WTFMT #56 28 AUG 18 HGM

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-56

TEXT: "He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:5)

 

I. DON'T BE PUSHY

 

A. A pushy spirit is sometimes manifested by a preacher ministering the Word. This happens more often in youths than in elders. Many believers minister a pushy spirit instead of "ministering the Spirit" as Paul mentions here in Galatians 3:5.

B. They are wanting to thrust something upon you by force. They cannot rest in the Spirit's work. They want to cram that message, that truth, that word, down your throat with their own fists. "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (Matthew11:10)

C. Many Believers take this verse and say, "we must be violent, in our Christian walk, kick Satan around, and kick in the doors of heaven. This is so wrong on many levels. God does not want us to take the kingdom of God (not Heaven) through violent forceful means over Satan. Christian violence? But this is not consistent with the Word of God.

D. Believers "minister by the Spirit," not by violence or force. They minister love not violence to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus here is teaching that the Kingdom of God is suffering because of the violent forceful, pushy means His disciples used to lead ones into His kingdom. They are sincerely desirous and anxious that you receive it, and they are furiously attempting to get it in you. But that is not God's way.

E. We need to be as the messengers sent forth bearing the words and ways of God and not our words and ways. "And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying," (Deuteronomy 2:26) We must come to our brothers and sister in the LORD, our friends, and even our enemies in and with peace, not simply with words of peace which may be covering up a striving heart and ungodly motives.

F. We are not supposed to be like those who say with their mouth, "I forgive," but never have such worthy words in their heart. Don't put up a front. Our forward progression in God will depend upon a "frontless" life. It will do us spiritual harm to live our Christian life with an inward habit of disguise or camouflage. This habit will eventually bring us before God in a disguise. We will wear our disguise when we read the Bible and when we pray.

G. Disguises are fabricated for self-preservation and personal gain. We need to quit catering to our self-life. We need to leave off our disguises and take off our camouflage of religion and let God into our weakness, our ugliness, our short temper, our whatever. His strength and work of grace are waiting and ready for us. We need to let Him provide that which we need.

 

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

 

A. Once we make the discovery of His work of grace the rest, peace, and the ease Jesus speaks of we find, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:29-30) His qualities will begin to become part of our character. They will become our true character without any disguises or camouflage.

B. We will not even have to be antagonistic against the devil. It is very ease and convenient to blame Satan for our short coming and failure to walk in obedience to the LORD. Satan made me think those thoughts, made me say these nasty things to my brother or sister in the LORD, or friends, or even my enemies. Satan made me to become disobedient to the LORD.

C. This type of understanding, in most cases, is simply a cover-up for spiritual weakness and lack of confidence, faith, authority, and power. Satan knows what that type of a person is doing better than the person himself knows. The enemy is not frightened by such threats.

TEACHING VS TRAINING

At the end of the 1960s there was a shift from evangelism to teaching in the church and of course with the increase of Bible teachers we now have more false Bible teachers. Remember a false Bible teacher is still a Bible teacher just like a false prophet is still a prophet only they speak falsely. Today we fill stadiums, coliseums, and arenas with Bible teachers of the day, but to what end? If you wanted to be someone in the church then you had to become a great teacher. Rarely are evangelists mentioned if they are they are mentioned in passing and only about them teaching some new doctrine or fad like the word of faith crowd started by Oral Roberts, Kenneth Copeland, and their disciples, which destroyed the church. Now please do not get me wrong I have nothing against teaching the word of God after all Jesus is our great teacher and I teach, but it seemed after the west coast Jesus movement fizzled out the church went to teaching to know God instead of a experiential based knowledge. Again teaching is important, but teaching is not training. The present day model of a church service beginning in the early 1970s and still current today in most churches was: three fast ones and a slow one (songs), some announcements, takes up the offering (to the tune of the doxology or some special number), teaching a good sermon from the Scriptures (rarely a message there is a huge difference), an altar call, and then off to the local restaurant for lunch. We find this same format (except for lunch) in churches if they have a mid week service. The focal point of the service is the teaching (should be the LORD), but remember we go to church not to receive a blessing, but be a blessing. I hear many Christian say if I do not go to the mid week service I will not get my fix, my shot in the arm to carry me to Sunday, I just cannot make it. Well this is just wrong thinking church is not about us, but it is about learning something (in the teaching) that we can share with our family, our neighbours, our colleagues at work and tell them about Jesus Christ. This my friend is called evangelism telling people in the world about the good news of the Gospel, telling people about Jesus. But did you know less than 5% of Christians in America in the last 12 months have shared their testimony (how Jesus saved them and cleaned up their life) or even shared the simple salvation message of Jesus Christ and the Gospel? No wonder the church is off her rails the people who are to share the good news of the Gospel are not equipped nor prepared to take the message to their neighbor, even unto the ends of the world, yet churches are full, big mega churches dot the land, Bible Schools are packed with students who want to gain knowledge of God, but are not sure about the experiences of God. Most have never heard of this concept (God working in our lives) while the people of America and the world shuffle further and further into lunacy and craziness. In the Psalms David said, "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." (Psalm 103:7) Here God could not reveal or manifest His ways to the Children of Israel only His acts. Apparently there is more than one way for God to express or reveal Himself to us and I am here to tell you teaching only gets us to knowledge about Him, a mental assent that satisfies our curiosity and feelings (usually from what others write), but there is a deeper way God desires to express Himself, a direct revelation of God. As teaching is to support evangelism training supports the revelation of God. What is missing in the church today is training. When was the last time you went to a Sunday or Wednesday service and was trained to do something for the LORD? Trained to share the Scriptures, trained to help someone with a problem in their lives? No teaching is the mode we see today, but teaching is an academic model patterned from secular education where the professor (the pastor in this case) stands up behind the pulpit and delivers a good sermon to make everyone feel good imparting some knowledge. As I said teaching is to support evangelism, but the evangelism piece of ministry has been lost since the early 1970s. Jesus said "go" (or in the Greek "as you are going"), but we stay and encourage others to go. Going seems to be too hard, too uncomfortable, and too dangerous in which they are, but all of that never will change the mind of Jesus for us nor His plan for reaching the world. No I will sit right here in church and hear another sermon from the pastor and gain more knowledge. My friend we will never know anything about God unless we can allow Him to train us because in the training is found the revelation of who God is. A personal knowing of God's nature and character resulting from the training from the hard times and the good times, from the inward reflection and soul searching that is required of God to know Him. I think at this point we need to define two words. The first word is "teach." Teaching (adj) is the act of passing on knowledge, to teach is (v) the action of teaching. Where training (adj) or train (v) is to develop the mind and character of someone. We will never get to God with only teaching (why the church is in trouble) we must be trained in the "ways" of God to be able to understand His "ways" if not we will only know the theoretical aspects of Him and never know His heart. The push is for the knowledge of another man's revelation in books, experiences, and teachings which will never take us to God. Now God's training can be painful as He takes us deeper and deeper into to the wilderness to train us. Even Jesus found this out the hard way. In Matthew we read, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17) Even with the Father speaking, the heavens opening up, and the Holy spirit descending that was not enough for Jesus to start His ministry. He (Jesus) had to undergo some training in the wilderness. And I ask you is the servant greater than the Master? Matthew continues, "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness . . . . " (Matthew 4:1) so too for our lives. I think we have enough teaching. What will I gain if I hear another sermon on something I have heard many times before? Oh it may have a different approach or a new twist, but the divine thought and expression from the word of God is the same truth and it works this way, but now training will develop us in ways teaching cannot. Training develops our mind (like teaching they are similar), but training develops our character and our soul. Training develops faith, unity, a singleness of purpose in us. When I was in the military in operational units in the US Navy we would train and train and train. And if we got tired of training we would train some more. Training has a critical purpose it develops faith in our equipment. It develops a boldness and assurance in us that words can never touch. How will we know our gas mask works? Well we have to go to the gas chamber, get gassed, put on our gas mask and clear it, then and only then will we know our gas mask works. The same is true with any piece of our equipment. Just teaching will never do it. We can have classes all day on our gas mask, on our weapons, on the enemy from some of the very best instructors in the world, but if there is never any application experience we will never really know if our equipment, our self, and our friends are battle ready. The principle in God as in the military, is training with our equipment develops faith in the equipment and each other. In a company run we run as fast as the slowest man, why? Because this tells everyone in the company if we get dinged in battle no one will be left behind. And if we have no faith in our equipment or each other then we will be defeated in battle. I will let that sink in. No wonder the church is on the run it lacks faith developed from lack of training and lack of relationship. In Proverbs we read, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) Notice this verse did not say, "teach up a child." Why? Teaching only knowledge will not keep them from departing. You know there is a huge difference between teaching a child and training a child. Teaching is the art of passing on knowledge have it be one on one or in a classroom setting. While training is application based, trial and error, hands on learning, how things operate, when enough is really enough when to speak and when not to speak and so much more. Teaching will never provide skills development only training. We talk with our kids and say we are teaching them how to be good little Christians, but in reality they are watching our behavior and our actions to see what we have learned. Only what we have really learned can we pass on to our kids. Sadly too often it is the old, "do not do as I do, but do as I say." If we truly train (not teach) our kids in the way they are to go then it will be a part of their character and nature and my friend it will then be extremely hard for them to depart from the way God has for them to go. There will be a gnawing in their heart that will draw them back again and again. It is not a matter of our teaching or their ability to learn, but did we train our kids through personal example and a Godly life style? Have we developed a faith and a belief in God in them so that no matter what they see or feel their training will hold them in the heat of the battle? Teaching or training it is our choice. The church needs to involve people in the service again and provide some application based hands on knowledge that will develop them is ways where they can come to know God not only through knowledge, but through revelation which is God's measuring stick of man. Written by David Stahl

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHURCH

As a Christian one of the hardest things to do is find a good Bible believing doctrinal church. I can remember talking to my Bible Teacher Charles Haun about this in the late 1990s and he too was experiencing the same problem. If you think finding a place to worship God in "Sprit and truth" with people was tough in the 90s, well 28 years later has only severely limited our choices. Now I do believe God wants us to join our lives with a local body of believers (not a church because we are the church) not to receive a blessing, but be a blessing. To add in our skills, talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts to be "fitly joined" our hearts as one evangelize the community with the Gospel and then helping the down and out who needs a hand up not a hand out. So what happened to the church? In Matthew 28:19 we get a mandate from, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:." (Matthew 28:18), but we are making buildings organizations, foundations, business, corporations, anything to make money. We are to go, teach (make disciples) and baptize. Where did the church get off track? Maybe from the seeker sensitive humanistic movement from books like "The Purpose Driven Life" not wanting to offend people, maybe from the word of faith, "blab it and grab it" or "claim it and game it" crowd, or maybe from the hyper-spirituality folks looking for a devil under every rock. Whatever happened to the churches that were doctrinally sound teaching the word of God as presented in the Scriptures without embellishment? Okay I am going to go ugly right up front, if you think things are okay in most churches you have no spiritual wherewithal. Okay please let me eat my words (God is good at making us eat our words) not all churches are misguided and off track. The churches we visit overseas seem to be more on track doing those things Jesus has asked us to do. Maybe the common denominator of poverty, persecution, and daily struggle has made it so. And maybe that is why we always feel welcome and the presence of God is present in their services. Paul lays it out to us in Ephesians, "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:16), but before this all can happen Paul tells us what must be established in our heart to make it all happen. "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;" (Ephesians 4:2-4) The problems with the "church" of today are many. There can be no "unity of the Spirit" and all of the great things Paul tells us about unless we can walk in "lowliness and meekness with longsuffering forbearing one another in love." Whatever happened to these qualities in the church? There are three things (in descending order of importance) I would like to discuss in trying to answer the question what happened to the church. As the church goes so does the country. Make no mistake my friend unless the church is set in order America's best days are behind her. The first reason the church has missed it is losing sight of the main teaching of Christ. Jesus told the disciples, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat." (Matthew 10:7-10) We have lost track of the message we were told to "preach (like at the end of Chapter 28), heal the sick (not pray for the sick), cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils." I see no words from Jesus that says build buildings, start denominations, or collect money for salaries. Oh no Jesus said "as ye go" do all of these things. The church of today has lost the original vision of what Jesus told the disciples by substituting some good works (which is needed) and mixed it with religious tradition and ritual while the countless masses of people in the world perish right before their eyes. Remember, if you feed and clothe people around the world and never give them Jesus then what you will have is well dressed and well feed people in hell. It is no wonder people reject the message of Jesus they have learned the messenger really does care about them they have learned time and time again they only care about themselves. Sadly I have seen and heard this year after year and even sadder it still is on display today. Unless you have the right heart condition for the lost you will do things for yourself and make no mistake people know sincerity when they see it. Jealousy, arrogance, and vain glory will be the heart condition of the pastor and church leadership. And notice Jesus said, "Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses," well how could that be? Take no money with you? No that is not what Jesus was saying. Jesus was saying God will provide your needs as you go in His will because it is His idea so He will provide and because, "the workman is worthy of his meat." If we do things with the right heart condition, according to His will we are worthy (not what we have do but how we have done them) and God will provide. I have seen this truth in ministry play out since April 1996 when we first went to Germany. God ALWAYS provided everything we needed for our church in Stuttgart and every time we traveled. Even today when the LORD sends us out He provides or we do not go. It is God's idea, it is God's will so He will make it happen. When you get over in self promotion and self funding we are on shaky ground my friend. Over the last 22 years of ministry through Beholding His Glory we have never had a denomination and only two churches (one a Presbyterian and a Baptist) for a short time support us. All of our support has come by way of a hand full (and I mean hand full) of people. Even today this holds true. All that BHG does is provided by a hand full of people who have clearly heard from God and have a heart condition of obedience to God's word. The next reason the church has missed it is lack of relationships. Few relationships within the church and a lack of desire (make people feel uncomfortable) to share the Gospel message with family, friends, and with the lost in world. In most churches 80 percent (known as the 20 to 80 rule) of the work is being carried out by 20 percent or less of the people. We have become a church of spectators. Lack of relationship and not because of the excuse we are too busy, but we do what we really care about. According to my own personal research, the problems are even bigger than the 20/80 rule. Only 39 percent of active believers consider the Bible as the literal word of God. Less than 20 percent of professing believers follow the biblical principle of giving. Only 5 percent have shared their faith with a non-believer. More than half of all church members attend church once a month or less all lack of relationship. If there was a real relationship between the pastors and the people things would be different. People would be inspired and find value in investing their resources in the church and more importantly the people in the community who are almost always forgotten in most churches of today. Resources are spent on people inside the church (the fortress) first (they pay their tithes right?) and if anything is left after paying: salaries, building programs, utilities, property maintenance, maybe mortgage, mission funding to the denomination (instead of people going as Jesus asked), the list goes on maybe the people in the community who the church is to reach may get something. Casual attendance and the belief that others will serve, give, and share the Gospel are tearing down churches across our country brick by brick. Can you imagine what would happen in our personal walk of faith and in our community of believers if we established real relationships with each other? What if every believer exercised generosity? What if everyone served in their God-given purpose? What would happen if we stopped simply believing and started belonging to each other? What if we changed our approach to Christ and established a real relationship with our families and friends; the blessing, the reward, the joy, the fulfillment, the purpose, and the increase would radically transform our lives and the world. Recently we were attending a denomination church in the local area and the pastor (a good, dedicated pastor who really cares about his people in the church) never understood my writings. When I would write about an issue affecting the "church" globally and corporately he would take offense and get upset at us. In defense he was not the only pastor of a church (we attended) who got offended at us. In the past we have invited the pastor (of the church we were attending) and his wife if married over for dinner to explain BHG, our motives, and even tell some in time they too would probably get offended at us. The offence, jealousy, and envy in these pastors, well I will leave this alone. You might ask why then go to church? Again I believe we are to share what the LORD has given us, but when the pastor sees my light might be a little brighter than his, disagree with our writings, or often times think we are trying to break his rice bowl and take over, well the end is near. Knowing this I tried really hard to keep a good relationship with the pastor and the people, after all this is what Jesus asked us to. I understand I am not a card carrying member and will always be an outsider, but we have always honored and supported any pastor of any church we have attended. When we would host friends from overseas we would have the pastor and his wife if married for dinner to get to know our friends better especially if they were to speak at their church. Sometimes we would just have them over for dinner to talk. We even took some out to dinner and others to events trying to establish a Godly relationship. All Godly ministry comes out of Godly relationships When we would travel we would always bring the pastor and some of the people gifts. We worked hard at keeping a good relationship. The last pastor even commented how we were more faithful in attending services and helping out than his members yet because he disagreed with my writings and when I questioned how he handled some Scriptures we were asked to leave. Now Karen and I are not perfect and make mistakes, but our heart has always been in the right place, so too here. I thought for some time what did we do wrong? To be honest I was shocked when the pastor emailed me, yes emailed me and did not call. That is right he emailed me. He did not call or be manly about it by talking to us face to face. I then realized we had no relationship. Oh no I misjudged our relationship. All of the times he thanked us for helping and said he loved us (and he did many times) was not true. I guess love to some is situational dependant. As long as we did and said what he wanted we were in his good graces, but if we question well . . . you know what happens. I thought our relationship was strong enough (after years) to sharpen each other, but I guess I was wrong. Sadly today the church is full of people with no relationships. People come and go every Sunday and Wednesday (if they have a service) like strangers in the night. Show up for their traditional ritual and disappear. Whatever happened to getting to know people? Having dinners and programs never will help you to get to know someone. As they say, "no one cares what you know until they know how much you care." Now I am not talking about the leadership within the church this goes without saying there will be a better relationship there, but I am talking about the people who come, who are faithful, and are expected to show up every service or things fall apart from lack of finances. Most churches have failed to express themselves in any meaningful way to the community. A quick hello, slight smile, and a how are you doing while the heart of the people is begging for more. I have seen this in the last church (and in its community) we attended, but like a man a church cannot give what it does not have. What would your community look like if the people in your church really cared about each other and the people in the community? Lastly the biggest reason I know the church has missed it is the lack of spirituality. Everything is explained by human reasoning. There is almost never a move of God's Spirit (it has been years since I have heard a message in tongues and an interpretation) everything is routine and religious. I can remember growing up in more Pentecostal (Assembly of God and Church of God) Churches suddenly without warning or being prompted the Spirit of God would fall in great power and manifest Himself is spiritual ways, but it has been many years since I have seen the Spirit of God fall in unmistakable ways knowing this was God reaching His people. And why not? People do not pray the pastor prays. When was the last time you were given an opportunity to share a testimony? Oh no start at 11:00 out by 12:30 maybe 1:00 pm or the people look at their watch and the pastor knows what that could mean, maybe the door the next time his job comes up for a vote. Most services are scripted, controlled, and manipulated leaving no room for the Holy Spirit to move. No spirituality in the people because in most churches they have not been taught, just a lot of feel good sermons. One Wednesday at a local church we use to attend I cast a demon out of a lady, how the small crowd was amazed, but even sadder they did not even know the lady was demon possessed. After all (at the church) most Christians never bring their Bibles which means they probably do not read their Bibles at home so how would they know to recognize a demon? The signs were obvious, but the entire church missed it well I did not and the lady left with a clean face and a different woman. Her language (strange sounds and volume), her mannerisms, even her dirty face told me she was possessed. You know as we looked back Karen said she believes this one event was the straw that broke the camel's back for us at this local church. Most churches today have been dumb downed to keep the people happy with songs, but ignorant to the Spiritual realm. The local body of believers is not a building – it’s a body of believers fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives and these purposes and the fulfillment is spiritual. Strangely enough people will follow someone to hell's door if they are "truly" spiritual, yet they are few in the world of many. Churches that are unspiritual that can be fully explained in terms of the natural, although ever so attractive and competent, will result only in spiritual fruitlessness, corruption3 and immorality. We often see this based on worldly logic and methods, but John tells us, "that which is flesh is flesh and that which is Spirit is Spirit." (John 3:6) we can never substitute or mix flesh with Spirit and expect to get something spiritual it just CANNOT happen. In Proverbs we read, "there is a way that seemeth right . . . " (Proverbs 14:12) the world says you can use worldly ways and means in the Body of Christ and get the same effect, but this will never work. Most pastors and churches do not want to devote resources, time, and effort to teach their people about spiritual things (not a demon under every rock like some churches), but the truth how the Holy Spirit moves, manifests, and functions within each member and then throughout the church to the world. For this to happen the pastor (first) and the church MUST have a real revelation of God. And revelation is spiritual. We are measured by God by the amount of revelation we have received from God. Revelation is God’s evaluation and measuring stick. God's spirituality is built on God’s revelation and His estimation of a person is according to that revelation. If God gives revelation then is His spiritually is established and when His revelation is withdrawn the man is rejected. If we want to learn to be spiritual we must pay attention to our relationship before God. If God desires to have communion with us face-to-face no one can eliminate us. But if our communication above is severed, and the heavens are shut, all we do will be for naught. An open heaven is the seal of God and is God's main credential of the testimony of Sonship. Revelation is therefore the evidence of authority and spiritually. The true manifestation of spirituality is wisdom not power nor knowing right from wrong. God tells us what is right and wrong in the Scriptures, but revelation is God's words to us. The wisdom alone comes from God. You know Jesus felt the church was worth dying for – it should be our mission as Christians to value living for it. Written by David Stahl

THE NEXT GREAT REVIVAL

For years I have heard of the great revival that would happen before Jesus returns to earth in the rapture (first taught by John Darby in 1830) or second coming depending on what camp you believe. There are so many thoughts, theories, and assumptions out there: rapture, pre tribulation, mid tribulation, post tribulation it all will give you a headache if you try studying it. I honestly believe we need to live in the first 65 Books of the Bible and God will take care of the Book of Revelation. After we get past the third Chapter of Revelation the symbolism, type and shadow of metaphors and concepts are steeped Jewish lore one can really get off track and in the ditch as we see has happened with the whole Hebraic movement. Yes Jesus is coming back, why? Because He said so and that is good enough for me. When I do not know and I need no preacher or teacher to convince me of Jesus' return. If you are not convinced of the return of Jesus Christ my friend then there is a lack of understanding and doctrinal truths of the word of God you desperately need. I know Jesus is coming back not because someone told me oh no, but out from my communion with the LORD and me discovering the truths of God's word and I know in my spirit He will return. But in Luke we read, "I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) and in 2 Thessalonians Paul talks about the LORD's appearing is at hand, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" (2 Thessalonians 2:3) Paul does not talk about a great revival (word not in the KJV of the Bible), but of a "falling away" and the revealing of "the son of perdition" some say is Satan, but the word "perdition" (Strong's G684) means wasters, destroyer, destruction. I really do not know or really care who "the son of perdition" is he is not my focus Jesus is my focus and if I can train my thoughts and spirit on Him that is enough. But today on Christian TV (which is a oxymoron) we hear of this great revival before the end of days that will sweep the world and billions of souls will be saved. Now do not get me wrong here I hope it happens. Oh how I hope it happens, I like the LORD wishes none to be loss no not one, but that is not what the Bible says. Jesus again in Matthew, "And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:4-14) This huge end time revival is not the picture Jesus paints. I wonder why what Jesus said is not preached as much as the prosperity messages and seeker sensitive doctrines? I guess you cannot get a bunch of people to rally around your mega church with such doom and gloom even if it is the truth. Those today who preach and teach about the "end of days" and what will befall the earth in the future from the Books of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelations, in my opinion, have no clue and at best they are guessing. Christian TV is full (each denomination has their own special star) of these soothsayers and they say the LORD gave them this special understanding and if you buy their book or video you too can know what is going to happen after the rapture, during the millennial reign, or when we all get to heaven, well mule fritters! Well if the LORD gave everyone a special understanding why do they all disagree in doctrine and timeline? Someone is not telling the truth. Shame on these charlatans and shame on the people that get snookered. John had to be in the Spirit to receive the Book of Revelation and fell at the LORD's feet as dead and today we merchandise the truth of the word of God for money, power, control, and prestige . God please forgive us for our greed and presumption. This end time folly revival really intrigues me. Again I hope I am wrong a lot of money and time has been dedicated trying to make it happen. As I have thought about it I have come to the realization (and I am not sure if we can call it a revival or an awaking), but after the LORD returns (and He will He said so) I believe every church in the world will be packed 24 hours a day every day of the year. I will even go as far and say people will be killing people to get through the doors. What a contrast from today. After the rapture or the second coming (again what you believe) as the Book of Revelation unfolds people will know they missed it. They were told and they did not believe, but now that they missed it God has their attention and they know there will be things that will be happening where they might have a second chance to make it to heaven and shun hell. Make no mistake hope in a second chance after the rapture will be the only thing that will keep most people going. Their lives will have been shattered death and destruction is ever before the people and they will know they missed it and they also will know there is still hope. I do not believe God will take the precious Holy Spirit from the earth at this time. Jesus said I will NEVER leave or forsake you and He means this too. Gene Fowler visiting W. C. Fields shortly before his death found his ailing crony sitting in the garden reading the Holy Bible. Fowler asked, "what are you doing?" Fields explained shyly, "I am looking for loop holes." That is what these people will be doing they will be looking for loop holes looking for ways to miss hell and make heaven their home. And in God's grace and mercy He has provided ways for this to happen. Many Christians do not know many people will live through the great tribulation and make it to heaven, but John writes, "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." (Revelation 7:13-15) I believe these could be the ones who had to give their lives for the Gospel. John again in Revelation, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4) Now I do not know how all of this is going to work out nor do I need to know. But I do know if you cannot stand for Jesus now when times are not really that tough how can you give your life? I do not know. Why Jesus Himself said, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 25:13) All I need to know is Jesus and His word and things will work out fine. Will there be a great end time revival I do not know, but I do know God has a made a way for us to spend eternity with Him and we now need to take Him at His word. My friend let us double our efforts now to reach as many people as possible. Written by David Stahl

WTFMT 54 FROM HGM ON 26 JUN 18

WILDERNESS TRUTHS FOR MODERN TIMES-54 TEXT:

"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee." (Song 8:5)

 

I. WE NEED THIS WAY

A. The wilderness is a part of our Christian development. It is necessary for our growth. It is God's method for getting His provisions to us and into us. It is that which the Lord uses to bring spiritual enrichment into our lives. It is a means God uses to develop faith and trust in Him.

B. The wilderness is an essential part of the Christian life, whether we like it or not. He brings us to the wilderness so that we may see His glory moving in this particular unlikely and unpleasant place.

C. Let us look for the glory of God in the wilderness. Let's not look at other things. If we do, we will miss the cloud and the glory.

D. Certainly the difficulties and the giants will be there, but looking at them as insurmountable problems and unconquerable enemies will lead us to defeat.

E. Let us lift our eyes from the ground and look heavenward. Helen H. Lemmel expressed this well in her hymn, "The Heavenly Vision" Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face; And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

F. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus." That's the best advice or counsel we shall ever receive under any circumstance. Once we have our blessed Lord in proper view, everything else falls into proper perspective. Then the whole realm of Heaven and abundant provisions come into clear and correct focus. We see the victory before it comes.

G. All that we shall ever need is in Him. Come, let us follow our Beloved into the wilderness. There we shall come under sheltering wings and draw from His endless provisions.

H. There a thousand needs will be met. There we shall behold His wondrous beauty and glory. And from there we shall go into even broader blessings, brighter, and grander glory.

I. God brought the Children of Israel into the Wilderness of Paran for two main reason, one to show His most beloved His glory and beauty. And two, commence the conquest of a promise He made over 435 years ago, the fulfillment of the Promised Land.

J. But they never got to see all of the glory and beauty of God He wanted to show them. They saw some glory, but not the glory God desired to show them and work in them. Why? Because they were looking at the situations and circumstance.

K. Many Christians desire to see only a little of God's glory and beauty. God is wanting many Christians to go forth and eat of the bounty of the promised land, but sadly they have no stomach for the conquering giants or spending time in the wilderness to learn the lessons and gain the strength required to overcome.

L. Many Christians are content to eat the manna and the quail in the wilderness and drink water when God does a miracle. But these lessons that God uses to build faith and trust in Him, not the miracles.

 

II. PARTING THOUGHTS

 

A. So instead of moving into the promised land, the Children of Israel moved into the next wilderness. Forward they moved farther away from what God had for them. But forward into progress, forward and eastward they moved, farther and farther away from God's glory and beauty.

B. If we do not move into what God has for us, now, we too are moving farther and farther away from God's glory and beauty. We then will have to progress eastward.

ANOTHER GENERATION

In Judges we read, "And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel." (Judges 2:8-10) I thought how could this happen? How could there be, "another generation after them, which knew not the LORD?" even in America. All that God has done for America and yet most children know not much of God. After all the Children of Israel went through in the wilderness and beyond how could this happen? After all God commanded the people to teach their children; every generation was to teach their children and the next generation their children who God is and what He has done in the past for the people. Moses writes, "Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.? (Deuteronomy 4:10) Ah yes sadly I can see how this is happening in America and around the world in Christian homes. My friend answers to our questions from the LORD are often found in the strangest places if we have a heart to look for them. All of our grand kids came for a visit. What a wonderful time we had. I remember how I would feel when we would drive out of my father's drive way with our kids in tow and now I feel worse (I guess I know what my father felt) when I see our kids pull out of our drive way. But while they all were here they were singing songs I have never heard, well one said, "Pap do you know the words to these songs?" And I replied, "no." To be honest they were not really Christian songs more secular for this present generation. Now I love our kid s and our grand kids, but these songs were from a different generation, from an another generation of things and ways that I purposely do all that I can to avoid. I purposely do all that I can to stay away from technology. I see the danger of technology, not fear on my part, but danger to my walk with the LORD. I purposely do all that I can to stay away from social media. I purposely do all that I can to stay away from movies (last movie we saw was "Broken"), TV programs, and music that glamorize this world. I purposely do all that I can to stay away from and even resist any worldly concepts and thinking that comes into conflict with the way I was raised and especially in conflict with the things of God. The more we go towards technology the less of God will be in us and the less of the Christians values my parents and others has instilled in me. I see how easy these values and Godly principles can be displaced by something new that affects our flesh, something shiny, bigger, brighter, something that captives our thoughts and thinking. Again I love our kids and grand kids very much and even understand the draw and pull of this world on them, but it is the responsibility of all Christian parents and grandparents to turn our children away from the things of this world so they would not follow after the ungodly things that this world daily serves up. Music, movies, computer games, social media all captures the heart, mind, and spirit of young people and enslaves them into wrong thinking that will oh so subtly drive them down a road to ultimate destruction. I am really confounded how churches use Facebook with all of its confusion and even the selling of personal information as a means to communicate information and news within the church. I hear many pastors say, "oh it is convenient, everyone is on it (not everyone) so we will use Facebook too." Well one thing I have learned is if the world is running after it God is NOT. Oh many say what harm is the singing of a few little worldly songs? Well that is the slippery slope of the world we all wrestle with. What part of, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15) do we not understand? The Scripture is quite clear my brother. To love or not love the world neither the things that are in the world" is not a request or good idea from the LORD, but a command. Yet we wink and nod at God's word and wonder why we get caught up in all of these areas in our lives. The answer is clear, we really love the world and the things in the world. And yes I can find myself here if I am not careful. I must say no to the things that draw me away from God. What part of, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2) do we not get? Why are we transformed by the world? Because we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. The renewing of our mind is not God's or the Holy Spirit's job, but ours. We renew our minds as we displace thoughts and hungers of the world from our hearts and mind by the things of God, those "good, and acceptable, and perfect will" things of God. The overriding need of the Church is not more influence, money, ministry, power, but is to discharge its obligation to the rising generation to a leadership that is: Authoritative. People love to be led by one who knows where they are going and who inspires confidence. They follow, almost without question, the person who shows himself wise and strong, who adheres to what he believes. Next it must be Spiritual. Leadership that is unspiritual, that can be fully explained in terms of the natural, although ever so attractive and competent, will result only in spiritual fruitlessness, corruption3 and immorality. Lastly it must be Sacrificial. Modeled on the life of the One who gave Himself a sacrifice for the whole world, who left us an example that we should follow His steps. It is the binding duty of those in positions of leadership to face-up-to the situation and do all in their power to see that the torch of a truly spiritual leader is passed on to the younger generation. Leadership is often viewed as the product of natural endowments and traits of personality, intellectual capacity, force of will, and enthusiasm. These God-given talents do greatly enhance leadership beyond question, but those are not the factors of paramount importance in the spiritual leader. The real qualities of leadership are to be found in those who are willing to suffer for the sake of objectives great enough to demand their wholehearted obedience. Spiritual leaders are not made by election or appointment, by men or any combination of men, nor by conferences. Only God can make them. Simply holding a position of importance does not constitute one a leader, nor does taking courses in leadership or resolving to become a leader. The only method is that of qualifying to be a leader. Religious position can be conferred by bishops and boards, but not spiritual authority; which is the prime essential of Godly leadership. That comes, often unsought, to those who in earlier life have proved themselves worthy of it by spirituality, discipline, ability, and diligence, workers who have heeded His call. Spiritual leadership is a thing of the Spirit and is conferred by God alone. When His searching eye alights on a servant who has qualified, He anoints him with his Spirit and separates them to their distinctive ministry. Samuel Logan Brengle, a truly great spiritual leader of the Salvation Army, outlined the road to spiritual authority and leadership in these challenging words: "It is not won by promotion but by many prayers and tears. It is attained by confession of sin, and much heart searching and humbling before God; by self surrender, a courageous and uncomplaining embracing of the cross, and by an eternal, unfaltering looking unto Jesus crucified. It is not gained by seeking great things for ourselves, but rather, like Paul, by counting those things that are gain to us as loss for Christ. That is a great price. but it must it must be unflinchingly paid by him who would be not merely a nominal but a real spiritual leader of men, a leader whose power is recognized and felt in heaven, on earth and in hell. The highest positions are reserved for those who have qualified in secret. It is that element of sovereignty that begets awe and a great humility in those to whom leadership is entrusted. The Church is painfully in need of leaders. I wait to hear a voice and no voice comes. I love the back seat in conferences. I would always rather listen than speak, but there is no clarion voice to listen to." The Prophet Joel knew of the importance of teaching our children about the LORD and keeping our hearts far from the world. "Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.? (Joel 1:2-6) Sounds like today my friend except for the teaching of our children. It is the previous' generations duty to tell the next generation the things of God to press them on the heart and souls of the young and tell of the things the LORD has done for them. Sadly the "Baby Boomers" (those born after World War II my generation) have miserably failed in their Godly calling to prepare the next generation. And why? Most have spent their time and interests on themselves and their desires, seeking pleasure and have raised kids who seek greater pleasure than their parents. God and His will is nowhere in the picture. So too the "church" has failed in instructing the next generation. They mix the truth with lies, but of greater damage is their lack of leadership and guidance. In the past as I grew up in the church I remember great men of God who really cared for their people their focus was not what they wanted, but had a real heart for the people and what God wanted for them, They really knew God it was evident in their talk, their life style, and in the word of God they delivered from a broken and contrite heart. Not so today. Where are the dedicated men of God? Today most pastors are so self focused in what the people will say. They have little to no inward strength and why? They have not allowed God to build in them an inward quality. Oh they have been to Bible School, they have completed the denominational paperwork to be ordained, and they think that qualifies them to be a pastor, but not so in God. God requires much more to be able to speak for Him. And at the heart of their ministry is their rice bowl. Their concern is for their job and their good name in the community. Who will teach the next generation about God? I can speak for our family that will be Karen, I, and our kids. Written by David Stahl

SEPARATION FROM GOD

I remember a story of Charles Haun (my Bible Teacher) when he was on a platform waiting to minister in a church and the pastor leaned forward and whispered, "there are sinners here today." Charles somewhat puzzled replied, "that is good I like sinners. As a matter of fact some of my best friend are sinners." The pastor slid back in his seat. I wonder why so many Christians do not like sinners? There seems to be this big, "them verses us thinking" in the church today. Ah they are sinners we cannot have anything to do with them. Foolishness just foolishness! Funny if Jesus can eat with sinners I wonder why some Christians have such a hard time? In Luke we read, "And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat." (Luke 7:36) Maybe it is because Christians not wanting to identify with their old life and I can buy into that somewhat, but wait a minute the Bibles says we all were sinners. "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:22-23) Yes for those who have accepted the finished work of Christ on the cross once were sinners, but now we walk in the newness of life, a new creation in Christ Jesus yet still with a nature in us that could pull us back into our old way of living if we do not continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ. There is no neutral in the LORD either we are moving forward in Christ or we are back pedaling. You know I believe the LORD is more concerned about our coming short than He is of our sin. After all Jesus dealt with our sin, but He did not deal with our coming short. With things like our character, our integrity, honesty, and so many other SMALL things we think God is not so concerned about. This thinking whereby sin separates (even thinking we are better than sinners) us from God and other people in the world who are not Christians can go deep into our walk with God and man. I know in the past I have caught myself thinking such delusional thoughts. Could this be also why most churches are becoming obsolete? Is it because most Christians do not talk to people who need Jesus? Most Christians today hide and wait in a church building ready to pounce on some poor deranged sinner (in the Christians thinking) when (if) they come to church, but to meet the sinner in the market place, door knocking, or some type of evangelism outreach (something most churches never do) well this rarely happens. Most Christians in churches today have little to no spiritual wherewithal (because of the lack of spiritual teaching and the dumbing down of the Gospel message) to be able to discern if someone is even saved, filled with a demonic spirit, and have no opportunity to experience failure and growth in their walk with the LORD. It seems to be all about denominational agendas: reports to fill out, money to give (maybe pay back) to headquarters, even a rice bowl to protect. I believe denominations have done more to prevent (around the world) the sharing of the Gospel message than Satan. I have seen the lack of spiritual discernment and the denominational control and manipulation (around the world) in action and it is troubling to say the least. Here is a example. One Sunday night (when we lived in Jacksonville) we stopped by one of those "Non-denominational denominational" (non-denominational in name, but belongs to a network of 1,000s of churches) church just to see what it was like. Well with our Bibles in tow we went in and sat near the back of the church as the service had already started. Before we could get comfortable some people came up to us and started to ask questions not the typical pumping for information, but they started asking us if we were saved. Are you sure you are saved? How long have to been saved. What makes you think you are saved? This went on for some time till I asked the people to just leave us alone. They did, but later another group of people assaulted us with the same tactic. We repelled this second wave of attack by saying (in a more forceful tone) "buzz off and leave us alone." They left and as we looked around the big crowd we were the among the oldest people in attendance. This told me a lot. This told me there was not much spiritual growth or discernment in the people very zealous, but had not much wisdom. During the altar call we were attacked for the third time and was begging us to come down to the altar to give our hearts to the LORD, well I had enough and greatly pushed back to this immaturity. We left that night and never came back. Over the years 15 in the Jacksonville and Sneads Ferry area we have seen the lack of opportunity to serve, learn, and even be trained in service for the LORD seems to have fallen by the wayside for a more comfort driven routine and "just too much work involved attitude." We have attended and visited many churches in these 15 years, but I am not sure what the end means of our going to church there was. Please let me stop here. I do not want to seem like I am running down the pastors of these churches, but want to say we love these pastors and the people very much and for the truth to be known we want only to see God move in the lives (ours too) of these wonderful people. In hurtful and confusing times I understand clearer, "Open rebuke is better than secret love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:5-6) But almost every service we attended was a cookie cutter service. On Wednesday night the same routine: prayer, offering, and preaching by the pastor. The Sunday morning service was about the same routine with a few songs added before the pastor's prayer and preaching. Now the point is there is no reason for the people to come to church except to give money to the church, hear the pastor minister, and attend the traditional fellowship dinners such as Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Party, with each other. Most if not all had no discipleship program, no evangelic outreach strategy to reach the community, no weekly Bible (maybe ladies and men) study (except for the Wednesday night service) or no home group meeting where relationships are built. And why? I think most of the people do not really want to get involved, but again the point I am trying to make is there is no opportunity for personal ministry, no means for discipleship, nor is there a vision to reach the community all three critical elements of a healthy spiritual church that affects the community in a positive way. Let us face it if we are not affecting the community for God and people are not coming to the LORD then we have turned our budget and hearts inward toward the members and become a fortress daring a sinner to come and kick down our doors. If our congregation does not reflect (even in color) the community there are some things going on that needs to be addressed by God and the people. There is a great book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church by Thom S. Rainer I recommend all pastors take a read. It is small you can read it in two days or less, but do yourself a favor prayerfully read it because it is filled with wisdom from God that is needed to stop (grave yard dead) this decline and even departure of the Gospel message in the United States. For better or worse (I vote worse) America has chosen the structure of churches (we really know we are the church) as the means for people in America and the world to hear and spread the Gospel message and yes church denominations have capitalized on this notion and exploited it for money, influence, and power. I have written in the past how I believe the early church got off track and developed this structure for commonness and support, but in the beginning the Christians met (Acts 2:46) house to house breaking bread. I also believe, mind you very slowly, we will be going back to house meetings if the LORD tarries. Wow looks like the Holy Spirit had me drift some so please let me get back on target. I will be honest I do not know why people say sin separates us from God. On the contrary I would say sin draws the LORD closer to man if man makes a move towards the LORD. Now do not get me wrong here we should never go towards sin so that the LORD can forgive us. Nor should be ever languish in sin again and again (enjoying the pleasure for a season) knowing the LORD will forgive us. Paul addressed this issue and thinking with the Christians in Rome, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2) But believe it or not this wrong thinking "cheap grace" is being taught by many of the big prosperity and word of faith preachers and teachers. Shame on them! Yet it is a wrong doctrine that feeds our flesh and allows our emotions and carnal lower nature room to express itself and grow while rejecting the truth. Just like with denominations it is all about money, influence, and power and the people eat it up. To see this truth were sin does not separate God from man all we have to do is read and rightly divide the Scriptures. In Genesis after man disobeyed God and ate of the fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge and of Good and Evil" we find God in the garden not separated from man because of his sin, but calling his name looking to have a time of communion with man. In Genesis we read, "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Genesis 3:9-10) God did not separate Himself from man when he sinned oh no on the contrary. Because of God's love for man God came closer trying to redeem man. A few Chapter later in Genesis we read where Cain kills his brother Abel. "And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.' (Genesis 4:9-10) and even in this horrific murder and sin God never separated himself from Cain in his sin. Nowhere in the Bible has God ever said I will turn away from man because he has sinned so. What a wonderful love God has for man. What a wonderful truth. Now notice the opposite can happen in man's life. Man can separate himself from God by rejecting again and again the loving drawing of the Holy Spirit to the point that man drifts away into a reprobate mind where man has no desire for God. I do not understand how this could happen (as I do not understand why a holy God would want to live inside of us see Ephesians 2:22), but God is a holy and righteous God and will uphold His eternal word. We read, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;" (Romans 1:28) and "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." (Titus 1:16) This is not God separating Himself from man, but man separating Himself from God. God's love for man is unconditional, but not so with man. Back in Romans we read, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Romans 5:6-9) What unconditional love. My friend where can we run to separate ourselves from the presence of God? David said, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." (Psalm 139:7-8) You know if God separates Himself from man because of sin then God would have separated Himself from His own son Jesus while on the cross which is not true. I hear many preachers and teachers says because of sin God had to turn His back on Jesus while on the cross and even quote scripture, "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34) How foolish to think God separated Himself from Jesus because He became sin for us on the cross. God every day of our lives looks at our sin, but "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8-19) If God separated Himself from Jesus on cross then God will separate Himself from us. But that is not what Jesus said. Oh no in Matthew Jesus said, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:20). And you know what He means it! Written by David Stahl