Thoughts by Bro. Ernest Hawtin
[from LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES book 1]

THE SPLASH-DOWN
3/1/66
 

          We have been considering the Elysian sojourn of the saints in the heavenlies, using as a background, for the purpose of illustration, man’s present achievements in his conquest of space. We shall consider in this issue the possibilities of coming back to Earth. The astronaut is vitally concerned about this, as he has not the capacity to stay aloft indefinitely, and his life depends on his contact with Earth.  His associates on terra firma can bring him down at will.  Without this contact he would stay in orbit for an undetermined period of time.  Our concern as saints should not be to come down, but to stay up!  The thing that always grounds us is our contact with the world!  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,... (Rom.12:2).

          Remember that you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  He is at the right hand of God; He is in God; God is in Him; and they are in us!  How can these things be?  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you (Jhn.14:20).  Surely this is celestial language!  Men contend over such a Divine mystery.  If A is in B — B cannot be in A. Take this new course in linguistics, and believe it with all your heart.  It is space language!  Your life has been blended into His life.  His life is our life!  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear (shall be manifested), then shall ye also appear (be manifested) with Him in glory (Col. 3:4).  Clearly this great manifestation is through the church, and the whole creation travails for this to come. Yes, we are, no doubt, in orbit, as long as we walk in the Spirit. Is there any possibility of a splash-down?  Our contacts on Earth are all that can bring you down! It is much easier for you to come down than for the space-men. Through worldly thoughts, you near the atmosphere of Earth, and if you respond to the commands of the flesh, your descent is sure.  Old relationships, and members below, are always ready to communicate, “Fire your retro-rockets, and come down; do you feel you are better than us?”  You must cut off all communication with the Earth; as long as they exist, they are able to bring you down!

          What then shall we do about our dear old cronies back on Earth?  They have been so nice to us, and have helped us to pamper our flesh.  How could we ever treat them in a mean or petty manner?  These old members of ours, these.  Earth dwellers, must now be considered enemies. Friendship of the world is enmity with God (Jam.4:4).  We must start gunning down this old man with all his associates and relatives.  Mortify, put to death, deaden the appetites and desires, destroy their vigor and strength!  You are dead, but paradoxically, you are putting to death.  It is a progressive state.  Death is relative to that which is alive in us.  Were you to die, you would be dead to your immediate household, but not to the neighbors or relatives; not dead to relatives in New York, or Alaska. We are dead as far as Sin is concerned, but alive unto Christ.  Also it seems quite possible that through lack of knowledge, a person can be quite dead to immoral sins, but very much alive to mental and vocal sins.  The apostle gives us quite a detailed list of those members against which the feud has begun.  New members have moved in that will never agree with the old timers, who argue, “We were here first and possession is nine points of the law.”  Put them to death. It’s a fight to the finish. There is no other way!

          We start off with a barrage against the foe, and we find they are not antagonistic; they are even friendly.  So smooth, and socially polite, like Agag; must I, as Samuel, hew them in pieces before the Lord?  Yes, as Samuel, we must not judge by the outward appearance; we must ignore the Judas kiss, the good-humored smile, the fair speeches, and the courteous manner.  Satan delights in acting the gentleman!  You must look deeper and see the ruin and destruction back of it all. If you would kill, you must acquire hatred!  The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: (Prov.8:13).  This is the very beginning of wisdom (Psm.111:10).

          The first member mentioned in the feud lineup is fornication. This is an old friend of the world, and chief among the princes of the Gentiles. We must see that this is particularly a Gentile sin. This is why Paul’s epistles show great concern about it.  This sin was part of the ritual in the worship of Astarte, the Phoenician goddess of sexual love.  From that day, every form of sexual perversion has been added to the Gentile list of sins. This was not possible in Israel.  They had laws concerning virginity, that were rigid indeed, that could mean the death of anyone who was defiled. It has never been part of our civilization to be concerned over the proof of virginity.  While this pure state existed in Israel, the Gentiles were running rampant in the escalation of the sins of the body.  Because of this, the apostles brought in four laws, one of which was to abstain from fornication.

          Paul sanctioned this law as one of the essential warnings to the Gentiles. (1 Thes.4:3).  Here the apostle is careful to teach the saints to abstain from fornication, and learn how to acquire and possess a wife chastely and honorably, and not to gratify their passions as the Gentiles.  Here we come to the main means of avoiding this sin — by marriage.  Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife,... (1 Cor. 7:2).  We are facing things as they exist in our day, an era of low morals, where there must be no frustration to the passions, or curbing of the emotions.  Where there is self-control, Paul advises that it is best to abide as he, but where the natural passions bear rule, it is better to marry.  Marriage is honorable, and is an institution of God, and can be welcomed freely by the church. But fornication,...let it not be ONCE named among you, as becometh saints;... (Eph. 5:3). The worship of the female is widespread today, and we as Gentiles, must with greater diligence and sincerity avoid the spirit of Astarte, and refrain our feet from her paths.  For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.  Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death (Prov.7:26-27).

         Another way to mortify this member is to flee from it. (1 Cor. 6:18). One of the best ways to fight this battle is to run!  Resist the Devil, and he will flee you (Jam. 4:7), but if you know your resistance is poor, you had better do the fleeing!  Incorporate into your vocabulary a good, loud, staunch, “NO!” and follow it up with the reason — ”GOD!” Use these words once, and they will be easier to use next time; also, you will notice you have delivered an effective death thrust to the enemy.  The teaching of the blessed apostle goes deeper when he shows that the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body (1 Cor. 6:13).  We are joined to Christ in membership in His body. God raised up the Head of the body, and He will also raise the body, with all its members.  How unthinkable is it, then, to take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?  He which is joined to an harlot is one flesh, or one body (1 Cor. 6:16), and those who commit this sin, also involve the Lord, seeing they are yet one with His body! This is likely one of the main reasons why the wrath of God is poured out because of this sin. See Eph.5:6 and Col.3:6.  As still a further deterrent to committing this sin, Paul points out in his teaching that the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, that it is not our property, that the Lord had purchased it, and that it has been requisitioned to be a holy temple for a worthy God, the Holy Spirit!  You dare not defile temples, be they the Lord’s or even gods’ of this Earth. Go into a heathen temple and defile it in some unbecoming manner, and you would be in trouble. Temples are the dwelling places of the gods!  If we swear by the temple, we swear by him that dwells therein, but if we defile the temple, we defile him that dwells therein.  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (1 Cor.3:17).  How serious a matter it is for us to use Divine property in an unworthy manner!  Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Cor. 6:20).

          The teaching of the church has a very effective bearing on the life of its members.  There is very little teaching from the pulpit on this subject.  We think it is nice to be nice by keeping quiet.  This is shunning to declare all the counsel of God.  We should not be surprised if Sin thrives when we neglect the teaching of the Word of God.  Balaam taught Balak to corrupt the people of God by tempting them to marry the women of Moab, and commit whoredom with them.  Because of this, twenty-four thousand fell in the plague.  Jezebel also taught this same doctrine. She did not teach outright to do this evil, but just the looseness of spirit, perhaps  encouraging marriage with unbelievers under the guise of getting them saved.  The ultimate results are the same — fornication.  Teaching, coupled with the feminine spirit, will lead to a moral corruptness always. May we heed the doctrine and not condone women teachers.  It is impossible for a woman not to be deceived, even as Mother Eve in the garden was confused by the voice of Satan.  Jezebel taught them to eat things sacrificed to idols, thus breaking another law the apostles had laid down.  See what this led to. Get into the spirit of an idol, more into the popular spirit of the world, perhaps something like a Sun dance, or like rock and roll, where people get into the spirit of their idol.  We then are easily lead into more wrongdoing, and sin.

          In our verse in (Col. 3:5), all the sins mentioned concern sex.  Uncleanness has to do with the sins of Sodom.  Inordinate affection is passion uncontrolled; evil concupiscence is extreme lust; and covetousness, while including this sin, is not confined to it.  These sins, you will notice, are in a special group by themselves.