Chapter I: Part 1

The Key to Peace

By A. Marie Miles

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.'

Preface

One day, in a very brief conversation, my grandson asked me a question. I did not get to talk with him much, so later I felt really inspired to write some things which were upon my heart, that his question had prompted. Of course I have gone into more detail than he would have had to know, but felt it was good to stir up thoughts of what he did know.

After I gave it to him to read, I remarked that I might print it some day and hoped that it would be a help to someone else. He returned it to me and I am sending it forth with a prayer that these Bible truths will be a help to some soul.

At this writing, I am 64 years of age and I feel I am living on borrowed time. In 1973, it seemed that the Lord was going to take me, but He healed me and I am doing all I can for the Lord. I recommend the Lord to every soul. He has been precious to me down through my life, with many blessings in the times of trouble and heartache.

--Sis. A. Marie Miles May, 1978

*The Key to Peace*

_God's Word is the key to satisfy
The heart's inner longings_.

Dear Grandson:

You asked a valid question when you asked, "How do we know what is right and what is wrong?" I told you that we find the answer in the Bible as to what is right and what is wrong.

You then said, "But the Bible is a big book. Where can you find where it says a certain thing is right or wrong?" Again, that is a very valid question. I know that the Bible is a big book. I trust that the following will help you.

First, I want to say that I deeply appreciate the fact that you are interested in knowing what is wrong and right, and knowing upon what basis to place your own personal understanding. This will help you find the key to peace in your soul. Each of us is individually responsible to God. The Bible says, "For there is no respect of persons with God." Rom. 2:11. "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." Rom. 2:16. "Who [or God] will render to every man according to his deeds." Rom. 2:6. You can see we must know how to live in this world, according to the plan of God, to be cleared before the great Judge in that last day, when all men shall stand before Him.

When I first opened my Bible to type the above Scriptures I saw this Scripture that I had underlined in my Bible, which at one time impressed me greatly. I feel that it must be for you too, as the Psalmist had a desire like yours, so in his prayer he said, "Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." Psalms 119:33,34. Then I always liked the verse above these verses, which I also have marked, and have quoted many times to others. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (verse 11). So we do need to desire to know what is right and what is wrong, seek after understanding, and it will be given to us. After we know and understand, we want to remember to obey God's Word.

There is no book like the Bible. When I speak of the Bible I definitely refer to the King James Version. Today, there are many versions of the Bible, and the devil is using this to confuse people, and cause them to lose faith in God's Word. I personally can say, that I have searched out the King James Version of the Bible, have obeyed it, and I have found a deep, sweet peace in my soul. By obeying it, I found contact with God which makes me know it is true. Your great-grandfather (Fred Pruitt) preached from it, lived by it, and saw many others saved from their sins, who lived and died by it, with victory over sin and the devil. Oh, yes, it does bring joy to a person and fulfills that deep longing in every person for peace and satisfaction in this life!

In studying the Bible, we find a Unity of Thought which makes us know that One Mind inspired the writing and arrangement of all the books. Truly it is THE WORD OF GOD! It is different from any other book in the world. It is a divine book and not just a human book. We reject, with abhorrence, that it is like other books. The Bible is an account of God's efforts to reveal Himself to mankind. It is a record of His dealings with man and His revealed will concerning him. The Bible is for instruction and guidance in all the ways of life. From all the facts that the Apostle Paul gathered he said, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." II Tim. 3:16. Thus we find it to be true.

The special messengers of God, by whom the Bible has been written, were given the power of performing miracles, by which their inspiration was attested and their messages made authoritative; but the "more sure word of PROPHECY" (2nd Peter 1:19) furnished the greatest external proof of its inspiration. To this, more than to anything else, Christ and the apostles made their constant appeal. Matthew, narrating the deeds of the Saviour, gives us the standing phrase, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets" while Peter affirms, in words unmistakable, that the "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1:21.

Christ is the center and heart of the whole Bible. The Old Bible or Testament is an account of a Nation. The New Testament is an account of a Man, who is Jesus Christ. The Old Testament foretold Christ's coming and founded and nurtured a nation by God to bring Christ into the world. There is no book like the Bible.

The poet has said,

"O precious Bible! burning words from heaven,
We'll ever cherish thee in our heart,
Sweet is the counsel by thy pages given'
On life's dark ocean, our only chart.
O precious volume! only in thy pages
We read the duty of all our race;
Only thy sunbeams, shining through the ages,
Reveal the wonders of saving grace."

Oh, my grandson, it is a glorious thing to understand what God requires of us and to live by it! To accept Christ as our Saviour, Lord, and Master, to strive sincerely and devotedly to follow in the path that He has mapped out for us in this life, is the most wonderful, the most reasonable, and the most satisfactory way to live. It means peace in our hearts, peace of mind, contentment, happiness, hope, and an assurance of a life beyond the grave that shall never end. What a glorious plan God has made for all who will love and serve Him with all of their hearts!

Oh, how sad to see so many go through life and face death without a hope of living in heaven with God forever in the end of time! How can anyone be so ignorant or be filled with such a lack of wisdom! It is beyond me. We all have to die, which is a proven fact. What then! Why try to get around it? It seems that every person should open his heart and mind to the Word of God and accept Christ with an open mind and consider it the greatest privilege in this world to live for Christ, the Creator of all mankind. We should be like Job of old who said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:12.

Many times we read in the New Testament that "it came to pass." The prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled. Read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and he describes Christ's crucifixion and atonement work with such accuracy of detail that the inspiration of the prophet is assured. He wrote this 712 years before Christ was born. He only had from the prophets before him the fact that God had told them that God was going to send a Messiah. So only God could inspire Him to write in such detail about his sufferings and death. Oh, there are so many proofs that the Bible is true! Jesus spoke about the Old Testament, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye *believe not* his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" John 5:46, 47. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He wrote things that were told to him from the beginning. It all harmonizes with the rest of the Bible. The early people were careful to keep accounts and told them to their children. They were written when writing was available (or began).

What Is Sin?

When I was a child and teen-ager, I was taught by my parents what the Bible said was right and what was wrong. Many other doctrines in the Bible were taught to me. I read them in the Bible, believed them, lived by them, and was blessed in my soul and life. There came a time in my life that I began to desire for God to teach me personally what was right and what was wrong. I never doubted that the Bible was true but I wanted to say that I believe this or that because God's Word says so. I began to search things out in the Bible. I believe God wants each of us to have this firm foundation to stand upon. So my dear grandson, you are not different from your grandmother. When I finished my search I was glad that I could say I believed this or that because it says in the Bible thus and so. I didn't believe it because someone else said it, but because God had said it. This is the way I want you to know it.

There is one thing that I had when I began my search, that was the Holy Spirit as my teacher. The Bible tells us definitely that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. 2:14. Since the Bible was written by "holy men of God" who "spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" and it is not "of any private interpretation," then we need to have the Holy Spirit to reveal, or help us to understand all of the Word of God. (II Peter 1:20,21). Yet there are a lot of the basics that we can know. I do hope that you will understand what I write to you by the help of the Holy Spirit.

First, let us know what sin is. In other words that would be what is wrong. When we find out what is wrong then we can know what is right. Sin means "Willfully breaking religious or moral law." (Web. Dic.) The Bible also gives us the definition of sin. In I John 3:4 it says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth [or breaks] the law [of God]; for sin is the transgression [or disobedience] of the [God's] law." Then in James 4:17 we read, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." We see that sin is either a direct disobedience of God's Word or a willful failure to live by its requirements. It is a serious thing to disobey God's law because it involves the destiny or end of our soul. It means living in either eternal torment or eternal bliss. To commit sin is a terrible thing and a very serious thing. That is the reason we need to search the Scriptures to find out how to live pleasing to the Lord in this world. We can't do this within ourselves. God had a plan for us by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our salvation, so through Christ we can live right.

If sin is disobeying God's Word then we must find out what it says in the Word of God so we can live up to it. First we want to find out why we sin, and then get rid of the cause.

You, of course, know what the Bible tells us about Adam and Eve in the beginning and how they obeyed the devil who talked to them through the serpent. He got Eve to disobey the only commandment that God had given them. She ate of the fruit, which was forbidden, and gave to Adam and he did eat. (Gen. 3rd chapter). They no longer could talk to God as before, but hid themselves. Sin separates us from God. God called to them and said, "Where art thou?" They said, "We hid ourselves because we were naked." God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree whereof I commanded you not to eat?" Of course, we realize that because of sin, they knew they were naked. Before they had sinned, they didn't think anything about their nakedness. But after they sinned they made themselves clothes of fig leaves. No doubt they thought quickly of something or they would have chosen something more substantial than leaves. The leaves would soon dry and crack, but they were so ashamed of their nakedness because of their sin. Not only did they need a covering for their bodies but they also needed a covering for their souls. God can't look upon sin with any pleasure. Sin will cause us to be cast out of His presence. But oh, the Lord is so very merciful and He told Adam and Eve that He had a plan for them, so their sins could be covered as well as their bodies.

In Genesis 3:15 we read that God promised a Saviour. God spoke to the devil, who had spoken through the serpent, and said, "I will put enmity [or warfare] between thee [the devil] and the woman, and between thy seed [Satan and his servants] and her seed [Christ and His followers]; it [Christ] shall bruise thy head [Jesus broke or crushed Satan's power], and thou [Satan] shalt bruise his heel." In other words we find a promise in this Scripture of Jesus being born. Jesus was the seed of the woman. In Luke 1:31-35 we read how the angel told Mary that she would have a child even though she was a virgin. God would be the father of this child. The angel said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and ... that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Through Christ, sin could be conquered because He was the Son of God, and not from the seed of man, yet He was called the Son of man because He took upon Him flesh or the nature of man.

The seed of Satan are those who have yielded themselves to him and are his servants. Jesus said to some who opposed Him, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John 8:44. So we note that the warfare would be between the seed of Satan and his servants and the seed of the woman, or Jesus Christ and His followers. Now who will conquer? God said that "her seed, it shall bruise thy head." Jesus Christ would crush or break the power of Satan over mankind and men would be able to become sons of God. Isa. 53:5 tells us that Jesus "was bruised for our iniquities [or sins]." Praise God for Jesus who conquered the enemy of our soul!

We have established the fact that sin displeases God. He punished Adam and Eve and put them out of the garden, yet He gave them a promise of a Saviour to come. It was over 4000 years before Jesus came. During this time they offered a Lamb, which was a type of Jesus, as a sacrifice for their sins. Today Jesus is our Saviour.

Let us note that in the 21st verse in Gen. 3, God killed an animal and made Adam and Eve "coats of skin" to wear. It says that God "clothed them." _Clothed_ means "to cover." Here we find that it is a command for us to wear clothing. Paul in the New Testament tells us to dress in modest apparel. (I Tim. 2:9). In other words we are to be clothed. It is still a sin to go without decent clothing today as it was in the Garden of Eden.

Now one thing that God showed me in my search, was that because Adam and Eve sinned, that sin passed down upon all the human race. Adam was created holy and pure but when he sinned, he lost that purity. When he had a son, the Bible tells us that his son was "after his [Adam's] image" or had the principle of sin within him. (Gen. 5:3). The Apostle Paul tells us "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death [spiritual death] by sin; and so death [or spiritual separation from God] passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12. We see that every child who is born has that sin principle within him. "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psa. 51:5. Then we read in the Bible in another place where it says, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies." Psa. 58:3. Thus the Bible explains that children are born with a bent, or inclination, toward sin, but if they die without first coming to a knowledge of sin, they are saved through Jesus' blood. There comes a time in a child's life when he knows he has sinned. He understands it and then he is responsible. The Apostle Paul says, "sin is not imputed [or charged or ascribed] when there is no law [or understanding]." Romans 5:13.

Now you have come to the time in life when you are responsible. You know what sin is. I remember when I realized that I had sinned. I had a big imagination but the time came when I knew the difference between imagining things and telling lies. The Bible says that "all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." Rev. 21:8. So telling lies is wrong and is a sin, as well as many other things that we will mention later.

Jesus Destroys the Works of the Devil

When we realize that we have sinned and know that sin will keep us away from living in eternity in the presence of God, we are filled with sorrow. First, we do not want to be cast into the "lake of fire," nor be with the devil and his angels as Jesus has warned. He spoke of those being "cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Mark 9:44.

The next thing we think of is how Jesus loved us so much, He came willingly to take the punishment for our sins. Sin had to be punished. Man could not redeem us from our sins as all men had sinned. Jesus was innocent and without sin. He was with God from the beginning but He was born of woman, and took upon Himself flesh and blood. He lived here in this world, was mistreated and finally put on the cross to die a horrible death, although He was innocent. Why? Because He loved you and me. "God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." I John 4:9. "He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not committ sin, because he is born of God." I John 3:8,9. Through Jesus' death on the cross, sin can be forgiven and we can come into the presence of God.

When we realize that we have sinned and are sorry for that sin, we come to Jesus, and with "godly sorrow" ask Him to forgive us. Jesus hears our prayer and forgives us of our sins. By believing that He took our punishment for our sins, in dying on the cross, we are forgiven by God, and all is clear between us and God. Our sins are under the blood of Jesus. In olden times, in the Old Testament, they offered a lamb, but after Jesus came He was the Lamb who was sacrificed on the cross once and forever for sins. John the Baptist said, when he saw Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. He will take away our sins, when we confess them to Him, and in prayer, believe that He takes them away. I surely can't forget when the Lord did just that for me. It was wonderful to know that all was clear between God and me. I could sleep better and it was wonderful to know that if death overtook me I would be ready to go.

When I realized that I needed to be sanctified, or the sin principle needed to be cleansed out of my heart, I sought the Lord to give me the Holy Spirit. You can't ask forgiveness for the sin that passed down upon all men from the fall, or the sin of Adam and Eve. It has to be cleansed out of your heart by the purging of the Holy Spirit. There are two works in the heart. First we are saved from our volitional sins and then we are sanctified or cleansed of that sin principle or carnal nature. Peter speaks of some receiving the Holy Spirit and said, "purifying their hearts by faith." God had given "them the Holy Ghost." Acts 15:8,9. Then we can have power over all the power of the devil. The works of the devil are destroyed out of our hearts. Praise God forever! It is a wonderful experience.

Oh, how we love our Lord and Saviour for all that He has done for us! How sad we would be if He had not come to this world to take our punishment. How thankful we are for the Holy Spirit that was promised to us after Jesus went away. He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit, or the Comforter, could not come unless He went to the Father. (John 14).

We read how God gave the disciples the Holy Spirit, after Jesus arose into the skies, after His resurrection from the grave. In Acts, second chapter, they were waiting in the upper room and the Holy Spirit came upon them and God performed a miracle. They spoke the wonderful news and 17 or 18 different nations heard about it in their own language. It was on the day of Pentecost when people from all of these nations had come to the temple to worship God. Many of them believed on Jesus as the promised Saviour, were saved from their sins, and were filled with the Holy Spirit. It's a glorious experience and is for everyone who has been saved from sin.

Sins Named

My grandson, let us look at the Bible and see some sins that are mentioned.

In Galatians 5:19 we read that adultery is a sin. In verse 21 it is clearly stated that "they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." So there is no doubt about these sins. _Adultery_ means, "violation of the marriage-bed." Romans 7:2,3 says "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man." We know that when a couple marries, it is for life or until one of them dies. Read Matt. 19:7,8, where Jesus reaffirms this truth.

_Fornication_ is the "illicit sexual intercourse of unmarried persons," which is also adultery. This is a sin. Many today are just living together. This is a sin and a stench in the nostrils of God. It is terrible and so immoral, even if many today are doing it. "But fornication, ... let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints." Eph. 5:3. "Flee fornication.... What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1st Cor. 6:18-20. You see our bodies are to be kept pure and clean. That means our minds are to be clean and pure also. Sometimes the devil will bring evil thoughts to our minds but we must not think upon them. Think pure thoughts.

God created our bodies and every part is for a purpose. We want to keep our bodies free from impurities. There are urges in our body, and sometimes a drawing to the opposite sex, but we must not let that urge have control. We must keep our bodies under control. The Apostle Paul tells us what he did. He said, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." I Cor. 9:27. Jesus also tells us "that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matt. 5:28. We need to be very careful of our thoughts, and where our eyes wander. Keep the right kind of thoughts. A mother told her son when he was taking a trip, "Son, never do anything to place your body where your soul would not be the master." Petting and kissing among young people will lead to wrong thoughts and lead them into traps. We need to be careful and watchful about all of these things. "Keep thyself pure." My dear Grandson, we are in a battle in this world against all evil. The devil wants to destroy our souls and cause us to miss eternal life with Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls. The devil has many agents in the world who also help him. In the schools today your teachers are taught how to change your thinking. They will slowly but surely work on you day by day to do so. Beware of this. Don't let anyone destroy your faith in God, in the Bible, nor in what it teaches as being the Eternal Word of God. Guard this faith and live by it. It means your eternal destiny. Whether anyone says God's Word is true or false, it will still be true. Men's thoughts and ideas will never change God's Word.

The next sin is uncleanness. The dictionary says that _uncleanness_ means "morally impure, foul, filthy, unchaste and obscene." The Bible says, "God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." I Thess. 4:7. This means that we are to keep ourselves pure in thought, word, and deed. Keep a rebuke in your heart against dirty jokes and those things that lead to impurity. The Bible says, "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Titus 1:15. Homosexuality would come under this sin. The Bible plainly condemns this sin. In Romans we read about the corrupt man and it says, "God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:... For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet [fit]. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness." Romans 1:24-28. It is very plain that homosexuality is a terrible sin. God has a purpose for the use of each member of our bodies and it is not to be used in sinful ways. Sex is for a purpose and that is to bring children into the world and for the purpose of love-making between married couples. But it is not to be abused and temperance is to be used. Temperance is one of the fruits of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:23). Each member is to be used for the purpose that God has intended. Remember this and the Lord will give you understanding.

_Lasciviousness_ means "lustful, wanton, loose; a person who excites lustful emotions in others." Let us study this with careful thought. The world today advertises the fact that this or that will give "sexual appeal." This is lasciviousness. Wearing clothing that does this is sin. Acting in a way to cause others to have lustful emotions is a sin. That is, if a person purposely acts in this way, or dresses in this way. Speaking words and making signs that does this are sins. Oh, God is calling for a pure and holy people! His church, which is made up of holy (sinless) people, is without spot and blemish and has been cleansed and made pure through the blood of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 5:27). We must be pure to be in it.

The next sin mentioned is _idolatry_ which means "divine honors paid to idols, images, or any created object." (Web. Dic.) It also says it means "excessive admiration, or love, for any person or thing." To worship any image or man-made god is sin. There in only one true God and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Also we do not want to have an "excessive love" for any person or thing more than our love for God. Some people allow *things* to keep them from having a true love for God. This is a sin. If you let money, possessions, or any person keep you from serving the Lord with all of your heart, then you have an idol. The Apostle John said, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." I John 5:21. We are to "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Matt. 22:37. Surely that means a lot, doesn't it? There can't be one thing or person between us and God. He must absolutely be first in our life. Oh, my grandson, it truly is a wonderful thing to put God first! He is so precious to my soul and I know He will be to yours as you love and serve Him with all of your heart! Jesus has said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33. What God adds is just perfect even though at the time we might not understand it.

The next sin is _witchcraft_. Today many people are turning to magical powers and are having communion with evil spirits and the devil. This is what witchcraft is. Fortune tellers, spiritualist readers etc. are all of the devil and should never be considered nor tampered with. Many have, in fun, or wanting to know something, imbibed an evil spirit and were tormented by it day and night. God will protect His people if they will look to Him and not yield to evil spirits. It is dangerous. Read Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:10:12; Acts 16:16-19; 8:11-21; 13:6-12.

Hatred is a sin. Even if someone does us a wrong we must forgive them or Jesus has said that He would not forgive us. (Matt. 6:14,15). Ill-feeling toward someone is a cousin to hatred. We need to forgive and ask God to help us to love everyone regardless of what they do to us. Wrath is also a sin and many times is connected with hatred. We must not give vent to our anger but bring it under control. God has help for everyone who will pray to Him and seek after Him.

_Variance_ means "a verbal strife followed by strained or severed relations: wrangle or squabble: to dispute angrily." This is connected to hatred and wrath.

_Emulations_ means "to strive to equal or excell with a view to out do; ambitious or envious rivalry." In other words stepping on someone else to get ahead of them or others. Oh, the Lord wants us to be considerate of others!

Strife and envyings come under this same thing. We must love every soul and not try to disregard their feelings or desires. Be happy for others to get ahead and "rejoice with them that rejoice and weep with those who weep," is what the Bible tells us to do.

Murderers are those who wilfully kill and are sinners. They must seek forgiveness to be ready for heaven. If a person accidentally kills, that is not a sin, but it is a tragedy. It is the person who purposely kills who is a murderer and a sinner. To take one's own life is a sin, that is if the person is in his right mind. We know that some people's minds are afflicted (or wear out), and they are not responsible, yet there are some close lines even in these cases.

Drunkenness is a sin. _Drunkenness_ is the "state of being drunk with strong drink or alcoholic liquor so that the use of the faculties is materially impaired." (Web. Dic.) Oh, the sorrow and trouble that drunkenness has brought to little children, homes, wives and husbands, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and nations! It is a terrible thing! Today there is so much dope being taken. It is a terrible thing to abuse one's body. God will not hold a person guiltless who abuses his body in any manner. Read Prov. 23:29-32. God has deliverance for all who get into this sin if they will only seek after God. But my dear grandson, flee from all of it. "Touch not the cup." Never even taste it and you will never be a drunkard. Some say they can take it or leave it, but many did that for awhile and today they are on "skid row." They lost their health, their wealth, their children, and their companions. Their life is wretched. Some might say, "It would not happen to me," but they must flee from it as they would a serpent that is ready to strike.

Smoking cigarettes and taking anything that harms the body is a sin. The Bible says, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Cor. 3:17. What could be plainer? My dear grandson, I am expecting you to flee from all of these sins which are against the body which will destroy your body and soul in eternal torment for all eternity. Remember that eternity never ends. There is no time in eternity. Death seals your doom. It will pay to live each day in a way that we will be ready to meet God, or will be ready in that hour of death. It might come unexpectedly.

Seditions and heresies are sins. False teachings which are contrary to the Bible teachings are heresies. They are sin. We want to live according to the Bible and know its doctrines so we can not be led into heresies. So many are being deceived by false teachers. People today believe everything they hear and do not search the Bible to see if it is true. We must not believe teaching from false teachers. Some will say, "But that person has studied the Bible many years and he ought to know." He may have a degree in theology etc., but that doesn't make any difference. We still must stay upon a firm foundation and find it in the Word for ourselves. There is a chain running through the Bible that links truth and it must not be broken, or it will not be truth. We are instructed in the Bible to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness." II Tim. 2:15,16.

The next sins that are given are revellings and such like. _Revelling_ means "a noisy or riotous feast; or to feast with joyous or clamorous merriment, boisterous festivity." In other words it means a loud, boisterous manner of acting, or being in a crowd that acts that way. In I Pet. 3:4 it says for us to have a "meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." This is in harmony with God's Spirit and His Word.

I do trust that you have an idea of what God is expecting of us. In other words, we have listed what the Bible teaches about some things that are wrong, and what is right. As you said, the Bible is a big book and we can't find everything, unless we are familiar with it, so I trust these few things have been a help, as you study them. Remember that we need to have Jesus to help us daily to obey the Word of God and be ready to meet the Lord. First, it takes being saved from our sins, being filled with the Holy Spirit and praying and studying God's Word. It is a precious life when we are in the center of God's will. When we are saved, we can have the fruits of the Spirit in our life which are named in Gal. 5:22,23. They are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance and many other good things that God will give to us as we live and serve Him.

Romans 1:29-32 mentions more sins. It says that those who turn themselves over to the devil to work his evil ways are "filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." What a terrible list of sins! Oh, we must flee from any of them. If you get your dictionary and look up the meaning of each one of these you would see how sinful sin is. No wonder God looks down upon sinful mankind and is grieved. Now mercy is held out to all who will turn to Him and through Jesus Christ seek forgiveness and turn away from sin, but the time is coming when mercy will be withdrawn. This old world will be on fire and only the holy and true will be taken to that prepared place for a prepared people who have sought God. Oh, I surely want to be ready in that day and hour, don't you?

Seeking Forgiveness Was the Key

When I was about twelve years of age, the teacher asked me to erase the blackboard after school. After I finished, I walked down one aisle between the seats. On one girl's desk I saw a match box, and in this box was a tiny doll. I had seen her play with this doll and I thought it was the cutest doll I had ever seen. I never had dolls when I was small, as my folks could not afford to buy me one. I would wrap up a stick or something and carry it around for my doll. So this doll attracted me very much. As I looked at it, I wanted it so very much.

Before I tell more about this incident let us read a Scripture in the Bible which tells us about being tempted to sin. In James 1:14,15, it brings out how it works. "But every man [woman or child] is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Let us see what the word tempted means. _Tempt_ means "to induce; entice; allure." The devil works through us to tempt us. First, we are tempted by our own lust. Lust means an "overmastering desire." _Entice_ means to "attract by offering hope of reward or pleasure." So we see that the devil will induce us to do wrong by placing an overmastering desire for something, which he convinces us will bring a reward or some pleasure.

Note the next verse says, that when this lust or desire for a certain thing is _conceived_, which means "formed in the mind," or it is decided by the person that he is going to do a certain thing that is wrong, then that brings forth sin. Now sin is finished [completed] when the act is committed. After the act is committed then it brings forth death to the soul. In other words, sin separates a person from God. That means spiritual death. If a person continues to live in sin, or in spiritual death, and then dies a physical death, he would be eternally separated from God. But thank God, this need not be. The key to being restored to God is found in God's Word. Since sin has to be punished, we find that Jesus, the Son of God, was willing to come here, live and die and arise from the grave so we can have forgiveness for our sins, as we, with godly sorrow, seek for it.

Now I will continue with the incident in my own young life. First, I want to say that from a child I loved the Lord and my parents taught me what sin was and I didn't want to displease the Lord. But I was not above temptations. So when I saw this little doll, I was tempted by the devil. I had an overmastering desire to have that doll and I was enticed by the hope of the reward of having it for my own and thought no one would know about it. So quickly I picked it up and took it home. You see, when I let lust, or that overmastering desire, become conceived, or formed, in my mind, and I took the doll, I committed sin. Sin was finished and I was cut off from God. Spiritual death took place in my heart. No longer could I come to God and have communion with Him. Sin had separated me from God. So as the Scripture says, "when it [sin] is finished, it bringeth forth death."

I brought the doll home with me, but oh, I didn't feel good in my heart! I knew I had sinned and I wished I had not taken the doll, but I had it and was on my way home. I came into the house and my watchful mother saw it. She asked, "Where did you get that doll?"

"Old Tennessee gave it to me," I quickly said, which was a lie. Another sin was added to my first sin. The devil not only gets a person to sin but he gets them to commit other sins to cover up the first sin. Thus, he leads people on and on, and deeper into sin they fall. (Old Tennessee was an elderly black man who drove a horse and wagon by our home, filled with junk that he had collected. Sometimes, when he would stop and talk to us children, he would give us some of his junk which we would value.)

I took the doll upstairs to my room and put it in my dresser drawer. I didn't want to play with it. It didn't look so pretty anymore. My heart was heavy. I didn't rest very well that night as I dreaded going back to school. I just knew the teacher would guess that I had taken the doll. To my surprise, nothing was said the next day about the doll. I avoided the girl and hurried home after school. But yet the fact of stealing that doll weighed heavily on my heart. A few days later I took the doll out in the alley and took a brick and smashed it all to pieces and buried it, but that didn't take away the sin or the guilt. I had sinned against God and was still a liar and a thief. Oh, how bad I felt! I had been taught to pray from a little child, and had always prayed, but every time I would try to pray that sin would come up before me, so finally I quit praying.

School was soon out and a few weeks passed by. Bro. John Wilson came to our house from Missouri and held a few nights' meeting at the chapel. One night he preached on hell fire. Oh, I could almost feel the fire of hell around me! I trembled, but hurried out as soon as meeting was over and the invitation had closed. I went home and to bed as soon as possible, but not to sleep. I rolled and tumbled on my bed. The weight of sin was so heavy on my heart that it seemed the mattress was on top of me instead of me on the mattress. I knew I was on the road to hell. Finally, toward morning, I told the Lord that if He would spare my life until I heard the alarm go off in my parent's room that I would get up and go ask my father to pray for me to get saved and I would seek forgiveness for my sins from God. This calmed me, and I lay there waiting. When I heard the alarm, I ran to their room and knelt beside their bed. I began to weep and beg Papa to pray for me to get saved. He prayed for me and I prayed. I asked the Lord to forgive me of my sin of stealing and lying and promised I would make it right. I told the Lord I would tell the girl I had stolen the doll and pay her for it. God took my word for the act and He forgave me and flooded my soul with peace. Oh, I had found the key to peace for my inner longings! The key was a desire to find peace and then obeying God's Word which said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9. That key opened the lock to my heart and let Jesus come in. Jesus has said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." John 6:63b. Oh, the peace that filled me and I became a new creature in Christ Jesus! I was happy again.

I had promised the Lord that I would make my sin right when school started. So one day I was sitting behind this girl and I tapped her on the back. I told her about my taking the doll and offered to pay her for it. She said, "I often wondered where that doll went to, but I didn't care anything about it anyway." I insisted on paying her but she said to forget it. Oh, the relief that I then had because the devil fought my making it right by telling me that she would tell every one in school about my being a thief. I never heard anything more about it.

Then I had to make the lie right, for I had told my mother and all of my brothers and sisters that old Tennessee had given it to me. One time in family worship I started to tell it and broke down and wept, but kept on telling about it. I asked forgiveness and my father said that they all forgave me. I didn't know until years later that none of them understood anything I said because I had cried so hard, but I thought they did and that was what counted. I had obeyed the Lord who makes us know that we are to make our wrongs right.

When Jesus came to Zacchaeus' house and he sought salvation from Him, Zacchaeus said, "If I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Luke 19:8. We must make our wrongs right. If we do, and have repented and confessed our sins, we can hear the same words that Jesus said to Zacchaeus, "This day is salvation come to this house, ... For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (verse 9, 10.)

I am thankful to say that this was the only thing that I ever took in my life and it was a great lesson to me. Oh, how wonderful it is to be the Lord's! If we love and serve Him, we can have peace in our souls. We might have many problems and troubles in this life but if we have peace in our heart and are in contact with God, these things can't take away our peace and we can face life. The Bible says, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Job 14:1. Troubles will come to us but if we obey God's Word, we can have peace in our soul and be ready to meet the Lord when He comes in the clouds of glory.

I do pray that all who may read this will take the key, which is the Word of God and through obedience use it to unlock your heart and let that Word fill your heart and life, and you will have peace. Every longing will be satisfied as you continue to obey the Word.

The Keys to Continued Peace

When a person has confessed his sins with godly sorrow, and they are all under the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, he is "born again" and has become a new creature in Christ Jesus. (II Cor. 5:17). How precious it is to know that "old things are passed away" and "all things are become new!" His wrongs have been made right, as far as possible, and according to his knowledge. Then he needs to walk in this kind of way and life. It takes some watching and praying to keep the peace in the soul that God has given. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can one continue in contact with God. After a person has fully surrendered himself to the Lord and has the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit in his soul, he is equipped to go forth and fight the devil who goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet. 5:8). The devil is no respector of persons. He is more than a match for the child of God but when the child of God seeks grace and help from God, the devil has to flee. He now needs to know how to face the devil, so he can be "more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus."

We read in James 4:6-8 that first, we need to know that God gives grace or help to the humble. We need to humbly realize our need of God's help. Then we are to submit ourselves to God, draw close to God and "he will draw nigh to you." Every step we take toward God, He will take one toward us. After we are in the will of God and have implored His help, we can then, in the name of Jesus, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." One brother said he talked to the devil just like he did to his dog. He said, "Get out of here!" The devil had to pack his bags and leave.