Vol VII
To spread the true Gospel Light to all people
Dr. Stanley R. Farrar
Church attendance in many areas around the country is on the decline. People seem to have so many things that are taking their interest instead of attending church. There are more forms of entertainment in today's society than there ever has been in the history of mankind. There are the sporting events, movies, social events, etc. The real problem is that people do not have a proper set of values and priorities. God and His church has become less and less important through the years.
Let's take a look at what is God's position on this phenomenon that is taking place in the lives of people today. God would have the saints of God to gather together so as to gain support, strength, and insight. God knew when He created man that man was going to be a social creature. That is, man would need fellowship with his fellow man and also would need God in his life. God created man to love and fellowship with God as we see in Genesis 3:8 "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." Also in 1 Cor 1:9 "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord."
God had created this creature so as to have one that would choose to love Him not to love Him because they were created to do so. Therefore, man was created with a need for fellowship with an eternal God. Also, man is made a social creature, in that he could not live alone. This is the reason God created him a helpmate, woman. Genesis 2:18 "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."
Man is one that needs others around him and in fellowship with him. Man was not created to be self-existing, but rather an interactive being. Man in his very nature seeks out others to have a relationship. Such is also the case within the Church. We need to come together with other Christians and associate with them. Man is weak and cannot live the Christian life without some help. This is the reason Jesus gave the disciples the instructions to stay in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father had come. Acts 1:4 "And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me." The disciples stayed there until the promise of the Father had come. Namely the Holy Spirit was sent to them. They were all together and in one accord when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Thereafter, they were in fellowship with one another as they would eat together and learn more about God together. Acts 2:1-4 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:46-47 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, God added to the Church those that came to Jesus and believed upon Him. God placed them into the body of Christ, a true fellowship of all born again believers. Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
Jesus knew that we would need Him and the Holy Spirit to be able to live for him and live a Holy life. Otherwise there would be no need of an established church. God could save us and let us live the life separated from all others, but that is not the plan he had in mind. Jesus knew that as the people of God faced this world that they would need each other as well as Himself. So, Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 He would build His Church. Since Jesus felt it was so important to have the fellowship of the Church, should not we also place a high priority upon attendance in church. Paul tells us that we should not avoid going to church, even if that is the practice of others. Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."
Examine this scripture well and you will find that through the inspiration of God, Paul is telling us that we need to assemble together. Many may say, Yes, but this does not mean we have to do it three times a week. No, it does not spell it out in exacting terms. Wouldn't you think that three times a week was not too much time to spend with God and your fellow Christians? People spend every night watching unfit programs on television. They go to a ball game every chance they have. They also do just about what ever they want to do as often as they want to do it. This is a commandment and not an option.
Where then are the priorities of the people of God? Can we ill afford to not be in attendance at the appointed hour of the services? God said, I am a jealous God and I will not allow any other gods before me. Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me". Anything that we make more important to us than what God is becomes our god. When man allows something to become more important than to assemble together in the house of God, that is making it their god. When a person truly loves something or someone then we should want to be around it or them. If we then love God and His people then we should want to be around Him and His people.
Each service in the house of God affords us the opportunity to worship God and to learn more
about Him. It should be something that we look forward to being a part of rather than considering
it a drudge. Therefore, let us come into the house of God at the appointed hour with singing and
thanksgiving. May God bless you as you assemble yourselves together with God and His people,
the Church.
By Dr A. H. "Art" Smith
Every two years, in the United States, we vote for our Representatives, and every four years we vote for our President. We live in a Democracy where we choose by majority vote who will lead our country. This is right and probably the best way that man can devise to run our country. This is not, nor ever was meant to be, the way God intended to run His Church.
There is only one head of the Church, that one is Jesus Christ. Eph 1:22 "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church". God tells us how to a part of His Church. John 1:12-13 "But as many as received him, [Jesus] to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Now that God has adopted us into His Church, (Rom 8:15) "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father", let us see how His Church is organized. God places those in His Church as it pleases Him. Eph 4:11-12 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" Let us never forget, that although we live in a Democracy, the Church is a Theocracy.
Pastors in the Church are placed by God, not by a committee, nor by a church council, and especially not by some infuencial friend. This may work in business and politics but never in God's Holy Church. A minister in His Church is called by God. This call is not a vocation or a business, it is truly a call. This call is never determined by how many people are in the congregation, nor how big and pretty the parsonage is, and most of all this call must never be based on the financial abilities of the congregation to support a pastor in a luxurious way. Money must not be the criteria by which a minister decides to accept a work. Mat 10:7-9 "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses". Do we concider a pastorate on whether it has sufficient funds or do we have faith to believe in our calling? Heb 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." We must ask ourselves what does God want me to do? Where does God want me to go? What are the needs of His people? If a minister can not love the people before looking at the salary package, there is no call. God does not call us according to our financial needs. He says He will suppy all our needs. Phil 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." If we don't believe this, maybe we need to reevaluate whether we are truly called as a minister.
In closing let me remind everyone that all of God's children are called to service and many of the criteria for a pastor may also be necessary in your given call. Love all, as Christ did, seek where God would have you serve. Last but not least, do not, and I emphazise, do not allow the dollor sign to dictate your place of service. There is an article by Mary Ardis in the current copy of "Pathways to God" which tells about how she received an opportunity for a position which paid a great deal more than she was now making. Thinking that this would be good, she jumped at the job. Soon she realized it was hurting her family. She states, "the money came rolling in, but sadly I noticed my family, falling apart at the seams. One night God helped me do the right thing. I drove the two hundred miles home and at 3:00 A.M. crawled into bed next to my husband. How sweet his soft snoring sounded. I quit my job the next day.
Now I work fewer hours for less pay. I have time to spare to love family and friends and time to do God's work for a salary of salvation that Jesus paid long ago on Calvary."
After almost forty years in the ministry I have found this, to work with God in charge, He has not failed me yet and I do not expect Him too. Deu 31:6 "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." God is love and he expects His servants to love with His love, striving to meet the needs of His children for whom Christ died. 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."
Division in the Church
by Stanley Farrar II
We find a lot said in the church of God about the divisions of various man-made churches. This is all well and good. We should always remember the evils of sectarian divisions. But this is not the area that I would like to focus on in this article. I would like to focus on divisions in the church of God. We see this spread between congregations and within congregations. Is this the way that things should be or is this a destructive force of Satan?
There are many causes for divisions that have arisen and that will arise. It boils down to differences of opinion, man-made traditions, and in many cases arrogance or pride. We find that God does not look favorably on such things. (Prov 6:16-19) "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." Many a battle has arisen over someone wanting to do something that was not against God's word but simply was thought up by the "wrong" person. Thus stepping on the toes of the in place power structure that has formed itself through the years. Such pride is destructive to the congregation. Such power structures are not allowing God to truly rule in His Church, and if God isn't ruling, then it is not the church of God.
We also see similar prideful divisions arise over man-made traditions. These have been known to cause tremendous amounts of discord in congregations and between congregations. For example, many times you will hear the statement "Oh, we've never done it that way before". Thus limiting God to your prior experience instead of giving Him freedom to work as He pleases. Or at times you hear "we cannot have fellowship with them because they're different then we are". Are we not one through Christ? Do we all have the same job or purpose in the body? (See 1 Cor 12:12-18.) If I hold a different position in the body then do you, is it not logical that I may also have a different way of doing things then you do? This is, after all, part of God's grand design. Other such divisions occur based on fragmentation of the scripture. To give apparent biblical teaching to what is at base a man-made teaching. This is unacceptable, we cannot live our lives as lights of God and follow man-made teachings to justify our own prejudices.
(1 Cor 12:25) "That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another." God has never meant for there to be division in the body of Christ. While we are suppose to be bearing each others burdens many are taking weaker Christians and killing them with "friendly fire". Friendly fire is a military term for being shot by your own men. Too many times we are faced with Christians that have less light then we do and instead of loving them into a closer walk with God we ostracize them and push them away because we do not perceive them to be as good as us. By doing this we are not showing the love of God but rather a phariseeical hypocrisy. Facing the world with "look how holy I am" attidudes, when inside we are filthy with self-love and self-adulation at a level a kin to Idolatry. This is truly an unacceptable position to be in. In many cases instead of loving someone into a closer relationship with God we shun them and accomplish nothing because we would rather criticize. If you take the time to love people where they are then you will see God at work. I am not saying that we should condone sin, but we must love the person and hate sin. At times we may assume that someone else is wrong and after spending time in study and with God, we discover that we were the one who was mistaken. It is so easy to condemn others over something that they may not yet have been shown as being wrong or over something that is a tradition of ours that they don't follow even though that tradition truly doesn't have biblical support. I know a minister that had a young lady in his congregation that was professing Christianity and came to church every Sunday but did not dress in a modest manner. This left him in a hard position for he didn't know whether he should bring this to her attention or not. He was afraid that if he confronted her on this that she might become offended and quit coming to services, and at least she was under the word now. So after much prayer he decided not to say anything to her directly but leave it in God's hands. He continued to pray for her on the subject. After a few Sundays he noticed that her skirt was getting longer and within a short period of time she was no longer dressed in an immodest manner. God had showed her how she should dress. In this case if the pastor had taken things in his own hands it may have cause an offense that may have driven her away from God, but instead she was loved were she was and came closer to God. There are times that we must make a stand for something no matter who it offends but there are other times that it is not God's will for us to drag down a young Christian. We must be open to the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is to be the administrator of the church. (John 16:13) "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." The Holy Spirit has the job of revealing the truth. We are to be guided by Him and speak the truth as He gives it to us. But it is not our job to make people believe as we do, or for that matter to make them believe the truth. For that is the job of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost places us into the body of Christ in the positions that pleases Him. He also gives various gifts for the advancement of the church. (Please read 1 Cor 12:4-11.) If we read on in this chapter of the bible we see that even the feeble members of the body are important. (1 Cor 12:22-25) "Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another." So we cannot make an outcast of weaker brethren for they are necessary for the body of Christ, and important for the church as a whole. As we can see in the above scripture that there is to be "no schism (division) in the body". And because of this scripture we speak out against the sectish divisions of the modern religious world, while condoning our petty divisions within our congregations and between our congregations.
Do these things not make a division in the body as well? (Eph 4:1-6) "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." If there is one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God then why is there division? The answer is carnality. Too many are clinging to pride and self and too few are walking in the Spirit of Christ. We are told time and time again in the Word of God that we are to have the mind of Christ. Carnality stands in the way of true Christ likeness and causes division within the church. (Rom 8:7) "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." As long as carnality reigns in our lives there will be division and contention within the church. God forbids these things from having a place in the church. (Rom 2:8) "But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath," (1 Cor 11:16) "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." How many times do we today see people who claim to be saved and sanctified but cannot get along with any one and are constantly looking for a fight of one type or the other? Can this be? Such a one as this causes division everywhere they go, do to their own contemptuous spirit. Is this the Holy Ghost? By no means, for God units us as one body and never intended for us to strike out at each other, this is a Satanic division that seeks to destroy God's church.
For us to overcome the divisive spirit that is so prevalent today we must dedicate ourselves to God and truly die to self and live for Christ alone. Christ's will for man was that we should be sanctified for His use. (Read John 17:17-23.) When sanctified the Holy Ghost comes in and purges the carnal nature and empowers us for service. When we ask God for sanctification we are asking that our will be crucified and that God's will alone reign in our hearts. If this is the case there will be no division between the saints for the division comes when we walk outside the will of God. If we don't take our lives of the altar and let our will rise once more then divisions will come and we will see battles in the congregation or between congregations through a contentious spirit.
Let us surrender our lives to the full will of God and let Him sanctify us holy unto the Lord. Let us
put away man-made tradition, slay pride and vain will and live in the mind of Christ. For to place
a stumbling block in the way of a weaker brother is to destroy a soul and condemn yourself. Oh
for the blissful unity that comes with a united Body of Christ. Let us not take on a party spirit
within the church for we have been called out of such. Let not the devil draw you into a divisive
trap. Hold close to God and He will hold close to You.
***
This publication is by the First Church of God, 818 4th St, Fairbury, Nebraska 68352, 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... We are not responsible to return 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, 818 4th St Fairbury, Ne 68352. Articles are not to be longer then two pages typed, because of space concerns. I hope that the Gospel Light paper is a blessing to you, and may God bless those who read this paper.
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