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The subjects of love was a great deal upon the heart of the lover of our soul.
In John's Gospel, the Lord could say.
If you love one another.
Keep my commandments. If you love one another, how important that is to remember that the Lord's command to us was to love one another, this commandment that she loved one another. As I have loved you. What a what a comment coming from the lips of the Lord Jesus as I have loved you.
Can we?
Love one another as the Lord loved us, He asked us to.
Versus Lovely to see. I'm just thinking of verse 7.
That's a trial of your faith being much more precious than a goal that perishes, though it be tried with fire.
Well, around these Jewish believers.
Was resistance to them going on with the Lord and persecution for their faith in Christ and everything was an adversity around them And the apostle Peter says. But don't let that be.
Within you. And so it is a good exercise Brother Stanley, that.
In the assembly and and we can say in the home too, it should be to our souls real haven aggressive whether Bruce read those verses this morning, come on to me and you shall find grass. And so if we have this cultivation of love.
Amongst ourselves, the assembly will be a real true haven of rest, won't it? And the same is true with our family life, that there should be a place where our children.
Who out in the world? It's a cold, harsh, severe place, but when in the home or in the assembly, we should be able to rest in this atmosphere of law.
You don't want to forget brethren two our brother has talked about out in the world and the coldness of it, and that's certainly true. But the world won't present itself to our children and our young people is a cold place. It will present itself as a very inviting place, pretending to love, doing what Absalom did back in the Old Testament. Not winning their hearts as Christ has won our hearts, but stealing, seeking to steal through.
Feigned love the hearts not only of our children, the young people, but all of our hearts.
To steal them away from Christ, you know how we need to display, as our brother has said, that love of Christ toward one another. That we can see and sense and experience the wonderful, incredible difference between the feigned love of the world which would seek to steal our hearts, I say, and the true love of Christ that ought to be displayed in every action and word in our lives.
A remarkable thing about Absalom is that he's one of the two or three men in Scripture that whose.
Beauty, good looks is mentioned and then if we see the contrast before we mention about Absalom, we go to the contrast of the the bridegroom. In the book of Song of Solomon the attributes of the bridegroom starts from the head and goes down to the feet. With Absalom he starts at the feet and goes up to the head because that was his, that was his central feature was that he was earthly minded and this weary world.
Well, may appear very loving and they have words and expressions for love that scripture doesn't use, but it's going to always be earth centered and with the bridegroom it's going to be heavenly from the head down. What a contract.
We can't really love properly unless we understand that love. The fountain of love is God himself, isn't it? Says in First John Four. We love because.
He first loved us, so how am I going to love a cantankerous brother that doesn't like me that much and that doesn't show a friendly face to me? How am I going to love him, brother? And it's going back to think of the love of God and how he loved us.
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And look at the cross and to see the extent to which that love could go to win my heart. Then if I'm in the enjoyment of that love, I can love those that are unlovable. And it's interesting in this verse that you have two forms of the word love. Maybe you're going to get around to that. Stan, I'll let you go ahead.
Anyhow, and it says, Having obeyed in obeying the truth through love, through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, that's fileo love, the love of mutual appreciation. And it says we're exhorted in.
Hebrews chapter 13. Let brotherly love continue. We should cultivate that brethren.
The mutual appreciation of one another that should always be there, but the fact that we're exhorted to it means that sometimes it may not be there, but there is in that case, a love that always abides, and that's divine love, and that's what it refers to at the end of the verse.
Say that ye love one another. That's the agape love with a pure heart. Fervently somebody said like white heat love and.
Fervently. Oh brethren, that's what's characteristic of Christianity, and it's interesting to me You referred Brother Imbo to John's Gospel. But in John's writings, in the gospel and in the Epistles, 7 distinct times, we are commanded, not suggested that we do it, but commanded to love one another.
Does he have to command us to love one another?
We know that we've passed from death into life because we love the present and evidence that there is divine life there because that cantankerous brother that gets on my nerves so much. I love him anyway.
Like to misread the last phrase of Grace 22.
See that ye are loved one of another. It's not what it says. We don't come and we ought not to come to the assembly looking to be loved.
That's going to just cause problems and discouragements. We want to come showing love. And I would submit, beloved brethren, if you come to the assembly with a desire to show love, and I come with a desire to show love, we're both going to feel love. But if we each come expecting to be loved and waiting to show love until we feel loved, it's going to be a long time before love is shown. So the command here is to be expressing the love, not to be waiting to receive it. And if we're doing that in our homes.
And in the assembly, if we're loving one another, showing the love of Christ and seeking to do that fervently as you brought out Brother Bob, then there's going to be a wonderful response and a wonderful, happy environment. It is more blessed.
Would give them to receive. And that's what that love, that divine love does, that gives with sacrifice all sacrifice to itself. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So it's always.
Love with sacrifices? Easy.
Relatively to say I love you to somebody. But, brethren, the true proof of love is in how much sacrifice there is behind that word.
Not that we love God, but that he loved us and gave his Son again. That's divine love.
And we should and we should display it. If we have a divine nature, which according to Peter we do have, then we should display divine love.
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Anytime we speak about loving brother, we have to go back to walk toward that. In John 13, a new commandment I give unto you that you love the president. The old commandment was one that says you must love God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength and your neighbor as yourself.
That commandment, beloved, was a yoke which neither the apostles nor their fathers could bear.
But a new commandment is given that we love one another.
And God then brings us to himself in all spiritual blessing.
In holy and without blame before himself in love.
Giving us a capacity in the new nature that's been referred to.
In which we can do what we could not do.
Under the law. But in that giving us the capacity, we also have been given the Holy Spirit of God that gives us the power to do it.
And so now we are We are taught of God to love one another. We are taught of God to be able to add to this brotherly love the real love of God, as Peter enjoys us in his first chapter of the Second Epistle. To add to love, to brotherly love love.
Brotherly love has as its object my brother.
Love that.
We add to that brother love as God as its object and is able to express itself in self sacrifice. So now in the energy and power of the new creation with a new nature and the Holy Spirit to give power to that new nature, we can keep the commandment love one another.
Illustration of this in Luke 18 and 19. What you're saying, brother Yule, because under the law here a man came and he asked the Lord what should he do to inherit eternal life. And so the Lord took him up on that ground. He said go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor. And he went away sorrowful.
But now we find when we come to, the Lord comes, and he finds blind Bartimaeus at the gate of Jericho, and he gives him his sight. And he said, go thy way, and Bartimaeus follows the Lord. But then the Lord comes into Jericho, and he sees Zacchaeus in a tree, and he says, come down, He obeys the truth, and he comes to Zacchaeus's house. And what is the response produced in Zacchaeus's heart? He said, The half of my goods I give to the poor.
Did the Lord have to ask him to do that?
He produced something in his heart that the law could not produce. In the rich young man that came to the Lord, he went away sorrowful, but when that he obeyed the truth. And so we get that in our chapter here. It's.
By the obedience of weighing the truth on the unsane love of the brethren, purifying your soul by the obeying of the truth. And so that's how God works. It's in our souls as the truth is brought before our souls. He just came down and looked what the Lord produced in his heart. He produced that love.
And I mentioned that Bartimaeus in between because it says he followed the Lord. I believe he followed him right into Zacchaeus this house, and he was one of the good works prepared for him beforehand. There was a poor man who needed Zacchaeus money and so the Lord worked that in Zacchaeus heart and he did that. I just want to join brother Stan's comment to what brother Henry and Doug said about the character of the epistle, was it?
And the with these Jewish people, all of their hopes were earthly. It was for earthly success. These were the tokens of a godly man, that he should be successful, that he should succeed in the world. And now what did they get? But they got nothing but trial and difficulty and trouble. And so we see that here in our chapter here.
At the end of the.
21St verse And gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
And so now there are hopes. Before we're all earthly, but now they were in a different place.
And it begins seeing You have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and that is what is going to lead us to unfeigned love of the Brethren.
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Another reason that the command is a new one, brother, you have to follow on, is not only that we have been given the capacity, but that there is a new reference point in connection with the command. The command in the Old Testament was thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So I looked at my neighbor and how I loved myself. I should love my neighbor in that way, but now in Christianity.
We as men in the flesh do not figure any longer at all. The reference point is love one another as I have loved you. Isn't that wonderful to have that before our souls, brethren? And I think it's so vital if you're going to go on together.
Like you were mentioning Doug in Assembly Life, when we come together, it's not to be loved, it's to love and.
I have sometimes heard the complaint and travel around. There's no love in this meeting.
And I sometimes say the person that complaints is the first person guilty.
Because the kind of love that we're talking about is love that loves when there's nothing lovable.
Was there anything lovable in this world that God gave his only begotten son? No, it was because God is love. It's it's a focus on the source instead of on the object. And I think that is vital for us to understand if we're going to love rather than, as we should amongst ourselves, is to remember that the fountain of love is above.
That's the most important point. It's not our love, but his love. And if we were to consider Ephesians 432.
One of a tremendous change would come about amongst brethren.
Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. Now that's love, that's divine love. And God's asked us to do that. Sorry to say we don't, but if we did, what a change we'd find amongst brothers.
What about Ephesians 4 and verse 31?
Freedom.
I used to be quite impressed when I was going to high school with the particular high school I went to was quite good in in track and I was always impressed with the likeness of of the garments that they wore. Well, there's something to jettison before we get to verse 32.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be a kind one to another. You come to me, you've deserved that. Some little snide remark was made by me about someone. And you say, brother, why don't you be kind? The scripture says to be kind one to another. I go home and I say I can't do it. And I look up the scripture and my eye happens to hit not verse 32 but verse 31.
And it convicts me, it says.
Brother Stanley, you've got to get rid of some of these these things that are hindrances and then it will allow the kindness and love to flow.
To go back a few more verses in that same chapter, not to dwell on it, but if you go back to verse 24 of Ephesians 4, it says and that she put on the new man and a couple of verses before that it says put off concerning the former conversation, the old man. And so it is in this chapter, isn't it? It says in verse 23.
Being.
Born again. It's the only way I can carry it out, isn't it? Because, as has been mentioned, the reference point in Divine Love.
Is always God himself, and I have to be living in the good of that myself in order to show it.
And so often.
Let's be practical about it. There is the sense in our souls. Perhaps I speak for myself that says I can't do it, I can't do it. It's too difficult.
And then, as you say, brother Stan, our hearts.
Are lifted up to look at that Blessed One. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
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And we see what Divine Love did, and then we see that you and I.
By the grace of God, nothing in ourselves have been given the capacity to show that same divine love. Well, it's very humbling, isn't it? When we think, speaking for oneself, how we complain that we can't show it, and we do, but we have everything to enable us to do it. And so the command is there, and we're not told to try to do it. We're just simply told to do it, aren't we?
Things of unseen love of the brethren, and I think that is a reflection brethren that we need to.
Be exercised about It's easy to come up with a friendly smile and shake hands with a brother at meeting, but in the back of our hearts have resentment toward that person. One of the things that was a help to me, brethren, is I don't know who said it first, but it was said don't entertain hard feelings about anybody in the sphere of your existence, of your knowledge.
Don't entertain hard feelings and sometimes there are problems with a person.
And perhaps you've had to think about it in one way, but I challenge you if that was necessary, to think about something negative about that person. I challenge you to get down on your knees and to pray, genuinely pray, for the blessing of that person.
Because if you can't pray for that, it shows distinctly that the where the problem is. But if you can really honestly pray in the presence of God.
For that person, that'll break the logjam. They just have logs go down rivers instead of being on on trucks as we see in the Pacific Northwest. And they knew that when there was a log jam, there was a key log that that was often the problem. And that's the that's the key is Jill was told by God that he should pray for the history friends.
And it's interesting that if we were to go through the book of Jobs, we'd find how disgusting those three friends were and how Job really despised them. But it says that after he had prayed for them, then God blessed him. And I believe that's true of you and me and every one of us. If we hold a hard heart, if we hold a hard heart, when God in a good heart left us, we're not going to get a blessing.
Before when you first do, I'm not putting off old man and his deeds and the letting bitterness and anger and so forth be put away. Well, that's what we got in the second chapter of first verse. Wherefore laying aside these things.
We create atmospheres by those things that we permit in our thoughts.
In a physical way when various cultures are.
Incubated and producing whatever product is desired. They don't put the egg in the refrigerator, they put it in an atmosphere of warmth and an atmosphere of light. Well, in the spiritual matter. If we allow these things guile and heart, feelings and hypocrisies and feigned obedience and feigned love, we are creating a chilled atmosphere in which the culture of love.
Cannot be produced. We have to lay them aside, judge those things in the presence of God has been suggested, and then the actions of those that may be contrary to our thoughts may not seem quite so bad.
I was going to say their refrigeration that comes to mind where there was a matter taken up in an assembly.
And the brothers got together. And the before the IT was a serious matter. And before the.
Before the discussion was was taken up, a brother got up and he read those three those two verses, two last verses of Ephesians chapter 4 and which was very suitable to begin a a meeting of the brothers.
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And.
After and then we got down and prayed.
And after it was all done, the same brother that got up and read those verses.
Turned around and began to point his finger at another brother.
And rail on him.
I don't say this to entertain our thoughts at all. All I say it for is to show how wretched our own hearts are and how how we can talk about these things.
And they're true, and we should take heed to them. But do they get right down inside here? What was the answer to to that whole thing? What? What is the answer to to any of us to act in a way that we're talking about loved one toward another? Well, it's certainly not. It certainly has to get from beyond our intellect. It has to get down into our heart. And in order to do that, we need to look at the love of the Lord Jesus, as has been mentioned already many times.
And how he could say, As a father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue, ye and my love.
And so as we think of that love, then we can translate that love to our brethren. And we're talking about the loving, the cantankerous brother well.
When that isn't when the love of God, that the love that he has shown towards you and me in giving up His Son is active in my heart, then I can look at that brother through the eyes of Christ and and love Him in spite of all his faults and all his idiosyncrasies. Because certainly he can look at me and see the very same thing. And so I just mentioned an illustration like that to show how how we can we can give a sense of these things.
That we're talking about and yet turn right around and forget it all and.
And speak to our brother like that and rail.
Things to think that these parts of ours are capable of doing.
That's why it says, I think in verse 22. What purifies brethren is obeying the truth through the Spirit. And it's not in merely knowing the truth, it's an obeying. At that there is a purifying. This is not the purifying of the blood of Christ which we have mentioned earlier in verse 19.
Before God, from the guilt of sin, only the blood of Christ.
Can cleanse us, but in our lives. Practically, what has practical power to cleanse me is, is the obeying of the truth. And oh, the importance of the reading of the scriptures in our lives, brethren, how can we be purified if there's not the reading of the scriptures and if there is that new life?
There will be the desire to obey it. We have a life that loves to obey God. Now that's the character of the life that you and I have. It's not a hard thing. It's the delight of that new nature to obey God. And so when we have those commands, it's our delight to obey them. And in that obedience there is purification of our souls. That's practical.
And that's important. But going on to the end of the chapter, they're about the word of God. I think it is.
Such a precious portion here being born again.
Not of corruptible seed. We were born the first time.
By corruptible seed. That's why you see Gray hairs on my head. That's why you see wrinkles in my face. Corruptible seed it was I was born the first time, but now we have been born again of incorruptible seed. Oh, the blessedness of it. Brethren, the word of God, which lives and abides forever. I think the new translation puts the living and abiding word of God.
Isn't that wonderful? We have a light that will never grow old, No wrinkles, no Gray hairs to the new life that we have in Christ. Absolutely none. And then it says, contrasting it with the first creation, All flesh is as grass, and all the glorious man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but.
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Word of the Lord endureth forever.
And as we look around and see our dear young people here in the flower of their youth, beautiful to see young people and to see the freshness of vigor and strength they have. Some of us who are a little older don't have it and wish we had it sometimes. But we're not lamenting our age. We wouldn't want to go back. We.
We want to go forward, but just remember this dear young people.
That the glory of man is as the flower of the grass.
It's here today and gone tomorrow. I don't know where my years have gone. Seems like yesterday I was a young person and here I am, as old as I am. Some people probably look at me as old. I don't feel old, but that's the way it is. And I remember asking old brother Lino Bueno down in Bolivia. It was 99 years old and the Lord called him home. I asked him, Brother Lino Bueno, does it seem like a long time, your life?
No, it seems like yesterday I was a young person, a teenager, he said. That's the way life is. You turn around, you're going to find that you're going to be an old person.
But don't live for what's natural. Live for what we have in Christ, what is produced by the word of God, the living, the abiding word of God.
Young people, I would just repeat what he just said, but Bob has said.
Don't wait until you get a little older to get with the Lord and study his word fellowship with him daily. Doesn't have to be a long time, but give the Lord some time every day. There is much, much lovely ministry that feeds the soul.
That builds you up in strength and strengthens you in your walking ways. With the Lord, in communion with himself and with one another. Have something to share. I I can have too many regrets for having passed up such opportunities in my younger days.
Because I thought I had plenty of time. Well, do it now. Seek the Lord.
His word, his ways make him #1 in your life.
Chapter 4 in connection with the seed, it was incorruptible seed, and these two things are brought before us and I just like to look at it. Mark four and then in Luke 8IN connection with this incorruptible seed.
Verse 24 verse 23.
Of Mark 4.
He talked about a sore that went forth the soul.
But if any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto him, Take heed what you hear, With what measure you need, it shall be measured unto you unto you that here shall more be given. And to him that hath shall be given. And to him that hath not shall be from him shall be taken away, even that which he hath. Here it says, Take heed what you hear. And so we really want to get the incorruptible word of God.
And fill our souls with it, because if we listen to other things, Boaz said. Lean not in another man's field, because if we listen to other things, we're going to get have taken away from us that which we have. And so the character of the seed is that it is incorruptible. We want to get the truth.
And not only get the truth, but we want to get the truth from those that have walked in. It falls into Timothy, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, considering the end of their conversation. Now in Luke's Gospel, it brings in what our brother Jennings was saying. As young people, I believe in connection with the seed.
And umm.
Find the verse.
Verse 18 Again he's talking about the sower. But he said, Take heed, therefore how you hear. For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away, even that which he seemeth to have. And so now here it's not a question of what we hear, but it's how we hear. And so there are those things as we've seen earlier in the chapter.
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Chapter of How we receive the seed and if we allow thorns in our lives, the cares of life, the deceitfulness of riches, it's going to choke out the word. And so we've got time. We should use that and we should receive. The seed should be received into good ground, not Stony ground in our hearts too, but also how we hear. It is important that we receive it by faith, and if we receive it by reason or we receive it by.
By any other way than simple faith, then we're going to lose it because we don't really have it. We may seem to have it, and we may get it intellectually, but we won't really have it unless you receive it by faith. So there's two things in connection with the incorruptible seed. It's what we hear and it's how we hear it that are important. But that really in connection with love, that's really the the issue is it's a purifying your souls by.
The Word of God.
That's really love is not a contentless thing. It is really what we get in the word of God that is going to give us the power to love.
The way that he loved us.
The end of 2nd grade.
Chapter 6 then often reminded.
Of the lack of communion between light and darkness, and all of those other things that are contrasted there, and then enjoined to come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, And I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. This is the.
Reality of relationship and the enjoyed and and appreciated relationship that into which we have been brought, We have been brought into sons and daughters. Positionally, that's wonderful. We're children of God, but we have to transcribe or translate the position into which we have got into practical experience so that we enjoy.
Being sons and daughters of God, let's practice the next statement in the first verse of chapter seven of Second Corinthians, therefore having these promises.
Let us purify ourselves of every pollution of soul and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. This is the obedience of that we have brought, of the of the truth that we have brought before us here. Well then we turn to 1St John, Chapter 2. Hereby we know him.
The knowledge of God realized in a practical way, is expressed in the next line. Hereby we know Him if we keep His commandments.
The measure in which we walk in the truth is evidence.
Of our knowledge of God. When Nathan accused David of his sin, he said you have despised the word of God. There was not appreciation for the commandments to prevent and David's soul to prevent him from doing that which the word of God enjoined him not to do. Thing is true of us, when we fail, it's because we do not allow the word of God to have its sway over our moral being to do what it says.
OK, so our knowledge of God is.
Measured by our obedience.
Our obedience is determined by our love. If you love me.
Keep my commandments. And so there we have the obedience of the truth to the purifying of yourselves. And the measure of our knowledge of God and our appreciation for His word is the obedience to those commandments and not commandments. The keeping of those commandments is the measure of our love of God in a practical way.
I had something a while ago that I'd like to pass on and.
It's almost something that you need to think about, at least I do anyway, a little bit.
It was in our written ministry and I can't even remember where it was. But the brother said this. He said when it comes to our minds, we do hold the truth. There is a sense in which we are among those who have, if we have heard that which is the truth of God.
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But he said, when it comes to our hearts, it is the truth that holds us.
And that's really what it comes down to, isn't it? Because in order to walk in the good of it, in order to exhibit divine love, I have to be taken out of myself. It is not a question of my mind saying I will show love to that brother. It is not a question of my mind setting myself to say God commands me to show love and I will do it for anything like that. It's rather a question of saying, Lord, I don't have the capacity unless thou give us it to me.
I need the capacity to do it and we have it in that new life.
As our brother has remarked a while ago, we have the power of the Spirit of God to enable us to do it. But we must continually remember that it is when it comes to our hearts, it is the truth that holds us and enables us to walk in the good of it. And only in that way will we be able to keep what we have. Otherwise, as Neil says, we're going to lose it. We may seem to have it, and in one sense, as to our minds, you may say, well, they do have the truth. I do hold the truth.
But we don't really have it unless it has a grip on our hearts and we walk in the good of it.
To us in that what you say, Bill?
To meditate the word.
The scriptural figure of speech in the Old Testament for meditation was.
Chewing the cut. It means to take scriptures like this and to allow them to fill our minds.
But then let it sink into our souls. Oh the preciousness of these verses.
Being born again.
Not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. Think of it, brethren, We have something.
This after this morning before our souls that is going to last for all eternity. It is incorruptible, It is eternal, the living, the abiding word of God. Oh, not only to know it in our minds, but let it sink into your soul in an enjoyment.
You know when you put a bite of food into your mouth, you don't swallow it straight down.
You keep it in your mouth a while you're chewing on it, enjoying the flavors.
And chewing it, And then it goes down, and then it has its proper nourishing effect on our bite on our bodies, in the same way the truth of God.
Take it in. It has to pass through the mind. Like you say. It's important.
But once it's passed through the mind, get it down into the soul and enjoy it. Because Mr. Hagel, that used to say, it's not what you know that affects your life, it's what you enjoy in your heart. And that is true bread. And so let it get down. Let it work itself down. And that's where meditation has a real advantage. Let the truth of God get into your mind. Listen to it here.
But then go away and do some chewing brethren. Do some chewing on it and let it sink into your souls. It's precious. It's delicious. It's sweeter than honey brethren. It's more precious than gold. What we're talking about.
Power. I was thinking of him there before, Agrippa. When it talks about laying aside all malice and so on, you say, well, how do I get rid of this when I when I feel this? Maybe I'm not the only one in the room that's had that feeling and you just don't seem to be able to get rid of something. But there was the apostle and complete adversity. He'd been left in prison for two years because they were waiting for a bribe. He was willing to content the Jews, and he quite frankly forgot about him.
Jail for two years and finally he has a chance to answer, to give an answer to Agrippa. And what does he say there in the 26th verse of Acts? He said when he saw him, he said.
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And Paul said, I would to God, that thou, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost altogether such as I am, except these bonds. Why, he was as you were saying, he was in the enjoyment of the love of God. And you see the same thing. I understand you have that at Calgary and Philippians. Here was a man in prison, and he was looking out, and naturally there was everything to crush a man. There was only some preaching Christ of intention, some actually preaching Christ, supposing to add affliction to his bonds. And here was a man who had really suffered physically in the body.
And he was in A twist between 2 deciding whether to depart and be with Christ, which was far better to remain.
We know that some of his most fruitful ministry came from that prison cell. And what is it called? It's called the Epistle of Joy.
What led him? He was in the enjoyment of the love of God. He was chewing and enjoying on those things and so he could lay aside. We have the power to lay aside these things That is mentioned here at the beginning of the second chapter, laying aside all malice and guile and hypocrisy and envy and evil speakings. He could just turn to a grip and said, I wish thou art altogether as I was. He felt himself in a superior position to him, except these bombs. He didn't enjoy being in prison, and we don't have to pretend that we.
Enjoy the difficulty in that sins, but it was the instrument of blessing.
And his heart went out for the blessing of this one who was mistreating us.
We're going to enjoy the scriptures. We're going to have to lay aside these things rather than I remember some time ago listening to a sister tell about how she had been so terribly offended by what somebody had, how they treated her. And so she felt a deep resentment in her heart that she said. I found that after a few days I was hindering myself worse than anybody else. I had to let it go.
I had to lay it aside. And that's true, brother. And if you have some resentment.
Malice guile hypocrisies. It will hinder your spiritual, spiritual growth. Maybe you say, I don't seem to get much out of the scriptures when I read it. Maybe there's need of some laying aside first of all, and then in verse two we have as newborn babes.
Desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. It doesn't say that we are babes necessarily, but as a newborn babes.
To desire the sincere milk of the word. You see a little baby grab the bottle and suck with all its strength. It's intent on getting the milk out of that bottle. That's its light. That's going to give it growth. And I must say, Brother and I, I have really, sincerely been challenged by some of my older brethren.
And allow me to talk about one that's with the Lord AC Brown. Remember they used to be two Browns. One was from here chapter brown, and I used to call them light and dark brown. I think it was, but this was light brown because he had white hair and I can just remember in my youth rather than to see your brother AC Brown and when he read the scriptures with what care.
He read it as newborn babes, just like he was going to miss something.
If he doesn't, read it carefully.
It's been engraved on my mind the the way he picked up the scriptures and enjoyed it as a newborn babe. He was old in the Lord and he was a spiritual father. I'm sure that as a newborn babe he still nourished himself on that spiritual milk of the word.
Newborn faith.
And does a newborn baby have any of the things that were asked to release in the first verse?
Does a newborn babe have any guile, any malice, any hypocrisy, any envy, any evil speaking? Absolutely not. And so I believe the Spirit here would have two things in regard to this second verse. The newborn babes at the Diary of a Sincere Milk of the Word are those that have laid aside that first verse. And if we really desire the word of God, if we really look at it and as you said, Bob, take it in.
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Where would the first person have any part? Enough. No.
Talking about the true entering sin through the mind, the apostle says that in understanding we are to be men.
The word of God comes and we deal with it materially and we take it in and we wisely assimilate it. But then it says in malice, be ye children. And that's what has just been pointed out. There is nothing of these hurtful things in the hearts and minds of children.
Those of us who are parents have experienced the necessary discipline of children.
But they always are ready for us to be tucked in bed and kissed good night. There is not that desire for hurtfulness and the those things that would hinder the enjoyment of the father and child relationship and children in malice. We are to be children.
What is Malice power to my brother?
And what is Guile? Guile is figuring out how to hurt him.
And what is hypocrisy is covering up the whole fact. That's what it said here, Unfeigned love of the Brethren. We need to be real. We need to be honest with one another.
Malice is wanting her to my brother, we see the Apostle Paul. He desires the good and blessing of Agrippa because he had a sense of the Lord's love. Guy was trying to figure out how to hurt him, how to do him harm, and hypocrisy is covering it up.
I'd like to base an admonition on James Four and verse 11 That says speak not evil, one of another brethren. I looked that up recently and I thought it would tell me something about that word evil that you just kind of cringe from. But what it really means is speaking against somebody. Well, let me tell you a story in in the secular history of the United States.
The 3rd President of the United States beat out the 2nd President of the United States to a second term. So Thomas Jefferson became our third president. And John Adams didn't get to serve for eight years, but he only served for four. And as a result, there was a bitter feeling between the two of them that was very, very obvious, until one day somebody went to Thomas Jefferson and said, you know what?
John Adams said about you and it was very favorable, and Thomas Jefferson said he did well. The two of them started to write letters to one another on a friendly, no doubt very erudite and philosophical and political level. But in friendship, one of the last statements that Thomas Jefferson made before he died was John Adams lives. Well, John Adams died the same day as Thomas Jefferson.
And my point is this. I'm not going to tell you what is not true.
I am affected by what someone tells me adversely about another brother or sister. It affects my mind. I remember distinctly what we'll just call them X&Y or whatever. You want to keep it anonymous. But someone told me about this brother and basically he said he's a second class brother. He has no gift.
It affected me until I met him.
Made all the difference.
Brethren, you and I do the enemy's work.
If speak not against one another, the.
Snide remarks things that that affect one another. How important it is that that nothing stifles love in my heart towards someone, and it may be, and I'm not going to look around and and focus on anyone to to illustrate the point, but there may be someone here that someone has told me something against.
Against their viewpoint, there may be even a point in connection with it. But how important for us if my mother used to say, if you don't have anything nice to say about that person, don't say anything. But if we want to find what is suitable, then that too effects my heart. I'm effective the brother X, brother Y, brother Z, whatever the name happens to be, I'm affected.
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By what you say about that person, and if you say something kind and loving, it may be that that's exactly what I needed to dissolve some feelings, because we each have them. And that's the practical side. We need to be careful not to speak against one another, don't we? God knows our heart. God knows what we need. Each of us ought to read every day, probably.
Philippians 4 verse 8 and if we miss the thoughts in Philippians 4 verse 8.
We've missed everything.
Better read it right.
Whatsoever things are lovely.
Whatsoever things. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are on, whatsoever things are just. Whatsoever things are pure. Whatsoever things are lovely. Whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise. Think on these things. I know for myself I need to read this often, and I'm sure we can all fit into the same category.
With this doubt that we have control about what we think.
It tells us we need to gird up the loins of our mind and that simply means control our thoughts. Don't let them go helter skelter in any particular direction. Guide them in the channels that this verse eight shows that we should be guided in.
See the lack of this.
The what is produced by the lack of these things, when we think of the assembly of Corinth, And the state that they were in, was such that the apostle could not feed them what he wanted to feed them, and he could had to say to them that ye are yet carnal, and walk as men. And what what was the state there? While they had parties between each other, You know, they had the one of the safest of of said they were of cephas, other said of Paul, and of Apollos, and some of Christ. So they had these.
Divisions amongst them and in the third chapter of First Corinthians.
He says for a year, yet carnal. For whereas there's among you envying and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men. And so this is the kind of thing that it produces in an assembly is all these factions amongst us and these things are not. So he would have us to be of one mind that we might walk together and be of one mind in all these things. And so we have the the power within us rather for to be able to do this. Do we not? And every one of us as individuals are responsible to act upon these verses.
And these things that we have been talking about and bring to the assembly that which is going to be for healing and not with not.
Not for division, and not for strife. And so these things are so important, are they not Not only for the older ones, but younger ones too. And I must say that the younger ones are going to learn from the older ones. So we need to be careful and make straight paths for our feet, lest out, which is lame, be turned out of the way, but rather let it be healed.
Like to add just one line to what our brother said.
1St Corinthians 3 walk according to man.
We allow our behavior to become that of just the way man reasons, and that will never accomplish.
The purposes of God.
While you're looking that up, I'll read the last verse for he who left his glory.
To die upon the tree will soon complete the story and come again, And we conform to his image as known, be brought to know, and with increasing fervour, our ceaseless praise shall flow 141.