THE LORD SAID WAIT: Doin' Me Own T'ing!?!

Instant Gratification

Is

One Of Satan's Choicest Weapons!

When I Was Guessing At The Answers

I Made A Lot Of Mistakes

Saved A Boat-Load Of Time 

And

My Personal Performance 
Was 50+% Better Than My Brethren!

When I Learned The Rules

And 
Patiently Followed The Rules

I Spent A Lot Of Time Doing

And

I Got The Answers Right

But

I Was ... Consistently

Only Six Percent Better Than My Compatriots!

I Am Getting Two Answers

Which Are Tickling My Mind:

Is This How The Remnant Is Going To Be Made Up!?!

Is This How The Could-Be Saved Will Be Lost!?!

Time For A Think ...

Being Willing To Make Mistakes

To Save Non-RenewableTime
To Just Be Better Than Half The Population

Is 
A Losing Proposition To My Finite Mind

And

Following The Rules

And

Expending Time To Learn ... And Grow

Only To Be Better Than Less Than 
Six Percent Of The Population

Tells Me ... Of A Surety

That For Soul Salvation

I Really Need A Surety For Security!
Isn't Our Striving To Be For Perfection!?!

Jesus Christ Paid It All!

He Took My Pain ... Yours, Too

My Sorrow ... Yours, Likewise

To Give Unto Us His Blessing

In The Land Of No Time

Where No One Is Unkind

And

The God Is Eternal

Living

Holy And Divine!

To Ignore This Level Of Reasoning

Would Be Asinine!

Think Again ...

In The Situation Given

We Are At Peril 
So

We Need Our Savior, The Lord

Who Has Written His Law

Made Himself The Sacrifice

The Surety

The Security

And

Is The King

The Judge

The Lord, Our God

And

Master Of Everything

Who, Alone, Can Cause Us

To Be Free Of Sin
And
The Cruel Clutches Of Satan 
The Accuser Of The Brethren
The Raging Lion
The Known God-Fraud!

Jehovah, Hallelujah ...

The Lord Provides!

The Lord Protects!

He Is Prophet, High Priest And Conquering King! 

He Is The Law Giver
And 

The Sin-Forgiver!

He Is Our Only Help

Our Guardian
And

Our Guide!

He Gives Good Gifts To All Living

But

To His Obedient People
He Does His Choicest Gifts Provide!

The Lord Bids Us Come: We Will Not Be Denied!

We Will Be Tried

But

His Hand Of Salvation

To Our Earnest Effort Is Tied:

He Gives 

But

We Must Expend Effort To Accept

By Saying:

Yes, Lord!

I Accept!

I Am Willing To Be Healed

And

Cleansed!

Use Me, Lord!

I Am Willing To Work!

Guide Me, Lord!

I Am Willing To Walk!

Help Me So That My Service To

And

For You

Is Not A Whole Lot Of Long Talk!

The Lesson That Must Be Learned ...

Waiting 

Does Not Sit Well With Us Selfish Beings 

Who Thrive On Instant Gratification!

Being Courageous When Our Mortal Eyes 

Can Only See Present Defeat 

Is 

Practically Impossible

And

Being Strong 

When Your Heart Is Trembling In Ungodly Fear 

- Because You Messed Up By Previously Doing "It" Your Way -

Isn't Going To Happen! 

Buuut ... 

When The God Of Grace

Your Father In Heaven, Says:

"Be Not Dismayed!

Trust Me!

I Am Here

And

I Will Bless And Keep You 

Because

You Are The Apple Of My Eye!" 

We Can Believe Him 

Because 

He Loves Us 

And 

He Is Faithful! 

He Can't Make Mistakes!

We Can Take The Lord Jesus Christ

At His Living, Holy, Word 

Because 

He Is Able To Do All That He Says He Will Do! 

His Mission To Calvary Was A Glorious Success:

It Caused Him Agony 

And 

Shed His Innocent Blood

And

Purchased For Us Eternal

In The Realms Of The Blessed In Heaven Above!

Praise The Lord ...

We Serve The All-Knowing

All-Seeing

Ever-Present

All-Feeling

Eternal God: He Knows The Answers! 

Let Us Wholly ... With Willing Obedience

And

Enduring Faith

Solely Lean On Him 

And 

Unwaveringly Trust Him 

So That We Will Be Eternally Blessed!

Our God, Holy, Cannot Lie!

Human Wisdom 

Is

Foolishness To Almighty God

And

Willfully Walking Wayward

Is

The Corrupt Way Of Fools

Those Who Use The Lord's Free Air

And

Deny His Love

Repulse His Presence

And

Reject The Knowledge That 

For Fallen Man

He Does Sacrificially Care!!

**--**--**--**

The Way Of The Lord

Is

Perfect!

VESPERS AT THE END OF THE SABBATH: IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS: Ignoring Instructions

This Sermon, Brethren

Is Like No Other You'll Hear

And 
I Desire For Us All To Pay Close Attention:

Follow Almighty God's Commandments Always

And

To The Letter

And

Live Humbly In Godly Fear!

That's Nothing New!

I've Heard That All My Life!

In That Case, Big Mike

Since You Have Life-Long Experience

Come On Up Here With Me

And 
We'll Run An Experiment

For A Visual Aid To Bless Everybody!

Big Mike, Do You Like Garlic!?!

Of Course! Who Doesn't!?!

As A Matter Of Fact

I Take Two Garlic Capsules Every Day Without Fail!

Did You Take Your Capsules Today!?!

As You Well Know, Pastor Mac

Because I Told You When You Picked Me Up

I Was Running Late

And I Put Them In My Pocket For Later When We Eat!

I Have A Glass Of Water On The Lectern!

Would You Take Your Garlic Capsules 
Right Now ... In Our Presence!?!

No!

Would You Care To Tell Us 
Why You Won't Take The Garlic Capsules!?!

I Won't Take Them Now

Because The Instructions Clearly State:

Take With Food To Avoid Upset Stomach!

Sounds Reasonable!

Do You Always Follow Instructions!?!

By God's Grace, I Valiantly Try To Do So!?!

That's Fantastic, Isn't It, Brethren!?!

AMEN!!!

May I Encourage You To Not Follow 

The Instructions Aka The Rules

Aka The Commandments 
For Taking Your Garlic Capsules!?!

No!

What If I, Your Beloved Pastor

And 
Trusted, Lifelong, Friend

Your Brother By Faith

By Blood

And

By Affection

Were To Tell You That

I Also Take Garlic Capsules!?! 

I'd Say, Smart Man!

What If I Say I Take Garlic Capsules

On An Empty Stomach

And 
With No Ill-Effects!?!

I'd Say Good For You! 

I'd Say Prove It!

This Is Very Good, Brethren!

We Have Two Opinions:

The World And The Church

The Believer And The Doubter

The Right And The Wrong 

The Good And The Bad

Covering The Sinner And The Saint!

Big Mike, As We Discussed Prior

And 
To Open The Eyes Of The People Of God Today

How About We Both Take Our Daily Garlic Capsules

Just To See What Will Happen

To Those Who Dare To Ignore Instructions

Reject Rules

And

Defy Commandments!

Are You Game!?!

Against My Better Judgment

But All For A Good Cause

And Because It Won't Kill Me

I'm In The Game!

Brethren, 

Observe Carefully!

Big Mike, Do I Have Garlic Capsules In My Hand!?!

They Sure Smell Like My Garlic Capsules

That I Have In My Hand!

Very Good!

The Clock On The Wall Says It's 11:45 p.m.

Let's Give This Experiment Fifteen Minutes To Play Out!

Anybody Have Any Crackers ... Just In Case!?!

Lacey Macy Always Has Crackers!

I Sure Do!

Then We're Set!

Bottoms Up, Big Mike!

Likewise, Pastor Mac!

Not Even Five Minutes Later ... 

Lord Jesus, Help Me!

You Alright There, Big Mike!?!

No, Pastor Mac!

My Skin Is Going Clammy

And It Feels Like Someone 

Is Ripping Through My Stomach With A Hacksaw

And My Whole Body Feels ... Feels 
Feels Like It Is Electrified ... On Alert!

Aren't You Feeling Anything!?!

Not At All!

I Don't Understand Why Not! 

You Must Have A Cast-Iron Stomach!

Not Really!

I Had A Sandwich During The Five Minute Break!

But You Said You Take Yours On An Empty Stomach!

I Most Certainly Did Not!

The Congregation Gasped!

But, But ...!

... I Said: What If I Say ...!

Uhhhh, Uhhhhh, Ooooo, Mama! 

... You Alright, Big Brother!

I Feel Like I'm Dying!

Lord, Help Me ... The Pain! 

Sister Lacey, Bring Those Crackers Now, Please!

Here You Go, Big Mike!

Chew, Brother! Chew!

After The Conclusion Of The Experiment ... 

Brethren, 

As You All Observed 

Temptation To Sin Can Even Come

From A Silken Cord Of Affection 
Aka The Hand Of Blood Brethren!

As You Also Observed

Nuanced Speech And Outright Lies

Cause Us To Yield Common Sense

And

To Disobey

And 
To Fall Into Satan's Traps!

You Also Observed That Rules, Instructions 

From Manufacturers, From Parents
Our Teachers, Our Civil Rules

The Commandments From Our God Holy

Are Not Put In Place To Make Us Miserable

To Deny Us Pleasure

To Lord It Over Us!

They Are There For Safety 
Comfort And Protection!

Big Mike, My Beloved Brother, 

Thank You For Participating: 
Sorry For You Pain, Your Trauma!

Is There Anything You'd Like To Say To Us!?!

First, Pastor Mac, Lil' Brother

In The Hour Of My Distress 

I Seriously Wanted To Hurt You Profoundly!

You Lied To Me!

I Apologize For Not Disclosing The Whole Plan!

Brethren, 

I Know The Rules!

I Was Fully Informed Of The Risks And The Rewards!

I Also Knew, In Advance

The Penalty For Disobedience!

I Paid The Price!
Foolishness Is Not Common Sense In Any Language!

Let Me Tell You

Almost Instantly Upon Taking My

Not The ... My Garlic Capsules

I Felt When They Hit My Empty Stomach!

I Felt ... The Change

And I Then Felt 
When They Fully Bloomed In My Stomach!

The Pain, The Upset
The Trauma To My Innards
Was, Is, Unbelievable ... Pastor Mac ...!

... I Understand! 

I'll Take It From Here! 

Brethren, 

Let This Be A Lesson To Us All! 

This Is What Sin Does! 

Temptation Is What Satan Proffers! 

This Is What Disobedience Works In Our Hearts! 

Do Not Play Games With Your Soul! 

Big Mike Is Going To Feel Pretty Poorly For A While!
He Is Going To Know ... Fully
The Cost Of His Disobedience!

Silken Cords Tie Us Up Tighter
Tighter Than A Ship's Anchor Rope
Because
They Are Smoother, Nearer, Softer
And
We Like, Love, Admire, Appreciate
That To Which They Are Attached!

Silken Cords ... Unchecked
Will Cut Us Off From Freedom
From Good Health
And
They Can Kill!

What We Have Witnessed Today Is Minor
In Comparison To What Sin Does To Us!
We Know When We Have Sinned!
We Feel When We Have Sinned!
We Suffer As A Result Of Our Sin
And
The After-Effects Of Our Sin
Are Of Long Duration
Even When We Confess And Repent
Of Our Known Sin!
Repentance Does Not Mean No Punishment!

The Sin Of Presumption
- Which This Was -
Can Lead To Deadly Outcomes
So Do Not Be Presumptuous!

Listen To This Closing Word

And

Know That We Cannot Hide From Our Maker:

It Takes An Enormous Amount Of 
Pride And Presumption ... Both Sins

For Mortal Beings To Believe That 
They Can Hide Anything That They Think
That They Did Or Are Doing 
From The Creator Of Us All! 

Who Makes It Knows It ...

Very Foolish Is The Builder Of The House That 

He Does Not Know How To Breach 
If He Is Locked Out! 

The Custom Watch-Maker Intimately Knows 
The Workings Of His Creations: 

Why Would The Creator God 
Know Less About Us, His Creatures!?! 

Do Not Be Presumptuous

Believing That You Are An Island

A Nation Unto Yourself

Impervious To Self-Destruction! 

Let's Us Be Ever Wise Unto Soul Salvation

And

With Contrite Hearts

Sorrowing Over Our Personal Sin
And
Desiring To Get Right With Our God

Humble Ourselves 

And

In The Time Appointed
The Lord Will Raise Us Up For Our Best Good 
And

For His Great Glory! 
When The Lord Says: 

"Don't Do It!

Thou Shalt Not ...!

Remember ...!

Keep ...!

Believe ...!

Don't Doubt ...!

Have Faith ...!

Trust ...!"

He Means It
Because
To Do Otherwise
Will Surely Cause Us Pain, Sorrow And Regret!

Please Do All To Walk In The Light Of Life

And

Do What's Right In The Eternal God's Sight! 

Let Us Endeavor ... By Willing Obedience

His Loving Heart

Always To Delight! 

AMEN!!!