God Hath Spoken

by Harris J. Dark

You see, your behavior reflects your interests. So, you can read the Bible every day; and if you don’t do it, you can blame no one but yourself for your failure. You can’t say, “I tried to be a Christian and couldn’t.” You’ll just have to say, “I didn’t try. I didn’t do what I could. I didn’t do my best.” Sometimes I hear people say, “Well, I’ve done the best I can,” when I know they have not. I know they are telling a falsehood when they make that statement. Anybody who doesn’t read the Bible daily is not doing the best he can!

2. Rule Number 2 is just as simple: “Pray every day.” You can! The Bible commands you to pray without ceasing (Eph. 6:18). Anybody, who can talk, can talk to God. I am afraid that there are a great many church members who do not pray to God every day. One cannot believe the Bible and deny the efficacy of prayer. Prayer is powerful! Prayer moves the hand that rules the universe. Prayer will cause God to do things that He would not have done if you had not prayed. Prayer is a means of drawing upon the riches and the glory and the wisdom of God. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to write a check on the bank of heaven with the assurance that it will be honored. That’s exactly what prayer is. Through prayer you can draw a check upon a bank whose resources are inexhaustible, with the full assurance that the Teller will honor the draft or check. Prayer changes things. God will do things for you after you have prayed that He would not have done if you had not prayed.

Whatsoever ye would therefore, that God should do unto you, ask him for it. “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matt. 7:7, 8). He will withhold no good thing from them that call upon Him according to faith and in the name of His Son. “If ye then, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matt. 7:11). If you haven’t been praying to God daily, you ought to begin to do so right now. I heard Brother H. Leo Boles say one time that he never even bought a pair of shoes without first asking God to guide him in the choice that he made. One should ask God’s guidance in every choice, however trivial it may seem to be. If you are not using the power which can come to you through prayer, then you are going along without a great blessing that you could be enjoying. You are not doing what you can. You can only blame yourself for the failures that come your way.

3. Rule Number 3 is one that I have emphasized here many times: “Go to worship every time the congregation meets.” Be faithful and regular in your attendance at worship. Now, you can do this also! Of course, I know there are legitimate exceptions in cases of severe sickness on your part or some member of your family or something else of like nature; but you know the difference between that and just staying away because you prefer to sleep, read the paper, listen to the radio, go fishing, take a trip, or some other such illegitimate, unscriptural excuse.

You need to have the contact with other saints upon the first day of the week. God knew what He was doing when He arranged for us to meet together to worship Him. He knew we would get inspiration and encouragement there that could not be found anywhere else. Whenever you show me a man who is neglecting his church attendance, I’ll show you a man in the same person who is drifting away from God. I believe there is no exception to this statement. Whenever a man willfully stays away from worshiping with God’s people, he certainly drifts away from the Lord.

I read a story one time about a certain family who had been missing the worship. One of the overseers of the church went to see this family. He went into the room and exchanged the customary greetings; then sat down before the open fire. He picked up the tongs and got a red hot coal, just glowing with heat, and laid it out on the hearth by itself. It wasn’t long until it cooled off and turned black. The man of the house spoke up and said, “Brother, you need not say anything. We’ll be at worship next Sunday.” That illustrates what happens to anybody who deliberately stays away from worshiping God with the saints. You can attend worship regularly; if you don’t you can only blame yourself for your failure. You cannot say, “I tried, and couldn’t.” You’ll have to say, “I didn’t try.”

One time in West Virginia, I closed a meeting by talking along this line. When I went back a year later one of the elders got up and said, “We had twenty-four additions when Brother Dark was here last year. Eighteen of them are still with us. Three of them have moved to other towns, and three have fallen from grace.” I asked whether the three backsliders had followed these three rules. Of course they had not. They couldn’t have fallen from grace if they had been following these three rules; at least I have never heard of anybody’s falling who did. Have you? I have heard of people’s falling from grace while following one or two of them, but not all of them. These are not the only requirements but when faithfully performed they make it possible and easier for you to do your duty in every way. May I insist then, if you want to go to heaven—and you say you do—that you read the Bible every day, pray to God every day, and go to worship every time you can.

Let me read a Scripture before I close this lesson. It’s found in the first chapter of 1 John 1:4. It’s one of the sweetest promises in all the Bible. “These things write we unto you, that your joy may be made full.” God wants us to be full of joy. He said, “I’m writing these things that you may be full of joy.” Well, what is it, John? “This, then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Will you note this promise again? “If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” This promise is to those who walk in the light.

The word “walk” suggests continuation. The blood cleanseth from all sin those who continue in the light. Just as the word “walk” suggests continuation, I believe the cleansing is also a continuing process. The best way I know to illustrate this point is by the blood of the human body, one purpose of which is to remove poison from any place which becomes infected, and eliminate the poison through the natural channels of elimination. So the blood of Jesus Christ flows, so to speak, through the veins of a Christian, keeping all impurities removed therefrom. This I believe with all my heart.

But don’t get the wrong impression. Somebody might say, “Well, if that’s the way it is, I’ll not be so careful. I’ll just take it easy and drift along and let the blood of Jesus keep me clean.” Well, it won’t do it in your case. You’ve missed the point entirely. The promise is to those who walk in the light, to those who are doing the best they can, to those who are working at the job, to those who really want to go to heaven, who read the Bible, go to worship, and pray to God, and do everything they can. In spite of all this they’ll make some mistakes.