The Strait and Narrow

Created by; Roger Beck

Sin And Shame (excerpt from M. A. Tomlinson’s Annual Address 1969)
A few years ago, it was a common thing to hear testimonies like: “I praise the Lord for saving me from sin and shame.” I have noticed that we do not hear much said about shame in recent years, but sin and shame are closely related. The world is going deeper and deeper into sin, and with the sin is an increase of shamefulness. Sin is now so open and unrestrained that its captives seem to have no sense of shame. Many evil things are not counted sin as they once were. This attitude has become so prevalent that few have escaped its influence in some form or another. Many so-called Christians are condoning sinful practices, though they deny that they are sinful. We must not be deceived by the argument that our present generation is more enlightened than past generations.

This is an old cycle that has made its rounds many times down through the ages, but Satan seems to have found it so effective that he never grows weary in propagating it. One generation looks at a passing generation on one hand and an oncoming generation on the other. The passing generation is usually considered too strict, and the oncoming generation too lenient. The one in the middle may be temptedto compromise. We must consider that the Word of God is older than any of us, and that Word has never changed. Fashions and customs have varied from generation to generation and from nation to nation. But our unchanging -God spoke His Word to all nations and generations without respect of persons. There is nothing in It which any nation, in any era of time, cannot obey. Your General Overseer has lived to see fashions change from one extreme to another for over half a century, but the Word of God reads and means the same as it did 50 years ago. Since the written Word has stood the test for almost 6,000 years, blessing every generation that has obeyed It, it seems unreasonable and dangerous to contend for some of the radical changes which even the religious world is trying to thrust upon us in the last one or two generations.

We must guard against following customs, traditions, and fashions which violate the principles of Christ. That which is a necessity in one part of the world must not become an excuse in other parts of the world where the necessity does not exist. For example, economic conditions in some areas have made millions of people almost destitute, and sufficient clothing is very difficult to obtain; but where clothing is available, our people should clothe themselves modestly. Although wedding rings seem to have more significance in some countries than in others, nowhere are they more than traditional symbols and are no part of lawful marriage. According to the Bible, it is the covenant that joins a man and a woman together in matrimony, and we must stay with the Word of God. The Church is against members wearing gold for ornament or decoration. The thought behind this teaching is that our ornament of holiness must be in immaterial things; such as, a meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price. That which is unbecoming to a saint of God would be cause for shame, in that it substitutes something else for the beauty of holiness.

It is interesting to note that about all of history’s sweeping revivals have led the people back to stricter Bible standards. Just before the Church arose in these last days, God saw fit to gather a few modest, holiness people together to form the body that would become the Church. They were not prominent according to worldly standards, but they did fear God and were determined to walk in the light as He shined it on their pathway. God could have chosen another group—one that would have been accepted by a larger segment of the population, or one that had fewer scruples about self-will, worldliness, and shameful habits. But, He chose a people who were willing to suffer persecution rather than cater to the more lenient practices of those around them.

The Church of God has been reasonably successful in maintaining its high standard of faith and doctrine. From time to time, some of the membership have preferred a looser rein and have taken the liberty to indulge their preference, even in the face of the Assembly’s advice against it. Others, momentarily led astray, became ashamed of their ways and have prayed through; while the more contentious ones have lost the victory and left the Church of God for an easier way. At this present time, there seems to be a spirit that is working in a more cunning way for the destruction of souls. It seems to be a companion spirit to the unrestrained fleshly freedom that is running rampant among the worldly element. It takes its liberty without apology and without blushing. Prior to Judah’s downfall and captivity, the Prophet Jeremiah spoke these words: “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. “They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. ‘Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 6:13-15. From these verses, it seems that people of all age levels had become engaged in covetousness and other abominable things. Even the ministry had lowered its standard. God warned them of the impending destruction because of their sin and shame, but the prophets and priests pacified the people, encouraging them in their evil ways and ignoring Jeremiah’s preaching. Sin had become so commonplace and acceptable with the majority that it was not counted sin, and the people couldn’t blush for shame.

Jeremiah continued with an appeal, “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Since God and His Word have not changed, we know He is pointing His erring people to the old paths, the good way, yet today. Wherever there is sin, worldliness, and disrespect for the teachings of the Church and the kindly advice of the Assembly, there is cause for shame. But it is possible to ignore the preaching of our faithful ministers andto persist in our own way until the cunning spirit of this evil day will deafen us to the warnings. There has been a frightening decline in morals in the last few years. We would not like to say that our moral standards in the Church have changed, but ft behooves us to be careful to shun the very appearance of evil. Shameful appearances among the members of the Church would speak against us to those looking toward the Church. If appearances are shameful, yet so acceptable that we cannot blush over them, it could indicate that the worldly desire accompanies the outward appearance. Jesus said that evil things proceed from the abundance of the heart. Despite for the Chbrch government and its holy doctrine, immodest dress, unbecoming behavior, suggestive and vulgar conversation are more than harmJess appearances. A permissive society condones these things and condemns modesty as prudish and Victorian, but it would be well for every member of the Church of God to be more careful to hear and heed the advice of the Church and the enduring demands of the Bible. It will be all right to blush when we need to blush, but it is dangerous to say that we will not walk in the old paths, where is the good way.

When Ezra found abominations among the people and the priests because they had not separated themselves from the people of the land, he fell on his knees and cried out, “. . . O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.” Ezra 9:6. Ezra was not guilty of these shameful practices himself, but he knew that whatever the people did was a reflection on the whole house of God, and his prayer indicates that he suffered the shame right along with those who were guilty. The wonderful thing was that the people were ready to forsake their shameful ways. They sat in the streets in the rain listening to Ezra’s instructions, trembling over their sins. The Church of God has labored hard and long to establish the truth in the world. The early Church fathers sealed it with their life’s blood. Jeremiah cried, “. . . shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers…” Jeremiah 3:24. This must not be said of the lastdays Church. We must keep ourselves separate from the compromising world, both secular and religious, and hold fast the pure and holy doctrine which our fathers have given us, both in faith and in practice.

I wanted to post this study of prophetic fulfillment, I know it doesn’t go with my normal context, but hey it’s my blog.

Prophetic statements sometimes apply to more than one fulfillment, a principle call duality. A prime example of duality is Christ’s first coming to atone for our sins and His second coming to rule as King of Kings.

Such dual themes are common in Scripture. The apostle Paul, for example, wrote about the first man Adam and the last Adam [Jesus Christ]

God inspired much of prophecy to relate to the first and second appearances of Jesus as the Messiah. Prophecy explains the necessity of both His first and second comings in God’s plan for mankind. The apostles often referred to prophecies Jesus had already fulfilled to prove that He was the Messiah. But they also often spoke of His second coming.

Therefore, the first important key to an understanding of biblical prophecy is to recognize that almost all prophecy directly relates to the intervention in human affairs of one key player: Jesus the Messiah

Jesus made this clear to His disciples after His resurrection: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45).

Jesus specifically alluded to the dual application of some prophecies in Matthew 17:11-12. Asked about the prophecy of “Elijah,” who would precede the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5), Jesus responded: “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already.” The disciples understood that the “Elijah” who had come already was John the Baptist (verse 13). But Christ’s clear implication was that another “Elijah” would precede His second coming, announcing His return just as John the Baptist preceded Christ’s first coming.

Another prophecy with dual application is Jesus’ Olivet prophecy (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), so named because He gave it on the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem. Many conditions described in this prophecy existed in the days leading up to the Romans’ siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But Christ makes it clear that similar conditions would prevail shortly before his return, his second coming.

In the Olivet prophecy, Jesus spoke of an “abomination of desolation.” Daniel’s prophecy about the abomination of desolation was fulfilled in 167 B.C. by Antiochus Epiphanes, but Jesus pointed out that the prophecy would have a future fulfillment or would be fulfilled in that generation.

In His most detailed prophecy of the end time, Jesus said, “When you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place…, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16).

Daniel’s prophecy warned of Antiochus: “And they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” (Daniel 11:31).

“On the fifteenth day of the month Kislev in the year 145″  which corresponds to 168/167 B.C., “they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar” of the temple. This appears to have been a pagan altar, probably with an image representing the Greek chief god Zeus, as 2 Maccabees 6:2 tells us that Antiochus defiled the Jewish temple “by dedicating it to the Olympian god Zeus” 

Jesus revealed to us the time for this prophecy’s ultimate fulfillment in Matthew 24:21 when He explained what would immediately follow it: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time.”

We can learn a great deal about this end-time prophecy from the original abomination of desolation Daniel foretold. Antiochus Epiphanes was a forerunner of the end-time king of the North, the world dictator the book of Revelation refers to as the “beast.” No doubt this end-time ruler will employ the same deceitful and underhanded methods that marked the reign of Antiochus

As Jesus fortold about the abomination of desolation to come, to him that have a ear to hear.(whoso readeth, let him understand) understanding because of the first fulfillment of the prophecy by Antiochus Epiphanes and the second fulfillment by Titus in 70 AD. and another to come.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

1 Corinthians 7:27 KJV

Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. But if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.

In context of these scriptures Paul is referring to the principles of the unmarried starting with verse 25 that concerns the virgins. Then in verse 26 he suppose that it is good in this present distress, that a man remain as he were “That it is good for a man so to be”

Art thou (bethrothed) bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed (divorce, put away). Art thou loosed (unmarried, single, widow) from a wife? Seek not a wife.

The problem becomes with many the word “loosed.” How to understand what Paul is meaning? The way it should be understand is that Paul with in this chapter would not be contradicting himself, but this scripture would have to be understood in context of all the others. For instinct verse 10, 11 “but and if she depart (leave, separate), let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.”

 Also verse 39 “The wife is bound by law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.”

So as we get a better understanding of the word “loosed” it is in context of the unmarried, single or widowed . If that person should get married they are not sinning.  Paul had said; in verse 8, 9 “I say therefore to the unmarried and the widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I, But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”  We see Paul now express that if they the unmarried (single) and widows (ones that are not bound,”loosed”) should get married it isn’t a sin this is in agreement with all others scriptures.

Paul is responding to questions he received in a letter from the Corinthians (7:1). Obviously some of the questions pertained to marriage, and whether or not the apostle deemed it advisable. What many people overlook is that the questions were asked, and Paul’s responses were offered, in light of “the present distress” that the Corinthians were facing. Likely, the members of the church at Corinth had asked him whether or not it was proper for a Christian to marry in their present circumstances. In 7:26, Paul wrote: “I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress —that it is good for a man to remain as he is [single]” . Exactly what “the present distress” was at this time is unknown, but it likely involved oppression and persecution at the hands of the Romans (possibly Emperor Nero). After all Paul makes these statements of singleness one would think he was against marriage, but he was not.

“It is good for a man not to touch a woman” (7:1)“I wish that all men were even as I myself” (7:7).“I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am” (7:8).“It is good for a man to remain as he is” (7:26).

Some take the “loosed” to mean that a divorced person now has the right to remarry, but that would be in conflict with Paul, Luke, Mark and Jesus in which Jesus said “whosoever put away a wife and married another committed adultery.” Matthew 5:32 

 So why does Paul say this? 1 Corinthians 7:35

“And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”

What Paul means by this is that he would that one stay single (unmarried) so to attend to the Lord’s affairs.

Want to see what is going on at the Church of God of Prophecy Assembly?

Go here COGOPmedia

In the Old Testament a vow is seen as a covenant between two in agreement.

God’s covenant with Abram told him of the land of inherits; Abram asked God “whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” By a blood covenant (Gen.15:17) Abram covenant with God of circumcision (Gen.17) Circumcision is Abram’s part of the agreement. God agree to bless Abram to be “exceeding fruitful” and the land of Canaan. This covenant is an every lasting covenant. Samson also had a vow to God never to cut his hair as a Nazarene of God. Today a vow of marriage is not seen in this way. Jewish customs and some others, a man would make a contract with the father of the woman he wants to marry. The contract would be of some value to the father for his daughter maybe some amount of money. A good example is Jacobs labor of 7 years for his wife Rachael a virgin. Today vows of marriage are said before God and these witnesses of love between the two getting married. Some vows are vows to stay with the other in sickness and in health, in poverty or in wealth, till death do us part. It don’t seem like we hold any important to these vow to one another because we break these vows more than 40% of the time. In South Carolina these are the legal grounds for divorce:  A divorce may be granted only on the following grounds:  Adultery; Desertion for a period of one year; Physical cruelty; Habitual drunkenness, including habitual drunkenness caused by the use of any narcotic drug; or On the application of either party if and when the husband and wife have lived separate and apart without cohabitation for a period of one year. [Based on South Carolina Code of Laws Section 20-3-10]

Most states recognize a no fault divorce in which there is irreconcilable differences, and no one is to blame for the breakup of the marriage.  There are also fault based grounds, which vary from state to state, but generally include adultery, abuse, desertion, alcoholism or drug addition, incarceration, and insanity.  You can see how far we as men have added reasons to get a divorce from the one we vowed to stay with for life. Even the “irreconcilable differences” is a reason! Jesus gave the reason of fornication only. Maybe that is why the divorce rate is so high. You can get a divorce for any reason almost.The church that I’m apart of is giving membership to some that are in an adulterous relationship or as some say a double marriage because they have divorced for these reasons other than fornication. I guest the question is do you hold your vows true to the end? Or do you take the easy “broad way” out.

John came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. We call him John the Baptist because he baptism with water. One crying out in the wilderness for the nation of Israel to repent. John had said to Herod

“It is not lawful for thee to have her.” And John is put in prison for Herodias sake, Herod’s brother Philip’s wife.

Later is beheaded for Herodias sake.   John spoke up against this adulterous relationship even when the Pharisees and Sadducees would only conform to the world around them. John called them “O generation of virpers” they sould be helping the nation and calling them to repentance, but they are vipers sucking the life out of the children of Isreal.

Today I see the COGOP giving the broad definition of the word Fornication which receives couples in to membership which by scripture is called adultery. One having another’s wife (husband) to me that is the same as what John is calling sin because like Heord his brother Philip was still alive.  My Church says that if they only profess their faith then they are allowed to become members it’s not about if they forsake their sins.  What then will they say about  others that ask for membership and professes faith (homosexual)? If we allow divorce and remarriage (adultery) has the church opened the door for others?  Now if John gave his life for speaking out against adultery why then the Church now allows these to become members of the Church?  We must speak out like John “Repent, Repent, Repent!   

“A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.   Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”(matt.7:18-19 kjv)

True repentance brings forth good fruit. We all can understand the good and bad fruit have you ever tasted a bad apple! And the saying that one bad apple will cause the lot to turn bad.

 Now if someone professes to be a Christian and saved, but knownly live in sin. Then I ask myself which fruit are they bringing forth? Now the cogop will let those in their sin(adultery) become church members in some churches allowing them to teach others.  It would be best not for those to be taking into membership and giving a part of the Body of Christ that can lead others, when them theirselves is in need of help.  Our church seem to be less spirit filled now than any other time, maybe it’s time to turn to :

 (1 Corth.5:13 kjv)

“But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”(Matt.7:13KJV)

 We chose the life that we live; there are so many choices down the road of life. One major chose is our spouse. The one we will live with for life. But in today’s world it’s not so much for life. Even in my Church today it has open membership to those in a Adulterous relationships(mark.10:11,12) This would be far from the straight and narrow way. This would be the broad way that many today go down in there life of decisions. Why is it a straight and narrow gateway that only a few that find it? So many will believe a lie and go down the broad way and so few will stand for the truth. One reason is that the one you think should know the way will be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. (matt.7:15) I fear that the cogop has open the broad way to many in the understanding that by accepting adulterous relationships into covenant membership.   I asked myself which road will we chose the way to life or deaf.