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The way the Gospel is handled by many today, even in churches, makes the way that leads to life broad.  For this reason I felt impelled to do this article. 

You are not going to come to the place of judgment and after living contrary to the Gospel, say, I was standing on Rom: 10:9-10.  It won’t work.  Why?  Because Jesus already told us that we are to live by every word of God. 

Rom: 10:9-10: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Matt: 4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

And Jesus said: Matt: 7:13: 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: 14: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Matt: 20-23: Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  and in thy name have cast out devils?  and in thy name done many wonderful works?  23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

Matt: 22:1-14: And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3: And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.  4: Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.  5: But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.  7: But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.  8: 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. 

This warning is for all of those who have been living under an illusion due to mishandling of the Gospel.  When you slip into the wedding feast in the same slippery manner that you have lived your life, Jesus will discover you and say: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? 

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rom: 13:14: But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

Eph: 4:17-24: This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18: Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.  20: But ye have not so learned Christ; 21: If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23: And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24: And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 

2Cor: 5:18-21 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.  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. 

The reconciliation is necessary because in the beginning Spirit-filled man chose to trust the liar and listen to him rather than God the Father.  Thus mankind was separated from God.  Sin drove a wedge between them.  Distrust and therefore disobedience broke the fellowship of the Father with his son Adam and consequently the fellowship with mankind.  Then Spirit-filled Jesus chose to listen to and trust God and he stood in the gap for all of mankind.  Now through receiving him–choosing to listen to and trust God–one can be born again of the Spirit and be restored to a Father/child relationship with God. 

Sin separated us from God, the atonement and God’s plan of salvation is for man’s benefit, not God’s.  The word has spread about that God could not look on sin so he sent his Son to pay the price for sin so that he could accept us again.  That is true in a sense but it is not the truth. 

The truth is that it was all done for mankind, not for God.  Mankind is the one who needed a powerful cleaning agent to deliver them from sin and guilt. 

Mankind needed to be reinstated to his former glory—to be called a child of God. 

Mankind needed to be delivered from the power of their carnal nature, because the carnal nature is at enmity with God and is a powerful influence causing wrong choices. 

Mankind needed to be delivered from the power of the devil’s lies.  God gives believers the Holy Spirit so that they do not have to heed the lie, but can combat it. 

The alienation came when Adam and Eve made wrong choices.  Deliverance, reconciliation, and salvation come by making a right choice–choosing Jesus.  When one does that, God gives that person a new heart—a heart to please Him. 

A person who has been reconciled to God becomes a child of God.  This means a covenant relationship whereby the child trusts and obeys God and the Father takes good care of the child—providing, protecting, teaching, and loving it. 

I heard a song that went: “Will you please hurry up, Lord cause I don’t think I can take this anymore.”  It wasn’t sung with piety, it was belted out.  It had a great beat to it and I liked it.  But when I got to thinking about it, I knew that although most of us have felt that way at times and even said that to God, it is not the proper attitude. 

Is piety toward God important? 

Dan: 8:7-14: And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.  8: Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.  9: And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.  10: And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.  11: Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.  12: And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. ( Vs 12 in Amplified Bible says, And the host [the chosen people] was given [to the wicked horn] together with the continual burnt offering because of the transgression [of God's people--their abounding irreverence, ungodliness, and lack of piety].  And righteousness and truth were cast down to the ground, and it [the wicked horn] accomplished this [by divine permission] and prospered.)  13: Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?  14: And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 

Heb: 5:7: Amp.  V: In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted [b]but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, [c] in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father]. 

God has been hard on me and I believe that it is because I want to be free of all baggage and I want to be conformed into the image of His Son.  When I say, hard on me, I mean that I have endured years and years of emotional suffering of which I thought He would quickly deliver me, but instead it was as in Isaiah 43:1-2: But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.  2: When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 

The biggest lesson I have learned from it all, beside patient endurance, is that God is God and the sooner a Christian realizes that God must call the shots and that He must be trusted, the better off they are going to be. 

I do not believe that a Christian needs to crawl up to God’s throne and grovel for what they need and want.  But I do believe in practicing great piety toward the heavenly Father.  Piety means that we show Him all the respect and reverence that is due Him for who He is. 

I am not objecting to the teaching of calling God, Daddy.  We are, through Jesus, in a Father/child relationship with Him.  We can take that to heart and feel loved and comfortable with Him.  In fact, to truly know and enjoy the Father/child relationship with Him will do away with all that “I’m not worthy.”  stuff and that “What did I do to deserve His love and forgiveness?”  and so on.  When you know that He loves you as His very own child, you do not question His benevolence toward you.  It is called for and expected.  Children don’t have to do anything to qualify for their parent’s love. 

Getting back to my present point, though God is Daddy, He must have full control of your life.  He will discipline His children.  This means if you are in a position for Him to work in your life, He will let you go through some very hard things.  If you continue in the faith, He will be with you and sometimes even carry you until due season for reaping.  At that time, you will be ecstatic at the results that you will enjoy because you did it His way. 

Heb: 12:5-14: And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  7: If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  8: But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  9: Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  10: For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.  11: Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.  12: Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13: And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.  14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

All Christians need piety and reverence toward God the Father.  It makes surrender and submission much easier and it brings the believer to a place where they can trust Him with everything because they know He loves them and they know that He is in charge.  As one submits to His will and way, their reverence for Him and confidence in Him will grow.  That’s where a person enters that spacious place spoken of in Job 36:16.  All the assurances and promises in the word come to pass after the believer trusts and obeys Him. 

I’m saying that once a Christian learns to revere God and His word, it becomes much easier to let Him be God in their entire life.  When godly piety and reverence matures in the believer’s life they can truly say, “Your will be done” in extremely difficult times and remain in the Sabbath rest–waiting and expecting God to handle things.  The believer’s job during that time is to do what Jesus would do in each situation that arises. 

Most Christians seem to have the attitude of that song above–“Won’t you please hurry up, Lord, cause I just can’t take this anymore.”  Many Christians have succumbed to doing things the world’s way because God didn’t hurry up and fix their problem.  They never understood what I’m trying to get across here–that the Christian must make up their mind to do things God’s way no matter what.  Never should they take things into their own hands.  Why?  Because of the great and precious promises. 

2Pet: 1:3-13: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  5: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6: And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7: And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  8: For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9: But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.  10: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  12: Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.  13: Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

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

Eph: 3:16-20: That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18: May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19: And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.  20: Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

To summarize: If you remain in the carnal attitude that tries to tell God what to do and how to do it, you will eventually become disillusioned and faint.  But if you will practice piety toward Him and submit to chastisement and allow Him to be God and Father in your life, you will reap an abundant harvest that will be far above what you can ask or think. 

Again balance is what’s needed here.  God is the loving Father and the Christian’s daddy, but He is also Almighty God and we should tremble at His word. 

Isa: 66:1-2: Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me?  and where is the place of my rest?  2: For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 

The Word is balanced.  In it you learn all about God’s love and benevolence and you learn that He expects to be revered and obeyed.