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Hang Onto the Truth and the Rock
(Plus Five Guest Speakers)
Fred R. Coulter—February 12, 2022
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Roger Tointon: The Right Heart
I have been reiterating how God placed His people where He wants them on this earth and He's giving us the blessings that we have.
It's great to see you Canadians across the border, standing up for what is right! It's really great to see, and I want to see more of it here in the United States. Some people don't like that, saying that protests is something you shouldn't do. Well, I don't agree with that! I don't agree with it at all! God wants us to stand up and be a witness when we can. We have to do it in a right way, with the right mind. That's what I'm talking about.
Those truckers in Canada are common, ordinary people, the salt of the earth as it were. It's those kinds of people, and with their families behind them that makes a nation work. It's not those people at the top; it's the ordinary people that want to work. They want to pursue happiness and freedom of choice.
That's what they are standing up for, and I applaud them! But then I got to thinking, look at what is happening. We see what the evil ones are doing to us. They're trying to shut us down in every way possible! That's what they're doing in Canada. Look at the dastardly leaders of the nations of Israel right now.
Why is it? It's very interesting why is it standing out so among the major nations of Israel around the world. Look at their leaders and what they're doing. There's a purpose in that, and it's all coming to a head. God knows that, because God is sick and tired of what is happening on this earth, and He's going to do something about it.
Here these people protesting, great! But where is it going to lead? It can't lead to anything permanent. They can't really change anything. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't stand up when you have the chance and he opportunity.
What is the problem? These people are seeking the pursuit of happiness and peace, but they're seeking it in the wrong place! They are not turning to God Who wants to give that to His people freely. There are conditions to becoming a son of God, no doubt! But He freely offers. Look at all the prophecies in the Old Testament: You do this and this and I [God] will bless you in every condition of your life. But if you don't, then watch out! We're coming to that 'watch out'!
So, these people in Canada, look what they're going through. I know that as an individual proprietor, that if you don't work you don't get paid. These truckers aren't getting paid. It's not the big chain drivers, it's the individual with their trucks. They're protesting! And they're going to pay a price, and even Biden here in the U.S. has said that the trucker that want to organize the same way here, he's going to make sure that they're going to get the same thing that Prime Minister Trudeau says he's going to give the truckers in Canada, and it's not pretty!
The real tragedy is that they don't see where to turn. It remind me of something that we have read many times in Deuteronomy. It's one of those books that so many so-called Christians think that is something for the past, or something for the Jews only. It's not!
Deuteronomy 5:29—God says: "Oh, that there were such a heart in them…"
- Do you detect any emotion on the part of God?
- Any longing for them to hear Him and to do what He offers?
"…that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always…" (v 29).
- What do the Protestants say? The Law has been done away!
- What do the Jews say? No! It must be our way! It must be the rules and regulations setup by us!
Both are wrong!They're looking in the wrong place, and they do not know how to look for God!
Here's why God wants this; "…so that it might be well with them and with their children forever!" (v 29).
That's where it's at! God always talks to us and tells us that we are to teach our children, the young ones, and if we teach them right they, too, can fear God. They can learn what God wants in order for Him to give those blessings. What a tremendous thing!
Isaiah 48:18: "Oh, that you had hearkened to My commandments!…." A pleading!
What these truckers and the other people across Canada are feeling in their heart, God says:
"…Then your peace would have been like a river…" (v 18)—of crystal clear water flowing from God down through the land and giving life to everything there! That's the way God works!
"…and your righteousness…" (v 18). God promises that IF we obey Him we can have righteousness!
"…like the waves of the sea" (v 18).
What does the sea do? You've stood by the ocean and watched the waves come in over and over, going on forever! That's what our righteousness can be IF we learn how to submit to God!
Isaiah 10:22: "For though Your people Israel… [that He created especially for Himself] …are like the sand of the sea… [then Isaiah jumps time and space]: …only a remnant of them shall return." What happens for that to be?
"…a destruction is determined…"—by God a long time ago, because there isn't that heart in the people. God has dealt with us so we can have that heart.
For the people at large across Canada and the U.S. and around the world, that kind of heart has to come at a later time. God knows that. But because He has great love for all men and women that are born—even those aborted—and He has a plan for them! That is why God is the God of love! He has that great plan, but we have to be geared to it.
"…overflowing with righteousness" (v 22). What does that mean if you have destruction? Paul wraps that up, as he so often does:
Romans 9:27: "But Isaiah cried out concerning Israel, 'Although the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. For He is accomplishing…"—His plan!
He has it worked out in spite of what we see coming down on us!
"…and limiting the matter in righteousness; because the Lord will limit the matter He is doing upon the earth'" (v 28).
All of this is going to come down. They may think that they're so mighty and so great in doing it, but they're simply being used by God Almighty! God Almighty will hold them responsible one day!
I don't want to be in their shoes, and you don't either! So, we as the people who have been called, and we know God because of His mercy in opening our mind, we have to make sure that we do have the right heart in us forever!
Then our righteousness can go on forever and ever! We can have a wonderful part when Christ comes back to this earth to set things in order and work out the plan for the end of this age, and beginning the next in the Millennium.
What a wonderful time that is going to be! We know that! We've gone over and over it! It should be getting deeper and deeper in our heart. Then we can be there and experience that, and help it come to pass. That's a wonderful thing to look forward to!
*****
Joe Sanchez: What Does It Mean to Fear God?
To give you a little background: I grew up on a hundred acre farm over in Idaho with my grandparents. We raised a lot of beans and alfalfa hay and time-to-time I would go and visit my mother in Nevada. One time she was staying at Casey's Cattle Ranch and he had a good size operation, about 20 cowhands. Us boys were told to stay away from the bull, that if we got near the bull would get us and there would be 'no more Joey, Joe would not exist.' So, I stayed away from the bull, I didn't want that to happen.
But there were these three roaming pigs; they were supposed to be in the pen but he had a couple dozen hogs and nobody said anything about them. So, my brothers and I harassed these pigs. They were mean, too, over a couple of hundred pounds and they would chase us. That was the daily routine: How can we harass these pigs.
With 20 hands on this ranch, it was very easy to have a huge stack of pancakes leftover at the end of breakfast. So, one day we got these pancakes and just doused them down with every kind of hot sauce, any kind of fire-breathing liquid we could have and put them on the pancakes and fed them to the pigs.
While they were chomping down on these, before the heat kicked in, I had my brother run around back and empty the water trough so they had no water. About the time the heat kicked in, they went running for the water trough and couldn't find any. They must have run around squealing for about ten minutes trying to find water. We thought that was great.
Later on we realized that the bull we were told to stay away from didn't pose any real threat. As long as you didn't mess with the bull, he could care less who you were. There was nothing to fear from that bull. But the hogs on the other hand, if they would have overtaken us when they were chasing us—us being pretty small, around 7 or 8—they would probably ate us alive.
So, the thing that we should have been afraid of, we had absolutely no regard for and the thing that we were afraid of posed no threat whatsoever. Not only that, we were taunting, provoking and harassing these hogs on a daily basis, which I think about in hindsight, it was completely insane and was practically suicidal.
It's kind of like the world we live in today where people have this high amount of respect and faith in themselves as an institution in humanism, and human institutions and politicians and their ideas to solve our own problems, because we've down a 'great job' with this pandemic (sarcasm). But at the same time, they have no respect or fear for God, or people who represent God and what He believes in and they're trying to fight Him at every stage of the game. There's absolutely no fear of God whatsoever in this world that we see.
Jude talks about this generation in which we live; those who reject authority, speak evil of dignitaries or of whatever. They're never afraid to run their mouth and walk after their own lusts.
Jude 16[transcriber's correction]: "These are complainers and critics, who are walking after their own personal lusts, while their mouths are speaking great swelling words, flattering persons for the sake of advantage."
It's almost the exact same description that you see from Paul in:
2-Timothy 3:1: "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, braggarts, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, despisers of those who are good, betrayers, reckless, egotistical, lovers of pleasure…" (vs 1-4).
That's the society that we live in today, where they have absolutely no fear of what they say or what they do; have not respect for God or His way of life. They try and cancel it every chance they get. They only have faith in themselves and respect for themselves.
A good illustration of this a Washington Post article that's under the heading of Acts of Faith. They were talking about the local satanic temple in conjunction with free speech advocates. They erected this statue of Satan at the Arkansas State Capital[transcriber's correction]. It's the name of this goat-headed god is Baphomet.
{https://www.ebaumsworld.com/articles/satanic-monument-was-briefly-unveiled-outside-courthouse-in-arkansas/85743097/}
They erected this statue under the guise of freedom of religion and free speech. I'm not going to spend time talking about the gross double-standard where Christianity and conservative has been canceled everywhere across the board. Statues have been torn down—historical statues—because they might be offensive to somebody. That's the guise they use!
Meanwhile, you've got statues of Satan being erected and God's way of life and freedom of religion is being attacked every step of the way.
The bottom line is that there's hardly no fear of God in anyone left in this nation. Nobody who erected that statue ask themselves: 'If God is real or even Satan's real, we probably should be doing this.' But obviously, it never came up.
It reminds me of the Proverb: This is a wise man: he fears and departs from evil! He may not be the most righteous man, but if he's smart and thinks he probably shouldn't do that, but then the fool rages on and is self-confident!
That's a lot of what we see where people keep pushing toward this direction and they never stop for a second to ask themselves if they should be doing this.
It reminds me of this video that this guy was in Yosemite National Park and he's wanting to get this video next to this buffalo. He's about ten feet away and pretty soon he gets a little closer and closer. I assume a friend is filming and he's a tourist and getting closer and pretty soon he has his arm around this buffalo. The buffalo has been ignoring him up to this point, but finally the buffalo gets irritated and just kind of turns his head a little bit and hooks him and throws him like a rag doll like 20 feet into the air. Thankfully the man landed in a tree, but he's completely oblivious to the fear and to what the power is in that animal until destruction hits!
To me, that's an illustration of this world we live in, where there are dangers right in front of us that we are approaching, and they're completely oblivious to it. They have a complete disregard of the power of God and they're going to keep doing this right up until the them destruction hits. I believe not a moment before because they're confident in what they're doing and have no fear of God whatsoever.
What does it really mean to fear God? I've heard this debated a bit:
- Should we be trembling and shaking when we think about God?
- Should we be afraid of Him?
or
- Does this mean to simply have a respect and a reverence for God?
Like you would have a respect for someone in authority!
In the Old or New Testaments, the definition of the Hebrew and Greek is almost the exactly the same. It really means both:
- to fear, to be frightened, to be struck with fear to be seized with alarm
- to have reverence for, to venerate, to stand in awe of
When we look at the Scriptures, we see that. The word is used in both aspects. To be afraid of, be alarmed and frightened of, but also to have respect, venerate and awe. These two go hand-in-hand.
In Gen. 22 the Lord says to Abraham, 'Now I know that you fear Me, because you have not withheld your only son.'
But then in Gen. 26:24—to Isaac: "…'I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you…'" Don't be afraid!
It's the same Hebrew word, and in the New Testament we also see that they're used interchangeably between being afraid and at the same time showing respect, honor and reverence for.'
- Are there times we should be afraid?
- And other times we're supposed to have reverence for?
- How does this relationship work back and forth?
A good illustration of this is the story of when David was wanting to move the Ark to the City of David, Jerusalem and Uzza was struck down.
What happened was that David had pushed the Philistines back with his armies and had taken over a piece of territory that was previously Israel's. they captured the area where the Ark was being held and they found it and David wanted to bring it to Jerusalem.
When they went to move it, they didn't just bend a couple of the rules and the procedures on how to do it. They broke all the rules! They did it with the wrong people, moving it the wrong way, with the wrong equipment. It was just all wrong; everything the way they moved it was just wrong. So, as we know, along the way Uzza tried to steady the Ark and God struck him down for it.
2-Samuel 6:9: "And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, 'How shall the Ark of the LORD come to me?'"
Here's David, as we know from Scripture, definitely had a fear of reverence and respect for not just God, but for His way of life and His Law. He wrote a lot about it in the Psalms. But at the same time, now he's afraid, afraid of God! That's what he says in 2-Sam. 6:9. It is properly translated there as afraid.
But if we look in v 12: "…David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with gladness."
Verse 14: "And David danced before the LORD with all his might…."
What changed? He was afraid before and now he isn't afraid anymore, and we have the same David who had a great respect and admiration for God and His way of life.
1-Chron. 15 makes it very clear that David had sought God and tried to figure out and examine himself on what happened.
1-Chronicles 15:12: "And he said to them, 'You are the heads of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, so that you may bring up the Ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place, which I have prepared for it. Now, because you did not do it at the first, the LORD our God broke forth upon us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance'" (vs 12-13).
Verse 15: "And the children of the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders, with the staves on it, as Moses commanded according to the Word of the LORD"
We have several things going on here. At first David obviously examined himself when this happened. It says he sought God, and obviously, through prayer and probably fasting as well, and he studied the Word of God. Then he realized what he had done wrong, and when he realize that, and came before God in repentance, then he wasn't afraid anymore. That fear was gone.
He repented, changed and brought the Ark forth with confidence! He wasn't afraid and danced before the Lord with all his might. It is through this process of self-examination:
- drawing close to God
- seeking His will
- studying the Word
This transformation took place where he wasn't afraid. We in the same manner do not have to be afraid of God, but it comes with:
- work
- diligence
- seeking the will of the Lord
We're living in a prophetic time. If we're looking around, we should be alarmed at the things that we see. We're wondering what to do. People are afraid of:
- viruses
- war
- a collapse in the economy
- possible war with Russia
There's a lot to be concerned about, and people are concerned about it! But we shouldn't be afraid, because if we fear God we have respect for Him and His way of life, and we seek His will. That's where that confidence comes from, and we don't have to be afraid. We can have that reverence for God that we should.
As we know, there's an incredible amount of protection out there that God has promised us, to those who fear Him! To those who call upon His name!
Deuteronomy 31:6: "Be strong and of a good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is He Who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.'"
This is what we need to remember as we see these tumultuous times ahead of us and things that are really scary. We don't have to be afraid of these things if we fear God and have respect and admiration for His way of life, especially His work! There are trying times again!
Luke 21:26: "Men… [obviously people who are not connected to God] …dying of heart attacks from fear and dread of the things that are coming on the whole world; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."
There's going to be a lot of fear going on, especially ahead of us, but we don't have to be afraid of these prophecies, because we should have that connection with God and know that He's not like this drunken guy who comes home and flies off the handle at any random time and starts backhanding the kids. That's not the God that we worship, admire and fear! It's not based on fear:
- it's based on faithfulness
- it's based on knowledge
- it's based on being connected to Him and seeking after Him
He's not some random violent person like David thought there for a second. He studied the Word and realized what had happened. That's kind of the direction that we need to take, as well, as we see these prophetic events taking place. They are not random! They're very systematic and prophesied.
Another great example of this is when we look at a Josiah. He was trying to clean the place up a little bit, tearing down the high places, getting rid of the idols. He's cleaning up the temple and repairing it and finds the Book of the Law.
When he starts reading through it and realizes that they were in a little bit of trouble, but he didn't fully realize it until he came to the blessings and cursings chapter.
2-Chronicles 34:19: "And it came to pass when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes."
He was afraid; you read those curses and you realize that you fit into every single one of those categories there. Yeah, you should be afraid!
Verse 21: "Go inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us because our fathers have not kept the Word of the LORD to do according to all that is written in this book."
He was afraid and gathered everyone together to see what to do about this. Did he immediately go run and hide? No, he did something about it! He did what David did:
- he examined himself
- he examined the nation
- he made the changes
Verse 29: "And the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people from the great to the small. And he read in their ears all the words of the Book of the Covenant that was found in the house of the LORD" (vs 29-30).
There was a lot of self-examination that took place during this period of time. As we know, the nation made a lot of changes during this period of time, and they were given a reprieve from it, because of the righteousness of Josiah:
- of self-examination
- of looking and seeing what they did
- of repenting
- of changing
It was possible!
That fear was no longer there! They didn't fear God anymore in the sense that they were afraid and were trembling in fear. But, in fact, had that respect for God's Law and they acted upon it.
Brethren, as we go forward—especially in these prophetic times—and we come closer and closer to the time of the end, and it's described as the Great Tribulation, a time of trial on the earth that has never been or never again will be.
It's going to be a scary time in front of us, but if we truly fear God—have that respect, veneration and admiration for Him and His Law, and examine ourselves in this process, we don't have to be afraid of what we see coming ahead of us.
Times are going to be hard, and we know they're going to be very hard, especially when we see our entire nation practically hugging this buffalo. That's the direction they're heading! They're prodding the herd of angry hogs and the disaster we see is right around the corner.
They're literally playing with their own lives with some of the laws and beliefs and attack on God's way of life that we see every day. It's going to be hard! We see disaster and we're afraid for what we see, afraid for this nation. But we don't have to be! God says that:
- He's going to be with us
- He's going to go before us
- He's not going to forsake us
We need to remember that that is the fear of God that will help us through these times that we in front of us!
*****
Byron Norrod: Satan's Doctrine of Fear
It's amazing how God interweaves the things; both of the first two messages are tied into my message very clearly. I love that Roger was talking about the truckers in Canada and Joe was talking about the proper fear of God.
What is the opposite of love? A lot of times people would say: hate!Another possible option would be fear!
IF God's administrative style is love,which it is, THENSatan's administrative style is fearfulness! Hate! Evil! Wickedness!
An acronym for fear would be false evidence appearing real. If we have God's reality and we are exhibiting and experiencing the faith of God the way that we should be having, and we are living God's way of life and having His love in us, then God's way of life of love is far more real than any evidence than Satan can falsely present.
Hebrews 2:14: "Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in like manner He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death—that is, the devil; and that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death" (vs 14-15).
Satan knows that for humans the penalty for is death. It's the second death that we're concerned about. We know that Satan has the power over life and death (Matt. 18) on this earth in the physical sense. But he doesn't have power over the second death. Yet, he uses this fear, and uses all of his poise, schemes trying to manipulate man so that we are so fearful:
Oh, I've sinned. How could God love me? I might as well just quit right now, throw in the towel, I'm done. O God, how can you love me?
Especially around Passover time! That's when we look at ourselves and are introspective and see all of this garbage in our lives and our character, and we recognize that we're not where we should be. And we say, 'God, how can You love me, a sinner?' David said that (Psa. 51), take not Your Spirit from me.
But God's power of love supercedes all that. It throws all the fears that Satan wants to condemn our minds with out the window. It's just so much rubbish and garbage.
1-John 4:18: "There is no fear in the love of God…"
2-Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear…"
Romans 8:15: "Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear…"
Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears."
Isaiah 41:10: "Do not fear; for I am with you…" What a comfort! God says:
My son, My child, I'm going to spank you; you did wrong, evil and sinned. There's a 'just dessert,' a reward for that! But that's okay, I'm going to love you after that. I'll hug you! Come to Me, My child!
"…be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness" (v 10).
In His love, God teaches us so much kindness and gives us so much impetus and power that we can move away from the fear. Satan wants to infect in our mind constantly and perpetually. He's constantly trying to down us and tell us that we're not good enough. Satan is constantly tell us that we can't make it!
You're no good! You can't make it! Why do you think you could qualify?
God says:
NO! don't believe that! Those are lies and deception! I love you! Don't be fearful, I am with you!
John 14:27: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear."
Don't worry about whatever Satan is trying to do to your mind. God and His love, His administrative style of love, kindness, mercy and generosity—yet, appropriate punishment for the sins that we do commit—His leadership style of love is so much more powerful and motivating. It gives us so much more hope than Satan's doctrine of fear: you're not good enough, you can't do it!
Jesus told us that we could avoid the second death, which is what Satan uses constantly and perpetually to tempt us and create doubt in our mind. Didn't Satan say that at the very beginning?
Has God really tell you, say this to you! You can't believe that!
Satan creates doubt and fear, and then we wonder if God is true? can God save me? There's a lion in the street! Can God save us from the things that are happening in this world today? Absolutely! He is all powerful, and His motivation is love, so we cast out the fear! We cannot not have the proper fear of God. We have to God's proper fear, and I don't mean to minimize that at all. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't fear to sin, as the Creator has instructed us.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to say that we should not have fear. But Satan's whole premise, his whole personality, his whole persona is negativity, evil, wickedness and the creating of doubt. He's a murderer from the beginning, and he always has been and always will be. We cannot believe Satan!
Here's a very early example in Gen. 4, of how Cain slew his brother. What happened? Cain was so fearful that people in the world were going to attack him! He says:
My torment and my punishment is too great for me. Yeah, I killed my brother, but now people are going to try to kill me.
God says, 'You deserve it but I'm going to set a protection on you. I'm going to protect you and set a mark on you so you won't have that fear.
But that fearfulness was perpetuated! His progeny Tubal-Cain and Lamech. What happened with Lamech, who said:
A man harmed me, wounded me. So, I got him back and killed him. If anybody harms me, I'm going to harm him 70-times that.
That's not our perspective!
What was Jesus' instruction about 70 times? Peter says, 'Lord, how many times do I have to forgive my brother? Seven times?' No! Seventy times seven! That should be our motivation. Our motivation is far more loving, reflecting God's love that He shines down to us, and we can send that out to others.
The truckers in Canada, and all the people who are standing against wickedness and the violations of the Nuremberg Trials, and the 'informed consent' with a lawful demonstration. They're lawfully demonstrating in a peaceful manner against these unruly mandates that are all created for fear.
When was the last time down through history that the good guys were the guys who were banning books, limiting free speech, telling people not to say anything, canceling podcasts? It didn't happen that way in history!
God gives us free will! He gives us the opportunity to make our own mistakes, and He says that there will be a penalty if you make a mistake, but don't worry, just repent! He's not 'Johnny on the spot' to punish us. He gives us time to make our errors and then He give us time to recognize our sins and faults. Then He gives us the opportunity to repent! What a glorious God! Is that not operating from love? Total love; not fear!
Not like Satan who entraps us and snares us when we fall for the temptations that he sets. We're not to be outwitted by Satan. When we can't ignorant of his schemes. This is one of his schemes.
Look at all the terrible tragedies that happened to Job when God was training him. Satan continued to do these things and what could have been Job's perspective?
God, why? What's next? I'm overwhelmed here, I can't handle it!
But that wasn't what happened. God worked with Job in love!
Mark 4:40: Jesus calmed the seas:"And He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful? Why do you not have faith?'"
That's our perspective right now. Faith cancels Satan's doctrine of fear!
Psalm 56:3: "When I am afraid, I will trust in You"
1-John 5:19 "We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, so that we may know Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and the eternal life" (vs 19-20).
Colossians 1:13: "Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness and has transferred us unto the Kingdom of the Son of His love."
John 10:10: "The thief does not come except to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly."
Thank You, God! Thank You for Your administration of love and not having an administration of fear!
God's character is His Law of Love! Everything that He does is governed by Who He is, and God is love!
Satan's path is that of fear, hate, evil, destruction, murder and wickedness! Yet, we need not fear! Thank You, God, for Your loving blessing of love!
(break@45:59)
Durrell Brown: Have Short Accounts with God
I'm in my 85th and it's a blessing to be here. I go way back, I'm a 1967 graduate of Ambassador College, the second black graduate. It seems to have been that way all my life, I'm always running second. But that is not really a bad place to be sometimes.
I was baptized in Bricketwood, England, in 1960. I was stationed in the Air Force over there. I was planning to attend AC in Bricketwood the year they opened over there. But 'Gentiles' couldn't attend at that time. But praise God, I'm a spiritual Israelite!
I want to give you a message that I've been dealing with and talking with over the months in preparing us for the times that we are in and are approaching.
When I came into the Church we were 'in the gun lap.' I was all ready for it, because I was in the military and had been there for almost four years. I had been study with Mr. Armstrong for about a year before I was finally baptized.
I got a flight from Germany over that Sept. of 1960, and Bricketwood opened that year, but blacks weren't accepted at that time because we were 'Gentiles.'
Almost 5 years to the date that I was 'drafted' to AC in Pasadena because Los Angeles was burning during the Watts riots. The Church began to see the need to integrate and bring Gentiles into the work of God. It's been in the ministry since 1967 and pastored in New Orleans and other areas in the South.
Since we are in times that may appear to be the very close of the age. I remember when I came into the Church we were in a 'gun lap' and I was ready to go! I was ready to do warfare in the Church! I ended up in the New York Church, and we would go down to Times Square and agitate the 'street preachers' because 'we knew the Truth.' I've repented of that, because I reflect back, and in so many cases what they were saying was the Truth:
- believe God
- trust God
- obey God
And you'll be saved!
But a group of us would maneuver them who were Spokesman Club member into 'okay you believe God and trust God, that means keeping the Ten Commandments and the Sabbath and Holy Days, stuff like that. We would get them all confused and we were learning to speak and agitate and this kind of thing.
I look back and I had to repent of that, because what they knew was the summary of the Gospel: believe, trust God and repent of your sins!
I want to talk about the very fact, at this juncture, keep short accounts with God! My time is short! I remember dreading that we would have this much time left. My wife wanted to have children right away so that they would be up and able to flee with us, as we fled to a place of safety.
My dad was an old man when I was born, and I saw him fail, and his inability to function. I didn't want to get old like that. I want to be as strong and active as I was so that I can flee and help people during the Tribulation and all of this kind of thing. Lo and behold, here I am in my 85th year! And Fred hasn't told us, and we don't know, but we could have another 19-year time-cycle, and that's a scary thing!
We must keep short accounts with God! At this critical time for those of us in our 80s, we had better keep short accounts with God! I want to emphasize what the Scripture tells us at this juncture in time.
Having done all is a summary of what God requires of us now that our minds has been opened. We have been called, chosen and given His Holy Spirit. We are to keep short accounts with God, having done all to stand! It's going to take a lot of effort and a lot of wisdom to stand at this particular juncture in time.
We are to put on the whole armor of God, and that is what I want to cover and emphasize. In order to stand we must be sufficiently ready to stand and knowledgeable to stand, watching and praying.
Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord…"
How do become "…strong in the Lord…"? We've got to learn what He requires of us, to be filled with His Holy Spirit, so that we can be strong, know how to act and be empowered by His Spirit.
"…and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of Godso that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (vs 10-11)—what's going and how he's working deceiving us and directing us and hindering the work of God!!
We need to know what the whole armor is in order to stand and be ready to fight, and resist the stuff that's coming. We should know what "…the wiles of the devil…" are.
Verse 12: "Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places."
We're striving against demonic forces that impacting the whole world and focusing in on the Church. I often pray that God would rebuke all the evil forces that are in this area where we are worshipping, as we open our mind to receive the Word of God. We don't want false information and a false spirit coming in.
Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God…"
I was in the military and they taught us and gave us 'battle gear.' Nothing protected your back, you had to stand and face the enemy!
"…so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand" (v 13).
What is the all? There are a lot things that we must do in preparation to have that full armor of God. So often we in the Church have not placed a great deal of emphasis on our part in the salvation process. God is faithful if we are learning, studying, praying and yielding to His Spirit, He will guide us and empower us. We must do our part!
Verse 14: "Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with Truth…"
Fred has rightly divided it for us with many books, booklets, messages, studies, etc. {truthofGod.org}
"…and wearing the breastplate of righteousness" (v 14).
We have the Word of Truth, and with the breastplate of righteousness for when the fiery darts hit us they won't have an effect.
Verse 15: "And having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace."
Supporting the Word and doing the best we can to model Godliness to the world.
Verse 16: "Besides all these, take up the shield of the faith… [trusting in God to show us and deliver us] …with which you will have the power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And put on the helmet of salvation" (vs 16-17).
That's a refreshing thought: the knowledge that if we stand in there, put up with all the stuff we're going to go through and we will be saved as a result! God is going to save us! He's going to deliver us!
Why would the Apostle Paul be rushing into study where he's going to be stoned and left for dead three times.
Verse 18: "Praying at all times with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and in this very thing being watchful…"
I've emphasizing that we are to watch and pray! We better keep our eyes and mind open so we can see what's going on.
- when you're watching, you will see
- when you see, you know
- when you know, you understand
Then you do the best and right Godly thing to do! God in His wisdom, power and Word has shown us what are the right things to do!
"…with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (v 18).
Hopefully we will have done all as we minister to God's people. What is the all that we must do to stand? There are things that we must do, and God is faithful if we are doing what He instructs us to do, trusting in Him, empowered by Him. We will do all that we need to do to be the salt and light to the world. That's our job for our families, associates, neighbors and friends, when they see we're not troubled by all these things as they are. We're trusting God, being blessed and not all crazed over it, rushing out taking shots and stuff.
We're to be salt and light, and be watchmen. We're the light to lead the way. That's a tremendous responsibility to be placed on our shoulders.
Verse 13: "Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having worked out all things, to stand":
- in our proclamation of the Gospel
- in our living the Gospel
- in our setting the example for the world
I talk to family members now who grew up in the Church. My daughter says, 'Yeah, I've heard all these things and I just want to die quickly.' Well, it might not happen! Then what are you going to do?
Luke 21:20: "But when you see Jerusalem… [when it becomes obvious that stuff is happening] …being surrounded by armies, then know that her desolation has drawn near. For these are the days of vengeance, so that all things that have been written may be accomplished" (vs 20-21).
If you're watching, have on the whole armor of God and are standing in a right relationship with God, we have been called to be the watchman! That's a tremendous responsibility! People will follow us if we are the light of the world!
Verse 28: "But when these things begin to take place, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
- keep short accounts with God
- stay close to God
- let His Holy Spirit enlighten us, empower us, clean us up, inspire us to support the work of God
And we won't have to worry about anything!
*****
Michael Heiss—Hang Onto the Rock
Fred and I both graduated from Ambassador College the same year, 1964. What I would like to try to do today is to give you, portray to you, the lesson that I learned that kept me around so that I am here before you today.
God has done this for all of us at one time or another. The year is 1958 and here I was an 18-year-old that had just come to realize that Jesus was the Christ.
Since I was reared in a Jewish home, I will tell you that is not exactly a household name! You can believe that! I had a good friend, who was Greek, took me to his church—Plato Church—the largest Greek Orthodox Church this side of Athens. We went there and it was really a magnificent building.
My friend was talking to the priest explaining the circumstances and the priest looked up and smiled, his eyes beaming, and walks up to me because here was this nice Jewish boy who was coming to Christ! This is a 'red letter day' for him.
Then he proceeded to give me an admonition, and I can only say that it was God Who did it through him, because there's no other reason why he would have ever said this. He looked at me, put his hands on my shoulders and said:
Whatever you do, do not look to a man! He is just that! He is a man! He will fail you! Always look to Christ; He will never fail you!
I remembered that! That was 1958 and I was off to Drake University.
I had heard the broadcast and started writing for literature. In part of the literature there was a brochure about Ambassador College. What caught my eye was: those of you who like history may be able to make world-famous discoveries under Herman L. Hoeh! I thought, Wow! That's for me! I loved history! But I thought: I'll probably never get there!
God knew that I was going to get there, because He was going to get me there, but I didn't know this. I put in my application and got there. There I saw the luminaries of the Worldwide Church of God, which was still The Radio Church of God later to become WCG.
Herbert Armstrong, Garner Ted Armstrong, Roderick Meredith, Herman Hoeh. I read their articles in the Plain Truth magazine. I was bushy-eyed and ready to take notes and learn, which I did!
But after a while 'the bloom came off the rose'! I couldn't believe this: backstabbing, politicking, lying, dishonesty! What is this? This is God's Church, and this is supposed to be God's headquarters! Well, God was trying to teach me something: throw out the water, but keep the baby! He was testing me, as He's testing all of you, and always has.
Herman Hoeh hired me in 1971, because we were not talking about a Holy Day: Pentecost. What day do we celebrate/commemorate Pentecost? The Church of God has kept it on the 6th of Sivan the way that the Orthodox Jews do and the whole Jewish community. They have kept it Monday and kept it on Sunday.
I am now going to show you how we can prove that Pentecost is on a Monday and also on a Sunday. How do we do that? Very simple!
Part of my job was to go to school in preparation for accreditation. So, Dr. Hoeh said to go to school and learn. So, I went to Hebrew Union College, which is the educational arm of the Reformed Jewish Movement.
One of the classes I had was Ancient Israel History. The visiting professor was from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He called for an oral exam! I'm thinking, I don't know 'beans from split peas' about presenting an oral exam. So, I go in and sure enough he's got to 'straighten me out, poor boy,' I needed it. This is what you do for this course:
You begin with a supposition, a premise, a given in the world of logicians. Then you take the data, all of it. In our case it would be the Hebrew text, Greek text, archeological findings, Josephus, Polybius, all of them and you interpret them in the light of your premise, and voila! you've proved your premise.
I'm thinking, and I blurt out, respectfully of course, 'That's reasoning in circles!' To which he replied, 'All reasoning is reasoning in circles.' Think about that!
You don't try to find the truth, you simply start out with a premise and you're goal is to prove your premise, whether right or wrong! This is what the world has done.
But what hurt me was this is what the Worldwide Church of God did! Above all to the man I came to know, love, grow and appreciate so much: Herman L. Hoeh! He did that!
Howard Clark was a very interesting fellow, a truly interesting man. At any rate, he was fond of saying that Dr. Hoeh was very fond of oddballs and Jews. Well since I was an oddball Jew I guess I had it made with him. Clark was able in 1971 to go and traverse the Middle East and the route of the Exodus. He wrote it in two articles. You can go on online and get them, but I still have my original copies of those two Good News magazines: May, June/July 1971; that's 50 years ago. I was with him all the way! I had my pen out and making my notes. I looked up the dates all the way until and that's what I want to discuss with you: the until!
Exodus 19:1: "In the third month when the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the wilderness of Sinai."
What day was this? The 5th day of the week, a Thursday! If you follow the notation in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order and you will see an explanation to that effect. You can work backwards to see that it was a Thursday.
Let's read it, and read it critically; very, very important that you read critically.
Verse 2: "For they had journeyed from Rephidim, and came to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness. And Israel camped there in front of the mount. And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation." These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel'" (vs 2-6).
Verse 7: "And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words, which the LORD commanded him. And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken we will do.' And Moses returned the words of the people to the LORD" (vs 7-8).
Verse 9: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Lo, I come to you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.' And Moses told the words of the people to the LORD."
Verse 10: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai'" (vs 10-11)—Pentecost!
When God said to "…'Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow… And be ready for the third day'" What day was that spoken on? Friday!
Let me tell you what the 'good Dr. Hoeh' said, and then we will go back to what the professor told me about logic, reasoning and premise. When you see it, you will understand the slight of hand of this:
Dr. Hoeh: That Sabbath Moses climbed Sinai once….
Hoeh said that the words were spoken on that day were on a Sabbath.
…So, God says "…today and tomorrow…. And be ready for the third day…"—Monday!
Voile! We have a Monday Pentecost! Don't we see that?
- What's wrong with this?
- What's the mistake here?
It is a deliberate, deceitful one! This is what hurt me so much. It really did!
Moses went up only twice. Read that carefully. There's no Sabbath journey up that mountain! Never was! Moses went up twice on Friday, and while he was still there on Friday God told him to get ready today, tomorrow, and the third day—Sunday! It was always on a Sunday!
Why did Dr. Hoeh do that? Remember what the professor told me back in 1971:
You start with a premise. What's the premise? What's the assumption?
The assumption was that Pentecost is on Monday, even if it's not on Monday, it's on Monday!
Back in 1974 it was a watershed year for the Church of God. Two major doctrines were changed: What we call D&R—divorce and re-marriage; and Pentecost.
Dr. Hoeh came over to my house, and I'm thinking: What does he want with me? I didn't know! We went through a three hour marathon on Pentecost. Then he revealed something to me that was absolutely dumbfounding! He told me that he had, years before, come to the conclusion that Pentecost was on Sunday!
You have to understand, I'm trying to take this in! I'm thinking: You knew that it was on Sunday! You proved it was on Sunday! Yet, you still promulgated Monday? There's a reason for that. Remember about a premise, supposition. What was his mindset?
Finally, I figured it out: His basic assumption was government from the top down! In other words, God reveals everything through His leader; in our case the one who calls himself an apostle, Herbert Armstrong. Hoeh said:
It's not up to me to go and point things out to him; God has to do it deliberately, directly!'
That was false, but this was his mindset, this is his premise. So, therefore, Pentecost was on a Monday, even if it wasn't on a Monday, because the Church government said that it was on a Monday!
What was so disturbing was that in 1978 Dr. Hoeh gave a sermon and he completely reversed himself! Fascinating! He said on that day in that year that Passover was not on a Tues./Wed.; it was on Wed./Thurs. The Night to be Much Observed was a Thurs./Fri. Nisan, the first month, only had 29 days, not 30 days, because it was not a fixed calendar. This is the 'good doctor' speaking to me.
Therefore, they came and arrived on a Friday at Mt. Sinai. So, Moses goes up twice on that Friday, comes down and Pentecost is on Sunday. He completely eliminates what he had said before, no mention of a trip up the mountain on the Sabbath!
It was fiction! Why did he change? Now the 'Church authority' now says that Sunday is Pentecost; therefore, what did the professor say? You state your premise, look at all the data, and you interpret that data in the light of your assumption to prove your assumption!
Now Pentecost is on Sunday and you're going manipulate the data and eliminate this trip up the mountain on the Sabbath and you're going to come up with a Sunday Pentecost, because that's what the leadership said!
You have to understand that I like Dr. Hoeh. I never met a kinder, more gentle individual. But he was dishonest with the facts! How do you set doctrine like that? But he did! And I'm thinking:
- Is this really the Church of God?
- Is this really proper?
Once again, flooding back into my mind the Greek Orthodox priest. DO NOT look to a man for he is just that! He is a man and he will fail you! Look to Christ, He will never fail you! That's what I had to do.
I realized that with all the shenanigans going on there, 'let God be true and every man a liar'! There we go, you've got to look to Christ! That was the primary lesson God was teaching me; no matter what!
One of my jobs at the college was in the booklet department, and the first six months my job—I was paid—to go read every booklet that the Church had ever put out, analyze it, criticize it:
- What can prove?
- What can we not prove?
I had read the booklets, but I had not read every one of them with a 'fine-tooth comb' checking out every Scripture, every historical reference. I just didn't do that. But that was my job, so I did! It was mind-boggling to see the mis-statements, the false statement, the inadequacies. What was worse, the bibliography!
In those booklets when we would quoting… We were relying on Alexander Hislop's Two Babylons, and we would never give Hislop the credit. It would simply be stating this, this and this and underneath it would be a source. That source came from Hislop's Two Babylons! We were using his work and we took his bibliography and just applied it wholesale!
That's when I realized that over here we have the reference, it's just the first or the last name of the scholar and his work. Why don't you give the full name in the history of it? Because Hislop didn't do that! They took the bibliography as it was in Hislop, pretending that we had done it!
No individual in the Church of God read all those books solidly! This was scholarship??? To many people that's not such a big deal. True! But to me it is a big deal, because how can I face something knowing it's wrong? I can't!
God was trying to teach me that it doesn't matter what they do, that's their problem! 'I am God! I am the Christ! I will guide you! I will be with you! So, hang in there!'
The biggest lesson of them all was hang onto the Rock! Who or what is the Rock?
1-Corinthians 10:4: "…the spiritual Rock that followed them. And that Rock was Christ."
It's up to me now to see the Truth as I understand it. To preach it! To explain it as best I can. I want to take what God said to Abraham regarding "Now I know…" to a higher level! In essence what God is saying to us, and what He has to be able to say to us, and what He must be able to say to us or we're not going to be in the Kingdom. We have got to get to the point where God can look at us and say:
Now I know that you are who you are! I know you're loyal to Me I know you're will to give up father, sister, mother, son, brother in your own life!
Because if you can't we're not going to be there! We're just not!
The idea that God knows everything, even before we do it, is false! That's a pagan idea! It comes from Greek philosophy! God knows a lot! He's the most power Being in the universe. When He says, 'I will do this' trust me, He will do it! No power in heaven or earth can stop Him! But:
- He does not control your mind
- He will not control your mind
- He does not know what you're going to do
He might have a pretty good idea; He hopes! But unless He can say, 'Now I know you're faithful!'
Think: if we have it right, we're going to be part of the Family of God! I mean, as Mr. Armstrong used to say, 'As God is God,' meaning the same power, the same spirit essence! You can roll stars off your fingertips! If God is going to give us that kind of power, He's got to know, and know that He knows that we're loyal to Him! No if, ands or buts! What's the way to do that? Hang on to the Rock, which is Christ!
Remember in Matt. 7 the faithful one who built his house on the Rock, and the storms came, the winds blew, no matter what, hang onto the Rock!
I can tell you that I've known some people, and one is a pretty good friend of mine, and when he gets onto something, he does not let go. He has been vilified in the past, he's been criticized in the past, but he is bull-dogged for the Truth of God. We all know him—Fred Coulter!
I'm not just praising him to the skies. I saw him! He hangs onto the Truth! That's why we're all here, because we know he does!
Ultimately, the lesson is that whatever you do, hang onto that Rock and never let go!
*****
Fred Coulter: Ordination of Michael Heiss
This is important: you must hold to the Truth of God! Because a lot of people who believe in Truth have not proved that it's Truth, and they have been deceived!
We're all here because of Truth! Sometimes that's hard to hold onto. Those who promulgate the lies and evil want to do you in. That's what we're going to be facing in the future. If there's any one thing that needs to be with all the elders—I can say that all the elders in Christian Biblical Church of God—hold to the Truth! If we err, we correct it! Nobody is above correction!
With that said, let's read about those who are elders and they are overseers! And overseer is one who directs the brethren with the Word of God, and they live their own lives before God individually, not dictated by the ministry. That's the difference between a priest and an overseer.
You help people achieve the Truth in their lives and what they need; you don't run their lives the way you want to run it. That's it! It's fundamental!
Peter said in 1-Peter 5, 'Feed the flock and do not treat them as your own possessions! They belong to God! That's what's important!
1-Timothy 3:1: "Faithful is the saying, 'If any man aspires to be an overseer, he desires a good work.' Now then, it is obligatory that the overseer be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant… [especially for the Truth] …serious-minded, respectable, hospitable, skillful in teaching" (vs 1-2).
That's what you have seen here today. Each one of these elders have presented in a skillful way to teach.
Verse 3: "Not given to much wine, not a bully, not greedy for selfish gain; but kind, not a quarreler, not a lover of money; one who rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all respect; (For if a man does not know how to rule his own household, how will he take care of the Church of God?) Not a novice…" (vs 3-6).
We can say that Michael Heiss is not a novice! If you're novice then all the rest of us have a long way to go!
"…lest he become conceited and fall into the same condemnation as the devil" (v 6).
Think about how many men, preachers in whatever church, fell into the condemnation of the devil! Who was one of the #1 ministers of the world to do that? Jim Jones! In the 1960s they went to Gahanna and they all committed suicide because they believed in a man. He stood on the Bible at one session and said, 'I am your god!' That's what some of them get in trouble with.
Verse 7: "It is mandatory that he also have a good report from those who are outside the Church, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."
So, those are two things you need to be alert on. So, you heard Michael Heiss bring a very good message of holding to the Truth, and how important that is. He's the one who did the translating for the Old Testament of the Faithful Version! We wouldn't have it without his work. He is faithful to the Truth! You will find that his translation of the O.T. is one of the best!
If Roger, Byron and Durrell come forward and Michael come forward, we will ordain you as an elder in the Church of God.
Ordination prayer (not transcribed)
Scriptural References:
Roger Tointon: The Right Heart
- Deuteronomy 5:29
- Isaiah 48:18
- Isaiah 10:22
- Romans 9:27-28
Joe Sanchez: What Does It Mean to Fear God?
- Jude 16
- 2 Timothy 3:1-4
- Genesis 26:24
- 2 Samuel 6:9, 12, 14
- 1 Chronicles 15:12-13, 15
- Deuteronomy 31:6
- Luke 21:26
- 2 Chronicles 34:19, 21,29-30
Not quoted: Genesis 22
Byron Norrod: Satan's Doctrine of Lies
- Hebrews 2:14-15
- 1 John 4:18
- 2 Timothy 1:7
- Romans 8:15
- Psalm 34:4
- Isaiah 41:10
- John 14:27
- Mark 4:40
- Psalm 56:3
- 1 John 5:19-20
- Colossians 1:13
- John 10:10
Not quoted:
- Matthew 18
- Psalm 51
- Genesis 4
Durrell Brown: Have Short Accounts with God
- Ephesians 6:10-18, 13
- Luke 21:22, 28
Michael Heiss: Hang Onto the Rock
- Exodus 19:1-11
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Not quoted: Matthew 7
Fred Coulter: Ordination Of Michael Heiss
1 Timothy 3:1-7
Not quoted: 1-Peter 5
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 2/16/22
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