September 1997
Vol IX
by Pastor Stanley Farrar II
We hear a lot today about being tolerant of people in one way or another. In most cases what is being said is don't tell those people that they are sinning and going to Hell. Just accept them in there sin and allow them to believe what they want to. This is a common teaching that we find throughout our society. People are afraid that someone might get offended with them and not like them any more; thus becoming so socially conscience of others' opinions that they are unwilling to stand for anything. The New Age movement and secular humanism has bombarded us with this kind of thinking. But, is this the way God would have us? Let us look into the word and see how we are to be.
(2 Tim 3:16-17) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." We can see here that it is clearly stated that scripture was for reproof, correction, and instruction. I have never seen anyone reproved or corrected without confronting the person with something that they had done wrong or showing a mistake that has been made. Without this, there is no correction and definitely no reproof. We also are not truly teaching anyone anything if we are unwilling to take a stand for or against anything. So we must have something stand for, in order to instruct. What men would have us believe is That everyone has the right to live anyway they want to. This is like saying that you can teach math without saying that two and two make four. There has to be rules for math to work. The same is true with life, we cannot teach someone how to live a Christian life without there being rules that must be lived by. Thus there are things that a Christian can not tolerate. But we were warned about such teachings. (2 Tim 4:3-4) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
The Devil, for ages, has been trying to convince man that it doesn't matter how he lives or what he does. He sets back and says oh there no true rules, it something made up by man. Just as he tempted Eve to sin through lies and trickery he does the same today. God, on the other hand, says that sin is death. (Rom 6:23) "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Eve sinned and at that time she died spiritually, just as each of us died spiritually when we sinned against God. It is true that each of us have fallen into this condition at some point in our lives. (Rom 3:23) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" so the Devil developed another doctrine through the misinterpretation of scripture. He tells us that all men sin so there is not way to avoid it you have to sin. Thousands have embraced this lie that sin is ok and that God will just overlook your sins. Thus bringing many to a position that they live by, the unspoken motto of, "Sin I May Sin I Must if I don't I will Surely Bust".
But must man sin, is this the destiny of man? Can we live sin free lives? It is true that all have sinned but must we continue to bond like some kind of slave to the devils cart. Who reigns- Christ or Satan? If Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords then truly if Christ has freed us we are free indeed. Why let the Devil bind us again? If we sin then we are sin's slave. (Rom 6:16) "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Christ came that we would not have to be servants of sin but rather be freed from sin. (Mat 1:21) "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Did Jesus come to save us in our sins? He came to save us from our sins.
So what is a sin? (1 John 3:4) 'Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." If we willfully disobey God then we have sinned whether that be by action or inaction. We don't get forced into sin, God won't allow that. (1 Cor 10:13) "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." So we do not have to yield to temptation and sin but we can live triumphant lives with Christ. But some say that every thought and deed is a sin, so is not temptation sin? (Heb 4:15) "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." If temptation is a sin then Jesus would have sinned, and we know that this is not the case. Where the sin happens is when we allow it into our hearts and don't resist. We sin by choice not by accident, we choose to sin or we choose to resist temptation. We answer for our own sins. But is there scripture on living holy before the Lord? (1 John 3:5-10) "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." (Also read Rom 6, Lev 20:7, 1 Peter 1:15-16). Sin causes separation between us and God. (1 Pet 3:12) "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." The Lord doesn't even hear the requests of the sinner. But He does hear a prayer for forgiveness. (1 John 1:9) "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If we turn to the Lord He will forgive us and start us on a new road. We then have a choice, do we go the way we should and serve the Lord or will we return to sin?
We don't have to sin. (James 4:7-8) "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." We can have a close relationship with God. To tolerate evil is to reject God. For we cannot have it both ways we are either for God or against Him. There is no middle of the road with Christ you are either for him or not. Let's not let the Devil mislead us into such lies but let us truly take a stand for the truth.
Dear ones please don't take your soul for granted, for some day we will all answer to God for how we have lived our lives. (Rev 20:12-15) "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." If you have a sin in you life it doesn't have to remain, for if you will repent, God will forgive you your sins. Let not sin be tolerated in your life for God does not tolerate sin.
by Dr Stanley Farrar
(Psa 85:6) "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?"
(Hab 3:2) "O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy."
Revival, that is something that many are considering today. But the thing is that most are not truly seeking after true revival. Instead they are wanting to be emotionally excited and allowed to continue to live the same old way that they have always lived. As we consider this subject I would like for you to think about the meaning of revival. The meaning of revival is to be brought back to life once more. Therefore, we need to have a life giving power involved in the process of revival. There are many ways that the term revival can be used, but when it comes to true revival we have to be in line with the will of God to receive true revival.
The church today is in need of revival, but too often the church is looking at change and
modernizing rather than to receive the revival of God. For the purpose of getting people to come
to church, it is a tendency of the church today to try to change things to satisfy all those they are
trying to get to attend church. Paul said, I preach Christ, him crucified and risen again.
(1 Cor 1:23) "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;"
(1 Cor 2:2) For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified.
There is but one life and that is in Jesus Christ. If we are doing anything but holding up Jesus
Christ, then we are not presenting the Lord in the way that He wants us to. The only true revival
will take place as people make a commitment to Jesus and dedicate their lives to serve Him. Jesus
said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.
(John 12:32 KJV) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Therefore, we need to be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ that others too can come to know
Him as their own personal savior. Until people come to know Him and commit their lives to serve
Him people are not being saved from sin. People want to feel good and have their conscience
deadened. When the gospel is taught and preached then people can have a renewing of life in their
spiritual beings. The gospel of Christ has been so watered down in recent years that people don't
really know what it takes to be a child of God. We need to get back to the preaching of the entire
Word of God and not just what people want to hear. We need to get back to not being ashamed of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the gospel is the power of God to the saving of souls.
(Rom 1:16 KJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The way that others sees the commitment in our lives is to see how we, as the children of God, are living our lives. Before others are going to listen to our statements for Christ they have to be able to see Christ alive in our lives. We need to be prayed up, studied up, and we need to be willing to testify of the love of God in our lives. We need to become unashamed of the gospel of Christ. Whenever the children of God gets on fire for God and excited about the things of God, you will see the hand of God moving in the lives of those children. Jesus says that He would rather have you hot or cold, rather than lukewarm.
(Rev 3:15-16 KJV) 16. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The only way for revival to take place is for each and everyone of us to allow God to do His work in our hearts and lives. There is a very important key statement there and that is, we have to a be willing to allow God to come into our hearts and lives and do the work necessary to revive us again.
Over the last month to month and a half the church of God in Briar, Mo. has been experiencing true revival. The church was willing to let God take the lead and do the work He wanted to do and He has been blessing and blessing and blessing. The church has made a commitment to serve God in whatever way that God would call them to serve. We have seen people coming to the altar to make a new commitment, to get saved, to receive healing, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit (sanctified). Attendance in church has increased, new people have been coming to church, and evening service attendance is on the increase as well. Sunday nights we have a Bible study to help our people to grow stronger in their knowledge of Jesus Christ and on Wednesday nights we have changed the format of our service from a Bible study to a prayer meeting.
Since the change in our Wednesday night service we have seen the miracles of God happening in the midst of the church. We have seen how God has taken care of situations in the lives of people around about the church, we have seen ones healed of various illnesses. One had a hand injury healed, another had a healing of a back problem, and I have been healed of high blood pressure and a problem with a trigeminal nerve problem in my lower jaw.
The excitement and joy is tremendous and we are just praising God for His goodness and mercy. We would like to invite all that will to come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ and let Him be Lord and Savior of your life. There is revival taking place in the Briar, Mo. area, but there is no boundary of where God can provide the reviving necessary to bring His people back into that special relationship with Him once more. He is wanting to do it, the question is, are you willing to let Him come into your life and heart to be number one to you?
Our earnest prayer is that all will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and that as the scripture we presented at the start of this article will be fulfilled in the lives of individuals and in churches around the world. Again I would like to repeat those scriptures:
(Psa 85:6 KJV) Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
(Hab 3:2 KJV) O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
May God bless you and keep you as you commit your heart and life to him. If you have things
happen in your life or church please write the editor of this paper and let him know about them.
by E.W. Leonard
As we have just passed the fourth of July holiday it places my thoughts on the matters of nations, their disposition toward God, and the fate of those nations. We find in Isaiah chapter three the fate of Israel's civil government and the causes of that fate. Isaiah 3:8 "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings {are} against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory." To see a further extent of the disintegration of the civil order we go back to Isaiah 3:5 "And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable." But why did this happen? In Isaiah chapter 1 the rebellion of Israel is documented, total abandonment of God and his laws were the mark of the day.
I am saddened to note the many similarities between the nation Israel of that day and our United States of America of today. As a nation, we are quick to sue any one who looks at us wrong. Our children are joining gangs as early as four and five years of age, where they learn to extort, steal and kill; a further extent of our disintegration of the civil order can be seen by all on the news on any evening of the week. It is true, that by our words, and our actions, as a nation we are against the Lord.
However all is not bad, in Isaiah 10:21 we read. "The remnant shall return, {even} the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God" As the old testament is the foreshadow of the future, this remnant, is the Church of God; all who hold fast to the salvation of Jesus Christ. Being God's people we have a promise and with it a price. This promise found in Psalms 27:2-3 states "When the wicked, {even } mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise up against me, in this {will} I {be } confident." This is a powerful promise, is it not? But it is not the only promise that we have. In Matthew chapter 6 we are given a list of promises from God, promises of food, of drink, of clothing. Those mentioned are but a few of the many promises God gives to us His holy people. While these promises are marvelous they do not come without a price.
Would you expect to be paid for your work before you do it? No. We must first work then we are paid. In the same way we must first pay the price to God before God will fulfill his promises to us. This price has two parts, the attitude of humility and obedience to him. We find the first part in Isaiah 10:15 " shall the axe boast its self against him that heweth therewith? {or} shall the saw magnify its self against him that shaketh it? as the rod should shake {itself} against them that lift it up, {or} as if the staff should lift up {itself as if it were} no wood. And the second part, in Matthew 6:33 we read "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The word does not say God will feed you, give you drink and clothes, then you can seek him . The word says seek God first, and God will provide for you your needs of food, drink and clothing. Obedience is also required of us, in 1 John 5:3 " For this is the love of God , that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." The key point is that we must take the first step, we must seek God, we must seek his righteousness, we must obey his commandments, then God will provide for our needs. The price of humility and obedience is God's price for his blessing. When we are living a life in obedience to the will of God we are living holy, this holy living is the price we must pay to receive the blessings of God, and what a small price to pay. While the price is small it must be paid. We must all use caution to not call upon the promises of God until we have fully paid the price.***
From the Editor's Desk
Dear readers, I hope that the Lord is blessing you as you strive to serve Him in every way. The
Lord has blessed in many way and I am sure that He will continue to do so. We can see the Lord
at work around us. We would like all the dear saints to be praying for us here. As is not unusual
when you are working for God, the Devil has brought some trials against us lately. The copy
machine that we use put out this paper has striped out its gears and is no longer functioning. Due to
the fact that it is ten years old it is not worth the expense of repair. We could use your prayers on
this matter as we trust in the Lord to supply us with the money for a new one or some other means
to continue. Please remember us and our needs in your prayers, for I know that the Lord will
provide. The Gospel Light paper is dedicated to the Lord and His service. We trust in His
support and aid. We hope that this finds you all well. May the Lord richly bless you throughout
the rest of the year. This issue starts our third year of publication and from me and all the writers
and editors of the Gospel Light may the Lord Bless you as you read His glorious Word.
Stanley R. Farrar II
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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