Vol. 48 January 2018 No. 1 - Gospel Trumpeter

SOUNDING FORTH THE SEVENTH AND LAST TRUMPET

Vol. 48 January 2018 No. 1

Church of God Tabernacle in Newark, Ohio

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let usgo into the house of the LORD."

Psalm 122:1

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon himwhile he is near."

Isaiah 55:6

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?"

Hebrews 2:3

PROCRASTINATION

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

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETERUSPS #871620

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

THE GOSPEL TRUMPETER675 N. Cedar StreetNewark, Ohio 43055

This periodical carries no subscription price;however, it is partially maintained through the giftsand offerings of its readers, with the balance of theexpenses being paid by the local congregation.

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

Roger L. Decker, Pastor83 Decrow Ave.Newark, OH 43055

Email: [email protected]: 740-344-2543Fax: 740-344-4737Print Shop Phone: 740-345-1312

This monthly religious journal is published for the benefit of theChurch of God universally. It is our supreme purpose to reach theworld for Christ through the printed page. Our burden is to revealthe truth of God's Word to all mankind, to expose sin and error,war against apostasy, and to eradicate the longstandingtraditions of men that have no biblical foundations.

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

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

SOME SPIRITUAL FACTSPERTAINING TO THE CHURCH

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

We reserve the right to edit and/or decline anymaterial for any reason. Not responsible for unsolicitedarticles or items.

CONTENTS

What God's Word Says About Antichrist.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Can God Use You After a Failure?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Especially for Young People. . . . . 15Have You Gone Astray?. . . . . . . . . 16God Can Be Depended On .. . . . . 21

Vol. 48 January 2018 No. 1

The Lord graciously gives everyman and woman an allotted time tomake their decision in preparationfor eternity. Think about it: eter-nity is time without end. It is unfor-tunate, but many have put off theiropportunity to gain a real experi-ence with God. Through procrasti-nation, men and women have al-lowed deliverance from sin to slipaway.

Time is precious, but whenspent, it can never be regained.God has given many people oppor-tunities, but it has been to no avail.No one knows how much time heor she will be given to make peacewith God. Therefore, every indi-vidual should act quickly. Deathcomes to the young, the middleaged, and the elderly. It can comesuddenly without warning. On theother hand, it can come as a resultof a prolonged illness. The time ofdeath is not the most importantissue, but rather it is the conditionof a person's soul when it comes.

The younger generation oftenentertains the thought that theyhave plenty of time to decide theireternal destiny. At present, theirlives seem to be going well, butthey do not realize that death couldbe very near. The middle-aged manand woman may feel they are in theprime of life. They may be cum-bered about with getting and hav-ing more. Their health is good,they have good jobs,

and they enjoy life's many benefitsand pleasures. They are engrossedin the affairs of living and thethought of death rarely crossestheir minds. Then there are theelderly who have wasted all theirgood years on self, and now theyfeel that they have nothing to offerGod but a ruined and worn outbody.

It is important to take advan-tage of the time while it is avail-able. For this reason, those who aretruly wise ought to quickly graspGod's offer of deliverance from sinand ruin. Procrastination is a seri-ous matter and can end with disas-trous consequences. Hebrews 4:7tells us, "To day if ye will hear hisvoice, harden not your hearts." In 2Corinthians 6:2 we read thesewords of admonition: "Behold,now is the accepted time; behold,now is the day of salvation." Thereare millions in a lost eternity todaysimply because they put off takingheed to God's call to repentance.

May we remind you that as welive in the midst of life, we alsolive in the midst of death? Justbecause all seems to be well andgood today does not mean thatit will always stay that way. Situa-tions and circumstances can comeabout which can drastically alterlife in a very short period of time.Freak accidents have often oc-curred without any warning.An accident can take one

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2 GospelTrumpeter.com • January 2018

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1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Brother Roger L. Decker

The Key to Understandingthe Scriptures

Some people take Scripturesand build doctrines to prop uptheir prophecies concerning theKingdom of God. There are a lotof misconceptions when it comesto the doctrine set forth in theNew Testament, especially thoseteachings that have to do withthe kingdom. Doctrine is neces-sary, and it is through doctrinethat people can see the Church ofGod in her beauty.

Acts 2:41-42 says: "Then they

that gladly received his wordwere baptized: and the same daythere were added unto themabout three thousand souls. Andthey continued stedfastly in theapostles' doctrine and fellow-ship, and in breaking of bread,and in prayers." The people whohad just gotten saved were notturned loose to go out in theworld and do the best that theycould. They had to be taught,instructed, and prepared to facea hostile world.

There are teachings of millen-niums, raptures, antichrist, pur-

gatory, and the list goes on andon, seemingly exhaustlessly. Toomany times the reason theseteachings prevail is that manypreachers have become silent onthese doctrines, often with thethought that preaching on thesedoctrines has become offensive.If preaching the truth offendspeople, then the one who is inerror is the one who does notreceive it.

Jesus said in John 7:17, "If anyman will do his will, he shallknow of the doctrine, whether itbe of God, or whether I speak of

GospelTrumpeter.com • January 2018 3

myself." Lots of books have beenwritten and are being writtenconcerning the kingdom, tribula-tion, raptures, millenniums, andso on. Many of these books werewritten by people who have notexperienced the new birth. Oh,they have theology in theirminds. They have been to schooland know some Scriptures, butthey have not been born again.You cannot preach or teach onthe kingdom until you can seethe kingdom. That is the reasonthere is so much falsity. Toomany are trying to teach doctrinewhen they are outside the will ofGod.

Sometimes doctrine can beupsetting. Matthew 22:33 reads,"And when the multitude heardthis, they were astonished at hisdoctrine." How do you knowwhether or not someone stand-ing in the pulpit is telling thetruth? You must follow in yourBible and ask God to reveal thetruth to you and give you under-standing.

When I study for messages, Ialways ask God to open myunderstanding of the Scriptures.You can be familiar with theScriptures, but there is greaterdepth that you can attain. I re-mind people from the pulpit tobring their Bibles to the services,follow along in the messages,take notes, and study theScriptures.

First John 2:20 says, "But yehave an unction from the HolyOne, and ye know all things."The word unction means "anoint-ing." You have an anointing fromthe Holy One. First John 2:27reads, "But the anointing whichye have received of him abidethin you, and ye need not that anyman teach you: but as the sameanointing teacheth you of allthings, and is truth, and is no lie,and even as it hath taught you,ye shall abide in him." ThisScripture in no way does awaywith pastors, evangelists, teach-ers, or any other functions of the

ministry. What John was sayingwas that you do not need anyman to teach you what you haveheard from the beginning.

First John 2:24 reads, "Letthat therefore abide in you,which ye have heard from thebeginning. If that which ye haveheard from the beginning shallremain in you, ye also shallcontinue in the Son, and in theFather." You do not need anyman to teach you that which youhave heard from the beginning.The expression "from the begin-ning" is used nine times in 1 Johnand two times in 2 John. Fromthe beginning, what did theyhear? They heard about the res-urrection of Jesus Christ. Whatthey heard was not tradition orhearsay, but factual.

It is Truth that sets you free.Jesus said in John 8:32, "And yeshall know the truth, and thetruth shall make you free." Truthis no more than Jesus Christ.Again, John said in 1 John 2:27,"But the anointing which ye havereceived of him abideth in you,and ye need not that any manteach you: but as the sameanointing teacheth you of allthings, and is truth, and is no lie,and even as it hath taught you,ye shall abide in him."

The Deceptive Natureof Antichrists

What does the Word of Godhave to say about antichrist?What does that word mean?Anti- is a prefix that means"against." An antichrist is an op-ponent of the Messiah. In thebook entitled Armageddon: Ap-pointment With Destiny, the sub-ject of antichrist was mentioned.The author mentioned that theantichrist would be a world lead-er and would force the Jews tostop their sacrifices in the rebuilttemple. The book says antichristwill set up an idol of himselfcalled "the abomination" in thattemple, and it is to be worshiped

as a god until he is destroyed atthe end of the seven years, sup-posedly when Jesus returns.Now, to those of us who knowthe Truth, this sounds far-fetched, but what about thosewho do not know the Truth?Many times error gets sownamong bits of truth.

Let us look closely at theseScriptures. A person can take aScripture and build a theology,or a doctrine. He can find an-other Scripture and prop it up tomake it sound like the old andthe new go together, that theycorrespond together. Thus, theycause people to think that surelythis is the right doctrine. Manytimes when people read a Scrip-ture, they have a habit of readingit at face value, so to speak. Weneed to ask God. Sometimesthere are some really deep thingsin the Scriptures that some haveoverlooked.

First John 2:18 reads, "Littlechildren, it is the last time: andas ye have heard that antichristshall come, even now are theremany antichrists [plural]; where-by we know that it is the lasttime." Just looking at that Scrip-ture at face value, we know thatantichrists were to come. Johnsaid, ". . . ye have heard thatantichrist shall come." This verseis the first time the wordantichrist is used in the Bible.What did Jesus call antichrists?He called them false prophets, orfalse Christs. Matthew 24:24says, "For there shall arise falseChrists, and false prophets, andshall shew great signs and won-ders; insomuch that, if it werepossible, they shall deceive thevery elect."

John said there were manyantichrists. I want you to noticethat this word is plural. Theword antichrists is mentionedfour times, and the wordantichrist is mentioned one time,all by the same writer. Manynames have been attached to thelong list of supposed antichrists,


such as Hitler, Stalin, Khrush-chev, Mussolini, Castro, and soon. However, antichrists are notworld leaders or political figures.Antichrists are not atheists orcommunists. Who are theantichrists? According to theBible, they are apostates. Apos-tates are those who have de-fected from the Truth. They areinvolved in a falling away.

Beware of Seducing Spirits

First Timothy 4:1-5 reads:"Now the Spirit speaketh ex-pressly [or clearly], that in thelatter times some shall departfrom the faith, giving heed toseducing spirits, and doctrines ofdevils; Speaking lies in hypoc-risy; having their conscienceseared with a hot iron; Forbid-ding to marry, and commandingto abstain from meats, whichGod hath created to be receivedwith thanksgiving of them whichbelieve and know the truth. Forevery creature of God is good,and nothing to be refused, if it bereceived with thanksgiving: Forit is sanctified by the word ofGod and prayer." You can defectfrom the Truth.

First Corinthians 9:27 says,"But I keep under my body, andbring it into subjection: lest thatby any means, when I havepreached to others, I myselfshould be a castaway." That testi-mony does not sound like thetestimony of someone who couldnot lose out with God. Who wasspeaking? It was the ApostlePaul. He let us know that it waspossible for him to defect or fallaway and become a castaway.The word castaway means"thrown away or cast off." Paulwas concerned that he could getoff the track by following a se-ducing spirit and lose out withGod, and many have done justthat.

You should be careful ofpeople who run down the pastor.If someone separates you from

the pastor, you will get in a posi-tion where you cannot receiveany help. People who run downothers may go from the pastor tosomebody who sings or has aposition in the church, or theymay branch out to leaders in thecongregation. If that begins tohappen, you need to get awayfrom that person as fast as youcan, because he or she will se-duce your soul. If someone canget you to lose a little confidencein the pastor, then you will notreceive the Word of God as theengrafted Word any more. Youwill receive it as his own idea, orhis own thoughts. The next thingyou know, you will start ques-tioning everything that takesplace.

Antichrists were present inJohn's day, even before theworld leaders that I mentionedwere born. Again, John said in1 John 2:18, "Little children, it isthe last time: and as ye haveheard that antichrist shall come,even now are there manyantichrists; whereby we knowthat it is the last time." You needto understand that First, Second,and Third John were written at atime when there was a fallingaway. Apostasy had set in, andsome were defecting from theTruth and losing out with God.Seducing spirits had come in.False Christs and false prophetsrose up and brought out differ-ent theologies and differentdoctrines.

Falling Away From the Truth

Second Thessalonians 2:7says, "For the mystery of iniquitydoth already work: only he whonow letteth will let, until he betaken out of the way." Paulcalled iniquity a mystery. Why?Something that is a mystery isworking undercover. It is hiddenand deceptive. That is the reasonit is called a mystery. An apos-tasy was taking place. Peoplewere falling away from Truth,

and it had already affected thechurch of the morning time.

When the spirit of apostasyhits, many are touched by thelong tentacles of Satan. It candestroy family, friends, or a con-gregation. Their spiritualstrength slowly drains until peo-ple are confused, mislead, andensnared in the devil's grasp.Who were antichrists? They werecomfortable, professed Chris-tians who were neither hot norcold but lukewarm.

We read in Revelation 2:1,"Unto the angel of the church ofEphesus write; These things saithhe that holdeth the seven stars inhis right hand, who walketh inthe midst of the seven goldencandlesticks." John stated inverse 4, "Nevertheless I havesomewhat against thee, becausethou hast left thy first love." Thiswas in the morning-time church,and it was a falling away thatcaused people to leave their firstlove. They did not retain thatstrong and fervent affection forGod and the sacred things thatthey had when they first walkedin the knowledge of Truth. Theydid not maintain the fervencythey once had. When you werefirst saved, do you remember thefervency that you had? Youwanted everybody to be saved.You loved God supremely forwhat He had done.

What did John the Revelatorsay? They no longer loved theTruth but left it. He did not saythey did not know the Truth orthat they did not know where itwas, but that they left it. If youdo not have a love for the Truth,now is the time to get it. If youhave lost that fervent love for theTruth, do not be a hypocrite andprofess over it; get it back. This isthe only way you can finish yourcourse successfully.

Second Thessalonians 2:10-13states: "And with all deceiva-bleness of unrighteousness inthem that perish; because theyreceived not the love of the truth,


that they might be saved. Andfor this cause [or for this reason]God shall send them strong delu-sion [that word means deceit],that they should believe a lie:That they all might be damnedwho believed not the truth, buthad pleasure in unrighteousness.But we are bound to give thanksalway to God for you, brethrenbeloved of the Lord, becauseGod hath from the beginningchosen you to salvation throughsanctification of the Spirit andbelief of the truth."

Verse 10 does not say theydid not have the Truth. Theyknew the Truth, but when peoplelose that fervency, they lose thelove for the Truth. They prefersystems of error and delusion tothe simple and pure Gospel bywhich they might be saved. Yousee, it is not difficult to be saved.No one asks people to gothrough any kind of ceremony orany great event like Naamanexpected when he was healed. Itis really very simple. All one hasto do is become sick of sin. Areyou tired of sin and willing togive it over to Jesus Christ?

"They Went Out From Us"

When people want to fussover the standard, God lets themhave their way. Oh, yes, Hedoes! I have seen it. People havefussed over different parts of thestandard. The one thing aboutserving God that you need tounderstand is that God knowsmore about how the body shouldbe put together than we do. Heknows what color your eyesshould be and what color yourhair should be to match yourcomplexion.

Antichrist is a spirit thatopposes the Truth. That spirit isworking on all of us. John saideven then, which was approxi-mately A.D. 96, antichrists (plu-ral) were present. Let us find outwhere these antichrists camefrom. First John 2:19 reads, "They

went out from us, [Was he talk-ing about the government or apolitical race? Who is the 'us' thatJohn was talking about when hesaid the antichrists went outfrom us?] but they were not ofus; for if they had been of us,they would no doubt have con-tinued with us: but they wentout, that they might be mademanifest that they were not all ofus." The "us" were the people ofGod he was talking to.

Why did they go out fromthem, or leave them? They want-ed it known that they were not of"us," or the people of God. Johnsaid had they been of them, nodoubt they would have stayed.Division affected the church ofthe morning time. Why is thatantichrist? It is antichrist becauseit portrays a divided Christ, andChrist is not divided. Your an-chor is secure as long as it is inJesus Christ. The devil is power-less as long as you remain withthe Truth.

First John 2:21-22 tells us: "Ihave not written unto you be-cause ye know not the truth, butbecause ye know it, and that nolie is of the truth. Who is a liarbut he that denieth that Jesus isthe Christ? He is antichrist, thatdenieth the Father and the Son."They denied the Father and theSon. How did they do that? Theywould not let that which theyhad heard from the beginningabide. John was not talkingabout infidels, atheists, or thosewho denied the existence of theFather and the Son, but he wastalking about people who didnot let that abide which theyheard from the beginning—thedeath, burial, and resurrection ofJesus Christ. He was speaking ofthose who talk the talk but donot walk the walk. Their worksbetrayed their walk. You cannotknow the Father and the Son andyet be in disobedience.

First John 3:6 says, "Whoso-ever abideth in him sinneth not:whosoever sinneth hath not seen

him, neither known him." Mat-thew 7:22 speaks of those whowill go to the Judgment and say,"Lord, Lord, have we not proph-esied in thy name? and in thyname have cast out devils? andin thy name done many wonder-ful works?" What did Jesus say?"And then will I profess untothem, I never knew you: departfrom me, ye that work iniquity"(verse 23).

First John 3:10 says, "In thisthe children of God are manifest,and the children of the devil:whosoever doeth not righteous-ness is not of God, neither hethat loveth not his brother." Thisis how apostasy works. Whenthe love of God begins to waxcold, brethren go against breth-ren and sisters go against sisters.How do people deny the Lord?They do so by denying HisWord.

There are many antichrists inthe world. Today we may callthem by names other thanantichrist, but John said theywere antichrists. One earmark ofantichrists is that they despisedominion. Let me explain. Jude1:7-8 reads: "Even as Sodom andGomorrha, and the cities aboutthem in like manner, givingthemselves over to fornication,and going after strange flesh, areset forth for an example, suffer-ing the vengeance of eternal fire.Likewise also these filthy dream-ers defile the flesh, despise [hate]dominion, and speak evil ofdignities."

Luke 19:12-14 tells us: "Hesaid therefore, A certain noble-man went into a far country toreceive for himself a kingdom,and to return. And he called histen servants, and delivered themten pounds, and said unto them,Occupy till I come. But hiscitizens hated him, and sent amessage after him, saying, Wewill not have this man to reignover us."

Who were the antichrists thatJohn was speaking of? They were


If thou wouldst live long,

live well, because

folly and wickedness

shorten life.

religious people who would notline up with the Truth. You needto be on your guard or you couldbe seduced. First John 2:26 reads,"These things have I written untoyou concerning them that seduceyou." Seducing spirits are outthere. Many times they dress upin sheep's clothing, but you need

to watch out for their tracks.Sheep make different tracks thanwolves make.

Who were the antichrists?John said they went out from us,the church. They got to the placewhere they would not take Truthany more. They got to the placeof denying the Father and the

Son, living in disobedience. Noworld leaders or anyone out inthe future is going to restore thetemple. The old temple willnever be restored. Why? BecauseGod's people represent thetemple of God now.

(Compact Disc TR-1843)

[Guest Editorial—continued from page 2]

out of this life without any chance topray or make amends. It is also pos-sible that tragedy can leave us in amentally incapable state where wecannot reason soundly. There aretimes some may be stricken with asudden illness that quickly leadsthem to the grave. These issues arenot mentioned as scare tactics, but toawaken you to a reality that couldface anyone at any time. The adver-sary is doing his best to blind theminds of men and women to theirneed of real salvation and the final-ity there is in death.

There are two devices that Sataneffectively uses on a man or awoman in preventing that personfrom becoming a Christian. Thesedeceitful mechanisms are procrasti-nation and neglect. He knows that ifhe can convince a soul to be passiveabout his or her soul and procrasti-nate, it will be too late too respond.Therefore, he strives to occupy the

mind with less important things sothat no attention will be given tospiritual needs. Even when a soulbegins to consider his need of God,Satan will be there to try to get theindividual to put it off until someother time.

Neglecting to humble your heartbefore God, repenting of sin, andtaking faith in Christ's call is a veryserious matter. Refusing to receiveHim and His pardoning love wouldbe committing a grave injusticeagainst the remedy. Christ came toearth, lived a righteous example, andwillingly gave His life to save usfrom sin's awful penalty and conse-quence. It is man's responsibility tocome when God calls and not justwhen he gets ready or feels like it.

Our Scripture text states that youare to seek the Lord while He maybe found, and to call upon Himwhile He is near. The admonition isto seek Him while He can be found,or whenever He is speaking. Too

often many people have felt thatthey can get saved whenever theyget ready. This thinking is surelyunwise. In John 6:44 Jesus tells us,"No man can come to me, except theFather which hath sent me drawhim." It is the Lord who invites aman or a woman to come to Himand be saved. It is His Holy Spiritthat calls one to forsake the life ofsin and walk with Him in holinessand victory. If His Spirit does notspeak and bring conviction andawakening, then your own effortsalone will be futile.

Dear reader, do you feel theprecious Spirit of God working withyou, striving to draw you to Him?Do you long for real peace of mindand soul? God has just what you aredesiring and looking for, but youmust not procrastinate or refuse Hisinvitation.

Selected


1 Corinthians 10:11 Now allthese things happened unto them forensamples: and they are written forour admonition, upon whom theends of the world are come.

12 Wherefore let him that think-eth he standeth take heed lest he fall.

13 There hath no temptationtaken you but such as is common toman: but God is faithful, who will

not suffer you to be tempted abovethat ye are able; but will with thetemptation also make a way toescape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Brother Allen Borders

The Victories of Samson

The Scriptures in our text letyou know that God is not goingto put on you any more than youcan bear. This is a common salva-tion. We all face things everyday. This is not something new.We do not face anything thatGod is unaware of. The tempta-tions may come, but God willmake a way of escape.

First John 2:1 reads, "My littlechildren, these things write Iunto you, that ye sin not. And ifany man sin, we have an advo-cate with the Father, Jesus Christthe righteous." God's perfect willis for you not to sin or to fall. Heis not standing over you with aclub, ready to beat you while youare down. No, Jesus is your ad-vocate. The word advocate is anold English word for lawyer,

which means that Jesus pleadsyour case to His Father.

I want you to consider a fewexamples in the Bible of peoplewho failed to see their end. Thefirst person that I want you tolook at is Samson. He was amighty man who was born inIsrael. He was the son ofManoah. Manoah's wife hadbeen barren for many years, soSamson was a son of promise. He


was a special gift from the Lord.Judges 13:24-25 reads: "And

the woman bare a son, and calledhis name Samson: and the childgrew, and the LORD blessed him.And the Spirit of the LORD beganto move him at times in the campof Dan between Zorah andEshtaol." Samson received greatphysical strength from the Lordand was able to deliver the Isra-elites from their enemies manytimes. The Book of Judges con-tains many of Samson's victoriesthat I want to mention. In Judges14:1-9 you can read some of Sam-son's victories. Judges 14:19 tellsus that Sampson slew thirty menof Ashkelon.

Judges 15:4-5 reads: "AndSamson went and caught threehundred foxes, and took fire-brands, and turned tail to tail,and put a firebrand in the midstbetween two tails. And when hehad set the brands on fire, he letthem go into the standing corn ofthe Philistines, and burnt upboth the shocks, and also thestanding corn, with the vine-yards and olives." That was anamazing feat! It is hard to catch adog, let alone a fox. He did notcatch just one fox, but he caughtthree hundred of them, keptthem all together, tied their tailstogether, and set brands of firebetween them. This lets youknow that in just one instance,something was special abouthim.

Judges 15:14-15 states: "Andwhen he came unto Lehi, thePhilistines shouted against him:and the Spirit of the LORD camemightily upon him, and thecords that were upon his armsbecame as flax that was burntwith fire, and his bands loosedfrom off his hands. And he founda new jawbone of an ass, and putforth his hand, and took it, andslew a thousand men therewith."

Samson's Weakness

Samson was a mighty man.He did amazing things for thechildren of Israel, but Samsonhad a major fault. He could notget victory over fleshly lust. Youcan read in Judges, Chapter 16,that he met a woman namedDelilah. The Philistine lordscame to her and asked her toentice Samson to find the sourceof his strength.

Judges 16:4-18 reads: "And itcame to pass afterward, that heloved a woman in the valley ofSorek, whose name was Delilah.And the lords of the Philistinescame up unto her, and said untoher, Entice him, and see whereinhis great strength lieth, and bywhat means we may prevailagainst him, that we may bindhim to afflict him: and we willgive thee every one of us elevenhundred pieces of silver. AndDelilah said to Samson, Tell me,I pray thee, wherein thy greatstrength lieth, and wherewiththou mightest be bound to afflictthee. And Samson said unto her,If they bind me with seven greenwiths that were never dried, thenshall I be weak, and be as an-other man.

"Then the lords of thePhilistines brought up to herseven green withs which had notbeen dried, and she bound himwith them. Now there were menlying in wait, abiding with her inthe chamber. And she said untohim, The Philistines be uponthee, Samson. And he brake thewiths, as a thread of tow is bro-ken when it toucheth the fire. Sohis strength was not known. AndDelilah said unto Samson, Be-hold, thou hast mocked me, andtold me lies: now tell me, I praythee, wherewith thou mightestbe bound. And he said unto her,If they bind me fast with new

ropes that never were occupied,then shall I be weak, and be asanother man.

"Delilah therefore took newropes, and bound him therewith,and said unto him, The Philist-ines be upon thee, Samson. Andthere were liers in wait abidingin the chamber. And he brakethem from off his arms like athread. [As you can see, Delilahwas trying to discover the secretof Samson's strength. The firsttime she bound him, he shouldhave fled. As many do today,Samson thought he could handlethe situation. Maybe he thought,'I have limits and know where tostop.' I have heard that fromsome young people and fromsome adults. Maybe this waswhat Samson was thinking.Many times the devil lets youthink that you have everythingunder control. That is when youneed the Lord the most. A lot oftimes people say, 'I would nevergo that far.' Samson kept goingfurther and further.]

"And Delilah said unto Sam-son, Hitherto thou hast mockedme, and told me lies: tell mewherewith thou mightest bebound. And he said unto her, Ifthou weavest the seven locks ofmy head with the web. And shefastened it with the pin, and saidunto him, The Philistines beupon thee, Samson. And heawaked out of his sleep, andwent away with the pin of thebeam, and with the web. Andshe said unto him, How canstthou say, I love thee, when thineheart is not with me? thou hastmocked me these three times,and hast not told me wherein thygreat strength lieth. [Samson wasgetting closer to his secret. This isthe way the devil likes to work.He will work on you to give in alittle, and before you know it,you have given in completely.]


"And it came to pass, whenshe pressed him daily with herwords, and urged him, so thathis soul was vexed unto death;That he told her all his heart, andsaid unto her, There hath notcome a razor upon mine head;for I have been a Nazarite untoGod from my mother's womb: ifI be shaven, then my strengthwill go from me, and I shall be-come weak, and be like any otherman. And when Delilah saw thathe had told her all his heart, shesent and called for the lords ofthe Philistines, saying, Come upthis once, for he hath shewed meall his heart. Then the lords ofthe Philistines came up unto her,and brought money in theirhand."

Samson's Last Entanglement

Judges 16:19-21 tells us: "Andshe made him sleep upon herknees; and she called for a man,and she caused him to shave offthe seven locks of his head; andshe began to afflict him, and hisstrength went from him. [Sam-son finally gave in, and the resultwas the loss of his power. If yougive in to the devil, you aregoing to lose power every time.Samson's strength was not in hishair; his strength was in hisobedience to God. Likewise, yourspiritual strength is in yourobedience to God. If you do notobey God, you are going to loseyour power with God, just asSamson did. The best way not tofall is to stay far away from sin—as far as you possibly can. Youcannot flirt with the devil andhope to keep the faith. It shouldnot be your goal to see how closeyou can get to the edge and stillsurvive. The devil will temptyou. He likes to make it seem asthough all kinds of wonderfulthings are out in the world.

Getting as close to the edge aspossible is not the way a Chris-tian's life should be. You muststay as far away as possible.]

"And she said, The Philistinesbe upon thee, Samson. And heawoke out of his sleep, and said,I will go out as at other timesbefore, and shake myself. And hewist not that the LORD was de-parted from him. [That is scary.Samson did not even know thatthe Lord had left him. That iswhat happens to a lot of peopletoday. They get too entangled inthe things of life. The things ofthe world get them bound up soquickly and so thoroughly thatthey think that everything is finewhen it is not. Samson thoughthe was going to go out just asbefore; he did not even realizethat his strength was gone.] Butthe Philistines took him, and putout his eyes, and brought himdown to Gaza, and bound himwith fetters of brass; and he didgrind in the prison house."

I want you to notice that thefirst thing the Philistines did wasbind Samson. That is what thedevil does to people who disobeyGod today. If you fall, the firstthing the devil will do is takeaway your freedom to serve theLord, and then he will put outyour eyes, spiritually speaking.He wants to blind you to yourtrue condition so that he canhave complete control over you.

The Philistines took Samsondown to the prison house andput him to work. The devil is ahard taskmaster. A man whowas greatly used of God becamea prisoner and was blinded, butthat is not the end of the story.

Samson Overcame His Failure

Judges 16:25-30 states: "Andit came to pass, when their heartswere merry, that they said, Call

for Samson, that he may make ussport. And they called for Sam-son out of the prison house; andhe made them sport: and they sethim between the pillars. AndSamson said unto the lad thatheld him by the hand, Suffer methat I may feel the pillars where-upon the house standeth, that Imay lean upon them. Now thehouse was full of men andwomen; and all the lords of thePhilistines were there; and therewere upon the roof about threethousand men and women, thatbeheld while Samson madesport.

"And Samson called unto theLORD, and said, O Lord God,remember me, I pray thee, andstrengthen me, I pray thee, onlythis once, O God, that I may be atonce avenged of the Philistinesfor my two eyes. And Samsontook hold of the two middle pil-lars upon which the house stood,and on which it was borne up, ofthe one with his right hand, andof the other with his left. AndSamson said, Let me die with thePhilistines. And he bowed him-self with all his might; and thehouse fell upon the lords, andupon all the people that weretherein. So the dead which heslew at his death were more thanthey which he slew in his life."

Samson prayed, and the Lordrenewed his strength. He killedmore of his enemies in his deaththan he did in his life. Failuredoes not have to be the end.Samson could have resignedhimself to the fact that he wasblind, he was a prisoner, andthere was nothing he could do.The devil likes to get hold of aperson when he is discouraged,feeling miserable, feeling like afailure, and feeling like God can-not use him. If he would turn toGod and pray like Samsonprayed, God would hear his


prayers. All he has to do is re-pent. Samson was greatly usedafter his huge failure.

David's Sin

Another example of one whofailed God is King David. Davidwas greatly used of God to leadIsrael for many years. David hadmany victories, starting with theslaying of a lion and a bear, andthen Goliath. David was in KingSaul's army and was very suc-cessful in battle. In 2 Samuel weread of King David's fall, andthere are many places in this textwhere things could havechanged. Second Samuel 11:1-17reads: "And it came to pass, afterthe year was expired, at the timewhen kings go forth to battle,that David sent Joab, and hisservants with him, and all Israel;and they destroyed the childrenof Ammon, and besiegedRabbah. But David tarried still atJerusalem.

"And it came to pass in aneveningtide, that David arosefrom off his bed, and walkedupon the roof of the king's house:and from the roof he saw awoman washing herself; and thewoman was very beautiful tolook upon. And David sent andenquired after the woman. Andone said, Is not this Bath-sheba,the daughter of Eliam, the wifeof Uriah the Hittite? And Davidsent messengers, and took her;and she came in unto him, andhe lay with her; for she was puri-fied from her uncleanness: andshe returned unto her house.And the woman conceived, andsent and told David, and said, Iam with child. And David sent toJoab, saying, Send me Uriah theHittite. And Joab sent Uriah toDavid.

"And when Uriah was comeunto him, David demanded of

him how Joab did, and how thepeople did, and how the warprospered. And David said toUriah, Go down to thy house,and wash thy feet. And Uriahdeparted out of the king's house,and there followed him a mess ofmeat from the king. But Uriahslept at the door of the king'shouse with all the servants of hislord, and went not down to hishouse. And when they had toldDavid, saying, Uriah went notdown unto his house, David saidunto Uriah, Camest thou notfrom thy journey? why thendidst thou not go down untothine house?

"And Uriah said unto David,The ark, and Israel, and Judah,abide in tents; and my lord Joab,and the servants of my lord, areencamped in the open fields;shall I then go into mine house,to eat and to drink, and to liewith my wife? as thou livest, andas thy soul liveth, I will not dothis thing [it sounds as though hehad more loyalty than King Da-vid had]. And David said toUriah, Tarry here to day also,and to morrow I will let theedepart. So Uriah abode in Jerusa-lem that day, and the morrow.And when David had called him,he did eat and drink before him;and he made him drunk: and ateven he went out to lie on hisbed with the servants of his lord,but went not down to his house.

"And it came to pass in themorning, that David wrote aletter to Joab, and sent it by thehand of Uriah. And he wrote inthe letter, saying, Set ye Uriah inthe forefront of the hottest battle,and retire ye from him, that hemay be smitten, and die. And itcame to pass, when Joab ob-served the city, that he assignedUriah unto a place where heknew that valiant men were.And the men of the city went

out, and fought with Joab: andthere fell some of the people ofthe servants of David; and Uriahthe Hittite died also."

The Downward Spiral of Sin

When King David fell, hemade many errors, and in theseerrors he could have stopped atany time, but he did not. First,King David was supposed to beat war, so he was not where heshould have been. My dad has asaying, "If you are where you aresupposed to be, doing what youare supposed to be doing, Godwill take care of you." When youare not in your place, and youare not doing what you are sup-posed to be doing, the devil willtake that opportunity to temptyou.

Second, King David took awalk on the rooftop and saw awoman bathing. Verse 2 tells usthat she was very beautiful tolook upon, which means he didnot just glance and see her, buthe looked upon her. One time Iremember hearing in a messagethat you cannot help what comesbefore your eyes, but you do nothave to drive back around theblock to see it again.

King David could have justglanced and saw something in-appropriate and turned away,but he did not do that. He tooktime to look upon her. He shouldhave stopped himself at the veryfirst glance, and then he shouldhave gone back inside. Had hedone so, all the events that fol-lowed regarding this mattercould have been avoided.Instead, David took the time tolook upon her.

Third, King David inquiredof her and found that she wasmarried. That is another placewhere he made the wrongchoice. He chose to continue in-


stead of stopping. Fourth, KingDavid brought her to his house,which was another bad choice.This would still be a bad choicetoday. Next, we read that theyconceived a child. After all thesebad choices, King David realizedthat his sin was going to be verydifficult to cover, so he came upwith a scheme to try to concealhis sin. Although David hadmany opportunities to stop inthis situation, like many today,King David pushed past hisknowledge of right and wrong.God gives everyone a conscience,and that conscience tells a personright from wrong, even if he hasnever been taught. One gets afeeling from God because God isfaithful.

All of this led to a big cover-up, including the killing ofUriah, Bath-sheba's husband.After Uriah was killed, King Da-vid took her as his own wife.King David lusted, coveted, com-mitted adultery, and committedmurder. One wrong always leadsto another. These were terriblesins. After King David's failure,the Prophet Nathan came to himand told him a little story.

In 2 Samuel, Chapter 12, theprophet told him about someonetaking a neighbor's only lamb.The prophet said this was awealthy man who owned manyflocks and herds, yet he took thepoor man's one little lamb. Thisstory made King David reallyupset, and Nathan told him,"Thou art the man" (verse 7).When Nathan said that, KingDavid did acknowledge his sin.This is one thing that many peo-ple will not do today. Theyblame their sin on this person orthat person. If they do not own it,they are never going to get vic-tory over it. If they cannot takeresponsibility for the things theyhave done, they will never get

past it. King David repented and the

Lord spared him, but he still hadto face some serious conse-quences. The child that was con-ceived died, and the sword wason David's house from that pointon. David went through manyadverse circumstances because ofhis sins, but failure was not hisend. When you are faced withyour sin or your failure and yourepent, God can use you.

Romans 6:1-2 states: "Whatshall we say then? Shall we con-tinue in sin, that grace mayabound? God forbid. How shallwe, that are dead to sin, live anylonger therein?" David saw hisneed and repented. After hisfailure, he penned many, manymore psalms, and his son Solo-mon, whose mother was Bath-sheba, became the next king.David even made it into the"Who's Who of Faith" in He-brews, Chapter 11.

In Matthew 1:6 King David islisted in the lineage of Jesus onJoseph's side, and in Luke 3:31King David is also listed in thelineage of Jesus. Just because youhave had a failure in your Chris-tian life does not mean that youare doomed forever.

Peter's Denial and Repentance

Another example of failure inthe Bible is a man named Peter.Peter was a disciple of Jesus whofollowed Him throughout Hisentire ministry. Peter is the onewho said he would go with Jesuseven to the death. Matthew26:33-35 reads: "Peter answeredand said unto him, Though allmen shall be offended because ofthee, yet will I never be offended.Jesus said unto him, Verily I sayunto thee, That this night, beforethe cock crow, thou shalt denyme thrice. Peter said unto him,

Though I should die with thee,yet will I not deny thee. Likewisealso said all the disciples." Whenit was time for Peter to stand upfor Christ, he failed miserably.

Verses 69-75 state: "Now Pe-ter sat without in the palace: anda damsel came unto him, saying,Thou also wast with Jesus of Gal-ilee. But he denied before themall, saying, I know not what thousayest. And when he was goneout into the porch, another maidsaw him, and said unto themthat were there, This fellow wasalso with Jesus of Nazareth. Andagain he denied with an oath, Ido not know the man. And aftera while came unto him they thatstood by, and said to Peter, Sure-ly thou also art one of them; forthy speech bewrayeth thee. Thenbegan he to curse and to swear,saying, I know not the man. Andimmediately the cock crew. AndPeter remembered the word ofJesus, which said unto him, Be-fore the cock crow, thou shaltdeny me thrice. And he wentout, and wept bitterly."

Here Peter was asked, not bysoldiers, but by a damsel, or agirl, if he was with Jesus. Peterdenied it, saying, "I know notwhat thou sayest." Was he afraidthat if they knew he was with theLord that he would be capturedalso? The Scriptures do not say.Previously, he said he was readyto die with Christ, but not whenit came right down to it.

Another maiden said, "Thisfellow was also with Jesus ofNazareth," and Peter denied withan oath that he even knewChrist. His denial got strongereach time. If you deny Christ,you will get harder and harder. Itdoes not take much to start slip-ping backward. It can happenvery quickly.

The third time Peter deniedChrist, he was with a crowd, and


one said, "Surely thou also artone of them; for thy speech be-wrayeth thee." What did Peterdo? "Then began he to curse andto swear, saying, I know not theman." What an awful response!

This lets you know that whenyou let sin into your life, you donot know how far you are goingto go. A lot of people think, "Iwould never say or do anythinglike that," but if you let the deviltake control, who knows whatyou will say or do? Fortunately,failure was not the end of Peter.He went out and wept bitterly.He was brokenhearted becausehe failed. That is how sorrowfulyou need to be if you fail theLord.

What should you do if youfail the Lord? You need to go toHim with a contrite heart andsay: "God, I am so sorry!" Theend of Peter was greater than thebeginning. He began to be might-ily used of God. Peter was theone whom God used on the Dayof Pentecost.

Acts 2:14 reads, "But Peter,standing up with the eleven,lifted up his voice, and said untothem, Ye men of Judaea, and allye that dwell at Jerusalem, bethis known unto you, and hear-ken to my words." God usedPeter after his failure. He wenton to be an Apostle after he hadopenly denied Christ.

He preached to several thou-sand people on the Day of Pente-cost. Acts 2:41 tells us, "Thenthey that gladly received hisword were baptized: and thesame day there were added untothem about three thousandsouls." Do you think the Lord isgoing to use a dirty vessel? No,God will not use a dirty vessel.God was able to use Peter afterhe had failed because he re-pented. He went out and weptbitterly.

Salvation Is for Everyone

If you fail God, you need toface your failure, repent, and goon and live for God. When yourepent and ask God for forgive-ness, you need to forsake sin.You should not go back to thatsin. If I were to come up to youand stomp on your foot and sayI was sorry, and then walk byyou the next day and stomp onyour foot again and say I wassorry, you probably would notthink that I was sincere in myapology. That is the same way itis with Christ. When you ask forHis forgiveness, you ought tostop whatever you are doing thatis wrong. That is one of the big-gest things that some people failto do.

We live in a day when manypeople hear, "I sin, you sin, andwe all sin; we cannot live abovesin." This is a false message thatis preached in pulpits all overthis land. My children have comehome from school and told meabout other students who said,"You can't be living right." Onthe contrary, you can live right. Ifit was not possible, Jesus wouldnot have commanded it. TheBible says you can. First John2:1a says, "My little children,these things write I unto you,that ye sin not."

In Acts, Chapter 10, we canread about an amazing thing thatthe Lord did with Peter, a manwho had failed Him, a man whohad denied Him in public. Some-one may say: "I brought reproachon the church, so there is no waythat I can do anything for Godany more. I embarrassed myself,my family, and the church." Peterdenied Christ openly in front of acrowd of people, but God stillused him after he repented.

Acts 10:11-22 says (this is thevision that God gave to Peter):

"And saw heaven opened, and acertain vessel descending untohim, as it had been a great sheetknit at the four corners, and letdown to the earth: Wherein wereall manner of fourfooted beastsof the earth, and wild beasts, andcreeping things, and fowls of theair. And there came a voice tohim, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. ButPeter said, Not so, Lord; for Ihave never eaten any thing thatis common or unclean. And thevoice spake unto him again thesecond time, What God hathcleansed, that call not thou com-mon. This was done thrice: andthe vessel was received up againinto heaven.

"Now while Peter doubted inhimself what this vision whichhe had seen should mean, be-hold, the men which were sentfrom Cornelius had made en-quiry for Simon's house, andstood before the gate, And called,and asked whether Simon, whichwas surnamed Peter, werelodged there. While Peterthought on the vision, the Spiritsaid unto him, Behold, three menseek thee. Arise therefore, andget thee down, and go withthem, doubting nothing: for Ihave sent them. Then Peter wentdown to the men which weresent unto him from Cornelius;and said, Behold, I am he whomye seek: what is the cause where-fore ye are come?

"And they said, Cornelius thecenturion, a just man, and onethat feareth God, and of goodreport among all the nation ofthe Jews, was warned from Godby an holy angel to send for theeinto his house, and to hear wordsof thee." God was using a visionto let Peter know that salvationwas for everyone, even for theGentiles, not just for the Jews. Iwant you to notice that the sheetwas let down three times. How


Study the Bible

to be wise;

believe it to be

safe; practice it

to be holy.

many times did Peter denyChrist? Do you think that was acoincidence? Peter was given thisvision so that he would knowthat God was no respecter ofpersons, that all could come torepentance if they acceptedChrist.

Is Failure the End?

Acts 10:23-24 reads: "Thencalled he them in, and lodgedthem. And on the morrow Peterwent away with them, and cer-tain brethren from Joppa accom-panied him. And the morrowafter they entered into Caesarea.And Cornelius waited for them,and had called together his kins-men and near friends." Peterwent down with the men topreach to Cornelius.

Verses 33-45 state: "Immedi-ately therefore I sent to thee[Cornelius was speaking]; andthou hast well done that thou artcome. Now therefore are we allhere present before God, to hearall things that are commandedthee of God. Then Peter openedhis mouth, and said, Of a truth Iperceive that God is no respecterof persons: But in every nationhe that feareth him, and workethrighteousness, is accepted withhim. The word which God sentunto the children of Israel,preaching peace by Jesus Christ:(he is Lord of all:) That word, Isay, ye know, which was pub-lished throughout all Judaea, andbegan from Galilee, after the bap-tism which John preached; HowGod anointed Jesus of Nazarethwith the Holy Ghost and withpower: who went about doinggood, and healing all that wereoppressed of the devil; for Godwas with him.

"And we are witnesses of allthings which he did both in theland of the Jews, and in Jerusa-

lem; whom they slew andhanged on a tree: Him Godraised up the third day, andshewed him openly; Not to allthe people, but unto witnesseschosen before of God, even to us,who did eat and drink with himafter he rose from the dead. Andhe commanded us to preach untothe people, and to testify that it ishe which was ordained of God tobe the Judge of quick and dead.To him give all the prophets wit-ness, that through his name who-soever believeth in him shallreceive remission of sins. WhilePeter yet spake these words, theHoly Ghost fell on all themwhich heard the word. And theyof the circumcision which be-lieved were astonished, as manyas came with Peter, because thaton the Gentiles also was pouredout the gift of the Holy Ghost."

This was an interestingsituation. Peter was the man whohad just failed God, yet Godused him to go out and be theone to preach to the Gentiles.This was a man who was preju-diced. He thought only the Jewscould be saved, but when Godgot hold of his heart after a largefailure, he was able to be usedmightily. Peter preached Christat Cornelius' house and wasgreatly used to preach to all ofthe Gentiles. All of this happenedafter his denial of Christ.

I have mentioned threedifferent examples, but therewere many more who went on todo great things for the Lord afterfailure. God can use anyone whois a willing vessel. In Numbers,Chapter 22, you can read aboutthe donkey that saw the angelstanding in the way with asword drawn. God used the don-key to speak to Balaam. Thisshows you that God can use any-one or anything. God can useanyone, anywhere, anytime if he

is living right. Failure does nothave to be the end. Failure is nota person; failure is an event. Youcan only fall as far as you want tofall. My dad always told me, "Ifyou fall, only fall as far as yourknees." You need to get on yourknees and ask God for forgive-ness. Let Jesus plead your case;He is the Advocate. First John 1:9reads, "If we confess our sins, heis faithful and just to forgive usour sins, and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness."

Can God use you after fail-ure? Yes, He can. Is failure theend? Absolutely not! It is onlythe end if you let it be the end.The devil will do everything hecan to burden you down andmake you feel that you cannotmake it. He is right in the sensethat you cannot make it withoutGod, but with God all things arepossible. He can use you in anyway if you are a willing obedientvessel. You do not need to letfailure be the end.



"Seeking Whom He

May Devour"

When working as a missionaryin Africa, we knew there were lionsaround, but I felt fairly safe on mybig 500 c.c. motorcycle. My AfricanChristian friend was riding on theseat behind me, and I was drivingthe motorcycle as best I could overthe rough dirt road in the half dark-ness of the early morning.

We had left our station beforethe sun rose so we would not have totravel in the fierce heat of the dry-season day. My friend and I oftentraveled together to preach the Gos-pel to people who were serving falsegods and living in sin. We wanted totell them about Jesus and let themknow how much He loved them andto tell them that He died on theCross for them.

One day as we traveled along,kicking up dust behind us, I remem-bered the day when my wife and Isaw five lions coming toward us aswe rounded the bend. Only this timewe were not riding the motorcycle;we were walking! We looked aroundfor trees to climb, but there were notany. We could not turn and run be-cause they would have jumped on usat once. We had no guns. We prayedquietly for God's protection. Theykept coming closer. The only thingwe could do was to walk towardthem, and then they stopped. Godmust have spoken to them, becausesuddenly they bounded off to theside of the road and stood there roar-ing at us. As we walked by, it was asif some unseen hand was holdingthem back.

While I was thinking of thatfrightening experience, my Africanfriend and I had been riding down a

steep, rocky hill. I had to slow downso that we would not slide in theloose stones. Suddenly, I felt myfriend's knuckles dig into my sidesand heard him gasp in my ear. I sawfour eyes gleaming in the light of theheadlamp. I jammed on the brake asI saw the outline of two full-grownlions. They were standing only fif-teen yards away, right in the middleof the road. The first rays of the sunwere lighting the sky, and I couldsee that one was a hungry-lookingfemale and the other one was a bigmale. His collar of fur bristledfiercely around his head.

My friend hung on tight to me aswe put our feet down on the road tosteady the motorcycle, which I keptrunning. What should we do? Iprayed that God would show us.

The male lion decided to act. Hedisappeared silently into the tallgrass beside the road. "That's bad,"I thought. "The male lion alwaysstalks the prey, chasing it toward thefemale, who does the killing. He isprobably coming up behind us."

If we had turned around, thelioness would have jumped on ourbacks. If she had missed the firstleap, we still could not have gottenaway up the steep hill in time. Imoved a little closer, but she did notbudge. I blew the horn, raced theengine, and flicked the headlampdimmer switch up and down, but shestood her ground. I did not knowhow close her mate was behind usby now. Next, she put her head closeto the road and switched her tailback and forth like a cat watching amouse. I knew she was getting ready to spring on us.

I breathed a prayer, "O God,help us now!" I quickly opened thethrottle wide and headed the motor-cycle straight at the lioness. For asecond she watched us; then sud-denly she turned around and randown the road. I knew I had to keepright after her or she might turn onus, and maybe her mate was follow-ing us. The lioness kept runningdown the road, almost like a gallop-ing donkey, with us roaring behindher for all we were worth. Then shewheeled off into the grass and disap-peared. We kept moving right on,thankful for the Lord's deliverance.

When we finally stopped for arest, I told my friend, "This remindsme of a couple of Bible verses. Thefirst one is found in 1 Peter 5:8,which warns us, "Be sober, be vigi-lant; because your adversary thedevil, as a roaring lion, walkethabout, seeking whom he may de-vour." The second one is found inJames 4:7. It says, "Submit your-selves therefore to God. Resist thedevil, and he will flee from you."

The devil, as a roaring lion, isafter you, young person, but if youwill call upon the Lord, He will notfail to deliver you. The next timeyou are tempted to sin, remember tocall upon the Lord and resist thedevil. God will deliver you, just asHe literally delivered us from theroaring lions.

Selected


Psalm 119:169 Let my cry comenear before thee, O LORD: give meunderstanding according to thyword.

170 Let my supplication comebefore thee: deliver me according tothy word.

171 My lips shall utter praise,

when thou hast taught me thystatutes.

172 My tongue shall speak ofthy word: for all thy commandmentsare righteousness.

173 Let thine hand help me; forI have chosen thy precepts.

174 I have longed for thy

salvation, O LORD; and thy law ismy delight.

175 Let my soul live, and it shallpraise thee; and let thy judgmentshelp me.

176 I have gone astray like a lostsheep; seek thy servant; for I do notforget thy commandments.

Brother Garrett Haylock

The Need of Repentance

God gave man a wonderfulstart. He has done everything Hepossibly could have done to giveman a proper start, yet the Scrip-ture text lets us know that manwent astray. The Psalmist Davidsaid he had gone astray like alost sheep. He made it very per-sonal when he said, "I have goneastray" (Psalm 119:176).

There is nothing that God ismore pleased with than whenyou step out to serve Him andfaithfully execute that to the bestof your ability and to the best ofyour knowledge. If you goastray, you surely will be thefirst to know it. You need to behonest with the Lord if you havegone astray. If you are outsidethe fold of God, you have goneastray. God made a straight path

for your feet, and He has givenyou the perfect start.

Some people hide behind aprofession, and others hide be-hind the fact that they are not sobad. If you have strayed a little,then you need to get back oncourse. Only one way leads toHeaven, and it is through ourLord and Savior Jesus Christ andby being obedient to Him as youstep out to serve Him.


God, through the HolyScriptures, has helped man to seehis true condition. When some-one acknowledges that he is notsaved, God the Father then re-veals to that man that by goingastray, he is lost. Many timespeople stray from the Lord, andit seems like it does not evenbother them. Some people seemto be satisfied in being astrayfrom God. That is not a goodposition to be in, because theBible says to him that knows todo good and does it not, to himor to her it is sin. To becomecomfortable in sin is to set your-self up for a really big disap-pointment. Worst of all, if you donot turn around before you reachthe end, you will enter a losteternity.

Acknowledging, as thepsalmist did, that you have goneastray is commendable, but itdoes not have to happen. TheScripture lets you know thatChrist is able to keep you fromfalling and to present you fault-less before His Father withexceeding joy. That is whatwould give God pleasure. Jesushas gone to prepare a place forevery one of us. No matter howfar away you are or how far youhave gone astray, if you will getsaved, a place will be preparedin Heaven for you. Sinner friend,you need to acknowledge, as thepsalmist did, "I have goneastray." God did not start youout that way. God put you on astraight path and gave you avery good start.

If you have not asked Christinto your life, you are away fromGod. If you die in that condition,you will go to hell, no matterwho your mom or your dad is.Jesus said except you repent, youwill likewise perish, even thoughHe is not willing that any shouldperish. His desire is that allmight come to repentance.Friend, if you do not repent, youwill perish.

John 10:10 tells us, "The thief

cometh not, but for to steal, andto kill, and to destroy: I am comethat they might have life, andthat they might have it moreabundantly." The Lamb of God iscome to seek and to save thosewho are lost. From the time yourealize God's Holy Spirit ispointing out your lost conditionand starts to draw you to Him,the Bible says if you hear Hisvoice, do not harden your heart.

Turning to Your Own Way

The Psalmist David ac-knowledged, "I have goneastray." He said in verses 173-175of our Scriture text: "Let thinehand help me; for I have chosenthy precepts. I have longed forthy salvation, O LORD; and thylaw is my delight. Let my soullive, and it shall praise thee; andlet thy judgments help me."

Many people talk about whatGod used to do for them. Insteadof having the praises of God ontheir lips and His love in theirhearts, they have gone astray,and they are the last to reallyadmit it. People can see that theyare not where they used to be,that they are not really on fire forGod as they used to be. Some-times pride hinders them fromreally doing business with God.If they are honest with God, Hewill surely be faithful to them.

The Prophet Isaiah said inIsaiah 53:6, "All we like sheephave gone astray. . . ." This verselets us know that sheep reallyneed to have a shepherd,because if there is a ditch andone falls into it, unlike otheranimals that would notice thedanger and move away, sheepwill just keep tumbling in.Many times we, as humans,are just like that. We see whathappens to our friends or maybeanother young brother or sister,yet we just keep falling intothe same ditch. It is not God'swill that any should perish,

but that all should come torepentance.

Again, the Prophet Isaiahsaid in Isaiah 53:6, "All we likesheep have gone astray; we haveturned every one to his ownway." If there is ever anythingthat will mess up a life, it isturning to one's own way. Whenyou turn to your own way, youhave to turn away from God.This is something to really thinkabout. It might seem pleasurable,but anytime you turn to yourown way, you are looking for bigtrouble.

We all need God to help us inthis life. Without God we willwreck the ship of life and neverget the best out of life. If you willseek God and His righteousnessfirst, and walk that path even inyour youth, God will be withyou. We all struggle over somethings, but the Bible says wehave an advocate with the Fa-ther, Jesus Christ the righteous.You need to be true and faithfulto your own soul and acknowl-edge if you go astray, even afterhaving a good start. You need toacknowledge to the Lord thatyou need help. We all need Hishelp along life's journey.

In Psalm 119:59 the PsalmistDavid said, "I thought on myways, and turned my feet untothy testimonies." As you con-sider your ways and think aboutthe turn that you made, was itprofitable? Was it a good turn?Did it render good or evil inyour life? When you turn to yourown ways, all you can expect istrouble. You cannot manage thislife. The Prophet Jeremiah said inJeremiah 10:23, "O LORD, I knowthat the way of man is not inhimself: it is not in man thatwalketh to direct his steps." Thesooner you realize that, the bett-er off your life will be. No matterhow intelligent you are, you areno match for the devil. As sureas you turn away from God, youare going to be easy prey for thedevil.


Lean Not to YourOwn Understanding

God said your ways arenot like His ways. If you lookat God's ways and look at theconsistency of God, you willsee that He never fails and Henever changes. He is the sameyesterday, today, and forever.One songwriter wrote, "In sum-mer and winter, in sunshine andrain, His love and affection arealways the same." If anything ischanging, it is people. Manytimes people turn from God'sway to their own ways, and thenthey see what happened bymaking that turn. The psalmistsaid, "I thought on my ways,and I turned my feet unto thytestimonies."

If you are astray from God,the best thing that you can possi-bly do for your life is get back toGod and get back to His testimo-nies. You need to let His Wordguide you. Psalm 119 is such abeautiful psalm. It is long, but ithas so many profound verses.Psalm 119:9 says, "Wherewithalshall a young man cleanse hisway? by taking heed thereto ac-cording to thy word." God's testi-monies are His Word. You needto turn from your ways and getback to His testimonies and al-low them to lead you.

The Scripture tells us in Prov-erbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD

with all thine heart; and lean notunto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledgehim, and he shall direct thypaths." You need to know thatGod cares that you get back ontrack, and you ought to care aswell. God cares if you go astray,and He is constantly seekingyou.

The Bible tells us in Psalm119:67, "Before I was afflicted Iwent astray: but now have I keptthy word." Sometimes eventhough no one likes afflictions,unless some hard places comeinto your life, you will not get

back to the place where youought to be. The Psalmist Davidsaid before he was afflicted, hewent astray. You see, whenthings are going really well inlife, people feel that they canhandle it. However, when afflic-tions and hardships come, thefirst thing that people do is cryout for the Lord to have mercyand to help them through.

Sometimes people havemade vows and said, "Lord, ifYou will help me through this,You will have no more troublewith me going astray." So God,in His faithfulness, reacheddown and came to their rescue.Sad to say, many of those peoplewere not faithful and true totheir word. The Bible lets usknow that it is better not to makea vow than to make a vow andnot keep it. You should wantGod to help you, but you have toconsider your ways and turn tothe Lord.

The Bible lets us know thatGod made man upright, but hesought out many inventions.What man is constantly seekingis how he can get along success-fully without acknowledgingGod, trying to invent his ownway. The Bible tells us through-out the Scriptures how manmade a fool of himself.

Acknowledge God inAll Your Ways

In the Book of Romans,Chapter 1, the Bible says the peo-ple did not like to retain God intheir thoughts, so He gave themover to vile affections. Verses 22-28 read: "Professing themselvesto be wise, they became fools,And changed the glory of theuncorruptible God into an imagemade like to corruptible man,and to birds, and fourfootedbeasts, and creeping things.Wherefore God also gave themup to uncleanness through thelusts of their own hearts, to dis-honour their own bodies be-

tween themselves: Who changedthe truth of God into a lie, andworshipped and served the crea-ture more than the Creator, whois blessed for ever. Amen.

"For this cause God gavethem up unto vile affections: foreven their women did changethe natural use into that which isagainst nature: And likewise alsothe men, leaving the natural useof the woman, burned in theirlust one toward another; menwith men working that which isunseemly, and receiving inthemselves that recompence oftheir error which was meet. Andeven as they did not like to retainGod in their knowledge, Godgave them over to a reprobatemind, to do those things whichare not convenient."

The writer spoke of mendesiring men and women desir-ing women. They thought theycould get along without God.They tried to bring Him down tothe level of four-footed beasts.Today we have a huge mess.People are still trying to find away to get to Heaven withoutGod's help by turning to theirown ways.

Genesis 1:31a tells us, "AndGod saw every thing that he hadmade, and, behold, it was verygood." God gave man a verygood start, but man has goneastray. Why is man in this condi-tion? The answer for that is, hisdesire to have his own waycaused him to yield to tempta-tion and turn from God's way tohis own way. In the awful trag-edy of man's first sin, what didman get compared to what helost? It was such a poor bargain.He moved away from eternal lifeto certain death. What a badchoice!

People make bad choiceswhen they steer away from God.If you do not have God to directyou, you will make bad choicesin this life. Again, in Proverbs 3:6the wise man said to acknowl-edge Him in all your ways, and


He will direct your paths.In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said,

"But seek ye first the kingdom ofGod, and his righteousness; andall these things shall be addedunto you." That is a beautifulScripture! Jesus promised that ifyou seek first the Kingdom ofGod and His righteousness, allthese things that are necessary inlife will be provided. I havefound that to be true in my life.He has provided all the thingsthat I needed. All I can say is,God took nothing and madesomething out of my life. WhenI came to God, I did not haveanything. He helped me, and Hehas really blessed me.

I sought God early in my life.I was twenty-one years of age.When God saved me, the onething that I really had to mycredit was playing soccer. I wasplanning to make a living as asoccer player. When Godbrought me into the fold, one ofthe first things He did was helpme to learn a trade. Next, Hegave me a wonderful wife. Fromthere, God just filled in thepieces until the day the puzzlewas together. I am a lot better offthan I used to be. I have all thenecessary things. I needed atrade. I used to work as a com-mon laborer, and someone askedme one day, "Do you want tolearn a trade?" I said, "Ofcourse!" He took an interest inme and taught me his trade, andby the time I got married in 1985,I was a licensed plumber. It issomething that I never dreamedI would even have an opportu-nity to do. I am grateful for themany things that God has addedto my life.

If you are wondering if Godcan take care of you, I am tellingyou, God can take care of everyone of us. He has committedHimself to supplying our needs.He has supplied every need thatI have had in my life. Peopleworry about so many things, butGod has committed Himself to

supplying our needs. God hasalways been faithful. You cantrust God.

Choose God's Way

The enemy wants you to goastray from God, because onceyou stray from God, you leavethe city of refuge for your soul.In the Old Testament, you canread about cities of refuge thatpeople could flee to. They couldstay in those cities and be safe aslong as they stayed within thecity. However, if they strayedoutside the city walls, an aveng-er of blood could be lurkingaround those gates, and thosewho sought safety there were nolonger protected. The peopleinside those cities had no controlover what went on outside thewalls of their cities.

If you are not serving God,you can trust Him. Friend, Hecan take care of you. He can andHe will do exactly what He hassaid He would do. I want you torealize that you do not have togo astray.

In the Book of Genesis, youcan read about Isaac. At a timewhen everybody was goingdown to Egypt, God told Isaacnot to go down there, but to staywhere he was. He let Isaac knowthat if he sowed in the first year,he would reap a hundredfold. Ican imagine him plowing andpeople laughing at him becausethe soil was so dry, but God toldhim to stay and He would blesshim. The first year he reaped ahundredfold. Then the next yearthe Bible says he sowed again.Isaac went from being great tobeing very great, and the peoplestarted to envy him. You do nothave to leave the church to besuccessful. If you stay with thechurch, God will bless you. Go-ing astray and leaning to one'sown understanding will destroythe very best of people. Youneed to be careful that you donot turn from God's way to your

own way.The Bible teaches that you

must turn from sin and yourown way by choice, but youneed God's help to return. ThePsalmist David said, "I havegone astray like a lost sheep;seek thy servant; for I do notforget thy commandments." Hewanted the Lord to show mercyon him one more time and seekhim out. In essence, he was say-ing, "I have gone into this thingon my own, but Lord, I realizethat I need Your help to get backout of it." That is the truth of thematter. You can easily get intotrouble, but you need God to getyou out of that trouble. You needHis help because God can do allthings. Your own way leads tosin and destruction.

Ezekiel 18:30b says, "Repent,and turn yourselves from allyour transgressions; so iniquityshall not be your ruin." If you areoutside the fold of God, why notturn away from your own way?Why not choose God's way, lestiniquity be your ruin? Sin ruinspeople's lives. I am sure that youcan look around and notice thatsin has destroyed somebody thatyou personally know. Sin willruin you, friend.

Young person, sin will ruinyour character. It will ruin yourhopes and chances of a goodeducation. It will ruin yourchances in life of getting a goodjob. You need to realize that itwill ruin many privileges. Godwants you to realize that Hecares about you. You need toturn from your own way back toGod, lest iniquity should be yourruin. God is a loving God, andHe cares about you. He knowsall about you, and He loves you.So He is saying, "Turn, so thatiniquity does not ruin you andruin your hopes."

Finding Rest for Your Soul

I love to see young peopleliving consistently for God. I am


telling you, that is the safestplace that you can be any time inyour life, but especially whenyou are young and reckless. Youneed God's divine direction. Isa-iah 55:7-9 says: "Let the wickedforsake his way, and the unrigh-teous man his thoughts: and lethim return unto the LORD, andhe will have mercy upon him;and to our God, for he will abun-dantly pardon. For my thoughtsare not your thoughts, neitherare your ways my ways, saiththe LORD. For as the heavens arehigher than the earth, so are myways higher than your ways,and my thoughts than yourthoughts."

Again, God loves you, andHe knows all about you, whetheryou were once saved or neversaved. In conclusion, we read inIsaiah 1:18, "Come now, and letus reason together, saith theLORD: though your sins be asscarlet, they shall be as white assnow; though they be red likecrimson, they shall be as wool."

God is a loving and caring God,but you need the call to come toHim. God is not going to hit youover the head and tell you, "Itold you so." He is not here foranything like that, but Helovingly says: "Come and let usreason together. You see, child, Iam your friend. I gave you agood start, but you turned awayfrom it. Now I am giving you anopportunity to return."

Dear one, you may walkaway from a job and never get asecond chance. You may not getthem to say, "Well, I will re-consider." Many times when youwalk away from something, it isforever. There are no secondchances. Even though you havewandered far from God, He issaying to you, "Come now, let usreason together." You can tellGod your reasons why you feellike you have failed, or why youdid what you did. You can talkto God, but guess what? Healready knows. He just wantsyou to acknowledge that He is

right and you are wrong. God wants to reinstate you if

you have been saved and youhave backslidden. He wants tobring you back into the fold andcontinue what He started. If Hehas not had an opportunity tosave you, then He is saying:"Come, I want you to see howgood it is to be saved." Jesus saidin Matthew 11:28-30: "Comeunto me, all ye that labour andare heavy laden, and I will giveyou rest. Take my yoke uponyou, and learn of me; for I ammeek and lowly in heart: and yeshall find rest unto your souls.For my yoke is easy, and myburden is light." Won't you comenow to God and reason withHim? One Scripture says thatIsrael destroyed themselves, buthelp is in God. He wants to helpyou, so why not give Him achance to work in your life byreturning to Him and reasoningwith Him?


Recently while finishing someplay equipment for our toddlersroom in our new church building Iwas reminded: "Be sure to sand offall the rough edges. The kiddiesmight get hurt!"

Aside from the fact that a publicinstitution should not knowinglyhave any dangerous toys for child-ren, I sometimes wonder whether weparents are not going a bit too far intrying to smooth out everything inlife for our children?

We want to bring them up withno heartaches, no troubles, nowants, no delay in having the thingswe did not have as children, andwhen they get married—no delay ingetting all the expensive gadgets weparents had to save and scrimp years

to acquire.In our love we want to save

them the bumps and falls which are,or should be, a part of growing up.Our hearts go out to them as theystruggle, so we try to save them thepain, and also the joy, of struggle.How quickly can parental love, mis-directed, become a harmful thing!

By our insistence on automaticdevices in our homes, we Americanshave taken out not only inconve-niences for ourselves but many ofthe household and backyard choreswhich once were automatic instru-ments of discipline and charactertraining for our children, and wehave done all this in the name oflove.

In church life also, we are taking

out too many of the rough edges. Inplace of sharp demands that facechildren and youth, decisions as towhat they shall do with their lives,we have substituted a gradual, yetsomewhat too comforting, processof Christian education, which givesa vast amount of information, andeven inspiration, yet leaves the childundisturbed and unchallenged, espe-cially in the adolescent years whenyouth yearns to devote all to some-thing or somebody. Many modernChristian educators would go so faras to say of Jesus' demands of therich young ruler who chose hiswealth against discipleship: "Wecannot blame the young man. Hewas a product of his environment."

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1 Corinthians 10:13 There hathno temptation taken you but such asis common to man: but God is faith-

ful, who will not suffer you to betempted above that ye are able; butwill with the temptation also make a

way to escape, that ye may be ableto bear it.

Brother Larry Dishman

God Will Never Forsake You

This passage of Scripture saysthat God is faithful; in other words,He can be depended on. The youngpeople sing a song that says, "Hecan be depended on, He can betrusted." I am glad that we are serv-ing a God who can be depended onand trusted. We can depend on Himfor many things. I cannot mentionthem all, but I will mention somethings for which you can depend onGod. According to our Scripturetext, you can depend on God whenyou are tempted, because it states,"There hath no temptation taken youbut such as is common to man: butGod is faithful, who will not sufferyou to be tempted above that ye are

able; but will with the temptationalso make a way to escape, that yemay be able to bear it."

Dear one, God can be dependedon to give sufficient grace for everysituation that you face. No matterwhat the situation is, He can be de-pended on to give you the grace thatyou stand in need of, because theBible says in 2 Corinthians 12:9,"And he said unto me, My grace issufficient for thee: for my strength ismade perfect in weakness. Mostgladly therefore will I rather glory inmy infirmities, that the power ofChrist may rest upon me."

God can be depended on neverto leave or forsake you. When youare down in the valley, the devil willtry to convince you that God has

forsaken you. The latter part of He-brews 13:5 says, "I will never leavethee, nor forsake thee." You can for-sake God, but He will not forsakeyou.

God can be depended on not toforsake you, even when you get old.When you get up in years, the devilmay tell you that you are not goodfor anything, that you are not goodfor anyone, or that you are not goodfor God. The psalmist said in Psalm37:25, "I have been young, and nowam old; yet have I not seen the righ-teous forsaken, nor his seed beggingbread." You can depend on Godeven when you get up in years.

God can be depended on neverto forget you. Friend, when you aregoing through a hard place, praying


and seeking the face of God, and itseems that you cannot find Him, youcan count on the fact that God is notgoing to forget you, because Isaiah49:15-16 says: "Can a woman forgether sucking child [there is a bondbetween a mother and her baby],that she should not have compassionon the son of her womb? yea, theymay forget [it is not likely, but it is apossibility], yet will I not forgetthee. Behold, I have graven theeupon the palms of my hands; thywalls are continually before me."God will never forget you in anysituation.

God can be depended on todirect your paths. Every promise inthe Word of God has a condition,and I cannot deal with all the condi-tions in this message, but I want todeal with the promises. Proverbs3:5-6 says: "Trust in the LORD withall thine heart; and lean not untothine own understanding. In all thyways acknowledge him, and he shalldirect thy paths."

Friend, God can be depended onto always love you. At times, youmay not be able to feel the love ofGod, but He loves you. You maythink that no one loves you, but youcan depend on God never to quitloving you, because the Bible saysin John 3:16, "For God so loved theworld, that he gave his only begottenSon, that whosoever believeth inhim should not perish, but haveeverlasting life." The Bible makes itclear that He loved you even whenyou were dead in trespasses andsins. He can be depended on to de-liver you from every evil work, be-cause 2 Timothy 4:18 states, "Andthe Lord shall deliver me from everyevil work [not only that, this verselets you know that He can be de-pended on to preserve you; Godpreserves His people], and will pre-serve me unto his heavenly king-dom: to whom be glory for ever andever. Amen."

God Will Hear Your Cry

God can be depended on not toallow any weapon that is formed

against you to prosper. The Biblesays in Isaiah 54:17, "No weaponthat is formed against thee shallprosper." Have you ever neededhelp? He can be depended on to beyour helper. Hebrews 13:6 reads,"So that we may boldly say, TheLord is my helper, and I will not fearwhat man shall do unto me." I amglad that the Lord is my helper, andHe will be your helper if you willcall upon Him.

God can be depended on whenyou are going through rough situa-tions of life. Isaiah 43:2 says, "Whenthou passest through the waters, Iwill be with thee; and through therivers [you will have to cross somerivers in this life], they shall notoverflow thee: when thou walkestthrough the fire, thou shalt not beburned; neither shall the flame kin-dle upon thee."

God can be depended on to dothe impossible when it is necessary.Do you know that God can do theimpossible? The Bible says in Luke1:37, "For with God nothing shall beimpossible." Praise God! Lots ofthings are impossible. I cannot docertain things, and you cannot docertain things, but with God nothingis impossible. He can be dependedon to supply every need that youhave. The Bible tells us in Philip-pians 4:19, "But my God shall sup-ply all your need according to hisriches in glory by Christ Jesus."

God can be depended on to giveyou the desires of your heart. Heknows what you need even beforeyou ask. Psalm 37:4 admonishes,"Delight thyself also in the LORD;and he shall give thee the desires ofthine heart." He can be depended onto be with you when two or threegather together in His name. He haspromised to be in the midst accord-ing to Matthew 18:20, where Jesussaid, "For where two or three aregathered together in my name, theream I in the midst of them."

God can be depended on toanswer your prayers if you meet theconditions. Jesus said in John 15:7,"If ye abide in me [that is a condi-tion, but that is not all], and my

words abide in you, ye shall askwhat ye will, and it shall be doneunto you." You cannot live like thedevil and expect God to hear andanswer your prayers. The psalmistsaid in Psalm 66:18, "If I regardiniquity in my heart, the LORD willnot hear me." The Bible says inJames 5:16b, "The effectual ferventprayer of a righteous man availethmuch." That has not changed. Eventoday the effectual fervent prayer ofa righteous man will avail much.

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:12, "Forthe eyes of the Lord are over therighteous, and his ears are open untotheir prayers: but the face of theLord is against them that do evil."God can be depended on to hearyour cry. Have you ever cried out toGod? He might not send the answerwhen you think He should, and Hemay not answer the way you thinkHe should, but the Bible says inPsalm 40:1, "I waited patiently forthe LORD; and he inclined unto me,and heard my cry."

God can be depended on neverto slumber or sleep. Sometimes it iskind of annoying when you need totalk to someone right away and theperson who answers the phone tellsyou that So-and-So is there, but he isresting. Friend, you do not have toworry about that when it comes toGod. He will not be sleeping or rest-ing when you call upon Him. Thepsalmist said in Psalm 121:3-4: "Hewill not suffer thy foot to be moved:he that keepeth thee will not slum-ber. Behold, he that keepeth Israelshall neither slumber nor sleep."Thank God, you can call upon Himand get an answer.

God can be depended on to gofar beyond what you might ask Himto do. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Nowunto him that is able to do exceedingabundantly above all that we ask orthink, according to the power thatworketh in us." He can be dependedon to keep the promises in HisBook. The Bible is filled with divinepromises. As you read the promisesin the Word of God, you do not haveto wonder in the back of your mind,"Is God really going to do this?"


Friend, He is going to do it. If Hesaid it, He will do it.

Sometimes people cannot keeptheir promises. They mean well, butsometimes circumstances beyondtheir control can prevent them fromdoing so. That is not the way it iswith God, because He is in control.Nothing surprises Him. You mightbe surprised when things do notwork out the way you think theyshould, but when it comes to God,nothing can stand in His way. He isGod and He is sovereign. He willnot say, "Well, I know I promisedyou this, but something else cameup." He knows what is going to takeplace, because He knows the endfrom the beginning. He is God, andyou can count on the promises in theWord of God.

The Bible says in 1 Kings 8:56,"Blessed be the LORD, that hathgiven rest unto his people Israel,according to all that he promised:there hath not failed one word of allhis good promise, which he prom-ised by the hand of Moses his ser-vant." Praise God! All those prom-ises He fulfilled, not one wordfailed. God has done everything thatGod said He would do. Thank God,He came through every time, and Heis just the same today. Friend, weare serving the same God. The sameGod who made promises to Moseshas made us a lot of promises in thiscovenant. Today it is just the sameas it was with Moses. God's Word istrue, and it is forever settled inHeaven. He can be depended onnever to alter the words that havegone out of His mouth.

Men are printing new versionsof the Bible all the time to try tochange the Word of God and waterit down. They can write all the newversions they want to, but God'sWord is forever settled in Heaven.Psalm 89:34 says, "My covenantwill I not break, nor alter the thingthat is gone out of my lips." Godsaid it and it is settled, whether youbelieve it or not. You may refuse tobelieve it, but it is still settled, andHe is not going to change it or rear-range it. I do not want Him to

change it. I love it just the way it is.He can be depended on never to lie.God does not lie. The Bible says inHebrews 6:18, "That by two immu-table things, in which it was impos-sible for God to lie, we might have astrong consolation, who have fledfor refuge to lay hold upon the hopeset before us."

God can be depended on todeliver you out of your afflictions.The psalmist said in Psalm 34:19,"Many are the afflictions of the righ-teous: but the LORD delivereth himout of them all." God can be de-pended on never to allow you to bemoved. He has the power to saveyou, and He can plant you in a placewhere you will never be moved.Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast thy burdenupon the LORD, and he shall sustainthee: he shall never suffer the righ-teous to be moved." Thank God, wehave a God in Heaven who savesand sustains us.

The Apostle Paul found thatGod sustained him in his life. Hewent through all kinds of situations.They beat him, and he went throughshipwreck, hunger, and thirst. Paulsuffered much persecution. Do youknow what he was able to say? InActs 20:24 he said, "But none ofthese things move me." I believe heheld on to the promise in Psalm55:22, which states, "He shall sus-tain thee: he shall never suffer therighteous to be moved." Praise Godforever!

God Gives Peace and Power

God can be depended on to saveyou out of all your troubles. Psalm34:6 reads, "This poor man cried,and the LORD heard him, and savedhim out of all his troubles." God canbe depended on to make you morethan a conqueror. Do you knowwhat that means? You can be morethan a conqueror. You can be morethan a winner. Paul said in Romans8:37, "Nay, in all these things we aremore than conquerors through himthat loved us."

God can be depended on to takeall the things that happen to you and

work them together for good, ac-cording to Romans 8:28. Paul wrotein that verse, "And we know that allthings work together for good tothem that love God, to them who arethe called according to his purpose."He can be depended on to give youpeace in the midst of troubles. TheBible says in Isaiah 26:3, "Thou wiltkeep him in perfect peace, whosemind is stayed on thee: because hetrusteth in thee." Then it says inPsalm 119:165, "Great peace havethey which love thy law: and noth-ing shall offend them." God cankeep you in perfect peace.

God can be depended on tobring you joy in the morning. Some-times the nights are so long, spiritu-ally speaking, that it seems asthough they will last forever. Godknew those times would come, soHe had the psalmist write some en-couraging words in Psalm 30:5. Itreads, "Weeping may endure for anight, but joy cometh in the morn-ing." Don't you love it when the joycomes after you have wept through-out the night? Thank God, He prom-ised to send joy in the morning.

God can be depended on to keepyour heart and your mind, accordingto Philippians 4:6-7. Paul wrote: "Becareful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplicationwith thanksgiving let your requestsbe made known unto God. And thepeace of God, which passeth allunderstanding, shall keep yourhearts and minds through ChristJesus." He can be depended on toenable you to do all things, becausethe Apostle Paul tells us inPhilippians 4:13, "I can do all thingsthrough Christ which strengthenethme." Friend, you do not have to goaround saying, "I would like to quitthat, but I can't quit" or "I know Iought to be doing this, but I can't" or"I ought to give this up, and I wouldlike to give it up, but I can't." Friend,you can stand right beside the Apos-tle Paul and say, "I can do all thingsthrough Christ which strengthenethme."

God can be depended on to giveyou the power that you stand in need


of. Someone may say, "I would liketo be a Christian, but I just don'tthink I can do it." You can do it ifyou truly get saved and receive theHoly Spirit, because John 1:12 says,"But as many as received him, tothem gave he power to become thesons of God, even to them that be-lieve on his name." You see, a great-er One is on the inside than he thatis in the world.

God can be depended on torevive you if you will meet the con-ditions. If there was ever a timewhen we needed a revival, it is now.Conditions have gotten so bad in theworld that some people are confusedabout what restroom they shoulduse. If you do not know which oneyou are supposed to use, just get agood dose of salvation, and you willknow exactly which restroom youare supposed to go in.

Our country needs revival, andGod can do that too. The Bible saysin Psalm 138:7, "Though I walk inthe midst of trouble, thou wilt reviveme." We are living in a day whenthere is trouble on every hand. Ihave never seen a day like this; nev-ertheless, the Word of God stillstands true. Second Chronicles 7:14says, "If my people, which are calledby my name, shall humble them-selves, and pray, and seek my face,and turn from their wicked ways;then will I hear from heaven, andwill forgive their sin, and will healtheir land." That promise shall notfail. When the people of God meetHis conditions, revival will takeplace.

God Will Never Change

God can be depended on to giveyou the victory. Friend, it is Godthat gives the victory! We havenothing to boast in but the LordJesus Christ. Paul wrote in 1 Corin-thians 15:57, "But thanks be to God,which giveth us the victory throughour Lord Jesus Christ." God is notgoing to fail you. You may fail God,but He is not going to fail you, be-cause Joshua 1:5 states, "There shallnot any man be able to stand before

thee all the days of thy life: as I waswith Moses, so I will be with thee: Iwill not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

God can be depended on not tochange, thank God. Men are chang-ing, but God never changes. He-brews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ thesame yesterday, and to day, and forever." God can be depended onnever to allow the gates of hell toprevail against His church. That isthe one I am in. Jesus said in Mat-thew 16:18, "And I say also untothee, That thou art Peter, and uponthis rock I will build my church; andthe gates of hell shall not prevailagainst it." He can be depended onto keep you safe. Proverbs 18:10says, "The name of the LORD is astrong tower: the righteous runnethinto it, and is safe."

God can be depended on to giveyou comfort when your heart isheavy and burdened. Paul said in 2Corinthians 1:4, "Who comfortethus in all our tribulation, that we maybe able to comfort them which are inany trouble, by the comfort where-with we ourselves are comforted ofGod." He can be depended on. Oneof these days, as soon as we laythese bodies down, we will be pres-ent with the Lord. Paul stated in 2Corinthians 5:8, "We are confident,I say, and willing rather to be absentfrom the body, and to be presentwith the Lord." As soon as we areabsent from this body, we are goingto be present with the Lord. We canbe confident about that. He can bedepended on to bring it to pass.

The world is getting worse andworse, but God can be depended onto come for His church on the lastday. Do you know what Jesus isgoing to do one of these days? He iscoming to get His church. He is notcoming down here to set up any-thing. We are going to meet Him inthe air. First Thessalonians 4:16-18says: "For the Lord himself shalldescend from heaven with a shout,with the voice of the archangel, andwith the trump of God: and the deadin Christ shall rise first: [No secretthing will take place; no one is goingto sleep through this. The trumpet is

going to sound, and He is going tocome with the voice of the arch-angel.] Then we which are alive andremain shall be caught up togetherwith them in the clouds, to meet theLord in the air: and so shall we everbe with the Lord. Wherefore com-fort one another with these words."

You may say, "I am really goingthrough a difficult time." Well, Godcan be depended on to give you restfor your weary soul. Matthew 11:28says, "Come unto me, all ye thatlabour and are heavy laden, and Iwill give you rest." Do you needrest? Do you need forgiveness? Hecan be depended on to forgive you ifyou have sin in your life. If you area sinner, He can be depended on,because 1 John 2:1-2 reads: "Mylittle children, these things write Iunto you, that ye sin not. And if anyman sin, we have an advocate withthe Father, Jesus Christ the righ-teous: And he is the propitiation forour sins: and not for ours only, butalso for the sins of the wholeworld." Friend, this is a promise inthe Word of God.

God Saves and Keeps

First John 1:9 says, "If we con-fess our sins, he is faithful and justto forgive us our sins, and to cleanseus from all unrighteousness." Youmay say, "I would like to be saved,but I have been a really bad person."God can be depended on to removeyour sins as far as the east is fromthe west, because it says in Psalm103:12, "As far as the east is fromthe west, so far hath he removed ourtransgressions from us." He can bedepended on never to rememberyour sins again. Isn't that wonderful!He puts them in the sea of God'sforgetfulness. The Bible says inHebrews 8:12, "For I will be merci-ful to their unrighteousness, andtheir sins and their iniquities will Iremember no more." He can be de-pended on to save you if you willask Him. Romans 10:13 says, "Forwhosoever shall call upon the nameof the Lord shall be saved." You candepend on that. If you meet the con-


He who is born of Godshould grow to

resemble his Father.

ditions, God will do His part.God can be depended on to save

you if you repent. Luke 13:3 says, "Itell you, Nay: but, except ye repent,ye shall all likewise perish." He canbe depended on to save you if youwill believe. Acts 16:30 asks, "Sirs,what must I do to be saved?" Verse31 answers, "Believe on the LordJesus Christ, and thou shalt besaved."

You can depend on God to keepyou once you are saved. Jude said inverse 24, "Now unto him that is ableto keep you from falling, and topresent you faultless before the pres-ence of his glory with exceedingjoy." Whatever your need is, God isdependable. God is 100 percentdependable, 100 percent of the time.You cannot say that about anyoneelse.

Perhaps you have been saved,but it feels as though God is so faraway. That reminds me of the story

of a small boy who was flying hiskite. Perhaps you have heard thestory. It was a good day and the kitewent up higher and higher until itwent out of sight. It went behind acloud. A passerby came by and said,"What are you doing?"

The boy answered, "I'm flying akite."

The passerby said, "I don't seeany kite."

The boy replied, "I don't either.""Well, how do you know it is up

there?" said the passerby.The boy said, "Because every

once in a while I feel a tug on thestring."

You may not always be able tofeel God or see God, but thank God,you can be confident that He has notforsaken you. He is right where Hehas been all along. Although theclouds may obscure your view, youwill feel the tug on the line. Just staytrue to God and take heart, child of

God. Just because you cannot seeHim does not mean that He is notthere.

I encourage you to keep holdingon to the Lord. He is faithful. Evenwhen you cannot feel His presence,hang on and, sooner or later, youwill feel that tug on the line onceagain, because every word He saysis true. He will keep every promise.Every trial has a purpose. You needto ask the Lord to teach you whenyou cannot see. You must hold on tothe rope of faith until you can feelthe tug from Heaven that tells youthat He is still there. He can fulfillwhatever your need is. If you are nota Christian, won't you seek Him? Ifyou are a child of God and you aregoing through a hard trial, you needto talk to God about it.

(Compact Disc TR-1705M)

[Don't Level All . . .—continued from p. 20]

Jesus knew of his environment, yetHe made the sharpest demand hecould think of—give up your moneyand all that goes with it.

How long has it been since anyclarion call was made in your churchor Sunday school to the young peopleto commit themselves to Christ? To-day many people think this is a dis-turbing and upsetting demand. To beasked to give up your life, to putyourself second, to yield your owninterests to another's—this is toughbusiness.

In many churches and churchschools, this demanding quality ofChristianity is either glossed over oromitted. People want their children tohave happy years, playful years, yearsof smooth contentment and pleasure.

So while the socialists and com-munists are demanding and gettingsupreme loyalty from millions ofyouth, too many are content, in thename of love for our children, toleave them half-committed or uncom-mitted to Christ.

Sigmund Freud once said,

"Throw nature out with a pitchforkand she'll come right back everytime." We cannot omit this sharpedge of commitment without seriousjeopardy and final judgment. To raisea generation without commitment isto raise a morally flabby and indeci-sive leadership, for the adage appliesto our children as well as to adults.

It is a great tragedy to see mil-lions of fine American youth grow uptoday in the hot house environment ofcity culture with no primary experi-ences of either joy or pain.

Instead, they expose them to theapparent kindness but final cruelty ofoverstuffed reclining chairs to watchendless television programs whichinvolve no effort but a fastened, hyp-notized eye; no demands except phys-ical presence. We give our childrenoverstuffed furniture, even at thedining room table. We let or makethem ride to school where they sit inoverheated classrooms. At public ex-pense, we pay professional recreationdirectors to teach them in small playareas instead of leaving vacant spacewhere boys can play and quarrel by

themselves, but develop on their own.In all this process, they are being

hurt in the name of love. Leave somesharp edges, parents and teachers!Where they have all been taken out inthe guise of affection, restore a few,so that when adulthood comes, painwill not be something novel, but anold friend and dear teacher.

"It must needs be that the Son ofMan be crucified. . . ." So spake theMaster.

It must needs be that our childrenundergo experiences, thoughts, de-mands, and teachers which will jolt,hurt, or agonize at the moment ofenduring but which will make themfiner, stronger, and less selfish. Let'snot level all the rough edges.

Selected


YESTERDAY is gone forever.TOMORROW never comes.God places the emphasisupon the NOW of TODAY.

During the interval betweenChrist's crucifixion and the Day ofPentecost, Christ's discipleswere bewildered, filled with doubtand skepticism. They hid behindclosed doors for fear of the Jews.Some of them left the high callingof fishing for men to return totheir former vocation of ordinaryfishermen.

After Pentecost these samedisciples were changed men.When we think of their heroicspirit, their zeal, and the amazingevents which happened, then werealize that something tremen-dous had happened to thesedisciples.

Although external circum-stances had not changed, thedisciples were filled with the HolySpirit on the Day of Pentecost,and fearing neither man nordevil, they moved out to changethe world. An honest appraisal offacts forces us to see that thenominal churches of our day re-semble the band of bewildered,fearful, inactive disciples beforePentecost more than the disci-ples after Pentecost.

Indeed, the churches of ourday seem to be paralyzed intoinactivity by the same doubts,skepticism, and fears which par-alyzed the disciples before theDay of Pentecost. There is butone remedy—a new upsurge ofspiritual power, a fresh out-pouring of the fullness of Christ'sliving presence in people's indi-vidual lives, a new invasion of thesupernatural into every depart-ment of modern life.

The thing that many Chris-tians need so much is a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit and acloser walk with God. Paul de-scribed it in the Roman letter as

the "life in the Spirit." Jamesuses the phrase, "Drawing nearto God." For years true men ofGod have emphasized this expe-rience. It includes such neces-sary ingredients as a keenerawareness of spiritual realities, agreater sense of God's presencein every day life, growth inChristlikeness, a more dedicatedlife, and a more meaningfulprayer life.

How does one go aboutachieving such goals? What canthe church or individual Christiando to live more closely to God?

The first step is to feel ahunger for such an experience.God so respects your freedom ofchoice that He will not give youanything that you do not reallywant or seek for. However, onceyou sense your own needs andstart seeking, God's wonderfulpromises will be fulfilled.

A few of these wonderfulpromises are found in the Bookof Matthew. Matthew 5:6 tells us,"Blessed are they which do hun-ger and thirst after righteous-ness: for they shall be filled."Matthew 7:7-8 instructs us: "Ask,and it shall be given you: seek,and ye shall find: knock, and itshall be opened unto you." Jesusconcluded this promise in verse11 by saying, "If ye then, beingevil know how to give good giftsunto your children, how muchmore will your Father which is inheaven give good things to themthat ask him?"

One indication of spiritual lifeis a recurring hunger for more ofGod, for a closer fellowship withHim, a greater likeness to Him.The genuine disciple of JesusChrist is never dissatisfied withGod, but always unsatisfied with

himself.It is through this hunger for

God and His power and pres-ence in your life that you grow asa Christian, replenish your ex-hausted spiritual reserves, andmaintain your spiritual vigor.However, you must go beyondthis stage of hungering for a clos-er walk with God to the point thatyou are willing to pay the price foran upsurge of spiritual power.God does not grant this desirewilly-nilly.

God never gives you anythingof real value on a silver platter.Every blessing has a price, andthe price of this greatest of allblessings is self-discipline. InLuke 14:27 Jesus said, "Whoso-ever doth not bear his cross andcome after me, cannot be mydisciple." He said in Matthew16:25, "Whosoever would savehis life shall lose it."

For example, to live close toGod means to live apart from sinand evil. You cannot love Godand the world at the same time.To love God in an age in whichsin and evil are brought right inthe living rooms in increasinglyenticing ways requires a disci-pline of a rare order. Jesusgraphically illustrated just howsevere, binding, and strong thisdiscipline must be in Matthew5:29-30 when He said: "If thyright eye offend thee, pluck it out,and cast it from thee: for it isprofitable for thee that one of thymembers should perish and notthat thy whole body should becast into hell. And if thy righthand offend thee, cut it off, andcast it from thee."

Selected


2018 CampMeeting Dates

June 17-24July 29-August 5December 26-30

We hope you will plan yourvacation time so that you can join usin these old-fashioned camp meet-ings.


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Vol. 48 January 2018 No. 1 - Gospel Trumpeter

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