Author: Fred Pruitt
The Bible, the holy Word of God, is a wonderful book; it is marvelously written, compiled and put together by a Mastermind, far superior to any human intellect, and can come from no other source than the great “I AM,” the God of all created things, who is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.
Human beings at their best are indeed exceedingly weak creatures and are wholly dependent upon God for existence, whether they will acknowledge it or own up to the fact, it stands that way today and will be verified and proved to be true to all at the great Judgment Day. The more man sees and acknowledges the greatness of God, the less value he will place upon himself and earthly things which are to perish with the using, and the more meek and lowly he should become, losing the conceit and all self-esteem, and his affections and praise will be unto Him who has opened his eyes and given him understanding of the truth as it is in Jesus-the One who has completed a blood sacrifice on Calvary’s cross and appeased the wrath of God which was upon us, as sinners, bringing us back into the fold of God, freeing us from sin, making us innocent and beloved children of God. Hence we become the sanctuary of God, the temple of God, the house of God, the building of God, the church of God, the body of Christ, which is now in the world but not of the world-a family whom He has purchased with His own blood, an uncondemned family living without sin among a professing and nonprofessing sinning people. What a wonderful thought and truth it is to realize that God has cleansed souls from all sin and lifted them up on a plain of holiness with Himself; for we are His offspring, spiritually speaking, and his children are like Him. The Bible says that Christ was manifested to take away our sins; “and in Him is no sin,” 1 John 3 :5. There are no sinners in Christ, His church, His family, and His body is made up of those whose sins are washed away by His blood, and only those who retain a sinless experience are in His family. All people who commit sin, whether professors or non-professors, are not and cannot be in the family of God, nor any part of the body of Christ, which He has purchased with His own blood.
All men should tremble before our God. Any man who holds up to the people anything less than a life free from sin is not of God, and will not do to follow nor receive of His teachings, for to speak plainly about the matter as Paul did about false teachers in his day, “They are the enemies of the cross of Christ” Phil. 3 :18.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us keep a love in our hearts for the truth, the crucified way, lest we be led astray by some of the many deceivers in the world. In the Bible there are many comparisons made, parables, symbols, metaphors, and analogies used in order to convey to the spiritually-minded and “born-again” children the true holiness doctrines of the Bible In order to keep them stedfast unmoveable and abounding in the will and ways of God. Those who get settled and grounded in the true doctrines will not be blown about by the different winds of doctrine.
In the Word of God His ministers are referred to as oxen because, like the ox, they have heavy loads to pull. They are yoked up with the Lord and look to Him to make the going easy, and when things get slow and hard to move, they look to the Lord to hold the load and they move on as He moves on. They are also symbolized as an ass, or donkey as they are called today. The donkey is a very humble and lowly animal. He is sure-footed and has long ears. The true ministers of God are humble and lowly in heart; they make sure their steps. Their ears are spiritually long and they hear things from heaven.
His children are also symbolized by different kinds of birds. Those who are false and wrong in heart are symbolized by hawks, owls, buzzards, and other hateful birds. In the Song of Solomon, he refers to the children of God as a dove (6 :9), “My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her.” The dove is a symbol of gentleness and innocence. It is defenseless, faithful to its mate, and home-loving. The dove was also used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit that rested upon Jesus when He came up out of the water after being baptized.
God’s children are also symbolized as lambs and sheep because of their gentle and innocent ways. Jesus was called the Lamb of God. He is our example. On the other hand, a goat represents a professor without God in his soul even though he may be extremely religious and stand high in the esteem of the world as a Doctor of Divinity and receives much flattery and praise of men; yet being without the true Spirit of God in his soul, he is only a goat although he may lead many souls in his goat way and also fool some of the innocent ones at times.
I have just learned from a brother who works in a large packing plant that they use an old big goat to lead the sheep to the slaughter pen. The sheep cannot be driven into the slaughter pen, but this old goat is trained to lead the sheep. They will follow him, and when he gets them to the place where they cannot get back, the old goat slips slyly away from them, and they are taken on to be slaughtered. When I heard this, I wondered how many are following goat leaders today in a spiritual sense. We find some today who are bringing in different and strange doctrines and getting some to follow them. If they get you separated from the children of God, your soul could, in that way, easily be slaughtered. It is safe to follow Christ and Him only and remain in the body of the Lord as a cleansed and clean vessel in His hand, having fellowship with the Father and all of His blood-bought children. Hear His voice and follow Him, as He will not lead you to slaughter, but to the glory world to live with God forever.
There are no doubt some of God’s children who are following goat leaders and other false prophets, for we find the voice of God in the 18th chapter of Revelation is calling them out and away from such places. The second verse of this chapter reads thus: “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.”
Babylon the great would include all of these religious denominations that teach a “sin-you-must” doctrine and encourage worldly fellowship in various ways, and also these movements that claim holiness and hold the truth in unrighteousness and have contrary doctrines that separate them from the true holiness people of God. In the 4th verse the voice of Scripture says, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”
These Scriptures are solemn warning to all that are estranged from the saints of God, the true holiness people. Beloved, clear yourself from all man-made institutions and from all religions that cater to the world in any way, and those that have imbibed any strange doctrines that separate themselves from God’s holy remnant. In time you will very likely awake to the fact that you are following a goat with sheep’s clothing on. There is danger of being slaughtered before you are aroused and fully awake. Escape for your life, for they hold many souls in there for the burning. Remember, there are no bargains in salvation, for all have to pay the same price and keep it paid if they make heaven their home. We read of the merchant man who was hunting for goodly pearls, and when he found one pearl (Christ) of great price, he went and sold all and bought the pearl of great price. Let us keep sold out to God and our affections on things above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Let our life be hid with Christ in God that when he appears we shall also appear with Him in glory. Col. 3:1-5.
