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Is not our resting place? Shall we of the way be weary when we see our Masters face?
No, he now anticipating.
In this hope, our souls rejoice.
And his promised Advent, waiting soon shall hear his welcome voice #9.
Star City Hall.
Where is it?
First Peter one perhaps start in verse 6.
First Peter chapter one and verse 6.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, don't out for a season, if need be here in heaviness through man full temptations, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, it would be tried with fire, might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
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Whom having not seen ye love, and whom tho now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently.
Who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them, did signify?
When it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
Under whom it was revealed, and not unto themselves, but unto us, they'd administer the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Which thing is the angels desire to look into?
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought on to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust and your ignorance, but as He which has called you as holy, so be ye holy and all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who without respective persons.
According to every man's work, pass the time of your soul journey here in fear, for as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Father's. What was the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot?
Who, verily, was foreordained before the foundation of the world?
But was manifest in these last times for you.
Who by him do believe in God?
They raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
Senior purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit under one fame love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
For all flesh is as grass.
And all the glory of man has the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
Stop.
The setting verse 5.
We had that were kept or guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation at the end of the journey. And so we have the power of God at work to get us safely along to the destination. We also, uh, have faith in activity. So then in versus where we started verse six to verse 9.
He comments on that faith.
That is necessary.
And he's called the trial of your faith. It's put to the test, but.
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It's a precious thing. It's worth more than gold.
And at the end of the journey, it is what is referred to as the salvation of our souls in verse 9, but it's also that for which at the appearing of the Lord Jesus will be found to praise and honor and glory.
When we trust God, we honor Him.
When we don't trust him, we dishonor him.
When we trust the Lord Jesus, we honor Him.
It's an honor to be trusted.
And God is worthy of that trust, and so God is worthy that there be.
Faith in himself to do what he says he will do.
Which is to bring safely home every one of his children and everyone that he has given to his son to be part of his bride.
That that gives substance a reality to the Christian life. And that's really what he brings out at the beginning of Hebrews Chapter 11, before he enumerates those who against all kinds of odds and difficulties, against all kinds of oppositions and trials and so on, they triumphed by faith. And that he but he says their faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
In a sense, that's not really a definition of hope, but what he's really saying is.
That these ones that he lists that live by faith, what gave reality and substance to their life was that they had an eye to the future and they trusted God.
Perhaps just in passing, the best definition of faith is at the end of John chapter 3, where it says He that received his receiveth, his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.
That's real faith. That is faith counts on what God says. It takes the word of God unquestioning and it rests upon, it has complete confidence without any question or reason. And that's what he wants from you and from it from me. And as we put our as we put our confidence in God for the circumstances of life, I believe that's what causes our faith to grow.
As we go through the trials that Peter talks about here, our faith is going to grow because we're going to find.
That he'll never let us down or disappoint us. How often have you had faith in someone?
And you've they've, they haven't let you down. And your faith grew. And then all of a sudden something came up.
And they let you down yourself. Never thought that person would let me down. And all of a sudden you don't have the same amount of faith. Your faith in that person has diminished or waned because they let you. They let you down. But our God will never let us down. And when the disciples came to the Lord and said, Lord increase our faith, the Lord didn't say was going to automatically increase their faith. He gave a little story to or a little illustration.
To show that how our faith grows is not to pray for more faith.
But to put the faith he has already given us in operation, Faith in operation.
In spite of the trials and opposition is going to make is going to cause faith to grow. I'd just like to go back for a moment to the book of Daniel because there's no doubt in our portion and illusion back to very familiar story and we won't read it. But I just want to notice a verse or two in Daniel chapter 3 in connection with the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Because in the third chapter of Daniel, they were put to a test.
Unlike anything I've ever been had to experience in the past of faith. I've never had a test like this. This test was that if they didn't bow down to the image that the king had set up, they were going to have to experience be thrown into the fiery furnace. This was a fiery test indeed. God was going to prove through the furnace their their faith.
And they couldn't stand behind Daniel in the third chapter, in the first chapter.
They had kind of, shall I say, run on Daniel's face. I don't mean they didn't have faith themselves, but Daniel was in the forefront. And because of Daniel's faith and exercise, they were able to stand with him. And what had happened? Their faith had grown. When they saw the Lord undertake for them in that situation, their faith had increased. And now when they had to stand alone in the third chapter, their faith was up to the test by the grace of God.
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And so we find here that they are, they will not bow down. And I just want to notice what they say.
In Answer to the king, verse 16 of Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, Oh Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
I want you to notice this particular. They say two things. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. I'm going to stop there for a moment. They didn't say He would deliver them because remember, they didn't know the end of the story. You know, we read the story with confidence because we know the end of it. But think of what a test of faith this was. And they didn't know if God was going to deliver them from the furnace.
But there was one thing they did know, and that's what follows.
And he will not, he may, He will deliver us out of thy hand, O King. In other words, they knew whether they perished in the fire or whether they were brought through the fire. God was going to deliver them from the King either way in if if they were brought through, there was testimony and glory brought to God. If they weren't, they knew where they were going. They had.
Eternity in view. And so this is what gave them the confidence, the faith to stand.
Against the king we know. As I say, the end of the story, but it was a real test.
This was a fiery trial. They were taken. The furnace is heated above what it had been. They're thrown into the fiery furnace and I don't think they would have missed this fiery experience for anything. In the end, if you were to stand by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego at the judgment seat of Christ or in a future day and say would you have missed that experience? Wasn't very nice to think that because you are faithful to God you had to go through that all. They say that was the best experience of our lives.
Because in that God proved himself, their faith increased. And more than that.
They experienced a special sense of God's presence that they had never experienced before. And if trials have the effect of strengthening our faith and drawing us closer to the Lord so we have a special sense of His presence, then they'll be true blessing and fruit following.
It's not the trial that's precious, is it? It's the faith that is proved in the trial, in the furnace of affliction that is precious. Some have pondered this and said, well, how can a trial be precious? No, it's not the trial, it's precious. The pre trial is needful. There's a need to be so that that which is precious, the faith that is tried as gold and comes out.
For his glory, that's what's precious.
Can be grief in it too, as it says in.
The new translation is in verse 6.
For a while at present, if need be put to grief.
By various trials.
There God doesn't say that if we have a sufficient amount of faith that we can just be above every trial and we won't feel it. It's not what Scripture presents to us. In the perfect example of it is the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He was in incredible agony as he anticipated what was going to be to be made sin and to bear sin and says that he was strengthened by angels. There was an incredible amount of stress through which he passed and it was Satan's hour in the power of darkness to turn him away from obedience and submission of faith. So he he isn't Peter isn't saying well just.
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It's a wonderful thing. You have enough faith and everything will sound smooth. No, it isn't that, but it sustains the soul and the confidence in God. And that's what He said if needed. And the proving of it will be when the day of revelation comes, then that will be a time of honor because of that faith that was manifested. It will be.
The person in that sense will be honored, but the greater honor will be to the Lord Jesus and to God as the ones that were honored by that faith.
Sometimes wondered if there's some of that thought in a very familiar verse to all of us in Psalm 5015 in the last third of that verse. That verse says call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shall glorify me.
We've probably all heard that verse explained that thou shall glorify me has to do with giving thanks.
For the the deliverance that we got as a result of calling upon him in the day of trouble. But maybe that's not the whole story. Maybe just the very act that we call upon him and so he's able to provide that deliverance that in itself.
Glorifies him. Not that I want to take anything away from the fact that we ought to give thanks for what he does, but.
Do you, do you see what I mean? You think that goes along with what you were saying, Brother Don, about, uh, trust in the Lord brings honor to him.
Yes, and I, I believe it does. And I'll add a little twist on what Jim said.
On the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I sometimes looked at it as the three of them. When they talked to the king, they said he'll deliver us. And I think of it as from going through the fire.
R.
We will go in the fire and he'll deliver us from you by taking us to heaven. Uh, sometimes thought about it as perhaps it, it wasn't exactly the way they thought it would be. The Lord said, no, I'm not going to take you out of the fire, but I'll go through the fire with you. And I believe, brethren, often at least the spirit of that is seen in the Lord Jesus and John and Matthew 11 where he says, come unto me, ye that are heavy.
Laden, weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. There can be while it's a a great grief, there is very often the appreciation of the presence of the Lord Jesus. If we submit to him in a trial of life and having the feeling, the sense in our souls and his presence with us in that trial and to go through it with the sense of the Lord.
With us in it will someday be a shared personal connection between our soul and the Lord that is ours and His forever. And many of the trials of life have for gone through with the Lord.
Well, in the end result, be very personal, eternal, shared things between the one who has passed through it and the Lord who went through it with them.
These things will be points of great Thanksgiving in the coming day, but still in the present they have their grief connected with them.
Faith doesn't always deliver us out of the trial, does it? Sometimes we think of those who've had faith in how they were delivered in miraculous ways, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, like Daniel and others. And again, when you read through the 11Th chapter of Hebrews, you see how God delivered so many. But it is interesting that before the chapter ends, it says and others.
And what about them? They didn't accept deliverance. They had trials of cruel mocking. They were sawn asunder. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins and so on. Did they have less faith than the three Hebrew children? Did they have less faith than Abraham? These all died in faith, but God had another purpose for them in allowing them. Men and women burnt at the stake. They weren't delivered like the three Hebrew children.
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But God had a purpose that would bring glory to himself by them going into the fire and perishing. And we know that many were were saved, many were converted through the martyrdom of those who died triumphantly. Now I know in our verse in Peter, he's looking on to the future day when it will all be manifest and the glory, glory brought to himself at the judgment seat of Christ. But there's glory now.
He's glorified now if we go through the trials and circumstances and exhibit that faith and confidence in himself.
Many who perished in the fire, they brought glory to the Lord. That is going to be fully revealed in the coming day. But it was to some degree revealed in the day in which it took place as well. And if you and I go through the trials of life, we may not be called to experience some of the things that others have been called upon to experience. But if you and I go through the tests and trials of life.
And display our confidence and faith in God and in the Lord Jesus.
There can be glory brought to him that will be of benefit, perhaps to the lost, the unsaved who observe us, and perhaps as an encouragement and benefit to our brothers and sisters in Christ, our family members.
And won't it be wonderful, brethren, when at the appearing of Jesus Christ that is all brought out maybe things we didn't even realize now.
We'll stand there and say, well, I, I didn't realize that there was that benefit, that blessing brought to another soul because of quiet confidence in the Lord. You know, when Mary sat in the house, when her brother died and she sat there quietly, you know what the result was? Many of the Jews that came to Mary believed on him. There was glory brought to the Lord Jesus and blessing not only in the raising of Lazarus.
But the quiet testimony of Mary there was an effect that was tremendous and that would have been missed if that trial hadn't been allowed in that home.
You, you were, uh, referenced the judgment seat of Christ, brother Jim and Darby's translation, it gives the, uh, the, the, the revelation of Jesus Christ and our, our translation gives, gives it the appearing of Jesus Christ. Umm, we have a little, umm, word on, on that.
Thing always has to do with manifestation and reward. It's referred to in a little different way in the book of Philippians. It's called the Day of Christ or the day of Jesus Christ.
And it has to do with the day of manifestation and as I say, reward when the Lord Jesus will not only himself appear back in this world, but he's going to appear with us or we're going to appear with him, I should say. And so let's just go to Thessalonians for a moment for one scripture.
Fir, uh, Second Thessalonians, chapter one.
Speaking again of the appearing when the Lord Jesus is going to come back to this world, verse 10, when he shall come, but let me read verse nine. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction?
From the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he shall come. Now notice this to be glorified in his Saints.
And to be admired in all them that believe, because of our testimony among you was believed in that day. What is that day?
It's the day of his appearing when we come back and at the appearing of Christ, the rewards that were given at the judgment seat are going to be made fully manifest. So there are going to be rewards given for faithfulness that the judgment seat of Christ. Those rewards are referred to again at the the marriage supper of the Lamb, where it's referred to as the righteousness of Saints and.
Uh, the bride has made herself ready and so on. She's arrayed in that fine linen that the righteousness of those Saints, those things that we have done in Rhode Island, righteous things that we have done for his glory here. And then when the heavens open up to reveal him, those things are, those rewards are going to be revealed to this world that rejected Christ and rejected his own. And his desire is, brethren, that we would live in view of that day, not for reward for ourselves so much.
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But for His glory, he's coming to be glorified in His Saints. And when the world looks up in a coming day, what are they going to see?
They're going to see Christ coming in glory and wherever they look, whether it's at you.
Whether it's at me, whether it's at any St. the glories of Christ are going to be fully reflected in that day.
But we need to live in view of the day of reward. That's why Paul said to Timothy in almost the last words he said to him. He spoke of all those that love his appearing. That's not again the rapture.
His appearing is when he appears back in this world and we're going to appear with him Is there that exercise that we would have we be living now in view of that time when we can come forth for his glory so that he can have that full display of glory that he he that he desires. And so I believe that that the trial of the faith.
The test of our faith to prove it is to bring it forth. So there will be that for his glory when he appears, and the world will look on and say, here's the ones that endured while they were here.
They endured, but look at the glory that is the result. And when they see that, what will they do? They will have to recognize that any glory that He has given us, any reward that we have for faithfulness.
Is his glory and we and they are going to give him all the praise in that day.
Verse seven and then verse.
Umm, 13.
The same word, I think the appearing in Seven and Revelation and 13 both have to do with His public day of glory and manifestation in the world where He was rejected, where He had to pass through the same trials of faith in His walk through this world and where He was rejected, and where those who follow Him are not greater than their Master and they can expect similar treatment.
From the world that rejected Him, it will reject them if they identify with Him in it. But when He comes to be honored in the world as God purposes it for Him. So those who have been faithful and obedient and submissive to the path that is laid out for them, they too will share in the public honor and glory. And He won't have to say that He's ashamed of them. That is coming.
And, uh, so it's seen in view of that, the faith that has to go on without these things being seen in the, that, uh, can be a real trial. But it's nice, brethren, to see there's two aspects to it versus six and seven. There's grief and there's difficulty connected with the trial. And perhaps the end result won't be fully seen until the day of the revelation or appearing.
But verse 8.
Is for now.
It's important to see that verse eight is for this afternoon.
And tonight and tomorrow, he's saying to them.
But Jesus Christ, the moment he speaks about him, he says, well, whom? Having not seen? No, you haven't. They hadn't seen him yet. Peter had, of course, but they hadn't. You haven't seen him, and you don't see him now, but you love him.
And because you love him.
Believing you rejoice.
You rejoice with the joy unspeakable.
And so it can be and should be.
We should today and tomorrow and whatever the trial, were never separated by God from being in a position in which the love of God is to be enjoyed and the person of the Lord Jesus is to be enjoyed. There's no trial intended of God. Unbelief may put us where we don't enjoy it, but it's not God's purpose for us to not always have.
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The enjoyment of the Lord Jesus in the trial. If there's faith, if there's unbelief, we will not. But if there is faith, we are always in that position. As Paul said in the end of Romans 8. I'm persuaded that, and then he goes on to a whole list of things that might separate us by trial from God, that nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And the Saint Peter is speaking along the same line to us here. The same thought is that.
He always wants us when we think of Himself and his love, to rejoice, so he says, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. The Lord Jesus experienced that in his own life, no matter what he went through.
He always in his daily life.
Went through it with the conscious enjoyment of fellowship with the Father in it. And that's what the if we believe we are to do and have that conscious sense of the love of the Lord Jesus and to go through everything with the sense of his love to us until we receive the end of that faith which includes that trust in himself and believing.
Even the salvation of our souls, which is what's the end of the journey?
Lord Jesus too, there was not only the fellowship of his Father, but there was submission to the Father's will in the trial. And that again is going is another element in having joy in the trial. Because when the the Lord Jesus looked at the cities he had come to bless and he had to pronounce woe on them because they had rejected him, he felt it and he felt it keenly.
But it says that same hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit. He said, how could he do such a thing? Because he could say Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Perfect submission to his Father's will gave him a perfect joy even at a difficult time. And that's what will give us joy. Communion and submission to the with and to the Father is going to give us joy in spite of the circumstances.
Turn to Matthew's Gospel for a moment.
Matthews Gospel, chapter 17.
In this chapter.
We have this in the 14th, 1St, we have this man that comes to the Lord and he says have mercy upon my son, breathe a lunatic. So this man has this lunatic son. Sometimes he's hot, sometimes he's cold, sometimes he falls in the fire, sometimes he falls in the water.
And he brings the, the man to his disciples and the disciples can't do anything about it. And so the Lord, uh, responds, uh, in verse 19 it says, then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, oh, why could we not cast them out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief.
For verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to Yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. I'll be at this kind cometh thought is by prayer and fasting. I used to wonder, umm, just what the Lord meant when he says have faith as a grain of mustard seed doesn't seem like very big. I wondered why doesn't he say faith is a grain of sand, or faith as a a little bit of dust or or faith as a crumb?
What the Lord chose here was something very small, but it was alive.
It was a lie.
And that's what the Lord's desire is for us, is that our faith would be a lie. So here in our chapter, when it speaks of the trial of faith, I've just enjoyed in that eighth verse, it says, whom not having seen ye love, and whom, though you see Him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
It doesn't matter so much the size of the faith, but a that it's alive and B.
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What it's attached to at the other end.
I had the experience of, umm, a couple of years ago as a builder. I was asked to build a dock for somebody and, uh, we built this floating dock. It was probably 20 feet long and, uh, maybe 12 feet wide. Uh, very, uh, a rather, uh, rugged structure. And, uh, we had to take these great big chains to attach the dock, uh, to the land, which we did. And, uh, I got a call a few days later from the customer saying they had no doc.
So we went and we, uh, checked the situation out and certainly there was no dock. We did find the dock down the river sometime. There was nothing wrong with the dock.
There's nothing wrong with the chains, but where it was attached was weak.
And the Lord's desire is that our faith a would be alive and that it would be attached to something at the other end. And so here in this verse, it says ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, full of glory. You know, that's probably our greatest umm, our greatest testimony in our lives to this world and to those who are lost is our joy in the Lord. There isn't a greater testimony. You speak with, you try to argue someone that's enjoying the Lord. You know, they just, they just dissipate your argument.
When we're just enjoying the Lord because of faith that's alive and a faith that's attached to something at the other end, it just gives us a joy that, uh, it's unspeakable and it's full of glory.
The can go through a trial and they can grit their teeth and grin and bear it, and they can face something bravely, but only the Christian can face it triumphantly and joyfully. There have been many who've died for their own crimes in the history of man, and they've died bravely. But those who died as martyrs for Christ have died triumphantly and joyfully, and that's where the testimony and the glory is brought to God.
And the black thing, and I was thinking, I know it's familiar portion, but I was thinking of how Paul and Silas, their joy in the Lord was a tremendous testimony, probably more than all the preaching they'd been doing on the streets of Philippi.
And I've often wondered what I would have been doing after I was beaten and put in prison.
I think I would have been a little downcast and wondering, well, Lord, I thought I got a vision to come over here and help somebody and now what good am I doing? I'm in the stocks here and I'm in a prison cell and not much help. I can be here. But it's interesting that Scripture tells us the specific time that they prayed and sang praises. You know, they didn't do it right away. I, I think there was a little heaviness and a little tears and maybe a few tears and a little wondering and, but.
I've often wondered if Paul and Silas didn't all of a sudden realize the scripture in the 119th Psalm in the 62nd verse that says at midnight will I arise and give thanks unto thee?
Because of thy righteous judgments, they realize that what God had allowed in their life.
Though it was a great test, what he had allowed was righteous. It was right that he'd allowed this, that he had a purpose for it. And so at midnight they prayed and they sang praises. And what was the testimony? The prisoners heard them. The jailer keeper, the jailkeeper got saved. They're brought out. No doubt it was the beginning of the assembly at Philippi. And later on, when Paul wrote to that very assembly, he wrote with moral weight.
When he said to the Philippians, rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say rejoice. That carried real moral weight because they could remember a time when he'd been in a prison in their very city, and he had exhibited that joy in the Lord in a very difficult circumstance. And God often put the writers in various circumstances so that what they wrote was punctuated and had real moral weight to it. But I've often thought they realized they submitted.
They realized what God was doing was right. They prayed. That was communion. And then they gave thanks. And the testimony was far more reaching than perhaps we'll ever realize till the judgment seat of Christ.
Comment on something that I personally find pretty humbling.
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Umm in its character, Peter then goes on to say in verse 9, receiving the salvation of your souls.
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, and so on. Verse 12 about those prophets. And after they searched, it says, whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported.
To you.
In the gospel and in verse 11, what they were searching out was that sufferings the the significance as it says here, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
So that's what he says to them. I want to connect that with the end of Hebrews 11.
Hebrews 11 is a testimony to us of a whole collection of people who live by faith.
In chapter 10 it says that just shall live by faith. In Chapter 11 is the testimony of a collection of God's people who live by faith.
And so it says of all these.
Verse 39 at the end of the hall. These all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.
God, having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Incredible expressions of the lives of these people. With what I want to say by contrast, it's just a tiny amount.
Of expressions from God as to the end of their journey.
Abraham went beyond his promises his as was mentioned this morning, and he's a wonderful example of a person that looked for something beyond all that might be expected on earth. And God answered to that in his soul so that he looked for a city whose builder and maker foundations were of God, and he will have it. He laid hold of something by faith that went beyond a.
Then revealed revelation. But brethren, we sit here this afternoon and we open up the Word and compare. I want to compare us to them.
They had just a tiny amount and and they live by it.
Abraham never had a home. He just had a tent. He never had a certain dwelling place. He lived his whole life as a stranger and a Pilgrim in a land. He had promises, and the promises he never got in his lifetime. He had to live and die by those promises.
Here we are, we sit here this afternoon and if I could put it this way, what more could God give us?
What more could God give us than He's given us?
He has given us these perfect complete knowledge for faith.
That Jesus Christ, our forerunner, was here. He went through this path of life ahead of us.
As we have in Hebrews 12HE endured.
Yet he looked beyond it with joy to what was on the other end of the life that he lived. And.
He died.
He rose, He's in the glory.
What more could God give us?
To draw out our hearts and our faith. To live it out.
It says where if I I don't know what I'm going to say to Moses.
Or Abraham, or one of the rest of them in glory, if we compare notes about what they had to go by to live by faith, and what was revealed to them and what you and I this afternoon have.
Revealed to us and all these Old Testament stories and all these examples and all these men.
And Daniels die and and so on for the whole record. And now we have not only do we have that, but we have the life of Paul and Peter and and all the rest of them to say, well, here's the whole thing. It's all out there. May God encourage us by it to.
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It's humbling at least I find it humbling and yet say, well, we, we had everything and may we live a little bit at least or as much or wholeheartedly by that same character of faith that lays hold of the unseen finds in the Lord Jesus the satisfaction of the heart and said, well, I know it's I know where it's going.
It says, it says in first John, he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he is pure. What's the promise there? God says, the end of your journey is you're going to be just like my son.
You're gonna be just like my son, and I would like you as you go through it, to be a little more like him every day.
So that the finishing work will be less, if you will, at the end, but the end result will be, I like my son, I love my son. I would like everybody here to be just like him. And so that's the way it's going to end up. And so he would have us lay hold of what's really life and go on to the end with it as the consuming joy and object of our lives.
Two, that Christ is the object for faith. You know, those who are listed in the 11Th chapter of Hebrews. They are given to us as a cloud of witnesses. They are given to us as examples and encouragement.
We're thankful for even those in our day that have lived by faith. And it says whose faith follow, but they're never the object for faith. It's Christ that is the object for faith. And Don was saying we have those wonderful examples given to us to encourage us, but we have even more than that. We have the perfect example. And it's interesting or significant that as soon as the 11Th chapter, the list is complete, he turns our eyes from that list. He says yes.
This these are the witnesses to show that it can be done against all kinds of odds and difficulties.
But he immediately then turns our eyes from them to the opened heavens, and he says, looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher, not so much of our faith, but the author and finisher of faith, because the Lord Jesus is the only one who began and completed the path of faith and perfection.
And having begun and completed the path of faith in perfection, never digressed from it for a moment.
Did always those things that pleased the Father, never sought his own will. God has now seated him at his at his right hand as the object for you and for me. And if we get our eyes off that object, we're going to lose our joy. We're going, we're going to stumble in the path of faith. We're going to digress from the path of faith. There's only one object for faith. Others are encouragement.
Christ is the object, and it in our chapter here we find that the joy to.
Comes from, not from the circumstances, whether they're good or bad, but the appreciation of the object in our souls, in the measure in which you and I have the object before us and it has affected our hearts. In that measure we are encouraged to go on. Will be preserved in the path of faith, and not just preserved in the path of faith, but we will go on in the path of faith with the joy that is unspeakable.
It's a joy that the world can never experience. They'll never understand. It's a joy that perhaps we'll never fully understand this side of glory either. But I say it is not in the in regard to circumstance. It is in regard to the how much the object has captivated our hearts.
More contrast to between ourselves and some of our brethren of past history.
I can referring particularly to verse 12 and it says there the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.
Imagine talking to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and comparing notes again in a coming day and.
Well, they say, uh, how? How did God confirm to you the reality of.
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Of the way.
Oh well, when the Lord Jesus went to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to come down and dwell in me.
I can just hear him say wow.
Unbelievable, but it's true. Brethren, we have everything that the heart could ever imagine or desire to make this.
At all embracing complete.
Rejoicing of the faith to think that it's guarded by the power of God and guarded in that sense that God by the Spirit has come down and said, I'll make sure that the one I gave to my son gets there.
I'm going to put my I myself, God, the Spirit, I'm going to dwell in that that one and mark them out as mine and I'm going to give them to the Spirit of God works in us to bring Christ in reality and enjoyment to our souls and to give affirmation to our hearts of the reality and truth of what God says. And so we have.
Every provision to go through to the end in a way that is incredible contrast to any that went ahead of.
The Lord's coming into this world any Old Testament St. had.
Someone in the in Second Kings chapter 5.
And so here is the story of Naman.
Umm, he's a leper and the little maid finds out he's a leopard. A leper, verse 2.
You and the Syrians had gone up by companies and brought away captive out of the land of Israel. A little made, and she waited on Naaman's wife, and she said to her mistress.
Serve them right that he should have leprosy.
You know that naturally speaking that's what we must say. But oh, beautiful thing to see or hear says she sat on to her mistress. Would God, my Lord, were with the Prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy. She had never even heard of anybody being.
Recovered of their leprosy Never once had she ever heard of someone being recovered of her leprosy and that there was no question in her mind whatsoever.
That this one could recover naming of his leprosy. You know we read in our chapter of the sufferings of Christ. Well, she was experienced. I believe the sufferings, but there's the glory that should follow. I've enjoyed this thought that when anyone was leaving.
You know, he had a perhaps the conscience as to going into the House of Raymond and he wanted to have two mule loads of earth. He wanted to be able to worship on divine ground. We might say, but I've enjoyed this. He wanted 2 mule loaves. He wanted one for him and one for the little maid.
In fact, this is our last.
Reading Meeting together this time.
To verse.
13.
He says you, you have all this.
Provision for you and they ministered you can draw in the Old Testament Scripture and two and and what the prophet said to say and so on and then he says wherefore verse 13.
In view of all this provision, and in view of the Lord in the glory and the Spirit of God and so on, He says, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. There is then that sense of needing to endure.
To go on to the end, it's not a a Sprint, it's a it's a daily strong effort. We don't know how long.
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But it's a daily thing. But he mentions one thing that's quite important for them. And in fact is that Mister Darby's translation puts it wherefore having girded up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope that is it's something to be done and to be maintained in that state, uh, in that way.
The only wise path in the circumstances of our lives is to have girded up.
Minds not open to the constant harassment of the thoughts of men that promote unbelief.
And again, going back, we are in instant access to everything that works against a girded mind. And so it's very important for us to have a mind that does not open itself up to the constant.
Ideas that a man and the thoughts of men.
That are contrary to faith and to the path of faith and it's a Peter just giving a very practical statement of need. And so we need to have the object before us that's been we need to have the glory before us, but in addition to that.
To to go on it to the end we will need girded up.
Lines. It's it's there's no other if the mind is allowed to run loose.
It's an easy way to make shipwreck of the path of faith.
People talk about having an open mind, but in Ephesians chapter 6IN connection with the Wiles of the devil and the armor of God.
We're to have our loins gird about with truth, and I believe it's ha having the truth of God firmly established in our minds that is going to keep us from that which is false.
I know that the dwelling place of the truth is not the mind, it's the heart. And I realize the conscience has to be reached as well.
But it is interesting that Peter, at the end of his ministry, says growing grace and the knowledge.
Both are important. There has to be the knowledge of the truth. If we're going to stand against the Wiles of the devil, the untruth that is subtly propagated in the world today and often right in professing Christian, Christian Christianity, we're going to have to have the truth firmly established in our minds. And how are we going to gird our minds with the truth of God? It's the Word. We must read the Word.
The more we read the word, the more we have the truth before us in that way, the more we're going to be preserved. When the enemy subtly comes along and presents something that is error, because the enemy, when he presents error, doesn't usually present it in a blatant way that you can recognize it immediately. Sometimes that's true, but again, in Ephesians 6, it's to stand against the Wiles of the devil, those subtle ways that he works, not in open outward.
Blatant ways, but the subtlety of the of the enemy.
And so in Colossians it says that if we're risen with Christ, since we are risen with Christ, we are to set. And if you notice your margin and Mr. Darby's translation were to set our mind on things above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. And if we don't have our loins gird about with truth, if we don't set our mind on things above, then the enemy is going to come in, and he's got plenty to fill our minds.
But I want to say this too as a warning, and perhaps particularly to parents who have children and young people.
In the public school system, not only is it really wrong to talk about an open mind.
The mind that needs to be governed by the truth of God is bringing every thought into subjection under the obedience of Christ.
But it is very, very dangerous to empty our minds.
You know, as I sent my children to public school, there was a great movement in Canada.
To get the children to empty their minds and they would sit them around in a circle on the floor and they would get them to close their eyes and do various things.
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You know, it really is Eastern meditation presented under another guise. And I don't believe there's a precedent in Scripture that would ever encourage us to empty our minds, because as soon as we empty our mind again, Satan is going to have plenty to fill the vacuum. What are we to do? We are to fill our minds and fill it with Christ. And how do we fill our minds with Christ? It's the word of God.
Wherever we read in the Word of God, we don't have to go very far to realize that the subject.
Is always is always Christ. And so I just say that as a warning to.
Any who have children, young people, and to children and young people, if they ever ask you to empty your mind, it's a good thing to get out of there as quickly as as possible. You know, if you fill a cup with water to the brim, there's no room for anything else. If you fill a cup with with wheat to the brim, there's no room for the chaff. And that is what we are to do. We are. That is what is referred to as girding up the loins of your mind.
Himself.
Well, the Lord emptying himself.
As it says, he made himself of no reputation. He wasn't here for his own. I want to say this very carefully. He maybe I'll word it this way. He was here not for his own reputation as a man. He was here for the glory of God. And so he emptied himself so that in going to the cross, God was completely glorified. And we need to empty ourselves of self. If we empty ourselves of self, then we're going to be full of Christ.
And it's going to be Christ that is seen in us for the glory of God. But we're not to empty our minds, we're to empty ourselves of self as the Lord Jesus gave the perfect example as a man, I'll give you a little example from his life to illustrate what we're saying. You know, there was, there was an occasion when they accused the Lord of two things. They said thou art a Samaritan and hast the devil. You know, it's interesting he never answered the charge.
Of being a Samaritan, because that was a slur on his manhood.
And he never answered that he wasn't here for his own reputation in that way.
But he did answer the charge of having a devil, because that brought into question his deity, that brought into question the glory of God. And whenever it was a question of the glory of God, he always answered when he stood before Pilate.
He answered him never a word, but that needs to be qualified. There were times he did answer. When it was a question of his own reputation as a man, he never said a word, but when it was a question of the glory of God, he did answer Pilate.
And so in that way, he emptied himself, he was emptied himself and went down, down, down and went to the went to the cross. And we need to follow that. That's given as an example. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. But maybe you have a thought too, Dave.
Uh, to that.
In verse six of two.
Being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
That was his place in heaven before he became a man. He was the Son of God and he was in a place of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
But the expression emptied comes between that.
And verse seven, make himself a whole reputation, or emptied himself, and then it says, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. I believe its primary thought is in connection with what took place.
What he did in becoming a man.
And in becoming a man, he put aside.
From himself, some of the glories that were properly and rightly his own, he could not be less than he was.
He doesn't give up anything that is essential in his person and in his deity when he becomes a man, but he does empty himself of some of those things that were rightly his as equal with God in order to become a lovely man among men. And so he takes the bondsman's place, and in taking the bondsman's place and being found in fashion as a man.
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He has done that Which?
Veiled from our eyes some of the things that we will see when He is glorified. And so He says when He's finished the work on earth. And John 17, He said, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before the foundation of the world. That was part of what He was putting aside when He came to be a man and be among us. And so we see in His life his moral glories.
But we don't see all the essential glories of his person, umm, in their official character until we see him and we see him take his place. And, uh, and so he will have that again. But as man and as the servant on earth. He humbled her. He put that aside, umm, in order to be among us.
It's a it's a tribute to his.
The greatness of his love.
That he would make that choice and do that, and once he's a man, then he's put himself in man's place and he's a perfect man.
In submission and obedience, even to the death of the cross, there was no holding back from the full cost of manhood under the will of God. He doesn't set any limit to it, as it were. I can go this far, but no farther.
But now he's, he's a man, and as a man, he takes the man's place and, uh.
Even in John's Gospel, where he's presented to us in a divine way, he never acts without the He had the power to act, and did act in divine power, but he never did it apart from a word from the Father to do it.
Which is again part of his, uh, father glorify me because he had put himself in that place by being a man that.
And is intended to give us, let this mind be in you, which we can't do what he did, but we can have the spirit of submission in that way.
Going back to our chapter.
Umm, just comment on the how verse 13 connects itself with the verses that follow it. Girding up the loins through your mind and be sober.
Which we've talked about.
Umm, a brother at conferences like this when I was a teenager. And I don't know, I'll probably misquote it, but I hope I get the sense of it at least. He used to say from the time you wake up in the morning.
You will be constantly presented with all that makes this world.
The sphere of your desire. In other words, everything that the world has to offer is limited to the world and to the present. Satan has nothing to offer, and the world is a system established by Satan to keep man.
In his palace.
Uh, without any thought beyond this life. And we need to have our minds girded that we don't wake up in the morning and spend our days making this world the limitation and sphere of where our thoughts go and constantly live a life that only, practically speaking, makes this world the sphere of its desires and the consequences, as he goes on to say.
Uh, if you don't gird up the loins of your mind in verse 14, you won't be an obedient child at because what will happen to you if this world is the sphere of your thoughts?
Then you'll find yourself going back to the former lusts which govern the world.
And so without a girded mind, then everything that's presented is presented to satisfy the lusts of the human heart. And those lusts are contrary to what it is to be an obedient child of God. And so in contrast to that, that was the way they lived in ignorance. But we're not ignorant anymore. We've been brought into an enlightened state of things to see that this world isn't anything that we want to have our hearts set on.
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And live by.
But then he says in the verse 15, The one that called you is holy.
God called us. God made us his children.
What does a parent want to see in their children?
If it's good.
We're human parents. There's lots we wouldn't want to see in our kids. That's in ourselves. But in a in a more pure sense of the word, what could God want in his children?
To manifest his own character.
To be like Heas.
And so he says I'm holy.
You're my children, be holy as I am holy. And so he wants to see him, his own nature, his own character, seen in his children. And he has a right to have it because he gave us the divine nature. We've been born again, and having been born again, we've received that nature that is divine in his character. And so he says, now my children live obediently.
But he introduces all of that by saying to them, gird up the loins of your mind, because if the loins of the mind are not girded up, then we will make this world a place that we will listen to its attractions, we will listen to its call, and will become disobedient children and as a consequence will not display the character of God. Be holy, for I am holy.
Just again in view our times running out. Just a little outline a bit I guess and.
So he then says you call on the Father, verse 17, and he judges without respect to persons. That is, he judges in a holy way and he will judge you in your daily life. We're not talking about judgment for sin at the cross and losing. It's not a matter of salvation here in the sense we usually talk about salvation, but right, your work, your life is going to be judged.
And it's going to be judged according to God's holy standard.
Whether you live it or don't, it's going to be judged according to that holy character of God, and it's going to be measured against what He wants you to be as children of obedience.
And then he says.
Is it where to put it this way? Peter then says, Brethren, remember what it costs to make you his child.
You're redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
What more could he show of how much he values you, how much he wants you, how much he paid to make you one of his children, to give you the destiny that he has before you, to make you heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ? He says, remember that. Think of the cost of it, the precious blood of Christ, and then.
Uh, he goes on with that and I just want to emphasize verse 21. Just a wonderful thought to me. And it says you by him that's through the Lord Jesus Christ believe in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory. And he says that your faith and hope.
If you want something, if you're going to have faith in something.
You can't get higher.
I just leave the cat, get higher, people have faith in something.
Some have faith in the bank down the street, but they're not very sure of it. Some have faith that the president that's gonna do a good job, and some aren't sure of it. Some don't have any such faith at all. They see how they can manage on their own and so on. And some have some measure of hope and some don't.
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And so if someone says to you, what do you trust in?
That trust in God can't go higher. Someone says what are you hoping? Oh, my hopes in God can't go beyond that. Brethren were given the ultimate that beyond really what we might imagine as to set our hope on our hope is founded through the Lord Jesus Christ and God himself.
And we have the we have it the last, the third of the hopes that are enumerated in this chapter, that your faith and hope might be in God. He takes it right up to its source.
And as it were, says we can't get any higher than that.
Sing number 99.
By Christ's salvation rest secure talk of age and **** indoor. Nor can that faith be overthrown, which rests upon the living stone.
No other hope shall intervene to him. We look on him, we lean number 99.