HomeARC ML 2418
"OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE!"--1Sam.15:22. DO 2418 2/88--"Trust & Obey" Part III!
1. I've often said there are two ways to try to serve the Lord--the easy way & the hard way.--Which one you choose is up to you! The easy way is to listen & obey. The hard way is to try to do things your way, like that terrible song, "I Did It My Way!" If you refuse the easy way of obedience, "the way of the transgressor is hard", & you will certainly learn the hard way!--Prov.13:15.
2. When you miss the pattern, when you miss God's grand design, God's plan, God's Will, when you're disobedient & you won't listen to His Word, then you're bound to make a mess of things! When you get off the track like that, you're like a weaver's shuttle that has left the weaving loom & is wandering off in space, aimlessly throwing thread in thin air!--If it doesn't want to be a part of the Weaver's tapestry, of the Planner's plan or pattern, but wants to just do its own thing & make its own tapestry, its own design, it just won't work!
3. People who just go around doing their own thing, going their own way & obeying nobody but themselves & their own inspiration, following their own leadings & their own mind & their own carnal reasoning instead of obeying the Lord, they never seem to accomplish anything that's really fruitful or lasting! Instead of following God, instead of obeying leadership, instead of cooperating with others, they just do it their way, & they're a real mess, & they usually make a real mess!
4. They often try to push their way around & bulldoze their way through & have their own way, completely out of the plan of God & off from the design & out of God's Will, disobedient & rebellious!--It's really pitiful! When people are out of control like that, & going off on their own, no matter how talented they are, how terrific they are, what great ideas they have, if they're not God's ideas, they'll fall flat on their faces!--Just like Saul did!
A SAD EXAMPLE OF DISOBEDIENCE:KING SAUL!
5. The story of King Saul is one of the saddest, most tragic stories in the entire Bible! In the beginning Saul wasn't anything. In fact, he was so bashful that when Samuel came to anoint him to be king, it says he hid himself amongst the baggage.--1Sam.10:21,22. But after awhile he forgot that it was God Who had made him what he was. It went to his head & he thought it was Saul who put him where he was, he thought it was his own arm that had saved him & that it was his own brilliance that made him king. So God said to him, "When thou wast little in thine own eyes I did highly exalt thee."--1Sam.15:17. But when he became exalted in his own eyes then God had to utterly abase him!--Luk.14:11.
6. The thing that finally brought about Saul's total downfall was when he figured he was so smart that he could get along without the Lord. He went ahead in his own strength & his own wisdom, leaned too much to his own understanding & thus disobeyed the Lord.--1Sam.13:5-14. So the Lord had to really rebuke him, chastise him & tell him he was going to lose the entire Kingdom as a result!
7. Because the story of the fall of Saul is such a classic example of disobedience, let's take a closer look at 1Samuel, Chapter 15: The Lord, through His Prophet, Samuel, had told Saul to gather his army to go & make war against their enemies, the evil Amalekites. He told Saul to kill everything--the oxen, the sheep, all the animals, everything!--As well as all the people! (v.3) They were probably all infected & infested with all kinds of evil spirits & diseases, so the Lord told His people to destroy them, lest they be polluted by the Amalekites' demonic religion, idolatry & evil ways!
8. But Saul didn't really listen to the Prophet of God & believe. "Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God" (Rom.10:17), but Saul apparently didn't like what Samuel told him, & therefore didn't hear it & didn't obey. He failed to hearken, to hear the Word of God, & his failure to hearken led to his lack of faith which led to his disobedience!
9. So Saul went with his army to fight the Amalekites, & he won the battle, he defeated the enemy. "But", the Bible says, "Saul & the people spared Agag (the king of the Amalekites), & the best of the sheep, & of the oxen, & of the fatlings, & the lambs, & all that was good, & would not utterly destroy them. But every thing that was vile & refuse, that they destroyed utterly. (v.9)
10. "And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning"--Saul on his way back from the battle--"it was told Samuel saying, Saul came to Carmel, & behold, he set him up a place & is gone about & passed on & gone down to Gilgal." (v.12)--Obviously he wasn't coming back to face Samuel. He was beating around the bush, & I don't think he wanted to run into Samuel if he could help it.
11. So Samuel had to go out looking for him. "And Samuel came to Saul & Saul said unto him, `Blessed be thou of the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord!'" (v.13) He claimed to have performed the commandment of the Lord, but had he?--No!--He did not! What a liar! What a hypocrite! And yet he spoke to Samuel so smoothly, he surely must have deceived himself & somehow convinced himself that he had done the right thing. That's the way really disobedient people often do, they lie until they actually believe their own lies!
12. {\ul "And Samuel said, `What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears}, & the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' And Saul said, `They have brought'"--Notice he says "they"--"`They have brought them from the Amalekites: For the people spared the best of the sheep & of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, & the rest we have utterly destroyed.'" (v.15)
13. "--We saved the best for the Lord! We didn't quite do exactly what you said, we thought this was better!--But we did everything else & won the battle & defeated the enemies!--Look how much we've accomplished!--I only disobeyed a little bit, not very much! But look, after all, I won a big victory! I obeyed a whole lot! I only disobeyed a little!"
14. Well, there's really no such thing as halfway obedience!--There's no halfway with God, there's no 90% of the way with God! The Prophet looked Saul right in the eye & said, "What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears & the lowing of the oxen which I hear?--You are a liar!" Samuel was saying right to Saul's face, "You didn't do what I told you to do! You didn't slay utterly!"--That was God's commandment, to slay utterly, to slay them all!
15. {\ul "And Samuel said unto Saul, `Stay & I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night.'} And Saul said, `Say on.' And Samuel said, `When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel & the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey & said, `Go & utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, & fight against them until they be consumed.' (v.16-18)
16. {\ul "`Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord}, but didst fly upon the spoil & didst evil in the sight of the Lord?' And Saul said unto Samuel, `Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, & have gone the way which the Lord sent me, & have brought Agag, king of Amalek, & have utterly destroyed the Amalekites!'" (v.19,20)
17. Now it looks like he's trying to even throw the king in to try to bribe Samuel a little bit: "Listen, you didn't hear about this, but I even brought the king back with me!" It shows you how stupid & how dumb people can be when they're disobeying God, how deceived they can become! That's how crazy people can get if they don't listen to the Lord! Once you reject the Truth & you don't repent, you don't confess your sin of disobedience & really repent & make things right, you receive "strong delusion", & are apt to go right off the deep end!--2Thes.2:10,11.
18. {\ul Saul continues justifying himself, "`But the people took of the spoil, sheep & oxen}, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.'"--Here he is again blaming it on someone else, on "the people!"--"And Samuel said, `Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings & sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?'" (v.21,22) All of our little burnt offerings & sacrifices of our own works & our own way of doing things mean nothing without obedience!
19. {\ul Now here comes the classic quote which is so famous: "`Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, & to hearken than the fat of rams}!--For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, & stubbornness is as iniquity & idolatry! Because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king!'" (v.22,23)
20. The Lord in this Scripture brings out something that a lot of people don't seem to realise, that stubbornness is really rebellion. And not only that, but that they're both as bad as witchcraft & idolatry, things that most people wouldn't even think of being guilty of! But most people don't think a little stubbornness or a little disobedience is very bad, to disobey the Lord a little bit, be a little bit stubborn, hard to change. Most people seem to think that's part of their "virtue of independence". But when it comes to being that way with the Lord, He classes it as being as bad as witchcraft & idolatry, which means dealing with the Devil!--Beware of being stubborn & rebellious!
21. So the great king Saul had to be removed from his post because of his disobedience, rebellion & stubbornness! God was through with him, He had to toss him on the scrapheap of history, an unusable tool!--A brittle, unbending, unyielded tool who kept going his own way & kept going further & further astray till God had to choose just a little shepherd boy out of the field, a little nobody, to take his place.--David!
22. Saul had the Lord's anointing as long as he obeyed. But when he started disobeying & rebelling against God's Will, disobeying the Prophet, he lost the anointing! (See 1Sam.18:12) His problem was that he had gotten too smart!--He got so smart that he became a smart-alec, a know-it-all who thought he knew better than God, better than the Prophet! He was so sure of himself that he became rebellious & disobedient & went his own way & wrecked everything!--Including smashing his own career & destroying his own family. God forbid that this should ever happen to you! Amen? If you stay humble & yielded & obedient to the Lord & His Word, & keep in line with God's blessings, it won't!--PTL!--Stay close to Jesus!
"THE LEAST OF THESE COMMANDMENTS!"--Mat.5:19.
23. There's no little disobedience to the Lord, any disobedience is a big one! Why?--Because one little disobedience usually leads to more, & becomes the little camel's nose or the little rip in the tent or the little hole in the dyke that brings on the final flood!
24. As in mountain climbing, it sometimes takes only one little misstep to bring you down all the way to the bottom! So don't ever think you're going to be able to get away with, "Well, I'll just disobey in this one little tiny thing, I'll get away with it!"--Because that's just unlocking the door for everything else to flood in! That one little tiny sin might be the little crack in your armour where the Devil begins to seep in. Then his gas of deceit begins to poison your mind because you disobeyed, & pretty soon you're totally off the track!
25. There are no such things as little dangers in God's Work!--Look what resulted from one "little" disobedience & wrong decision in the Garden of Eden!--Gen.3. And look how one little Tower of Babel has caused Worldwide confusion & untold wars between nations ever since!--Gen.11. One little haircut cost Samson his life & almost lost the kingdom!--Jud.16. One little lunch cost a young Prophet his life!--1Kgs.13. One hasty disobedience by Saul caused him to lose everything!--1Sam.13. One little look by David divided the kingdom & nearly lost it.--2Sam.11. One little deal brought death to the Saviour!--Mat.26:14-16.
26. It only takes one weak link to break the whole chain! It only takes one rotten apple to rot the whole barrelful! It only takes one little hole in the dyke to start a flood! (See the Rhyme Book, Pg. 322) It only takes one tiny careless flame to start a holocaust! It only takes one tiny temptation to compromise just a little to bring about total defeat! The Bible says that it's the "little foxes that spoil the vines!" (SoS.2:15), & that it only takes a "little leaven to leaven the whole lump!"--Gal.5:9.
27. God has rules for reasons, & we have rules for reasons! What are the rules for? Just to make it hard for you?--Just because God's mean to you & He doesn't want you to have any fun? What are the rules for?--Because God hates you & He doesn't want you to enjoy yourself?--No! He's a loving parent who knows the dangers, & therefore He makes the rules because He loves you & wants to protect you & keep you, & He wants you to keep the rules to help keep yourself!
28. Some folks think that breaking the little rules is a small thing. But the Scripture says, "He that breaks the least of these commandments & shall teach others so, is least of all!"--Mat.5:19. And "whosoever shall keep the whole law & yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all!"--Jam.2:10.
29. --Which means if you'll break the smallest ones, you'll break the bigger ones, & even the greatest as well, & could wind up a traitor to the cause! "For he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is most" (Luk.16:10), but he that is unfaithful in the least will also be unfaithful in the most, & we cannot trust him with anything!
30. If God cannot trust you to keep the rules, He certainly cannot trust you to run the World! We are now in our training period in this life in preparation for ruling the World in the next! If we do not pass these tests & complete these grades & learn these lessons in this life, we shall certainly be unfit to rule in the next & shall surely be the least of all in the coming Kingdom of God on Earth, raised to everlasting shame & contempt before all!--Dan.12:2.
31. One thing that God says that His workers need is to be "found faithful" (1Cor.4:2), which means loyal & obedient & believing! Therefore, anyone found unfaithful in keeping the little rules will probably be found disloyal, disbelieving, disobedient & unfaithful in other things as well, & can be trusted in nothing, & has lost his usefulness to God! And if they don't repent, they are therefore good for nothing but to be cast forth & trampled under the feet of men who are better able to care for the Kingdom of God & take their place!--Mat.5:13.
32. When people start going their own way instead of God's way, we can't trust them any more! When they start doing their own thing instead of what we tell them to do, we can't trust them any more. When they start breaking the rules & the customs & the advice & the instructions that I have given this Family, even over the tiniest, littlest things because they think perhaps that they are bigshots, or that they are exceptions to the rule & they don't have to pay any attention to those little rules, then we can't trust them any more!
33. So often the things that seem little to us are so important to the Lord!--That's why it's so important to obey! The Lord doesn't always bang you over the head & tell you, "Look, if you don't do it, something major is going to happen or not happen!" But He usually waits for you. Because otherwise, if it was always so obvious & you knew, you'd do it. But He just sort of waits for an extra step of willingness, a step of cooperation, your being yielded & willing to do it. And then He usually shows you what He's going to do as a result.
34. Our obedience in the small things is so important! Often you may not feel a huge urge to do something, maybe just a little thought, you just know it's something you ought to do. Nevertheless, it may be very important, & the Lord may be waiting on you to act on it before He shows you how important it is or does something major! He doesn't always want to tell you it's so important, so major, because then you'd go right ahead & do it because you know you need to. But He often wants to see if you'll just obey that little check, that "still small voice", & be willing to just obey & be "faithful in a few things" simply because they need to be done.
35. So it's not only the little disobediences that are important, but just as important--if not more so--are the little obediences, & they will result in big blessing & benefits from the Lord! If God finds you will obey in the little things, & that you will wash the dishes or wash the clothes or vacuum the floor when you're told to, then He knows He can trust you to tell you what's next! But if you're not willing to keep busy just picking up papers in the yard or whatever else it might be, why should He tell you anything else?
36. Most of the greatest saints I've known were little people who just did what they thought should be done--without anyone hearing about it or even knowing they were around. But they were always there when you needed them, always quick to jump & always willing to see a need & respond. And to me, that is the greatest sign of really great leadership: Being willing to do whatever needs to be done! If there is nobody else to do it or nobody else wants to do it or is willing to do it or can do it, we should always be willing to do anything we are asked to do or that we see needs to be done that nobody else is doing!
"LET ALL YOUR THINGS BE DONE IN LOVE!"--1Cor.16:14.
37. The Lord will hardly ever make you do anything. He likes you to freely choose & yield to Him because you love Him. He always prefers volunteers, not draftees! Our whole work is built on this concept. We have no forced labour enslavery!--Only willing & cheerfully-given volunteer labour!--"The Love of Christ constraineth (compels, forces) me!"--2Cor.5:14. We should all be working together out of love for Him & each other, in loving & voluntary cooperation.
38. Neither the Lord nor we can make you be righteous!--We can't force you to obey. You have got to want to obey. Otherwise you're going to find some way to disobey! That's why in our Family, thank the Lord, we try to rule in love, & if people love us & love the Lord, then they want to please, & they want to obey & do what's right, & enjoy it!--PTL!
39. This Family wasn't built just on tough rules, it's first of all built on love & consideration & sympathy & compassion!--The rules & discipline are very important, but love is the most important thing! You can be so obedient to the Lord that you even "give your body to be burned" (1Cor.13:3), but if you're not obeying because you love Jesus, it profits you nothing!
40. What the Lord looks on is not just all your hard work, but your motives.--Why are you doing it? Is it because you have that same driving passion which motivated the Apostle Paul & all the Apostles & all the martyrs & every great man or woman of God?--That irresistible compassion which should motivate every child of God in everything they do, everything they say, everywhere they go, with everybody? The great fanatical Apostle Paul summed it all up in these few famous & ringing words which have cried out from the heart of every true Christian in every true good deed he has ever done, & for which indeed he is willing to die: "The Love of Christ constraineth me!"--2Cor.5:14.
41. If you don't have compassion, if you don't have love, if you're not obeying & serving because "the Love of Christ constraineth me", then you're missing the whole point of it all! Our folks are all supposed to be working & serving & ministering for one reason, trying to save lost souls, & trying to help the soul-savers!--Really, sincerely, honestly concerned about them, not just doing some kind of formal, mechanical job, going through the motions without the power thereof.--2Tim.3:5. What's the power?--Love! And if you haven't got that power, you haven't got anything!
42. So why are you doing it? Is it because the Love of Christ constrains you? Is it because you really love the brethren? Is it because of a real love for souls?--May the Love of Christ constrain us all!--In Jesus' name, amen! "For the greatest of these is Love!"--1Cor.13:13. Do you have Love?
BRAVE & CHEERFUL VOLUNTEERS FOR JESUS!
43. This is not a dictatorship, & you can always do as you please.--Of course, if it doesn't please me, & certainly if it doesn't please the Lord, then you can take your do-as-you-please somewhere else! This is how we got where we are at & why we're accomplishing so much for the Lord today!--Because I insisted on people loving & obeying God whether they liked it or not! And if they don't like it, they can lump it & go somewhere else!
44. God's a tough commanding officer when it comes to obedience in His army, where nothing is more important than His War against death to save lives! My Lord, if somebody saves your life, you should be willing to die for them! Jesus saved our souls, saved our lives for Eternity, & we should be willing to do anything for Him now, whatever He tells us to do, any kind of a battle, any kind of a fight, no matter whether we always understand it all or not!
45. We're His soldiers, He can send us into any battle He wants to whether we understand it or not, or whether we think it's worth it or not! It's His battle, not ours! He's the Commander, He's the One Who has to understand, He's the One Who gives the orders, we just obey!
46. We should be willing & happy to just give our lives to the Lord & to the Lord's Work, not even knowing why or what for!--Like Abraham going out, "not even knowing whither he went!"--Heb.11:8. My, how many times that Scripture came to me when He called me to do the same thing! The Lord asked me to do things & I didn't even know why, but I just obeyed & did them, went out not even knowing why or where! The Lord was asking me to do the unknown, but I did it!
47. I'll never forget the time when I was in California teaching school, I'd finally gotten a good job, sufficient income, had two homes, three cars, two TV sets, lots of money, & God suddenly told me, "Go, sell all that thou hast, give it to the poor & come follow Me!"--Mat.19:21. "But Lord", I argued, "I've finally arrived! I finally have enough to take care of my family--a house for me & my children & wife, & another house for my Mother & Father & widowed sister!" But He said, "Sell it all, give it to the poor & follow Me!"
48. So we obeyed, forsook everything, left everything, sold everything & gave the last $30 to the poor--us--& we took off, not knowing whither we went or what we were going to do, just trusting the Lord & living by faith, serving the Lord & witnessing wherever we went! And God never failed, in fact, He supplied abundantly! We never lacked for anything! We never lacked for gasoline, we never lacked for food, we never lacked for a place to park, even if it was by the railroad track or in a garbage dump!
49. In those days I'd only caught five little fish--one little wife & four little children.--Those were the only ones I'd been able to persuade to serve God fulltime with me. But when I obeyed the Lord & quit my job & sold everything, left it all behind to serve God, He ultimately led us to start the Family, & now we have 12,000 fulltime fishermen!--And they've already caught millions more fish & literally billions have had a chance & have heard the Word through our ministry! PTL! TYJ!
50. So you don't always have to understand what God is going to do. Like Abraham being asked to go up in the mountains & sacrifice Isaac, all you have to do is obey! The Lord knew what He was doing with Abraham, He was testing him to see if he was going to obey no matter what, to see how loyal he was, how faithful he was, how obedient he was.--And when he stood the test, then he was ready to become the Father of all the faithful! (See Gen.22.)
51. When I want to get a job done & I want to send a soldier into the field to do battle, I expect this same kind of faith & obedience that God has always expected of me! A good soldier should be willing to give his life to carry out an order, if necessary, with no questions asked, much less any protest!--Just "Yes, Sir!"--Period! Only the most loyal & dedicated can take that kind of army life!
52. But that's what I expect--& what I believe God expects--of our people! Our folks should all be willing, cheerful, enthusiastic volunteers! "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver!"--2Cor.9:7.--Not those who only reluctantly, begrudgingly, grumblingly drag their feet & follow far behind! What are you?
THE SCHOOL OF "HARD KNOCKS"!
53. If God's children refuse to obey, & insist on disobeying, He is not going to let them get away with it! He says, "If My children forsake My law, & walk not in My judgments; if they break My statutes, & keep not My commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod & their iniquity with stripes."--Psa.89:30-32.
54. God always gives us the opportunity to learn the easy way first, by obedience, just doing what we're told, sometimes without even knowing why. But then if we don't obey, if we insist on learning the hard way, finding out why, God will let us go through it. He's a kind & a good Father, & He will let us learn the hard way just like a parent with a young child who keeps insisting on touching the hot stove. If that's what it takes, if that's the only way the child will learn not to do it, in His mercy & love He'll let us go ahead & touch it so we'll learn.
55. The Lord instructs us, He warns us, He lays down the rules, but if we just flatly refuse to heed & obey, then He has to let us learn by bitter experience, trial & error, by our mistakes! If we won't learn by the shortcut of obedience, then we have to learn by the hard knocks of disobedience & His consequent judgments, His spankings & chastisements. And though it may not seem like it to us at the time, even this is a proof of His Love, the fact that He spanks us & chastises us for being naughty when we refuse to obey. "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth!"--Heb.12:6.
56. He'll always take care of you. He not only takes care of you when you're good, but He even takes care of you when you're naughty! He still loves you, He'll always take care of you, & sometimes He'll take care of you with a good spanking, to try to make you be good!
57. As long as you keep trying to please the Lord & obey & stay in His Will & do your best to serve Him, He'll do His best for you. But if you go running off & get out of His Will, then you do not have that extra power, the sustaining power & protection of the Holy Spirit! You can't even feel like you have the right to claim it when you know that you're not doing His highest & His best & serving Him the way you know He wants you to. I've been there & I know.
58. Let me tell you, I fear God, & I'm afraid not to obey the Lord!--And you don't need to give me any credit for it, it's because I've found out by personal experience what happens when you don't!--Especially when you know better & you're responsible & you wilfully go against the Lord! Whew!--It's dangerous business!
59. Have you read the story of the young Prophet who let himself be led astray by the old Prophet? (See 1Kgs.13 & ML 1857) He disobeyed the Lord & was killed! I thank God that most of the time I've obeyed the Lord. But the few rare times that I ran away from His Will, I'll tell you, if I thought God's Work was tough, things got a whole lot tougher when I didn't do it!
60. I am fully persuaded that you can go through the fires of hell now, & I have been through it myself upon occasion when I felt like I was almost lost & damned & went through the very fires of Hell on this Earth in this life for my sins!--Which, thank God, in my case, caused me to repent, to confess & cry out for mercy to the Lord to be saved--not saved again, but to be saved from my sins & from my punishments & His severe chastening & the very flames of suffering through which He caused me to pass for my disobedience!
61. I tried to refuse just one little assignment that God gave me to do once & He slew me! He literally slew me, & I woke up dead in bed, facing Dr. Koger in the Spirit World! (See "Another Holy Ghost Story!", ML#679.) I'll tell you, even in the hereafter when I was dead, I immediately repented, asked God to forgive me & said, "Lord, if there's any way to go back & undo the damage & do the right thing"--I didn't exactly say please let me--but "I wish there were some way I could go back!"--And instantly I woke up alive again, lying in my bed as I had been before!
62. Let me tell you, that little lesson sure made me high-tail it back to, you might say, my "Nineveh", Miami, Florida, to shout the Message of God, despite any consequences or suffering or persecution!--And we did wind up going through a lot of suffering & persecution there. But as a result of that drastic chastening, I've seldom ever gotten out of His Will since then, I've seldom ever disobeyed the Lord since then, & never really completely backslidden. I've tried to follow Him more closely than ever!
63. I realised that the hand of God was heavy & that it's a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of an angry God!--Heb.10:31. I didn't want a repeat of that performance, so I have tried to follow Him very closely & very obediently, humbly, ever since! And you can see the Worldwide results today in our Family, & the millions of souls saved through one man's obedience to the Lord! TYJ!
64. It's all the Lord, not me; all I did was obey! But it's a serious thing to disobey. So now when the Lord says, "Jump!"--I jump! When He snaps His fingers, I say, "Yes, Sir!" And when He tells me to do something, I do it! And that's really the best talent that a Prophet has, to obey instantly & do what God tells him to do no matter what!--Whatever the circumstances over which he has no control.
65. The main job of a Prophet is to just obey! And since all of you are Prophets of God also, all sons & daughters of God, that's your main job too!--To obey & do what the Lord tells you to do! Just trust & obey & leave the consequences & results in the hands of the Lord. PTL? Just trust the Lord & have faith!
"WATCH & PRAY!"--Mat.26:41.
66. When you're just a new babe who is ignorant & unaware of God's Word & ways, He doesn't always hold you to blame for things when you don't even realise how important they are. But as you grow older & you learn they're wrong, but you insist on doing them anyway, disobeying the Word of God, then God is going to blame you for it. Then they become sins. (See Lk.12:48; Heb.10:26,27; Jam. 4:17)
67. The Bible says that "the times of our ignorance, God winked at, but now He commandeth all men everywhere to repent!"--Acts 17:30. In other words, once you've got the light of the Word, the Truth, you're supposed to believe it, receive it & obey it! Once you know better, He expects you to quit going your own stubborn, rebellious way! So that's my prayer for you, that you'll all stay close to the Lord & continue to faithfully serve Him & be literally afraid to disobey!
68. "Watch & pray that ye enter not into temptation" that might lead you astray from the straight & narrow way which leads to a higher crown & greater reward!--Mat.26:41. We hope that you all will succeed & win "the race that is set before you" (Heb.12:1), but as the Apostle points out, though many run the race, only a few can win the glory for the most excellent service!--1Cor.9:24.
69. So may the best win!--To the strongest!--But sometimes to the weakest who depend more on the Lord's strength than their own wisdom, & who are the most loyal, faithful & obedient without fail & without question unto the end!
70. Of course, all of us have disobeyed & made mistakes at times, but you should learn & profit by them, & learn to at least try not to make them again.--And through such lessons you should learn to become even more faithful, loyal & obedient each step of the way. The greatest crowns will go to those who are the most so, those who do the best job in the long run, despite some stumblings along the way.--So there's hope for all of us, praise the Lord! Amen?
71. Only the Lord can do it! No one else can keep you faithful or make you obey, no matter how hard they lay down the rules or try to enforce them. You have a free will, you're a free moral agent. God has given you the majesty of your own personal choice, & like everybody else in this World, He's given you the power to choose to do good or evil, & you have to choose. You have to be willing & want to obey! "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servant ye are to whom ye obey?"--Rom.6:16.
72. (Prayer:) So we ask You, Jesus, to just help us to yield to You, to obey You, & then we know that You will do the rest! Help us all to stay close to You, in Thy Will, Lord, & obedient, yielded, following moment by moment. Every moment keep our hearts right with You, Jesus, our motives right, our will right, & everything right with You.
73. Help us to stay close to You, Jesus, in the center of Thy Will, Lord, then we know we're in the center of Thy provision & protection & blessing & usefulness, where we have nothing to worry about. We can just trust You utterly by faith because we know we're being obedient & doing Thy Will. And that's all we can do, Lord, the rest is up to You.
74. So we just ask You to keep us obedient, doing Thy Work, faithfully preaching the Gospel of Thy Love, winning as many eternal souls into Thy Kingdom as we can! Please help us to keep on the right track, which is in Thy Word & obeying it! All we have to do is obey, Lord, & do what You tell us to do, & let You show the way as You give us the strength & the power to do it. You'll do it all if we will just do our part & obey & go & try to bring forth fruit, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah!
75. Are you obeying the Lord? Trust & obey Him today!--Amen? GBY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
