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The First Voice - Section 3






God's Contract With Us. - G. H. Montgomery

G.H. Montgomery is Associate Editor of Healing Waters Magazine, Tulsa, Oklahoma. He delivered the following message at the signing of the Articles of Incorporation.

I greet you at this breakfast meeting in the name of Jesus. It is a wonderful experience to be here. I have been sitting here this morning thinking about the various types of programs that I have heard come from this area of Los Angeles. I have heard many things come over the radio from this area, but I have never heard anything just like this, and I was thinking about how wonderful it would be if this business men’s breakfast could be sent out across the nation by way of radio.

One of the most impressive things that I have witnessed this morning has been the signing of your Articles of Incorporation of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International. As you were signing that document the thought occurred to me, this is a contract, and those who are signing the document and those who subscribe to it by their vote are under moral and legal obligations to keep that contract.

Then I thought of another contract that was signed between two parties about four thousand years ago. The contract was between God and Abraham and it involves certain responsibilities and obligations on the part of both parties. God was the party of the first part, and this is what he agreed to do according to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, at the time of the birth of John. Zacharias, speaking under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, said, "The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life" (Luke 1:73-75).

That was God’s contract with Abraham, and Zacharias says that it applied to him and to his people. I say that it applies to us, inasmuch as we through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are also the children of faithful Abraham. In other words, we have adopted the constitution as our own, and that brings us into the covenant with God and faithful Abraham.

Now what does this contract mean? First of all, it means that we are to be delivered from our enemies and from the hand of all that hate us. Who are our enemies? The apostle Paul declares that, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places." Our enemies, primarily, are not enemies of flesh and blood. They are spiritual forces, or afflictions brought on us by the power of spiritual forces. Here are the five major enemies that we must face and fight in this world.

First there is sin. It is the enemy of all human kind. Sin separates between us and God, and because of that it is the greatest enemy that we have in this world. But we are told in the Bible that Jesus Christ was manifest that He might destroy the works of the devil. Christ died that we might be delivered from sin.

Second, there is sickness. It is an enemy. It keeps us from being at our best for God.

Third, there is fear. Fear hath torment. Whosoever feareth is not made perfect in love, for perfect love casteth out all fear. Think of the many things that you have wanted to do for God and have been hindered by fear. You wanted to pray an hour a day, but you were afraid that you couldn’t get your work done and do that much praying. You wanted to pay your tithes to support the work of God, but, you were afraid you couldn’t pay one-tenth to God and then live on the other nine-tenths. That time God told you to speak to somebody about his soul, you wanted to do it, but you were afraid that you might offend him or that he might think that you were crazy. Fear has kept us all from doing God’s will at one time or another. Fear is an enemy. Christ came to deliver us from fear.

Fourth, there is poverty. I say that poverty is an enemy. It is not a blessing as many of us have been taught to believe. Poverty keeps us from obeying God as we want to obey Him. It keeps us from going forward with missionary programs, from building churches, launching revival campaigns, and keeping the men of God in the field where they should be. Poverty is of the devil. I think I can prove that to you, because the devil is spoken of as the god of this world and this world is the only place where poverty is known. There is no devil in Heaven, and there is no poverty there. Heaven has streets that are gold, walls that are jasper, gates that are pearl. Heaven speaks of bounty and wealth on every hand. There is no devil in Heaven. Therefore, there is no poverty in Heaven. Poverty belongs to this world alone, and since the devil rules the world, the devil is bound to be the author of poverty. Paul exhorts us to remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who though He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be made rich. When we take full advantage of the provisions of God’s grace as manifested through our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall have everything that we need in this world.

The fifth and the last foe is death. The Bible declares that the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Yet there is destruction of death. In the very article of death, God will destroy its force. "Death hath no power over the blood bought one." Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it ceases to be a monster and becomes a doorway through which we enter into eternal life. And we know that when Jesus comes and we are caught up from this world without dying, we shall bypass the gesture of death.

Since the Bible makes it plain that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, the question naturally arises, When are the other enemies to be destroyed? The answer is obvious, in this life, sometime before death, of course. The enemies --sin, sickness, fear, poverty—are to be destroyed by the power of God here in this life. It is our privilege, taking advantage of the contract that God signed in our behalf, to claim victory over all these enemies in this life, that we might be able to serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

There are many who will say, "But I know Christians who are weak and who periodically fail God, and I know Christians who are sick, and I know Christians who are fearful, and I know Christians who are poor."

So do I. Bu t when I look at them I say to myself, "There are Christians who are not using their faith, who are not taking full advantage of the contract God signed with Abraham in their behalf, a contract that Jesus Christ, God’s blessed Son, came into this world to implement, to set in motion and make effective in our behalf."

My friends, God is a good God, and He will keep His word with you. Believe Him, take His promises as fully yours. Claim your possessions in Christ Jesus. You remember that the king of Israel once said to His people, "Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still and take it not." This is the situation of thousands of Christians today. They have something that God has given them, but they do not claim it as their own. Therefore, they are unable to enjoy the benefits of it. Let us this day reach out and possess our possessions through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.