Well
it’s good to be with all of you again … everything which we are doing,
everything which we are producing, is based upon the concept that it will
follow the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God. We are
attempting, to the very best of our ability, to follow the admonition of Jesus
Christ when He repeatedly said, “’Feed My sheep!’”
This is the motivation and the reason we are doing what we are doing. We, the
members, friends, and supporters of the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ are
a relatively small group of good-hearted individuals, however, our numbers are
slowly and steadily growing. …
Well, there are others out there
that are very much against us and what we’re attempting to do and to
accomplish. Which again is to ‘feed the sheep.’ ‘Feed
the flock.’ You need to ask yourself a question – a very serious question: why
are those other people, why are they lying!? Why are they misleading!? Why are
they misrepresenting everything about us here in Owensboro, Kentucky!? What is
their motivation!? What do they fear - to the degree that they have resorted to
such scandalous, libelous, unethical, monstrous, and simply unholy means and
methods!? From my perspective I have not seen, nor witnessed a single wisp or
essence of the fruits of God’s Spirit. Not a one.
If you knew everything which I
have seen and which I have experienced, I believe that you would be thoroughly
disgusted and revolted by the so-called leaders of this so-called church
organization. Maybe, sometime in the near future, I should document and site
the many incidences which I have seen and heard and experienced. All I can say
is - “Stay tuned!” However, despite all of the animus, the enmity, and the
antipathy which we here at the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ
have had to endure, Jesus Christ has continued to bless us and lead us, and we
are extremely thankful! …
Now, there are so many great
songs that I would like to comment on, and maybe someday in the future I will
in a sermon just dedicated to music. Keep
in mind, music was created by God! Keep in mind, music takes place around the
throne of God! The holy angels of God sit around the throne with Jesus Christ
and God the Father and focus their attention – we’re told they sing praises to God and to Jesus Christ!
Now, if it’s good enough for the holy angels, I think it’s good enough for all
of us to have that type of spirit.
And the Gaither’s
do it just about as well as anybody does it or ever has done it. …
And, on this particular night,
down in the Tyler, Texas area the opening acts – did another fine job – and
this person of whom I refer, the one who was ashamed to even have “Gaither” on
a little key chain light, the Gaither’s got out and sang their first song. One
entitled “Alpha and Omega.”
Now, just out of curiosity, if you have your Bibles, turn back to the Book of
Revelation.
This song was written by Bill and
Glory Gaither and it’s based upon the
words of Revelation chapter 21. This is a Biblical song, except for one little
mistake they make. And they make it because they don’t know better, because
they haven’t been taught yet. Someday, in a future era of time, they will be
taught, they will fully understand it. But they will still possess the great
talent they have, and they will still possess the very warm and caring hearts
in which they have. It’s unfortunate
that you go to people who are not even a part of the Body of Christ and they
apparently are much more mature, much more closely resembling living their life
the way Jesus Christ would have you, than people who say they are a part of the
Church of God. There’s a problem there!
Revelation
chapter 21, verse 1 – “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for
the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more
sea. 2) Then I, John, saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3) And I
heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God …’” - now that word “God” – in the
original Greek – is Theos, which means God the Father. “…’Behold, the
tabernacle of [God the Father] is with men, and He will dwell with them, and
they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” –
now, I must tell you, the Worldwide Church of God had a theology which simply
taught different than what this verse
plainly says! This verse here in
Revelation 21:3 – and dozens of other verses – plainly, clearly, without a
doubt, illustrate, convey, and demonstrate that at sometime at the beginning of
the Millennium, that the temple of God will come to this Earth and the
residence of that temple – that tabernacle, that city – will be both Jesus
Christ and God the Father! Yes, God
the Father is returning with His Son at the beginning of the Millennium. Now,
the Worldwide Church of God taught that God the Father wouldn’t return until
long after the “White Throne Judgment.” Almost one thousand one-hundred and
three-one-half years after the Return of
Jesus Christ.
Now, someday, I’ll give you a
whole sermon or two, and show you beyond any shadow of a doubt that that is
simply erroneous. God the Father is
returning with Jesus Christ! And I think it’s wonderful!
Verse
4
– I find it to be one of the most dramatic verses of the Bible! This is one of
the most hopeful verses of the Bible! There have been times in my life when I
have been in front of a fairly large group reading this prophecy, and I haven’t
been able to get through this verse without tearing up. Because I understand
just how beautiful that it is – “And God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes [from human beings!]; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor
crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” –
isn’t that a wonderful verse!? A prophecy of the future! A prophecy of the
Millennium! When hopefully we will be members of the resurrected Family of God!
Verse 5 – “Then He who sat on the
throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for
these words are true and faithful.’” – you can just flat bet your bottom dollar
that this is true! Verse 6 - “And He said to me, ‘It is done!’” – and then
the next line, Bill and Glory Gaither took the second sentence from verse 6 and
they formed and created a chorus to this song. And this is the actual title of
the song. “’I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. …’” – and
in the chorus of the song the Gaither’s picked what they thought were alternate name’s for Jesus Christ, and added into
the chorus. Notice that He says at the end of that, “’I will give of the
fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7) He who overcomes
shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son [or
daughter].’” – I add that editorially. But going back to that phrase, “’I AM
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.’” And in this chorus, the
Gaither’s, based upon what they know
– now mind you, they had enough sense to write a song lifted directly from the
pages of the Bible! Now, they did make one mistake in the chorus. Referring to
Jesus Christ they said, “the Second Person of the Trinity.” Now, as you and I
know that’s – there’s a problem theologically. There are no three member’s of
the Godhead. There’s God the Father, there’s Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit
of God is the power by which God the
Father and Jesus Christ make thing’s happen. It's an extension of Their brain
power, as They project into other
people or other things.
Now, the first time I heard the
song I thought, well, that’s a problem. And I immediately came upon a solution
– I love this song; it’s big, it’s dramatic, it’s Biblically accurate (except
for that one little phrase). And I inserted into my brain the phrase, instead
of “the Second Person of the Trinity,” I injected “Second Person of the
Family.” And if you do that, the song
is totally, completely, 100 % correct!
Well, going back about three
years ago, this man, for which I purchased the ticket, and his mother, and at
the time the piano player down in Tyler, Rebecca Baker. This man shot up out of
his seat, in a big huff, and a big disgust, sighing and heaving, went up the
aisle, and we did not see him for about another hour. He heard the word
“trinity.” O’ his fragile little ears were so sensitive he had to run away from
it! I’ve often thought, if he lived where I live, he would really have a
difficult time. You see, because our backyard butts up to the property of the
Trinity United Methodist Church. And the subdivision in which we live is called
“Trinity Hills.” And the street that you turn off to get to our house is called
“Trinity Blvd.” It’s trinity everywhere! And you know that word affects me
about the same way as Christmas decorations do. I don’t keep Christmas. … It’s
not my holiday. It’s not my celebration. I don’t care what they do. But I know
back in the days of Worldwide, you were taught you had to H A T E Christmas and
everything about it! Now in the end it’s an absolute waste of time. Bottom line
I’ve always said this: I’m not angry about the people who go to church on
Sunday. I don’t do it. But I am glad, I am thankful that they are guaranteed by
our Constitution and Bill of Rights and the U.S. government and the Supreme
Court and everywhere up and down, that they have the right to attend church on
a Sunday morning. The reason I’m glad they have that right, is because we have the right, guaranteed by that
very same Constitution, to have church on what the world calls Saturday. We
know Biblically it’s called the Sabbath – the seventh-day. You see, I don’t
care if they keep a celebration called the Mass of Christ. I don’t care. It
doesn’t bother me. Because as long as they have the right to keep their holy-days, or holidays, we – as the members of the Body of
Christ – have the right to continue to keep the Biblically ordained holy days
of the Bible. Things like Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets,
Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, Last Great Day. So, as long as they have the
right to keep their days, we have the right to keep our days.
And so I’m not desirous to take
away their rights, because if I do, I’m setting myself up – all of us would be
setting ourselves up – to having our rights taken away. Again, that’s a mature
way to look at this. Instead of just ranting and raving because the world keeps
Christmas. I don’t care. When I drive down the street, I don’t even see the
decorations. And if I do, I just make a joke about it. I just don’t get my
blood pressure up about it.
Well, this fella, this so-called
leader of a church organization, he heard the word “trinity,” and his ears were
so fragile, his ears were so sensitive – almost like virgin ears (I say
sarcastically). He had to get up in a big show of disgust and walk up the
aisle, didn’t come back until the intermission. He thought it was the end of
the concert. Well, he stomped back down that aisle and grabbed his mother and
out they went! The next day, he was shocked to find out that the concert had
another hour-and-a-half to go. … And then this man had the audacity, the hubris
to - for many years – to complain that he had to go outside and stand in the
rain! He had to stand smelling the smoke of some teenager smoking a cigarette!
And, he even said one time, “I thought about bumming a cigarette off of him
myself.” You know, it’s no different than a little child who doesn’t get his
way. He plops down in the middle of the room, holds his breath, starts kicking
with his feet and hands and just has a major big-time hissy fit! And if you are
parents or grandparents you’ve probably seen your children pull that little
immature stunt. Well that’s what that
was that night in Tyler, Texas. That’s what I witnessed. A grown man,
supposedly, making an absolute fool of himself, where thousands of people could
see him.
One of the songs that he missed
in that concert was entitled “I Then Shall Live.”
I heard the song about three years ago on television on a Gaither program, and
when I heard it I thought that quite possibly it was one of the most beautiful
songs that I’ve ever heard. The song is set to the tune of “Finlandia.” … This
song is a prayer. Beautiful melody. Beautiful background music. Beautiful
harmonies. But here are the words,
and the words are even more beautiful than the music.
“I then shall live as one
who’s been forgiven.” Wow, ‘I then shall live…’ that’s what all of us
should do, we should live our lives as though we have had the shed blood of
Jesus Christ applied to our sins and had them washed away. And we walk in
newness of life. We walk in the hope and the power of the New Covenant with the
promise of eternal life! “I then shall live as one who’s been forgiven.”
“I’ll walk with joy to know my
debts are paid.” Have you ever thought about your past, and you realize
some of the things you did in the past, and even after baptism you sort-of hung
your head in shame, going, “What was I thinking!?” Why did I do that, why did I
say that, why did I think that!? Well, this song reminds us that we need to
walk in joy. Because we realize that the sacrifice of Christ truly has been
applied to our past. And they are washed away! When we came up out of the
baptismal water we were as clean as a new snow storm … Just white, everywhere
white. … And that’s how we came up out of the baptismal pool. And every time
since then that we’ve made a mistake, we’ve had the opportunity to go before
Jesus Christ and say, “Please forgive me!” “I need Your grace to make it
through. All I have is You. I’m at Your mercy.”
“I know my name is clear
before my Father.” How wonderful is that! That when you go before God in
prayer to know that all of the garbage, the slime, the muck, the mire of your
past as been just washed away!! And that my name, and now after baptism,
probably in the mind of God, all of us has been given a new name! And we’re told that in the Kingdom of God we’ll be
given a new name! I hope that I get to keep the name Michael. Because I really
think it’s a great name.
“I am His child and I am not
afraid.” Wow, ‘I am not afraid.’ No fear. Paul wrote, ‘perfect love casts
out all fear.’ And yet, you know, there are people right now, who are a part of
that organization and other organizations which flowed out of the Worldwide
Church of God – and it’s sad to me – that they live in fear. That they must at
all times do everything to keep their relationship with their church leaders
perfect. And they fear that if they make just one mistake, if they do something
the church leader disapproves of, they know they run the risk of being kicked
out, or publicly humiliated. And I have seen that done. Well, we witnessed that
at the beginning of June – from a message from this very same man. That had to walk out in that big temper-tantrum
at Tyler, Texas. When this very song was sung there that night. ‘I am His child
and I am not afraid.’ I hope that all of you can stand before Jesus Christ and
kneel before Him, and know that He loves you to the point where He was willing
to die for you and, if He had to, He would do it again!! And that there’s no
reason to fear Him, that He is your Brother, and God the Father is indeed your
Heavenly Father.
“So, greatly pardoned, I’ll
forgive my brother.” It’s realizing that if God took a wretch like me and
cleaned me off, and made me anew and fresh, that it is also incumbent upon me
to have that same sense of mercy and forgiveness to extend to my brother! And
it’s so sad to realize that in this very organization of which I am speaking – turn your lights on – there is no
forgiveness. But only hatred.
“The law of love I gladly will
obey.” ‘The law of love …’ You know it’s easy to say the word love. “Love, love, love”- well, the
Beatles did it didn’t they!? “All you
need is love.” And they made a lot of
money from that song. O’ it’s easy to throw out the word love, it’s actually a
lot more difficult to live by the Biblical definition. And the Biblical
definition isn’t very complicated. ‘You’ll love your neighbor as yourself.’
You’ll treat your fellow man as you would yourself.
“I then shall live as one
who’s learned compassion.” ‘Judge not that you be not judged.’ God will not
extend mercy to those who have not extended mercy to others. If you cannot have
compassion upon your fellow man, God will not have compassion upon you. This is
a consistent theme of the Bible. Over and over, the Words of Jesus Christ! The
words of the apostle Paul. And yet, there are people I know who simply have no
sense of compassion.
“I’ve been so loved, that I’ll
risk loving too.” Now have you ever loved people or someone and have them
to turn their back on you!? Raise your hands. I’ve got so many stories. I could
keep you busy for a long time. … You know you found out as a young person,
maybe it was junior high, maybe high school, that maybe you’ve extended your
heart out to someone, a girlfriend, a boyfriend for a girl, and you sort-of
felt romantic, that little puppy love. And, you are probably not married to that person. So, somewhere, sometime
that person said to you, “No.” Or, you said to them, “Get away.” And I know
some marriages where that SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED! But unfortunately it didn’t.
Well, if you get burned, if you get betrayed, if you give love and all you get
in return is hatred, after awhile it becomes more and more difficult to even
want to open up your heart for love.
To be loved. And, I’m not talking about romantic love, I’m just talking about
any type of affection and kindness to someone. But this song says, ‘I’ve been
so loved, that I’ll risk loving too.’ I’ll risk loving again.
“I know how fear builds walls
instead of bridges.” Fear, prejudice, prejudices. I know people who are so
filled with hatred for other groups of people. If you’re wondering whom I’m
talking about, just think about the light.
I know people, I know a person who is so filled with contempt, and vile hatred,
for other racial groups, for other members of society, which he doesn’t agree.
That he can’t even control himself when these things come up. And I’ll tell ya
what, Don and I have been around this person where we have been so embarrassed,
we wished we could have just slid under the table into a crack in the floor and
disappeared. Or, we wish we could have just magically disappeared. It was that
embarrassing. It was that unsettling, it was that ugly.
I think these two songs eventually
tore at that man’s conscious, because it says, “I’ll dare to see another’s
point of view.” Is there anything wrong with just trying to put yourself in
another person’s shoes!? And just try to figure out why are they the way they are. Why do they do that!? Why do they say
that!? Why do they act the way their acting!? It’s only harmful if you are insecure
in what you believe - that you’re so
afraid to begin to ask the question: why are they thinking the way they’re
thinking!? So, it’s actually a form of insecurity.
“And when relationships demand
commitment, Then I’ll be there to care and follow through.” Isn’t that a beautiful
line!? ‘When relationships demand commitment, then I’ll be there to care and
follow through.’
“Your [Spirit] …” And this is a
very rousing part of the song, the volume increases, the sound, the power. “Your
[Spirit] come around and through and in me.” Well, what’s wrong with that!?
I think that’s what all of us should pray, ‘Dear Father, dear Brother, send me
Your Spirit!!” “Fill me with Your Spirit!!”
“Your power and glory, let
them shine through me.” Aren’t we all to be lights to the world!? That’s what Jesus said, ‘Let your light so
shine! That all men may see who you are, what you are!’ That they may come
closer to God because of the example you show them. ‘Let Your power and glory,
and let them shine through me.’
“Your Hallowed Name, O may I bear
with honor.” How’s the best way to honor God, to praise God - to live your
life in a way that brings honor and glory to Him.
“And may Your living [Spirit]
come in me.” - and through me, and
with me!
And, near the end, “The Bread of
Life, …” it’s actually referring to Jesus Christ. Capital B and capital L –
“the Bread of Life.” “The Bread of Life, O’ may I share with honor.”
“And may You feed a hungry
world through me.” The final line in that
song.
And, that’s the very thing that we, here in Owensboro, are trying to do!
We’re trying to follow that admonition, “’Feed My
sheep!’” ‘Feed the flock!’ With good nutritious spiritual food.
And then the song ends with three
Amen’s – now is the word “Amen” Baptist!? Is it Lutheran!? Is it
Catholic, Methodist!? No, it’s a Bible word. And it simply means, “So be it!”
“So be this!” Now, this song, absolutely one of the most beautiful songs I’ve
ever heard! …
Well, about 2 and-a-half years
ago, or so, not exactly sure of the timing, after I received a copy of the
accompaniment tape that goes to this “I Then Shall Live”
by the Gaither’s. I practiced this song, and then I took this song down to
Tyler one weekend, and I sang it before the congregation there. Apparently
everybody in the room loved it, except one person. The person back behind the
camera. The person to whom I have given several of these little lights. I sang the song. A lot of people
came up to me after church and said, “O’ that was beautiful!” “O’ I loved that
song.” “I loved that!” And I responded, “And, I agree with you, it’s a great
song! I’m glad you got to hear it!”
And then, about three months
later – again don’t write the dates down in stone, because I don’t have any
material to go back and double check – and I had made more than one trip back
to Tyler, from the time I sang that song until this event I’m about to talk
about.
I went down to Tyler, I sang
another song, it could have been “How Great Thou Art”? And, after church that day I was invited out
to dinner – Don and I – to be joined by “the light man,” his mother - whom I
respect and love very much – and his son and his daughter-in-law.
We went to a little Italian food
restaurant in downtown Tyler. We sat down at a table with six people, I on one
end and “the light man” on the other. We were chit-chatting, having a good
time, getting ready to make our order. And out of nowhere, seemingly out of
nowhere, the guy at the opposite end of the table from me, blurted out at the top
of his lungs, where anybody in that restaurant could have heard him – and
probably did – “THAT SONG WAS TERRIBLE!” And I’m at the far end of that table
and, I was absolutely confused, confounded, bewildered – just befuddled. I
thought, is he talking about “How Great Thou Art”!? And I think I said, “Are
you talking about ‘How Great Thou Art’?” “NO! I’M TALKING ABOUT THAT ONE YOU
SANG ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO – ‘I THEN SHALL LIVE’.” And I thought to myself,
what is wrong with this man!? What is wrong with him that he has been brewing
and stewing over this for three or four months!? And now, in this public
setting, just burst out like an uncontrollable hyena! Yelling these
vindictive’s at me because I sang a song, which everybody in the world thinks
is a wonderful song!? Now, I gotta tell ya folks, when that happened, I came
within an eyelash – I was having a tough debate in my mind – one part of me
said, ‘Mike, just push away from this table, stand up, don’t say a word, and
look to Don and say, ‘Don, if you’re travelling with me, now’s the time to
leave.’ And turn on my heels and go out the front door and get into my car and
just drive away.’ O’ a part of me wanted to do that, to do that so badly. The
other part of me is saying, ‘Mike, stay calm, stay under control, stay
composed, don’t do or say anything rash. Don’t do anything you have to
apologize for down the road.’ Now folks I kept my mouth shut. I kept my composure.
Even though the son sitting over to my left had to throw in a smart aleck
comment or two. So, if you wanna know what the future holds for that organization – I know – sarcasm,
hatred, just a smart alecky attitude.
Now, since the death of Mr. Ted
Armstrong - and I’ll remind you again, I respect what Herbert Armstrong tried
to do. He wasn’t perfect, his theology wasn’t perfect, but he was trying! And
he was doing something! And he put
his heart, and soul, and guts into it! And he lived his whole life doing it!
You have to respect that – I’m sure that God the Father and Jesus Christ
respect it and he will be rewarded accordingly. Mr. Ted Armstrong, I respected
the work that he did! Dedicated to trying to do the Work of God! Did he have his own issues in his life!?
Probably, because we all do. Was his theology perfect? No, but he was doing the
best he could, and doing it at a very high level of expertise. And I respect
what Mr. Ted Armstrong did.
But to this next two generations,
all they do is regurgitate over and over old material, and wait for money to
come into them. They and every one of their immediate family members is getting
their livelihood from the tithes and offerings of people – who think their great people! They don’t have a
clue who they are. Unfortunately I
have had to witness a whole lot of things that – well, someday I’m going to
document them. Sometime I’m just gonna put them down and just tell the whole
story to all of you. So that at least you can’t say, “I never knew that!” “Why
didn’t somebody tell me, if I had known that
I would have made different decisions.” Well, as I said earlier, that’s coming.
So many people have communicated
to me, “The messages which come out of Tyler, are like baby food!” There is no
substance to them! It does not feed, there’s no nutrition. And this one person
exclaimed to me over the phone, “Mike, we are starving out here! Please send us
some food!” And this is why we have stuck so closely to that phrase, “’Feed My sheep!’” We’re not wanting to feed cotton
candy, but we’re wanting to feed good nutritious wholesome – stick to your
spiritual ribs - type of food! …
But even before then, before the death of Mr. Ted Armstrong, I have always
known, I have always sensed – and I believe God placed it within my thought
processes – that I would not forever be with that organization. And as I saw
the way things were trending, and as I saw this
man – “the light man” – and now his son, being groomed to be the new leader, as
I saw the way they lived their lives and attitudes, and their hostile opinions
of so many people. You think I’m kidding folks!? I’m talking about some of the
most racist phrases and words I have ever heard come out of those mouths! And
there are probably people who say of those racist’s – “O’ no, they’re my
friends!” No, they’re just using you! If you knew what they really thought,
you’d have a whole different outlook on this. … But after that day in that restaurant, when “the light man” blurted out
viciously against that song, “I Then Shall Live” I knew, well, we’re getting
closer. And it probably should have happened that day.
Now, with the idea, “two cannot
walk together, unless they be agreed,” turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14 – and here’s what
the apostle Paul had to say – “Do not be unequally yoked together with
unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what
communion has light with darkness? 15) And what accord has Christ with [Satan]?
Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16) And what agreement has the
temple of God with idols? For you are the
temple of the living God. …” – if God’s Spirit resides with you! “As God
said: ‘I will dwell in them …’” –
that’s what His Spirit does. “’And walk
among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.’ 17)
Therefore ‘Come out from among them And
be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive
you.’ 18) ‘I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.’” – those
are very powerful words! Those are words which everyone should think about. Now
just because someone puts on a show of being religious doesn’t mean that they
are.
Just because a person has a last
name, doesn’t mean they’re carrying on the traditions of their forefathers. And
just because the next in line, there is no assurance that he will get back to
the ‘faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.’ These are thing’s
that all of you need to think about. … I do believe that the upper echelon’s of
that group there is the heart of hatred – hatred, I don’t know how one
rationalizes hatred with godly love!? I don’t know how the two fit together!
This morning Trevor brought a
piece of information to us, or he heard it from his wife, which once again
demonstrated just how rotten the leaders of that organization can be, how hateful
– hateful! If you would turn back to
Galatians. Remember two weeks ago we were talking about, ‘grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God’? And we talked about, ‘we shall know them by their fruits.’ Galatians chapter 5 – we’ve talked
about these concepts before. Well, I don’t know how I can communicate to you
the importance of realizing that you
are responsible for your salvation! Paul says, ‘Work out your salvation with fear and trembling!’ If you rely on another
human being, you put yourself in jeopardy of being misled by that other human
being or that other group of human
beings. And you might say, “Well, I’ve always been a part of that group. Why I
was born into that group!” Which, no you weren’t. You were just a baby, you may
have heard the name, quite a bit growing up. But if indeed, you had been
baptized into the name of Jesus Christ you belong to Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ! And the people
meeting here in this room, I don’t own you, and I think every one of you knows
that. And, I very seldom even begin to
tell you what I think you should or
should not do. Raise your hands if you recall me ever saying, “Okay, you’ve got
to do this, you’ve got to do that!” I don’t do it. Because I have enough
worrying about me, to start giving out orders. And for someone to actually put
himself on a pedestal believing that he has the right and the duty to start
ordering – “You do this, you do that!” – I’ve got to think that around the
throne of Jesus Christ the question is asked, ‘Who does he think he is!?’ The
word minister means servant. It does
not mean lord, master, potentate! However, when your cats show more of the
Spirit of God – and I know that they don’t have the Spirit of God; but they
live their life more closely aligned with the Word of God than so-called
ministers – you’ve got a problem! And, you belong to Jesus Christ and HE is
your High Priest!
Now, I’ve been saying this all
year, now. We live under the
Priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Old Covenant is gone, done away, no longer has
any binding force over us. And that means we do not have human high priests. The
only thing that exists now in the Church – the Body of Christ – are ministers
whose name means servants. Not
bullies. Not dictators. Servants. And yet, so many of the ministers that I know
of act as though they’re bullies. And when you have access to the truth – let’s
say it comes to you while reading this – maybe what is being said here is absolutely perfectly correct,
and if you take this message, and literally - in a show of childish anger - in
a preadolescent stunt, you wad it up and toss it into the trash, in this act of
protest. You, dear Sir, are making a travesty of yourself, and of your
so-called position and title. And your so-called leadership in the eyes of
Jesus Christ. And what if, dear friend, the message which is contained here was
the very message which you needed to
hear. And that maybe Jesus Christ had sent it to you for a reason!? Because He
knew that you needed to hear this
message!? And you take it and you wad it up and toss it out! You will never
ever be able to say to Jesus Christ on Judgment Day, “You never told me!” “I
never knew!” He might well look back at you and go, “Well I tried! And you
tossed it away!” Well, my friends, if that is your leader, you need to find a
new leader. Because you need a leader you can follow, and if you follow that
example, you may well follow yourself straight into the lake of fire. I can’t
say that anymore dramatically than the way I just said it.
So these are issues worth
thinking about. But here, chapter 5.
Verse 18 – “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” –
which means you are not under the Old Covenant, you’re not a part of the law of
Moses. Remind you – the sermon, which seemingly got me in so-much hot water
with this outfit, which is a sermon entitled “Look To Jesus, Not Moses.” Look to
Jesus, not an area coordinator! Look to Jesus, not an executive officer, or
whatever title “Mr. light” calls himself. Because he won’t even allow himself
to be called “minister.” Probably that’s one of the more honest things he’s
ever done!? LOOK TO JESUS! Well, here Verse
19 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident …” - their obvious, they’re
plain to see! It’s not a mystery. It’s not hard to figure out who is living the
life patterned after Jesus Christ and who is living a life which is inspired by
Satan the devil! It’s not a difficult thing to figure out! “…which are:
adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20) idolatry, …” – and once again, I probably said this before, but
can you make an idol out of a man’s name!?
Do you understand that in the
days of Jesus Christ and Paul, they were dealing with a religious society – the
Jewish people of that day – that had idolized Moses! Now, was Moses a bad guy!?
No. He was one of God’s servants, did great things. Was he perfect!? No. Do you
know that Moses was guilty of murder!?
He had to run for his life. That’s why he ended up in the Outback for
forty-years. He tried to do the best he could, with a few little screw-ups here
or there. But he was flesh and blood. He was a servant. But the religious
people in that day and age came to
worship Moses! “Everything that Moses said we have done!” And yet, they needed to take their eyes
off Moses and put them on JESUS CHRIST who lived among them! And He was
destroyed, He was murdered! He was betrayed! Because He stood for God, and not Moses. I don’t know if you’ve ever
thought about it this way!? But it’s needful that you think about it!
Idolatry, yes you can make an idol out of a last name. And I think I know
people who are doing it. I wish they weren’t. I’m not angry with them. I’m just
pitifully sorry for them. Some of these people I actually at one time thought
were my friends. Dear friends. And yet I realize that they know nothing of the
Bible. In terms of actually applying it in the way they live and in the way
they think. “…sorcery, hatred, …” - I
know some people that claim to be leaders in that organization which are simply
filled with hatred. It is not a godly trait! It is not of God, it is of Satan! “…contentions, jealousies, …” – now, I’ve
said this before, within that organization and other organizations which claim
to be of God, all of my life, since I
was nineteen-years old, I’ve seen people kicking and screaming and batting each
other down trying to get ahead of one another – all because of jealousy. And
I’ve lived to see it in my own life where people have tried to step up and over
me, just to fulfill their lust for power. Their lust for a name. Their lust for a title.
Would you throw away your eternal life because you want a title in the
here-and-the-now!!? In a here-and-the-now which may not last more than five or
ten years!!? Are you REALLY going to throw away your eternal life!!? Because
you want some little title next to your name? The title next to your name
should be – a servant of Jesus Christ.
“…wrath …” – in fact, with some
of these people, that’s all I’ve heard from them! “…wrath, selfish ambitions,
dissensions, heresies, 21) envy, …”
– envying, after envying, after envying – “O’ I wish I had that position,” or “O’ I wish I had that title,” or “O’ I wish I was up there!” or “I wish I was a
festival coordinator!” “Because, somehow, that will make my name go up in
lights on Broadway!”
And I remember the term, ‘Lord,
don’t You remember who we are!? We did all these great things in Your Name. We
baptized people, we did this, we did that!’ And He says to them, ‘I never
knew you!’ ‘Depart! Take them away!’ The implication is – to the lake of fire.
You need to be careful!
“…murders, …” – if you hate in
your heart, Jesus Christ said, ‘You’ve already committed murder.’ And I think I
know a bunch of people who are guilty of murder right now. “…drunkenness, …” – that’s one not too many people want
to talk about too much. But I know some people – well, I’ll put it this way, if
getting three DUIs is a symbolic measuring that you are under the influence of
drunkenness – I know some people who are. “…revelries, and the like; …” – and
as it says at the end of Verse 21 –
“…those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Don’t fool yourself! ‘God is not
mocked,’ Paul said, just over in chapter
6, verse 7 – “Do not be deceived [DON’T FOOL YOURSELF!], God is not mocked
[never has been, never will be!]; for whatever a man sows, that he will also
reap.” – ‘for whatever a woman sows,
that she will also reap.’ Verse 8 – “For he who sows to his flesh
[and to the vanity of his mind] will of the flesh reap corruption [death], but
he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9) And let us not grow weary while
doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” – folks,
don’t fool yourself! If you play these games, the Bible says, you are
candidates for the lake of fire. Is a few moments of so-called glory in the
here-and-the-now worth eternal death!? I cannot see how it could be! Jesus
Christ said, ‘What does it benefit a man that gains the whole world, and yet
loses eternal life!?’ What does it mean if a man gains just a little bit of
title, he thinks – in a relatively
small group – and lose your eternal life over it!? O’ please my friends, don’t
go down that road. I beg of you.
Verse
22; chapter 5 - But the fruit of [God’s] Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. …” - I contend that when
you’re in a restaurant, and you shout out at the top of your lungs your hatred
and disrespect for a beautiful song, that you have no self-control. I contend
if you will sit in a restaurant and say racist comments about people who are in
the restaurant, to the point where if they were listening very well, they could
have easily heard.
I contend when you exhibit a
degree of homophobia so bizarre that everyone within 20 feet of where we were
sitting is embarrassed - including Don and me – I contend you do not have
self-control.
I contend that such a man is
filled with emotional psychological spiritual problems. He has paranoia, has
phobias, he is not mentally stable. And, I contend that when you come to church
and all you hear is forty-five minutes of politics, you’re not serving the will
of God. You are NOT doing the will of God, you are NOT doing the work of God!
You’re simply using your little position as a platform to “huff and puff and
attempt to blow the house down!” And in
church it is W R O N G!
Verse
25
– “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Now, to be honest, this was not
the sermon I planned to give today. But maybe it’s a sermon that was supposed
to be heard today!? And, next week,
God willing, weather permitting, we will get to the next part in “The
Power of Thanksgiving p2”. Which is the only means by
which you can avoid some of these spiritual flaws, these diseases which eat
away at a person’s spirit – literally quenching God’s Spirit out of you! If you
have a sense of thanksgiving – and I will say publicly for all to hear – I am
so very thankful for the people who are in this room today, and people who are
in other locations around the world via the Internet. I am so very thankful for
the people who have sent in warm and supporting words. Encouraging words. Very,
very thankful. But most of all I am thankful to Jesus Christ, that He allows us
now to meet, free to say everything that He wants us to say. Without any
editing, without any constriction, without any blocking out or removing words.
Let the people HEAR THE WORDS FROM THE BIBLE! Let the people HEAR THE THEME
WHICH IS SPOKEN OF IN THE BIBLE!
And I ask and pray that all of
you remain close to God the Father and Jesus Christ through prayer, through
Bible study, through meditation. And through listening to messages which talk
about the Word of God. And, I beg all of you, please examine yourselves – are
you worshiping a man or are you worshiping Jesus Christ!? Your eternal life –
your eternal fate – hangs in the balance of that decision.
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