(Restoration - Pt.2)
10) For
the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they
have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11) But
thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12) Fight
the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also
called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
13) I
give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth
all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession;
14) That
thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable,
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
15) For
thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of
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oo often, the people of God tire of
dealing with problems. This is both proper and to be expected as a natural
outcome of us attempting to “deal” with anything. For we must
realize that whenever we attempt to handle God’s business, we take ourselves
out of His will.
Admittedly,
Despite what we do have in scripture,
when we feel that the pressure put upon us is too great, our first thought is
generally to flee, rather than to stand and fight the good fight of faith.
Infrequently does it ever occur to us to search scripture and remind ourselves
that God, and only God, controls all of life’s situations.
In that we base our happiness on how
pleasingly our lives are proceeding, we often try to ensure that happiness by
controlling our lives. As long as we believe that there is even a vestige of a
possibility that our lives are, indeed, within our control we will continue to
“play games” with ourselves and the Lord.
Relinquishing control of one’s life and
yes, one’s happiness is a requirement for both “fighting the good fight of faith”
and “restoration”—for those who need the latter. With all the souls that we
have seen fall, and who we are actively watching fall, it should really be no
revelation that being “in church” is not enough. In order for one to fulfill
God’s will for himself, he must be following that will and this includes
worshipping where you know God has said He wants you.
All those who have left Living Faith
show that they have either a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of
“commitment.” When one serves God, he is saved only if he is totally committed
to His will, and this requires that one have no will of his own. We are not
free to make our own decisions and choices any more than were the servants and
saints of old. If one could not be counted among the righteous then, he will
not be now.
No doubt, some of you reading this will
remark that you were never here and never part of the ministry. Yet, you know
that the Lord has called you to be here. You, too, must heed the message that
in order to be saved, you will have to do what He is telling you to do. You
must be where God wants you to be, learning what He wants to teach you—which does not include tradition.
For any one of us to be able to fulfill
the will of God in our lives, we must have spiritual “guts”—that is,
integrity—and be honest. People have left only because
they deceived themselves or allowed themselves to be deceived. You see, the
first thing that goes (as they say) when one is determined to have his own way
is his desire to know the truth. He no longer has that desire, so it becomes
easy to make things up on the Lord so that you are comfortable doing what you
want. Actually, all this accomplishes is allowing you to be comfortable in your
disobedience.
Since many justify leaving one church
and for another in order to be “used,” examine yourself and answer the
question: Who are you helping to be more saved, more fit for the
Particularly now that time is winding
down, it grieves the Lord and us that men are so
blind. We all claim to be working toward the common goal of bringing souls to
salvation. Yet, all of us do not understand that though the devil cannot keep
all men from getting saved, he compensates by sending them someplace where they
will not be committed to the Lord. This is the true issue and tragedy of you,
who, by your actions, have declared your unwillingness to endure sound
doctrine.
There is a very simple explanation for
those who have a problem with living the standard of God: they have never
rested in Him. You see, only by resting and being comfortable within the
shelter and protection of the Lord are we given courage to embrace a firm stand
in Him in these Last Days. Serving God does take courage, for anybody can
follow a crowd or a pack, but to stand against a worldly majority and for a
spiritual minority—this takes courage.
The Lord is calling for all to face
reality. You must look in the scripture and be willing to admit that Jesus
never ran from a fight with the devil, but always stood His ground for the will
of God. Therefore, all must learn to stand and “fight the good fight of faith,”
for running is not of God. Are you willing to admit that you ran—from the
pressure, from authority, from the will of God?
You can no longer ignore the call of
God, for you know if you have not met the requirement that God says you must
meet. As long as you fight returning, the devil is “pulling your strings” and
as long as he knows that he can move you, or keep you from moving, he will keep
you “running”—for the rest of your life, if necessary. He’ll keep you running
from truth, commitment, honesty—the Lord, Himself.
He’ll keep you running from the knowledge and revelation of God and all it
entails.
Our only hope is to rest in the God Who
saved us. If you will return and rest in Him, you will be able to do the work
God saved you to do, not that that you have called yourself to do. Your great
desire to be useful to the Lord will only be fulfilled by returning to your
“place” in Him.
All must stop hardening their hearts
and hearken to the voice of the Lord, for there can be no love of God
manifested where there is no obedience. If you just ask God His will for you,
He will show you—but you must do it! He never told you to run away, for He is
not the God of the retreat. On the contrary, He is the God of the
Confrontation. But, you left to “get out from under”—whatever it was that you
didn’t like. That is not the Spirit of God. You need to stop telling people God
told you to do things which are against His nature.
Living Faith has been and being
prepared to be a training ground. The masses that we are expecting through
prophecy are all not going to stay, but they will leave after they have been taught
and dispatched by God to go out and help others to be saved. You say that you
want to do the work of the Lord? Then come, learn how to do it, wait on
God—then leave.
Oh, yes, here is something to think about:
Everything about God speaks holiness. Therefore, if anyone allows you to do
what is not in keeping with His holiness, the person and the deed are against
the Word of God. Think about it.