The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth!

You know, in movies, in shows, in news, or wherever, and whenever, and however, we've all seen it done. Take the Bible. We don't take the Bible. We've seen a Bible taken. And the left hand laid on it, and the right hand raised. Do you solemnly swear or affirm before God to tell the truth, the whole truth? And nothing but the truth. And, of course, that is a typical courtroom scene when they're swearing in a witness. Do you solemnly swear or affirm before God to tell the truth, the whole truth? Not just part of it. They don't add that part. They add the whole truth, but that's the meaning. And nothing but the truth. And, again, you usually see that done in a courtroom, a place of justice, of judgment. And that's part of the problem with our justice or judgment system. Because the whole truth and nothing but the truth usually isn't done. Usually isn't held to. If you know anything about trials and court situations and technicalities. See, dealing with the whole truth, and I emphasize whole, the whole truth, the entire truth. Dealing with the whole truth is kind of an unsavory, kind of a scary proposition. Whether it's in the courtroom or if it's in life. And that's why people generally want and like and pursue what we call selectivity. Or we call the cafeteria approach. They just pick what they like. And, of course, what I call the law of technicality allows for selectivity in the courtroom. As two lawyers spare with each other almost like adversaries, almost like enemies, like in a contest to see which one is going to win the case. And the judge is almost like a referee, you know, controlling the situation enough, the contest. Serving kind of like a referee.

And the religious approach, the religious approach of spiritualizing everything away or spiritualizing away to the degree that they want to, their own spiritual technicalities. Those are exercised. Now, in the courtroom, you exercise technicality. See, one of the reasons I would have trouble sitting on a jury is because I want every bit of evidence to be brought into play. Every bit of evidence. I don't want objection, Your Honor. And it's an important piece of evidence. And the judge says, Sustain. Strike that from the record. I'm sorry. It went in the head here. It's going to stay there. And usually, if you are not going to be manipulatable in the putty in the hands of the two lawyers who are vying with each other, who later will be out on the golf course, you know, with the judge playing golf and joking and carrying on because it's a fraternity, you don't get on the jury. You get eliminated because, well, you might think for yourself. And you might disregard technicalities and go with what is moral and right. Anyway, you have that in the courtroom. But in the religious area, the religious approach of spiritualizing away allows for this in life and in religion. And that is a lot of what has gutted religion. This is what has helped to destroy the real heart and core, the real fiber and soul of religion. And, of course, we have young people growing up who see through it. You know, we have a whole millennial generation and another one coming along behind them who see through religion, they see the hypocrisy, they see, you know, you get two-thirds of, quote, the Christian community that thinks there could be another way to salvation other than Jesus Christ. You get that. And a lot of other stuff, including, well, maybe Jesus Christ is a created being. Maybe He didn't have pre-existence. Maybe He wasn't God. Maybe He wasn't with God. You know, etc. Now, Christianity today does not encase the character of the first century church. Now, there are a lot of, quote, good and sincere people out there. Don't get me wrong. But you start making a practice if you want to. You go to a different church out there every Sunday if you want to. And see how much of the truth they really do preach and teach that they have. Oh, you'll find bits and pieces of it. Yeah, they're not wrong on everything. But the whole truth and nothing but the truth? No. You're not going to find it because Christianity today does not encase the character of the first century church. The truths, which were so concrete to the early believers and apostles, don't really seem to matter now. They certainly mattered to Christ, and they certainly mattered to the early church, and they knew it mattered. And the words of Christ like, Why do you call me Lord, Lord? But you won't do the things which I say. Think about that statement. When Jesus Christ said in Luke 6, 46, when He said, Why do you call me Lord? That is, boss or master. When do you call me Lord, Lord? But you won't do what I say. But today, many of those practices, teachings, just same plane, unnecessary. Or extreme. Man, that's just extreme. See, modern Christianity refers to the first century church as, here's the word, when you take the churches created, generated on the day of Pentecost, a holy day on the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D. So that church through the 30s, and that church through the 40s, and the 50s, and the 60s, and the church of the 70s, and the 80s, and the 90s, and you could even extend it to a certain degree into the second century. But there is a word that they label the church with, and the word is primitive.

If you were to be listening to a televangelist, or Protestant preacher, or a priest, or you stepped into a seminary someplace, or anywhere, and you hear them using the phrase, the primitive church. They're talking about the first century church. That's what they're talking about, the primitive church.

And maybe they just mean early. Other word, primitive. Maybe they just mean early. Maybe they just mean original. Whatever. But I also think there's a certain connotation that they do mean, which is the connotation that people stick with the word primitive. You know, what people stick with the word primitive, as far as the connotation, is backward.

Well, you know, their facilities are just primitive. They don't have indoor plumbing. They don't have in-house. It's an out-house. That's just primitive. You know, the word primitive is used to mean backward, not progressed, etc. And seriously, I think that they use the word primitive, the primitive church, to a certain degree, in that way. That, well, the primitive church, it was basic, it was simple, and it was backward. They couldn't help it. It started with a bunch of Jews. They couldn't help it. They didn't know any better. Well, you know, in our great godly love, we can overlook that with them. We're more advanced. We're spiritually wiser now than they were. Christianity has progressed spiritually evolved. And that is a lot of the perspective. It really is. And some will be very honest and candid with you, about if you ever get into the bait or discussion with them.

But has Christianity really progressed? Or has it retrogressed? Through deception, through manipulation, and through what is always a temptation to the human being, convenience and compromise. See, the hand on the Bible represents truth. That's why they take a Bible. And actually, I don't know if they still do that in all cases. I really don't. I know they do in some. I don't know if they still do it in all. But the hand on the Bible represents truth, though most don't know what is truly or fully in it. And usually will not fully practice what they do know about what's in it.

When you hold the Bible, you hold truth. When you study the Bible, you study truth. And there is a reason why we say, and why I've been taught all my life, that the Bible, the Word of God, is the foundation of all knowledge. You're studying something that doesn't change. In a changing world, you're studying something that doesn't change. You're studying something that fits life, no matter what generation you're talking about, that fits life.

Whether it's 2,000 years ago, 4,000 years ago, you could even say 6,000 in the sense that what's contained there pertained, even though they didn't have the written Bible at that point in time. And it's something that doesn't change. It is settled. It's established in heaven for all time. And again, one of the scriptures that I love along this line is Psalm 119 in the words of David.

David had a love affair with God's Word. He had a love affair with God's way, with God's truth. And he says in Psalm 119 verse 89, he says, in Psalm 119 verse 89, he says, "'Forever, O Lord, your word is settled,' or established, in heaven." It's an eternal book because it forms and it is a foundation of truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And when we talk about the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that has to be the conviction of the called.

Dr. Ward likes to use the three C's, conviction, commitment, and courage. You become convicted, and to the degree that you become convicted, you become committed. And to the degree that you are committed based on your convictions, you exercise courage, the courage of those convictions.

Well, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that has to be the conviction of the called of God. Spiritual honesty and objectivity has to be our approach. It has to be our manner, and it has to be our personal goal. This is the only thing that can truly fit the formula, and it is a formula of true worship. John 4, 23 and 24, where Christ was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, John 4.

And what we have here is a formula, the formula, for true worship.

Christ told her in verse 23, but the hour comes, and now is, because it's always a current reality.

It's a current reality that it is the formula for true worship. And now is when the true worshipers, and Christ, he didn't just say worshipers, he said true.

Because worship of God has to involve truth.

When the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

It's inclusive of both, in spirit and in truth.

For the Father seeks such to worship Him, God is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

That formula, in full application of that formula, will produce true worship, will involve the pursuit of the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So if you'd like a title, simply title this sermon, The Whole Truth and Nothing But The Truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

What happens when a person begins to apply this approach?

When a person says, I want to pursue the whole truth and base my life on learning more and more of the truth, the approach of I want the whole truth, all of the truth, nothing but the truth.

What happens when a person begins to apply that approach? A way of life begins to emerge with them. A distinctive way of life. It can be no other way, because it affects their thinking. It affects what they say. It affects what they do. It affects where they go. It affects their activities. It affects who they hang out with. It affects their practices. It affects their whole life. A distinctive way of life begins to emerge, because the truth is distinctive. And as you begin to discover it and put it together, a very distinctive understanding and way of life begins to form and come together. And conviction means you live what you learn. You live what you learn.

In the courtroom, again, laying the hand on the Bible, requiring it. Think about this. Taking a Bible, which again represents truth, and having a person lay their left hand on it and raise their right hand and swear, is a physical effort to try and stimulate a greater conviction and seriousness regarding telling the truth there in the courtroom. And the Bible and its connection to truth is readily recognized, but the full truth of it isn't. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. On a Sabbath day, Sabbath morning, September the 10th, 1988, I was up in liberal Kansas for church services and to be back in Amarillo that afternoon. And a salesman came to the door. Of course, Angela and the kids were there at home. They would be driving over, and I'd see them that afternoon in services. A salesman came to the door. Now, I'm glad I wasn't there simply because I'm allergic to door-to-door salesmen. And then they'd become allergic to me. But the salesman came to the door, and I don't remember what he was trying to sell or whatnot, but Angela stood there and chatted with him for a few moments at the door. And in the course of talking with her, he asked her something like, what does your husband do? She said, he's the minister for the worldwide Church of God. And he said, without any hesitation, he just blurted out, without any hesitation, Oh! That's the church that preaches the whole Bible, not just parts of it like the others.

Never met this guy before in our life. I still haven't met him. I'll meet him someday. But, oh! That's the church that preaches the whole Bible, not just parts of it like the others do. What a recognition. What a statement. Because, see, that has been our legacy. That has been our legacy. And though that organization that once served us and the truth has failed, we and others do carry on. And the truth is still the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. And the distinctive way of life that it produces as it is put into practice and live. So, let's look at it. Let's look at it. At least, sufficiently, to fully illustrate this. And notice how a distinctive way of life can't help but emerge. And keep in mind, when you start talking about the truth of God, you can find some of it over there. You can find some of it over yonder. You can find some of it over here. You can find bits and pieces and parts that are scattered around. But where do you have the opportunity to truly find the whole truth and nothing but the truth? The complete, comprehensive scope. Now, as we so well know, through our own practices many times, our failed practices, you can't just go out and get people to accept the full package, can you? Now, if you'll talk about part of the package that they've already accepted, you can stay on an agreeable page with them. But turn the page to a page that they don't like or don't agree with that's there. You just blew it! Because, see, the full package is totally life-altering. Why aren't you out there with them today in celebration? Why are you here? Because the truth. And the truth has altered your activity.

And it didn't wait till today to alter it. The altering started a whole lot earlier than today, didn't it? But, see, you can't just go out and get people to accept the full package because the full package is totally life-altering. It blows you out of the water. The common water, that is. The mainstream. I'm not going to deal with even half of what I could, but I want to deal with enough to more than sufficiently illustrate the point I'm making.

And what I will deal with will be some of the heavier points that form the real heart and core. So where do we begin with the illustration that the whole truth and nothing but the truth produces a distinctive way of life, is life-altering, and does set you apart, blows you out of the mainstream water? Well, where do we begin with that illustration?

Well, I think the good place to begin, and I'll number these. The first and number one, I think the first place to begin, it's a good place, but it has to do with our official entry, our official formal, personal, individual entry into the body of Christ, number one, baptism. Baptism. Acts 2, they have Pentecost when the church began, in the words of Peter, inspired words of Peter. Preaching to the multitude there in Acts 2, in verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart instead to Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, What shall we do?

Then Peter said to them, Repent, that's foundational, it's got to be in place, through repentance, and be baptized. And the word for baptism is baptizo, B-A-P-T-I-Z-O, baptizo, it means total submersion. You've got to be put completely under.

It's a burial, it's a type of burial of the old man, the old woman. I mean, how many funerals have I gone to? How many times have I gone in procession out to the cemetery? Oh, we're going to bury him in Hope Cemetery over here. And we go out to the cemetery, and they just put the casket there on top of the ground, sprinkle a little dust on it, and say, Okay, folks, we can all leave, we just buried the person. Wait a minute, the casket is sitting on top of the ground with a little dust sprinkling on it.

He's not buried? Oh, yeah, he is. Uh-uh, no, he's not. The reality is, he's not buried. Baptism is burial, total submersion. I know one person who left the truth, had been totally submerged, baptized, years previous, whether it was valid or not, only God knows.

But they left the truth, and they got rebaptized. And the rebaptism was, they stood there, and some minister or priest, whatever he referred to himself, took a little water and sprinkled it on her. That's not baptism. It's not baptism. Now, are there some others that do baptize? Yeah. Are there some who, some out there in other denominations who do total submersion and who believe in total submersion? Yes. Yes. As I said, you can find elements of the truth sprinkled all over. Anyway, and be baptized. Every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So, if we were to progress with distinctives, next, since in the first point with baptism, we talk about the official formal valid entry into the body of Christ through baptism, which is based on true repentance, well, then the second thing we'll deal with is, we'll talk about our direct spiritual connection with God, our direct spiritual connection with God.

God is a spirit. He is spirit. He's composed of spirit. We don't fully understand spirit. We understand it enough to be able to operate spiritually, and of course, that very spirit from God helps us. But our very direct spiritual spirit connection to God with God. Point to Acts 8, verse 18. Acts 8 and verse 18. It says, And when Simon, this is Simon Magus, Simon the sorcerer, Simon the magician, and when Simon saw, look at what he saw, look at the reality that he became aware of, when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money.

Simon, you know, that's where we get, you know, after filthy lupar and wanting the power. Anyway, another subject. Simon saw that it was through the laying on of hands, that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying on of hands. Now, again, are there some others who practice that? Yes. You might have some that practice that, laying on of hands, who don't believe in total immersion of the body.

So, if there's not a valid baptism, do you think the laying on of hands has any chance of being valid? No. But I'm talking about the wholeness, the completeness of the truth and the progression of doing it the way that God says based on His Word, and again, that approach of the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So, the official entry into the body of Christ through baptism, total immersion, and then now in the body of Christ with actual bona fide connection to God the Father, who gives His Spirit through Christ due to the sacrifice of Christ, and what happens if now you are not only officially and fully in the body of Christ, as a bona fide part of it, a member of His own body, and a part of the Father is in you, connected to you in a type of spiritual begettle through Christ, and both the Father and the Son flow their Spirit to you and help you, and you're bona fide with it, well then what follows suit in one sense, one of the things that follows suit is it becomes even more obvious and necessary to apply, and to make sure you continue to apply Revelation 18.4.

Revelation 18.4. Now, I'm not going to turn to every Scripture I've got. I'll reference some of them, and I'll just reference that one. But there's a word there, or a statement there, I should say, in Revelation 18.4, where it says, come out of her, my people. My people! You're my people, so come out of her.

Come out of what? Babylon mystery religion, paganism, idolatry, false customs, false practices, which that takes us up to point three. And I would list Deuteronomy 12, verses 29 through the next few verses to the end of that chapter, Deuteronomy 12, beginning in verse 29, because this is where God says, you're going into the land.

Those folks have practices. Some of them absolutely stink. Some of them are absolute abominations. I don't want you involved in those practices, period. Don't get involved in that. They're paganism. Just stay clean of it. And, of course, through Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 10, and specifically verses 1 and 2, where God says through Jeremiah there in chapter 10, the first couple of verses, learn not the ways of the heathen.

Since when and where does God give us permission to lie to little kids? Since when and where does God give us permission to make Santa more important than Jesus Christ in those little kids' minds? Since when and where does God give us permission to make idols in the minds of the children and to teach them the way of get, not give? Since when does God give us the permission as the most trusted beings in little children's lives to lie to them and to mislead them and to deceive them and to practice things that are devices of the devil, not God? He doesn't. And it's always amazed me that all across this land there's coming a Sunday in the springtime where numerous ones across this land who will go to, if their church does an early morning sunrise worship service, they will go to their church, they will stand outside. Now, not all practices anymore, but there are quite a few that still do. And they'll get there early and they'll face the east and they'll have a early sunrise morning worship service facing the east, facing the sign as it rises, Easter morning. And you can read specifically in Ezekiel 8, verse 16. You can read specifically how God says, Here are people that go to my temple. They stand with their back to the temple, facing the east, the rising sun, and they have a worship service. That practice was done long ago and God says, You see this? You see this, Ezekiel? This stinks. This is an abomination. I hate it.

It's a very inconvenient truth on Easter for any preacher to stand up there and say, Turn with me and let's look at the earliest recorded early morning sunrise worship service of Ashtart, or Ashtarti, or Easter, or Ishtar. But it's there. God says, Don't learn the way of the heathens. Come out at it. You and I. I'll speak for myself. I think I speak for you, too. If there's any time of the year, I can't address. It's this time of the year. If there's a time I dread, it's this time of the year. I'm always so glad to get past this time. All of the certain musics, certain greetings, and again, don't misunderstand me. I understand that there are a lot of sincere, good people, and I don't go around trying to straighten everybody out. I just don't do it. You want to? Fine. I hope you live to talk about it later. But I'm always so glad to get past this period. I say, okay, I've got almost another year before I have to deal with the craziness and the corruption and all again. And oh, how I look forward to the kingdom of God when, from the time a babe is born, all through his life, he'll be taught nothing but the good and the right way and the true way. And he'll find out that God's way of life, especially in a society that's all moving God's way, how much fun it can be to be alive and just live and do in wonderful time. No. Our activities, what we do, what we don't do, begin to set us apart, don't they? And for most people who come into the church, the biggest trials of all are the ones they have to deal with. The first and biggest trials that many of them had to deal with, of course, the weekly one was the Sabbath. But as far as seasonal, the ones they had to deal with, the biggest and heaviest time was this time of the year. And learn not the way of the heathen, okay? Then I'm practicing that, okay, I'm not learning the way of the heathen. So I am to learn what? That brings me to the fourth point, God's law. God's law, specifically the Ten Commandments, because they're hard and core. When you read the writings of Paul, and I'm going to go to Romans 7 and 12, Romans 7 and verse 12. When you read the writings of Paul, in his writings, there are some very core scriptures or statements that he makes that are recorded in scripture.

And these are foundational statements he makes. And here's one of them. Here is his view of the law of God. Romans 7 and verse 12. This is his perspective on the law of God as to its goodness, its rightness, and all of that. He says, wherefore the law is holy. It's holy because it comes from the Holy One, God.

It's holy. And the commandment, holy. And it's just. And it's good. Jesus said, think not that I've come to destroy the law. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill. Those are two words. Fulfill are two words put together. Separate them and flip them.

Fulfill just simply means fill full. I have, since I'm a coffee drinker, there are certain cups that are my favorite cups. And I've got one favorite cup in particular that I have my morning coffee with.

Now, I've tried to make sure. It is a favorite cup. It actually came from Panama City Beach. But it's an excellent coffee drinking cup. Don't ask me to explain that. But it's a favorite cup. Now, each morning when I pour my coffee in it, I make sure that I don't fill the cup all the way to the top, because I don't want to destroy it. If I fill it full, it's going to destroy the cup. And I can't use it the next morning. You're looking at me like I'm crazy. That's how crazy it is to say that Christ destroyed the law by fulfilling it. When you fill something full, you don't destroy it. I could fill my coffee cup every morning, over and over and over.

And it doesn't destroy it, does it? Fulfilling the law didn't destroy it. No human had ever been able to live the fullness of what the law is and intends in thinking, in words, in actions, until Christ Jesus as God in the flesh who lived it fully. That's why he fulfilled it.

That's why he says that he said, I didn't come to destroy it, but to fulfill it. So when somebody says, well, he fulfilled it, so it doesn't exist anymore. Oh, you mean he destroyed it? He said he didn't come to destroy it. Anyway. And then those people would have a problem with David. You know, if you sat down with a cup of coffee with David and you don't like the law, you have a problem with David.

Because David said in Psalm 119 and verse 97, he says, oh, how love I your law. So they have a problem with David. Now, I won't have a problem with David on that. Because when he says, oh, how love I your law, I'll say, David, I've read Psalm 119 many, many a time, and it is so obvious from reading that chapter how much you did and do love God's law. And I feel kinship with you because it's wonderful.

It's a great law. See, for a normal human being, it's like, oh, how hate I your law. Or what objections I find with your law. Or, well, I just feel, if we're honest, I feel some natural animosity. See, right here in Romans 8 and verse 7, oh, how hate I your law. Because the carnal mind is enmity.

There's animosity. There's hostility. It's enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. I don't particularly care for having people come to my door promoting their religion and trying to solicit me to go with them. And they almost always come in twos, don't they?

And you could name them and I could name them. We know who they are. And again, maybe very sincere people. But I know how I can get somebody off of my doorstep in a hurry. I tried it. It works. I'm not saying you do it. I'm just telling you what I've done. Because I don't usually have a desire to spend my wheels on an exercise of futility and getting nowhere. And I've got better things to do. But I might test the waters a little bit. But if I really want to get rid of them, I just bring up the law.

I have had men stand before me on my doorstep with this smiling countenance on their face and bring up the law of God and watch the countenance just totally change and see the animosity written all over their face. That old law, that old burden. Sin is the transgression of the law. John said that. It's kind of funny that in the 90s A.D. the law still existed. And if you transgressed it, it was called sin. I thought the law was done away with.

It's sin is the transgression of the law. And the law is done away with. There's no sin. The law is not sin. It's breaking it for the sin. Anyway. Okay, well if you're going to accept the law of God, you can't accept the law of God without accepting, number five, the Sabbath. That's why we're here today, folks. The Sabbath. And it's interesting, if sin is the transgression of the law and Lucifer sinned before there was ever a human being and Cain sinned, and God said sin lies at your door, Cain, well then how could the law have been created at Sinai, which it wasn't?

It was codified. It was put in codified form at Sinai and then incorporated into the Old Covenant. When the Old Covenant went out, the law of God didn't go out of existence. That which had preceded, pre-existed the Old Covenant made at Sinai. What pre-existed, it continued to exist. And as far as the Sabbath is concerned, Genesis 2, it would go all the way back to the time when there was no Cain, there was no Abel, there was Adam, and Eve.

Because when God created the Sabbath, Adam and Eve existed. He had created them on the sixth day, and it says in Genesis 2, verses 2 and 3, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day. Now, you think about it, God doesn't get tired. He didn't rest because he was tired. I may rest because I get tired. God doesn't rest because he gets tired. But he rested on the seventh day as part of making it holy and setting it apart.

He rested on the seventh day. The particular works he was doing in terms of the heaven around the earth, the earth, the physical, you know, any of that and all of that, he didn't do any of that on the seventh day. He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made, and God blessed the seventh day and set it apart. And you don't find any place in Scripture anywhere after that, old or new, where he unsanctified it, unsaid it apart.

And, of course, we obviously know that Christ said that the Sabbath was made for man and that he is Lord of the Sabbath, which we have in Mark 2, the last two verses of Mark 2, verses 27 and 28. And I call myself part of the people of God. I'm part of God's people. You're part of God's people. We're part of God's people. And we're told in Hebrews 4 and 9 that there remains the keeping of a Sabbath to the people of God. Again, that's why we're here today. Now, okay, if you're going to go into that, which you've got to, if you're going to go into the whole truth and nothing but the truth, what is hinged to the Sabbath?

What is hinged to the Sabbath there? Number six, the annual Sabbaths. The annual Sabbaths. The Holy Days. See, one of the reasons that people today believe this is the only day of salvation.

One of the reasons they lack understanding of the scheduled plan of salvation that has steps and stages to it is they don't understand the Holy Days. They don't understand the Holy Days because either they don't know about them or if they should know anything about them, they're done away with. You don't have to keep them just like the weekly Sabbath is done away with. You don't have to keep it. And so, you know, they don't understand God's plan of salvation. And so, there's all kinds of false doctrine that people adhere to, which has all kinds of fallacies in it. And just one caveat that I would throw out is, let me see, sir, let me get this straight.

Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, right? Oh, yeah. He was the apostle to the Gentiles. Now, he could work with Jews also, couldn't he? Well, yeah, he could. He was a Jew, a Jew of Tarsus. Yeah, he could work with Jews, too. And, well, were there maybe some Jews in some of the Gentile congregations? Well, yeah, there could have been some Jews in those Gentile congregations, but we both will agree that he was the apostle to the Gentiles.

Yes, yes, we agree. And we'll agree that he raised up many Gentile congregations converted to the truth that God called. Oh, yeah. Well, we would agree that Corinth was a Gentile congregation, right? Right, it sure was. Yeah, you know, he raised up. God used him to raise up a congregation there in Corinth in Sin City, Greece.

Yeah, and there were a lot of challenges, but basically that was a Gentile congregation, wasn't it? Oh, yeah. Now, all these Holy Days were done away with, right? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, they were done away with. Well, then answer me something, sir. Why is he teaching them to keep the Holy Days? Huh? Yeah, I mean, haven't you read 1 Corinthians 5-8? Well, maybe I need to look at that again.

1 Corinthians 5-8, let us keep the feast. And it's obvious just to read the context, Feast of Unleavened Bread. Let us keep the feast. Now, I don't always give anybody the whole load, because if they don't want part of the load, they're not going to want the whole load. If they want part of the load, I might give them more of the load. See, the truth puts certain markers and demands on our time, too, doesn't it? Because, guess what? There are certain activities that are okay for you to do today, and there are certain activities that you have to restrict yourself from, like we shouldn't be working our livelihoods, our jobs, on the Sabbath.

It does affect what we do. I'm not going to go attend a football game on the Sabbath. And, of course, you might say, well, of course you're not. You've got to run a circuit. I'm not going to go deer hunting on the Sabbath. Sorry, you folks over in Gadsden, I can't come for the afternoon, because I'm going deer hunting this afternoon. No, there are certain things that you can do, and certain things you don't do, and can't do, and shouldn't do.

And it does affect your time, doesn't it? It also puts certain markers and demands on your resources, like your finances. That's point seven. How about tithing? In Malachi 3.10, now in Malachi 3, and I'll pick it up in verse 8, will a man rob God? Will a man rob God? Malachi 3.8. Yet you have robbed me. But you say, well, how?

Wherein have we robbed you? And the answer is, in tithes and offerings. You're cursed for the curse. For you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Tithing. And as we said, that first tithe, it is holy. It's God's. He claims it. Now, well, remember the Pharisees in Matthew 23, 23, where they did tithe, but they omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. And Christ told them, He said, you should have been doing what you're doing, but you should not leave the other undone. You should be doing it all. And, of course, they were extreme in the way they did their tithing, counting out seeds and all of that. But tithing, as far as our finances.

Now, I had a great uncle. He's deceased. I had a great uncle that was a very fine, upstanding man in the community. He had a very good reputation, and rightly so. He didn't know the truth. He wasn't called in this age, but he was a tithe-payer. And, of course, back in those years, one of the main staples with farmland was cotton. He always made a good crop. He was a tithe-payer. If there's only a shower localized, it would be over his fields. And there were years when the other crops around him, cotton, would just not be making much because of a real dry year, whatever.

And he always made a good crop. He was a tithe-payer. And God knows that he's going to call that great uncle of mine in the last great day. He didn't call him in this age. And God blessed him for the tithing. And like I said, you can find different things here and there with others. And what about just truly and fully and honestly looking at what our real purpose for existing is? Why we exist? Why we were created? Why we were made? And that gets into point eight. I'm going to move through these a little bit faster. I'll tell you how many I've got in a minute.

Sons and daughters of God. When we say sons and daughters, oh, you hear people say, oh, we're all children of God. Oh, we're God's children. But I'll go on to say many times, when you get your wings and your heart to sit on that cloud, first of all, we're not going to be resurrected with wings. We're not angels. Now, can we fly? Yeah, we'll be able to fly, but do we need wings? No. Angels have wings. And how many times on tombstones where maybe a little child has died, a very sad thing, and on it would be a picture of a little angel, like a baby angel or a little child angel with wings, and say, going to be one of God's angels.

They don't understand. And I realize at funerals, when I emphasize about how that our purpose is to be sons and daughters of God, and the five members of the family of God, on the God-planed level, sharing in a relationship with Him, like neither the creation has, is, or ever will, that Christ is the firstborn among many brethren, that He's bringing many sons into glory, and the direct quote of the Father in 1 Corinthians 6, 18, You shall be my sons and daughters.

I realize people sit there kind of nodding. The body goes over their heads. They don't really grasp, because usually when they do fully grasp what we are saying our purpose is, then they accuse us of blasphemy. No, we won't be the Father, and we won't be the Son. We won't be like them in the sense that they have always created, always created, have always created because they're creator. They have no beginning. They have no beginning. They've always been. You and I have a beginning.

We're part of the creation, and we'll be brought onto their God-playing level with a full relationship. But that is something that is not really understood, and something else is not understood. And I want to go into this subject more fully at a future time, and plan to in due time. But this issue of once saved, always saved is not fully understood. Point 9. The reality is Matthew 24.13, "...he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." Point 9. Matthew 24.13, "...he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved." We are not born again until the resurrection.

There is no such thing as once saved, always saved, while we are flesh. There is no removal of the possibility of failure while we are flesh. We have to tend to our salvation. We have to keep going forward. And speaking of flesh, that brings me to point 10. And then again, I'm going to go through these a little faster.

I'm only going up to 14. There are others that I could add, but it's enough to make the point. Speaking of flesh, point 10. Mortality. Mortality. Adam, you're made of the dust of the ground. To the dust, you're going to return. Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 18, verses 4 and 20. Ezekiel 18, verses 4 and 20. He was inspired to write, The soul that sins, it shall die. The soul.

The soul that sins, it shall die. The soul can die. It's not an immortal being. David wrote in Psalm 22, 29. Psalm 22, verse 29, No one can keep alive his own soul. And I've always thought how interesting it is in the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, about how the emphasis is placed this way in verse 54. It says, And this mortal, this mortal, which we are, shall have put on immortality. At the resurrection, shall have put on immortality. There is no immortal soul, and that brings up the reality that, point 11, nobody already has eternal life. Nobody, except God and Jesus Christ. Nobody.

Nobody already has eternal life. It is something that you have to be given. It is a gift. You know, the statement in Romans 6, in Romans 6, and verse 23, about how the wages of sin is death, it also says, But the gift of God is eternal life. If I already have it, it can't be given to me. If I already have eternal life, if I'm an immortal soul, and I have pre-existence or whatever, as some teach. You know, somebody said to me, Mr. Beame, I'd like to give you that jacket that you're wearing. No, you can't give it to me.

Now, if I took it off and put it in a chair, you could hand it back to me and give it to me in that sense, but you're just handing me back that which I already own. It's mine. How's God going to give me eternal life if I already have it? It wouldn't make a lick of sense, would it? And where are the saints going to start spending their eternal life? Where do we start spending our eternal life? Planet Earth, point 12. I want to go back to Psalm 37. Psalm 37, point 12, Psalm 37. In verse 9, For evildoers shall be cut off, but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

Verse 11, For the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall they like themselves in the abundance of peace. Verse 18, The Lord knows the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be for ever. Verse 22, For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth.

And I think about Matthew 5, how Christ said that the meek will inherit the earth. In verse 29, The righteous shall inherit the land or the earth, and dwell therein forever. They will inherit the earth. That's point 12. There's two more to go.

And I want to add one thing here under point 12, that they will inherit the earth. No man has gone to heaven. We know that. Read with me John 3, verse 13. And I'm going to ask, John wrote this Gospel in the 90s A.D. when he was 90-something years old. Peter was dead, Paul was dead, James was dead, his brother James was the first apostolic martyr.

But so many of the people, most all of the people that John had been brought along with, were now in the grave awaiting the return of Jesus Christ. How many of you in here have a red letter Bible? Hold your hands up a minute. Look at verse 13. Is it red? Put your hands up if it's red. That's false. It should not be red. It should be black. Those are not Christ's words. That is what's called a parenthetical statement.

In other words, you put parentheses around it. John added that in under inspiration. Now, you've got to keep in mind, this is in the 90s A.D. and John is writing as a 90-something-year-old man who has seen all of his fellow apostles and others die, probably just about all of them be martyred. And so he's writing this Gospel. Now, let's step back, let's step back to the time, let's say in 31 A.D., 60-something years earlier, let's step back. Let's step back when Christ is walking with them.

He's not been crucified yet. He's not ascended to heaven. That is yet to come, yet. And Christ makes the statement. He says, And no man has ascended up to heaven, but he, referring to himself, that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Makes no sense. He wasn't in heaven. If he said that in 31 A.D., he wasn't in heaven. He was flashing blood on this earth and had not yet ascended back to heaven. It would not be a true statement. But when John wrote it, when John said, Oh, by the way, no man has ascended up to heaven. Not Paul, not Peter, not any of them.

No man has ascended up to heaven, but he, the Christ, Jesus, whom I was with and knew and walked with, he that came down from heaven. That's where he came from. He pre-existed. That's where he came from. Even the Son of Man, which is right now, at this time that I'm writing this gospel, is in heaven. That's why it's called it. Authorities in general recognize it is a parenthetical statement where John inserts that to make the point that is a point of reality under inspiration of God. And see, you've got people who believe, well, Christ said it.

Well then, yeah, at that point, maybe nobody had, but after he was crucified, all kinds of saints went to heaven from then on. Now, John's looking back and saying, oh, no, nobody's gone except he who came down, who is now in heaven. And that is a totally 100% accurate statement because that's exactly where Christ was when John was writing this.

But this earth becomes the prime real estate for the processing of the salvation of mankind. And I'll just short it, say, point 13, the kingdom of God. That's just not understood. The kingdom is in your heart. No, it's not. It's an actual, literal kingdom that's going to be set up. And I want, you know, you're very familiar with it, obviously.

And like I said, I'll just kind of maybe shortchange it a little bit, but we're so familiar with that, the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is not understood. And something else, this is point 14, and this is major. It's major. The wicked are destroyed. Back in Psalm 37, in verse 20, the wicked are destroyed. Psalm 37, verse 20, But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs.

They shall consume, and to smoke. Notice, they shall consume. And to smoke shall they consume away. And then, if you want to just reference it, Malachi 4, verses 1 through 3, it talks about how the wicked will be ashes under the feet of the righteous. See, you start putting the whole truth together. There's no immortality of the soul. There is not and cannot be an ever-burning hellfire, where these immortal souls, beings, who are thrown into it, burn forever and ever and ever and never burn up.

There will be a lake of fire, and it will burn up the wicked. But when they are burned up, they are burned up. And the magnitude of the mercy of that is light years away from an ever-burning hellfire, where you're scorched and singed and burned and scream in pain forever and ever, and there's no chance of it ever ending. That makes God the biggest torture that has ever been. That's why these false doctrines are such an abomination in His sight.

And again, folks will know better someday. But again, there are many other points, but obviously these are some of the main ones that illustrate the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and the honesty and the objectivity that must go with it. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. That is the continuing challenge upon the faithful people of God. Always has been, is, and shall be.