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"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, whoshall prepare himself to the battle?"

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETERUSPS #871620

Periodicals postage paid at the post office in Newark,Ohio 43055.POSTMAN, send form 3579 to the printer:

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETER675 N. Cedar StreetNewark, Ohio 43055

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

PRAYER: If you need prayer, please phone or write:

Roger Decker, Pastor83 Decrow Ave.Newark, OH 43055

Email: pastor@church-of-god-online.comPhone: 740-344-2543 or 1-888-730-0461Fax: 740-344-4737Print Shop Phone: 740-345-1312

This monthly r eligious journal is published for the benefit of theChurch of God universally . I t is our supreme purpose to reach thew orld for Chr i s t through the printed page. Our burden is to revealthe t ruth of God's W ord to all mankind, to ex pose sin and error, w aragainst apostasy , and to eradicate the longstanding t r adit ions ofmen that have no biblical foundat ions.

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

THE CHURCH OF GOD BELIEVES IN:

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

SOME SPIRITUAL FACTSPERTAINING TO THE CHURCH

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

We reserve the right to edit and/or decline any material for anyreason. Not responsible for unsolicited articles or items.

CONTENTSThe Two Covenants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Heaven's Report for These

Modern Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Radio Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Especially for Young People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The Peculiar Traits for Entrance Into the

Kingdom of Heaven, Part 2 of 2 . . . . . . . . . 15The Place of Greatest Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Vol. 31 July 2001 No. 7

Gog and MagogPart 4 of 6

Examining Magog

Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of theLORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face againstGog, the land of Magog, the chiefprince of Meshech and Tubal, andprophesy against him,

3 And say, Thus saith the LordGOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Ezekiel 39:1 Therefore, thou son ofman, prophesy against Gog, and say,Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I amagainst thee, O Gog, the chief prince ofMeshech and Tubal:

6 And I will send a fire on Magog,and among them that dwell carelesslyin the isles: and they shall know that Iam the LORD.

Revelation 20:7 And when thethousand years are expired, Satan shallbe loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive thenations which are in the four quartersof the earth, Gog and Magog, to gatherthem together to battle: the number ofwhom is as the sand of the sea.

In part three of this series, welearned that the time frame in whichthese events occurred was the latterdays, or this Gospel dispensation.We also learned that we cannot takethe nature of the language literally,but rather figuratively. Then, weclearly identified Gog and Magog.We showed you by the Scripturesthat Gog and Magog in Revelation20:8 ties in with Revelation 16:13,the beast and the false prophet. Thebeast is Gog, which represents thesystem of papalism, and the falseprophet is Magog, which representsProtestantism. We also pointed outthat these false systems of worshipcame about as a result of the apos-tasy that occurred in the morn-

ing-time.Proverbs 22:28 says, "Remove

not the ancient landmark." Theselandmarks were used as boundarymarkers to show where the boundswere, to identify what was in andwhat was out. Religion, specificallyProtestantism, has moved thesemarkers and shifted the landmarks,or the boundaries, so that they takein things and people that God neverordained to be take in.

Jesus said in John 10:9, "I am thedoor." In John 10:1 He said if anyoneclimbs up any other way, "the sameis a thief and a robber." Paul let usknow in 1 Corinthians 6:10 thatsuch cannot enter the Kingdom ofGod. If they are not in the kingdomof light, despite their profession,they are in the kingdom of dark-ness.

Jesus said, "I am the door," butProtestantism (or Magog, whichliterally means increase of family orexpansion) has increased its familywithout the new birth. It allowsexpansion but does not require thenew birth. It has devised manyother avenues to expand and in-crease the family. To expand thefamily, the ranks of Protestantismhave catechism classes, confirma-tions, church membership, shakingthe preacher's hand, and manyother religious moves.

This system has a very decep-tive appearance. John wrote in Rev-elation 13:11, "And I beheld anotherbeast coming up out of the earth;and he had two horns like a lamb[he looked good until he opened hismouth], and he spake as a dragon."His teachings were not scriptural orgodly, but heathenish and pagan,and they opposed the Truth.

The Book of Revelation is bro-ken into seven series, and Revela-tion 12:1 begins the fifth series.It starts at the beginning of theGospel Day with the womanclothed with the sun and the moonunder her feet, which is a pictureof the morning-time church in herpristine glory; then it goes on in

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1 John 1:1 That which was from thebeginning, which we have heard, whichwe have seen with our eyes, which wehave looked upon, and our hands havehandled, of the Word of life;

2 (For the life was manifested, andwe have seen it, and bear witness, andshow unto you that eternal life, whichwas with the Father, and wasmanifested unto us;)

John 1:3 All things were made byhim; and without him was not anything made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life wasthe light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness;and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God,whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, tobear witness of the Light, that all menthrough him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but wassent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, whichlighteth every man that cometh into theworld.

10 He was in the world, and theworld was made by him, and the worldknew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and hisown received him not.

12 But as many as received him, tothem gave he power to become the sonsof God, even to them that believe on hisname:

13 Which were born, not of blood,nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the

Brother Roger L. Decker

will of man, but of God.14 And the Word was made flesh

and dwelt among us, (and we beheld hisglory, the glory as of the only begottenof the Father,) full of grace and truth.

15 John bare witness of him, andcried, saying, This was he of whom Ispake, He that cometh after me ispreferred before me: for he was beforeme.

16 And of his fulness have all wereceived, and grace for grace.

17 For the law was given by Moses,but grace and truth came by JesusChrist.

18 No man hath seen God at anytime; the only begotten Son, which is inthe bosom of the Father, he hathdeclared him.

The Old Covenant

We want to focus our study onverse 17 of our Scripture text, whichreads, "For the law was given byMoses, but grace and truth came byJesus Christ." Here we find twocovenants and also two mediators:Moses and Jesus. To one the Lawwas given, but grace and Truth wasbrought by the other. Both weremediators of a covenant: one, theOld Covenant, and the other, theNew. The Bible says that the Lawwas given by Moses.

We want to look at both

covenants and compare them witheach other. First, we will study theOld Covenant, or the Law. Inreading the Word of God, especiallythe Gospels, you find that two OldTestament names stand out, and thechildren of Israel reverenced them:Abraham and Moses. Jesus wasalways measured in the light ofthose two names, wherever He traveled and whatever He did in theGospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, andJohn). His healings, His miracles,and His messages were alwaysmeasured or contested in the light ofAbraham and Moses. They were

great leaders, and there was a closerelationship between the life ofMoses and Jesus Christ.

Moses was an orator, a historian,a leader, a patriarch, and a prophet.The Bible lets us know that he livedvery close to God. Numbers 12:3says, "(Now the man Moses wasvery meek, above all the men whichwere upon the face of the earth.)"That is quite a testimony to haverecorded in God's Word. Severalmeek men are mentioned in theWord of God, but Moses toweredabove them all, except Jesus. Jesussaid in Matthew 11:29, "Take my

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yoke upon you, and learn of me; forI am meek and lowly in heart: andye shall find rest unto your souls."

How was Moses associated withChrist? He was associated withChrist through faith. Dear one, youought to be thankful that you areunder the New Covenant. Graceand Truth came by Jesus Christ.Hebrews 11:23-27 says: "By faithMoses, when he was born, was hidthree months of his parents, becausethey saw he was a proper child; andthey were not afraid of the king'scommandment. By faith Moses,when he was come to years, refusedto be called the son of Pharaoh'sdaughter; Choosing rather to sufferaffliction with the people of God,than to enjoy the pleasures of sin fora season; Esteeming the reproach ofChrist greater riches than thetreasures in Egypt: for he hadrespect unto the recompense of thereward. By faith he forsook Egypt,not fearing the wrath of the king: forhe endured, as seeing him who isinvisible."

When we think of the Law, wealso think of the leader Moses,because the Law and Moses wereinseparable. The first five Books ofthe Old Testament are called thePentateuch, and those Books arealso called the Law of Moses. TheLaw followed God's covenant withAbraham, and Abraham's covenantwas one of justification by faith.

Under the covenant of the Law,certain conditions had to be met toreceive the blessings. We read inExodus 19:5-6: "Now therefore, if yewill obey my voice indeed, andkeep my covenant, then ye shall bea peculiar treasure unto me aboveall people: [That is still true today. Ifyou live and obey the Gospel, thenyou will be a peculiar treasureabove all people] for all the earth ismine: And ye shall be unto me akingdom of priests, and an holynation. These are the words whichthou shalt speak unto the childrenof Israel." The blessings under theLaw were conditional. The littleword "if" was before the word"then": "if you obey, then . . ."

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Now, you need to understandwhat a covenant is. It is anagreement between two parties,and both parties must carry out theterms for it to be in force. Forexample, if you get a loan for thepurchase of a home or a vehicle, youmust sign an agreement. Thatagreement is in force by bothparties, and it is conditional. Shouldyou fail to make the loan payments,you will find that the right to live inthat house or drive that vehicle willend. The bank will keep its part ofthe agreement, but you must keepyour part. Both parties must carryout the terms for the agreement tobe in force. The one who breaks itloses the right to claim any benefitsfrom it.

You will find that if you get introuble with God, it is never onGod's part. God's part of thecovenant is always secure, and it isalways true. You will receive theblessings of it as long as you keepyour part.

The Purpose and theEffects of the Law

What was the purpose of theLaw? Why did God give a law ifpeople could not keep it? Did Hemake a mistake? Certainly not. DidHe just put a law on people andthen punish them because theycould not keep it? No. The Law wasgiven to make people aware of theirsins and to bring conviction of sin.In Galatians 3:19 the Apostle Paulwrote, "Wherefore then serveth thelaw? [we could paraphrase that andsay, 'What was the purpose of theLaw?'] It was added because oftransgressions, till the seed shouldcome to whom the promise wasmade; and it was ordained byangels in the hand of a mediator."

The difference between the Lawand the Gospel was that the Lawcondemned, or brought convictionof sin, but the Gospel always pointsto a Deliverer, a Savior, One who isa helper. Without the Law theGospel was not possible, and theLaw without the Gospel was

incomplete. When Jesus came, Hedid not do away with the Law; Hefulfilled the Law. The NewTestament church has to have afoundation, and the foundation isthe Law. The Law and the Prophetswere fulfilled in Jesus Christ; He isthe end of the Law.

What were the effects of theLaw? The Law made sinexceedingly sinful. I could illustrateit this way: Suppose you were to getinvolved in sin, and you felt bad.You would feel worse if you were tocome around the Gospel. Sinbecomes exceedingly sinful whenthe preacher names it out.

In Romans, Chapter 7, you canread the testimony of the ApostlePaul before he received NewTestament salvation. In this chapterhe was not testifying concerningwhen he had New Testamentsalvation. He wrote in verse 1,"Know ye not, brethren, (for I speakto them that know the law,) howthat the law hath dominion over aman as long as he liveth?" He wastalking to people who knew theLaw, and he was telling them theeffects that the Law had on his lifewhen he was a Pharisee.

Paul wrote in verses 5-13: "Forwhen we were in the flesh, themotions of sins, which were by thelaw, did work in our members tobring forth fruit unto death But nowwe are delivered from the law, thatbeing dead wherein we were held;that we should serve in newness ofspirit, and not in the oldness of theletter. What shall we say then? Is thelaw sin? God forbid. Nay, I had notknown sin, but by the law: for I hadnot known lust, except the law hadsaid, Thou shalt not covet. But sin,t a k i n g oc c a s i o n b y t h ecommandment, wrought in me allmanner of concupiscence. Forwithout the law sin was dead [or itwas inactive].

"For I was alive without the lawonce: but when the commandmentcame, sin revived, and I died. Andthe commandment, which wasordained to life, I found to be untodeath. For sin, taking occasion by

the commandment, deceived me,and by it slew me. Wherefore thelaw is holy, and the commandmentholy, and just, and good. Was thenthat which is good made death untome? God forbid. But sin, that itmight appear sin, working death inme by that which is good; that sinby the commandment mightbecome exceeding sinful."

What purpose did the Lawserve? The Law was added becauseof transgressions. In other words,the Law was added to make manconscious of sin and to make sinexceedingly sinful. Again, verse 5says, "For when we were in theflesh, the motions of sins, whichwere by the law, did work in ourmembers to bring forth fruit untodeath." Paul was saying, in the Lawwe were in a carnal state withoutthe Gospel. He said the motions ofsin (or the passions of sin), whichwere by the Law, worked in ourmembers to bring forth fruit untodeath. Without grace the inclinationto sin excites our members. Whenthe Law goes forth and anindividual is not saved, it excites thepassions, or the motions of sin. Theflesh is going to rebel against theGospel.

The Rebellious Passionsof the Flesh

Again, verse 5 reads, "For whenwe were in the flesh, the motions[the passions, or the desires] of sins,which were by the law, did work inour members to bring forth fruitunto death." Those motions of sinworked to produce sin, which has apenalty of death. When the Lawcommanded obedience, therebellious passions of the fleshtransgressed. The flesh rebelsagainst the commandments of God.That is the reason the Apostle Paulsaid, "I keep under my body, andbring it into submission" The fleshdoes not want to serve God; youhave to make it serve Him.

Paul was telling of his testimonywhen he was under the Law, notunder grace. He said "the motions of

sins, which were by the law, didwork in our members to bring forthfruit unto death." The Law arousedthose desires. Christian friend, whenthose desires got excited, they didnot take you to Christ. They drewyou away from the commandment,because the flesh did not want to betold what to do. The Law arousedthese desires; they had beendormant. What did the Law say?"Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not."The flesh did not want to take that.People without God will not takethat. The carnal man says, "Youaren't going to tell me what not todo." What happens? Those passions,or desires, get excited and no longerlay dormant; they take control. Thiswas what was going on under theLaw. Unsaved men and womenhave not changed today. They areas people were under the old Law.When the Gospel goes forth, itbrings the commandments of God.Without grace the flesh will stillrebel rather than obey.

One terminology quite prevalentin the religious world today is"inherited sin." Now, think with mefor a minute. One who claims thathe has inherited sin is an individualwithout the grace of God in his lifeto obey. You may say, "I have aninclination to sin." Then you needthe grace of God in your life.Without the grace of God, you aregoing to follow the flesh. Grace andTruth came by Jesus Christ. "For thelaw was given by Moses, but graceand truth came by Jesus Christ"(John 1:17). Without the Spirit ofGod, Who gives us the grace of God,nothing can empower you tomortify the flesh. There is no powerto bring the flesh under. That is thereason the flesh becomes strongerand stronger when one becomeslean in his soul. Next, if the flesh hasits way entirely, it will cut off thesoul from the things of God; thenthat one will stop praying andreading the Bible. Next, he will busyhimself in things not conducive toChristian living. That is the reasonPaul repeatedly admonished peoplein his letters to be filled with the

Spirit of God, to be led by the Spiritof God, and to walk in the Spirit.That is the only way one canovercome the carnal man, or thefleshly man.

Mortify Your Members

Now let us go to Romans,Chapter 8. There you will find thata change took place. In Chapter 7,Paul described the state of a manunder the Old Covenant, withoutthe grace of God. Romans 8:11-14states: "But if the Spirit of him thatraised up Jesus from the dead dwellin you, he that raised up Christ fromthe dead shall also quicken yourmortal bodies by his Spirit thatdwelleth in you. Therefore,brethren, we are debtors, not to theflesh, to live after the flesh. For if yelive after the flesh, ye shall die: [Towhom was he speaking? He wastalking to people who were alivespiritually; they were not dead. Hesaid if you live after the flesh, youshall die. The same rule applies yettoday.] but if ye through the Spiritdo mortify the deeds of the body, yeshall live. For as many as are led bythe Spirit of God, they are the sonsof God." The word mortify means"to put to death, to kill, or to becomedead."

Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-13:"If ye then be risen with Christ, seekthose things which are above, whereChrist sitteth on the right hand ofGod. Set your affection on thingsabove, not on things on the earth.For ye are dead, and your life is hidwith Christ in God. When Christ,who is our life, shall appear, thenshall ye also appear with him inglory. Mortify therefore yourmembers which are upon the earth;fornication, uncleanness, inordinateaffection, evil concupiscence, andcovetousness, which is idolatry: Forwhich things' sake the wrath of Godcometh on the children ofdisobedience: In the which ye alsowalked sometime, when ye lived inthem.

"But now ye also put off allthese; anger, wrath, malice,

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blasphemy, filthy communicationout of your mouth [or makingsomething smutty of conversation,twisting people's words]. Lie notone to another, seeing that ye haveput off the old man with his deeds;And have put on the new man,which is renewed in knowledgeafter the image of him that createdhim: Where there is neither Greeknor Jew, circumcision noruncircumcision , B a r b a r i an,Scythian, bond nor free: but Christis all, and in all. Put on therefore, asthe elect of God, holy and beloved,bowels of mercies, kindness,humbleness of mind, meekness,longsuffering; Forbearing oneanother, and forgiving one another,if any man have a quarrel againstany: even as Christ forgave you, soalso do ye."

Paul said to mortify yourmembers that are on the earth. Hecertainly was not instructing thesaints to kill the members of thecongregation. When He said tomortify your members that are onthe earth, what members was hetalking about? He was speaking ofmaking your fleshly memberspowerless. In other words, he wasstating that you must mortify, kill,or make them become dead to thethings of sin.

When Paul said to mortify yourmembers, he was talking about thedifferent areas of the natural man,such as the mind, the eyes, thetongue, the feet, the hearing, thepassions, the desires, and so on.Paul was telling the saints to makethem become dead to sin. This iswhere holiness comes in. You mustlet the Spirit of God keep yourmembers in check, and when theSpirit of God keeps them in check,they are rendered powerless; theyno longer control the man. Now,you cannot do that in your ownstrength. That is the reason theApostle Paul said, "For I know thatin me (that is, in my flesh,) dwellethno good thing" (Romans 7:18). Youdo not have the power within yourflesh to do it.

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Dead to Sin, But AliveUnto God Through Christ

In Romans 8:13 Paul said, "For ifye live after the flesh, ye shall die:but if ye through the Spirit domortify the deeds of the body, yeshall live." The Apostle Paul made itvery plain in Romans 6:11-14:"Likewise reckon ye also yourselvesto be dead indeed unto sin, but aliveunto God through Jesus Christ ourLord. Let not sin therefore reign inyour mortal body, that ye shouldobey it in the lusts thereof. Neitheryield ye your members asinstruments of unrighteousnessunto sin: but yield yourselves untoGod, as those that are alive from thedead, and your members asinstruments of righteousness untoGod. For sin shall not havedominion over you: for ye are notunder the law, but under grace[where there is power to keep theLaw]."

In essence, Paul said, "Do notyield your members to the service ofsin, but yield yourselves unto God.Devote yourselves to God." Youshould devote your tongue to praiseGod and to promote the Gospel, theTruth, kindness, and hospitality. Itshould not be used to run downyour brother or your sister; that willwork death. You are yielding thewrong way. Your tongue is a littlemember, but it can get out of controlmore than any other member thatyou possess.

Your hands should be used tolabor in the work of God for Hiscause. The Bible says to "lift up holyhands." You should use your handsto praise God. You should not beafraid to raise your hand in the songservice or when someone istestifying or preaching the Word.There is not a thing wrong withlifting up your hands. As long asyou are not out in sin, you have aright to lift up your hand, whetheryou are struggling or not. Almosteveryone is battling something. I amnot talking about advocating sin,but I am saying that people areworking to get victory over things

to become more useful in theKingdom of God.

Your feet should be swift to carryout God's will, not to walk in thepaths of iniquity. Your eyes shouldbe used to look on good things andto be a guide or a help to your soul.Do not use them as instruments ofthe flesh. You need to be careful ofwhat you let your eyes see. Theyhave the power to retain images inthe mind. Your ears should be usedto hear the voice of God, not to listento words of deceit or persuasion thatwould lead one astray.

Paul said to mortify yourmembers. You must bring them incheck. Do not let them get out ofcontrol. What is a sinner? A sinner isone whose members are out ofcontrol; they are not in check. Todayfinding a sinner is hard. They havesome kind of label on them;nevertheless, it still comes down toright or wrong: holiness or sin. Thereason many people do not receivehelp is that they do not think theyare as bad as they really are. Friend,when you commit sin, the title of"sinner" goes with it. When you livegodly, the word "saint" goes with it.There is no middle ground. TheApostle said to mortify yourmembers, not gratify them.

The more you feed the membersof your body, the more it intensifiesthe fleshly desires. For example,when one starts smoking cigarettes,he has a struggle. The body rejectsthem, but the more a person keepsat it, the more the desire intensifies.Next, the desire has a strong hold.The Christian does not gratify hismembers; he mortifies, or bringsunder his members. The only wayone can do that is to be filled withthe Spirit of God.

Serving God in Newness of Spirit

Let us read Romans 7:6 again:"But now we are delivered from thelaw, that being dead wherein wewere held; that we should serve innewness of spirit, and not in theoldness of the letter." Paul said weare delivered from the Law, or

delivered from the yoke of the Law.Why? It sentenced every sinner todeath but provided no grace, nopardon, and no deliverance for anindividual. The Law did not have it.Oh, it had sacrifices, but no gracecame with those sacrifices, andthere was no power to deliver. Thatis the reason grace and Truth cameby Jesus Christ.

The Law, which kills, ceases tobind us any longer. Why does theLaw not affect you as a Christian?Why are you not under the law?You believe in Christ, and whatdoes the Scripture say about that?Romans 10:4 says, "For Christ is theend of the law for righteousness toevery one that believeth." The Lawmade sin exceedingly sinful, butwhen you are no longer in sin, thereis nothing to be made sinful.

When Sabbath keepers comearound and tell you, "You shouldkeep the Sabbath," you ought to tellthem, "I don't want to go backunder that s in-more-or-lesscondition. I have been deliveredfrom the bondage of the Law." Whyhave you been delivered? Christ isthe end of the Law for righteousnessto everyone who believes, that heshould serve in newness of Spirit.God, through the Prophet Ezekielsaid in Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heartalso will I give you, and a new spiritwill I put within you: and I will takeaway the stony heart out of yourflesh, and I will give you an heart offlesh."

Paul said in Romans 7:6, "Butnow we are delivered from the law,that being dead wherein we wereheld; that we should serve innewness of spirit, and not in theoldness of the letter." What was hesaying? When you come to Christ,your worship must be spiritualworship. It is no longer ceremonialrites and literal sacrifices. You gofrom an imperfect state to one ofperfection and excellence.

Second Corinthians 3:5-6 states:"Not that we are sufficient ofourselves to think any thing as ofourselves; but our sufficiency is ofGod; Who also hath made us able

ministers of the new testament; notof the letter, but of the spirit: for theletter killeth, but the spirit givethlife." The letter without the Spiritkills. It makes sin exceedinglysinful. That is the reason peoplewithout the Spirit of God fightholiness, and that is the reason youhave a hard time getting them to goto church. When ones havebackslidden, that is the reason thatgetting them back into the fold isdifficult. To them it is just somerules and laws, and it is a bondageto them. In essence, they are saying,"The flesh is free to do as I please."They have yielded their members tounrighteousness, and their flesh willnot take the law. The Law showsthem their need of a Deliverer, aSavior.

Living a Life of Holiness

When one gets saved, that whichhe once hated becomes the numberone priority in his life. He loves tohear about the things of God, heloves to hear the Gospel, and heloves to hear the commandmentsand the ordinances of God. Why?He has his members, or his desiresand passions, in check. He still haspassions and desires, but they aresubject to the Spirit of God. He useshis members as members ofrighteousness in accordance withGod's plan and His law.

Saint, you should be verythankful for the Gospel, becausewith the letter (or the Law), thecommandments, and the ordinancescome the grace to obey them. Again,verse 17 of our Scripture text states,"For the law was given by Moses,but grace and truth came by JesusChrist." Moses delivered thecommandments to the children ofIsrael, telling the Israelites how theyshould live and conduct themselves.That is what those commandmentswere: they consisted of "Thou shalt"and "Thou shalt not." Moses told theIsraelites how they should conductthemselves if they wanted to receiveGod's blessing upon them. I like tosum it up this way: one was told

and the other was shown. The Lawwas given by Moses–it was told; butgrace and Truth came by JesusChrist. What does that tell you? Itwas in His life. Moses told theIsraelites how they should live. ButJesus did not come telling; He cameshowing. This is how you shouldlive. Grace and Truth came by JesusChrist.

One was told, and the other wasshown; that is what I see as thedifference between the covenants.Child of God, when you went to thehouse of God and got saved, youfound others with grace and Truthin their lives. You were not just toldhow to live; that is the way sectismoperates. Grace and Truth show youhow you should live. As the Gospelgoes forth, others are living the verymessage that is being preached.

Why is the Law not for us today?The Law was given for sinners, orthe ungodly. Why should it affect achild of God when he is living godlyand without sin? Grace and Truthcame by Jesus Christ. He showed ushow to live a life of holiness,believing in Him all the days of ourlives. The Gospel goes forth to giveyou life everlasting.

John 10:10 reads, "The thiefcometh not, but for to steal, and tokill, and to destroy: I am come thatthey might have life, and that theymight have it more abundantly." Ifyou want to know how to live, whatshould you do? You need to look tothe life of Jesus Christ. He showedus, for grace and Truth came byHim. I am so thankful that we havebeen shown grace and Truth.

In closing, I ask you, Are youyielding your members asinstruments of unrighteousness tosin or as instruments o fr i g h t e ou s n e s s un t o G od ?Remember, the Apostle Paul said inRomans 8:13, "For if ye live after theflesh, ye shall die: but if ye throughthe Spirit do mortify the deeds ofthe body, ye shall live."

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Matthew 11:15 He that hath ears tohear, let him hear.

16 But whereunto shall I liken thisgeneration? It is like unto childrensitting in the markets, and calling untotheir fellows,

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17 And saying, We have piped untoyou, and ye have not danced; we havemourned unto you, and ye have notlamented.

18 For John came neither eating nordrinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

Brother Allen Polston

19 The Son of man came eating anddrinking, and they say, Behold a mangluttonous, and a winebibber, a friendof publicans and sinners. But wisdomis justified of her children.

Having Ears to Hear

Jesus said in verse 15 of ourScripture lesson, "He that hath earsto hear, let him hear." Not everyonewas a recipient of what Jesus had tosay. The reason was due to theirspiritual condition. Friend, yourspiritual condition can be a deter-mining factor in what God grants toyou in the way of understandingand exaltation into His Word andinto the things of God. In this verseJesus was speaking, at least in part,to a particular type of person, onewho has ears to hear. He made itclear that this classification wasdistinguished, not by whether onecould receive audible sounds intohis physical ears, but by the desiresof the heart.

Jesus let us know that "he thathath ears to hear" went beyond

merely having ears on the sides ofthe head that pick up tones andsounds in the air. He was talkingabout one who has a desire in hisheart to hear what God has to say.God administers to one who has adesire to hear that others never real-ize or seem to grasp. That ought tobe a warning to guard your desiresand to make sure that the motivesof your heart (in other words, thereason you are doing what you aredoing) are right. You need to makesure that your motives come from adesire to serve God and to be a childof God.

Of all the many things that thedevil uses to try to hinder a child ofGod from spiritual growth, none ofthose things can be successful if heor she will maintain a strong desireto live for God. If you do not have adesire and a willingness to be a

child of God, then God is limited inwhat He can do with you. On theother hand, if your heart's desire isto hear from God, it causes a fire toburn down in your bosom, and Godcan accomplish much. Then youwill detect things that the worlddoes not know anything about. Thedevil, in his various forms of oppo-sition, will try to hinder you fromreceiving and hearing from God. Ifyou maintain a strong desire to hearfrom the Lord, He will speak to youand show you things that othersmay not be able to receive.

Again, verse 15 says, "He thathath ears to hear, let him hear." Je-sus did not say, "Let everyone hear,"but He singled out one who has earsto hear, or one who has a vehementdesire to hear from God and live forGod.

If you have a desire, God wantsyou to hear. He wants you to gethold of something. The devil tries touse many things to keep peoplefrom hearing the Gospel, because itall begins with hearing. Romans10:17 says, "So then faith cometh byhearing, and hearing by the word ofGod." Salvation and spiritual grow-th start by hearing the Gospel andrealizing a need. Often the Spirit ofGod has already been working onindividuals, sanctifying them to anextent, but the Holy Spirit begins towork in a greater way when theyhear the Gospel. That is the reasonthe devil works in many ways to tryto keep people from hearing. Never-theless, God says, "He that hath ears[or a desire] to hear, let him hear."

Guard Your Desireto Serve God

In the Scriptures whenever Godhas said "Let," there has alwaysbeen power to accompany that com-mand. God said, "Let there be light,"and there was light. The ApostlePaul wrote in Philippians 2:5, "Letthis mind be in you, which was alsoin Christ Jesus." It can be just thatway if you are willing to give your-self to God wholeheartedly. Godwould not say "Let" and not supplythe power for it to come to pass. Ifyou have a strong desire to receivewhat God has to say, He will makea way for you to hear His Word.

The problem in today's world isthat many people have begun tolose their desire to hear the Gospel.Many who once had ears to hearGod have let other things steal theaffection of their hearts. Friend, theaffection of your heart belongs toGod. Friends and family may try tointerfere with your Christian experi-ence, doubts and fears may comefrom time to time, and worldly in-fluences will try to work; but if youhave a desire to hear from God, Hewill work it out so that things willnot hinder you.

God has given the authority tothose who will nourish the desire tohear the Gospel. The devil has all

kinds of inventions that take uppeople's time, attention, and affec-tion, to cause them to lose their de-sire for the things of God. Therefore,when men of God see what the en-emy is doing and how he is work-ing, they must sound out an alarmagainst those things. Child of God,you need to keep your desire toserve God strong and fervent. As apastor, it greatly concerns me whenI see a lack of desire and a lack ofinterest in the things of God. Friend,if you lose your desire to serve God,to do His work, and to do His will,then you will lose all that He has foryou. You will begin to distanceyourself from the things of God.

Some people do not hear whatGod has to say because they haveno desire to hear. God does not in-tend to take them deep into thedoctrines and truths of His Word.He has a different message forthem: "Ye must be born again" (John3:7). They need to be born again toget their desires in the right place,and then they can begin to growwith God. He does not put the cartahead of the horse, so to speak, bytrying to teach the unsaved deeptruths and doctrines. First, Hewants them to be brought into anexperience of salvation.

To those who are saved, there isa word of caution: do not let thethings of this world take your de-sire. Each of us has to watch, wheth-er he is a minister or a member ofthe congregation. No one is exemptfrom allowing something to stealthe affection of his heart to the de-gree that he no longer possesses adesire to read God's Word, to be inthe house of worship, to pray, tovisit, and to do the things that Godhas called upon the saints to do. Weeach must guard against this. TheChurch of God preaches againstthings that will cause you to loseyour godly desire. If you flirtaround with the devil, you willbegin to weaken and lose your de-sire. Soon the time that you used tospend praying, reading and study-ing the Bible, and meditating willbecome less and less.

Giving WholeheartedService to God

Christian friend, you have towatch out for the enemy of yoursoul. Jesus, speaking in Mark 12:30,said, "And thou shaft love the Lordthy God with all thy heart, and withall thy soul, and with all thy mind,and with all thy strength: this is thefirst commandment." Did He say tolove God with one-third of yourheart, one-third of your soul, one-third of your mind, or one-third ofyour strength? Absolutely not!

God will not tolerate your hav-ing any other gods before Him. Hewill not put up with your bowingdown to something else instead ofHim. Certainly there are otherthings in life that you have to do,such as working, eating, raising afamily, and so on. However, Godwill not permit you to put thosethings before Him. He must be first.If you do not put Him first, some-thing else will take your affection,and you will lose your desire. Thisis the reason so many places havecanceled their Sunday night andWednesday night services. Some-thing else seemed better, so theydecided to discontinue those ser-vices. Seemingly, their attitude is,"After all, one service a week isenough."

Hebrews 10:25 says, "Not forsak-ing the assembling of ourselvestogether, as the manner of some is;but exhorting one another: and somuch the more, as ye see the dayapproaching." You need to makeuse of every time you can to gettogether with the saints and wor-ship God. Someone may say, "Well,I am not going to backslide if I missone service." Chances are you prob-ably will not backslide if you missone service, but you may begin tolose your desire, and that will makethe next service a little easier tomiss. Gathering together with thepeople of God is encouraging andstrengthening. It brings inspiration,instruction, and from to time, correc-tion. It helps you to press on whenyou see the saints come in and hear

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them sing and testify.Friend, you are not just hurting

yourself when you miss the churchservices. Someone may be lookingto you for encouragement. Whatabout causing your brother toworry when you do not show upand he does not know where youare? You have to realize that servingGod is more involved than just self.You should have given up self along time ago when God saved you.You cannot be in this thing for self-ish reasons. You need to considerhow your actions will affect others.

I understand that sometimespeople get sick, and sometimes it isgood to take the family on vacation.However, you should not carelesslymiss the church services. Stayinghome because you have a little snif-fle or because you have only a quar-ter of a tank of gas and you want tomake sure that you get to work thenext day causes others to beaffected. Even if you do not hold aposition in the church, others arelooking for your encouraging face,your smile, or wanting to hear yourtestimony. They are looking to seeothers who are excited about livingfor God. These things do affect peo-ple.

Controlling Your Desires

The Church of God preaches theBible standard. God has helped theministry to see that certain thingscan win your affection and causeyou to lose your desire for God.There are ways that you can dressthat will cause you to become fond-er of the world's fashions and lessinterested in being modest, as Godhas called us to be. When the manof God sees that, what does he do?He sounds the trumpet long andloud to let you know what God hasto say. He warns you that youought to get away from those thingsbecause they are causing your affec-tion for God to diminish. God'sWord says to "cry aloud and sparenot." Men of God must sound outagainst the things that God hasshown them are causing people to

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lose their desire and their closenesswith Him.

Your desires determine much. Aswe look into our Scripture lesson,remembering that you are in controlof your desires is necessary. Saint,as you take inventory in your mindof what your days consist of, youneed to stop and think: "Is my lifeconsistent with godly living? Aremy actions nourishing my desire tobe a Christian or causing me to beless interested in what the pastorhas to say? Are the things that I amdoing throughout the week, on thejob site, and in the home causing meto be more inspired to win soulsand to be a sold-out, sanctified childof God or are things causing me tofeel that this way of living is just toohard?"

You need to take inventory ofyour life, because good, honest,Christian people can sometimes layhold of things that, at first, seemharmless. With a biblical insightand a little heavenly vision appliedto your earthly eyes, you can beginto see that some things are not quiteas safe spiritually as you thoughtthey were. This is the reason youneed to take inventory and see if theway you are living is causing you tobe more encouraged and devoted toGod or causing you to be less inter-ested.

Child of God, if something isstealing your attention, your time,and your mind from the things ofGod, you should not go on any fur-ther with it. Little things can causepeople to walk away from God.Often people become bitter, hateful,proud, and lost. Little things cancause people who once stood forTruth and preached the Gospel toabandon the standard and all thetruths that God so mightily im-pressed upon their hearts in daysgone by.

If you are a minister, whatshould you do about the danger ofpeople losing their desire to serveGod? You should sound the trum-pet. Paul wrote to young Timothy in2 Timothy 4:2, "Preach the word; beinstant in season, out of season;

reprove, rebuke, exhort with alllongsuffering and doctrine." Friend,you should not get upset when yourpastor preaches the Word to you.He is doing it because he is con-cerned about your soul. Preachingthe Word is not easy, especiallywhen some are not in agreementand have not measured to the mes-sage. You should not get upsetwhen a man of God preaches theWord and declares God's truths anddoctrines faithfully to your soul. Itought to make you happy thatsomeone will preach God's Worddespite the persecution. He is con-cerned about your soul.

The world is exalting manythings and causing them to appearto be something glamorous. How-ever, if you go that way and resistGod, you will lose your soul in hell.The glory of this old world and all ithas to offer is temporal. It will onlylast for a season, and then it is goingto be gone. You need to work for theexaltation of God in your heart andlife, and strive for the glory of God,for that which is eternal. It does notcome and go, but it stays as long asyou remain faithful to Him. Saint,you need to guard your desire. Donot let little things steal your atten-tion and your affection from theprecious Word of God and fromliving a godly life.

Keep Pressing Your WayToward Heaven

A man of God will not cut cor-ners, but he will tell you plainlywhat "thus saith the Lord" becausehe does not want you to lose yourdesire for the things of God. Hewants you to maintain your willing-ness and your readiness. Paul,speaking to the Corinthians aboutwhen they were converted, said,"For godly sorrow worketh repen-tance to salvation not to be repentedof: but the sorrow of the worldworketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).He said in verse 11, "Yea, whatzeal." In other words, he was say-ing, "What desire it produced in youto do the things of God."

Child of God, you must not letanything steal away your desire toserve God. Some things have comeinto my life, and before long, I be-gan to see that they were taking toomuch time. Things can come in andseemingly do not have any dangerattached to them, but before yourealize it, they can get hold of you.They can steal time that belongs toGod. Therefore, you have to watchand be careful.

Jesus spoke of these things at theend of His teaching in Matthew,Chapter 11. Many people of Jesus'day were just as people are today.They did not have any desire to doany differently than what they hadbeen doing. They did not have adesire to be saved and to live forGod. Thank God, some people re-ally have a desire to be Christians.Some may still be bound in sin, butthey have a desire within to be freefrom the bondage of sin. May Godhelp us to find and reach out tothese souls.

Awhile back I was in the home ofa dear lady who has been a memberof a denominational church formany years. I began talking abouthow good God has been to me andhow He has blessed me. She said,"You know, Allen, I don't evenknow whether I am a born-againChristian." She had been involved inall kinds of religious activities, yetshe did not know whether she hadbeen born-again. I said, "Well, Godwants you to know that you are aborn-again Christian." I told her thatGod said in 2 Peter 3:9 that it is notHis will that any should perish, butthat all should come to repentance.There are still people who are inter-ested in serving God.

God has something for thosewho really have a desire to live forHim. God looks out for His own,and He gives them what they need.He gives good and perfect gifts tothose who walk uprightly so theywill continue to be saints of Godand to grow and become more likeJesus. God sends us things to equipus so that we can continue withvictory, building up the kingdom

and ever pressing our way towardour eternal home in Heaven.

Yielding Yourself to God

In our Scripture text, Jesus en-couraged and warned by letting ussee that He knows all about Hiscreation and the condition of man-kind. In verse 16 He said, "Butwhereunto shall I liken this genera-tion?" Do you think Jesus asked thatquestion because He did not knowwhat to liken this generation to? Heknew what to liken it to, but Heasked the question so that peoplemight think about this matter. Heknows how the devil tries to dis-courage you. If the devil has beenworking on your mind and youhave begun to think in a discourag-ing way, it might be that what youhave been thinking is not accurateas God sees it. Many people havelots of opinions, but that does notchange how it really is. He knowsall about every situation, and Heknows how it really is. He has therecord. That is something to be veryencouraged about.

Let us look again at our Scripturetext: Jesus asked, "But whereuntoshall I liken this generation [first Hegets people. to think, and then Hebegins to lay it out in the followingverses of Scripture]? It is like untochildren sitting in the markets, andcalling unto their fellows, And say-ing, We have piped unto you, andye have not danced; we havemourned unto you, and ye have notlamented. For John came neithereating nor drinking, and they say,He hath a devil. The Son of mancame eating and drinking, and theysay, Behold a man gluttonous, anda winebibber, a friend of publicansand sinners. But wisdom is justifiedof her children."

Some are determined and pur-posed to live for God. Their friendsand families may leave the churchand others may falter along theway, but thank God for a few back-boned people who have determinedthat no matter what others do, theyare going to live for God and make

Heaven their home. They have set-tled it. They read and study God'sWord and help with the work ofGod. Even if their place is lowly,they want to help. They want tolabor and do what God has calledthem to do. They want to see othersouls saved and make Heaven theirhome.

Young person, you need to settleit. I wish I could go back to whenGod first began to deal with me,and I wish that I would have settledit right then. However, it was notuntil ten years later that I gave myheart to God.

God tells us in His Word that wemust become as little children to besaved. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus said,"Verily I say unto you, Except ye beconverted, and become as little chil-dren, ye shall not enter into thekingdom of heaven." A change musttake place. In other words, you haveto forget everything you thoughtyou knew and yield yourself toGod. This childlike quality of beinghumble, meek, and reliant uponyour Heavenly Father is not some-thing that you abandon after youget saved, but you must continue inthat. God encourages each of us togrow spiritually, to learn moretruth, and to learn how to labor in abetter way for God. Concerningyour attitude, He wants you to re-main as a child.

The Process of Buyingand Selling

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:20,"Brethren, be not children in under-standing: howbeit in malice be yechildren, but in understanding bemen." In malice and in your atti-tude, you need to be as children.How pleasant it is when childrenplay together. They may get a littleupset with one another from time totime, but it will not be long beforethey are playing together, enjoyingone another, and laughing. Godwants each of us to be as children,in the sense that we do not let littlethings cause us to get angry or up-set or to feel sad and blue. Also, we

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must be obedient children. Petersaid that we need to be "obedientunto our Heavenly Father's will."

We read in 1 John 2:1, "My littlechildren, these things write I untoyou, that ye sin not. And if any mansin, we have an advocate with theFather, Jesus Christ the righteous."Child of God, God has called you tobe a child in many respects, to man-ifest the characteristics of little chil-dren in your spiritual living, in yourreliance upon your Heavenly Fa-ther, and in your determination tostay in His will and do His plan; notin your understanding and not inyour work ability in the Kingdom ofGod. In these ways He has calledupon you to be as a child. You are totake the position as a child underthe leadership and direction of yourHeavenly Father, through the pas-tor and the other saints of God.

God is aware of those who havebecome as children, spirituallyspeaking. They have laid down allthe other things they once carriedwith them, and they rely upon Godand trust in Him. As God gives aheavenly report of these moderntimes, He still sees that there arethose who are as children. They arejust as they ought to be. In ourScripture lesson Jesus said, "Butwhereunto shall I liken this genera-tion? It is like unto children sittingin the markets, and calling untotheir fellows." What is the place thatwe hold as God's people? What isour position in this world? We are ina position of ever buying and sell-ing. We are selling more of self andmore of our own ideas. Why are weselling those things? So that we canbuy what God says about matters.We are ever in the marketplace go-ing through the process of sellingthat which would be contrary toGod, holy living, and righteousprinciples so that we can buy upmore of what God has for us.

Buying From God'sGreat Storehouse

Saint, God has more for you. Ifyou are willing to sell, God has

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things for you to buy. We read inProverbs 23:23, "Buy the truth, andsell it not; also wisdom, and instruc-tion, and understanding." No onecan truthfully say, "I have boughtall the Truth there is to buy." Youcan buy more trust, more under-standing, and more wisdom. Youneed to sell self–sell your ways andyour ideas–and buy everything thatyou can possibly buy of what is ofGod. As the man of God standsbefore you and preaches God'sWord, buy the Truth and sell it not.

God wants us to sell somethings. He told the rich, young rulerin Luke 18:22, "Yet lackest thou onething: sell all that thou hast, anddistribute unto the poor, and thoushalt have treasure in heaven: andcome, follow me." God requires thatwe sell self to get hold of that heav-enly treasure. To buy from God'sgreat storehouse, you have to sellself. You cannot use a credit card topurchase Truth, understanding, andthe wisdom of God. You must do itby selling yourself, by giving your-self to God, and by selling more ofyour time.

Saint, how much time do yougive to God weekly? When youfigure up how much time you aregiving to God, you will see that youneed to sell more of your time. Youcan buy more truth and more un-derstanding by selling more of yourtime. It could be that you havesomething sitting in your home thatyou need to sell. You could thentake that money and give it to God.Not long after I was saved, the firstthing I did was to go into the livingroom where I had a particular thingsitting. I had centered everything inthat room around it. I took it out-side, loaded it in my truck, and tookit to a pawn shop and came backwith a Bible and a guitar. Friend,you may need to do some selling sothat you can buy more of what Godhas for you. You should not expectGod to come down and lay it inyour lap. You have a responsibility.If you sell some things that youhave, God will bless you with morethan anything that you could have

had. Saint, we are ever in the mar-ketplace, buying the Truth and notselling it, but selling self.

Friend, what do you have thatyou could sell so that you could buysome more of God? Some clothesmay be hanging in your wardrobethat do not bring glory to God. Youshould sell them and buy modestapparel, something more represen-tative of holiness. Maybe you couldsell things that are just lying aroundcollecting dust, and you could usethe money to witness and be a lightfor God. We are ever in the market-place, buying and selling in thisChristian life.

As Jesus looked on, He said, "It islike unto children sitting in the mar-kets, and calling unto their fellows."Thank God for those who are stillcalling to their fellows. They arecalling out to those who are lost,calling out to those who are con-fused in false religion, calling out tothose who have done them wrong,saying, "Come and hear the Gospel.Come and get some help for yoursoul."

Christian friend, you should notcall and say, "What do you thinkabout what the pastor had to say?"or "Did you see that in the service?"No, you need to forget that kind ofcalling. You need to call individualsto try to get them to the church ser-vices, where they can learn how tobe a real child of God. How manypeople have you called and invitedto church recently? One thing that Ihave learned as a pastor is that youneed to work at it consistently. Ifyou relax your efforts and do not domuch calling or visiting, gettingback into it will be hard. You haveto keep working at it.

Jesus saw some calling out, andHe wanted to let us know aboutthem so that we might be encour-aged. God wants each of us to be inthat place where He would have usto be and to have the right attitude.We need to be engaged in the prop-er kind of business, buying andselling. We should not be solelyconcerned about our own lives; weshould be concerned about others

and constantly calling and workingso that we might see people get intothe Kingdom of God.

Are You Making Excuses?

Now, that is the good side of it.Unfortunately, some are not whereGod would have them to be. Friend,are you where you need to be withGod? Has something distanced youfrom where you know you ought tobe or is there something in your lifein defiance to God's will? Are youready to meet God? You may try todismiss this message from yourmind, but if you are not where youought to be, the best thing to do issell out to God. You need to yieldyour heart entirely to the Lord. Liv-ing unprepared to meet God is toorisky. If you are not ready to meetGod, it is not worth going on in sinWhat sinful pleasure is worthspending eternity in hell? Whatenjoyment, pride, fashion, or thrill is

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worth being lost forever? WhileJesus gave a picture of some whowere in good standing with God,He also spoke of those who were inneed. When those individuals in ourScripture text were confronted withconviction and their own needs,they began to make excuses. Every-thing they needed to be happy (rep-resented here by the mention ofdancing) had been given to them,yet they were not dancing. Every-thing they needed to be a child ofGod and to carry a burden for thework of God had been presented tothem by the way of mourning, yetthey were not lamenting. When Godhas so plainly, so mercifully, and sofaithfully laid out before individu-als the way and has said, "Walk init," why do people not do it? Theywant to make excuses.

In verse 18 of our Scripture text,Jesus said that John the Baptistcame. He was a good man, and hecame to prepare the way. Yet peo-

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ple made excuse, saying, "He hath adevil." Next, Jesus came on thescene, but again, the people beganto make excuses and say, "He is awinebibber, a gluttonous man. I amnot going to follow Him."

Today God is again reaching outto people and sending forth thethings they need so that they can getwhere God would have them to be,yet people are saying, "I am notgoing to listen to that preacher. I amnot going to go to that church"Again, people are making excuses.

Dear one, why make excuseswhen you could be just what Godwants you to be? This very day, ifyou have a need in your soul, youneed to take care of it before it is toolate. Will you do it with all yourheart and not back away? You needto respond to God today. Living insin, unprepared to meet God, is toorisky.

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TIME

y 8:05 a.m.-8:35 a.m.

2:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m. 7:15 a.m.-8:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m.-8:30 a.m.

inspiring message fromr from you!

Sin deceives,then defiles, and

then deadens.

Printed by the Church of God at God's Acres – www.GospelTrumpeter.com – www.GodsAcres.org

What's WrongWith Drinking?

From the Pacific to the AtlanticOcean, highways and byways arelined with road houses and taverns.They are the rendezvous formillions of young people. Nearlyevery drug and grocery store sellsliquor and beer, and it is hard tofind a restaurant where beer is notserved. The young people havebeen made booze- conscious.Newspapers advertise it, magazinesdisplay it, as well as billboardsalong the highways, and the radiobrings the advertisements into thehome.

In the old saloon days womenwere ashamed to go into a bar andwould occasionally go through theback door, but today girls andwomen boldly stand alongside thebar with men, drinking. Legalizedbooze is debauching the youth ofour land. While Belshazzar drankbefore the thousands, judgmenthung over the nation. ThroughNoah's drunkenness the curse cameupon the race of Ham. Lot'sdrunkenness made him the fatherof his daughters' children.

A large percentage of all theautomobile accidents can be tracedto booze. It fills the hospitals andcrowds the psychiatric wards. Itenlarges penitentiaries, breaks upthousands of homes, and robs manyinnocent children of food andclothing. It is the cause of manymurders and diseases. Truly, "wineis a mocker, strong drink is raging:and whosoever is deceived thereby

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is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1).The reason is that there is not

much preaching against the movies,the dance, and the bars is that somechurch officials are financiallyinterested in this soul traffic.

There is only one remedy for sinand drunkenness, and that is notreformation, eradication, orsuppression, but faith in the LordJesus Christ and His shed blood.

Casey J - was brought up in agood home, and as a child went toSunday school and church.However, he did not know the LordJesus Christ as his personal Savior,and when he was just a boy, he hadhis first taste of liquor. Perhaps theysaid to him, "Be a sport." That wasthe beginning of Casey's downfall.He began to drink and said tohimself, "I can take it or leave italone," but he found out before verylong that booze had such a holdupon him that he could not leave italone, and he became a hopelessdrunkard.

Time after time, Casey waslocked up in the local jail. The jailergot disgusted with him at last andsaid to the judge, "What's the use ofreleasing him? Why not lock him inhis cell and throw the key in theriver?" For, after being released, itwould not be twenty-four hoursbefore Casey would be earned backinto his cell, drunk.

Casey made many resolutions.One time, after signing a pledgethat he would never touch another

drop of liquor, the first saloon thathe came to he entered. He could notresist the smell of liquor that camethrough the door, and that verysame night he was back of the bars,dead drunk. He tried every way tobreak himself of this habit, but wentfrom bad to worse.

One day when he was releasedfrom jail, he wandered into a gospelmeeting. Friendless and in rags, helistened attentively to the sweetstory of Jesus, Who could set theprisoner free. That night Caseysurrendered to the Lord Jesus. Thebooze habit was taken away.

Today Casey is a Christianworker, warned, and the father oftwo fine children. A few weeks afterhis conversion, in a testimonymeeting, Casey stood to his feet andsaid, "I was a drunkard, but tonightI'm sober," and then he sat down.The preacher pointed his finger athim and said, "That's the greatesttestimony I have ever heard," for ina few words he had told what Godhad done for him.

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Matthew 11:8 But what went ye outfor to see? A man clothed in soft rai-ment? behold, they that wear soft cloth-ing are in kings' houses.

9 But what went ye out for to see? Aprophet? yea, I say unto you, and morethan a prophet.

10 For this is he, of whom it is writ-

ten, Behold, I send my messenger beforehe. thy face, which shall prepare thyway before thee.

11 Verily I say unto you, Amongthem that are born of women there hathnot risen a greater than John the Bap-tist: notwithstanding he that is least inthe kingdom of heaven is greater than

he.12 And from the days of John the

Baptist until now the kingdom of heav-en suffereth violence, and the violenttake it by force.

13 For all the prophets and the lawprophesied until John.

The Kingdom Experience

As I read this Scripture text, itmade me wonder how those peoplemust have felt when Jesus firstmade this announcement. Noticethat first He questioned them, "Butwhat went ye out for to see?" Thatquestion could well be put before ustoday. Though things were going onall around those people, many weretotally unaware of what was takingplace. It is not much different today.With all the advancements that wehave made in technology and thematerial knowledge, men are notany more aware of what is going onaround them in the spiritual worldthan they were in Jesus' day.

When Jesus said, "And from thedays of John the Baptist until nowthe kingdom of heaven sufferethviolence," that must have struckthem as a thunderbolt out of a clear

Brother Esau Brooks

sky. Right then, they were awaitingand looking forward to the timewhen Jesus would set up His King-dom. (Today many people are look-ing for Jesus to come and establishHis Kingdom in the Middle East, sothey are no further ahead than thosepeople were.) In the midst of alltheir expectations, Jesus was declar-ing that the kingdom was presentlysuffering violence. Many people areof the persuasion that the kingdomis yet to come; but it has alreadycome. While others dream of an ageto come, He is reigning in our heartstoday. Praise the Lord!

Note carefully that Jesus wasreferring to the kingdom as alreadybeing in existence. He was notspeaking in future terms, but ratherin present terms when He said that"the kingdom suffereth violence." Iwould like to reemphasize that thekingdom is already here, and it is

being assaulted by violent assaults.My friend, if you are counting onbeing in the kingdom, this is whatyou are going to have to face.

Jesus was talking as if the king-dom was already in existence. No-tice that He did not say it will suffer,but it suffereth. If it were still in thefuture, then how could it have beensuffering then? If that was true wayback yonder, how much more so itis true today. Someone may say,"Well, don't you believe that Christis coming back to set up His King-dom?" He has already done that;therefore, the kingdom experience isa present-day reality. You do nothave to wait for a thousand-yearreign to come. You can enjoy thatreign today.

I remember a few years backthere was much talk along that line.Some people were talking abouthow wonderful it would be when

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Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom,how He would bind Satan with achain, and then how we wouldreign over Satan on this earth. Ithank God that I have somethingbetter than that! I do not have towait until the old fellow is chainedup to reign over him. I thank Godthat I am reigning while he is loose,and you can too!

The Rule of Heavenin Your Life

Sin was not meant to be yourmaster; it was not meant to domi-nate your life. That is the reasonChrist came. He is your spiritualemancipator, and He alone can de-liver you from sin. You could joinevery church in the world andshake every preacher's hand, butthat would not touch your trouble.However, if you humble your heartand come to terms with the Lord, itcan happen. Sad to say, today manypeople are in the dark about thesethings. With all their churchgoingand with all their religious profes-sions, they are yet in the dark re-garding this kingdom reign.

Friend, what you should be con-cerned about is whether you are inthis kingdom. Is this kingdom inyou? You cannot be in this kingdomif you are still living in sin. Thisconcerns your eternal, spiritual wel-fare. If you do not get your mindcleared up regarding the kingdom,you are in trouble. You may ask,"What do you mean when youspeak of the kingdom?" The Bibleused different phrases to describethe wonderful experience of salva-tion. In one place Jesus referred to itas a "new birth" and in another, a"conversion" Here He was referringto it as a "kingdom reign." Salvationis the establishing of God's King-dom on this earth.

This kingdom is not in the formthat many people are looking for. InLuke 17:20-21 we read: "And whenhe was demanded of the Pharisees,when the kingdom of God shouldcome, he answered them and said,The kingdom of God cometh not

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with observation: Neither shall theysay, Lo here! or, to there! for, behold,the kingdom of God is within you."The experience of salvation is whatestablishes the kingdom in yourheart.

Many people say that the king-dom it is in the future, but Jesuswas dealing with it as somethingalready in existence. Why? Becausethe kingdom experience is no morethan the rule of Heaven in your life.To have a kingdom, you have tohave a king and subjects. If thiswere a literal composition that Jesuswas talking about, it could not bewithin you. In those days as well astoday, a kingdom denoted ruler-ship. When speaking about thekingdom, we are talking aboutHeaven ruling in your life.

If Heaven had more to do withpeople than what it does, thingswould be in better shape than whatthey are today. That is where all thetrouble lies. Men and women aredestitute of God's rule in their lives.They think that God's Kingdom is aworldly kingdom. However, Jesustold Pilate, in essence, "If My king-dom were of this world, then Myservants would have fought to keepMe from being delivered to you; butit is not of this world." Friend, I begyou to stop dreaming of a timewhen Jesus is going to come, chainSatan, establish His Kingdom inJerusalem, and reign over the earthfor a thousand years. If He is notreigning over your life today, andyou do not do something aboutthat, you will never experience thekingdom. Those who are in thekingdom have the kingdom inthem, and God has the rule overtheir lives.

It is with that thought in mind,no doubt, that Jesus said that "thekingdom of heaven suffereth vio-lence." If you are in the kingdomand the kingdom is in you, then youneed to be ready for what is to fol-low. Serving God is not awishy-washy affair. It is not thespineless spiritual condition beingdemonstrated many times beforeus. To serve God, you must come to

grips with Satan. As a Christian,you are to look forward to the blissof Heaven and also to the battle tostay in the kingdom. That is thereason the kingdom is sufferingtoday.

Now, getting saved will cost younothing, but staying saved will costyou. That is the reason I have ex-horted young people not to be con-cerned about getting married. I say,"Your chief concern should be stay-ing married after you get married."There is nothing to getting married.You can call any preacher, and hewill read the marriage vows to youand say you are married. However,as the newness wears off, you cometo understand that there is more tomarriage than what you thought.Instead of thinking it is a conditionthat you can just jump out of be-cause it does not suit your way, youmust battle to stay married.

So it is with getting saved. It isone thing to get saved, but it is an-other thing to stay saved. If every-one who once had gotten gloriouslysaved had kept that experience,Heaven only knows what thisworld would have been like today.In our world many people professbut do not possess. That is wherethe battleground is. The kingdomsuffers violence. Violent attacks arebeing aimed at the kingdom.

The church has entered this pic-ture as well. What the church is, thekingdom is, and what the kingdomis, the church is. Someone may ask,"Why the two terms?" Each term isdesignating a specific part: thechurch is the fellowship; the king-dom is the rule. There is no fellow-ship without the rule. What is mak-ing it difficult for many Christiansto stay together is that men havedethroned God from their lives. IfGod were truly reigning in people'slives, they would not be doing themany things that they are doing.

Sinner friend, there is more toserving God than just going tochurch occasionally. There is anexperience and a reality in servingGod. It is not a mere shadow or amere belief, but it is a reality. That is

the reason Jesus told the people inLuke, Chapter 17, "You cannot say,Lo here or to there. The kingdom iswithin you." Once it is workingwithin you, it is going to work outin your life.

How the Natural ManReacts to the Kingdom

Let us look at this peculiar reac-tion that Jesus was introducing forconsideration when He said "thekingdom of heaven suffereth vio-lence." This is how the natural manreacts to the kingdom experience.We read in Luke 19:12-14: "He saidtherefore, A certain nobleman wentinto a far country to receive for him-self a kingdom, and to return. Andhe called his ten servants, and deliv-ered them ten pounds, and saidunto them, Occupy till I come. Buthis citizens hated him, and sent amessage after him, saying, We willnot have this man to reign over us."

This is the popular notion occu-pying the minds of many churchgo-ers today: "This man will not reignover me. No one is going to tell mehow to walk, how to talk, and howto dress." Friend, if you get in thekingdom and the kingdom gets inyou, you must listen to the messagetelling you how to walk, how totalk, and how to dress. Every indi-vidual, when presented with themessage of the experience of thekingdom, reacts with this kind ofdisposition. Friend, if you are un-saved, it is due to your decisionwhen the Holy Spirit made His de-mand on you, telling you what youmust give up. You simply decided,"I'm not going to do that. I'm notgoing to change my way of life. Iam not going to let religion crampmy style."

Today many people take off intheir own direction and talk aboutthe things of God, but in reality theyknow very little about the things ofGod. Men today are still fightingagainst the establishing of God'srule in their lives. That is the reasonJames stated in James 4:4, "Ye adul-terers and adulteresses, know ye

not that the friendship of the worldis enmity with God? whosoevertherefore will be a friend of theworld is the enemy of God." If anyman walks hand in hand with theworld, he is an enemy of God. Iknow this message is not preachedmuch today, but just because youare not hearing it does not meanthat God has changed His mind.The message still stands. To be afriend of this world is to be an en-emy of God.

Acts 17:5-6 reads: "But the Jewswhich believed not, moved withenvy, took unto them certain lewdfellows of the baser sort, and gath-ered a company, and set all the cityon an uproar, and assaulted thehouse of Jason, and sought to bringthem out to the people. And whenthey found them not, they drewJason and certain brethren unto therulers of the city, crying, These thathave turned the world upside downare come hither also." What a testi-mony!

Today it is a little different. Theworld is turning people who claimto be the church upside down, but itdoes not have to be that way. If youread the second part of our Scrip-ture text, it shows there is a hope:"the violent take it by force." In thedays of the Apostle Paul and theother Apostles, they preached thisGospel everywhere they went, andthey had either a revival or a riot.The people were never the sameafterward; everyone was affected.

The Secret of Reigning

Although what we are seeingtoday is a little different, as far asthe Bible is concerned, it is still thesame. The kingdom is still sufferingviolence. That is the reason Paulwrote to Timothy, "If we suffer, weshall also reign with him . . . " (2Timothy 2:12). The secret of reign-ing is standing the suffering. Yousee, back in those days, the visionthose people had of the church wasof a fighting army for God; and sheis still! You may not see much of itwhere you live, but the church is

still fighting against wrongdoing.No compromise has been

brought between God and the devil.There is no peaceful coexistencebetween the two. If you are for Je-sus, then you are against the devil.In so many words, Jesus said, "Ifyou are not gathering with Me, youare scattering. If you are not withMe, you are against Me." Sinnerfriend, that is just the way it is. Donot settle for church joining, hand-shaking, make-believe religions. It isno wonder that Jesus said toNicodemus, "Marvel not that I saidunto thee, Ye must be born again"(John 3:7).

All the fight seems to have goneout of the church until all we haveleft now are complaints about whatfolks are doing and what they aresaying. I remember the time whenthe enemy would fight (becausethey have ever fought against thechurch), but instead of the churchrunning into a corner and complain-ing, she would come out fighting.We can read of this in the Book ofActs when the disciples were ar-rested and put in prison. While thejailers were discussing what to dowith them and what time to havethem executed, to their surprise, theApostles were down in the squarepreaching the same Gospel thatthose people were fighting. Todaywhere has that spirit gone? When itcomes to religious circles, where hasthat spirit gone? People need towake up to the realization that abattle is going on. When people getsaved, they are enlisting in the ser-vice of the Lord. That was whatJesus meant when He said "thekingdom of heaven suffereth vio-lence." The things that people aretrying to heap against the churchand God's people would not begoing on so easily if God were morein control. You would be seeing alittle more reaction than what youare seeing.

According to Jesus, to enter thekingdom one must become violent,spiritually speaking, of course, andtake it by force. This is what Jesuswas saying regarding the kingdom.

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In other words, the kingdom ismeant to be taken; do not just waitfor it to be given to you. The devil isin control of this world; he is the godof this world, and he is reigningover many lives. Anyone who willdare to be delivered from that con-dition must come to grips with it.Many must fight it out on theirknees. Others must stand up andfight with a determination not togive in.

Saint, you cannot expect to haveeverything given to you. All youhave to do is read Chapter 2 of theBook of the Acts of the Apostles,and you will soon have a vision ofwhat serving God is all about. Soulsneed to be rescued and delivered;but their deliverance depends onhow well we, as saints, fight to getthem loose from the control and thegrips of Satan. If we are going tostay in the kingdom, we must beviolent; we have to take it by force.I am sure when we speak of forcethat most people only think of natu-ral force. However, that was notwhat Jesus was talking about. Hewas speaking of the force of deter-mination. The kingdom is sufferingviolence, but the violent take it bythe force of determination. They aregoing to win. They are going tohave the victory, no matter what theconsequences or the cost might be.Then, there is the force of love. Thechurch's love for God will matchany opposition Satan heaps uponthem. Their determination and loveand devotion will take them beyondall the opposition that Satan cancause. When we become violentwith these qualities, it is then, andonly then, that we hold our positionin the Kingdom of God.

How to Survive Spiritually

Today many people who thinkthey are in the kingdom have noteven seen it. Many who talk aboutthe kingdom merely talk aboutwhat they have heard about thekingdom. It is time for each individ-ual to experience in himself or her-self the reality of this reign that will

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put one beyond the control of sin,Satan, and the world.

The reason we are confrontedwith such opposition today is thatmen and women are determinedlysetting their minds that Christ willnot reign over them. That is whatsalvation is–the reign of Christ inone's life and over one's life. It ismore than merely professing to be aChristian. It is an absolute, positiveexperience that one gains throughliving for God.

Friend, I ask you, has the king-dom come to you? If it has come toyou, have you entered the king-dom? Again, to enter the kingdom ismore than merely saying so or pro-fessing so. It is experiencing in yourheart the work that will bring thechange. There is a great need in thelives of men and women for some-thing supernatural, not in the sensein which the world talks about it,but in the divine sense of gettingGod to move.

I am troubled about what I seetaking place on our earth today.Most people seem to be at ease,contented, and relaxed. It is as ifthey are saying, "Things have neverbeen better than they are now."Meanwhile, the devil is running offwith our young people and every-one else with whom he gets achance to do so. It is time for somereaction of the type that Jesus wastalking about.

When Christ came to establishHis Kingdom, His teachings, andHis doctrines, the religion Hebrought was the most hated of allthe religions of that day. Yet, thefollowers of Jesus did not crawl intoa corner and complain about theirlot; they took their lot and improvedupon it. Many supposed Christiansare going through life complainingabout their lot, but thank God, thereare those who are possessing theirlot and going on and improvingtheir lot. That is what a Christianmust do, and that is what the Chris-tian will do. That is what God isdemanding and expecting of us all.These are serious and dangeroustimes, and if our children and our

grandchildren are to survive spiritu-ally, it depends on how much weput into this thing. Sinner, if you aregoing to get deliverance from sin,from the world, and from the cor-ruption of the world, it depends onhow much you are willing to putinto this matter. Jesus said in Mat-thew 6:33, "But seek ye first thekingdom of God, and his righteous-ness; and all these things shall beadded unto you." Let everything fallin place as you go along.

Second Corinthians 6:2 tells us,"Now is the accepted time; behold,now is the day of salvation." In He-brews 3:7-8 we read: ". . . the HolyGhost saith, To day if ye will hearhis voice, Harden not your hearts, asin the provocation." Sadly, backthen when some heard, they wereprovoked rather than profited fromtheir hearing. Friend, the choice isyours. Are you going to take thekingdom by force from the deviland the world or are you going togive in to the devil and the worldand be governed and controlled bythem? Which will it be?

You can read in Mark 8:36-37that Jesus asked the questions manyyears ago: "For what shall it profit aman, if he shall gain the wholeworld, and lose his own soul? Orwhat shall a man give in exchangefor his soul?" Your soul is the mostvaluable part of you. It is worthmore than everything in this world.The value God puts on a soul can befound in John 3:16, which says, "ForGod so loved the world, that hegave his only begotten Son, thatwhosoever believeth in him shouldnot perish, but have everlastinglife."

Jesus stands ready to help youand deliver you; only He can deliveryou. He is your only hope. You mayaccept or reject Him; but if you re-ject Him, you will pay the penaltyfor doing so. If you accept Him, youwill enjoy the blessings and theprivileges that God is extending toyou. God bless you.

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Ephesians 5:1 Be ye thereforefollowers of God, as dear children;

2 And walk in love, as Christalso hath loved us, and hath givenhimself for us an offering and asacrifice to God for a sweetsmellingsavour.

3 But fornication, and all un-cleanness, or covetousness, let it notbe once named among you, asbecometh saints;

4 Neither filthiness, nor foolishtalking, nor jesting, which are notconvenient: but rather giving ofthanks.

5 For this ye know, that nowhoremonger, nor unclean person,nor covetous man, who is an idola-ter, hath any inheritance in the king-dom of Christ and of God.

6 Let no man deceive you withvain words: for because of thesethings cometh the wrath of Godupon the children of disobedience.

7 Be not ye therefore partakerswith them.

8 For ye were sometimes dark-ness, but now are ye light in theLord: walk as children of light:

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is inall goodness and righteousness andtruth;)

10 Proving what is acceptableunto the Lord.

11 And have no fellowship withthe unfruitful works of darkness,but rather reprove them.

12 For it is a shame even tospeak of those things which aredone of them in secret.

13 But all things that are re-proved are made manifest by thelight: for whatsoever doth makemanifest is light.

14 Wherefore he saith, Awakethou that sleepest, and arise fromthe dead, and Christ shall give theelight.

15 See then that ye walk circum-spectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, becausethe days are evil.

17 Wherefore be ye not unwise,but understanding what the will ofthe Lord is.

18 And be not drunk with wine,wherein is excess; but be filled with

Brother Bernard Wilson

the Spirit.19 Speaking to yourselves in

psalms and hymns and spiritualsongs, singing and making melodyin your heart to the Lord;

20 Giving thanks always for allthings unto God and the Father inthe name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

21 Submitting yourselves one toanother in the fear of God.

Psalm 71:1 In thee, O LORD, do Iput my trust: let me never be put toconfusion.

2 Deliver me in thy righteous-ness, and cause me to escape: inclinethine ear unto me, and save me.

3 Be thou my strong habitation,whereunto 1 may continually resort:thou bast given commandment tosave me; for thou art my rock andmy fortress.

4 Deliver me, O my God, out ofthe hand of the wicked, out of thehand of the unrighteous and cruelman.

5 For thou art my hope, O LordGOD: thou art my trust from myyouth.

Keeping Your MindStayed on Christ

We read in Isaiah 26:3, "Thouwilt keep him in perfect peace,

whose mind is stayed on thee: be-cause he trusteth in thee." When thedevil can get your attention, he hasgained a position to do great harmto your soul. God created you as an

intellectual being, not as a dumbanimal. However, the worst thingthat you can do is use your intelli-gence in the wrong way. The devilis sowing seeds to try to stop the

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work of God. If all those who saythey are the people of God wouldbring themselves into submission tothe Spirit of God, we would seemore spiritual progress in the con-gregations of the Church of God.The greatest place of conflict is nottrouble in a congregation or theapostate who tries to draw awaypeople or the government that hasbecome corrupt. Our greatest con-flict lies in bringing our thinking inline with what God wants us tothink. Child of God, the battle is notyour husband, your wife, your chil-dren, your pastor, or a brother orsister in Christ. The real conflict, theplace where the battle is beingfought, is in the mind. Every timetrouble starts, the devil will begin towork on your mind to try to confuseor distract you. Some things may gowrong on the job, and you may goto church with those problems onyour mind. You need to bring your-self to a place of controlling that.The mind is the very soul of man.Your soul is not in your fingertips,but it is in your mind. God createdintelligence within you, but if youdo not use it as God intends, youwill be spiritually dead and lost ineternity. You can sever a hand andnot injure the mind; the body willgo on. However, the center of yourexistence is in your thinking power,and that is where the devil is tryingto confuse and deceive and bringyou into bondage.

The church is free, and the devildoes not like that. He will work onthe young, the middle-aged, and theelderly to try to stop them frommoving forward for God. The en-emy of souls tries to get people'sminds going this way and that wayuntil their spirituality is gone andthey have no real strength left, yetthey continue with a profession.Saint, you need to awaken to whatthe devil is trying to do, lest hebrings your spiritual progress to ahalt.

Every one of us is subject to at-tacks by the enemy of souls. Satan isafter your soul, and he will get it ifyou do not use your mind. You may

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ask, "How do you use your mind?"You use your mind by reading andstudying the Bible, by hearing theWord of God, and by applying it toyour life. The physical heart is whatpumps the blood, but the center ofyour intelligence is where yourthinking power is. It is a seriousthing to play around with intellec-tual power. Society today tells youthat they have to think for you. Thatis a dangerous condition When anawful occurrence happens, authori-ties set up counseling sessions andbring in people who will say, "Thisis the way you ought to look at thissituation, and this is the way youought to think." Saint, that oughtnot to be your counsel! We do nothave psychiatrists and psycholo-gists to tell us what to do in theChurch of God. We have the mindof Christ to tell us what to do, tobring comfort, to cause the heart tosettle down and become an imple-ment in the hand of God when sor-row is all around. In times of death,God puts His hand over the be-reaved and calms that one down.Society will tell you, "Don't think foryourself. We will tell you how tothink." No, that is not God's plan

"Fearfully and WonderfullyMade"

We read in Psalm 139:13, "Forthou hast possessed my reins: thouhast covered me in my mother'swomb." Don't you think God oughtto know all about you since He didthat? That was before anyone elsewas involved. Verse 14 states, "Iwill praise thee; for I am fearfullyand wonderfully made: marvellousare thy works; and that my soulknoweth right well." Oh, that yoursoul would become acquainted withand accustomed to these truths ofGod, to know them well. Too manyare living below the standard ofwhat God intends for them. Todaypeople's standards are variable, butGod's standard has never changed.The Psalmist said that we are fear-fully and wonderfully made. Inother words, only God can make a

human being.You need to forget cloning and

Darwin's theory that the world isteaching in the public schools.Christian youths need to be encour-aged to use their minds in the thingsof God. The adult generation of thechurch needs to be encouraged touse their minds to deepen down inthe things of God, to get hold of thetruths of God in a greater way. Youneed the mind of Christ. Isaiah toldus that God's ways are far aboveour ways, and His thoughts are farabove our thoughts. If we will getwhere God wants us to sit, underthe spout of blessings from Histhrone, we will see something great-er happen in the Church of the Liv-ing God.

Let us look briefly at how sciencelooks at the brain. The brain of anormal adult human being weighsapproximately four pounds, but itmay weigh as little as two pounds.The spinal cord weighs only a fewounces, and the peripheral nervesand the ganglia a few more. Thistotals roughly 1 ½ to 3 percent of a160-pound body. The muscles, thebones, and the skin weigh far more.You may say, "What does this haveto do with it?" Well, the hand doesnot sin. Sin is committed by the trueyou–the soul–the intellect thatknows what you are doing. Paulsaid in Romans to present yourbody a living sacrifice, acceptable toGod.

The brain is often represented asa device to integrate the body andachieve the body's requirements.For example, it gives the orders andtells the hand to do that which isrighteous or unrighteous. It is allhandled through the intellect. If youlet the devil work on you throughdiscouragement or if you get in-volved in ungodly things going onaround you, you will throw your-self into confusion and into a dis-trust with God. Soon you will be ina position where you are oppressedand do not know which way to go.

The gray matter inside yourhead is only part of what God hasmade. You are fearfully and won-

derfully made. If you look at a pic-ture or a diagram of the brain, itmerely looks like a gray mass.However, if you study the works ofthe brain, you will learn that it ismade up of an electrical field thatputs out very sensitive instructionsvia electrical impulses. God createdthe brain to operate the human sys-tem.

The brain is the man, and itshealth is essential for normal living.Its disorders are surely the mostprofound of human miseries, andits destruction annihilates the body,however intact it is. If your brainwere to be destroyed, you woulddie. The brain contains more thanone hundred billion cells, and it isonly a two- to four-pound organ,which is a small percentage of theentire body. The cell population ofthe body is thousands of times morenumerous than the human popula-tion of the earth. All transactions oflife are transmitted in and throughthe brain. You need to let your mindbe drawn into the things of God andhear only what God wants you tohear.

"Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind"

Everyone has a calling, whetherit is praying, singing, preaching,teaching, or visiting. In that call youwill have all you can handle in lis-tening to God, through communica-tion in your mind with the verythrone of God, to know what youneed to do. You do not have time tomeddle with other things. The mindmisused is a terrible waste. Yourmind is a blessing and a great giftfrom God, so you need to use it tothe glory of God as He wants youto.

Paul said that we are living in aseducing time, a time when manywould leave the faith and go afterother ways of living. However, Paultold the Church of God in Ephesians6:14, "Stand therefore, having yourloins girt about with truth, and hav-ing on the breastplate of righteous-ness." First Peter 1:13 states,"Wherefore gird up the loins of your

mind, be sober, and hope to the endfor the grace that is to be broughtunto you at the revelation of JesusChrist." In these two verses there isenough to keep you busy.

Child of God, the first place bat-tles start is in the mind. There is nota child of God anywhere who hasnot had some problems in his or herexperience, yet some religious peo-ple say, "I am perfect, and I havealways been perfect. I don't needanything." They need to own thefact that we all have battles. Oneman wanted me to listen to a tapeabout his pastor. He said that hewas sitting in his living room andsaw an apparition go past his win-dow. He was convinced that theLord had visited him that day. I toldhim, "That is nothing more thanreligious garbage." No man is lay-ing his eyes on the Lord. The onlyway you are going to see Christtoday is to see Him as He is. In somany words, Paul said, "I see himno more after the flesh, but after theway I have been taught in the Wordof God and through the Spirit ofGod."

The Word manifested to the in-tellectual being brings the child ofGod into submission to Christ. Thesaints of God are fitly framed andknit together to do a great work inthe Kingdom of God. Second Corin-thians 7:6 says, "Nevertheless God,that comforteth those that are castdown, comforted us by the comingof Titus." How does one becomecast down? One way is throughfeeling sorry for oneself. We read in2 Corinthians 4:7-8: "But we havethis treasure in earthen vessels, thatthe excellency of the power may beof God, and not of us. We are trou-bled on every side, yet not dis-tressed." Friend, have you ever feltdiscouraged? God can show you anavenue of getting out of that condi-tion. How? By your having themind of Christ and by knowinghow God looks at it. God looks atdiscouragement as an adversary tothe soul.

When the enemy of soulstempted Jesus, He said, in so many

words, "I am not living by breadalone, but by every word that pro-ceeds from the mouth of God." Thatis how Jesus caused Satan to leave.Saint, your mind is under attack.You are an earthen vessel, and youfeel pain when someone hurts youor says something offensive. If youbecome hung up on that kind ofcondition, it will halt your forwardprogress for God, and you will be-gin to regress. The mercy of Godsays, "Wake up!" If you take thewarning, then you will start movingforward. You will say, "Why am Iletting this happen?" You will seethe need to bring that conditionunder control and quit feeling sorryfor yourself.

Be Girded About With Truth

Second Corinthians 4:8-9 tells us:"We are troubled on every side, yetnot distressed; we are perplexed,but not in despair; Persecuted, butnot forsaken; cast down, but notdestroyed." God is a merciful God,and He will supply your everyneed. He will not cast you off; Hewants you to rise to your feet andmobilize for the Holy Ghost so theWord can go forth in your localcommunity. God wants His peopleto be a blessing and a lighthouse forthe Truth so that souls might besaved.

The mind is the seat of your af-fections, so don't you think youought to guard it more? Your affec-tions can be drawn away. I havenever seen a day when there was somuch going on. Our whole societyis geared toward drawing youraffections away. You may say, "Oh,it is the same old spirit." Well, thatmight be, but it is multiplying, andit has a greater hold on people thanin the past. For one thing, when Iwent to school, if someone didwrong, that person got a paddlingover it, but that is not the way it istoday. Devils of diversity, spirits ofdo-nothing, and spirits of paganismare loose today. In some countriesparents are unable to spank theirchildren for disobedience, and in

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those same countries very lewdthings are taking place.

Again, the mind is the seat ofyour affections. It is the center ofyour thoughts. You are a complexindividual. We live in the midst of atime when we need to draw ourminds in and bring them into sub-jection. Luke 12:35 says, "Let yourloins be girded about, and yourlights burning." You need to begirded about with Truth so that youcan show forth the light of God andwin souls. Friend, I want you to seethat the enemy is after your mind.You need to have an understandingof the times. Many people do notwant to see what is going on. Theywant to live in their own little cubi-cles. When God sends the messagefor you and you surround yourselfwith a wall, saying, "Well, this is theway I think, and I am not going tochange," your soul is in great dan-ger. A true pastor will wear himselfout trying to get your soul straight-ened out. He will work and laborand groan in misery at night be-cause it is a miserable thing to see asoul lost, not really concerned abouthis situation. People in that condi-tion have closed their minds to theirtrue condition. The Old Testamenttells us that they have turned theirears away from hearing.

I remember one brother saying,"A flock of birds may fly over yourhead, but you don't have to let themmake a nest in your hair." In otherwords, though many things aregoing on that can ensnare your soul,you do not have to get involved inthem. Should someone try to whis-per something in your ear aboutsomeone, you should say, "I don'twant to hear that."

Child of God, every once in awhile the devil will bring up thingsthat you did before you were saved.He will say, "Do you rememberwhat you did? Do you rememberwhat you got into?" The mind canbe likened to a city with thoughtsrunning through the streets. How-ever, you do not have to leave thosethoughts in your mind. You need tokick them out if they do not belong.

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Some people try to provoke wrongthoughts in others. Friend, youshould not do that. If you do, youneed to back up and make it right.Whether you are a preacher, asinger, or whatever, if you do nothave a clear mind with God, youneed to do something about it. IfGod is digging around something inyour life, you need to see that Hewants you to grow in a greater way.

The conflict or the battle today isthat people are not girding theirminds as they should with TruthGod's people need to spend timemeditating on the Word of God. Iam speaking of weighing yourselfin the light of God. You need to ask,"Lord, am I measured up in this?"and "What needs to be done aboutthat?" The Psalmist meditated uponhis bed, and many times he wasstirred. Why? God talked to him. Hehad a close relationship with God.

Having the Mind of Christ

Thoughts primarily come fromthree sources: God's Spirit, man'sspirit, and the devil's spirit. Thechallenge is to match the mind ofChrist. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 Paulwrote, "For who hath known themind of the Lord, that he may in-struct him? But we have the mind ofChrist." You need to let Him instructand guide you. Sympathy will leadyou into depression, and if you con-tinue in that condition, it will stealyour experience with God. Yoursalvation is in Christ Jesus living inyou. By having the Spirit of Godwithin, you are in direct contactwith God. You can have a closenesswith Him and learn what He wants.He will encourage you and give youstrength.

When Jesus was asked, "Whothen can be saved?" He said, "Withmen it is impossible, but not withGod: for with God all things arepossible" (Mark 10:27). Although itis impossible with man, with God itis possible, so you need to trust inHim. The conflict is over believingGod. Human thinking will try toprevail. The will of God is to have

God direct your mind. The mind isthe seat of your affections, Godgives you Truth to know good fromevil, and He gives you an understanding when the devil comes as aminister of light. You will get introuble listening to talk againstpastors and other saints. Any time avoice accuses the pastor withoutfoundation, it is coming from thedevil; it is not coming from God.When the devil starts to work onyour mind, he will say, "That broth-er is no good at all. He does not dothis or that." That is when you needto tell the devil, "Get away from me.I don't want anything to do withyou." God's people need the mind ofGod.

Child of God, no doubt you havegreat conflicts. It is not an easy rideinto Glory. You might have battlesin your mind, failures, and afflic-tions; but God can help you with allof that. One of the greatest battlesyou can go through is when you aresuffering a physical affliction. Whenyou are down on your back, thedevil just keeps prodding andpunching. If you can get hold ofGod, you will receive help.

Once I had a painful condition inmy back, and it froze me up until Icould not even move my fingers. Iwas getting ready to preach oneSunday morning, and as I got myfeet on the edge of the bed, I was inagony. I had been that way fordays. I said, "Lord, if it is my time togo, just take me on; but if it isn't, Iwant to know what Your will is,because You gave me a message topreach." God spoke to me and said,"See that doorknob in front of you?Reach out and take hold of it." Icould not move my fingers becausethe pain was so severe. Neverthe-less, I said, "Yes, Lord." I grabbedthe doorknob and came out of thebed shouting and praising God. AsI was rejoicing, the pain jabbed, andthe devil said, "I will put youdown." I said, "No, you won't, devil.I am going to have the victory, bythe grace of God." I prayed and heldon to God until the enemy of soulswas rebuked. God healed me, and I

preached the Word of God that day.While I was shouting, I started tosing the song, "Our God Is True,"and the devil moved on. God willnever prove untrue to you. He willspeak to you in the time of troubleand trial, in the time of sickness, inthe time of heartache, and in thetime of death. He will come to youraid, and He will work right throughadverse conditions. I thank God forHis goodness and for what He hasdone!

You may ask, "Why is the con-flict so great?" Hebrews 8:10 tellsyou, "For this is the covenant that Iwill make with the house of Israelafter those days, with the Lord; Iwill put my laws into their mind,and write them in their hearts: andI will be to them a God, and theyshall be to me a people." Right afterI got saved, we were in a nine-weekrevival. (Today preachers can hard-ly hold people for an hour onSunday.) Those weeks I got so tired,and one night I said, "Lord, I don'thave any more strength." I wouldgo home from work, eat a sand-wich, get a few minutes rest, andthen I was ready to go. I had ayearning for God's Word in mysoul.

Some people block the Word ofGod from their minds because theyfeel that they have more importantthings to do, such as buying housesand land and cars. Those things arenot illegal or perverted, but they canhinder you when it comes to servingGod. In the days of Noah, they wereeating, drinking, and marrying.There is nothing wrong with gettingmarried as long as it is in the Lord.However, when those things comebefore God and attending the wor-ship services, the problem begins.

Draw Closer to God

Young person, you can be abright light where you are, whetherit is in school or on the job. You canbe a great light and have greatersecurity if you will lend your mindto God. Hebrews 10:35 instructsyou, "Cast not away therefore your

confidence, which hath great recom-pense of reward." Due to conditionsexisting today, you must fortifyyour mind. One big problem for theyouth is having confidence in them-selves. When I was younger, theyused to send young people to danceschool to build up their self esteem.What a way to destroy a youngperson! Friend, if you are going todances and proms, you are in trou-ble. There is much immorality goingon at those dances. Young person,you need to draw in your mind.You were not made for corruption;you were made for the glory of God.You were not created to sell yourselfto the flesh; that will destroy yourlife.

Many young people today areinsecure. They think, "Well, if I don'tmake moves soon, I will never findanyone to marry." Some young peo-ple do not want to start working atminimum wage. They say, "Oh,that's not enough money for me."Friend, you think too highly ofyourself if you have that kind ofattitude. You ought to be thankfulto have something to start with.There is an old saying, "You cannotmake a silk purse from a sow's ear."In other words, you cannot makeyourself something that you are not.If you have not had any work expe-rience, you need to fall in line withwhat you can do.

Today some young couples thinkthey must have a $100,000 homeand three cars in the garage beforethey feel they are not deprived.Then if something happens and onecauses trouble and commits a crime,the attorneys say, "Well, he did itbecause he did not have this or thatwhen he was young." That is just anexcuse. When young people dowrong, it is because they are listen-ing to the devil. It is not becausethey are hyperactive or becausethey need to be on medicationThings have gotten to the placewhere many parents do not haveenough stability to hold a stiff handwith their children, so they givethem drugs to control them. That isnot the mind of Christ. That should

not be around the Church of God.Some parents say, "Well, I have a

child that I can't control." Instead oflooking to God for help, they go to apsychologist or read a book to findout what to do. The Bible instructsyou to train up a child in the waysof the Lord, and he will never de-part from it. That training will neverget out of his thinking. Now, I didnot say that he would not go out insin, but that training will not getaway from him. The Bible speaks ofhaving a willing mind. That meansthat people are willing to labor,willing to uphold the hands of theman of God, and willing to helpwhen there is a place to fill.

Paul wrote about a peoplewhose minds were blinded. Saint, ifyou become spiritually blind, youcan be led to believe a lie and bedamned. Second Thessalonians2:11-12 states: "And for this causeGod shall send them strong delu-sion, that they should believe a lie:That they all might be damned whobelieved not the truth, but had plea-sure in unrighteousness." You needto love Truth and have your mindgirded with Truth. To do that, youneed a great deal of help from God,because you still have humanity.

God created each of us as indi-viduals to receive Truth, under-standing, and correction. If you arein trouble, under trials, presseddown, or afflicted, you need to takeit to the Lord in prayer. Right in themidst of all your problems, the devilwill say, "Why don't you forgetGod; go away from the way of God.I will give you something better."Friend, he is a liar.

Child of God, let your mind bedrawn in closer to God, in thestrength of God and in the Truth ofGod's Word. If you have had prob-lems, you need to take them to theLord. If you have a stressful condi-tion in your mind, seek the face ofGod. If problems and burdens areheavy, if your body hurts, drawcloser to God. He will instruct you,help you, and strengthen you.

(Cassette C-4022A)

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[Guest Editorial--continued from page 2]Revelation 13:1 to the succeedingscene. Revelation 12:3 shows thefirst major opposing force: the greatred dragon, which was Rome in itspagan form. It tells how the dragonwas cast down and how the enemychanged his tactics.

In Revelation 13:1 we see thebeast coming up out of the sea,which was papal Rome. After thefirst beast was defeated, Revelation13:11 says, another beast came upout of the earth; this was in chrono-logical succession. Therefore, chro-nologically, Protestantism suc-ceeded papalism.

The woman clothed with the suncame on the scene in A.D. 33. Reve-lation 12:11 says "they overcamehim." This was when the dragonwas cast down and Rome was di-vided and declined, in A.D. 270. Theenemy started working throughapostasy to produce another beastthat, according to Revelation 13:1,rose from the sea, which occurred inA.D. 530, when they regardedBoniface as the first universal Pope.

After that, they arose and laid adeadly wound to the beast throughthe sixteenth century reformation inA.D. 1530. This occurred when Mar-tin Luther came out preachingRomans 1:17: "The just shall live byfaith." When they failed to stay trueto Truth and walk in the light, theyturned and became an image to thebeast; hence, another beast, anotherearthly system, came up, known asProtestantism.

Revelation 13:11 tells us that thisbeast had attributes "like a lamb."Where else do we read of somethingthat appears like a lamb, or sheeplike? In Jesus' teachings in Matthew7:15, Jesus said, "Beware of falseprophets [the same thing that Prot-estantism was called in Revelation16:13], which come to you in sheep'sclothing, but inwardly they are rav-ening wolves." This system looksChristian, but its nature is as a wolf,or a beast.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:20,"Wherefore by their fruits ye shallknow them." Revelation 13:14 lets

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us know that Protestantism madean image to the beast. Its fruits wereto raise up other human organiza-tions with human heads. Revelation9:7, speaking of the system of Prot-estantism, states, "And the shapes ofthe locusts were like unto horsesprepared unto battle; and on theirheads were as it were crowns likegold, [They want to appear thatthey have Christ and that they havepower, but the crowns are only likegold; they are not gold. They werean imitation, a deception.] and theirfaces were as the faces of men." Menhead this system. The Bible saysthey built an image (an image issomething almost identical). Inother words, they built a humanorganization with human headsand human teachings very similarto the first beast, papalism.

This Protestant beast has a verydeceptive appearance. It looksChristian, but Revelation 13:11 says"it spake as a dragon." How did thedragon speak? In the days of pa-ganism, they had a building knownas the Pantheon, and people couldcome from wherever to do theircommerce in Rome. They were los-ing much trade because people hadto get back to worship their gods, sothey built a Pantheon. Over thedoor they had the inscription, "toJupiter and all the gods." Peoplecould go in and worship the gods oftheir choice.

The cry of the dragon, or pagan-ism, was for people to choose thegods of their choice. How does Prot-estantism speak like a dragon? Theytell people to choose the church oftheir choice. This beast speaks likethe dragon. That was not God'svoice, but the dragon's. Sad to say,people would be better off not goingto those places than to sip from Bab-ylon's wine and be deceived.

Again, the word Magog alsomeans "Gog's region." How is Prot-estantism Gog's region? Revelation13:14 says they made "an image tothe beast." In other words, theymodeled Rome in human operationand organization. This propheticpicture in Revelation 20:7-8 and

Revelation 16:12-14 has its fulfill-ment, not just. in the Gospel Day,but the prophetic timeframe of thisis actually the seventh seal period oftime. How do we know this? It oc-curred under the sixth vial, and thesixth vial was not poured out untilthe seventh seal.

We are not just looking at Protes-tantism at her inception, but ratherthese prophetic texts deal with heroperation in this seventh seal periodof time. The first three vials (in Rev-elation, Chapter 16) were pouredout during the sixth seal. How dowe know the last four vials werepoured out in the seventh seal?They poured out the fourth one onthe sun, or what represented thechurch, the Anderson movement;that commenced the seventh seal.They poured the fourth through theseventh vial out in the seventh seal.They poured the first three vials outin the sixth seal, and the last four(which includes the sixth, where wesee the dragon, the beast, and thefalse prophet spoken of) werepoured out in the seventh seal. Inthis prophetic picture, Protestantismagain became Gog's region, orpapalism's domain.

We see that in Revelation, Chap-ter 17, a picture of the eighth beast.In Revelation 17:3 we see all thebeasts coming together and beingamalgamated. Revelation 17:3reads, "So he carried me away in thespirit into the wilderness: and I sawa woman sit upon a scarlet colouredbeast." This woman was at thehelm, in control of this beast. Sherepresents Roman Catholicism,because verse 5 says that she is"THE MOTHER OF HARLOTSAND ABOMINATIONS OF THEEARTH." Earth refers to theProtestant systems. She is the moth-er of the Protestant systems; there-fore, she is Roman Catholicism.Revelation 17:11 says, "And thebeast that was, and is not, even he isthe eighth, and is of the seven." Thisbeast is an amalgamation of all theprevious systems, and it is the lastfoe to be faced, because it says,". . . . and goeth into perdition." Af-

ter this there is no more, it revelsinto eternity.

In God's eyes, Protestantism isthe same as papalism. In reality,neither are Christian systems:neither system originated by Godnor represents God. Both have thesame destiny. Revelation 19:20states, "And the beast [papalism]was taken, and with him the falseprophet [Protestantism] thatwrought miracles before him,with which he deceived them thathad received the mark of thebeast, and them that worshippedhis image."

In the phrase "them that wor-shipped his image" we have some-thing different. We have alreadydealt with the false prophet (Prot-estantism), but here is a group ofpeople separate from Protestant-ism, yet in their worship theyworship his image. What is this?This is a group of people whomade an image to the image. Theyare not Protestant in name andthey are not Protestant in theirc l a i m ; however, they areProtestant in their practice, intheir operation, and in their spirit.They claim to be Church of Godbut lack the biblical attributes ofthe church. They are notProtestant in name; they wouldnot associate with it as a system,but in their worship they wor-shiped his image. They made animage to the image; their opera-tion and their conduct are as sec-tarian as that of the image, thoughtheir name is "Church of God."What is the fate of them all? TheBible says, they would be "castalive into a lake of fire burningwith brimstone" (Revelation19:20).

The clarion call of our day is"Come out of her, my people"(Revelation 18:4) Why? BecauseBabylon, whether it is papalism,Protestantism, or some so-calledChurch of God, they are destinedfor hell. Everyone that stays inBabylon will suffer that fate aswell. That is the reason the Proph-et Jeremiah, when he caught a

glimpse of it, said in Jeremiah51:6, "Flee out of the midst of Bab-ylon, and deliver every man hissoul." Babylon is Babylon, no mat-ter what name is put on it. It be-comes Babylon because of its prac-tice and its spirit, not because ofits claims. Never-dying souls ofpeople in Babylon are at stake.Someone may ask, "Do you be-lieve there are honest hearts inBabylon?" Certainly. That is thereason the call is, "Come out ofher, my people." The Bible wouldnot have that message if some ofGod's people were not there. Thecall is to come out because if youstay in it, you will become a par-taker of her plagues, and yourspirit will change and you willend up like her.

Ezekiel 38:2 speaks of "the landof Magog," but the Septuagintunderstood Magog as a people.Ezekiel 38:2 says, "Son of man, setthy face against Gog, the land ofMagog." Here the implication inthe English is that Magog was aland, but it was a people. Ezekiel39:6 makes it clear: "And I willsend a fire on Magog, and amongthem that dwell carelessly in theisles: and they shall know that Iam the LORD." Here it calls Magoga people; it refers to them as"them" and "they."

According to Revelation 16:13,we are catching a prophecy ofsomething that is to happen in thisseventh seal period of time. It is apicture of a land or a people ruledby Gog. This lets us know that inthis end time that Protestantismwill ultimately go back to its moth-er and be ruled by papalism. Thewords Gog and Magog, when usedtogether, picture composite Baby-lon.

Ezekiel 39:4 says, "Thou shaltfall upon the mountains of Israel[and they have: they haveattacked the people of God sincetheir inception], thou, and all thybands, and the people that is withthee: I will give thee unto the rav-enous birds of every sort, and tothe beasts of the field to be de-

voured."Ezekiel 39:4 says, "I will give

thee unto the ravenous birds ofevery sort."Where do we seesomething like that? We read inRevelation 18:2, "And he criedmightily with a strong voice, say-ing, Babylon the great is fallen, isfallen, and is become the habita-tion of devils, and the hold of ev-ery foul spirit, and a cage of everyunclean and hateful bird." WhenJohn mentioned every uncleanand hateful bird, that is what Gogand Magog together represent; itis Babylon.

Now let us dispel some com-monly held false doctrines con-cerning this text. The Prophetwrote in Ezekiel 38:2-3: "Son ofman, set thy face against Gog, theland of Magog, the chief prince ofMeshech and Tubal, and proph-esy against him, And say, Thuswith the Lord GOD; Behold, I amagainst thee, O Gog, the chiefprince of Meshech and Tubal."Ezekiel mentioned in verse 3, "thechief prince of Meshech andTubal." Dispensationalists like totake this text and go to other ver-sions that say as the IntralinearHebrew-English does, "Gog, theland of Magog, the prince ofRosh, Meshech and Tubal." Theysay that Rosh is Russia, Meshechis Moscow, and Tubal is Tubolskin Siberia. Truth tells us that this isnot so, and Bible scholars bear thisout as well.The Word Bible Handbook says this:"Firm identification of Gog andMagog with Russia cannot bemade on etymological grounds."According to Webster's Dictio-nary, the word etymological means"the origin and development of aword, where a word originallycame from." The Illustrated BibleDictionary says, "The popularidentification of Rosh with Russia,Meshech with Moscow, and Tubalwith Tubolsk in Siberia has noth-ing to commend it from the stand-point of hermeneutics." The wordhermeneutics means "sound Bibleteaching."

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The Master Potter

"Is life really worth the living?"Sometimes we are tempted to say.But God is the Master Potter, And we are only the clay.

Perhaps it all seems hopeless, Yet we must fit into His plan. So let's be yielding and supple To every touch of His hand.

We cannot see in the future, The part we are destined to play;Would the pattern be ugly and broken,If we should be taken away?

So, let us trust in the Potter, He knows much better than we,How precious each tiny atom, To the finished product will be.

Though the trials of life encompassSeem more than we can bear,Perhaps we're now in the furnace,To test the strength of the ware.

But when the firing is over, And the finished object we see, We'll know that the Master PotterUnderstands far better than we.

Selected

The New Bible Commentary Re-vised says, "Their equation withMoscow and Tubolak with Russiais unsupportable." Another schol-ar gave us good insight. Onenoted writer lays to rest thethought of a literal nation andgives us insight into what is takingplace in this prophecy when hepenned these words: "In thisprophecy there is little distinctionof one nation. It is a gatheringtogether of the enemies of Jeho-vah to make their last effort and tobe overthrown. The seer passes tothe final struggle between goodand evil." That well speaks ofwhat is portrayed in these pro-phetic texts.

The word Rosh appears onlyonce in the Bible, and that is inGenesis 46:21 when it said he wasthe son of Benjamin. The wordliterally means "captain, chief,principal, or ruler." The KingJames Version has it in Ezekiel38:3 as "chief prince." It has noth-ing to do with Russia.

What is this that Ezekiel 38:2-3talks about as "Meshech" and"Tubal"? Again, verse 3 says,"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,I am against thee, O Gog, the chiefprince of Meshech and Tubal." Weneed to understand wh a tMeshech and Tubal are, becausethis is the domain of Gog; in otherwords, this is what Gog rules.

The word Meshech in the He-brew appears eight times in theOld Testament. The word means"a sowing, a possession, a draw-ing out to draw someone any-where." That is a vivid picture ofRoman Catholicism. The seeds forCatholicism were sown when theapostates of the morning time didas Paul said in Acts 20:30, "drawaway after them." Those deceivedsouls, as 2 Peter 2:2 described,were ones who "follow their per-nicious ways." After the seed wassown, they were drawn away andthe papacy had them in their pos-session; then they became a pos-session. Again, the word Meshechmeans, "a sowing, a possession,

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and a drawing." We can see Ro-man Catholicism portrayed inMeshech.

What about Tubal? Again, thisis the domain that papalism willhave in the seventh seal. Theword Tubal appears eight times inthe Old Testament. It means to"return, flowing forth, multiplica-tion, or diffusion of race or tu-mult." It is a picture of Protestant-ism. They came out initially, butturned and built an image. Theywill return to the very thing theywere protesting against. This defi-nitely pictures denominationalism,because it also means "multiplica-tion."

The Oxford Encyclopedia ofWorld Christianity, published in1982, claims that "there are morethan twenty-eight thousand recog-nizable denominations of Christ."No doubt, there are many moretoday. They are multiplying, butyet they will return.

The word Tubal also means"tumult." Webster's Dictionarysays a tumult is "confusion." Whatan apt description for Protestant-ism; it is confusion. False religionis in a tumult. It is full of confu-sion and unrest. Ultimately Tubal,which is Protestantism, will returnto Meshech, and Gog (papalism)will rule. It will be one amalgam-ated, consolidated system, tomake as one scholar said, "theirlast effort," a final struggle be-tween good and evil.

I trust that you can see by theBible what Gog and Magog repre-sent. Gog is papalism, and Magogis Protestantism. When they arespoken of together, they representcomposite Babylon, and they areopposing forces to Truth that theScripture says "God is against." IfGod is against it, we should not befor it or sympathetic to it, but weshould have a revelation of Truthso that we can understand thesesystems and realize that spiritsproduced these systems.

Revelation 16:14 says thesespirits are gone out to "the wholeworld." They are no longer just

working within those systems orconfined to those systems. Theyare working among the saints ofGod to draw us away. Unless wekeep abreast of Truth and keepwalking in the light, we can bedrawn away as others have been.Thank God, if the eyes of our un-derstanding have been enlight-ened by God's eternal Word andwe walk in that light as He showsit to us, we can be insulated fromevery move of the enemy. I trustthat you will endeavor to walk inthe light so that you can havebeautiful fellowship with the Fa-ther and with His Son Jesus Christ(1 John 1:3).

Brother Earl R. Borders