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The Bible,
the holy Word of God, is a wonderful book; it is marvelously
written, compiled and put together by a Mastermind, far superior to
any human intellect, and can come from no other source than the
great "I AM," the God of all created things, who is omnipotent,
omnipresent, and omniscient.
Human beings at their best are indeed exceedingly weak creatures and
are wholly dependent upon God for existence, whether they will
acknowledge it or own up to the fact, it stands that way today and
will be verified and proved to be true to all at the great Judgment
Day. The more man sees and acknowledges the greatness of God, the
less value he will place upon himself and earthly things which are
to perish with the using, and the more meek and lowly he should
become, losing the conceit and all self-esteem, and his affections
and praise will be unto Him who has opened his eyes and given him
understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus-the One who has
completed a blood sacrifice on Calvary's cross and appeased the
wrath of God which was upon us, as sinners, bringing us back into
the fold of God, freeing us from sin, making us innocent and beloved
children of God. Hence we become the sanctuary of God, the temple of
God, the house of God, the building of God, the church of God, the
body of Christ, which is now in the world but not of the world-a
family whom He has purchased with His own blood, an uncondemned
family living without sin among a professing and nonprofessing
sinning people. What a wonderful thought and truth it is to realize
that God has cleansed souls from all sin and lifted them up on a
plain of holiness with Himself; for we are His offspring,
spiritually speaking, and his children are like Him. The Bible says
that Christ was manifested to take away our sins; "and in Him is no
sin," 1 John 3 :5. There are no sinners in Christ, His church, His
family, and His body is made up of those whose sins are washed away
by His blood, and only those who retain a sinless experience are in
His family. All people who commit sin, whether professors or
non-professors, are not and cannot be in the family of God, nor any
part of the body of Christ, which He has purchased with His own
blood.
All men should tremble before our God. Any man who holds up to the
people anything less than a life free from sin is not of God, and
will not do to follow nor receive of His teachings, for to speak
plainly about the matter as Paul did about false teachers in his
day, "They are the enemies of the cross of Christ" Phil. 3 :18.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us keep a love in our hearts for
the truth, the crucified way, lest we be led astray by some of the
many deceivers in the world. In the Bible there are many comparisons
made, parables, symbols, metaphors, and analogies used in order to
convey to the spiritually-minded and "born-again" children the true
holiness doctrines of the Bible In order to keep them stedfast
unmoveable and abounding in the will and ways of God. Those who get
settled and grounded in the true doctrines will not be blown about
by the different winds of doctrine.
In the Word of God His ministers are referred to as oxen because,
like the ox, they have heavy loads to pull. They are yoked up with
the Lord and look to Him to make the going easy, and when things get
slow and hard to move, they look to the Lord to hold the load and
they move on as He moves on. They are also symbolized as an ass, or
donkey as they are called today. The donkey is a very humble and
lowly animal. He is sure-footed and has long ears. The true
ministers of God are humble and lowly in heart; they make sure their
steps. Their ears are spiritually long and they hear things from
heaven.
His children are also symbolized by different kinds of birds. Those
who are false and wrong in heart are symbolized by hawks, owls,
buzzards, and other hateful birds. In the Song of Solomon, he refers
to the children of God as a dove (6 :9), "My dove, my undefiled is
but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of
her that bare her." The dove is a symbol of gentleness and
innocence. It is defenseless, faithful to its mate, and home-loving.
The dove was also used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit that rested
upon Jesus when He came up out of the water after being baptized.
God's children are also symbolized as lambs and sheep because of
their gentle and innocent ways. Jesus was called the Lamb of God. He
is our example. On the other hand, a goat represents a professor
without God in his soul even though he may be extremely religious
and stand high in the esteem of the world as a Doctor of Divinity
and receives much flattery and praise of men; yet being without the
true Spirit of God in his soul, he is only a goat although he may
lead many souls in his goat way and also fool some of the innocent
ones at times.
I have just learned from a brother who works in a large packing
plant that they use an old big goat to lead the sheep to the
slaughter pen. The sheep cannot be driven into the slaughter pen,
but this old goat is trained to lead the sheep. They will follow
him, and when he gets them to the place where they cannot get back,
the old goat slips slyly away from them, and they are taken on to be
slaughtered. When I heard this, I wondered how many are following
goat leaders today in a spiritual sense. We find some today who are
bringing in different and strange doctrines and getting some to
follow them. If they get you separated from the children of God,
your soul could, in that way, easily be slaughtered. It is safe to
follow Christ and Him only and remain in the body of the Lord as a
cleansed and clean vessel in His hand, having fellowship with the
Father and all of His blood-bought children. Hear His voice and
follow Him, as He will not lead you to slaughter, but to the glory
world to live with God forever.
There are no doubt some of God's children who are following goat
leaders and other false prophets, for we find the voice of God in
the 18th chapter of Revelation is calling them out and away from
such places. The second verse of this chapter reads thus: "And he
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird."
Babylon the great would include all of these religious denominations
that teach a "sin-you-must" doctrine and encourage worldly
fellowship in various ways, and also these movements that claim
holiness and hold the truth in unrighteousness and have contrary
doctrines that separate them from the true holiness people of God.
In the 4th verse the voice of Scripture says, "Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God
hath remembered her iniquities."
These Scriptures are solemn warning to all that are estranged from
the saints of God, the true holiness people. Beloved, clear yourself
from all man-made institutions and from all religions that cater to
the world in any way, and those that have imbibed any strange
doctrines that separate themselves from God's holy remnant. In time
you will very likely awake to the fact that you are following a goat
with sheep's clothing on. There is danger of being slaughtered
before you are aroused and fully awake. Escape for your life, for
they hold many souls in there for the burning. Remember, there are
no bargains in salvation, for all have to pay the same price and
keep it paid if they make heaven their home. We read of the merchant
man who was hunting for goodly pearls, and when he found one pearl
(Christ) of great price, he went and sold all and bought the pearl
of great price. Let us keep sold out to God and our affections on
things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Let our
life be hid with Christ in God that when he appears we shall also
appear with Him in glory. Col. 3:1-5.
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