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Second Timothy, Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 8.
Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.
Where I suffer trouble as an evil doer.
Even on the bomb, but the word of God is not found.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect state, that they may also obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
It's a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him, he also will deny us.
If we believe not yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Of these things put them in remembrance.
Charging them before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no prophet, but to the subverting of the hearers.
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
But shun for fame and vain babbling, they will increase under more ungodliness.
And their words lead as duffer. Canker whom?
To concerning the truth have aired say that the resurrection is passed already and overthrown the faithful. Some nevertheless the foundation of God stand assured having this seal Lord know of them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only the vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and a bird.
And some to honor and some to dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel under honor, sanctified, and meet for the master Jews, and prepared unto every good work.
Plea also youthfulness, but all righteousness.
Faith, charity, peace with Sam Nicole from the Lord out of a pure heart.
The foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender stress.
Servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men.
Have to teach patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves to God for adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
And that they may recover themselves of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Why does he bring up the need to remember Jesus Christ, the seed of David raised from the dead?
Sounds like he's changing the subject.
Is it not the thought that he's saying that what's going to give a person the perseverance to continue on a day of ruin and failure in their service is to remember that the results are to be seen in another day and to remember the Lord Jesus ministry as He was the seed of David, He came to present himself to Israel as their Messiah. And you read from Isaiah 49 that.
He had spent his strength for not, and that Israel did not return unto God, and outwardly his ministry looked like a failure.
But what was it in resurrection? There was much fruit. It was came out of that labor of the Lord Jesus, but it was only seen after his resurrection. You know that there were many that turned to him after the Spirit came. And I believe that what he's saying here to Timothy is the same thing that if we're looking for results where we're now, we're here in this world now in a day of ruin like this which he speaks.
A person could get discouraged, but if he looks on to another day?
And remember that the rewards and the fruit of all that our laborers have been will be disclosed at that time. And if we keep our hearts and our minds focused on that time, it will give us the energy to continue at this time.
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Helpful to see that it in that I think the Darby translation remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead according to my gospel, leaving out the words that and what.
Only Amen to what you've just said about the earth.
Can you quote the rest of that verse from Isaiah?
I spent my strength in vain, yes, and but.
Though Israel will not know what's Isaiah 49 three, I believe 4.
This was the sum total of the Lord's ministry, his three years of ministry here. And he says to his Father, Isaiah 49, four, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for not and in vain. Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God committed the whole thing to God. Beautiful, beautiful.
John the Baptist said repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. And that is the same message that we find in the next chapter. Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
That was not the way we understand the word Kingdom of Heaven.
They were referring these two verses were referring to him coming to reign in power and glory, but then the king was rejected. And then we have a mystical form. There's a mystical form of the Kingdom. There is a Kingdom, but.
It is in a different way. There is a spiritual sense to it and.
So. But he is not our King, He is our Lord. We enter into the Kingdom of the Son of his love.
And that's the spiritual Kingdom to which we belong. And then when Paul says, according to my gospel, you know, he presents the gospel of the glory of Christ, you know, that's characteristic of false gospel, you know, and all of our blessings are connected with the risen and glorified Christ.
Not with the King of Israel.
You know, and there is a Kingdom to which we belong and there is going to be a Kingdom when he comes back to earth, an earthly Kingdom, and he will even bring us along and have a share in the glory of that Kingdom. We shall reign with him, the Bible says, but we will be reigning over the earth, not on the earth because.
Consistent with our heavenly position, we will be maintaining that position.
Even when we rail reign with him over the earth. So.
Paul's gospel has to do with the glory of Christ. It's the gospel of the glory of Christ. And how wonderful that this has been known to us and that we can be associated with Him in this new way. As we already indicated before, we are in a relationship to God and to our blessed Lord that nobody enjoyed before he rose.
And sent the Spirit even to disciples in Acts chapter one that was still connected with Israel. You know that they would see him come back again to sit, stand on the Mount of Olives that was still in connection with the hope of Israel. But then the Spirit comes and joins.
Those that were followers of the Lord Jesus to a risen, glorified Christ by the Spirit.
So how wonderful the gospel of the glory of Christ is and that we can accept that by faith and know ourselves associated with a glorified Christ in connection with what you brought out brother Bruce. And regarding Isaiah 49, believe we have a similar thought in the ninth of Daniel where it speaks to the Messiah being cut off, but not for himself or his new translation renders it and she'll have nothing.
Nothing. In regard to what?
Well, in regard to Israel he came and had nothing with respect to them.
I think we have a beautiful picture in the 22nd, 3rd and 4th of Genesis there where of course Genesis 22 we have Abraham and Isaac, picture of the Father and the Son there and the type of the death of Christ there in the 24th chapter, of course we're familiar with the call of the bride where Isaac goes to Rebecca.
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The servant rather brings the Rebecca to him. But in the 23rd chapter what we have is the death of Sarah, and I think of that in regard to that expression.
The Messiah shall be cut off and have nothing.
Yes, Sir, there is a type of Israel. There was nothing there. And so that following that we find the call of the bride, where the Spirit of God, typically there in age, although he's not named, brings her across the wilderness to Isaac. And then Isaac brings Rebecca into his mother's tent and he loves her. And so while this present day the Lord has nothing with regard to Israel, the church, the assembly, the bride of Christ has now come into the affections of Christ.
But we know from Genesis 25 that Abram he married again and took up Katura and the picture of the Gentiles coming into a blessing in the coming day, but it just holds true there for the Lord came had nothing with guard to Israel. The church has now come into his affections. The present place a blessing, but his counsels as it relates to Israel will still be fulfilled and that's why in Isaiah 49 he can say.
It is a light thing that thou should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob.
And to restore the preserved Israel, I will also give the alight to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. We know that the Gentiles have even now come in to bless you. But in connection with the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, in the coming day the Gentiles will be blessed with the Jews as Jews and Gentiles alike. And that will really be the answer of the fulfillment of.
What? What God has purpose for his sin?
We all have no talent in joy, Isaiah 53, but what it is really expressing is Israel repenting Israel, acknowledging who He is and what they have done. They considered Him stricken of God and afflicted, but He brought their iniquities, you know. So the first application of Isaiah 53 is for the Jew. That's a prophetic scripture.
What they will express at that time, we can apply that to ourselves, because this death of this Blessed One is also the basis for our blessing, but it is also the basis for fulfilling the promises that were made to God's earthly people and are not yet fulfilled.
The work of Christ is the basis for it to fulfill what couldn't be fulfilled when it was underground of the law. You know, they had to keep it all or guilty if they transgressed in one, they were guilty of it all. And so they were transgressors. They forfeited everything. But Isaiah 53 will show and does show that the basis of the work of Calvary's cause is the basis for Israel to.
Blessed, you know, we can claim that for ourselves. It's the basis for our blessing, but we may have much greater blessings than Israel will ever have blessings fulfill that were promised of an earthly nature. Nature, you know, we have heavenly blessings, but the work of Christ is the basis for our blessing like it is the basis for that which will yet be enjoyed by Israel.
Every blessing.
I'm reading this in the back of my Bible. Every blessing God has purposed for Israel, or for the Church, or for the nations in the Tribulation and or the Millennium is based on the sacrifice of Christ as determined in the councils of the Trinity from past eternity. End of quote.
We will be so happy to see the blessings fulfilled to Abraham. Abraham, see, we will rejoice in that. Why? Because the Lord is glorified in it. You know, can a Christian really be an anti-Semitic person? Better not be, no. Well, I used to work for a Jewish hospital, former Hitler, He was working for a Jewish hospital. I told them, how can I be anti-Semitic? My savior is a Jew.
You know how can a Christian be anti-Semitic?
Out of communion with the thoughts of God. But the Spirit of God always brings before us Christ. And so he endured, it says in Hebrews chapter 12. For consider him that endure such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be weary than faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin. And so if he did resist against evil, and he lay down his life, the Lord Jesus would rather obey.
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And endure and die rather than disobey. And so the trend here in in Second Timothy was the the letting go and the giving up.
And the setting aside of what was the truth of God. And so he says, here's the remedy. Remember, remember.
And we are natural hearts, we would forget, but what is it that will bring us into tune with the thoughts of God? It's remembering how the Lord Jesus conducted himself in this scene. He could say, I do always those things that please my Father. And so he endured. He had the end in view and he endured. He could see that the fruit was going to be.
God were an abundance of fruit, and so our lives can be that same abundance, can't they?
Well, we may not be able to expect to see the fruit of our labor as well. We're here in this world and should be content to leave it for another day. As we've been saying, this eighth verse does speak of the ninth verse goes on to say that what we will expect should expect, and that is opposition. Opposition if we think that, as you say, Heinz, that the Christian life of serving the Lord is a picnic.
We've got to get mysterious adjustment in our understanding of things. We're following a rejected Savior. We're preaching an unwanted gospel.
We're standing for things that this world doesn't want rise against their conscience, and so therefore there is going to be suffering and trouble. And Paul was mistaken here as being an evildoer. But he does add though that even though he wasn't bombed, the Word of God is not found. God's word is still producing blessing and fruit wherever it is used.
And we thank God for it.
So use it.
The Word of God is like a hammock. Use it.
Memorize it so that at a certain time the Spirit can bring a scripture to your mind and quote it. Remember, that is what God has decided to use the Word of God, not our convincing arguments. It's the Word of God. Quote the scriptures and that is what God has decided to use for the blessing of men. Faith is based on the Word of God.
Chapter 4 he says to Timothy, preach the word.
There you have the idea of using the word of God.
I remember hearing a younger, an old brother talking to a younger brother encouraging about the gospel he was about to take and he said make sure to open the word when you get up there soon. Some people get up there and they try to tell a few stories. If the people to laugh a little bit, it's like it's an entertainment or something. And slowly but surely they turn to the scriptures. No preach the word. It's the word of God that has power to affect blessing and souls, not your stories or antidote to whatever else.
We may have, like you say, clever arguments. It's the word. And so in the in the last days, which is what this epistle is all about. The emphasis here is to preach the word, layout, the truth of God. The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. It will accomplish what God would have accomplished. It's in our hands and we're to use it as Brother Heinz has been saying.
In 1948, in this city there was a conference.
Bob Brimley Father preached the gospel and I never before or after have heard so many Bible verses quote.
Stories which he probably could have told, but he quoted and read the word of God.
Still remember?
Didn't need it for salvation, but certainly needed it for a refreshment appreciation, he quoted and read the Word of God.
Stories might illustrate a point and that's what we find even in the Scriptures, right and but it's the Word of God that is to be used and so sufferings is connected with Christian service, but.
Paul said he endured all things for the elect's sake. Who are the elect?
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I don't know who they are, Neither did Paul know who they were.
That's why he preached to all, but he knew that the elect would be reached.
So whatever suffering was connected with his preaching, he did it for the elect sake, because the gospel has this purpose, to draw in the elect. To me this is overwhelming.
In the eternity past, God has chosen me in Christ before the world was. Isn't that amazing? He knew that there were behind Franklin born in 1930 and he said I want that Heinz to be mine. And that's true of every one of us here in the room that is safe. In the eternity past, God has chosen us. We are elected in him before the world Foundation. Amazing.
There was nothing in US why he would pick us, you know, if anything.
What we deserved was to be condemned. You know, we were alienated from God through sin.
We were heading for hell. That's what we were deserving. But.
He is loved and He is gracious, you know, and in his love He gave us the Savior. In his grace He has brought us to himself as sons. Isn't that wonderful? Because sons of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus, in the family of God, we have been brought and know Him as Father.
I mentioned that before nobody knew him as Father in the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus revealed him as Father. To faith in Him became God to know His Father.
You know, and to know him in that intimate way and to say ABBA father, what does ABBA mean?
Well, if you ever would have traveled in the Middle East, you know, if you hear a little boy address his father, he wouldn't say daddy, he would say.
You see, I'm not saying we should say daddy to God, but when we say ABBA, that's what is conveyed. Like what a little child would say to his father in the intimacy of a little child. We can say ABBA, Father. That's the beautiful point, isn't it? Intimacy, nearness.
I don't have to be afraid.
We don't have to be. We don't have to be afraid of him.
You know he loves us.
And you believe it. I think you're our Father's house only today. Amen. I believe that there are dear Saints of God here, as there are elsewhere, that have been raised with the beauty of Jesus loves me. This I know. And their immediate response today as a young adult, middle-aged adult is Jesus.
But the father himself loveth.
And so it's wonderful that Jesus loves me this. I know we should never forget it and the closeness and the dearness. But to think of what relationship we've been brought into and to think of how much is missed by not enjoying the relationship that we have with the Father and the nearness that should express itself.
In prayer and meditation.
But we had to die.
We had to die.
You know that's not his expressive baptism.
Buried with him in baptism.
The Sinner belongs in the grave, and that's what is expressed in baptism.
But how wonderful race with Him in glory. You know it would be only married with Him in baptism. That would not be that encouraging, would it? But we are raised with Him, and we're seated in Him in glory.
That's what that term in Christ refers to in Paul's writings, as we have in the latter part of verse 10, salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. That's the position that every one of us stand in today as believers, regardless of how we may be going on practically in our souls. Some may be careless, some may be very diligent. We are all equally in that place of acceptance of being in Christ, and it's salvation that puts us in that place before God.
It literally means to be in Christ's place before God.
That's my place. All the acceptance that God Christ rests in stands in it as he is before God, and the favor of God that rests on him is mine. That's the same place that I'm in, and you too. So it's beautiful to see how he speaks about the salvation that it is in Christ Jesus. And as Heinz has said, all of our distinctive Christian blessings are in that position, in that man that is there at the right hand of God.
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So not only is our place there, but our blessings are there. Ephesians chapter one and verse three says that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places.
In Christ Jesus not beautiful. Notice that he uses this the names and titles of our Lord Jesus in a different way here than he did in verse eight. In verse eight he said Jesus Christ. Verse 10 he says Christ Jesus. This isn't a haphazard thing. Spirit of God has laid this oath because when it's when it's Christ Jesus as we have in verse 10, it's referring to the man that has risen and gone back to heaven and that place that he has now.
But when it's Jesus Christ, it's referring to the one that's come here.
For the glory of God. And as we were mentioning in verse eight, that's the thrust of that verse, the Lords earthly ministry here. And as the seed of David, he came as we said that his life and ministry looked like it really didn't accomplish anything for the glory of God. It wasn't until a resurrection that we see the fruit, as we said, yeah, common comparison that might bring that out. It's a distinction between the president-elect and the president.
They're the same man and one will have the office, Jesus Christ, but Christ Jesus is the one recognized in office is that.
You'll find that the term Christ Jesus, as we have in verse 10, is not Even so much as found anywhere else in your Bibles but this, but the Epistles you don't read about in the Gospels of the Acts.
It has made him both lost in Christ is in Acts, you know, in resurrection. He was Lord before, but he isn't in a new position now as a result of the work of Christ on the cross. You know, he has made him both Lord and Christ and what a wonderful thing to know here.
Do you know him? Does everybody in this room know him? I hope you do.
Even the boy there were there, you know, he can't know him. A little child of seven or even three or four may enter into heaven through Christ, the open door. I had a brother say once and I wasn't happy about that. He said a little child of seven or eight or nine or more, may I do it to have a law. I said I don't like that. I like the way it is in the hip.
Little child of seven or even three or four. One of our granddaughters got saved when she was three. My dad died. They came to the funeral and here he was in the coffin. I took her by the hand. You know, I didn't want her to be scared. I said, you know, this isn't really opaque. That is the house in which OPA OPA is vampire, You know, in which OPA dwelt while he was on earth. Oppa is in heaven.
She couldn't get that out of her mind. OPA is in heaven.
And when they were back where they were staying, she said, how can I make sure to be in heaven? You know, she wanted to make sure to be in heaven. Well, my daughter said to her, heaven is a clean place.
And you cannot have any dirt in heaven. And sin is like dirt. And the only way that the dirt of sin can be wiped away is when you come to the Lord Jesus. And in childlike simplicity, she did that right then, and she clinks to that even now. She's a young lady now, but she clinks to that, that at that time she accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior. That's why a little child of seven or even 3 or 4.
May enter into heaven.
You know we don't have to be 20 years old before we can get saved.
Speaking of what you were saying about baptism in verse 11. For if we be dead with him.
A faithful saying Reckon yourselves indeed.
That unto sin, it says it is a faithful saying in their King James Version, but I think it reads the word is faithful. He's been speaking about how that he is bound, but the word of God was still bringing blessing. And that is an important point for us to understand as we serve in this day. Listen, brethren, the Lord doesn't need any one of us. Regardless of how gifted you may be and your brother and pat you on the back. The Lord doesn't need you.
He's pleased to use you.
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And we're thankful for that. But even a man is as gifted as this that we're reading of the apostle was bound and blessing was still going on, and he wasn't offended with it either. And so the Word is faithful because it's the Word of God that's bringing the results by the power of the Spirit, not the gift.
But there is going to be a difference, not in heaven, but on earth, according to the measure of faithfulness.
We will give, be given a place to reign with him, you know, reign over the earth. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. That's the Millennium in heaven. You know, we are not going to be reigning in heaven.
But there is going to come a Kingdom, and we will have part in that Kingdom. And according to what we have endured for our blessed Lord, there is a difference on earth.
In connection with the Kingdom, some will be over so many cities, some will be over so many cities. There is a difference in the Kingdom, you know. And then there will be crowns given. We find that in Revelation. And what do the Saints do with their clowns? They cast them at his feet as much as to say, if there's anything in my life that deserves to be recognized, that is because of the grace that you.
Given me And that's why they cast the ground at his feet, giving him credit for it all well anyway, but wouldn't it be nice to have some crowds to cast at his feet given the.
Just an addendum to what our brother Bruce has said and certainly say Amen, that God doesn't need us, but he does use us.
According to Second Corinthians 76, I remember this verse and I'm not going to quote it incorrectly, but I'm going to quote it just as it was on the calendar and it left 1234 left 5 words at the end of the verse off. Let me read it. God that comforted those that are cast down, comforted us.
That's a true statement because it's Scripture. But what's the rest of the verse? By the coming of Titus, God delights to use his own, but he can't use a vessel that's not fitted. So let me read it again. God that comfortes those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus. Beautiful to think that a Titus could be thus used.
In a marvelous.
The grace of God that any of us in any capacity can be used.
There are two reasons perhaps we could say why God is pleased to give us the truth through our brethren as we've been speaking in verse two while passing it from 1 to another, and one of them would be that it keeps us humble.
You know, I, I may say something or you may say something and when somebody gets blessed or helped say, brother, where did you get that?
Well, I got it from old brother so and so it wasn't mine. And So what happens is that it keeps us humble. We can't take any credit for it because it's been most of it's been handed to us by others. If we've been diligent to gather it and we're honest, you know the Lord has given it to us through other brethren. What hast thou that thou hast not been given? 1St Corinthians 4 But there's another reason why is please the Lord to give us the truth.
Through passing it one to another and that is to promote fellowship.
To promote fellowship, it is important that we get bound up together in a practical expression of walking together. You know, it is possible to read books at home and not to even walk in fellowship with Christians and learn the truth. But we're going to miss some aspects of the truth if we do that. There are certain things that we need, that we do acquire that can only be gotten through the fellowship of the Lord's people. You know, we talk about those kind of people who call them island Christians.
They're just off by themselves as an entity by themselves.
And but they miss a lot when it comes to the coming day. It'll be manifest at that time that they have missed because there's much that we learn in the education and the school of God that he teaches us through our brother, As he's been saying, what Titus was there at the right time at the right place.
Most of us have heard about the story of Robinson crucial living all by himself on the island there for many years. But in God's mind, there are not to be any Robinson crews of Christians. We ought to have fellowship. We ought to look for fellowship. That's God's way for God's people. You know he doesn't want us to go on.
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As individuals.
You know, the truth of the body of Christ very clearly illustrates that, you know, and we need each other and we benefit from contact with each other, you know, and not just in the assembly meetings.
You know, when we have contact in our homes, how do we spend the time?
When we visit each other, I believe there ought to be always something of the law.
Being brought out, you know, something that we can enjoy as fellow Christians. I'm not saying that we should overdo it and harm our children, you know, and preach to them for hours, you know, that turns them off. But there ought to be something of Christ coming out in our contact even when we visit as families, you know, and.
We have Christian fellowship, not just limiting.
It to assembly meetings when we have contact with one another.
Would you suggest on the basis of what you said, that if I'm invited to your home and my wife and I that?
You're going to bring out a Bible and and and we've forgotten to bring ours and give us the Bible so that we can read together. Is that all right? Yes, but I was hoping you'd say it was I I, I don't think you should overdo it, you know, but there are some time be set aside for that, especially when their children involved, you know, you don't want to turn them off, but.
Children learn from their parents when they really see what the parents enjoy. Children generally want what their parents enjoy.
So the family alter doesn't need to be altered merely because there is company.
Have to be maintained to.
And it's worth looking at in Acts chapter 18, you know, it says of the overseer in in I think it's both times and one of the first company and once and Titus, he says that that overseer would be given to hospitality because there's a work that can be done with the others that is only done privately in the home. And it's wonderful thing to just have someone in the home and just enjoy their fellowship and and maybe.
A casual but reverential way. Take up the Word of God and set things a little straight sometimes and just help one another, encourage one another. Perhaps someone is downcast and I'm just referring in Acts 18 to Aquila and Priscilla and they saw Apollo's there and he was born at Alexandria in verse 24. An eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures. He came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord as being fervent in the Spirit. He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord.
Only the baptism of John and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, who went quill, and Priscilla had heard. They took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. What a blessing. And then he went out in verse 28. He mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. And so there was fellowship in with other believers and fear. He wanted to go on in the truth he had.
Desire, he was fervent, but equivalent facility didn't work in their home. That might not have got done if it wasn't done in the home. And Priscilla assisted Aquila in teaching this great man of God. I'm sure she kept her place as a lady, but she did it, you know, but she had part in there. But if it wasn't intended, as you say, it would have said.
Priscilla, it would have only said a quote. Yeah, it would have left out for someone.
So whatever measure in which she was sharing, she may have just been sharing by encouragement, but the Spirit of God brings them both together.
The ladies are in danger to think. Well, the men in the meeting have to do the talking, so they better know the scriptures, you know. But the ladies ought to read the scriptures prayerfully for themselves and meditate on it. And who has more influence on the kid, the husband or the wife?
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The father or the mother? The mother, you know. So mothers have a tremendous place to play in the family, you know, and a godly mother. What a tremendous blessing it is. I have three brothers, and they're all going on in a Christian way. And what we as boys have, we owe to our mother. She will bring the Scriptures before us.
In whatever situation arose.
Problems or difficulties, she would bring the light of the scriptures into it. That gave us to understand you have to bring the scriptures into every situation that arises. So what a wonderful thing it is to have a godly mother, have a godly wife, you know, and to have her read the scriptures for herself prayerfully.
You know, it's very important. Of course we know they are more busy than we men, you know, we go to work, maybe now we only have to work 8 hours. They used to have to work more hours but but they are working from morning until night, you know. But they should still have time to read and to pray.
And for themselves and.
What a wonderful thing as we travel and visit the Saints to come across a well taught sister you know that knows the scriptures. A lot of pleasure this and every godly king in the Book of Kings. Wasn't it true the only mention of mothers?
When you search this, I haven't searched this out completely for myself, but I believe everything goes either godly or else turned out godly. The mother was mentioned.
Women have a more affectionate nature, you know, and that comes across better than the way we meant sometimes. Try to bring things across to the children in a more authoritative way, you know, the mothers have a lovely way about them, generally speaking.
What's the sense in the 13th verse of not believing?
Genuinely, I I need help on that. I think it's translated if we are unfaithful, he abides faithful and it's in context with the Timothy saying, you know, if Timothy if there is failure or weakness or you're not going to be courageous as you need to be to carry on the service in such a difficult day as this. Well, if you're unfaithful, God's not going to be.
He abides faithful, He cannot deny himself.
Helpful.
But oftentimes we're unfaithful because there's unbelief in our heart. And so he says, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily to set us, and that's the sin of unbelief of the goodness that's in the heart of God. And so if we believe that we walk by faith and we believe that it's worth the effort to be faithful, it's worth.
And in the eyes of God, to walk in an acceptable way and not deny him the pleasure of seeing Himself.
Seeing us suffer with him and for him, we can deny him that pleasure, if I could put it that way, that he looks down and he sees his sons and daughters and what a pleasure it must be to his heart to see us want to identify ourselves with Him and to walk faithfully. But we can deny Him that in the scene. So this is what is brought out here. He's not going to deny us. He's not going to.
Be unfaithful, the word is going to be kept. What a privilege we have.
May I say something for the boys here?
What attracts you to a girl?
Of course, we do not expect that you're attracted to a girl if you don't.
Naturally are attracted to her.
If you're a Christian and one of please the Lord, you look for more than just whether she's pretty, whether she has a nice personality. All of these are nice things You look whether she is spiritually exercised because that's the kind of health meet you want and.
So.
Sisters.
Be exercised to be.
Controlled and guided by the Word of God.
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And that the Word of God is demonstrated the truth of it in your life and.
Hopefully the Lord will bring somebody in your life who also is spiritually exercised. You know now sometimes the Lord has allowed somebody to marry somebody who was not spiritually exercised. And then the Lord in His grace came in and brought spiritual exercises into the life of that individual. But we ought to look for that before we.
Show an interest in a person or accept attention from a person so hopefully.
The things of the law will have a great influence on our life and also what we are looking for, even when it comes to a partner for life and to walk together except maybe agreed. Amen.
Walk together.
In the 14th verse, he warns Timothy that there's a wrong way of trying to disseminate the truth of Paul's doctrine, and all you're going to do is create a lot of damage.
And that is by our dream.
Trying to subvert your hearers by a lot of clever arguments. You may not just get that out of the 14th verse, as it is in the King James Version, but I would like to now read it in the Darby translation of these things. Put in remembrance, testifying earnestly before the Lord, not to have disputes of words profitable for nothing to the subversion of the years.
Then on the flip side of it he goes on the next verse and says, But strive to diligent people, present thyself approved unto God.
A Workman that right needs not be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth. And So what he's saying is don't try to give people the truth of my doctrine by arguing with them. And all this clever way of presenting it, to try to subvert your hearers into accepting it. Present the word of God, rightly divide the word of truth. There's where the power lies, not in our clever argument, but in the exposition of the Scriptures.
And rightly divided, I think it says in the other translation cutting in a straight line the truth. So these two verses 14 and 15 go together.
One, is that what he's telling him not to be doing in verse 15? He's telling him what he should be doing.
In political district, district team, there is a word called gerrymandering. And if you want of your particular political party, you go this way and then you swing around and catch some more and so on. So so that you gained your end. But cutting in a straight line, we don't gerrymander through scripture to to gather out the things that prove a certain.
Point we've cut in a It's a straight being a straight cutter, isn't it? That's what we should be. It's straight cutters of scripture.
Plea youthful us. And what is it that we should follow?
Responding to righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Yes, we have to discern them has been given to us to recognize those that we can do these things with because they're calling out of upon the name of the Lord.
Out of a pure heart.
You know, and so that begins with us as young people.
You know, when we get safe and have assurance of salvation. Who do you keep company with?
Look out for young people that mean business with the Lord.
You know if you associate and keep company with those that are not spiritually exercised, they pull you down.
You know.
There are those, thankfully, that mean business with the Lord that you can have company with.
Now in my own case.
What I found out is that I could join with young people. They usually were older than I was, you know, those of my age at that time, most of them didn't have much of A spiritual exercise, but there were those that did have spiritual exercises and what actually happened, and I'm not trying to be.
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Boasting, but to shall tell you my spiritual exercises.
I went to a brother that helped me come to faith in Christ and I said, could you have Bible studies with us boys? There were a number of us about my age.
That wanted to get to understand the scriptures better.
And this dear man did have Bible studies with us, and all of those who took part in those Bible studies ended up ministering the Word when they were older.
You know so.
It's a very important thing to have spiritual exercises seek company.
Of those that have spiritual exercises, you know, and then the Lord will use that to be an encouragement to you, and perhaps even you are an encouragement to others.
In that connection, brother, I would like to avoid too much of a personal reference, but I will bring it into this extent. When I was a boy, I anyone that knew my father. Of course he probably knew him when he was much older, but I never thought of him as a legal brother.
And maybe by example, maybe by precept.
I was given to feel that the first day of the week was not Sunday. It was Lord's Day and even to this day.
I park my bicycle in the garage and I may go out early in the morning on other days, but I don't use that bicycle on the Lords day. And I would take this young people from the Lord. If you can't take it from me, then then don't take it, take it from Him. I believe that the spirit in which we conduct ourselves.
Relative to the Lord's Day is an indication of where we are.
In our soul, so you don't go boating on Lord's Day.
If you had run, there are some questions. Your Dave Whitaker years ago told me there's some questions you don't need to answer.
Your answer is already given.
Well, it's it is. It takes a real exercise to.
Do not get drawn into arguments, as verse 14 and 15 are talking about, because oftentimes in a day of ruin, when the bad doctrine is everywhere, there are those who want to argue for their bad doctrine and they've got their clever arguments. And as you listen to it and you come back with trying to present the truth, slowly but surely you can get drawn back, drawn onto the level that they're on and end up arguing and you'll never produce anything.
For God through the.
Energy of the flesh, even if it's seeking to argue for the truth. You know, it says in James One that the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. We can get angry, in trouble or whatever, and try to, in the energy of the flesh to present the truth and to argue that person and to present our arguments from the truth so cleverly that they can't deny it. But the Lord may not be in it. The Spirit of God may not be in it.
Has to be the opening of the word of God and and it's the power of the word by the Spirit that is going to make things good in a soul. And so the Workman needs to be.
Well.
Versed, or shall we say diligent, and so that he can rightly divide the word of truth, and to set things out in an orderly way so that it will.
Condemn the the gainsayers notice it also says.
A Workman started to show thyself approved unto God, A Workman not approved unto the brethren.
Proved unto God.
So what you're seeing, brother, is really First Corinthians chapter 3, the discernment that the apostle Paul had in connection with the Corinthians. He says in verse one my brethren could not speak unto you as under spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. So there were some things that he couldn't go into with them.
In connection with the truth of God, because they were unable to bear. And so he gave them up. He could give them and then he left the rest, as it were, and didn't get into an unprofitable argument. And so he's really giving them, giving Timothy that same advice, isn't he?
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That they strive not about words to no profit, but to submit to the subverting of the years. And so all of these questions that come up that don't exalt Christ, we ought to lay a light touch to, if it exalts Christ.
We can speak of Christ, we can enjoy himself and the person in the work of the Lord Jesus. Why? Those are words of profit. But the enemy would seek to introduce those things that would distract our hearts from Christ and take us off into some other territory that would just be worth of no profit. And so, you know, I've often enjoyed Deuteronomy chapter 2929 on that point because, you know, we have so much revealed to us in the Scriptures that we can enjoy.
Need to go into these questions that have no profit. And so it says there in the last verse of Deuteronomy 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God. There are some things he hasn't told us about. Let's not go and try to find out what they are, but those things which are revealed belonging to us and to our children forever. But we may do all the work of this law. So isn't it lovely? We have the whole word of God and we have those things that are revealed that says that.
I have not seen or you heard.
Neither have entered in the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them that love God, but God hath revealed them unto us. And so we have the truth of God, we have the word of God, and let's occupy one another with those words that will have profit and will resolve Christ.
We could anticipate to verse 25 of our chapter. I think we see something else that's needful. It's not simply a matter of more information.
Verse 25 in meekness instructing those that oppose. It's not here opposing themselves. If they're opposing the truth, you know, strike that word for themselves, if God for adventure will give them repentance.
For the acknowledging of the truth.
It's a moral issue.
It doesn't mean weakness. Meekness is not weakness. We don't cave in, we don't blink. We say, well, I guess that wasn't the truth after all. No, we have a spirit and a tone that's conducive of one that's a servant of God. But to recognize that more information is is not going to necessarily solve the matter here. If there's a moral issue at work, what is needed is repentance on the part of 1 supposing. And so I'd like to read this in the new translation because it puts.
If God perhaps may sometime give them repentance to acknowledgement of the truth, maybe they will, maybe they won't, maybe not now, maybe later. But we stick with the truth laid out in meekness that God can come in and work a work of repentance that that one might be blessed.
Through their vessels to dishonor from which we have to purge ourselves. Vessels are people.
And their separation necessary. But this verse that you referred to in 25 refers to.
To Joshua, you might say in fellowship, you know, and unfortunately at times there are things voice that are not scriptural.
And that's where that verse comes in, you know, in meekness.
Instructing those that oppose themselves. So we trust that the Lord gives us grace to do it in a way that is not making enemies of the people. Although unfortunately sometimes no matter how gently things are presented if it is in form of correction.
People do not always appreciate that.
Their pride is heard and but the scripture in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, you know hopefully that they will accept whatever truth is presented to them.
Repentance to the acknowledgement of the truth.
So if anybody has made any statement contrary to the truth and the brother in meekness instructs him, hopefully they will accept the truth. Because what is important is not whether we accept the person that presents the truth. Will we accept the truth that he presents? You know, that's the point. If you reject what he presents, if it is the truth, it's the truth we are rejecting.
01:00:07
You know, it's bad enough if we reject the person and have feelings against him.
When he brings in correction. But what is much worse is that if we object to the truth that is presented and rejected, that's a serious matter, you know, do you want to reject the truth of God?
You know, just look what happened among so-called brethren.
And the Lord has raised them up to recover. Much true that was never known by the reformers or even other broadly people afterwards. God has given more light after the Reformation.
Got a testimony throughout the ages? That book gives you a real good insight into the work of God.
Even long before he raised up so-called brethren. But if the truth is rejected.
It's not so much the person that they reject, it's the truth that is rejected. And that's a serious matter. If it is the truth of God, we have to bow to it. You know, we have to bow to it.
Acknowledge it, even if it humbles us because we needed correction.
Father years gone by, he rejected the truth of the security of the believer.
And he fought 2 Commands, weeks, months and.
So truth was presented to him time and time again by the party brother, Brother GAIL.
And so later on you have an exercise. And so they took a trip up to Omaha, NE on a large day.
Is there to remember the Lord. You know they were not together for the Lord's name at that time, but.
They argued tooth and nail all the way for 50 miles with a sister.
And so, Needless to say, there was a lot of distress and so forth, and they sat there to remember the Lord.
There and in Omaha, NE many years ago.
My father was still.
Framing against the truth of the word of God. And so after it was all, after the remembrance was all over with, my father got up.
Turn to the scripture, he says.
Ought way to obey God rather than man?
And ask for their place at the Lord's table, brethren, that's what the word of God-given in love and waiting upon him to do the work. And then it's going to be profitable to each and everyone. And bring another one into that place where He's appointed, gathered under his precious name. So there is such a condition in our lives.
What we rejected and rejected until we find out.
The Lord is really saying, well, you're not, you're rejecting me, You're rejecting my word. And we have to bow to it. And then there will be real blessing in our lives, and there was great blessing. Bowing to the word is really what it means when it says a pure heart.
Here, because let's just read it. It says follow righteousness, faith, charity or love, peace with them that call on the on the Lord out of a pure heart. And so a pure heart, the word of God is presented and the will is set aside, the will of man, Our brother Bruce quoted the wrath of man worketh not the Lord of the righteousness of God, and so the wrath of man.
Connected with the will of man. And so he sets it aside and the pure heart hears the word of God, reads the word of God, believes the word of God and wants to walk according to the truth of the word of God. That's one that's in a pure heart, an unpure heart hears the word of God, reads the word of God. But the will is at work and will not in one way or another will not bow to it. And so the heart isn't pure and there's something mixed with.
If you could use that terminology, and so the Lord works to if we walk tenderly before him and in gentleness. This is one of the words that is used here. The apostle Paul uses it in verse 24. Be gentle unto all men. And so it's not if we're going to put more force to it, we're going to get our own way, so to speak, and we're going to win the argument. That's really not the point. It's to present the word of God. The word of God is going to.
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Be used of the Spirit of God.
To bear fruit for God.
So there are times when we have the responsibility of receiving somebody at the Lords Table. There is such a thing as reception to the Lords Table. It's not an open fellowship where everybody decides for himself whether he's in fellowship or not. There is such a thing as reception. But sometimes we have the obligation to receive a person that doesn't understand certain aspects of the truth.
You know, we do not expect them to reach a certain level of understanding before they can come into fellowship. They don't have to study the Catechism of Brethren before they can be received. But if there is a pure heart, you know, when there is a sincere desire to please the Lord, although there might be still quite a bit of ignorance, we have no reason to keep them out, you know.
Of course, if they're serious doctrinal error, that's different. You know, there's such a thing of ignorance to be born with.
It's very plain in Scripture. We cannot tolerate that, you know. But ignorance, you know, how much did we understand when Britain embraced, took us in? How much do we know now? How much do we still have to know and have to learn, you know?
But there are things that are conditions that need to be met.
You know, we cannot accept anybody that denies the eternal sonship, you know, and other things, fundamental truth. We cannot have fellowship with such a person.
But there are a lot of people that have not been exposed to as much sound teaching as most of us growing up amongst so-called graduate.
You know, I had that privilege in Germany. I learned a lot from these brethren. I'm thankful for what I learned from them. I still love them. But the time came that I realized I couldn't go on with them anymore. And it was a painful thing. You know, I didn't enjoy that and I had to separate from them. But.
There are those that serve the Lord according to the measure of life they have and leave it to the Lord to judge them in their service for the Lord, you know. But we have to go on according to the light that in grace He has given to us. And then when we come in contact with somebody who doesn't understand some of the things the Lord in His grace has given us to understand, let's be careful.
How we come across, you know.
And then?
Do not.
Alienate them, try to win them.
Before the hour our time is up, could we have something on the two seals at verse 19 and the great house verse 20 and what it says in verse 21 to purge himself from these?
I think that.
We need to complete what the chapter has. Covers 19. That shouldn't be too much of A difficulty. The Lord is the only one that knows the heart, right?
We don't 2 seals.
Yeah.
One is the Lord know them that are his yeah. Other is.
Let everyone that name it the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Yeah. What? I mean the first seal. Surely we we know the Lord knows the heart. We don't. And that's a comfort, you know. But what governs us?
Is we have to responsibility to withdraw from iniquity?
And what is iniquity?
Well, you have a more modern word. No, I'm not trying to catch anyone. No, what I mean, can you think of a word? Iniquity is not going to be used in everyday English today.
If I remember what Mr. Lundeen said, and I may not have someone remembers, feel free to correct me. Iniquity is evil in in spiritual things.
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But I've heard another definition and that is sin is often called missing the mark.
Iniquity is deliberately missing the mark.
Is a graver thing, isn't it?
And then wickedness would be.
I don't know.
You tell us. I don't know, because that's kind of as reserving wickedness for, but I see.
But it's probably very close then, isn't it?
I've been searching through this for a while. Me too.
You have those words in Daniel Chapter 9 and God never wastes a word. He doesn't use it out of I I know that these I think this was written in Hebrew or Armaic yet but in Daniel Chapter 9 and verse five, he says we have sinned, we have committed iniquity.
Have done wickedly, and have rebelled even by departing from thine precepts and from thy judgments.
And so.
A sin is really to transgress the commandment of the Lord or to lawlessness, I think is really the proper thought there. And so the whole human race is charged with lawlessness. And then I've understood that iniquity has to do with the moral perverseness of the 2nd or the 1St atom that, you know, the fallen nature of man is morally perverse in every way.
And so when we sin in lawlessness, there's moral perverseness connected with it oftentimes. And then we've done wickedly. And that's the wicked intent of the heart of man. And so he says that I'm not going to be able to quote it. I guess it's Jeremiah chapter.
17 is it?
Yes, verse 10.
12 verse 9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it by the Lord? Search the heart and try the reins. And so he uses these words and doesn't waste any words. And there's a specific reason why everyone is used, and perhaps you might even say the order of it is instructive as well.
The lawlessness of man doesn't stop there.
It goes into moral perversity and then wickedness. Absolute depravity is the natural. Man comes in and there's a progression. And so the sin was really of departing first. And what do we depart from first? We depart from the Word of God. It was so in the garden of the Lord. The Word was given and there was a departure from the Word. And it didn't stop there. It progressed in evil.
And so it's a lovely thing for us to take up the word of God, to believe the word of God, to have faith in the word of God, to trust us.
And not to depart from it. And we won't have to live with some of the other things that go along with sin or lawlessness, if we will just accept the word of God and obedience, walk with the Lord. Let me also point out in verse 19 into more accurate critical rendering, as somebody has called Harvey's rendering. Another scholar put it that way, The most accurate critical rendering, It doesn't say the name of Christ.
It says the name of the Lord.
You know, it's a question, question of the lordship of Christ.
You know, our being in Christ that's a correct that to use Christ, you know, it doesn't say we're in the Lord, you know, we're in Christ, but he is the Lord, you know, and we better recognize it. I think I mentioned that before he's the Lord of our lives and we better submit, you know, and.
Let everyone that name it the name of the Lord depart from a dignity. Do we really acknowledge Him as Lord? Then separation from evil is a must. You reject evil.
You know, and that is expected over to question and the spirit within gives us a sense of even if you cannot always put your finger on what is wrong.
01:15:03
But he gives us a sense something is wrong here, you know, and we better keep our distance.
And depart from iniquity.
And then that great house, as we already have heard.
It's no longer the pillar and ground of the truth as it is presented in the first epistle. Has become a great house, you know, and there are a mixture has come in, you know, and there are the real and the full.
Vessels to honor, vessels to dishonor becomes necessary, a must to separate the vessels to this time. And he gives us the discernment to know who we have to separate from if we're spiritually exercised.
Great point that in the 20 twentieth verse with some.
Said, well, which ones are real, which ones are not real, but that this is the whole point of the passage. There might be a gold vessel that's unclean. We think of Belshazzar. How you that's the holy vest of the Lord in a very corrupt way.
We read in Leviticus 11 of a wood vessel and an earthen vessel that were cleansed. They were clean, they were serviceable. So it's not the quality of the vessel. The question is whether they're clean or not. And so the question for separation is not, well, is that one a real believer or not?
As we just have before us. The Lord knows them that are his. It's not up for us to figure that out in certain instances, but it is for us to understand that one of the names in the name of the Lord must depart from iniquity. That's the criteria. That's what we do know. We can't look into the recesses of their heart. The Lord knows that, but we do have the responsibility to judge according to the the conduct and so on. Verse 21 and therefore a man therefore purged himself from these.
Haven't we often been instructed and noted that?
The only other time this word purge is mentioned in scripture is in First Corinthians 5 where the assembly is told to purge out the old Lebanon. There's for the assembly acts to purge it out that the assembly might be a new loan. Well in this situation here there's no purging of it and so the man must purge himself from the the corruption that is there.
So this brings before us not the assembly's responsibility to put out evil, but the individual's responsibility.
To get himself out and away from that evil.
So what does the vessel?
Wooden pizza.
Is it a true believer?
Could be, I'm thinking a second Corinthians 4. We have this treasure, an earthen vessel that's certainly to be a believer. But I take it here, it's not the point of whether it's the real or not the real, the Lord knows that, but rather is it clean or is it unclean? No, I learned from reading that new descriptions better than me that the wood and earth are not real, at least fit for the House of God, you know?
I'm just telling you what I was taught and the gold and silver.
God speaks of righteousness.
Silver speaks of.
Yeah, so that speaks of what is real, you know what the believer is in Christ.
I personally take it that way that would an earthen vessel are not really real or usable for the House of God.
Brother Heights, the only thing that I can refer to would be about the vessels that were in the Tabernacle. And we find that many of them were covered with gold. And so that's divine righteousness. So these earthen vessels can be covered with divine righteousness, the silver and the gold, and of course, the tarnishing that's visible outwardly, the tarnishing can be visible.
But all the vessels that were in the Tabernacle were covered with.
With gold.
Golden candles, sticks and the ark for the covenant and those, those things that were in inside the temple, they were all covered with gold, that divine righteousness. So we're looking towards perfection, isn't it? That we're looking for? And in order to get perfection, it takes the redemption, which is silver.
But gold is divine righteousness, and that does not perish. You know what in earth perishes.
Vessel unto honor, sanctify, and meet to the masters youth, and prepared unto every good work.