"For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,

who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETER

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POSTMAN, send form 3579 to the printer:
THE GOSPEL TRUMPETER
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This periodical carries no subscription price; however, it
is partially maintained through the gifts and offerings of its
readers, with the balance of the expenses being paid by
the local congregation.
PR AY ER : If y ou need prayer, please phone or write:
R oger D ecker, Pastor
83 D ecrow Ave.
N ewark, O H 43055
Em ail: pastor@ church-of-god-online.com
Phone: 740-344-2543 or 1-888-730-0461
Fax: 740-344-4737
Print Shop Phone: 740-345-1312
This monthly religious journal is published for the benefit of the
Church of God universally. It is our supreme purpose to reach the
world for Christ through the printed page. Our burden is to reveal
the truth of God's Word to all mankind, to expose sin and error, war
against apostasy, and to eradicate the longstanding traditions of
men that have no biblical foundations.

Brother Roger L. Decker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor

Workers 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, 5-7
A 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 FACTS

PERTAINING 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
any reason. Not responsible for unsolicited articles or items.

CON TENTS
The Setting Up of the Kingdom of God. . . . 3
The Gospel That Paul Preached. . . . . . . . 10
Radio Log. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Assurance of Our Identity.. . . . . . . . . 15
Keeping Your Eyes Pure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Website: www.godsacres.org
Vol. 30 December 2000 No. 12

Guest
Editorial
The Gospel Day in Type
Part 1 of 2
Genesis 11:1-9 reads: "And the whole
earth was of one language, and of one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from
the east, that they found a plain in the land of
Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said
one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and
burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for
stone, and slime had they for mortar. And
they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a
tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and
let us make us a name, lest we be scattered
abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And
the LORD came down to see the city and the
tower, which the children of men builded. And
the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language; and this they
begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined
to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech. So the LORD
scattered them abroad from thence upon the
face of all the earth: and them left off to build
the city. Therefore is the name of it called
Babel; because the LORD did there confound
the language of all the earth: and from thence
did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the
face of all the earth. "
This Scripture passage is a very familiar Biblical and historical account, but
let us view it in the light of the lesson in
type that it portrays. As we study this
Genesis account, we must first consider
its greater context. The word Genesis is a
Greek word that means "origin" or "beginning." This Book was given this title by
the seventy elders who penned The Septuagint, which means "the seventy." Seventy writers were involved in that translation, and they were the first to ascribe the
Greek name Genesis to this account.
If you go back to Genesis 1:1 in the
Hebrew, which was predominantly the
original language of the Old Testament,
you will find that the first word is
bereshith, which means "in the beginning."
This book reveals the origin of literal
realities, portrays spiritual realities, and
gives Biblical insight concerning the origin of many powers that we must contend
with.
Our lesson text reveals the origin of
many systems that we yet face in our
labors for Truth. Some people may question, "Is there any real merit in study the
Old Testament occurrences'?" The Apostle
Copyright 2007 Church of God

All Rights Reserved

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:11, penned these

words: "Now all these things [if you read
the preceding verses, you will find that he
was speaking of Old Testament occurrences] happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world
are come." These Scriptures were not
preserved down throughout the annals of
time for the benefit of those to which they
occurred; they were keenly aware of the
details. They were penned and preserved
for our benefit.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
15:4, "For whatsoever things were written
aforetime were written for our learning,
that we through patience and comfort of
the scriptures might have hope." Paul was
talking
about
Scriptures
penned
aforetime. When the Apostle Paul penned
this letter in approximately A.D. 56 to
A.D. 59, there were no other New Testament writings other than those written by
Paul, except the Gospel of Mark. Therefore, the Scriptures that he was speaking
of were the Old Testament Scriptures.
Paul let us know they are for our
learning. This teaches that the Old Testament plays a very vital part in our understanding of God's plan. There are sixty-six
books in the Bible: thirty-nine in the Old
Testament and twenty-seven in the New.
There are more Old Testament books than
New Testament books. When Paul said
they are for our learning, we must ask,
"What form does this learning take'?" Are
we merely to learn historical information?
Certainly not, because once we have
learned it at face value, we would glean
little else from the text.
Again, Paul said, "Now all these
things happened unto them for
ensamples." In what manner do we learn
from the Old Testament occurrences'? He
said "these things happened unto them
for ensamples." The Amplified Bible says
"by way of a figure." The Emphatic Greek
Diaglott says, "These things occurred to
them typically," or as a type. Webster's
Dictionary tells us that the definition of
type is "an event that represents or symbolizes another."
Our study of this text concerning
what led to the construction of the tower
in the city of Babel and its ultimate outcome would gender little good if we
merely observed its historical merit. It
serves as a lesson in type, or represents
events that by a figure portray occurrences in this Gospel Day. Therefore, as
we view this passage, we need to view it
with an eye to the Gospel Day, or
the Christian dispensation. We must remember that the Gospel Day is comprised
of seven days, or seven periods
of time, and that during this Gospel
(continued on page 26)

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of

these kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be
left to other people, but it shall break in

pieces and consume all these kingdoms,

and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that
the stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it brake in

pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the

silver, and the gold; the great God hath
made known to the king what shall come
to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

Brother Roger L. Decker

King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
There is much confusion and
controversy about the Kingdom of
God. Even millennialists cannot
agree on the subject; they disagree
concerning the time and the reign of
the kingdom. Daniel prophesied
about that which you and I are privileged to be a part of. We can enjoy
that which, for many, has been put
out into the future in a supposed
"Golden Age."
In Daniel 2:44 we can definitely
see when the kingdom was to be set
up. He said that "in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven setup
a kingdom." According to this verse
of Scripture, we know the time was
in the days of those kings that God

was going to set up a kingdom.

What kings were Daniel talking
about? In Chapter 2 we find that
verse 1 says, "And in the second
year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed
dreams, wherewith his spirit was
troubled, and his sleep brake from
him." His spirit was troubled, so he
commanded all the astrologers and
sorcerers to show him his dream.
However, they wanted to hear the
dream first, and then they would
give their phony interpretations.
The king was wise and told
them that the dream had left him.
Also, he said if they did not give
both the dream and the interpretation of the dream, they would surely
be put to death. The deep things of

God are not revealed to workers of

deceit or Babylonians.
Daniel 2:19-22 says: "Then was
the secret revealed unto Daniel in a
night vision. Then Daniel blessed the
God of heaven. Daniel answered
and said, Blessed be the name of
God for ever and ever: for wisdom
and might are his: And he changeth
the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he
giveth wisdom unto the wise, and
knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep
and secret things: he knoweth what
is in the darkness, and the light
dwelleth with him."
A companion text to that Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10,
which states: "But as it is written,
3

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him. But
God hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of
God."
God revealed to Daniel the
dream and also the interpretation of
it. In that dream was an image
whose head was of fine gold, his
breast and arms were of silver, his
belly and his thighs were of brass,
his legs were of iron, and his feet
were part iron and part clay. Each
of these parts describes a kingdom
that would arise and overthrow the
next one. The head of gold represents Babylon, over which Nebuchadnezzar was king. Also represented were the Medo-Persians, the
Grecian Empire, and the Roman
Empire.
Daniel 2:34-35 reads: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image
upon his feet that were of iron and
clay, and brake them to pieces. Then
was the iron, the clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff
of the summer threshingfloors; and
the wind carried them away, that no
place was found for them: and the
stone that smote the image became a
great mountain, and filled the whole
earth." This stone was a type of Jesus
Christ. He was born of virgin birth,
and He was the Stone, or the Rock,
that was cut out of the mountain; in
other words, He was born under the
Law.
Galatians 4:4-5 states: "But when
the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law, To
redeem them that were under the
law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Right during the time
of those earthly kingdoms, at the
time of their reign, God was going to
set up a kingdom. Jesus Christ was
born of virgin birth during the reign
of Caesar Augustus, who reigned
from B.C. 31 to A.D. 14, which was
during the birth of Jesus Christ.
4

The Stone Cut Out of the

Mountain Without Hands
Luke 2:1-6 says: "And it came to
pass in those days, that there went
out a decree from Caesar Augustus,
that all the world should be taxed
[all the world was under the domain
of Caesar Augustus]. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius
was governor of Syria.) And all
went to be taxed, every one into his
own city. And Joseph also went up
from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem;
(because he was of the house and
lineage of David:) To be taxed with
Mary his espoused wife, being great
with child. And so it was, that, while
they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered."
During the reign of the Roman
Empire under Caesar Augustus,
Jesus Christ was that stone cut out of
the mountain. Rome ruled the thenknown world and had the same
spirits working as the previous kingdoms before her. All the other kingdoms before her were tied in with
Rome. The spirits that were in the
Medio-Persian, the Grecian, and the
Babylonian empires were in the
pagan Roman Empire. Daniel said
that in the days of those kings, God
was going to do something. During
that time, when things looked bad, a
stone was going to be cut out of the
mountain, speaking of Jesus Christ
being born under the Law. How did
that stone become a great mountain?
That stone was Jesus Christ; it was
not some pebble somewhere, or
Peter.
Acts 4:10-11 states: "Be it known
unto you all, and to all the people of
Israel, that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the
dead, even by him doth this man
stand here before you whole. This is
the stone which was set at nought
[or rejected] of you builders, which
is become the head of the corner."
When Rome ruled the then-known
world, a baby was born in a manger,

because there was no room at the

inn, and that baby was the Son of
God. Right in the midst of political
and religious rule, God set up His
kingdom.
This Stone (Christ) smote the
image upon his feet and became a
great mountain. Why did it smite
the feet of the image? The feet carry
around the message of deceit. That
is the reason the Bible says to "make
straight paths for your feet" (Hebrews 12:13). In other words, your
walk should back up your talk. The
feet are necessary to carry the message. Romans 10:15 says, "And how
shall they preach, except they be
sent? as it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"
The Good News of the Gospel
How could the Stone bring
down this image? The Stone brought
it down through the preaching of
the good news of the Gospel, not
through deceit. When God set up
the kingdom, they had good news
for a change. Instead of the old pagan Roman Empire with its bowing
down to idols, the message of one
God, one Lord, one Savior, and one
Spirit came, and that brought down
the image.
Revelation, Chapter 12, lets us
know that a little war broke out.
Unlike the wars that you have read
about, this tells of a spiritual warfare. Revelation 12:7-9 reads: "And
there was war in heaven [this is not
referring to the Heaven where God
dwells; this is speaking of the exalted position in men's minds, the
exalted place that the pagan Roman
Empire held over the lives of men]:
Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels, And prevailed not [in other words, the dragon and his angels were unable to
destroy the Kingdom of God]; neither was their place found any more
in heaven. And the great dragon
was cast out, that old serpent, called
the Devil, [He was not the devil, but

he was called the devil. The pagan

Roman Empire was devilish and full
of deceit, but it was not the devil. It
was a system used by the devil. The
pagan Roman Empire was not the
only devilish thing. Once Jesus rebuked Peter. He said, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' Peter was not Satan,
but the devil was using him.] and
Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world: he was cast out into the earth,
and his angels were cast out [or
prevailed no more] with him."
Through the preaching of the
Gospel, the disciples went out and
started many congregations of the
Church of God. They let people
know the good news from on high,
and that was the setting up of the
Kingdom of God, the Church of
God. She is the only church that
came down from God out of Heaven. Every other church came out or
came up. She is the new Jerusalem,
and she takes in every blood washed
one. We are new Jews, or the new
Israel. One gets into this kingdom
when he is born again. Second Corinthians 5:17 states, "Therefore if
any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed
away; behold, all things are become
new." He is a new creature, and he
belongs in the new Jerusalem.
Does God have something for
the literal Jew? He certainly does,
and it is found in Jesus Christ. If the
literal Jew gets in, he must come
through the Door just as everyone
else does. God is no more concerned
about the literal Jew than He is any
other nationality of people. If He
were, He would be a respecter of
persons, but God is no respecter of
persons. Acts 10:34 says, "Then Peter
opened his mouth, and said, Of a
truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons."
The Church of God is not a
church among churches; she does
not have brother or sister churches.
There is only one church, and I am
glad I am a member. I know what
God saved me from, and I know
what He has kept me from, and I am
not going to lay it down. I know
when He placed me in the body of

Christ and made me a member of

the Church of the Living God. It was
not because I signed a paper or was
baptized in water. I got in the
church when I was born again. All
those who are baptized need to be
saved first. Literal water will not
save you, but it is the washing of the
water by the Word. Ephesians 5:26
reads, "That he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word."
A Kingdom That Shall
Never Be Destroyed
The terms "church" and "kingdom" are used interchangeably.
When we talk about the kingdom,
we are talking about the rule of God.
Many people run around and claim
to be the church, and some take the
name "Church of God," but they are
a long way from allowing God to
rule in their hearts. The kingdom
comes when the King comes in and
rules; that is when you become a
part of the Kingdom of God.
Again, our Scripture lesson
reads in verse 44, "And in the days
of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall
never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever." Daniel could
not have been talking about one of
those literal kingdoms, because each
of them was overthrown.
The Kingdom of God has great
attributes. We read in Matthew
16:18, "And I say also unto thee [Jesus was speaking], That thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." The
Bible says in the days of those kings,
the God of Heaven would set up a
kingdom that would never be destroyed. To destroy or overthrow a
kingdom, one had to get to the king
of the kingdom; he could not continue to rule. That was what happened with all those earthly kingdoms. The overthrowing kingdom
removed a king from his throne and

placed its king there.

Church, we have a kingdom that
will never be destroyed. Why is
that? No one can get to our King. He
is all powerful and all skillful. No
mind can match His, and there are
no works in the dark that He cannot
see. God sees it all. The pagan Roman Empire could have gathered all
the pagans around and said, "How
are we going to overthrow the
Christians?" but God could see every
thought before it even became a
thought. No one can outmaneuver,
outwit, outsmart, or trick our King.
In Psalm 139:1-12 David wrote: "O
LORD, thou hast searched me, and
known me. Thou knowest my
downsitting and mine uprising, thou
understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with
all my ways. For there is not a word
in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou
knowest it altogether. Thou hast
beset me behind and before, and
laid thine hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or
whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven,
thou art there: if I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. If I take
the wings of the morning, and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me. If
I say, Surely the darkness shall cover
me; even the night shall be light
about me. Yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee; but the night shineth
as the day: the darkness and the
light are both alike to thee."
How could anyone overthrow a
king like our King? The Jews did
their best to overthrow Him when
they hung Him on the Cross. When
He died on the Cross, He purchased
the Church of the Living God.
A Spiritual Kingdom
Some saints were tarrying at
Jerusalem when God spoke, and
they were praying. They were not
tarrying around an altar saying,
5

"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." They were sitting in a house. Suddenly, there

came a noise, and tongues of fire sat
upon each of them, and they spoke
in a language that people could understand. Peter stood up, and he
spoke, and those different nationalities heard the Word of God. Why
was the gift of tongues given? It was
given to preach the Word of God.
God wants everyone to understand
the Gospel message. Peter spoke,
and God translated his language
into all those different languages,
and everyone heard him speak the
message of God.
There were Galileans, and many
other nationalities there, but they all
understood the message. The people
said, "Men and brethren, what must
we do to be saved?" Peter told them
to repent and call on the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Why did he say
"the Lord Jesus Christ"? They had a
problem with Jesus Christ being
Lord.
The Kingdom of God will never
be destroyed or moved. Hebrews
12:28 states, "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be
moved, let us have grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear."
Daniel went on to say this kingdom "shall not be left to other people." No one dwells in this kingdom
except holy people. It is not left to
the unholy. God's requirements are
still the same: you must be born
again to see the Kingdom of God,
because it is a spiritual kingdom.
The reason people fail to decipher
the Revelation and fail to figure out
all the prophecies is that they have
not been born again. They have not
received real salvation and quit the
sin business, cleaned up their lives,
and received a new heart, a new
spirit, and a new mind. God can
reveal the kingdom to an uneducated man who cannot read or write
if he loves God and has truly gotten
hold of Him. God can show him
things in the Bible that theologians
who have spent years in seminaries
cannot see. You can only see the
kingdom down on your knees when
6

the King comes.

This kingdom is not going to
change in dynasty. It has an unchangeable priesthood and unchanging laws and principles. All
the previous kingdoms swallowed
up each other, but God's kingdom
shall stand forever. Paul said in 1
Corinthians 15:24, "Then cometh the
end, when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the
Father; when he shall have put
down all rule and all authority and
power." No kingdom can swallow
up the Kingdom of God. Why is
that? This kingdom did not start
from some trickery of man or in the
minds of men. It is not operated by
man, it is not comforted by man, it is
not guided by man, and it does not
lean on man.
Truth Is Unchanging
Daniel continued in verse 44 of
our Scripture text, ". . . it shall break
in pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand for
ever." Psalm 72:4 says, "He shall
judge the poor of the people, he
shall save the children of the needy,
and shall break in pieces the oppressor." How did He break the other
kingdoms into pieces? Did He put
men on the battlefield? How was He
going to break in pieces the pagan
Roman Empire that had outstandingly large armies. Was He going to
teach the disciples to engage in a
literal war? No, He did it with
Truth. The Bible says, "And ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free" (John 8:32). The
Truth will sweep away falsehoods.
That which is false cannot stand
where Truth is.
Today many congregations have
compromised and given up. Why?
They have let down on Truth. Had
they stayed with Truth, nothing
could have overthrown them. Oh,
some people may leave occasionally,
but that cannot shake the Truth. If
those who have left ever return, they
must face the same Truth they faced
when they left. The message is not
going to change because someone

gets upset and leaves. The Truth will

sweep away lies. You shall know the
Truth, and the Truth shall set you
free.
In the Old Testament you can
read of a man named Naaman who
was a great warrior, but he had leprosy. He had heard that a prophet of
God lived in Israel and was told that
he could heal him of his leprosy. So
Naaman went with his horses and
chariot and stood at the door of the
Prophet Elisha. Elisha sent a servant
out to him, who told him to go
down to the Jordan River and wash
seven times. Naaman wondered
why Elisha did not choose a cleaner
river such as the Abana or the
Pharpar, but no other river could
have taken care of his pride like the
Jordan could.
Naaman became very angry and
went away, but 2 Kings 5:13-14 tells
us: "And his servants came near, and
spake unto him, and said, My father,
if the prophet had bid thee do some
great thing, wouldest thou not have
done it? how much rather then,
when he saith to thee, Wash, and be
clean? Then went he down, and
dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the
man of God: and his flesh came
again like unto the flesh of a little
child, and he was clean." I want you
to notice something. The message to
Naaman was to dip seven times in
the Jordan River. Naaman had some
clout. He was a captain, but nothing
could have worked on his pride
more than having to dip in the dirty
Jordan River. Also, that was the
enemy's river.
Though Naaman became angry,
the message did not change. The
Prophet did not say, "Well, because
you got upset, try Abana. I understand how you feel. We'll compromise that much." No, only when
Naaman obeyed the words of the
Prophet did his skin become as clean
as a little child's.
I have learned over the years
that when people get upset and
march out and do not have the decency to discuss it with the pastor, it
is not because of the pastor; it is

because of the Truth that is

preached. One of these days, if they
ever get back by the mercy of God,
they must line up with the same
Truth that they left. God is not going
to change the message. I do not want
to change it or rearrange it; I like it
just as it is.
Some people get upset and leave
congregations because of the standard, so they go out and find
compromisers where they can do
what they want to do, dress the way
they want to dress, and act the way
they want to act. However, when
they compromise on the standard,
they find that the flesh is strong, and
the flesh wants more than that, so
they have to find another compromiser. The only way they will ever
get straightened out with God is to
get back to "Thus saith the Lord."
There are too many whiners running
around, and they always blame their
problems on someone else and try to
justify themselves.
When you get to the Judgment,
you cannot point your finger at anyone else. You must give an account
for the deeds done in your body,
whether they were good or bad. If
your deeds have been evil, you will
go to hell. If your deeds have been
good, you will go to Heaven. It is
just that simple. When Jesus came,
He did not come to bring peace on
the earth; He came to bring peace in
the heart. Truth will separate families. Salvation is not on the family
plan. Salvation is an individual matter.
Truth Brings Freedom, If Obeyed
The Kingdom of God will never
be destroyed. The church has endured the darkness of Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Age,
and she is still going strong in the
evening time. In Jesus' day the Truth
is what stirred people and upset
their traditions. The Jews elevated
their traditions above the Truth. He
did not physically fight them to
make them accept the Truth. You
see, God is a real gentleman. You
can sit in a Church of God congrega-

tion for forty years and still go to

hell. God will not force you to serve
Him.
The Truth still sets people free.
When the Truth sets a person free,
he is free indeed. After one has been
set free, the chains and the fetters
will fall off and the bad habits will
be gone. The drunkard will not
drink anymore, the tobacco smoker
will not smoke anymore, and the
drug addict will not take drugs anymore. Why? Because the Truth has
set him free. If obeyed, Truth brings
freedom, but it will damn your soul
if you do not walk in it.
In the morning time Truth went
forth and brought down the pagan
Roman Empire, not on a literal battlefield but by telling people the
Truth. Many times the disciples
were cast into prison, beaten,
stoned, and whipped. They went
through many other perils, but
Truth continued to go forth. Sometimes they were cast into prison, and
once a jailer got saved. Sometimes
they were thrown out of cities, yet
they got up and went back into
those same cities. Why? They
preached Truth at any cost, and they
loved not their lives even unto
death.
The morning-time church began
well, but they fell away from Truth.
People began to recant and burn
incense to the Pope. The Pope did
not care if people went on with their
religious practices as long as they
offered up a little incense to the Roman Catholic Church.
Next, the Dark Ages came in,
and Truth was no longer being
openly proclaimed, but there were
still men of God who would not
bow or give in, and many gave up
their lives because they would not
yield. You can read about some of
this in Foxes' Book of Martyrs. Many
families were separated when they
took away the wife or the children
and killed them to try to make the
husband recant. Many people did
recant, but many others did not give
in.
Approximately 1530, God got
hold of a man named Martin Luther.

He did not know much Truth, but

he stood for what God revealed to
him. God showed him a simple
truth, yet it is scattered throughout
the Bible: "The just shall live by
faith." Martin Luther took hold of
that truth, and they went after him
like ants go after sugar.
The Protestant Age came next.
All kinds of Protestant churches
were set up during this era of time,
but remember that God had already
set up the true church. The Protestant religion is just as deceptive as
Roman Catholicism, and that is
where Protestantism got its power.
Roman Catholicism goes all the way
back to old pagan Rome. There is no
way that a person can get saved in
Roman Catholicism. Someone may
say, "I know a Catholic individual
who got saved." He had to have
gone outside the realms and the
teachings of Catholicism to do it,
because they do not teach salvation.
All these are linked together in darkness. I have some good friends in
Protestantism, and I pray that God
will deliver them out of it.
A Separate, Distinct People
Approximately 1880, a man by
the name of Daniel Sydney Warner
began to herald the truth taught in
the morning time. Another reformer
of that day was Brother E. E. Byrum.
They heralded what truth they
hadtruths such as the unity of
God's people and the one church.
The church is not just a church
among churches. God's people are a
separate, distinct people. God did
not choose them because they were
large in number, but because they
were a holy, peculiar people. There
was great power in the camp of the
saints. There were divine healings,
sinners were saved, and devils were
cast out. However, they soon began
to put education ahead of God. They
had found a "better" way, so they
thought. You see, man's way is always different from God's way.
Next, they formed a headquarters,
but that is not the way the Kingdom
of God was set up. His kingdom was
7

set up with the King being in the

headquarters; the King is Jesus
Christ, and He lives in Heaven.
Revelation, Chapter 8, says
when the seventh seal was opened,
there was silence in heaven. What
was that silence? The silence came
on the message. The ministry that
God called silenced on the message.
Remember, the Truth will set people
free. When people do not hear the
Truth, they are going to be in bondage. God got sick of that, so He said,
"I am going to give Babylon a second cup." Therefore, He called a
seventh-seal ministry, a new ministry. The message is the same yet
today. If you are in Babylon, the
message is "Come out of her, my
people."
Some brethren refuse to walk in
the Truth, and they are going out
and giving allegiance to Protestant
organizations. I repeat, the Truth
will set you free, but if you do not
walk in it, it will damn your soul. If
you fail to walk in the light, you will
go into darkness, but in Him is no
darkness at all.
There are other churches who
call themselves the Church of God,
but they are not truly Church of
God. They have the name, but they
stole it. They knew no one would do
business with them if they did not
have the right name, but they do not
have the experience. The Bible says
in 2 Corinthians 13:8, "For we can do
nothing against the truth, but for the
truth."
Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon
that is formed against thee shall
prosper; and every tongue that shall
rise against thee in judgment thou
shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the LORD, and
their righteousness is of me, saith
the LORD." Other kingdoms have
come and gone, but His kingdom
was established and founded on
Truth, and it is still standing. In
some areas it might be a small nucleus of people, but if it continues to
stand for Truth, it will prosper while
other kingdoms around it come and
go.
Many people are so confused
8

about the Kingdom of God, but the

kingdom is really very simple. You
are in the Kingdom of God when the
King reigns in your heart. If He is
not reigning in your heart, then you
cannot see the kingdom. Is that not
simple?
Christ's First Advent
Another Scripture pertaining to
setting up the kingdom is found in
Isaiah 9:6-7, which states: "For unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be
upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end, upon
the throne of David, and upon His
kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
perform this."
When was all that Isaiah prophesied about going to take place? It
was going to happen when the
Child was born, when the Son was
given. During the establishing of
this kingdom, something else was
going to happen. He was to be upon
the throne of David. When did it
happen? Luke 1:31-33 tells us: "And,
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy
womb, and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS. He shall
be great, and shall be called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his
father David: And he shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever; and
of His kingdom there shall be no
end [just as Daniel's prophecy
states]."
We read in Acts 2:29-31: "Men
and brethren, let me freely speak
unto you [you can freely speak
when the Spirit of God is in it; before Pentecost Peter could not speak
freely] of the patriarch David, that
he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God had sworn with

an oath to him, that of the fruit of his

loins, according to the flesh, he
would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne; He seeing this before spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his
soul was not left in hell, neither his
flesh did see corruption." Jesus
Christ is on the throne of David
now, and it is a throne of mercy.
When He comes off that throne, time
will be no more and mercy will be
no more. You can get in the kingdom today because Jesus is on the
throne of mercy.
What is going to happen in the
Kingdom of Jesus, or the Kingdom
of God? Isaiah 11:1-9 reads: "And
there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall
grow out of his roots: And the spirit
of the LORD shall rest upon him, the
spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the LORD; And shall make him of
quick understanding in the fear of
the LORD: and he shall not judge
after the sight of his eyes, neither
reprove after the hearing of his ears:
But with righteousness shall he
judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and
he shall smite the earth with the rod
of his mouth, and with the breath of
his lips shall he slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the
girdle of his reins.
"The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid; and the calf and
the young lion and the fading together; and a little child shall lead
them. And the cow and the bear
shall feed; their young ones shall lie
down together: and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox. And the sucking
child shall play on the hole of the
asp, and the weaned child shall put
his hand on the cockatrice' den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain: for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the
LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
This text is talking about the first
advent of Jesus Christ. He was born
of the lineage of David, and in these

Scriptures are the millennialists'

strong holds. The millennialists say
that God is dealing with the natures
of animals. On the contrary, these
verses were written in symbolic
language. This is a divine language,
or a prophetic language. The use of
symbolic language is common in the
Bible. Jesus told His disciples to be
"harmless as doves." He told Peter to
"feed his lambs." He called Herod a
"fox." False teachers are compared to
"ravenous beasts" and "grievous
wolves." Paul told the Philippians to
"beware of dogs." He was letting
them know that dogs were going to
attack the Church of God, but he
was not talking about literal dogs.
God's people are called "sheep," and
the unsaved are called "goats." All
that are going to be at the Judgment
are sheep and goats. So, you see,
symbolic language was used
throughout the Bible.
Whose Nature Is Changed?
Isaiah, Chapter 11, is not dealing
with literal animals. The animals do
not need to be changed. They have
never committed sin, so why would
Jesus have to come and change the
nature of something that has the
same nature God that gave it? Animals do not have souls. There is no
such place as a "doggy heaven" or a
"kitty-cat heaven." I realize that people can become very attached to
their pets; nevertheless, when animals die, they go back to the dust
and that is it. Now, the fleshly part
of each of us is like that, but there is
something more on the inside that
goes back to God who gave it: the
spirit goes back to a just God who
gave it.
God, through the Prophet Isaiah,
said, "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." His
holy mountain is Mount Zion, the
Church of the Living God. This is
where all the changing takes place,
not in the world. Why? The world is
doomed. Jesus said, "Love not the
world." The change takes place in
the church, and animals are not in
the church. There is no conversion

for that little dog of yours. It may be

pleasant, and when you pet it, it will
wag its tail, but it is not going to
bow and repent and get saved. Animals are not in the church. The
church is comprised of saved individuals who have been called out of
sin. Some people want to fool
around and argue over frivolous
things because they are not saved,
and they try to make a mockery of
God's people.
Animals cannot get in the
church; they are not on the highway
of holiness. The Prophet Isaiah
wrote in Isaiah 35:8-9: "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it
shall be called The way of holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it;
but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err
therein. No lion shall be there, nor
any ravenous beast shall go up
thereon, it shall not be found there;
but the redeemed shall walk there."
What is Isaiah, Chapter 11, talking about? It is speaking of men and
women having their natures
changed. Their beastly natures are
changed through the new birth.
Saint, before you were converted,
you might have been as a wolf or as
a roaring lion. When you came to
Jesus Christ, He changed your nature. Verse 9 says, "They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain: for the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea." That does not
say the world would be righteous in
a "Golden Age," but that the earth
would be full of the knowledge of
the Lord. You would be surprised at
how many people know better than
what they are doing. Jesus said in
John 15:22, "If I had not come and
spoken unto them, they had not had
sin: but now they have no cloak for
their sin."
Christ's kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom. You need to keep that in
mind. You will get way off track if
you try to literalize the Kingdom of
God, especially when you get into
the Revelation. Luke 17:20-21 says:
"And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of

God should come, he answered

them and said, The kingdom of God
cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, to
there! for, behold, the kingdom of
God is within you." The Kingdom of
God does not come with observation. When a person comes to Jesus
Christ and bows at an altar of prayer, you cannot see a bad spirit go out
and a new spirit go in, but you can
tell that it happened. How? His nature is changed, and he acts differently, walks differently, and talks
differently.
Where is the kingdom? The
kingdom is within each saved individual. If the kingdom were a literal
kingdom, you could see it without
being born again. Contrariwise, it
takes the new birth to see it and to
enter it. Entrance to the Kingdom of
God became immediate when God
set it up. John the Baptist's first message recorded in Matthew 3:1-2 says:
"In those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of
Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Jesus also said the kingdom was at
hand and told us how to get into it
in Mark 1:15 when He said, "The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
What time was at hand? The
time when God was going to set up
His kingdom. Men and women who
believed the Gospel and repented
had access to the kingdom, for it was
at hand. Again, the Kingdom of God
and the Church of God are terms
that can be used interchangeably.
However, to be in the kingdom, you
must allow the King to come in. He
has to reign and rule, and His throne
is your heart.
Are you in the Kingdom of God?
Does Christ reign over all in your
life? If He is truly in your heart, then
He is reigning, and His territory is
the temple that He gave you. If Jesus
is not really reigning in your heart,
then you need to pray.
(Cassette C-4148M)

Galatians 1:61 marvel that ye are so

soon removed from him that called you
into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be
some that trouble you, and would
pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto

you than that which we have preached

unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now
again, If any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have
received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or
God? or do I seek to please men? for if I
yet pleased men, I should not be the

servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that
the gospel which was preached of me is
not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the
revelation of Jesus Christ.

Brother Esau Brooks

The Lack of Preaching
the Certified Gospel
Paul wrote to the Galatians in
verse 11, "But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man." That was
quite a mouthful back in his day,
and so much more today. I am quite
aware that the moment I begin to
talk about the Gospel, no doubt
some folks will question, "Which
one?" There are so many, and they
are so different. It seems that you
can find a gospel for every taste that
people have. Nevertheless, the only
Gospel worth hearing is the certified
10

Gospel.
Paul, in his writing to the
Galatian brethren, was clearing up
some doubts from their minds. He
said in verse 8, "But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you,
let him be accursed."
As the closing of time approaches, it is needful to take another look at what many are regarding as the gospel. I am convinced
that the Gospel can and will produce
the same results today that it produced in Paul's time. The reason it
seems that Christianity is receding

or being relegated to the back burner

is due to the lack of preaching the
certified Gospel. Paul said, "But I
certify you, brethren, that the gospel
which was preached of me is not
after man." He did not mean that
statement in the sense that it is not to
straighten out man, but that it is not
fashioned of man or by man. Today
it appears that about all we are hearing is that which caters to pleasing
the whims of mankind. This Scripture is a declaration that deserves
some attention, and I hope you will
give it proper consideration. Paul
was declaring the certification of the
message that he preached.

Why did the great Apostle Paul

take the time to write a letter to
stress the quality of the message that
he bore? He did it because there was
a need. He stated in verse 6, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed
from him . . . ." If you will examine
today's conditions carefully, you
will note one outstanding thing
about the modern-day gospels: people are being moved away from God
instead of closer to Him. Any message that takes you away from God
is not worth listening to. Furthermore, whatever message takes you
away from the people of God is not
the true Gospel. God did not intend
the Gospel to divide and confuse
His people. That is the reason Paul
went on to say in verse 7, "There be
some that trouble you, and would
pervert the gospel of Christ." We
have more perverted gospels now
than this world has ever seen. As a
result, people are more confused
than they have ever been. Saints
who have been serving God and
walking faithfully for years are being confused today, and the cause is
what they are listening to. The true
Gospel does not separate God's people. It does not put you in one camp
and me in another and cause us to
war against each other. God does
not have a dozen or more different
kinds of Gospels.
A Gospel Not Fashioned
After Man
The certified Gospel is what the
world needs. Paul said, in essence, "I
certify you that the Gospel that I
preach is not of man. I neither received it from man nor was I taught
it by man, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ." The only way you can
get the certified Gospel is by the
revelation of Jesus Christ. The kind
of preaching that people have today,
where they have to consult a council
or a group concerning whether they
can preach it, needs to be reexamined.
Notice that Paul said this Gospel
was not fashioned after man, meaning that it was not approved by

man. Nowadays people think you

have to get permission to go where
the Lord sends you and to preach
what the Lord has given you. Paul
said, "I neither received it from man,
neither was I taught it by man, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ." I
feel so good about this Scripture
because that is the same way I received the Gospel. I did not go to
some religious seminary to learn it.
I learned the Gospel out on a hill,
down on my knees in prayer. I will
never forget when I came to Newark
in the sixties and heard the pastor
preach. The same God who was
teaching him in America was teaching me in Honduras, though we did
not know each other at the time. I
still believe in that certified message.
Many are turning it down and walking away from it, claiming to be
receiving greater light. However,
light that does not bring you closer
to each other and closer to God is
not light at all.
Paul's message was divine, and
it had but one aim, and that was to
bring man up to God's expectations.
Today that certified Gospel will still
do the same. It will bring you up to
the expectations of God. Church, we
have to get away from this business
of needing men's approval in everything. I realize there is a place where
we need to consider one another to
provoke unto good works; nonetheless, when a man takes the authority
to tell you, "Don't go there unless I
say so," it is time to stop and find
out what you are listening to.
In our Scripture text, Paul's message was under attack from the
devil, and it is under attack yet today. Some folks may not regard it as
so, because they think that if the
message mentions God and Heaven
and talks a little about sin, it is all
right. They believe that despite the
warnings in God's sacred Word. We
read in Matthew 7:15, "Beware of
false prophets, which come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ravening wolves." He said they
will come to you as wolves, but in
sheep's clothing. You may ask,
"How can I tell the difference?" You

will know them by their fruits.

There is only one way to tell a wolf
from a sheep, and that is by his
tracks. Wolves cannot make sheep's
tracks. If someone tries to pervert
your mind and influence your understanding contrary to that which
has brought you out of nature's
darkness into the marvelous light of
God's eternal Word, you need to
watch that person.
Beware of Offenses Contrary
to the Gospel
Paul said in Romans 16:17,
"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark
them which cause divisions and
offences contrary to the doctrine
which ye have learned; and avoid
them." If there is one outstanding
doctrine of the Bible, it is the doctrine of unity, or oneness. No matter
what takes place, when the Gospel is
preached, it will keep God's people
together until God gets a chance to
straighten out the mess. I have
found it so. Some want to try to
build on someone else's foundation,
but that is not of God. Some people
run around stealing sheep. They are
unable to build anything for God, so
they try to rob what other pastors
have built and apply that to their
advantage.
You need to be sure that you
have the certified Gospel. There are
too many so-called gospels, and it is
having an adverse effect upon people. It is confusing sinners and even
people who should be spiritually
established. Friend, you cannot be
established and yet be moved by
every wind and doctrine. If you are
established, you will know there is
no other way to go. I am glad that I
did not come to America many years
ago to see the church. Thankfully, I
saw her before I came to America, or
I, too, would have been a very confused man. In some cities there are
about six churches on a block, and
none of them have anything to do
with one another; that is pathetic.
The great Apostle Paul was one
who labored. I have heard people
say that Paul established many dif11

ferent churches, but that is not true.

He established many congregations,
but they all were of the one church.
God still has only one church, and if
you leave it to go somewhere else,
you have left the church.
When Paul said "I certify," he
was saying "I guarantee"; and a
guarantee means quality. It works,
and I have seen it work, so why do
people feel they need to change it?
We have a guaranteed message,
guaranteed by God. How does God
guarantee His message? He does it
by signs. The Bible tells us in Mark
16:20, "And they went forth, and
preached every where, the Lord
working with them, and confirming
the word with signs following."
Someone may say, "I don't see
miracles happening today." Many
sinners have come into the church
services and walked out transformed. People who once were drug
pushers and drug consumers are
now going out to witness of the
delivering power of Almighty God.
What greater sign do you need than
that? With all that Jesus didHe
raised Lazarus, He raised the
widow's son, He fed five thousand
with just five loaves of bread and
two fishyet some people were still
crying for signs. Jesus told them
there were not going to be any more
signs given than what had already
been given. He said in Matthew
12:40, "For as Jonas was three days
and three nights in the whale's belly;
so shall the Son of man be three days
and three nights in the heart of the
earth." That was their sign, and it is
yet today, but are people receiving
it? No. The devil is bringing out
every plan he can hatch in hell, and
he is finding people to advocate it.
I thank God for the knowledge
of the Truth. Jesus said in John 8:32,
"And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free." The
Truth will not entangle you; it will
set you free and keep you free. We
need people today who promote
holiness of life, the closeness of living with God, and the melting and
flowing of believers' hearts one with
another. That is what this message
12

did in the morning time, and that is

what it will do today if people will
allow it to do so.
The Certification of the Message
Paul said, "But I certify you,
brethren." This was Paul's way of
helping the people of his day to
understand the difference between
the genuine and the counterfeit, the
difference between his message and
the message that others were talking
about. Friend, you can go around
and find many groups across the
country who are preaching about
the same thing that we are preaching and promoting the same things
we are promoting; however, they
still cannot worship with us. Why is
that? What, in the name of reason,
would keep God's people from worshiping together? It has to be the
devil. You do not have to accept this
message; you can hold on to your
opinion if you care to, but I am still
persuaded that the message of God
will work and is working today.
It became necessary for Paul to
say, "But I certify you, brethren . . . "
because of what this message contained, where it came from, and
where he came from. Galatians 1:1517 states: "But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's
womb, and called me by his grace,
To reveal his Son in me, that I might
preach him among the heathen;
immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood: Neither went I up
to Jerusalem to them which were
apostles before me; but I went into
Arabia."
Paul had been educated and
trained in the Jewish religion, and
his zeal had caused him to persecute
the Church of God and endeavor to
waste it. However, after he met God
on the road to Damascus and found
out what God had called him for, it
was necessary for Paul to unlearn
what he had learned, and to learn
what he had not learned. To do so,
he had to get away from all other
environments and all other influences. That is necessary today too.
Verses 18-23 read: "Then after

three years I went up to Jerusalem to

see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles
saw I none, save James the Lord's
brother. Now the things which I
write unto you, behold, before God,
I lie not. Afterwards I came into the
regions of Syria and Cilicia; And
was unknown by face unto the
churches of Judaea which were in
Christ: But they had heard only,
That he which persecuted us in
times past now preacheth the faith
which once he destroyed."
Notice that after Paul's conversion, he went into this varied country (as far as the Gospel was concerned) and spent three years; yet,
he did not decide to build a work
there for himself or by himself. Why
did he not stay in Arabia? He could
have easily said, "God directed me
to Arabia to build a church," but he
did not. After three years, he went
back to Jerusalem. This may seem
strange to us because we do not see
things working that way today. The
attitude of many is, "If we are going
to Samaria, it will be to start a work
of our own in opposition to whatever else is going on."
Standing the Test
Against False Brethren
We read in Galatians 2:1-9:
"Then fourteen years after I went up
again to Jerusalem with Barnabas,
and took Titus with me also. And I
went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which
I preach among the Gentiles, but
privately to them which were of
reputation, lest by any means I
should run, or had run, in vain. But
neither Titus, who was with me,
being a Greek, was compelled to be
circumcised: And that because of
false brethren unawares brought in,
who came in privily to spy out our
liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage: To whom we gave place
by subjection, no, not for an hour;
that the truth of the gospel might
continue with you.
"But of these who seemed to be

somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it

maketh no matter to me: God
accepteth no man's person:) for they
who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: But
contrariwise, when they saw that the
gospel of the uncircumcision was
committed unto me, as the gospel of
the circumcision was unto Peter;
(For he that wrought effectually in
Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in
me toward the Gentiles:) And when
James, Cephas, and John, who
seemed to be pillars, perceived the
grace that was given unto me, they
gave to me and Barnabas the right
hands of fellowship."
You may think that he had to go
to Jerusalem to be accepted, but that
is not what the Bible says. He went
to Jerusalem to see what they were
preaching compared to what he was
preaching. When he got there, he
found that the message was the
same, and it produced one church. It
will do the same today.
Paul went on to show that his
message stood the test against false
brethren. That is what he was disclosing in this second chapter of
Galatians. Only the false brethren
did not receive him; the Apostles
received him. Although they did not
perceive whether he believed what
they preached, the Bible says they
"perceived the grace that was given
unto me." Sad to say, to many people, that does not make any difference. They say, "You can have as
much grace as God can give you,
but you still are not with us until
you do as we say." Now, do not get
me wrong, the Gospel has a standard. The Gospel has some demands
that we all have to meet, but the
demands it makes on us are according to the Scriptures, not according
to one's own interpretation of the
Scriptures. How do we know it is
according to the Scriptures? It is
going to work the same as it worked
with the congregations mentioned in
the Scriptures.
You need to beware of the kind
of message you are accepting, for
they all are not guaranteed, nor have

they all stood the test. People are

deciding to go with this group without waiting to see if their message is
going to stand. Today they are together, but by tomorrow they all
will be scattered again.
Today about three-quarters of
the churchgoers are confused about
the things of God. God ordained the
Gospel to bring light, knowledge,
and understanding to mankind's
mind. When the devil succeeds in
perverting people's actions, it depletes the Gospel of the power that
rightly belongs to it. Jesus said, "By
this shall all men know that ye are
my disciples, if ye have love one to
another" (John 13:35). What kind of
love was Jesus talking about? The
one that suffers long. How long is
long? Love, or charity, suffers long,
and it is kind while it is suffering.
For example, you may treat me
mean, but I am still going to treat
you kindly. That is how this love
works. God is calling for these kinds
of actions, and I sincerely hope that
by the help of God you will see the
need to measure to these things if
you have not already.
A Message Aimed Against All Sin
In looking over Paul's message,
I discovered four great facts concerning the message he preached.
Fact number one: his message was
aimed against all sin, not just some
kinds of sin. Sin is sin, no matter
whether religious people or criminals commit it. Salvation saves a
person from sin. Fact number two:
Paul's message contained God's
provision for sin. Fact number three:
His message also elevated the perfect life. Often you hear people say,
"No one is perfect." Well, you had
better become perfect, because it is
required of the Christian. Paul said
to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ and go on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1). Fact number
four: His message revealed that
there is a God-given power to live
the perfect life. No matter what comes up against you in the course of
time, you can have power to live

right, power to do right, power to

talk right, and power to be right.
Division, or separation from one
another, is sin; and the Gospel does
not uphold it. If a brother and I
should have some kind of falling
out, the Gospel does not give us the
liberty to separate. To Paul, sin was
no mere inconvenience. It had, and
yet has, a tragic death grip, not only
upon the race of man in general but
also upon the entirety of man. Sin
has affected all men, but thank God,
the grace of God can undo all the
harm and all the damage that sin has
done.
Church, we do not have to live
in disagreement. We can live in love
and unity. Of course, I am not advocating that if some of my people
decide to walk away that I should
go from house to house and plead
with them to come back. I might be
better off without them. That would
be one less peril I would havethe
peril of false brethren. One enemy
within a camp can cause more damage than a thousand on the outside.
Often when people leave the church,
it is nothing more than God sweeping the floor. John the Baptist told
the people of his day in Matthew
3:12, "Whose fan is in his hand, and
he will thoroughly purge his floor,
and gather his wheat into the garner;
but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire."
Paul never minimized sin, but
he treated it as the vile thing that it
is, something that pollutes the entire
man and merits the wrath of a holy
God. The Gospel will help people to
understand that sin merits the wrath
of a holy God. You need to beware
of anything less than this. There is
too much softness when it comes to
sin, and it often depends on who the
person is who sinned. You see, as a
pastor, there could be a mess in my
congregation, and I am going to try
to clean up the mess in another congregation? The best way I could
show others how to clean up their
mess would be for me to get my
own mess cleared up. God is not
going to hold me responsible for
another man's congregation. Now, a
13

pastor and I could get together and

talk and counsel. He might show me
some points in which I could deal
with a matter, and then I could go
before God and find out if I should
follow his advice. Then, if God
should say no, I could not do it, not
because I said so but because God
said so.
Humanity's Standing
Regarding Sin
The divine message Paul
preached reveals sin to be a plague
affecting every man. In the first
three chapters of Romans, you will
find that Paul had a key phrase comprised of three words: "all under
sin." So, if all are under sin, all must
get up out and on top of sin. Paul,
writing to the Roman brethren concerning sin, said in Romans 3:9,
"What then? are we better than they?
No, in no wise: for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that
they are all under sin."
The devil is trying to hoodwink
people by causing them to call only
honky-tonking, drinking, and sniffing cocaine sin. All these things are
sin; nevertheless, it is also sin to sow
discord among brethren. The Bible
says so. Therefore, this sin must be
cleared up as well, because the Gospel will cause you to see that sowing

LO CATION

discord is just as wrong as drinking

liquor. You may ask, "What am I
supposed to do?" You must take it to
the Lord in prayer. If people would
do more talking to God and less
talking to people about people,
things would be in better shape.
Paul said all were under sin. He
reviewed and pronounced the Gentile world guilty before God. The
Jew, though he had the Law, was
also pronounced guilty before God.
Wrong is wrong, no matter who
does it. What people need is a Gospel that will straighten them out
along that line. Too often people
think they have a license to do about
anything they want. No! Friend, all
the grace of God gives license to do
is to live right, do right, and be right.
Paul left no room for doubt concerning humanity's standing regarding
sin. He said they all were guilty.
In Romans 3:9-11 we read,
"What then? are we better than they?
No, in no wise: for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that
they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none [inherently] righteous [in other words, no one is of
himself righteous; we each must get
it from God] no, not one: There is
none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God." Today
the majority of the efforts being put
forth by many people are to seek

STATION

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WCLT-AM 1430
Anderson, Indiana
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D AY

Sunday
Sunday
Monday

individuals' approval instead of

God's approval. At one time, about
all that mattered was what God said,
and what this one and that one said
did not matter. Too many are taking
what this one and that one says as
Bible and taking what God says as
nothing. This is ruining conditions
and destroying men's and women's
chances of making Heaven their
home.
Paul said, "I certify you the Gospel which I preach." That is the message I representthe message that
would make all men right with God
and in the end enable them to make
Heaven their home. "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
Dear one, there is more to serving
God than getting religion or joining
a church. The Bible says, "Ye must
be born again" (John 3:7). Except a
man be born again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God. If we are going to
get any results in our spiritual lives,
it is going to take the certified Gospel to produce it. If the Gospel is
starting to repel you, you need to
find out why, for it is intended to
draw you closer to God.
(Cassette C-4253E)

TIM E

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Tune in to the radio station nearest you to hear an inspiring message from
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14

Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, Abba, Father.
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also
glorified together.

Brother C. H. Dickerson
Having Full Assurance of Faith
The storehouse of God is full of
provisions; it has everything you
stand in need of. However, you
cannot get into it unless you have
the key. The key to whatever God
has is faith: you must have faith in
God to unlock the storehouse so that
you can receive what He has for
you. In many instances, instead of
people's faith increasing, it is decreasing. Faith is being lost because
people are not standing for divine

healing and depending on God as

they once did. Verse 17 of our Scripture lesson speaks of God's inheritance. Many people claim to be religious, but the only ones who can
receive God's inheritance are the
saints of God, and that is because
they have faith in God.
You cannot have faith in God
unless you do things God's way. A
mechanic cannot successfully repair
a motor unless he abides by the laws
that govern that motor. Likewise, an
electrician has to work according to

the laws of electricity. If you do not

do things God's way, you cannot
have the faith to believe that it is
going to work. God has made many
provisions for us. However, His
storehouse cannot be opened to you
unless you do things His way. Several years ago a very wealthy man
named Howard Hughes died. When
he died, many people claimed to be
related to him but could not prove
their identity; therefore, they could
not receive any of the inheritance.
As you look into the Scripture
15

text, I want you to see that you need

one quality above all others to live
for Christ acceptably, and that is
being fully persuaded concerning
your identity. To lay hold of divine
healing, salvation, sanctification,
and all the blessings that God has
for you, you must know beyond any
doubt that you are a child of God.
You cannot claim the inheritance
unless you are His child.
Paul said in verse 17 of our
Scripture text, "And if children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ." The only way to be an
heir of God is to be a child of God. If
you do not know that you are His
child, your faith will be hindered
and you cannot effectively live for
Him. The Scripture states plainly
that you must have faith in God to
believe Him. Once you have faith,
then you can come to Him boldly
and ask what you will, and He will
give it to you. How do you get that
boldness? It comes by knowing that
you are a child of God. However,
you cannot have boldness unless
you are doing things God's way.
God has made it possible to
know what His will is. Hebrews
10:22 says, "Let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an
evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water." Today
people often travel all over town to
find the cheapest price on things.
Trying to get the best deal is fine.
However, if you are not careful, a
spirit will cause you to do as little as
possible when it comes to the things
of God. God wants you to put everything you have into serving Him.
He said to draw near with a true
heart in full assurance. If you are
true to God, doing everything He
wants you to do, then you can have
full assurance that He will hear and
answer your prayers.
Friend, I want you to realize that
when you try to skimp on God and
get by with doing as little as you
possibly can, doubts will rise in your
mind in the tests and trials of life
and cause you to wonder if God will
answer your prayers. Often those
16

doubts come because you have tried

to hedge on the things of God, doing
just enough to get by. When the
Truth goes forth, you may try to get
by with not praising God. Perhaps
you try to get by without reading
God's Word and praying as you
should. Maybe you try to get by
without attending the services at the
house of God as you ought. When
you let down on these things and
the testing times come, then the
question will come into your mind,
"Will God do this for me?"
If you will draw near to God
with a true heart and full assurance
of faith, knowing that your heart is
in tune with God and that you are
doing everything that He lays upon
your heart, then God will be right
there to help you. Friend, you can
know that you are a child of God.
You may ask, "What is this identity?" Well, sometimes you really do
not know yourself until you have
been tested and tried. You may
think that you are on fire for God,
but it is through tests and trials that
you see who you really are.
Some people may seem very
meek and mild, but when they are
tried, they do not act as saints of
God should. Some are unable to
control themselves and stand for
what is right. Friend, to serve God
as you ought to serve Him, you
must love Him with all your heart
and stand for His eternal Truth,
even if it costs you your head.
Placing Your Confidence in God
Today many people are afraid to
stand for Truth and say, "You can
count on me." The reason is that
they really do not know who they
are. They think they are saints of
God, but they are not. Friend, if you
have God's Spirit in you, He will
give you the backbone to stand for
Truth. Fifty-five to sixty million of
God's people stood against Roman
Catholicism. When Roman Catholicism tried to force their doctrine on
God's people, they stood for Truth
even though it meant death. However, today many people do not

really know themselves, and the

reason is that they have failed to
take the stand that God has ordained that they take. When the
testing times come, they back away
because they are afraid to stand for
Truth. You need to have this evidence of true identity so that you
will know who you are.
Child of God, your belief and
faith in God are the very foundation
of your experience. To believe is to
have confidence in or to trust. John
1:12 reads, "But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name." From the
very beginning, Jesus let people
know that it would take power to be
His disciple. He will give power to
those who believe on His name and
trust in Him.
Too often people do not trust
God with their needs. They trust the
doctor, the lawyer, the businessman,
and the dentist, but they fail to trust
God. Often people order things from
catalogs and believe they will receive their orders. Although they
have never seen those people, they
expect to receive their orders because they trust the companies.
When it comes to the things of God,
they fail to trust Him. Friend, you
need to place your confidence in
God, and the only way to have confidence in Him is to do everything
exactly as He says. If a mechanic
takes apart a motor to repair it and
has parts left after he has completed
the work, he should not expect that
motor to run, because he did not put
it together as he should have. On the
other hand, when everything has
been done as it was supposed to
have been, the mechanic can expect
it to operate properly. That is the
same way your faith is in God.
When you do everything as the
Word of God tells you to do to the
best of your knowledge, you can
unlock God's storehouse. However,
you have to do things God's way.
People do not have a problem
putting their trust in the world, but
when it comes to God, many people
limit His wisdom to their own hu-

man thinking. They say, "Well, God,

You do what You want to do just as
long as You do it my way." In John
1:12 we read, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power
to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name." It
takes power to defend the Truth. If
you have read Foxe's Book of Martyrs
and Josephus' writings, you know
that many of God's people suffered
much torture and torment. Now,
that was a hard thing. Yet, if you
will serve God with all your heart
and do everything you know to do,
when the tests come, God will give
you the grace and the power to
stand for Him. Today you may not
be physically tortured for your faith,
but you will be severely tried in
other ways. The enemy has the same
power today that he had many years
ago, and he is still trying to kill people spiritually. If you have done
things according to God's blueprint,
you can withstand all the enemy's
fiery darts and stand for God.
Walking in Newness of Life
We read in Galatians 3:26-27:
"For ye [Paul was talking to the
saints of God] are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as have been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ."
Saint, you need to hold to that
thought, because this, in turn, causes
you to be baptized or married to
Christ. The definition of being baptized is to be "subject to an ordeal
that purifies or cleanses." In Romans
6:3-5 Paul said: "Know ye not, that
so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death: that like
as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness
of life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death,
we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection."
What does the Scripture mean
by "baptized into his death"? Death
means "to come to an end." When

Christ died, He came to the end of

His will. Had Christ had His own
will, He would not have died, but
He said, "Father, not My will but
Thine be done." That is what God
expects of you. When He raises you
up, He expects you to die to your
will; then you can walk in newness
of life. You become a new creature
from the top of your head to the
soles of your feet. Paul said in 2
Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new."
When you get saved, you become
new all the way through. You are
resurrected from a dead state in sin
to newness of life. Your thinking is
new, and the conversations that you
carry on are new. All things become
new; you become a different person.
If you carry on conversations
that are not conducive to Christianity, that ought to tell you that you
do not have the assurance of your
identity. If you did, you would have
a new tongue and new friends. Also,
you would not be looking around
for someone to sympathize with
you. Often this happens when people start to cool off in their souls.
When they go to the house of God,
instead of associating with those
who are on fire for God, they find
others who have cooled off. Soon
they become great friends. Why?
They have the same spirit. When
God raises you up and makes you a
new creature, you need to look for
others who love the Truth and have
the power of God in their lives. You
will want to be around people who
have the same spirit you have.
When you are born again, you
will be subject to Christ, and He
cleanses you. This is a continual
cleansing that takes place every time
you hear the Word of God. If you
will listen to the messages and put
them into practice, they will change
you.
In Ephesians 5:26 we read, "That
he might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the word."
In other words, every time you hear
the Word of God, you will get a

spiritual bath. God will bathe you

with the Word of God. When you
physically get in the shower, you
wash off dirt and perspiration and
come out feeling refreshed; so it is in
the spiritual. When you go to the
house of God and hear the Word of
God, it cleans you up from that old
scum that you get from being out in
the world.
Serving God in Newness
of Spirit
One reason that some people are
not growing spiritually is that they
are not at the house of God as they
ought to be. You need to go to the
house of God and hear the Word of
God. It is one thing to go to the
house of God, and it is something
else to hear the Word of God. If you
will hear the Word of God and put it
into practice in your life, it will uplift you. If you go to church depressed, you do not have to leave
depressed. As you listen to the
Word of God, you may be physically
tired, but you will be refreshed spiritually. If you go to the house of God
to hear the Word of God, you will
leave feeling better.
In the Christian life, you will
receive a continual cleansing. The
teaching that people receive only
one cleansing and that is all is far
from being right. Literally speaking,
if you took only one shower during
your lifetime, would that be all that
you would ever need? No! When
you go out in the world, some things
will affect you. You need to get to
the house of God as often as possible
to get a spiritual bath. You should
receive a continual cleansing, not
only of the flesh but also of the spirit. Paul said in Romans 7:4, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ; [Many people still hold to the
Law, but Paul said you become dead
to it. The Book of Revelation portrays the woman (the church) standing on the moon. In other words,
God did not do away with the
whole Law, but we have something
greater than that.] that ye should be
17

married to another, even to him who

is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God."
It takes time to develop fruit. It does
not develop overnight, and this is
also true concerning the things of
God. It takes time to bring forth the
fruit of God. Verses 5-6 say: "For
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. But now we
are delivered from the law, that
being dead wherein we were held;
that we should serve in newness of
spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter."
The people in the Old Testament
could not help themselves under the
Law because they had no power or
grace, but Jesus brought Truth and
grace so that we could walk in the
light that God sheds across our pathway. Speaking of this Gospel Day,
God, through the Prophet Ezekiel,
said in Ezekiel 36:26-27: "A new
heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you: and I
will take away the stony heart out of
your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh. And I will put my
spirit within you, and cause [meaning to lead] you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." In essence,
God was saying, "I will lead you and
cause you to do My will." This is no
strain. If you do God's will, His Spirit will cause you to want to do what
God tells you to do. You do not have
to grit your teeth and strain to do it.
All you have to do is obey what God
tells you and have His Spirit within
you.
When the Truth goes forth, you
should not have to go home and
pray about it and talk it over with
the family. When the Truth goes
forth, you should stand up and say,
"You can count on me!" If it is
against your wife or your husband,
your children, your father and
mother, or anyone else, you should
be determined to stand for the
Truth. God said, "I will cause you to
do it. I will lead you to keep My
Truth." When you get saved, you
18

become a member of body of Christ.

The Apostle Paul made this quite
clear in Galatians 3:27, which says,
"For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on
Christ." Being baptized into Christ is
what makes you a member of His
body.
The Mystery of Salvation
Ephesians 5:30 states, "For we
are members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones." Jesus said in
Matthew 19:6, "Wherefore they are
no more twain, but one [with His]
flesh. What therefore God hath
joined together, let not man put
asunder." Paul said in 1 Corinthians
6:17, "But he that is joined unto the
Lord is one spirit." God's people are
entitled to all the benefits that the
union with Christ confirms. For
example, when a couple gets married, things are no longer his or hers.
After a couple is married, the two of
them become one. So it is with God.
When you are married to Christ, you
become an heir to all that God has;
you are a joint heir with Jesus Christ.
It is no longer only Christ's, but it is
yours. That is what the Word of God
says. You are a joint heir. When did
you get married to Christ? When
you got saved, you became a bride
of Christ. He is the husband, and the
church is the bride; therefore, you
are entitled to everything to which
He is entitled. That is what the
Scripture is saying. When it comes to
a physical marriage, even the courts
recognize this principle. When you
get saved, you are married to Christ.
You are an heir to divine healing
and an heir to salvation. As long as
you stay true to God, you are an heir
to all that God has because you are
married to His Son.
In Romans 6:17-18 Paul said:
"But God be thanked, that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have
obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you.
Being then made free from sin, ye
became the servants of righteousness." Child of God, when you were
a servant of sin, you had to do

things that you did not want to do,

because you could not help yourself.
However, when God saved your
soul, you put the old devil in his
place and became a servant of righteousness. When you get saved, God
gives you the power to do what is
right. You no longer have to do
what is wrong. God changes you
completely. It is the power of the
Spirit on the inside that enables you
to control the body instead of your
body controlling you.
We read in Romans 16:26, "But
now is made manifest, and by the
scriptures of the prophets, according
to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations
for the obedience of faith." Paul was
talking about the mystery of salvation. It is by the Scriptures and by
the prophets that this mystery is
revealed. I thank God that I found
out about it. Friend, you can be a
child of God and be what God
would have you to be. In the light of
these Scriptures, you can see that
unbelief is what causes uncertainty
or doubt.
God's Spirit Bears Witness
With Our Spirit
In our Scripture text the Spirit's
testimony is quite clear. Romans 8:16
says, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God [when we are obedient]." Friend, you can know that you
are a child of God when you are
obedient to the Word of God. His
Spirit bears witness that you are
doing what God wants you to do.
When more light comes, God's Spirit
will bear witness to you that it is
right.
I remember a time in my life
when more light on the Word of
God came along. As I listened to the
message from a man who was
anointed by the Spirit of God, the
Spirit of God was right there, saying,
"That is right." I got up, held up my
hand, and said, "I see it. You can
count on me." When I heard God's
eternal Truth, the Spirit of God bore
witness with it and took away all

doubt. God has not changed, friend.

Whenever a man of God preaches
God's eternal Truth, you should not
close your ears to the message. You
ought to take heed and listen. No
matter what others say, the Spirit of
God will teach you what is right,
and you ought to walk in that light.
If you do not, you are going to end
up in trouble with God. He will not
put up with disobedience.
Our Scripture text states that
God's Spirit bears witness with our
spirit that we are obedient to the
Word of God. First John 5:10 says,
"He that believeth on the Son of God
hath the witness in himself." In
Galatians 4:6-7 we read: "And because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but
a son; and if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." When God
puts His Spirit in you, it will cause
you to do as God tells you to do.
The Scripture speaks with assured identification that we can
know. Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20,
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave himself for me." In
other words, Paul was saying, "I am
alive and victorious, and this is the
assurance by the power of God that
I am His child, because I am alive."
He said, "I have been crucified with
Christ, but I am still alive."
Paul said he had power, and this
was his assurance. Christian friend,
it is your assurance yet today. When
you get saved, you are dead to sin
and dead to the world, and you are
alive to the things of God. When you
are dead, you are not subject to
those things anymore. However,
when you are alive, you are subject
to them. God said, "I will give you
power." This power is not so that
you can be a big wheel, but it is so
that you can have victory over sin.
You can have power over the devil
and power to do God's will. Whenever God tells you to do something,

you can have the power to do it. You

do not have to pray about it; you
already have the power. When the
Truth comes, you can stand for it.
You can say, "I'm going to stand for
what is true. You can count on me,"
and mean it from the depths of your
heart. God will give you the power.
Today very few have had to give
their blood for the cause of Christ.
Most saints have not suffered physically as the saints of old. Now, you
might have to suffer spiritually, but
you need to roll up your sleeves and
get into the battle. The battle is not
yours; it belongs to God. Your part
is to take a stand for the Truth. You
should not try to pick a fight with
the devil, but you should stand
against him. If he wants to fight, let
him come over on your territory and
God will put him to flight.
Power to Keep the Flesh
Under Control
Paul assured us that he was once
under the law of sin. He said in
Romans 7:14-25: "For we know that
the law is spiritual: but I am carnal,
sold under sin. For that which I do I
allow not: for what I would, that do
I not; but what I hate, that do I
[though Paul was a religious man,
he was still in sin]. If then I do that
which I would not, I consent unto
the law that it is good. Now then it
is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me.
"For I know that in me (that is,
in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me;
but how to perform that which is
good I find not. For the good that I
would I do not: but the evil which I
would not, that I do. Now if I do
that I would not, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I
find then a law, that, when I would
do good, evil is present with me. For
I delight in the law of God after the
inward man: But I see another law
in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members. O wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from

the body of this death? I thank God

through Jesus Christ our Lord. So
then with the mind I myself serve
the law of God; but with the flesh
the law of sin."
Paul let us know that what he
wanted to do, he could not do; then
he found the answer. God set Paul
free from sin, and the difference was
that he had power to bring the flesh
under subjection. The teaching that
when you get saved, your flesh is
changed and you are not going to be
tempted any more is false. Child of
God, you are going to be tempted.
Each of us is tempted in some way.
The only thing that can keep you
from doing wrong is the power of
God. The Spirit of God keeps you
under control. That is exactly what
Paul was talking about. God gave
him the power to keep the flesh
under control, and that is what He
will do for you.
In Romans 8:1 Paul said, "There
is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit." When you walk after the
Spirit of God, there is no condemnation. Condemnation comes when
people love spiritual darkness rather
than light. When they will not walk
in the light, they are condemned.
When God shows you light, He may
put you under conviction, and you
may feel a little angry until you
walk in that light. However, if you
refuse it, condemnation will come.
Paul said in Romans 8:2-5: "For
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death. For what the
law could not do, in that it was
weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in
us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit. For they that are
after the flesh do mind the things of
the flesh; but they that are after the
Spirit the things of the Spirit [these
verses are a perfect example of how
you can know where you are]. For
they that are after the flesh do mind
19

the things of the flesh; but they that

are after the Spirit the things of the
Spirit." Paul let us know that we can
be assured of our spiritual identity.
If you are walking after the flesh,
then no matter what you claim to be,
you are still fleshly. On the other
hand, if you walk after the Spirit,
then you will mind the things of the
Spirit.
John taught the same thing in 1
John 5:19-20: "And we know that we
are of God, and the whole world
lieth in wickedness. And we know
that the Son of God is come, and
hath given us an understanding,
that we may know him that is true,
and we are in him that is true, even
in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the
true God, and eternal life." You can
understand what He wants you to
do by doing what the Word of God
tells you. John 17:3 states, "And this
is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent."
God's Unlimited Power
The required confidence is to
know that Christ was raised from
the dead. You may talk about it and
sing about it, but until you have
been made alive and raised by Him,
you do not have this required confidence. In Ephesians 2:1 Paul said,
"And you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and sins."
He wrote in verses 4-6: "But God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, Even
when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ,
(by grace ye are saved;) And hath
raised us up together, and made us
sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 1:19-23 states: "And
what is the exceeding greatness of
his power to us-ward who believe,
according to the working of his
mighty power, Which he wrought in
Christ, when he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, Far
above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every
20

name that is named, not only in this

world, but also in that which is to
come: And hath put all things under
his feet, and gave him to be the head
over all things to the church, Which
is his body, the fulness of him that
filleth all in all."
We know that Christ has risen.
He was seen of Cephas, He walked
with two men to the village of
Emmaus, and He also was seen of
five hundred people. We know beyond any doubt that He was resurrected, and His resurrection is what
brings us eternal life. Christ said in
John 14:19, "Because I live, ye shall
live also." God raised Him up so that
we could have eternal life. He has
risen. There is no doubt! Now, when
we, as His children, are raised from
the dead, it is undeniable. People
cannot deny that one has been raised
from sin when he has power to live
above sin. The devil likes to try to
cause people to backslide. He will
say, "If you were a child of God, this
wouldn't happen to you. These
temptations wouldn't bother you." I
want you to realize that temptation
is not sin. Everyone is tempted along
some line, but temptation does not
become sin unless one yields to it.
Sin presents itself every day to the
Christian; nevertheless, he has
power to live above sin. God is
all-sufficient for anything the Christian needs.
God is omnipotent. He has unlimited power to help the Christian
to keep the right spirit and the right
attitude. Today it takes much of the
power of God to keep the right spirit
and the right attitude. Someone may
ask, "Why is it any different from
any other time?" It is because we are
right down to the end of time.
I well remember when World
War II was almost over. The Germans seemingly were whipped, and
we thought things would go easy.
However, one night the Germans
pulled out everything they had.
They had guns and tanks hidden in
the forest, and they took everything
they had and threw it into the battle.
They called it "The Battle of the
Bulge," and more people were killed

and wounded there than on the

shores of Normandy the day of the
invasion. I said that because the time
in which we are living is just preceding the end of time, and the devil is
throwing everything he can at you
and me to try to defeat us. There has
never been a time before when the
Christian's attitude has been tested
as it is today. The devil is trying
God's people on every side to cause
them to have wrong attitudes. Saint,
by the power of God, you can keep
the right attitude. When you live
above sin, you will be able to flush
undesirable thoughts out of your
mind.
Be Steadfast in the Faith
Just as there are undeniable evidences that Christ arose, there are
undeniable evidences when you are
saved. You do not have to merely
think you are saved; you can know
you are saved, not because God is
sitting on your shoulder, whispering
in your ear, "You are a child of God."
No, you know you are a child of
God because when the devil throws
temptations your way, you have
power over them. When he tempts
you with bad attitudes or bad spirits, you can have power over them.
Friend, you can be victorious over
these things.
God has given you the power to
be a son of God. The only way to
overcome your adversary is to use a
counterattack by steadfastness in the
faith. Peter talked about this in 1
Peter 5:8-9 when he said: "Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour: [The devil is real. He is as a
roaring lion, seeking whom he can
devour. He is trying to devour every
one of God's people, but how can
you offset that? Verse 9 tells you
how to overcome that.] Whom resist
stedfast [that means to continue to
be firm; in other words, continue to
resist the devil] in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world."

How can the child of God be

steadfast in the faith? By the grace
and the power of God. The more the
devil throws at you, the more you
must rely upon God and submit to
Him. Through God's power, you can
remain steadfast and resist the enemy. Ephesians tells you that you
need to be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might. Ephesians
6:10 states, "Finally, my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power
of his might." Luke 10:19 reads, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread
on serpents and scorpions, and over
all the power of the enemy: and
nothing shall by any means hurt
you." What a promise God has made
to us! Christ, by His death, destroyed the evil one's strength. Thus,
by your spiritual consciousness of
your union with Christ, you can put
Satan to flight in his attacks against
you.
We read in Hebrews 11:32-34:
"And what shall I more say? for the
time would fail me to tell of Gedeon,
and of Barak, and of Samson, and of
Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel,
and of the prophets: Who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions,
Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of
weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens." Throughout
the Bible, God did not keep His
people from trials, but He gave them
victory. He did not keep the three
Hebrew children and many others
free from temptations, but He did
give them victory. God is not going
to keep you from temptations and
trials, but He will give you victory if
you so desire it. Just as God delivered the Hebrew boys, He will do
the same thing for you.
God is not going to stop the
devil from being your adversary,
but He is going to give you power
over the devil. Why? He wants His
army, the Church of God, to move
on. The Revelation tells you that you
are the army of God, and He wants
you to move forward. When the

trials come, your personal and congregational developments are at

stake. Saint, you are defending yourself and the church. When you stand
for the Truth, you are defending the
body of Christ. This performance of
the kingdom's work comes by a
keen sense of oneness in Christ.
The Prophet Isaiah wrote in
Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder . . . . Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end, upon the throne of David, and
upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and
with justice from henceforth even
for ever. The zeal of the LORD of
hosts will perform this." In other
words, he was letting you know that
you are going to have to depend
more on God all the time and less on
yourself. You cannot do anything in
yourself, but God can help you. He
has power to shut the lions' mouths,
quench the fire of the furnace, and
give victory over sin.
Your Sufficiency Is of God
The church is God's army. Revelation 19:11-14 says: "And I saw
heaven opened, and behold a white
horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he cloth judge and
make war. His eyes were as a flame
of fire, and on his head were many
crowns; and he had a name written,
that no man knew, but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. And the
armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and
clean."
God has an army clothed in fine
linen; they are clean and white, or
without sin. They are pure before
God, and He will deliver them.
Moreover, they are a winning army.
God has never lost a battle yet, and
He will not lose any in the future. If
you will follow the Captain of the
army, Jesus Christ, you will put the

enemy to flight and be victorious.

God has promised that He is
going to take His army through.
Your sufficiency is of God. Paul said
in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all
things through Christ which
strengtheneth me." Then in Romans
8:37 he said, "Nay, in all these things
we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us." The fact
is, you must have faith in Christ. The
work of God is to believe on Him
who has sent you. Two things can
overcome doubt: belief from the
heart and sincere obedience to God's
Word. The devil is trying God's
people in these last days of time.
Today people who have lived for
God for years are being affected and
knocked out of the race. Why? They
did not depend on God to take them
through.
The devil is real. We are living in
the last days of time. The signs of
time show it, and the devil is using
everything he has to work on you.
The Scripture plainly teaches that
the remnant of the remnant is going
to be brought through the fire. He
was not talking about a literal fire,
but about the preaching of God's
eternal fire, a fiery message that will
either burn you or render you pure
gold. The saints who stay true to
God are going to have the fire put
on them. They are going to go
through the fire of false accusations.
If you will just hold on, you will
come out pure gold. That is what
God wants.
My friend, do you have that
assurance of your identity? If you do
not, you cannot claim to be an heir;
you cannot claim what God has for
you. God has laid up the storehouse,
and His storehouse is full. He has
everything in it that you need. The
only thing that can unlock it is faith
in God. He wants you to have faith
in Him so that you can claim the
promises; then you can look back
and see what He brought you
through when you relied on His
promises.
(Cassette C-4201E)

21

Psalm 101:1 I will sing of mercy

and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will
I sing.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a
perfect way. O when wilt thou come
unto me? I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no wicked thing before
mine eyes: I hate the work of them that

turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

4 A froward heart shall depart from
me: I will not know a wicked person.
5 Whoso privily slandereth his
neighbour, him will I cut off, him that
hath an high look and a proud heart will
not I suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with

me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he

shall serve me.
7 He that worketh deceit shall not
dwell within my house: he that telleth
lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8 I will early destroy all the wicked
of the land; that I may cut off all wicked
doers from the city of the LORD.

Brother Bob Mikesell

Set No Wicked Thing
Before Your Eyes
This Psalm of David is a good
testimony for every child of God.
Verse 1 says, "I will sing of mercy
and judgment." Saint, you need to
thank God for the mercy that He
had upon you when He saved your
soul. We were unworthy of the
blood of Jesus Christ and unworthy
for Him to come down to this world
and hang upon the cruel Cross of
Calvary; yet He did it for us. The
Bible says He loved us before we
ever loved Him.
I want to focus on verse 3 in this
22

message: "I will set no wicked thing

before mine eyes: I hate the work of
them that turn aside; it shall not
cleave to me." As we look out upon
the vast billions of people in this
world, do you know what is wrong
with them? The problem is, they
take no thought about the things
they set before their eyes. Many
things taking place today would not
have happened fifty or sixty years
ago. People have grown accustomed
to wickedness. Little by little, they
look at sinful things as something
that they see every day; sinful things
no longer have the same shocking
effect that they used to have. Friend,

the more you let these things come

before your eyes, the duller your
senses become to them. Eventually
the time will come when you can
put things in front of your eyes and
not even realize that they are harming your soul.
The world gives no thought
about what they set before their
eyes. Man, in his intellect, thinks
that he can behold something and
filter out the evil. He says, "I can
push the bad stuff aside and receive
the good stuff." That is the reason
the Church of God preaches against
television. It is not that television in
itself is bad, but when you sit down

to watch it, you have no control over

what flashes before your eyes.
When most people get home,
they walk into the house and turn
on the television. Sometimes they do
not even stay in the room to watch
it. Some people feel they have to
have something on; that is part of
their lifestyle. When I visit people
who have television, while we are
trying to talk, the television is blaring in the corner of the room. People
say, "Well, these are good shows."
Some older shows may not have vile
language and sexually explicit material incorporated in them, but the
advertising during the programs has
become so corrupt. Many advertisements have sexual themes to them,
and people have become so accustomed to this.
I have heard Church of God
ministers preach against television
ever since I have been saved. That is
a staple in the message of the
Church of God. Although as time
goes on, the devil keeps trying to
push television on the people of God
as new generations come up. God's
people need to get the televisions
out of their houses, because it not
only corrupts their minds but also
steals their time. Television will take
away time you should be spending
on the things of God. You cannot sit
in front of a television for hours and
then get down on your knees and
pray to the Lord God Almighty,
who is holy and without spot or
blemish. Your mind becomes corrupt when you view those things.
When the devil saw that the
Church of God was not going to fold
on the television issue, he tried to
bring something else into the picture. He tells people, "You don't
have to watch television; just bring
movies into your home." Well, if you
do not go to the movie theaters, why
would you bring a movie theater
into your home? That is just as bad.
You are partaking of the same thing.
You are just trying to do it in secret,
but God still sees.
Many computer games are full
of nothing but immorality, murder,
and mayhem. Most video games on

the market today focus on shooting

and killing people. I am not preaching against computers, but I am
saying that as a parent, you need to
watch and control what your children are playing. You need to watch
what your kids are placing before
their eyes.
Another issue is the Internet. I
am not preaching against the
Internet. I have Internet access, and
I have an e-mail address. However,
no words can describe the corruptness of some websites on the
Internet. Too many parents treat the
Internet as they do the television.
They use the television as a babysitter, and they have no control. Parent, you need to make sure that you
are on top of what is going on and
watch what your children are setting
before their eyes. Also, you need to
be careful of what you are setting
before your own eyes.
One attribute of the human spirit is curiosity. Curiosity is something
everyone has, and the devil will
tempt you along that line. If you are
not where you need to be, there is a
chance that you will fall to that
temptation. David said, "I will set no
wicked thing before mine eyes." He
was speaking from experience. David found out what would happen
when he allowed his eyes to look
upon that which he should not have
looked upon. Friend, if you allow
yourself to look upon things that
you should not, then you are going
to fall.
"Love Not the World"
In 1 John 2:15 we read, "Love not
the world, neither the things that are
in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not
in him." When I was out in sin, I
loved the world and the things the
world had to offer. I worked fifty to
sixty hours a week, and all my
money went to the things of the
world. I was willing to give my
whole paycheck over to the saloon
keeper and the drug dealer on the
street corner. However, when God
moved in and cleansed my vessel,

He removed that love for the world.

In place of that love, He put a love
for the things of God and a hatred
for sin.
Friend, you will not get saved
until you are sick of sin and have a
hatred for sin, the devil, and the
things the devil does. The Spirit of
God has no fellowship with darkness, and if you love the world and
the darkness that this world has to
offer, then the Bible says the love of
the Father cannot be in you. The
Bible says, "If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not
in him." Verses 16-17 say: "For all
that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father,
but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever." Verse 16 tells us
there are three ways that the child of
God is tempted: the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life.
I want you to look at the story of
Adam and Eve in Genesis, Chapter
3, because that is the beginning of all
things for mankind. Verse 6 states,
"And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat." The devil
tempted Eve in three ways: the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life. That is how the
devil came to Eve, and that is how
he comes to us today.
"The Error of Balaam"
You can read the story of
Balaam in Numbers, Chapters 22
and 23. The children of Israel had
come into the land, and when Balak
saw how the Israelites had defeated
many armies before, he was afraid
of the people of God. At one time
when a child of God would come
around, worldly people would say,
"There is a child of God. We need to
watch what we say and watch how
23

we conduct ourselves. That person

goes to church. We need to control
ourselves when we are in the presence of that person." Today you do
not see that. If you let some people
know that you go to church, they
will be just as foul, if not more so,
than they were before.
When Balak saw the children of
God come into his land, he trembled
because he knew they had power
with God, that God was for them,
and that God was fighting their
battles. Therefore, he sent for
Balaam and said, in essence,
"Balaam, I know that whomsoever
you bless is blessed and whomever
you curse is cursed. I want you to
come and curse these people who
have come into my land." Balaam
said, "Well, I will not curse or bless
just anyone. I will talk to God to see
what He has to say." The Bible says
God told him not to curse His people and to tell Balak that he could
not do it. Balaam sent word back to
Balak and said, "Though you give
me all your silver and gold, I can't
go against the Word of the Lord."
Balak was upset, so he sent his
servants back to Balaam with more
treasures and said, "Won't you
please come and curse these people?" Again, Balaam said, "I will talk
to the Lord about it." The Lord was
not going to change His mind, but
Balaam saw the riches. However,
when he asked God what he should
do, God told him not to curse the
people, so Balaam could not curse
them. Then Balak sent servants a
third time with even more riches,
and this caught Balaam's eye. He
told Balak, "I am not allowed to
curse them, but I will tell you how
you can defeat them. Send your
women down to mix with them, and
they will lead them away from
God," and that is what happened.
We read in 2 Peter 2:14-15: "Having eyes full of adultery, and that
cannot cease from sin; beguiling
unstable souls: an heart they have
exercised with covetous practices;
cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone
astray, following the way of Balaam
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the son of Bosor, who loved the

wages of unrighteousness." Jude 11
says, "Woe unto them! for they have
gone in the way of Cain, and ran
greedily after the error of Balaam for
reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." Jude said woe to them
who have run greedily after the
error of Balaam for reward. Balaam
let his eyes behold the things that
Balak had to offer, and he fell to
temptation and caused his soul to be
lost. The children of Israel later came
and killed Balaam for what he had
done.
Being Tempted of the Devil
In Matthew, Chapter 4, we can
read of the baptism of Jesus. God
put His blessing upon Him. Matthew 3:17 says, "And to a voice from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Don't we all desire that kind of testimony from God? Don't we all want
God to look down upon us and say,
"This is my beloved child, in whom
I am well pleased"? However, when
you feel the Spirit of God upon you
in that way, the devil is not going to
rest.
Matthew 4:1-4 states: "Then was
Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the
devil. And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the
tempter came to him, he said, If thou
be the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread. But he
answered and said, It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God." How did
Jesus answer the devil? He answered him with three words: "It is
written." This is the reason that reading the Bible is so important.
In one place the Prophet was
told to eat the Word and let it become a part of him. When you eat
something, it becomes a part of you.
The more you eat of it, the more it
becomes a part of you, and it is the
same way spiritually. The more you
eat of the Word of God, the more it

becomes a part of you. If you do not

know the Word of God when the
devil comes to tempt you, you cannot say, "It is written . . . " Too many
people do not open their Bibles.
They take their Bibles home on Sunday and do not pick them up until
the next time they attend the services.
The Bible says to read the Word
of God, study it, and let it become a
part of you. Then when the devil
comes around (and he will, because
he tempts every one of us), you can
say, "I know what the Bible says, old
devil." That is what Jesus did, and
we should use Him as our example.
If Jesus resisted the devil by saying,
"It is written, . . ." you can do the
same. Therefore, you should know
what the Bible says so that you can
resist him.
The devil tempted Jesus through
the lust of the flesh. Jesus was hungry; He had fasted forty days and
forty nights. (Think about not eating
for forty days. Some cannot go without eating for four hours.) The devil
knew that Jesus had been fasting, so
he no doubt thought, "Though He is
the Son of God, He is still flesh." The
devil said to Jesus, "If You are the
Son of God, turn these stones to
bread; I know you are hungry." In
Matthew 4:4 Jesus replied, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of
God."
Verses 5-6 read: "Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and
setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be
the Son of God, cast thyself down:
for it is written [the devil is sly;
when the devil tempted Him the
second time, he decided to use
Scripture to tempt Jesus], He shall
give his angels charge concerning
thee: and in their hands they shall
bear thee up, lest at any time thou
dash thy foot against a stone."
You should never underestimate
the devil. That is the reason the Bible
lets you know you should exercise
the power of discernment. The Bible
tells us that the devil and his angels

can appear as angels of light. Child

of God, unless you are where you
need to be in your prayer life, your
Bible reading, and your church attendance, your powers of discernment will diminish. Then, when the
devil appears to you as an angel of
light, you will be deceived. The
devil quoted Scripture to Jesus. The
Scripture he used is found in Psalm
91:11-12. In Matthew 4:7 Jesus said,
"It is written again, Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God." The devil
was tempting Jesus with the pride of
life. He said, "If thou be the Son of
God, cast thyself down." In essence,
the devil was saying, "If You are
who You say You are, cast Yourself
down, because You know that God
will swoop You up before You hit
the ground." However, Jesus knew
that one cannot tempt God and expect to be protected; again, the devil
was foiled.
In verse 8 the devil tried a third
time: "Again, the devil taketh him
up into an exceeding high mountain,
and showeth him all the kingdoms
of the world, and the glory of them."
That is how the devil tries to get
young people yet today. He shows
them the world and the glory of it.
Then he tells them, "All of this can
be yours." Of course, at age sixteen,
seventeen, or eighteen, many young
people think they know it all. So,
when they get the opportunity to
gain everything, many jump on it.
They say, "If I can gain the whole
world and all that glory, that is
where I want to be. I am sick and
tired of not being allowed to have
fun. I'm not allowed to do what
other kids are doing. Now I have an
opportunity to go my own way and
show people that I can really make
something of myself."
Power to Resist Temptation
The devil works and works on
young people. It is a shame to see
young people leave the church and
go after the things of this world. Too
often God has blessed young people
with talents, and they turn around
and use their talents for the things of

this world. Young person, just because you are tempted along that
line does not mean you have to fall.
The Bible says in Matthew 4:10,
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee
hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve." The devil
tempted countless other people in
the Bible through the lust of the
eyes. We all are subject to this temptation, but God will give us the
power and the grace to resist those
temptations. When things fall before
your eyes, God can give you the
power, the grace, and the ability to
turn your head and say, "No, I don't
want to look upon that. I don't want
to set that before my eyes." The
problem comes when you set things
before your eyes. David used the
word "set" for a reason. Again, verse
3 of the Scripture text reads, "I will
set no wicked thing before mine
eyes." When you set something before your eyes, it is a mental thought
process of taking something and
placing it before your eyes. There is
a difference between driving down
the road and seeing someone indecently dressed and setting something ungodly before your eyes.
God can give you power to resist when you cannot help what
comes before your eyes. However,
when you set something before your
eyes, then you are putting yourself
in a position where you are no longer accessible to God's grace and
power. A man once said, "I can go
into a bar and not drink liquor."
Well, he could go into a bar, but
God would not go with him. Once
he would step inside a barroom, he
would be on his own, and the devil
would be waiting to ensnare him.
He might not be overcome the first
time, the second time, or even the
third time; however, in time, he
would fall.
If you set wicked things before
your eyes, you no longer make yourself accessible to the power and the
grace of God so that you can resist
the devil. Romans 6:13 states, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto

sin: but yield yourselves unto God,

as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God." You may
only think of your hands and your
arms as being members, but your
eyes are members as well. The Bible
says, "Yield not your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if
there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things."
Christian friend, God saved you
because He wants you to praise
Him. That is one way you can be a
light unto this lost and dying world.
When the trials of life press you
down or when afflictions come upon
your body and the load feels so
heavy, people can see that. What a
witness when a child of God, in the
midst of all the trials and sufferings,
can say, "I praise God for what He
has done for me. Life may be hard
on me now, but I am saved. My
name is written in the Lamb's Book
of Life." When you praise God in the
midst of the trials, that is when you
are a light to the lost and dying
world. That is what the world is
looking for today.
The world can find trouble and
sorrow anywhere. When God's people still praise God in the hard
places, that will cause people to say,
"Where does that person go to
church? He has something different.
I am going to investigate this a little
further." That is what God wants us
to do.
Again, in Philippians 4:8 Paul
said to think on these things: whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things
are just, whatsoever things are pure.
When you set something vile before
your eyes, you cannot think on
something pure. When your mind is
consumed with lust, purity goes
right out the window.
Paul continued, ". . . if there be
any virtue, and if there be any praise
. . . ." To have genuine praise for
God, you must get your mind on the
things of God and off the things of
the world. There was a time when
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more people were so full of God that

they would shout and praise God.
People need to get back to where
they are not afraid to stand up and
praise God. God wants praise from
His people. Praise only comes when
you heed Philippians 4:8 and get
your mind on the things that are
true, things that are pure, things that
are just, things that are honest, and
things that are of a good report.
When you get your mind on these
things, then you will have praise for
God. Paul said, "Think on these
things."
Saint of God, do not put yourself
in a position where you fill your
mind with that which is sinful.
There are only two ways things get
into your mind: through your eyes
and your ears. You need to guard
these two avenues as you guard
your bank account, your checkbook,
or your new car.

In Psalm 101:3 David said, "I

will set no wicked thing before mine
eyes." This is a Scripture each of us
should heed. The devil tempts the
child of God every day along some
line. He is always there, yet that lets
me know now that I am still fighting
in the Lord's army. Saint, when the
devil stops tempting you, you
should check yourself. When the
devil comes and tempts me along
this line, this Scripture is the first
thing that comes to my mind: "I will
set no wicked thing before mine
eyes." When I say that Scripture
verse to myself, pushing aside that
temptation is easy. If every time the
devil tempts you that way, you will
say, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes," then you will find it
much easier to close your eyes to the
things of this world. The only way
you are going to get to Heaven is to
be a holy child of God and walk in

all the light that God has shown

you. Some people do not have as
much spiritual light as others. God
brings each person along at a different speed. We all are individuals.
God takes into account that some
people do not have as much light as
others. If you are walking in all the
light that God has shown you, then
you are saved. However, if you have
let down on anything, that will bar
your soul from Heaven. Just one sin
will keep you out of Heaven.
Saint of God, being saved does
not release you from the temptations
of the devil. If you fall to that temptation, it will bar you from Heaven.
You need to get it made right today.
Do not put it off. I pray that today
will be the day that you get your
need met.

(Guest Editorial-continued from page 2)

"seven Spirits of God." This is a figurative expression of the Spirit of God

working through the seven periods
that comprise this Christian dispensation. That is the only way the Spirit could go forth into all the earth,
because all the earth took all the
remaining periods of time that make
up the Gospel Day. As we view our
text, we need to be mindful that it
did not take place in one day, but
over a process of time; so it is with
the Gospel Day.
Why should we study these Old
Testament writings? First Chronicles
12:32 speaks of "men that had understanding of the times, [If there
were ever a time when we needed
understanding, it is in this very
time. What did it enable them to
do'?J to know what Israel ought to
do." By understanding the times,
they knew what they ought to do; it
gave them guidance. As the New
Testament Israel of God, if we are to
know what we are to do, we need a
clear understanding of the times.
This is not possible unless we know

the prophetic scheme of events that

occurred.
Genesis 11:1 says, "And the
whole earth was of one language,
and of one speech." Notice that our
text begins with "And," which reverts us back to the previous chapter. The most outstanding event of
Chapter 10 that correlates with our
text is in verse 10, which says, "And
the beginning of his [Nimrod's]
kingdom was Babel . . . ." Bear in
mind that this was the very morning
of human history. In this verse is the
first king and kingdom mentioned
in the Bible. Verse 9 introduces us to
Nimrod, who was a grandson to
Ham, a son of Noah. The morning
time of civilization parallels as a
type of the morning time of this
Gospel Day
Notice that Genesis 11:1 states
that the whole earth was of "one
language and one speech." This, in
type, is a picture of the early morning-time unity that the church enjoyed in the morning of the Gospel
Day. Jesus prayed for oneness, and

Day, many things have transpired.

In Luke 17:22 Jesus said, "The
days will come, when ye shall desire
to see one of the days of the Son of
man . . . ." In Isaiah 30:26 the prophetic expression declares, "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as
the light of the sun, and the light of
the sun shall be sevenfold, as the
light of seven days, in the day that
the LORD bindeth up the breach of
his people, and healeth the stroke of
their wound." Again, this Gospel
Day, or Christian dispensation, is
comprised of seven days.
In Revelation, Chapter 5, when
John received a vision of Christ as
the Lamb, in verse 6 he said, "And I
beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a
Lamb [Christ is this Lamb] as it had
been slain, having seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the
earth." Ephesians 4:4 tells us there is
"one Spirit," but John said there are
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there was oneness.

In John 17:21-23, Jesus, in His
high priestly prayer, prayed: "That
they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us: that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me
I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one: I in them,
and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one . . . ." It is easy
to see that Christ's burden was that
they might be in unity; and in the
morning time of the Christian dispensation, they were one.
In Philippians 1:27 Paul penned,
"Only let your conversation [or conduct] be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ: that whether I come and see
you, or else be absent, I may hear of
your affairs that ye stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel."
Again, we see unity, or harmony. I
want you to notice the exclusiveness
of it. They preached the Gospel in
one Spirit and one mind, striving
together for the faith of the Gospel.
In Philippians 2:2 Paul said, "Fulfil
ye my joy, that ye be likeminded,
having the same love, being of one
accord, of one mind."
We read in Acts 2:1, "And when
the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one
place." Can you see the antitype, the
reality of the type that the Genesis
account is speaking of? Genesis 11:1
portrays the morning time of this
Gospel Day, or the first period of
time from A.D. 33 to A.D. 270.
Sad to say, they did not hold
that spiritual position. Genesis 11:2
says, "And it came to pass, as they
journeyed from the east . . . ." Notice
that they moved. We are not to
move from Truth. First Corinthians
15:58 instructs you to "be ye stedfast,
unmoveable." I want you to see that
something started to take place.
The East is the source of light;
the sun rises in the East. Malachi 4:2
tells us that Christ is the "Sun of
righteousness." We are told repeatedly in the Scriptures to "walk in the
light." Therefore, this move signified

a move away from Christ, and away

from light. This portrays the morning-time apostasy. As they journeyed from the East, they turned
their backs on light.
What are the results of apostasy?
Verse 2 says, "They found a plain in
the land of Shinar." According to
Genesis 8:4, when the ark stopped, it
"rested upon the mountains of Ararat." Notice that the people moved
from a mountain to a plain. The
outgrowth of apostasy is that it takes
one down from a high, holy place to
a low place, or "a plain," which signifies a level of low living with no
victory. This is what occurred in the
morning-time apostasy.
Isaiah 2:2 says, "And it shall
come to pass in the last days [a prophetic expression of this Gospel
Day], that the mountain of the
Lord's house shall be established in
the top of the mountains . . . ." Hebrews 12:22 states very plainly, "Ye
are come unto mount Sion." The
morning-time church was going
forth in her pristine glory, or in an
exalted position. Revelation 8:8 talks
about the church as "a great mountain burning with fire." Those who
apostatized moved to a lower level
where they lived on the low plain of
ungodly lust and sensuality.
Jude 17-19 says: "But, beloved,
remember ye the words which were
spoken before of the apostles of our
Lord Jesus Christ; How that they
told you there should be mockers in
the last time, who should walk after
their own ungodly lusts. These be
they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." This was
what occurred in the morning time
of this Gospel Day. When the people
journey from the east, away from
the source of light, that move produced darkness, and men became
"sensual, having not the Spirit."
Our text in verse 2 says that
"they found a plain in the land of
Shinar." What does Shinar portray?
In Daniel's prophecy, when God's
people were carried away captive by
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, Daniel 1:2 says, "And the Lord
gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into

his [Nebuchadnezzar's] hand, with

part of the vessels of the house of
God: which he carried into the land
of Shinar to the house of his
god . . . ."
Shinar was where Daniel and
the three Hebrew children were
being kept in captivity, or bondage.
Thus, the outgrowth of turning from
light and journeying from the east
was that a dark age ensued and men
became captive to their own passions and bound in captivity. Therefore, Shinar depicts captivity, or
bondage, telling us that apostatizing
will bind you, as it did people in the
morning time. Shinar portrays the
second period of the Gospel Day, or
that period from A.D. 270 to A.D.
530.
Our text tells us here in verse 3,
"And they said one to another . . . ."
When men turn their backs on light,
or Truth, and go into darkness, they
follow human passions and sensualities: then they become enslaved to
those passions. When men's minds
are devoid of the Spirit of God and
they get their heads together, something is going to arise. When this
occurred, we read in Revelation 13:1
where John wrote, "And I stood
upon the sand of' the sea, and saw a
beast rise up out of the sea . . . ."
That sea represents the minds of
those same men who had gone into
darkness and become enslaved to
their own human passions and
thinking. Up out of that sea rose a
religious system that dominated the
landscape, just as the tower of Babel
dominated the landscape for a period of time.
The word in the Hebrew for
Babel and the word for Babylon are
exactly the same Hebrew word.
Therefore, when we speak of Babel
or Babylon, we are speaking of the
selfsame reality. So here we see what
gave rise to Babylon.
In the next article we will consider the actual events and what
they represent as types in the Gospel
Day.
Brother Earl R. Borders

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