"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” Exodus 20:12 NASB. We are presenting this series because the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God, Acts 5:32, and we want to help as many people as possible to learn to love and obey Him. We want as many people as possible to know the joy of their salvation. There is no reason for anyone to barely eke out a spiritual existence or be dying spiritually. You can have wonderful peace, and have the richest blessings of your life, when you learn to fall in love with God! There is no reason for you to starve, when you can have the bread of life and the water of life that God is offering to you freely! Those who have not given themselves completely to God yet are missing out on the very best things in life: wonderful peace, love, joy, faith and hope; they are missing out on the joys of knowing and loving God, which can only be had when they give into Him all the way, and are flooded with His love! Love Your Father and Your Mother, and God’s Law of Love: The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that ‘God is love’. We cannot comprehend His love, it is beyond our ability to take it all in. But God has given us rules to live by that will help us to know love; they will help us to know how we should behave towards Him and others. These are all based on love. The Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother is no exception. Since God is love, it is without question that He is pleased when you love your father and your mother and seek to honor them. Those who wish to receive the Holy Spirit in full, will honor their father and their mother, by God’s grace, and they will love and cherish them, since the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God. Acts 5:32. It is not possible to get to know God and not love your parents. If you love them, you will not ignore their wishes for you, but will honor them and give heed to their wise counsel; you will listen to what they say.

Redemption means to buy back. And what is to be bought back? Evidently that which was lost; for that is what the Lord came to save. And what was lost? Man, for one thing; “for thus says the Lord: “You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money” (Isa. 52:3). What else was lost? Necessarily all that man had. And what was that? “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:26–28). This was man’s original dominion, but it was not retained. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we have these words of the Psalmist quoted in the following passage: — “For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower [or, “for a little while lower”] than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower [or, “for a little while lower”] than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:5–9 NKJV & R.V.).

What did Jesus mean when he said that we were to love one another? The question what did Christ mean when He said that we were to love one another, does it mean that we are to love only the brethren of our Church? Or does it mean something more? Does it mean the same thing as God’s commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves? We shall see. As you can see the answer to this question and its sub-questions are more complex. Whatever conclusion we come up with cannot contradict what we have already learned from our previous article, Part 1, where we learned that our neighbor is not just someone who is of our faith, or even of our same Christian denomination, because Jesus proved this idea to be wrong, as we conclude from the answer to His question given by the “doctor of the law,” the Jewish lawyer: “The one who showed mercy toward him." Luke 10:36.

"May we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know, therefore, what these things mean." - Acts […]

FACTS FROM GOD'S WORD FOR CONSIDERATION Before I proceed further, I wish to call attention to a few facts from the Scriptures of divine truth. The word "Eternal" occurs but […]

When the humble shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem were astonished by the shining of the glory of the Lord round about them, as they watched their flocks by night, their fears were quieted by the voice of the angel of the Lord, who said, “Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2.10,11. The words, “good tidings,” are from the one Greek word which elsewhere is rendered “Gospel;” so that we might properly read the message of the angel thus: “Behold, I bring you the Gospel of great joy, which shall be to all people.” In that announcement to the shepherds we learn several important things. 1. That the Gospel is a message that brings joy. “The kingdom of God is . . . righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Christ is anointed “with the oil of gladness,” and He gives “the oil of joy for mourning.” 2. It is a message of salvation from sin. For before this time the same angels had foretold to Joseph the birth of this infant, and had said, “Thou shall call his name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1.21. 3. It is something which concerns everybody, —“which shall be to all people.” “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3.16. This is assurance enough for everybody.

A reader of our White Raiment Evangelism Blogs and some of our books has posed two extremely important questions to us. 1) Who is my neighbor, and 2) What did Jesus mean when He told us to love one another? (Not his exact wording.) Implied in question 2 is: Who is the ‘one another’ from Jesus’ command to ‘love one another’? Is it the same thing as ‘who is my neighbor?’ or does it mean something else? Why are we writing up these questions and answers in our blog? Because we believe these questions and their answers are vitally important to everyone’s soul! This question is SO fundamental to Christianity, but many people just don’t get it, or they don’t fully understand who their neighbor is, or what their responsibilities for their neighbor are, according to the Bible. Some of you may have an idea where we are going with this, but we want to lay it out in some detail here, so that everyone can understand. This is such an important topic! The answer to this question separates the wheat from the chaff; it separates the wheat from the tares. It separates those who love God from those who love Him not, or but little. Prayerfully, carefully consider all the words in this article. You may have to get down on your knees often in prayer over this, that you may be where God wants you to be on this.

Having examined the first two arguments in favor of the natural immortality of men, and shown, as I think, that they have no foundation in truth, the ground of argument […]

“But He [God] gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’” James 4:6 NASB. What does it mean when James says God ‘gives grace to the humble'? Let us look at what it means. The book of Psalms declares: “The humble have seen it and are glad; you who seek God, let your heart revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise His who are prisoners.” Psalm 69:32-33 NASB. Evidently it must be important, because it says here that God hears the prayers of the needy, and of the prisoners who are His who cry for His help. Those who are saved cry to God for help, this is their secret! “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.” Psalm 18:6 NASB. Do you want God to hear your prayers dear reader? This is so important! Then cry to Him for help.

Faith is produced by God's love for you. When you learn how much He loves you and believe it, this changes you! Therefore your faith in God or not, shows how much you love Him. Like any child who learns to love their earthly loving parents, their faith in their parents grow as they learn that their parents love them, if their parents take good care of them. The child’s faith in their parents is a product of their parents love for them, as their love for them grows. This is how it is with every soul, if they learn more and more of His love, their faith and trust in Him grows! Are you ready dear reader for your love and faith in God to grow? Then read on!