App
Eric Scott—May 21, 2016
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Good morning, brethren! I like music, and I do thank God for giving us music. I think music is a wonderful blessing, and it can help raise our spirits. Of course, everything that God creates can be used for good and used for bad.
Not all music is good. When I first began thinking about what I would speak about today, after praying about it a song popped into my head. You know how it is once you get something in your head and it keeps buzzing around and buzzing around. I couldn't get it out; I'm going to have to listen to it.
With the wonder of the Internet I typed in the name of the song and Voila! and that's when God got the big 2 x 4 and gave me a whap around the head! It's a beautiful song and was written by a very famous American composer Burt Bacharach, I'm sure you've all heard of him.
This song was sung by the late Cilla Black and the title of the song is Alfie, a theme tune to the movie of the same name. I'm not suggesting that you watch the movie; it was not a very nice movie, though at the end it did have a moral tale to tell.
I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about what happened when I listened to that song. It was while listening to that song that one of the lyrics jumped out and smacked me between the eyes. It was the lyric that goes: Without true love we just exist.
I know that Burt Bacharach was probably referring to a love between a man and woman. At least I'm assuming that's what he was referring to. But I began to think about it and I thought: What is the true the love without which we just exist?
In fact, in God's eyes we don't even exist, because I'm sure that you remember the story of a man that came to Christ and said, 'I want to follow You, but let me go bury my father first.' Remember what Christ said to him? Let the dead bury the dead!
So, without this love, brethren, we don't even exist. I'm talking about the true love, which is the earnest, the down payment that God gives us upon repentance and baptism; the true payment of the Holy Spirit from the God of love. But there's another aspect to the Holy Spirit that I want to talk about today, and that is light.
We spoke yesterday about how demons know us. I firmly believe that although when God gives us His Spirit, it is indiscernible to humans, but to the spirit realm it is perfectly visible, and I hope today to prove it to you.
Luke 11:36: "Now then, if your whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be full of light, as when a lamp shining brightly gives you light."
Matthew 5:16: "In the same way also, you are to let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father Who is in heaven."
Just to get some continuity, because we know God's Word the same throughout the Bible, and I'm not telling you anything you don't know:
Isaiah 8:20: "To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them."
Is this just an allegory? a metaphor? or Do we believe what God says? There's no light in them, so juxtaposing, those who do speak the Truth have light in them!
This is where God poured out the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; Acts 2:3: "And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and sat upon each one of them." I guess sometimes we can just read Scriptures and just think 'okay, fire' without realizing that fire has properties. It gives us heat and also gives us light.
When we light a candle in the dark, what gives us the light? It's not the candle, it's the flame; it's the fire. But all fires, all flames, need fuel. Without fuel a fire will go out. God does things in the physical to help us understand the spiritual aspect.
We all know about the menorah in the temple, the seven-branch menorah. There was a lamp and that lamp was fed by olive oil, a physical type of the Holy Spirit. But it didn't last forever, brethren, did it? The priest had to constantly replenish, replenish, replenish the oil.
We too need to replenish that oil, that Spirit within us. But there's something else I want to talk to you about.
- How did that oil get there?
- Did it just ooze out of the olive tree?
They had to harvest the olives, crush the olives and filter what came out of the olives.
- Could that process of extracting the oil be likened to our prayer and Bible study?
- Could it be that God gives us the olives, but it's our duty to extract the oil through prayer and Bible study?
I believe so, brethren; I don't think that's too far a stretch of the imagination.
Matt. 25 talks about the virgins, the five wise and the five foolish virgins. We know that the five foolish virgins run out of oil or they run low on oil. It's interesting that they don't loose the lamps. They still have the lamps but they run short of oil so their lights go out.
Where do they carry these lamps? Do they carry them in their hands? It doesn't say so, does it? But they obviously have them. I believe that we are carrying them within our innermost being. That light that is emanating from us, that the spirit realm can see quite clearly, that God can see!
When He looks down on this earth, He doesn't have to tune into our thoughts, into our mind. He can just look down and see these little spots of light scattered in this world of darkness. It behooves us that if we don't want to become a foolish virgin to keep replenishing the oil, to keep praying and studying and never give up and not think that we know it all.
I know that a lot of us have been in the Church a long, long time. It can be so easy to think that we know it all and to let down. But this world is rushing headlong into darkness, my friends, and we are the only hope that it has. It behooves us to stay close to God and to keep our lights burning bright!
Scriptural References:
- Luke 11:36
- Matthew 5:16
- Isaiah 8:20
- Acts 2:3
Scripture referenced, not quoted: Matthew 25
ES:bo
Transcribed: 6/3/16
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