Teaching The Truth

"The Lord alone is the Judge as to whether a man's ways are as clean as the man himself adjudges them. He alone, as the 'God of the spirits of all flesh,' can judge the attitudes and intentions. Thus, many of men's ways, which appear right to them, are not so in His holy eyes." (Unger's Commentary On The Old Testament) "There is no more sobering reflection for us than the thought that our own lives are weighed in the scales of God's righteousness. Every thought and word and act of life are put in the balance. And God's judgment is to be made manifest." (The Biblical Illustrator)

"Let us further illustrate by our lives these other words, 'Thine is the power,' let us endeavor to live practically in the faith that all power belongs to God. We are in a world of much confusion and difficulty, and we feel that we ourselves are weak and feeble; but surely our God is a God of power, powerful to preserve from evil, powerful to keep us from sin, powerful enough to give us peace in our death and a happy resurrection." (Sermon Bible Commentary) God speaks a certain message for a certain people at a particular time. That same message must be repeated over and over again before it gets a hold of the hearts of the people. The problem is - the heart is not prepared soil for the seed of the Word.

"It is an important thing to understand the times in which we live, and to know what those times require. Next to our Bibles and our own hearts our Lord would have us study our own times." (The Biblical Illustrator) The children of Issachar understood the natural times...the political times... public affairs...the temper of the nation...and the tendencies of present events. God would have you to be like Issachar. But many of God's people are "blind" to what is actually going on. What could be causing that "blindness"? This message will give two reasons for that "blindness." Don't miss it!

"The one idea that leaps up from this narrative is that which you often find through Scripture, that in the clay of defeat aand disaster all God wants is one whole-hearted man. If the Lord can only get a beginning made, if He can, amidst all the disgraceful stampede and rout, get but one man to stop running, one to stop flying, one soul to cease from unbelief and panic and fear, and begin to trust in Him, there and then the tide of battle shall be turned." "This is all God asks: Stand, stand in the midst, and then see! If the Church of Christ would only get possessed of Shammah's spirit, and in all the howling wreck that is at home and abroad, if she would stand and fight, there would be such a central victory as would tell to the furthermost circumference." (both quotes are from The Biblical Illustrator)

"Who is he that says always, There is a lion in the way? Sluggard, thou must slay the lion, then; the way has to be traveled." (Thomas Carlyle) As a believer, what kind of "faith" do you have? Do you have a "sluggard faith" or an "active faith"? That will be determined by how you view the "difficulties" that stand in your way. Did you know that a "healthy church" "kills error, and tears in pieces evil"? Are you a member of a "healthy church"? Are you a "healthy" believer?

"The Church sees her case bad, her enemies many and mighty, her friends few and feeble; and therefore she depends purely upon the strength of God's arm for her relief." (Matthew Henry) "In our spiritual warfare, our own hands are not sufficient for us, nor can we bring anything to pass unless God not only strengthen our arms, but be Himself our arm. If God leave us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must, therefore, every morning commit ourselves to Him, and go forth in His strength to do the work of the day in its day." (The Biblical Illustrator)

"An increase in crimes of violence always follows when a nation does not acknowledge God and His Word as its ultimate authority." (Life In The Spirit Study Bible) "Where Divine revelation, and the faithful preaching of the sacred testimonies, are neither reverenced nor attended, the ruin of that land is at no great distance." (Adam Clarke) "What good can be expected when there is no knowledge of God?" (Matthew Henry)

"Of course, it is always easy to move with the current, to drift with the tide, to shout with the multitude. But ease is not the condition either of righteousness or of true progress. In the home, in society, in business, in the national life, and sometimes in the church, the multitude may be wrong. Then the soul must refuse to follow, must stand alone. To do so will bring strain and stress; but it will always discover strength, for it will find God." "The history of all right movements has been in the first place the history of lonely souls who, having heard the authentic voice of God, have stood alone or in small minorities." (G. Campbell Morgan)

"All things in heaven and earth are full of voices bearing witness for the living God. The whole universe, human history, governments, philosophy, science, art, and institutions are witnessing for God." (The Biblical Illustrator) God demands that you bear witness to Him. But only those who are in sympathy with Him and are living in accordance with His holy will are qualified. There are those who are witnesses for God and those who are witnesses against God. Which are you?

"The most important question concerning a man is as to the state of his heart - his thoughts, affections, intentions. In the heart we find the true man. The outer life is but the clothing and may be the mask of the man. From the heart spring all the actions of life. The character of the fountain determines that of the stream." (The Pulpit Commentary) "How about your heart, is it right with God? That's the thing that counts today. Is it black with sin, is it pure within, Have you asked Christ in to stay?"