SOUNDING FORTH THE SEVENTH AND LAST TRUMPET

Vol. 38 April 2009 No. 4

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

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

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Internet Address: GodsAcres.org

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"For if the trumpet g ive an uncertain sound,

who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

THE GOSPELTRUMPETER

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S eco n d -c lass po stag e p a id a t th e po st o f f ic e in N ew ark , O h io

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PO S T M A N , sen d fo rm 35 79 to th e p r in te r :

TH E G O SPEL TRU M PETER675 N . Ceda r S tre e tN ew ark , O h io 43055

This periodical carries no subscription price; however, itis partially maintained through the gifts and offerings of itsreaders, with the balance of the expenses being paid bythe local congregation.

PRA Y E R : If you n e ed p ra ye r , p le ase phon e o r w rite :

R o ge r D e cke r , Pasto r83 D ecrow Ave .N ew ark , O H 43055

Ph o n e : 614- 344-2543F ax : 614-344-4737Prin t Sh o p Ph o n e : 614- 345-1312

This monthly religious journal is published for the benefit of theChurch of God universally. It is our supreme purpose to reach theworld for Christ through the printed page. Our burden is to reveal thetruth of God's Word to all mankind, to expose sin and error , waragainst apostasy, and to eradicate the longstanding traditions of menthat have no biblical foundations.

Brother Roger L . D ecker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E d itor

W orkers T oo Num erous to M ention

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

A personal God (John 4:24)

A divine Christ (John 1:1, 14)

An infallibly inspired Bible (II 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 (I 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;

I Cor. 11:23, 34)

Eternal life (Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:43)

The Trinity (I John 5:7, 8)

SO ME SPIR IT U AL F AC T S

PER T AIN IN G T O T H E C H U R C H

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)

W e re se rv e th e r ig h t to e d it an d /o r d eclin e an y

m a te ria l fo r a n y re a so n . N o t re sp o n sib le fo r

u n so licited ar ticle s or item s.

CONTENTSThe Oneness of God's People. . . . . . 3The Purpose of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . 7Especially for Young People. . . . . . 9Preaching to Nobody. . . . . . . . . . . 13The Lord Hath Need. . . . . . . . . . . . 15What Lack I Yet?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Announcements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Vol. 39 April 2009 No. 4

Annual Financial ReportEzekiel 33:1-11 states: "Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When Ibring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of theircoasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come uponthe land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareththe sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and takehim away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of thetrumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that takethwarning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, andblow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, andtake any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but hisblood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have setthee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the wordat my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wickedman, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from hisway, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thinehand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he donot turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thysoul. Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus yespeak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine awayin them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD,I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from hisway and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O houseof Israel?"

The Prophet spoke some very sobering words that still ring true today. Anawesome responsibility lies at the feet of God’s people to get the Word of God toa lost and dying world. To this end was The Gospel Trumpeter born. From a smallbeginning to a modern print shop, the single purpose remains today to reach outwith a burden for lost souls and to speak the Truth to a religious world who iscaught in the confusion of sectarian division.

To accomplish this task, messages must be preached, transcribed, which isto listen to a recorded message and type it. Next begins an editing process. Onceedited into its final form, it is then organized to fit into the pages of The GospelTrumpeter. Following this, it is sent to the printer to be printed, collated, stapled,labeled for mailing, and bundled for shipment. In all, it is a great labor thatrequires hundreds of hours of work and thousands of dollars to operate. Since thevery beginning, The Gospel Trumpeter has been mailed to subscribers without agiven subscription price, so as to make it available to all who wish to receive it.Many send regular contributions for this endeavor, and the local congregation paysall the costs that exceed the contributions. We truly appreciate the Lord for Hishelp as well as those whom He has laid on them a burden to work in this ministry.

Statement of Condition for 12 months ending January 31, 2009

Income Expenses

Supplies $ 28,107.21Miscellaneous 1,403.21

Wages 50,398.24Donations/Offerings $23,633.53Equipment Purchased 12,286.36Postage 53,538.97 Maintenance & Repairs 2,908.95Subtotals 23,633.53 $148,642.94

Balance paid out of the general fund of the Church of God congregation at Newark, OH $125,009.41

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submityourselves unto your own husbands, asunto the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head ofthe wife, even as Christ is the head ofthe church: and he is the saviour of thebody.

24 Therefore as the church is sub-ject unto Christ, so let the wives be totheir own husbands in every thing.

25 Husbands, love your wives, evenas Christ also loved the church, andgave himself for it;

26 That he might sanctify andcleanse it with the washing of water bythe word,

27 That he might present it to him-self a glorious church, not having spot,or wrinkle, or any such thing; but thatit should be holy and without blemish.

28 So ought men to love their wivesas their own bodies. He that loveth hiswife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated hisown flesh; but nourisheth and cherish-eth it, even as the Lord the church:

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Part 2 of 2

Brother Roger L. Decker

30 For we are members of his body,of his flesh, and of his bones.

31 For this cause shall a man leavehis father and mother, and shall bejoined unto his wife, and they two shallbe one flesh.

32 This is a great mystery: but Ispeak concerning Christ and thechurch.

33 Nevertheless let every one of youin particular so love his wife even ashimself; and the wife see that shereverence her husband.

The Basis of the Home

I want to continue the lessonconcerning the oneness of God'speople, and to do that I am going totalk about the home. The oneness ofGod's people starts in the home. Youare no better at the church housethan you are in your own dwelling.If there was ever a time when weneeded to look into the Word of Godconcerning the home, it is now. Thedevil is running rampant and mak-ing a mockery of what should be thebest homes in the world. They have

everything that God has providedfor them to have a happy home.

First Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, bevigilant; because your adversary thedevil, as a roaring lion, walkethabout, seeking whom he may de-vour." Although Christians put theirtrust and confidence in God, theyshould not be careless. Peter wassaying that we should be self-controlled and alert. The ApostlePaul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11, "LestSatan should get an advantage of us:for we are not ignorant of hisdevices."

There is too much sloppiness insome homes. I am not talking abouthousekeeping. There is too muchletting down, and the devil is al-ways ready to try to destroy homes.Paul said we are not ignorant ofSatan's devices. The basis of thehome is love, just like the love be-tween Christ and the church. Prov-erbs 17:1 says, "Better is a dry mor-sel, and quietness therewith, than anhouse full of sacrifices with strife."

Three times in Ephesians,Chapter 5, the Apostle Paul com-manded the husband to love his

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wife. Paul even went so far as to tellthe husband how he should love hiswife. In verse 25 he told the husbandto love his wife "as Christ also lovedthe church." In verse 28 he statedthat men ought "to love their wivesas their own bodies." Then in verse33 he instructed the husband to "solove his wife even as himself." Everyone of those verses contain strongwords that tell of the husband hav-ing a close commitment to the wife.Colossians 3:19 says, "Husbands,love your wives, and be not bitteragainst them." This love is similar tohow Christ loved the church andsimilar to how a man loves his ownbody.

The devil wants to get bitternessinto a home, and it takes true love tokeep it out. The man is the head ofthe home and has great responsi-bility. He has been given the right todirect and govern, and he has beengiven that by creation. We read inGenesis 3:16, "Unto the woman hesaid, I will greatly multiply thy sor-row and thy conception; in sorrowthou shalt bring forth children; andthy desire shall be to thy husband,and he shall rule over thee."

In some of the newer versions ofthe Bible, the word rule has beenremoved. Nevertheless, the KingJames Version states that "he shallrule over thee." Generally, the manis superior in wisdom and knowl-edge. Normally he can handle crisesand calamities better than thewoman can. He is better at handlingunpredicted incidents that takeplace. Ordinarily the man is supe-rior, especially in the military,because he can handle crucial situa-tions better and has greater strengththan the woman.

It is commanded by God that thehusband love his wife. There aremen in the world who love theirwives, and they are not even saved.If any husband should love his wife,it should be the one who is saved,because of the love of God, which isthe highest form of love, dwelling inhim. He should be able to love hiswife more than a worldly man couldlove his wife.

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A Sacrificial Love

I want you to consider the loveof God. Christ left His abode withGod in eternity and came to earth inthe form of a servant. The love ofGod is a sacrificial love; it is a lovethat we do not deserve. When Hesaved us, it was because of Hisunmerited love. We did not deserveto be saved. We deserved to go to adevil's hell.

It is part of God's nature to love.His love is not as the world's love,because the world's love is object-oriented. God does not focus on theobject because it is His nature tolove. God was not bound to love aworld that hated Him, but He did,because God is love. God loves you,though you may be unlovable. Heloves you even though you do notlove Him.

Husband, you are commandedto love your wife. There has been aletdown in the home, and the hus-band needs to take his part. Thehusband should be able to say to hiswife, "I will always love you, insickness and in health, for better, forworse, for richer, for poorer, tilldeath do us part," and mean it. Oh,it is easy to say the marriage vowswith stars in your eyes while staringat each other, but it is somethingelse to prove it.

Love in the home should growstronger, not weaker, as the yearsgo by. I have a rather humorousstory that goes along with themessage. It preaches a real message.It reveals the action of a husbandto his wife. The first year that thecouple was married, the wife gota cold, so the husband said: "SugarDumpling, I am really worriedabout my little baby girl. You havehad a bad sniffle, and there is notelling about those things, with allthe strep throat that is going around.I am putting you in the hospital thisafternoon for a general checkup anda good rest. I know the food there islousy, but I will be bringing yourmeals in from your favorite restau-rant. I have it all arranged with thefloor superintendent." That was the

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first year. The second year things began to

decline just a little. The second yearthe husband said: "Listen, darling, Idon't like the sound of that cough.I've called Doc Miller and asked himto rush over here. Now, you go tobed like a good girl."

The third year the husband said:"Maybe you'd better lie down,honey. Nothing like a rest when youfeel bad. I'll bring you something.Do we have any canned soup?"

The fourth year of marriage thehusband said: "Now, look, dear,be sensible. After you have fedthe kids, washed the dishes, andfinished vacuuming the floors, you'dbetter lie down for a while."

The fifth year he said, "Whydon't you take something?"

The sixth year the husband saidto his wife, "I wish you would gar-gle or something, instead of sittingaround all evening barking like aseal."

The seventh year he said toher: "Would you stop your sneez-ing? Are you trying to give mepneumonia?"

Although this is a humorouslittle story, it is really a picture ofdeclining love. When people aresaved, their love should grow stron-ger as the years go by. The love ofGod is purifying. Ephesians 5:26says, "That he might sanctify andcleanse it with the washing of waterby the word." Jesus wants Hischurch to be clean. God has a cleanchurch, without spot or wrinkle orany such thing.

Love Is Caring

Marriage involves purification.The godly husband will do every-thing in his power to maintain hiswife's holiness, virtue, and purity.He would not do anything thatwould provoke her to sin. He wouldnot want to cause her to be temptedwith someone else. The love ofChrist is caring. I thank God forthe love of Christ. Peter wrote in1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your careupon him; for he careth for you."

The same is true in a marriage—thehusband cares for his wife. God hasordained that the husband take careof his wife. He is her provider, herprotector, and her preserver.

The Word of God tells us allabout a man who will not work andprovide for his own. First Timothy5:8 tells us what this man is like:"But if any provide not for his own,and specially for those of his ownhouse, he hath denied the faith, andis worse than an infidel." An infidelis a nonbeliever. There is a differ-ence between trying to find employ-ment and being unable to get workand trying to get out of work. Somemen work awfully hard to get out ofwork. They would be better offgoing to a job and working fortyhours.

There are some things that ahusband ought to provide for hiswife. I realize there are times whenthe finances are unavailable. Some-times husbands might not havework, but if work is plentiful andmoney is coming in, the husbandought to provide a place to live. Heshould be the leader in family wor-ship. Also, he should provideclothes, groceries, and spendingmoney so the wife does not feel asthough she is a beggar when sheasks for a couple of dollars.

The wife is not a slave or a maid,but she is to be in submission to herhusband, not with fear or as onewho gets yelled at whenever shemakes a mistake. She should nothave to give an account of everysingle move she makes. Thereshould be mutual trust between thehusband and the wife. The husbandshould have confidence in her thatshe wants what is best for the home.Love is caring. It is not "Do this" and"Do that" or "Fix me this" or "What'sthe matter with you, anyhow?"

I repeat, love is caring for oneanother as Christ cared for thechurch. True love is unbreakable.Genesis 2:24 reads, "Therefore shalla man leave his father and hismother, and shall cleave unto hiswife: and they shall be one flesh."You cannot separate Christ and the

church. Likewise, you cannot sepa-rate a husband and a wife whenthey truly love each other. When aman leaves his mother and father,he severs ties and starts his ownhome. To cleave is "to adhere closelyor loyally and unwaveringly." Thatis how strong love can be.

Spirituality Is Importantin the Home

The man should be the leader inthe home. Men are normally stron-ger, and they can do jobs that aremore strenuous. The wife is theweaker vessel. Wife, do you want toget your husband's attention? Thenyou must be the weaker vessel.

Some homes are completely outof the will of God, and that is not agood atmosphere for raising chil-dren or for living holy. Sometimes inthat home there is abuse of everykind. It is not always physical;sometimes that abuse is mental. Notall marriages are made in Heaven.

I still contend that God canbring saved couples together. Theydo not need someone to set it up forthem. We read in Genesis 2:22, "Andthe rib, which the LORD God hadtaken from man, made he a woman,and brought her unto the man." Toomany marriages are prearranged byothers who mean well. It may seemthat they are interested in the samethings, and their dispositions maybe similar, but notice that the Scrip-ture says that God brought thewoman to the man.

The number one concern of asaved brother choosing a wifeshould be this: Is she spiritual? Doesshe ever testify? Does she take partin the services? Does she talk aboutthe Lord or does she talk abouteverything else? The same is truewhen a woman chooses a husband.She should be asking: "Is he spiri-tual?" How well do you get alongwith each other? If you fight incourtship, it will not get better inmarriage. Does he work or is helazy? Does he overstep moral princi-ples? Does he take advantage ofyou? Can you be spiritual and still

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be around him? When you go outwith him and return home, do youfeel spiritual or do you feel as if youneed to confess and repent?

Colossians 3:18 reads, "Wives,submit yourselves unto your ownhusbands, as it is fit in the Lord." Itis not fit to compromise or overstepyour convictions. It is not fit to stayhome from the worship services justbecause he or she wants you to.

In our own home my wife wassaved before I was. I never wantedto stay home any other time, but Ialways made a point to ask her tostay home with me when there werechurch services. That is how thedevil used me. She was a newbornbabe, but that did not make anydifference. She went to church. Ithank God that she did. What doesthat show you? It shows who was onthe throne of her heart.

You should never compromiseyour stand for Truth to win someoneto Christ. You cannot win a personby compromising, but you can winthat one by staying true to God.Though the wife is to submit to herhusband, she still has One higher towhom she must submit, and that isthe Lord. Acts 5:29 states, "ThenPeter and the other apostles an-swered and said, We ought to obeyGod rather than men."

It is the duty of the husband andthe wife to go to the house of Godtogether. The wife should fix herselfup for her mate, and the husbandshould clean up for his wife. You donot have to be wealthy to buy soap.You can be poor and clean at thesame time. If you are poor, you donot have to dress sloppily or beunkempt, and you can be clean.

Raising a Family

Abraham is called the father ofthe faithful. His wife Sarah is calledthe mother of the submissive. FirstPeter 3:6 says, "Even as Sarah obey-ed Abraham, calling him lord:whose daughters ye are, as long asye do well, and are not afraid withany amazement." It is the duty of thewife to keep the house clean. If there

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SOMEONE HAS SAID:

The solution to the American family problems is

contained in one word—CHRIST.

CHRIST at the marriage altar.

CHRIST on the bridal journey,

CHRIST when the new home is set up,

CHRIST when the baby comes,

CHRIST in the pinching times,

CHRIST in the days of plenty,

CHRIST when the wedding pair walk toward

sunset gates,

CHRIST when one is taken home to Heaven and

the other one is left.

CHRIST in time; CHRIST in eternity.

THIS IS THE SECRET of a happy home life.

are children, she should keep thechildren clean and be a helpmeet toher husband. Raising children is afull-time job.

You may say, "Well, I just needto take a vacation from my chil-dren." They are going to be out ofthe home soon, and when they aregone, there are going to be days ofloneliness. There will be days thatyou will wish that one of themwould call or stop over to see you.You should not be in a hurry to getthem out of the home, to have themget a job, or to get them to go here orthere.

I love to have our children in thehome. I want to have a home whereour children want to come andwhere the grandchildren want tocome. Parent, God gave thosechildren to you to raise, and there isgoing to come a time when thechildren are going to be gone.

Raising a family is a greatresponsibility. Today many homesare in a sad state. They are out of theorder that God wants them to be. Ifthe wife runs the home, there isgoing to be contention. Anotherword for contention is quarrelingand strife. Proverbs 21:19 tells us, "Itis better to dwell in the wilderness[or in the desert], than with a con-tentious and an angry woman."Proverbs 27:15 says, "A continualdropping in a very rainy day and acontentious woman are alike." Prov-erbs 19:13 states, "A foolish son isthe calamity of his father: and thecontentions of a wife are a continualdropping."

Men can be contentious too.Proverbs 26:21 reads, "As coals areto burning coals, and wood to fire;so is a contentious man to kindlestrife." If a home is out of order, itwill bring chaos in a congregation.Contention travels from the home tothe congregation, and it zaps just aselectricity does. It travels from thehome to the worship services. Whenthere is arguing and fussing in thehome, there will be chaos in thecongregation. If you argue and fussin the home, and then argue andfuss in the automobile on the way to

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the service, that same spirit is boundto be in the worship service.

Is Your Home Out of Order?

If your home is in disarraybecause of someone being out of thewill of God, God will give grace tostand to the one who is not out oforder. When two people profess tobe saved, God is displeased withwrangling and jangling and fussingand fighting in the home. You can-not just shut it off when you walkthrough the church doors. What youare in the walls of your home iswhat you are in the worship ser-vices. A contentious man stirs upstrife.

The oneness of the church startswithin the walls of your home. Howcan you enjoy the things of God andthe preaching of God's Word whenthere is a breach between you andyour companion? You cannot do it.If you both are professing salvationand there is disarray in your home,God can help you to get it straight-ened out. He is not against you. Godwants to help your home, and He isreaching out to you. If you willhumble yourself, He will help you.The Lord helped my home, and Heknows how to help your home too.He knows more about having a

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home that is free from contentionand strife than all the books thathave been written on the subject.Also, He knows more about raisingchildren and having a good homethan all the books you can find onthis topic.

The devil is bidding high foryour home. When the devil waswalking about seeking whom hemight devour in Job's day, he madea visit to Job. Why? He wanted thatperfect one, that one who eschewedevil and lived a good life.

If you need help, the first step inreceiving help is to be honest. Ifyour home is out of order, then theLord is more than able to put it inorder. God loves you, and He ismore concerned about your homethan you are. God will work withyou if you will let Him.

God wants your home to be thebest home possible. He cares foryou, and He cares about the state ofyour home. He does not want theorder of your home turned topsy-turvy. He does not want the wiferunning the home. He wants theman to take charge of the homeand to love His wife according to theScriptures.

(Com pact Disc TR-226E)

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Brother Paul

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee andthe woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shallbruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiplythy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bringforth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, andhe shall rule over thee.

Prinkey

Consider Jesus

Many people give littleconsideration to Jesus Christ, Hisdeath, His burial, and His resurrec-tion. I want to draw your attentionto where the prophesies of Christbegin in the Holy Scriptures. Godfirst spoke of how the seed of thewoman would bruise the head of theserpent and of how the serpentwould bruise His heel. That seed isJesus Christ. In 1 John 3:8 John said,"He that committeth sin is of thedevil; for the devil sinneth from thebeginning. For this purpose the Sonof God was manifested, that hemight destroy the works of thedevil."

I want you to consider thepurpose of Christ's first coming.

Many people think the story ofChrist's birth, crucifixion, burial,and resurrection is merely a story toentertain, but there is a vital reasonbehind it all. I thank God that JesusChrist came. The Bible reiteratesitself many times and proves thatJesus Christ had a serious purposefor coming to this earth, and thatwas to destroy the works of thedevil.

Before Jesus Christ came into mylife, the devil was having a heyday,but I thank God that when JesusChrist came on the scene, thingschanged. That is the way it is sup-posed to work. Jesus changed mylife, and I am not the same person Iused to be. I appreciate the Gospelmessage that I was privileged tohear, and I am glad for the Holy

• April 2009

Spirit of God that convicted myheart. However, it was Jesus Christwho paid me a visit one day.

There is a crossroad that weeach come to in our lives. JesusChrist will knock at your heart'sdoor, and He will pay you a visit.We read in Hebrews 2:14, speakingof Christ, "Forasmuch then as thechildren are partakers of flesh andblood, he also himself likewise tookpart of the same; that through deathhe might destroy him that had thepower of death, that is, the devil."Jesus Christ came on the scene andmade powerless the works of thedevil to those who will believe Himand receive Him. Christ destroyedthe effects of the devil. Time will notpermit me to go through the OldTestament Scriptures to relate to you

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the many prophecies concerningChrist, but I want you to look at afew verses in the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 53:1-6 reads: "Who hathbelieved our report? and to whom isthe arm of the LORD revealed? Forhe shall grow up before him as atender plant, and as a root out of adry ground: he hath no form norcomeliness; and when we shall seehim, there is no beauty that weshould desire him. He is despisedand rejected of men; a man of sor-rows, and acquainted with grief:and we hid as it were our faces fromhim; he was despised, and we es-teemed him not. Surely he hathborne our griefs, and carried oursorrows: yet we did esteem himstricken, smitten of God, and af-flicted. But he was wounded for ourtransgressions, he was bruised forour iniquities: the chastisement ofour peace was upon him; and withhis stripes we are healed. All we likesheep have gone astray; we haveturned every one to his own way;and the LORD hath laid on him theiniquity of us all."

The latter part of this chapterspeaks much about Christ throughthe prophecies that were given byIsaiah. Isaiah did not paint a prettypicture of Jesus. He said there wasno comeliness about Him that weshould desire Him. I have oftenwondered why so many peoplehave attempted to paint a portrait ofJesus. There is only one Jesus, yetthere are many different pictures ofHim. In all the pictures that I haveseen of Jesus Christ, the artists por-tray a handsome man with a fullhead of hair, a beautifully trimmedbeard, and nice clothes.

Isaiah did not paint that kind ofpicture of Jesus. He said there wasno comeliness about Him that weshould desire Him. In other words,nothing about Christ would drawyour attention to Him by His physi-cal appearance. Concerning theoutward man, the most attractivething that Jesus had was the seam-less robe that He wore. It was themost prized possession that He had.They crucified Jesus and hung Him

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on the Cross, and they cast lots forHis robe. He was not a man that onewould look at and say, "He is a fine-looking man."

Again, Isaiah said in verse 3 that"He is despised and rejected of men;a man of sorrows, and acquaintedwith grief: and we hid as it were ourfaces from him." As long as Peterwas walking with Christ as one ofHis disciples, he loved Christ, butwhat happened when he stood withthose who were afar off? He hid, asit were, his face from Jesus Christ.Someone asked Peter, "Are you notone of His disciples?"

He answered, "No, I do notknow the man." When Peter deniedChrist, shame gripped him. He didknow Jesus, but he was afraid andashamed to admit it.

"A Light to Lighten the Gentiles"

Another prophesy concerningJesus Christ is found in Matthew1:20-23, which states: "But while hethought on these things, behold, theangel of the Lord appeared untohim in a dream, saying, Joseph, thouson of David, fear not to take untothee Mary thy wife: for that which isconceived in her is of the HolyGhost. And she shall bring forth ason, and thou shalt call his nameJESUS: for he shall save his peoplefrom their sins. Now all this wasdone, that it might be fulfilled whichwas spoken of the Lord by theprophet, saying, Behold, a virginshall be with child, and shall bringforth a son, and they shall call hisname Emmanuel, which beinginterpreted is, God with us."

The angel gave Joseph, thesoon-to-be husband of Mary, someconsolation concerning what wastaking place. He gave prophecy toJoseph about who this Son wouldbe, who He would become, and theimpact that He would have onmankind. This was the Messiah forwhom the Jews were looking. Forapproximately four hundred years,from the time of Malachi of the OldTestament until the ministry ofJesus, darkness reigned. The light

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was not shining, and there was noopen vision before the people. Theywere awaiting the arrival of theMessiah. Joseph received word fromthe angel concerning what was totake place with Jesus Christ.

After Jesus was born, Mary andJoseph took Him to the temple. Luke2:25-35 reads: "And, behold, therewas a man in Jerusalem, whosename was Simeon; and the sameman was just and devout, waitingfor the consolation of Israel: and theHoly Ghost was upon him. And itwas revealed unto him by the HolyGhost, that he should not see death,before he had seen the Lord's Christ.And he came by the Spirit into thetemple: and when the parentsbrought in the child Jesus, to do forhim after the custom of the law,Then took he him up in his arms,and blessed God, and said, Lord,now lettest thou thy servant departin peace, according to thy word: Formine eyes have seen thy salvation,Which thou hast prepared before theface of all people; A light to lightenthe Gentiles, and the glory of thypeople Israel.

"And Joseph and his mothermarvelled at those things whichwere spoken of him. And Simeonblessed them, and said unto Maryhis mother, Behold, this child is setfor the fall and rising again of manyin Israel; and for a sign which shallbe spoken against; (Yea, a swordshall pierce through thy own soulalso,) that the thoughts of manyhearts may be revealed."

A priest in the temple gave aprophecy of Christ concerning somethings to take place in His life. Jesuscame to save His own people, as theangel had prophesied to Joseph, butSimeon took it a step further andsaid that Christ would be "a light tolighten the Gentiles, and the glory ofthy people Israel." Simeon made itevident that the Gentile nationswere also going to be enlightened byJesus Christ. This was somethingthat was largely rejected and unac-cepted by the Jews. They did notwant to accept this truth becausethey wanted nothing to do with the

Gentiles. Before Jesus Christ beganHis ministry, Simeon made a proph-ecy that Jesus Christ would be thelight to enlighten the Gentilenations.

You may wonder, "What kind ofrejoicing should be in that?" Well,most of us are Gentiles. Had it notbeen the purpose of Christ to en-lighten the Gentile nations, you andI would have been shut out fromGod's blessings. It is marvelous thatGod opened the windows of Heavenand poured out a blessing on allmankind, not just on a chosen na-tion. Jesus said in John 10:16, "Andother sheep I have, which are not ofthis fold: them also I must bring,and they shall hear my voice; andthere shall be one fold, and oneshepherd." Of whom was He speak-ing? He was speaking of the Gentilenations.

What happened when Peterreceived a vision at Simon the tan-ner's house? He went up on thehousetop to pray, and God gave hima vision. The Bible says he fell into atrance, and he saw a sheet let downfrom heaven, wherein were cleanand unclean animals. A voice toldPeter, "Rise, Peter; kill, and eat"(Acts 10:13). Peter said, "Not so,Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean"(verse 14). The voice said, "WhatGod hath cleansed, that call not thoucommon" (verse 15).

God revealed the vision to Peterthree times before he came to therealization that God was workingsomething, and he gave up his Jew-ish prejudice. Soon there was aknock at the door, and when Simonthe tanner answered, servants fromCornelius' house asked if Peter wasthere. They said they were sent byCornelius, whom God had givendirection that they should take Peterback to Cornelius' house.

God had already prepared Pe-ter, so he went away with them. AtCornelius' house, what happened?Peter preached a message to peoplewho were not recognized by theJewish nation as being the chosenpeople of God. When he preached

the message, the Holy Spirit of Godfell on them just as He had the Jewsat Jerusalem. Peter perceived thatGod was going to bless the Gentilesjust as He had the Jews. The blessingfell on all who accepted Jesus Christ.The door was opened, and JesusChrist began to gather in othersheep that were not of the fold. Thisis part of the purpose of Jesus Christ.

Salvation Is Open to All

Luke 11:29-30 says: "And whenthe people were gathered thick to-gether, he began to say, This is anevil generation: they seek a sign;and there shall no sign be given it,but the sign of Jonas the prophet.For as Jonas was a sign unto theNinevites, so shall also the Son ofman be to this generation." Hereagain we find the purpose of Christ.He said a sign would be given. Theonly sign to be given was that ofJonas (or Jonah). Jesus said it was anevil generation that wanted a signfrom Him to prove that He is theSon of God. He said the only signthat would be given was that ofJonah.

That went against the grain, soto speak, of the Jewish nation. Why?Jonah was a Jew, or of the chosennation of Israel, who was sent byGod to preach the message of repen-tance to the Gentiles. Destructionwas at hand for a Gentile nation, theNinevites. They were not part of thechosen nation, Israel. When the Jewsheard Jesus speak this, no doubt itcaused many of them to becomeangry with Him. Why? BecauseJesus said it was the only sign thatwould be given.

You can read more about this inMatthew 12:40, where Jesus said,"For as Jonas was three days andthree nights in the whale's belly; soshall the Son of man be three daysand three nights in the heart of theearth." What did He do? He laid Hisbody down in death on the Cross,but three days later He rose from thegrave. When Jesus hung on theCross and died, the devil thought hehad won the battle.

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As the Jews looked on the tem-ple, do you remember what Jesussaid? He said, "Destroy this temple,and in three days I will raise it up"(John 2:19). It took forty-six years tobuild the literal temple, but they didnot understand what He was speak-ing of. He was speaking of His phys-ical body. In three days He aroseand came out of the tomb victori-ously! The devil did not have thevictory that he thought he had. Jesushad victory over death, hell, and thegrave. The devil was defeated.

As Jonah was in the belly of thefish for three days, likewise, Jesuswas in the tomb three days, but Hearose. What happened after Jonahcame out of the fish's belly? He tookthe message to the Gentile nations.What happened after Jesus Christrose from the dead? It was not longuntil Peter went down to Cornelius'house to deliver a message to theGentiles.

After the Apostle Paul wasconverted, his name was changedfrom Saul to Paul. God raised himup to minister to the Gentile nations.Paul went around raising up newcongregations. Many people werebeing saved and filled with the HolyGhost. Congregations were estab-lished and pastors were appointed.What a great ministry Paul per-formed!

The Jewish nation rejectedChrist. John 1:11-12 tells us thatChrist was sent to "his own, and hisown received him not. But as manyas received him, to them gave hepower to become the sons of God,even to them that believe on hisname." There was no longer anydistinction between the Jews and theGentiles. God opened up salvationto all. Jesus said in the latter part ofRevelation 22:17, "And whosoeverwill, let him take the water of lifefreely." I thank God for that!

Giving Heed to theMessage of Christ

Jesus said in John 3:14-19: "Andas Moses lifted up the serpent in thewilderness, even so must the Son of

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man be lifted up: That whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish,but have eternal life. For God soloved the world, that he gave hisonly begotten Son, that whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish,but have everlasting life. For Godsent not his Son into the world tocondemn the world; but that theworld through him might be saved.He that believeth on him is not con-demned: but he that believeth not iscondemned already, because hehath not believed in the name of theonly begotten Son of God. And thisis the condemnation, that light iscome into the world, and men loveddarkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil."

What do we find in these versesabout Christ? We find the reasonthat God sent Jesus to the earth. Wealso find something else. JesusChrist was not sent to earth to bringcondemnation to mankind. You mayask, "Then why does the sinner havecondemnation?" Well, He explainedthat people loved darkness ratherthan light. It is the same in our age.Today people love darkness ratherthan light. This is the reason con-demnation came. People love theirevil deeds. They are partaking ofand finding pleasure in sinful thingsrather than believing in the LordJesus Christ; therefore, they havecondemnation. They are livingagainst what God has purposed andplanned for mankind. He neverintended for men to throw awaytheir lives in sin. God's Son wassent so that whoever believes inHim should not perish but haveeverlasting life.

Jesus said in John 10:10, "Thethief cometh not, but for to steal, andto kill, and to destroy: I am comethat they might have life, and thatthey might have it more abun-dantly." Many people are alivephysically, but they are not reallyalive to God. Spiritually, they aredead. Is that God's purpose? No, it isnot. Is that God's plan? No. Godmade it clear through Jesus Christthat all who would accept Him andbelieve in Him would have eternal

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life. God never intended for man-kind to be condemned by the com-ing of Jesus Christ. You will find asyou study Christ's life and readthrough the Gospels that only thosewho rejected Christ, only those whoopposed Him, only those who dis-agreed with Him fell under condem-nation. They also suffered the judg-ments and the punishments of God.

Those who believed and gaveheed to the message of Christ wereblessed. Many times the Jews tempt-ed Christ and tried to ensnare Him,but He turned it right back on themand they left angrily. It still worksthe same way today. When youwitness to people about Christ, itdepends on how they receive it as tohow they go away from you. I havetalked to some people who havegiven serious consideration to theGospel and pondered it. They heardsome things that caused them tothink. Some people do not like whatthey hear and walk away angry andupset, but thank God others haveaccepted the Truth and have gottensaved, and they are being blessedtoday. I repeat, it depends on howyou receive the Word as to how yougo away.

Christ Gives the Invitation,But the Choice Is Yours

Jesus Christ has already paid theprice. The opportunity is availablefor you today. You do not knowhow much time you have left hereon earth, but even at the longest,life is very short. You should honorChrist, honor the life that He livedand honor His death, resurrection,and ascension. He is reigning today.You can honor Him by giving yourlife to Him. You may sit in a pewsometimes and say, "My, it is aw-fully uncomfortable here." It doesnot have to be that way. Churchcan be your favorite place to go.If you let Christ into your life, youwill see the difference that He canmake. Do you know what Paul saidin Romans 8:1-2? He said, "Thereis therefore now no condemnationto them which are in Christ Jesus,

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who walk not after the flesh, butafter the Spirit. For the law of theSpirit of life in Christ Jesus hathmade me free from the law of sinand death." Everything changed!What happened? Christ came intohis life.

I am not the same person that Iused to be. There was a time whenI would find a door to go out as soonas the church service ended so that Idid not have to pass by the preacher.I did not want to shake his hand.That changed when I got saved; thenI found myself staying longer afterthe services because I enjoyed beingaround the people of God. The Lordchanged my likes and dislikes whenI let Jesus Christ in. Thank God, I donot have any condemnation nowsince Christ is in my life. Why? I donot walk after the flesh anymore; Iwalk after the Spirit. One song says:"A resurrection I confess has taken placewithin my breast."

In Luke 9:51-56 we read: "And itcame to pass, when the time wascome that he should be received up,he stedfastly set his face to go toJerusalem, And sent messengersbefore his face: and they went, andentered into a village of the Samari-tans, to make ready for him. Andthey did not receive him, becausehis face was as though he would goto Jerusalem. And when his disci-ples James and John saw this, theysaid, Lord, wilt thou that we com-mand fire to come down from heav-en, and consume them, even as Eliasdid? But he turned, and rebukedthem, and said, Ye know not whatmanner of spirit ye are of. For theSon of man is not come to destroymen’s lives, but to save them. Andthey went to another village."

This is typical of Christ'scharacter. If someone will not letHim into his or her life, He will notforce Himself on anyone. He justpasses by to someone who will re-ceive Him. James and John wereupset because those people wouldnot accept Jesus Christ. In essence,they said, "Lord, do You want us tocall fire down from heaven to con-sume them?" You may think the

disciples could not have done that,but I believe they could have. WhenJesus called the seventy, He gavepower to them and commissionedthem to preach the Gospel, and Hegave them power to heal the sick,raise the dead, make the lame towalk, and cast out devils. They hadpower to do all those things. Jesusgave them that power, and He nevertook it back.

James and John rememberedwhat happened with the ProphetElijah in 2 Kings, Chapter 1, whenthe enemies came by groups of fiftyto capture him. The Prophet Elijahjust waited until they were closeenough, and then he called downfire from Heaven, and it consumedthem. The king sent out anotherfifty, and Elijah called fire downfrom Heaven again, and it con-sumed them. They could not captureElijah. When the disciples recalledthat, they thought they would justtake care of those people.

Christ said, in so many words,"You do not know what spirit youhave. That is not My purpose. I didnot come to destroy lives. I came tosave them."

If people do not accept the Lord,He will not force Himself on them.He will not destroy them. He is agentleman. Christ will not forceHimself on you. I read the Scrip-tures how He walked by the shoresof Galilee and called Peter who wasin his boat mending his nets. Hesaid, "Peter, come and follow Me,and I will make you a fisher ofmen." He did not stop walking. Hecame to another ship, and there wasZebedee with James and John. Hesaid, "Come and follow Me, and Iwill make you fishers of men," andHe kept walking. He did not stopand plead with them.

Christ gives the invitation, butthe choice is yours. Through JesusChrist, the invitation is wide open.God will not reject anyone whocomes to Him, and He will not forceanyone to come. No preacher canforce you to be a Christian. A manof God can offer the Gospel toyou and plead with you because

he wants to see you get savedand be blessed of God, but no onecan force you. The choice is yours.

Reconciliation With God

As the ministry, we are ambas-sadors of Jesus Christ. We stand inHis stead, asking you to come andbe saved and be a part of the familyof God. This was the way theyworked in the morning-time church.Peter said in Acts 2:29-44: "Men andbrethren, let me freely speak untoyou of the patriarch David, that he isboth dead and buried, and his sep-ulchre is with us unto this day.Therefore being a prophet, andknowing that God had sworn withan oath to him, that of the fruit of hisloins, according to the flesh, hewould raise up Christ to sit on histhrone; He seeing this before spakeof the resurrection of Christ, that hissoul was not left in hell, neither hisflesh did see corruption. This Jesushath God raised up, whereof we allare witnesses. Therefore being bythe right hand of God exalted, andhaving received of the Father thepromise of the Holy Ghost, he hathshed forth this, which ye now seeand hear.

"For David is not ascended intothe heavens: but he saith himself,The LORD said unto my Lord, Sitthou on my right hand, Until I makethy foes thy footstool. Therefore letall the house of Israel know assur-edly, that God hath made that sameJesus, whom ye have crucified, bothLord and Christ. Now when theyheard this, they were pricked intheir heart, and said unto Peter andto the rest of the apostles, Men andbrethren, what shall we do? ThenPeter said unto them, Repent, andbe baptized every one of you in thename of Jesus Christ for the remis-sion of sins, and ye shall receive thegift of the Holy Ghost. For the prom-ise is unto you, and to your children,and to all that are afar off, even asmany as the Lord our God shall call.

"And with many other wordsdid he testify and exhort, saying,Save yourselves from this untoward

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generation. Then they that gladlyreceived his word were baptized:and the same day there were addedunto them about three thousandsouls. And they continued stedfastlyin the apostles’ doctrine and fellow-ship, and in breaking of bread, andin prayers. And fear came uponevery soul: and many wonders andsigns were done by the apostles.And all that believed were together,and had all things common."

There was never a messagepreached like this before. There wasnever an easier way made manifestto reach the throne of God. Jesustold the disciples in John 14:12, "Theworks that I do shall he do also; andgreater works than these shall hedo." This was a greater work thatPeter did on the Day of Pentecost.

Jesus did many great works, soyou may wonder how Peter coulddo greater works. Remember whathappened during Jesus' ministry?Thousands flocked to Him and fol-lowed Him. What happened whenJesus was taken captive? Everyoneforsook Him. After He came forthfrom the tomb, we find that Hegathered with some of the disciplesand believers in different places, butthe time came when He ascendedinto the heavens. First Corinthians15:6 says that He was seen of aboutfive hundred at once at Bethany.That is a very small number com-pared to the five thousand, pluswomen and children, that sat on theground while He fed them theloaves and the fish. Later Heascended up into Heaven.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peterpreached and the Holy Ghost fell onthree thousand souls, and they wereadded to the church. They did notwander away and leave. They ac-cepted the plan that was manifestedby Peter through his preaching. Thepurpose of Christ was being ful-filled. How? Lives were being re-generated. They were brought toreconciliation with God. In otherwords, they were brought back intoright standing with the HeavenlyFather. Conviction came on them,and salvation came into their lives.

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When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous Cross,

On which the Prince of glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

Save in the death of Christ, my God;

All the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e 'er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were a present far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine,

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts

Be Resurrected to Newness of Life

Again, Acts 2:37-38 states:"Now when they heard this, theywere pricked in their heart, andsaid . . . Men and brethren, whatshall we do? Then Peter said untothem, Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of JesusChrist for the remission of sins. . . ."This same message is beingpreached today; it has not changed.If you will repent and believe on theLord Jesus Christ, you will be saved.

The way has been mademanifest, and the purpose of Christhas been revealed. What is Christ'spurpose? It is to see all mankindbrought back to God. I repeat, Hedid not come to condemn the world.It is not Christ's desire that you livein condemnation. He came so thatthe world through Him might besaved. In Acts 4:12 Peter said,"Neither is there salvation in anyother: for there is none other nameunder heaven given among men,whereby we must be saved." Noother name has been given. This isthe way that God has prepared.

Will you accept Christ? Will youaccept His offering? He is still send-ing out the call. There is no otherway to get this salvation butthrough Jesus Christ. Sometimespeople do good works to try toredeem themselves, but it does notwork that way. Salvation does notcome by doing good works. Sal-vation comes when you humbleyourself to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have found Christ to be veryreal in my own life because I hum-bled myself at an altar of prayer andadmitted to God that I was a sinnerand that I needed salvation. I askedGod to forgive me, and salvationcame into my life. God will do thesame for you if you will humbleyourself before Him. He will openthe windows of Heaven and pourout a blessing upon you. How? Hewill do it through salvation.

God will make you a newcreature. You may not think you cando it, and I would have to agree.You cannot do it in your own

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strength, but if you will let Godcome into your life, He will helpyou. No man can bend over and gethold of his own bootstraps and pullhimself up. It takes God to lift youup out of sin and give you salvation.Will you accept Him? Will you lis-ten to God and yield yourself toHim?

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A resurrection can take place inyour life today. If you will openyour heart's door, He will resurrectyou to newness of life. Words couldnot express your joy if you would letGod into your life today.

(Com pact Disc TR-062)

The degree of our spiritualvigor will be in direct

proportion to the time wespend in God's Word.

Stephen Grellet believed thatthose who love God cancount on His direction in

all that they do. One day as he wentquietly about his work, a convictiongrew in his mind that he should goand preach to the men in a certainlumber camp. The camp was a longway off and the ride would be diffi-cult. Mr. Grellet could not think ofa good reason that he should setoff on such an errand, but he wasquite sure that God was makingthis plan for him. Therefore, forStephen Grellet, there was noquestion of good reasons. Godpointed the way, and he couldonly obey.

Folks said he was going on awild goose chase; nevertheless, heset off on his long journey. Near-ing his destination, he thought tohimself, "Soon I shall see thesmoke curling from the cookingfires," but he saw no smoke. Herode nearer. "Soon I shall thesound of axes and the scream ofsaws through the timber," hethought, but he heard nothing.When he rode around the lastbend of the trail, he saw the campclearing was empty.

Mr. Grellet stood very stilland thought, "Have I come to thewrong camp? No, God would notmisguide me! Then could it be thatI was mistaken and was the voicethat set me in my way a mockery?No, never has God let His servantsbe thus mocked! I will wait now,and ask Him to show me what Hewould have me do."

So Stephen Grellet waited in thedeserted clearing. He waited forGod to speak to him. Almost asclearly as if a voice spoke, he heardGod's message: "Preach." Hepushed open the door of the bigshed, where two hundred men had

once gathered for their meals, andwalked in. He faced its emptiness."Friends," he said aloud, "I havecome to you with a message fromGod." At first, it was difficult tospeak to the emptiness. He couldnot help feeling as though he werea fool, but as he spoke about Godand His love, he forgot himself and

preached as he had never preachedbefore. When he had finishedpreaching to nobody, StephenGrellet started on the homewardtrail, serene and happy that he hadobeyed God.

Years passed by and businesstook Grellet to London. He wasgoing over the London Bridge oneday when a man spoke to him."There you are! I've found you atlast!"

Mr. Grellet turned. He hadnever seen the speaker before. "Ithink there is a mistake, my friend."

"There is no mistake," the

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stranger said, "I've looked for youhalf around the world, and I'drecognize you anywhere. I owe youeverything, sir."

"How is that, my friend?" askedMr. Grellet.

"I'll tell you," said the man. "Iused to be a foreman of a lumbergang. Once, many years ago, I hadto go back to a clearing which wehad abandoned to find somethingthat I had left behind. When I gotthere, I heard a voice, and therewas someone speaking in theempty dining hut. I listened, and itwas wonderful! It just fitted mesomehow. I slunk away before theman came out, and he had no ideathat I was there. I could not forgetwhat he had said, and when I fi-nally found a Bible, I read it andbelieved its teaching. Then I want-ed the other men to believe too. Italked to them, and one day awhole group of us got down onour knees and asked God to saveus and make us better men."

The stranger went on, "Youthought you were preaching tonobody, sir, but it was the Word ofGod that you spoke, and it foundme. Three of those men to whom Ilater spoke are now missionaries.

We are all so glad that you did theLord's work well, and that youwere brave enough to preach tonobody."

Selected

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The Best Way

"But, Father, it's not wrong.""No," said the man slowly, "It's

not wrong—not wrong.""Then I may go!" exclaimed the

boy, happily. "It will be loads offun!"

"Son, you are old enough todecide for yourself, and I won't sayyou may or may not go. I wouldrather leave the decision entirelywith you."

"But you don't want me to go?"said the boy reluctantly.

"You've heard my objections,but as you say, it's not wrong, andyou are to decide for yourself."

"I wish you would not put it thatway. I want to go so much; it will besuch a jolly crowd, and they willhave a splendid time. Please say youthink it will be all right."

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Cruelty to animals is always the sign

mind, whereas we invariably find really grea

by their humanity.

I remember having read a beauti

Zinzendorf when a boy. He was a great Ger

to do much good in the world.

One day, when he was playing near t

which flowed outside the walls of a castle

espied a dove struggling in the water. By so

little creature had fallen into the river and wa

The little Count immediately rolled a large

been left near, to the water's edge, jumped

generally very timid on the water, by the

"Son, I don't want to preach toyou, and I won't prejudice you inyour decision, but I want to remindyou of one thing. This is not a ques-tion of good or bad; it is a decisionbetween good and the best. If it wasthe question of right or wrong, Iknow you would not hesitate. Infact, I think there would only be alittle temptation for you. It is inchoosing the best that the test co-mes.

"So many of us are satisfied ifwe just crawl out of the muck ofwrong and don't try to climb up thehills of better and best. The world,as a rule, is satisfied with the merelygood. So the sacrifice, for choosingthe best, it usually seems necessarywe must make. Every time you havea chance to choose, and you choose

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The Count and the Dove

of a mean and little

t men distinguished

ful story of Count

man noble and lived

he banks of a river,

where he lived, he

me means the poor

s unable to escape.

washtub, which had

into it, and though

aid of a stick, he

managed to steer him

dove lay floating and

guided the tub back,

little captive tenderly

and set it free. His m

action in trembling an

out.

"Were you afraid

"Yes, I was, rath

it should die so. Yo

been watching for it

the best, your character grows alittle stronger, purer, and higher.When you decide that the merelygood is sufficient, your charactersoftens a little.

"Sometimes men are madefamous in a moment by the hardchoice of the best. Famous men havebeen ruined by failing to take thehighest way. The law may make youchoose the good, but only with thehelp of God can you choose thebest."

There was silence in the roomfor a few minutes, and then the boyheard the shrill whistle of his chumand hurried to answer it. The mansat and wondered, and soon the boyreturned; he did not go.

Selected

self across the river to the place where the

struggling. With the bird in his arms, he

and got safely to land. After warming his

in his bosom, he ran with it into the woods

other, who had watched the whole trans-

xiety from her bedroom window, now came

?" she asked.

er," he answered, "but I could not bear that

u know mother, its little ones might have

to come home!"

Author Unknown

Luke 18:15 And they brought untohim also infants, that he would touchthem: but when his disciples saw it,they rebuked them.

16 But Jesus called them unto him,and said, Suffer little children to comeunto me, and forbid them not: for ofsuch is the kingdom of God.

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Brother Leamon Whitehead

17 Verily I say unto you, Whoso-ever shall not receive the kingdom ofGod as a little child shall in no wiseenter therein.

Neglecting the Needful Things

I believe we need to be moresolemn about serving God andreally listen to what He has to say.You see, in the busy hustle andbustle of life, you need to slowdown and listen to what God has tosay. Friend, we only have a fewdays to sojourn here, and soon itwill be over. Of all the accomplish-ments that we make in life, onlythose things that we have done forGod are going to be worth anything;those are the only things that willlast.

Satan would like to get us sobusy in living, going to and fro, thatwe neglect the needful things. TheBible says it is going to be as it wasin the days of Noah at the SecondComing of the Son of Man. People

will be going right on with everydayliving. The enemy of souls does notwant you to stop and take note ofhow late it is in life and what is go-ing on and what will befall you atthe end of the way. I trust that youwill give your attention to God.

Satan is doing his best to try toget young people to go out into theworld and give their youth and theirstrength to the devil. I believe thatthe devil laughs a little harder whenhe can take a precious young soulwho has been cradled around thechurch and has heard the Truth. Thedevil enjoys that in a greater waywhen he can get that soul to go outinto the world and say no to God.The Bible lets you know that whenyou have been exposed to the Truth,you are not just going to go throughlife and not give an account for what

has gone on. You will have to givean account for the opportunities thatyou have had, for those opportuni-ties that you have let slip by, and forthose opportunities that you haveplayed around with.

Many people have neverstopped at a Church of God to hearthe message, but they will have togive an account at the Judgment forthe opportunities they could havehad. They could have rejoiced andenjoyed the good things of God, butthey chose to go on their way in sin.As long as the prodigal son hadmoney, he had friends. As long ashe was having a good time and theparty kept going, he never came tohimself. However, when he ran outof money, and he got right down tothe bottom and began to think abouthis condition, he came to himself.

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He had time to think of how poorand how down and out he was, allbecause he chose to leave his father'shouse.

The good thing about the storyof the prodigal son is that he came tohimself. In essence, he said: "I knowwhat I am going to do. I am going togo back to my father's house and tellhim how sorry I am." Thank God, ifyou are away from Father's house, ifyou will come to yourself, God iswaiting on you, friend. He wants totake you back, clothe you, feed you,and kill a fatted calf for you.

Serving God Really Pays

Some people have the opinionthere is a great difference betweenthe older folks and the youngerfolks, but this salvation is for every-one. God has just one salvation; Hedoes not have one for the young, onefor the middle-aged, and one for theelderly. There is only one way, andit will suit you to a tee. Your agedoes not have anything to do with it.

What is needful is for you to getto God, to be a vessel for Him, andto give your life to Him so that youwill have an experience that willmake you happy. Then you canrejoice and shout the victory right ondown through life. Sometimes fa-thers and mothers are tempted to letdown a little on the children andthink it is going to take somethingdifferent for them. I want to showyou by the Word of God that Godneeds you and wants you. It doesnot matter if you are a youngperson. God has a job for you to do.He wants to use you in the work ofGod.

It is only a trick of Satan to getyou to put off salvation and wait fora more convenient time. You maythink that when you are a little old-er, you will serve God. I want you toknow that it will never be any easierfor you to serve God than it is rightnow, because another day in sincould put you into a bondage thatyou have never dreamed of. It couldput you in such a position that itwould seem almost impossible for

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you to get to God. The devil hasplaced the thought in people'sminds that there is always time toserve God. He may give you anotheropportunity, but you may be in sucha condition that you cannot find thegrace and the strength and the confi-dence to live for Him. The devilwants precious young people to goout in the world and seek a compan-ion. Young person, suppose you goout into the world and find a com-panion and get married; then theLord speaks to your heart and youdecide to serve God. What if theperson to whom you are marrieddoes not care anything about Godand the things of God? That couldbe a thorn in your side all the daysof your life.

I can speak to you fromexperience that serving God reallypays. Serving God is the best way. Itis best to get hold of God while youare young and while you have anopportunity, while you have yourlife ahead of you. I can testify to thatfrom the Word of God and frompersonal experience. It pays to serveGod. I have witnessed the manydifferent conditions and circum-stances that precious young peoplehave gotten into later in life. Theywere innocent when they first wentout into the world, but they gotthemselves into all kinds of troublesand problems, and then they want-ed to serve God, but they gotbogged down with troubles on ev-ery hand. It did not have to be thatway.

God has one standard, and itwill fit all ages. Anyone who willreally get an experience with Godcan have the joy and the peace andthe satisfaction of living for Godregardless of his or her age. Thedevil has gotten some people tothink that they need to split the wor-ship service so that they can getdown on the level with the youngpeople and have something differ-ent for them. Friend, we do not needto have something different for theyoung people. Salvation is the samefor all. We need to just preach theTruth. Fathers and mothers ought to

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hold the standard of Truth in thehome and be what God wants themto be and let the young people knowthere is only one way.

Keeping Your Integrity

I want to give you a fewexamples of young people whomGod used throughout the Bible. Youdo not have to be almost ready forthe grave to serve God. You canserve Him while you are young, andHe will be real to you. Salvation canbe real to you, and you will be gladto turn from the world. You cancommune with God and have thatsweet fellowship with Him in yoursoul.

In the Old Testament you canread about a young lad namedJoseph. The Bible lets us know inGenesis 37:2 that Joseph was seven-teen years old when God began touse him. That is a young age, an agewhen the devil would like to con-quer young people and get them torebel against their Christian heri-tage, rebel against their parents,rebel against the pastor, and then goout in the world. God began tospeak to Joseph, and he had greatrespect for God and God's way. Hemight not have understood a lot, butat seventeen years of age, God usedhim in a mighty way.

You can check the record all theway down through his life, and youwill find that he never lost his integ-rity. He stayed true to God evenwhen he was sold as a slave andwas taken down to Egypt. In EgyptPotiphar's wife tried to bring himdown, but he said in Genesis 39:9,". . . how then can I do this greatwickedness, and sin against God?"She caught him by his coat, so heleft it and ran outside. He still hadthe love of God in his heart, and hepurposed in his heart that he wasgoing to be true to God.

Young person, you can keepyour integrity just as Joseph did.God needs you, and He is calling foryou. If you will just turn from yourhardheartedness and surrender toGod, you do not know what He can

do with you. It is hard to tell whatHe could do if you would justsurrender.

Joseph was a bright young man,and God had something great instore for him. He has something instore for you too, but He cannot useyou unless you turn yourself over toHim. You should not resist Him.You need to receive Him into yourheart and life. The Lord wants youto understand this: you do not haveto wait to serve Him. Some peopleare under the impression that theyhave to go out into the world andtaste of sin to really have a testi-mony of thanks to God for what Hehas done. Let me assure you, that isa lie from the devil, a trick of theenemy. My friend, it is just as greata testimony to be saved from a lifeof sin and never ruin yourself as it isfor people to stand and say, "I thankGod for saving me from drugs andalcohol" or "I thank God that Hesaved me from this and that." Youcan rise to your feet and say, "Gloryto God! I am glad that He kept mefrom going out into sin!"

I got saved when I was fifteenyears of age. I can shout and praiseGod because He kept me from a lotof things that I would have gotteninvolved in had I not gotten savedwhen I did. Some people can testifythat God has healed them of canceror many bad diseases, but do not letthe devil press you down becauseyou never had those things and donot have that testimony. You havejust as great a testimony as theyhave, because thank God, He haskept you from that.

No Pleasure in the Reaping

One of the great differencesbetween the individuals who wentout in deep sin and the individualswho never got very far out is thatthose who went deep in sin stillhave scars and perhaps still havesome things they are struggling within their lives. I heard dear BrotherE. A. Wilson say one time, "Right inthe height of my rejoicing and prais-ing God, the devil tries to bring up

my past, those old things that I haddone." If you never go out in theworld, the devil will never be ableto drag that through your mind andspoil your rejoicing.

The devil will tell young peoplewho have been raised in the churchthat if they do not get out in theworld to taste and see, they will notknow how to really praise God forwhat He has done. That is the deviltalking. You do not need to do that.He just wants to get you out therebecause he knows that if he can getyou out on the sea of sin, you maynever get back. You may never reachfor the lifeline when it is thrown outto you.

The devil works so hard onprecious young people who have aChristian heritage of mothers andfathers and grandmothers andgrandfathers who are saved andhave been living right in the Churchof God down through the years. Ibeg you, young person, do notthrow it away. You need to takeadvantage of the time and the op-portunity to live for God, because itis going to be a sad day at the Judg-ment if you turn Him down and endup lost.

Joseph's brothers got upset withhim because he told them about thedreams he had. Oh, I am glad wecan have some good dreams. Somepeople only have nightmares. Is thatwhat you have? After some peoplehave played in sin and done theirthing through the day, they are leftwith nightmares. In the night theyare afraid to go to sleep, afraid theywill never wake up again. There aresome pleasures in sin, but it is notall pleasure. I want to remind you,the pleasure is just in the sowing;there is no pleasure in the reaping.

God was grooming Joseph as ayoung man, and then He used himto save a nation from starvation. Oh,what a great man God made himdown in Egypt! It was God who didthat, not Joseph. No wonder Davidsaid in Psalm 84:10b, "I had ratherbe a doorkeeper in the house of myGod, than to dwell in the tents ofwickedness." Being a part of the

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family of God is better than any-thing the world has to offer. PraiseGod! The things of God are fargreater than what the world has tooffer.

Joseph was just a lad, but Godused him and worked with him. Heworked with him mightily and gavehim wisdom that saved a nationfrom a terrible famine. The wisdomthat God gives is wisdom that thisworld cannot impart to you. Itcomes from God. Young person,there is a place for you. God wantsto use you to work in His kingdom.Salvation can be just as real to youas it is to anyone else if you will getthe experience that God has for you.

Hearing God's Voice

Another young lad of whom Iwould like to speak is Samuel. In1 Samuel, Chapter 1, you can readthat Hannah had no children, andshe wanted a son. She got under aheavy burden one day at the templein Shiloh when they went to wor-ship the Lord and take their yearlysacrifice. She got under such a heavyburden that old Eli, the priest,thought she was drunk. When Elitold her to put away the wine, sheexplained that she was not drunk,but that she was heavy-hearted andhad brought her request before God.Then Eli told her to go in peace andit would be as she had asked God.

Sure enough, when the timecame, God gave her a son. Shevowed to God that she would giveher son to the Lord all his days. Shenursed that child, and when sheweaned him, she took him to thehouse of God and left him therewith Eli, and that is where hestayed. Glory be to God!

There is no greater place thanthe house of God for children to beraised. Children understand morethan you think they do. While Sam-uel was just a lad, one night he wentto bed, and as he was lying there, heheard his name called. He got out ofbed and went to Eli and asked, "Didyou call me?" Eli said, "No, I did notcall you," and he went back to bed.

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When Samuel lay down, he heardhis name called again: "Samuel,Samuel." Samuel heard his nameclearly. God speaks plainly. Hecould call your name, and no doubtHe will. I wonder, will you giveHim audience?

Samuel rolled out of bed andwent to Eli again and said, "Did youcall me?"

Eli said, "No, I did not call you."Eli then perceived that God hadcalled him and, in essence, said, "Goback and lie down, son. If you hearthat voice again, just say, 'Speak,Lord, for thy servant hears.'" Godgave that little boy a message thatnight. My friend, you can have closecommunion with God even thoughyou are young. You do not have towait until you have wasted youryears for the devil, only to hobbleinto church and say you would liketo get saved. We thank God forthose who do, but you do not needto wait that long. You need to cometo Him while you are young, whileyou can shout for God and jump forjoy, before the devil can ruin yourlife.

I believe those folks who havebeen out in sin and have marredtheir lives would like to get savedand shout and testify and praiseGod, but every time they get readyto, the devil presses them backdown. He says, "People know aboutyou." Many people have battles likethat.

God spoke to young Samuel thatnight. God never said any more thanSamuel's name when He called him,and Samuel responded to Him. Thatmay be all you are going to hear. Heis calling you, and if you will sur-render to Him and say, "Yes, Lord, Iwill live for You," then He has some-thing wonderful for you. Samuelbecame a great prophet for God, andhe started out as a child. God hasplans for everyone.

The Bible tells us that God is norespecter of persons. He wants allmen to be saved. He has a purposefor your life, no matter who youmay be. He has it all worked out,but first you have to come to Him,

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accept His plan of salvation, andbe delivered from self and theworld, and then God can use you.

Letting God Take First Place

The world has humanismworking, and one of those human-istic thoughts is to let children goand be what they want to be. Thedevil would like for the saints to dothat. He would like for us to turnthem loose and say, "Well, they arenot saved, so I will just have to letthem go and let them learn forthemselves."

The enemy would like to blindus and make us think there is a dif-ferent standard for the children. Youmay say, "You cannot dress youngerfolks the same way that older folksdress." Well, the Bible does not sayanything about a dress standard foryounger folks and one for olderfolks, but it does tell us to dressmodestly. There is no generationgap when it comes to modesty.Some people get lost in that genera-tion gap. Nevertheless, God has astandard of modesty for the youngpeople. The world says you cannotput an old head on young shoulders,but I am talking about what God cando. We cannot do anything, but Godcan move, and salvation can be real.Samuel spent his childhood days inthe temple. Sometimes people getthe impression they must have somuch of this and so much of that tobe used of God. What we need isGod, first of all, and He will takecare of everything else when wereally get hold of Him.

I thought of all the things theenemy has to entertain young peo-ple with today, and then I thoughtof Samuel, that little fellow there inthe house of God with Eli, just min-istering to Eli. Samuel did not say,"Eli, there is a big dance going on intown tonight, and I want to go. I'lltry to get in early. Some friendsinvited me, and I don't want to missit." No, I am persuaded that he en-joyed being in the house of God. Aslong as Samuel lived, he never for-got about God talking to him and

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pouring out the message on his soul.Young person, you can get a

wonderful experience with God andbid the world goodbye, burn thebridges behind you, and press on forGod. You will be in the prayer meet-ings, in the services, and in the re-vivals, and your soul will be on fire.You will love to go to the house ofGod.

You have to be in love with God.You cannot let this be just one partof your life. You cannot add it to allthe other things in your life, but youhave to surrender everything elseand let Jesus sit on the throne ofyour heart. You must love Himmore than anything and let Himtake first place in your life. Samuel'smother made a great sacrifice whenshe left him down at the house ofGod. That would be quite a sacrificefor a mother. The greater the sacri-fice we make for God, the greaterthe return we get, and the greaterthe blessings He bestows upon us.Sometimes we want God to do greatthings, but we do not want to makeany sacrifice.

Hannah was with that childonly for a little while. As soon as sheweaned him, she took him to thetemple and only visited him once ayear. I believe she was just as satis-fied with that little boy as if she hadhim right around the house, becauseGod had given him to her. She hadmade a vow to God that she wouldnot break. God blessed her and Godblessed Samuel, and he grew up.When Eli stepped off the stage ofaction, God had Samuel ready to dothe work of God.

My heart rejoices in the fact thatyoung people serving God can bejust as contented as the older folksare. They can be well contented inthe Lord. Praise God! Young person,this message is directed to you, es-pecially if you are wasting your lifeand spending your years in sin.

Trusting God for Powerand Victory

We can also read of a youngfellow named David whom Samuel

anointed. He already had someexperiences where the Lord haddelivered him as a young shepherdboy taking care of the sheep. KingSaul had rejected God, and God toldSamuel there was no need to prayfor him. Then He instructed Samuelto take a horn of oil and anoint an-other to be the king. In Acts 13:22we read, "I have found David theson of Jesse, a man after mine ownheart."

There was something specialabout David. He loved God, and heloved the ways of God, even fromthe days of his youth. His fathercalled him one day and said, in somany words, "Son, I want you totake this food to your brethren andsee how they are doing." When Da-vid arrived where the army wascamped, he found that they all hadturned back like cowards. ThePhilistines had them in a corner, andGoliath was coming out every sooften, roaring and carrying on, andthey were just falling back in fear.

When David saw them, it stirredsomething within him. He said,"Who is this uncircumcisedPhilistine?" They began to tell himwho he was, and David said, inessence, "He cannot do that. I amgoing over there to get him," but hisbrother did not want him to go.Even the king began to inquire,"Who is this lad?" David was not anold seasoned soldier, but he knewsomething about God and God'spower. God had delivered David inevery circumstance.

David told the king about thetime when he was taking care of hisfather's sheep and he killed a lionand a bear. Then he said that thesame God would help him kill thatuncircumcised Philistine. Youngperson, there may be Goliaths inyour life, but there is a God in Heav-en who will give you power andvictory.

King Saul tried to weigh Daviddown with his armor, but Davidsaid he could not go that way, so hetook it off and laid it aside. Next, hestrolled down the way and stoppedalong the brook to pick up five

smooth stones, and then he went onup the way. He went on eventhough Goliath said, "Am I a dog,that you would come to me withstaves?" That insulted Goliath.

David was a young fellow, buthe had a big God! Someone maysay, "I'd like to serve a God like thatif He would do those things for me."If you will make the sacrifice thatDavid did, if you will surrenderyour life as David and fall in lovewith God as David did, He will dothe same for you. Too many timespeople want victory without a battleand without any sacrifice, but if youwill make the sacrifice, He will bethe same God to you as He was toDavid. The same God will deliveryou and take care of you. He willnever leave you or forsake you. Hewill go all the way with you.

Giving God All That You Have

We also have the account of ayoung king by the name of Josiah,who began to reign at eight years ofage. You may ask, "What could achild do?" You can read in 2 Kings,Chapter 22, about the life of Josiahand see what he did. Many of thekings that reigned over Israel backthen did evil in the sight of the Lord.Some were worse than the othersbefore them, but Josiah did thatwhich was right in the sight of theLord. He knew enough to do whatwas right in the sight of God, and heled that nation back to God. Heloved God, and he had reverence forHim. That is what it takes.

One may think, "I will wait untilI get a little older, and then I willknow more about what I am doing."Dear one, you may understand alittle more about what you are do-ing, but you might have less powerto make the sacrifice. It will never beany easier for you to serve God thanit is today, because tomorrow willbring new experiences that maybring a hardening process to yourheart and more searing of your con-science; that is what sin does. MayGod help you.

If you read about young Josiah,

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I believe it will impress you. He didthat which was right in the sight ofthe Lord, and he started cleaning upthings. Friend, God has a plan foryour life if you will serve Him. Youdo not know what God could dowith your life until you give it toHim. He has great plans for you ifyou will just sacrifice and surrenderyour all to Him, everything youhave.

We can read of another younglad in John, Chapter 6. There was agreat crowd one day listening toJesus, so Jesus said something to Hisdisciples about food, and the disci-ples looked out over the crowd andsaid that even two hundred penny-worth of bread would not be enoughfor them, even if everyone just tooka little. One of them said there was alad in the crowd who had five bar-ley loaves and two small fish. Whatwere they among so many? He wasthe only one in the crowd who hadany food. I want you to see thatthose fish and loaves belonged tothe lad, but he gladly surrenderedthem to Jesus. He never dreamedthat morning when he left home thatso many people were going to havelunch with him out of his bag. Glorybe to God!

Friend, you do not know whatGod can do and will do with whatyou have if you will give it to Him.You talk about a picnic thatday—they had one! The Bible lets usknow that five thousand people atefrom that lunch, and when theyfinished eating, the disciples pickedup twelve baskets full of the frag-ments that were left. Now, I want toask you, will you give your life toGod? I wonder what He might dowith it if you would give Him yourwhole life? That little boy mighthave thought: "I cannot do much,but here it is, Lord. If You can use it,take it and do what You will withit." It fed five thousand.

Sinner friend, the devil may betelling you that God does not needyou and that you would not be anygood to God, but he is lying to you.When that lad was willing to giveall that he had to Jesus, they all ate

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Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Could my tears forever flow,

Could my zeal no languor know,

These for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and thou alone;

In my hand no price I bring,

Simply to the Cross I cling.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

When my eyes shall close in death,

When I rise to worlds unknown,

And behold thee on thy throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in thee.

Augustus M. Toplady

and were full. Jesus did not say itwould only hold them until theycould get to town, but they ate andwere full. God wants to use you,friend. He has need of you. You areunique, and no one in the world islike you. God has a purpose in lifefor you. He has a work in His king-dom that He wants to use you for.

I wonder, has this messagetouched your heart? Why not sur-render your life to God? David wenton to be a great king, the greatestking Israel ever had. He led Israelthrough their battles. David was agreat warrior, and God used him ina mighty way. Why not start early inlife before the devil can mar yourlife? The devil does not want you tosee this, but it is like Jesus said, "Hethat is not with me is against me"(Matthew 12:30).

Young person, if God lets youlive, you are going to grow up andpossibly get married and havechildren of your own. You know,nature itself teaches you a fewthings. When you get a little older,you do not look at things the sameway you used to, and there willcome a time when you will lookaround and see your children grow-ing up in a world that is so wickedand so sinful. Then when you lookback on your life and how you havelived for the devil, you will realizethat you have no way to really pointthem to God. All these things haveto be reckoned with. Won't you sur-render your heart and life to Godnow, and then when you get to thatphase of life, you can set the rightexample before them. You will notsend them to church; you will takethem.

I am not just building for thistime-world; I am building for eter-nity. As I live, I do not just have myown life in mind, thinking onlyabout myself. I am thinking aboutmy children, my relatives, myfriends, and the Church of God. Mylife has an influence, and I am eitherinfluencing others for good or forevil. The devil would like for peopleto stick their heads in the sand, so tospeak, and hope that everything will

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turn out right, but they are doingeverything wrong. The parents whoare unsaved and are hoping theirchildren will be good and re-spectable are not setting the rightexample before them. You have toput forth some effort. You have tolabor at this thing and labor in theright way so that you can see God

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move and work in the lives of thosewhom you love. Would you giveGod audience, friend? Do not spendanother day in sin. Won't you cometo Jesus right now?

(Cassette C-2059E)

Luke 18:18 And a certain rulerasked him, saying, Good Master, whatshall I do to inherit eternal life?

19 And Jesus said unto him, Whycallest thou me good? none is good, saveone, that is, God.

20 Thou knowest the command-

ments, Do not commit adultery, Do notkill, Do not steal, Do not bear falsewitness, Honour thy father and thymother.

21 And he said, All these have Ikept from my youth up.

22 Now when Jesus heard these

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Brother Larry Dishman

things, he said unto him, Yet lackestthou one thing: sell all that thou hast,and distribute unto the poor, and thoushalt have treasure in heaven: and come,follow me.

23 And when he heard this, he wasvery sorrowful: for he was very rich.

Being Hindered by People

I believe that many people willbe lost in the end because one or twosins will keep them from enteringthe Kingdom of God. If it werepossible to interview poor lost soulsin hell, you would probably findthat many of them lacked only onething. The young man in ourScripture text who came to Jesusseemed to be interested in eternallife and in finding out what he need-ed to do to obtain eternal life, yet helacked one thing.

I would like to mention somethings that hinder many peoplefrom getting saved or from beingwhat they should be for God afterthey do get saved. Sometimes badcompany holds people back. A god-less person might have a strong

influence over someone, and it couldbe more than one godless person.Someone may consider yielding toChrist, and suddenly the thoughtcomes, "What would So-and-So say?What would my friends say if Ishould get saved? I would have tocut off his [or her] acquaintance andno longer have this person's friend-ship, unless I could get him to gowith me."

One may think, "I dread his [orher] displeasure. I'm afraid of ridi-cule. If I get saved, I could neverface that person again. I know Iought to be a Christian, and I wishI were a Christian, but for the sakeof that individual, I can't yield toGod." Such a person is under thefatal charm of an evil companion,and rather than break with thatcompanion, that one deliberately

turns his or her back on the Re-deemer and drives away the goodSpirit of God.

I wonder how many individualshave failed to yield to God's Spiritbecause they were afraid of ridicule.Sometimes young people are underpeer pressure from other youngpeople, and they fear ridicule. Ifyour friends or associates are hin-dering you from becoming aChristian, you would be better off tosacrifice their friendship than tosacrifice your soul's salvation.

No relationship on this earth ismore important than your gettingsaved. You would be surprised toknow how many people over theyears have stood during an invita-tion and failed to move because oneperson or thing kept them from go-ing to the altar. The thought in their

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minds might have been, "Whatwould my husband [or my wife]do?" or "What would my friendssay?" or "I am unwilling to give upthis individual."

Failing to Obey the Truth

Luke 14:26 states, "If any mancome to me, and hate not his father,and mother, and wife, and children,and brethren, and sisters, yea, andhis own life also, he cannot be mydisciple." God must be first in yourlife. This is very clear in the Word ofGod. It does not mean that you haveto hate someone literally, but itmeans that you have to love theseindividuals less and put God first.People can hinder you from beingwhat you ought to be for God.Galatians 5:7 says, "Ye did run well;who did hinder you that ye shouldnot obey the truth?"

Sometimes things hinder peoplerather than individuals. The ApostlePaul said in Galatians 5:8-9: "Thispersuasion cometh not of him thatcalleth you. A little leaven leaveneththe whole lump." Friend, do notallow anyone or anything to standin your way of getting saved. If any-one has a fatal influence over youand keeps you from being what Godwants you to be, that person is notyour friend. He or she does notreally love you. If that person did,he or she would wish the best foryou, and the best thing you coulddo, if you are unsaved, is to getsaved.

I have asked sinners who wereunder conviction during the servicewhy they failed to get saved. I in-quired: "What is holding you back?Why don't you get right with God?"Some people say, "There are toomany hypocrites standing in myway." Well, hypocrites cannot an-swer for you on the Day of Judg-ment. If you do not get saved, youare going to be in eternity with thosehypocrites. Friend, you are notresponsible for the hypocrites. Youwill not have to give an account forthem. Romans 14:12 says, "So thenevery one of us shall give account of

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himself to God." You do not have togive an account for anyone butyourself.

About thirty years ago, I madeup my mind that I would rather goto church with hypocrites everyservice, if need be, than to go to hellwith them. You should not allow ahypocrite to keep you from gettingright with God. You need to getyour eyes on people who live right.Thank God, there are many saints towhom you can look who have beenfaithful and who have lived goodlives.

Occasionally you will meetpeople who claim to be Christianswho act in an unchristian manner.Should you see such inconsistencyin the lives of professing Christians,you should not allow them to dis-turb you unduly. You may seehypocrites, but rather than allowingthem to hinder you from gettingsaved and being what you ought tobe for God, let them serve as a chal-lenge to you to let the world knowthat, although there are imitations ofChristianity, thank God there arestill people who love God. There arestill God-fearing people, and that iswhat you can be if you will get rightwith God. Dear friend, you maystumble over a hypocrite and endup in hell, but you could neverclimb over that person and get out.You should not allow a hypocrite tostand in your way.

Doubts and Unbelief

Some people have a hard timebelieving. Faith is the one thing thatthey lack. Doubt and unbelief arehindering them from getting rightwith God. Some people have prayedat an altar of prayer and have gottenup before they have really prayedthrough. Therefore, the devil hasconvinced them that they cannot besaved. Sometimes the devil tries toconvince people that they havecommitted the unpardonable sin orthat they have gone too far in sin. Ihave asked the questions: "Well, didGod deal with you? Were you underconviction during the altar call? Was

G ospe lTrum pe ter.com • April 2009

the Holy Spirit striving with you?" Ifso, that is proof that God is willingto save you. If God deals with yourheart and brings conviction uponyou, that is proof that you have notblasphemed against the Holy Ghostand committed the unpardonablesin. If you had committed theunpardonable sin, God would notbe striving with you and convictingyou.

Acts 10:34 states, "Then Peteropened his mouth, and said, Of atruth I perceive that God is norespecter of persons." Jeremiah 29:13says, "And ye shall seek me, andfind me, when ye shall search for mewith all your heart." Friend, youneed not despair. If you will searchfor God with all your heart, you canfind Him. You do not have to waituntil tomorrow, next week, or nextyear. You can find Him now.

First Chronicles 28:9 reads, "Ifthou seek him, he will be found ofthee." The truth is that man's sinshave already been paid for. I thankGod that two thousand years agoJesus Christ paid for your sins andmy sins. He tasted death for everyindividual and made a way so thatwhosoever will can be saved.Friend, that includes you. God'swrath is turned away from everysinner who will come and trulyrepent with godly sorrow and placefaith in the Son of God.

The Apostle Paul said inRomans 10:13, "For whosoever shallcall upon the name of the Lord shallbe saved." He did not say it mighthappen, but he said "shall be saved."Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lordis not slack concerning his promise,as some men count slackness; but islongsuffering to us-ward, not will-ing that any should perish, but thatall should come to repentance." Godis willing to save you. It is the will ofGod to save every individual. Onthe other hand, Jesus said in John8:24, "If ye believe not that I am he,ye shall die in your sins." Youcannot go to God's Heaven unlessyou believe.

The devil convinces some peo-ple that they cannot live right. Then

they say: "I would get saved if Iknew for sure that I could live it.I do not want to be as other peoplewhom I have seen make a start andthen make a mess of things. I wantto make sure that I can live it."Friend, no one can live the Christianlife in his or her own strength, butGod can give you the power to liveit. This is something that you willnever understand until you experi-ence the saving and keeping powerof God. God is the One who savesyou. You cannot save yourself.God's power saves you and keepsyou, and He will help you.

Trying to Get Saved onYour Own Terms

Jude, verse 24, tells us, "Nowunto him that is able to keep youfrom falling, and to present youfaultless before the presence of hisglory with exceeding joy." God inHeaven is great enough to save youand powerful enough to keep youafter you are saved. You can live itwhen God moves inside. First John4:4 says, "Greater is he that is in you,than he that is in the world." That isthe reason you can live it.

If you try to do it within yourown strength, you will not be able todo it. I tried many times on my ownand could not do it. One time whenI was a teenager, I went back behindthe place where I was working andprayed, "God, if You will save mehere, I will be a secret disciple andwill not tell anyone about it. I willjust start living differently." Friend,it did not happen that way. I went toa church service, and under con-viction I humbled myself at an altarof prayer. I am not saying that youcannot get saved at home, but I wastrying to bargain with God andtrying to get God to save me on myown terms. God does not save aperson on his or her terms. You canonly be saved on the terms found inthe Word of God.

I like what the Apostle Paulsaid. It will help you to understandhow you can stay saved and howyou can live right. He said in

Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified withChrist: nevertheless I live; yet not I,but Christ liveth in me: and the lifewhich I now live in the flesh I liveby the faith of the Son of God, wholoved me, and gave himself for me."It is not you, but it is God living inyou. If you really get saved, it willbe God in you. You may not thinkyou can quit smoking or get offdrugs. You can when God gives youthe power. You can quit drinkingalcohol when the Greater One liveson the inside.

You can know for sure that youcan live it. We read in Ezekiel 36:26-27: "A new heart also will I give you,and a new spirit will I put withinyou: and I will take away the stonyheart out of your flesh, and I willgive you an heart of flesh. And I willput my spirit within you [God givesyou the power to live right], andcause you to walk in my statutes,and ye shall keep my judgments,and do them." Philippians 1:6 says,"Being confident of this very thing,that he which hath begun a goodwork in you will perform it until theday of Jesus Christ." The work thatbegins at an altar of prayer will beperformed until the day of JesusChrist. Friend, this is good news!You can live the Christian life by thehelp of God.

"The Way of Man IsNot in Himself"

You may hesitate to get savedbecause you know what will berequired of you. You would be oneof the happiest persons in this worldif you would get right with God,because those things that seem likeburdens will not be burdens at all.Christ's yoke is easy, and His bur-den is light. You will find it so. Thecommandments in the Word of Godwill not be grievous anymore be-cause you will love God and youwill want to do His will. You willwant to do those things that arepleasing in His sight.

You may say, "I am just waitinguntil I get a little older" or "I amwaiting until I get things worked

G ospe lTrum pe ter.com • April 2009

out, because there are situations inmy life that are hindering me fromgetting saved." Friend, the devil isgoing to see to it that you never getthem worked out, and they may getworse.

The good news is, God is notasking you to improve your life or toimprove your situation. Jeremiah10:23 reads, "O LORD, I know thatthe way of man is not in himself: itis not in man that walketh to directhis steps." If you break just onethread in the hem of virtue, you donot know how much will unravel.The longer you continue in sin, thegreater the chance is of the devilgetting your life messed up, and youwill go further and further awayfrom God.

Sin will take you further thanyou want to go, it will keep youlonger than you want to stay, and itwill cost you more than you want topay. If you stay in sin, you are goingto continue to get your life in aworse condition. That is the reason asongwriter was inspired to write thesong, "Just As I Am." Thank God,that is the way I came yearsago—just the way I was. I was lostand unworthy and on my way to adevil's hell. God did not ask me tochange myself. Thank God, He didthe saving and the changing. OnlyGod can regenerate your heart. Youcan go to Him just as you are.

Some people think, "I am a goodperson. I do not do this and that."Satan tries to convince people thatthey are so good that they do notneed a change of heart. I do notdeny the fact that many people livegood, moral lives. However, no oneis so good that he does not need theforgiveness of God. According toRomans 3:23, all men have sinnedand come short of the glory of God.Many people have been led tobelieve the lie that if you lead agood life, then you are going tomake Heaven your home. Myfriend, that is not true. It is not goodenough just to go to church faith-fully and pay your tithes. Everyindividual must be born again toenter Heaven.

23

If the devil cannot convince youthat you are a good person, he willgo the other way and make youthink that you have gone too far inthe depths of sin and, therefore,there is no hope for you. On thecontrary, the good news is, God'sgrace can go deeper than the stain ofsin has gone. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Comenow, and let us reason together,saith the LORD: though your sins beas scarlet, they shall be as white assnow; though they be red likecrimson, they shall be as wool."

Though you may feel that youhave gone to the very bottom, Godstill loves you, and He is willing tosave you. In fact, you are the veryone Christ came to save, because inLuke 5:31-32 He said: "They that arewhole need not a physician; butthey that are sick. I came not to callthe righteous, but sinners to repen-tance." No matter how awful asinner you may be, there is hope foryou. The Lord will save the worstperson in existence if such a one willjust own his condition, repent of hissins, and place his faith in the Son ofGod.

Harboring Bitterness

Bitterness will stand in yourway and keep you from gettingright with God. If you are one whoharbors bitterness, you need to seeksalvation with your whole heart.God can remove the hatred fromyour heart. He is able to remove thatbitterness. Though you have beenmistreated and abused, God candeliver you from unforgiveness andbitterness in your heart. Christianfriend, bitterness is something thatyou have to guard against after youhave been saved.

Hebrews 12:15 reads, "Lookingdiligently lest any man fail of thegrace of God; lest any root of bitter-ness springing up trouble you, andthereby many be defiled." Manypeople are being defiled throughbitterness. Bitterness will hurt youspiritually, emotionally, and physi-cally. Bitterness is deadly; it is like acancer.

24

I heard one time about twoneighbors who had ought againsteach other for many years. Theyheld grudges against each other,and it got worse and worse. One ofthem got sick and was on his death-bed, so the other man thought hehad better go make things right. Hewent over to his neighbor's bedsideand said, "You know, we have hadhard feelings all these years, and Ihave come to apologize. I have cometo make it right, but I will tell yousomething right now, if you live,this apology is canceled." It was notmuch of an apology, was it?

God only knows how manypeople have been contaminated bybitterness. You should never under-estimate the power of bitterness.Many times when someone is proudand that pride gets wounded, thatperson becomes a bitter fountain.Once defiled, a wicked person canbe the means of destroying manyothers. Many times a person will getbitter and become a poisonous foun-tain. Friend, if you become bitterand die in that condition, you willgo to hell. Moreover, the chancesare, you will take someone withyou. If you are bitter, you will endup sharing it with your close friendsand relatives, and they, too, couldend up bitter. That is what the Bibleis talking about when it says,"Thereby many be defiled." ThankGod, if you will truly repent, Godcan remove the bitterness. God cansave you and change you.

Too Busy to Serve God

Perhaps you will not get savedbecause you are living with a boy-friend or a girlfriend, and you areafraid that if you should get saved,that person would never have any-thing to do with you again. Friend,if you get saved, you may never seethat person again. On the otherhand, that person could get savedand maybe you could get married inthe future. If you will get saved,God will work all things for good inyour own life. What seems to be animpossible situation is not impossi-

G ospe lTrum pe ter.com • April 2009

ble with God. He can change thewhole situation. If you will turn toHim, it will be the best thing youhave ever done in your life.

Some people say they just do nothave time to go to church. You maywork six days a week, and Sundaymay be your only day to rest and getcaught up on things around thehouse. Nevertheless, you had betterstart taking time for God. If the devilcan cheat you out of your time, hecan cheat you out of your soul.When time runs out (and it will runout for each of us), you will regretnot taking time for God. Even if youpossessed all the gold in the uni-verse, you could not buy back oneminute of that time, so it pays to putGod first.

The Apostle Paul wrote in1 Corinthians 7:29, "But this I say,brethren, the time is short." Paulwrote in Romans 13:12, "The night isfar spent, the day is at hand: let ustherefore cast off the works of dark-ness, and let us put on the armour oflight." Time is going to run out oneof these days, so you had betterthink about your soul.

You should not be too busy todo something about Heaven or thinkthat you will get around to it later.Young person, you should not waituntil you get a little older. Ecclesias-tes 12:1 says, "Remember now thyCreator in the days of thy youth,while the evil days come not, northe years draw nigh, when thoushalt say, I have no pleasure inthem."

The time to plow the ground isin the spring. Farmers do not waituntil winter when the ground isfrozen. The time to mold concreteinto desirable shapes for futureusefulness is before it sets up. Onceit sets up, it is too late. The time toyield your heart to God is while youare still young and your heart istender. Friend, do not wait untilyour soul becomes deafened to thetender call of God's Spirit. The devilwill tell you to put it off just a littlelonger. He will say, "Wait until an-other service" or "Wait until thisworks out" or "Wait until you get

out of school" or "Wait until you getmarried and settled in."

The devil knows how to leadyou past opportunities, step by step,until one day you turn down yourlast opportunity. As age advances,many people find an increasingdisposition to defeat their soul'ssalvation. If you cannot find aconvenient season while you areyoung, the chances are that you willnot find a convenient season whenyou get older. Today is the day ofsalvation. Many people lack humil-ity. Pride is going to keep a lot ofpeople out of God's Heaven. Thegateway to hell is pride. The serpentin the Garden of Eden lured Eve intosin with the prideful promise thatshe would be like God. Pride is thedoorway to hell, but humility isthe doorway to God's Heaven.

Unwilling to Give Up Sin

Many times people lack awillingness to give up sin. Somemay possibly be unwilling to giveup pornography, the tobacco habit,alcohol, drugs, or sexual immorality.They say they just cannot helpthemselves. They may feel that waynow, but after they have been in hellfor about five minutes, they willknow that they could have helpedthemselves. If you think what youare doing now makes you happy, letme tell you, friend, it is not worth

IN E

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For hea

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For eve

For hap

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In every

eternal torment. You should neverthink that you will be able to keepliving in sexual immorality and goto Heaven. When you die and wakeup in hell, you will say to your part-ner, "I would to God I had never laideyes on you."

Some people do not get saveddue to an unwillingness to give upone sin. Often they are brought tothe very door of the kingdom butcannot enter because they want tohold on to one sin. That sin haswound its frightful coils so tightlyabout their lives that they are readyto cry out in agony as Paul didbefore his conversion in Romans7:24, which states, "O wretched manthat I am! who shall deliver me fromthe body of this death?" They rattlethe chains of their slavery and clutchand kiss them as if they were thecords leading them to Heaven.Angel's hands are reaching down torelease men and women and boysand girls, but with deliberate effortthey beat back the hands that arereaching down to rescue them.

If you could go to hell andinterview the poor lost souls writh-ing in flames of despair, you wouldfind that almost all of them wouldsay it was not fifty sins that sentthem there; it was not even ten. Itwas one sin that they were unwill-ing to give up. One sin willfullyheld on to will stand like an evilspirit between you and the Kingdom

G ospe lTrum pe ter.com • April 2009

VERYTHING G IVE THAN

hat God in mercy sends—

lth and children, home and

fort in the t ime of need,

ry kindly word or deed,

py thoughts and holy talk,

ance in our daily walk—

thing give thanks.

Auth

of God, and it will shut its gatesagainst you forever. The power ofone cherished, unforgiven sin haskept multitudes out of God'sHeaven.

Whatever your excuse is (Imight not have mentioned it),whatever you lack, will not excuseyou on the Day of Judgment. Ibelieve that many people will try toseek the Lord when it is too late.The door will be shut because theydid not make godliness the chiefbusiness of their lives.

Sinner friend, suppose you werestanding on the edge of the greatGrand Canyon, with God on oneside of the chasm and you on theother. The chasm that separates youfrom God has been formed by yoursins. You are cut off, helpless toreach God on your own. No matterhow rich you are, how powerful youare, how smart you may be, howpopular you are, or how athletic youare, you could not possibly jumpacross that wide gap. If you were totry, you would plunge straight tothe bottom. The only way to getacross the chasm would be to finda bridge. Friend, Christ is thatbridge to God. He forms the con-necting link by which you can cometo God. Won't you call upon Himtoday?

(Com pact Disc TR-039M)

25

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fr iends;

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Does Your Anchor Hold?

For times like these, it takes agood anchor. We need more thananything else to take a good longlook at our true selves, not alwaysthe person the world sees, but theperson we see as we look deep andlong into the looking glass of God'seternal Word. To be honest enoughwith one's own self and God, to useChrist, the perfect man, as ourmeasuring stick is always a hum-bling experience.

Many today have drifted farfrom where they once were. Theyare not at all alarmed by this. Theyrationalize by saying that timeshave changed and we have to keepup with the changing times. We donot deny there is some logic in this

26

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argument, yet there is also a greatspiritual danger.

To illustrate, if you have beenout fishing and anchored your boatin a choice spot, the wise fishermanwill test his anchor to make surethat it is holding. He then settlesdown to catching fish. All goes wellfor a while, but finally his luck runsout, or so he thinks. What he doesnot know is that the changing tidehas moved his anchor and his posi-tion has been greatly changed. Ittook place so gradually that henever knew what happened. This ishappening to movements as well asindividuals. They are not suffi-ciently anchored and have lost theold paths and landmarks. They arenot sure of just where they are.

I must confess that these are

G ospe lTrum pe ter.com • April 2009

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ion Concerning Gog and Magog by Eaion Concerning Seraphims, the Way oBorderso Hell? by Earl R. Borderseration of the New Testament Churchng the Position of the Old Testament

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the most difficult times that I haveever witnessed in my Christianexperience. To know just where thewill of God is for our lives is notalways easy. It only comes fromfeeding daily on the Word of Godand maintaining a faithful prayerlife. In these busy days, it takesextra effort. The wise Christianlearns to take time to care for hisspiritual needs. This is the only waywe can escape the broad path somany are traveling today.

My dear reader, are you surethat your anchor is holding? Havethose changing standards affectedyou? There is no one who can an-swer this personal question but Godand you.

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MT. PLEASANT, PA FELLOWSHIP MEETING: Church of God, 109 Salvation Lane, Mt. Pleasant, April 18 PA. Service time: 10:30 a.m. A meal served by the local congregation.

MOTELS: Holiday Inn Express, 724-547-2095 (This is on the same road asthe church. Please mention that you are there for the church meeting.); Super 8 Motel in New Stanton, 724-925-8915 on I-70W, 10 miles north of thechurch); Melody Motor Lodge, 724-628-9600 on 119N in Connellsville).For further information contact: Pastor Paul W. Prinkey, 109 Salvation Lane, Mt. Pleasant, PA 15666Telephone: 724-547-2151

NEWTON, KS REVIVAL: Church of God, 400 N. Meridian, Newton, KS 67114April 19-22 Evangelist: Brother Roger L. Decker, Newark, Ohio

Service times: Sunday 10:45 & 7:00 p.m.; Monday-Wednesday 7:00 p.m.For further information contact: Pastor Sandy Killfoil, 315 Old Main St., Newton, KS 67114Telephone: 316-842-5127

SUMMERSVILLE, WV REVIVAL: The Church of God, 74 Armstrong Rd., Summersville, WV 26651April 20-26 Evangelist: Brother Leamon Whitehead, Minerva, Ohio

Service times: Monday-Friday 7:00 p.m; Saturday 6:00 p.m.; Sunday 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.For further information contact: Pastor Earl R. BordersTelephone: 304-872-4047Visit our website at: www.ChurchofGodSummersvilleWV.com

KENSETT, AR REVIVAL: Kensett Church of God, 409 Southeast 2 St., Kensett, AR 72082nd

April 24-26 Evangelist: Brother Roger L. Decker, Newark, Ohio. Holy Ghost preaching.Service times: Friday-Saturday 7:00 p.m.; Sunday 11:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.For further information contact: Pastor Calvin L. Foster Telephone: 501-742-3006 or 501-742-3961

HONDURAS CONVENTION: Church of God, HondurasMay 4-10 Evangelists: Brother E. David Stegmeier, Canby, Oregon &

Brother Roger L. Decker, Newark, Ohio. For further information contact: Pastor Esau Brooks Telephone: (Honduras) 011-504-451-514; (Grand Cayman) 1-345-947-2114

KENSETT, AR MEMORIAL DAY FELLOWSHIP MEETING: Kensett Church of God, May 22-24 409 Southeast 2 St., Kensett, AR 72082. Holy Ghost preaching.nd

Service times: Friday 7:00 p.m.; Saturday—Dinner will be served at 3:00 p.m.Service at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday school 10:00-11:00 a.m., Morning worship 11:30a.m. & Evening worship 6:00 p.m. Dinner will be served after the Sunday morning service.For further information contact: Pastor Calvin L. Foster Telephone: 501-742-3006 or 501-742-3961

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