YOU and GOD

A booklet distributed by a local “Church of Christ” says: “This doctrine of ‘eternal security of the believer,’ or ‘once saved always saved,’ is sincerely believed by many people. But when it is examined in the light of Scripture, this doctrine is seen to be false and terribly dangerous.”

So, let’s examine the doctrine of “eternal security” in the light of Scripture.

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:28,29)

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, no any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” (Tit. 1:2)

“Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19)

“And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth thou this?” (John 11:26)

“…but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (I John 2:17)

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want…Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Ps. 23:1,6)

“For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” (Heb. 10:14)

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation….” (I Pet. 1:5)

“Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 1:8)

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved  blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” (I Thess. 5:23,24)

“…and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.” (Jude 1)

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” (Isa. 49:16)

“But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” (II Thess. 3:3)

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” (John 6:39)

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.” (2 Tim. 2:19)

“Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Rom. 8:30)

“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thess. 5:9)

“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Rom. 11:29)

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Heb. 7:25)

“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (II Tim. 1:12)

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 24)

“Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” (II Thess. 2:13)

“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.” (Luke 22:32)

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6)

There you have it, the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer examined in the light of Scripture. What say you?  I say:

“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4)

Beginning on the Day of Pentecost—when Peter, “standing up with the eleven,” lifted up his voice and preached a powerful, scripture-filled, Holy Ghost-anointed message to which thousands responded in faith believing—there has ever been the primacy of preaching in the life of the Church that Jesus founded.

Paul’s parting words to his protégé and son in the faith, Timothy, were, “Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” (II Tim. 4:2) His earlier farewell remarks to the elders of Ephesus, meeting with them for the last time in Miletus, were: “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) Peter’s exhortation to the elders was “feed the flock of God.” And that has been the mandate of those whom God has gifted and called to be pastors-teachers from day one in the life of His Body, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Eph.4:11,12)

Some in this 21 century bemoan the fact that, in many churches, preaching takes a back seat to worship teams that almost wear people out with music; to multi-media presentations that lack nothing in professional production; and to almost anything and everything but Bible preaching. But “preach the Word” still rings in the heart, mind, and soul of the man of God who has been separated and gifted for ministry by the Holy Spirit of God.

I want to share with you some thoughts that men of yesteryear have left us on the subject of Bible preaching. These men left their mark and, in their day, shared their mind on this critically important subject.

Dr. Richard Rupp, one of my college professors and a teacher that I admired greatly, said in a homiletics class: “Much of our problems today (mid-1960s) stem from the fact that we do not make preaching our priority over such duties as counseling, administration, etc. These necessary facets of ministry would be less burdensome if our preaching would get better. You must allot time to this; if you are not willing to allot time, do not bother to plan a program. Meditating is a must; the Psalmist said, ‘When I meditated…the fire burned within my heart, then spake I.’  If preaching is going to be remembered and have an impact, it must be centered around one big idea; if so, a great deal will be remembered about that sermon.”

Thank you, Dr. Rupp.  I don’t remember much, after 60 years or so, about any one of the sermons you preached. But I do remember, as a young preacher boy, that when you stepped into the pulpit and opened your mouth, it was evident that you had been with God and had the breath of God upon your preaching. You left a mark upon this young Bible student that I have not yet gotten over.

Along this same line, here is another perspective that I would file under the heading of “balance.” Dr. Richard Clearwaters (1900-1996) pastored the Fourth Baptist Church of Minneapolis, where I was a member while attending the seminary that he founded, Central Baptist Theological Seminary. If my memory serves me well, Dr. Clearwaters taught the course Church Administration. He was a brilliant pulpiteer, with a mind that sometimes bewildered those of us who were in the “average” category. (We thought his mind was more “oriental” than “occidental,” but whatever it was, no one—not even seminary students who worked full time—ever “dozed” when he was teaching or preaching.) My memory is very clear on this point: On more than one occasion, Dr. Clearwaters said, “Churches will forgive poor preaching, to a point, but they will not forgive poor administration.” The teacher here was not giving anyone a pass to settle for mediocrity in one’s preaching, but he wanted to stress the need for balance. He was simply saying that it would not be wise to spend all your time in the books while ignoring administrative details, mundane as they often might be. Selah.

But now back to preaching. I am not sure who shared this quote, which I believe came out of the Sword of the Lord 40 or 50 years ago, but I think it is choice: “Prime Minister Lloyd George of England (1863-1945) said, ‘When the chariot of humanity gets stuck in the mud, nothing will lift it out but strong Bible preaching that goes straight to the heart and mind’.”

Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. The chariot of humanity sure is stuck in the mud at this present hour. Where, oh where, is the strong Bible preaching?

Well, I have a lot more to share on this subject—nectar gleaned from many a wise forbearers. So there is more to come in upcoming installments of “You and God.” In the meantime, pastor friends, “preach the Word!”

“For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (I Corinthians 1:21)

He is identified by the Apostle Peter in I Peter 5:8: “Be sober…because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” He is a real person, with real power, given over to pernicious pursuits designed to spiritually disable and ultimately destroy everyone he can. Everyone. Period.

About this diabolical devil, God’s Word has much to say: He sinned from the beginning; he repudiated God in the beginning; he drew one-third of the “stars” (angels) after him when he fell from his exalted position in heaven; he lied about God before men in the garden of Eden; he was a murderer from the beginning, and a liar and the father of lies; he now weakens the nations; he resists God’s chosen nation, Israel; he causes wars on the earth; he tempted the Son of God; he entered the Apostle Judas, and prompted him to betray Jesus; he snatches the Word of God out of the hearts of the unsaved, lest they should believe and be saved; he blinds the minds of those who are lost; he will actively oppose God to and through the coming Great Tribulation; his last losing effort to do away with Jesus will be at the end of the millennium, at which time—having been bound for a thousand years—he will be loosed. He will marshal one last army against God, and fail, before he is finally cast into the Lake of Fire where he, along with his condemned cohorts, the beast and the false prophet, will spend eternity.

Thus, it behooves each of us to know (1) What the devil wants with us; (2) What the devil can do to us; (3) What the devil cannot do to us; (4) What our behavior and attitude should be toward the devil.

1. He wants to devour you; to “sift” you (Luke 22:31); to ensnare you as he did with Samson. (I Tim. 3:7)
2. He can tempt you to do evil; he can oppose you and accuse you before God almighty (Rev. 12:7); he can afflict you with fiery “darts” and “wiles”—darts of difficulties, discouragement, defilement, doubt. He can lay a snare for you (II Tim. 2:26); He can put wicked purposes into your heart (Eph. 4:27); He can harass you (II Cor. 12:7); He can resist you in your work for God (Zech. 3:1); He can hinder you. (I Thess. 2:18)
3. He cannot overcome the indwelling Holy Spirit in a believer (I John. 4:4); He cannot overcome the Word of God (Eph. 6:16); He cannot know all your thoughts or be everywhere at once; He cannot do anything God does not allow him to do. He cannot penetrate the “shield of faith” with his fiery darts.

Lewis Sperry Chafer, co-founder of Dallas Theological Seminary and author of a comprehensive work on theology, wrote: “Satan is the most powerful, the most iniquitous, the most despotic, the most delusive, and the most deadly foe. Conflict with the world is against influences; conflict with the flesh is against inward desires; but the conflict with Satan is against a person, unrelenting, and cruel; a person who, were he not compelled to gain permission from God for all that he does, would destroy every Christian.”

4. Our behavior and attitude toward the devil should be:

• Realize that he is real!
• Stand against him and his wiles, clothed in God’s full armor, Eph. 6:10,11
• Resist him, James 4:7
• Do not give him any “ground,” Eph. 4:27
• Be sober and vigilant, I Pet. 5:8
• Render due respect to the devil’s power: He is called the “god of this world” and “the ruler of this world.” (II Cor. 4:4; John 16:11)
• Know what the Apostle said of him: “And the whole world lies in the evil one.”
  (I John 5:19)
• Claim the blood of Christ for victory, Rev. 12:11
• Don’t forget what Billy Sunday said: “Hell is the highest reward the devil can offer you for serving him.”
• Do not underestimate his ability to deceive.

“Deception has always been a part of military strategy. The British put it to good use during World War II in North Africa against German forces led by General Erwin Rommel. They constructed look-alikes of tanks and airplanes to deceive the Germans. From the air, this fake equipment looked real enough to fool reconnaissance personnel, and it could be easily moved.” (copied)

We must not allow this master deceiver to dupe us into unbelief. Be sober. Be vigilant.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12)

An open letter to my fellow Ottumwa (Iowa) High School graduates, Class of 1961:

Recently, through the diligent efforts of one of our fellow classmates, we have been notified of the deaths of several students with whom we graduated from Ottumwa High School some 65 years ago. Those of us who are still living are probably 82, 83, or 84 years of age. So it is no secret that our life expectancy is quickly closing in on us with each passing day. The wise king Solomon wrote that “we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Ps. 90:9,10). That being the case, we are all in the “fourscore” group, meaning that we can all expect to “fly away” soon.

Of course, Solomon had in mind life’s final flight—the flight of the soul/spirit to its eternal destination. For the Christ-follower, Paul spelled it out plainly when he wrote that death to the believer was “absent from the body, present with the Lord.” (II Cor. 5:8) The unbeliever takes flight, too, for Hebrews 9:27 says: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment.”

So, as a former fellow classmate, I want to share with each of you how you can be absolutely certain that you can look forward to this final flight without fear:

1. Concur with God’s simple statement that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) and, that “the wages of sin is death,” death in this context meaning separation from God eternally—called “the second death.” (Rev. 20:14)
2. Consider that God paid for the “wages” of your sin; all you need do is to accept “the gift of God (which is) eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
3. Come just as you are to Jesus, who graciously invites all with the invitation to “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) Paul says that “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6) The “ungodly” included all of us, for “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way…and the Lord hath laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) In other words, Christ Jesus died to pay your sin penalty so that you could have eternal life.
4. Comply with God’s simple solution: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:13,9,10)
5. Cling by faith to God’s assurance that by “grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9) And, “Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)

Nothing could make more sense; nothing could be simpler; nothing could be more everlastingly important to your eternal destiny. Will you then

6. Call upon Him by faith today—and be saved? “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

Thanks, classmates (and others!) for taking time to read what God has laid upon my heart. I have spent more than 60 years preaching and teaching men and women, boys and girls, how to prepare for eternity. I want to see each of you in heaven when we have all “flown away.” Just bow your head now and pray, “Lord, God, I know I am a sinner and no effort of my own self will avail for my soul salvation; I repent of my sin now and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”

Please write me if you have any questions; and, if you did just receive Christ by faith as your Savior, please let me know so that I can rejoice with you. My email address is: trbcpastor@sbcglobal.net.

God bless you, each and every one. And, Happy New Year!

Anthony Slutz, Student Council President

OHS, Class of ’61:  “Made of spirit, work, and fun; we’re the class of ’61!”

This is my third consecutive post on the subject of stewardship, or giving. I am not being repetitious without a purpose, though. I have collected quaint sayings, interesting stories, and tidbits over the past 60 years that I want to share and pass on to whomever may be able to use some of them.

At age 83, and with cancer in my body, I do not know how long I will be able to post such blogs. (This is # 593.) So, for what it’s worth, here are some stories and quotes that maybe a younger pastor or teacher can file for future use in a lesson or message:

• “A little church was having a homecoming service to which ex-members who had moved away were invited. One of the former members had become a millionaire. When asked to speak, the wealthy man recounted his childhood experience. He had earned his first silver dollar, which he decided to keep forever. ‘But when a visiting missionary preached about the urgent need for funds in his mission work, and the offering basket was passed, a great struggle took place within me.’ As a result, the wealthy man said, ‘I put my treasured silver dollar in the basket. I am convinced that the reason God has blessed me richly is that when I was a boy I gave God everything I possessed.’ The congregation was spellbound by the multimillionaire’s tremendous statement—until an elderly little man seated in the front row rose and said, ‘Brother, I dare you to do it again.’” (copied)

• A preacher was told that preaching on giving would kill his church, to which he replied, “I’d like to find a church killed by the pastor preaching on giving; I’d stand on the roof and shout, ‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.’” (copied)

• “I have never, as a pastor, known a really healthy, fruitful Christian who was a stingy person. The liberal soul shall be made fat.” (T. T. Shields in a message “How to Become Rich” as quoted in the Gospel Witness, 2/1/79)

• Dr. R.V. Clearwaters was for more than 40 years pastor of the Fourth Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder and president of Central Baptist Theological Seminary, from which I graduated in 1969. In 1982, when Dr. Clearwaters was a guest for dinner in our home, he told our son, Theo, 12 years old at that time, how he became a tither. It was in the 20s, when he was working his way through school, making $6 a week busing tables. His room, board, and tuition was $8.50. He was on the 7^th floor of a building and had just gotten onto the elevator with another man. On the way down, Dr. Clearwaters asked him if he were a tither; the man said, “No, I believe in it, but I’m trying to get on my feet—I believe it’s scriptural but have not gotten to it just yet.” As they got off the elevator, Dr. Clearwaters extended his hand to the man to thank him. “For what?” he asked. Dr. Clearwaters said, “Why for making a tither out of me from the 7^th floor to the 1^st.” The man said, “A tither?” To which Dr. Clearwaters replied: “Yes, if you believe you should but aren’t—because you’re not on your feet—then I want to. You’re not tithing and obviously not on your feet; if that’s what not tithing will do for you, I’ll start now.” So he did—and had been a tither at that time for 60 years! (P.S. For those who have read this and were at one time acquainted with “the Doc” you will readily agree, I am sure, that this was vintage R. V. Clearwaters!)

• “Our gifts from God are intended for uses which hallow His name.” (Paul Anderson)

• A merchant was asked to contribute to a certain piece of church work. He gladly wrote out a check for $250 and gave it to the solicitor. At that moment, a cablegram arrived. The merchant read it and looked troubled. “This cablegram,” he said, “tells me that one of my ships has been wrecked and the cargo lost. That makes a difference in my business. I’ll have to write another check.” The solicitor thought he understood and handed back the check for $250. The merchant wrote out another and gave it to him. When the solicitor read it, he was utterly amazed; it was for $1,000. “Haven’t you made a mistake?” he asked. “No,” said the merchant. “I haven’t made a mistake.” Then he added, “To me, that cablegram was a message from my Father in Heaven. It read, ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.’” (Matt. 6:19,20)

Ok, that’ll do it for now. I have more to share on the subject—maybe at some later date. I hope you have enjoyed reading these “tidbits!”

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (II Cor. 9:7)

Most God-fearing people, both in Old Testament times and in this New Testament age of grace, have believed that a tithe of what God has allowed us to earn belongs to Him. It is sort of a universal principle of the stewardship of our increase, much like the Sabbath principle—one day in seven as a day of rest and worship—was commanded in the Old dispensation and is practiced by many in this age of grace, though not as in keeping a command. In the Old Testament, God’s people were required to bring more than one tithe per year; and in the world of New Testament grace living, many give a tithe as a starting figure while often giving much more than a tithe of their income.

“Faith-promise” giving is a common practice in many churches that are involved in aggressive missions programs, where church-planting missionaries are sent from local churches to “foreign” fields to “plant” churches, often where no church has been planted. This can be a costly venture—getting a missionary and his family prepared to go to another continent to establish a “beachhead” for the gospel. It sometimes requires well into the six-figure numbers. How is it accomplished? Often by “faith-promise” giving. That is, like-minded people of faith, wanting to co-labor with the missionary and his family, enter into a promise with God that if He brings in “x”number of dollars—whatever the person is willing to trust God by faith to bring in—then he/she will give that toward getting missionaries to the field. Any one church, at any given time, may have many people who are trusting God—by faith—to give through them to world missions what He has laid upon their heart to trust Him for.

As a young pastor, I had heard about this “faith-promise” giving principle or practice, which was originally attributed to Pastor Oswald J. Smith (1889-1986), founder and pastor of The Peoples Church in Toronto. Pastor Clifford Clark of Tulsa Baptist Temple had encouraged his church to participate in this way of giving to missions, and his church became a “model” of 20^th-century missions giving. II Cor. 8 and 9 provides the Biblical basis for such giving. I pastored in Wichita, Kansas, in the early 1970s, not far from where Pastor Clark was based, and I listened with interest (and skepticism at first) to the testimonies of how God was blessing in getting missionaries to the fields (largely through the Baptist Bible Fellowship in those early years) through this method. 

When God called me to Indianapolis to pastor Thompson Road Baptist Church, I was privileged to lead a church that, from its inception, was totally involved in missions—with a generous portion of the annual budget set aside for world missions. In 1981, God began to deal with my heart about challenging our church to give a “faith-promise” gift to God each year. We started out pretty slowly, but it caught on quickly. This was not a “pledge,” and no one would be asked to sign anything. If God did bring in an amount to cover my promise, usually unexpectedly, then I would give it to missions. 

For more than 40 years now, our church has been practicing “faith-promise” giving; and we have a missions conference every year at which missionaries report as to how God has used them (and us) to plant churches. As a result, we have had the blessed privilege of co-laboring with scores of God’s choicest servants—some of them for 50 years, as they serve faithfully where God has put them. On our part, as well as on theirs, it has been a faith-ministry effort. God led us and enabled us to do what we thought we were unable to do; and it has been solely through faith. We never had a “wealthy” church, but we have always had a committed church with a heart for world evangelization. Our first conference keynote speaker introduced us to a saying that I repeated every year at missions conference time: “There was a man—they called him mad—the more he gave, the more he had.” As one of our members would often testify, “I shovel it out (faith-promise offering) and God shovels it back to me; only His shovel is a lot bigger than mine.” One conference speaker said, “Faith giving is the only way you can give more than you can afford.” And, “Only God can command the impossible and then make it possible for us to do.” And, “Faith giving is the way that everyone can give what God wants you to give.” 

When the hungry and thirsty prophet, Elijah, commanded the widow to bring him a drink and a morsel of bread to eat, she thought his request was impossible. She had only enough at hand to fix her son and herself a cake to eat before they died. But she obeyed God and gave what she thought it was impossible for her to give, and she and her son “did eat many days.” ( I Kings 17:8-16)

So, as we begin a new year, how about a new motive and method of giving to God? By faith, try giving Him more than you think you can afford to give. Your mite just may become His Might!

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (II Cor. 9:8)

Luke is the only gospel writer to quote the powerful statement of Jesus Christ on giving: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:38) That is one loaded statement, with a principle and a promise combined into one sentence. The only thing we are commanded to do is give. The rest is to wait to see how God uses people to produce returns that are in proportion to what and why we gave.

Paul, in bidding a final farewell to the elders from Ephesus, reminded these men of God of the words of Jesus: “I have shewed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)

A minister was conversing with a man who professed conversion. “Have you united with a church?” the pastor asked him. “No; the dying thief never united with the church and he went to heaven,” was the answer. “Have you ever sat at the Lord’s Table?” “No; the dying thief never did and he was accepted.” “Have you given to missions?” “No, the dying thief did not, and he was not judged for it.” “Well, my friend, the difference between you two seems to be that he was a dying thief and you are a living thief.” (I am not sure of the source of this—only that his last name was Kilmer and I clipped this article more than 50 years ago.)

Paul Van Gorder, writing in Our Daily Bread, said that “most of us would prefer to remain anonymous when the subject of giving money is discussed. We don’t want others to know the amount of our income we have designated for the Lord. But no Christian can remain unnoticed on Sunday at offering time, for there is One who sees exactly what is put into the plate or left in the box by the door.”

He continues: “To impress this truth upon his congregation, John A. Broadus—(1827-1895), American Baptist pastor and president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—left his pulpit one Sunday morning and stood beside an usher as he began to take the collection. The pastor went with him up the aisle and observed every coin and bill that was given by parishioners. Some of them were angry, some were confused and ashamed, others were amazed, and all were surprised. When that part of the service was over, Broadus went back to the platform and began his sermon. He based his message on the incident in the life of our Lord when He observed the widow casting her two mites into the treasury. Then he concluded by saying, ‘My people, if you take it to heart that I have seen your offerings this day and know just what sacrifice you have made—and what sacrifice you have not made—remember that your Savior goes up the aisles with every usher and sees every cent contributed by His people.’”

Winston Churchill said, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” 

Song writer C.F. Weigle tells the story of a man in New England who had been unemployed so long that he had come to his last dollar. He laid fifty cents of it on the offering plate on Sunday. The following morning, he heard there was a possibility of his obtaining employment in a neighboring town. The railroad fare to the town was a dollar. It looked as if he should have kept the fifty cents that he laid on the offering plate; but with the fifty cents that he had he bought a ticket and rode half-way to his desired destination. He stepped from the train and started to walk to the town. But God had something better for him. Before he had gone a block, he learned of a factory near at hand that needed help. Inside of thirty minutes, he had a job with a wage of five dollars a week more than he would have received had he gone on to the other town. The first week’s pay brought back to him his fifty cents tenfold. That man was W. L. Douglas, the shoe manufacturer.

These stories are old, and they illustrate truths that are even older; yet these truths still work today. God will bless you in 2026 if you give generously with a motive of pleasing Him and ministering to others. One study revealed that personal giving in American churches was 2.5% of the household income (Protestant churches) and that 25% of the members give 75% of the total contributions.

When Zacchaeus came to know Christ as his Lord and Savior, he was a changed man. Before coming to Christ, he was known pretty much as a crook; after meeting Christ and being converted by the New Birth, Zacchaeus was ready to give half of his wealth to the poor and to return fourfold the amount of money he had taken dishonestly. 

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom….” Take God at His word this year. Keep a running total of the returns. You will never go back to miserly giving.

“Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.” (Eccl. 11:1)

A.B. Simpson—the Canadian preacher, author, and founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance—once looked into the face of a New Year and wrote: “What shall I ask for the coming year? What shall my watchword be? What would’st Thou do for me, dear Lord? What shall I do for Thee?”

I was challenged to consider a watchword for 2026, and the Spirit led me to Matt. 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Meditating upon that, I have chosen “First Things First” as my watchword for this new year, and seeking Him and His kingdom first will be my personal goal. In order to do that, I must prioritize the following:

(1) A more intimate worship relationship with my Lord. Jesus rebuffed Satan, who tried to get Him to fall down and worship him in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world with the answer, “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou worship.” (Luke 4:8) Our Lord spoke plainly to the woman in Samaria: “God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). And the Psalmist exhorts that we must “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” (Ps. 29:2)
I would have to acknowledge that too much of what I do in “worship” is focused on myself rather than my Savior. “Lord, God, teach me how to worship You—in the beauty of holiness, rather than in the body of selfishness.”

(2) A conscientious, careful walking with the Lord, day by day, in the sense that Enoch “walked with God.” (Gen. 5:24) This walk would be a worthy walk (Eph.4:1); a walk in love (Eph. 5:2); a walk in light (Eph. 5:8); a walk in humility (Eph. 4:17); and a circumspect walk. (Eph. 5:15) In Hebrews, chapter 11, we read that before Enoch was translated he had this testimony, that he pleased God. In 2026, I want to have a testimony that, by God’s grace, I pleased God in my Christian walk in a world that is foreign to those of us who are strangers and pilgrims.

(3) Then, too, as I seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, I will strive to daily “watch” for His return. Jesus exhorted the disciples to “Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.” (Matt. 25:13) This is an admonition concerning His 2nd coming, or return to establish His kingdom; but as a member of His Body, the Church, I cherish the blessed hope that at any moment He might come to call His Church, the dead in Christ, and those who will be alive at His coming, to “come up hither.” So, I want to live each day of 2026 in the light of His coming to receive us unto Himself. That is my watchword for this year: Seek first His kingdom. And, I hope to watch in prayer (Matt. 26:41)—all the while “looking to” myself that I lose not those things which I have wrought, but that I receive a full reward. (II John 8)

(4) Waiting is another aspect of seeking first His kingdom. “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land.” (Ps. 37:34). “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” (Ps. 27:14) Wait patiently, wait purposefully, wait prayerfully, wait productively.

(5) Finally, let’s not forget that while seeking first His kingdom, I must keep on working.

• Because of the task: (“And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”( Acts 1:8); and

• Because of the times: “Little children, it is the last time.” ( I John 2:18): “This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.” (II Tim.3:1); and

• Because of the truth: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebs. 9:27)

We must work, then, for the time will come when none will be able to work; therefore, “Awake to righteousness and sin not….” (I Cor. 15:34)

“Lord, let me not die until I’ve done for Thee my earthly work—whatever it may be. Call me not hence with mission unfulfilled; let me not leave my space of ground untilled; impress this truth upon me: that not one can do my portion that I leave undone!” (unknown)

So, 2026, here we go: Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness by my worship, by my walk, by my watching, by my waiting, and by my working—til Jesus comes! Amen.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (I Cor. 15:58)