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Lord, we rejoice.
Lord, we rejoice.
Would verse 19 be about right?
Sure, First Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 16. Rejoice evermore, Pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesying, Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good.
Abstain from all appearance of evil.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit.
And soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren with a holy kiss.
Charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
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Since we started at verse 16, I could just make a comment on verse 1617 and 18. I did not have the privilege of knowing our brother Harry Hayhoe, who I've heard quoted many times and I've enjoyed. When I was a young man, there was a little track maybe still around called sentence sermons. And as I recall in that little paper there is an expression, a brother, hey, oh, that says.
That joy will ever rise in proportion to prayer and Thanksgiving.
That's verses 1617 and 18. Rejoice evermore. Joy will ever rise in proportion to verse 17 prayer and verse 18 Thanksgiving. And so has often been said, or maybe not often enough, that our testimony to the world is our joy in Christ. That might be another quote from our late brother, but how is the key to joy? There is something that is so disheartening and that is to seek not a sober Christian now.
But an unhappy Christian? There's a big difference between being sober and walking in a sober way and being unhappy.
But don't we often find that the reason there are unhappy believers is these two components are lacking in their life. They're lacking more specifically in my life. If there is not that prayer in Thanksgiving, in everything, give thanks. That is the key. The three great things to joy is giving Thanksgiving and forgiving. Now in Ephesians, it says a little bit different thought there. It's not giving thanks in in everything giving thanks, but it's giving thanks always for all things.
Well, you say, how can that be? How can we thank the Lord for something?
Sinful or sad or tragic, that happened. Well, the verse doesn't end there, it says.
Unto the God and Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we give thanks for all things as qualified and defined in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, so for all things, but also here in all things. And again, what a simple yet profound.
Guidance for us. If there's joy lacking in our life, we need to focus on verse 17 and verse 18. And if we don't feel thankful, thank the Lord anyway.
And that will produce joy and Thanksgiving in our hearts.
Matthew Chapter 11 when cities had.
Rejected him.
A Verse 24 He says, But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because I was hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, or so it seemed good in thy sight.
One overall isn't there. We can always thank him.
When I was a boy, my 18 year old uncle drowned.
And my Uncle Bob, who's now turned 91, last Thursday.
He was a dear Christian then, and he went by grandfather's bedside and thanked the Lord.
For taking Uncle Marvin.
And that just gave grandpa more strength to be able to get up and even attend the funeral. He had a really bad heart.
But giving thanks in all things can be at times.
Difficult and take grace to do so.
Verses in the Bible with two words in them.
And I think you all remember the other is Jesus wept and here is rejoice evermore.
Beautiful to put the two together.
But I appreciate what you give Brother Bill.
Pray in the Darby translation. It's a two word verse two. Pray unceasingly.
It's to be the continual attitude of our hearts, the sense that the Lord is at our side, and to be conversing with Him.
All the time. The sense of His presence with us. Oh, how important that is. Prayer, brethren, I do believe that we don't put enough time to real intentional prayer.
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It's so easy in our busy, distracted lives to not give time in the Lord's presence to talk to Him.
And.
I remember a quote by Martin Luther, he said I have so much to do every day. I dare not take any less than three hours to pray.
No wonder that man had a tremendous influence on.
The circles in which he lived at that time. But prayer is so important.
Individual prayer. Assembly prayer. Family prayer.
We have those mentioned in scripture and we need to.
Exercise them. But here it is. Pray unceasingly. We are in a spiritual warfare, and our brother Bill on Saturday mentioned that in Ephesians 6. I just want to go back to that to read it because it goes right along with what we're saying.
Verse 18.
Of Ephesians 6 praying.
Always.
With all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there into with all perseverance and supplication for All Saints.
There's several things there that call my attention that word supplication.
Can you explain that to us a little bit, Bill?
Well, I have always looked at it as if prayer was something in which I should have.
As you just said a moment ago, it should be my attitude at all times in my life, even if I don't have any special burden on my heart at the time, or any special difficulty to take to the Lord, either on my own behalf or someone else. I should be in an attitude of prayer. But sometimes there are particularly heavy burdens that weigh on us, aren't there? And they should. And in that case, supplication seems to me to be.
A deeper thing, it's an imploring the Lord a getting into a real almost wrestling in prayer for a particular need. Realizing of course that as many will recognize the source of this quotation, that prayer ultimately is based on the wonderful privilege of our having common interests with God. And if I have a sense in my soul that what I am supplicating about.
I can pray.
I Maybe it's, and I don't want to get into a long dissertation on it, but I've linked it up with the fact that enrollments 8. We have the Spirit making intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. That is, there is the feeling there of the difficulties with which we are occupied, and in supplication I am.
In that sense, taking all that before the Lord, does that commend itself?
And that verse in Romans 8 that you mentioned with groanings which cannot be uttered. There are things that we get before the Lord about that are so difficult we don't actually know what or how to ask, do we? And I often think sometimes all you can do is groan. And God knows our hearts.
And he takes it. The Spirit of God intercedes, and he is within us.
And he intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered. So I've often wondered, people have said, why should we supplicate? Which is more intense pleading with God, when God is going to do his own will in the end? What's the purpose of us supplicating?
And it's just come to me so much what you mentioned there, Bill that.
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In prayer and supplication, we get into God's thoughts about His purposes.
And when I ask, for example, for the salvation of some soul.
God's desire. Does he desire the salvation of that soul? He desires it even more than I do.
Then why should I ask? Because God wants me to be in the curd of his thoughts about it.
And I think in that way we are in the current of his thoughts. Isn't it beautiful to think about, brethren, how God wants fellowship with us? And so prayer is such an important thing. I often remember our brother, late brother Clem Buchanan.
Who said long prayers for the closet? Short prayers for the prayer meeting?
And I think that was a good statement. And we do need to be conscious that when we are in a prayer meeting that there are others there and that they should be exercised to pray as well. But do we know what it means to get into the closet, have our own place, a prayer with the Lord and to get there and to deliberately, brethren, I have to say I find prayer real work.
It's not easy for me. I kneel down my particular place, and I find my mind wanders off in One Direction and up in another direction, and I have to bring in those stray thoughts and concentrate. Here I am, kneeling in a particular place in my house, but really before the throne of God in heaven. And to think of the tremendous privilege there before that throne are those millions of angels attending him.
And they opened ranks so that I can go right straight before the throne.
What a privilege. What a tremendous privilege. Do we value it properly? I I just fear we don't.
Someone was approached once, a man was approached a believer and asked by someone who didn't really know the value of prayer and said, do you really think that when you pray you actually change God's mind about what he's going to do?
And his answer was, oh, he said, you're holding the stick by the wrong end. He said, when I get into the Lord's presence and pray.
It's usually I that get changed, not the Lord, and that's very, very true.
And I would just suggest that in that sense these verses are connected because the next scripture says.
Quench not the Spirit.
If I come before the Lord in prayer, we know, and we can be thankful for it. That when.
That prayer goes up to the Lord. It does not go perhaps, or let me take out the Word, perhaps, it does not go in the imperfect way in which I see the need. It goes up according to the one who searcheth the hearts and knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession according to the will of God, but on the other end.
If I get into the Lord's presence in prayer, am I willing to let the Spirit change my mind, change my thoughts, change my outlook? We often talk about quenching the Spirit in connection with taking part in an assembly meeting, and that is certainly included. But I believe here it's a much broader thing than that. We are all if we're truly saved and dwelt with the Spirit of God.
And we know that the Spirit dwells here on earth during this time of God's grace, dwells collectively among believers as the House of God.
And so we have the Spirit of God working both in our hearts individually and then working collectively among believers. And in that sense despising, not prophesying, says despise not prophesying. That also has the thought of not quenching the Spirit if the Spirit in Brother Lemoine.
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Speak something and I say, oh boy, I don't like that. I don't want to hear that. Then I'm quenching the spirit and I'm denying what the Lord is seeking to bring home to my soul. And so it has a multifaceted application, doesn't it?
If I neglect the reading of the Word of God, would that be quenching the Spirit?
I hadn't thought of it that way, but I suppose it would because I should be reading the word of God.
Yes.
I could rather bear with me.
We've said these verses are all lengthened. The string of verses that we started with starts with rejoice evermore. I'd like to just say one more thing about rejoicing, which is linked with all this and with quenching the Spirit to turn to Romans chapter 15.
Wow.
Romans back at 15.
Verse 13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing joy in believing and turn to Philippians chapter one.
And verse 25.
And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide to continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith.
Before we got too far from that verse, I wanted to stress.
That joy is a fruit of the spirit. If we quench the spirit, we're not going to have joy.
It's not a feeling.
We often look at ourselves and we say, I don't feel very joyful, but it's not joy. It's not a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a fruit of the spirit and it's encouraged by faith. It's developed by faith. And so I just wanted to.
Get that cleared. If I'm not if I'm not joyful, then it's I've been neglecting.
Believing in the Lord.
Maybe just a further thought on on supplication, if we could look at Luke, Luke 11 for a moment.
In Luke 11, the disciples come to the Lord.
In the first verse and notice what they don't say.
They don't come to the Lord and say.
Teach us how to pray.
They say teach us to pray.
Which is.
More the difficulty that we face than knowing how to pray.
But then as we go down through the portion, we've all enjoyed Mr. Mcintosh's discourse on this portion where in the fifth verse he says, you know, we go to the Lord as our friend. We're very specific.
This one says lend and he just doesn't say lend in a general way. He says lend me and then he just doesn't say I need some bread but he's very specific as to the bread. He says lend ME3 loaves but then he goes on to say.
And this is often what I think we're faced with, He says here for a friend of mine and his journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before him. So often we, we have a burden on our heart and we just have a hard time to engage. We, we have someone on our heart and, and, and we draw alongside and we just, we just have nothing to set before them that is able to alleviate the burden.
Both on their hearts and on our own.
But if we go to the previous chapter, and I appreciated this being taken up in the in the in the gospel mentioning in the gospel, but in the previous chapter, we we have this Samaritan that that comes to the ditch.
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And he sees the man in the ditch.
And I've so enjoyed the wording here because in Luke 10, and let's look at the 31St verse, it says there by chance there came down a certain priest that way and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, the Levis Levite, when he was at the place, he came and looked on him and he passed on the other side. But a certain Samaritan uneasy journey, he came where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. So we can picture the scene here, the Samaritan, he comes right to where the man is.
But then it says and he went to him. How can you go to someone if you're already there?
And I think that's the point.
Is we can draw alongside of someone.
And we're right there.
But in spirit and in feeling and trying to get.
Trying to get to find out what's going on underneath. We're just miles apart.
And I believe that supplication is the step between these two points.
Where this American comes where he was, but he needed a further step and supplication is that further step where?
There's a friend of mine in his journey, he's come to me. I have nothing to set before him. We just, we're right there and our spirit is there and we want to engage. We want to help.
But we just can't. And it's that next step of being, of being right where the person is. But then it says and he went to him and that is what's needed. And it takes supplication to do that.
Richard says in my presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
We cannot truly in our spirit be in the presence of God without joy.
It's his place and his desire that we dwell.
The Lord Jesus dwelt in the bosom of the Father, and dwelling there, He had the constant place and source from which joy comes. And so the rejoicing evermore is often connected with, Is there anything that's hindering me from the constant enjoyment of the presence of God and being before Him? And so when we're exhorted to rejoice evermore, it's that we might ever be.
Consciously in our daily life as we go through it moment by moment.
In the constant enjoyment of his presence.
And our place with Him there is the Lord dwelt in his bosom, so we too may enjoy that same.
Relationship and when it says pray without ceasing, in addition to what's been said, there is also a sense.
Of constant dependence.
Were not sufficient in ourselves, for ourselves or for anyone else.
We have to gradually learn that in me, I can't do it, no matter how little it is. We, the tendency of prayer is to say, well, I can do this, that and the other and we do it. We don't even think about praying, we just do it. But there are other things that we have some sense in US. I can't handle this. And so that's when we tend to turn to prayer.
And so often our activity of prayer is connected with things that we have a conscious sense we can't do for ourselves or for somebody else. And so we pray about them and and that rightly we're expressing dependence. But in the prey without ceasing to me has in addition to it the sense that I can't do anything.
First thing comes to my mind I.
Just getting up in the morning and going through the morning routine from the moment our eyes are opened in a real sense of the word, we need to have the conscious sense of dependence. It's don't just start praying, you know, okay, I've got up, I've brushed my teeth, I've washed my hands or whatever the routine is. Now I'm going to have a time of reading the word in prayer. It's well if when we wake up, one of the first conscious senses we have is to.
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Consciously come into the presence of God.
And begin the day with God before we ever get out of bed, before we ever start into any routine that there might be nothing.
That's between our soul and God. So then when it says in everything, give thanks to me, there's not only dependence that should be characteristic of our beings, but the other thing that's often been said.
This submission.
And in what said here and everything, give thanks. I can give thanks and everything if I truly am submissive to God.
It's when there is some conflict between my will and the will of God that I'm unwilling to submit to Him in. Then there's going to be difficulty in prayer. There's going to be difficulty in my behavior and everything else.
But if there is true submission in everything, then we can truly in our hearts, whether we understand it or not, we can submit to it because connected with that as well is.
Our quote There seems to be days of quoting other people.
Every failure of Saint or Sinner springs from unbelief in the goodness that's in the heart of God for us. That's another very hajo. But I will say on his behalf, most of his sayings came from his own reading of writings. So they didn't. Many of them didn't originate with him. But I'll repeat that if you haven't heard it. Every failure.
Whether of Saints or Sinner springs from unbelief.
In the goodness that's in the heart of God toward us, and consequently in everything, give thanks. If there is no unbelief in what's God's heart is toward us, then there can be submission. And if there's submission, there can be giving of thanks for everything, because there is the confidence that everything that originates in the heart of God or that God allows.
As a purpose of good in it, and so I can give thanks for it. Whether I have any understanding of the terrible tragedy, as we call it, that occurred or not, I can give thanks. And so it then says, for this is the will of God.
The giving of thanks is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then I connected in my own soul with quench, not the Spirit in the sense that the Spirit is quenched.
Or can be quenched when there is a divergent of will between my soul and God and then I act in myself will in some way that is a hindrance to what the Spirit is doing. But if there is truly.
A submission of the of the previous things, then they will help me not to act in my own will.
And I will that is a contrary to the will of the Spirit of God, and in that way oppose it and hinder it. And so if it's God's will that another brother do something and I do it instead of that brother, that wasn't the will of the Spirit and I hindered the Spirit and so on. And as it's often been said, it's we the examples quite often are given in connection with in a meeting.
When we're together like we are right now, but it takes place in every aspect of life.
Don, you touched on it, I believe, but there's the other scripture exercisation not to grieve the Spirit of God or by ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Could you, could you give us a word on the difference between quenching the Spirit and grieving the Spirit?
Of God when I sin.
But I quench the Spirit of God when I hinder its working by self will. But it this if there's sin in my life, it's a grief to the Spirit of God who dwells in me and.
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The Holy Spirit of God, for me to do something contrary to God in sin is a grief.
To the Holy Spirit that dwells in my body and will remain in me.
And so I think the aspect specifically of grieving is what I do when I I act in an act of sin. It's a grief to God dwelling in me by the Spirit to do anything that is against what God is in His Holiness, in his love, in his truth and to.
If.
I can only appreciate this one example that that I would help helps me A brother in Michigan many many years ago worked in an automobile plant and he was a well known among his fellow workers as a being a Christian and so on a break one time, some of the workers kind of gathered around him to tell a dirty story, as we would call it and.
They, he said to the men.
I live in the presence of God.
And that had a spiritual weight with them that they stopped trying to defile him by what they were a dirty joke. Whatever.
Would to God that that his expression be ever with us. I dwell in the presence of God.
And every single act that I do or every single thought that I have.
Is in the immediate presence of the Spirit of God.
So May God help us to live in that sense of His presence that we do not grieve Him.
Ephesians 4 where it says that brother John.
Be good to read those verses, perhaps Ephesians 4 and verse 29 it says let no corrupt communication pro ceed out of your mouth.
But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace into the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption. Then it continues, Let all bitterness and wrath, and anger and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind one to another, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ sake of forgiving you.
Another brother has put it in this way that we grieve the Spirit of God when we do those things he tells us not to do. We quench the Spirit of God when we don't do what the Spirit of God leads us to do. So those are things that can be chewed on. I'd like to go back to verse 18 a minute about in everything given thanks and.
Brother Bill mentioned that verse in.
Ephesians 5 that says giving thanks always for all things. I must say, brethren, I find it a challenge to do that because there's some things that just go against the grain in our thoughts and to be able to stop when something has happened and to be able to say thank you Lord.
I must say.
I find it's a struggle in my soul at times. Thank you Lord.
How can I say thank you Lord, when things are so messed up?
And I go back to that verse that is so well known in Ephesians or in Romans 8. All things work together for good to them that love God. And then that last part we often leave out to them, who are the called according to His purpose. In other words, God has purpose in everything that happens in our lives and often we do not see those purposes.
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Right away, but God's purposes were formed in that eternal past.
His eternal purpose of blessing and do you think?
He's going to be frustrated in his purposes of blessing.
No, not really.
My comprehension of those purposes is extremely limited and so OFT times I don't understand and things happen in my life that are different than I thought would happen. But to be able to stop and say thank you Lord.
In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God. And I suggest Don it is the IT is the Lord's will that we give thanks. But even what is permitted, and I like to put it in this way, that the work of redemption has set us so in the favor of God, that even those things that are negative in our life can only work in the end.
Our own blessing and to be able to accept it from the hand of God.
Brings peace. I see people sometimes when they have things happen that are negative, they're wrestling against it, they're wrestling with it.
We need to recognize the hand of the Lord and to say thank you, Lord, and to accept his hand in what's happened to us, and that will bring peace. And I find that that does bring peace when we simply accept it.
Just make one more comment and it's come home to my soul this way.
I would suggest there's a reason why it says in Thessalonians to give thanks in all things and in Ephesians to give thanks for all things. They were two different companies.
The Thessalonians were new believers and sometimes when a very difficult event occurs in our lives, and I speak from my own experience.
I wasn't, if I could say it this way, a mature enough Christian to give thanks for it.
I thank God that I can honestly say there was always the giving thanks in all things. I believe there was a submission to the will of God, but the overwhelming difficulty and the overwhelming grief sometimes made it difficult to give thanks for it. But then the Ephesians, they were those who received the highest truth that God ever gave as to the believers blessings.
And when we're risen and seated in heavenly places in Christ and enjoying that place.
Then I believe we can more likely give thanks for all things. The one who can always give thanks in all things will perhaps give thanks for that thing sometime down the road as it comes home to our souls. What the Lord is doing as the lesson that we need to learn, or the blessing that we get from it comes home to our souls. Then we can give thanks for it. But I can't always give thanks for it right away.
You can always give thanks in all things.
Further comment.
God is God and God knows all things, and he says my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts.
God's management of the affairs of this earth and the billions of people that are on it and the interactions of the lives of those people is not subject to God explaining every detail of every action and all the interactions of what He's doing in every life, including our own, including our interaction. We never know all the facts and the details about what God is doing.
Even in our personal lives and how things happen that affect us. And so it's well for us to recognize my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. Because so easily we think that what we need is to understand what God is doing in order to give thanks about it or to accept it.
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I don't believe that's the intent. God says, have I communicated to you adequately that you know my heart? And if you know my heart, you can accept everything without understanding, Or if I choose to or you need to know, I'll tell you. But we honor God.
By trusting him.
And that's the root we honor God when we trust him. And if we what God wants us to learn isn't so much the details of what he's doing in every respect, but he wants us to know his heart. And in order that that is so, he has given us eternal life and that life is perfect. It's the life of Christ. And so.
It has the divine character of love.
In it, and that's God's heart of love, we also learn that God is perfect in light and holiness, and that also is given to us by the life that we have. And consequently God has said to us, I have given to you that which is necessary for you to know me as light and love.
In my very character and essence. And if we have that, then we can fulfill all these exhortations without regard to whether or not we understand what he's doing in a particular instance or or way. And it's the character. I'll make one more comment about it. It's the character of Christianity in contrast to Judaism. That's why James.
Said Until I see him, I will not believe.
That is the Jewish side of things, and in the Millennium or in the Tribulation, when the earthly people are restored in their relationship to their Messiah, that process of restoration, they'll look at the wounds in his hands, and then they'll recognize Him as to who He was, and they will see Him, and that will confirm their belief.
But for us, we live in a time and in a relationship which is based on faith, not sight. It's based on a faith that doesn't require.
Explanations of every detail of what God is doing. It is based on depending by the direction of the Word of God and the Spirit of God to be able to act in submission and conformity to His will.
So I say these things particularly to the intent that we not think we have to understand in order to give thanks in all things.
That what he wants us to understand is one thing. His heart himself.
To know him, and if we know him, we can accept that his understanding and how he acts is beyond our many things He's we're not going to know in this life at least.
Having not paid, we rejoice with joy unspeakable.
Matthew 11 You know, we often.
Read these verses and.
Verse 27 says, All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him, come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. We often use that in connection with the gospel.
But how is it with us as to our walk and take my yoke upon you and learn of me? Well, he just.
Had spoken of that wondrous relationship with father and son and.
For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy. My burden is light. That's a big lesson for us, isn't it, to walk so with the Father in Psalm 43, verse three. And it says, Oh, send out thy light.
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And thy true.
Our Lord Jesus says I am the light of the world.
Ye that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.
And thy truth, I am the way, the truth.
And the light, what a man has been in your world and mine to give such a wondrous display of the Father's heart.
In every circumstance of life and even.
As he gave himself into death, let them lead me, let them bring me unto thy holy hill, unto thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy.
Mr. Darby translates that God, the gladness of my joy, we are brought to enjoy God himself. Isn't that amazing? We who were guilty and lost?
Now have this privilege.
And to walk with a similar yoke which will fail at he never did.
But that's our privilege as Saints of God.
Connection.
The verse quench not the spirit. I would like to.
Think a little bit, brethren, about the wonderful, tremendous privilege it is when we become believers and says, when we believe the gospel of our salvation, we were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. And it tells us very clearly in John's Gospel that the Spirit of God is with us to guide us into all truth.
And so he's there to guide us and very interesting in First Corinthians chapter 3, it speaks of the Spirit of God dwelling in us. That's collectively He dwells in each of our bodies. Individually we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, but collectively.
As those believers.
That composed the Church of the living God. He dwells in US collectively.
And He's there to guide us collectively. And I think it is a beautiful thing to see in Scripture and to recognize in our assembly meetings that the Spirit of God is here to guide us into all truth. And it's beautiful in a reading like this to see the different ones that bring up some thought, and it helps us to have a more balanced view.
Of the truth of God. So the Spirit of God is in US collectively.
To guide us. And so we are told not to quench the spirit. Somebody has said we can quench the spirit by not speaking when the Spirit of God tells us to speak, or we can quench the spirit by talking too much.
And that quenches the Spirit, perhaps for a brother that God wants to use to say something. And so there needs to be a sense in our souls of the fact that we are one member amongst many. Look at the First Corinthians chapter 12 for example.
It says in verse four there are diversities.
Of gifts but the same Spirit there are diverse differences of administrations, but the same Lord. There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh All in all. Beautiful to see that in the body of Christ there's diversity and unity at the same time. But notice verse 7. The manifestation of the Spirit is given.
To every man or everyone to profit withal.
So there's not one brother that God may use. He may use one brother.
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In an address, but in a meeting where we leave it open to the Spirit of God to guide.
Then there is profit in everyone as we give the Spirit of God liberty to guidance. And so there should be the exercise. And I want to say a word to you younger brethren. I know you don't feel like speaking up that much. I remember being in that same position and, and, but I, I find if there's a sensitivity as to the presence and the direction of the Spirit of God, sometimes a younger brother can bring up a thought.
Or perhaps a question that really helps to develop the?
Theme of the chapter that we're going over so be exercised to be led by the Spirit of God in whatever meeting we're talking about.
Aspect in which the Spirit of God affects our lives or is is a very dominant force in our lives as believers, we're told in Romans 8 that ye are not in the flesh that you're in the spirit. If so be the Spirit of God dwells in you. You know we we we have learned quite a bit. I know that we fail in it that we've learned quite a bit about.
Seeking to follow the leading of the Spirit of God.
In our meetings especially, it's an exercise for the brothers that we sense the Spirit of God.
Very, very obvious sometimes when we fail to do that. But what about our individual lives? Do we realize that the Spirit of God is the energy for our new life?
Are we dependent on the Spirit of God to produce?
The fruit of the Spirit.
Do we walk in dependence? It says walk in the Spirit. The lead of the Spirit is is the activity of the Spirit of God something that we are we are dependent upon and aware of? Because when we're not, we can be sure that the Spirit of God will be quince.
He is the only energy for this new life. And if there is something produced for the glory of God from our lives, it's going to come through the activity of the Spirit of God. And so this is something, this is something for us to understand that this is what God is designed in the in, in, in our, in our Christian experience.
That the Spirit of God is absolutely necessary for there to be fruit to be born for God.
I really think that's important, Phil, I must say. If we don't learn to walk individually as guided by the Spirit of God, recognizing that He's within my body and He's there to guide me and to give Him place, then when we come together, how can we expect Him to guide us? We need to practice that on the individual level. Then it will be evident.
When we come together collectively, I must say it has been exercising to me too. The.
Exhortation we have in Ephesians 5, where it says.
Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?
It means that what guides us are the impulses of the Spirit of God, not our own natural impulses. When the Lord Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, he was a hungered says. Was it hunger that moved him to act? The devil tempted him. Change those.
Stones into bread.
You're the Son of God, but that was not what guided him.
What guided him was the Spirit of God through the Word of God, and he resisted that temptation and how often we're guided by our own natural impulses.
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We give the illustration of walking through a shopping center and come buy a coffee shop and they pump out that coffee smell into the aisle you're passing through. What's the purpose of that?
You know what it is to turn on your desires and come in and have a cup of coffee.
Well, those are natural impulses, but are we aware of the presence and the power of the Spirit of God? And when you look at the book of the Acts and see those who were filled with the Spirit of God?
Beautiful illustration in Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.
I think it's so beautiful, brother and I. It's a challenge to me as I think about it. Is it what really guides me in my life individually, the Spirit of God, or are there other impulses?
The mind of Christ referred to in the past birth of First Corinthians 2. Is that the result of the indwelling of the Spirit?
The Spirit of God has celebrity as we've been talking. It's not quenched. Then there's the openness to good and there's close to evil. We become permeable membranes, if you think of it that way. And so verse 20 is touched on a while back. Despise not prophesying. There's the openness to good and there's closed to evil. Verse 21 prove all things hold fast that which is good.
Those two attitudes are nicely, I think, illustrated in Acts 17 and Acts 17. Speaking of the Bereans, says in verse 11, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind. They were open to the good, they weren't close to it and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were. So they filtered it to make sure that what they had wasn't evil, wasn't wrong, It was consistent with the Word of God.
So there are those two things we ought not to be. We ought to be permeable membranes if we're guided by the Spirit of God, open to the good.
And retaining it and close to the evil.
I remember traveling with brother Glenn Mckennon a number of years ago and and a brother spoke in a meeting and it's a brother that I didn't particularly have a lot of respect for. And I afterwards I mentioned it to brother Clem and.
He is this verse 20. He said despise not prophesying.
He said you may not respect him.
You may not like him that well, but listen, because God often uses instruments. We least expect to say something that's for our profit. Let me tell you that has been a very helpful correction in mind. Doesn't mean that we accept everything that's said. It goes on to say, like you say, prove all things hold fast that which is good. So we got our Bibles open. You young people, are you checking it out?
Is that what it means? Is this what the Spirit of God is saying to us? Prove it.
And that which is good, hold fast to it and abstain from all appearance of evil. So those are good challenges to us.
We spent quite a bit of time on the word everything really is like ball. So in giving thanks is everything. Now if you notice that in verse 18, in everything, not just some, we don't choose to give thanks on something over others and then.
When it speaks in verse 21 about proving well, what do we have to prove? Which is exalted to prove all things, all things not part of it. And then as to evil, we we find that to be a very big problem today. Evil is all around us.
Abstain from what part of evil?
All all appearance. And often we ask the question, well, what's wrong with that?
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What is wrong with and that I remember that when I was a teenager that was a question raised and some of you I remember you as a youngster now your parents and I'm sure you have your your children asking you the same question. What is wrong with that? And I don't think we have enough answers for all that, but really is what is right with it before God that you need to prove all things and if it gives any hint of an appearance of evil, which as we're to abstain from them from all of it.
Authority reads the broader than this, it says abstain.
From every form of evil I believe, and so it covers the appearance of evil.
Yes, sometimes we may not actually be doing something wrong, but it has the appearance of wrong. But the broader thing is every form of evil.
Generally speaking, in our hearts there is because of what we are, there is a strong feeling about a certain evil, and perhaps because of tendencies in our own hearts, we don't feel quite so strongly.
About something else, but.
The Old Testament tells us in the book of Ecclesiastes dead flies.
'Cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor, and then it gives the application of it.
So.
Now lost that train of thought.
So.
A little folly, thank you, Lemoyne. So a little folly in him that is held in reputation for wisdom and honor. And so a believer may be going on very well and be used of the Lord, and there may be blessing in his or her life, but it doesn't take much to spoil the whole thing, does it? And I believe that's why.
This verse is here because it doesn't take much to spoil our testimony, not only before the Lord, but before the world. And the world in some cases knows better than we how a Christian should walk. And it's a humbling thing when the world pulls us up short for some inconsistency in our walk, isn't it? And I speak from experience, it's it's a very humbling thing because they know what a Christian should do and they know very well.
When we step out of line and do something, even if it's something small. And so every form of evil has to be carefully avoided, doesn't it?
Also, sometimes they're translated to wickedness. And I was thinking perhaps I'm not quite in touch with the young people. Sometimes they have a phrase when they see something nice, they'll say wicked. That's not very good, is it? They are trying to imply something good. They may say, well, what's the big deal? It's only an expression, but there's a very bad expression and implying evil along with it.
In Deuteronomy chapter 16.
It talks about.
Eating unleavened bread in connection with the celebration of the Passover.
They weren't to eat of it for seven days. First three, Deuteronomy 16 verse 3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith.
But in verse four it says, And there shall be no leaven bread seen with thee and all thy coast seven days. Not only were they not to eat the leaven bread, but they weren't even to have it show up anywhere in the whole country for seven days.
Nonprofit signs.
Things and not to treat them lightly.
We often whenever we see a word that involves the word prophecy, we think of what's going to happen in the future. And we got lots of books up there in the display on the subject of prophecy. And we might originally read this and say, well, we ought to despise what God has said about what's going to happen. I don't believe that's the intent of these words.
Prophesying is.
The in the broad sense of the word is God giving his mind.
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About something as it applies to a particular need or situation.
And so it's in the Old Testament when you had prophets, the most common use of those prophets was the king. And something was they were questioning what should we do or shouldn't do.
The king would say, Well, go to the prophet and let's ask him. And so they went to the prophet to ask of the prophet, What is the mind of Jehovah with respect to this situation in which we are?
And the prophet would often give them what God had to say to him to tell them both in many cases as to the present, but he also often the Lord would say because of this, this is going to happen down the road, if you will, of time.
The importance of it in this chapter is there may be a situation. I'm going to use an example to illustrate the point, but it has a broad application.
There may be a situation that comes up in the assembly and the brothers in what we call a brothers meeting get together to consider what to do about that matter. And the aspect of it is what is the mind of the Lord for us, and what does the Lord's mind concerning this matter? And if there's something to be done, what is it that the Lord wants us to do about it?
We are to be before the Lord and recognize that maybe the Lord didn't tell you.
But he may have told your brother, and your brother may have the mind of the Lord for all of you in that situation. And so we need to listen.
And not lightly esteem what another says about a matter that is involved in knowing the mind of the Lord in the matter. And if the Lord gives it to someone, our responsibility is to recognize the Lord has spoken.
And the Lord has used that instrument, And how do we receive It is given in the prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from evil, if it is the mind of the Lord.
It can be tested in the that it will be according to the Word of God. It will be totally consistent. The Lord may use that brother to bring before us a specific scripture.
Not always, but I suppose sometimes a specific scripture that says, brethren, I believe this is the word of the Lord concerning what we are to do or not to do in this matter. And secondly, as has already been mentioned, in good and evil, it will not only be according to the Word, but it will be consistent with God in balance, that God is perfect in love and perfect in holiness.
And very often we have to test things because they may get imbalanced in emphasizing love at the expense of holiness or holiness at the expense of love. And so it takes a spiritual mind to discern sometimes that this is truly a word from the Lord that is according to the Word of God and maintains both the good.
God is love and the evil that is God is light and it is not according to God is light, and very often when it's, I'll say not according to the mind of the Lord. Very often there can even be a scripture, but it will emphasize God is love at the expense of God is light, or it will emphasize God is love at the expense that God is.
One or the other is.
Is not upheld, and I believe that in this thing it is. That's part of what the Spirit of God wants us to get out of it.
I think with regards to that.
The way we receive a message has to do with the one that gives it, and we need to differentiate between that. I'll just give an example. David and his life had two people that came and gave him a message.
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One of them was Shimmy Eye. He threw dirt and stones at him.
And he told him he was a bloody man.
And there was another man that came to David Nathan.
And he came in a much different spirit and he said, you know, David, I know you want to build the temple, but God has said to me that because you're a bloody man, because you're a man of blood, you're not able to do that. Now we like the Nathan. We like an Anton that comes alongside of us and he puts his arm around us and he delivers the message. We don't like Ashima, who throws dirt and stones at us. Now David could see.
Through the situation with Shiny Eye and when his men wanted to take his head off.
He said no, the Lord has bid him. And so just in connection with what you're bringing before us, Brother Dawn, that often when a message is given, we line it up with the messenger instead of recognizing whether it's actually the mind of God or not, regardless of the messenger. And so I've just appreciated that with David, here's exactly the same message by two different messengers, exactly the same message.
You can have the exact flip side of it in the sense of not wanting to accept because of your feeling of a brother, or you can miss the mind of the Lord because you seek somebody that has a good reputation and try to get their concurrence. That's the opposite, but it is equally.
We're all as a brother, you often said when I was growing up, we're all a bunch of crooked streaks and and there it's so easy for us to seek and it's illustrated multiple times in the Kings where they.
Wanted.
Oh, Saul said, I've sinned the prophet, But then he said, now honor me before the brethren. That is, he sought concurrence of somebody else.
For.
And Walt so and so says so. So it ought to be right And.
There's an instance in the end of Second Kings where they go to the prophet to ask the prophet what to do. And it he tells them what to do and it says they don't accept it. And they don't accept it because they already had their mind made-up and the prophet exposed that they were going to act a certain way anyways and God was angry with them for doing that. But we can also.
Ask the mind of the Lord of others, will you help me with this, to know the Lord's mind? But if our heart doesn't go in trueness of wanting to know, then we're not going to listen anyways unless they agree with us. And that's a danger too in upholding these verses.
Perhaps just a comment or two on verses 23 and 24 before we close the meeting.
Here we have, I believe, several things. First of all.
We have sanctification not so much as that which.
Is positional. We get that when we're saved, but that which the Lord is doing with us all through our Christian lives and.
There's an order here, Spirit, soul and body. Quite often in Scripture the spirit and the soul are put together because in one sense they can't be separated. But they are very distinct from one another, aren't they? The spirit being the God conscious part of our being, and the soul being what we might call the seed of our appetites and desires and what makes us individuals. And then of course the body, the house in which both of them live.
But if we are going to be preserved, it has to start with the Spirit of God.
Working on our spirit, the human spirit, we have a human spirit and that is the part that responds to God's claims. But as a result of that, we can progress down to the soul, where my appetites and my desires are formed by the power of the Spirit of God and the Lord working in my life. And then of course, that will naturally translate into the body being kept from sin.
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But it's a wonderful thing to think that.
The Lord is willing to do that and.
The next verse says Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
We might ask ourselves the question then, why is it that in some cases we do not see a believer preserved spirit and soul and body as this verse says, if the Lord is faithful and he will do it, then why doesn't it happen?
Oh, it's because we have not allowed the God of peace to sanctify us wholly.
Mentioned a few minutes earlier in this meeting, we have allowed our own wills to try and and they have sometimes thwarted the will of God. But I love the comment. I think it was in Mr. Wiggum's ministry and it's beautiful. It's been a big encouragement to me. He said if the Lord sees in your heart any desire to go after Christ, He will work it in you.
That's what we have here, I believe. Is there a desire in my heart?
Maybe I don't know how to bring it about. Maybe I don't know what to do. Then the Lord will bring circumstances into my life, put me through a tuition if necessary, even bring severe difficulties into my life in order to do what? To preserve me blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we can all have confidence in that. Now, maybe others can add to that, but it has been a tremendous, a tremendous encouragement to my own soul.
To see how that this epistle is ended up by. Now there are a couple of other things said beyond this that are very nice, but.
Having had all these exhortations that have been brought out, can we do it in our own strength? No, but the Lord will work it in US. He'll preserve us, spirit, soul and body, if there's a desire in our hearts and if we allow the Lord to sanctify us holy.
So there's that, which contaminates on each of those levels, isn't it?
Spiritual wickedness there is that the bad desires that are encouraged in the world we live in.
And there is that which contaminates the body.
Fornication is a sin against the body.
Specifically, and so we're to be sanctified.
Holy Lord, help us to be that way.
I often think, too, that God made us in his image and likeness.
God is triune and so we are three parts in one. The Lord help us to be.
For his coming again blameless that seems like.
It's impossible, isn't it? But when you take into account verse 24, faithful is he which calleth you, who also will do it. So let us let our confidence be in the Lord, brethren, to keep us. He will, if we want to be kept.
Like comment on how the epistle closes and this way too. There's God at work at the end of the epistle, right? He also will do it. Here is perhaps the most experienced most.
Outstanding Christian that's ever lived the pattern of Saints the apostle Paul and here's some brand new newborn believers and what's he say to them pray for us. There is an God has so established what we are collectively and individually that he has formed an interdependence that I need you and you need me and woe to the Spirit that says I have the Spirit of God in the Bible and I don't need anybody.
That is not that's a bad attitude. That's not according to the way script work. Scripture presents it. So he says I charge you that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. In other words, here you've received this letter now share it. And so part of our interdependence is what the Lord gives to us needs to be shared there. There are many things that we all need and in the end it begins with he will do it.
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And what is his heart toward us? That we depend on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Can we not say when we walk out of this building that the end of the afternoon the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us?
88.
Till thou shalt fully have obtained in us the fruits of grace.
And we enjoy said, Never end shall see thee face to face #288.
All those merry boy.
I will come back for my sleep.
By.
Age of obligated when you're feeling.
I shall pray full moon of the man from now, every heart away.