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How God Builds Leaders Before He Hands Them MantlesTexts: Exodus 33:11; Numbers 27:18–23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Joshua 1:1–9 (KJV)God does not improvise leadership. When a season ends, Heaven does not panic. Long before Moses climbed Nebo for the last time, God had already been forming the man who would carry the next phase of the promise.Joshua did not inherit Moses’ mantle by proximity to death, but by participation in process.“And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit…”— Numbers 27:18 (KJV)Joshua was not empty when he was called. He was already carrying something God could trust.1. God Builds Successors in the Shadow, Not the SpotlightJoshua learned leadership where few were watching.“But his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”— Exodus 33:11 (KJV)While others admired Moses from a distance, Joshua studied God at close range. Staying when others leave is not inactivity; it is preparation. What you linger around eventually shapes you.2. Submission Is the First Mantle God Hands a ManBefore Joshua ever commanded Israel, he obeyed Moses.He fought Amalek under instruction, not ambition (Exodus 17). He waited while Moses ascended Sinai. He learned how authority functions without possessing it. God never entrusts power to those who have not first learned restraint.3. Faith Under Pressure Separates Successors from SpectatorsWhen the land was surveyed, the nation panicked—but Joshua stood.“If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land…”— Numbers 14:8 (KJV)Majorities do not determine destiny—alignment does. Joshua’s voice mattered to God because it agreed with heaven when fear ruled the camp.4. Mantles Are Transferred, But Capacity Must Already ExistMoses laid hands on Joshua, but he did not create Joshua.“And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him…”— Deuteronomy 34:9 (KJV)Impartation confirms what preparation has already built. Hands may transmit authority, but character carries it.5. God Does Not Reduce His Presence at TransitionWith Moses gone, God did not downgrade His promise.“As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”— Joshua 1:5 (KJV)The continuity of God’s presence proves the legitimacy of the successor. God moves with His purpose, not with personalities.6. Every New Season Is Governed by the Same WordJoshua was not given a new law—only a deeper responsibility to obey it.“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth…”— Joshua 1:8 (KJV)Innovation without obedience is rebellion in disguise. God builds leaders by rooting them in what never changes.Closing ChargeJoshua did not rush into leadership—leadership caught up with him.He stayed when others drifted.He submitted when others asserted.He believed when others feared.That is the making of a successor.God is still forming Joshuas—quietly, patiently, deliberately.The only question is: are you staying long enough to be built?

When faith leaks, destiny bleeds.
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.”
— Hebrews 10:35 (KJV)
Confidence is not arrogance.
Confidence is faith held under pressure.
Heaven does not reward intentions, emotions, or explanations—it rewards confidence that refuses to loosen its grip. The enemy is not always trying to make you sin; often he is trying to make you doubt, hesitate, or explain yourself out of obedience.
Confidence is the first casualty of delay.

1. Confidence Is a Trust—Not a Feeling
   The Scripture does not say feel confident; it says cast not away your confidence. Confidence is something you carry, something you can drop, something you can guard.
   Feelings fluctuate.
   Confidence is anchored.
   David didn’t feel confident when Goliath roared—but he spoke confident because his trust was already settled:
   “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me…”
   — 1 Samuel 17:37 (KJV)
   Confidence remembers what fear tries to erase.
2. Pressure Is Designed to Loosen Your Grip
   Trials are not just tests of endurance; they are tests of conviction. The longer the wait, the louder the question: “Are you still sure God said it?”
   This is where many believers don’t backslide—they leak.
   They still pray, but softly.
   They still believe, but cautiously.
   They still obey, but with an escape plan.
   Hebrews doesn’t warn against open rebellion; it warns against casting away confidence—quietly, politely, logically.
3. Confidence Has a Reward Attached
   “…which hath great recompence of reward.”
   — Hebrews 10:35 (KJV)
   God ties reward not only to faith, but to faith that remains confident under fire. Confidence is faith refusing to renegotiate with circumstances.
   The reward is not just what you receive—it is what you become:
   Unshakeable
   Rooted
   Authoritative
   Calm in storms that panic others
   Confidence tightens your spiritual posture.
4. Heaven Responds to Bold Trust
   When Peter stepped out of the boat, the miracle was not the water—it was the decision. The moment he looked at the wind, confidence loosened, and he began to sink.
   What failed was not the word; it was the focus.
   “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”
   — Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
   Confidence stays tight by staying focused.
   A Final Charge
   Do not let delay loosen you.
   Do not let opposition explain you out of obedience.
   Do not let familiarity make you casual with God’s promises.
   Keep your confidence tight.
   Tight in prayer.
   Tight in confession.
   Tight in obedience.
   Tight in expectation.
   Because the reward is closer than the pressure suggests.
   “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
   — Hebrews 10:37 (KJV)

When God’s Love and Spirit Say “No”
Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:14; Acts 16:6 (KJV)
Supporting: Acts 20:22
“For the love of Christ constraineth us…”
— 2 Corinthians 5:14
Not all constraints are cages.
Some are compasses.
The love of Christ does not merely inspire—it restrains.
It places holy pressure on desire, ambition, speech, and movement.
This is not oppression.
This is government.
When God loves a man deeply, He limits him deliberately.
Love That Will Not Let You Go Anywhere
Paul did not say the love of Christ encouraged us.
He said it constrained us.
Love narrowed his options.
Love closed doors.
Love vetoed selfish freedom.
Anything love does not approve,
grace does not empower.
If love is not constraining you,
it may not yet be governing you.
“And they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia.”
— Acts 16:6
This is shocking.
The assignment was good.
The intention was noble.
The message was correct.
Yet the Holy Ghost said No.
Because timing matters.
Territory matters.
Sequence matters.
God does not only guide by permission—
He also guides by prohibition.
The Discipline of Divine “No”
The Holy Ghost forbade Paul, not because Asia was evil,
but because Macedonia was urgent.
A delayed obedience in one place
can abort destiny in another.
Sometimes God blocks your path,
not to punish you,
but to protect what is ahead.
“And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem…”
— Acts 20:22
Paul was not chained by men.
He was bound by the Spirit.
This is the highest form of freedom—
to be unable to disobey God.
When the Spirit binds you,
confusion ends.
Debate dies.
Options collapse.
Only assignment remains.
Closing Charge
In a generation addicted to options,
God still raises men governed by constraints.

• Constrained by love
• Restricted by truth
• Forbidden by the Spirit
• Bound to purpose
  If God is limiting you,
  He is likely positioning you.
  Do not pray against holy restraints.
  They are evidence of trust.
  Declaration
  Lord, constrain me by Your love.
  Forbid me where You have not sent me.
  Bind me to Your purpose.
  I choose divine restriction over dangerous freedom.

The Sin of Surviving Without Fire. This generation stands at a perilous crossroads—not between truth and error, but between inheritance and negligence. Revival is not a crisis-time novelty; it is a sacred trust handed down. To lose it is not tragedy—it is dereliction. God was explicit: “The fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out… A fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” — Leviticus 6:12–13 (KJV) This was not counsel—it was command. The fire came from heaven, but its keeping was entrusted to men. The great betrayal was never that fire did not fall—it was when priests learned to function without it. That is the sin of our age: surviving spiritually without sustaining the fire. Churches may be busy, orthodox, organized, and admired—yet guilty of abandoning the very flame that authenticated God’s presence. We have mastered form without fire, continuity without intensity, survival without revival. Yet revival is our inheritance. Fire is our trust. Neglect is our accountability. God does not judge a generation for lacking what was never given—but He judges a generation that lets the fire die on its watch. “O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years…”— Habakkuk 3:2 (KJV) Revival is not innovation; it is resurrection. Heaven does not always introduce the new—it revives the abandoned. God breathes again on faded altars, neglected truths, and hearts that still remember fire. Revival is emergency care for a dying witness. And when God revives, He does not merely restart—He restores: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…”— Joel 2:25 (KJV) God redeems years—lost seasons, wasted callings, compromised altars. What hell consumed slowly, God restores suddenly. History proves it: every revival followed the same path— recognition of decline, return to prayer and the Word, repentance that cut deep, and power that flowed outward. God has never resisted revival—only pride. A spiritual renaissance is heaven re-engineering the soul and re-gearing the Church—from maintenance to mission, from performance to presence, from noise to power. Same gospel. Same Spirit. But renewed fire. “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?”— Psalm 85:6 (KJV) This is not the hour to preserve ashes—but to rekindle flame. Not to remember revival—but to carry it. O Lord—revive Thy work. Restore the years. And let this generation be found faithful keeping the fire burning. Amen. 🔥

“MOSES drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.” In the thick darkness, God will try you. He will draw you through places of trial at times, and you will know wherein your faith stands–whether in feeling, in your leader, in your neighbors, or in God. Your confidence must be in God. How easy it is for people to lean upon the arm of flesh! But faith steps out alone, and leans upon One you have never seen perhaps never heard His audible voice speaking to you. You must step out into open space, as it were, and trust God to bring you through. It is a wonderful thing for God to come so near to the human heart as to cause you to trust in Him when you cannot see Him, but you can feel Him; and even when the feeling is removed, faith will leap out into the dark and say, “If I perish, I perish, but I will go in before the King and make my request.” It is a wonderful thing to have unbounded confidence and implicit faith in God, who lets you look beyond the natural and see the spiritual, the things that are eternal. After all, the natural is weak, the arm of flesh often fails. You may prefer to call the best physicians and consult with them in time of sickness, when your child is lying at the point of death, but God has led us into the marvelous Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and taught us to trust the greatest Physician, the One who healed all who came unto Him, and will do the same today. Thank God for the Gospel that brings into the soul the faith and confidence, trust and hope, that nothing can shake. In the Hands of God When David, the king of Israel, had sinned against God, and was given the choice of falling into the hands of his enemies or being visited with pestilence, he said: “Let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.” He knew that he could pray and sacrifice to God, and God’s mercy would be extended to him. Thank God, He had a people then, and He has a people today, who choose rather to be in the hand of God than in the hand of man. They belong to the great God of Heaven. Many will lean on the arm of flesh, trust their cases in the hands of man, and expect to get more mercy from that source than from God; but the Word says, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD” (Jeremiah 17:5). A young man who was saved in the Apostolic Faith had confessions to make that would have caused him to spend his lifetime behind the bars, but he was willing to face the penitentiary walls that he might get right with God. We told him to trust in God, not to look to the judges, the cold steel of law and justice of the world, but to look beyond to the great God of Heaven, and make his confessions according to God’s demands upon his life. God went before him and delivered him. They forgave him and he became a free man. David went up to the mountain, to the place where the Temple afterward was built, to make an offering to God. Ornan offered to give him the threshing floor and the oxen for a burnt offering; but David said, “I will verily buy it for the full price; for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost” (I Chronicles 21:24). So he paid the full price of the floor and of the offering. If you make an offering to God, it must be a sacrifice which costs something. David sacrificed there unto the Lord, and the angel of the Lord put his sword into the sheath, and God answered by fire because of the covenant that David made with Him. Jacob made a covenant with God at Bethel, where God first appeared unto him. As he lay that night upon a pillow of stone, he saw a ladder from earth to Heaven, and angels ascending and descending upon it. When he awoke he made a vow to God, and promised God that if He would bless him in his journey, he would give Him a tenth of all he possessed. God knew he would keep his vow, and that is why God blessed him so abundantly. It means something to keep your sacrifice, your vows to God. It all belongs to Him in the first place. He says, “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High” (Psalm 50:10, 14). If you would pay your vows unto God and offer thanksgiving to Him, you would not be able to contain the blessings God would pour into your thirsty soul. Daily Consecration Consecrate your life daily to God. The people who have the most love for God in their hearts, the most hunger for the Word of God are the ones who are consecrating their lives daily. They are praying, “Search my life, try the reins of my heart, make me what You want me to be, make me ready when Jesus comes.” If you do not consecrate your life daily, you are missing the greatest blessing of your life. You cannot keep that sweet incense, that love for your brother, that precious, holy anointing that God Almighty drops down afresh in the morning, at noon, and night, unless you keep your sacrifice on the altar continuously. God commands you to watch and pray and examine your heart. Your consecration for yesterday is not sufficient for today. You must live right in the bosom of His will. The sweetest, most sacred place on earth is in the center of the will of God, where you can cry day and night, “To know thy will is to do it!” If you are truly consecrated to God, only to know His will is to do it gladly. We must live close to God in order to know His will. It means a close walk with God; but if we will keep consecrated and keep our hearts open to God and in an attitude where God’s will can be revealed, He will show us His will. If you are in doubt, hold still before God until you do know. Do not be running to this one and that one, and asking God for a revelation or a vision; but just be still and let God deal with your heart and He will reveal the matter to you. It is a wonderful thing to be so in the hands of God that He can keep you still as well as lead you on. It was a hard thing for the Children of Israel to stand still and see the salvation of God when the Red Sea was before them and the armies behind them. God commands us to stand still, without murmuring. When you know God’s Word, and yet the walls seem mountain high and you are surrounded by turmoil, set your face like a flint and stand true to God, and some day He will cause you to go through. God Will Have a Tried People You will never get to the place in your Christian experience where you will be above temptation and trial. Jesus was tempted of the devil. He was a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” We shall always be subject to temptation, but we can be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. “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” (I Corinthians 10:13). You will be tempted and tried. Real Bible salvation will not always keep you on the mountaintop of feeling. Some may wonder why they cannot always feel the blessing. That is not according to God’s Word, because the Bride of Christ is in her tribulation today, and the Word says, “The just shall live by faith” (Hebrew 10:33). The tribulation of the world is coming after the Bride is taken away, but the tribulation of the saints of God is in their lives today. Many times you wonder why you shed tears and go through heart sufferings, your spirit being oppressed. God says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). His Word declares that afflictions shall come to the child of God. He wants a people tested and tried, proved and made pure through suffering, through temptation and tribulation. He says, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10). We are living in the most awful age of the world. There never was a time with such privileges and opportunities; and yet there never was a time when the onslaughts of Satan were so great as today. You may not understand why it is you have times of tests and trials so strange; but we read, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12). God would never have a perfect people if He did not try them. He must have a people, “purified, and made white, and tried.” It is easy when everything is coming our way and we feel the glory and the smile of Heaven, but that is not what makes a tried-out people. We must endure hardness, walk by faith, and penetrate right through to the Throne of God by faith in Him. We are going through the humiliation with Jesus Christ. But oh, to think that some day we shall rise with Him, and these vile bodies shall put on incorruption! We shall be like unto His glorious body. Some day the perfection of beauty will be seen on God’s children, when “we shall see him as he is.” He may lay you low; He will put you in the dust. But we read in the Word, “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” We have found God’s Word to be true. Oh, that we might get our hearts in an attitude before God to say, “I surrender, I lay my life at the foot of the Cross, an empty vessel; do what You will with me, but I will stand, I will be obedient to the ‘heavenly vision’ ”! It means much to walk this way alone, but we must be faithful to God if we would be “the firstfruits” unto Jesus Christ and have part in the First Resurrection. God is striving to get His people ready to meet Him in the air. We must be tried and purified until the coming of the Lord. Intercessory Prayer God wants His children to be a holy priesthood, that our prayers may ascend in behalf of a dying world. He wants intercessors at the Throne of God, that we might beat back the power of sin in the world today and rescue souls. God’s people must prevail in prayer if souls are to be delivered from the power of the enemy. He has made us kings and priests unto the eternal God, that we might stand in the gap and make intercession for souls. If you are born again, your prayers are worth everything and how much more after you are sanctified! It is then you become a priest of the living God, so separated from your own self and your own desires that you can go into the very presence of God and plead for a lost world. You need not be continually wrestling with God for your own self. You should be praying for others. There is an extreme love for souls that comes into your life at sanctification. Jesus wept in tender love and pity for the lost, and His Spirit today makes us feel for the lost as He felt. The more you are filled with the Spirit, the more you are like Jesus. Self-enjoyment is lost sight of. You have fellowship with Him in His sufferings and in prayer and labors for souls; your highest enjoyment is seeing some poor sinner brought to the feet of Jesus. No matter where you are, if you have a pure heart and a pure conscience, you can pray. It may be on the streetcar, at the workbench, or at the washtub; but your soul can breathe a prayer to God, and the incense of praise can be ascending from your heart. God Himself will meet your soul when you lift your heart in prayer before Him. Oh, it is wonderful, the plan God has made for us in these last days! It just ravishes our souls to think that God has revealed these things to babes in Christ and hid them from the wise and prudent. A Deeper Consecration He wants His people to be on fire for Him. God is saving sinners, sanctifying believers, baptizing with the Holy Ghost and fire, and healing the sick. This salvation must be preached in all the world and to all nations, and then shall the end come. God grant that His people may be faithful, seeking God and searching and wrestling and praying, paying the whole price and obtaining the prize, so that we shall not have to say in that day, “I would to God I had been faithful!” The call is for laborers to go out into the harvest field. Oh, may you go down before God and strip for the race! May you say, “God, make me a channel, empty me out, and fill me with the new wine of the Spirit, that I might bear to a dying world the most blessed Gospel message ever on mortal lips.” God has called us to be fishers of men. There is no higher calling in the world than to tell a lost soul that there is a way out of sin. The powers of darkness are raging: but God is working, through the prayers and supplication of His people, to stem the awful tide. May God help every soul to gird on the armor of the Lord and be faithful in prayer and consecration; for truly we know not the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.

Tract Number.: 122

Nothing in the history of the world has meant so much to humanity as the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was born as a man, and lived and died as a man; but He was more than man. He was the Son of God, clothed in human flesh.

The God of the Christian is a God of love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 ). He, who had part in the creation of the world, the heavens, and everything therein, came to earth to teach man how to live, and to give Himself a ransom for sin.

Some people see in Christ only a great teacher. It is true that He was the greatest Teacher. But when John the Baptist, as he was baptizing on the banks of the Jordan river, saw Jesus coming to be baptized, he did not say, “Behold, a great teacher!” He cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus had come to offer Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God, as well as to show man how to live.

Atonement

Many religions emphasize the need for atonement. The people feel that a sacrifice must be made to atone for their wrongdoing. Many will afflict themselves, causing bodily injury; others will offer animal sacrifices: and some will even sacrifice their own children. But none of these things can atone for our misdeeds, the sins we have committed. One of the ancient prophets of the Bible wrote: “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:7). The answer was no. “What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

Jesus, through the Blood He shed on the Cross of Calvary, atoned for our sins and made it possible for us to live according to His requirements. Jesus proved that He was indeed the Christ, the Son of God, by rising again from the dead. He was seen alive by many people afterward, and He ate and drank with His friends before He ascended to Heaven.

Life-Giving Words

There have been many great teachers who have founded religions, but none of them ever laid down his life and had power to take it up again. Their teachings were often of great merit, but there was no power in those words to help the disciple to live according to the teaching. But Jesus said: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). And another time He said: “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). These words are from the Bible.

Jesus taught the right way to live, and then through His death and resurrection made a way whereby we can obey His commandments. The Blood of Jesus atones for the sins of all who will believe on Him. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). There is life in that name. Jesus said, “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

Divine Compassion

When the news came to blind Bartimaeus, a beggar who sat beside the road where Jesus was passing one day while on earth, he began to cry out: “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” The crowd tried to quiet him, but he cried out so much the more.

Jesus heard that cry, and He had compassion. He commanded the blind man to be brought. Jesus asked, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” The blind man put his whole life into his petition when he answered, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” Jesus said, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” He received his sight at once and followed Jesus. His faith had saved him and healed him, and made him happy. (This incident is recorded in Luke 18:35-43 and in Mark 10:46-52).

Today Jesus is passing by, and is bidding: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). We cannot see Him passing by, but we can feel His tug at our heart. We can feel His wooing as He calls all the weary to rest.

In the Heart

God has reserved a place in the human heart to be occupied by Himself alone. Until God takes that place, the heart will yearn and strive for something – they know not what. Nothing will satisfy the heart but the love of Jesus.

The Spirit of God is faithful. When He sees honesty and integrity in a soul, a willingness to live as Jesus wants him to, He will pass by and call that one to follow Him. Jesus said: “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

Groping in Darkness

There are many blind people who spend all, do all they can to try to receive their sight. But there are untold millions who are deprived of spiritual sight who are unconcerned about it. They are blinded by the worship of the god of wealth, the god of pleasure, the god of immorality, or some other god! Through all Jesus’ ministry we find that He listened to all who called unto Him. The poor beggar cried out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me,” and Jesus had mercy.

If you feel an emptiness in your life, if you are burdened with the cares of life, if you want to know what life is all about, come to Jesus. He has the answer for all your problems. There is nothing in this world that will satisfy the human heart. You can well afford to say, “Take the world, but give me Jesus.” Give your life to Him. Yield your will to His will. As you surrender you will feel a new power surge through you. You will feel the rest that Jesus gives.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

About Us

The Apostolic Faith Church is conservative in nature, following a tradition of Wesleyan holiness taught and practiced by those whom the Holy Spirit descended on at the Azusa Street Revival.

Tract No.: 84.

God has made provision for the needs of His people through the sacrifice on Calvary.

GOD’S great economy has made provision for all the needs of His people.  The world in its sinful career has substituted much for the blessings and benefits that God’s people who profess to be followers of God get mixed up in this matter of what God has provided, and what they should lean on the world for.  As we read the Bible, we are convinced that God has made provision for every need of every soul who is born   into His Kingdom and is a member of His triumphant Church.

The more we trust God, the better it pleases Him; and the more we lean upon the arm of flesh, the more grieved He becomes with us.  It is a good thing to keep this thought before us as we are seeking the Lord.  Every time we turn away from the great provision that is made by God in His plan of salvation, and turn to the world for support and deliverance in some emergency, the more we grieve God and the less we become possessors of that faith which was once delivered to the saints.  That is what we are contending for.  The business of the church of God is to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. That faith included everything which God provided for His people.

God’s Power Inexhaustible

            People with strong, healthy bodies might not think the teaching of Divine Healing is so important to them; and others who have slight infirmities of the flesh for which they can find some little homeopathic cure, might think it does not concern them much.  There are other persons who have exhausted the medical skill of the world, the knowledge of physicians and surgeons, and as a last resort, through the painful process of elimination, turn to God for help – because there is no other place to turn – they might be interested in the teaching of Divine Healing.

            I am persuaded that, according to the Word, every child of God is to make it his business to trust God for the healing of his body, whether he has a pain in the back of his neck, or a cancer in his stomach.  It is just as easy for God to heal one as the other; and God’s skill is never exhausted.  If our faith is weak for cancer or consumption or something of that kind, our faith is weak for anything else: but if we can take hold of God’s promises and say, like Job of old, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” we are going to see results.  God will not slay you; He will honor your faith.  He may take you home to Glory, but that will be all the better.

 Where Sickness Originated

            In the third chapter of Genesis we read where disease, pain and death came from, and how they came upon the human race.

            “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou hath cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

            “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3: 14, 15).

            This promise of God was given right after the Fall. It is the first promise of the Messiah to be found in the Bible.  What a marvelous thing it is that God undertook to redeem the race the minute the race needed redemption!  The seed of the woman should bruise the head of Satan.

            The curse of God came as a result of disobedience.  Disobedience to God is sin. If we think of God’s commandment as being harsh, cruel, and tyrannical, we have the wrong conception entirely.   There is not one of God’s commandments that we cannot obey, and obey with joy and gladness – if we get a change of nature.  When David said. “I delight to do thy will, O my God,” it was because he had had a change of heart and a change of nature.  He willingly did that which was pleasing in the sight of God; and it was not hard for him to obey the commandments, statutes, and ordinances of God.

            “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

            “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

            “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3: 17 -19).

            Disobedience to God brought the curse; and pain and disease and death were the results of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  There was nothing like that known before the Fall. There was no pain, no sickness, no death.  But oh, we have a glorious promise here! And it follows right down through the Bible to the Book of Revelation – what we lost through the first Adam we gained back through the victory of the second Adam. Glory to God!

 Deliverance

            If our body is diseased and racked with pain, and we undergo the tortures of the devil’s doing, thank God, through the Blood of Christ’s Cross, through the second Adam we can be delivered – delivered!  The testimonies we hear from time to time confirm that.  Just today, and yesterday, and the day before, God answered prayer.  And then some people say it is fanatical to believe in divine healing! If we do not believe in divine healing, we are failing God.

            In Deuteronomy, chapter 28, are enumerated the blessings that shall come upon the children of God who observe and do all of his commandments.  God has pronounced a definite blessing upon those who observe His commandments, and a curse upon all who disobey.

            “The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish” (Deuteronomy 28:22).

            If we consider this verse, we find included in these few words all the diseases known to medical science.  We say science –  although an eminent physician said, at a conference of prominent medics in Chicago some months ago, that, aside from some of the commonly known diseases and ills of the human race that everyone knows the symptoms of a large percent of the diagnoses is guesswork.  Do you want to trust someone who is guessing? I would rather trust a Physician who knows all about me.

            God has promised to heal all our diseases.  He said to the Children of Israel:

            “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes,  I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee”(Exodus 15: 26).

            If we analyze the matter, we shall find, in all probability, that the people who are trusting in the arm of flesh to get healing for their bodies are those who are not trusting God or who are under condemnation for sin and cannot trust God.  The primary reason for all sickness and disease is sin.

            You ask: Do you mean that everybody who gets sick has sinned? No, we do not mean to say that, but we do know that before sin ever came into this world there never was such a thing as disease, pain, or death.  God has His own plans and purposes.

                     The Trial of Faith

            It might be good to look into the second chapter of the Book of Job.  The righteous are sometimes afflicted.  Maybe it is for a corrective purpose; maybe God has a good reason for it; or maybe it is to prove their integrity to God before a gainsaying world.  Let God be sovereign in all His dealings with us.

“And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

“And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life”  (Job 2: 3,4).

That may be a maxim of this world, but that does not designate a Christian; for it is not true of a Christian – “all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Many a Christian has gladly forfeited his life for the principles God has put in his soul; and has retained his integrity to God, even though it cost him his life.  So Satan is a liar, and the father of lies.

“But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

            “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

            “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown” (Job 2: 5-7).

            That was a trial of faith but not because Job had sinned.  They very likely pointed the finger of scorn at Job, and said: “You have sinned or this terrible calamity would not have come upon you.”  He proved his integrity to God.  He stood true through the loss of every tangible thing in his life.  He proved his faith in God.  He stood fearless, firm, and faithful in spite of enemies from without and enemies from within.  Even his own wife told him to curse God and die, but he had this testimony: “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” He fell on his face and worshiped God.  In all these things not once did Job charge God foolishly.

            When we have experiences that are hard to understand, when we cannot see through all that God is permitting to come our way, think of Job in that same predicament.  The Apostle said, “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”  Would not those words have been a comfort to Job? He stood alone, not only bereft of all his children and everything he once possessed, but afflicted with painful boils; and still he retained his integrity.

            We do not have to read the rest of it; we know what Job did – he stood true.  He was not living in our time under the Christian dispensation; he was living in days when those men of God had to have naked faith in God.  They did not have these promises that you and I can turn to in the hour of severe trial. They had to stand for God, and stand alone, without any fellowship or support or comfort or common understanding from anyone about them; but they stood the test.

 A Burden of Prayer

There is another sickness spoken of by Daniel.  Christians are sometimes burdened so severely that they literally become sick.  I know from experience that if one has a real burden for something upon his heart, he literally becomes sick.  That kind of sickness is not from the devil.  Daniel had it.

            “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it”(Daniel 8:27).

God gave Daniel a vision of the terrifying judgements that were coming upon this world – maybe those very judgements that shall fall in your day and mine – and those visions had such an effect upon him that he fainted and was sick certain days.

Sometimes it is good for God’s saints to have such a burden that they get that kind of sickness.  Prayer prayed when a burden like that comes upon you are more effectual. There is more wrestling with God, there is more gripping of the horns of the altar, when a burden comes upon your soul; and God blesses the soul that has a burden for prayer with groanings which cannot be uttered.  There is suffering in the deepest regions of your soul, and you do not always know what it is.  Yet it grips you until you almost faint and are sick, as Daniel was.  That kind of “sickness” is of God.

Daniel realized the imminence of coming judgment.  Sometimes when we look out over the world and see conditions as they are today, it fairly turns us sick because we know that just as surely as these things continue and intensify, the judgement of God is going to fall in all its fury upon the human race.

 Divine Healing Promised

In Isaiah, chapter 53, we find a promise, not only of a Messiah, a Redeemer, a Savior, but also a promise of a Healer Divine.

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

            “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

            “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

            “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

            “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:1-5).

            That means spiritual healing and it also means physical healing.  When God said, “I am the LORD that healeth thee,” He meant physically.  If we lean on the arm of flesh, and turn to man for help, it is hard for God to do anything for us; and that is why it is hard for God to get some people into the place where He can heal them.  God does not heal us against our will; God heals us because we trust Him, wait upon Him, believe Him, and renounce every earthly refuge.  That is the kind of people who receive healing from God.

 The Healing Touch

“And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

“And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them” (Matthew 8 : 14, 15).

This was one kind of sickness that was spoken of by God back in Deuteronomy.  Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with fever.  I do not know whether that fever registered 105, 106 or even 107 degrees but it was a fever.  She was sick, and in bed.  Jesus came and touched her hands and the fever left her; and she arose and ministered unto them.

“When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

“That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,  Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8: 16, 17).

The business of every child of God is to turn to the Lord as his Physician.  It is no wonder that people perish when, under the blazing light of God’s truth, they turn to the arm of flesh.  The Word of God says: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.” I think the Scripture bears out, beyond question, the fact that bodily healing, as well as salvation for the soul, is provided in the Atonement.

            “And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

            “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17, 18).

            That was the commission of Jesus to the disciples. They were specifically commanded to lay hands on the sick, in the name of the Lord, and to preach the Gospel in its entirety.

 True Faith Not Fanaticism

            We know there are people who have gone wild and have done a lot of foolish things.  You read about the would-be “snake-charmers” in Virginia and in some of the southern states doing all sorts of wild things.  You hear of them holding their hands in the flames, drinking deadly poisons, playing with rattlesnakes and copperheads, and doing things of that kind.  But because some people do that which is unscriptural and fanatical is no reason we should not observe and obey the plain truths of God’s eternal Word.

            Some say: “Why don’t you take up serpents? Why don’t you drink deadly poisons?” I say the Bible gives us to understand clearly enough that if by accident or through ignorance one should come in contact with anything deadly, the Lord will be there to protect him as in the experience of Paul the Apostle.  But the Bible does not teach the willful handling of snakes.  That is presumptuous sin.

            The saints of God have been bitten by deadly insects; they have accidently swallowed glass and poison; and God has marvelously healed them.  God says: “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Faith that wavers and falters is not faith at all.  Faith that stands firm is the faith which brings the results and the reward.  God will honor it.

            To the Believer

            In the Epistle of James we read:

            “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.  Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 

            “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

            “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5: 13-15).

            That is God’s message to the believer,  not mine.  It is for every true believer.  Will we believe it? Will we accept it?  Will we take it for what it is worth?  Our help comes from God – and not from the arm of flesh.  If you are sick in body call for the elders of the church to pray for you for the healing of your body; and if the faith channels are clear, your conscience clear, and there is no condemnation upon your heart, you have every reason to believe God for the perfect healing of your body.

            James said: “Call for the elders.” The first thing some people do when they are sick or become afflicted is to call a doctor or someone who knows about disease, sickness, and infirmities.  That is not according to the Word.  The first thing they should do is to pray and get in touch with God’s ministers who will pray for them. (State and local laws frequently make it necessary to call a physician in case of serious illness; and a true Christian can obey the civil laws without hindering his faith.)

            We read: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray.” This shows us there is something to be done by the afflicted one himself.  He should first get into a condition where he can get his own prayer through before sending for the elders.  Many times, if this were done, it would not be necessary for the ministry to be called –  except when help was needed in a desperate way.  God will honor and bless those who follow His Word.

            “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vow unto the most High:

            “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50: 14,15).

            Broken vows are often the cause of prayers going unanswered.  Broken vows! You have disappointed God.  You have fallen down somewhere in your allegiance to God and you wonder why you cannot get your prayers through. Pay thy vows to the Most High, call upon Him, and He will deliver thee.  Yes, there are conditions to meet, many times, in order to receive healing from God.  As we said before, God has to get people to the place where He can heal them.

            God wants us where He can be pleased to pour His blessing out upon us.  And if we are walking contrary to the will of God, violating the known will of God, breaking His commandments, ordinances, and precepts, the best prayer under those conditions is: “O God, forgive me; restore me to thy fellowship and confidence; restore my faith; and I will prove true.  I will stand by the Word.” Then your prayers will go through and God will answer.

            In II Chronicles we find an account of one who turned to the arm of flesh.

            “And, behold the acts of Asa, first and last, lo, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.

            “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians” (II Chronicles 16: 11,21).

            Asa was a man who had trusted God and had been faithful to Him.  God had honored him in his zeal to purify Israel, separate the people from their idolatry, and help them get back to God.  In the last days of his reign he was diseased in his feet until his disease was “exceeding great.” Yet the Word says he sought not the Lord for his healing, but turned to physicians.  Could anything be more definite than this as to what the man of God should do when he is diseased?

The next verse reads:

“And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.”

“Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me.” God help us to take counsel from the Lord! God will honor the man or woman who will take counsel from God’s Word, and let all other counsel go by the board if it is not according to His Word and in harmony with the teaching of His word.

You may do as you choose about your future welfare from a physical standpoint. Every man is going to answer for himself to the Word of God.  He must stand or fall before God alone – and it is not what I say or do not say.  Don’t come to me and say, “I have a pain and I think it is appendicitis.  What should I do?” If you have a pain in your side, and you think it is appendicitis, take counsel of God. But do not try to involve your preacher in your unbelief.  Take your stand for God, believe His Word, and see God answer.

Living Witnesses

I know a young woman in the Gospel who some years ago, had a pain in her side; and her mother, becoming alarmed, induced her to go to the doctor and have an operation.  This young woman said that she suffered for two years after the operation.  She said, “I thought I never would get back my faith that I lost when I failed to trust God.”

Another woman here today was marvelously healed of a terrible tumor.  Years ago in a backslidden state, she had appendicitis. She had lost her faith; she had lost her grip on God, and in the time of trial she turned to the arm of flesh.  She went to the doctors and had an operation.  God in His mercy spared her life and she came back to God and was restored.  Then she was again brought face to face with the same sort of test.  A serious condition set in from the tumor.  The doctor said she would have to have an operation immediately. She chose to trust God, and God healed her.  She went back to the same doctor and he said there was not a trace of the tumor to be found.

            There is many a person in the “slough of despond” because he should have trusted God and did not; and he lost his faith and grip on God.  Today he has nothing substantial to stand upon; and then he wonders what is the matter.  It means something to stand for God and to trust Him! It pays 

Trusting God Profitable

            It pays to trust God.  We trust God in our existence in this world; we trust God for other things.  Why should it be harder for us to trust God for health than for happiness?  God’s blessings are beyond our understanding and our finding out.  We can well afford to trust Him; He will honor us if we do.  We shall suffer if we do not trust Him.

            Let us get a new grip on the Lord and on His Word of promise, and stand as we never have stood before on the Word of God for the healing of our body, no matter what the conditions may be. – R. R. C.

“Thy Word
Is
Truth”

The Apostolic Faith
N.W. Sixth & Burnside
Portland, 9, Oregon
U.S.A

GOD says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”; and, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”; “The wages of sin is death”; “The fearful, and unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Here death does not refer to the body, but to the soul. Death does not mean ceasing to be, but it means separation from God and all that is good, and suffering
eternal punishment in hell. (Read John 3:16).

ONE CANNOT HIDE SIN

No one can go to Heaven who has not been cleansed from his sins. You cannot cover up your sins with good deeds nor wash them away with water. There is nothing that you can do to get rid of your sins, but to repent of them and ask God to forgive you for Jesus’ sake. To “repent” means to be so sorry for your sins that you will not do them again. (See I John 1:9).
Jesus, who never committed sin, suffered the punishment for your sins and shed His Blood on the cross for you. If you accept that and believe it in your heart, God will forgive your sins because of what Jesus
did for you, and He will give you power so that you will not need to commit any more sin. God will make a new man out of you. You will have no more desire for tobacco, strong drink, or any other bad habit.

LIVING WITHOUT SIN

You cannot be a follower of Jesus Christ and do things that are not right, for “he that committeth sin is of the devil.” You cannot follow Jesus and the devil at
the same time, any more than you can walk on two roads at the same time. (Read I John 3:8). You may have learned much about Jesus in the Book of God, and even been baptized in or with water, but if you cannot keep from doing wrong you are still
following Satan. Or if you were a real follower of Jesus at one time and lived for a while without sin, but afterwards you sinned again, then you are no longer on
God’s road. One sin will turn you into the devil’s road and you cannot get out of it in your own strength. You will have to repent again and confess your sins to God and believe that He forgives you and that His Blood washes your sins away, and then the peace of God will come again into your heart (John 6:37).

RESTITUTION MUST BE MADE

If you have become a true follower of Jesus you will do all you can to straighten up your past sinful life. If you have stolen things you will take them back or pay for them. If you have cheated anyone you will make it right. If you have told lies you will go and confess them. God will show you every wrong thing that you have done, and if you are willing to make it right He will help you to do it. “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth” (Ephesians 4:28).
If you are a real follower of Jesus Christ you will have the fruits of the Spirit in your life, for the Bible says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It also tells us what
they are; namely: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”

NO WORLDLY DESIRES

You will also keep the commandments of God, for Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments”; and, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.” One great commandment is: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Another command is: “Ye shall be witnesses unto me.” You will want to tell everybody what God has done for you. You will not wait until someone pays you to go out and tell it; but you will be willing to work with your hands and earn your own living and witness for Jesus every time you get a chance.

WATER BAPTISM

Another command is, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20). One must receive salvation before he is baptized with water, for we see the disciples were
told to go and teach, and then to baptize. Water baptism is an outward symbol of the inward work that is already done.
“How am I to know which is the right mode of baptism?” We will let the Bible speak and you can judge for yourself. It says there is only “one baptism”(Ephesians 4:5).
When Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan, the Word says, “And straightway coming up out of the water. . .” (Mark 1:10) which shows that He had been down in the water. And when Philip baptized the
eunuch, it says, “And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” The Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, tells us very plainly what is signified by baptism. He says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life”
(Romans 6:3, 4). We see, then, that water baptism follows salvation, and is one of the ordinances thatJesus has given us to obey.

FAITHFUL SERVICE TO EMPLOYER

When you work for anyone you will be faithful and do all that is required of you whether he sees you or not. You will not sit down and rest when you ought to be
working, and you will not quit before it is time to quit. Here is what the Bible says about it: “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free”
(Ephesians 6:5-8).

GOD HATES UNCLEANNESS

“Fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:3-5).
Fornication is an awful sin in the sight of God. He punished the people of Israel for it more than for any other sin. In one day He caused twenty-three thousand of them to die because they had committed this
hideous sin. Later on, one of their kings caused them to commit this sin again on a large scale, and God told the Prophet Elijah to write to him and tell him: “Behold,
with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: and thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day” (II Chronicles 21:14,15). Many people even nowadays are suffering with awful diseases because they have committed fornication; but even if you should escape suffering in this world because of that sin, you will not escape the judgment of God in the last day, which is eternal burning in the fire of hell, unless you repent. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication” (I Thessalonians 4:3). We are to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Ephesians 5:11, 12).

MEAT OFFERED TO IDOLS

“Abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication” (Acts 15:29). The reason we are to abstain from meats offered to idols is that we are told in the Bible that “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils”(ICorinthians 10:20).

NO PART WITH INFIDELS

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (II Corinthians
6:14-18).

THE SIN OF ADULTERY

“Thou shalt not commit adultery,” is another command of God. This means if a person is married he or she should not go to another man or woman and commit sin with them. Jesus said that if a man even
looked on a woman to lust after her he had already committed adultery with her in his heart. He also said: “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man
put asunder”; and, “Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery” (Mark 10:11,12). So long as your first wife or your first husband is living you have no right to get married to another. If you do, you are not a follower of Jesus, because He forbade it. Your wife should be more to you than just a mere slave; she is a part of yourself, as the Bible says, “They twain shall be one flesh”; “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church”; “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”; “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the church.”

DUTIES OF CHILDREN AND PARENTS

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first
commandment with promise;) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” If your father or mother or your guardian tells you to do
something that is not contrary to the Bible, and you refuse to do it, you have sinned, not only against them, but also against God. And you cannot be a follower of
Jesus Christ and disobey your parents, because God commands you to obey them. Of course, if they would tell you to go and steal or tell lies or do anything that the Bible forbids, then you will have to obey God rather than man, and suffer the consequences. “Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” That means that you should teach them what is in the Bible, or if you cannot do it, send them to some school where they will be taught about God. It also means that you should teach them to be obedient to you. If they disobey, punish them, but not in anger. If you get angry you are not right with God, for He tells us to put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, and to be kind one to another and tenderhearted.

HONOR DUE GOVERNMENT

The Bible also tells us what our duty is toward our government: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending
continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom
honour” (Romans 13:1-7).
Jesus Himself paid tribute money. The Bible says, “And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth
not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes.” Then Jesus sent Peter to the sea and told him to “cast an hook, and ktake up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou
hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee”
(Matthew 17: 24, 25, 27). When Jesus was on this earth He was very poor, but He did not excuse Himself from paying tribute to the government, even if He had to
perform a miracle to do it. God gives us strength to work, and we should always try to pay for everything as we go. We should not go into debt. The Bible says,
“Owe no man any thing” (Romans 13:8).

HEALING THROUGH PRAYER

The Bible also teaches us what to do when we are sick. It says, “I am the LORD that healeth thee” (Exodus 15:26). It also tells how we are to go about it – “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save
the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14,15). By an “elder” is usually meant one who is called of God to preach the Gospel – a minister or a missionary. But in case there is no one on whom you can call to do that for you, you can ask anyone who is a real follower
of Jesus, to take a little olive oil and anoint your forehead with it, and lay his hands on your head and pray to God in the name of Jesus, and ask Him to heal you for His name’s sake, and if you believe it with all your heart you will be healed. Or, if you want to, you can write to the address given on the front page and tell your need, and the people of God in Portland will pray
for you, and God will heal you.

“Thy Word
Is Truth” .
The Apostolic Faith
6615 S.E. 52nd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97206, U S.A.

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). If there is anything of vital importance it is to know whether or not we are Christians. It is more than church membership; it is more than trying to follow the teachings of Christ. A real Christian is one who literally belongs to Christ – soul, body, and spirit. We know this from the experience and testimony of untold thousands, many of whom have gone home to Glory.

A Born-Again Christian

To be born again means more than merely taking God’s name upon our lips – more than attending religious worship and observing forms and ceremonies. Thousands today proclaim themselves to be Christians, yet they live as contrary to the life of a true Christian as any sinner does. There is no way to become a true Christian except to become Christ’s own, through the new birth.

Transformation

Salvation means entering into a new life, becoming a “new creature.” It means contact with Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son. He gives us the “more abundant” life through His redemption. We receive “redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). God planned to redeem the human race when they had become only tools in the hand of the enemy –sinners by birth and also sinners by choice. We are all “bought with a price.” There is no one under the bondage of sin and condemnation without a chance of being a servant and follower of God. No one is serving the enemy because he has not the power of choice. No one is held captive by Satan unless he submits to his service – unless possibly those fangs of sin have sunk so deep into the soul that they have poisoned the whole moral nature. Men may go on in sin till the conscience is “seared with a hot iron,” being past feeling. God warns us, “To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).

Once Hopelessly Bound

A brother said in his testimony that in his extremity, when he lay flat on his back with every hope blasted, he cried unto God – sent up an SOS call – and God heard that cry. The Everlasting Arm reached down and brought him out of that condition, broke the chains and habits of whisky and tobacco and changed his whole career. For more than forty years he lived on borrowed time – on God’s time. That man redeemed the time by telling the story of Jesus and the power of God’s redemption.

Jesus Saves from Sin

The angel declared before His birth, that Jesus should “save his people from their sins” (Matthew1:21). That redemption in Christ Jesus is what this world needs. He came not only to redeem, but to regenerate us. We become real Christians by redemption and regeneration – the new birth. “According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).

To an Honest Inquirer

Jesus said to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, on that memorable night when he came to interview the Son of God: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again” – and that implies every man – “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It was necessary, then, to be born again in order to inherit eternal life. Nicodemus knew nothing about this new birth; but no doubt he had a heart that was crying out for reality, a heart reaching out for something vastly deeper than mere forms and ceremonies. And he said, “How can these things be?” The honest inquirer always gets an answer. Jesus revealed to him the fact that unless a man is born into this new life – this pure, holy, and righteous life – there is no possibility of his entering the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, you cannot know God or be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ unless you have been born again. That truth is as unchangeable as the eternal Rock of Ages itself. Yet, strange to say, many are entirely ignorant of this new birth. It is not by works, nor by joining a religious organization. It takes that faith which brings us to God and makes contact with Him.

We Are Saved by Faith

Faith is reliance upon the testimony of God. Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Faith believes what God says. If you do believe, and belong to Christ, your nature is so changed that you hate the worldly things you once loved, and love the things you once hated.

What Will It Cost?

Salvation costs more than the majority of people are willing to pay. When they consider the cost, it mounts up tremendously if they love their sins more than the salvation of their soul. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). That is just what it will take to be a Christian – all you have and are, all you expect to be. And salvation is cheap at any cost.

The Reward – Eternal Life

We declare unto you that an investment in eternal securities will bring big returns. Just as sure as you stake your life on the promises of God, you will receive the greatest returns you ever anticipated. You could not buy a ticket to Heaven, nor purchase the favour of God, with all the wealth of the world; yet it will take your all to gain this great salvation and eternal life. Many feel they are too weak to be an overcomer. But when you are born again your nature is changed. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace abides. The new birth works a change and takes away the “sting of death” in the soul. Faith receives the saving grace through the redeeming power of Christ.

How Can I know?

Heaven will open to your soul, and the Spirit Himself will witness with your spirit that you are a child of God and joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:16, 17). You will know that the work is done. You will have the witness within, the peace and joy, the love of God. The sins of the world you once loved you will love no more. Sin will have no more dominion over you, for you have “passed from death unto life.” There is a sacred bond of fellowship and relationship in hearts that know, and can say with Job of old, “I know that my redeemer liveth.” There is a bond of connection between that soul and God. His whole life is a testimony before this world. His business, his conduct, his conversation, and his walk among men are a living testimony that he is a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God knows your need.

Do not think you have strayed too far. Do not think you have no hope in God. Whatever your condition, we want to point you to One who is able to save. That means you; for He says, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). Under that word“whosoever” you can write your name. Do you want to be a Bible Christian – one who knows? Come to Him in childlike faith. He is a wonderful Savior, able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Many have come here the very picture of despair – defeated, hopelessly bound by sin, crime, habits, and appetites. God delivered them instantly, and their very countenance was illuminated. God will change your heart. Old things will pass away, and, behold, all things will become new, and you will love God with all your heart. It is for the one who will exercise simple childlike faith.How Can I Find God?If you desire above everything else to be saved, God will never turn you away. Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). All you need to do is to meet the conditions God laid down in His Word. You can go down on your knees with an honest heart and pray, “Have mercy upon me, O God,” and get an answer from Heaven. You may say, “I have prayed and sought, but I cannot get that feeling in my heart that I am saved.” But have you surrendered all and come in faith? When you seek Him with all your heart and cry, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” then with that cry comes a step of faith. The gap between the sinner and the Savior must be spanned by faith in God. We are saved by faith. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrew 11:6). Accept the Blood of Jesus. The Spirit will answer to the Blood and the witness will come. You will know that you are a child of God, that you are born again, your name written in Heaven. You can meet anyone and tell him you are saved. The Spirit of God has come into your heart. Joy and peace will fill your soul. The witness will come from Heaven. “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16). Jesus Christ is born into the heart and soul and witnessed to by the Spirit of God. Many have said that when God saved them the trees seemed to bow to the Spirit of God that was in their heart. Faces seemed changed, and everything looked different. All things had become new. The change was in their own heart. It is for the “whosoever will.” You can be saved anywhere. Men have been saved in their room, in an old barn or garage, kneeling in a prison cell; anywhere they offered God an honest heart. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

.
“Thy Word
Is Truth” .
The Apostolic Faith
6615 S.E. 52
nd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97206, U S.A.

JESUS said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). These words were addressed to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, a prominent leader in the time of Christ. This man came to Jesus by night to inquire into the way of salvation. What does it mean to be born again? The new birth is literally entering into a new life, a life that is entirely different from that which we have lived before. It is a life that is free from sin. The angel who announced the coming of Christ said: “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The soul that is saved of God, through Jesus, is saved from sin. So long as Jesus occupies the throne in the heart, He makes one a victor over sin. “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him” (I John 3:6). When one comes to God, confessing his sins with a broken and a contrite heart, and exercises faith in the Blood of Atonement, the Spirit bears witness that the work is done. And at that moment he is born again, born of God, “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (I Peter 1:23). “Hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the
Spirit which he hath given us” (I John 3:24). There is an abiding peace and joy, a freedom from condemnation, in the heart of one who is born again. The burden of sin is gone. The consciousness of guilt and condemnation has passed away. You have actually passed from death unto life, having been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. Your name is written in Heaven. The well of Living Water, spoken of by Jesus, is springing up from your inmost soul. “Being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walks out not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). “Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). When one is born again, sinful habits are
broken in a moment. One is delivered from the addiction to alcohol, tobacco, drugs. He is freed from all sin, including adultery and fornication and other sins of the flesh. The grace of God transforms the life. It makes one a “new creature” in Christ Jesus. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (I John 5:4).
The love for the things of the world goes out: the love for worldly amusements, theatres, cards and gambling, dances, immodest dress, desecrating the Lord’s Day, filthy language, lodges, and secret orders. These things are all worldly in their very nature. “Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:6, 7). “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). The evidence of the new birth is a hatred for sin, and a distaste for worldly things. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (I John 2:15). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22. 23). The love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. All hatred and malice is gone. Children of God love even their enemies. Those who are truly born of God immediately want to make restitution. If they have wronged their fellow men, or defrauded or stolen, they will confess to
those they have wronged and make restitution as far as possible. Salvation will keep them from lying, cheating, stealing, leaving bills unpaid, and taking advantage of others. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Sin is hideous in God’s sight. Sin came into the world, in the beginning, through the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden and it drove them from the presence of God. Through their disobedience men were made sinners. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Christ alone has power to forgive sins and save from the power of sin. Sin carries with it an awful curse. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” “The wages of sin is death.”
“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” “The sting of death is sin.” There is only one way out of sin and the
bondage Satan has brought. It is through Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and only mediator between God and man. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).