The world is heading towards total destruction and annihilation due to sin and unrighteousness. The effects of sin and not dealing with it are shown in this sermon.
Rene Messier (Canada)
Examining Oneself
Why would Paul admonish us to conduct a self-examination prior to taking the Passover?
He says in 1 Corinthians 11:28: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
It is important to stop on occasion and analyze our progress as Christians and our relationship with God to maintain the goal of walking in the footsteps of Christ, our perfect example, who never sinned, and to understand that sin acts as a barrier in our relationship with God.
It is a perfect time to do that prior to taking the Passover which we are admonished to take in a worthy manner, according to the instructions from God through Paul.
Since even a little sin will corrupt the individual just as a little leaven leavens the whole lump, we have to be cognizant of this fact and make a genuine effort to get rid of sin and replace the void left from that removal with righteousness.
It is amazing how a little sin can become not that big a deal in our minds; yet, we must deal with it or it will deal with us. A stain on a carpet might be delayed in being cleaned up because we may think it is not a major issue. The longer we put it off, the more it is accepted. Later, it just becomes part of the decor. We must never allow sin in our lives not to be dealt with, so that it just becomes a decor.
Sin by itself will not just disappear on its own. Satan is smart enough to know that if he can get us to just compromise a little bit with God’s laws and not deal with it, he has taken hold of us. Realize that he would like all of us to fail in our journey into the Kingdom of God and to become born-again members of the God Family.
Killing us physically does not remove salvation from us, but failure to put sin out without repenting and getting rid of it can be our ultimate downfall.
At times, little sins can go unnoticed until we do a complete analysis. I remember a minister in the 80s, relating to my wife and me that during the Days of Unleavened Bread, he and his wife were sitting in their living room.
Years ago, some houses had a ledge to put small ornaments and knickknacks about a foot from the ceiling and about eight inches to a foot deep. They were sitting there, looking at the figurines and ornaments and something caught both their eyes. It was the top of their wedding cake with a small man and woman on top dressed in wedding clothing which had been up there for years. The thought came to mind that they never checked it since at times the top is made of cake and the cardboard or wood is sometimes decorated with the figurines on top. They took it down to check it and to their dismay, they found it to be cake, with leavening in it which had been there in full view since they were baptized. This is like sin, which might be in front of our eyes, but we sometimes fail to see it.
The importance of examining ourselves thoroughly cannot be stressed enough, especially at this time of year. Let us therefore ensure we conduct that examination, clean ourselves up by repenting of our sins, and partake of the Passover in a worthy manner.
Prayer
This sermon addresses the importance of maintaining a close relationship with God through prayer. It also emphasizes the need to follow the biblical admonitions given to us in regard to prayer.
Jesus talked about going the extra mile. How does a Christian do this today?
The reference to the extra mile can be found in Matthew 5:41, which quoted the words of Jesus as follows: “‘And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two…’” In Wikipedia, there are interesting comments about the practice that was extant in the Roman Empire:
“The idiom to go the extra mile means to do more than is required. The expression probably comes from the Bible, when Jesus declares, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two’ (Matthew 5:41 (NASB). The verse is reference to the practice of ‘impressment’ which, among other things, allowed a Roman soldier to conscript a Jewish native to carry his equipment for the Roman mile (million = 1,000 paces, about 1,611 yards or 1,473 meters)—no easy task considering a Roman soldier’s backpack could weigh upwards to 100 pounds (45.4 kg).”
We can see from these observations that the instruction at that time could be seen to be extremely onerous, not only regarding the seemingly “unfairness” of such a task, but also what went with it—a very heavy burden to carry for two miles and not just one. With this background and understanding of what Jesus said, we realize that it was not an easy physical thing to accomplish by any stretch of the imagination. However, Jesus was well aware of what it involved and still gave this instruction of going the extra mile and not resorting to violent resistance.
Shortly after coming into the Church and prior to being baptized, one of the writers of this Q&A had quit his government job because it conflicted with the Sabbath. He did not have permanent employment for a few months and was working at the time out of the Teamsters Union Hall in Vancouver, Canada. One day, he was sent to a company where they were unloading heavy bags of flour out of boxcars. They weighed over seventy pounds. The writer was working with a man from Alberta about his age who was about 27 at the time, and they both worked hard. They put their backs to it as the saying goes. They emptied the boxcar way sooner than the foreman had anticipated and not wanting to send them home early, he took them to a warehouse to remove wood and old pallets from the floor and pile them outside to be picked up later by the forklift driver.
It wasn’t too long before they got that job completed and they looked at one another and said, “What do we do now?” The writer suggested picking up brooms and sweeping the floor so while in the process of sweeping up, the foreman showed up, totally flabbergasted that they were not just sitting down, waiting for their next assignment. Once they finished sweeping, he almost reluctantly permitted them to go home even though it was a few hours short of the agreed-upon 8 hours for the day, but there was nothing more to do. He instructed them to come back the next day which was unusual because they were usually dispatched from the Union Hall in the morning. This shows what can be achieved when we go “the extra mile.”
Interestingly, following the instruction to go the second mile, we read about loving our enemies, which is not a natural thing to do in any age. This is found in verses 43-48, which read:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
This instruction would include the willingness to forgive our enemies and others, upon their repentance. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus answers Peter who asked about forgiveness to others: “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”
Seven times seventy is 490, but this does not mean that we stop forgiving the offending person, once we have reached 490 times, but implies that to the extent the person repents, we don’t keep score but rather forgive ungrudgingly. Unfortunately, some cannot even get to first base on this when they carry a grudge, let alone forgiving someone seventy times seven. Some have a mental offense list that they bring forth during an argument, raising the offenses of the last ten years and just won’t let go and forgive and forget.
Stephen did not retaliate when he was being killed, and he is a great example for us today. He simply asked that those who were stoning him were not charged with this sin; in other words, he asked God to forgive them once they came to repentance. There was no sign whatsoever of any willingness to “pay them back” (compare Acts 7:59-60).
The greatest example of all, Jesus Christ, did not resort to violence and did not retaliate in any way when He was killed in the most barbaric manner imaginable. He could have called upon God to send a legion of angels for rescue and avenge the crimes committed against Him, but He knew that this was not the purpose of God’s plan. He asked God to forgive them, once they came to repentance, for they did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34) nor understood whom they were putting to death. Stephen and Jesus both forgave and went the extra mile in the sense that they had that attitude of forgiveness at the time they were losing their own lives. For a thorough explanation of the statements by Stephen and Christ, please see our Q&A .
What about the general areas of life? Today we are not usually compelled to carry the equipment (heavy or otherwise) for another human being, even though we may offer to do so if this need became apparent, nor are we compelled to do this for a specific distance; again we could evaluate what was necessary and how much we could help.
The Collins English Dictionary gave examples from other publications, using the phrase “going the extra mile”:
“‘People who know where they are going are more willing to go the extra mile.’ CHRISTIANITY TODAY (2000).
“‘This is why 54 per cent of bosses look for employees who are willing to go the extra mile.’ THE SUN (2014).
“‘When management puts in a great effort, those on your team are more than willing to go the extra mile.’ SUNDAY TIMES (2009).
“‘It’s about willing to go the extra mile, adding things to your game and having a work ethic.’ SUNDAY TIMES (2009).
“‘Be willing to go the extra mile to show your enthusiasm, and it won’t take long to stand out!’ SUNDAY TIMES (2011).”
Jesus gave the example of going the extra mile in His ministry and He would expect His original disciples to display this same attitude wherever possible. They had the greatest example for 3 ½ years when witnessing how Jesus manifested His words by His action.
We could give a list of situations where we could do more than is expected of us, avoiding being “unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10), but the principle is clear at all times. Let us look for things to do for others, and when we have done whatever it is, let us see if anything further needs to be done. A little help can raise the spirit of a person, particularly since they may not see such an example very often. The onus is on us to be aware of the need of others.
Someone wrote this about the extra mile:
“As Jesus went the ‘extra mile’ for us [that] we might have forgiveness of our sins and life eternal through faith in Him, so are we called to ‘go the extra mile with Jesus’ for one another and others who don’t yet know His love and forgiveness.”
Jesus’ example of “going the extra mile” encourages us to do needed acts of selfless love and compassion toward the welfare and service of others, regardless of how “nice” or how much “like us” they may be. Whenever we “go the extra mile” in service to others, we are doing so in service to God.
We have to remember that God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, went more than the extra mile, as we read in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
That is the definitive example of the “going the extra mile” injunction!
Lead Writers: Rene Messier (Canada) and Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
The Burden of Sin
A mule is used as a beast of burden when it is loaded down with goods or merchandise, as is mentioned in Genesis 44:1: “And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, ‘Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack.’”
The phrase, “as much as they can carry,” refers to their donkeys (see verse 3). There are limits to what an animal can carry.
The more you add on, the more the animal has to work to keep going and the heavy load slows them down. There is an expression: “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” which means you can load a camel to the point where just adding the weight of a straw pushes the weight beyond the critical point and the camel’s back is broken.
At the other end of the scale, the more weight you reduce, the faster the animal can move, and it can climb up trails and paths more easily.
Sin has a similar effect on us if we do not deal with it. It becomes a burden on us, slowing us down in our spiritual growth and in our driving distance between us and God.
Satan, the first being to sin, did not make the effort to change, repent and realize he was doing wrong. Now he is in the position where he will not repent, being hardened by sin, so that he cannot repent. He is corrupted beyond repair, having committed the unpardonable sin. We have to be careful not to fall into such a state by adding on to sin, by failing to repent and by asking God daily to wash us in the blood of Christ for our sins and have our plate cleansed daily; lest we pile on the sins to the point where it breaks our backs spiritually speaking and hardens us to the point we don’t want to repent and thus commit the unpardonable sin from which there is no return.
Christ used prayer to maintain a close relationship with God and His prayers were heard and He was totally submissive to God His Father. As a result, He never sinned even though He was tempted in all things, as Hebrews 4:15 tells us: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
He set the example for us by maintaining a close relationship with God. As we do sin, we must also confess them, repent of them and leave them behind.
As we move forward in the coming year, let’s ensure we do not add the burden of sin in our lives which creates walls and distances us from God.
We will undoubtedly face trials and tests but we have to keep our eyes on the reward and not get bogged down with sin, always seeking to have our sins forgiven when we confess them before God and have them, upon repentance, cleansed by the blood of Christ.
It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, so let us show our appreciation by removing the burden of sin from our lives.
Winter Doldrums
Sometime in the fall, bears start increasing their food intake and really add on the bulk as they get ready to hibernate through the winter. In the spring, they come out of hibernation a little lighter than when they went in and begin to put on weight again. Adding on those extra pounds sustains them physically through the cold winter.
We have just recently come back to our homes from the Feast of Tabernacles where we have been spiritually fed for eight days when some of us only see each other once a year at that time. This spiritual food, added to the weekly spiritual food, should sustain us till the next Holy Day in the spring, since it is the longest period of lapsed time till the next Holy Day. That is from the Last Great Day till Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.
We may have a tendency of getting into winter doldrums; especially in the northern hemisphere where the days get shorter, the temperature drops below zero, and that at times for months. We get snow falls which curtail our outside physical activities, and we may have a tendency to let down a bit in our spiritual responsibilities.
Mr. Norbert Link indicated in a recent sermon that we are unique. We really are, namely because of our resistance against compromise and boldly getting the gospel and warning message out to this dying world. We are not trying to add to the membership by watering down the Word of God.
Individually, we cannot let down in our relationship with God, nor get discouraged if our Church organizations in countries such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia do not grow in leaps and bounds. Christ is the Head of the Church, and He will add to the Church when He sees fit. We, on the other hand, must continue to support the Work even if our responsibility is reduced to financial support and prayer for the Work.
The glue that keeps us together is God’s Spirit in us which we have to maintain by using the tools God has given us; namely, prayer, Bible study, meditation and occasional fasting.
The time is short which is really a relative term in that it could be very short for us, individually, if God determines we have accomplished what He wants from us and we die, as some faithful servants have in the past.
The one sure thing is our eternal reward if we remain true to the end, so let us not allow the winter doldrums to get us down, but let us look to the future, regardless of when God decides to end this world’s madness. Christ has no pleasure in us when we put our hand to the plow and look back, desiring to hold on or regain to what we are to give up. Our hopes, desires and rewards are not in the past which we left behind, but our potential is to enter into God’s glory as His sons and daughters. So, let us focus on that.
The Unprofitable Servant
Why are offerings crucial? Why can only tithing or meeting the minimum requirement make us unprofitable servants? What should our attitude be when giving an offering?
Why 1260 Days in the Place of Safety?
In this message, we list three reasons as to why the church will be in the place of safety for 1260 days.
Reasons Why We Are Here Keeping the Feast
This message discusses several points as to why we are attending the Feast and what is expected of us by God.
Most Qualified to Rule
When addressing the question as to who is qualified to rule others, we need to consider three types of beings or kinds in existence today.
There are physical beings—plants and animals and of course human beings or mankind. Since Adam, the number of human beings has been estimated somewhat over twenty billion.
Man is mortal, temporary and subject to die. From the time of Adam, man was given dominion over the earth and the animals and to take care, tend and keep the Garden of Eden and with it the plants.
In addition to the physical realm, there are spirit beings—of the spirit kind—which include the angels created by God by fiat; that is, they were willed into existence and had no pre-existence. Their numbers are in the hundreds of millions as revealed in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 5:11 states: “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”
That figure of “ten thousand times ten thousand” amounts to one hundred million, plus it says “thousands of thousands,” so there could be billions of angels. Angels cannot die.
Then there are God Beings—Beings of the God kind, of which there are currently two: the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. They are immortal, eternal, incorruptible and all-powerful. They rule over the spirit and the physical creation in a loving, compassionate and just manner.
Who then is most qualified to rule over the physical and within the spirit world?
Mankind has failed miserably in his efforts to rule over himself and over others. Mankind has tried every possible form of government which have all failed and descended to the degree that we are headed for total destruction if God were not to intervene to end the madness, caused by human beings, by sending His Son to rule over the earth in the near future.
Human government leaders are proven liars and corrupt individuals. How can civil servants elected by the people over the course of decades accumulate a personal fortune of over one hundred million on the stock market, outperforming professional investors like Warren Buffet? It is many times through insider trading information and corruption. Man, in his physical state, is obviously unqualified to rule over the earth and the universe.
When considering angels, composed of spirit, we note that Lucifer, the seal of perfection and the most powerful and beautiful cherub, whom God created by fiat, sinned against God. Lucifer had been given the responsibility of administrating the government of God on the earth. He rebelled against God, taken down by his own pride, and became known as Satan the Devil—the adversary and enemy of God. One-third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion and became known as demons or evil spirits. So we see that even the most righteous and perfect angels could and did rebel since they had been created by God with free moral agency and are not forced by God to do what is right and good.
Satan is the current ruler and god of this world, but he is an evil and terribly destructive ruler. Matthew 4:8-9 says: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me’” (Compare Luke 4:5-7).
Christ did not dispute that Satan was the current world ruler and that he had the authority to give rulership to whomever he would choose. We also read in 2 Corinthians 4:4 that the god of this age has blinded the minds of men, “who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
Inasmuch as there is no guarantee that other angels who have not followed Satan will never sin, that leaves us with God. ONLY God—the God Family—CANNOT sin, because God has decided never to sin, and His decision is perfect and not subject to change. That is why God decided that He wants to reproduce Himself through humans to bring them into His Family, as God Beings, so that they, too, would be incapable of sinning. The God Family will grow to include billions of humans made immortal in the future.
God Beings cannot be corrupted, bribed, coerced or threatened. They will have the mind of God the Father and of Jesus Christ. As God Beings, they cannot be tempted to sin, and they never will. God the Father and Jesus Christ will not have to be concerned whether anyone in the God Family will in the future be plotting to rebel and sin, since they will be immortal members of the God Family and God Beings.
1 Corinthians 15:52-53 explains that the growth within the immortal God Family will begin at the time of the first resurrection, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Becoming God Beings was never offered to the angels, but it is offered to those who are being called since Adam and Eve, to overcome sin, their human nature and Satan and the pulls of this world. As immortal and incorruptible God Beings, they will be totally qualified, under God’s direction, to rule over the universe and have authority over angels. They will be ruling forever and ever over the physical and the spiritual creation.
That is what the future holds for those of us who stay the course and remain faithful to our calling.