Scripture reading: Ecclesiastes 7:21-22
We are thinking about the life of Abraham, how God dealt with Abraham and how God deals with us. There is a peculiar thing in God, in that the way He dealt with the people of the Old Testament is the exact pattern of how He will deal with us. Therefore, we do not need to worry about what God will do or how He will do it. If we just look at the Old Testament, the promises that God has given to Israel are the promises that He is giving to you. Somebody said, “But that is Old Testament.” It is Old Testament, but it is God. God is never old! So what God did through these people, He is now doing through you.
Everything that you believe, you should believe it because it is in the Bible. You must have proof as to why you believe so and so, and you must know your Bible and where to prove it from the Bible. If you do not have proof, find out from those who have studied the Bible and let them show you where the proof is, because we are not supposed to preach any doctrine or any dogma that does not have solid biblical foundation. To have solid foundation means in most cases that you must find it in your Bible at least three times. Now, most of your Bible is implied. It is written “So, and so, and so;” but it is implied “So, so, so.” That means that God will imply more in the Bible than what is actually written in words, because He said in John 21:25 that if all that Jesus said and did was to be written in books, the world could not hold the books. Do you understand? So then, for solid working truth you must have biblical foundation.
Unless you have a pure heart, you will never come to truth. Truth is so elusive that it only comes to those whose hearts are pure. In other words, I can convince myself that I am right, but it does not mean that I am right. There are many things that we believe are true that are not true. We believe that we are right, and because we believe that we are right we will go to lengths with it, but it will never bring forth life for the only thing that brings forth life is “truth.” I am just laying down some principles for you: There are many things that are true, but they are not truth.
Every one of us has skeletons in the closet. Yes! We have some skeletons down there. We lock the door, seal it, and forget them. Now, if you should come and take the platform and begin to preach about the skeletons that I have in the closet from way down yonder, it would be true things that you are saying, but it would not be truth. Truth glorifies Jesus! You may know something about somebody and you tell it to somebody else, but when the person hears it, it disturbs him. It does not lift him up. It does not take him near to Jesus, but it sinks him. If this is so, then it is not truth; and the bearer of evil tidings is working as an emissary of the devil.
There are some things that we know that we should not talk about. I will prove it to you. Let us say that we know some secrets, some dark deeds that were done in our family. Do we go around talking about them? No, we do not; and if this is so, then why should we talk about somebody else’s secrets?
God is bringing up a people. He said, “Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?” (Isaiah 42:19)
Also, in Ecclesiastes 7:21 He said that if your servant curses you, you should pretend that you do not hear. Do you know why? The reason is given in the next verse. It is because sometimes you have likewise cursed others.
God gives us a clear path and it is a little bit narrow, isn’t it? You do not have any leeway. You are not as free as a sinner. But it is the path of righteousness and the Word says, “…few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). There are not many Christians who walk the Christian way.
You say, “Brother Cecil, these are people who are not going to heaven,” but you are wrong! A lot of wicked people go to heaven. That sounds bad, doesn’t it; but was the thief on the cross a righteous person? He made it though, because he repented at the last edge and he was saved although his shirt was singed with the fire of hell. He was saved.
So, as righteous people, we have to be righteous from deep down inside.
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, July 1998, pg. 1-2)
Thought for today: Let us examine our walk before the Lord and see to it that we walk the true Christian way.
