How to Enjoy the Bible Camp '70 (Session 6 part 2)
Mic 4:4, 3; Mal 3:11, 6-9
Mal 3:10, 11; Lev 27:30; Psa 1:1-6
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Here is Dr. Wierwille’s closing teaching from the July 1970 Way Family Camp on How to Enjoy the Bible.
The book of Micah, chapter 4. And in verse 4 it says:
Micah 4:4
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;…
Now, he couldn’t sit under his vine and under his fig tree unless he had a vine and a fig tree to sit under. Which simply tells you, whatever this is talking about, there is a day coming when somebody’s going to have an abundance of everything. And that somebody is every individual who is going to have his own vine, his own fig tree.
Micah 4:4b
…and none shall make them afraid…
And no one is going to throw any scare or fear into them.
Micah 4:4 continued
…for the mouth of the LORD of hosts [has what?] spoken it.
Now, when will that day be? This day will come to pass for every person upon the earth after the gathering together, after the judgment after the world again becomes his paradise.
So, what about those of us who are living now? The same thing is true for us as individual believers today, which someday will be true for all people upon earth. But, we today as individuals, have this potential and this possibility of rising up to this great possession of the truths of God’s Word and the magnificence of it but not as all the people but as individual believers. Understand? Not as a whole nation, but as individual believers in that nation. And the greatness of this of course is set in the proceeding verse of chapter 4, where it says:
Micah 4:3
And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
In the light of what I’ve just said, you know that is in the distant future. How distant, I do not know. But you know something I’ve learned, that in the individual life, in the boys and girls, in the young people, and in the adults who really know what it is to be born again, and then they renew their minds, for them the greatness of that verse is already a reality. We have beaten our swords into plowshares. We’re not concerned about killing anybody; we’re not concerned about warring against anybody. As far as my heart is concerned I have nothing but love. I don’t want to fight; I don’t even want to argue with Dotsie, that’s right. I don’t want to argue with Sara, I don’t want to argue with J.P., and we hardly every do. I suppose if we had to argue and fight, then I wouldn’t be able to carry the ministry that I must carry for Him. So, really in my heart, and I love everybody else, I may sometimes not sound like it, but that don’t mean nothing. That’s right. Love is not in the sounding; love is in the reality of life, and for us surely. And I can only speak for myself but I can speak for you when the Word is there. And surely, you love the word as much as I do. And therefore, I’m sure you don’t want to hurt anybody as far as you’re concerned, you have already beat all of your swords into plowshares, your spears into pruninghooks, which is simply to clean up the trees and stuff so you have wonderful fruit in your life. And as far as we are concerned, we don’t want nations to fight against nations. You see, someday, what you and I have in our heart tonight, will be a reality among all of the peoples of the world. And that will only be after the return of Christ. But in the midst of this time in which we live before his return, you and I are those lights. We are exactly that. In the book of Malachi, where I would like for you to go please, this is the fifth last book of the Old Testament. Chapter 3 verse 11.
Malachi 3:11
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the [fruit] of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD...
Now, here this verse tells us that he is going to rebuke the devourer. Who is the devourer? Satan. So he is going to do the rebuking for our sakes. And the devourer shall not destroy the fruit of your, what? Grounds. He’s not going to destroy them God says. He says he will rebuke the devourer for your sake so therefore we as believers have an absolute right to believe that our crops will be good, that the fruit on our vine will be good. That the fruit on our trees will be there. The business man has a right to believe that the fruit of his labor will come back, that he will have a good business, that he will have profits in that business. Because without profits, the business man cannot succeed in the Way Ministry. The men working in the shops and the factories will believe that nothing can touch them in their job. It’s sort of a wonderful, wonderful life. And do you know where this [Malachi] 3:11 is set? It’s spoken to people who have been cheating on God. Back in the 6th verse, he says:
Malachi 3:6
For I am the LORD, I change [what?] not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
But if I wasn’t the LORD, I would burn, you see? That’s what he was saying. He had promised Israel, He would hold fast, you know. But Israel didn’t hold fast. God stayed faithful. That reminds me of scripture, you know, God is faithful. What He has promised He is not only able but what? {willing.} That’s right. So, he says to Israel:
Malachi 3:7
Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return [to] you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye people said, wherein shall we return?
We haven’t done anything wrong LORD, what are we going to return to, we haven’t even left you? The LORD says you’ve been gone so far you haven’t even seen me for years. That’s right. But they didn’t think they were off. The people we minister to when we start talking to them, they don’t think they’re off. John Townsend said to me, he really never was hungry for the Word until somebody dogged him with it. And when they started giving him the Word, then he found out that he was really hungry. Then he started eating more, getting more of the Word, then he really got into the depth of the word. Most of the people that you will be speaking to just will not admit to you that they really have a need in their life. They say, “Well, I’m a pretty good fellow, I don’t trip out any more than anybody else. What difference does it make?” The youth age, and man, I just walk along with them, we’re not so bad. Are we communicating? Isn’t that true? That’s exactly what Israel, or Jacob said to God. LORD, wherein shall we return? We don’t know where to return to, we didn’t even know we were out. Most people today don’t know there out. Right. They don’t know they are tripped out; they don’t know they’re way out in left field. They don’t know what they are doing. All they know when they’re sensible is they’re full of fear, worry and anxiety and everything’s going kitty wampus but they don’t know why. And you become so acclimatized, everybody else is going kitty wampus therefore that must be the natural way to go. Isn’t that right? Because everybody else is full of fear, therefore I’m full of fear, therefore it must be natural for everybody to be full of fear. Isn’t it interesting how the devourer has really gotten to our day and our time. They say we don’t know what we have done. You know what the LORD says?
Malachi 3:8
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed [you]?
Where have we robbed you LORD, we didn’t rob you?
Lord says:
Malachi 3:8 continued
…tithes and offerings…
And you know what He says in verse 9:
Malachi 3:9
Ye are [what?] cursed with a [what?] curse:…
They brought the curse upon themselves because they were cheating on God. They were robbing Him and what were they robbing Him? Of tithes and offerings. Do you know what they were doing? They were bringing second and third rate offerings and claiming first rate benefits. That’s right. They brought, for instance, sheep that were maimed, which was against the law. These they were bringing as their offering, though they would get a first rate price, though it was a third rate animal. The Word says that whenever they brought that sheep it had to be without blemish and without spots. But they were bringing the blemished and the spotted ones. The injured ones. So, he says, “You robbed God.” And they say, “Wherein have we robbed you?” He said, “…in tithes and offerings…even this whole nation.”
Then he says in verse 10:
Malachi 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into [what?] the storehouse,...
In this day in which this word was written, the “storehouse” was the synagogue or the temple. This particular Malachi record here refers to the temple. That was the “storehouse.” From the temple the word of God was to be meted out. He said, bring the tithes into the storehouse.
Malachi 3:10
…that there may be meat in mine house,…
Now, I know that the church of grace is not under law. I know that, but when a person comes under the church of grace, and does less than what they did under law, something’s kitty wampus someplace. Something is out of order someplace very radically in our renewed mind thinking. We read where certainly (we as far as I’m concerned), we have taken our swords and hammered them into plowshares, haven’t we? All right. If we say we have done this, that is under love, that is under grace. And certainly under grace, a man or a woman, or a boy or a girl wouldn’t do less than they would have done under the legalism of the law of the Old Testament, would you? Therefore, we don’t live under law but you certainly never start with less than ten percent of every dollar you get for the Lord’s work. But the average person gets so good hearted when he gets saved, he wants to help the whole world. So, he thinks the storehouse is every place where there is a minister standing at a pulpit or sitting down. Or where there is a radio man or where there is somebody on TV. And so, they start sending a dollar here, 50 cents over there, 25 cents over there, and every month they get 30 letters from needy sources for help. You can’t move the Word that way. You make up your mind on one place where you want to help and then put everything you’ve got into it, all of your mind, all of your physical ability, all of your money; put it at one place and you will help that one place magnificently. Well, make up your mind. Well, why not you and I take a stand for God’s Word? God said, His people had cheated Him, robbed Him, because they were bringing not their tithes and offerings into the storehouse. But He said, if you’ll do this, if you will bring your tithes, He said you can prove me, you can prove me. And I want to tell you when God says prove me, He means what? Prove me, try Him out. Find out if God’s a liar or if He told the truth.
Malachi 3:10 continued
…and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, [see] if I will not open you the windows of [what?] heaven [see, if I will not open you the windows of heaven], and pour you out a blessing,…
It doesn’t say dollars and cents. In other words, you put your tithes in, it doesn’t mean that God is going to turn right around and give you a twenty dollar bill if you put in a ten. He can, but it says blessing. And blessing is a lot more than a twenty. That’s right. Suppose that the devourer is robbing you of health and you’re just at the last stages, where either if God doesn’t do it, you’re done for. What’s it worth? I’d call that a blessing if you got delivered, wouldn’t you? I would call it a blessing this afternoon that nobody got hurt; nothing really happened except a little bit of rain. I’d call it a blessing that a group of people like this can live together all week and all we have is Jo stubbing her toe and that’s all I can remember now. Isn’t that just tremendous? You bring this many people together almost at any other place and they have a special place set up with a flag hanging out in front and a full time nurse. [LAUGHTER] Now, God supplies us
with a lot of nurses, but not to do that kind of work. They’re here to learn the Word. Isn’t that a blessing? Boy, oh boy, I think it’s wonderful?
Malachi 3:10 continued
…[see] if I will not…pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Then He says and, and, and—in conjunction with that He said:
Malachi 3:11
And I will rebuke the devourer…
That’s why the vine [is] not going to cast her fruit, that’s right. That’s why the apple trees are going to have apples. That’s why in here it says the cows are going to calve properly. The chickens are going to hatch chicks and have lots of kitties [LAUGHTER] for the children to play with. It is God’s Word and God’s Word, class, is God’s will. There’s an interesting record in Leviticus, chapter 27. He says in verse 30:
Leviticus 27:30
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of [what?] the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto [whom?] the LORD.
That’s right. It’s holy to the LORD. Whether it’s fruit, whether it’s grain, whatever it is, all of that is holy unto the LORD because really everything belongs to Him. Without God putting into order the form, the made stuff, and the created that we talk about in Genesis, and the Word says there would be no fruit to eat; there would be no grain. Therefore in everything in life God must come first. Ever since I began teaching out East and out West and so forth, things are beginning to dribble through here at Headquarters that just blessed my soul. Letters that come from you and other people, always have the word “God” right up at the top and that blesses my heart. I not only want God at the top of our letters, I want God at the top of our lives. Because, a man can put it at the top of a letter and still not put God at the top of his life. But it’s a good thing to do, to write Him at the top. And I like the way you use the back side of the letters too. That’s right, you might as well right something to the postman on the outside. He has to handle it, you might as well witness to him while he’s doing it. Because, it goes at the same rate. You know, in the book of Psalms, Psalm 1:1. You know this one, huh?
Psalm 1:1
Blessed [blessed, blessed]…
You don’t have to pray about it, it’s already blessed.
Psalm 1:1
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the [what?] ungodly, nor standeth in the [road or in] way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of [what?] the scornful.
Blessed is the man, remember that.
Psalm 1:2
…his delight [his delight, the blessed man, the blessed man’s delight] is in the law of the [what?] LORD; and in the law [of the Lord, the truth of God’s Word] doth he meditate day and night.
That’s where his head is kids. That’s where he thinks, that’s where he lives, that’s where he moves, that’s where he believes, in the law of the Lord, the Word of God, day and what? {night.} And the person who does that, verse 3, shall be, no ifs ands or buts about it.
Psalm 1:3
And he shall be like a tree [like a tree] planted by the rivers of [what?] water, that bringeth forth [its] fruit in [its] season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall [what?] prosper.
Amen, he is like a tree , blessed is the man whose delight is in the Word of God—He’s like a tree planted by the rivers of water, where it has got plenty of moisture. Guaranteeing that it will bring forth its fruit in season. Before you can get a man converted he has to hear the Word. Therefore, conversion is in season. Before they speak in tongues, they got to be taught the Word in season, understand? His leaf also shall not wither. Because he has enough moisture, it will not wither. And whatsoever he doeth, this person who delights himself in the Word of God, that person is going to prosper. And people, prosperity is a lot more than money. Now, money’s part of it, I know that you got to have some because you can’t pay the grocery with stones. There’s a lot more to prosperity than just money. And His promise is: whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 1:4-6
The ungodly are not so: but [they] are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation…
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall [what?] perish.
So, we’re like a tree; a tree established by the rivers of water. And we’ll bring forth the fruit in due season if we faint not. And whatsoever we do, will prosper. It has to prosper.