TEXT- Proverbs 19:6.
“ Many will entreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. "
With the ascension of our Lord, came many gifts to mankind.
In these words of our text, we see how we handle or mishandle these gifts, for Solomon wrote in the Proverbs that everyone values the prince that gives these gifts, and everyone thinks that he is great. But then how do we handle those gifts? How do we take them into our lives? We must understand that the word gift, does not just have the same meaning of the Hebrew language as it did in the English language. In the Hebrew language the meaning or the translation of the word gift, we find in the Bible it had ten different meanings, and they range from a simple gift as we understand to a tribute, they range to a bribe, or a reward. All of these are things that are things that are given unto us from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They are not only just a gift of love or grace. They are a tribute to fallen man, to now inspire him to be able to work for God, and to become a worker for God to show that this woman, the Church, can be good in this wor1d. Under the Jewish tradition, when a gift was given, the greatest insult that one could give to another Jew and the greatest offence that came between them, was if that gift was rejected. Now today we understand that things offend us, and people do things to us which become an offence unto us, and this offence grows in bitterness, and that bitterness eventually eats at us and we then no longer look to that person as our brother or sister. In the Jewish tradition, the greatest offence that could be given was when a gift was refused. We can see therein that these gifts of God, these gifts given unto us by our intercessor, have to be viewed in that way, and if we reject then, or take them 1ight1y, that is the greatest offence of another Jew. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ carne into this world as a living Jew, and He understands and knows their traditions, so we can see how careful we must be in how we handle these gifts that are given to mankind. In the Jewish custom the way to show that one acknowledged and accepted that gift, was a smaller gift was given back in return. A simple sma1l gift was given back to the gift giver, and that signalled that it had been received and accepted as a tribute, a reward, a blessing, a gift from the giver. Therefore it is implied also, and it is an obligation on each and everyone of us as we receive these gifts from God, to give back a small return. That small return can come in many ways. It can come in thanksgiving. It can come in humbleness. It can come in helping somebody else. It can come in passing that gift on. It can come in using that gift to benefit others. It can come in prayer. It can come in acceptance. It can come in contributing back towards the mission labour, offering something to the Lord on thanksgiving for His gift. It can come in so many ways. If we are just negligent and just take that gift as though we are entitled to it, then we are offending the gift giver. None of us would willing1y want to offend our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Now the greatest gift given unto us, of course, is the gift of grace. The means whereby we can reconcile ourselves to God through the
greatest sacrifice of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. We must avail that gift in our 1ives. We must use it to reconcile ourselves unto God every day of our life, otherwise we are rejecting that gift. That is giving back to the Lord something in thanksgiving for sending that gift. The mere use of the gift is making that gift acceptable unto us from the gift giver. We have to be very careful that we do not trample that gift underfoot. The Apostle Paul writes of that gift of grace and he asked, that shall sin abound so that the gift of grace can also abound? “No”, he said, that is trampling that gift underfoot. We must use that gift that is given us to strengthen ourselves and resolve within us to make sure that we overcome the temptations of sin, and make full use of that gift, and it is only when we fall that we can call upon it again, and once again receive that grace and that reconciliation to God. We know there are gifts of the Holy Spirit given unto each of us. We have to review whether we are giving back something as an acknowledgement of the acceptance of those gifts. There are many gifts given unto the wor1d that we do not fu1ly see, and yet we share in them everyday. We should spend time to consider our gifts from God, so that we can at all times entreat the favours of the gift giver and become as a friend to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as He stated in John 15:14 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you" and to retain that friendship by giving back a small portion of those gifts.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT – Deuteronomy 11:16. "Take heed to yourselves, that your hearts be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them."
Christians are pupils; their teacher is Christ and those whom He has set in authority. The Christian is also given tasks to solve in his daily life to make firm his faith.
Divine Services are not only hours of comfort and edification, but also lessons in which our "textbook", i.e. Holy Scriptures is being interpreted. Pupils who are playing truant remain behind in learning and are falling to other interests. This is a temptation which the slothful Christian cannot escape. Perhaps we too at times are one of those who are so taken up with our occupation and with the events of each day, that we forget being Christians, outside Divine Service. This is an attitude neither promoting faith nor the sanctification of the soul, since the weeds of disobedience and sin stifle the gift of the Holy Ghost. No building is raised on the foundation and corner stone of Jesus Christ. The worker does other work, not heeding Jesus' call for sanctification.
A lazy pupil shirks his homework, his thoughts follow other paths. The lazy and slothful Christian neglects his faith, he worships other gods. Achievement and money are worshipped, wealth is piled up and he trusts in ‘luck.’ They seek the favours of Belial and bow before the idol ‘mammon.’
God does not like the lukewarm and slothful who reject His mercy. The prophet Jeremiah (48:10) says: "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully." In Rev.3.16 He says full of contempt: "I will spue thee out of my mouth."
Christ admonishes "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven!" It is not without reason that He tells the parable of those invited to the feast, each of whom had a ‘good’ excuse. They had not realised that it is mercy to be called by Jesus. Their own narrow circle of life was more important to them than eternal life in the community of the saints.
Our task on earth is to sanctify our being and to glorify God's trinity, but how shall we prove ourselves as being anointed in spirit if we allow the Holy Ghost to wither? How can we do honour to God, if we forget Him in our everyday life? How do we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, if we do not pay heed to His teachings?
If Jesus is not our Saviour here, He will be our Judge there. If we do not fulfil our tasks here, we shall not be able to sit at the table at His marriage feast. Let us not surrender to worldly deceptions! Let us become true followers, working with enthusiasm on our tasks and searching eagerly for the treasure in the gospel of Jesus, that we may say with the Psalmist "Thy statutes have been my song .... thy law had been my delights" (Psalm l19:56 & 98).
LATE APOSTLE MAX HOFMANN
EUROPE
TEXT – Luke 19: 1-6.
“And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”
We read in this text, the natural story of how Zacchaeus desired to see the Lord, and to achieve this, had to raise himself above the crowd, by climbing the tree so that he could see. This text also applies to us in the Spiritual to-day. Firstly we must accept that Jesus enters our own city every day, and as Zacchaeus sought out the Lord, we too, must seek also in Spirit to find our Lord. This we do in meditation and prayer, but as Zacchaeus found a press and could not see the Lord, so we, as we look around, are soon swamped down by the events happening around us, the cares, the worries, the problems of daily life, the fears, the distractions. Zacchaeus found a way to solve the press and we read, he ran before the press and climbed up the tree.
In symbol form we see that we have to place ourselves ahead of the cares and worries and lift ourselves above the world. Leave all of these natural things be and raise ourselves above the cares, problems, worries, distractions and sins of this world, and then, and then alone, will we be in a position to find our Lord, who represents all the opposite things to the world. We see the Love, the Grace, the Compassion, the Blessings of a Saviour, and it turns our hearts to Hope & Joy, Peace, and Faith. As Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” We can relive how Zacchaeus felt in his heart when Jesus looked up and saw him and told him to make haste, for to-day, I must abide at thy house. We too, in spirit, can relive this as we resolve to do the Lords’ work, not wasting time, idling away and take Christ into our house (hearts) for that day. The most important part of the text we read, “And he made haste, and came down and received him joyfully.” Do we made hast in our resolve to turn away from the carnal nature of man and receive Christ joyfully. If we do, we will be in a position to again come down unto the world with a different attitude, and be able to face all things and the reason being, that we are no longer alone, but have the Spirit of the Lord with us, who will lead and guide us throughout our day, through this world, and we will begin to understand the full meaning of Christ’s words John 9:5 “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” And we know a light will always shine and show the way. This light is freely available for us all, and the way to gain that light, is clearly shown to us by the example of Zacchaeus in our text.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT – Genesis 24: 56.
“And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.”
These famous words which we all know so very well were, of course, first uttered by Abraham’s eldest and most trusted servant Eliezer. Abraham lived in a foreign country, Canaan, he had become very old and his greatest wish had still not been fulfilled, that his beloved son Isaac should be given a wife from his own people and not the Canaanites, therefore he asked Eliezer to place his hand under his thigh and swear by the Lord that he would ensure that his son should be given a wife from his own country and his own people. Gen.24:1-4.
Eliezer wondered what he should do if the woman he would find would not be willing to return with him. Abraham reassured him that then he would be absolved from his oath, but Abraham insisted, on no account should his son Isaac be taken forth from where they 1ived. Under these conditions Eliezer took the oath. Eliezer’s name is mentioned in Genesis 15:2.
Eliezer was a Syrian coming from Damascus, but he went forth into Mesopotamia, which is now Iran, to the city of Nahor, taking with him 10 camels, assistants and precious gifts, for Abraham was a very rich man. It was evening when he arrived, he stopped outside the city near a well, and in order that he might select the right girl whom the Lord wanted to be his masters sons wife, he asked for a sign to be given. “And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom
I shall say, let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac;” Gen. 24:14. Immediately a beautiful young virgin appeared called Rebekah who went down to the well and filled her pitcher. Eliezer requested her :Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.” She replied, “Drink, my Lord:” After he had drunk she said “I will draw water for thy camels also.” Gen.24: 18-19. The sign had been given.
Eliezer accompanied Rebekah to her home, taking with him heavy gold jewellery. Later he told her family members of his mission and they agreed that Rebekah should return with him to his master. Gen,24:51. Rebekah’s family wished her to stay with them for at least 10 days before she should depart, whereupon Eliezer uttered the words of our text “Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master.”
Rebekah became Isaac’s wife and Isaac loved her. Gen. 24:67. And thus ended one of the 1oveliest and oldest stories of true love. They became the parents of Jacob and Esau, but that is another story for another time.
Eliezer had a task to fulfil, he did not permit anything to distract him nor deter him from doing his duty. When the temptations of this world would mislead us from doing our duty as children of God, let us reply “Hinder me not!”
APOSTLE W. E. ERRY
U.K. (Since retired)
TEXT – Isaiah 25: 6-9
“And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
The prophet was foretelling of our day, where that veil is thrown over the whole world, this gloom of death has now been taken away, and there will be given unto those people in the mountains, the fats and the food that will allow them to be sustained. This is the spiritual revelation of God shown unto us through His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, and revealed to us today through the power of the Holy Spirit. This veil is taken away and no more are men fearful of death, for we now understand that there is one who has these keys, who has the power and is willing to direct us unto a new place for those who will follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, so death and hell no longer hold any fear for the true believer. Those who follow the Lord there is a great promise and hope, for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the first fruits, and the first fruits would not leave His church, the head would never go without making arrangements for the body to come, and He was the first fruits from the grave and we in our time shall follow Him. What a wonderful promise!
Who fulfilled this prophecy? Who is the one that we should now say this is our God whom we waited, this is the one to whom we owe our salvation? If we place that in any other being on earth, if we think any of us are capable to use the key, then we are saying that they are our Lord, and they are our God. We must look openly to the Almighty God as our God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as our Lord of salvation, and when we do that then we will begin to see that He has proven Himself, that He is the one whom we can follow. We see a pattern put into place by Christ, to prove Himself. We can read how He told His disciples that it was He that would lay down His life in the confidence and trust of His Heavenly Father, knowing that He also then had the power to lift it up again. He was the only one who ever dared to defy death in that way. What other man or what other god created by man, could make the challenge to the world? He proved through His trust in God that He had that power.
We as the living body of Christ on earth, should have that confidence in Him that even if we lay down our life, He has the power to lift it up again. He showed to the people that He did have that power, for we can read where He heard that the daughter of the ruler in that province had passed away. And they called Christ to come to the ruler’s house, and He saw the wailing and the bands as was the Jewish tradition, and He told them she only slept. They mocked Him and made ridicule of Him. He put them all out of the room and He said to her, “Daughter arise,” and she rose and joined once again with her family. We see that what God does in secret is something we should believe in faith. We should believe that although at the death of this body, the soul is destined to go to a place of waiting, that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has the power to say “Arise”, and allow it to go to a pleasant place prepared by Him, which is paradise. The world mocks and scorns the Christian people for believing in this, but those that mocked and scorned on that day, they were proven wrong.
We read where our Lord walked through the streets and there was a poor widow that had lost her child. As was the custom in those days, those from the village laid him on a litter and carried him through the village to place him to rest, and as they passed by our Lord, He placed His hand on that litter and instantly those men that were carrying him stopped, showing that He has the power to stop the destiny of where the dead should be going. He touched the young man and He said “Arise”. He arose and his mother was filled with rejoicing. He proved that His Father was to give Him these keys. We see the final example set by Him when His friend Lazarus passed away. He came to the house and there was much wailing. The grave have already been sealed, for it was four days since he passed away and Christ spoke to them, He ordered the stone be rolled away, and many fled, for they said that he will stink after four days. Our Lord said, “Lazarus come forth”, and he came forth. Again He proved that it does not matter how long we are in the grave. He has the power and He alone to enter into that realm and bring back that soul. He then proved the greatest example by His own life, death and resurrection. The Lord has certainly swallowed up death in victory. Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT – 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10.
“And he said unto me, My Grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
When we receive God’s grace and mercy God can influence our lives. He shows us how and when He can make use of us. Sometimes thoughts which lead to a fruitless conclusion come to us but it is at such times that we should pray and God will give us guidance and strength.
If we trust and love God and expect Him to forgive us, we should treat our neighbours in the same manner, even if they are not so nice towards us. Nevertheless, leading a good life alone will not gain us the entrance to the Kingdom of heaven, we still need the grace of God.
We have received forgiveness and are called to a new life, we are inspired to be kind and merciful. We should reflect upon the measure of grace and blessings we have received in our lives. God told the Apostle Paul: "My grace is sufficient for thee.” Paul said: “for my strength is made perfect in weakness" when he was in great difficulties. At first it must have been difficult for him to accept that all his wishes were not going to be fulfilled, even though he only wanted to do more for the Lord, but his faith in God's grace was strong and he received the strength to endure.
Some things are not important and we should be able to recognize them. If our lives are enlightened by God's grace then we too will be able to say “Through grace I am, what I am.” Grace is unearned love! The fullness of divine power and kindness streams towards us. Grace brings joy and makes difficult thing seem easy. Worries about our day to day living no longer wear us out. Hopefully we look towards the future: God is looking after us.
God’s grace is our support in life, and when His word is our guide we should give credit for our success to Him. "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” If we are convinced of God's grace, then we will not oppose His guidance. We feel safe, fear and doubt disappear and we pray: “Let me never fall out of your grace.” We must check how merciful we are. In Matthew 18: 26-27 we are told that a master forgave his servant, but the latter showed no mercy at all to his fellowman. He therefore forfeited all that had been mercifully granted to him. Jesus pointed out that if we act in such a despicable manner we shall also fall out of grace with the Lord.
The favoured position of being under the grace of the Lord should never lead us into a dangerous state of self-complacency which is closely related to self righteousness. These are conditions repugnant to the nature of a true Apostolic Christian.
If we make the best of our opportunities and circumstances we shall find ourselves being more cheerful and making the best of things instead of being miserable or apathetic.
“All that God does is good,” if we offer joyfully and when in God’s house find happiness, then this too is grace. May God’s grace to us not be in vain; for everything will finally depend on grace. Everything is grace, and grace is enough because it protects. Where there is grace it makes us free, because it is an encounter with God. Then our lives will be happy and we will experience the glory of God in grace and truth. Mercy is God’s Yes to our lives.
APOSTLE RUDI GASSMEYER
DUSSELDORF (since retired)
TEXT – Genesis 1:1-5.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.”
We see very clearly there was no sun or moon or stars created at this time. It was the Spirit of God that moved upon the deep, this deep created by God, and it moved upon the deep. Its role was clearly shown to mankind from that time forever. It was the Spirit that would divide. It divided the darkness from the light and God was pleased. We see there that is the role of the Holy Spirit. It is a divider. Down through the ages it has always divided the darkness from the light. We read that the prophet foretold that the world would be wilderness until the Spirit from God was poured out upon it and then there would be a division. There would be the wilderness and there would be the fields. These green fields would become great forests. They would grow in righteousness, but the wilderness would remain. This division of these two in the world was clearly shown and what the two ways of this would be. The wilderness would become a place of judgement and the fields would become fields of righteousness. If we choose with the spirit of man that is within us, if we choose to live in the wilderness of this world that is our own choosing. The two are shown before us, but we can choose to live in that wilderness. We can partake of those things of the wilderness but then we have to partake of what the prophet said this spirit would give and leave, and that is judgement. We have to leave this wilderness and we have to go to a place of waiting and on judgement day we have to be judged to see whether we are worthy to come out of the wilderness of the life that we lived in and be able to go to the highest of Heaven. It is a choice. We can choose to go to the fields of righteousness where this Holy Spirit continues to labour and distribute this fullness of righteousness that came into the world when Christ came out of the River Jordan. In this fields of righteousness we can partake of the grace of Christ, we can acknowledge our sinful ways, we can ask for forgiveness, we can be reconciled to God through the sacraments and word left for us. There is no judgment then. This field, this green field, this field of trees growing in righteousness will be those that the Lord comes to visit when He returns because He is light and He will go to where the light is. There is no place for Him in the darkness of the wilderness. In life we often walk along this pathway and many times we try and take a shortcut. We step off the pathway of righteousness and we try to go through the wilderness of this world. We cannot make it. If we go into the wilderness it is only the Holy Spirit that can draw us back. We can relate it to real life. Recently on the radio an interview was made of a young man who stepped off the path in a National park and went into the wilderness. He thought as he followed this path and he looked at his map, he thought that it would be easy for him to go through this wilderness and come out at the other side and experience something that was different than walking along the pathway. Very soon he found himself lost. He could not find his way back. He could not find his way anywhere. In this wilderness then he was lost. The search parties searched for many days looking for him and he could not be found. When he had used up all of the food that they thought he had they abandoned the search and said that it is not possible for anyone to live through that. Thirty-five days later he staggered out again to be met by other hikers. He was interviewed on the radio and he was telling the interviewer that during this whole time he spoke to the trees and to the mountains and to everything that was around him . He was asked - Did he believe in spiritualism? He said - No! He believed in the power of God and they were part of the creation of God and he could have access to talk to God. He said he prayed to God that God would take him out of the wilderness. So it is if we go into the wilderness of this world. There is only one way out and that is through the prayers unto the Almighty God, and we should pray that the Holy Spirit would come again within our hearts. In the wilderness of the world the Holy Spirit can come and dwell and help us out. When they analysed how he survived all this time we see how the workings of God work through the Spirit. He was lost for so long, the canopy was so thick, it rained night and day, he never saw the sun or the moon. He slept and when he would wake he would mark off another day. He had only actually in his mind marked off 11days and not 35. He was uplifted by this Spirit. He was given heart and hope that through God's love he did not realise that 35 days had gone by. We too if we wander into the wilderness of this world we need this Spirit of the Holy Ghost to perform miracles to draw us back out so that we can once again find ourselves in that green field of righteousness where this Holy Spirit will prepare us for the return of our Lord when He will come and begin the Kingdom of God. Without this Holy Spirit we would not be here today. Without this Holy Spirit we would not stand a chance, this Holy Spirit that can move on the deep. The Apostle Paul wrote of this power of the Spirit as it moves on the deep part of the world as it did at the beginning of creation. The deep in this meaning is the deepness of the sin and corruption and everything that is coming into the world. Let us pray that we will always maintain the mind of Christ so that the Spirit of God can remain within the church.
APOSTLE CLIFF FLOR
NORTH QUEENSLAND
TEXT - Matthew 4:1-10.
“ Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his Angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."
The flood lasted for 40 days and nights. Genesis 7:12 and 8:6. What did those shut up in the ark do? For 40 days the rain poured down. Certainly during this time Noah and his family tried to adjust to this new life with God. It was a time of recollection, a time of returning to God in different ways. During this time their faith and trust in God was tested. A new life was to begin.
Moses dwelt in the presence of God on the mount Sinai (Horeb) for 40 days and nights. During this time he was prepared by God to give his people a new law. The commandments, which still hold good today, were given to him. Exodus 34:29
The men who were sent from the wilderness in search of the promised land also returned after 40 days. Numbers 13:25. Even though fear and doubt assailed the chosen people of God, their wandering through the desert lasted altogether for 40 years. A long time for preparation.
Elijah went in the strength of the meat that the angel brought him 40 days and nights unto the mountain of Horeb 1. Kings 19:8. He who was fainthearted and wanted to die was prepared and strengthened during this time to carry our his new task.
Jesus withdrew into the desert for 40 days and nights, Matthew 4:1-10. He fasted and prayed in order to collect Himself, to recollect, to purify Himself and prepare for His great mission. After 40 days, when Jesus was exhausted, Satan came to Him. “You don’t need to hunger” said Satan:“All power is given to you in heaven and on earth. Why don’t you use it? Say but a word and the stones will turn to bread.” Jesus declined. Later He fed the multitude of five thousand with five loaves and two fishes. That was not the point. Jesus abstained from carnal desires. Man must be in control of himself. How easily does man give in to his passions which only weaken him. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Satan set Jesus on the pinnacle of the temple and said: “Cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up.” What a sensation that would be. You will become a wonder – a celebrity. Jesus’ answer was “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We should not use God as a stepping stone to our own ends. Should God be an instrument of man’s glory? What about the glory of God? When supernatural powers make extraordinary things happen then it is not for man’s glory, but rather for the glory of God.
We too need to prepare ourselves for our particular vocation. Every divine service should help us do so. We should make time to recollect, to purify and prepare ourselves.
APOSTLE ANDRE GREIN
FRANCE (Since retired)