose that good life rather than words that sound good but have no eternal substance.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-30 God Can Do Anything "Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He is heaven and in earth." God can do anything. God required all able-bodied men twenty years old and up to be numbered for military service in the Old Testament, but there were reasons acceptable for being discharged from that obligation. Using this standard as a contrast, Solomon drove home the point that all men, without exception, must face death when he wrote, "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death, and there is no discharge in that war" (Eccl. 8:8). The Bible says that "it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the Judgment." Ethan asked the question in Psalm 89:48, "What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?" David said that not even the richest of men can pay God off, so that He will not bring an end to his life on earth (Ps. 49:6-9). This is what the Bible teaches about mankind and death. It must be faced by each one of us. But God can do anything. The Bible does not limit Him because the Bible is not God; God is God. There was a man who never saw death, and never will. His name was Enoch, and in his lifetime, he pleased God to such an extent that God decided (is He not free to do so?) not to make Enoch suffer through the natural process of dying. God took Enoch alive from the earth. Enoch is now with the Lord and will be with him forever. God can do anything. When Paul preached the gospel to the Jewish communities scattered throughout the Roman Empire, part of his message was that because of Jesus, it is possible now to be forgiven for sins that under the Law were unforgivable (Acts 13:39). Two such "unforgivable" sins were premeditated murder and adultery. Both were punishable by death, and especially in the case of murder, God was adamant that under no circumstances was the murderer to be allowed to escape execution, even if he grabbed hold of God’s own altar, begging for mercy. "Thou shalt take him from my altar", commanded the Lord God, "that he may die" (Ex. 21:14). No exceptions were allowed. But God can do anything. When King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered righteous Uriah in a vain attempt to conceal his sin, he committed two of the sins for which there was no forgiveness under the Law. When Nathan, God’s prophet, confronted David about his transgression, David was terrified. He broke down and confessed his iniquity, certain that he would now be cast away by God and cursed to die the death of the wicked. It stunned him and every one else in Israel when Nathan announced to the distraught king, "The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (2Sam. 12:13). Fortunately for David, his Bible, the Law of Moses at that time, was not God. Besides, the Law was for man; it did not require God to do anything. Nothing can do that. And if in His infinite wisdom, God determined that in this case He would overrule the Law, that is His prerogative. God can do anything. God does not read the Bible. He does not search the Scriptures to see what He can and cannot do, and neither do we if are wise. The Bible is not what guides God’s decisions, and it is not what guides the decisions of those who are like Him. God does not take counsel from even the wisest of holy men. He does not ask for permission or directions. He "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11). And it was His will that David live and not die, regardless of what the Law demanded. Is it any wonder that David loved the Lord? or that he often sang, "Praise ye the Lord!" Forgiveness is Not Automatic Repentance is not a gimmick. The sinner who repents doesn’t force God into a corner, with no option but to do the will of the sinner and wash him from his sins. Forgiveness is not automatically given just because a sinner repents. Forgiveness is given ONLY because God wants to forgive. It is the work of God; it comes from God’s heart; it is new and wonderful every time it happens. Even if a man repents, God is not required to forgive. The Bible tells us that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn. 1:9). But God would still be "faithful and just" even if in a particular case He decided not to forgive someone who repents. And He is perfectly free to do that, no matter what the Bible tells us about anything. God did not forgive a number of people in history, even when some of them regretted their evil deeds and repented. God refused to forgive Esau when that profane man sold his birthright, even though Esau sought forgiveness with many tears (Heb. 12:16-17). God refused to forgive Judas, even though Judas returned the blood money to the wicked men who paid him to betray the Lord Jesus (Mt. 27:3-5). On several occasions, we read in the Bible that God sent prophets to certain sinners, telling them that they had provoked God for the last time and that no sacrifice would ever be accepted for what they had done. He refused to forgive Eli, Israel’s high priest, for allowing his perverse sons to abuse the children of Israel when they came to worship their God. Eli’s sons caused God own people to hate to come to Shiloh to worship Him, and that provoked God to such wrath that He swore He would never forgive either Eli or his sons forever. Jesus told us that just one sin was always unpardonable (Mt. 12:31), but any sin can become unpardonable if the sin is committed in such a manner that it provokes God’s wrath to that extent. When some sinful people in Jerusalem learned that terrible judgments from God would very shortly fall upon the inhabitants of the city, they arrogantly dismissed God’s stern call to repentance. Instead, they threw what we would call an "end of the world party". "Let us eat and drink," they said, "for tomorrow we shall die." This cavalier attitude toward Judah’s coming disaster infuriated God to such an extent that He sent Isaiah to tell those foolish people that they would never be forgiven. Isaiah said, "It was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts, ‘Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord of hosts’" (Isa. 22:12-14). That warning, too, was probably scoffed at by the sinners in Jerusalem, but only until God’s hammer fell. Afterwards, they didn’t think the displeasure of the Almighty was such a joke. More importantly, right now they are all being tormented in the flames of hell, making no plans for a party. Commanding God? In a meeting some years ago, I heard a man testify that he and his wife had "commanded God" to do a certain thing. The man was obviously trying to teach us that if we would only believe the truth, we could give God commandments and that He would be forced to obey us. I had heard of people who believed that nonsense, but that was my first and only encounter with them. Apparently, they believed that God is required to do whatever men command Him to do, if those men base their command to Him on a Scripture. They were foolish and blind. God can do anything, and He does do anything that He wants to do, and only what He is pleased to do, all the time. There is no Scripture, no person, no tradition that has any power or even influence over the judgments or works of the Almighty. He will show mercy upon those whom He chooses to show mercy; others, He hardens and then destroys (Rom 9:18). We serve a living God, a God with feelings and thoughts and desires. He does only what His heart tells Him to do. The Bible reveals many things about Him, but it does not limit Him or tell all that there is to know about Him. He does whatever His Spirit desires to do, always. That is the way He lives, and it is also the way they live who are like Him. Those who are led by God’s holy Spirit are the ones whom God calls His sons (Rom. 8:14) because they live as He lives. They are free, as He is free. They are holy, as He is holy. The Bible does not guide such free men into all truth because it can’t; the Spirit guides them into all truth because it is the Spirit of truth (1Jn. 5:6), and to guide us into all truth is the reason the Spirit was sent (Jn. 16:13). If you know that God can do anything, you will not fall victim to some Spirit-less tradition of men. If you know that God can do anything at any time that it pleases Him to do it, you can believe all things and hope all things. If you know that God is free to do as He will, you are set free to follow Him, to be like Him, and to live above the shadows of man’s vain imaginations, just as your God does. If you know that God can do anything, you realize your very great need to know Him, not just to read about Him. If you know that God can do anything, then you fear Him, and you love Him. And if you fear and love God, you will someday see His face and live forever in His presence.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-29 Required Doctrine From a sermon by Preacher Clark at Grandma’s house, early in 1969. Paul wrote to the saints at Galatia, "I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Paul’s gospel was not from Paul; he was not "theologian"; he was servant. The same can be said about every true servant of God that has ever lived. The "Law of Moses" was not from Moses, not one word of it. Not one "word of the Lord" found in the book of Isaiah was of Isaiah’s own mind or will, nor did the words of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the other prophets of God come from their own hearts. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man," wrote the apostle Peter, "but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost." Peter was an authority on this subject because he himself was one of those "holy men of God" who were moved by the holy Ghost to speak and act on behalf of Christ. The prophetic words of God’s servants are no more of the man who utters them than are the healings that anointed men of God perform. Whether the apostles were raising the dead or speaking of things to come, they were merely conduits through which God’s wisdom and power were delivered to suffering people. Jesus, too, was a servant of God. He was no more a theologian than was Paul; he formulated no doctrine, either. He spoke only what he heard from God. He said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man is willing to do God’s will, he shall know whether this doctrine is from me or from Him that sent me." It was this knowledge that he had been sent by God that Jesus that Jesus pleaded with the leaders of his beloved Israel, "If you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins." The revelation of God to His servants sets apart the true gospel from the multitudes of conflicting gospels proclaimed by Christian ministers around the world. God has not sent those men to teach what they teach; therefore, it is safe to ignore them. One can reject any of the gospels that God has not revealed and still have a bright hope of eternal life. But if a man is sent by God with the true gospel of Jesus Christ, then those who hear that man will not meet God in peace unless they submit their souls to what he has said to them. That man’s words are from God, and there is no escaping the requirement to believe God’s words. "What I Am Telling You" In his sermon that day, Preacher Clark said, "You’re not going to [meet God in peace] without what I am telling you." Thirty-five years later, when I listened to the recording of him saying that, it impressed me that he should have had the courage to say it. His faith must have been in God rather than in himself. His was a tiny congregation; it met in such an out-of-the-way location. The poor and unrecognized circumstances of his incredible claim that day seem to be a mockery of its reality. But then, Jesus was out in the country, and there were just a few present when he said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build up my congregation." As far as authority is concerned, it does not matter where a man is standing, or how many people are paying attention, when God speaks. It is settled in heaven. To some, Preacher Clark’s astonishing claim that day may sound like the claim of a proud and deluded man, and such a claim is always just that–unless that man has truly heard from God. In that case, it is no mere claim; it is a warning. And it is a claim that any man of God should make in public, and that many men of God have made throughout history as a warning to the disobedient. In fact, if a man can’t honestly tell people that they will lose their souls if they refuse his words, then his message has not been revealed to him by God, and your time would be better spent doing anything other than listening to him talk about Jesus. Thought for Today 2003. 06-27 Everything Depends on Jesus, Part Five Unless You Believe Jesus earnestly warned certain rulers of the Jews in his day, "if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (Jn. 8:24). And again, "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me, and ye will not come to me that ye might have life" (Jn. 5:39-40). The most important thing that you can know in this life is that Jesus is the only Savior. In a time such as ours, when men and institutions are attempting to relegate the gospel to the dusty shelf of unimportant theories, Peter’s courageous testimony to the judges of Israel concerning Jesus needs to be repeated at every opportunity: "Be it known to you all . . . [that there is none other name under heaven given unto men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:10, 14). Jesus said, in all humility and love, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me" (Jn. 14:6). And to help us to see through the many claims of false teachers with their delusive visions and dreams, Jesus made this extremely enlightening statement, "Every man that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me" (Jn. 6:45). What a helpful truth to have from God, to be told that whoever really hears from God falls at the feet of Jesus! Who does that leave out? From what Jesus said, we know that Muhammad did not hear from God because if he had heard and learned from the Father, he would have repented of his sins and gone to Jesus. His doctrine does not lead others to Jesus as the only way to God. We know that Buddha did not hear from God either because his way does not lead to Jesus as the only way to salvation. Because of what Jesus said, our eyes are open to the fact that the Hindu religion will mot lead to eternal peace and rest for anyone, and we are free to condemn Shintoism as worthless, concerning the salvation of the soul. The strange religions of the peoples of Africa and the south Pacific islands are exposed by the light of Christ as being evil, not good. Jesus is the only way to salvation from the coming wrath of God; Jesus himself said so. And the reason he said so was not to boast of his place in the Father’s kingdom, but to light the way for those who from the heart want to know and do God’s will.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-26 Everything Depends on Jesus, Part Four It’s His Decision During his travels, the apostle Paul came to the world-renowned city of Athens, breeder of philosophers and one of the principal places of idolatry on earth. When invited by those of the city to speak at a public gathering, he unashamedly declared that faith in Jesus was their only hope of salvation. He spoke boldly and clearly to everyone on the famed Mars Hill that day, warning them of the wrath to come. Part of what he said to those officials is recorded in Acts 17:31: "[God] hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained. . . ." This is fundamental, essential information. Everyone on earth should be told these essential truths: (1) there is coming a day of Eternal Judgment and (2) Jesus will be the judge. The eternal destination of every person who ever lives on this planet will be determined by Jesus alone. "The Father judgeth no man", Jesus said, "but hath committed all judgment to the Son" (Jn. 5:22). That is the truth, and any other teaching concerning the coming Day of Judgment by any religion on earth is not true. The religions of man destroy the souls of those who believe in them; they do not prepare souls to meet God in peace. "There is none other name given unto men under heaven whereby we must be saved", proclaimed Peter. On the Day of Judgment, everything will depend on a person’s relationship with Jesus. "We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ", wrote Paul, "to give account of the deeds done in this body, whether they be good or whether they be evil". The reason Paul taught this truth is not that some slick-talking evangelist had talked him into believing it. Paul taught this truth because Jesus had told him it was true, and in godly concern for others, Paul was passing that knowledge to every soul who would listen.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-25 Everything Depends on Jesus, Part Three "By Him All Things Consist." To "consist" means to continue to exist and function normally, and we are told that everything in all creation consists by Jesus (Col. 1:17). This universe does not operate on its own. It is not on a fixed course, set by laws of physics that rule supreme across the cosmos. Jesus upholds everything in both heaven and earth by his power (Heb. 1:3). He told his disciples, "All power in heaven and in earth is given unto me" (Mt. 28:18). This power that the Father gave to His Son Jesus is not limited to the realm of the spiritual things and the salvation of souls. By God’s command, Jesus is the Director of the universe. He orchestrates the movements of the galaxies much as a conductor of an orchestra keeps the musicians in sync with his wand. All of nature is his servant, moving only at his will. There is no "mother earth"; that is an ancient myth. The blessings of nature are gifts from God through Christ, and praising the earth instead of praising the Lord is both foolish and evil. The laws of physics everywhere operate only as Jesus commands. In the beginning, there was no evolution of man or of the cosmos; there was only the Lord Jesus, creating everything according to the will of his Father. The Son of God created all things "that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him, and for him" (Col. 1:16). The sun continues to shine only because Jesus is determining, moment by moment, that it will. The oceans still beat relentlessly against the sandy shores only because Jesus is determining, right now, that they will. The world revolves and brings changes in the seasons only because Jesus has a purpose for those things to continue. Winds blow and birds fly by his strength and wisdom, for in him dwells the fulness of the wisdom and goodness and power of the Father. Jeremiah asked incredulously, "Can the heavens give rain?" He saw, as we can see now, multitudes of people looking to the clouds for water instead of trusting in the Maker of the clouds. He wept because God’s people were swept up by the godless spirit of their time to "worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever" (Rom. 2:25). Do not look to the fields to produce your bread; look to the Maker of the fields and the Sender of the rains. Do not look to your earthly government to keep you secure. "Safety is of the Lord", and when Jesus has finished using an earthly government, it will end, regardless of the powerful weapons it may possess. In the early 1990's, the mighty Soviet Union fell apart. There was no statesman on earth, no government watchdog group, no public official anywhere, no philosopher in any country, and no scholar in any university in the world who foresaw the sudden downfall of the Soviet Union. Not even when the collapse of that massive empire was merely days away was any man anywhere able to predict what Jesus was about to do. It was the work of Jesus, and no man could either foresee or alter his plan to any extent. The Unites States continues to exist only by the will of God’s Son Jesus. This is that Jesus whose name government officials are ashamed to mention in public. The Jesus who holds in his hand the life of every creature is an embarrassment to most of the people whose lives he is keeping from destruction. His Book is banned from schools, lest children learn of his love and power. His words are refused a place in any public building, lest it appear that the government honors Jesus more than the liars who claimed to be sent from God but were not. His Spirit is prohibited from falling upon anyone in the more stylish assemblies, lest it expose their distinguished, erudite pastors to be frauds. God has blessed with incredible wealth and power and technological might the nations who once unashamedly spread the liberating message of Jesus to other continents and peoples; now, in Western civilization, his gospel is relegated to the realm of unnecessary theory by the very nations who have most benefitted from it. What will be the end of the indignities heaped daily upon the name of Jesus by Western governments, including the government of the United States? What should be the outcome? How long will God’s patience endure the stubborn refusal of public officials to express thankfulness to the Lord Jesus, by name, for the blessings of safety and wealth that he has given to us? To seek the favor (votes) of men instead of humbly and publicly acknowledging our utter dependence on Jesus is a grievous error in judgment, and will, in time, prove to be the undoing of this and every other earthly government. "In the king’s favor is life", counseled Solomon. Jesus is king, and when he favors a man, that man lives forever. All living things receive nourishment from the loving hand of Jesus, from microscopic organisms to the largest of whales, as well as all people. All creatures continue to live only because he wills it. You are able to read this only because Jesus has taught you to read, and if you understand and believe what I am telling you, it is only because he has condescended again to open another human heart to his wonderful, hidden truth. Jesus is Lord of all (Acts 10:36), and every one of us is indebted to him for our lives. We owe Jesus praise and obedience, and to fail to pay that debt is sin.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-24 Everything Depends on Jesus, Part Two For Sins That Are Past Twice in the New Testament, we are told that Jesus died for sins committed before he came to dwell among men. In Romans 3:25, Paul wrote that Jesus’ sacrifice provided remission "for sins that are past". In Hebrews 9:15, we are told that Jesus’ death provided "redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament." Everything depended on Jesus. This is the reason that Abraham, long dead and in Paradise, rejoiced to see the day that Jesus came (Jn. 8:56). Abraham’s sins may have been forgiven, but they had not been blotted out of God’s book, for animal sacrifices could not do that. His sins, David’s sins, Moses’ sins, the sins of every human who had ever lived, whether those sins had been repented of and forgiven or not, were still in God’s record books. Nothing but the blood of the Lamb of God would be able to remove them. Old Testament sins were forgiven if people repented of their sin and offered the required sacrifice, but God forgave those sins "on credit", so to speak. God forgave those sins only on the condition that Jesus would come and make the ultimate sacrifice so that God would blot out the forgiven sins still recorded in His books. It is as if when a person sinned before Jesus came, and then repented, God forgave them and then placed a big "X" beside that sin to designate that it would be erased from His record books by the blood of Jesus. The sins of those who did evil and did not repent before Jesus came will remain in God’s books of recorded deeds until the Day of Judgment. John saw in a vision the terrifying scene: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. . . . And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their deeds" (Rev. 20:12). What a frightening scene! Dear God, please help us to be able to stand before You on that day! For Job, whom God Himself described as "a perfect and upright man", everything still depended on Jesus. For Noah, who also was "perfect in his generations", everything depended on Jesus. Jesus suffered and died for the sins of the whole world (1Jn. 2:2), whether the people in that world lived a thousand years before he came or a thousand years afterward.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-23 Everything Depends on Jesus, Part One Paradise Before Jesus came and offered himself for our sins, Hell was divided into two parts: Paradise and Torment. When anyone died, whether he was good or evil, he descended into the heart of the earth, into the region called Hell. Those who had done good went into that part of Hell called Paradise; those who had done evil went into that part of Hell where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth". In Luke 16, Jesus told the story of a poor, upright man called Lazarus who died and was "carried by the angels" down into Paradise. While alive on earth, Lazarus regularly sat and begged at the gate of an unnamed rich man. When that rich man died, he was cast into the part of Hell where there was torment. Through the searing flames around him, the rich man could see Paradise and could actually speak to Abraham, on whose breast the poor Lazarus now rested peacefully. He recognized the beggar who had for years wasted away at his gate. "Father Abraham!" he cried, "I beg you to send Lazarus over here! Let him just dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame!" "My son," replied Abraham, "remember that in your lifetime, you received your pleasant things and Lazarus suffered with evil things. Now, Lazarus is comforted, and you are tormented. Besides, between us and you God has established a great gulf, so that none of you can escape from there to come here, and no one on this side can cross over to help any of you." This was the situation in "Hell" prior to the ascension of Jesus into heaven. Now, however, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." The Lord is now at the right hand of the Father, so we know that Paradise is in heaven where the Lord Jesus is. The Bible never describes the transfer of Paradise from the heart of the earth to heaven; it merely reveals where Paradise was before Jesus came and where it is now. All we have to do is to add one and one to figure out who moved it there. Paul did tell us that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he led captivity itself captive (Eph. 4:8), and that verse seems to be a reference to Jesus’ moving Paradise into heaven, for Paradise was a place that held ancient saints in captivity in the heart of the earth before Jesus came, saints who were eagerly waiting for Jesus to come and pay the price for their redemption. Other than that one Scripture from Paul, there are no references to the transfer of Paradise into heaven that Jesus brought about. The only thing we can say with certainty is that the transfer happened, and that Jesus is the one who made it happen. And the only thing left for us to do, concerning Paradise, is to live so that when our time comes to die, we may follow poor Lazarus into it.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-22 By Faith We Understood From a sermon by Preacher Clark at Grandma’s house, in the spring of 1972. Gary’s CD #15, Track #1 Some people demand a sign to be given them of God so that they will really believe. It will never happen. They are fooling themselves. "No!", said the Preacher that afternoon. "You’re going to believe, and then you will see." That is the order of God. "By faith we understand", wrote the author of Hebrews. It is not a matter of "by faith we close our minds to the scientific facts." Not at all. The gospel can bear up under any examination. But only faith in God enables men to weigh the facts judiciously. Jesus said that only an evil and immoral generation demands signs from God (Mt. 12:39; 16:4 ), and they do it because they know it is safe to do it. Something in an unclean heart senses that God will never do as men command Him to do, but, hey, it looks good to some people for the ungodly to demand that God do something . . . and nothing happen. This is a kind of wisdom. There is such a thing as an evil wisdom, and some of it rests in the heart of every man who has not yet entered into the kingdom of God. The righteous, on the other hand, are cleansed from their own ways and understand that vain man cannot make demands of God. He is King; He makes demands of man, and it is dangerous not to obey Him. Besides, for the honest heart who really does wonder if God is really there, the Creator "has not left Himself without witness." He created everything in this magnificent universe, and if the beauty and symmetry of His creation does not touch a person’s heart and tell him that there is a God, nothing ever will. When Thomas saw and touched the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side after his resurrected, he, at last, believed it was true. Jesus really had come back from the dead. "Thomas," the Lord told him, "because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed" (Jn. 20:29). Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you would believe if only God would do some astonishing trick for you. That kind of mind cannot believe, "even if one arose from the dead." Simply repent and believe the gospel. After you believe, you will be amazed at the understanding of all things that will follow that little act of obedience. Thought for Today 2003. 06-20 Too Late to Obey Solomon said, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." There is even a time to obey God, and it can pass. Isaiah suggested this when he said, "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near" (55:6). God spoke of a time when He would laugh at those who prayed for mercy, because the time for mercy had passed. "I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me" (Prov. 1:26, 28). In Numbers 13, the Israelites reached the border of the Land of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham by God. God then told Israel to go forward and take the land, but they refused to go. They provoked God with their stubbornness, and He then told them to turn back into the wilderness. The next day, they changed their minds and decided to obey God’s first command to take Canaan, but the time to obey that commandment had passed. God was no longer with them to help them do that. Moses begged them not to try, but they refused to listen to him. When they marched forward, they were attacked and beaten badly by the inhabitants of the land. They had rejected the word of God saying to take the land, and now, just one day later, it was too late to do what God had wanted them to do just twenty-four hours before. On this day, there was another, completely different word of God for them; to wit, "Go back into the wilderness for forty years!" This is how it is with men who wear religious robes, who burn incense to God, who sprinkle holy water on things and people, and who consume natural substances such as bread and grape juice in their worship of God. It is too late to worship God in such things. There once was a time, under the Law of Moses, when God commanded men to worship Him in such ways, but the time for obeying God’s commandments concerning worship in fleshly ceremonies is passed. Jesus has come. Now, Jesus said, "true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him MUST worship Him in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23-24). Please don’t wait until the time is passed to obey God and worship Him in spirit and truth. These are precious moments, full of mercy for those who ask while God will answer. These are precious days of opportunity to obey God while it is time to do so. Please do not let these fleeting moments pass by you unheeded. The time is coming when the time to worship God as He demands will pass for all who have not obeyed. Someone, someday, will be in the Lake of Fire hating himself for the opportunity missed. Please do not let that someone be you.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-19 The Difference Between the Old and the New Testaments From conversations with Preacher Clark, late 1970s. The Old Testament was a covenant of symbols and ceremonies. The New Testament is a covenant of spirit and life. Jesus instituted no symbolic ceremonies; instead, he brought us life. The ceremonies of Moses’ Law, the things Paul called "works of the Law", prefigured the work and glory of Jesus, and when he came, he replaced, or "fulfilled" them all. By fulfilling the Law, Jesus made us free from the works of the law to walk with him in spirit and in truth. Being a covenant of ceremonies, the Old Covenant was principally carried out in the flesh. The worshipers of God had to be "in the flesh" in order to worship God at all. The feasts were feasts that fed the flesh, for worshipers at the feasts of the Lord ate natural food and drank natural drink. The weekly Sabbaths were days of rest for the flesh, including rest for the weary flesh of the farm animals of Israel (Ex. 20:10). The sacrifices were sacrifices of the flesh and blood from animals. The priests’ robes for conducting worship were a covering for their flesh. The circumcision of the Old Testament was a circumcision of the flesh. The only acceptable place of worship was an earthly building, a temple built by men in the flesh, where men in the flesh could conduct the required ceremonies, burning earthly incense, lighting earthly candles, and eating earthly, symbolic bread on the Sabbath days. In the Old Testament, the flesh, or what Paul called the "old man", got everything. The "inward man" was left in his original, fallen condition. In this New Testament, the "outward man", the flesh, gets nothing, and the inward man is redeemed. Now, the food for the feasts of the saints is invisible manna from heaven, consumed only by the soul. The true Sabbath is rest for the spirits of men in the holy Ghost. The sacrifices of the New Testament are the praises of our lips, and the appropriate garment for worship now is the righteousness of the saints. The acceptable place of worship is in the heart, offered in spirit and in truth, a place where prayers are incense and the light of God is a shining lamp for the mind. The circumcision God requires now is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit of God (Rom. 2:28-29), and both men and women can submit to it. The outward man is cursed to die. These fleshly bodies must wax old and decay. "But though our outward man perish", wrote Paul of this New Covenant, "the inward man is renewed day by day." Praise God! Those in Christ never grow old, though their natural bodies do. But God has new bodies in heaven "reserved for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." Jesus said that, in reality, those who believe in him will never really die (Jn. 11:25-26). In other words, it is irrelevant what happens to these natural, fleshly bodies, as long as we ourselves live on in peace and joy. Worship in ceremony and symbols is useless now. Jesus came to make available a "new and living way" of worship and of living. Trusting Jesus means to trust him to do for us all that we need done in order for our souls to be pure and acceptable to God. For one example, in this New Covenant of spirit and truth, water baptism is not a symbol of any inner faith in Jesus. Rather, it is a symbol of a lack of faith in Jesus as being sufficient to make us acceptable to God. Jesus’ baptism of the holy Ghost is all the baptism that anyone needs to be acceptable to God and live forever with Him. Prove your faith in Jesus by resisting the pressure of ignorant, over-religious men who tell you that Jesus is good, but that to really please God, you must also submit to their fleshly worship: forms of fleshly, water baptism, forms of fleshly communion ceremonies, "holy days", ornate garments and flowing robes for worshiping God, etc. We prove our faith in Jesus by trusting him alone to give us all that we need to be acceptable to God, not by continuing in fleshly ceremonies as if the Old Covenant had never been fulfilled. Don’t be afraid. Jesus has never disappointed anyone who trusted him. He is able and willing "to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by Him." That is the true faith of the New Testament, and every fleshly ceremony that Christians add to this faith of Christ denies his wonderful power to save. Thought for Today 2003. 06-18 "Holy" vs. "Anointed" Every person who belongs to God is holy. In the Old Testament, to "belong to God" meant to be an Israelite. Everyone in Israel was considered holy, for Israel was God’s chosen people. They were in covenant with God. In "the fulness of time", Jesus offered himself to God for the sins of the world, and the manner of covenant with God was changed. Now, the "Israel of God" is not the nation of the Jews, the people who physically descended from Abraham, but it is those who have the same kind of faith in God that Abraham had. Paul taught that "they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7). In this New Testament, then, to belong to God (and therefore, be holy) means that a person has received the holy Ghost, for only those with the holy Ghost belong to God (Rom. 8:9). The holy Spirit of God makes a person holy, and that is the only way for anyone to partake of God’s holiness. A person’s physical birth no longer has anything whatsoever to do with being holy, but a person’s new birth of spirit has everything to do with it. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again" (Jn. 3:7). So, to make it clear, all who have the holy Ghost have been made holy. Along with God’s holiness, there is an anointing that comes with the new birth; it is an anointing that empowers the soul to understanding the will of God and to live without sin. But unlike holiness, there are other anointings beyond that first one. The different anointings in Christ are designed to enable certain saints to perform particular functions in the Spirit. The anointing to prophesy is a different anointing from the anointing to interpret tongues, the anointing to heal the sick, to be a pastor, an evangelist, or a teacher. Moreover, within each particular anointing there may be differing depths, so that, for example, there may be healers with more power to heal than others. There are also different degrees of authority among the saints, so that there are rulers among the saints with authority over other rulers. For one example, Paul ordained pastors over the congregations he established in the cities where he preached. Those pastors had authority in the congregations, but Paul was in authority over the pastors whom he ordained. From information provided in the Bible, we may conclude that even in heaven there are degrees of authority, for we see in there that there are angels anointed with powers not given to others angels. One angel, for example, was especially anointed with power over fire (Rev. 14:18). We would think that all angels had power over fire, and that is no doubt true to some extent, but there was an anointing on this particular angel to have special power over fire. There are also creatures called "archangels" in heaven. The word from which "arch" comes means "ruling". These archangels, then, must be rulers over other angels, with superior power and authority from God. Clearly, God has chosen to delegate power to others, for He has created positions of increasing authority in heaven and on earth. In all of God’s kingdom, whether on earth or in heaven, there is order and organization. Furthermore, God chooses who will occupy which office in heaven, among the saints on earth, and in the kingdoms of men, and it is sin to disrespect those chosen men and women. As Paul said, "The powers that be are ordained by God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive damnation to themselves" (Rom. 13:1-2). Moses’ First Cousin During Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses’ first cousin, Korah, led a rebellion against Moses that would have succeeded in replacing Moses as Israel’s leader if God had not intervened. Korah and his fellow rebels angrily confronted Moses, telling the humble man of God that all the people were holy, not just Moses and Aaron (Num. 16:3). Moses already knew that. He loved God’s people dearly and wanted nothing but good for them. But what Moses also knew was that he had been anointed to lead Israel to the Promised Land and that Korah had not. Korah might have known that all of God’s people were anointed with God’s holiness, but his fatal error was that he failed to acknowledge the higher anointing of God on Moses and Aaron. He didn’t know the difference between being holy and being anointed. It was a fatal mistake. Korah falsely accused Moses of elevating himself above the other Israelites, but Moses has elevated himself nowhere. He hadn’t even wanted the job that God sent him to do. The stress of judging Israel weighed heavily on Moses’ shoulders, and at least once he even prayed for death because of the burden of his work. On one occasion, he cried out in great desperation to God, "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me . . . kill me, I pray thee, out of thy hand" (Num. 11:14-15). Korah and the other rebels were indeed holy, as they claimed, for they belonged to God. They were a part of God’s chosen, holy people. However, neither he nor the other rebels were anointed by God for the office of the priesthood, and in truth, it was Korah’s envy of Aaron’s position as Israel’s high priest, not Korah’s supposed love for the people, that lay at the root of his revolt (Num 16:8-11). Anyone who rebels against the authority that God places in His kingdom does so for some evil motive. Righteousness impels no one to rebel against God; it rejoices in God’s government. So, even though it is true that all of God’s children are made holy and are given an anointing when they enter into God’s covenant, all the evidence given to us shows that (1) there are degrees of and different kinds of anointings in the kingdom of God and that (2) there are not different kinds of holiness. In the Bible, God blessed His people who submitted to the greater anointing, but He condemned His people who acted as though they had an anointing that they did not have. He described them as "a rebellious people that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, a people that provoke me to anger continually to my face . . . which say, ‘Stand by thyself; come not near to me, for I am holier than thou’"(Isa. 65:2-5). The only evidence that indicates there are levels of holiness is the fact that in the Old Testament temple, there was both a "holy place" and a "most holy place". It should be noted, however, that those holy and most holy places had to do with God’s personal property, not with His people. It may be that some in God’s kingdom are holier than others, but if that is the case, we are not told about it in the Bible. This is what we need to know: First, all of God’s people are holy, and because of that, all of them are worthy of respect. And second, we need to know that God chooses and anoints certain holy men and women in his kingdom to serve His children in different capacities. To fail to acknowledge these two basic truths is to endanger one’s own life, as some of the saints have by sorrowful experience learned (1Cor. 11:29-30). Thought for Today 2003. 06-17 Names of Blasphemy In Psalms, we learn much about our Creator. One thing we learn is that He is so holy that His very name is sacred. The Psalmist said, "Holy and reverend in His name" (Ps. 111:9). The word "reverend" properly belongs to no one but God, who alone is holy (Rev. 15:4). Whomever God anoints with His power to govern among the saints may be worthy of some reverence, but only because of the presence of God in his life. In the Dark Ages, when Christianity was consolidating it’s power over Western Europe, one of the tools of oppression it employed was to force the people of Europe to treat the names of its ministers as being sacred, just as God’s name is sacred. From this comes the Christian tradition that demands all men refer to Christian ministers as "Reverend". Wealthier classes Christians, discontent with that small degree of honor, have added suggestive adjectives for their more prestigious ministers, such as "the very reverend", or "the right reverend", or "the most reverend". The "most reverend"!?? Wait a minute! What about God? Who is really "the most reverend"? Sadly, the title "reverend" is very often granted to men who do not even have the baptism of the holy Ghost, and in most cases, do not believe that people still speak in tongues today. Still, they own the blasphemous title, "reverend"? I am somewhat embarrased to confess that I was granted the degree of "Master of Divinity" by the seminary from which I graduated. Good grief! There is only one Master of divine things, and that is Jesus! This glorification of the flesh is one of the qualities of that Whore in Revelation, who "sat upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy." No unsanctified man’s name can possibly be reverend to any extent, and Jesus alone is Master, but to use such titles when addressing men who have no anointing of God upon their lives is the history of Christianity. And that is one more reason why the Spirit is calling God’’s people to "come out of her, My people!" Young Elihu told Job and his three friends that he had learned from God not to be a respecter of persons. The attitude of someone who is no respecter of persons is this: whatever is right is right, and whatever is wrong is wrong, regardless of who is involved. Part of Elihu’s education in this truth was that he had learned not to "give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles; in so doing, my Maker would soon take me away" (Job 32:21-22). If you use the title "reverend" in reference to any man, it must be in the fear of God; it must be because of reverence for God and His anointing upon that particular man. Do not use such titles in reference to men who claim to be ministers of God but who have no anointing from Him. To do that is merely to flatter a man; to do so is to seek man’s favor, not God’s. In the Bible, it is considered a form of blasphemy to say that something or somebody is of God when it is not. Jesus showed us this when he said, "I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews, and are not" (Rev. 2:9). For this reason, the names of Christian denominations are "names of blasphemy". None of them is the body of Christ, yet all of them claim to be. And within the religion of Christianity, there are many, many other such blasphemies. Many are the very wonderful words from God that Christianity has twisted into blasphemies by applying them to things and to people who are unworthy of those sacred titles; "reverend" is only one of them. Let us who seek to please God keep that word holy unto the Lord and not surrender to the vain traditions of ungodly men who ascribe that sacred title to anyone but God, and to those whom He places in authority over us. Why would we want to do anything else?
Thought for Today 2003. 06-16 What Difference Does It Make? From a sermon by Preacher Clark at Grandma’s House, spring of 1972. In a Sunday afternoon prayer meeting, the Preacher said, "If you don’t go where God sends you to go, what difference does it make where you are?" Everywhere except where you are supposed to be is wrong. Thought for Today 2003. 06-14 The Quietest World, Part Two There is no pride in hell; no one in hell is ashamed to cry out for mercy. Every soul cast into hell after death understands immediately what is right and what is wrong, but it is too late for that understanding to help them. Every soul in hell is crying out for mercy, but it is too late to receive it. Every person in hell has a great desire to obey the commandments of God, but for them, the acceptable time to obey God is past. And Jesus revealed to us that souls in hell, knowing their eternal destiny is sealed, plead for God to send somebody to their living loved ones to warn them to obey God so that they might escape that gruesome torment. Often, when we think of the dead, we think of them as they were when they were alive on earth. That is a tragic mistake. When you picture the famed Elvis Presley, a founding father of the beastly music genre called "rock and roll", it is unwise to picture him as he was on earth. He is not like that now. Elvis is not wiggling his hips and smiling at a coliseum full of foolish, screaming girls today. This very moment, "the king", as he is called, is himself screaming for mercy, but will never find any. It is too late. Don’t think of Rock Hudson or Frank Sinatra or Bette Davis, or any other such "star" as they once looked while they were covered with human flesh. They still appear in old movies as handsome and lovely and rich as ever, but all that has changed. That is NOT their present condition. Don’t waste your time picturing John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, and Janice Joplin as they were on earth. Things have changed. They are dead. Now they exist only as the damned, condemned by the righteous judgment of God for helping to lead a generation of young people away from God’s love and into the pernicious maze of youthful lusts and rebellion. Julius Caesar is no longer a flamboyant, immoral, brilliant military leader. He is a nobody, writhing in the flames of God’s justice along with many whom he killed. Nobody in hell cares who he once was. He commands no respect among the damned. King Henry the Eighth no longer sees himself as the head of the Church of England; he despises that godless church and the cruel sins he committed that led to its formation. Cleopatra is no longer pampered by servants; she no longer sits seductively upon silk, conniving to gain more earthly power. She cares nothing for earthly power now. Her screams for mercy go unanswered, but she has nothing else to do in her pain but to continue to plead with God for it. Too late, your royal highness. Too late. Because the history books can only record what is on this side of the grave, the history books can be very misleading. Their pictures of sinful but powerful and famous men and women of the past only show what those poor souls were while they lived on earth. The truth about them lies on the other side of the grave, where they are now, in a land where there is no longer any attractive flesh to conceal a filthy, ugly heart. Where is the history book that can describe for us the agonizing shrieks of glamourous Mae West, the foul-mouth actress of the early twentieth century whose immorality was legendary and who led many a young man into hell? She cares nothing for money now; she cares nothing now for the admiration of young men. Where is the history book that can report to you that truth? Get real, and face the fact that all dead sinners are suffering great and endless agony, no longer envied by those around them, for everyone around them now knows them for what they really are. There are no masters or slaves in hell, for "there the slave is free of his master." There are no bullies and no cowards, no contests for high position. The one and only concern of the souls in that awful torment is somehow to find relief from the pain. But it will never be found. The rich and famous are no longer rich and famous. The handsome and popular are no longer handsome and popular. In the flames, the once arrogant purveyors of filthy, immoral "works of art" no longer justify their perverse lusts with explanations of an artist’s need to express himself. They are too busy howling and squealing with indescribable torments. There, the authors of pornographic materials grind their teeth and bewail the day that they ever learned to read or write. There, musicians and singers who used their God-given talents to lure young people into sin hate themselves and their evil deeds far more than they ever dreamed of hating anyone else. In hell, vain philosophers are no longer philosophers at all, harsh rulers are no longer rulers at all, and once-mighty warriors no longer care to fight. In hell, there is no status, no wealth, no special privilege, no influence of anyone on anyone else. They all are "nobodies" now, just pathetic sinners who foolishly rejected God’s precious offer of eternal life and peace through His Son Jesus. Those on earth who are wise see men and women as they really are while they are living. They are not blinded by a person’s fame or wealth, for they know that all such things exist only on this side of the grave. The greatly admired Madonna is a pathetic, wretched woman, whose soul is as black as death. What historian will follow her into hell when she goes there, to bring back her story? Isn’t Britney Spears gorgeous? You fool! Look on the inside, where the truth is! "As a golden ring in a pig’s snout, so is a beautiful woman without discretion." What will the lovely siren look like when death is feeding on her? She is admired only by those who are as blind as she is, only by those who are as consumed by lust as she is. They will all be gathered together in one place, and all of them will vehemently despise both her and themselves for their evil deeds. How will the harlot allure men to sin when her body is decaying in the dust? And what will she do then with all her money? How will the liar find a listener in the Lake of Fire, where all anyone can do, forever, is to wail with agony? Who in hell will still be cheering for the once-haughty athlete who rejected the grace of God? What will his trophies mean to him then? And there will be no grand ceremony to announce his being dumped in with the rest of human trash. If there were any way to do so, he would gladly trade all his trophies and earthly honors for one more precious hour on earth, just so he could cry out to God and repent. But too late, hot shot. Too late. In hell, everybody is a nobody. Everybody makes noise, and nobody is ashamed to do so. Every soul now in that dreadful place who while on earth complained about, or felt contempt for, or mocked God’s children when they joyfully shouted, or praised, or sang, or prayed aloud to God is himself now unashamed to make a very great noise in a useless effort to be heard by Him. Make your cries count. Cry out to God while it can do you some good. Listen to God’s precious invitation to you: "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Do you carrying a weight of shame and guilt because of an abundance of sin? God has an abundance of mercy for you. You cannot be so bad that God can’t make it right. We are not so powerful that we can out-sin God’s power to forgive and to cleanse. Don’t be a fool. An ancient Latin writer penned some sobering words when he wrote, "Death whispers in my ear. He says, "Live! I am coming." Death is coming for you, my friend. We all must face it, for "it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the Judgment." Don’t wait until the Day of Judgment to cry out for mercy. Use your voice now, while it can still do you some good. Jesus is listening for your cry, and you cannot make too much noise for him. Thought for Today 2003. 06-13 The Quietest World, Part One From a comment by Preacher Clark in the late 1970's. I wrote a song many years ago titled, "They Make Too Much Noise For Me". It is a satire of the foolish attitude of those who complain that holy Ghost filled people make too much noise when they praise God. These are the words: -1- Oh yes, I know the Scriptures say people praise him.
-Chorus- Oh, they make too much noise for me.
-2- Oh yes, I know that Jesus cast out demons.
-3- Oh yes, I know King David danced in the power.
For those who feel that God’s people make too much noise when we rejoice before the Lord, the Bible contains some very bad news; to wit, even with all the shouting and singing and praising God that the saints sometimes offer up to Him whose power saves us, this is still the quietest world that any will ever know. Jesus said that those who are condemned in the Final Judgment will be cast into a place of torment that is terrifying to consider and that "there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Earth has never heard such a volume of lamentation as the souls of the damned make. People on earth have felt great fear; people on earth have been in pain; people on earth have felt hopelessness and remorse; but nothing in human experience has ever produced such screams of horror and agony as the flames of God’s damnation will produce. On the other hand, the saints who are faithful and who will be carried by Jesus into the loving presence of our God will be shouting with utter joy as they have never shouted before. They will be singing loudly in the holy Ghost new songs "never heard by mortal men". Moreover, the innumerable angels and other heavenly creatures will be praising God there with us. Anyone who thinks that Spirit-baptized people on earth are excessively loud are suffering from a blindness to reality caused by an ignorance of the future. They don’t know what lies ahead. This is the quietest world they will ever know. Even at their loudest, God’s people are just a pale imitation of the mighty worship that is going on in heaven right now, much less the worship and praise that will take place when the saints finally see our Father’s face. And even at their loudest, the screams of suffering men, whether caused by war or anything else, is also just a shadow of the loudness of the screams to come. This is the quietest world we will ever know.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-12 "God is not the author of confusion." From overhearing a remark at a prayer meeting at Grandma’s house, c. 1976. The small living room was veritably alive with the power of God. Holy Ghost filled saints, all standing now, were shouting aloud the praises of God. They were laughing and crying all at once. The power of the holy Ghost was all over their bodies, and they rejoiced with abandon in the glory of their king. I was standing in the kitchen. Brother Earl was standing in the doorway, in front of me. Normally, Brother Earl would have been right in the middle of the shouting group of saints, lost in the joy of the holy Ghost, but this time, God had him right in front of me. The Lord wanted me to see what wisdom Brother Earl had. Standing to the right of Brother Earl was Bonnie, the little Catholic woman who had not yet given up on her mission to rescue us from the truth. She really thought that Jesus had sent her to lead us back to the Mother of all Christian Churches, and she dutifully was working toward that end, even if it meant missing some of her own church services to be among us. You just had to admire her grit. That particular Sunday afternoon, the noise in Grandma’s house was almost deafening. God has a way sometimes of thrilling the hearts of His people so much that they have to cry out with all their strength. Well, that day, all the saints in the meeting were being blessed that way, and all at the same time. I could barely hear what Bonnie turned and said to Brother Earl, but there was no mistaking the contempt in her voice toward those humble souls who were shouting and dancing and shaking under the power of God right in front of her. At length, she turned toward Brother Earl and politely, but with obvious disgust, quoted the Scripture, "God is not the author of confusion." With a blank look on his face [Earl never could understand how anyone could not love the power of the holy Ghost], and hardly blinking and eye, Earl turned his head toward Bonnie and asked very innocently, "Then, why are you confused?" Now, that seemed to me, being a very young believer, to be a very helpful pearl of wisdom. The living room itself seemed almost to be shaking with the saints moving and shouting under the power of God, but as I looked in, contemplating Earl’s wisdom, it appeared to me that not a single person in Grandma’s living room was confused. There was a lot of noise, but there was no confusion on the part of anyone helping to make it. The confusion was Bonnie’s, not theirs. Earl pointed that out quite nicely, I thought. And it is that confusion, the confusion of unbelief and pride that blinded poor Bonnie to the goodness of God that was right in front of her, that God is not the author of.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-11 "The flesh profits nothing." An event in a prayer meeting at Grandma’s house, c. 1976. I was just starting out in the Lord, so all I could do was watch. It was a matter to be dealt with by those much older and wiser in the Lord than I. Several people in the meeting that Sunday afternoon, including Preacher Clark, testified about how thankful they were that Jesus had taught them that the communion of God is not a ceremony using earthly food but a spiritual harmony with God and with the saints on earth. They referred to their own experiences in the Christian churches to which they had formerly belonged, and they remembered how unsatisfying the communion ceremonies with crackers and grape juice had been to their souls. There was one in the meeting that day who was not hearing those testimonies as testimonies of victory and joy but of confusion and error. Her name was Bonnie. She was a young catholic woman, and she sat right behind me, in the hallway, listening attentively. Bonnie was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary who had come with my brother, also a student, to be with us in the prayer meeting at Grandma’s farmhouse. I was to learn later that, having become acquainted with my father’s work and with me (I, too, was a student at the seminary), she felt she had been anointed by God to rescue my father and I from our fallen (i. e., non-Catholic) state. At the time, however, I knew nothing about that. And at that moment, I was enjoying the testimonies immensely. But Bonnie was not. Realistically, though, how could she enjoy those testimonies, when she saw the testifiers as very misguided? She sincerely felt that she could help those old saints understand why the bread-and-grape-juice communion service of Protestant Churches had disappointed them. So, feeling obligated to rescue my father and the rest of us, she spoke up: "I can understand why you all were so disappointed in the communion that was offered to you in the churches you attended. That communion was nothing but bread and wine. Our communion in the Catholic Church is the true communion of Christ because the priest transforms the elements of bread and wine into the actual flesh and blood of Christ. When we obey Christ and drink his real blood and when we eat his real flesh, it is not disappointing. Jesus said in John chapter six that we must eat his flesh, but that can only happen when a priest transforms the bread into the flesh of Christ. That is the only way to celebrate true communion." There was an awkward silence for a moment or two. Everyone knew that was a silly thing to believe, much less to say it out loud in front of people. But no one knew what to say. I glanced to my right just as my father looked over his shoulder at the young girl sitting behind me. "May I answer that?" he asked in a very meek tone. Then he gently explained: "After Jesus told the people that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, he explained to them that ‘the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life’. Now, if I had to choose between eating bread or eating Jesus’ real flesh, I would have to choose the bread because he’s already told us his flesh is worthless. At least with the bread, my body might get some nutrients from it. But if his flesh was worthless, as Jesus said it was, why would a priest or anyone else want to turn good bread into worthless flesh? As empty as my Baptist communion ceremonies were, that bread and grape juice had to be better than something Jesus said was worthless." That simple truth brought such peace and rejoicing to the saints that day. I don’t think that heavenly wisdom did much for Bonnie, the young Catholic lady, but oh, how protected we felt from the strange spirit of Christianity that blinded her. Bonnie failed in her mission to enlighten my father and me, and eventually she gave up on us. But I hope that wherever she is today, she too has found the way of life and has escaped the death that Christianity offers to all who partake of it.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-10 Overcoming Evil with Good Paul sent this warning to the saints in Rome: "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." The only way to overcome evil is to do good. Doing good is the only weapon that can prevail against the powers of darkness. Jesus told his disciples, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." But how did he overcome the world? Peter said that Jesus "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil" (Acts 10:38). If we hope to receive the wonderful blessings promised to those who overcome the world, and to escape the awful curses promised to those who are overcome by it, then we need only to continue patiently to do good deeds, as Jesus did. That is the secret to attaining to the promised salvation. Paul said it this way (Rom. 2:6-10): "[God] will render to every man according to his deeds. To those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory, and honor, and immortality, [God will give] eternal life. But unto them who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [God will give] indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil. . . . But glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good." Jesus said it this way (Jn. 5:28-29): "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear [my] voice and shall come forth. They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Those who do evil deeds have been overcome by evil, and those who do good deeds have overcome evil. "He that committeth sin is the servant of sin", said Jesus. And he who does good is the servant of God, for the power to do good and to overcome the world comes from God.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-09 The Promises of God From an email from a sister in the Lord. These are the things from Revelation, chapters two and three, that Jesus promised to the saints of God who are faithful to him until the end: To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Jesus promises these extraordinary blessings to those who are faithful to God and who overcome the world. What do you think Jesus will give to those in the body of Christ who are not faithful to God and do not overcome the world? We don’t have to guess; he told us. He promised that he would give them their portions with the hypocrites and the unbelievers (Mt. 24:51 and Lk. 12:46). In other words, those members would be rejected by the Father and cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever. Too much is made at times of the more pleasant "promises of God". You have seen the cute little inspirational books in Christian book stores about the promises of God; fleecy clouds, little lambs skipping across a meadow, and floating hearts adorn the pages. But there needs to be a balance in our discussions of the promises of God. Wise Paul exhorted the saints to "behold both the goodness and the severity of God". Not all the promises of God are promises of blessings. Some of His promises are for curses. The Father has promised to save everyone in the body of Christ who obeys Him and overcomes the world, but He has also promised to condemn forever those in the body who do not. One of the great men of God of the twentieth century is Brother Oral Roberts. He is a very elderly man now, and we don’t hear much from him any more. But beginning in the late 1940's and over the next thirty years or so, his gift of healing and his faithfulness to Jesus turned more people’s minds toward God than any man has done since the days of the Apostle Paul. He encouraged people all over the world to have faith in God. He knew that God loves people, and he loved people the way God does, with power. I have the life I have today because of Oral Roberts. He healed my father of cancer a few years before I was born. Many thousands of people have a similar testimony concerning Brother Roberts. On the half-hour Sunday morning television programs he once had, Brother Roberts would always begin the program by looking directly into the camera and saying with a huge smile, "Something good is going to happen to you!" He very much wanted people to believe that God loved them deeply and that they could trust Him to supply all their needs, no matter what their need was. Those who loved God never grew tired of seeing Brother Roberts’ beaming face and hearing his encouraging words. Oral Roberts was a prince in the kingdom of God in his time. The Whole Story Something good is going to happen to you. Brother Roberts was absolutely right about that. But that is not the whole story. Bad things are also going to happen to you. Bad things happened to Brother Roberts himself. Whether good and bad things are going to happen to you is not even an issue, for good and bad things have happened to every person who has ever lived. Life’s challenge is, how are you going to deal with the good and bad things that happen? Brother Roberts was trying to lift people up above doubt and unbelief, and it was good for him to do that. He wanted people to have faith in our living and loving God; he did not do evil by telling people that good things were going to happen to them. At the same time, we would all be wise to recognize the fact that sometimes bad things are going to happen, and we need to prepare our hearts to overcome those bad things. God tries the hearts of men. The Bible tells us that many, many times. God has promised to test us. He puts His children in difficult situations, not to torment us but for us to learn faith and patience, and to train us to trust in Him at all times. And if we love God, everything that happens to us, whether pleasant or unpleasant, will eventually work for our good (Rom. 8:28). Believing that, those who trust in God can rise up every day and say to themselves, "Something good is going to happen to me!" Solomon made the statement once that "There shall no evil happen to the just." He must have had Brother Roberts’ kind of faith in God’s power to turn all things into good for those who love God. After Oral Roberts healed him, my father even spoke of the cancer that had nearly killed him as "that blessed cancer" because, through his suffering, he had learned to obey God even better than ever. God chastened him with cancer, and then He healed him of cancer when he repented, and my father was thankful for both the affliction and the deliverance. "To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven", said Solomon (Eccl. 3:1). There is a time for sorrow and a time for joy, a time for weeping and a time for dancing, a time to gain and a time to lose. God has promised that there is a time for every good thing and every bad thing. Prepare your heart, then, to receive with humility whatever He determines that we must face today. Whatever it may be, we know that it is only a part of the promises of God, and if we love God and obey Him, it can only work for our good.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-06 Three Required Things Typically, when a young person is learning to read Biblical Greek, the writings of the apostle John are used because John wrote very simple and direct sentences, and his vocabulary is easily mastered. Whatever John wrote, he wrote in terms that were easily read and understood. In his first epistle, in three different verses, John reminded his readers of what they did in order to be born again (that is, receive the holy Ghost baptism). The standard John set with those three verses has not changed from the day John wrote that letter until now. These are very simple directives for everyone who wants to receive the holy Ghost and become a member of God's family. Everyone who has ever done these three things has received the holy Ghost baptism, or they soon will: First, 1John 5:1 - "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." One must first hear and believe in Jesus because the holy Ghost is given by God to men in the name of Jesus, God's Son (Jn. 14:26). Nobody praying to God in the name of any other has ever received the Spirit of God and been born again. Second, 1 John 2:29 - "If ye know that He is righteous, [then] ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him." Just before he was baptized by the holy Ghost into the kingdom of God, the Gentile Cornelius was told by Peter, "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him." To be accepted by God into His family, the body of Christ, we must obey His commandments. That is righteousness. John warned us not to wander from that simple truth, when he said, "Little children, let no man deceive you [with false doctrine]; he that doeth righteousness is righteous" (1Jn. 3:7). No one who is disobeying God's commandments is righteous. Lastly, 1John 4:7 - "Love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God." This kind of love is love for God and for His people, not the love of the world, for "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1Jn. 2:15). And how do we know that we truly love God? "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (1Jn. 5:2-3). The night before he was crucified, Jesus plainly told his disciples that if they truly loved him, they would keep his commandments, and that if they did keep his commandments, then he would ask the Father to give them the holy Ghost (Jn. 14:15). No one who disobeys God loves God. That is why those who disobey God do not receive His Spirit. Simple but true. These are the things that those who desire to be born again will do. They will believe the gospel about Jesus; they will obey the commandments of God; and they will love God, His children, and those things are of Him. Do those three simple things, and God will baptize you with His holy Spirit into His kingdom.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-05 Discouragement "My word that goeth forth out of my mouth shall not return unto Me void; it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it." Isa. 55:11 It seems that in every generation, God's people on earth have had to suffer with an abundance of false doctrines proclaimed by an abundance of false teachers. In every era told about in the Bible, that certainly was the case. And the many "false teachers" who throughout history have claimed to have heard from God have sometimes caused the few individuals to whom God really spoke to feel discouraged. More than once did a prophet in ancient Israel plead with God for help in understanding why it is that even God's people seemed to be more attracted to liars than to servants of God who told the truth. Jeremiah became so frustrated by the multitude of false prophets in Israel that at one point, he swore he would never again speak to God's people in the name of the Lord (Jer. 20:9). He wept bitterly because his fellow Israelites believed men whom he knew had not heard from God. He cried out to God, "My heart within me is broken because of the prophets" (23:9). I remember when my father went through a terrible struggle with that awful spirit of discouragement. He knew that he had really heard from God, but the abundance of false teachers thwarted, it seemed, his best efforts to communicate the truth to the saints. One evening as we sat in his living room, he described his feelings perfectly. In the face of so much false teaching, to try to persuade the congregation of the truth seemed to him as futile as, in his words, facing into fierce winds of a hurricane, trying to blow the storm backwards. There were just too many false teachers at work among the saints, it seemed to him, too many false teachers of great reputation and influence. He could not compete with them for the hearts of God's children. He didn't look as good or sound as good as they did. But God will not allow the spirit of discouragement to swallow up those who love His Son and are willing to bear the burden of hearing His voice. Knowing that Jesus would face the same trial of discouragement that all of God's servants face, He promised that His mighty hands would uphold His Son. Through Isaiah (42:4), He promised, "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged until he have set judgment in the earth" My brother, you cannot fail if you will not be discouraged. What you have received from God, no matter what it is, will overcome the world and all its false teachers, if you have the patience to continue to rejoice in what He has given you. That was the Father's promise to His Son, and through him, it is a promise that belongs to us. To encouraged all His servants, God sent the following exhortation by the mouth of the much-persecuted Jeremiah (who needed these words as much, or more, than did anyone who heard him speak): "‘The prophet that hath a dream [that is really from God], let him tell a dream, and he that hath My word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff [in comparison] to the wheat?, saith the Lord?'" (Jer. 23:28). If you really have received something from the Lord, go ahead and confess it before men. That is how we who believe confess Christ, by confessing what he really has said and done for us. Do not be concerned if there are many who confess contradictory things. The Word of God will touch the heart of every person who is truly searching for God, and the voices of other, self-appointed shepherds they will not follow. And who else, after all, should we expect to recognize the voice of the true Shepherd and be glad? Jesus said that only a few would find the way of life. The fact that only a few will find the right way must mean that only a few will recognize Jesus's voice in the midst of the multitude of voices that claim to be speaking for God. Be encourage to continue to confess the truth you have from God. What is man's word in comparison to the word that truly comes from God? If what you have in your soul is truly from the living God, it will accomplish God's purpose; it will bless those few who will find the right way; it will sound right to those few who recognize the Voice; and it will overcome every challenge that arises against it from the darkened imagination of vain men, regardless of how many such men there may be. With what God gives to us, we cannot fail if we will simply believe and will not be discouraged. That is why Jesus warned his disciples, "In your patience, possess ye your souls" (Lk. 21:19). And that is why the family of God is reminded that "we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast until to end" (Heb. 3:14). Let us be wise and trust in what we have from God. If we do that, His blessing and His gifts will save us from a thousand heartaches. That is why our heavenly Father gives us whatever He gives us: to comfort, to guide, and to save. What we have from our God will save us forever "if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end."
Thought for Today 2003. 06-04 Judging Righteous Judgment From conversations with Preacher Clark in the 1970's. There have been many poor, elderly, mothers who, praying for far-off sons, have said things like, "Lord, don’t let nothing bad happen to my boy." Grammatically, such a prayer means, "Let something bad happen to my boy." But that is not the intent of such a mother’s heart. Her heart is pleading for protection for her son, even though her words are asking God to send him trouble. It is good that God listens to our heart’s cry rather than to what sometimes comes out of our mouths. It is the intent of the heart that always matters to God. He is not as "picky" as men often are, not cold and harsh when errors are made by honest people who know no better, not cruel as are some people concerning technicalities and proper form. God is understanding, patient, and kind. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are but dust." A lie, too, is a matter of intent, a matter of the heart, not the mouth. If you were attempting to deceive me by telling me that someone named Bill was coming in, when you believed he was not coming, and then Bill unexpectedly walked through the door, technically, you told the truth because Bill did come in. But your intent was to deceive, and so you still are guilty of a lie. On the other hand, if you thought you saw Bill coming toward the door and said to me, "Here comes Bill", but then that proved to be wrong, and Bill did not come in, you have not lied. Your intent was pure, even though your facts were wrong. Throughout man’s history, people have cruelly been made to suffer unjustly for simple, honest errors, while others, full of evil intent, have been honored as good men. Humans cannot judge rightly because we cannot see the intent of another person’s heart. God judges only by the intent of the heart, and only He knows it. Before he led the famed thousand-ship armada against Troy, the ancient King Agamemnon spent some time hunting. Unfortunately for one of his young daughters, during the hunt he killed a deer that, unknown to him, was sacred to the goddess of hunting. The goddess was very angry, and Agamemnon was condemned by her just as if he had intentionally done evil. In order to escape her fierce wrath, Agamemnon was commanded by one of her priests to sacrifice his young daughter, which he did. This gruesome tale of deceit and death may have been a myth, as much of The Iliad certainly was, but it accurately reflects the ancient world’s understanding of justice. There are many examples in ancient stories of people who purely by accident kill or otherwise hurt another, but then were condemned and treated as base criminals. God is not like that. He knows that we are weak creatures in need of mercy and tenderness. Men never have been able to judge rightly without God’s help. The Roman centurion, Cornelius, was judged by the Jews to be unworthy of receiving God’s holy Spirit, not because he was an evil-doer but merely because he was uncircumcised in his flesh. Cornelius was, in fact, a very good man, and the Jews in that area readily admitted that. But he was a Gentile, and so, by their standards, he was disqualified from being baptized into God’s family by the holy Ghost. But God judged him by a different standard, not considering Cornelius’ uncircumcised body, and when God filled that humble Gentile with the holy Ghost, even the Jews with the Spirit were stunned. It took the Jewish congregation years to understand the new standard by which God judges men in this New Testament; sadly, some Jewish believers refused to believe it at all. But that unbelief did not prevail against the work of God, and millions upon millions of Gentiles since the time of Cornelius have been filled with the blessed Spirit of Promise because they conducted themselves as Cornelius, who "was a devout man, one that feared God with all his house." This Roman was a good man who "worked righteousness" and prayed to God always, and as Peter said to him, and to us, "God is no respecter of persons." To be godly means, in part, that we judge as God judges. A godly man does not judge by what he sees or hears, because he knows that people can make honest mistakes and appear to be doing evil when they are not, and that dishonest people sometimes know how to make themselves appear to be trustworthy. To judge as God judges, our thoughts must be governed by God’s Spirit. One of the most famous prophecies about Jesus was that he would not judge men as men normally do, but that he would trust his heavenly Father to tell him what to think about the people and situations he met. In Isaiah (11:1-3) we read, "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . . and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears." Jesus told us not to judge by the appearance but to judge righteous judgment (Jn. 7:24). There is no way that humans, being by nature unrighteous, can keep that commandment in themselves. "With men", as Jesus once pointed out, "it is impossible. But with God all things are possible!" We can judge righteous judgment when we ourselves are made righteous by the Spirit of righteousness that God gives to all who truly love Jesus.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-03 Overcoming the The World "In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Except for a few boat trips across the little Sea of Galilee and one very short ride on a donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus walked everywhere he went while he lived on earth. He never ventured afar to magnificent Greece or the mysterious Orient, never traveled to Rome, capital of the world at that time. He never wielded an earthly weapon, never raised an army, never killed a man or plundered a city. But he overcame the world. He died as a glorious, undefeated Victor over this entire world and everything in it. The apostle John taught us that "all that is in the world [is] the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1Jn. 2:16). Every sin that exists will fit into one of those three categories (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life), and that is all that this world has to offer, for "the whole world", John said, "lieth in wickedness." Every institution of earth, every government, every social order and custom, has its origin in sin and is cursed with death. All earthly governments will be destroyed, but the coming kingdom of Christ Jesus "shall stand forever". Whenever anyone is tempted, he can only be tempted through one of these three fleshly things that make up the world. When the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, she fell into his trap and sinned because she followed after these three things. We are told that after the serpent left her, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [pride of life], she took of the fruit" (Gen. 3:6). Eve did not overcome the world; she was overcome by the world and when Adam followed her, all the human race was plunged into death and ruin. By Adam’s sin, we were all made slaves to the lust of the flesh and of the eye, and to the pride of life. The world was our master, and we had no means of escape. Then Jesus was sent to rescue us from the bondage of sin, and he quickly became engaged in the most ferocious warfare that history has ever known (although history textbooks ignore it). In just forty days, Jesus had overcome the world, with nothing but faith in God battling in the rugged wilderness both the crafty spirit of Satan and his own, weak flesh. And when the desperate battle was over, Jesus had overcome the world and all that it had to offer. Satan employed the lust of the flesh in his first attempt to conquer Jesus. He approached the fasting Savior with this suggestion: "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." But Jesus refused to be led by the lust of the flesh as Eve had been. He would wait for his Father to lead him to turn stones into bread, if it was to be done. And he humbly responded to the Devil with words from the ancient prophet Moses, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." One of the three elements of the world resisted; one third of the world conquered. Having been defeated in his first attack, the tenacious Enemy of righteousness next attempted to lure Jesus into doing his will instead of God’s by leading him into the pathway of the pride of life. The Devil was given power by God to pick Jesus up and carry him through the air to the holy city of Jerusalem. There, perched upon the highest pinnacle of the temple, they both looked down upon the lonely multitudes walking the city stony streets. They were people beloved of God, but oblivious to the epic battle for their souls that was being waged at that very moment, far above them. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this pinnacle and prove who you are to those people below. It is written in the Scriptures that angels are commanded to hold you up so that no harm comes to you." But Jesus was determined to be led by the Spirit, not by the flesh’s desire for fame. He would not abuse his Father’s love and care for him. If God’s people ever were to know and honor him, it would be because he did his Father’s will, not his own or Satan’s. He wanted God’s people to know who he was, because their salvation depended on it, but showing off in order to impress them was not his Father’s way. So, Jesus courageously and humbly refused the Devil’s invitation to perform a great trick before the people, saying, "It is also written, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’" Lastly, the Devil tried to find a way into Jesus’ heart by using the lust of the eye. Again empowered by God to take Jesus up, he brought the patient Son of God to an exceedingly high mountain, where he showed him all the spectacular glories of the kingdoms of earth in a moment of time. "All these kingdoms and their magnificent glories have been given to me," said the Tempter. "I can give them to whomever I will, and I will give them to you if you will only fall down and worship me." This blatant, blasphemous play for worship clearly provoked Jesus to anger, and he sternly rebuked the Devil with authority, again using words penned by Moses over a thousand years before: "Go away, Satan! for it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’" Satan did go away, as Jesus commanded him to do. He had no choice. Jesus had conquered both him and the world, "and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee." Jesus conquered the whole world in forty days. My father told me once that it took him forty years. But whether forty days or forty years, each of us can overcome the world. Be of good cheer. Because of the love of Jesus, you can overcome the entire world on your knees at home alone, without traveling anywhere or fighting with anybody, for the world that must be conquered is the world of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, and Jesus has provided for us the power to win.
Thought for Today 2003. 06-02 "Whose Image is This?" "But Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, ‘Show me the tribute money.’ And they brought him a penny." "And he saith unto them, ‘Whose is this image and superscription?’" And they say, ‘Caesar’s.’" "Then saith he unto them, ‘Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.’" With these words, the Master taught us that it is man’s duty to render to Caesar [earthly rulers] the thing that is made in Caesar’s image: a coin with his likeness stamped upon it. Then he implied a far greater truth; to wit, it is man’s duty to render to God the thing that is made in God’s image, and that is, man himself. We are told in Genesis that "God created man in His own image; in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them" (Gen. 1:27). Paul besought the saints at Rome to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Heb. 13:1). It is only right that man, created in God’s image, should bow before the One who created him from the dust and breathed into him the breath of life. Give to the world the coins that the world makes, with the image of rulers engraved upon them. It is only right to render to earthly governments the taxes that keep them functioning for the good of their citizens. And give unto God that which He made in his image–you! No other creatures on earth were made in God’s image, and other creatures are so privileged to be called upon to offer themselves to God as a "living sacrifice"! No other creatures on earth are so loved by Him that he would give His only Son to die in their place. Give to God what He has made in His image, and He will keep it forever in His loving heart, protected from all harm by His mighty hands.
Thought for Today 2003. 05-28 Knowing the Bible Here is a Scripture that is a favorite of certain ungodly men: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the family of God; and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the congregation is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be unto their own husbands in everything" (Eph. 5:22-24). This portion of Scripture is especially favored by men who do not have the ability or spiritual strength to rule their houses after a godly manner. It is often the case that when someone is placed in a position of authority for which he is unprepared or unqualified, he will try to cover up his inadequacy by harshness. So, someone unqualified to be a supervisor, but is promoted to that position, will sometimes berate his subordinates or overload them with work. I have seen incompetent school teachers dump mountains of homework on their students. And so, the husband who is incompetent to guide his house may try to disguise his insecurity by ordering his wife to submit to him, in the name of the Lord ("The Bible says so!") and force her to pull more weight than is right. The Bible is often used in this manner. In fact, most of the time that the Bible is used, it is used to promote, or in defense of, something wrong. Every one of Christianity’s myriad of conflicting sects uses the Bible to support its error. Movie producers use the Bible as a prop, very often putting it into the hands of twisted killers or maniacal military types in their fabricated stories. Capital punishment protestors use certain verses from the Bible as justification for their unwise agenda. Lustful men use certain verses from the Bible in their ungodly pursuit of attractive women. Scholars use the Bible to promote what in some cases amounts to nothing more than puerile skepticism, or in some cases, a kind of amoral atheism. Very rarely are the holy Scriptures used rightly because how the Scriptures are used depends on the spiritual condition of the person using them, and man himself is rarely right with God. Jesus said, "Strait is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Mt. 7:14). This means that only a relatively few people in each generation find the right way to live. The way into eternal life includes right thinking and right feeling and right talking. Living uprightly means knowing how to use time wisely; it means knowing how to be a good neighbor and friend; and it means being able to use God’s gifts properly, including the precious gift of the holy Bible. If few find the way of eternal life, then few are capable of using the Bible rightly. The Bible was written by men who were under the inspiration of God’s holy Spirit. It can be read and understood only by people who are under the influence of that same Spirit. Those who wrote the Bible had no agenda except to serve God acceptably, and those who read the Bible and understand it are those who also have no agenda but to serve God acceptably. In fact, the Bible is written only for those people. Through the millennia, the Bible has been used by countless misguided souls for countless misguided reasons, but the only reason it was written was to comfort and instruct those few humble souls who sincerely desire to do the will of God. God has hidden His wisdom in the very words of the Book that millions ignorantly read. He has hidden great wisdom in the magnificent Bible, and no one can find it but His little ones, the ones He has chosen to bless. The most erudite Biblical scholar on earth is helpless as a baby to discern in the Bible, even in the original languages, the simple truths of God that His dear children enjoy every day as they read those sacred pages in faith. When Jesus thought on this, he burst forth with praise to God, and cried aloud as his dumbfounded disciples stood watching, "I thank thee, O Father, that thou has hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes!" If you can read the Bible with understanding, be thankful and give glory to the God who chose to show to you His wonderful ways. The right knowledge of, and the consequent right use of the Bible is not possible for man by his own effort or wisdom or will; it is a gift from our merciful God. Do you understand and believe what you read in the Bible? If so, it is not that you have chosen God; rather, it is that He has chosen you and ordained you to eternal life. Don’t be foolish; don’t lightly esteem the grace of God. Show your gratitude for God’s grace on your life by taking advantage of your opportunity to read the Bible and learn it.
Thought for Today 2003. 05-27 "In My Name" "And many shall come in my name, saying ‘I am Christ', and shall deceive many." Matthew 24:5 Paul plainly warned the saints that there were already men who introduced themselves to the congregations as apostles of Christ, but were not (2Cor. 11:13). The word "apostle" means "one who is sent". So, Paul was warning the saints not to believe every man who claimed to be sent from God. Some "servants of the Lord" are in reality "ministers of Satan". Jesus said there would be many of them. In Revelation, Jesus commended one pastor for putting certain men to the test who claimed to be apostles of God and proving that they were not (2:2). John said that already there were many men who went out from him and the council of elders in Jerusalem to the congregations as though they had authority from God to do so, but in reality, wrote John, "they were not of us" (1Jn. 2:19). They were of a different spirit altogether, seeking their own glory (Jn. 7:15), even as they gave every appearance of seeking the glory of God. Someone has said that the best liars are those who believe their own lies before they tell them. This is true. The most convincing liars are liars who first convince themselves they are telling the truth. There is something very persuasive about someone who is himself fully persuaded that what he says is true. So it was with the "false apostles" of Paul's time. One secret of their success in deceiving so many saints is that they had first deceived themselves. Paul grew so frustrated with the destructive work of this growing multitude of believers who had become false teachers that he wished aloud that God would destroy them (Gal. 5:12). Peter, too, described the work of the many false teachers that would undermine and pollute the faith of the saints with "cunningly devised fables". He reminded the saints that just as there were false prophets among God's Old Testament people, so "there shall be false teachers among you" and that those deceivers shall craftily bring to the saints "damnable heresies" (2Pet. 2:1). He also said that "many shall follow their pernicious ways" and that because of this multitude of followers, "the way of truth shall be evil spoken of" (2Pet. 2:2). Finally, this aged apostle earnestly warned the precious children of God that those unordained ministers would "make merchandise of you" (2Pet. 2:3). It is impossible to think that such men no longer exist. We cannot afford to assume that the words of warning that Jesus and his apostles gave the saints applied to another time and place. They all spoke of the congregation and its adversaries in the future, even of the times of the end. Therefore, it must be that their warnings will save us much sorrow and loss if we hearken to them. Because Jesus and his apostles foretold that false apostles and teachers would come, as well as lamenting their presence among the saints of their own day, we know that such men exist now. But where are they? Who are they? How can we recognize them? As for those who come in the name of Christ Jesus, there is only one group of people who can possibly fit the descriptions found in the Bible of those who would corrupt the body of Christ and even turn the hearts of many saints away from the truth of Jesus. That group is the group that calls itself after the name of Christ: "Christians". They call their religion, Christianity, after the name of Christ, and tell people around the world that Christianity is the family of God. Jesus said they would come. Paul said they would come. Peter said they would come. John said they would come. They did come, and with their ungodly doctrines and dead rituals, they fulfilled every description that Jesus and his apostles gave the saints concerning false apostles and teachers. Christian ministers are misguided. Even the sincere ones are wrong, not for trusting in Jesus (He is Lord of all!) but for being a part of a religion that he did not ordain to represent him. The venomous spirit of Christianity always, in time, over-rides and uses for its own glory even the best intentioned spirits of young men who decide to "enter the ministry", as Christians say it. I know that there are many of God's children entangled in the religion of Christianity. And I know that Jesus loves each one of them dearly. Some of these precious souls are actually in the ministry, promoting the very religion of which Jesus warned us. They do not know what they are doing to themselves, to others, or to the heart of their Father. They do not know that by partaking of and promoting that Godless religion, they are being used for a purpose that is breaking Jesus' heart, and would break their hearts if they understood it. They do not know that by following the example of Christian ministers, they will become like those men. And they are the men of whom Jesus spoke: ravenous wolves who approach God's flock meekly, covered with sheep's clothing, but with the cunning, malignant spirit of Satan guiding them. "Come out of her", my dearly loved brothers! Save yourself from the coming wrath of your God. Some say that I have "gone off the deep end" when I say that God is calling His children to come out of Christianity. My response is that if Peter had never gone overboard, he would have never walked on the water with Jesus. I know from Jesus that Christianity is not God's family. I know that God is calling His people out of that unordained religion, with its unordained ministers teaching their unordained doctrines and performing their unordained ceremonies. If because of confessing that truth, I am accused of being a false teacher, I can only respond that Jesus has taught me what I know. God help me. I can do nothing but echo His loving call, once I have heard it myself. I can do nothing but what I am doing, when I see what has happened to the children of God.
Thought for Today 2003. 05-26 "All That Was Made" Taken from a Testimony by Brother Mark Wallace, May 11, 2003 We know that the Father created His Son, and then turned over to His Son the creation of everything else. But there are some things that the Son did not create. Can you think of what they are? Brother Mark told us. God’s Son didn’t create love, for "God is love." He didn’t create peace because peace is also a part of His Father. Nothing that is of the Father was created by the Son. Holiness, truth, joy, patience, power, wisdom, faithfulness–all the wonderful qualities of the Spirit of God–existed in the Father before the Son was ever brought forth. These things were all given in their fulness to the Son when the Father created him. Thinking on this good thought, I was reminded of the apostle John’s words (Jn. 1:3): "All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made." Everything that was made (except himself, of course) was made by the Son, but there are many things that were not made; they existed in God before the Son did. Life itself existed before the Son of God did. Jesus said that the Father had given him life (Jn. 5:26) and that he lived by the Father (Jn. 6:57). Not only did the Father give life to the Son, He also gave Jesus joy above everyone else (Heb. 1:9), and power above everyone else (Mt. 28:18), and wisdom above everyone else (Col: 2:3). This is the simple truth of the gospel, and it can be understood and simply explained. Beware lest the serpent tempt you and draw you "away from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2Cor. 11:3) with eloquent theologies that sound good but are not good. The Father is greater than the Son (Jn. 10:29; 14:28) because He created him, and the Son is greater than everyone else because he created them. Rejoice in this truth and stay humble before God. Many a soul on this earth has lived and died without ever being given the opportunity to hear and rejoice in it, and many others have been puffed up by receiving into their hearts a knowledge that was not knowledge. "Buy the truth and sell it not"; take in the truth and love it; it is your life, and it will strengthen you and make you free.
Thought for Today 2003. 05-25 Satan, Part Two from Isaiah Satan is mentioned far fewer times in the Bible than one might think. Surprisingly, he is not even referred to until near the end of the thirteenth book of the Bible, and he is thereafter mentioned only rarely. Satan is not the imposing, important figure that he would have us to believe. He is a loser, a disgusting little creature who has wasted his life and his opportunity for happiness. He lightly esteemed all of his wonderful blessings from God and lost them forever. When pride entered Satan’s heart because of his beauty and wisdom (Ezekiel 27), he schemed to persuade the angels in heaven to render to him glory that is due to none but the Creator. He persuaded many of heaven’s angels to do just that, and he and they were cast out of the presence of God forever. "There was war in heaven" (Rev. 12:7), but God was never threatened. Satan is a coward when it comes to facing God. The warfare was one of the heart, not one of bows and arrows. God was listening to Satan’s thoughts when envy invaded his heart and he first entertained the desire of sharing in God’s glory. It is difficult to understand how Satan, created with such great wisdom, could have been so stupid as to forget that God knows the thoughts and desires of the heart. His sin apparently blinded him to the obvious truth that God knows all things, including what Satan was thinking in his sinful heart. Isaiah (14:12-17) reveals to us the very words that passed through Satan’s mind when he first went astray: From Isaiah 14:
Popular Christian myth holds that Satan tried to overthrow God. That is laughable. Satan may have been blinded by envious desire, but he never would have imagined that the Creator could be unseated and replaced. Only men think such nonsense. No one who has been in the very presence of the Almighty could possibly imagine driving Him from His throne of Glory. No, Satan only hoped to be "like the Most High." And the only way he could be like the Most High is if he persuaded some of God’s creatures to think of him in terms that apply to God. He succeeded in heaven to the extent that one third of the angels were taken in by his cunning. He succeeded on earth in the Garden of Eden, and from that time, man has been deluded by his propaganda. He is described by the prophet as the creature who "deceived the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). The truth sets us free from Satan’s craftiness. It teaches us to fear God, not the devil; to trust God, not the devil; to follow God, not the devil. The truth is precious; it makes life the beautiful thing it was meant to be. It clears our minds of the superstitious clutter of wrong ideas about God. It shows us who we are, who the devil is, and who God is. And to know God is everlasting life (Jn.17:3).
Thought for Today 2003. 05-24 Satan in Ezekiel Satan is not a fallen angel. He is a fallen cherub. Cherubs are a completely different heavenly species from angels. They have wings, whereas angels do not. They also have as many as four faces, whereas angels have only one face, as men do. Satan is called "the anointed cherub", and his position in heaven seems to have been among the especially blessed heavenly beings. Ezekiel’s description of this fallen cherub (28:12-17) includes important biographical information. In the following verses, we learn at least these things about Satan:
"Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore, I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground; I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee." Satan is history’s greatest failure. He is a fool, and the "father of lies". His first sin was pride, and an ingratitude for his many gifts from God. His last end will be the awful torment of the Lake of Fire, where he, and all others who refuse to thank God for their blessings, will spend eternity.
Thought for Today 2003. 05-23 The Abomination of Desolation "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place . . ." Jesus - Mt. 24:15 From a conversation in my office yesterday. Satan schemes to position himself in the midst of saints, but whenever he comes close to the body of Christ, the Spirit of God moves away and leaves him grasping at air. All demons and Satan himself are attracted to the blessings of God, not repulsed by them. Those blessings remind them of their former home, but they cannot have them. They are cursed never again to be at home with Jesus, never again to feel the tender love of God, never again to know peace. They are cursed with memories of a goodness that they can never again enjoy. Even if the children of God are fooled (O! that they were not!) and even if they welcome Satan’s lovely, deceitful, religious spirit into their midst, he himself cannot feel God’s presence because God pulls back His Spirit from him, and Satan is left grasping after glory that is eternally beyond his reach. Unfortunately, when God’s Spirit withdraws from the places that welcome Satan’s spirit, the saints who do that do not often realize what has caused the decrease in joy and power. Because they do not recognize as evil the doctrines and ceremonies of the Evil One that they have embraced, they cling to them, and Satan’s spirit continues in their presence, poisoning the well from which they drink, while the Spirit of God is quieted by his doctrines and ceremonies. Most of the time, the children of God are puzzled as to why their former victory and rejoicing are gone. This is not a fictitious story; neither is it exaggerated. This is the history of every revival God has ever given to His people who partake of the |