Many years ago, I saw a film revealing the double life of its leading character. This character went to church from time to time, and practiced various rituals of his religion to please his family. Yet he was actually a vicious gangster, who would—without any scruples—kill, maim and torture his enemies. He was so “smooth” in dealing with his family that they were not fully aware of the depth of his degradation. Certainly, very few people go to that extreme. But, regrettably, even many of God’s people to some extent live a “double life.”
We all know that most people put on their “church face” as they walk in the door of the Sabbath meeting hall. A couple may have been arguing, or even disagreeing violently, but as soon as they step out of the car or enter the hall, they immediately start smiling and warmly visiting with others. That is to be expected. We are all human. We all want to put our “best face forward” in public. But the “double life” I am talking about goes much deeper than that. It involves our daily priorities— what we really put first throughout our lives. It involves how we actually treat others—not just in words, but even in our thoughts. It involves whether we are totally committed to God and His way, or whether we are, in fact, constantly developing “backup systems” in which we put our trust, just in case God “fails.”
Brethren, each year we take the Passover after having deeply and sincerely evaluated where we are— individually, and as a member of a family and a Church. But we should also be engaging in a kind of self-examination year-round, not only in the special way we emphasize before the Passover. In His inspired word, God tells us to do this. He inspired the Apostle Paul to write: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?— unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5). We need to honestly and fully examine ourselves as to whether Christ truly dominates our thoughts, our words, our actions— and our entire lives. For I think virtually all of us genuinely want to do God’s Work, and to have a vital part in preparing for the Kingdom of God, which is soon coming. We earnestly desire to be used by Christ, as kings and priests in His coming Kingdom, in straightening out the mess on this earth. We want to fulfill the purpose for which God created us and made us in His image.
Yet, because we are human, and because Satan the Devil is always trying to undermine our faith and our commitment, we often tend to “hold back” and not make the total commitment toward becoming the kind of Christians we should be.
Put God First
Remember Luke 14:31: “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?” Have you so dedicated your life—put your faith and trust and entire being into God’s hands—that you will go “all out” in being willing to battle an army that you know is twice your size?
Or, do you and I sometimes establish—mentally, at least—certain “backup systems” so that we can try to “wimp out” or “protect” ourselves at the last minute by human means, because we are not fully prepared to put our absolute trust in God?
Brethren, we need to “get real” about all these matters as the end of this age approaches!
Jesus Christ said: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Do you put God first when you get out of bed in the morning? Do you drop to your knees and pray to your Creator early in the day—before anything else can interfere to distract your mind or take up your time? Is God important enough to you to put Him first in this way? Do you make sure that you really do study His inspired word regularly, so you are continually “drinking in” of His mind, His thoughts, His ways? Do you genuinely meditate on God’s word and on His way—taking time to carefully think through, in detail, how to apply His law, His word and His ways to every phase and facet of your life? Do you meditate on where you have gone wrong and how you should do better? Do you take time regularly, throughout the year, to fast before your Creator and to genuinely seek God throughout a day of fasting, prayer and meditation? Is eternal life in the very Family of God important enough to you to do these things? Is it important enough that you seek first God’s Kingdom?
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong said he felt that the greatest lack among God’s people in their prayer lives was that they did not put their “hearts” into their prayers. Mr. Armstrong quoted the Moffat version of Hosea 7:13–14, which is a prophecy describing this lack among God’s people, Israel: “Though it was I who redeemed them, they have lied to me; they never put their heart into their prayers.”
Become More Like Christ
Dear brethren, most of you are deeply sincere and growing in grace and in knowledge. I am sure that God is well pleased with that—though you and I can always do better. I know I want to do better myself, and need to do better continually. But there are quite a number of you who are “holding back” in your total commitment to God, and to Jesus Christ your Lord. You have not fully surrendered to let Christ live His life in you. And, perhaps without even realizing it, you are “drifting” along with one foot in the Church and one foot in the world! God tells all of us: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Each of us needs to make a conscious effort to profoundly surrender even our thoughts—as well as our words and actions—to the God who made us—to the Jesus Christ who died for us, in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Even though we may have been hurt or disillusioned by problems in the past— sometimes even very real problems in God’s Church—we must “go on to perfection” and set ourselves to go all out to make it into God’s Kingdom. That is not surrendering to man—or even to the Church—but to God Himself!
So, each of us needs to “get serious” about becoming more and more like Jesus Christ in every way. As the Great Tribulation approaches, let us each focus more than ever before on letting Him truly live His life within us through the Holy Spirit. We must, therefore, begin fervently to use the “tools” of Christian living that I have described above—fervent study, deep meditation, passionate prayer and regular fasting in order to truly draw close to God. However, even then, you and I cannot do it on our own. As Paul explains in the very next verse of the above passage of Philippians: “it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (v. 13).
We cannot just say: “I’ll force myself to pray more, to grow more and to overcome no matter what!” Our own willpower may produce a short-term change. But we human beings, of ourselves, do not have the spiritual strength to become like Christ—to genuinely overcome and to honor God in the way we should—without the powerful additional help of God’s Holy Spirit. Remember God’s promise, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
We truly need, therefore, to “burn our bridges” with the carnal distractions that have held us back, and passionately seek God—and to determine to give our lives to God in a way that we may never have done before! It is very obvious to most of us, I am sure, that this present society is soon coming to an end— whether in ten years, or 25 years. In any case, we individually need to be prepared to meet God at any time because we do not know the day of our death. We need to show our Creator now that He can fully rely on us to do exactly as He says in ruling over our “ten cities”—or perhaps even an entire planet later on—as full members of His family.
Saul’s Example
Remember the example of ancient King Saul. He was very humble at first, but gradually began to take matters into his own hands and also to drift away from the wholehearted fear of God and dedication that he had expressed at the beginning of his reign. Finally, in a display of vanity and self-will, Saul refused to obey God’s command, given through His human servant Samuel, to completely destroy Amalek and its animals as well. Even when confronted with his obvious rebellion, Saul tried to “reason” with Samuel. “So Samuel said: ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king’” (1 Samuel 15:22–23).
As all of us in God’s Church know, and should fully understand, we are now “in training” to become “kings and priests” under Jesus Christ and to judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:1–3). Do you honestly feel that Jesus Christ will put you over a city or an entire nation if you “reason” around obeying some of His laws and teachings that should be applied today? If you drift back into the world in certain areas of your life, and
refuse to put your trust in God—refuse to fully serve Him and His people, and refuse to fully support His Work in preparing for the coming government of God on this earth—what should your reward be?
Think!
We need to face these questions honestly and directly, brethren! As Paul commands all true Christians: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1–2). Each of us must genuinely be “transformed”—or changed—from the type of person we were before conversion. Each of us needs to ask ourselves: “How much have I really changed since my baptism?”
Throughout the years, I have found that even many brethren in God’s Church have “hidden corners” of their lives. They do not want God to “put His nose” in their sex life, or in their financial affairs, or in how they run their business, or in how they train their children, or in how they deal with the outside world and sometimes make “gods” out of their society, their careers, their friends and connections, their family—or whatever. We know that God is aware of even the thoughts that go through our minds. He is not out to “catch” us—I do not mean to imply that. But He is sincerely and earnestly concerned that—even in our thoughts and motivations—we learn to fully trust in Him, and in His ways!
The Mind of Christ
In Philippians 2:5, we are told: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Dear brethren, I love you and want to help you. Please, for your own eternal life’s sake, learn to be unafraid to fully put your trust in God, in His ways, and in the leadership of Jesus Christ as you know you should! Even when faced with terrible suffering and death, Jesus said, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
Dear brethren, we in the Living Church of God must be “on fire” for the living God, His ways and His Work! Each of us had better quit “holding back” and being afraid to make a total commitment to our Creator. I do not know what may be holding some of you back. Perhaps you do not know what is holding me—or others—back, in totally giving ourselves to God as He would wish. But whatever it is, we need to get over it! The Creator God is looking down on earth to see which of His people are truly surrendered to Him as Jesus was. He wants to have totally dedicated instruments in His hands to complete His Work. He wants a people who genuinely realize that they are “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), and will, therefore, give their lives unreservedly to God through Jesus Christ!
Let us fervently pray for one another that we may be instruments God can use to complete His Work! If not us, who? If not now, when? We must never take our eyes off the Big Picture—the realization that God has truly called us to become just like He is—full sons of God inheriting ineffable glory and power in His eternal Kingdom.
May God help each one of us fulfill our calling with zeal! And may He help each of us remember the awesome reward that this total commitment, which I have been describing, will bring. For God’s inspired word tells us that, at the time of the resurrection, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).