Puting God First

Puting God First PUTTING GOD FIRST
By W. A. PERCHEVILLE In that history of God’s dealings with the human family, we find a thread of thought running through the entire Bible that is summed up in a few words, by the Apostle Peter: “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” There is no exception to this rule in Bible history; nor in the lives of men today. Then .why will man leave God out of his life. In the Garden of Eden blessed by the hand of a lov-ing Father, we find the first pair, Surely they must have been hnppy, for they were care-free, (so far as the wants and needs of life were concerned). But in the law that God gave to them God asked to have first place in their hearts. Who would question Ilis light ? None but a Receiver and a liar. Satan made his initial attack upon man, severing him from his God. And man lost paradise when he broke the tie that bound him to his Maker. Notwithstanding the mistake of his predecessor and grandfather, Adam, Enoch turned back to God, and walked with him while here on earth, and God translated him that he should not see death. A notable reward for the wise choice of putting God first. And while mankind was growing worse and worse in sin, until it repented, God that he had made man, another character looms up before us as one who honors God and aceords to him his rightful place, and God in turn saves him and his house in the ark, bunging the flood upon the world of the ungodly. Characteristic of Noah, when he emerged from the' ark' after the flood, the first act upon his part was to build an altar and worship God. And God in answer said he would no more destroy the world by water, and as a token of this promise to Noah we have the beautiful rainbow, even unto this day.

Abraham became a sojourner in a strange land, leaving lus kindred behind, answering the call of God, and very vividly do we see God bolding first place in the heart of this patriarch in .the crucial .te?t when God called upon him to offer up his son Isaac, as a burnt offering. -For three days he goes on this sad pilgrimage and when he reaches the place where God had directed, leaving the servants a short distance, he goes, and with only, the eyes of God looking on: he raises his hand to take the life of his son (conceding to God first place);, and God said “Stay thy hand, now I know that you fear me,” and in this great trial he won the title of the Father of the faithful, and that same God that wanted reverential fear at the hands of Abraham of old, want's us to reverence him today.

God appeared in the burning bush to Moses, and it east an ennobling influence upon his life, enabling him to become Israel’s successful leader for a period of forty years. See him as he looks out of his tent door with only the red hills of the desert to greet him, and the murmurings of an ungrateful people to, cheer him, for forty long years. What kept him up? It was the memory of that same God in the burning bush. Yes, whenever his spirit grew faint and weary, he went back in memory to that wonderful day. Once again he. saw; the unconsuming fire. Once again he heard the voice of God quivering through the silence of that' lonely desert, and in a moment the feeble knees are strong again, and with a new courage he grasps his shepherd’s staff, and goes forth to meet the inevitable tasks and trials of the day, for even at the close of the life of this great and good man we hear him invoking the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush upon the tribe of Joseph which incidentally shows that the God of the burning bush was never consumed in the life time of Moses. The advantage of putting God first is forcibly brought out in the history of the spies viewing out the land of Canaan. The ten saw the difficulties arid forgot God, and the two saw God (or had the righ conception of God), and forgot the difficulties. We firid the two classes in the church today. How sad it is that so many are looking on the difficulties that surround us and are losing sight of God; Tthen the Holy Spirit says plainly through Paul, “Be ye steadfast immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye kriow that your labors are riot in vairi in the Lord.” When a child is surrounded with danger it is natural for it to fall back upon its parents for help, and how the danger is diminished when the parents stand between the child and the' danger. Let us put God first. A wise old elder Said to ine one time that if he had beeri successful he owed it to’a simple rule by which his life had been governed: “That he always tried to conduct; himself in such a way,- that if any should make an attack .upon him that they would have to come through the Lord Jesus Christ to get to him.”

What did the apostle mean when he said, "When I am weak, then am I strong?” In his weakness he de-pended upon God, and God became his strength. So in our weakness may we learn to depend upon God, and by his might and power we may accomplish much and lasting good. David was comparatively weak, when measured by some of the strong men in the army of King Saul, even his brethren in the flesh looked upon him as a tender Lad, unfit for service in the army. And yet this tender lad with his shepherd’s staff faced the mighty Goliath who had defied the army of Saul and chilled the hearts .of his men of war. David, you fight against this hardened soldier and too, do you not see that he is a giant physically? Look how he is armed! The very sight of him makes hardened soldiers tremble. Yet, the hoy in the face of all protest persists in fighting this enemy to the army of the Lord. But ere they meet, David turns down the armorfr of King Saul, but adorned with one more powerful for we hear him say, “I come in the name of Jehovah,” with this strength he could easily discount the size of the giant, and with this power the simple sling became mightier than the sword of the enemy. David felled the great giant because he relied upon his God. As we compare the church of Christ today with the institutions of men, we are made to feel that the odds are against us. Their armour seems mightier than ours. But never has there been a conflict (it matters not how weak our forces nor how strong the enemy), where our people relied upon the power of God, but what a signal victory has been th( result. How many times has the conflict compared with .hat of David and Goliath. When an inexperienced.lad with just one hook would measure swords with a veteran representing the forces of error, with his seholarsliip and unlimited supply of books at his command, we well know the result. In fact the victory has been so decisive under such conditions, until the word has been passed in the camp of the enemy to ‘beware of the man with one book.” “God looketh lot upon the stature but upon the heart." ’ But in many ways today we are not putting God first. It is natural for us to rely upon him when in actual conflict with forces of evil, but for the Christian to make ..the proper preparation, a citadel that shall withstand attack is not built while the enemy is bombarding, but beforehand. Saul’s refuge of peace must be erected be-fore troubles come. I fear that we are losing sight of .this great principle in our homos, in our schools and even in our churches today. It seems that after the Lord has blessed us, we have been lifted up with a false pride, and about to forget the source of our strength. A preacher becomes a strong exponent of the gospel. He feels that he is following a safe course in preaching the powerful word of the Lord, and he is, but perhaps he forgets to look into his own home and make God first there in the hearts of his children. And not only preachers, but many seemingly devout fathers and mothers, whom it seems have truly enthroned' the Lord in their hearts. Yet the God of this world claims control of son and daughter. Yes, I know we flatter ourselves to believe that our boys and girls will be able to success-fully escape the pitfalls and snares set for them as they wander in sin, until, finally we awake to find them openly , -and brazenly standing in rebellion against all that is holy and righteous. We are many times to blame for not instilling into their hearts early in life the importance of putting God first. We leave them to be controlled by the evil influence that surrounds us today, without the protection of God to help, and what more could we ex-pect? Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” This is not only a command of the Lord, but God has always demanded first place in the hearts of his people, and when we fail to concede to him his rightful place, we may naturally expect to fail in everything we undertake to do.

There are many who would have us believe that a transformation of the social organism, a change in the political organzation, or a reorganization of industry, will right the ills to which society has fallen heir. But Jesus recognized the fact that society cannot be right while man himself is wrong : that the moral integrity of the individual is a necessity to a true social structure. It is not enough to change man’s relations and en-vironments and leave his character untouched It is, perhaps beeause of his relation to the whole that Jesus accounted the individual of such infinite worth, just as the health of each slighted limb or organ of our body effects the vitality and health of the whole. So stands the individual in the organic life of the social world. “We ate members one of another.” “No man livetb or dieth unto himself.”

“Seek ye first,” carries with it the idea of concentration. The only way we can succeed in a spiritual way is' for us to concentrate upon God. Set our affections upon things which are above. The rich young ruler it seems from his history was far above the average in having kept the law, but when the great test came te put the Lord first, he turned away sorrowful. In our work today, of preaching and praying, and building, church houses, and colleges, I wonder if we always put God first? If we do not brethren we will fail. Moses Said, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” A young man asks the question, “Is it safe for a Christian to get rich?” Answer: If he will get the Lord Jesus Christ first and hold on to him, it rs safe for him to get anything. But we find the true order that God designed for man reversed. Man tries to get established iii everything else first, and if he has any .time of money left over he proposes to spend that in service to God. Do you believe God will accept such worship, when he asked for the first fruits from the Israelites and demanded of them that no other gods should go before him ? Ah! how sad it is that there are thousands of gods going before Him today, even in America, and we claim to be a Christian nation. Brethren and fellow citi-zens, our nation will go down, if the tide of sin is not cheeked. May we not repent in sack cloth and ashes before God will destroy this wicked generation. Millions are being spent in the name of charity and religion and still the tide is not checked. Good works alone will not avail. We need God in our lives, and let. the good works be done through him, and then we will succeed. We have expelled God from our American life. We have expelled Him from the public schools, and very few colleges allow Him to attend them. Nor can w.e satisfy the Lord by employing a few preachers or prophets to carry on a form of worship for us. God demands first place in our hearts. "Seek ye first," or else you seek in vain. Give the Lord first place or else you can have no claim upon him.

Historians tell us that the first two or three hundred years of the church was the most mighty and aggressive period that the world has ever known, and the Bible bears this out, for Paul alone came very near covering the civilized world in the spread of the gospel. "What! Have we not the same gospel today ? Are we turning the world upside down (and that would be right tide up today) ? No. Why? We simply do not have enough mer of the type of Peter and John, who said, “We will obey God rather than man.” Too many preachers who are afraid to preach God’s truth, afraid they will lose their place, for the world says, “Don’t you do it, and if you do we will call you narrow.” A prominent business man said to me a few years ago, “Young man if you would be just a little broader in your views you could command ten thousand dollars'a year,” and I answered, “Yes, and I would not really be worth two-bits.” He wanted me to compromise with the devil and I could not afford to do it.

I have often thought of Satan tempting Jesus, and of the great Offer he made the Son of God if he would come under his control, and it seems he did not despair when he failed to ensnare Jesus, for he would still deceive you into believing that if you would just come over with him that the whole world would be yours, and if we do not keep real close to God he will sometimes catch us off our guard, and tell us that God is too hard on us, and is depriving us of all the pleasures of life, and actually has the nerve to tell us that it is “silly now days” to be pure, good, and righteous, and will threaten us that we shall be dubbed as a back number if we per-sist in keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. Ohl How many today have been embroiled by this treacher-ous liar, and may we with God’s help try to rescue them from the clutches of Satan. May we remember that the God that we hope to serve is the same God of Israel who said to them, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. ’ ’ But we also find that * ‘ our God is a consuming fire. ’ ’ So after all the wise course for us is to draw near to Him with our imperfections and the dross within ns will be consumed. It may be painful at the time but Paul says, “It will afterwards yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, to he chastised of the Lord.” So, to be in tune with God suggests the true harmony of life.
If we' could bring the glory of God into the church today and into our preaching, in such a way as to cause humanity to really know God and his Son (whom to know aright means life eternal), there would be a great awakening. Men would break away from partyism, and the doctrines pf men. So let us pray the prayer of Moses, “Lord, show us thy glory.”

Like a home without the guidance and protection of a father and mother, so is the church without God. In this great western country there is a steady stream of horne-seekers conning from all over the world. A great opportunity is offered us. The unlimited resources as yet undeveloped, suggests that this tide of immigration shall continue. Why not prepare in a spiritual way to take care of the opportunity thus opened up to us? As wide awake business men who are enlarging their places of business, building larger hotels, opening new addi-tions, villages are fast growing into towns, and towns into cities. Let us open our eyes that the progress of the church may be commensurate with the growth of the country. I know that the tendency is to adjust every-thing else first and call on the Lord when it is more convenient. But we are beginning to learn that the ad-justment without God will not stay adjusted. If we build without God we build in vain. The God who frowned against Sodom I fear could not smile over many "West Texas cities today. We are prone to be like Lot, to “pitch our tents toward Sodom,” leaving God behind. 1 was deeply impressed to read about the action of the officers of the law in the city of Amarillo, before enter-ing upon the duties of the day, they meet with the Chief of Police and engage in a word of prayer, asking God to help them make the city a fit place for the thousands whor reside there.

Judge Mullioan, district judge in our district, just rerecently sounded a note of warning in respect to the wholesale sinning in the city of Lubbock, and the students of Tech College were scored as the chief violators of the law in that city. He said, “The entire moral' code has been broken down.” So if these men, whom we may judge are in a position to know the conditions, are becoming alarmed, it is high time that we should awake to our duties and responsibilities. In the language of Patrick Henry; paraphrasing the latter part: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of the destruction of our boys and girls?” Our only hope may be realized by the power of the Lord- We, need his influence in our homes today. Let us remember if we do not want him in our homes he will not break in, though he may stand at the door and knock. Of course we would have to clean up some bofore we could invite this heavenly guest to come in, or else it would be very embarrassing. In many homes today, even the preacher could not be invited, much less the Lord Jesu» Christ. We need the Lord in the church today, in fact t is our one great need. Out in our country it can be said: “We have more crops and less money, more cattle and less milk, more church members and less religion, than any country in the world.” I am reminded of the story of a poor man who made application for membership in fashionable church. The preacher advised the applicant to postpone the matter, telliner him to talk to the Lord about his troubles for a while Longer. The poor fellow reported after a few days, feeling that he should be admitted into the church, but the preacher delayed him again in a polite but cool manner. The poor man goes away very sad, feeling that he has been rejected: but a- few reeks later this same man falls heir to an immense fortune, and now the preacher calls on him and is very different in his manner, and he asks the man if he has talked to the Lord about the important matter of becoming a member of the church. The fellow cunningly answers, “Yes, I talked to the Lord about joining this particular church of which you are pastor, and he.said he had been trying to get into this same church for the last twenty years, and you had barred him, so I just decided I w’ould stay out too.” Many hearts are so reasoning today.
The might and power of the Lord is as powerful as it ever was in converting men and women, and this power
is within our reach, but so many minds have been cor-rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus, and instead of knowing nothing but Jesus and him crucified they know everything else but that, and God’s power is not effective in such cases because it is not relied upon.

We need an Elijah today to call us together as he did Israel on Mt. Carmel. “How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God, serve him, but if Baal, then serve him,’’ or a Moses to ask, “ Who is on the Lord’s side,’’ and we may profitably listen to Joshua, "and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." May the Lord hasten the day when the forces of righteousness shall be united in one mighty body, in such a way that the Lord may light up the church with his glory as he did the tabernacle of old, and when we build the church today according to the authority of his Son, or the correct pattern given on Mt. Zion, as Moses built the Tabernacle according to the correct pattern given on Mt. Sinai, may we not rightfully expect the glory of God to light up the church and make it shine forth today as it did in the days of the apostles? In recent years it seems that there is a move on foot to unite all who accept the Bible as true, in one body, and unite all skeptics and infidels in another body. We hear much of the fundamentalists and the modernists. The time has come when we must get on one side or the other. Jesus taught a long time ago that “he that is not for me is against me." But it seems it has taken us two thousand years to appreciate the truthfulness of this statement. The cry has been made throughout the land: “Back to the Bible. Baek to the true worship of God. And many, many today stand ready to surrender their idols. What a great opportunity! Brethren, shall we close our eyes in the face of this white harvest before us? Or shall we by the might and power of the Lord rally our forces under the blood-stained banner of the Lord, and fight as we have never fought before?

We may have to kick Brother Achan out of camp if he will not fall in line and give up his Babylonish gar-ment, or his wedge of gold, or quit his aching. Israel of old used rather drastic measures to get rid of this fellow who blocked their way to victory. But today just such fellows as would block every move forward, are standing at the head of the congregation. No wonder we have failed under such cnditions. But today, in many places, we have wide awake and efficient leaders who are standing at the helm, and in the advance move Brother A,chan has either lined up, or been left so far behind that his block effects none but himself. So, in the name of God (feeling that a great oppor-tunity has been opened up to us to come out from the bondage of sin), as the Red Sea was opened up to the children of Israel, and they heard the stirring command of Moses to go forward, let us advance!

We have put God first in name. We have given him control in doctrine But where we have failed brethren, we have not honqred him in our practice. The church today in my mind stands as a great power plant, perfectly constructed, but the current from the great dynamo, which is God, has been cut off. Carbon, which is sin, has destroyed the wires through which the current came. With faith and prayer may we replace these wires that connect us with God, the Power. And once more this great plant will move, and the hand of man . nor the power of Satan cannot check her mightly wheels.