6)
And when they opposed
themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth
I will go unto the Gentiles.
7)
And he departed thence,
and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God,
whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
8)
And Crispus,
the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and
many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
9)
Then spake
the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold
not thy peace:
10)
For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have
much people in this city.
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e must be quite clear about the fact
that if we turn down a God—given opportunity, He will find another. And this,
of course, is borne out in today’s text. Paul was quickly given another to help
him. It may seem a light thing to decline the Lord, but he who declines will
always suffer.
Today, as at no other time, it is
necessary to the work of the Lord that someone be
determined not to give up simply because another is falling. But, this alone is
not enough. The Lord is encouraging us not to continue to hold our peace about
telling others Who He really is. Time is short and the battle being waged is
getting more fierce. True, the battle is not ours to
win, but we are the soldiers to whom the “ground warfare” has been entrusted.
One thing hindering us is our paranoia
(instilled in us by others) that really telling cold, hard truth will “run
people away.” You must remember that a person not willing to be saved will
recoil from a lie as well as the truth. If they do not want what is being
offered, they will run. On the contrary, one who has been touched with a need
to change his life will be determined to let nothing stop him. All of us must
get to the place where we can be a “soul saver.” We have absolutely no more
time for second-guessing ourselves or trying to protect ourselves. The clarion
call has been given—now is the time to answer.
The Lord’s promise to be with us means
that He will be with us in all situations and circumstances and will not only
bring us out, but will bring us out with victory. Too often, we can get
oppressed by situations and feel there is no way out. But God has a truth that,
if accepted, brings victory.
Wherever you are, if there is anything
being proclaimed which does not promote holiness, no matter how you feel about
it or want to feel about it, you are not hearing truth—and God is not in that.
If you have come to salvation and cannot stop sinning or have gone back to
sin—you need help. God can help you.
Many are walking blindly today. They
have been blinded through deception, through self-gratification, through the
lusts associated with this world. Anyone who will be saved and used of God
cannot be blinded by position (whether it be in church or society) or anything
else.
The Lord is a calling all of us to do
the potentially “uncomfortable.” Though it is hard even for pastors to preach
that which might make others feel you are trying to “steal” members, it is the
Lord who has given the command to “speak the truth.”
Your life, too, depends on you being
determined to be true to God. The closer we come to the Rapture, the more disparate
the carnal becomes from the spiritual. The choices we have been required to
make thus far have been just preparation for the choices which are going to be
required of us by the Lord. We are going to be required to show to whom we belong and with whom lies our allegiance. Will we be
saint enough to stand?
Many of you have found yourselves
pulled away from Living Faith and regretting it. You may not have told anyone,
but be honest with yourself and God. Don’t let some friendship based on unholy
principles keep you from telling others, “God has told me to go back and get my
life together.”
We will keep telling you this: no
matter what others may not like, you must live to please the Lord. If you
intend to be here, where you know He wants you, you must return and submit
yourself. Those who go out from here will fulfill whatever work God gives you
at the time, come back and be refreshed. You see, no one could have been sent
until prepared; for the work we will be dispatched to do will require much spirituality
and strength. Only teaching develops those qualities.
We know that after leaving here, there
are individuals who go about “training” you to resist truth and think in human
terms. Some of you have been convinced that the Lord actually calls us to do
things for ourselves. Once you make a decision to turn around, how will you
force others to acknowledge that this doctrine is wrong? They must see you
living godly, though persecuted, yet coming out on top.
Anyone, who intends to grow will have to “go through,” for in all of nature, growth
is painful. Just as Jesus could not escape discomfort, neither will we; and if
we will be victorious, we will experience joy in the testing just as He did.
Man wants to know things quick, fast
and in a hurry. True, some wisdom the Lord automatically gives. Some, we must
learn through experience, for it is necessary for some lessons to be impressed
upon us. You see, if this were not the way, we would automatically revert to
old habits.
One of the chief reasons the Lord
promises to be with us is because He intends there to be a difference in His
people. When we know that He is there, we don’t need to exhibit the behavior of
the world. For if we “tell people off” and “get them straight” like everyone
else with whom we come into contact, how will God ever be glorified?
Those who claim the Lord as their own,
and those who would be known by Him must stand on the Word of God as never
before. We can no longer be worried about what someone thinks after we have
said what God has directed. The key, of course, is to speak in love, not with
malice.
We, here, know that what God has given
us to speak to you is for the saving of your life. You may say what you will
about it, but we know that the Lord is with us and will prove Himself through
fulfillment of all His Word. We want Him to be with you, too.