ALONE WITH GOD     

  A few years ago I was working with a young man who became concerned about his soul. Conviction settled upon him, and he felt his need of God. Instead of going to his Bible and finding the way into salvation, he consulted a friend about it, and the friend told him to unite with the church. Of course, it was the church of which this friend was a member that he was to unite with. He listened to the advice given, and on a Sunday morning he joined that particular church. Not once was he advised to kneel in prayer and repent of his sins in order to make peace with God. The minister of that particular church took him in as a member and recognized him as a Christian brother. A few days later he came back to work and asked me if I had heard about him joining church. I replied, ÒNoÓ. ÒWell,Ó he continued, ÒI did last Sunday.Ó I then asked him this question: ÒWhat good did it do you; are you now ready to meet God?Ó He said, Òyes, I am.Ó I looked him straight in the eye and said, ÒNo, you are not ready to meet God; your joining church did nothing for you, you are still in sin." "Oh yes, but it did do something for me", he answered. "No," I said, "It didn't: you've telling dirty jokes, cursing, passing around the liquor bottle, handing out cigars, and all since then; tell me what good did it do you?Ó He then hung his head in shame and confessed it did him no good at al and confessed he was still a lost sinner in the sight of God. This young man is an example of millions who have gone the same way in this land of many churches, except so many join the church and will never know any better until they stand before God in judgment. Who is to be held responsible for these lost souls? None other than the preachers who are operating this sliding-board to hell. We know what a sliding board is—a surface over which one passes smoothly; to glide down; or slip down. The sliding board to hell is a process in nominal Christendom that allows a person to pass smoothly over, thinking he is he is right with God, yet will land him in hell in the end.

  The so-called churches of our land are proselyting instead of evangelizing. Great campaigns are put on to subscribe members into their particular church but never an old-fashioned revival meeting when men are told of their sins and how to get rid of them. The church basement is given to recreation for the young people or bingo parties for everyone—a church supper in the name of a class meeting or some other form of entertainment. Paul spoke truth in II Tim. 3 when he said, ÒPerilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.Ó It reminds one of the days when ancient Israel was encamped at Sinai and Moses went up on the mountain to commune with God. "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." The apostle Paul called it idolatry (I Cor. 10:7) - In God's sight it is still idolatry. Many of our present day church goers are as idolatrous as were the people in IsraelÕs day. Nominal Christendom is in a state of bankruptcy. She has nothing in the way of soul food to offer poor, lame, suffering humanity.

  Instead of crying out against sin and pointing men and women to the cross of Calvary where they can find salvation from sin and peace with God, they have entered into a league with the devil and appeal to men through the avenue of entertainment. The church that can put on the best program of entertainment wins the crowd, and even some supposed-to-be enlightened people are falling into the same snare. The mission of the church is not to entertain people but to carry the saving message of Jesus Christ to a sin-benighted world; and when she leaves that task and enters the realm of entertain she ceases to be God's church. "How excellent is thy loving kindness, 0 God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be ABUNDANTLY SATISFIED with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river, of thy pleasures" (Ps- 36:7-8) - Praise God for the river of pleasure that flows from the throne of God to our souls. Beloved, if we are saved and sanctified by the Holy Ghosts and are not finding pleasures in God's house which is the church of the living God, something is radically wrong. Shame on the individual who professes to be a child of God and then must turn to the beggarly elements of the world to find pleasure. David again speaks, "In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy hand are pleasures for evermore." If you are not finding pleasure in the service of God, or perhaps I should say in your attempt to serve God, why not fall on your knees in prayer and ask God to save you and give the peace in your soul you so much need? If the churches of our land would come back to the Bible, preach and live the gospel, I'm persuaded to believe she would no program of entertainment to entice folk to come.

  In the 1945 year book of American churches we find the figures for 1941. The report gives the figures 72,492, 669 church members in the United States. This is the largest number of church members in the history of our nation. It. might. truthfully be said, too, that today America is more wicked and further from God than she has ever been in her history. The greater percentage of these church members knows nothing about living for Jesus a life that is pure and holy. Why? because most   of them have been taught to join church and by so doing they become Christians, yet their sins remain; their do not change. Merely sign a card, shake hands with the preacher, make an intellectual confession of Christ, or perhaps be voted in by the remainder of the congregation, and you're a church member. Oh, yes, sometimes you must be baptized, I mean sprinkled and call it baptism. This takes place in our churches today and is deceiving millions of precious souls. Beloved, God does not regard any of these things, you can do all of them and still be a sinner. The fad of joining church has swept our land and deceived millions and is the sliding board to hell. Very seldom is sin mentioned o an altar presented to which folk may come and pray and make peace with God. Just make an intellectual confession of Christ and join church is all that is asked.

  There is only one way into favor with God and that is the way of repentance. In Luke 13:5 Jesus says, ÒI tell you nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." We are lost in sin and doomed to an eternal hell until we have turned from our sins and repented of them and asked God to save us. Jesus died as a propitiation for our sins, and we must accept him and believe on him with all our hearts. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Ish. 55:7). The only way to receive pardon for sins is to do as Isaiah tells us here. We can join all the churches in the land, by whatever method they may use, and not find pardon for our sins, neither peace with God. If we get to heaven, we must meet God's conditions. We must forsake sin and repent of it, and God will save us from it and break the power of sin in our lives and give us a new heart. ÒTherefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (11 Cor. 5:17). Have you merely joined church, or have you repented of sin and forsaken it all and are living for Jesus? Don't be deceived by the false teachings of the day and lose your precious soul. The words of Jesus are true, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."