Volume LXI Number 12 - Church of God (7th Day)

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God's WaysBy David DeLong"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither areyour ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavensare higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yourways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the raincometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returnethnot thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bringforth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, andbread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forthout of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but itshall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosperin the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:8-11).God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than oursthat there can be no comparison. His Word, unlike ours,always fulfills what He wants it to accomplish. There is aprinciple in I Corinthians 15:46-47 which pertains first toman and his ways, then second to the Lord and His ways.We read: "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual,but that which is natural; and afterward that which isspiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the secondman is the Lord from heaven." Though this refers to acontrast be tween Adam and Jesus, I believe that a generalprincipal may be gotten from these verses. Our firstinclination may be to do that which pertains to earthlythings, and then, only second, to following the things ofthe Lord.There is a tragic story in I Kings chapter 13 whichhelps to illustrate this point. In this story there are twoprophets of God. However, they both allowed their earthlyinclinations to take over in their lives. " And, behold, therecame a man of God out of Judah by the word of theLORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar toburn incense. And he cried against the altar in the wordof the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD;Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David,Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests ofthe high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’sbones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign thesame day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hathspoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes thatare upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass,when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God,which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he putforth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. Andhis hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so thathe could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent,and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to thesign which the man of God had given by the word of theLORD" (verses 1-5).We see in these verses that this prophet truly was aman of God who prophesied in God's name. Verse 6 evenPAGE TENTHE ADVOCATE OF TRUTH
informs us that the Lord healed king Jeroboam's handthrough this man of God. Continuing in verses 7-10 weread: "And the king said unto the man of God, Comehome with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee areward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thouwilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee,neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: Forso was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying,Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the sameway that thou camest. So he went another way, andreturned not by the way that he came to Bethel."So far so good. Now we come to the tragic change."Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sonscame and told him all the works that the man of God haddone that day in Bethel: the words which he had spokenunto the king, them they told also to their father. And theirfather said unto them, What way went he? For his sonshad seen what way the man of God went, which camefrom Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me theass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,And went after the man of God, and found him sittingunder an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man ofGod that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then hesaid unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. Andhe said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee:neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in thisplace: For it was said to me by the word of the LORD,Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turnagain to go by the way that thou camest. He said untohim, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spakeunto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring himback with thee into thine house, that he may eat breadand drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went backwith him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water"(verses 11-19).What a terrible thing happened! The second prophetlied to the first one, and the first prophet listened to the lie.What caused the old prophet (second one) to lie? Was itvindictiveness, or did he want the honor of having the firstprophet at his home? The Scriptures do not tell us.However, it is clear that both prophets let their naturalinclinations take over their spiritual inclinations. And theresult was very tragic. Let us see what happened next."And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that theword of the LORD came unto the prophet that broughthim back: And he cried unto the man of God that camefrom Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch asthou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hastnot kept the commandment which the LORD thy Godcommanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten breadand drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD didsay to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcaseshall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And itcame to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he haddrunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for theprophet whom he had brought back. And when he wasgone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and hiscarcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, thelion also stood by the carcase. And, behold, men passedby, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lionstanding by the carcase: and they came and told it in thecity where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophetthat brought him back from the way heard thereof, hesaid, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto theword of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath deliveredhim unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him,according to the word of the LORD, which he spakeunto him. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle methe ass. And they saddled him. And he went and found hiscarcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standingby the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nortorn the ass. And the prophet took up the carcase of theman of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back:and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and tobury him" (verses 20-29).How particular is the Lord when He speaks His Word?We can discern this by the story mentioned above. Let usrefer to Isaiah 55:10-11 once again. "For as the rain comethdown, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: itshall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish thatwhich I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto ITHE ADVOCATE OF TRUTHPAGE ELEVEN
Page 1 and 2: The Advocate of TruthA Good FatherW
Page 3 and 4: Three Needs AGood Father MustProvid
Page 5 and 6: Life, Wealth,Health, SicknessAnd De
Page 7 and 8: the people” (verse 14).As childre
Page 9: the afterlife. However, when her ow
Page 13 and 14: water. And I brought him to thy dis
Page 15 and 16: would come to work late and begin t
Page 17 and 18: QUESTION: Why do the wicked seem to
Page 19 and 20: THE ADVOCATE OF TRUTHPAGE NINETEEN
Page 21 and 22: The Children's PageI Samuel 1:1-2.N
Page 23 and 24: The Children's PageGames and Puzzle

Volume LXI Number 12 - Church of God (7th Day)

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