Don’t Be Undone By Not Doing!

"Let us use them."  That’s the directive the apostle Paul sends in Romans 12:6 to Christians concerning whatever "gifts" and abilities God has given them. Years ago I ran across a fictional and humorous letter which illustrates how ridiculous it is for farmers to NOT do the very things that define their vocation. It contains a message Christians ought to consider.

"From: The Desk of Farmer Don Genereaux. To: The Honorable Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: My friend, Dan Hansen, over at Honey Creek, received a check for $1,000 from the government for not raising hogs. So I want to go into the ‘NOT RAISING HOGS’ business next year. What I want to know is, in your opinion, what is the best kind of farm not to raise hogs on? And what is the best breed of hogs not to raise? I want to be sure that I approach this endeavor in keeping with all government policies. As I see it, the hardest part of the ‘NOT RAISING HOGS’ program is keeping an accurate inventory of how many hogs I haven’t raised. My friend Hansen is very joyful about the future of his business. He has been raising hogs twenty years, and the best he ever made on them was $422.90 in 1968, until this year when he got your check for the $1,000.00 for not raising 50 hogs. If I get $1,000 for not raising 50 hogs, then would I get $2,000 for not raising 100 hogs? I plan to operate on a small scale at first, holding myself to about 4,000 hogs not raised the first year, which would bring in about $80,000; then I can afford an airplane.

"Now another thing – these hogs I will not raise will not eat 100,000 bushels of corn. I understand that the government also pays people not to raise corn and wheat. Would I qualify for payments for not raising these crops not to feed my hogs I will not be raising?

"I want to get started as soon as possible as this seems to be a good time of year for the ‘NOT RAISING HOGS’ and ‘NOT PLANTING CORN’ business. Also I am giving serious consideration to the ‘NOT MILKING COWS’ business and any information you have on the endeavor would be greatly appreciated. Also, in view of the fact that I will be totally unemployed [since I won’t be required to use my tractors or plows or barns or combine or corn-picker or trucks], I will be filing for unemployment and food assistance, and was wondering how long that process takes. Be assured, Mr. Secretary, you will have my vote in the upcoming election. Patriotically yours, Farmer Don Genereaux.

"P. S. Would you please notify me when you plan to give out the free cheese again?"

Ridiculous, isn’t it?! A hog-farmer not using his tools and time and energy to raise hogs and grow corn? How about a Christian who does not use his / her talent to serve God in the church? In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus said, "Well done" (vs 21, 23) to those who faithfully used the talents they had been given. But the "one talent" man "hid his talent in the ground" (vs 25) and was judged "unprofitable" and cast "into the outer darkness" (vs 30). He was not undone for not doing what he couldn’t, but for not doing what he could! Use your talent for God. Think about it. 

       By: Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Eze 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

Ezekiel 39 continues from chapter 38 and concludes the prophecy against Gog and Magog. God says He will make a full destruction to Gog and Magog (vs 1-24). The chapter ends with God promising again to restore Israel and Judah (vs 25-29). 

How on earth the premillennialists can come up with a fanciful story on the great battle of Gog and Magog as the final battle between God and the nations and which He will set up His kingdom on this earth right at that tiny land beside the Mediterranean Sea is beyond my comprehension. It shows an utter lack of understanding of the divine scheme of redemption. Our Lord says His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Is God interested in being an earthly king in Israel? 

Gog was the name of a king and Magog was his land (Ezekiel 38:2). It could be an empire that still has not been dug out by archaeologists. Most likely they are names given in prophetic language to conceal the identity of the existing kingdom known to Ezekiel. We see such language in the book of Revelations. The reason to conceal the actual names is to protect the prophet and God’s people from harm. 

As God’s judgment of other nations would glorify Him as God, God’s judgment of Gog would likewise glorify Him greatly in the eyes of the rest of the world (vs 21-23). The nations would understand that it was not out of weakness that Yahweh permitted the Israelites to go into exile and die but because He was punishing them for their sins (vs 23-24). Israel too would learn in a fresh way that He was their God (vs 22). God will make sure Israel reveres His holy name and that it isn't profaned anymore. 

God says in verse 7: “I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” 

God’s name is important to Him. The first three of the Ten Commandments deal with Yahweh and His powerful Name: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:7). So, what does it mean to pollute the name of God? 

The word “pollute” means to profane. To profane is to show no respect. Here, it is to show a lack of respect to God’s holy name. Yes, God’s name is holy. But Israel sinned; they were not holy. Hence, by their ungodly lives they polluted the name of God. 

You know what happened when an environment is being polluted. Likewise, God’s name is polluted whenever a professed Christian is not living the Christ-like lifestyle. The apostle Paul in writing to the Jewish Christians reminded them that their former lifestyle of sin brought dishonour to God and as a result, “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Romans 2:24). Today, the unbelievers will accuse the Christian who is not behaving as one: “How can you call yourself a Christian?” The name of Christ is blasphemed, evil spoken of, ridiculed, shamed, when a Christian is not behaving as a Christian. 

The name Christian is closely attached to its founder which is Christ. It is a God-given name (Acts 11:26). To pollute this name is to pollute the name of Him whom we profess to follow (1 Peter 4:13-16). God wants us to uphold this glorious name He has given us. Let us conduct our lives in holiness that we do not pollute the name of God: “But like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Eze 40:1 In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.

Here is a long vision, beginning at chapter 40, and continuing to the end of the book, chapter 48. The book of Ezekiel closes with a vision of the temple and its associated rituals. In this chapter, Ezekiel  40, the prophet is transported in vision from his home among the exiles in Babylon to Israel, where a divine messenger holding a measuring rod appears to him. The messenger gives Ezekiel a tour of the temple, measuring the various walls, gates, and courts. 

I don’t think anyone today is interested in all those measurements. Why, then, does Ezekiel call attention to the man with the measuring-reed? And why does he give the exact details of the plan of the city and temple? We must not forget that Ezekiel was a prophet, not an architect. Why, then, does he fill his pages with these architectural details? The only explanation is Ezekiel’s temple is the glorified state of the future abode of the saints. 

While the “evangelical” preachers look for a physical kingdom on this earth and the revival of the Leviticus scarifies and priesthood, God has no interest in such things. How do I know? The Bible tells me so.                                 

(1) The very idea of a physical temple is repugnant to Christianity. "God dwelleth not in temples made with hands" (Acts 7:48). There will not even be a Temple in heaven itself. 

(2) The Old Testament worship of animal sacrifices and other material sacrifices for sins are a total contradiction of the Holy Truth that, "The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sins" (1 John 1:7). "It is impossible that `the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin" (Hebrews 10:4). Christ says true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). 

(3) The priesthood of Aaron is inferior to the priesthood of Christ (Hebrews 7:11-28). There is no reason to go back to something inferior. They forget that our Lord was from the tribe of Judah which disqualifies Him from being a high priest in the Leviticus system. 

(4) The spirit said to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 43:7: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.” Clearly, the vision of Ezekiel is in heaven. 

(5) The idea that worship resumes in Jerusalem contradicts our Lord’s words to a Samaritan woman: “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father” (John 4:21). 

The material measurements recorded in Ezekiel 40-48 are symbolical of the spiritual. God says: “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?” (Isaiah 66:1). 

Note: God’s throne is in heaven. Earthly men look for the things on this earth. Let us set our sight on things eternal that are stored in the heavenly places: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.