BEACON In The Night: 1/23/11

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Seperation & Sanctification

Issue 20 [July 25, 2010]

Separation - 1. keeping of things apart: the act or process of separating things or people

2. state of being apart: the state or duration of being apart from other things or people

3. place of meeting or space between: a place, line, or mark that shows where two things meet, or the gap between them

4. agreement not to live together: the act of stopping living together as husband and wife while remaining married, or a formal agreement to do so, especially one made in a court of law

5. departure from group: dismissal from a job, or release from military service

Sanctification - 1. make something holy: to give something holy status

2. free somebody from sin: to perform a ritual or other act intended to free somebody from sin

3. bless something through religious vow: to give a religious blessing to something such as a marriage, usually through an oath or vow sanctified the marriage

4. officially approve something: to give social, moral, or official approval to something

rules sanctified by tradition

5. make something route to holiness: to make something a means of achieving holiness or a source of grace

Purify - 1. vti make something pure: to rid something of harmful, inferior, or unwanted contaminants, or get rid of harmful, inferior, or unwanted contaminants

We use special filters to purify the water.

2. vt make somebody spiritually pure: to free somebody of sin, guilt, or defilement, e.g. in a ceremony or a ritual cleansing

What happened to the three S’s Salvation, Sanctification, and Separation? Salvation is the deliverance from the un Holy, Sanctification is to make it Holy, and separation is when we KEEP it Holy.

Why is it through the course of time that Christians are so mystified by Gods saving power and all of his glory but after a few years it goes from Marvelous to mundane?

Separation in the Old Testament was looked upon with a serious attitude. The woman when delivering a child was not to come in contact with any hallowed thing nor was she allowed to come into the sanctuary until her “purification” was fulfilled [Lev 12:4] .

What does it mean to be separated? If you were a child on a field trip or with your family on vacation and you became separated from your family then fright would come upon you because the security was removed from your life and uncertainty has taken its place. When sin is in our life it separates us from God and the security and safety has been removed from us also. When we are living the perfect will of God then we have the security of knowing that no matter what comes our way, God is there on our side and we will be found victorious.

There is another way to look at separation. We, as Christians are required to separate ourselves from the things of the world. The old song says; “this world is not my home, I’m just passing thru, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” We are IN the world but we are not OF this world. We are children of the King and should act accordingly. In order to fill this requirement we have to refrain from certain things of this world. We are not to partake of things that will jeopardize our walk with Him. If we are truly spiritually minded then we will lay our treasures on Heavenly things and not of the temporal things of this world.

We can have worldly friends in our everyday walk thru life as long as they do not become a greater influence on us than our spiritual family ands friends. God, Pastor, Saints, Family and others should be our priority listing of influence. When our co-workers or school friends have a greater pull on us than our pastor, the word, or our conscience, then we have to re-prioritize.

If we become enchanted by someone of the opposite sex and they are not spiritual, then we have to separate ourselves and realize what do we put our faith in, ourselves or God to bring us a companion?! Have faith in God and he will reward you for your labor.

We have to look at our fellowship as well as our friends also. There are many out there who have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof from such turn away [2 Tim 3:5]. You will not find any fellowship circles that are 100 percent spiritual and agree on every T jottle or every eye crossing. You have to ask yourself the question; where do I draw the line? There are things that may not be Heaven or Hell but there are some things that are, so if you are having doubts, pray and seek God, He is sure to lead you in the right path if you are sincere. Whatever you do never give into the crowd or the many signs and wonders that will come. Paul said there will be many grievous wolves to come in not sparing the flock. There will be some who may be sincere but who are not sincere enough to lay down things that are sin. You may not find in your Bible where it says “thou shall not watch TV” but good teaching and a sincere love for truth will cause you to remove yourself from that thing. There is not a scripture which spells it out in black and white of no tight skirts or splits or short sleeves but good Holy-Ghost teaching with sometime in the prayer room will lead you in the right path.

I am not looking to clash swords with anyone that is never my purpose or ambition in life. I am simply stirred up in my spirit about things that go on here and there and I feel to discuss them. I have a love for this glorious gospel a desire to be saved and an appreciation for the truth. I am disturbed from time to time when I see or hear of things that shouldn’t be within Apostolic Churches. Am I one to judge or remove the tares? God forbid, that is not for me to do.

If the bridge was out and you were on your way to work how would you feel If I warned you? There are two actions that would take place in your life. One, you could be mad and blame me for you being late for work or two, you could be thankful that you will have the opportunity for another day. The same goes fore every preacher that steps behind the pulpit and preaches without fear or favor. He may make you mad but he still has a job to do, and that is to warn you of the impending danger that lies ahead.

When you are convicted of your sins and you repent, you have taken the first step in making yourself holy. You are free from sin and now you will attempt to do your very best to refrain from all manner of sin. Just as a marriage between a man and a woman, your relationship with God is very much the same way. The more attention you show God and the more faithful you are to God the better the relationship will be and the more he will bless you. If you are constantly unfaithful, then your blessing meter will read in the negative. The better you separate yourself from sinful magnets the better your walk with God will be.

The water purification systems they have nowadays may be a little expensive but they are worth it in the long run. The filters are there to remove impurities in the water. Separation from worldly things is essential for a better quality of walk with God. There are things that may not even be essential but the more you filter out the better quality of your walk with God!

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Scripture For Your basket:

2 Thessalonians 3:14 and if any man obey not our word by this epistle, NOTE that man, and have no dealings with him, that he may be ashamed.

2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

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Editors Comments:

When things come up and upset us we should ask ourselves the question, Why am I upset? If someone brings up a moral or doctrinal issue and it causes our blood pressure to raise 15 points, is it because of our flesh or our spirit? What is it that motivates us in our every day walk ?

Remember that right smack dab in the middle of sin is the letter I. I is always the root cause of sin. If you lack the fruits of the spirit, you are focusing more on yourself than others. Study out the fruits and see if I speak truth.

I wish to thank each and everyone who contribute to this newsletter. Be it in the form of money, prayers, encouragement or just a simple Thank You, it is very much needed and greatly appreciated!!!

I am also looking into making Landmark Publishing a "non-Profit" and expanding this little venture. Please don't hold me to the coals if it doesn't work out, I have much research to do and a whole lot of prayer time ahead of me!! This is ALL up in the air and may not be where I need to be, but I ask everyone to help me pray about it!

Sincerely,

Brother JW

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

What Happened To Do'Eg

Issue 19           [ July 11, 2010 ]
　^{1Sa 21:7 Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD; and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.

1Sa 22:6 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)

1Sa 22:7 Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;

1Sa 22:8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

1Sa 22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.

1Sa 22:10 And he inquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.

1Sa 22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king.

1Sa 22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.

1Sa 22:13 And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

1Sa 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son-in-law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in thine house?

1Sa 22:15 Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

1Sa 22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.

1Sa 22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.

1Sa 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.

     A few months ago the thought popped into my head, “What happened to Do’eg”? What caused Do’eg to commit the atrocious act he committed against the priests that day. What would make a man slay the priests with the sword, but not only did he slay the priest he did that also to their family.

Do’Eg was not an uneducated man nor was he some beggar off the street, They say he was an educated man and he was also the chief herdsman for the king mules. This was a man who had a little bit of understanding of how things worked. It is spoken of Do’eg as one of the smartest and most intellectual men of that day.

     Did Do’eg have something in his crawl? There obviously was an infection that set up in his heart. Maybe his feelings was hurt by something that was said or maybe the priest or David may have caused an offence to his family. Was Do’eg wounded and did he let the infection in his soul set up for months and months until ONE DAY, the opportunity arose that he could lash out and bring to the surface that which was growing. Pustules will fester up until one day they burst and the infection will pour out onto the ground where everyone could see.

     We, as humans, will succumb to wounds if we live any length of time. I have yet to meet anyone who has not been offended by another. I don’t care how spiritual or humble and meek you are, there will be someone to come along that will advertently or inadvertently wound you, cut you, or even try to destroy you. As a matter of fact, the more spiritual you are, and the closer you walk to God, the more Satan will send someone your way to rattle your chains.

     I feel that pastors are in more of a pressure point position than most of us saints. Why? Because Satan knows if he can silence the head, he can silence the body. I also feel that pastors children are highly susceptible to wounds due to the increased exposure to events which in turn affect that whole family. Some saint causes problems for the pastor and the children have to witness the hurt their parents go thru, but cant lash out, they have to set an example and show love. Showing love in the middle of being wounded, has to be a hard thing to do. Years of events can cause wounds deep down and if not tended to can cause infection later on in life.

     We don’t have to be a preachers child to experience wounds. I guarantee that if you live for God any length of time, you will have a few cuts and scrapes. Now we have to remember that we are a church family and we will have a difference of opinion. Not all of us like deviled eggs (I know I don’t) and we will not see everything eye to eye, but the beautiful thing about a family is we can throw our differences aside, forgive, and apologize if we offend one another (at least that’s what we are supposed to do). We have to remember that the battle lies out there not in here.

     When Nathan wounded King David and said “thou art the man,” David was a man who could have been offended and retaliated for the offense but yet lined up, corrected his attitude, and had his wounds bound up. His desire to please God was more important than pleasing his ego.

     King Herod was a man who became offended when he was told that he couldn’t have his brothers wife. His ego was more important than being right. When that two-edged sword came his way, it was not accepted in the proper manner.

     In this carnal life as the body gets older we may begin to have blockage in our arteries leading to the heart. The doctor will need to perform what is know as “by-pass surgery”. When this is done, they place the patient under anesthesia not only because of the pain threshold but of the delicate nature of the surgery. If the doctor was to do an incision and the patient was to flinch at the wrong moment, the scalpel might slice and cut something that would cause them to hemorrhage to death. If you will allow the “doctor” to perform surgery on you and bind up your wounds, you will be required to stand still and give him complete trust, if not you may not make it out of the surgery.

     In my life‘s short span of 38 years, I have met saints which had an infection come up in their soul. The preacher did everything he could to console them and reassure them that the surgery was needed and recovery was greatly expected but impatience and lack of trust combined with old wounds that were never healed, caused them to flinch before the surgery was completed and it led to their demise.

      Inadequecy plagues my thoughts as I desire to drench your mind into understanding what a wound will do if left unattended. Dont allow Satan to get a snag into your heart thru a wound. Please entreat God for help in binding up your wounds and make it easy for others to bind up theirs!

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Editors Comments:

     Please overlook the errors of my writing and look upon the meaning of the message. Take search of your heart and see if a wound is affecting your spirituality. Is there an infection within your soul which is causing a disease to grow.

     Satan will love nothing more than for you to spiritually destroy your own self. Tend to your wounds, replace the Love of God which has leaked out, and Joy will begin to help turn those wounds into scars.

Don't forget, God has made you master of your destiny - Don't let Him down!

     I got the idea for this newsletter from a message I heard Elder James Swindle preach on "Wounds." Of course if you have Never heard him preach, you just dont know what you are misssing.}