The Gospel Light

 (Matthew 25:14 -18) “14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. 15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. 16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. 17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. 18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.”

We see here that according to the scriptures everyone is not given the same amount of gifts. Some have more than others.  There is a tendency in congregations for pastors to focus on those who can do the most.  While this is common, I don’t believe that it is the correct approach.  For there is more then one way to be a respecter of persons.  (Acts 10:34-35) “34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”   God doesn’t place one person above another just because of ability and neither should we.  God gifts His people as He sees fit.

Just because a person has one talent today does not mean that he will not have more tomorrow.  The scripture clearly teaches that if one uses their talent then they will obtain more.  If they don’t use their talent, they will lose what they have.  (Matthew 25:19-30)  “19After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. 20And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.  21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.  22He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.  23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.  24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:  25And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.  26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:  27Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.  28Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.  29For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.  30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

So as the church we should be encouraging everyone to be using their talents.  To do less is to encourage the loss of those abilities and quite possibly the loss of their soul.  This is not an acceptable thing for us to allow.  Instead we should nurture people into being the most useful agents for God possible.  In some ways it is like playing chess.  When I was younger and just starting to play chess I viewed the pawns as a useless fence holding back my more powerful pieces. But as I got older and better at the game I learned that in many cases the pawns were the most valuable pieces in the game.  Despite the fact that they have the least abilities they have caused the win or loss of many a game.  Also, despite being the least able of pieces on the board, they have the greatest potential.  For if protected and guided, they can become the most able pieces on the board.  But it takes patience.  For a pawn when it reaches the end of the board can become any piece on the board. In doing so they go from being one of the weakest to being one of the strongest.

The same is true with Christians that seem to have very few talents.  With the proper protection and guidance they to can become one of the strongest people in the church.  But it takes patience and time.  If we get into too big of a hurry, we will destroy them.  The same is true is we try to mold them in man made philosophies.  They must be molded by Word and the Spirit to truly have success.  The talents came from the Lord in the parable given above, and this is the only source of true Godly talent.  If we rely on man, and his abilities, we will fail most miserably.
 Let’s not take and place one person above another in the church but seek to nurture and guide all to being the best for God  possible.  This will lead to success in the congregation, and int the lives of the community at large.  Christ came to seek and to save the lost.  To carry on His mission we must be the best we can be, this can only come through the Spirit and the Word and can never be reached by ignoring a persons needs.  Let us decide today to not only be the best we can but help those who are weaker to achieve greatness with God.   (Romans 15:1) “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”  (Galatians 6:2) “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”  So just because someone is a lot like a pawn and can’t do much don’t give up on them,  guide them through the Word to greatness.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

 The great preacher of yesterday, A.W. Tozer said, “...many Bible teachings have fallen into colds hands.  We feel as if we were in a mortuary instead of the church of the living God.  Instead of a man just having come fresh out of the tomb, we feel as if we were in the presence of a corpse just brought in from the street....there isn’t anything quite so chilling, quite so disheartening as a man without the Holy Spirit preaching about the Holy Spirit.
 “We must realize that the Bible truths that are so precious to historic Christianity are much more than a historic fact, that they are perpetuated in the here and now of the church of God.  That men may be stale and dead and dried up in body and spirit but, Jesus Christ is still the living, breathing and supernatural proponent of the church of God.  We live and breath and exist in Him in the church and He continues to build and provide us with spiritual life and validity as we follow Him by faith.”

 I would like to make two quick points at this time: primarily Jesus hasn’t changed in time or in eternity, He has not moved away, but the church has done quite a bit of moving away from Him.  Secondarily, the truths that we always believed hold true today in the church of the living God.

 Jesus continues as the life-giving furnace flame from heaven in the life and work of the church.  We read about.  Him in the scriptures time and again as the healer of the sick, the forgiver of sins, the doer of miracles, the over-comer of evil, and the raiser of the dead.  In scripture account upon account are gathered to from a huge weight of evidence that indeed this is the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

 This supernatural Jesus is not gone away.  Every time I pick up the scripture I see it is the same account, unchanged, unerringly true, forever settled in my heart and in heaven.  Jesus may have died on a cross but we have the assurance of the resurrection from the dead that.  He still has power over sin, death, disease and the enemy.  We and our forerunners in this last reformation of the church of God have spent copious time and sanctified polemics to prove “He is just the same today.”

Though some have slipped into a dark disparity thinking this or that loved one cannot be saved.  The saving power of Christ has not gone away.

Christian doctrine is not in word but in power.  The cultist and the heathen can match us word for word.  They are without end of arguments.  But let one of them show the power of their words, they have no power.  They dare not stand and try to match the matchless power of Jesus. (The biggest problem for the church of God is that most who claim it don’t dare try to prove Jesus either, for you have not the power you profess).  Mormon, Jehovah Witnesses, Buddhists, and all other manners of religious refuse have a ready retort.  But Christianity stands apart in that it is infused with the very power of God.  It stands not only on the word but also on the relation of Christ, who is in all and with us all and so you  have his power.  Let the Mormon show you the life changing power of his elders, let the Jehovah’s Witness show you the healing power of his false god.  Let the Buddhist mollify the hurting heart of the bereaved.  They can’t only Jesus has that kind of power and, He does not operate within those systems of men.

I could tell you and show you of the miraculous healing of my wife’s arm burned third degree burns, seen in the whole church but healed without a trace of a scar.  I could show you a hand broken and crumpled with the fingers twisted out of joint, healed as my hand passed over it in prayer to the Master.  Let a cultist stand in awe of the wonder-working power of Christ.  I could show you a woman bent in pain for years with a nerve disorder that was instantaneously healed and is growing stronger daily.

I could relate to you the instances of miraculous provision for the need of food as month after month the Spirit of God filled this preachers cupboards, the larder never ran out until God sent provision other ways.
 Jesus is most alive in the work of salvation.  When alcoholics and drug dealers come running to be saved.  I have witnessed the power of God to deliver the poor sinner from drink, drugs, and death.  To deliver the child molester from his cursed ways.  To redeem the haughty church board member from meanness and sin.  To raise up for, Himself a people, who were no people.

Is Christ dead, ? No!  Is the power gone out of the Word? No!  Has Christ withdrawn from His people?  No!  Jesus is the same yesterday, today and will be forever.  Something we can all count on is His never changing way.  God bless us, He is the same today.

I was sitting here in my office thinking about a subject for this issue of the Gospel Light. There were many thoughts that were passing through my mind at the time and the thought of Church Growth seemed to keep coming back to my mind as I considered what God would have me to write on for this issue.  Therefore, I will attempt to write on what seems to be God’s leading for this article.

It is the will of God that the Church grow and become a mighty force in the community around about us.  It is a common practice of those that are in leadership positions within the Church to talk with others about the subjects that are so important to the Church.  We also spend time going to seminars that are to be helpful in our working with the church on getting it to grow.  But, it seems as we talk about these things and we go to these seminars that it always comes to the fact that upon this issue the needs are always addressed in the light of larger churches and the capabilities of these churches that are running somewhere between 150 to 300 or more in their Sunday morning worship service.  There are many things that these churches can do that are impossible for the smaller churches, 25-75 in attendance to accomplish because of their size.

I am very familiar with the instructions that are given to the Church that tells us to bring them in.
Luke 14:23 "23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."

This is giving instructions to the Church to bring the people in so as the house of God will be filled and that the people will be properly fed.  We cannot go out in the community and force the people to come to church.  Nor can we get people to come against their will.  The churches with the smaller attendance has a predicament.  Where does the smaller church go in such a case and how does the smaller church obey that commandment to go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.  We build larger and nicer edifices to attract the people.  We try to have differing programs that will bring people into the house of God.  It doesn’t work, the people still do not come.  What then do we do?  How do we encourage the people to come to church?

I feel that we are leaving out the very basis for what is needed.  We, as the Church, need to get back to what God requires of his people so as to grow.  These are prayer, faith, trusting in the power of God and living an exemplary Christian life.  We  often pray, and profess faith, but not really trust in the power of God.  Above all we profess to be a Christian and that we are living a Christian life, but that is not what the people in the community see in us.

Let’s take the last of these to examine first.  Living an exemplary life style.  When we are out in the public what do the people really see of us?  We seem to leave our Christianity behind as we walk out of the church building and take on the same kinds of life that the rest of the world are living.  We do the same type of things, we talk the same way  as the rest of the world, and the people can see no difference in us and the rest of the world.  Peter says that we should be a different people

1 Peter 2:9 "9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;"

His own special people living a holy life proclaiming the praises of Him who called us out of the darkness of sin into His marvelous light.  Living a life that exemplifies Jesus Christ.  If we are not living a life that is in accord with the word of God then how can we expect God to do those things for us that we ask Him to do?

Then that brings us to the next requirement that we are expected to do.  Prayer, to ask God for those things that are needful in our lives.  The word of God says, ask and you shall receive.

John 16:23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you."

It is a given promise that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name it shall be given.  Take special note that it says that it will be given.  There is no ifs nor maybes, it says it will be given.  But, this takes faith and a trust in the power of God.
Mark 11:23-24
23For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.
24Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Belief and trust in the power of God.  How can we really say we believe if we do not trust?  We are given within the word of God that He will provide and if we have the faith we can even say to the mountain, be removed and cast into the sea and it will  be done.  We say we believe but down deep in our hearts we question whether God is really going to do it or not.  We have doubt and in doing so we do not receive that which we are praying for.    If we truly pray and believe God is going to answer that prayer then we are going to see the miracles of God in the life of our church and in the lives of those around about us.

We in the churches today, are guilty of the lack of faith to see our churches grow.  We try all of the different types of man-made programs and try our various ideas to bring about growth in the local church.  Yet we do not see the outcome we are looking for because we are not living the holy life and praying with faith believing that God is going to be faithful to his promises.  Until the Church gets back to being obedient to the word of God we are not going to see the hand of God moving in the local congregation and providing for the growth of the Church.  Let’s all rededicate our lives to God and get back on our knees before God in faith believing so as to see God providing for the Church once more.

The Lord speaketh:

 In the busy and fast moving world wherein we dwell, the temptation is to place daily activities and recreation ahead of our worship and devotion to the Lord.
 Many in our world have an intense interest in sports including football and car racing.  Do we in the church have a balance in our lives, to give to the Lord, what is already His?  Has my Sunday  become just another day to buy and sell this worlds goods?
 What are the other gods in our lives?  We hear of people interested in astrology, divination, ghosts, and remote viewing.
 Under penalty of death God forbad the camp of Israel to partake of the curious arts.  (Lev. 20:26-27) "26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.  27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.”  We do not sentence people to death for mortal sins but rather point them to Christ for full forgiveness and restoration.
 To dabble with the curious arts is a most dangerous and foolish notion, because it opens the door for evil.  And beloved readers, what lies behind that door is not friendly to our souls.
 
 

From the Editors Desk:

 Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  A lot has been transpiring since our last issue.    The church in Fairbury has purchased a new building which they moved into just before Thanksgiving.  The congregation there has been doing quite well.  They where showing definite measurable growth.  The spirits of the people seem high.  God has been blessing in many ways.  And though God has called us onto new fields things seem to still be going well.
 In December we started as pastor of the First Church of God, Jacksonville NC.  Needless to say there has been a lot of adjustments.  Things are going very well here, and the congregation seems to be on the move.  We have had a lot of new faces come in and a few old ones.
 We are getting focused on how and where God would have use reach out to the community that we find ourselves in.  When we follow God nothing but good can follow.  God is truly great.  And His people can do great things as long as they follow Him.
 Here in Jacksonville we live in a society that truly needs to find God.  As in most cities sin is prevalent. Reaching such a community can seem such a prodigious feat that people get intimidated.  But there is no need to do so for Christ can change the world.  (Matthew 1:21) “21And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”  If God had not intended to change the world, He would not have sent Christ.  But Christ did come with the express purpose to win and save the lost.  God never intended for man to remain in sin. But to be saved from it.
 As the church we are made the ambassadors of Christ.  (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) “20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Thus, our mission is to reconcile men to God.  This means that we go forward to win and save the lost, despite the obstacles that present themselves, and there are many.
But we must go forward.
  Lets face it, we live in a society that accepts and justifies sin.  This is only exasperated by the so-called churches telling people that they can sin and still make it to heaven.  But this is nothing new, it has long been the job of the church to deliver people from not only sin but also false teachings.  It is not always well received.  But the word of God has already warned us that this is the way things would be.  (2 Tim 4:3-5) “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”  We should not let this discourage us for God is still the master.  Just as He saved people by the multitude in the early church He can still do it today.
 But He will only move mightily among us if we stand true to the truth. Not in part but in whole.  We must cry against sin in all its forms and show them to the cross where they can be set free from all ungodliness.  We must speak forth as in times of old and proclaim that we must flee evil in all its forms.  (1 Peter 3:10 NKJV) “11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it.”
 As the church today we must stand for God and his truth all the time not just part of the time. We need to proclaim it everywhere we go and to all we meet.  We need to be God’s all the time and in everything. So go forth and be God’s Church in this world.
Pastor Stanley Farrar II
 
 

 This publication is by the First Church of God, 2311 Dawson Cabin Rd., Jacksonville, NC 28540.  Chief Editor Pastor Stanley Farrar II, Editor Michelle Farrar. The Gospel Light is published to spread the true light of God's word to all men.  We are dedicated to the truths of the word of God.  Such as salvation, holiness, sanctification, the unity of all believers, etc...It is also online at:  http://geocities.datacellar.net/gospel_light.geo.

 We are not responsible for returning any articles submitted to The Gospel Light.  We reserve the right to hold the articles for future printing, and possible reprinting.  All articles submitted should be submitted to the First Church of God, 2311 Dawson Cabin Rd., Jacksonville, NC 28540.  We can also be faxed at (775)854-4092, or we can be e-mailed at srfarrar@earthlink.net.  I hope that the Gospel Light paper is a blessing to you, and may God bless those who read this paper.