HAVING THE RIGHT SLANT ON THE GOSPEL

Thought for the book taken from the

Message delivered on June 16, 2002

Dawsonville, Georgia U.S.A.

©2002 by Ben Howard

All rights reserved. This book cannot be sold, nor in any way be used

for the soliciting of funds.

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version Bible

Published by the Sound Of Liberty

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HAVING THE RIGHT SLANT ON THE GOSPEL

First of all I’d like to say, “Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers. I thank God for all the good fathers. We just had a Mother’s Day, now we have a Father’s Day. Those are days to honor our parents, and it’s good. Like I said not to long ago in a message, the father is the head of the house, but the mother is the heart of the house. It takes both. You can have a good head, but you need a good heart. God looked at Adam and said, “It’s not good for man to be alone,” so He made him a help meet. It’s the same with Christ. He is the head of the church; but we are to have the feelings of the church ‐ to edify one another. We’re the wife of Christ, the heart of the church. Therefore, Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you’re my disciples, because you love one another.”

The Word of God talks about edifying one another, lifting one another up; the body having the same care one member for another. It also makes good and clear who the head of the church is. Christ is the head of all things which pertaineth to the church; and so is it in a home. A father can have a good head on him and know how to make a living, but if a splinter gets into a little ones finger, the mother is the one the child runs to, because she is the heart of the house. Having said that, I would like to take a thought and title it, Having the Right Slant on the Gospel. I looked up the word slant, and it’s an amazing little word, even in Webster’s Dictionary. You can use that word in a lot of different conversations. You can use it as being bias. When you look up the word bias, it points you to slant. Sometimes you have to be a little bit bias in this world, don’t you? I believe Jesus was. I believe Paul was, as well as the other true saints of God were. They had the right slant on the Word. This thought came to me this week.

When looking at what the Apostle Paul taught, I believe he had a specific goal in mind; the things that he said pointed you in a certain direction. We can read in the Word of God and we can find in there about how the flood came, how Enoch walked with God, how Moses delivered the children of Israel, and all these different things – everything in there is true and is good; but when we come to the gospel, Paul said, “The gospel of your salvation.” (Ephesians, Chapter One) We find out that when the gospel went to Israel there were twelve apostles, but when it came to the Gentiles there was one that was a little different from the rest, and the other apostles didn’t associate much with him. He was one born out of due season. Well, he had a certain slant on the gospel which made it just right for the Gentiles. In other words, he didn’t get up and just quote scripture; he wasn’t neutral. He pointed us in a certain direction; as you will learn as you read this book.

You can read the Bible and be a neutral person as to which way you’re going. There’s hardly anyone today that won’t say they believe the Bible. If you’d ask them if they believe the Bible they would say, “Yes.” And most of the people would say, “Yes,” if you’d ask them if they believe that Jesus Christ was born the Savior and walked around here in the flesh. Now the point to this is that most everybody says they believe the Bible. If you asked if they believe that Jesus had twelve apostles, they’d say, “Yes.” If you would ask if they believe there was a man named John the Baptist; they would say, “Yes.” But there is no certain slant to it. There is no certain direction to it. They believe it in a neutral sense. Now Paul had a gospel that got him in trouble because it challenged people. You could say that Paul was bias. Well, I believe he was when it came to the Gentiles, because he was the apostle to the Gentiles. Even Peter and the others didn’t want a whole lot to do with Paul. He was bias on the Word of God as far as what Jesus came to do, what God did through Jesus Christ, and what God was doing then. He wasn’t happy just going along with the status quo. They thought, “Paul is bias. He’s slanting it another way.” Paul had to slant the gospel toward the Gentiles with a revelation of grace for them, and in doing so, his gospel angered the Jews. Now that being said; then it is true that Paul was bias, and I’m so glad he was.

Well, I want to preach this in relationship to a dream that I had recently. You know how we were talking about Father’s Day earlier, and I brought in the point that the man is the head of the house, and the woman is the heart. It kind of works together to make it like the two wings of an eagle; it’ll fly. Fly little eagle fly. You’ve got to have it all put together for it to work right. The masculine part of the body (the ministry) and the feminine part of the body has to come together by revelation – just like Christ and the bride – each doing their part… the head and the heart coming together.

In this dream it seemed like I was more or less in the Spirit seeing this take place. I was at a certain place and I noticed bees, honeybees; every once in a while one would go by (zoom!). They were going like they had no certain direction, no certain purpose other than just flying. (That is kind of like how Christianity is today.) But here came a man and woman out of the woods, and they had a honeycomb. I was watching the bees, zoom, zoom, zoom, just fly buy. I thought, “Those bees look like they’re just going every which way.” But, coming out into a clearing, here came this man and woman. The man and woman had a honeycomb, I’ve never seen a honeycomb that big, approximately 30 inches square, and it was like I’ve seen in smaller form. They raised it up and a bee would just fly by occasionally. It didn’t have any effect on bees, no bees came to it; but after they raised it up, they slanted it back. They began to tilt it back and when it reached a certain slant; they stopped, and bees began to come out of the woods and came to the honeycomb by the thousands. They just absolutely covered it up! Then I woke up.

I began to think about it. I told different ones about the dream. I told Brother Sam Francis (West Virginia) about it, and he said that his father used to say that honey is the only pure food there is, and it cannot be duplicated by science. They can’t make honey. I don’t even know if they can make something that tastes like it; but the point being here is that those bees came when it was slanted just right. I want you to notice, there was a man and woman carrying the honeycomb.

I think sometimes, we that have heard Brother Branham’s message, and Brother Branham being an Old Testament type prophet by having the spirit of Elijah upon him – and everybody that follows the message seems to have a different slant to it; they pretty much put a woman out of the picture as far as being very much a part of this thing. They kind of keep them in an Old Testament type setting. In the Old Testament type setting a woman was more or less a second class citizen, and that was because she failed in the Garden of Eden when tried. A woman didn’t have very much preeminence other than maybe Sarah and a few others that were scattered throughout the Old Testament; but in general, they didn’t have much preeminence. So was it in this message, until after the Prophet William Branham’s death. Then God raised up Raymond Jackson of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and he began to point us in the right direction concerning this matter; for which we thank God. And we continue in this same direction.

Now when it came to the New Testament, when the resurrection took place and a new covenant was made, it put a new light to a woman’s place. When the resurrection took place it wasn’t the men, the apostles that were there to witness what had been done first, but it was the women that had come to the tomb. Jesus told the women to go tell the apostles that He was risen. So they carried that first testimonial message signifying that it was a new day! So the gospel took a different slant than it was in the Old Testament, and a woman has a new place in this; although, she still is not to preach the gospel.

Paul said that we are heirs together of eternal life. So, it’s man and woman. This does not in any way take the headship from the man. She still cannot preach the gospel, but she has to have her place. As long as she is shut out of the church and put into a realm of a second class citizen, the church is not going to reach and do what it is to do. In Bible days, Phillip had four virgin daughters, and they prophesied. There were women that helped Paul. They had a pretty important place coming into the New Testament. So we see that in the New Testament there’s a place for women to be heirs of eternal life, and they are to be a part of this gospel, and they are to be witnesses. They can have a testimony, they can pray to God, and they can do certain things in the gospel that is very profitable. (This may sound like a new slant on this – if so, then so be it.)

I know as far as men, most of us don’t like to set at a typewriter much. I’m not much of a letter writer. Brother Doug called from South Korea this week. Barbara had written to let him know that we were praying for him, and sent him some tapes. He said, “I wouldn’t have even gotten a letter from home if you hadn’t married Barbara. I said, “I’m sorry to say, but you’re probably right.” We are laborers together, man and woman. You sisters have a great part in this thing, and you need to rise to the occasion. Don’t try to take preeminence over something, but stand up and be counted! So, in this dream a man and woman came out of the woods. It was specific, very clear, that it was man and woman. The man was holding one corner of the honeycomb and the woman was holding the other corner. The man and the woman had the honeycomb, holding it, coming out of the woods. They both raised it up together, and they tilted it back. First they raised it up—nothing happened. Then they started tilting it. When they got to a certain point, when it got a certain slant on it, thousands of bees came from all over, and it just covered that honeycomb up. So therefore, I believe we’ve got to get the right slant on the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to attract the bride of Christ. A lot of people are trying different ways to attract people to the gospel. They have different programs to try to bait the Word, but you don’t have to bait the Word; the Word is good like it is. It doesn’t have to be sugar‐coated for the bride.

This brings to mind the dream I had about following someone whose appearance was that you could see right through them. We were going up through the jungle, walking beside a river; and it seemed that we walked all night, a long hard walk. My instructions were: Be careful, walk where I walk, wherever I put my feet you put yours, don’t break sticks, don’t make noise, and I walked all night through the jungle until we reached a clearing in the jungle. When we reached the clearing on the side of the river there were hooks on poles like canes sticking in the bank; they weren’t in the water yet, but the one that I was following said, “Cast in, and catch fish. These can only be caught by special permission,” and one thing I noticed was that there was no natural bait on the hooks. You could look and see the fish in the water just swimming around, it looked like by the thousands. So I pulled one of the canes up and dropped a hook in the water – having no bait on it at all, and no sooner than it hit the water a fish got it! I began to catch those fish, and I woke up. I tell you what we need—the pure unadulterated Word of God. You don’t sugarcoat it. You don’t try to dress it up, because it is good like it is! The Word of God is beautiful like it is. Why is it hard for some people to take the Word of God like it is? The bride wants it in its original form.

I’m talking about having the right slant on the Word. You can read the Bible and be neutral, and believe it is the Word of God, but the Word deals with YOU individually. There is a part of the Word of God that is for you; and you are part of that Word. God allotted a portion of the Word for each generation, and when that generation comes around there will be somebody to bring out the scripture that is specifically for that time. When that happens there will be a people attracted to it. Just like the seven church ages. All the way through the church ages we find there were certain men, there were seven of those church age messengers, each one of them had a message that fit exactly in the day they lived in. Then in this last church age, a message came that told us to come out of these denominational systems and be free before God.

There was a man that wrote me a letter and eventually came to see me about the Ministerial Association. He said, “I notice you haven’t been coming. We want all the pastors to be members of the Ministerial Association. Is there some reason that you don’t come?” I said, “Yes, there’s a reason I don’t come.” He said, “Well, maybe we can work it out.” I said, “Well, first, I don’t believe in denominationalism.” He said, “Well, there is a lot wrong with them, Ben. There are a lot of things I don’t go along with either. So that will make two of us, but I’ll see that you have your say as much as anybody else does.” So we talked there a little bit; and he said, “Here’s the thing about it Ben, you can’t change it from without; you’ve got to change it from within.” He said, “That’s the way to do it. Let’s get in there together and point out things we don’t agree with, then maybe we can change some of these things.” That may sound good to some, but God sent a prophet and called us out of that denominational system and I’m not going back to it. Let me tell you something, if my house is on fire and it’s falling in, I’m not going to stand in there and try to figure out where would be a good place to put the sofa and chair, or where would be a good place to put this or that. I’m going to get out of that thing! It’s on fire; it’s falling in; it’s finished! The denominational age is over; God wants a people that will be just like the early church. Not one time did they ever join a church or tell people they had to join a church. You can’t join. You must be born again by the Spirit of God.

I was talking about man and woman being heirs of eternal life and part of this together. We are partners in life together. Christ is partners with His church. The Bible says, “Having the mind of Christ.” Great minds think alike. Well, the thing is, the Bible says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ.” The thing you must realize is that the church is the feminine part of the body of Christ. She has her part to do.

Now the ministry, which is apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, represents the male part of the body where the leadership comes in, and when I say, leadership, I’m not talking about your personal Holy Ghost leadership that you have when you pray to God to know something when you’ve got a decision to make. You can go to God and He will help you make that decision. He will give you that revelation, but when it comes to the ministering, preaching the Word of God, He left that job in the hands of men. There is a five fold ministry given for leadership in the realm of leading the bride as a whole.

A GENTILE SLANT

Now the last thing in the Word of God that’s given for the perfecting of the saints is the five fold ministry. The gospel to the Gentiles has a different slant on it than to the Jews. Paul had the gospel for the Gentiles, and the slant was just a bit different than the gospel for the Jews. It had to have the right slant on it to espouse (or engage) the bride. The Jews and Gentiles both believed in Jesus, and believed water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, but to the Jewish people it was slanted a different way, because they went with circumcision, and meats and drinks, and so on. But Paul came out and he said, “Circumcision or uncircumcision doesn’t mean a thing. It’s being a new creature in Christ Jesus that means something.” Those Jews were saying what they could and couldn’t eat; what they could and couldn’t do, but Paul said, “Whatever is set before you, eat, drink, and ask no questions. Brother and Sisters, that’s for the Gentiles. Paul had a certain slant on the gospel and it was for the Gentiles, as we will read here.

Now Paul was bias on what he preached. Some people don’t want you to be bias, they want you to blend with everything. God doesn’t want a good blender – separate from the things of the world. God said, “Come out from among them and I will receive you unto myself. I’ll be your God, and you shall be my sons and daughters.”

When Paul preached the Word of God he said, “I laid the foundation; let every man take heed how he build on it.” Then we look over into Revelation, Chapter 22, when everything has been finished up; there are twelve gates to the city, and they are named after the twelve patriarchs of Israel. There are twelve foundations of the wall and they’re named after the twelve apostles. It all deals with Jews. All that shows the exterior. But in the middle of that city there is a throne and a bride tree (tree of life), and she brought forth her fruit.

So Paul was not one of the twelve, he was THE apostle to the Gentiles, that laid the foundation inside the city so we could build on it, and you have got to have the right slant. Some people don’t see the right slant on the Word of God. They think they can pick up the Bible, open it and wherever it falls open they preach from it, because it’s all the Word of God they say. You don’t have to be a preacher to do that, but there is a certain thing in here for you. See, you are a part of the Word. God allotted a Word for every people. In this last day He said it was the five fold ministry for the perfecting of the saints.

Let’s go to Romans, Chapter 11. I want to read a scripture here to show you a point that I feel is important. In Romans 11:13, Paul is writing to the Romans which were Gentiles, not Jews. He said this, “For I speak to you Gentiles (Now who is a Gentile? Every one that is not a Jew. So, Paul was not the apostle to the Jews—even though he was a Jew, God called him to preach to the Gentiles.), inasmuch as I am the (singular) apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:”

Now he was the apostle to the Gentiles. He was not one of the twelve to Israel. He slanted that gospel a little different than what Peter did, and I’m going to show it to you in just a moment. I’ll tell you Brothers and Sisters, having the right slant on the gospel in this hour is important, and when you get the right slant you will be bias! You won’t go along with every Tom, Dick, and Harry saying this could be right and that could be right. Well, I don’t want to know what could be right; I want to know what is right! The whole Bible is right, but there is a part for you.

Since we’re in Romans, let’s get in Chapter 14 just to show you something. Jesus came to preach to the Jews. Before resurrection He said to the apostles, “Don’t go to Samaria. Don’t go to the Gentiles, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” because He came as that messenger to the Jews. Then when Jesus came forth from the grave, He gave another commandment before He ascended on high. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” He put a different slant on it.

Now let’s go to Romans 15:8, it says, “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:” Now the fathers were Jews, and the circumcision were Jews; because the Gentiles were not circumcised. In that day that was a token of a covenant, but when Paul came he put a different slant on all of that. He said that God circumcised the hearts, not the flesh. Now notice, Jesus Christ was the minister to the Jews when He was here, that’s why He didn’t go out among the Gentile nations. He only went to the Jews. He was a minister to the Jews – but watch, in Verse 14, Paul is talking – watch his slant on the gospel, because he’s going to reach out and get the Gentiles. (The Book of Romans is to the Gentiles.) Verse 14, “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able to admonish one another.” And that is what we need to do, admonish one another. We as Christians are commanded from the Word of God to admonish one another, edify one another, love one another, do good to one another and especially to those that be of the household of faith. If we will go by the Word of God, this thing will work, Folks! If I see somebody make a mistake, my purpose is to pray for them, and see if I can be of help to them in any way. It’s not to tell, “This one did that, and that one did this,” in order to turn other people against them. See, that should not go on inside of the body of Christ. If it doesn’t lift up, build up, and help the body of Christ – then flush it! If you flush it, it’s gone. How many sees, admonishing one another, lifting up one another, edifying one another, doing good for one another? One thing the prophet messenger for this age said, “Always say good things about one another.” My mama used to say, “If you can’t say something good about somebody, just don’t say anything at all.” We haven’t always followed that rule, but it is a good rule to follow. If I see somebody stumble, or make a mistake, what good would it do in the realm of perfecting the saints, helping us to come together, and being what God wants the church to be for me to go around gossiping about it? It would do no good whatsoever!

The Bible talks about a little match can start a big fire. “How great a fire one little match can start.” There’s nothing wrong with the match, but when you set the fire, how are you going to put it out? Just like we say in our book entitled, Are You a Seventy Times Seven Christian? We put in there about a feather pillow. You can cut a feather pillow open in the wind, and shake it out; it will blow those feathers everywhere, in the treetops and everywhere. You can never go back and gather them up. If we let our tongue say some things, we can never go back and pull them back. We can say, “I’m sorry.” You can make corrections where possible, but by the time it goes through three mouths it doesn’t look like it did at the beginning. So therefore, if you’re a Christian, before you tell anything good or bad about anyone that might hinder or cause someone to stumble, even though someone might make a mistake, what purpose is there for you to magnify it? What is your motive? Ask yourself, “Is the motive of this to help the body?” No. It’s going to offend some. See, when you get the right slant on this gospel it’s going to work.

Now, Paul says here in Romans 15:8, we find in Verse 8, that Jesus was the minister to the Jews, but watch who the minister of the Gentiles is. Verse 15, “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, That I (personal pronoun) should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” Now, see God ordained Paul to bring a gospel that would cause the Gentiles to be accepted. He was not one of the twelve. He was not like Peter, and many of the things that Peter preached, Paul preached the same thing; but Paul slanted it a different way.

When Peter was over at Antioch in Chapter 2 of the Book of Romans, he separated from the Gentiles and didn’t want anything to do with them, but Paul was the man that loved the Gentiles. Verse 17, “I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.” Notice this, Verse 18, “For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, (Watch, Christ wrought certain things in him) to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed.” Peter and the other eleven had nothing to do with this whatsoever. Verses 19‐21, “Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation. But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.” In other words, he’s talking about the Gentiles whom the Jews counted as dogs, but here came a man with a gospel for them.

There’s one scripture here I want to read. Colossians 1:24, “Who now rejoice in my sufferings and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church:” Paul, don’t you know Christ did all of that? See, Christ could not come to the Gentiles as a person like He did with the Jews, because He was obligated in a covenant with the nation of Israel. He came to His own, see; but He used Paul to go to the Gentiles; and Christ came down and incarnated Himself in Paul to the extent that it was the same as if Christ was standing there speaking. Christ had manifested Himself in Paul in such a great way that he became the apostle to the Gentiles, the messenger to the Gentiles, and in his body was made up the suffering that was lacking in the body of Christ for his body’s sake, which is the church. You don’t fuss with Paul, because God set him up there and gave him that authority and he spoke the Word and God vindicated him. He put a certain slant on the gospel, and he said, “IF ANYBODY PREACH ANYTHING ELSE OTHER THAN WHAT I PREACH, LET HIM BE ACCURSED.” Now he wasn’t talking to Jews. Peter would have told him right quick, “Get out of Jerusalem, Paul. We have no need of you here.”

Let’s go to Galatians, Chapter One. I’m talking about, Having the Right Slant on the Gospel. Watch now, Verse 10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” So he was bias. He had a certain slant on the Word. Watch what he says. Now listen, Paul, be sure you know what you’re talking about because we are going to listen to you and believe what you say, and you can’t believe what he says unless it is quickened to your heart. If it’s in you and you’re a spiritual seed, then you can’t help but believe it. See, Paul said, “I have begotten you. You have ten thousand instructors, but you have only one father,” and the children have the genes of the father. If you’ve got Paul’s genes in you (and I’m talking spiritually here now), you can’t help but hear what he says and believe what he says, and respond to what he says, because it fits you just like a glove fits your hand. We’ve been restored back to the ‘faith of our father.’ Who is our father of the gospel? It’s Paul. He reached back and picked up the things that Peter preached that was essential to the Gentile church, and included it in the revelation that God gave him and laid a foundation for us Gentiles to build on. Now watch Paul in Verse 11, he said, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of ME is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This is an apostle talking, but still it’s got to be the Holy Ghost that gives you the revelation. I can only speak words for your ears to hear, but God has to let your heart hear it. Verse 13, “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:” Watch Verse 14, “And profited in the Jew’s religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”

Verses 15‐24, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, (He was that when he was born.) To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen (which is Gentiles); immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. (He had a special message. He wasn’t one of the twelve.) Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea (Jews) which were in Christ; But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.”

I hope you can see God enough in me to glorify God in me, and I hope I can see God in you enough to glorify God in you. We should see in each other that dedicated life – see that there’s nothing in life that counts for anything, except serving God, and anything else we have in our lives has to find its place somewhere else. He has to be number one. Let’s go on with Chapter 2. Galatians 2:1‐5, says, “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel (Everybody say, “That gospel.” Not necessarily what Peter preached. This slant was different than what Peter preached, and we’re going to show it to you – and there’s got to be a gospel in this hour slanted right to catch the Gentile bride, and it can’t be saying, “The Word comes only to the prophet.” It can’t be saying, “We’re still waiting on the seventh seal to open and seven thunders to utter.” It’s got to hit right. It’s the little book of Revelation, Chapter 10, that the Mighty Angel brings down.) which I preach among the Gentiles (because he was the apostle to the Gentiles), but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised (in other words, they tried to get him to be circumcised, because that’s what they were doing.): And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.” In other words, put us under the law.

Someone wants us to join the church, and do this, and do that. (Brothers and Sisters, God set you free. STAY FREE! Rejoice in the liberty wherewith He has made you free.): To whom we gave place by subjection (watch ole Paul being bias) no (everybody say, “no.” No, we didn’t give subjection to them…, and these were the Jewish apostles. These were the church, but they were of the Jewish brand. They had their slant towards Israel. Paul slanted it towards the Gentiles; and it does make a difference!), not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” What was good for the Gentiles was not necessarily good for the Jews, because the Jews held right on to that circumcision and they still do today – the Jewish Church didn’t give it up. But Paul said, “Circumcision or uncircumcision doesn’t mean anything.” And then he says, “When God called Abraham was he in circumcision or uncircumcision?” Guess what? He was called in uncircumcision. Then later on when God put them under a covenant, God introduced circumcision to identify a different race, which became the Jews. See, Abraham was a Gentile before he became a Jew, and he was a Gentile before God made a covenant with him. He was uncircumcised and was not under the law at the beginning; so that includes the Gentiles in the promises that God made to Abraham. (Romans 4:1‐12.)

Notice, Peter and the other Jewish apostles had the right slant on the gospel to catch the Jews. Watch what was said by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Verse 6, “But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me: but contrariwise. Paul got his revelation from God, and when Peter and the others began to say, “Paul, this is the way it is,” and “I’ll tell you how to do it.” Paul said, “They added nothing to me but contrariwise!”), when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision (which is Gentiles) was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (Now watch your two gospels – the same gospel, but two different slants.

The Jews held right on to the ordinance of circumcision and God allowed it, because God wanted to get enough of the Jews out to rule with Him in the millennium, to sit on the twelve thrones. He told those apostles, “You’ll sit on the twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:27‐28), but Paul came to the heathen. I’m talking from the Jewish perspective now. They always call you heathen, and uncircumcised. Sorry. It feels good to be a heathen when you hear the Word of God, doesn’t it? Because you can go from a heathen to a child of the King! When Paul begot us with his gospel, we went from the guttermost to the uttermost. We were in the gutter.

When we look at 1 Corinthians, Chapter 6, it tells the Gentiles that they were adulterers, and they were fornicators, along with many other things. He just goes on and on. He said, “But now you’re washed; now you’re cleansed by the Spirit of our God, and you are justified! And justified means as though you never did it. In the Book of Romans Paul said, “It is God that justifies; who is it that condemneth?” If God said, “O.K.,” then who are you to condemn?

Let me get these other scriptures. Verse 8, “(For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision (which is Jews), the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)” Do you see the two slants there? How it is slanted just exactly. I tell you, the bees are going to come. When the real saints of God hear this gospel preached in the power of the resurrection, it’s going to feel right to them. It’s going to sound right, and nobody can change them. Yes, they’ll be bias. They can’t go down here in the Church of God, or some other place, where they preach a trinity and false baptism or go where they say, “The word doesn’t come to nobody but a prophet,” or where they say “There are still seven men to come that will be thunders.” They can’t go there and feel good about it. No. They are bias. They’re like that early Gentile church.

I tell you, if you’re a dove of God, you might get out of the ark of safety a little while, but you can’t find rest for your feet. There’s not but one place to come. Come back to the ark, and that’s the Word of God, Jesus Christ. Are you bias, Brother Howard? Yes, and glad to be; because I am bias about the Word of God and the gospel that Paul preached. I am not neutral about the Word, because Paul took us in a certain direction. I could get up and quote scripture. I could get all my scriptures wrote down, and go to the concordance and get every scripture that deals with a subject, and get up here and preach it to you. What would I be doing except be someone that just studied the Word? Anybody that can read the Word can do that.

Now listen to me. Watch. Verses 9‐14, “And when James, Cephas (which was Peter), and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived (or recognized) the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen (or Gentiles), and they unto the circumcision (which was Jews). Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. (And Paul said here, continuing in his writing) But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision (In other words, the other Jews. He didn’t want to be in a bad spot with them.). And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. (Paul said) But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel (talking about Peter and the apostles), I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” See, God wasn’t mad at Peter or anything. Peter was only called to go to the Jews, but Paul had a different slant.

If I want to eat swine meat I eat it. See, the thing about these Jews, they had to keep a strict dietary law; some meats they could eat, and some they couldn’t; but when Paul came, I don’t know what Peter was eating, it might have been ham, whatever it was he didn’t want the other Jews to see him; because before the other Jews came Peter did eat and drink with the Gentiles. He was there as one of them. But when the other Jews came, ole Peter said, “Lord have mercy, I don’t want them to catch me with this bunch!” And he withdrew himself. But Paul said, “I withstood him to the face because he was to blame. He was not walking uprightly according to the gospel. Whose gospel? Paul’s.

Having the right slant on the gospel is important in this hour. With the right slant – we do not frustrate the grace of God. We know that it is His righteousness that He has given us and not our own, it is by grace that we are saved. With the right slant – you give the woman her place. She can testify, she can sing, she can give a testimony, she can talk about the Word, and she can tell experiences God did for her, but she doesn’t get behind the pulpit and take a text and preach a sermon. That is a man’s job, but she’s heirs together with us. Give that woman that place. Remember what I said, “The man is the head of the house; but the woman is the heart of the house.” That’s where the family comes together. The man is the head, but when the little child skins its hand, the mama is usually the one that puts the band aid on, blows on it, kisses it, and whatever. I’ve never understood this, what is it about a mama’s kiss that stops the pain when a child falls and skins their hands real bad? All mama has to do is kiss it, and the child is off to play again.

Remember what I said, “The man is the head of the house; but the woman is the heart of the house.” You’ve got to have the head and heart together to make it work – that’s having the right slant on the gospel.

God bless you. Amen.

AUDIO/VIDEO SERMONS AND BOOKS

All sermons by Brother Ben Howard are recorded on Cassette tape, CD's, DVD's, and Mp3 formats. Also, there is a collection of published books that are available for download or by request as well. Please feel free to visit us at our website often as new materials are constantly being added, or write to our postal address below.

Sound Of Liberty

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