Change - A Necessary Answer!

Rev. George R. Dillahunty
Mount Olive A.M.E. Zion Church
5567 County Line Road (Riverdale Community)
New Bern, North Carolina 28562

September 29, 2005

Text: Job 14:1-2,7 (King James Version)

"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. (vs. 2) He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. (vs. 14) If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of mine appointed time will I wait, till my change comes."

Topic: Change - A Necessary Answer!

Most people do not like change! Yet, if an individual desires to make Heaven his or her home, change is a necessary answer! Mankind, both male and female, because of the fall of the first Adam, in the Garden of Eden, is born of a woman in iniquity! In order for mankind to be restored to a right relationship with Almighty God, who cannot and will not tolerate sin - of any kind - mankind must absolutely change! The problem with many Christian "true believers" is that they are allowing the world to change them, instead of changing the world themselves! Mrs. Sabra Gibbs, told me today, in the Pamlico County Library, located in Bayboro, North Carolina, that "A wise man changes often; but, a foolish man never changes!"

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition), defines the word "change" as: "To make different in some particular". We need to make our way of thinking different! We need to replace the "mind of man" with the "mind of Christ"! We live in a disenchanted society - a society that few would argue "needs to be changed"! We live in a horribly confused era of human history - religions have failed - governments have failed - philosophy has failed - and, my brothers and sisters, colossal wickedness exists everywhere!

Just look around you - look at the "fallen state" of the world in which we live! The late great Russian novelist, philosopher and mystic, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1828 - 1910), once said: "There are two methods of human activity - and according to which one of these two kinds of activity people mainly follow, are there two kinds of people: one use their reason to learn about what is good and what is bad and they act according to this knowledge: the other act as they want to and then they use their reason to prove that that which they did was good and that which they didn’t do was bad."

Our modern-day news media seems to make selfishness, greed, and rebelliousness excitingly attractive! Criminals escape justice through the use of "highly paid" clever defense lawyers who manipulate the criminal justice system to get their clients off on a "legal technicality"! Nearly half of the world’s nations are ruled by totalitarian dictators and persecution abounds everywhere!

The world has witnessed an alarming rise in pornography, perversion, occultism, terrorism, and suicide! Abortions and divorces have become "commonplace" in our society - a society that thrives on "materialism" and the importance of "self"! Clearly, change is necessary if we are to survive! The Old Testament story of Job indicates that Job was familiar with the need for change!

The Old Testament Book of Job examines and addresses three (3) of the greatest problems that face mankind today:

1. The question of the invisibility of God.

In Job 23:3 (KJV), we find Job saying: "Oh that I knew where I might find Him: