The Need for Pillars

[Music] good afternoon to all of you it's a privilege to be here with you this afternoon that was very beautiful special music very melodic it's nice to listen to people with talent some of us don't quite have that same gift it's hard to believe we're in december of 2020. i was looking at my calendar this after actually this morning and last december we were traveling we were doing things uh we had a big family weekend we were planning for a general ministerial conference and all of a sudden the bottom fell out uh the traveling disappeared we cancelled all kinds of things had to scramble over the summer to plan fee sites that the regulations kept changing it really has been a an amazing year with everything that has happened but you know world events didn't stop the traveling stopped and world events did not in the middle east continue to heat up the relationship with china and the west seems to have deteriorated even more you know the brexit becomes final at the end of this month i have to see what's going to happen after that it's going to be increasing interesting to see what's going to happen in 2021 is it going to be more of the same i saw an article just last night that the pope may do some things this coming year which is going to be interesting to watch you know the challenges are going to continue the challenges are not going to disappear but i want to talk this afternoon about needs not so much challenges but needs what is one of the biggest needs that we face in the church today what's one of the biggest needs we face in the church today in fact what's one of the biggest needs we face in our families today what's one of the biggest needs we face in our families today what's one of the biggest needs we face in society today and why stop there what's one of the biggest needs we have in the world today i want to talk about some of those things this afternoon to begin with in the church recently we had several ministers decided to disagree with some of the decisions the church has made and they decided to leave and start their own organization and a number of people followed them a number of people followed them in some congregations where this occurred and this occurred basically in some pockets around the country not everywhere but it was disruptive and kind of discouraging but you know it's not the first time people have left the church looking back over the last 25 years in the global and living church of god about 20 about a dozen or more individuals decided to leave the church and start their own organization what i want to talk about this afternoon in reference to the church is why do people leave the church why do individuals leave and why do some individuals follow those people why do they follow then another question is why don't some people leave why do some people stay and why don't some people follow the reason for bringing this up is that what i want to ask really and focus on what lessons can we learn relative to the church when we see people depart like this what lessons can we learn we're going to talk about first corinthians 10 a little bit later but that's just in the church today we're seeing families coming apart families coming apart you know fathers get focused their husbands get focused on their job wives are not in the homes anymore but why are these families in our society coming apart today because the family has been the fundamental unit of society for literally thousands of years and yet it's coming apart today why why our society is fragmenting today america is coming apart britain is coming apart south africa is coming apart why are these things happening and then you look at the world the nations of the world are angry and divided and the phrase the winds of war are blowing again the winds of war are blowing again you know what's causing and contributing to these serious problems what i'd like to ask here is what is missing what is missing in the church today for a number of people what is missing in our families today that these things are happening what's missing in our nation that our nation's coming apart and what is missing in the world why are these things happening how can these destructive changes be prevented or be reversed you know these are not just academic questions because we've been called out of this world to prepare for the coming kingdom of god it's going to be physical people live over into the kingdom of god and we're going to have to deal with some of these issues in churches in families in societies and in the world you know we can get an insight into what's missing today if you'll turn to galatians chapter 2 and i'll get to the title of the sermon in just a minute but in galatians chapter 2 verse 1 paul went up to jerusalem and he talked with the leaders up there in jerusalem but he perceived something about the people that were in jerusalem especially the leaders in verse 9 of galatians chapter 2 this is when james and cephas as peter and john who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that had been given to me they gave me and barnabas the right hand to fellowship that we should go to the gentiles but they perceived that peter and james and john were pillars they were pillars in the church in jerusalem now go to revelation chapter 3 revelation chapter 3. it's talking about the philadelphia era of the church in verse 8 it says i know your work see i've set before you an open door that no man can shut for if you for you have little strength but you've kept my name verse 10 it talks about because you have kept my command to persevere i will also keep you from the hour of trial which will come up on the whole world is talking about the tribulation verse 11 behold i come quickly hold fast that which you have that no man take your crown he who overcomes i will make him or her a pillar in the temple of my god and you shall go out no more i will write upon him the name of my god the name of the city of my god the new jerusalem which comes down out of heaven you know when i first read that verse years ago that have become we could become a pillar in the temple of god and it will go out no more i thought we'd just be standing there in the temple in jerusalem like a pillar doing nothing and yet you know working at headquarters here i think those of us that are here have had this opportunity to travel out around the world we're not stuck here i mean part of our job is to go out and work with people all around the world that's why you've been called that's why we're here to prepare to become pillars in the temple of god in the coming kingdom of god so paul saw that peter and james and john were pillars in the church of god in jerusalem we've been called to become pillars in god's temple in the coming kingdom of god and this is what i want to talk about this afternoon my title is the need for pillars the need for pillars i want to talk about what a pillar is why they are important and how you can become a pillar in the temple of god and in the church today so to begin with let's define some terms you know pillars is is a word it's a term but words can mean different things to different people different things to different people heard a story about a college kid that came home from college and he went to a family reunion and he was telling people at the reunion and we're studying islam and i'm learning about the five pillars of islam and you really need to learn about those pillars but he had an uncle from down south he said what do these people need five pillars for he said i sleep every night and get a good night's sleep on one pillar [Laughter] the different words mean different things to different people but paul uses the word stylos for pillar he uses the word stylos for pillar and it means a column we don't have any columns in this big room but i was gave this sermon another congregation another place where they had some pillars down the middle of the room and it was a second story and we're glad that those pillars were very solid otherwise it would be look like pancakes if somebody sneezed or was saying too loud and the second floor came down but it means a pillar or a column of strong support for a roof a strong support for a roof or a building and these strong supports are extremely important you will get a feel for that whenever you look at um judges 16 where it talks about samson you know they put his eyes out and they brought him into a temple and they were mocking him and he told the young boy that was with him he said put my hands on the supporting pillars put my hands on the supporting pillars and then he pushed the ceiling came down and 3000 people died because the pillars buckled the pillars buckled pillars can also be a monument a monument to an important person you know the old testament talks about about 50 different places where there was a pillar put up to mark a grave i remember traveling through island ireland a number of places they had piles of stones and those piles of stones symbolize a battle was fought there or a king died there and they buried them the pillars and columns remind us of our past and people today are trying to tear down pillars that remind us of who we are or what has happened lessons that can be learned when we throw those things away or tear them down we lose aspects of our history we lose who we are and what has happened and lessons that could be learned if we remember those things but the word stylos can also mean a leader a pillar can be a leader and that was what paul was talking about in galatians what john was talking about in revelation a strong supporter of a cause a strong supporter of an organization a strong supporter of a church and that's what paul was talking about peter james and john were pillars in the early jerusalem church and were to become pillars in the temple of god in the coming kingdom of god and to be those pillars we've got to develop certain qualities you know the world tends to go off in a totally different direction they read about pillars in the middle ages they had what they called pillar saints not pillow saints but pillar saints these guys in some cases they were women they would climb up on a pillar and they'd stay up there for weeks or in some cases years and they'd have to let it rope down somebody put some food on it and pull it back up and they were there to demonstrate their endurance to demonstrate their spirituality in fact it was reading about this look it up in the the in an encyclopedia or in wikipedia one of these things look up pillar saints not pillow saints but pillar saints in some cases they would get these pillars and they wouldn't be that far apart and they would argue back and forth these two very spiritual people as to who was right and who was wrong but this is what the world does they take this concept of a pillar and saints and put it together in a very interesting way but this is not how we become pillars in the temple of god by climbing up on a a pillar and then standing up there or sitting up there for weeks or months on end you know without strong pillars organizations crumble without strong pillars organizations crumble and families crumble and nations crumble without strong pillars god's going to use saints as his pillars in the coming kingdom of god to literally change the world to literally change the world that's why we're here to become pillars why do we need to become pillars turn to romans chapter 8 and verse 16. romans chapter 8 and verse 16 why do we need to become pillars romans 8 and 6 verse 16 says the spirit himself or itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of god right now we're children of god verse 17 and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ if indeed we suffer with him that we may be glorified with him you know we're children now but we are to become heirs inherit what god wants to give us inherit eternal life to work with jesus christ in the coming kingdom of god another scripture john touches on the same thing it's interesting paul and john are talking about some very similar things in first john chapter 3 first john chapter 3 talking about our future verse 1 it says behold what manner of love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of god same thing paul was talking about therefore the world does not know us doesn't recognize us because he did not know him beloved now we are children of god and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be but we know that when he is revealed we shall be like him and we shall see him as he is you know the disciples saw jesus christ when he was transfigured and he literally radiated energy he literally radiated energy they saw what uh a spirit being is going to be like and they realize that's that's our future you know as we look in the mirror and we look at this person that we don't even recognize anymore because our hair is falling out and various things are happening to us it does give us some hope to realize this is all going to go one of these days and we're going to be spirit beings they're going to live forever that is if we are pillars if we become strong pillars we're to become like him this is the opportunity that we're being offered today if we want to become like god let's ask another question what is god like what is god like in reference to pillars let's go back to psalm 18. you know the bible describes some of the characteristics of god we don't have time to go through all of them today but i wanted to focus on just a couple in psalm 18 verses 1 and 2 qualities of god what we've got to become like to become like god david writes here in psalm 18 verse 1 i will love you o lord my strength o lord my strength pillars are strong pillars you can lean on you know we had a house when we lived up in bridgewater massachusetts it looked like a little mount vernon it was a frame house but it had four white pillars on the front and they're made out of two by one by twelve so they were there fairly wide and we had some people from church up one afternoon and one guy said wow this looks really regal i said don't lean on the pillars don't lean on the pillars it was a steel pipe going up the middle but if you pushed on the pillar it would swing back and forth so i said don't lean on the pillar they look impressive but they're fake they're fake but david says here i will love you o my lord my strength my strength the lord is my rock the lord is my rock and my deliverer that you can look to god to deliver you you can look to god to protect you my rock my fortress [Music] was looking up some pictures on the internet the other night of some castles and fortresses in europe and you got these big things mostly up on hilltops where they were naturally protected areas but they were there because it was strong it was there because they were built on a rock my deliverer my god my strength in whom i trust you know when things don't go well for you romans 8 28 says all things will work to the good for those who you trust god that are called according to his purpose when things get difficult you pray about it god please help me guide me lead me we have big decisions to make god show me where i need to go and show me where i don't need to go we look to god to provide this strength and protection and deliverance my shield and the horn of my salvation you know the altar in the temple in jerusalem had horns on and somebody grabbed a hold of it that was a place of safety my strength and my trust my shield my horn my salvation my sworn of salvation my stronghold i will call upon the lord verse 3 who is worthy to be praised so i shall so shall i be saved from my enemies pillars are there to lean on pillars are there to trust i remember one time i was swimming in the ocean in new jersey i was about 12 or so and i got out just a little bit beyond where i could i just where i could touch the the the bottom and i was digging my toes in the waves would blow me in just a little bit and i could get my toes in the sand but then it was sucking me out when the waves went out and i was struggling there and i noticed this one guy was watching me older man he said sonny are you in trouble i said no but i wasn't making any progress either he reached over with his arm and pulled me in i said thank you but he was a pillar there something firm that you get a hold of the sand on the bottom wasn't doing the job even though my toes were in it it wasn't keeping me from being swept out but these qualities of god described here in psalm 18 my strength my rock my fortress my deliverer in whom i trust my salvation my stronghold will save me from my enemies these are qualities that we need to be developing you know as parents and grandparents you should be pillars for your kids somebody that you can trust and lean on we were coming back from a trip to germany for the feast one year and our son scott was i think about maybe 18 months old at that time he could walk and he was adventurous to a degree and we were waiting in the airport i think it was in frankfurt germany it was like two o'clock in the morning to get the flight and he wanted to run and we wanted him to exercise because we were going to get on the plane and we didn't want to chase him all over the plane we wanted to go to sleep so we're trying to wear him out so he ran down the aisle and i could see one of these floor sweepers coming with a red light going around and there's the brushes and everything he couldn't see it but i saw him and scotch running down the hallway yay i'm free and all of a sudden this floor polisher came around the corner with the lights going on he saw that thing his eyes got big he came running back and ran around behind me and then stuck his legs his head out between my legs he was he was holding on to dad he felt safe there but david is saying the same thing in psalm 18 you're my rock my protection my my support and it's nice to have that turn to deuteronomy chapter 32 because moses was talking about the same thing and again these are qualities we need to think about how can we develop these qualities to become pillars 32 verses 3 and 4. moses says here for i com i proclaim the name of the lord and we talk about the name of god you're talking about all of his qualities for i proclaim the name of the lord ascribe greatness to our god he is the rock he is the rock his work is perfect you know complete covers everything for all his ways are justice again these are qualities of pillars that we need to develop a god of truth and without injustice one of the reasons we have so many problems in the world today is that there is no justice there's no justice but we're going to become kings and priests and it needs to be justice in the kingdoms that we administer righteous and upright is he what's the definition of righteousness psalm 119 verse 172 all thy commandments are righteous if we're going to be pillars in the kingdom of god we've got to operate and think in terms of the righteousness of god the commandments of god and that will bring justice that will eliminate injustice in the world in malachi 3 and verse 6 it mentions that god does not change god doesn't change and this is a big contrast to the pagan gods of the world that are very capricious you know allah the the the the islamic people they talk about allah what is god's or allah's will and all his will might change from one day to another you read about some of the german gods that i think was thor that he was the god of wisdom and the god of war well how do you do both of these things read about some of them a little bit pagan gods were capricious whereas god says he does not change what's true today is true tomorrow is going to be true next week it's interesting his laws don't change his promises don't change his plan doesn't change his instructions don't change and it mentions there in in malachi 3 it says and it's a good thing for you it's a good thing for you that god doesn't change that he's there he's the pillar that we can lean on james 1 17 mentions that there is no variation or turning with god james 1 17 there's no variation there's no changing with god god is permanent he's a rock he doesn't change first corinthians 10 4 mentions the rock that followed them was jesus christ jesus christ is just like his father he doesn't change he doesn't change and that's what we need to be developing we don't change we don't flip around we don't change our mind we don't flop around hebrews 13 and verse 8 says jesus christ the same yesterday today and forever yesterday and today and forever he doesn't change he's the rock you know to become like god and like jesus christ we've got to develop these same godly qualities this is our challenge this is our challenge to develop these same godly qualities to be firm to be unchanging that we just stay straight on course we don't go to the right we don't go to the left we stay straight on we stay straight on these are the qualities we need to develop okay how do you be how do you become a stable pillar i want to give you five points but they're not the five pillars of islam i want to give you five points how do you become a pillar you got to have directions and guidelines first thessalonians 5 21 let's take it let's read it quickly there's a scripture i never knew was in the bible until i came in contact with the church of god first thessalonians 5 21 you know i grew up in protestant churches and all i heard was just believe just believe and just trust god and it'll all work out in first thessalonians 5 21 it says test all things or prove all things or examine everything if you're going to believe something examine it prove it nail it down and then hold fast to what is good so examine everything prove it mr armstrong used to talk numerous times years ago and we do the same thing today prove that god exists many young people are growing up in the world today and it's not just young people people hear this in the media well we don't know whether god exists or not he probably doesn't in fact you can live your life without god and many people are trying to do that today but you need to prove that god exists that he's real maybe review the booklets that we publish on these things and review these booklets with your children so that they know how to prove that god exists is the bible the inspired word of god or is it just a collection of stories if you've not done these things please do these things because this is your pillar if you can't trust the pillar i remember i think one of the quotes i came across in putting together the the booklet on the bible fact or fiction that the irish and uh welsh bishops over there catholic bishops basically did they did a study and their comment was you know the bible is ever true and we just trust it but it's not authentic in history and stuff like that it's okay when you talk about doctrine but in these other areas we're not so sure but they want you to believe it why would you believe something is not true in this area or this area or that area these are things we need to nail down another thing to nail down is and develop is a personal relationship with god a personal relationship with god you can prove that the bible is true you can prove that god exists but you've got to have a relationship with that god where you talk to god when you pray you know those prayers are going up beyond the ceiling of the room why is this important go to matthew chapter 7 matthew chapter 7. verses 21 to 23 this is the end of the sermon on the mount jesus is talking with his disciples but he off he offers a warning he says not everyone who says to me verse 21 lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven you know we can be praying and asking god for this and that but unless we're doing what he's asked us to do you know mentions i think it's in john 14 or 15 where he says if you love me keep my commandments if you love me keep my commandments many people tell you oh i love the lord and i love jesus but they don't keep the sabbath they don't keep the holy days they don't always love their neighbor they love their neighbor if the neighbor's nice to him because the neighbor is not nice they'll do them in you know we've got to develop this personal relationship with god it's more than just an emotional thing as you know that god exists and you're living by his word and trying to put that into practice in your life many will say to me in that day lord lord i was in church i was there every sabbath in some cases you know i anointed people they got better many will say to me lord lord have we not prophesied in your name preached powerful sermons cast out demons in your name know the catholic church has what do they call it the exorcists that actually function and things happen but they don't keep the sabbath they do certain things but they don't do other things many will say to me lord lord and they'll do these things but verse 23 but then i will declare unto them i never knew you i never knew you we never really talked you you hopped out of bed in the morning and roared out of the house and never bothered to pray well i'll say something in the car on the way to work no we've got to develop a personal relationship where we take time to talk to god about the issues that we face and then do what we need to be doing in our own lives doing the will of god man you will say to me in that day verse 23 i will declare unto them i never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness in other words you didn't follow the instructions that i gave you pillars know what those instructions are pillars follow those instructions and as we heard in the sermonette they teach others how to follow those instructions that's what pillars are going to do you've got to be convinced that this is god's church that this is god's way of life if you're going to try and convince somebody else of those things because if they see you preaching it but not doing it they'll brush you off young people will do this very quickly so point number one is prove all things and hold fast to those things that prove right and true especially that god exists that the bible is his word and that you know who god is it's point number one to becoming a pillar point number two point number two is established a solid foundation establish a solid foundation build on a rock you know whenever two of our grandkids were little i saw a picture in a store and i bought for them it was a beach scene but it had a castle up on a rocky hillside and had a sand castle on the beach and the waves were coming in and washing the sand castle away i gave it to them and they put up in the bathroom above the bathtub so that every time they got out of the bathtub they were drying off and they saw this picture on the wall of a castle on a rocky hill and a sand castle on the beach that was washing away and hopefully they will remember that as they get older remember that the rock needs to be there so point number two is establish a sound firm foundation your belief that god exists your belief that the bible is the inspired word of god the personal relationship you have with god this is your rock that you need to build for yourself point number three first corinthians 3 and verse 9. first corinthians 3 and verse 9. paul is talking to church in corinth verse 9 he says for we are god's fellow workers and you are god's field and you are god's building according to the grace of god which is given to me as a wise master builder i've laid the foundation and another builds upon it but let each take care how they build in other words we've got to build carefully not just grabbing whatever is there to build carefully for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is jesus christ now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold silver precious stones or wood hay and stubble and the first things are very strong materials very good quality materials the last ones wood hay and stubble are not real strong you build a straw now you can actually build houses out of straw i've seen this they get bales of straw and build up the walls and then they cover it with some plaster on the outside so you can actually build a straw house it'll be fairly firm but it's not the best quality material i'd rather have some cement blocks reinforced concrete oak some things like that but we need to be careful about the quality of what we use to build with why verse 13 for each one's work or building will become clear for the day we'll declare it because it will be revealed by fire in other words all whatever we build is going to be tested and tried it's going to be tested and tried that's why we want to build with quality materials with quality materials let's look at one other scripture in this context go to ephesians chapter 2. talking about what it is that we need to be building with ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 and 20. it says now therefore you are no longer strangers he's talking to the gentiles here in ephesus now therefore you are no longer strangers or foreigners but fellow citizens in other words you're included in the plan of god fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god are part of that building having been built on the foundation of the apostles the prophets and jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone this is what we need to be building on the teachings of jesus christ the teachings of the scriptures the teachings of the prophets and the apostles these are the rocks or the stones that we build with so we've got to build carefully with sound materials because they're going to be tested that's point number three point number four matthew 5 verses 14 to 16 jesus is talking about being a light to the world being a light and an example being a light and an example people should be able to look at us listen to our conversation watch what we do watch what we say and especially parents especially parents need to be very conscious of this i remember one time when we first got married and scott was little he's not here so i can use his example but we were running a little bit late my wife was upstairs and i yelled something out of the car sherry'd get down here but i didn't say it quite that way and then i heard this little voice that was in the backseat mom may get up and i realized i better be careful what comes out of my mouth because it's going to be repeated probably in the wrong places by my son or sons whatever it was but our example is extremely important you know if you come to church and bring the family to church and then you go home and roast the minister and have them for lunch don't be surprised if your kids take off when they get old enough and go someplace else because they'll see things they'll hear things why stay and this has happened and it happens today but we're to be lights and examples to everybody that we come in contact with because we need to be preparing to teach god's way we'll be preparing to teach god's way isaiah 30 verses 20 and 21 it says people are going to see their teachers and those teachers are going to say this is the way walk you in it this is the way to go i think i've used this before but we have a family began attending with us and one of the churches that i pastored and they had several girls in their teens and uh they were just a very pleasant family we related to them because our boys were about same age and about i don't know several months after they started attending one of the teenage girls called me up and said dr winnell would you be with me when i tell my parents i'm pregnant and i thought thank you i think so they started to cry and she started crying i started to cry and then when things settled down the parents looked at me and the girl looked and said what do we do now what do we do now and i said i don't know how this is going to work out but i looked at the girl and i said if you make a decision now to live your life a different way i can guarantee you it's going to work out i said i don't know how but it will if you do what you need to do right now and she took some time went through the bible correspondence course counsel for baptism and was baptized and i think she got a job someplace she got had some skills and a guy came along happened to be a graduate of ambassador college dated her and said look i want to marry you and we'll adopt a child and let's go on from here they got married they had a couple more kids i don't know where they are today but it worked out for her because she made a decision i'm not gonna live like do things like i was doing before i'm gonna do things different and things did work out they did work out so that's point number four prepare to teach and be able to show people this is god's way this is the way to do things this is what's right point number five in first peter 3 15 we need to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you why are you in this church why would you not eat shrimp why would you not eat some of these things everybody does it they're delicacies don't you know you need to have a reason in your own mind why you don't do those things you need to be able to explain that to somebody that asks so we need to be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies within you why first peter 4 verse 12 to 17 says trials will come along fiery trials will come along i was talking with an elder in one of the congregations where some people decided to go off in a different direction and apparently one of the elders whenever things went off in different directions years before had called him up and said what are we going to do i don't know where i'm going to go you should have known and his most recent thing he went in another direction he should have known where was the pillar the pillar was wobbly the pillar was wobbly first peter chapter 5 verses 8 and 9 says we've got to be alert to satan satan knows our weak spots if we have itching ears he's going to pop something towards you they'll give you an interesting itch he knows our susceptibilities and we've got to be smarter than he is we've got to be plugged into god so that we god please show me help me see help me see through some of these things you know we never had courses at ambassador college what to do when the church comes apart that was not part of the curriculum and when things came apart everybody was kind of on their own and it took some people longer than others to figure things out and some people made some decisions and then remade those decisions later when they realized they didn't make a good decision you know we were kind of all on our own when i was trying to figure things out i realized i don't know what's going on here because i hear one thing i hear another thing i just started reading through paul's epistles first second and third timothy or first and second timothy titus and a number of phrases there's leave get out don't follow these people um but we have that was the pillar i went to what what's the book say and then go from there so we need to have pillars we need to know where the rocks are so these are five points to becoming a stable pillar proving all things establishing a firm foundation and build carefully that's why we have scriptures like i think it's matthew 17 11 of recapturing true values what is the truth in this area what is the truth in that area and then hang on to those things and never let anybody take your crown by making fun of what you're doing you need to be able to stand firm when the trials come along so build carefully be enlightened an example be ready to give an answer stable pillars are not tossed by every wind of doctrine well you said this and he said that stable pillars go right down the center they're not pulled off this way they're not pulled off that way they don't wobble in the wind stable pillars don't buy into every idea that comes along oh i read this really cool article on the internet who wrote it i don't know but it sounds really good stable pillars don't bite on some of these things you fish for for fish you use different plugs you use worms you use this and that and the other thing so i'm not biting on one thing you try something else and satan will try different lures to get you because he knows what we will bite on some people like worms some people like other things minnows stable pillars don't jump from church to church and sometimes people do and then you realize oh i made a mistake but then you get back into on target i did some drill military drilling college with rotc and we had a drill meet with a bunch of different colleges since one drill team showed up they had spiffy uniforms blue stripes and whatever all their their rifles had been chromed the bayonets were crushed it was really sharp looking and so they were doing their drill and one of the guys in the back row made a wrong turn he said column right and he went left and you can see this guy out there and he did a spin around and came right back in but he got back on track i don't know whether they graded the team down for that or not it was very obvious he went the wrong direction but he recovered he recovered very quickly and that's commendable but stable pillars don't jump from church to church now when you're looking and proving things sometimes you'll go different directions and sometimes we have to learn the hard way stable pillars don't look to one leader this week and another leader next week i think i think mr weston gave an assembly to living a living education students talking about know those who labor among you know who they are go back and read galatians chapter one and two paul was telling people this is who i am this is what i believe this is where i've been this is where i'm going so take time to get to know the people that are speaking to you who are you you know what what's your angle what do you try to prove but find out can you trust these people can you trust the leaders of the organization that you're in make sure that you can so stable pillars are not blown by every doctrine they don't buy into every new idea that comes along they don't jump from church to church they don't look to one leader this week and another leader next week because everybody's got a history and you should be able to look at the history and find out where they've been and where they're going okay how do you become a pillar in the church how do you become a pillar in the church matthew 16 18 jesus said i'm going to build my church let's just read that quickly matthew 16 and verse 18. you know he was asking the disciples here who do you think that i am and peter says you know they said well you're elijah whether you're john the baptist or jeremiah but he said to them but who do you say that i am and peter says you're the christ you're the predicted messiah the son of the living god and jesus said you didn't figure that out on your own god has revealed that to you in verse 18 he said i will also say to you that you're peter and upon this rock i will build my church in the gates of hell the grave will not prevail against it i told peter you're a petros you're the small pebble you're the building block but on this rock petra this huge immovable rock that's the teachings of jesus christ i'm going to build my church in first place in first timothy 3 15 it talks about the church is the pillar and the ground of truth what the church is teaching should be true and you need to nail those things down for yourself we have a official statement of beliefs if you don't have this it'd be good to go through it on your own and ask yourself do i believe each one of these things can i prove it to myself from the scriptures is also on the web but nail these things down for yourself your first timothy 3 we're just going to skip through some of these scriptures you can read about the qualities of pillars it's talking about elders talking about bishops but these are qualities for any pillar in the coming kingdom of god and any pillar in the church today those qualities are there and then you can go through first timothy in second timothy where it talks about teach no other doctrine don't be coming up with your own ideas don't be coming up with your own theories but teach what you've been taught paul told timothy that he told titus that teach what you've been taught you know these individuals that have left recently came up with several new ideas and new doctrines one of the doctrines was if you wear a mask you're dishonoring god and yet when moses was watching the burning bush he covered his face he realized this is god's presence it wasn't with a mask probably probably with his cloak or something that was moses elijah whenever god was speaking to him he he covered his face so all you people are in god's presence but you got your faces covered which according to scriptures are is all right but people were being told that you're dishonoring god if you wear a mask and people are being told that you're sinning if you don't sing you don't have any faith and yet you can read in proverbs 22 and verse 3 it says a wise man sees problems coming and he takes evasive action to avoid getting into problems or avoid promoting problems so they came up with their own ideas but just numerous scriptures here teach what you have been taught second timothy 2 1-3 teach what you've been taught select faithful teachers who can become pillars in the future second timothy 3 10 says follow my doctrine paul says follow my teaching and my example second timothy 4 verses 1 to 8. says preach the word faithfully because in the last days people will have itching ears and they won't listen to sound doctrine well i i really like this other teaching better i like to go where i don't have to wear a mask because i have faith see things can be attractive things can be attractive what do you do when these issues come up if you have faith in the scriptures what scriptures do you follow when issues like this come up romans 16 romans 16. romans 16 verse 17 paul says i urge you brethren to note those or mark those or recognize those who cause divisions and offenses when they start off in a with another organization it says recognize and point out who they are cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and we never taught those doctrines before that wearing a mask was dishonoring god there are scriptures that show that it's not for those who are such do not serve the lord jesus christ but their own belly their own ideas their own agenda by smooth words now look that up in some other translations one of the translations says spacious specious words words that sound good but are not accurate they sound good but they're not accurate that if you're covering your face then you're dishonoring god but the scriptures say no that you cover your face when you're in the presence of god out of respect so it sounds good because you don't want to not have any faith but we also have to follow the scriptures that are there deuteronomy 17 very quickly how do you handle controversies that come up in the church you just leave and start something else or do you follow the instructions that are there you can read chapter deuteronomy 17 verses 8 through about 13 they were to take the issue to the priests with the levites the leaders they make a decision and then we're to follow that decision verse 11 according to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you according to the judgments which they tell you you shall do you shall not turn to the right or to the left from the sentence which they pronounced upon you now the man who acts presumptuously who does i'm not going to do it that way i'm going to do it my way the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the lord or the judge that man shall die god didn't take that lightly god did not take that lightly so you should put the evil away from israel and all the people shall hear in fear and no longer act presumptuously now do we have faith in that instruction or do we just brush it off and where is our faith let me conclude by talking about some of the characteristics of people that leave and some of the people that stay i've been in this job over church administration for 15 years doesn't seem possible and been in the church for about 50 years and some of you have been around that long too what have we learned or what can we learn from these situations when people leave what i've noticed is that people that leave especially people that leave and start their own organizations are right in their own eyes they're right in their own eyes you can't talk them out of what they're going to do proverbs 12 verse 15 has something to say about that another characteristic is that they they don't seek or they ignore counsel they don't come around in fact even some of the people that are leaving to follow them they don't want to talk to the minister they just want to leave because they don't want to have to answer i think in their own mind why they're doing this proverbs 11 verse 14 talks about there is safety and a multitude of counsel not just coming up with your own ideas another characteristic is that they tend to get their feelings hurt at some point in time if you've been in a church for 50 years you've probably had your feelings hurt at least once because we're all human beings we're all human beings they get their feelings hurt they get bitter and then they begin speaking against the authority the old testament term was murmuring murmuring and i've been part of conversations where there was plenty of murmuring but these are characteristics of people to leave what about people that follow these leaders they tend to be pretty independent-minded people in some cases their comments have been we don't need a minister we can do this all by ourselves we can do it all by ourselves in some cases they're close friends of the leaders well i have to go with them because he's my friend we've hunted together and fished together and done all these things together i just got to go with them these are not good reasons some people are very sincere they hear one story hear another story and say well i i think i'd better go over here because so and so is going over there too another characteristic is that they tend not to be grounded in the scriptures or doctrine or in the practice of the scriptures they're just not really grounded so they've flipped this way and then they flipped that way what about the people that remain what about the people that remain they have characteristics too and they tend to fall into two groups i'm just this is the way i've looked at things based on 50 years experience and 15 years with the ministry people to stay in some cases are not sure but they're going to stay anyways and kind of sit on the fence and watch and see what happens and there's nothing wrong with that watching to see what happens you gamaliel mentioned in acts chapter 5 when the priest came to him and said what about these jesus guys that they're doing things that are kind of embarrassing to us and what should we do and gamaliel said if it's of god you're not going to stop it if it's not of god it's going to come to nothing so you don't lose anything by watching for a while but some are sincere they're watching who's going to stay and who's not but then there's another group that stays and these people know the scriptures they're aware of proverbs 22 3 where it says [Applause] watch and don't do some things that are kind of stupid it'll get you in trouble or cause trouble they know the doctrines of the church they recognize what's new and they recognize what should be taught and they also recognize how god's government works and i would encourage you to read through numbers 11 12 13 14 15 and 16. how does god's government work what happens when you go against that government your numbers 11 moses was told appoint 70 leaders 70 individuals and that kind of moved in on uh miriam and aaron because they were the confidence at first and in the numbers 12 after moses had appointed 70 other leaders miriam and aaron began to point out problems with moses and in numbers 14 they sent out the spies 10 of them came back with negative reports two of them didn't and the congregation began to murmur against moses you brought us out here to kill us and then at number 16 cora got 250 leaders in israel to gripe and complain against moses but in every case miriam became leprous the congregation a number of them died and then 250 leaders fell into the earth when it was opened up and these are there as lessons of history to learn from i don't know what's going to happen with what we've been seeing lately but the scriptures are there we need to remember the lessons we need to learn from history so that we don't repeat the mistakes of history this is how you become a pillar in the temple of god in the church of god today that you stay focused and you know why you're focused you know where you're focused let me just mention then as we conclude how do we relate this to families families are coming apart today they're crumbling because the pillars in the family have crumbled the pillars in the family have crumbled the dads are too busy with their jobs uh women have taken off and they're out of the home the kids are there with nobody to raise them really to become a pillar in the temple of god we've got to know and follow god's instructions about families the husband is to be the head the wife is to adapt to that but to work together as a team a marriage is between a man and a woman not between two men and two women or between a man and his dog and lady and her cat or the world has jumped to tracks in these areas you know the pope was telling a cardinal i think recently he said well god made you gay that is politics that's not the way god made people but that's what's being promoted today and people buy into these things ephesians 5 there are roles that god made us to fulfill there are roles there i'd encourage you to read some books on some of these things there's a book entitled traits of a healthy family what are the traits of a healthy family it lists about 17 or 18 a book like the man of steel and velvet that's just one book dealing with men dealing with women there's one called fascinating womanhood or the excellent wife to read some of these things then be able to show people this is how we need to go this is the way to go malachi chapter 4 talks about families are going to be rebuilt in the coming kingdom of god and we're going to need pillars to do that pillars to be able to say this is the way walk you in it here's how you do this here's how you apply these things in terms of the world people are going to have to be told this is not god's world satan is the god of this world and he's deceived everyone he's deceived everyone in the work in terms of religion in terms of education in terms of the economy in terms of all kind of things one of the problems we have today is the leaders of the world have studied machiavelli they have not studied moses machiavelli wrote in the 1500s in his book entitled the prince was how to get power and hold on to power with no regard to morality and that's what it's all about somebody needs to go you get rid of them and don't worry about it and you'll maintain power i was reading about the fella that is currently the head of the mossad the spy agency in israel read about him a little bit he's been involved in some of these assassinations that have taken place over there the israelis have gone through a holocaust and their comment has been never again never again said we were defenseless before now we have power to defend ourselves and they're going to use it that may lead in some very sobering directions but people are going to have to be have to have to learn that god's way is the way it is the truth and that's what the pillars are going to spread out from jerusalem to the entire world if we look at our world today the world is angry and in a mess because of misguided leaders our nation is seriously divided because various leaders are dividing it in various ways our families are fragmenting because they've been given wrong information and they're people would like to divide the church doing their own thing we need strong pillars today in the church we need strong pillars in the family we need strong pillars in our society and we need strong pillars that are going to fill leadership roles in the coming kingdom of god teaching and leading and guiding nations in the right direction brother let's strive to become pillars because that's one of our biggest needs today in the church in the family in our society and in the world let's be pillars [Music] you

Channel: Living Church of God

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Length: 69min 35sec (4175 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 05 2021