Category: Ten Commandments
Who Did Sin
Story: One Glass of Milk
- One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”
He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.” As He left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. You see He had been ready to give up and quit but this one kindness act gave him the strength to keep going on.
- Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr. Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from he went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. And so he went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, and then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:
“PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK.
(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.”
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love is shed abroad through human hearts and hands “.
Let us Pray!
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Don’t you just love a good Doctor? If you find one please let me know…
As far back in history as I can go I find that there has always been doctors, or what we would call doctors, people who studied the Human Body. People who wanted to know how to help others who were sick.
Why do we need Doctors anyway? Why is there so much sickness in our world,
Why so much suffering, pain and sorry? If God is so good can you tell me why?
What is it all about? How did it start? When will it finish?
In Jesus time there was a Lady who had a problem
Luke 8: 43: And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
Sounds about right, nothing has changed in 2000 years. I know a lot of people who are just like this woman. Spent everything they had on doctors first
But listen to what happens to her
44: She; Came behind him (Jesus), and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. In other words it Stopped.
What had happened here, this woman touched Jesus and her 12 year problem went away, how, listen to what Jesus told her.
48: And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Jesus said your FAITH your FAITH has made you whole.
- Have you ever read in the Bible about the Kings of Israel? I challenge you to read the books of Kings and Chronicles and there you will find that Good Kings only lived 20 to 30 years after they became King. But Evil or bad kings lived 40 to 55 years after they became king.
Why is this, did you ever wonder why?
May years ago people believe that Sickness was all because of Sin, you made God angry and so God has broth this sickness on you. The sad part is that many people still believe that today.
Open with me to the Gospel of John and let’s see what Jesus says about this
John 9:
1: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2: And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
There was people and religious leaders who believe that if you got sick it was because you have Sinned and made God angry.
Look at the story of Job was it because Job sinned that he lost everything he had
No….
STORY: Tell only a short version of the story because of time:
Who was the cause of Job’s sickness “ Satan” he hates people who loved and worships God and puts God first in their life’s.
3: Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Was the works of God manifested in the life of Job, yes they was.
I have heard people say you are sick because you don’t eat right, or you brought this upon yourself by your bad habits.
Yes it is true that eating right can help your body fight off sickness and help you to heal faster.
But not all sickness if because of what you eat.
I know some very good Vegetarian who has Prostate Cancer, why, no one can explain..
- Some diseases are caused by other things beside what you eat.
- Sin has affected our genes; sometimes we get sick because of our ancestors
- Sometimes we get sick because of the environment around us
STORY: Working Offshore on the Oil Rigs / Being put into tanks to clean them of who knows what. 10 to 20 years later we find we have Cancer and no one knows why.
- Sometimes we get sick because of the stuff that is put on or into our food Genetically modified food not good for the human body
So it is not always because of what you eat, But what and how you eat may makes a big different in the outcome of how your body will heal and fight the disease.
- What about bad things happing to good people, is it because they Sinned?
Remember the Story Jesus told of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10: 30-35.
STORY: Tell short Story of the Good Samaritan
Most people will turn their head when they see someone suffering or in pain. They will walk right by saying I hope someone helps that poor lady that poor man.
The problem these days not all people who are hurting are laying down on the ground.
Some of them are in our everyday life. They live down the block, or in the house next to you, they are there at work standing in front of you, sometimes they are sitting in the Church right next to you.
How do you know if someone is hurting? How can you tell when someone is in need of help?
Sometimes it is easy to see if they are just laying there on the ground or in bed hurting. We can look and say excuse me but are you hurting, can I help you.
I remember when I was going through Cancer treatment many times people who cared about me would ask how are you doing and I just say.
I could not be better if I was twins…..
Many times I was hurting on the inside, I was in pain, I was in distress physically and sometimes mentally, I was sick, but I was happy to know someone cared about me.
How do you tell someone what you are feeling when they don’t understand what you are going through. I could pull someone over and talk for hours about my pain, and the next time they see me they will avoid me because I take too much of their time telling them how I hurt all the time.
So again why,
Why if God is so good is there so much sickness in our world?
Why do good people suffer and why SIN?
Why did God just not blot it out when it started?
Did you ever ask yourself Why God, why me what did I do to deserve this….
The only way to know something is to live it yourself or you will never really know it, you can’t know or feel what someone is going through unless you have felt it for your self.
- God knew of Sin and he knew of its deadly effects. But how could he in all fairness justly condemn mankind to eternal death if he himself has never experience what it is like to suffer, and die because of Sin
One day God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all came together. They came together to plan the creation of a new World and a new kind of Creature.
A creature that would not be a spirit but would be flesh and blood. One that life would be created from within life and they would be made in the image of their creator Himself, he would be called Mankind because this new Creature would be both male and female.
Mankind like all of creation would also be giving the freedom of choice.
What is the freedom of choice?
The freedom of choice is what keeps all of heaven in perfect order; it is the ability to choose: to love God, or not to love God.
God the Son said what if this new creature would choose not to Love God and would Sin, what would happen to them?
1John:3: 4: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Ezek:18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death The wages of sin is death
Why if God is so good is there so much sickness in our world, why do good people suffer and why SIN.
Why did God just not blot it out when it started?
Why God, why me what did I do to deserve this….
If you knew your Children would turn out bad would you still have them?
What if you knew your Children would someday kill you, would you still have them.
No matter how they turn out I love them and would still have them, even if it cost me my life to save them. Why because I love them
- Are you beginning to understand now how God Loves?
God the Son said but wait, if Mankind chooses to not love God, if he chooses death rather than life, if he chooses not to obey the commandments of God.
God the Son said, I will Chooses to die in his place,
I will take his Sin’s upon myself so that if Mankind chooses to believe in me he can once again be restored to his Maker
That is why God the Son became a Man to know and understand where we are, and to help us find the path that was lot because of Sin back to the Father.
He took Sin upon himself who knew no Sin and died the death that we will die because of Sin. This He did so He could give us in exchange His eternal live that we do not deserve, all because He Loved us.
Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death but, I like that word but, you know why because it tells me that there is more to the story, there is something better to come.
You see the BUT says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is hope after all; there is a way to be reconciled back to our Creator who loves us
The only way to know something is to live it yourself or you will never really know how it is. That is what Jesus had to do for all Mankind
A healthy person can never understand the pain and suffering of someone who is sick and we are all sick with the disease of sin and dying.
God being God had to become what we are in order to feel what we feel and live how we live in order to show us that God loves us and through Him we can know God the Father loves each and every one of us.
Becuase of Love
Isa:53:5: But he God was wounded for our transgressions, he God was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him God ; and with his God’s stripes we are healed. We are forgiving
Isa:53:8: He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa:53:11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa:43:25: I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
You know the different between Man forgiving and God forgiving.
Man forgives but never forgets
God forgives and forgets
John:15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
May the God of our fathers be with you and bring a blessing into your life this Sabbath and throughout the new week just ahead. Amen
If you Love Me!
Remember the day when you first saw that someone special. What was it like ? You just wanted to show them how much you loved them and wanted to be with them.
If you ask someone who had been married for 50 years, how did you do it?
They would tell you, we fell in Love.
It was not always easy; we had our problems along the way, but the harder the problem the harder we worked to get through them.
For someone to stay in Love you must be willing to do Cretin things.
Willing to admit that you are not always right….
Willing to put your pet project aside in order to see your help mate achieve there goal…
Willing to Listing to your help mate when you have something importance to say…
Willing to take time and just be a friend….
Willing to love, when you are treated with no love in return.
The world just don’t understand what is means to say the word LOVE
Just how far would true love go?
There was a song back in the 70tes that said. I walk a million miles, cry a million tear, swim the deepest seas, clime the highest hill, just to have you near me.
The problem with people is that when the test comes we often fail. True love knows no boundaries, it knows no limits, it will cross over any obstetrical to get to the one who is Loved.
Love is not by what you see Good looking people
Love is not by what you hear Good sounding people
Lover is not by how you feel A feeling can be wrong
Love is an expression of giving, the more it is cultivated the more it will grow.
John:3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Love is not taking but Giving, you must be willing to Give in order to stay in Love..
Let us Pray !
What is Salvation?
Christ Alone praying for YOU
The Bible said that all that is needed for our salvation is for a person to except Jesus as their savior.
Simply put; Salvation by Faith “All that is needed is simple Faith in the son of God” as my redeemer
What does Jesus then tell us to do to show that we love him and have forsaking this world of sin.
John 14: 15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Would it not be correct to say that when you are in love, that you are willing to do anything that someone special asks you to do?
John 14: 23
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Jesus is saying that He will come and make his home with you, for if you love me you will show it in your outward works.
Works can’t save anyone works only shows the one who you love. If Jesus is in you then the works of Love will show through you to others.
John: 15: 10
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Keeping the commandment can’t save us; it is only a way that helps Gods people to stay in his Love with Him. It shows to the world that I have giving my life to the power that is high then I.
John: 8: 51
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
What is he saying here….
What type of death is Jesus talking about here in John 8:51. Do we not all die?
Many of the prophets kept Jesus sayings and are dead!
Here is where we need to let the Bible and the Bible alone speak for its self
Too many times we are told by religious leaders what the Bible is saying. The Bible is wrote in common language so that every man for himself can go and read for himself what God has said. Never let someone try and tell you what the bible said, read and see if it is so.
Rev: 2: 11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
God’s people, who know the truth, understand that this life is not the death Jesus was talking about. It is the death that comes after the first resurrection, the second death, those who will die a second time in the lake of fire. This is an eternal death that there will be no coming back from.
Rev :20: 6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
We all must take part in the first death, if not, how would there be a first resurrection.
The only people who will not take part in the first resurrection will be Faithful Enoch for he walk into heaven, and Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Even the great Prophet Moses had to pass through the portal of death because of sin. There will also be a group of Christian people living in the last days who will not see death.
1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
What a day that will be, Can you say Amen
What a day that will be, to see Jesus coming our of the eastern sky, and hearing him shout to the sleeping Saints, awake my friend for I am coming for you, to give you that reward I have promised, that where I am you will be also.
It’s hard to imagine what that day will be like, God people for the passed 6000 years have been laying down their life on the old world.
But when the Lord comes they will be awaken, could you imagine standing there looking up and some old Saint saying hey Friend could you please more over a little you are standing on my chest.
People who have been buried for Hundreds even Thousands of years going to meet there Lord.
If you are a child of God it don’t matter where you die or how you die. Jesus has giving his Angles charge over you, and they have Marked the very spot where you have laid down you life.
Rev: 20: 14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev: 21: 8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
It is one thing to die on this earth, but quite another thing not to have a part with Jesus and die the second death.
Don’t you just love when the Bible answers Questions and not man?
What a Gold Mine the Bible is to those who love the Lord.
How many preachers do you think would have elaborated on what Jesus was talking about, and each one come-up with a difference Idea about never seeing death? But the word of God makes it so clear.
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I was at a Friends Funnel who I knew for many many years, and his wife ask me if I would like to say something. So I got up and told how we got to know each other and a few old boat stories.
I then said I am glad he gave his life to Jesus before he died.
Then I quoted from 1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
I then said what a day that will be when we see Jesus coming back and those who have die believing in him will rise on that day, I can’t wait to see my friend again.
I was giving the worse look you could have ever imagine by a man of the cloth, that church Pastor was angry at me for quoting the Bible in his church.
He was mad and then started preaching on 1 Thessalonians 4:16 but when he got to the part that said and the dead in Christ shall rise first
He jump over it and went on to verse 17, and saying that, that is why when you die you go straight to Heaven.
After the Funnel was over he shook everyone hand but mine…
Satan is always looking to lead you away from the truth, and the shame of it all, he uses so called men of God to do it.
Jesus said in Mark:7:7: Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of (God) NO the commandments of (men).
As Christians, from the start satin has been trying to block our way.
He puts roadblocks in our way, but some how we get through with God help.
So he digs a pit for us to fall into, it takes a lot of faith to get out of it. Sometimes we loose faith and don’t always make it.
Remember Peter for only one second he took his eyes off Jesus and he started to sink. And like Peter all we have to do is say Lord save me.
Satin will put many roadblocks in our way. He will use every means possible to lead us the wrong way. Away from the finish line “away from Jesus.”
For three and a half-year the disciple followed Christ, yes they love him. They were also proud to be associated with him.
Jesus said one day let us go to Jerusalem, There the son of man will be betrayed and they will kill him but I will “rise again the third day”.
When Jesus made his way in to Jerusalem his disciple were full of joy as they heard the people saying Ho-san-na blessed is he that comet in the name of the Lord.
Now they thwart that Jesus would take his place as King of Israel “But he did not”
Only a few days later in the upper room, after washing the disciple feet and breaking bread and giving them the cup that would represent his blood shed for all mankind.
He said one of you would betray me.
They could not believe what he just said. “Who which one of them”
Jesus knew what he came to do; and because of his infinite Love for us He was willing to give his live in our place,
STORY: Jesus In the garden:
He did not have to go through the pain and suffering, He could have called His Father and he would have send Angles to rescue Him.
But then how could he be man substitute
The arrest: They came out after him as if he was a murderer
The trial: He was marked and beaten before un-hold men, Even one of His own disciples denied that he even knew Him.
Then they hung Him on a cross:
But here on the cross is what he came to do, to take the place of you and me, to die the death that will bring us life, but now ask yourself WHY?
Because of His LOVE for You
Jesus disciples were their watching him as he hung on the cross. They could not believe that he would let himself be crucified.
All there hopes all their dreams of Jesus being King and they by his side.
There had hoped that he would redeem Israel from the grip of Rome.
But now every thing hung on the cross.
As they looked, they heard Jesus say IT IS FINISH and bowed his head and die.
Their hearts almost stop beating when there realized that Jesus was dead.
Is it over, is it all over they though to them self
Their minds were so blinded by Jesus death that they did not remember Jesus saying the 3rd day I am going to rise again!
John 19:31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
That Sabbath day was a special Sabbath day
It was a hi-day “it was the weekly Sabbath and a feast day Sabbath” making it a Hi Sabbath:
Death by the cross was slow and the Jews did not want the body of Jesus hanging were all could see what they had done
Jesus Disciples watched as Joseph and Nickodemos remove the body of Jesus and place it in a tomb and seal it.
In the book of Luke 24:1-7
1. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices, which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6. He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet inGalilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
That evening two of the disciples were walking to a small town called E-may-us, and as they walk they did not notice a man walking with them.
Till he said what kind of communications are these that ye have one to another, as walk and are sad
One said to him art thou only a stranger here in Jerusalem and have you not know what had come to pass in the last days.
Jesus said what thing
Luke 24: 21
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemedIsrael: and beside all this, to day is the “third day” since these things were done.
Jesus looked with love in his heart and said O foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
They felt hope as he talks, for it is what Jesus would have said
As they reach there home they invited him in but he did not except, but they said the day is far-spent come and enter and spend the night
So Jesus went in (our savior does not force him self on anyone) he will come in only when he is invited too.
As they sat for the evening meal they look
Their companion spreads forth his hand in the exactly the same way their master use to do.
They looked again and low they see in his hands the prints of NAILS
Both exclaim at once it is the lord Jesus. But he vanished out of sight.
As they look at each other and said did not our heart burned with in us as he talked
They go to tell the others
When they find the disciple and knock for entrance and the door open for them and another unseen enter in with them.
As the disciples tell that they seen Jesus and how he open the scriptures to them and was know in the braking of bread.
A voice said PEACE BE UNTO YOU.
They started back in terror for his radiance fills the place; Love was shining from him it was coming out his face.
Then he spoke the word of love that left no need for dough, and just because he knew our heart he spoke our feeling out.
Why are you so troubled why are you in fear; see my hand and see my feet for I my self am here. Reach out now and handle me till all of you been shore.
My life is more then spirit for I am here in flesh and bones.
Before Christ left he made a promise he will come back for all that believed in him. All that truly Loved Him, and keeps his commandments, not to be saved by keeping his commandments but because they want to show they Love Him.
Let me quote 1 Thessalonians 4: 16 & 17 again
1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
What a promises my brother, do you believe what Jesus said, he is coming back for all who Love him and have kept his commandments to show the World who they Love.
I hope that you are there on that beautiful day when Jesus calls all who truly Love Him to come and live with Him in that paradise home he built just for you. Don’t miss it my friend, it is there for all who put Jesus first in their lives.
Last Day Counterfeits
Prov. 14:12 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
If you were the devil and could counterfeit anything you wanted, what would it be? Certainly it would be some thing of great worth.
Have you ever seen a counterfeit pile of dirt or a counterfeit toothpick? We only copy valuable things. Money is often copied.
“Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ.”
Matthew 13:24,25 – “Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.‘”
Satan especially likes to plant his tares among the wheat.
The arch counterfeiter is the devil. So, as you might expect, the biggest forgery today is in religion. Churches (most of them unknowingly) have become involved in teaching forged illusions of Bible truth. With so many clones out there, truth seekers become confused and many simply seek out the best counterfeit. Never be satisfied with anything less than the genuine article.
Swindler Satan’s simulations reach fervent pitch in the last days. In Luke 21:8 Jesus said: “Watch out that you are not deceived.”
I Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow ddeceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
God’s truth has splintered into more than 250 different beliefs. This forgery of truth has been masterminded by the devil.
This replica of truth is not new. Christ warned about it in His day: Mark 7:7 – “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the Commandments of men.”
Let us look at a few of the many delusions the devil has devised and that most of the world accepts:
Everything was Good
(1)–Creation/Evolution Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe that in the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through the evolutionary processes is comparable to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a landfill might accidently assemble a space shuttle all gassed up and ready to fly from the junk in the dump.
If we can’t believe in the first sentence in the Bible, then we must reject every other page as fraudulent.
Another hoax emanating from the time of Genesis comes from the Garden of Eden. It was there that the original “Snake in the Grass” announced a great counterfeit that is still believed by most of the Christian world today.
(2) – There is no Death. Genesis 3:4 – “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman…” Almost every church today believes this deception. Most of the religions of the world have purchased the devil’s lie- hook, line, and sinker. In saying “There is no death” he was introducing the delusion that there is life apart from God, Who is the source and maintainer of all life. God said man is mortal, the devil said he is immortal and that evil or good, man will never die. Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The wage of sin is NOT eternal life. Even if that life is in the fire of hell. Think about it, if you are alive in the fire of hell forever then you would have to have eternal life. Not much of a life!…. but it does last an eternity. Is that what the Bible says? NO! The wage of SIN is not life in hell or anywhere else. The wage of sin is death. Eternal Death. Just the opposite of the gift of God which is eternal life. Praise God for Eternal life! (Note that even Jesus said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)
So, this counterfeit, that there is no death, opens the door for yet another fabrication!
(3) – I call it– Fake Fire. You see, if a sinner dies, and somehow does not die, then he must be alive somewhere. Where is that? Hell! And so the belief that there is no death means that life is indestructible. After “death” the person continues to live on somewhere. The unsaved sinner can’t die. So people believe that when the sinner is cast into hell fire, he must live there forever.
He can’t die. And do you know that 95% of all Christian Churches, yet to this day, still believe it?! They have accepted the counterfeit. Why do I call this “fake fire”? Because -if- the fire of hell can’t do its job in a million years or more then it is lukewarm fire!
How does the Bible describe hell fire? II Peter 3:10-12 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Next delusion: When Adam and Eve were created from the hand of God, their first full day was spent in worship on the holy Sabbath Day. This brings us to the next counterfeit:
The 7th day is the Sabbath
(4) – Sunday is the Sabbath. A gigantic perversion of Bible truth in religion today, involves the question of which day is the true day of worship. Sunday observance has its roots back in the days immediately after the flood (Genesis 10 and Nimrod) In that time, Sun worship was conducted on the day of the sun, that we call “Sun-day.” As sun-worship began to increase, God decided to give to his people a written copy of His law. In the heart of it is His Sabbath commandment.
Exodus 20:8-11 The longest commandment is the only one with the word REMEMBER! If there was not a counterfeit in the making, why do you suppose God would say that? And so today there are many Christians accepting this counterfeit as the genuine article.
But fortunately today there is a movement in the world to get back to the real thing. The Seventh-day Adventist church is basically a call for a return to the truth as it is in the Bible.
Sunday keeping is a counterfeit of God’s Bible Sabbath. God says: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy!
The counterfeiting continues. The devil needed a logical event on which to base a reason for first-day observance. And so today we have good Christians keeping Sunday because of the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week. This is not a Bible reason for Sunday worship. We certainly believe in the resurrection of Christ. But this is not a reason to switch from keeping Sabbath.
Now because one lie leads to another, the need arose for a counterfeit Baptism.
(5) – Is Sprinkling Baptism: Baptism under the water is God’s true symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Sunday is not the symbol to honor His resurrection. The new life of the new Christian is! And so if you take Sunday keeping as the symbol of the resurrection, you must introduce a counterfeit baptism that does no require this three fold symbolism. Hence: sprinkling! And so the large majority of Christians today accept this counterfeit baptism and don’t know why.
Ephesians 4:5 speaks of one baptism. Matthew 3:16 tells of Jesus baptism; going down into the water, being buried in it, and coming up out of the water renewed.
(6) – False Christs Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible.”
How many Redeemers do we have? One! Who is that? Jesus Christ. Any other is a false Christ. However, it seems that the Papacy is about to establish an additional redeemer. The over 400 apparitions of the “Virgin Mary” in the last 100 years are shaking the Roman Catholic Church to its core. During just the last four years Pope John Paul II has received over four Million signed petitions to name Mary as CO-REDEMPTRIX with Jesus Christ.
The Pope is considering naming Mary also as the “Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God.” This means that all prayers must flow through her as the ONLY channel of grace from Jesus Christ.
This would in essence elevate Mary to a place in a new “Holy Quartet” of the Godhead!
[for more information see Waymarks, a pamphlet published by the Southern Union Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Volume 2, # 4, October 1997 issue.]
In John Paul II’s own words, “the new Eve beside the New Adam [Christ] in the Redemption.” Thus Mary would be the daughter of the Father, the mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
see Freedom Alert a periodical published by the Council on Religious Freedom, Vol. 13, Issue 4, 1997, E-mail address: page 8.
So you can see there are apocalyptic counterfeits currently in the making. If and when Mary is made a God, it means the World is racing inexorably towards a prophetic date with destiny! You have heard of these little books: God’s Little Instruction Book and etc. Now there is a Mary’s Little Instruction Book.
(7) False Church: God has a true church. She is described as a woman who is in deadly combat with a devil like dragon. Revelation 12:17 – “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
Lutherans and Calvinists are adopting common communions. [AP, 8-18-97]. A public announcement was made in Chattanooga, TN on Sunday May 4, 1997 by an archbishop of the Episcopal Church stating that Protestantism has all but died and that will leave only the Roman Catholic Church to represent Christianity. “God’s church is catholic,” he said. see Chattanooga Free Press, May 10, 1997 p. B1.
Ralph Reed, the director of the Christian Coalition in 1996 said: There is a growing strength of evangelicals and their Roman Catholic allies. “Dark distrust about popery has been swept into the ash heap of history. John F Kennedy’s election in 1960 buried the Catholic bogeyman forever. No longer burdened by the past, Roman Catholics, evangelicals, Greek Orthodox and many mainline denominations are forging a new alliance… See Freedom Report April, 1996, Clifford Goldstein, Editor.
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of Doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees, sustain their institutions, then protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” – EG White, Great Controversy p. 445
(8) A COPIED COMING Prophecy warns that in the last days Satan would attempt to impersonate Christ’s second coming. II Thess. 2:3-4 That day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed as God showing himself to be God. II Thess. 2:8-12 That wicked shall be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Even him (Satan) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. With all deceit (many counterfeits).
Luke 21:8 – “many shall come in My name.” II Cor. 11:14 (KJV) – “Satan, himself, is transformed into an angel of light.”
“in the last days he will appear in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the second time. He will bear the APPEARANCE OF CHRIST IN EVERY PARTICULAR…” – EG White, Vol. 5, Testimonies for the Church, p.698
Back in the 1970’s a rare discovery was made. It was called a pathological phenomenon. Scientists in China discovered a lady actually growing horns out of the top of her head. The written account said that she looked “like the Devil.”
For years the devil has sought to teach a false-hood here. We picture him as a red skinned imp with a tail and horns, and a pitchfork in his hand. This is a false picture. A trick. He has thrown this dust in the eyes of most in the world so that when he comes as an angel of light no one will recognize him and his coming will be accepted as the coming of Christ, Himself. What a counterfeit!
Speaking of Christs second coming: I Thess. 4:16-17 states the correct manner of His coming in the clouds of glory, and in the air.
Every Eye will see Jesus coming
Rev. 1:7 – Every Eye will see Jesus come!
Very soon, Satan will appear as the true Christ “He will be clothed as an angel of light…The apostate churches unite in the exaltation of Satan…” – EG White, Testimonies for Ministers, p.62 “Disguised as an angel of light, Satan will walk the earth as a wonder-worker. In beautiful language he will present lofty things. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction, Satan will turn the people from the LAW OF GOD. – EG White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 471-472.
“He will declare that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week and that he is the lord of the first day.” – EG White, Maranatha p. 205
“Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive. God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will COUNTERFEIT the miracles that will be wrought.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 16.
Matt. 24:24 (KJV) “..shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, in so much, that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” – Revelation 16:14 (KJV) says “for they are the spirits of DEVILS, working miracles…”
“Before the end of time he (Satan) will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform ACTUAL miracles.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p.698
(9) – Hoax Healings – these miracles are another great counterfeit of Satan.
Revelation 13:13 – “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.”
Revelation 16:14 – “They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs…”
EG White – 2SM51 – “He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world.”
EG White Testimonies t the Church, Vol 1 – “The sick will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are we prepared for this?”
Have you ever thought about why it is that we seem to be seeing less and less true miracles of physical healing from God? Could it be that these things will fade in importance in the last days, because Satan is counterfeiting so many of them. The devil knows his time is short and these miracles and the imitation of Christ’s Second Coming are his trump cards. As we hear more and more about these false healings and false Christ, we should wake up to the fact that the real genuine article is almost here. How often the fake just precedes the real event.
EG White Great Controversy, p. 625 – “Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent.” …. “only those who have been diligent students of the scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.”
(10)-His counterfeit of the Bible– There are so many books out there claiming to contain the truth. The Koran, the book of Mormon, the new age writings, … the list could go on and on.
But there is only one Bible and It is hard to know which Bible is the Real Bible.
I stood at a Bible Book store and saw a
• Bible for Men with nuts, bolts, gears on the front cover.
• I saw a Bible for Women.
• A Bible For Mothers.
• A bible for Fathers.
• A bible for Students.
• A bible for Teenagers.
• A bible for Boys.
• A bible for Girls.
• A bible for Parents.
• A bible for New Converts.
• A bible for hillbillies.
• A bible for African Americans.
• A bible for Catholics.
I wanted a copy of God’s real word for me!
(11) –His emulation of the church-fellowship…
“The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give His people. It’s an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting fellowship. It is a place where you can tell secrets and they usually don’t want to tell others. The bar flourishes not because many people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and to be known, and loved, and many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers and are led into the devil’s trap and barred from eternal life.”
(12) –His backward millennium with its deadly second chance after seven years of tribulation AFTER the second coming. Revelation 20 does not indicate there will be a second chance after the rapture. Jesus will come at the beginning of the 1000 years. All the righteous will be taken to heaven and all the wicked will be left behind dead and unburied.
(13) — TANGLED TONGUES:
There is a movement today in religion that says unless you speak in tongues you are not saved. Yet Jesus never spoke in tongues or David or John or hundreds of other Saints. Most of what is claimed as Bible examples of speaking in tongues is actually the gift of another LANGUAGE.
Listen to Acts 2:2-6 (Living Bible) – “Suddenly there was a sound like
the roaring of mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the
house where they were meeting. What looked like flames or tongues of fire
appeared and settled on their heads. And everyone present was filled with
the Holy Spirit and began SPEAKING in languages they didn’t know for the Holy
Spirit gave them this ability.
And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, CROWDS CAME
RUNNING to see what it was all about and were stunned to hear their OWN
LANGUAGES being spoken by the disciples.”
That is how the Holy Spirit came to them. The same could and must happen to each of us today. The time is here. The Spirit is even now being poured out. Are you receiving it yet? If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be filled with another spirit.
I would like to share with you something that I will never forget. It happened when I was about 11 years old. A young lady about 26 years old had been suffering from cancer for eight months. She was paralyzed and wasn’t able to walk. One Saturday night she asked her husband to take her to the Holy Ghost Pentecostal church. He did and carried her in through the door. The group there were with the spirit that night and excitement was high. Immediately that paralyzed lady began to preach and pray. She started talking in an unknown tongue. “I couldn’t understand her,” her husband said.
But in a few minutes she stopped, and then, as if a hand had raised her to her feet, she stood up and began to walk around. (Remember she had been paralyzed.) They were all praising the Lord about that time. Suddenly she darted from the church with her husband trailing behind her; but he couldn’t catch her. She kept running until she reached the highway, where upon she immediately jumped in front of a passing car. She was killed. (Newspaper- Houston Press, Nov. 17, 1952)
Here was a woman who went to a Holy Ghost meeting. She started speaking in tongues. She apparently seemed to be healed and then was lifted out of her seat and ran out and flung herself in front of a speeding car.
Could that be the Spirit of God? I can’t believe it. The spirit of the DEVIL leads to self destruction as in the case of the swine that ran into the sea. If the Holy spirit takes charge of our lives, then he will lead us to life in Christ. If the Evil spirit takes charge, he will lead us to the road of destruction. Let us make sure that we have the Holy Spirit in control of our lives. The Devil is now trying to counterfeit every truth of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.
Our only safety is to be led by the Holy Spirit. I want to be a son of God. Don’t you?
The best way to detect a counterfeit twenty dollar bill is to KNOW THE GENUINE. To avoid being taken in by all the falsehoods and videos and cassette tapes and mimeographed sheets that come in the mail, what must you do? Must you wade through all that stuff? NO! You concentrate on knowing Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Study your Bible. Focus on Jesus. And someday when the counterfeit is placed in your hands, you will instantly know it is a fake. I saw a counterfeit bill one day and it only took a glance and I knew it was bad.
Sometimes I wish Jesus would keep the counterfeits of His truth out of circulation like the Bank tries to do with the bad money. You can’t go to the Bank and get any counterfeit money. So do your spiritual banking with Jesus! Invest in the truth. The truth is Jesus.
Jesus said: “I am the way the Truth and the Life.”
Stick with Jesus and you will not be deceived.
Sermon from McDonald Road SDA Church
Holiness unto the Lord
Story: Noah
God called a man named Noah Why? The Earth was full of SIN and Evil
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD
• Doing something that everyone thinks you are crazy
Did you know that Noah preached the same sermon for 120 years: If the Pastor preached the same sermon for two or three Sabbaths in a row what do you think will happen?
Time to get honest here Everyone will start complaining right.
Noah was giving a Warning to the people of his day, Why because the cup of evil was full to the rim and running over
God did not just zap everyone out, He sent Noah to warn them and give them time to make a choice and save themselves.
Everyone had time to make ready, Everyone had time to study, Everyone had time to change their life style. But no one took the time to do anything but laugh at this crazy old man
The Garden of Eden was still on the earth and people could still go and see where it was and to know that it was because of Sin that they no longer had access to it.
One day something strange started to happen, Animals started to walk two be two out of the forest right into the Ark.
Sign after sign was giving but still no one believed
Till the great door of the Ark closed and probation also closed for the World
In everything Noah did he honored God and gave God the glory by his obedience and love for his creator, it was just too bad no one listened to what he was preaching
Let us Pray!
—————————————————————————
Thousands of years ago, God gave a vision of what His people could be in contrast to the rest of the world around them.
In the book of Leviticus we see a holy God and we see what he thinks of all the evil around us and we find out what His plans are for His people.
Can God’s holiness give us hope? I’d like to share that message of hope with you today.
I invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus and we’ll look at a couple of Bible texts that emphasize God’s holiness.
First of all we’ll look at chapter 20, and I’d like to direct your attention to verses 22-23 and 26.
Verses 22-23 “You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them.”
Let me explain what the problems was with the other Nations (The Sins of the others Nations has reach their limit and probation was fixing to close for them)
Now verse 26: “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”
I would also like to point your attention to chapter 11.
Leviticus chapter 11:44, 45. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
If you were to sum up those verses, what would you say the message is?
I believe we could summarize it this way:
The book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God versus the ugliness of Sin.
In fact, God’s holiness is a way to describe His pure loving character which is totally good and entirely separate from evil in any form.
And the more exalted our views about God’s holiness, the more we will not want to disgrace our holy God. Because the more we know Him, the more we will want to be like Him.
Now I’d like for us to look at Leviticus 19 for the sake of asking ourselves, “What is the holiness of God and what does it mean for us?”
Chapter 19, along with the other places it stresses that God wants us to be holy, because the Lord our God is holy. That’s in verse 2. I want us to notice how that theme is developed in this chapter.
In verse 3 it tells us that God wanted the Israelites to hold in the highest regard their mothers and fathers. To respect their mothers and fathers.
Gods commandment
If fact the 5th commandment in the book of Exodus 20: 12 tell us: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Have you ever seen a child treat his mother or father with disrespect? Yep
We all have! This is a day and age when there is very little cross-generational respect. We hear stories of parents killing their children and children killing their parents.
In Leviticus19: 3 God also says “Keep my Sabbaths.” Most people don’t even know what “rest” is, much less the Sabbath experience. (God gave Man rest) Man is Over Worked today!
Verse 4, Don’t turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods. They Can’t see, hear or walk.
Verse 11: You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Stealing these days is a common thing to do, dealing falsely as well, and lying is easy for anyone.
Verse 13: You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him Not very many people care about their neighbors these days.
Verse 14: You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind.
You shall not hate your brother in your heart. And it goes on to tell us that there should be no grudges against people, but we should love our neighbors as ourselves. (19:17, 18) Forgiveness that’s a rare thing today It is one thing to forgive and another to forget.
Some of the things have changed since the days God spoke these words to Moses. Lev. 19:27, for example, tells men not to shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.
The SDA Commentary is helpful for things like this. It tells us that at that time it was a common practice, as a sign of devotion to one’s pagan god to shave off some hair and offer it to his gods.
So shaving off the sides of the head or disfiguring the natural shape of the beard was a symbol for all to see that a person was devoted to a certain pagan god. So that’s not quite the same today, or maybe it’s in another form today, I don’t know.
Other things are still relevant, however.
Verse 31 says Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. It’s common to hear of people that claim they can speak to your dead family member. Fortune tellers and channelers seek to give you extra-terrestrial wisdom. They claim they can give that.
• Have you notes that today more so then ever in the History of man, all the people who clime that they can speak to the dead.
That also clime they can tell the future: But they can’t tell what the lotto number will be next week.
Gods says don’t believe them, and don’t play on Satan’s ground
Verse 33 says Don’t mistreat strangers. In today’s society of suspicion and prejudice, do we really care about people we don’t know?
Leviticus 19:34 says “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Verse 35: You shall do no injustice in measurements of length, weight or volume. Don’t steal or cheat someone.
So what is God saying to us here? All of these admonitions, all of these commands, reflected God’s extreme dislike of the practices of society around us. Why would that be?
Because God is holy, and by nature hates anything having to do with the ugliness of sin. You see, God is not an arbitrary God.
God does not tell us not to do these things just because He doesn’t think we should do them, but because He doesn’t want those things to damage or kill us.
God wants His people to be different from the sinful society around them. He says You shall be holy, for I am holy.
Can you imagine living in a society in which
1. No one Cheats each other
2. Doors wouldn’t need to be locked because you could trust people.
3. People wouldn’t have to be scared of walking all alone in the dark.
4. People wouldn’t get kidnapped.
5. Kids wouldn’t become the victims of incest and abuse.
6. Women wouldn’t get raped.
7. Stores wouldn’t be robbed.
8. No one would have to go hungry.
9. People would care for each other.
10. There would be no adultery.
11. There would be no child pornography.
12. There would be no bribery.
13. And there would be no more politicians who care only about campaign contributions and saving their own jobs.
14. There would be no more deal-making behind closed doors of government
Why does all that sound so good? Is it perhaps because that picture, that dream, is so unlike our present reality?
The picture in our minds is what we want because we’re hungry for something that isn’t. We’re starving for a taste of what isn’t true today.
We’re so accustomed to most of the evil in society that we are unaware to the not-so-good that exists inside each of us.
Leviticus tells us that we have a God who is holy. He hates evil and sin, but He graciously loves us. He’s a holy God who cares so much for us that He wants to bring us from that evil, and save us from that and from the damage that sin brings to us.
Leviticus is about a God who cares enough about us to take us out of the dirt and the grime. To pick us up, dust us off, wash us and cleanse us, and polish and shine us with his love.
He is a God who wants us to be separate from the garbage that exists around us, garbage that is offensive, ugly and hateful.
I am thankful today that God’s plan is to restore us to His image so that we do what’s right because it is right. So God takes us out of the garbage of sin and tells us, “You shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” (Leviticus 20:26).
You know that tells me that God values us.
I never used to think about God’s holiness as giving me hope that’s often because I don’t feel holy. Do you know what that’s like? Do you ever feel unholy? Maybe 10% of the time, or 5%? Or maybe rather it’s 99% of the time.
It has always been the love of God, God’s forgiveness, God’s patience, God’s grace and mercy that has meant a lot to me.
But after studying the book of Leviticus, I see it very differently. And I see that there is a purpose and a message behind it all. And God’s holiness is that message.
In all of God’s pure, loving goodness. God can’t stand evil in any shape or form. And even though evil exists inside each one of us, God has His plan to get rid of that evil.
The sacrifices in the book of Leviticus communicated that. Jesus’ death was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan to cleanse us from evil so we could be His people. And we could be His people in complete freedom once again.
God’s call to His holiness gives me hope because it means that we are all valuable to Him and He has a plan to heal us from the damage of sin.
He calls us to escape the sin and corruption that is in this world, because we are valuable to Him. God really does have something much better in mind for us.
STORY: Imelda Harrison and her sisters had made reservations to stay in a motel in the town of Yulee, Florida, in a very out-of-the-way place.1
Instead of rooms, it had cabins set way back from the highway. Imelda had an uneasy feeling about the place, but they had already taken care of their luggage, and her sisters were lying on the bed, resting.
It had been a long day, and all they wanted to do was to stretch out and relax. Soon, however, they heard a lot of cussing and swearing coming from the other side of the duplex cabin.
There was a door going from their side of the cabin to the other, with only a slide lock on the door. They could not hear every word being said, but they heard enough to know that the man was talking about them!
When they had first arrived, a car had been parked on their side of the cabin, and her sister Arlene had gone to knock on the door to ask the man to please move his car out of their way.
He had been sleeping and was wearing only his under garments when he came to the door, cussing and swearing at her.
Well, he got dressed and moved the automobile. But Arlene noticed a pistol on his night stand and mentioned it to the others.
Yet she still felt as if they would be safe enough with the doors locked. Imelda didn’t share her feelings, and was sure that they could be murdered if they didn’t get out immediately.
She eventually tried to talk her other sisters into packing up and getting out of there, but they just didn’t seem to want to be bothered at eleven o’clock at night.
She started to pray for something to happen to change their minds. Suddenly she heard them both scream at the top of their lungs.
She looked and saw something green in the middle of their bed! A lizard had jumped from the windowsill onto the bed, leaping right between them.
They packed up and were out of there in twenty minutes. They went ten miles down the road and rented another room at a motel that appeared much safer.
As they were registering at the desk, the woman said to them, “At a motel about ten miles down the road, there have been several unsolved murders committed in the last few months.”
When she mentioned the name of the place, it was the same motel they had just left. So Imelda thanked the Lord for sending the lizard to drive her sisters out of there.
God wants us to escape the corruption in the world, the evil. He has something better in mind for us. He has a better “hotel” for us to stay in.
And He will use whatever is necessary to motivate us to leave our ugly world of sin.
He offers you and me an escape from evil! With His loving holiness God rescues us from evil.
My prayer is that we may all choose to be, by God’s grace, His holy people.
One thing I have always found is that History repeats it’s self, time and time again, why because God keeps giving mankind chance after chance.
But like in the days of Noah time is running out and the great door of salvation will soon once again close forever
Those who Honor and give God the glory by doing what He said to do, and Keeping his words and Laws and taking on Gods Holiness will be saved.
Why because God is Holy and like Noah, we can find Grace in the sight of a Holy God.
A Leap of FAITH!
Once upon a time, two acorns were born in a big Oak Tree in a forest. Their names were Albert and Amanda Acorn.
Picture taken by Benjamin Bruce
Albert and Amanda lived in their shells side by side. It was springtime and they enjoyed the bright green foliage around them. They liked to gaze at the wide blue sky. Albert especially liked this.
They were intrigued as they watched the forest floor far below. Little green plants poked their shoots out of the soil. Tiny flowers poked their purple and red petals out of the leaves, Amanda especially liked this. Albert and Amanda became friends. They were happy in their big Oak Tree in the vast forest.
**** Spring turned into summer ****
Albert and Amanda planned for the future every day. They talked about important things.
Amanda: Ask “Albert? Where do Oak Trees come from?”
Albert: said “Well…..The other day I overheard wise old owl talking about acorns becoming Oak Trees!”
“You mean acorns like us?”
“Well yeah, acorns like us.”
“You mean we might become oak trees?” Albert: replied “Wow! I sure hope so!”
Albert and Amanda both decided they would be oak trees. Day after day Amanda thought about oak trees. One day she blurted out, quite unexpectedly…..
“Albert! How do trees grow? What keeps them from falling over?!”
Albert: said “They have roots, silly!”
“Roots?” Albert said “Yeah, roots. You know, down in the ground.”
Hmmm.. Amanda said. I wonder what it’s like down there.”
Albert said ” “Well, I don’t know.” “I’m just glad we’re up here where it’s nice and snug.” and warm.”
Amanda said “The tree does give us all our food.” Albert: “And we’re getting fat!” Albert and Amanda smile at each other.
**** Summer turned into Fall ****
One day, Albert knew that something was bothering Amanda. <>
“What’s bugging you Amanda?” She said “Remember when we talked about roots?
Yeah.
Do all trees have roots?” “Well…. I think so. Why?” Amanda “And trees grow from the ground up?”
“Yeah. So?”
Amanda was thinking: “And we’re wanting to be Oak Trees.” “Yes Amanda! So what’s your point?” “Albert, maybe we have to start on the ground!” So you think we should jump?”
“Well…..I don’t know…I…”
Amanda “You’re actually thinking about it?” “Sort of… I don’t know…It’s a long way down…But it’s the only way…” “That’s foolishness. You’re nuts! Don’t do it Amanda! Please…” Albert pled with Amanda not to do it.
But one day in late Autumn they said their goodbyes and…Amanda Jumped.
**** Autumn turned into winter ****
Albert spent a lonely winter. And he didn’t feel very well. But he was safe and secure in his shell in the big Oak Tree in the forest. He thought of poor Amanda. She was dead by now. But he, Albert, would still be a mighty oak! And so he dreamed…..
But each day Albert felt worse and worse and he shriveled up more and more. It was too late when he discovered…..He had rotted from the inside out!
**** Winter turned into spring ****
And in the very spot where Amanda had fallen into the ground, a little green sprout poked up out of the soil. The acorn shell was now empty and Amanda grew, and grew, and grew until she became a towering Oak Tree. She provided branches for many bird nests and shade for many weary travelers. Many small acorns began to form on her branches.
She was so happy that she had learned a simple rule:
******A fruitful life comes only through death to self. ******
Our life is all about choices that we make everyday, it is only when we put Jesus first and self last and believe in what he done for us that helps us to make the right choice in life.
Let us Pray!
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There was once a tightrope walker who was crossing Niagara Falls. After he had held the crowds spellbound with his daring act, he asked, How many of you believe I could cross the tightrope again, this time Blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow with someone riding in it.
The crowds applauded.
They were sure he could do it. But then he said, Who will volunteer to ride the wheelbarrow?
There was a vast silence.
The audience had just been reminded of the vital difference between belief and trust! It’s one thing to believe that the wheelbarrow would make it safety across the Falls. It’s quite another thing to put your own life on the line.
James 2:19 draws the same distinction: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
In order to have saving Faith, you need more than simple mental assent. The devils have that much and they tremble as a result. The devils believe – but they don’t trust.
And that my friend is the crucial difference.
There are three words that best describes the dependent relationship of the Christian to God:
Faith, Belief, and Trust.
In modern usage, belief often carries with it the idea of only a mental assent.
Faith is sometimes confused with positive thinking.
But the word TRUST probably comes the closest to describing the biblical dependence upon God.
Wherever you find the word belief or faith in Scripture, you can substitute it for the word Trust, and perhaps understand a new dimension to a familiar word.
For instance Act 16: 31
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Would read
Trust the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved
Faith includes not only belief but trust, “ Faith is Trusting God “.
Faith is dependence upon another, It is probably the closest word to surrender found in the Bible, for it carries with it the idea of giving up your life into God’s control.
Hebrew: 11:1:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
So we see that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things we have not yet seen. But we believe and Truth that we will receive them.
So how do we get Faith, just where does it come from
- Remember the story of Noah:
God told Noah to build a Boat and really big Boat. Why because It would need to hold two of every type of creature on the earth, soon a Flood was coming to destroy all things
Now understand something about the time Noah lived in
It had never rained,
It had never flooded,
And there were no large rivers where Noah lived
So perhaps Noah made a mistake in what he heard God telling him to do.
It happen everyday people making mistake in what they hear, in what they do, in what they feel, and in what they say.
If Noah lived in our days he would surely have had to go back and ask God to explain exactly what he means by Rain or Flood. Because scientist can prove today that it is impossible for the world to be completely flooded
They said the same thing to Noah but it did not faze him one bit.
Noah knew what God said, he did not understand how God was going to do it and he did not question how God was going to do it. He just believed what God said.
And every time Noah drove a Nail into the side of the Ark he believed, every time he install a plank he believed, His faith grew each day because the Trusted in what God had said.
Faith is Believing! “If God said it, believe it”
- In another story we find Jesus and his Disciples taking a little trip on a Boat.
Matthew 8
The Jesus Film
23: And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24: And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. Who was asleep “Jesus”
25: And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
How is that possible How is that possible to perish when the giver of life is with you.
26: And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27: But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
Here we find the disciples just like how we are at time, believing but not Fully Trusting.
Faith is Trusting !
A little more then a 100 years ago there was a Sea Captain who heard the call to be a Missionary his Name was Mc Cleane
- Story: Capt Mc Cleane Island of Cannibals
Faith & Trust is going beyond understanding to do what you know is right!
- Story Joshua 3: Story about the Priest going over Jordan
13: And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
Faith & Trust is putting one foot forward and walking with both eyes closed
The Bible said if you have Faith so much as a grain of Mustard seed “you could do what”
Faith is like thread
One peace all by its self can not do much, but each time Faith is used it becomes stronger Until that thread becomes a rope, a life line to Jesus
Whatever happens in your life never get positive thinking confused with Faith!
Positive thinking does not produce genuine faith, but faith will produce positive thinking.
John Huss and Jerome were heroes of the Reformation years.
They worked in Bohemia, and their witness preceded that of Martin Luther in Germany.
The writing of Wycliffe influenced both men. Not long after John Huss began to preach the gospel with great power, he was joined by Jerome, who had been in England.
As the preaching of John Huss became more widely known, he was summoned to Rome to give an account of his teachings.
Huss was given a safe-conduct, but after his hearing he was thrown into prison anyway. He was offered the opportunity to recant, but he refused, and before many weeks had passed, he was burned at the stake.
His persecutors scattered his ashes in the Rhine Rive and hoped in vain that they had silenced his Voice.
When Jerome heard that his friend was in peril, he hurried to Rome, not waiting even for the safe-conduct that had proved so ineffective for Huss.
Upon his arrival, he too was thrown into prison and kept there for many months. His courage failed, and he accepted the opportunity to recant.
Then he discovered an amazing thing. There is something worse than being burned at the stake! And that is not to be burned at the stake and to live with the remorse of having denied the Lord.
Jerome recanted his recantation and went singing to his death.
When the executioner stepped behind him to kindle the flames, he cried, Come forward boldly, apply the fire before my face.
Had I been afraid, I should not be here.
The Bible position is that not every promise is for you at this time and under these circumstances.
There may be a times when God will call you to give a testimony of your life before Men, how will you fair.
“When thou walkest through the fire, Thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Huss and Jerome went to the stake not because they lacked faith, but because of their faith.
Faith still Trust God even when things don’t work out the way we want them to.
It’s easy to trust God when life is going smoothly. The real test of faith comes when our prayers seem unanswered.
The Lord would have you trust in his love and mercy amid clouds and darkness as well as in the sunshine.
To Know Him is to Trust Him
Today we have a choice; remember the Story of “Albert and Amanda Acorn”
You can take a leap of faith in Jesus and live forever, Or you can stay in your nice warm spot thinking you are alright.
But when the time comes and you are not feeling too good it might be too late to find out you have rotted from the inside.
**** Remember this. ****
KNOWING GOD RESULTS IN TRUSTING GOD.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW HIM, YOU WON’T TRUST HIM.
IF YOU DON’T TRUST HIM, IT IS BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW HIM.
Do All to the Glory of God
There were two Families who lived across the street in this particularly neighborhood.
One day they got in an augment over some little foolish thing that happen and vow to never speak to each other again (As long as they would live)
A few years would go by and both couples started having children.
One day they notices that there children were playing together in the fount yard.
This infuriated the parents to see there children playing with those people across the street.
They would go and get the children and tell them they were never to play with the People across the street again.
Only to find the children in the front yard playing again with the children across the street.
The Parents knew they needed to do something to stop this with those fitly no mans who lived across the street.
So the parents on the right side of the street started to build all kinds of play things in their back yard for there children
The parents on the Lift side of the street saw what the pigs across the street was doing and started doing the same in their back yard.
Never would there children play together again!
Time went on and the children grew-up and were ready for School. The parents on both sides of the street made sure that there children would not attend the same school so they all went to a different private school.
Time again moved on and the oldest of these children now made ready for collage.
At Collage both of these young adults met many of new friends, one day the Girl from the right side of the street met a wonderful boy who she fell in Love with.
And the Boy from the Left side met a wonderful Girl who he fell in Love with.
They Loved each other so much they did not want to even go home when the semester was over, So they decided to register and go to school all year long, studying and cramming there curses so they could both finish get Married and start a life of there own when School finished
Funny neither of them every talk much about there family back home.
But the day came and they graduated; now they planed to get married. They were surprised to learn that they both came from the same state, and even more surprised to learn that they lived in the Same City.
What a coincident they said to each other.
The Girl told here Boyfriend the street she lived on and the Boy said why my parents live on that same street.
He told the girl his parent house number and she said why that is not far from where her parent live
They just could not understand how they had never met before, living so close to each other all this time.
Until they drove down the road and seen that they were neighbors across the street.
***********
How many of us today go to Church and never talk to each other. How many times do we pass each other by with not so much as a smile, a hello, a good-by, or a go and drop dead.
We are supposed to be representing God on this Earth, but some times we tend to represent only Satan in Christ clothing.
God said in all that you do, do it to the Glory of God!
Our Question today is “How do I give God the Glory”?
Let us pray !!!!!!
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The Sermon today will be taking from the Scripture found in 1 Corinthians: 10:31:
The King James Bible:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Twenty Century New Testament Bible:
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the honor of God.
Bible in Worldwide English:
So, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to bring praise to God.
Do all to the glory of God.
Point #1 Is it possible to honor God in how or what we eat?
The Bible says yes it is possible!
In the beginning God created everything Good; it was perfect just out of the creator’s hands
Genesis 1
29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
We don’t need a preacher to understand what we just read? What we read is God gave to man his food, and it was not the beasts of the earth, it was the fruit that grew on trees, God call it meat.
For this reason you will find many Adventist who are vegetarian and not meat eaters. Not that there is anything wrong with eating Clean Meat.
The diet of man was altered after Sin entered into the Human family.
In the scripture we are told; God said I have given you every herb bearing seed & and every fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for Meat.
When God uses the word Meat; is does not mean animal flesh.
When I was growing up sometime we would get a young Coconut to eat and cut them open, and eat the Meat of the coconut on the inside, the fruit inside was conceded the meat of the Coconut. It is no part of any animal but the Meat of the Fruit that God had giving this is what God was saying
So where did Man start eating Flesh or animal protein.
Let go back to the Book of Beginning and see what happen
Genesis 6
5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
I am glad we have men Like Noah / even though he was called a Fool by the World Standards He Remained Faithful to Gods Laws. Out of the hole World God found only Noah righteous
We are not going into the story of Noah, because of time; let’s just take a look at what happen.
We know that God told Noah to build an Ark because he was going to destroy the earth with a flood. God gave Noah the plan for the size of the Ark, why because he knew it would have to hold a pair of all the beasts of the earth.
Lets pickup on the story where God is calling the animal and they are going on into the Ark.
Genesis 6
19: And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20: Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Let dig a little deeper here into what is happing and see if we can shade a little more Light on this subject
Genesis 7
1: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2: Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
God say to Noah Clean beast by sevens and un-clean by two. That is 14 of every clean the male and female and two of every un-clean one male and one female.
Did God make a distinction between what animals were clean and unclean back in the time of Noah?
So why do we hear men preaching today and telling us we don’t have to worry about those Jewish Laws, we can eat anything we want, just put a little more gravy on it. It is ok to eat what God said is an abomination, because those Law’s were for the Jews only.
Were those laws for the Jew only and not for us today? Was Noah a Jew?
Do you know there are a lot of similarities between Jews and Muslim?
One similarly is that neither one will eat Pork,
Do you know why?
Because they both had the same great Grand Father, the patriarch Abraham who taught his children of Gods Laws!
Not because they were Jews or Muslim but because they were his Children; and Gods Law was the delight of his Life.
The Jewish line came from Abraham Son Isaac who begat Jacob now known as Israel, The Muslim line came from Abraham other sons Esau & Ishmael
Now if it is understandable to be able to Give God Glory in what we eat, it is also understandable to believe we can Dishonor and not give Him Glory in what we eat and that is by eating what God said is an abomination to Him.
Isaiah 66:
16: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17: They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
If you have any drought as to what animals are Clean or Unclean just go to the Book of Leviticus and read in chapter 11:
1 Corinthians 6:
19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Where now is also the augment for abortion?
When is the Woman that said it is my body and I can do what I want with it. WRONG, God said your body belongs to him, he bought you with a price whether you like it or not. Now he will not force his way on you, but he will let you choose to do right or wrong that is a choice he has giving you.
Point #2 Can we Honor God in our Relationships.
Christ and Family
1. Life is built on Relationships
Can we bring Honor to God by having friends?
Yes we can, God did not create us to be independence of each other, we were created to be social, in other words to have relationships with other.
One of the worse things that can happen to someone is to be totally isolated, put away from everyone else. We were not made to be alone; we need the fellowship of others in our life to be totally happy. When we are a Friend to others or as Jesus said a neighbor to others we give God the Glory.
Mathew: 22:39:
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Why?
Because It give Glory to God.
Just the opposite is true if you do not love your neighbor, you do not bring Glory to God
► God holds the Marriage relationship as a Most Holy Thing.
It was giving to mankind in the garden before Sin, when God took the one Man and one Woman and joined them together, and they two became one flesh.
What God has joined together let no Mankind separate or come between.
Let me ask you a question? Can Sex bring Glory to God ?
When in the confines of the Marriage relationship even Sex can bring Glory to God. It was Gods way of forming the bond between the Man and the Woman, for God said and they two shall become one flesh
The Intermit relationship between the Man and Woman forms a strong bond and holds them together, but even it is not complete!
There is one missing element, and that is the need for his creator to be part of that relationship. That brings Honor to God in the Home and the Children of that Home will also bring Glory and Honor to God.
Because they will learn of Him by the example of the Parents, Children watch everything there Parents do, and imitate there very actions and words.
If they are words of Love and cheer of compassion and Faith, they too will have the same. But if it is words of hate and violence words of markery and slander they will become exactly like the Parents and that brings dishonor to God.
Marriage is a commitment to each other a way of saying I love you and want to be part of your Life. It is a way of saying I Will Always Be There for You
That is what God is telling us; when he is part of that relationship he will always be there for you, if you accept him into your Life.
In the Marriage relationship; if Sex brings Glory to God, Then the opposite must also be true.
Sex outside of the Marriage relationship brings Dishonor to God
Adultery is when the Marriage relationship is Broken.
In other words when the Covenant, when the Agreement, when the Promise, is made Void by one of the parties involved in the Marriage relationship and that is by Sex whether Physical or Mental is committed our side of the Marriage Relationship the Vow is broken and bring dishonor to God.
Satan loves nothing more then to destroy the Family, because there are two things that came out of Eden, One was the Marriage; our relationship to Each Other, and the Sabbath; our Relationship with God.
Satin will stop at nothing to break our relationship with God and with each other.
He attacks our very Homes when we are the lease expected; so we can dishonor our Creator
We are attacked everyday by the T.V. in our Homes, every time you look there is a Sex seen on the tube. Just about every Movie you see will has at lease one seen with people having Sex.
Most of the time T.V., Magazines, and Movies don’t give Glory to God
You open the News paper and there are pictures of Woman in there undergarments, the same with a magazine from JC Penny or Sears. All to lead your Mind away, and into a place it should not be and to help you break that covenant relationship you made.
By Far the worse Magazine you can have in you Home if you have Men or young boys is a Victoria Secret magazine.
It is Pornography at the first stage (it opens the door to Sin in young boys)
Look at what Jesus said in Matthew: Matthew:5:28:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Please notice here there is nothing wrong looking at a beautiful Woman. That is not the problem; it is what a man does in his mind when he looks that is the problem.
There were a sect of Men in Israel that were called the Burse and Bleeding Pharisees. Why because they believed that to look at a Woman was Sin.
And so to keep from Sinning if they were walking and a Woman was coming down the other way, they would cover there eyes, thus running in to Buildings or in a Ditch
As Paul Harvy would say now you know the rest of the story… Burse and Bleeding Pharisees
To look at a Woman is not Sin but to “Undress her in your Mind is Sin”.
Because you have committed Adultery with her in your heart
That is what Jesus was saying, if you Lust after her, if you desire her, if you long for her, if you hunger for her you have committed Sin because you have broken the covenant with your Marriage Partner.
God also liked the Marriage relationship to Himself by the Church.
The Church is his Bride
He is coming back for a Pure and Holy Bride that has not committed Fornication or Adultery with the world.
But for those who have kept themselves as a Virgin awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom to give Glory to God
Phil:2:11:
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Rom:3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Jesus did say Be ye Perfect as I am Perfect, It is only as we are in Christ that we can become Perfect not in ourselves, In ourselves we are imperfect becuase we are sinners
We Glorify God in our acceptance of His Sacrifice on the Cross in Man behalf because we could not do it ourselves
The opposite it true we Dishonor God when we try to do it ourselves, it is like saying God I don’t need you
Point #3 Can we Honor God by keeping the day He blessed and said was Holy
Gods Holy Sabbath day
Can Worshiping God on the 7th day of the week the Sabbath bring Glory to God?
The Jewish people had a very big problem; they refused to keep Gods Law. Jesus said; If you Love me keep my Commandment. So we may say if keeping Gods Law shows that we love Him; then by not keeping them or braking even one of them shows that we don’t really Love Him; or at lease not totally; and if you don’t love Him totally, then you don’t love Him at all. And so Jesus has no choice but to let you have your own way
At the restoration of Jerusalem, in the days of Nehemiah, Sabbath breaking was met with the stern discipline “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. , “ Nehemiah 13:18
Christ, during His earthly ministry, emphasized the binding claims of the Sabbath; in all His teaching He showed reverence for the institution He Himself had given.
In His days the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather than the character of God.
Christ set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him.
The Sabbath was embodied in the law given from Sinai. The people of Israel had knowledge of it before they came to Sinai. On the way there the Sabbath was kept. When someone profaned it, the Lord reproved them, saying, “How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?” Ex. 16:28.
The Sabbath was not for Israel only, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of perpetual obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares,
“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law.Matthew:5:18:”
So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue to be a sign of the Creator’s power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun. “From one Sabbath to another” the inhabitants of the glorified new earth shall go up “to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:23.
In the days of Christ the Sabbath had become so distorted that its observance reflected the character of selfish men more than God.
They began to worship the Day, more then the Creator of the Day.
The Religious leaders virtually represented God as giving laws which it was impossible for men to obey. They led the people to look upon God as a tyrant, and to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as He required it, made men hard-hearted and cruel.
It was the work of Christ to clear away these misconceptions. The Religious leaders followed Him with merciless hostility because he did not keep the Sabbath by their traditions. He did not conform to their requirements (Traditions), but went straight forward, keeping the Sabbath according to the laws of God.
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27″
Does the Sabbath make us perfect, No it don’t, but it does make us dependence on Gods Grace, for it is by Grace that we are Saved through Faith and not of our works.
So if keeping the Sabbath brings Glory to God, then not keeping the Sabbath brings Dishonor to God.
How did the whole thing get mixed up in the first place, look at the Book of Daniel?
Daniel: 7:25:
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
God knew these things would happen, because he knew Satan would stop at nothing to dishonor Him.
He knew Men would try and bring in another day; that He God did not bless and did not make Holy.
You must understand God did all He could do for Man
1. The Sabbath Came out of Eden,
2. Marriage Came out of Eden
3. The Food God gave us to keep us in good Health came out of Eden
God did all this to keep mankind happy and healthy, why because of His great love for his Creation.
Do you know who wrote the Bible, Men who were moved by the inspiration of Gods Holy Spirit?
Do you know the only part of the Bible God did not let man write?
His Ten Commandments, He God wrote them himself on stone with his own finger. Are his laws importance can man change something that God himself wrote. I don’t think so.
What every you do, ask yourselves this first
In what I am going to eat, will it bring Glory to God?
In what I think does it bring Glory to God?
In how I worship does it bring Glory to God?
If your answer is yes then you have no problems, but if it is NO I leave you with a Choice you need to make.
Give God the Glory by your obedience to his will and live forever or take your chances with the world.
To God be the Glory, Great things He has done so love He the world He gave us His SON.
Does GOD still have Laws?
Are laws important?
Do laws put us in bondage?
Have you ever lived in a place where there were no laws?
What would happen to the USA if there were no laws to govern the people?
Just think, no laws so you could just do what ever you want and no one would stop you. Except everyone else is doing the same thing as you, and there is no one stopping them either.
Do you see where a problem could come from?
What if I don’t like stopping for a red light, there are always a pain and turn red at the wrong times. So I am going to just drive straight through them from now on. I might not live long doing that but remember there are no laws telling me I can’t.
Laws are not made to keep us from something good! They are made to keep us happy and safe. So everyone knows what to expect from the other person.
Did God give us laws?
Were Gods Laws to be a burden or a joy to mankind?
What about Grace if we have Grace Do we still need Laws?
GRACE:
We don’t have to earn it. It is the most valuable gift of all. The Scripture says in Ephesians 2:8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation does not come from any human effort. It is a free gift without a penny and without price. It is the science of salvation that deserves our attention and our study.
In Revelation 5:9, the redeemed are pictured as standing before the throne of God, both those redeemed from the Old Testament times and from the New Testament times, singing glory to Jesus, the Lamb, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” A great, fundamental truth is expressed here—the only way a sinner can be saved is through the blood of Jesus. Since the time of Adam, sinners have been saved only by believing in Jesus.
If men are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, where does the Ten Commandment law come in?
Throughout all the ages of controversy between Christ and Satan, the devil has sought to destroy the authority of God over man by casting the law aside and by preventing knowledge of the truth about the law.
The enemy of Christ brings this about by rejection of the law or a wrong concept of the dispensation of the law as opposed to the dispensation of the gospel.
Satan could bring in the principle of salvation through works, and prevent the functioning of the law according to God’s design.
The role that the law fulfills in relation to the gospel is two-fold. First, it is God’s standard of what is right and true. As a standard the law expresses the mind or will of God, for in Psalm 40:8 it says, “I delight to do thy will, 0 my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” The law also declares man’s duty to God, for in Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
How often I have heard Christians boast that they don’t care about the law of God. They hide behind Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
They say that since they are saved by grace, through the atoning blood of Christ, they don’t have to keep God’s commandments at all. Have you ever heard that theory? Well, I am sure the Bible doesn’t teach that.
In Romans 6:15, the very next verse in the chapter, Paul says, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” The fourteenth verse has stated, “Sin shall not have dominion over us,” or “it shall not be our ruler.”
We are not under sin, or the condemnation of the law either, when we obey God. Why? Because we are saved by grace. But does that license us to sin? “God forbid.” Friends, when an individual is saved by grace, he is under greater obligation than ever before to keep the law of God.
As it says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Are we licensed to break the law of God because we are saved by grace and saved by faith? God forbid. “Yea,” he says, “we establish the law.” The law is firmer than ever in our lives.
Who is under the law today in your city? Those who have broken it; they are under the law, and in jail. The man who keeps the law is the man who is free today. The law breaker is under the condemnation of the law.
Right here let us stop a moment and read the definition of sin in 1 John 3:4. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” That is very clear. When a man sins he has transgressed the law.
Every sinner has broken the law. What is sin? “The transgression of the law” When a man sins, what does he do? He breaks the law of God. There must be a law, otherwise he couldn’t break it. We are not under the law unless we break it.
I would fear to be called a minister of the Lord today, telling people that it is OK to break Gods laws or to say it is OK to forget what God said to Remember
Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
How does God feel about man making his own laws and rules and teaching people to live by them instead of his commandment Law’s.
Matt:15:9: But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mark:7:7: Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Colossians: 2:22: Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Is there danger in not keeping God Commandments?
Titus: 1:14: Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Let’s pretend there is a line drawn in the sand that said those who are on God side stand here and those who are not on God side stand over there.
What side would you want to stand on?
You might say; Lord I am saved by grace I was told I don’t need to need to keep those old laws.
Let’s look at it this way!
The governor of the state has life-and-death power. A man has been sentenced and condemned to die. He is under the sentence of death. Friends intervene. They present evidence to the governor, special factors involved in this case—contributing factors as to why this individual was caught in this particular crime.
As the governor investigates the evidence, he feels that this man deserves clemency; so he uses his official prerogative as the head of the commonwealth. He takes his pen and dips it in the ink and signs across those condemnation papers, “PARDONED,” and then signs his name.
That condemned man, my friend, has been saved by grace, not by his works or by his goodness.
He was doomed to die, and being ever so good in that death cell would never, never in this world save him. That is very obvious.
In other words, after an individual has broken the commandments of God, he cannot be good enough to save himself. The wages of sin is what? Death. We have all sinned, so are under the sentence of death. And there is only one way of salvation, through Jesus Christ.
Now the condemned man is pardoned. He can hardly believe his eyes as he sees the kindness, the stroke of generosity and love shown by that governor.
PARDONED, SAVED, FREE, You meet the freed man a little later and he says, “Wonderful what that governor did for me, and wonderful this new freedom of mine.
Now I can break the law all I like, for the governor set me free from the law and from the sentence of death. I was saved by grace.”
Did the governor pardon him so he could go out and become a greater law breaker? Shall we who are saved by grace continue law breaking? “God forbid.” We are under even greater obligation to keep the law because we are saved by grace
Matt:22: 36-40
36: Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38: This is the first and great commandment.
39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Is that Jesus we hear saying on these two commandments hang all the “WHAT” Law’s and Prophets.
Love the Lord thy God is the first four of the Ten Commandments;
Love thy neighbor is the last six of the Ten Commandments;
Do we find any evident of keeping the old Jewish Ten Commandment Law in the New Testament
Matt:19:17: And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mark:10:19: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Luke:18:20: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother
Luke:1:6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Over and over and over again we hear Jesus telling the people to keep his commandments.
.
If you really Love the lord, and want to show him that you Love him, then do what?
Show him you love him by doing what he tells you to do.
I have heard some say, “Those commandments were only for the Jews.” Then a Christian can lie and steal, and murder people, and do anything else that he pleases. Is that possible?
Jesus says in” John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments. It was because these were broken that Jesus gave His life. If these were to be abolished, why not abolish them before Jesus came to die? Then His death would not have been necessary.
John:14:21: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
John:15:10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Somebody says, “Well, I can’t leave my church.” We’re not talking about churches today, friends.
We’re talking about following God.
Don’t look at the people. Look at the Light God is showing you.
We need to take one more quick glance here at what Jesus said. Matthew 7:21. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Now notice verse 22. This is an amazing statement by our Lord. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
Oh yes, miracle workers in the name of Jesus.
Don’t you see? Notice Christ’s answer now in verse 23. “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Oh, this is one of the most sobering passages in the Word of God, because we’re led face to face here with the understanding which we can’t escape—that it makes a difference to God what we believe and how we live.
It isn’t enough to say, “Yes, I believe. I’m a church member.”
It’s a matter of how we live and what we believe about our God that makes a difference.
Many will say, “Lord, we’ve cast out devils. We’ve done miracles. We’ve prophesied.” And yet, they’ll be lost.
It makes a difference what we believe. Anchor your faith firmly, my friends, to the rock of Scripture.
Christian can you say you know Jesus and not keep his Commandments
1John:2:3: And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1John:2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
That’s not my saying brother and sister, for it is written in the book called the Bible, which is none other then God word.
1Cor:7:19: Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
1Cor:14:37: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Thes:4:2: For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
1John:3:22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
People are always looking for bargains, for special discounts. Some churches advertise, “Come to us, we will give you a bargain, 10% off of the Ten Commandments.” But will that stand in the judgment?
Just because some great churches tell you that they will make it easy and only ask you to keep nine of the Ten Commandments, is that sufficient? Will you pass in the judgment day?
Has any church the right to discount the commandments of God? How do we dare to imagine that we are on the high road to heaven when we knowingly break any of God’s commandments?
Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
1John:3:24: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1John:5:2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1John:5:3: For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
2John:1:6: And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
So now we know that it is very importance to keep God’s commandment WHY?
If you love God then who are you enemy with?
That’s right the world.
For you can’t love God and the world!
What are we told will happen to God people because they love the Lord their God and claim to be his people. His people who keep his Laws and keep the testimony’s of his Son Jesus Christ.
Rv:12:17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rv:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rv:22:14: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Some time ago one of the items of interest in the newspaper was about a cave-in in a mine down in Pennsylvania somewhere—I think you might remember it. There were some miners trapped but there was reason to believe they were still alive under ground.
There was no way to dig down through the mine shaft that had caved in so they were hoping the miners were off to the side of the main shaft in a little room in a horizontal shaft.
So they brought in a great drilling rig and started drilling down through that virtually solid rock trying to get into that room where they felt they were probably entombed.
Hour after hour, day after day, while the world watched, virtually holding its breath, as the news media portrayed for us the picture of how they went down there 6 inches and then another foot and down finally to three feet.
The families camped at the mouth of the mine where the rescue operations were going on.
Finally the day came when that great boring rig bore through the ceiling of that room where the miners were trapped. Rapidly it was withdrawn and they lowered a microphone to a little speaker down that hole.
The man who was directing the rescue operation at the top spoke into his end of the microphone and said, “Are you alright? Are you alive? Are you there?”
And then a voice came back from the heart of the earth. “Yes, we’re here. We’re alright.”
A great shout went up from the rescue workers at the opening of that pit. Then the director said this into the microphone. “What do you want the most?” There was a pause and then a voice came back, “I want a cigar.”
Oh friends, heaven is involved in the greatest rescue operation the world has ever known.
The entire universe is watching. Day after day, week after week, year after year, for the last six-thousand horrible years,
God has been seeking to rescue those of us who have been entombed by the avalanche of sin.
What must it do to His heart by our procrastination, our idleness, our spiritual postponement of eternal things. We send back a message and say, “Oh, we’re satisfied with the trinkets, we’re satisfied with the things, but thanks just the same.”
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation?
The Needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one!
Story: During the American Civil War a young soldier lay wounded in a hospital far from home. As he grew worse each day, he felt that his only hope of recovery was to be with his family.
Hebrews 10:7: Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
One morning President Lincoln visited the hospital to comfort the wounded men. As the homesick soldier watched the president, he saw how kindly he treated every man, passing by none without some fatherly expression of interest. He decided that when the president approached his bed, he would ask him a favor.
Finally his turn came. President Lincoln asked the soldier, “Are you comfortable?”
He answered, “Not so comfortable as I would be, Mr. President, if I were back home.”
“What’s your name?” asked Lincoln.
“Samuel Stover, Company H, 2nd Maryland Volunteers,” he quickly replied, hope rising in his heart.
The president looked at the young man for a few moments, gave him a friendly nod, and continued through the ward, visiting every patient.
Private Stover kept a close watch on the president until he left the hospital ward. He was dismayed that, after seeing so many men, Lincoln hadn’t jotted down his name or taken a single note.
Sinking hopelessly back into his bed, Private Stover was certain that he would never see his family again.
How surprised he was a few days later when an order came in Lincoln’s own handwriting to transfer Private Stover of Company H, 2nd Maryland Volunteers to the military hospital at Annapolis, his hometown!
Young Stover got better under his family’s care at the new hospital. Years later he said, “It has always been a mystery to me that a man with so much to think of should keep in mind the name, company and regiment of a private soldier and care about his need.”
Lincoln’s kindness to the soldier is a miniature illustration of the loving, deeply personal interest God has in every one of us.
He knows our cares and needs, including the needs we’re not even aware of.
He doesn’t have to take notes to remember our lives and burdens, because He says in the Scriptures that our names are written on the palms of His hands, and that we are set as a seal upon His heart, and as gems in His crown.
We may come to God with our prayers, and He will hear us, and send us merciful and loving answers far beyond our expectations.
Let us pray!
——————————————————————————–
Tell the Story: At Ground “Zero” Young Louis Scotland ………..
****** Two hemisphere of uranium 234 One day the screwdriver slipped
******You will do alright he said but I have not a chance.
*** There was another young man who said the same thing about 2000 years ago on a
Hill side we call Calvary
As we approach the cross of Calvary we hear the rulers and religious leaders marking him and saying…..
Mt:27:42: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
Mk:15:31: Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
Lk:23:35: And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
*** What was all this about, why did this man have to die***
He was dying for a falling world dying and for a Sin that he did not commit
Jesus did not have to come to this world, and he did not have to take the abuse of evil men and he did not have to give his life for us, but he did, because he who created us loved us.
Why did this happen, how could this happen
It all started in heaven many thousands of years ago, with the jealousy of a created being trying to be equal with his creator.
Isaiah 14
12: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13: For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
God knew in his heart that someday this would come too passed, why did he permitted, because God did not want people who could not think, could not act, could not Love.
He knew the cost of giving Angles and giving People the freedom to think and act for themselves, none of this came as a surprised to God.
Timothy:3:5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Christ could not comedown off the Cross, because he could not save himself and us at the same time so he chose to save us instead.
Do we understand just what happened at the Cross, Do we fully know the price that Jesus paid?
Ezek:18:4: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. But this man did nothing, he did not sin
The world is a stage:……….
It was set that way to test Man if he would be obedience to the laws of God or would he rebel against God.
It was all about a simple test of who you believe ….
The Universe: ………………
Long before God started Creation he knew of the possibility that Sin would one day inter in. But yet it did not stop his Creation Love for what he was doing.
Try telling a Mother or Father that there wayward Children will someday hate them, will someday despise them, will someday want to kill them. Tell them that it would be best to just Kill your Son or Daughter right now before that happens.
What do you think that Mother or Father will tell you, even knowing that they could not kill their Children. God was no different even knowing that one day his children with rise up against Him He still loved then with a God love. Sin must work its way till the entire heavenly host can see what Sin really was, so that it will never rise up again.
God could have made robots who would have never sinned but then they could not have freedom of choice.
God could have make beings who could not think for themselves, but then how would love be expressed.
God could have made machines but then where would companionship be.
So with Love God created, knowing that someday it would cost him his life.
The plan of salvation was a plan lay down before the dawn creation.
It was a plan knowing that someday the two hemisphere of Sin would collide together over a place call Calvary.
There at ground “Zero” the Son of God would have to step in and with the same hands that created the heavens and the earth he would forever have to pull apart the deadly change reaction of Sin by giving his life.
Not only for mankind but for all the other unfailing worlds, they too must understand the cost of infantine love
John:15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
My friends, nothing in this universe is stronger than love.
Christ was God, and God is love.
It was love who fainted beneath the cross that day. It was love who prayed for His murderers, it was love who felt the thorny crown upon His brow.
Listen, those hands that were stretched out and pierced that day, were the same hands which had fashioned the universe.
1John:3:16: Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
On the Cross Jesus was paying for our sins, for the soul that sinneth, it shall die, that is the Law.
The needs of
the many out weighted the need of the one, so in order to restore heaven God gave the life of his Son in payment for mans Sin as our substitute.
John 3:
16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Nineteen Centuries ago the Son of the living God walked directly into Sins most concentrated radiation, allowed himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take His life.
The accumulated guilt of all the ages released its deadly contamination over Calvary.
And he who make the atom permitted Himself to be Nailed to the tower at ground Zero, allowed men to trigger the cruel device we call Calvary
But it was by his act that He broken the deathly chain reaction and broken the power of Sin.
Strangely true were the mocking words of the rulers who watched Him die.
He saved others Himself He cannot save.
Never were truer words spoken. For to interrupt the chain reaction of sin, to stop its deadly fallout, He must give His own life.
He could not save his Himself and others too. It is as if He spoke to every man, you will come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance Myself.
Could it be that the God of the universe, in a final attempt to help our limited, Restricted minds to grasp the true meaning of Calvary, had permitted our tampering with the cosmic forces to give us a vocabulary that might better explain it?
Calvary seems so far away, so disconnected from the restless age in which we live. But as Christians, we reverence it.
To most of us Calvary is a little more than a devotional exercise that we take off like a cloak. And even when we stop to think about it, do any of us really know what it means? Or why it had to happen?
We are too busy, too restless, too insecure, too frightened, and revolutionary.
Years of our history, years of surge and change, year’s heavy with anticipation and mystery.
Every seam and fabric of our thinking has been strained in the struggle even to understand what is happened.
How God could love us so much to allow himself to be touched by sinful man and to be killed all to save us.
Truth is that Jesus could not save this world and himself at the same time; it was a one or the other.
So he chose to save this world rather than save himself,
Why, Why, did the God of the universe choose to die in place of a guilty race of people who are no more worthy then a paper clip.
What a story of Love it tells to the unfailing worlds
That God cares for all the creatures that he has created, And that he would stop at nothing to seek out that which was lost.
Because the needs of the many out weighted the needs of the one
The Soldier and his Sword – Desmond Doss
Desmond T. Doss stood by his convictions under ridicule and enemy fire. As he continued to honor God throughout WWII, God honored him with the highest honor America can bestow. He would not drill or train on Saturday, the Sabbath. He would not carry a gun because he believed all killing was wrong. He wouldn’t even eat meat after seeing a chicken flopping around with its head cut off.
Some of the stories he recalls actually would have branded him a klutz rather than a smart, practical, and honorable leader. He did learn many valuable lessons during his childhood, though, that shaped his thinking and perhaps caused him to react the way he did during his time in the army.
Desmond Doss (February 7, 1919–March 23, 2006) was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor and one of only three so honored. He was a Private First Class (at the time of his Medal of Honor heroics) in the U.S. Army assigned to the Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. He died the same day as another Medal of Honor recipient, David Bleak.
Desmond refused to kill, or carry a weapon into combat, because of his personal beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist. He thus became a medic, and by serving in the Pacific theatre of World War II helped his country by saving the lives of his comrades, while also adhering to his religious convictions.
His Medal of Honor was earned by the risks he took to save the lives of many comrades.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Private First Class, United States Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, April 29, 1945 – May 21, 1945.
Entered service at: Lynchburg, Virginia
Birth: Lynchburg, Virginia
G.O. No.: 97, November 1, 1945.
Citation:
He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet (120 m) high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machine gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back.
Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards (180 m) forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards (7.3 m) of enemy forces in a cave’s mouth, where he dressed his comrades’ wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer.
He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet (7.6 m) from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards (91 m) to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire.
On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man.
Awaiting the litter bearers’ return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards (270 m) over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.
Read more about Desmond at DesmondDoss.com
He is the subject of the award-winning documentary, The Conscientious Objector, with interviews with Doss as well as some of the soldiers whose lives he saved.
A True Story of An American Soldier, documentary film.
Infantrymen who once ridiculed and scoffed at Desmond’s simple faith and refusal to carry a weapon-now owed their lives to him. Director Terry Benedict tells Desmond’s incredible story through the eyes of the men who witnessed this humble man’s heroic acts. Winning the respect of his fellow soldiers, they recommended him for the highest honor America can bestow on one of her sons-The Congressional Medal of Honor.
Read the incredible story of a man who stood by his convictions under ridicule and enemy fire. As he continued to honor God throughout WWII, God honored him with the highest honor America can bestow. Written by Frances M. Doss
D5 Creation
