Message #823

“COMPROMISE”

By

Rev. Dr. Holmes Williams

Text:  “Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind…” Exodus 10:26.

Compromise has been the devil’s method from the beginning.  He does not repudiate God’s plan. He adulterates it. He did not suggest to Cain that he erect no altar and offer no sacrifice but that he substitute the fruit of the ground instead of a lamb from the flock.  Read the history of every great apostasy in Israel and you will find that in every case it was not omission of worship, but the substitution of something else for the plain commandments of God.

Read the record of the dark ages and you will find that religion abounded everywhere, but instead of simple faith there was the elaboration of ritual and people offered worship to physical properties instead of the eternal God.  It makes no difference whether it be a little cake or a great image cut in stone – in either case it is idolatry pure and simple.

Once in a while you will receive a business card and across the face of that card in large red letters will be printed a new address.  It is the old business carried on to a new stand. The devil often changes the address on his business card, but it is the same old business of substituting something else for Bible worship and Bible salvation.  The devil can operate behind more new “fronts” in one year than the Communists can!

This is the whole business of sophisticated modernism today.  It seeks to eliminate the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world and substitute the ethics of Jesus.  Ethics can’t save you, but the Blood can! “But,” you say, “There are so many gentlemen and fine spirits among these men!”

Yes, there are, but don’t forget that every atheist, every agnostic, every person who does not want the will of God for his life, is enrolled under that same banner.  Don’t forget that! Show me the man who is unwilling to be ruled by the Spirit of God and refuses to be governed by the will of Jesus Christ, and I will show you a man who welcomes every attack on the Word of God and who will place the authority of man’s opinion above the teaching of the Word of God.

Pharaoh suggested compromises to Moses.  The Egyptian knew that he could no longer hold the people of God in the old bondage, and being unable to hold them by force he was going to ensure them by guile.

HE MADE FOUR DIFFERENT PROPOSITIONS AND GOT TURNED DOWN BY MOSES ON ALL FOUR.  Look them over! They’ll cover the entire field of the devil’s approach to you.

Number one, He suggests in Chapter eight verse twenty-five, “Go worship your God in the land.”  Serve God, but do it right here in Egypt. That means – MAKE A PROFESSION OF YOUR FAITH IN JESUS AND HAVE YOUR NAME ENROLLED AS A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH, BUT DO NOT THINK FOR A MOMENT THAT YOU HAVE TO LIVE ANY DIFFERENTLY.  You can continue to enjoy all the good things in the world and still be loyal to God. Act devout on Sunday and live like an Egyptian the rest of the week. That’s the offer number one! Think of the thousands in this nation whose only mark on being a Christian is the presence of their names on some church roll!

Listen, the first command to Israel was to place herself behind the blood, but the second command was just as emphatic.  It was to march out with girded loins. The church is CALLED OUT AND CALLED IN. She is called in for shelter behind the great atonement and called out for a life of complete separation.  Too many of us are like Lot’s wife – with her feet toward Zoar but her face toward Sodom.

Moses told Pharaoh that if they attempted to do so the Egyptians would stone them, and they would have to offer to Jehovah the abominations of Egypt.  I’ll tell you what I believe. I believe that when gambling and other devices are resorted to in order to raise money for the Church that is offering to God the “abominations of Egypt” and that these same Egyptians will stone us with sneers and ridicule if we refuse to fellowship their unholy practices.  THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST MUST SEPARATE ITSELF FROM EVERY QUESTIONABLE THING.

Pharaoh comes back with a second offer.  In chapter eight and verse twenty-eight he says, “…go, but don’t go very far away…”  That means – MAKE SOME CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE NOW THAT YOU ARE A CHURCH MEMBER, BUT DON’T CARRY IT TOO FAR.  BE REASONABLE. DON’T OVERDO IT! Go to Church once on Sunday, but don’t get it into your head that you have to attend the Wednesday night service and enroll in Sunday School.  Give a contribution from time to time but don’t tie yourself down the tithe. This is a day for an out-and outer, not for compromises.

God commanded Moses to lead the people a three day’s journey into the wilderness.  I sometimes think that this suggests the distance between the crucifixion and the resurrection.  I am afraid there are too many who have followed Jesus to the cross and yet they have never passed with Him out of Joseph’s tomb.  DEATH AND RESURRECTION ARE THE TWO SIDES OF THE SHIELD OF SALVATION. A Christian’s victory depends upon going all the way with Jesus.  But Pharaoh wasn’t through. He still had another compromise to suggest.

Number three, in the tenth chapter, and verse eleven, he says – “Go … ye that are men, and serve the Lord … “That means – BE RELIGIOUS YOURSELF, BUT DO NOT BOTHER YOUR FAMILY ABOUT IT.  Let your wives and your children remain in Egypt. Pharaoh was a sly one. He knew that if he held hostages it wouldn’t be long until dad came back.

The devil hasn’t changed his tactics in three thousand years.  I want to tell you something. More men and women are drawn back into worldliness by their children than by any other power.   Think of how many questionable things are admitted into Christian homes, not because the fathers and mothers want them, but because the children demand them.  IT IS A TERRIBLE THING WHEN SATAN IS PERMITTED TO USE CHILDREN AS A DECOY FOR THEIR PARENTS. Children do not know the evils that lurk in many things that are admitted into modern homes, but the parents do, and it is the duty of the parents to guard their offspring.  Let some deadly contagion appear in the community, and would you allow your children to enter a home? Certainly not! Shall we be less careful of the souls of our children? Listen to what Moses says! “Our wives and our little ones shall go with us”. There may be found here and there cases where parents have been too strict with their children, but for every such case I will find you a hundred where parents have been too lax.  God wants parents to lead their families out of Egypt. REFUSE TO SETTLE FOR LESS. Challenge at the door everything that has a tendency to lower the moral standards of your children or which might lessen their love for the good, the pure, and the beautiful. But Pharaoh tries one more time.

Number four, in the tenth chapter and the twenty-fourth verse the last compromise is suggested.  He says, “Go and take your little ones with you – only let your cattle remain”. The devil is hard to beat.  He is persistent. His temptation is relentless. That means – BE AS RELIGIOUS AS YOU WANT WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY, BUT LET YOUR BUSINESS REMAIN IN EGYPT.

I wonder how many of us have been caught with that last compromise.  What would happen in our West Indies and world if all our members would consecrate their business to God?  Scores of young couples are clamoring to go to the mission fields to preach this soul-saving gospel and cannot because so many full gospel people have left their business in Egypt.  I am not suggesting that you give your property away and carry it over into the cause of God and use it as the Holy Spirit may direct. MONEY IS AS MUCH A TALENT AS THE ABILITY TO PREACH.  Money talks. Let it speak for God. What is your money saying? Does it speak for the love of God or does it speak for selfishness?

Well, what is your answer to Pharaoh – what will you tell the devil in this hour?  Will you say in the words of my text – “Our cattle shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind…” – will you say that to the devil?  Defy him! Put your trust in the Blood to cover you. Men of the world will laugh at you today in the same way the Egyptians must have laughed at this motley migration.  The supreme need of the world today is a Church that hurls her defiance in the face of an evil spirit that seeks to enslave her and keep her from her promised possession.  We are not quarrelling with the world; we simply refuse to bow to it or obey its dictates. We will walk by faith and not by sight.

Refuse to leave behind anything that may later be used by the enemy.  Burn your bridges behind you. Adopt a “scorched earth policy” with the devil.  It’s a dreadful thing when the devil can use a man’s family or his business against him – and so pull him down in the world that finally he loses even his own soul.

You’ll need all your possessions in your service to God.  You and I are going one way – that way is toward God and eternity.  We’re not coming back. Only what we use for God will we ever keep. A true Christian will turn his back on this world as a home.  We’ll sing it and mean it, “This world is not my home – I’m just a pilgrim here…”

WHAT MUST BE OUR RESOLVE IN THIS HOUR?  First, that we will face heaven for ourselves and turn our backs on the world.  Second, that we will seek to carry our loved ones along with us. And, third, we will consecrate what we have as well as what we are to God and leave nothing that the enemy can use to hinder us.  Do that now and you will be the Christian that God will bless and lead into His kingdom. Anything less is failure, compromise, a victory for the devil.

Sure they’ll laugh at you!  Sure the Red Sea, the wilderness and the Jordan are before you!  To the eye of reason it’s a mad venture. I have no doubt that Pharaoh and his courtiers laughed at the absurdity of Moses and Israel and laid plans to wipe them out when they reached the seashore.  But nobody wipes out the child of God that has consecrated his all to Him. There is a security that no devil can break. Make that consecration now!   

THE END

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