There Is News In The Truth

(Exodus 28:1) And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

I was thinking about how good it is when your brother worships the same God you worship and is of the same flavor or similar in beliefs. God told Moses to take his brother and make him high priest. No doubt Moses was probably accused of nepotism. But siblings understand each other in ways non-siblings are not capable of. God has ordained the family and there’s much admonition of God to stay in the family order that he has set up. There are dire consequences for not honouring your parents. I had just come across a verse that shed much light on this, (Proverbs 20:20) Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Please read Proverbs 20:20 His lamp shall be put out…

We can easily see and understand how the Bible’s expectations for us and our earthly father applies also to our heavenly father, even more so. The thought I’m having is that the same relationship should extend into our relationship with our siblings. But it’s something that has been lost I believe in our culture. I had explained in the above mentioned article that the family is broken down in this modern culture. I’ll never forget years ago I learned that one of means in which communism gained such a foothold, even in our country, was to break the family unit down. Compulsory education was used to accomplish this. Family businesses were not allowed or made very difficult to sustain. It’s not just he parent/child relationship that has suffered, but also that of the silblings has suffered loss: brother/brother, sister/sister, and brother/sister.

It’s hard enough sometimes for siblings to get along naturally. I think modern culture exploits that nature and seeks to damage the bond between siblings. And consequently, the church is affected. Our understanding of and interaction with our earthly brethren ultimately translates into our relationship with the heavenly brethren, the church. And I believe it has a crippling effect. Consider these scriptures:

(1 Peter 1:22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

(1 John 3:14) We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

(1 John 3:16) Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

The admonishment in the bible is clear concerning the brethren of the church. We ought to work that relationship backwards toward our earthly brethren. There ought to be a love and bond between earthly siblings of similar or equal magnitude. Even a lost family, that knows not the name of the Lord, should love each other.

But see, it’s not that it’s more important, but that it’s foundational. Think about this: Our children go to church two-three times a week for a couple of hours, but then are at home hours upon hours upon hours. We’re taught to love the brethren at church, but from a certain point of view that is actually quite easy when the only serious interaction you have with them is during hand-shake time. And some of us don’t even participate in that. There’s vastly more one-way communication going on from pulpit to pew in a service than there is two-way between the brethren. So there’s a simplicity there to loving the heavenly brethren. Not so with your earthly brethren. So my point is that if we practice at home with our earthly brethren, it should be much easier to do so with your heavenly brethren. Amen?

So this is an admonition as to how our Christian homes should be. Brothers and sisters at home should have an unfeigned love for each other. There should be a distinct love between each other that is like no other. There should be a dedication and commitment and sacrifice one for another between siblings. If this is practiced in the home, it will naturally spill over into the church. Maybe?

So it is interesting that God tells Moses to anoint Aaron, his big brother, as high priest. And then underneath Aaron, God appoints his sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; four brothers to work together. These brothers had worked together all their life, and now together they would serve in the tabernacle. Now the bible says, (Proverbs 17:17) A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. This speaks to us of the reality of the brethren. Brethren don’t always agree. Sometimes, brethren have to work things out. How do we learn to do that? In the home when we’re children. It’s inherent in family, the God-ordained, oldest institution known to man.

Too much family in the church sometimes can be seen as a detriment. Families form factions. I’m gonna go out on a limb and make a generalization. If you were to look into the history of a family that causes trouble in a church (which could probably never be done, but if you could), I would guess that you would see a fundamental flaw in the family relationship; a missing love, a missing identification, a missing dedication. There is an hypocrisy in loving the brethren at church and not loving your brethren at home.

Now, I understand we’re talking in ideals. Some people never know the love of family until they get saved and are loved on by God and God’s people. And there’s all kinds of colors in between. But I remember some preacher saying something to this effect: Our homes should be a little heaven on earth. It’s been said that our worship in church will never go further than our worship at home. So also our love.

This passage, or miracle, is only found in the Gospel of Mark. We read this and can’t help but think of the recent study on the sheep and the shepherd, John 10:3 He calleth his own sheep. There we speak about the ears of God’s people, and the ears of God. Here’s the text (Mark 7:31-37)

31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.
32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;
34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.
35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;
37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Remember that these miracles are demonstrative of what Christ does for the sinner. The maladies that people are healed from are a picture of our spiritual condition. Christ can give us ears to hear His voice and tongue to speak into His ears; ears to hear the glorious things of God and likewise a tongue to tell them forth.

Now, when I read those words He hath done all things well, I can’t help but think He does do all things well, but I sure seem to mess things up; how I fall extremely short in the successful operation of these ears and tongue he’s made new for me. I cannot deny that he has begun a good work in me, but I admit my reluctance and failure to use these ears and tongue for his glory. Why?

I know I’m not alone. I believe it’s unbelief. Quite simply, I think people struggle believing that God has truly made that change inside themselves. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of personality. Some have such a twisted outlook on authority that in their heart it’s wrong and presumptuous to believe that God has favored them in such a manner, that he even would condescend to speaks to them, that he even would hear their voice. In their mind, they know God does, but in their heart they struggle. They find difficulty believing that He hath done all things well for them also. And then it’s a downward spiral. They recognize the unbelief in their heart and feel even more unworthy and even more a failure and even more undeserving of God’s attentions. It’s that law in our minds (Romans 7:25) trying to earn our way to heaven.

What seems like humility is truly pride. Humility will not hinder your relationship with Christ. Humility will not manifest itself as unbelief. Faith says He hath done all things well! Paul said (Romans 6:11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That word likewise means in the same manner. The same manner as what? (Romans 6:10) For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. So let me do some backwards reckoning and this is thoroughly convicting. For us to not reckon our death and resurrection in Christ is to deny His. For us to not live unto God is to declare that Jesus Christ doesn’t. When you put it like that, it’s absurd; it’s ridiculous. Likewise, it’s just as absurd and ridiculous for God’s people to not reckon that He hath done all things well.

For some, Romans 6:11 is one of the hardest things to accomplish. But this verse comes to mind: (2 Peter 1:3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness… And also this verse (Romans 8:32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And here’s another one (Romans 5:15) But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Oh yes, unbelief flies in the face of the scriptures! Unbelief does not come from reading your bible. That’s for sure.

Interestingly, it was not the deaf and mute one that said this. It was the multitude that saw it happen who declared He hath done all things well. May God receive all the glory. When people see the change in our life, the difference the Savior makes, I pray it be so that Jesus is given the credit and magnified. News of a deaf and dumb man was not published, but the news of a man that made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak was published. (John 4:29) Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

I know we hardly scratched the surface of this miracle. But I did want to leave you with this great truth demonstrated in the passage: It’s perfectly okay to start a sentence with and.

(Hebrews 11:21) By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

This is a reference to the 47th and 48th chapter of Genesis where Jacob blesses Joseph and his two sons. And particularly (Genesis 47:31) And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head. I honestly was just trying to read behind the actual events in Genesis to which the Hebrew writer referred. I was not looking to get into any controversy here. I don’t know how I keep stumbling into these things. As you can see, the New Testament writer says he’s leaning upon the top of his staff while the Old Testament writer says he’s bowed himself upon the bed’s head. So what gives?

Apparently, it’s well understood that Paul (Let’s assume Paul wrote Hebrews) was quoting the Septuagint. What is the Septuagint? It is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that begun sometime in the mid 3rd century before Christ. There’s some history to it, but it was considered complete well after Christ died. So this is an interesting dilemma because we have an apparent discrepancy of the two account; one from the New Testament and the other from the Old Testament. However, the English translations are considered pretty sound.

In other words, if you look at the Hebrew in the Old Testament it definitely says bed’s head. If you look at the Greek in the New Testament it definitely says top of his staff. It’s not a matter then of difference of opinions in translation to English. However it seems to be a matter of the translation work 2000 years ago by the Greeks. Paul was apparently quoting the New Greek Version of the Old Testament available to him at the time. I’ve never encountered anything quite like this.

If you read the commentaries on this, you’ll find different explanations as to why the Septuagint translators came up with the words top of his staff in Greek. So this may be one of those believe whatever you want to believe things. Matt Slick, President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, has a pretty slick view on these verses:

…and then at the head of the bed, he leaned on the top of his staff and worshiped.

In other words, Jacob did both. This of course is nonsense. That is to say that the translators of the Septuagint had some divine extra-knowledge of what went on thousands of years ago. Bologna.

Here’s my take: The Septuagint translators just plain messed up. Jacob’s bed, the Hebrew word ham·miṭ·ṭāh is mentioned two other times in the text: (Genesis 48:2) And Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. (Genesis 49:33) He gathered up his feet into the bed… I don’t think the King James translators put much stock in the Septuagint, saying in the 1611 preface:

So it is evident… that the Seventy were Interpreters, they were not Prophets; they did many things well, as learned men; but yet as men they stumbled and fell, one while through oversight, another while through ignorance, yea, sometimes they may be noted to add to the Original, and sometimes to take from it; which made the Apostles to leave them many times, when they left the Hebrew, and to deliver the sense thereof according to the truth of the word, as the spirit gave them utterance.

The King James translators not only set it straight in their Old Testament, but deliberately chose to not alter Paul’s words in the New Testament and translate them precisely as he said them, even though he was quoting the questionable Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. That is why the King James Bible is considered a great translation. They esteemed accuracy even above clarity. It may on the onset seem unclear as to what Jacob did if you consider both verses, but the translation is definitely accurate.

Now, that being said, I can see why the leaning upon the top of his staff interpretation may have gained ground. The rendering was within reason back in the day. And this is Jacob, the one who said (Genesis 32:10) For with my staff I passed over this Jordan… Jacob was a shepherd. There’s just a lot of good imagery. Anyhow, my deepest apologies that this had nothing to do with the faith of Jacob. But I had a good time none the less.

Here we go back into Ecclesiology, the study of the church. Our plan is to look at the relationship between Christ and His church by studying seven figures of that relationship, the first being the Shepherd and the Sheep. Last time we looked at the expression He entereth in by the door. Today, we look at He calleth his own sheep in the gospel of John, chapter 10:

1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

We last touched on discerning the will of God and the benefits of knowing the door. But even grander is the voice of God. With the voice of God comes the presence of God. And with the presence of God comes an innumerable flood of blessings: His peace, His healing. His glory, His holiness, His power, His protection, and the list goes on and on.

There are two aspects of a relationship. Two can be related, but have no relationship. Two can have a relationship but not be related. God help us that we fall not under either of these categories. In the first sense, there is a relation between the sheep and the shepherd no matter what the relationship may be. One may be saved and that makes you a sheep and Christ your shepherd. (1 Peter 2:25) For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. When someone gets saved, they’re brought into the fold. It’s a matter of standing. You’re a sheep and he’s your shepherd whether you understand that or not. But that doesn’t mean you know and understand fully the shepherd. That takes time. For some, maybe not. For some, maybe never. You may be perfectly related to one another, but lacking in a relationship.

So this verse has three aspects to it that I’d like to look at: (John 10:3) To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

The sheep hear his voice
He calleth them by name
He leadeth them out

Even so, there is another aspect to the text: To him the porter openeth. You have the shepherd and the sheep, but there is another person in there, the porter! Who is that? Let’s get through the meat first, and maybe another day look at the porter.

The sheep hear his voice

The sheep have ears. Seems like a simple fact, but has much implications. Ears are for hearing. They’re for listening. The Bible says (Revelation 2:7) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So being a sheep, you are equipped with ears; ears to hear what God is saying. Then God has ears too. (Isaiah 59:1) Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: So what do you know? Both the shepherd and the sheep have ears.

Now a relationship implies therefore a two-way communication. I always wonder at people that don’t understand that. Have you ever had a conversation with someone that has no ears? They do all the talking. They’re absolutely not interested in anything you have to say. The only way you can get a word in is if you violently interrupt them. I often wonder how do these people talk with God? Do they ever let God get a word in?

I remember I knew this one person that had a curious habit of negating everything I said. Even if they agreed with me, they’d still figure out a way to say No, blah blah blah or Not even that, blah blah blah. And then I noticed that it was this chronic habit. Every person, every conversation, every time, it was no, no, no. And I wondered, Is this how your relationship with God goes? You don’t ever agree with anything anybody says. Do you ever agree with God? So I wonder about people that just cannot listen for a few seconds to other people. Do they ever listen to God? I have a hard time taking seriously someone who talks about hearing the voice of God, but takes no time to hear the the voice of their brother, sister, friend, or neighbor.

Praying, talking to God, is important. But there has got to be two-way communication in order for there to be a relationship. I’ll never forget what Paul said at the beginning of Hebrews. (that is if Paul wrote the letter to Hebrews) If you strip out all the prepositional phrases or what have you and just leave the subject, verb, and object, Hebrew 1:1 says this: God… hath spoken unto us… And then later on in the letter it says (Hebrews 3:15) To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts… I love the account of the two walking on the road to Emmaus with the Lord Jesus. The Bible says (Luke 24:14) And they talked together… And then it goes to say that the two agreed (Luke 24:32) Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way…? He talked with us. How’s this: Prayer ascension must be accompanied by paying attention?

He calleth by name

One good indication of a relationship between two is when they know each other’s name. There’s some people I know that never get my name right. The reason for that is simple. There’s no real relationship there. I’m not complaining. It’s just the way things work. When you spend much time with someone, you tend to remember their name better. When you put much thought to someone, you tend to remember their name. (Psalm 40:5) Many, O LORD my God, are… thy thoughts which are to us-ward… if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. If our good shepherd knows our name, the he must have many thoughts toward us. (Jeremiah 29:11) For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

I don’t know if a sheep can actually discern his name, however. In an article, Sheep are far smarter than previously thought, Professor Jenny Morton, a Neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, said this:

They are quite intelligent animals – they seem to be able to recognize people and even respond when you call their name.

They may be trainable. I can’t imagine what could be accomplished sitting all day and night with your sheep out in the fields. But I think one thing of signification to this is the individuality of the relationship. My name is not the same as your name. Therefore, my relationship with the Good Shepherd is not the same as your relationship. We ought not be envious of other people’s relationship with God. We ought to strive and endeavor to know God more, but this is not a competition. Don’t judge your relationship with God by other’s. Sure, we ought to learn from others. But the character of your relationship with God that you forge together will never be the same as someone else’s and shouldn’t be. I think what is most important is to learn to hear when our name is called.

Now is this an audible voice we hear? An opening in the heavens? Accompanied with lightening and thunder? I think the whole point here is that the shepherd communicates with his sheep within the natural senses of the sheep. I believe God has made us in a way that we understand Him. We may have a sinful nature, but in the garden, God walked and talked with his creation. He made us that way. I think about Gideon. There were so many signs and wonders and amazing experiences: the angel, fire from heaven, dew on the fleece, dew on the ground. But it was that barley bread that spoke to Gideon. Gideon was a poor farmer. And barley was the least of breads. Barley wheat is what Gideon knew. God spoke to him within his senses and understanding. He’ll do the same for you.

He calleth his own sheep by name? Maybe you’ve had a hard time with this. You’re not alone. But I’m looking forward to that wonderful day when there will be no more doubts. (1 Corinthians 13:12) For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. When the Roll is Called Up Yonder, I’ll be There!

He leadeth them out

Remember, I’m just jotting down what comes to mind. I really don’t know where to start on something like this. Talk about feeling inadequate. Brother Marion Atkinson will spend 5 days on the word leadeth. And I can’t think of one thing to say. All I can think of is Bilbo Baggins, “I’m going on an adventure!” Since we’re looking at this regarding the relationship between Christ and his church, then we see the relationship of the leader and the follower. When we were children, we played Follow the Leader. Isn’t it strange how the high calling of walking with God can be but a child’s game? I wonder at the simplicity of just knowing your place in this relationship.

When you are in a place of leadership, it can be very stressful. There’s deadlines. There’s financial limitations. There’s got to be a plan. Someone has to work the plan. There’s setbacks. Problems. Failures. Mistakes. All this falls on the leader’s shoulders. Don’t forget the #1 rule of leadership. I wonder, perhaps much of our stress in life is due to us trying to lead God. I mean if we are the follower, the one who is supposed to be content in following, then why all the discontent? I thought God said (Philippians 4:6-7) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Why so much anxiety about where this thing is going if we are not the leader? On this journey, the relationship is that of a leader and a follower. It’s a relationship of trust. Whether it be green pastures, or still waters, varying paths of righteousness, and even the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil. We trust him. It should be a journey of peace. (Isaiah 26:3) Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

So perhaps anxiety and malcontent comes from a distrust of the leader, or a dissatisfaction in the places that he leads. This speaks to us of a relation without a relationship; a shepherd and a sheep, yet a restless flock. Or maybe, God forbid, it comes from a relationship without a relation; a scattered sheep without a shepherd. You’re going where all the other sheep are going thinking that the shepherd is up ahead, but he’s not. The grass is not green. The water is not still. You fear the valley. You can hear the wolves. Your concern and anxiety is warranted and legitimate. But there is no relation; a sheep without a shepherd. God forbid. (1 Peter 2:25) For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

(Proverbs 20:20) Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

(Proverbs 20:27) The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

This is one packed proverb. There’s thirty verses – a verse for every day of the month if you want to make this a study. I didn’t see a theme really running through this. So it’s important to quickly pick a verse or two to deal with and look into. I’d just be spinning my wheels if I didn’t. So that being said, considering that I’ve been looking recently at the candlestick of the tabernacle and the pure oil olive beaten, there’s two verses that stand out to me. And since we need 20/20 vision going into this New Year of 2020, it seems appropriate to choose that first verse.

Once again, I highly recommend reading Exodus 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick… from Tuesday Tabernacle studies. I’m going to assume that you read it and move unto these verses in Proverbs in that light.

Connecting the two verses

First of all, if the lamp in verse 20 is the candle in verse 27, then we see the dire consequences of cursing your mother and father. So putting them together would read as follows:

Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp, (which is the spirit of man and the candle of the LORD) shall be put out in obscure darkness, hindering the LORD’s efforts of searching all the inward parts of the belly.

It’s a serious thing to not honour your parents. That’s why it’s in the top ten! (Exodus 20:12) Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. If we view these verses together in this manner, we see better the consequences of getting out of God’s ordained order for the family. I look at these verses and wonder how someone can even get saved if their lamp is out. They can’t. That’s why there has got to be repentance. God is gonna have to turn on the lights. I suppose that is so with anyone. But still, for God to turn off the lights is a serious deal.

God ordained the family. It should never be taken lightly. We’re living in a day where a great portion of our children grow up without a mom, without a dad, two moms, two dads. Either grandma raises them or a day care. They spend in excess of 8 hours in the public school, come home and spend the rest of the day in front of television and social media. There’s little to no interaction with family, with mom and dad. Once they’re 18 they’re kicked out of the house. Where’s the family? You go to most places of worship nowadays and the first thing they do is split up the family. Kids go here. Teens go there. And parents over here. And God forbid you don’t drop your kid off in the nursery! I remember Lester Roloff said, “If you lose your family, you’ve lost everything.”

The bible says (Ephesians 6:1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. This verse implies that parents must command their children. They must provide order, and discipline, and give those children something to obey. I’m reminded of that dumb horse that we had, Spirit. She was a very gentle horse as long as you fed her, brushed her, pet her, and let her do what she wanted. But my goodness, the second we started expecting something out of her, she turned into a 1200 lb monster. I wanted to put her lamp out. It took time and learning on our part, but eventually we taught her how to obey commands.

Anyhow, I know this is scattered. This also reminds me of (Romans 8:16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: A while back it dawned on me that this verse speaks of the witness of our spirit as well as His Spirit. This verse declares that we are co-witnesses with the Spirit. We bear the same record. So in that respect, the lamp on the candlestick may typify our spirit while the oil typifies His Spirit, and together we bear the holy flame. I know some people might criticize what I’m saying. But the bible says very clearly (Proverbs 20:27) The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.

The bible does also say (1 Corinthians 6:20) Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit… So when we say (Psalm 139:23) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts, God uses both His Spirit and our spirit to do the job. And when you curse your mother and your father, you bust up the lamp of God and there’s no where for him to put the oil. I mean that’s if you the follow the typology out to its common sense meaning. I don’t think I’ve ever heard preaching on these lines: the candle of the LORD being the spirit of man. Have you?

(Exodus 27:20-21) And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Okay, so this verse is interesting because it signifies to us that the light on the golden candlestick does not emanate from what we would typically think a candlestick looks like. Yes. This demonstrates my utter lack of knowledge concerning the tabernacle. Well, that is why I’m studying it. Pure oil olive beaten is a liquid. And it fuels a lamp. I guess I saw candlestick so I thought candlestick. A candle, in today’s understanding, is a wax cylinder with a wick inside. An oil lamp is just something else. So if you ever see a picture of the tabernacle candlestick (or temple menorah) with wax candles, that’s bologna.

Also, there’s many pictures out there of the Chanukah menorah. That is also bologna. There’s eight lamps on a Chanukah menorah and is used during the Jewish holiday of Chanukah (Hanukkah). The Chanukah menorah is not a substitute or replacement for the temple candlestick. With it, they commemorate the dedication of the temple when the Maccabees reclaimed it in 164 BC (Not sure of the date). When they lit the menorah back then, there was only enough oil to run it for eight days. So that is where your eight lamps comes from. Never mind God said to make seven lamps. There is absolutely nothing in the Torah, History, Poetry, or Prophets of the Old Testament about Chanukah (or Hanukkah). The temple candlestick had seven lamps.

I’ll never understand contemporary Jews. Why are they so content not having a temple or a tabernacle? It was the praise and glory of all Israel in bible times. If I was not a Christian, but believed the Old Testament, as do the Jews, I’d be wanting to see some blood and fire. Instead, they’ve abandoned the temple menorah for this spin-off Chanukah menorah. I see no reason for joy or celebration in lighting a Chanukah menorah. The spirit of Chanukah should be that of Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

(Romans 9:4) Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; I’d be ashamed to own and light a Chanukah menorah; especially if it was made of wax candles. For the Christian, the temple and the furniture of the temple is a shadow of our present glorious reality. For the Jew, the Chanuka menorah is a shadow of a long-gone past reality. Sad.

So this compelled me to go back to Exodus 25 and understand this candlestick a bit better. I remember going through it awhile back. I’ll admit, I did wonder about the bowls. I supposed that’s where the light was placed, but it never sunk in that it was liquid oil that went into those bowls. Ellicotts says they are hemispherical lamps. I’ve just always associated an oil lamp with… well… an oil lamp; and a candlestick with a candlestick. I never pictured an open bowl with oil in it and a flame coming from it. When I think of an oil lamp, I’ve always in my mind pictured a bona fide John Deere camping oil lamp; something hanging up there at Cracker Barrel. I’m very curious as to why the word candlestick was chosen back in 1600. Oh! That’s it! We need a new translation! Just kidding.

The problem is that nowadays when we hear the word candlestick, we picture in our heads a long white candle with a little wick and a flame. But a candlestick is not a candle though we use the words interchangeably. A candlestick is a stick that holds candles. So it’s not the King James translators that are mixed up. It’s us, and our dumbed-down English. People criticize the King James because of that word there. They say that lampstand would have been better. Never mind that every English translation before 1611 used the word candlestick. The truth is that back in the 1600s there really was no such thing as a lampstand. The word lampstand didn’t really take off in the English language until the early 1900s when electricity gained its prominence.

Anyhow, if you would go back and read Exodus 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick… (which I highly recommend) the main point I was making in there was that the candlestick was an internal light. The candlestick is not about (Matthew 5:16) Let your light so shine before men. It’s more about (Psalm 139:23,24) Search me, O God, and know my heart… and (1 John 1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light… It’s not a light for all the world to see, but a light to reveal the hidden things of God in our own soul.

Now, back to the pure oil olive beaten. The signification I see is that the purpose of the candlestick cannot be accomplished without the oil. It was perpetual flame. It was to never go out. There has got to be oil. And God has got the oil. The oil has always typified the Holy Ghost. Paul said (Ephesians 5:18) Be filled with the Spirit. But that is not to say that we have no responsibility in the matter. The text says And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. One may easily say that a perpetual doing, an eternal flame, would be the work of God. But it’s not the priests that were commanded to provide it. They had to fill up the bowls, but it was the children of Israel who were to make oil. When I look at the typology of the wilderness, it has always been helpful for me to understand that all of Israel typifies the individual Christian. So to me, the commandment speaks to us of our responsibility in this matter of being filled with the Spirit. God will provide the olives, but somebody has got to beat them and then somebody has got to fill the bowls. (1 Peter 2:9) Ye are… a royal priesthood… that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. The priesthood of believers. There is work to do in and for the temple. Years ago, Brother Edmunson said, “You know what it means to be filled with the Holy Ghost? Work! It means work! Work! Work! Work!” He might’ve had something there, aye?

Anyhow, I hope some of this has got you thinking! It may be a good idea to study the process in which olive oil, I mean oil olive, was made.

(Matthew 15:21-28) Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

When I first came to this text, my list said Jesus Heals a Gentile Woman’s Demon Possessed Daughter. I didn’t realize it was that woman, the Syrophenician woman, the yet the dogs eat of the crumbs woman. Oh I read the words of this passage and I’m full, full of wonder, relief, gratefulness. I don’t know what else. What an amazing passage of the Word of God. I’m just going to jot down what comes to mind. Glory to God.

Be it unto thee even as thou wilt…

The first things that comes to mind can be best summed up in the last sentence of the passage. And her daughter was made whole… You see the earnest desire of this woman, the brokenness, the sincerity, the passion, the pain, the sorrow, the desperation. But it’s not for her condition, but for her daughter’s. O that God would give us a burden for our children that gains the attention of the Savior, a burden for sinners, a burden for others.

Look at those blessed words, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Several times recently as we’ve bowed in prayer in church during the invitation, I’ve got to a point where I’ve said, Lord, you’ve done all you can do. You’ve died on the cross. You’ve drawn them in this close. I know you can’t make them get saved. And at times, I’ve felt my prayers fruitless. I mean, there’s the free will of man that we’ve been taught he does not breach. Or does he? Most of the people that are healed by Jesus do not come to him on their own volition. They’re brought to him. For goodness sake, some are dead and they’re headed to the cemetery.

(Psalm 37:4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Jesus gave that poor mama the desires of her heart. All we know of her daughter is that she is grievously vexed with a devil. We need to have a burden for our children, our loved ones, because they may not have even a burden for themselves. We pray that their hearts be moved and their hearts be broken, but it may be that it’s our hearts that need to be broken. It’s our faith that will see them saved.

I know they have to come to God on their own and it’s between them and God, but maybe we’ve excused ourselves from the matter a bit too much. It wasn’t her daughter that came to Jesus. It wasn’t the lame man that brought himself through the roof to get to Jesus. There was nothing of the widow’s dead son of Nain that beckoned Jesus, but the tears of his dear mama. Don’t stop asking the Savior to save. Don’t wipe away the tears, but let them run and fall at Jesus feet. Faith? Praying, beseeching the Lord, is an act of faith. Jesus said O woman, great is thy faith…

Send her away…

The woman besought Jesus saying Save my daughter! But the disciples besought Jesus saying Send her away! Oh Lord, forgive us where we’ve failed. Jesus granted her what was in her will, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Her will was in harmony with His will. (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. May our will not run contrary to God’s will. I think we see the reality of submitting ourselves to God’s will in that there is no gray area in this Christian life. There is no in-between. There is no fence to straddle. Jesus said (Matthew 12:30) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. We think we’re sitting it out. We think we’re working on it. We think we’re almost there. But not so, we are working utterly against him. He told Peter (Mark 8:33) Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

I don’t know what more to say. I want to do. Boy this passage hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe we’ll come back to it some day. This passage is packed full of things to consider and meditate upon.

(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

What the boys and I do there at the church and the camp is try to keep the grounds. I guess we’re the groundskeepers. I always have to quote that verse to myself and to the kids: (Psalm 84:10) For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a ~~door~~(grounds)keeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Anyhow, that’s what we do. We mow the grass at the camp. And whatever else comes our way. We mow the grass, weed-eat, spray, mulch, pickup sticks, sweep, mop, vacuum, fix some things, clean the bathrooms. We try to do whatever is needed. And please… I’m not trying to brag or anything like that. I’m telling you that’s what we do. That is what has consumed my life; my family’s life. This is what has consumed my family’s life for the past, getting close to, two years.

Now, I’ll say, however, I believe God called me to preach. That is why I came to bible college for those three years. I came because I wanted to learn more about the bible and preaching in hopes that one day I’d preach. And I don’t do much of that. I don’t typically preach the word; I mow the grass. The bible says to be instant in season, out of season, and mowing season. But I believe I’m where God wants me to be right now. Anyhow, I am preaching right now. And I preached Sunday night over at Brother Thomas’. So that’s 2 nights in these past four days. That’s 1 out of 2 nights. That’s like preaching every other day now. So I’m gonna have to check my schedule now if someone wants me to preach.

The other day, a young guy, a visitor, at the camp came up to me. He was probably 20 years old. He saw us working out there spreading mulch or something, and he felt compelled to come and give me some advice. Let me say this: If you’re 20 years old, don’t give 45 year old advice. Just don’t do it. I mean it’s probably not a good idea. Just study to be quiet. Anyway, he said, “You know God is gonna bless you. If you’re faithful in these little things, he’s gonna trust you with the bigger things. He’s gonna put you somewhere one day.” And I just smile and nod my head and say thank you.

And in a vacuum, it’s not terrible advice. It sounds good and all. But it takes me a while to digest it, but I finally thought, “God is gonna bless me? God has already blessed me. God is blessing me.” It is a blessing to serve God. It is a blessing to work at the camp. It’s a blessing to mow the grass. It’s a blessing to blow the leaves. It’s a blessing to sweep and mop the floors. It’s a blessing to be a part of the work of God, no matter what shape or form it may be.

You think of the souls that have been saved there at the camp. The preachers that have been called. The lives that have been changed. It’s a blessing to make a contribution to that work. I remember 13 years ago when we first came for school. I was sweeping the porch of the preachers dorm and I remembered seeing Brother Marion Atkinson come out of the door there and walk across that porch. And my sweeping turned to weeping. I was so grateful to just be able to sweep at the feet of the man of God. God help me to never be ungrateful for the opportunity to serve him. I don’t want to sit on the side line.

“God is gonna bless you one day.” God has already blessed me. I know he is able to do exceeding abundant above all we ask or think. But to always be looking ahead as if there’s something better or different, in a sense, is to be ungrateful for all that God has done thus far and all that he is doing right now. Would I like to have a position as a pastor or evangelist or missionary or something with a title? What preacher wouldn’t. When Preacher says, “Will all the God-called, God-sent preachers come down to the front…” I struggle with that. I know God called me. And I know that God has sent me here. But God has not exactly called me to a formal position in the church. You might think, “Well that shouldn’t matter!” Maybe not. But nonetheless, it’s easy to fall into the wrong type of thinking and become malcontent, and dissatisfied, and develop a spirit of wander-lust. The bible says (1 Timothy 6:6) But godliness with contentment is great gain. You gotta be careful what kind of advice you give people. “God is gonna bless you one day?”

Anyhow, I believe I’m where God wants me and doing what God wants me to do. I remember telling one of the brothers at the church when we were out at the camp working. I said, “I believe in the work.” If I didn’t believe in the work that Faith Baptist Camp and Concord Baptist Church was doing, I would not be there. I wouldn’t be all in. And that what we are. We’re all in. We are there helping and working as much as we can. We even got the two small ones, Pat, Ben, and Grady, hauling trash to the dumpster. Anyhow, I’m not bragging. I’m just trying to say that we’re all there and we’re always there. When you’re all there and you’re always there, you’re gonna learn a few things along the way. It’s hard not to learn a few things.

So I got this message August of last year. I’ve never preached it other that last Sunday at Brother Thomas’s. Being that it was camp meeting, this message has been in my heart so I thought and even hoped maybe God would give me liberty to preach this message now. And he seems to have opened the door so I’m gonna walk through if you will. And I’m nervous about preaching this here at the church because it’s so relevant in a sense. It’s about the camp. All of us, have a part in that. And many here have labored years and years at the camp. And I’ll never catch up with the work they’ve done. I don’t have the knowledge some do. I’m nobody. So I don’t want to come across as braggadocious or belittling.

Anyhow, so I wrote somethings down: Lessons I’ve Learned at Faith Baptist Camp. This is not a real complicated message. There will be no mind-stretching going on tonight. It’s not expository or anything like that. It’s just a simple list. I don’t even think it qualifies as a topical message. Lessons I’ve Learned at Faith Baptist Camp; specifically Hindrances to the Work of God. When we go out there and try to do our part of the work of God. It’s not preaching, praying, singing, or even cooking. It’s mowing, sweeping, mopping, cleaning, etc. When we go out there and try to do our part of the work of God there are hindrances. There’s things that slow you down, discourage you, and prevent you from doing your part in the work. (Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. There are things that make you weary. They are hindrances to the work of God.

1) Seized Wheels

You can’t mop with seized wheels

This is one thing that has been a constant source of aggravation. You’re trying to get across the floor with the mop bucket and the wheels don’t turn and they don’t swivel. It used to be on Friday afternoon before the evening service, Preacher said we’re gonna sweep and mop. So I’d be all dressed up for the evening service: got my dress shirt and tie. And I’ll go down and mop. It’s summer-time. It’s hot. You want to minimize the sweating. It’s a large dining hall. You want to work as quickly as you can and cover as much territory as possible. But when the bucket does not roll, you’ve got yourself a major problem. It’s a wrestling match between you and the bucket. Normally, if the wheels are working right, you should be able to just grab the mop handle and walk where you want. But instead… (Explain) It’s difficult to do the work of God when you can’t move like you should be able to move. You scratch the floor. You hurt your back. You spill all the water. You’re just plain ineffective. Brother Thomas said, “I seemed like I always got the bucket that didn’t roll!”

(Hebrews 12:1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. I’m talking about hindrances to the work of God. Paul said to run the race. Jesus said to go ye therefore! Paul said to walk in the Spirit. Isaiah said (Isaiah 40:31) They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. You can’t go anywhere with wheels that don’t turn. You can’t mop with seized wheels. The weight that so easily besets the mopper are the seized wheels. Three time Jesus says to go. (Matthew 22:9) Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. He said (Matthew 28:19) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus is saying “Go! Go! Go!” I don’t see how we’re gonna go anywhere with wheels that don’t work.

I want to give you a bible picture of wheels that work. (Romans 10:14-15) And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! What a joy it is at Faith Baptist Camp to find a bucket that rolls; How beautiful it is to find a bucket whose wheels and not seized; to deliver the cleansing water to the places that need it most.

Now we have to understand that working wheels doesn’t just happen. Sometimes, you just need a little squirt of oil in there, and they’ll free up and start turning like they should. Other times, you got to take them apart, sand all the rust off, pack it all with grease, put it all back together, and hope for the best. And other times, you need to just throw them away and put on some new ones. Sometimes, it’s better to just throw the whole bucket away and get a new one.

Either way, you got to spend some time, or money, or effort on those wheels. New wheels only last for a little while. Now Romans 10 is not the only time Paul addresses the feet. He also said (Ephesians 6:15) to stand therefore (having) …your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Paul uses the analogy of the soldier. The feet must be maintained and serviced and prepared for duty. Soldiers have got to have good shoes. Soldiers march. Therefore, soldiers need good combat boots. Those boots could take a beating. With those boots, the soldier is prepared to fight. Those boots allow the soldier to be nimble and light. And he will be able to move as a soldier should move. A mop bucket with bad wheels is like a soldier without his combat boots. Paul said shod the feet!

What does it mean to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What is the preparation of the gospel of peace? We know what the gospel of peace is? (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel… For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: The gospel of peace is the good news from a loving merciful God to a lost and dying world. We know that. Paul is saying our feet should be shod with the preparation of this message of salvation. Prepare you mind? No. Prepare you heart? No. It’s prepare your feet. If the wheels are bad, it’s going to be a short trip. You’re going to make a mess. You’re going to get hurt. Or you’ll just give up.

Have you feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peach. That word preparation is the greek word hetoimasia and only used this one time in the New Testament. It carries the meaning of a foundation, a footing, the basis. Have your feet shod with the foundation, the footing, the basis of the gospel of peace. And then Paul uses the word shod. The preparation of the gospel must be shod on. That’s a horse term right there. Horse shoes are nailed on to the hoof; they’re shod.

Let me just give you my application. I don’t want you to guess. We’re talking about wheels that don’t roll. Christians that don’t go. Why? Because they’re feet are not fastened to foundation of the gospel of peace. What are you saying preacher? It’s very easy lose sight of the greater work just working in one spot. You wash dishes all week, you forget that somebody else is cleaning the bathrooms, somebody else it taking out the trash, somebody else is leading the prayer room, somebody else is running the sound, somebody else is ordering the food, somebody else is fixing the ice machines, or plugging a leak. There is a lot going on in that one week. You play a small, and a necessary part. But you can be so focused on what you’re doing, you lose sight of greater work that the church is trying to do. We might just be pushing a mop bucket, but it’s part of a greater work..

But I want to say this to you church: And I believe God whispered this to me: “It’s not just a greater work, it’s the greatest work!” I’m saying we push that mop bucket around for the gospel’s sake. It’s not about cleaning the floor, it’s about winning souls for Jesus. That’s the foundation of what we do. It’s God’s gospel of peace. It’s about the redemption of man. It’s about God’s gift to a lost and dying world. It’s about trying to snatch people from the jaws of hell.

We no doubt need a heart for sinners. Amen? That’s good. But what is even better are feet for sinners. That will get the job done. Do whatever it takes to get those wheels moving.

Give your most intense thought to the study of ways and means you may save sinners. Make this the great and intense study of your life. Refuse to be diverted from this work. Guard against every temptation that would abate your interest in it. – Charles Finney.

One of the biggest hindrances to the work of God are seized wheels. You can’t mop with seized wheels. Do whatever it takes to get those wheels moving. Do whatever it takes to get into the greatest work in heaven and earth.

2) Dirty Mops

You can’t mop with a dirty mop

Like I said, on Friday afternoon (Sometimes Wednesday if I remember right) we’d get all them mop buckets out there to mop. And maybe some of you all can relate to this. You get to the buckets and you’re ready to mop the floor. But what is in the bucket is not clean, hot, soapy water. It’s hot chocolate with bits of crickets in the bucket ready for mopping. And that didn’t come out of the water fountain or the soap bottle. It came from the mop. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. You can’t clean a filthy floor with a filthy mop. Amen? Nobody cleaned the mops is what happened.

Listen, before David said (Psalms 51:13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee, he said Wash me! Cleanse me! Purge me! He said (Psalm 51:9-11) Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. He said “Then! And only” Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. You’ll do no good trying to clean up a dirty floor with a dirty mop. You’ll just pickup dirt from one spot and carry it off to the next. You’re just gonna spread the dirt.

They need to be cleaned. And cleaned good. One rinse is not gonna cut it. No. David said (Psalm 51:2) Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Throughly? That’s another King James Bible word right there. You’re not going to find that in to any other bibles. It’s not thoroughly, it’s throughly. That means two things. That means wash the inside. David said (Psalm 51:6) Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Wash me throughly means to pour the wash water through me. (Matthew 23:26) …cleanse first that which is within the cup… Don’t just pour the wash water on me, but pour it through me.

And then it carries the meaning with it of multiplicity. That means don’t just do it once, but do it over and over and over; until the job is done. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19-21) …Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

I’m talking about lessons we’ve learned at Faith Baptist Camp. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. Now days, separation is old fashioned. Holiness is old fashioned. Purity is old-fashioned. It may be old-fashioned and out of style, but the work of God cannot be done without it. You know I got to thinking. At the camp, the attendance has come down from what it used to be. There may not be the amount of people there, but I think that power is still there. Why? Because Brother Allen, Brother Ballew, Brother Sutherland, and those who have been faithful to the camp have stayed true to things like separation, holiness, and purity.

For years I’ve been saying this to people about Faith Baptist Camp. I tell them that I’d highly recommend that if you do go, try to go for the whole thing. In other words. Don’t just pop in for evening service. Come in at 8 o’clock and partake first of whole hog sausage, and go to the morning prayer, morning service, afternoon prayer, afternoon service, evening prayer, and evening service. If you do that. You’ll never be the same. Something different happens when you stay all day and all week. I’ve been saying that for years. Well you know what happened this past meeting? Brother Thomas’s oldest son, Jeremiah, he said, “This time around, it was the best I had ever been to and I got alot of help. I’ve always just come for evening service because I’m working, but this time, I got to stay all day.” He confirmed to me what I’d been saying fo years. It’s different when you focus in and open your heart to the things of God all day at Faith Baptist Camp. Why is that? Because the power is still there.

There was a fella that came last year in the books store. He was all excited. It was Friday afternoon. Everybody was getting ready for the evening service. He said this: “This is the first time I’ve been to Faith Baptist Camp. It has changed my life!” Why? Because the power is still there. We may not have the same amount of people, but I believe we’ve got the same power. I’ve often thought it might be a good idea for the people of Concord to take a break from Faith Baptist Camp and go to Faith Baptist Camp. I’m saying go sit down on the front row all day long, say Amen to everything, sing the songs of Glory and then go pig out. Do it all week long. Maybe even stay in the dorm.

God is still getting the job done. Why? Because the mop is clean. Because the vessels that God is using are sanctified, cleansed, and purged for the master’s use. They’re ready to apply the cleansing water the places that need it most. You can’t mop with a dirty mop. It’s got to be washed throughly and cleansed and purged. David said (Psalms 51:13) Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Then, and only then.

3) Thick Grass

The grass is always thicker than you think

I want to say this: I never regret mowing the grass when we do mow the grass. During the summer, when you drive down the road across the camp, the grass from a distance never really looks that thick. Even when you drive up in the camp, you look across and it doesn’t ever look that bad. So you think to yourself that maybe we don’t have to mow right now. After all, the grass looks nice and pretty and lush. But this never fails. Every time we go out there, once we get out there into the deep, I say to my self, “I’m glad we’re mowing this. It does need it. And it would not have been a good idea to let it go further.” In other words, it’s always thicker than it looks. The first impression is always wrong. What things look like from a distance is never indicative of reality.

So what are you saying? What is the bible lesson in all this? (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Lush, green, pretty grass is not so pretty when it’s time to mow it. Brother Sutherland has said before, “The grass may be greener on the other side, but there may be a septic field on the other side too.” You just don’t know what you’re getting into until you get into it. If you’ve ever worked on a repairing a house, you know what I’m talking about. What starts out as a little honey-do, turns into a full house remodel. You’re just trying to fix one little thing, but once you tear into it, now you got to fix the floor, and the wall, and before you know it, you could call Bob Villa film your own This Old House episode. That’s why wise men don’t do honey-dos. Because we know that they sound short and sweet, but you always end up like John in Revelation (Revelation 10:10) And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

“Oh yeah, no problem, that’s a five minute job!” And there you are 5 hours later still working on it. And if you actually succeed at doing it in 5 minutes, you’ll be there 5 days later doing it again and this time, doing it right. I’m just saying, the grass is always thicker than you think. But you’ll never regret doing regularly what is tempting to put off til later. You ever wonder how far you would be spiritually, if you didn’t have to spend the whole week of meeting getting right? What if we went into the meeting already right? I’m not talking sinless perfection. I’m just saying it’s so easy to put off the regular maintenance of daily prayer and daily bible reading because things seems to be going okay. You go to church three times a week. No crisis. No trials. But before you know it, there we are bogged down in the thick grass.

I’m not saying it’s always going to be easy mowing. In fact, I’ve found that when you finally got a week of easy mowing, things have kinda stopped growing, maybe no rain, you think, “Great! Finally we should get these jobs done fast. It’s gonna be easy mowing!” That’s when the customer says, “Don’t come this week. It could wait.” So there’s never really ever easy mowing. It’s hard enough even by powers that are out of our control. But sometimes, the job is harder because we made it harder ourselves. We looked out there and said, “Ah! It’s okay, we can put that off a little longer.” We don’t need to that right now. You know that saying? Why put off til tomorrow what you can do today? Amen? Well, I always tell my wife Why do today what you can put off til tomorrow? Listen. The grass is always thicker than you think. Don’t put it off.

Let me say again: It’s so easy to put off the regular maintenance of daily prayer and daily bible reading because things seems to be going okay. But the reality is this: (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? This is another reason, we don’t go by feelings. We usually hear about the negative side of that. “I don’t feel saved today!” Well it doesn’t matter what you feel. We don’t go by feelings. The just shall live by faith; faith in the facts. If you were saved yesterday, you are saved today. That’s the negative side. What about the positive side? “Boy that was a great service! We had good prayer in church. I feel good. Let’s go to bed.” “Man we spent all week at Faith Baptist Camp. We’re tired. We gotta catch up. We got a lot of bible in and prayer in. We’ll be okay for a few days. I feel good.” Our feelings don’t change the facts: (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Let no hour, no employment of your lives be accounted more precious than when you bend at the family altar. Come to it cheerfully and solemnly. Let no temptation of evening or morning make your place empty, when the the holy offering is to be made. Be you there to add your coal to the flame, and have your share in the incense which goes up before God.

The grass is always thicker than you think. You know, I’ve heard many times in our mowing adventures, “Don’t cut the grass to short! You’re gonna kill it!” I’ve heard people say, “Don’t cut it too often because that will kill it!” And I’m not saying I know everything, but we’ve been cutting a lot of grass these two years, and I hadn’t seen any grass die because we cut it. It’s usually just the weather. Some grass thrives in the heat and some don’t. Some in cooler weather and some not. But several times, I’ve done some research on the matter and let me tell you what the experts say. The best way to kill grass is not to cut it too short or cut it too often, but to let it grow too long. You let it get out of hand, and then when you finally cut it, you end up taking out 95% of the plant out, and sometimes, it just won’t survive.

You’ll never regret doing regularly what is tempting to put off til later. Because the grass is always thicker than you think.

4) Unwacked Weeds

Nobody wants to do the weed eating

I know when we first started mowing, everybody wants to just jump on the mower and mow. “Dad, can I mow this time?” “It’s my turn. Finny mowed last time!” But nothing completes the job like weed eating completes the job. I know when we mow across the white fence at the camp, and there’s still that scraggly look all along the fence line, then the job is not done. Someone has got to get on foot and get down there and weed eat the fence line. It just looks like a mess when there’s overgrowth around the trees, down in the ditch, around the culverts, in the gardens, the edge of the driveways. Someone has got to do the weed eating. But that the job that nobody wants to do. There’s nothing glorious about mowing grass. Really, anybody can do that. But there’s something about that weed eating. It’s tedious. It’s tiring. There’s been times when I’ve been slopping through eight inches of swamp, weed eating the swamp, in the heat of the day, mud slinging up at your face, dog poop slinging up at your face. One time, in the mucky muddy swamp, we were knocking the overgrowth down and I slipped and couldn’t get my balance and down I went in the swamp. It’s times like that you think, “What am I doing?” I’ll tell you what I was doing. I was doing what nobody else really wants to do. And God help me. I’m not bragging. I love doing it.

Anyway, it’s tedious and tiring, but if you don’t do the weed eating, the lawn will never look like it’s finished. The mower doesn’t reach in the corners and at the edges and around the trees. You have to go in there by hand and knock it down. I mean if you’re taking a bath and neglect the corners and the edges and the hard to get to places, that is not a complete job. We have several customers that do their own mowing and we just go in there and the the trimming, the weed eating. the spraying. Why is that? Because mowing really is the easy part. It’s all the other stuff that is tedious and tends to not get done sometimes.

Take for example a tree. If you don’t weed eat around a tree, then you got these little sampling come out. You let them go long enough, then you can weed eat them, they’re too thick. You need snips now. If you don’t get them then, now you got a bush around the tree. And that bush grows bigger and bigger in diameter and before you know it, instead of mowing one foot around the tree, you’re mowing 3 feet around the tree. Now, what should have been taken care of in 30 seconds of weed eating is now gonna take an hour with a chainsaw and hedge trimmers. Don’t forget all the trash that everybody left against the tree. Why? Because nobody want to do the weed eating.

(Matthew 23:23) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

You all know the immortal words of Marry Poppins? Well begun is half done. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You might be doing great in one area, but don’t neglect the other areas. It got me thinking about the parable of the sower.

Matthew 13:3-9 (KJV) And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Matthew 13:18-23 (KJV) Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

I don’t want to stray from how we primarily interpret scripture. But I asked myself the other day: Why do we assume that the he in this parable is always someone different every time he is mentioned? We always assume that our ground is only one or the other: the stony ground, the good ground, thorny ground, or the way-side. We know that song My Secret Place. It talks about how the heart is like a house, and we’re okay letting Jesus in the house, but we got some places in that house that we’re not ready for Jesus to enter. Or do you remember Preacher Allen has said many times, “Why don’t you just give him the keys to the whole house?”

Well, the heart is like a farm. Every farm has got every type of ground. Good ground, stony ground, thorny places, and the way side. (Jeremiah 4:3) For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Every farm has got fallowed ground. Every farm has got thorns. We take care of the front yard real good, but nobody sees the back yard. Nobody sees back around the house where the thorns are growing and the weeds are running rampant. No. No one wants to do the weed eating.

I think generally, we are pretty complex people. Everybody is different. Brother Sutherland was talking about them strongholds, them besetting sins, them thorns in the flesh. It’s different for everybody. We may be doing great in some areas. We’ve made some spiritual break-throughs in some areas, but in others… Boy we just can’t seem to get the victory. Unwacked-weeds! The answer is not to just let it go. Praise the Lord that the grass is mowed! These ought ye to have done! But Jesus goes on to say and not to leave the other undone.

I want you to notice also what Jesus said, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. Let me ask you this: How do you know that the weeds unwacked are not weightier than the grass that’s mowed? We just assume that mowing the grass is the most important and that the weed wacking could wait because it’s not as important. That little thing you’ve been waiting to deal with may be the big thing that God is concerned about. That little thing you’re neglecting may be much weightier to God that that big thing you’ve spent all your time on.

Paul said, ( 1 Corinthians 13:1-3) Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

I’ve got to move on. Unwacked weeds. Nobody wants to do the weed eating.

5) Unopened valves

Make sure all the water valves are open

I just learned this one this camp meeting. You learn something new every camp meeting. We had an issue with the toilets. The toilets in the sanctuary are tankless. They need pressure to operate correctly. So everytime we flushed a toilet, the pressure would drop. And a pressure drop is normal but it should be almost minuscule if everything is working right. It would drop too much and for too long. So consequently, your neighbor in the other stall flushes their toilet right after you in that little window of low pressure and lo and behold, it doesn’t flush. Then, the three women in women’s bathroom flush their toilet. They don’t flush. More pressure has dropped. Nothing flushes. Toilets get clogged. That’s it. Everybody’s tearing their hair out because the toilets don’t flush. The good news is though that if you just leave it alone for a minute, you can flush each toilet one by one.

And the faucets run real low too so naturally, most sensible men would think we must have a leak out there somewhere because the pressure is low. So I don’t know how many of us went out there looking for a leak, but no leak to be found. Shane and I went looking. Kendell went looking. Brother West went looking. But no leak to be found. I think I actually lost sleep over this. I had to take a baby aspirin about this. So finally Theodore comes in, the plumber, and his plumber instincts kick in and the first thing he does is go to the primary source of the water all the way back out at the road and check to see if all the valves are open. And sure enough one of those little valves is half open.

What we were having was a volume problem. It manifested itself as a slight drop in pressure. But if we waited a few seconds really, the pressure would come back. That tells us that there is no problem with the pressure. It’s a volume problem. It means that the volume coming out is larger than the volume coming in. As long as the pressure come back, even if it comes back slow, when everything is shut off and there is no leak, then there’s really no pressure problem. We have a volume problem. So what happens when the valve is shut off half way, or opened half way for you optimists, essentially what you are doing is restricting the water flow. That is equivalent to having some type of plug in the pipe restricting the water from flowing.

This speaks to me of prayer. (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Your heart is the pipeline to heaven. If you regard iniquity your heart, then there is a plug in the prayer pipe. There is a kink in the prayer hose. There is a short in the prayer cable. There is something keeping the water from flowing like it should. Make sure all the valves are open. Why? Because (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: We’re talking about hindrances to the work of God. If the Lord will not hear me, we got ourselves a major problem.

The other day, brother Janow said something in class that got me thinking. And I jotted down some notes; some thoughts I was thinking. And it was about this verse (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: I got to thinking about this verse, and I shuttered at these thoughts. A cold fear came over me just thinking about this. The Lord will not hear me. The Lord will not hear me. This verse puts a quiet terror in my heart. The Lord will not hear me.

We’ve hear over and over and over: (Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee… I will answer thee. I will answer thee. I will answer thee. How is the Lord going to answer you, if he won’t hear you? There’s been many times, that I didn’t feel like God heard my prayer. But my faith knew that God always hears my prayers and will answer them. How many times have we heard, (Matthew 7:7) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: It’s been drilled into us. It’s foundational to our faith that God hears us when we pray. (Isaiah 59:1) Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: I’ve know in my heart that God has heard my prayers. Even prayers that I prayed years ago that God is answering today. It’s confirmed in my heart over and over that God hears me when I pray.

That’s why there was something fearful that came over me when I considered this verse (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: If we regard iniquity in our heart, it will turn upside down any prayer verse the bible gives us. It’s like a negative sign in math. You’re putting a negative sign in front of every prayer verse when we regard iniquity in our heart. It’s a serious things. Try putting a negative sign in front of your checking account. If you have $1000 and you put a negative sign in front of it, you don’t just lose $1000, you now owe $1000.

(Psalm 34:17)The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. How is the Lord gonna deliver you if he won’t hear you.

(Psalm 145:18-19)The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, How is the Lord gonna draw nigh unto you if he won’t hear you. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. How is he going to fulfil your desire? How is he going to save you when he won’t hear you.

(Jeremiah 33:3) Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. What kind of vision? What kind of shortsightedness will we have if God doesn’t hear us.

(Matthew 18:18) Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. There will be no binding or loosing in heaven if God will no hear me.

It’s not that he can’t hear me, but that he will not hear me if I regard iniquity in my heart. You know, a valve that is half open doesn’t sound like a real serious thing. No. It doesn’t unless we’re talking about one of those valves in your heart. Now we’re talking life or death.

The thing about the toilet problems at the camp was that for a little while, about a day or more, nobody really knew what the problem was or where the problem was. We couldn’t find a leak. We even check some of the valves that had recently been fiddled with. But to no avail. It wasn’t until the master plumber showed up that the problem was found. Amen?

That’s why we pray: (Psalm 139:23-24) Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Praise God for the Holy Spirit because the Bible says: (Romans 8:26-27) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Make sure all the valves are open. I’m talking about the camp. But you do understand I’m not talking about the camp.

Can’t mop with seized wheels. This speaks of our motivation to serve God. Everything we do, every step we make is service to God. We labor 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We must keep going. We must press on the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. We must run the race with patience. Those wheels have got to turn. Everything just seems to to work better, when it works for Jesus. That’s all I’m saying.

Can’t mop with a dirty mop. This speaks of our separation, our holiness, our purity before God. ( Titus 2:11-12) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Can I say this: We live separated, holy, godly lives not so that we can be saved, so that by the grace of God, others might be saved.

The grass is always thicker than you think. This speaks of our consistency and devotion to God. This speaks of our understanding of our sinful nature. We distrust the flesh. We need and desire to follow after the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls. We stay close to him. We never wander far ahead or never fall behind. We do this through faithful prayer, bible devotion, and worship of God; private, family, and church.

Nobody wants to do the weed eating. This speaks of our thoroughness in the things of God. I know we don’t have all our i’s dotted and our t’s crossed. But that doesn’t mean we brag about it. It means we start dotting those i’s and crossing those t’s for the glory of God.

Make sure all the water valves are open. This speaks of our prayer life. Like I said, I’m talking about the camp. But you understand I’m not talking about the camp. Things just don’t work right if there’s an obstruction in the line. (Psalm 66:18) If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

All these 5 topics deal with our relationship with God and the things that hinder that relationship and hinder the work of God. I’m asking you do you want to live for God. Do you want your life to count for God. What does the judgment seat of Christ mean to you? Make sure all the water valves are open!

There’s always something to do

The last things I want to say as a conclusion. One hindrance to the work of God is the myth, or the fallacy, or the thought that there’s nothing to do. There’s always something to do.

(1 Corinthians 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

(Luke 19:13) And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

I believe that the Lord Jesus has made it abundantly clear in the scriptures that he expects his people to “Get to work!” Some of you don’t like that, do you? “I just don’t like the way you say it.”

Let me tell you another thing about the camp. I think maybe a lot of people can relate to this. You show up to camp. You got your work clothes on. You’re phyched. You’re ready to work. You come it and you’re ready to go. Where’s the squirrel? Where’s the squirrel? And you look around and nothing is happening. People that have known each other all their life are having deep conversations so you can’t go there. There’s already 5 people standing around the mixer over there doing nothing so they don’t need you there. You look at this other crown in this corner of the kitchen and they’re all on their phones so they don’t need you there. So you think, “Well, there’s just nothing to do.”

So you figure, “I’ll go to service and get in on the great preaching!” So you go to the tabernacle and sit down in the back and you start looking around and you realize: Man there is nobody from Concord sitting in this service but Brother Randy up on pulpit area. You are the only person from Concord sitting on your rump doing nothing. So that’s it. You’re going home. There’s nothing to do here. Even if there was, they don’t want me to help anyway.

This is tough for me. I have an identity crisis every camp meeting because I cannot stand to just do nothing. This is how I was raised. Back in Texas, at the shop, this is just how we worked. Nobody put their hands in their pockets. That was just not tolerated. You couldn’t sit down to work. There was no stopping to talk. You looked busy at all times. And that’s how me and the boys work. I used to tell Phillip when he was younger, Move with purpose. Look like you’re doing something. So I’ve always thought myself to be good at staying busy, helping, getting in there and just getting to work.

Well, even in my upbringing, I’ve found it difficult at times to find something to do during camp meeting, that’s camp meeting related. It’s very tempting to just give up. But I’ll say this: If you stick around long enough and look hard enough, you’ll find that there’s always something to do. And just because the person in charge doesn’t have something for you, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. It just means they got other things on their mind and can’t think of something for you to do.

If you go ask Mrs. Millie, You got something for me to do? And she says, uh… uh… maybe… uh… That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. It means you need to wait a little longer and look harder. There’s always something to do. The bible says (Ephesians 2:10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. If you say that, “There is no place for me in the work of God. There’s just nothing for me to do.” Then you are calling God a liar. The bible says that God cannot lie. He said there are good works that you should walk in. He said occupy until he comes. He said don’t be weary in well doing. He said to be always abounding in the work of the Lord. Amen?

Jesus said this: (Luke 2:49) Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

Exodus 27:18 The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.

Now this fine linen is all over the tabernacle. The entire court is surround with it. The first curtain over the holy place and the holiest of all is made of fine linen. You look at the holy garments of the high priest: the ephod, the coast, the breeches, the curious girdle, the mitre. They were all made of fine linen. All the three entrances (the court, the first veil, and the veil to the holiest) are made of fine linen. There was fine linen all over the tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. So it seems important to me.

The bible says of the saints, the bride of Christ: (Revelation 19:7-8) His wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And again the bible says when we return with the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth, there we are again clothed in fine linen. (Revelation 19:14) And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. The fine linen is the righteousness of saints. The bible says this directly. And what is our righteousness, but Christ? So this is not a type made up of bible scholars. Someone didn’t just see this here on this side of the bible and say, Hey, this sure looks a lot like this thing over here on that side of the bible. But this type is given to us directly by God himself. The fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

(1 Corinthians 1:30) But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: He is our righteousness. (Romans 10:4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Paul said (Philippians 3:9) And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: And if Christ is our righteousness, and the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, then the fine linen must be Christ. He is the door, the rock, the lamb, the bread, the firstfruits, the living water, the rose of sharon, the true vine, light of the world, the morning star. Why not the linen?

(Matthew 22:8-14) Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. ⁹ Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. ¹¹ And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: ¹² And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. ¹³ Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.

I think it’s a serious thing. Make sure you’ve got the right garment! Make no mistake! That garment is the fine linen; the righteousness of saints. Cotton is not going to work. Polyester is not going to work. Cashmere is not going to work. And wool is not going to work. It’s got to be fine linen. And I want to explain why. I want to look at the process used to make fine linen. I want us to see that this is not some random fabric that God chose for the saints; but it was chosen with purpose. So being that God saw fit to cover the entire tabernacle and his high priest in fine linen, and he saw fit to give us directly this type that the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, I thought it would be good to spend a little time on this fine twined linen.

Linen comes from the flax plant. I honestly knew nothing about linen, where it came from, or how it was made until recently. Being from South Texas, I’m a bit familiar with cotten. It’s easy to see the fibers in the cotten that is picked and one can easily imagine a process from cotton plant to cotton fabric. But I never really gave much thought to linen. It’s not like the cotton plant that produces a nice little ball of fibers to work with. Linen is actually taken from the stock of the flax plant. It doesn’t look like cotton. It looks like hay. There are thin fibers running through the stock of the plant. Much like celery. They are extracted, twined together into thread, and then woven into fabric. Now, if you already knew this, then that’s great! I didn’t. I just never gave it a whole lot of thought. But now that I have, now that I’ve learned about this process used to produce fine linen clothe, and what it takes to accomplish this, I saw such a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, I just had to share this.

Sowing the flax seed

(Luke 1:31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Linen fabric must begin by sowing the flax seed. Here the process begins. Our redemption began in the womb of a virgin. A child was conceived. The seed of God was planted; God’s child; God’s son. Isaiah said (Isaiah 53:10) When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. The lamb of God is the Son of God. He is the only begotten of the Father. Jesus said to Pilate as he sentenced him to death: (John 18:37) To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. The main purpose of sowing flax seed into the dust of the ground is none other but to make fine linen. And we begin to see God’s plan of salvation in Christ, the righteousness of saints, by the manner in which Christ came into the world.

Paul said to the Corinthians, And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45) Adam was taken from the earth and formed from the dust of the ground. (Galatians 4:4) But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Christ, the last Adam, the righteousness of saints, was made of the same stock as Adam; made of a woman. And so fine linen comes from the ground; from a plant that for the most part would either rot away, blow away, or burn away. Fine linen comes from a plant that comes up and dies and withers as the grass. From the this plant that is subject to corruption comes forth fine linen that is masterfully crafted into a garment that will last years and years and years. But like any other plant, it first must be sown in the soil, as a seed.

Into the dirt it must go. David said (Psalm 51:5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. He said in (2 Corinthians 5:21) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Was it at Calvary that he was made sin for us? No, but in the womb of Mary. (Romans 8:3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh… So into the dirt the seed must first go.

Growing the flax

Now the plant has got to grow. The stock has got to grow up tall and the linen fibers have to develop within the plant. And this takes about 3 months. (Isaiah 53:2) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Now flax doesn’t look special. To the flax farmer it looks great, but to someone like me, it looks like over grown coastal grass. It looks like hay. Now Joseph and Mary returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth, with Jesus, the boy. And there he grew up as a carpenter. Though he was Lord of all lords, he did not grow up a nobleman, but as a common peasant. He had no following, no money, no stature. And for 30 years, as a tender plant, he grew.

(Luke 2:40) And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Out there in the field, the little flax plant grows. It was acclimated to the wind and the rain and the sun and the bugs. It must endure the elements of the world. The bible says (Hebrews 4:15) For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Jesus had to grow. Growing takes time. And I think it an amazing thing that Jesus, son of the almighty God, subjected himself to time, and all the elements of this old sinful world, just like us. The bible says that the child grew!

Now when the flax plant is grown to maturity, which is about 3 mounts, it is harvested. There is an appointed time when the fibers are ready. And it is not cut like most all plants. It’s pulled up with the roots. This is because the fibers go all the way into the root. (Isaiah 11:1) And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: So the flax plant is pulled up from the ground roots and all. I’ll say this. I’m not a Jew, but my Savior comes from the roots and stem of Jesse.

Retting the flax

The first thing they do before they do anything else is to place the stocks in water to soak. This was known as retting. (Not wetting) The purpose of this is to help the unwanted part of the stock to decompose and separate from the linen fibers. Nowadays, they lay it out like hay and let the rain and dew have their way with the flax. Unlike hay, you want it to rain on your flax. For most things harvested, no rain is good. Not so for flax. You want rain. Now to speed up the process you could soak it in containers. But back in the day before Rubbermaid, they would place the flax in low-lying areas like ditches that are very wet and moist. Or they took them out to the river bottoms where there was much water. (Matthew 3:13) Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. Something special happened at the Jordan River. That tender plant that grew up was now retted in the waters of the Jordan river. Before any attempt to make linen was tried, the plant must be first retted.

Now, more and more I see that Jesus, at the River Jordan was filled with the Holy Ghost. And I’m learning more and more from this about what it means for us, his people, to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Sanctification is a process of separation; separating the unwanted from what is wanted. It’s the means in which we give unto God the things that are Gods. In the flax plant, that process begins with death. It begins in the water. The water facilitates decomposition. [Have you ever radishes that still had their stems. You leave them wet in a plastic bag in the fridge and the next day they’ll already be decomposing and stink] As the stock decomposes, the unwanted chaff begins to separate from the linen fibers. It doesn’t happen all at once, but it starts with the retting of the flax. Crossing that Jordan River into the land of Canaan is a wonderful picture of the Spirit-filled life. Nobody gets to Canaan but by the wilderness first. There is no other way. In the wilderness is where the carcasses will fall. In the wilderness is where God’s dwelling place was built and filled. Sanctification is necessary journey through the wilderness for the child of God. There is no other way.

Now back to Jesus’ baptism. He said to John at his baptism, (Matthew 3:15) Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Jesus Christ is the righteousness of saints; the fine linen garment. He said, John, there is just not going to be righteousness if this step is left out. There is no other way. Listen, you’ll never get linen out of flax unless it’s first properly retted. The stock has got to decompose.

Spreading the flax

After the rhetting process, after it’s been thoroughly soaked, the flax is spread out thinly out in the open fields in order for it to now dry. Now I thought about this, and one of the last things I’d want to do with something I valued is put it out on the lawn and expose it to the elements; where anybody can walk on it; hurt it, or damage it. It seems to me to be a very vulnerable place for that flax. But that’s how it’s done. When Jesus stood before the high priest, he was asked of his doctrine. (John 18:20) Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.

He taught in the temple. He taught in the streets. He taught in the mountains. He taught on the sea. He taught in the synagogues. He taught in the houses. He taught by the river. He taught his disciples. He taught the multitude. He taught the women. He taught the children. He taught the Pharisees. He taught the scribes. He taught the lepers. He taught the Samaritans. He taught the publicans. He even taught the adulterer. He said in secret have I said nothing. Just like the flax was spread upon the earth, so was Jesus spread out so all could see; all to judge; all to criticize, and at all times vulnerable. They could have taken him at any time. When they finally came out to arrest him, he said (Matthew 26:55) Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

The spreading of the flax was the three year ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was spread out upon the earth for all to hear and see. And as the flax stock dried and browned and hardened, the day approached closer and closer that the beautiful fine linen would be revealed.

Breaking the flax

After all the flax straw had been spread out and dried, the process of preparing it for the mill began. At this point the stock was stiff and hard and still very much looked like hay. The first step of that was to break the flax. For this they used an instrument of wood that had a chopping motion that would violently bend the flax between itself in order to break up the dried up stock that was surrounding the linen fibers. The stock was dry and separate from the soft linen, but the linen was still inside the stock. And they way got it out was to break it. So by bending it sharply and violently through this instrument, the linen fibers would come loose from the broken stock.

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus was broke. The bible says he began to be sorrowful and very heavy. (Matthew 26:38) Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. So broken and weak was he that an angel appeared to give him strength (Luke 22:43). The bible says that he was in agony. (Luke 22:44) And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. But it was there in his sorrow and in his brokenness that Jesus said (Matthew 26:42) O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. You know Jesus did ask, if it be possible (Matthew 26:39) to let this cup pass from him. Say what you will, but I think that it’s clear that Jesus did entertain the possibility of not going through with Calvary. But I think by the end of that prayer, Jesus had come to the point of no return. He said, Thy will be done.

In the breaking process, the fine linen is now separate and disconnected from the stock and it now begins to emerge from the dead plant. In the garden, Jesus prayed (John 17:5) And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Hid behind the veil of earthly flesh was the glorious Son of God, the righteousness of God, the lamb slain before the foundation of the earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in the garden, through this bending and breaking, the righteousness of saints begins to emerge.

Scutching the flax

Now after the breaking the flax plant is now limp. It’s no longer a hard stock anymore. You essentially have a bundle of linen mingled with the decomposed chaff of the stock. They’re separated from each other, but they’re still intertwined together into one bundle.

The next step was called scutching. Now they took the bundle of flax, which was much softer now, and they laid it over what they called the scutching board. And there they beat it. They would hit with a piece of wood in a scraping motion that would knock out most all of the broken stock. It takes little imagination to see the Lord Jesus Christ in the scutching of the flax. (Luke 22:63-64) And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. ⁶⁴ And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face… The bible says that the soldiers had mocked Jesus and put a reed in his right hand as if it was a kingly scepter, but then (Matthew 27:30) They spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. They said (John 19:3) Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

The bible says that after he stood before Pilate, he was scourged. And you can see that the words scourged and scutched have similar roots. (Matthew 27:26) Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus… That means that before they led Jesus away to his death, he was thoroughly beaten. He was whipped, flogged; most people believe that he was scourged with a cat-of-nine-tails and that may be very possible. We see by the prophet the scutching of the Lord Jesus, (Isaiah 53:5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Fine linen throughout history has been always considered the best of the best and very pricey. Pricey because of all the work that was put into making it. Wool and Cashmere and Cotton can almost be spun right off the bat, but not linen. There was much of work to be done to get linen out of flax. Consider all the work that went into the righteousness of saints; all that the flax endured to become linen. Now after the bundle of linen was scutched, you were left with what was now mostly linen. Most of the stock was gone now. But there was still just a little bit of stock left in the bundle and for spinning you wanted mostly long fibers so the short fibers along with the remaining stock needed to be removed.

Combing the flax

So then, the final step before the linen was pure and ready for spinning was to be hackled or combed. (Luke 23:33) And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him. (Matthew 27:26) Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, then he delivered him to be crucified.

This is what happened next: The bundle of linen was literally run through a bed of nails. The comb looked like an upside down brush that was fastened to a table. It was simply a piece of wood and the bristles were nails going all the way through the wood. The bundle of linen fibers were run across this brush of nails to take out the last of the stock and to comb the linen fibers into one direction. The final result was a soft bundle of linen ready for spinning.

Consider all the work that went into the righteousness of saints; all that the flax endured to become linen. The flax was sown. It was grown. It was harvested. It rhetted. It was broken. It was scutched. And finally it was hackled on the bed of nails. Paul said (1 Corinthians 2:2) For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Corinthians 1:18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (Galatians 6:14) But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… (Philippians 2:8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

It was there at the cross God’s precious fine linen was pierced through with nails. (Zechariah 12:10) And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Jesus was run through a bed of nails. It brings to mind the words of that song Crimson River:

There’s a river flowing deep and wide,
Coming from the Savior’s side;
From His hands, His feet and brow,
Underneath this river I’ll abide.

His hands, his feet, his brow, his side! Jesus was pierced with thorns. (John 19:2) And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head. Jesus was pierced with nails. Thomas said, (John 20:25) Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails… They pierced his head. They pierced his hands, his feet. And they pierced his side. (John 19:34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. Jesus was pierced.

Jesus was broken. He was scutched. And he was put through the comb of nails and hackled just like the flax. This was the final step to prepare the linen for spinning and weaving. You started with a stiff dried up plant and what you had left was a soft bundle of pure linen, combed nice and soft. It looks like a pony tail of hair, but linen. Jesus said (John 19:30) It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Spinning the flax

Now this bundle of linen fiber was ready for spinning. That’s where you took the fibers of linen and twisted them together nice and tight to form thread or yard. This thread would be used to make cloth or nets or whatever was needed. Sometimes wax or oil was spun in to the thread to help preserve it from moisture or wear. Next on the scene was Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus. These were God’s heavenly spinners.

(Proverbs 31:19) She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. The distaff was a staff, a stick or pole, that the perfectly pured combed linen was hung. And there we see again the cross. Jesus said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32) We all know the song At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light… Well, the third verse, I remember years ago when it dawned on me that the third verse, Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in, when Christ, the might Maker died for man the creature’s sin.

The other day I was thinking about that darkness. And I really wonder if that can give us an understanding of what we call Holy Ghost conviction. I remember when my wife was under conviction, she said, God showed me that I was in outer darkness. When I got under conviction, God gave me a glimpse of what was inside of me and I saw a darkness so terrible I could never put into words. But do you know what happened in the darkness between the sixth and ninth hour? The veil was rent from top to bottom. That’s the time to get in. As the darkness lifted that day at the ninth hour, there he was up on a hill far away. And nobody understood the words of John Baptist until that day at the ninth hour: Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) There he was. The songwriter went on to say, Thus might I hide my blushing face, While his dear cross appears. When the darkness lifted, there he was, the righteousness of saints, the God’s heavenly fine linen bundle hanging upon the distaff.

Now what the spinner would do is draft the linen fibers from the distaff. Drafting meant to draw down the fibers carefully from the distaff. (John 19:38) And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

Jesus, the broken, scutched, and combed linen hung there on the distaff, and Joseph of Arimathaea, the fine linen spinner, drafted him down to do the work. Then came Nicodemus with a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, and the bible says (John 19:40) Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. God’s heavenly spinners went to work. The fine pure linen from the flax was drawn down the distaff, wound, twisted and spun into thread. And they laid the wound body of Jesus there in the tomb.

Linen cloth

After the spinners were done making the thread it was handed off to the weaver, where he would take the threads and weave them into cloth. Typically, the weaver was always someone who worked independently of the flax farmers and spinners. In fact, it was not uncommon to find the children of the farmers do the spinning. As early as 5 years old, children were taught to spin. It was relatively easy and uncomplicated. Weaving, however, was a specialty and required an artisan. Even the bible makes a distinction. (Isaiah 19:9) Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks… The weaver didn’t necessary only work with flax. They strictly wove. So in the building of the tabernacle, God had set apart and equipped certain people in every trade to get the job done. (Exodus 35:35) Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer… and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work. So you see everybody played their specific part.

Man did all he could do in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was man that betrayed him. It was man that scourged him. It was man that nailed him to the cross. Peter told the Jews (Acts 2:23) Him… ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: And it was even man that took him down off the cross and wrapped him up and buried him in that tomb. But there was one more things that needed to be done and man could not do it. What was now left to be done was something only God could do. They left the body of Jesus in the tomb and closed it with a great stone. Even the chief priest authorized the tomb to be guarded. The bible says (Matthew 27:66) They went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

And there behind the veil of the stone, God performed the final task. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; Man took care of that part. ⁴ And that he was buried, Man did all that, but it was God that had to do the next part: and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: God the master weaver had to do that last task. It was God that raised Jesus from the dead.

Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached Jesus, (Acts 2:24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. He said (Acts 2:32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. When Paul was in Antioch, he stood up in the synagogue and preached Jesus, and he said (Acts 13:29-30) And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead:

When they closed up that tomb, it was there in the darkness that God did the work. In the tabernacle, the candlestick was not on the same side of the veil that the ark and the mercy seat were on. There were four layers of curtains covering the holy place, two of which were like leather. It was dark in the most holy place. The only light in there was the candlestick on the other side of the veil. And high priest went alone behind the veil. Nobody went with him, and nobody saw what went on behind the veil. The bible says (Leviticus 16:17) And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. Until the work was done, nobody was allowed in.

When Moses went up into the mount to receive the law, the oracles of God, the tables of stone, the bible says, And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. (Exodus 32:16) The bible says, ¹⁷ For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. (John 1:17-18) When they closed the door to the tomb, It was just God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. It was just like it was in the beginning when the earth was void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God went to work.

And after that tomb was opened up, Mary Magdalene was the first to come upon the tomb. It was still dark. She didn’t go in. Instead she went and got Peter and John. John got there first, and in his gospel, he records what he found. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying… (John 20:5) there in the tomb.

You know I’ve heard many times people say, especially when Easter rolls around, We got an empty cross and we got an empty tomb. And I’m not fussing or anything, but that tomb wasn’t empty. There was something in that tomb that Jesus saw fit to leave. In fact, it was so important that the bible declares it twice, Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes… (John 20:6) The bible says that by the mouth of two or three witness let every word, every matter, be established. God left his disciples a perfect picture in the tomb of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Revelation 19:8) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

That tomb was not empty. God left something there. When the body of Jesus was laid there and the tomb was closed, it declared to a lost and dying world that the wages of sin is death. But when it was opened, what was left in that tomb, the fine linen, declared the gift of God which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, the righteousness of saints. Listen, as Jesus said, the wedding is ready. There is no reason in the world to show up without a wedding garment. God himself has provided it.

Conclusion

Fine linen is the righteousness of saints and Jesus Christ is our righteousness. Therefore, the fine linen is Jesus Christ. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.(Matthew 6:33) Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

(Revelation 19:7-8) His wife hath made herself ready. ⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. I’ve said all this to say Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of saints, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14)

When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
Dressed in his righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand.

Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Okay, there’s two articles that I’ve seen circulating concerning this so-called victory for Trump and Pro-Life advocates: Conservative Review’s Huge Pro-Life Victory: Trump Admin Takes Aim Abortion Surcharge Hidden Obamacare Plan by Alex Wong and Daily Mail’s Millions of Americans Will Get Separate Bill for Abortion Coverage by Raven Saunt

Here’s the low-down, from the beginning:

Section 1303 from Obamacare specified that health insurance companies that were subsidized by the federal government must keep the funds to cover abortions separate from the other funds. Now understand that it is illegal for federal dollars to subsidize abortions according to the Hyde Amendment of 1976. (More on that later) So in order to uphold that, the thinking is that if the funds are accounted for separately, it can be maintained and proven that no federal dollars went to abortions. That was what Section 1303 was supposed to have accomplished.
The Obama administration (and the Trump administration for the past three years) interpreted Section 1303 by itemizing the charges for the abortion coverage and sending an initial notice, and then subsequently separating the funds. So a few things to understand:
1. There is no problem with separating funds. It seems on the outset that health insurance companies are doing that.
2. The problem is with the transparency of this. People are paying for this coverage and really not knowing about it.
3. In other words, the way the rules are now are just not good enough to ensure transparency and promote informed choice.
So what the Trump Administration is doing is changing the rules now. How so?
1. Now health insurance companies must send a separate bill for this coverage.
2. The thinking is that if you get a separate bill, your chances of making an informed choice rise astronomically.
3. So the Trump Administration wants to carry this separating of the funds all the way to billing procedures.

Now, I would say up front that this is good. I can agree with it. My contention is that this not a “Huge Pro-Life Victory.” This is far from it. I write this because I’m concerned with the public’s perception of Trump and the Pro-Life movement. He is touted to be the Strongest Pro-Life President to ever grace our presence. And he may very well be, relatively speaking. But I believe reality paints a much different picture. Allow me to explain.

What does separate mean?

Just because the funds are separate does not mean that abortions are not federally subsidized. I contend that even if Section 1303 is interpreted in the strictest sense as the Trump administration is doing and even separating the bill for the coverage, this does not equate to a victory for the Pro-Life movement. It may be a victory for Trump, but not for the unborn. Why?

You must understand that health companies are being subsidized by the federal government. These same companies are collecting money to cover abortions and then distributing the money to abortion providers. The amount of money they pay is not federally subsidized. However the health insurance company that is doing this is. People are getting abortions for a fraction of the cost and the procedure is paid for by a federally subsidized health company. It’s not just the dollar amount we should be concerned about. The health company has got to make money. They are making money from providing this service. I really don’t care that they are only using money that was separately collected for abortion service. I have a problem that they are administering these services, profiting, and that customers are benefiting.
You must also understand that all this concerns non-Hyde abortions. What’s that? The Hyde Amendment of 1976, and its metamorphosis through the years, has strictly prohibited federal funds to pay for abortions except if the mother’s life in in danger or if the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest. A non-Hyde abortion is one that does not fall under that criteria. So understand that there is no separation required if the abortion is connected with any of these three criteria. So that means there are abortions that are taking place and are federally subsidized, completely under the radar. The health insurance company has full rights to cover a Hyde abortions and apply federal money to it. That means you’ll never see it on your bill. That means tax-payer money is going to it.
This is very similar to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood remains the greatest providers of abortion in our nation. They too must separate the funds used for non-Hyde abortions. But they are still collecting $560 million a year from the federal government. Planned Parenthood has proved over and over that you can separate all you want, but abortion providers are still gonna get yo’ money.

Counting chickens before they hatch!

Hold your horses. The new rule is set to be published on the 29th of December. Keep in mind, almost every executive action concerning abortions has been circumvented by the courts. Just because he makes a new rule… Wait a second. Is a rule a law? I thought the Legislative Branch was supposed to make the rules? Well… They’re supposed to, but we’re gonna just ignore that so that we can give Trump his victory lap. Maybe we’ll talk about that later. Anyhow, it sounds to good to be true that insurance companies are going to send a separate bill for abortion services to their customers. And there it is: Too good to be true. Look, I’m against abortion, all of them all the time. But forcing a company to send a separate bill for it? I’ll believe it when I see it. Let’s see how this pans out. If we stay on par, nothing will come of this. That may be why there’s only two articles out there claiming victory. Nobody in the know really believes it’s a victory. Sounds like another dance with the courts where we typically lose.

Who ever sees the bill anyway?

What happens with companies that purchase federally subsidized health plans for their employees? Back where I used to work, the employee never saw the bill from the insurance company. They saw the deduction on their check, but that was it. The company saw the bill and paid the bill. Does this victory address that? Of course not.

Victory against who?

Now who exactly did Trump defeat when his administration begins to enforce this rule? The simple question must be asked: Why didn’t he do this 3 years ago? I mean who exactly has been stopping him? Who did he prevail over to get this rule written down? Last I checked the Department of Health and Human Services is still part of the Executive Branch of our government. That’s Trump’s Branch. Alex Azar is his Secretary of the HHS. It took three years to get this done. If you read the articles above, you’ll find that 25 Senators and 103 House members wrote a letter to Alex Azar concerning this matter. Apparently, they convinced him to put this rule in place. So who has the victory? Seems to me that these Congress member prevailed over the Trump Administration and got the rules changed. They say that the new rules better represent the Trump administration’s devotion to Pro-Life policy. Does it? Why didn’t this come from the top three years ago?

How is this a Trump victory? I’ll tell you how. It’s one more imaginary victory that he gets credit for. It excites his base. Gives the democrats something to pitch a fit about and excite their base. All the while babies are butchered.

Where’s the deal maker?

If this was soooooooo important to the Trump administration, then why didn’t he, say… do it just a bit different. Section 1303 is part of Obamacare. Amen? Why didn’t the head of the Republican Party get his dudes to just stick something in the omnibus to codify this into law so it wouldn’t be a matter of interpretation for the courts? I mean if the law was not clear, why not get the law-makers to clear it up? Why not use his ingenious deal-making skills to broker a little deal in this last spending bill? For that matter, any of these spending bills these past three years? Why? The answer is simple. He’s not Pro-Life. He’s just yanking your chain. By the way, why hasn’t Section 1303 and the rest of Obamacare been repealed like he promised it would?

Charlie Brown and Lucy?

Yeah! $560 million dollars of your money going to Planned Parenthood every year. And Trump has signed every one of those bills that have funded them. Did he pitch a fit? Did he veto? Did he send it back and say, “No! I’m gonna fight to keep some of that money from Planned Parenthood!” Not a peep. Not a single expectation from him to the Republican legislators to defund Planned Parenthood. Nothing. So I have no clue whatsoever how people have concluded that Trump is committed to Pro-Life policy. Not a clue. Still looking for one. So based on his accomplishment (or lack of accomplishment) these past three years, what makes you think that somehow this time it’s different?

So what’s your problem with the Pro-Trump articles?

I have problem with giving the President credit for something that has yet to happen. What is the long-term effect of this? The base will claim that he’s the most Pro-Life President in our history, but try asking the base, “What exactly has he done?” Talk about a calf looking at a new gate.

Look, the new rule does not have to be complied with until mid-year. This is going to be challenged in the courts. But the articles make it sound like it’s a done deal. Trump wins. And there is no win. And even if it passes the courts and the industry complies, does this really translate to a win for the unborn? This so-called victory is such a small aspect of the fight against abortion. Positive misleading headlines might go a little way for winning an election. But I’m not sure it accomplishes much for the unborn.