Aberdeen Conference: 2016
Table of Contents
Luke 24:1-12
Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Of all its gloom the stone forever rolled away. Thy death, the power of death did slay we joy to see the Lord arise triumphant through the open skies, and hear all heaven united own the worthy to ascend the throne. In that regard, I'd like to suggest we take up the 24th chapter of the Book of Luke.
Think about it too.
Praise the Lord.
You want the whole chapter? Read or.
To the end of verse 27.
OK.
24.
First one.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout. Behold, 2 men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but he is risen. Remember how he spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee?
Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, And the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the the 11 and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
And their words seem to them as idle tales, and they believe them not.
Then arose Peter, and ran unto the Sepulchre. And stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wandering in himself at that which was come to pass.
And behold, two of them went the same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem. About 3 score furlongs.
And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they commune together, and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, But their eyes were holding that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that you have one to another as you walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleophus answering, said unto him.
Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and the word before God and all the people, And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.
And beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yeah, And certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the Sepulchre. And when they found not his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us, went to the sepulchre and found it Even so, as the woman had said.
But him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
00:05:10
Begins with the resurrection and ends with the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're two very real and precious truths that we need to tenaciously hold on to in Christianity. First of all, the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus did not just rise in spirit as some have taught down through the ages. There are plenty of scriptures to show us.
Including this chapter that he bodily rose from the dead.
And then, as a man, a moment came at the end of this chapter, when his feet left the Mount of Olives and he ascended back up. And today he seated at the right hand of God. And these truths are what are unique to Christianity, if I can put it this way. They set Christianity apart from all the other so-called great religions of the world. We can go to many tombs today in various parts of the world.
Where they will boast of the bones and the dust of the religious leaders who have risen and fallen here in this world. But, brethren, we have a tomb too. But as we're going to notice as we go down through these verses, it's an empty tomb. And we have not just a living Savior, but we have one who's at the right hand of God. Because as we learn later on in the Epistles, Christianity sets us in relationship with Christ.
Not here in this world as they knew him when he walked amongst men, but it sets us in relationship with the man at God's right hand. Very beautiful and very important to get ahold of in our souls and to enjoy the resources that we have in a not only a risen Savior, but a glorified Savior. Just make this little comment to that as you go through the four Gospels and you read of the.
Circumstances surrounding the crucifixion, the trial and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. There are circumstances and events mentioned or left out in each gospel according to the character of the gospel and the way in which the Lord Jesus is presented to us in that gospel. But I think it's very significant to realize that in each of the four gospels.
The resurrection is stressed.
And that there are a number of scriptures at the end of each of the four Gospels. And yes, there are a few little different details in connection with the event. But the Spirit of God wants us to understand very clearly, no matter which gospel a person reads. We understand very clearly that not only did the Lord Jesus die and was buried, but he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures, as Paul brings out in the book of Corinthians, so very, very precious and important truth to enjoy.
Get a hold of in our souls.
It was a very difficult thing, wasn't it, for those dear disciples to get that precious truth through to their hearts and to their minds that the Lord was really risen.
He had said it over and over several times to them when they were with him on earth, and yet they couldn't seem to grasp at or understand it.
Too hard on them. We need to remember that no one had ever risen from the dead before under, if I could say it reverently, his or her own power.
There had been in the Old Testament in the times of.
Elijah and Elijah. There had been those who were raised from the dead. The Lord Jesus himself had raised.
00:10:01
Various ones from the dead, and perhaps more than are even recorded in Scripture.
But the thought that one would rise by himself from the dead.
That was an astounding and entirely new thought. And of course we know that it is still scoffed at in the world today. But it is really the key to everything in Christianity, isn't it? We don't need to turn to it. But Paul brings that out in First Corinthians 15 that if Christ is not raised, you have no savior.
You are yet in your sins, and so everything in Christianity hinges on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And some here, in perhaps my age bracket, will remember our late brother Clifford Brown, who used to remind us that true Christianity begins on the other side of the cloud. That is not merely with resurrection, but with ascension. And so it's something that.
Needs to be very, very precious to our souls and something that is really part of a complete gospel too, isn't it?
So on the left hand, the resurrection, the glorification, ascension, and glorification of Christ were God's. Amen to the work of Calvary, because it tells us God hath raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand. But as brother Billis said too he he also said of himself in John chapter 10. I believe it's the 18th verse, he said of his life. No man taketh it from me. I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father.
And as has been said, this was something that was new and unique, and something that prior to the resurrection was very hard, if not almost impossible, for his own to to grasp.
But very wonderful here at the beginning of this chapter, we have the stone rolled away as these ladies come. And why was the stone rolled away? It was not rolled away, brethren, so the Lord could come out in resurrection. Because later on, as we we read, when the doors were shut for fear of the Jews, the Lord Jesus came and stood in the midst of His own. He had a real body and resurrection, as was confirmed to them.
But it was a body that wasn't subject to physical hindrances.
And so he could have come out of the tomb without the stone being rolled away. But why was the stone rolled away? It was rolled away for those ladies, for Peter and John who came later, and for you, and for me by faith to gaze into an to an empty tomb, to realize that beyond a shadow of a doubt the Lord Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. By the power of God the Father, yes, but also by his own power.
He came forth in Resurrection, Brethren. If that doesn't thrill our souls, I don't know what goes on within our souls. And it really makes us very responsible too, doesn't it? To realize that we are responsible now to one who not only laid down his life, but one who is risen. And I suppose that's why.
The resurrection has been so discredited by the enemy down through the ages because as soon as.
We recognize or bow to the fact of the truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus man realizes he has a responsibility to his maker and he does not want to recognize his responsibility. And so the Jews, Jewish leaders, they sought to discredit this. And even in the book of the Acts it's interesting to notice that when they preach the gospel or spoke the truth, there often wasn't out and out animosity.
Until the resurrection was mentioned, and as soon as the resurrection was mentioned, Then you find they'd gnash on them with their teeth. They'd pick up stones to stone them, they'd drive them out of the city, They throw them in prison. It was the truth of the resurrection that they did not want to hear, because it made them responsible.
00:15:08
They also hear that Genesis is the seed plot of the Bible. And that's true, isn't it?
And I think you alluded to it, Jim. But it's important to understand, isn't it, that every religion in the world aligns itself either after Cain or after Abel?
Religions, with one exception, aligned themselves after Cain. That is, they bring the work of their hands without any blood sacrifice.
Both boys should have known better because they were taught by their parents. But Abel alone of the two brought a blood sacrifice, and not only was there blood there, but as we know, not only did the Lord Jesus die, but he rose from the dead.
And that separates Christianity from every religion of the world. The leader of every religion in the world is in the grave still. Only the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead. That separates Christianity from every religion.
How important that is? And I was thinking too, Brother Bill, as you were speaking, about the importance of resurrection, You know, I'm glad that these people were somewhat, we might say, skeptical. That proves the reality, doesn't it? A lot of people like to say, well, you know, the resurrection, they just swallowed it because they were Christians or because they knew the Lord. But they didn't just swallow it. They had consistent doubts as we would. I remember reading a commentary once.
And this was actually in the in the magazine Time. I don't know anything about the author. I think he might have been a Christian, but nonetheless he said that the book of Luke reads like a story well told. We can put ourselves right there. In fact, it is the book as we know, where the Lord Jesus is presented as the Son of Man. If God were to become a man, how would he feel and act and speak? That's what we have in the book of Luke, don't we?
He is the social man in the book of Luke, and so we can identify with them in a way that's unique among the Gospels. And so I'm glad again that these disciples were skeptical. They weren't just gullible people, as a lot of people like to suggest. But that gives power to the testimony of the resurrection, doesn't it? They had to be convinced against their will, and they were.
Hmm.
There's something else that's unique to Christianity, too, and we have it in the opening verse of our chapter, and that is the first day of the week, and that is unique to Christianity. And again, it's very significant that in each of the four Gospels that is stressed. You don't need to turn to it. But I'm just going to read you from each of the four, the other three Gospels, the expression that is used at the beginning of the chapter, where the resurrection is brought before us.
In Matthew's Gospel, it says in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week. Then in Marks gospel it says and when the Sabbath was passed, and then it talks about the women that came. In John's Gospel it says the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene and so on. And in our chapter that we're taking up it says and upon the first day of the week.
And this is the day that is unique to Christianity. And again, it's very important to understand this. The first day of the week, or as John later refers to it in Revelation. The Lords day is not the Christian Sabbath. It wasn't a remake. Christianity wasn't a remake of the old order of things, the Jewish order of things. The Sabbath was given to Israel.
This is just a little aside, but I have talked to Christians who feel they should keep the Sabbath or that the Lord's Day is the Christian Sabbath as they would label it. But I have turned them back to Exodus where it says that the Sabbath is to be. It was to be a sign between Jehovah and the children of Israel. And I've often asked individuals who who speak of keeping the Sabbath. If you can tell me what tribe you're from, then I'll say you should be keep you should keep the Sabbath. But if you can't tell me what tribe you're from if you're not a Jew. The Sabbath was never given to the to the Gentiles.
It's unique to Christianity. And so it's the day the Lord rose from the dead. He appeared to his own later on, as we'll notice on the first day of the week. It's the day when the Spirit of God descended at Pentecost, And it is in Acts 20, the day in which the believers met to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread. We see, I believe, very quickly, in the early history of Christianity.
00:20:21
But the first day of the week became that which was unique to the early believers and their joy and exercise to come together for the breaking of bread and other things as well. But again, I believe this is very important to understand that the Sabbath was now to be set aside. And the first day of the week, or as we often refer to it as Lord's Day, is the day when we remember the Lord Jesus.
Umm, thank God in a country like this, most of us are able to have the day off. But you know, when I go to Egypt in a few weeks, they're in a Muslim country. So what will they do? They've got to get up and go to work and school and activities during on Lord's Day. It's not a holiday in a Muslim country. What do they do? Well, they come together at 9:00 at night when their responsibilities are done so that they can remember the Lord Jesus on the first day of the week.
Resurrection by faith, but for those who were.
Eyewitnesses, if we could say it at the time, God gave every possible proof, didn't he? Even for the natural man.
Certainly the disciples could have rolled the stone away from the sepulchre, and I don't suppose the technical details need be that important to us, but when they buried people in those days, they wrapped them round and round from head to toe.
With.
These grave clothes and then a napkin around the head.
We can all see that there would be only two ways, humanly speaking, that you could take the body out of those grave clothes.
Either you had to unwind them over and over again, round and round and unwind them, or you had to take a knife or a pair of scissors or something and cut through them.
If either one of those had been done, it would have been very obvious that the hand of man was in it, and that the body had been stolen. But here were the linen clothes lying just as they were, and the body gone. That could not be done except by divine power.
And so here was one who rose from the dead and gave ample proof, not only at the time, but as we find later.
In the number of appearances that He made to his own, we know he never appeared to the world after His crucifixion and subsequent death and blood shedding. But He did appear to many, many witnesses as we find out.
Reading in First Corinthians 15, so that even the natural man in some cases has been thoroughly convinced that there is no event more attested to in history, even from a natural point of view.
Than the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Well, we can be very thankful, can't we, that you and I can rest by faith on what God's word says. And we know as we read in this chapter that not only is he risen from the dead, but he is ascended. And so, as we say again, everything in Christianity depends on that resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
The Lord allowed many of those who saw him to remain for at least 25 years.
In First Corinthians 15.
It says in the sixth verse. After that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom a greater part remain unto this present.
Go ask them.
Good.
Well, as you say, Brother Vern, God gives very ample proofs, but man believes what he wants to believe, doesn't he? The heart of man believes what he wants to believe. And whether it's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus or many other things such as the theory of evolution, if it ever had anything to support it, which it really didn't.
00:25:24
But if there was anything that seemed to support it in any way.
The props have all been totally knocked out from under it in the last 20 years. And what does man do? He's just revises it somehow and keeps right on going. And so it is a matter of faith, isn't it? And what man wants to believe that he believes and what he will reject, he rejects. But how wonderful to know that we do have a risen Savior and the rest of the chapter is a wonderful.
Development of all of that and what happened in the minds and hearts of some of those who.
Were not convinced. And others who saw him, and yet were terrified and frightened. The Lord graciously looked after those things, didn't he? The Lord was very gracious to those who couldn't see this right at the beginning, and who struggled with it. And again I say, before we're too hard on them, remember that they were not indwelt with the Spirit of God, and in that way you and I, if we could say it kindly, have a tremendous advantage.
What a difference, Peter. It says here in verse 12 it says ran under the sepulchre and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. He didn't doubt the event. Peter was not, if I could say it kindly. Peter was not stupid, and when he saw those linen clothes I believe he was convinced and another scripture supports that.
But he wonders at it. What happens just a matter of a few weeks later, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God comes down? What a difference.
A Tremendous.
Or gives a tremendous sermon that ties together Old Testament scriptures and points out how all of this had to happen. What made the difference?
The Spirit had come down and given intelligence in divine things.
Too hard on these people. Let's remember that they did not yet have the Spirit of God, but how graciously the Lord looks after them and shows them very, very carefully, even following two on the way to Emmaus to show them that yes, it was real, but what did he want them to see it from? And I know it's anticipating He wanted them to see it from the scriptures, and that's what God refers us to, doesn't he?
Could have said immediately when they were walking along that road. Well, here I am. I'm alive.
But instead he uses the scriptures so that when he ascended to glory.
They would have that on which their faith could rest.
And having said that, it'd be nice to just make a comment or two on these ladies that had come early to the Sepulchre, because they too weren't intelligent really as to what was taking place. They had some of them had followed the Lord Jesus in his pathway and ministered to the to Him. We read of some of them named in another place, Mary Magdalene, Johanna Susanna. They followed the Lord and ministered to Him of their substance.
Some of these ladies had stood at the foot of the cross and watched what was taking place as the Lord Jesus suffered in His agony. And now we find that they are the ones that come early to the Sepulchre. In fact, it's they who bear the news to the disciples that he has risen. Why did the Lord ordain it in this way? Because while there was not the intelligence yet that we have in Christianity and as Brother Bill has said, because of the Spirit of God and and completed scriptures and so on and and actually further testimony.
In Stephen and Paul and so on later on. But God brings this out. I mean, God allowed this, ordained it, that these women would be the those who would come first because they were women who had affection for the person of Christ. Now having said that, I just like to go over to John's Gospel for a little detail that you don't really get here in in Luke, but in John's Gospel chapter 20.
00:30:08
We won't read this all, but we find that in John's Gospel, the focus is on Mary Magdalene, a woman who loved the Lord. Perhaps her love and affection in the gospel stands out in contrast to all others, but we find that she's the one that's mentioned in the first verse that comes, and she's the one who is mentioned who takes the message. This is a little aside, but it's very interesting to realize.
That Mary came from Magda, which was within the boundaries of the tribe of Naphtali, and I believe that she's the fulfillment of what it says of Naphtali in the Old Testament. Naphtali is a hind let loose and full of goodly words. Here was a hind let loose and full of goodly words. Here was the one who was told. Go tell my brethren, she was the one who had the message. But what I want to point out is.
But when Peter and John come to the Sepulchre, they we find that they come, they go, they eventually go in, they see the linen, clothes, and so on, and they return home. If I can put it this way, they were content with an empty tomb, and to realize, at least in some degree, that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. But notice what it says of Mary.
Verse 11 But Mary stood without the sepulchre weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre and see if 2 angels sitting in white, the one at the head and the other at the feet of the body of of Jesus, where Jesus where the the body of Jesus had lain.
Now we won't read on because we know the story, but it's very interesting read the verses that follow because Mary was not content with an empty tomb. Mary was not content just to see the linen clothes lying orderly in the tomb. She would be content with nothing less than the person of the Lord Jesus.
And when she actually sees the Lord Jesus and supposes him to be the gardener, she says. If you've taken him away.
Tell me where he is, and I'll go, and I'll go to him. Even if it meant being close to his dead body, she would be content with nothing less than the person of Christ. Brethren, I covet that for my own soul that ought to speak to to to each of us. She wasn't intelligent, she received intelligence. Later on she gets this wonderful message, but with a heart so attracted to the person of Christ.
She wouldn't leave until she had them. And did she get his dead body? No.
She got a risen savior.
Oh, I don't suppose we understand what it must have done for Mary's heart to be able to see that it was the Lord Jesus risen. This was what was going to satisfy her heart. So, brethren, how wonderful the resurrection is. But how wonderful the person who rose from the dead, so does he so attract our hearts that we want nothing less than nearness to himself.
Is that a danger today that we might know a lot about him but we don't know him?
And that's right, Burn. Because we can take up a chapter like this and we can give a scent to the resurrection we believe. It has has been said by faith. We're going to speak a little bit of other circumstances between the Resurrection and the Ascension. We give assent to the Ascension of Christ as one of the tremendous truths of Christianity.
But our will our hearts go out more to the person of Christ as a result of these meetings.
And taking up a chapter like this, if they do, then there's been profit and benefit in our being here.
In that connection, there is a real danger even on the believer.
Of what we have in verse 11.
00:35:05
What happens when those women whose affections had been touched, come to, as it says here unto the apostles?
Accompanied with the Lord during all of His earthly ministry, who had been in a unique position to hear His teaching, and likewise to be told the precious truth that he had to suffer.
And die and rise again from the dead. And not only could they not understand it, but when these women come bearing this precious message, what does it say?
Their words seem to them as idle tales, and they believe them not.
We make allowance. I say it kindly that maybe Mary Magdalene was not noted for her natural intelligence.
But all the same.
If their hearts had wanted to believe it.
It would have had an effect, wouldn't it? And.
I speak to my own heart, but I agree with you Vern, that we can be intelligent as to many things in Christianity, and yet if it is not a present living reality in our souls, then sometimes it can get to the point where it becomes as idle tales. It's sad when that happens, but I have to say that I have talked to dear believers. I say dear believers because I know they are believers.
And yet, when some of the precious things of Christ are presented, it is just discounted, as if, Well, that doesn't have any practical value in my life, for that doesn't have any special meaning for me.
It can get that way. Other things of course can get in the way. And we know that dear Peter had failed and.
Perhaps some of the other apostles were still wondering who was going to be the greatest and so on, But it's a sad thing when the.
Revelation of what God has done in Christ does not have an effect on our heart, and it can happen to any of us, can it?
Might just say that God has so constructed it, and even in the breaking of bread.
That there's nothing there except Christ. And if you're not enjoying Christ, it can be the deadest place in the world. But if you are enjoying him as a practical communion in your own soul, there's no place on earth as sweet as that.
And so we can know all these things and many people leave that place.
But I believe that's part of the problem, is that we know all these things we know about him.
Don't know him. We don't want to discredit intelligence in divine things either. Both are important. And so in that regard I was thinking of two Marys that we have in close association, because we find that Mary and Bethany, she denotes to U.S. intelligence in divine things. I say that because you'll you do not find Maria Bethany either at the foot of the cross or at the empty tomb.
Very interesting, isn't it? Because the Lord said of her, she came before to anoint me to the burial, and I believe Mary of Bethany understood beyond what even the disciples understood as to what was taking place. She was certainly a woman of affection who sat at the feet of Jesus, but she's also a woman of intelligence. Mary Magdalene then, as we've been saying, speaks to us more of affection in divine things.
And God wants both. He wants affection in divine things and he wants intelligence in divine things too. Because as Ephesians, one tells us, he's abounded to us in all wisdom. And I think Mr. Darby's translation, intelligence, what marks Christianity is intelligence in divine things. But we can be clear as ice and just as cold. We can have it all, the doctrine down pat. We can be able to enumerate the fundamental truths and doctrines of God's work and that's good. We're to grow in grace and the knowledge.
But as we've been saying, we need not only the Mary of Bethany's example, but we need Mary Magdalene. Because if there isn't affection in divine things, the soul is cold and it's mere cold doctrine.
00:40:01
That Mary wasn't at the tomb because she knew he was going to rise from the dead, Intelligent as to what was going to take place, I believe.
There was another person who was absent from the foot of the cross, and that was Peter. Because there's been already alluded to, Peter was off weeping bitterly, and there was a work of God beginning in his soul as to the fact that he had denied the Lord three times with those and curses. John was at the foot of the cross. You know, you so often have Peter and John together.
John was at the foot of the cross, and the Lord was able to commend the care of his earthly mother to the apostle John. But it's beautiful that on the resurrection morning, and you don't have it so much here. But if we were to go to some of the other gospels, again, like John's Gospel, we find Peter and John back in association together. And in John's Gospel it's Peter and John that run together, and John eventually outruns Peter and so on.
But isn't it beautiful to see that there was a work already beginning, and later on, subsequent to the resurrection, he appeared first unto Simon? Not beautiful to have that private interview to complete that private work of restoration which was made public later on on the banks of the of the Sea of Galilee. But it's beautiful here to see Peter's restoration had already begun. And maybe they're in a practical way. There's somebody here this afternoon, and you've come to these meetings and you say, I haven't followed the Lord like I should.
My affections haven't gone after the person of Christ like they ought to. I've allowed things in my life that have taken me away. But you know this restoration, the same restoration that was going on in the life of Peter here, and the grace that was performing that, that restoration is the same limitless grace and supply that is available to today. It was a process with Peter.
But there is that process and no matter how bad, we failed.
While there may be consequences in our life, and we reap what we sow, there can be, as far as to the Lord full restoration, and there can be, at least in some degree, usefulness again in our lives.
Do you take it that those two men that stood by them in shining garments were angels? And as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said unto them. With sorrow they bowed their faces to the earth. And he said unto them, Why seek ye living among the dead?
This must been quite an encouragement to them, he said he said. And he is not here.
He's risen.
Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.
It's that must been quite encouraging.
Beautiful, isn't it, Brother Vern? To see how that the Lord can use his angels in whatever way he chooses.
In Matthew's Gospel it mentions 1 Angel and that was all it took.
So to frighten those soldiers who were supposed to be standing guard that it's recorded, they became as dead men.
These women who women who for the moment were somewhat frightened, which was normal in the sight of an Angel, but then when they are reassured.
They are able to receive a message from the Angel and there's really No Fear after that.
And so how beautiful it is that God can use those messengers in whatever way He chooses. He could use them in such a way and in many times, many ways down through the history of believers. God has done that many times, hasn't he? He's used angels to protect his own and to cause such fright in the natural man that he dares not do what he had intended to do. But here were these women who could see these angels and who could actually converse with them.
00:45:26
And who could listen to a message that was a real encouragement for them?
And so the Lord uses his angels in whatever way He chooses, and they do His bidding, whether to defend his own or to be an encouragement to them.
Been suggested to that those four, four of those words that they spoke, He is not here.
That could be written across everything in this world, Can it? It's not the first time we've heard that. But it's true, isn't it? He is not here. It's so easy to get occupied with what we see and what's temporal.
But the Lord would have our eyes on himself and engaged with what's eternal.
And what's spiritual rather than physical? So that's a good text for us, isn't it? He is not here.
For what? You said down in Burbank, God wants to take you to His world.
That's a great thing to keep in mind.
I've been exercised in some for some months now for first of all with myself, but the danger is that we make Christianity so self-centered, don't we?
But the real secret of Christianity is after our salvation is taken care of.
That God wants to bring us into his world.
Things that are dear to himself.
The things that are have to do with his eternal councils, and that's what he does. And that's what we have later in the chapter, don't we? Some of the secrets that we have beginning with Moses and all the prophets, What a wonderful thing that is. And I've often felt that in our day we have that not to get too far ahead, but we have that, don't we? The word of God in a certain sense has been opened up in these last years in a way that it was never understood before.
We have resources at our fingertips that make it available to us.
Valuable ministry that that gives us the whole council of God. And yet often we act as poppers in this world, and we prove it by what we go after, don't we?
Wasn't it old Brother Hayhoe that used to say we can have as much of Christ as we want?
And our lives show how much we want.
Very hearty. Amen to that.
Even in the gospel that Paul preached and it has been mentioned before. But this is nothing. In that sense. It's nothing new.
Paul starts with God's purposes in Christ and the honor and glory of Christ. You see it in Romans chapter one, you see it in Ephesians chapter one, and so on, where he starts with God's purposes in Christ.
And then man is brought in and obtains blessing along with God's purposes. And when that is the order that is given, God is far more glorified, Christ is far more honored, and man is far more blessed. But as you say, the tendency is for us to make ourselves the center of Christianity, and to that extent not extent. Not only is Christ to some extent robbed of his glory, but we are short chains too, aren't we?
We never, never lose if Christ has given his rightful place.
And even our tendency when we come together, even in meetings like this.
Encouraged we would be helped. But how often do we pray that the Lord would be honored? Well, we do, of course, but how often do we pray that the Lord would have His portion in these meetings as well? That's a good exercise, isn't it? And as I was thinking as you were speaking to in the fourth, in the five sacrifices that we have in Leviticus.
Which was Moses, of course. The first one is the burnt offering, the last one is the sin and trespass offering. God's part is first, isn't it? And that was the great one of the great errors of the Reformers, wasn't it? They thought that God's purpose was man's salvation, but later on brethren corrected that and they said no. God's purpose is the honor and glory of his Son, and man gets the blessing thereby.
00:50:22
And that just to follow that up out to a future day that really is God's purpose in connection with the future day of vindication for His Son. We think of how wonderful it will be for God's earthly people and for the nations to be brought into blessing in a future day and so on. But why is God looking forward to that day? Because His son will finally have his rightful place and his full vindication on the planet.
Where they spit in him, cried away with him, crucify him and took him and nailed him to a Roman cross. And even the Lord Jesus is looking forward to that day henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. So I just say that because even what is yet future God is looking forward to first of all for the glory and vindication of his Son. But I would like to ask a question. Our time is almost gone because this meeting.
Is only scheduled till 4:30 but.
I want to ask a question in connection with a little comment that is made about the linen clothes in John's Gospel that you don't get here. Because in John's Gospel, when they observe the linen clothes, they observe the linen cloth that had been wrapped about his body in one place and the one that had been wrapped about his head separately in another place. Now there must be some reason why the Spirit of God in John's Gospel.
Has brought in that little difference and made that comment. It was not specifically says it was not lying with the linen cloth that was wrapped about his body, but it was wrapped in in a place separate. Is there a thought in that connection?
Well, I have enjoyed it. I'd like to hear the thoughts of others.
But does it look on to the forming of the one body, the head in heaven and the body here on earth? I've enjoyed that thought, and it's not original with me. It came from some brethren of a past generation. But I have enjoyed it that their God was giving a little indication of what would happen in the future.
There would be a head in heaven, and there would be a body here on earth.
Steve, you must have thought that over.
That I've ever had a thought, particularly in connection with John's Gospel, other than it showed the perfect orderliness of the resurrection that wasn't someone that's in a hurry, doesn't hold that napkin and put it in a place by itself. The Lord's resurrection was a calm.
Event as far as he was concerned. And so there was carefulness and orderliness and everything that the Lord did.
Very good if it's in John's Gospel, because we don't have the Ascension as such in John's Gospel. But as Bill said, we have this little picture, little hint that for a time the head would be separated, that is physically from the body we know connected by the Spirit of God as took place on the day of Pentecost. But in John we don't get the Ascension as such. But perhaps that little picture does that commend itself or not?
Brother.
Harry shared a beautiful thought with us some years ago in Palmyra connection with the resurrection and John's Gospel. You get 2 angels, one at the head and one at the foot of the place where the Lord lay. And that's the very construction.
Of the ark, those two angels, one at the end, one at each end, and their wings stretching out and touching each other, looking down at that place where the blood was sprinkled.
Invitation of another sprinkling of blood. It was done and.
The other thing too, I've really enjoyed the connection with the resurrection. Maybe it's not a new thought to others.
But in Matthew's Gospel, where you get in the beginning of the 28th chapter, the women came when it was beginning to dawn towards the first day of the week, Mr. Kelly says, when it was beginning to grow dusk towards the first day of the week.
00:55:09
As soon as they were at liberty from the Sabbath, which.
Ended at 6:00, our 6:00 in the evening, the first day of the week began.
And they came while there was still little light to that tomb. The stone was still there. That was their first visit to the tomb, he said. It's not to be confused with their second visit to the tomb, which was early in the morning as it began to sunrise, and even in one place when it was still dark.
And the stone was rolled away. When was the Lord raised from the dead?
You know, any part of the day in Jewish reckoning constituted the whole day, and the Lord was 3 days.
Three nights.
In the tomb, in Jewish reckoning, it was only a few hours before the Sabbath that he was laid in that tomb nonetheless, that constituted the first thing, then the Sabbath.
And then shortly, I believe just a few hours.
After the Sabbath had ended and the first day of the week had begun, sometime in that night, and perhaps very early, we're not specifically given one. God was anxious to raise his son from the dead.
And what did he do in those hours?
As Lord the Father.
Here those few hours with the Father and resurrection.
Before he finally appeared.
To his own for their comfort and blessing. I believe it was not long into the first day of the week that our Savior rose from that grave.
55.
Luke 24:13-24
Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
A village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about 3 score furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself, drew near, and went with him. But their eyes were holding, that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that you have one to another as you walk? And are said? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? And hast thou not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
And he said to them what things, when they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our Brewers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted it had been here which should have redeemed Israel. And besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. Yeah, And certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the Sepulchre, and when they found not his body.
They came saying they have had also seen a vision of angels which said that he was alive.
And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it Even so, as the women had said. But him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them, and all the scriptures of things concerning himself, and they drew nigh unto this village, whether they went, And he made as though he would have gone further.
But they constrained him, saying, abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them, and it came to pass as he sat at meet with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break and gave to them, and their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us, by the way, And while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the 11 gathered together, and them that were with them.
Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, peace be unto you. But they were terrified, and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why your thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that is I myself handle me, and see, for spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them, and he sent it to them. These are the words which I spake unto you, while it was wet yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.
And said unto them, Thus it is written, And thus it behoove Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witness of these things. And behold, I send a prophetess of my father unto you, But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass. While he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.
And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Well, yesterday we spoke of the wonderful.
Truth of resurrection.
And it's interesting to realize that when it comes to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the whole Trinity was involved, as the Trinity is always involved in everything that God does. I say that because we mentioned yesterday that on the one hand God raised him from the dead. We find 2. The Lord spoke of taking his own, giving his own life and taking it back. We had that in John 10.
It also tells us he was put to death in the flesh quickened by the Spirit. So the Spirit of God was involved in the resurrection. But whenever there's a work of God, the enemy is right there, isn't he?
In fact, I suppose perhaps when we see opposition by the enemy, it is in one sense of proof that the Spirit of God is working, because the enemy does not like to see a work of God and the Saints of God.
00:05:10
Going on encouraged and strengthened in the truth and that's what we find here, don't we? It's wonderful event has just taken place. It's been confirmed to the women and to Peter and John and so on. And now we find these two and they're going away from Jerusalem in discouragement and maybe there's someone here this morning and you've come to these meetings and you're feeling pretty discouraged. You're just feeling weary with the.
Circumstances of life.
You just find it sometimes hard to rest on the word of God and the promises of God and so on. But I think as we go down through these verses, we're going to see again a wonderful work of the Lord Jesus in drawing near with these ones, bringing the scriptures before them, opening their understanding, encouraging their hearts so that in the end there was restoration and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And so be encouraged. Maybe you do feel discouraged. Maybe you're just weary with life.
But there's the grace of God to restore, and the Lord Jesus wants to speak to each one of us today, wants us to feel His presence, and He wants our hearts to burn within us so that there will be a return of in restoration.
Discouragement always comes. I think we can all realize this discouragement comes when we are expecting something that does not happen.
Sometimes we expect things from one another.
And it doesn't happen.
And I suppose, as was partly true in this case, and was true even in the Old Testament, with a man like Elijah.
He expected something from the Lord.
And it didn't happen.
But whenever we feel discouraged.
We can be very sure that God's purposes have not changed.
Either and we had this yesterday, either for the glory of His beloved Son or for our blessing.
We often get ideas into our own heads and certain things that we would like to see happen, and I suppose there isn't anyone here who hasn't at least had that experience to some extent.
But.
An old brother long since with the Lord, used to make this remark. I never forgot it, he said. A truly humble believer is never discouraged.
I had to let that one sink in for a while. I must confess, a truly humble believer is never discouraged. Why is that? Because a truly humble believer.
Looks to the Lord for everything, realizing first of all that he deserves nothing. All is of the grace of God, and secondly that God is willing to bless.
And so these two, dear believers, and they were there aren't they aren't particularly, not much said about them as to their background or anything, but they were believers. But they were looking for that long cherished hope of the deliverance for Israel.
Those glorious prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold A Messiah who would come in and drive out their enemies and set up the Kingdom.
And when that all to their eyes fell flat, what's left? But how wonderful.
The Lord had much more for them through the work of the cross than an earthly Kingdom.
He had much more for them than that which had initially discouraged them.
And yet how beautiful to see that he follows them in their pathway away from Jerusalem, which was the wrong way to go in order to restore their souls in a marvelous way.
00:10:06
We often fail and recognize in the enormous reading about.
The things sometimes at the cross is the center of two eternities.
I think it's fair to say, isn't it, that the cross is the greatest event, as I've often said in the annals of eternity. That's true. But on the other hand, many men have died martyr deaths, haven't they? Not one of those men has risen from the dead, with one exception. That's the Lord Jesus Christ, and that makes all the difference. So the Lord Jesus was a martyr, but he was more than that. His death is not only a martyr's death, is all these other men we've spoken about, but his death was an atoning death.
And that's proved by the resurrection, isn't it? He defeated the powers of sin.
And death and hell. And that's proved by the resurrection. I wanted to read in the chapter that continues on with our chapter would be the first chapter of Acts. There's there's an expression there that's very powerful, I believe. Acts chapter one and verse 3.
It says speaking about the Apostles to whom after he showed himself, that's the Lord showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and Speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. Well, I like that expression, many infallible proofs.
The resurrection isn't just a theory, is it?
It's not just an idea, but we have from Scripture itself that there are many infallible proofs that prove the resurrection of God. It's an enormous event.
The again, the cross would have limited meaning without the resurrection. The cross is the center of two eternities, but the resurrection proves that it was more than a martyrs death. It was that, but it was also an atoning death. And in the third chapter of Revelation we have the expression Speaking of the Lord Jesus that He's the beginning of the creation of God. A whole new creation began with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't it?
I like to think about these verses here, this portion in this way, it's not only what the Lord did, but it's the way that He did it. We see here.
So beautifully how that he first of all went with them, he went after them.
The Lord has a care for his sheep and it's an example for us.
To have care one for another.
And you notice, you notice the little few words that the Lord said.
He didn't talk very much. He went with them, he drew them out.
In verse.
17 You have 18 words that he said.
What manner of communications are these that you have one with another as you walk in our set?
Why? What was he doing? He was drawing them out.
He first of all went with them.
So they responded.
And then he says in verse 19 two words what things?
He draws them out.
And it's not until we get down to a vote, verse 25, that he opens up, and I think brethren, that.
It's an example for us.
Christ left us an example that we should follow His steps.
I'm sure glad you brought that out, Brother Dave, because it is so necessary, isn't it? I would suggest here that the Lord shows us the real character of the gift of a pastor.
Many years ago, a brother said to another brother, What's the difference between an evangelist and a pastor?
And the answer was, well, the evangelist speaks 90% and listens 10%.
00:15:01
But the pastor ought to listen 90% and speak 10%.
Well, that may be a little exaggerated, but.
As you say, Brother Dave, the Lord listened carefully. Did he know their state of soul? Did he know their problem? As a divine person? He knew it already, But he let them talk themselves out, Let them tell them what was on their hearts, what their difficulty was.
And only then did he start to speak to to meet that need.
So it's a very practical lesson for us, isn't it, that if someone is in difficulty, we need to spend a lot of time listening first before we try to be a help to them.
We often see to this little motto on the walls of our homes Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But I wonder too if we really realize the import of a statement like this, especially in the context in which we find it. Because as we have been saying, these two were discouraged. They didn't understand. They were expecting, as Brother Bill said, something that they realized wasn't going to happen at that time.
They thought it was he that was going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. They thought they were going to get out from under the yoke of Roman rule. They thought there was going to be the, the, the, the Lord Jesus was going to be their king and there was going to be great blessing. So they're discouraged. They're going the wrong direction, as has been said. But isn't it beautiful to see that Jesus himself drew near and went with them? You know, in the Old Testament and on other occasions, the Lord sent angels.
And various servants to give a word of rebuke and encouragement and comfort.
He didn't do that here, did he? He didn't send someone else. He didn't send an Angel. Jesus himself drew near and went with them. And he has been said. He spoke very little and he listened to what they had to say. But I just want to say this in a practical way. You know, sometimes we pray and I know what we mean. We pray and ask the Lord to be with us. Brethren, I don't believe we need to pray that prayer as much as we need to pray.
And ask the Lord that we would be walking in such a way.
That we would have a sense of the Lord's presence with us. One of the last words the Lord said to the disciples in Matthew was and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age in Hebrews. It tells us I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I've enjoyed it in the life of Jonah as well. You know, Jonah in disobedience it says he rose up to flee from the presence of the Lord.
Very solemn statement. But you know, as you read that first chapter of Jonah, you find the Lord didn't forsake Jonah. Jonah didn't have a sense of the Lord's presence as he as he fled and went down and got into a ship and went down into the hold of the ship and was fast asleep. But the Lord was with Jonah and working and eventually used the Mariners to wake him up and turn him around. He turned him around and so on. And so the Lord is always with us. When I, when you get up in the morning, pray that again that you will walk in a way that you will enjoy the Lord's presence that day. We don't always enjoy His presence, but he said it says he drew near and went with them.
Understand who it was at first. Know they had no idea or sense of who it was, but he was with them. And brethren, whether we're discouraged or not, he's always with us and he's there to work. So our hearts will eventually burn within us and there will be a turn around.
I.
You mentioned yesterday.
This chapter spans the 40 days between the Lord drug rested in this session.
I've enjoyed a verse in Athlete this summer. We have time. I can just read Ezekiel 34 verse.
11 or 12 as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep.
That are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Verse 15 I'll feed my flock, and I'll cause him to lie down, say at the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.
00:20:26
I know this has reference to a future day, but I believe there was a preview of that in those forty days, and whether it was Mary of Magdalene who just had a broken heart and needed that heart restored, or whether it was Thomas who was doubting.
Whether it was Peter who was carrying that load of guilt having denied the Lord Jesus.
Or these two on the way to Emmaus or many others.
Believe the Lord Jesus was engaged in his shepherd's heart and care for his own, those sheep that had been scattered when he had been smitten.
And he. He.
Has that divine wisdom, doesn't he? To each one of them is different in the way that he interacted with them. But all of them had this in common, that they needed to see him. They needed to have their eyes directed to him.
Well, as so often happens here.
And it mentions it in verse 15.
Human reasoning took the place of divine revelation, didn't it?
That was really the problem.
Because all these things that had happened were there in the Old Testament scriptures.
As someone has said, the glories of the coming Kingdom.
So dazzled the eye of the godly Jew that he failed to see.
The necessity for the cross. And yet it was all there in the Old Testament. And the Lord brings it out, doesn't he, as he goes all the way from the beginning, and in the Scriptures shows them the things concerning Himself.
We thank God for reasoning powers. We need them.
They're very good in our everyday lives, and God never despises reason. And we might mention, and it is nothing new, that there is nothing in the word of God that is contrary to sound reason.
But there are many, many things that are beyond reason, and what they were talking about here was reasoning in natural things, reasoning with their natural minds, and perhaps using as a basis some things that they thought they knew.
But divine revelation had given them much, much more which they were ignoring. And often we need to be brought back to that, don't we? Because.
The Lord says, back in the 119th Psalm in our King James. It says, I hate vain thoughts, but my law do I love.
Our brother, Harry Hayhoe used to remind us that that word vain was added by the translators.
Said it should read. I hate thoughts, but they law do I love not meaning that we shouldn't use our human mind in natural things and our reasoning powers. It's very valuable, but when it comes to the things of the Lord.
Much is beyond reason, and it has to be accepted by faith. And so that was really, I suppose, the root of the problem here, wasn't it? Things hadn't worked out the way they expected.
I admit that I have had that experience and felt very down, but then we need to get on God's side of things and to see that.
Reason will never bring me into the greatest blessings that God has given. It comes through divine revelation and must be accepted by faith.
Need a little bit of progression here in.
The.
On the same path.
They were sad.
And that sadness, not that sadness, is wrong in certain aspects of our lives, in connection with the loss of loved ones and so on, but it when it comes to our general demeanor in our Christian pathway, we ought to be happy Christians, Paul said. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, but when we are going in the wrong direction.
00:25:19
When our human reason comes in, when we commune about it and try to figure it out by talking to one another about it, it's only going to bring in sadness and discouragement. And that kind of sadness and sadness and certainly discouragement, never comes from the Lord. If you're discouraged this this morning, you didn't get that from the Lord. You got that somewhere else. Just say this too, as little parentheses. In that connection, I've often wondered if that really isn't the present application.
Of the roaring lion character of Satan for us, you know, usually when we think of Satan as a roaring lion, as is brought out in First Peter, we think of it in connection with physical persecution and adversity. And certainly that has been true, and he is still true today of many of our brethren. In other parts of the world, they're facing the Roaring roaring lion character of Satan in that way.
But what about a present application for you and for me? I suggest that the present application for you and for me today in a country like this is the roaring lion character of Satan is discouragement. That's what Satan is walking about seeking to do. He wants to discourage the people of God. He wants to dishearten us, and he wants to wear down and weary the Saints of God. And what is? What does he use to do it?
One of his great tactics is the tactic of unbelief. You know, it's really the sin in Hebrews 12 That so easily besets us. It's unbelief. And when unbelief comes in, then reason comes in as well. And it's interesting here that as a result of what they were doing, as you have mentioned Brother Doug, notice what they say in verse 19 when they speak to the Lord Jesus not realizing who he is.
And he said unto them, what things? And they said unto him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Now notice this, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and word before God and all the people Now that was true. But he was far, far more than that. They had lost sight of the fact that he was the Son of God.
He wasn't just a man. He wasn't just a prophet, mighty in Word. Indeed, he was the Son of God and brethren. When we lose sight of who the Lord Jesus really is, then we're going to get discouraged too. Or we can allow discouragement and unbelief to cause us to lose sight of who he really is. He was far, far more than who they said here.
The whole time this is going on.
God would review his purposes at the self occur, it says the same day. At the same time I'm discouraged. God is working in the soul of another.
And I could partake in that and enjoy that same blessing, if I would have it.
And like you say in verse 19, the things they say about the person of Christ is exactly what the multitude said. The Lord asked what it was. What did men say that I am? So while you're a prophet, you're a great man, All these kinds of things. Jesus of Nazareth was not a term that the believers used, The disciples used it was. It was what? It was the expression of unbelief.
Ask What is the remedy for a person that finds themselves down in that wallow of discouragement? What do they do?
Well, we see here what the Lord Jesus did, didn't he? What did he do? He brought before them himself from the word of God. And I would say if there's a discouraged Christian here, what you need to do is get into the word of God and to see Christ on every page of God's word. What a wonderful exposition it must have been as they walked along and the Lord Jesus opened the scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures.
And he presented himself, because what is it that our hearts need to either restore us or to keep us burning with fervency for himself? It's Christ. It's the person of the Lord Jesus. And so he opens the scriptures. Just a little challenge to my own soul, and perhaps it will challenge yours at the beginning of the day when you're about to step out into a world that still hates the person of Christ.
00:30:14
And as you're about to step into a world where, whether you're in school or business, it's going to take everything you have to keep on track and to go through your studies in the business world and so on to keep afloat. Do you open the word of God before you step out of your room or out of your door and enjoy something of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? I suggest that if you don't, you're going to make yourself open and vulnerable for discouragement that day.
Because there's nothing in this world to encourage.
And there's nothing in the first man to encourage. It's all what we have in Christ, and it's all here in the Scriptures. But read this blessed book, meditate on it, let it burn into your soul. And I say again, see Christ on every page of this book, Old Testament, New Testament, many things about his person and work, many aspects, the types and shadows, the pictures, the figures, his life.
In the Gospels, what we have in Christ in the Epistles.
What's ahead in a coming day Day of glory for the Lord Jesus in in Revelation and prophetic scriptures. But really again I say what we need is Christ before our souls and how are we going to get it? It's this book. Do you have a thought too, Bruce?
Yes, I have the exact same thought I was.
You know when a pump loses its ability to pump, say, water?
We say, oh, it's sucking air, you got to go deal with it, right?
And the pump, certain types of pumps you got to go re prime them.
When you get discouraged, you're not going to open the scriptures and find instant joy.
I think of the 16th Psalm in the verse.
Verse 8 which is the almost exact description of what Brother Jim has just put before us. Verse eight I have set the Lord always before me.
There's no feelings there.
There's not even an immediate response.
That's something you can do. Whether you're cold or discouraged, you can consciously set the Lord before yourself re prime that pump and what happens.
Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Was he not there before, as Jim has said?
I agree.
I'm with you always. All of a sudden there's more of a sense of the Lord's presence. He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. It brings confidence, brings assurance and doesn't stop there. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices and so on. So I think this is a very helpful, practical thing. I've had to do it myself at times.
You know, I remember Mr. Lundin, someone said. How do I gain more appetite for the scriptures?
He had those succinct answers, he said. Read it.
And so it is prime, the pump. You get young people, you know, they like to exercise, you get busy, you get out of shape say, oh, I'm going to go for a jog and get to get some exercise. So it's not very comfortable when you first start back out is it feels like your lungs are going to fall out. But that's the priming of the pump. And spiritually it can be the same set the Lord before yourself and it's going to bring confidence and assurance and eventually happiness.
Let me repeat a little illustration that I've sometimes used in connection with what Bruce has just said, because maybe there's a young person here who says I don't have an appetite for the word of God. I open it and I I struggle. And I I I I force myself to read a portion, but I really don't have an appetite for it. I realize I've used this illustration many times, but when I was a boy growing up, I really didn't like vegetables.
And especially things that were green. And one of the vegetables I particularly abhorred in my youth was peas. Green peas. Well, mother always told me you can refuse those things at home, perhaps, but when you're out you're going to have to eat everything that's put before you. Well, having traveled amongst my brethren for a number of years, I find that often the vegetable that's served is green peas, and I've had to eat green peas on a regular basis.
00:35:10
Over the last few years. But having done that, I have developed a real appetite for them, and I will even take a second helping if they're offered. Why? Because with constant eating of something that I initially didn't have an appetite for, I've developed an appetite for it naturally. And maybe you do have to force yourself to read a portion of God's Word. But do it.
Develop the habit and you'll find without even realizing it. If you develop that habit, you will develop an appetite for it, and you will eventually find yourself delving more into the word of God, getting out some resources and doing some little study and so on. And you look back and say, wow, I've developed an appetite for something that originally I had to really discipline myself to take up.
And so it's important, isn't it, to develop that appetite. It's like exercise. It takes energy as Bruce has said and maybe at first you you don't really appreciate having to get up a little earlier and going and getting a little X bodily exercise. Well, in divine things it's the same way we need to develop that exercise. And remember, just like natural exercise, it takes energy and diligence and discipline.
Some brother was going to make a remark over here. I had wondered if someone could speak to the difference between discouragement because of unbelief.
And the groanings which the people of God feel, and I'm sure there's many in this room that feel groanings that we have in.
Enrollment jobs of Asian and there is a revenue because we don't always know what to say.
The Spirit makes intercession and the Lord Jesus on Christian for us. God is for us.
Appearing in the presence of God for us.
Perhaps the difference?
And the buildings would be.
That's a very good point, brother Gordon, and I would suggest that.
There is a very big difference.
From that quotation from our written ministry, that shocked me when I read it and it was at least 40 or 50 years ago, the brother said. I can honestly say that in my lifetime of serving the Lord, I have never been discouraged.
And I read it again. I thought, I don't believe I'm reading this.
But it's there. I have never been discouraged, he said. I have been.
Very, very burdened at times. I have grown too many times. I have shed tears, but I can honestly say I have never been discouraged.
It shows, I believe, the difference between discouragement and groaning, because.
Groaning is the feeling of things as God feels them.
Does the Spirit of God groan as we get in Romans 8? Are there groanings that cannot be uttered? Yes, there are.
Does the whole creation groan and travel in pain together until now? Yes, it does. Does the heart of God feel that? Yes, indeed he does.
A brother pointed out once, he said we say there will not be tears in heaven, but he said I believe when the Lord Jesus goes through.
All of.
Those, if we could use the term thoughts and feelings and tears as his earthly people, his beloved earthly people go through that awful time called the tribulation, he said. I believe you and I as his bride will be able to go through all that in sympathy with him. And he said I wouldn't be surprised if we shed tears as well. There will be a time when they're wiped away, of course.
But groaning is feeling the condition of things in this world and in and among the Church of God, as God feels it.
00:40:03
Discouragement.
Is really, if I'm honest with myself, thoughts and feelings in my own heart that are rising up and if we bring it down right to the lowest common denominator, it is really saying Lord.
This is not fair. This shouldn't have happened that way. I don't deserve this.
Why did not need this in my life? It should have worked out differently.
I could not have written what that dear brother wrote.
Maybe he had a little bit of a memory lapse. Maybe he had been discouraged at some point in the past, but.
Does that commend itself, Gordon? Would you see it that way?
And in one sense, if I could carry this on, although it's not particularly part of Lukes Gospel chapter 24.
Perhaps one of the highest.
Shall we say, privileges that a believer can have in this world is to suffer with Christ.
In feeling the condition of things in this world and among the people of God as Christ feels them, Jim has mentioned about suffering for Christ, and we would surely not minimize that in any way. Those who are losing their lives and being tortured and being deprived of their property and imprisoned and so on.
For the name of Christ I pray for them every day.
But for you and for me, we don't have, at least for the moment.
The experience of going through that. But we can share in those sufferings, not so much for Christ, although we do suffer for him in a limited way, but suffering with Christ.
Is feeling the condition of things, and sometimes God puts us through.
An experience for no other reason.
But that, he says. I want you to feel what I feel, to see what I experienced as I walk through this world, to understand what I feel as I see that condition of things. That is a tremendous privilege, and we do groan, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Getting back to the appetite.
We just finished two weeks of speaking about diet and exercise, spiritual diet and exercise.
And.
One thing our brother Bill brought out, he emphasized on. I think just about every day that.
If you're not saved, If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal savior.
There cannot, nor will be any appetite for the things of God.
And so.
It's very important that if you still are in your sins and have not received the Lord, you'll never be able to enter into the things of God. So you need to get that settled in your heart once and for all. And our brother Bill emphasized that just about daily. But here the very one of the last things that was brought out, and I have the pamphlet here. It's very good.
God wants to feed us and will if we ask him.
And so one of the verses that were brought out was in Second Peter 3 the last verse grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have everything that we need in this book.
And as a brother pointed out, the more we read it, the more we're going to gain the appetite for the things of God as believers. It's all here. It's all available.
But do we really avail ourselves what God is so graciously provided? And Brother Bill, I I would really wish, if you would feel that liberty, to repeat that story about that man on the ship, about what was available to him. And it's such a great story. And if you feel at liberty, I wish you would repeat that.
Maybe some have heard it before.
00:45:02
But the story to which Virgil refers concerns a young man, and I believe I have the details right. It's not a new story. It probably occurred at least 50 and maybe more years ago.
A young man who lived in New York City.
When cruises as they are.
Known today were not so common.
And this young man had a burning desire to go on a cruise.
He had only a modest job and he had to save his money for quite a long time to be able to afford that cruise. But after some months and maybe a year or two, he saved enough money and was able to purchase a ticket for a two week cruise that left in New York City, went down and stopped at some of the Caribbean islands and perhaps in the Bahamas and Bermuda and so on, and then came back to New York.
He thoroughly enjoyed himself, the wonder of seeing the ocean all around him, the joy of visiting different ports about which he had only read and never seen before. It was all just wonderful.
But about three days before the cruise was due to be back in New York, he got into conversation with another young man on that boat, and they found they had much in common with one another.
And as they talked, the other young man suddenly looked at his watch and said, well, it's pretty close to dinner time. Would you like to join us at our table for dinner? I have a few other friends I would like to introduce you to and we can carry on our conversation.
Well, the first young man made some rather lame duck excuses and when the other young man pressed him, he finally had to say, well, you know, it took every cent I had to buy the ticket for this cruise.
And I really couldn't possibly afford the kinds of things that are on the menu in that dining room. It's just way out of my range. And I am just so happy to be on the ship and be going on this cruise. But you know, I just packed away some crackers and cheese and a few other odds and ends in my stateroom and that that's what I have been living on.
Well, you may well imagine what happened. The second young man's eyes were getting bigger and bigger, and finally he said. I can't believe this. Don't you realize that your ticket entitles you to everything on the menu? Three meals a day. You can order whatever you want. You can even have a snack between meals.
It's all included.
Well then, it was the first young man's turn for his eyes to get big.
Really. You mean I have been living on crackers and cheese for 10 days?
Oh well, as I've said before, and Needless to say, he did his best in the next three days before Port in New York to make up for lost time. But there were 10 wasted days.
The story originally came from my late father-in-law Albert Hayhoe, and his remark was, and I will give the credit where credit is due, he said.
Are there a lot of crackers and cheese Christians?
In the world today, who have such immense bounty in the word of God on which to feed, but who are content with little bits of things, perhaps, and just very happy to be on the boat.
Just as a believer knows he's going to be in heaven, knows his salvation, knows that he's not going into a lost eternity, but yet not really enjoying and having the appetite for all of those wonderful things that God has prepared for us.
I'd like to just go back for a moment to the comments in connection with groaning and.
Discouragement and so on in connection with what Brother Bill said earlier, because we find with the Lord Jesus, he himself groaned in his pathway, didn't he? It's, and it's interesting in the 11Th of John, you can look it up sometime, but when he came to Bethany into the grave of Lazarus, it records that twice. He groaned.
And I believe you learn from that that he groaned for two reasons. He groaned as he entered into the sorrow of those that had come to the grave of Lazarus, that is Mary and Martha, and those that of the Jews that had come to weep with them. And then there's another reason he groaned. He groaned as he saw and felt the effects that sin had brought into this world. And that's really part of suffering with Christ, isn't it?
00:50:25
As we see the results of sin, you walk down the street and you hear the name of the Lord Jesus in vain.
Do we groan? Does that cause us to groan? Does that touch us as we stand at the grave of a loved one? Tears aren't wrong at the grave of a loved one. In fact, I've sometimes said that we actually, as believers, sorrow in a deeper way than the unbeliever, because our affections have been opened in a way that there's haven't been. But of course it's not with despair. And so the Lord Jesus in his pathway, he groaned in spirit and was troubled.
But just a little contrast to in connection with Gordon's question. We find that when the children of Israel were in ******* in Egypt, the Lord came down and he heard the groanings of the children of Israel. He heard their groanings and as a result of their groanings, he said he was going to deliver them. And he did. But later on he heard plenty of something else. He heard their murmuring and complaining. Now when it came to their groanings, he had sympathy with them.
He came in in his own time and way and delivered them, but when he heard their murmurings, it often brought down his government on their heads. He had to deal with them as as a result.
And so it's not wrong to groan has been said, we groan as we see what and feel the effects of sin in this world and the curse. But to murmur and to complain is really to blame God, isn't it? Or someone else. When the children of Israel murmured and complained, they blamed Moses or God's servants, and in the end they really were blaming God for their situation. And that is a sin, brethren, to blame God for our circumstances.
Is a sin. But to groan in those circumstances while accepting them from His loving hand that He enters into and sympathizes with us.
I have wondered. I don't ask, just a question, I've never read anything on this but.
You know how it says that?
In John's Gospel and the Lord died, it says.
And forth. So one of the soldiers took a spear, pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
And and we often speak of the blood in connection with salvation, and should always speak of it in connection with salvation.
Why is the water brought in there blood and water?
I'll I'll give you a what I have enjoyed in my soul, and I don't know if it's a prime thought or whatever, but.
A water in the Scripture does it not speak of the word of God?
Were washed.
And.
By the water of the word, it says so in the, in the.
Death of Christ.
God knew the value of the blood of Christ to wash our sins away.
And on that ground he has made provision for us.
To have food for the new life that we receive as a result of salvation.
And so, water to me, there is God's answer to me as to what I need to grow in in the new life. I like to ask if that thought commends itself.
I don't usually do this, but.
Could I ask you, brother Steve Stewart, if you could give us some thoughts on that? I appreciate.
The way you can delineate some of these thoughts, what does the water mean in?
In connection with the blood in the water from the Lord's side.
Regular that are better able, but since you put me on the spot.
I'll try.
First John Chapter 5.
00:55:06
And verse 6.
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood.
His blood has met.
My sin.
Before God.
And fully satisfied God.
As to my sin and all its awfulness.
For my sin has felt it's defiled me.
I'm not only guilty before God is to my sin and its wickedness, but I'm dirty.
And and I know it.
And others know it too.
And so the water speaks of that aspect of the work of Christ.
That has cleansed me.
Not only in the sight of God, but in my own sight and in the sight of others.
And so Peter is a wonderful example of that he denied the Lord.
How could he stand up on the day of Pentecost?
And say ye have denied the just one.
Because he was clean in his own sight, and in the sight of others as well through the work of the cross.
And perhaps that's the best way I can explain it. He didn't come only in the power of the blood. That is just to put away my sin from the sight of God, but to make me clean from that guilt that I know I have and feel, and make me clean in the sight of others too.
Perhaps there's other and better thoughts, so I'll be happy to hear them.
Speaks of the judicial cleansing from the guilt of sin, as you say in the water. The moral cleansing from the defilement of sin.
Has different aspects, doesn't it? In scripture we come, we see water. In Noah's day it was judgment, wasn't it? Judgment on a guilty world. So sometimes it speaks of that. We see the rain that comes on the earth and that's a picture of the mercies of God to mankind, to the just and the unjust, the light. And of course, commonly it is used for cleansing. But there is a difference between what we have in John's Gospel and what we have, for instance in Titus, isn't there?
When it speaks about cleansing, I believe in John's gospel. John is occupied with the new life, and so I believe the moral cleansing that we have that came from the water of the Lord Jesus's side was as a result of new birth. That's how we get. That's how we get morally cleansed. But when Paul speaks about it in Titus by the washing of regeneration, he's speaking about a whole new standing before God.
What we have in Romans 512 to five, the end of chapter 8.
We no longer seen as lost and guilty sinners, but we now have a new standing before God. Not only his children, that's what new birth gives us, but his sons before God. So that's another type of moral cleansing, isn't it? And then of course we have the washing of the water of the word, which is the daily cleansing. Much like somewhat similar at least to foot washing, isn't it, that we have in.
In John 13, the Lord Jesus spoke about being washed all over. That's the initial standing change of standing, isn't it? Both as to new birth, I believe in John's Gospel because that's the what John speaks about. And by extension we could say the washing of regeneration, a whole new creation were brought into, a whole new standing were brought into. But then there's the daily cleansing and the word of God gives us that. And then the washing of the feet of course.
Is something that other brethren often do, isn't it? So it has multiple meanings. But I believe specifically in when John speaks about it. John speaks about eternal life. And so we have atonement in the blood there and John, but we also have the new birth. When Paul speaks about it. It's a little different aspect, isn't it? It's a whole new standing before God.
I know our time is almost gone, but.
01:00:04
A moment go back to the thought of.
Those who are discouraged and the fact that we need to read the word of God, That is blessedly true. And whether I feel like it or not, that is the answer.
I would only point out that if it is.
You or I who are seeking to be used in blessing.
Someone, as was the case here, turning back to Luke 24.
We notice the way the Lord Jesus went about it.
He did not say.
O fools and soul of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, go back to those Old Testament scriptures and read them again. They'll tell you why you're on the wrong course and what you need to do to straighten out.
What did he do?
He himself.
No doubt in the power of the Spirit of God.
Minister that word to them.
And in such a way.
That later on they looked at one another, they said. Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us, by the way?
I suggest simply if someone is discouraged, to tell them to go and read the scriptures. If I have no other time, maybe that's all I can say, but I just suggest you get another example. At the end of John's Gospel, here were Peter and other disciples who had gone fishing.
They had no business doing that, but when the Lord is going to restore Peter publicly?
And ultimately, bring those other disciples back into, shall we say, back into line with His thoughts, What does He do? How beautiful it is.
Builds a fire.
Nothing like a good wood fire to keep you warm.
Anyone that's been to Morningstar Camp knows how nice it is to build that fire when it's cold. Something about it that warms you up nicely. And then the Lord feeds them. He has fish already on the fire.
What does he do? Thirdly? He encourages them. He says No bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
Ye have now caught.
They'd been trying all night and caught nothing, and the Lord had to tell them where to cast the net to catch the fish. But he gives them a bit of encouragement, a bit of credit for catching those fish, and only then.
Does he open up and say?
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, I have somewhat to say unto thee, And so on.
And so it is, I believe, in our lives sometimes, when a soul is not feeling very well spiritually.
It the food has to be broken down in a way that they can eat it.
Some here may be old enough to remember a brother, George W Jones.
And I can well remember his coming up to our area at least.
Probably 50-60 years ago and having a meeting and he had been ill in the hospital and I suppose we boys who as Canadians weren't used to his Southern accent, were just fascinated by his telling us all about that illness. And he said, and you know, in the hospital they fed me baby food.
And that baby food, he said. I normally didn't like baby food, but you know, when you put that spoon in your mouth, all you had to do was swallow it. And of course, we boys thought that was a very interesting way of talking. But I remembered the point he made.
No adult wants to eat. Baby food is a regular thing, but when he was sick, that's what he needed. He needed that food that had been pulverized and ground up in whatever way it was done in order, that all you had to do was swallow it, and there it was.
It's a good example, isn't it? The Lord Jesus made the food that was convenient for them in order that their hearts would be restored. He just didn't say in a cold, intellectual way. Well, there's the scriptures.
01:05:03
You go, it's there.
He made it good to their souls and gave them such an appetite.
Unbelievable.
They turn right around and walk the 7 1/2 miles back to Jerusalem. They wanted more? Well, that's further on in the chapter.
Spiritual Growth
Address—Bruce Conrad
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Years ago in the woods of central Maine.
And lo and behold.
My neighbors.
Were gathered to the Lord's name there and Palmyra ME.
And so the Lord didn't let me wander.
Too long or too far?
And happy to take my place there at the Lord's table there.
Some years ago.
The second thing I want to say is that I.
Appreciate Brother Paul's comments last night at the Him sing.
I have a confession that I felt a little sleep deprived having.
Due to Jonathan Leben's.
Way with me.
And usually an early to bed guy, so I did check my phone to see what time it was when Paul got up to speak and.
And I just.
Was so.
Struck by how he could be so edifying in so few minutes. I think Paul only spoke for seven or 8 minutes and read 3 verses and it was. I don't know if he's in here or not, but.
Very, very, very edifying and thank you for that. And the bar has been set rather high.
With 60 minutes before us. So with that, let's start with a hymn hymn #2 in the appendix.
Him that I'm not sung in a long time. It was a favorite of my college roommate. Brian Doak must have really spoken to his heart back in those days. If someone could start it please to attune that, everyone would know out here.
#2 in the back.
I know.
With the glory.
Hurry. Hurry.
This thy nature.
Grow you still sleeping?
There's no disconnect everyone time. It's my.
When I speak journal.
Of earth.
OK, my soul.
And Jesus.
00:05:01
All by yeast. Still with me?
If I wonder.
Change.
Back to.
Petrol free.
All my gratitude.
Favour.
Made to my soul.
Shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, we thank thee that we can look up and see thee there by faith.
To the open heavens, Thou art seated there upon thy father's right hand.
Rejoice that thou hast gone up there as the victorious man. Give thee thanks for coming down, taking up our cause, and discharging all that stood against us and setting us free.
Assigning us an eternal portion with thyself.
We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, that we can still appreciate and know that in this late hour, as we wait for thy soon return, Thou art still the head of the Church, which is thy body, and art still ministering nourishment to us as members of thy body. We ask this afternoon for a portion from thee that would be for the edification of thy people.
And we pray that that would guide us through the multitude of thoughts to that which would be.
According to thy mind to have before our hearts and minds this afternoon.
We ask these things, Lord Jesus and I, worthy and precious name, Amen.
Well, I have it in mind this afternoon.
To take up something that I'm not sure we take up in this way very often, which really is our individual.
Portion in Christ.
We are very privileged to have the legacy of truth that we've been exposed to.
And much of it concerning how we are from John in God's family and share that life in nature with God's Son. And through the Apostle Paul, of course, we learn that we are members one of another, members of one body all.
Partakers of one loaf joined together by the Holy Spirit.
But I thought this afternoon maybe just to trace a few things that have to do with us as individuals.
And so I'm going to try to discipline my own mind for the next 45 minutes or so.
To convince myself I'm just speaking to individuals.
Couple hundred of them, but individuals.
And so I'd like to start by reading a couple verses, the first in Psalm 139.
Psalm 139 and verse.
15.
My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God, how great is the sum of them?
And then over in Galatians chapter one.
For a verse.
Verse 15 of Galatians chapter one when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal his son in me.
Well, these verses came to mind because we realize not long after we are saved or maybe even before.
00:10:02
That the God who created you and me.
Knew us before, were our little.
Fingers and toes and.
And body was formed in our mother's womb. He created us.
And having brought us into this world, he doesn't hand us off to a separate God who's going to be charged with our care, our salvation. But it's the God who formed us in our mother's womb, as Paul had the experience, no doubt the God who separated him from his mother's womb and then called him by his grace.
And one of the most wonderful truths for a a young believer or a new believer to realize.
As though you and I may have thought that we were struggling and scrambling and and so on to determine what to do about our sense of of sin and what to do about finding the truth and when we finally.
Lose that wrestling match.
And are brought to Christ.
And then we learn such things like we read in the book of Ephesians, that we were chosen in Christ.
Before the foundation of the world.
The brothers where I was first saved, as I was telling you we were, if you if you head from Montreal, due E to go out to the Maritimes where there was so much gospel activity and tent work and so on. A lot of the older brothers in Montreal used to head right across in the the tip of Maine sticks right up into Canada for some reason and they just head right east. And boom, they cut across on Route 2 and my house was about a mile off that road in the meeting room just a mile to the other side of it. And so we got all this.
Wonderful teaching from these older brothers, us young ones, there on their way back and forth. And I can remember the first time a brother stood up and and he said, it's just as if on the outside of the house it says whosoever will may come.
And then you go inside the house, and you look back over the door, and you see chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and I can remember sitting there.
Early in my Christian life.
And just asking that question, why me?
Job asked that question in a different context. I think it's the 7th chapter of Job.
Job was an upright man.
A righteous man.
And yet God wanted to perfect that which concerned him. He wanted him to grow, and he wanted to put him through some experiences that would result in enlarging his spiritual understanding and capacity.
But in the early part of Job in chapter seven, he says, why me? Why do you bother me like this? I try to escape you just by going to sleep, and you trouble me with dreams. Let me alone that I may swallow down my spit.
Why me?
Well, the other side of that question, why me? Is answered by every believer who understands that if you're sitting here today in your right mind and you're a child of God.
You should be asking that same question from the exact opposite point of view. Why me?
And the difference, or the distance, if I could put it that way, between what you and I deserved as sinners.
Born like it says, I think, in the book of Job.
We're born under trouble, like the sparks fly upward, everyone of us.
Born in sin and proceeded to sin, we earned ourselves the lost eternity.
And yet, here we are.
Perhaps a few moments away from eternity with Christ in the Father's house.
And the difference between what you and I deserve.
And what we have and will have that huge gap.
Is filled in our hearts with worship.
It's the only thing that can It's the only way you can put your hands on both of those things at the same time.
That distance, that delta, as we call it, is worship. We bow our head. We say why me?
And if you're still sitting here in your sins and it troubles you to have.
00:15:04
Someone read from the Bible and say.
That it's God's sovereignty which takes a man or a woman or a boy or a girl and plucks them from the Broad Rd. that leads to destruction and brings them to eternal safety.
I don't know what to say to you.
That's really the way it is.
John Kaiser told me once he was sitting in a Gospel meeting in Montreal.
Brother next to him elbowed him and he says is that true?
No man can come unto the Son, but the Father Draw him. How do I know He draw me.
And John gave him, I think, a very wise answer, he said. You just come and you'll know he drew you.
Whoever you are in this room this afternoon, you're responsible.
You are accountable.
You're responsible to God, who made you.
And he commands all men, including you, to repent and to bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what you are responsible to do.
And so here we are, we're.
We've been saved.
We are fit for heaven.
We are fit for the Lord's table through the precious Blood of Christ. Our title to be there.
And we're fit for heaven through that same precious blood. Now what?
Why doesn't he just take us one by one when we get saved and take us home? Why does he leave us here?
Clearly, he's charged himself. It's just staggering to think of He's charged himself with our individual care and growth. He wants us to grow.
He wants to enlarge our hearts and capacity to be capable of thinking the thoughts that he thinks.
Men often call it communion or fellowship.
In the word of God. But God has a strong desire to fit you and me, to think his thoughts. To do that, we need to grow.
And so a Christian's life is has much to do with spiritual growth, whether we're young or whether we're old.
The verse in.
First Timothy chapter 2 I'll read well known verse.
Chapter three of First Timothy 2 God Our Savior.
Who will have all men to be saved?
And to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Young people, I do sympathize.
With the challenge at the entrance of.
Adult life when decisions are no longer automatic and you have to make them.
To discern, to be able to discern what is the Lord's will for me? What should I do?
Where should I live? What should I do? How do I make a living? Etc. Etc.
And of course, it is not lost on most of us.
That the most important decisions of life are made when you are least equipped, by virtue of experience, to make them.
He could have made it some other way. That's the way God chose to make it.
You make these key decisions in your life.
When, by virtue of experience, you're least equipped to make them? And why is that?
Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
And because the young person who at those crossroads says I have no idea which way to go here, I have no idea whether to do this or to do that.
But he or she looks to the Lord. The Lord delights. He walks to and fro throughout the whole earth.
Just looking so that he can show himself strong on behalf of those that trust him and how he delights to give wisdom through his word. And this is an early part of Christian growth and if you were saved later on in life you had to relearn much of how to live and how to think. It's almost a left-handed way that instead of grappling, grabbing onto things with your own hands and thinking your own thoughts and using your own wisdom.
You have to stop and say whoops, that's not my way. I have a new way, a new object, a new capacity, and a new approach by virtue of being brought into the family of God.
00:20:12
While you're not sure whether you're going to go to school or not.
While you're not sure about whether you're going to do this for a living or that for a living, while you're not sure if you should stay where you were raised in that town or move to another.
Can you just find it comforting and sink your teeth into God's desire for you? That regardless of all those other issues, he wants you not only to be saved, but to come to a knowledge of the truth?
It wasn't but a week or two after I was saved, and I know a lot of brothers say if you'll permit a personal reference, I can't help but using personal references for the rest of whoever long we've got. So I want one apology to cover the next 40 minutes or whatever we got. But.
Lost my train of thought and saying that.
They'll come back.
What's that?
Yeah. Oh, yes. Thank you.
Infirmities.
Weakened of being saved, I started to pray. Lord, what would you have me to do?
And as you would expect, the answer didn't come in a in a day or a week or after two prayers or three. But it was a three-year long exercise really to use a often misused word.
And just praying. But I didn't sit alone in my house for three years.
You know, I was going about back and forth to the meeting and visiting with the brethren and working in what my hand found to do. I did.
And supported myself and and on we went.
And that's which all of us need to do and it's that process of growth.
Gradually the Lord in my case unfolded what he had for me to do specifically about my in that case it was my livelihood.
So God's desire.
Is to enlarge our capacity.
The well known verse in First Corinthians 6 says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, but the verse before it isn't quoted as often.
And I think it says to be also enlarged. He wants us to have a large heart. He wants capacity. We had the experience in our family of having one son that was about 22 or 23 and another one that's two or three twenty year apart.
And.
You know everyone loves the little bouncing boy. And every the older ones would come home and they were delight in this little boy and as Christy and I did too.
But the quiet times with an older one that comes home as they get into their 20s and 30s and I'm sure many in the room have children well, well into adulthood who are have children themselves.
And you enjoy in a unique and special way the kind of fellowship and common thoughts and sharing back and forth that you have with those that have had that increased capacity.
And so you may not be sure about this or that, but you can be sure that God is desirous for you and I to grow. I want to speak now for a few minutes.
I can't do it comprehensively.
But just a few aspects that have been on my heart about Christian growth.
And the first one is in 2nd Corinthians 3 and verse 18.
Did I say First Corinthians? I meant Second Corinthians. Sorry.
But we all with open or unveiled face beholding.
As in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory.
Even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
To paraphrase, I think we could say occupation with Christ makes us more like him.
00:25:01
We don't get up in the morning as Jim was saying. His advice to get up and and open the scriptures and set the Lord before yourself.
We don't necessarily pick one of those many virtues that the Lord displayed and say I'm going to work on meekness today or I'm going to work on kindness today.
Put the Lord before us. When the I listen to the young people about exercise, I'm going to the gym. I'm going to do legs today, You know, I hear the young fellows at work. Yeah, I'm going to the gym. I'm going to do legs, you know. And then I guess they do arms the next day. I don't know how they do it but arms and then.
They kind of rotate around through. It's not like that we know.
In spiritual things, there's a man that God has put before us, who happens to be the one who died for us on Calvary Cross, who is also the one who lives for us on high, who is also the one who walked down here to display in his own person everything that God is.
Nothing left out.
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
It's just staggering.
Just staggering that God would be pleased to display all that he is in the man Christ Jesus.
And as we behold him, and as we trace his pathway here, and the circumstances he encountered and the response.
In every little detail that we that we observe.
And his ways with us now as head of the Church, which is his body in the future, that he is assured us is before us.
That occupation covers all these other bases.
And we end up without even probably being aware of it.
To be more like him.
Where we live in Texas now, there's this little creature.
I should figure out what their what his name, what their name is because I talk about him every once in a while, but he has a little creature and he jumps on something green and he turns green.
And he jumps on something another color and he kind of goes that color.
Well, we want to be jumping on.
Occupation with Christ and lo and behold, we're going to be more like him.
For some reason, when I was a young believer, the brothers used to pick on me.
And we'd be in a in a conference and I I know these things get taped and spread around so I got to be more careful going forward and naming names, even if it's way away. But this one brother he.
Be in a big conference need. Let's see Brother Bruce. And he pointed me. How did you receive Christ Jesus the Lord?
And as you would be if I did it to you.
Hardly even breathe.
And by faith.
And then he would quote the verse in Colossians as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.
Tears coming down his cheeks.
The brother taught me a lot about being occupied with Christ and not much else.
And another piece of advice he gave me.
I'm going to pass it on to you guys.
Some 40 years ago, 35 or something, said Bruce.
Never know more about anything in life than you know about this book.
Whatever it is you do.
Finance.
Textiles.
Farming. Engineering.
Computers.
Never know more about anything in your life.
Then you know about this book.
I thought that was good advice.
I had the opportunity.
To go back and thank him for that advice.
Visiting my elderly mother and back in Pennsylvania and I looked this brother up.
You know, assisted living place. We finally managed to find each other.
And I had a series of things I wanted to thank him for.
And I was. He wouldn't hardly let me talk. But I did manage to get that in how much I appreciate it.
00:30:04
And I don't know.
Who was?
More touched by him or me, I think I was, but good advice, good advice.
There's a lot you can wrap your head around.
And the world loves upright young men and women.
To do work like Samson do work there, he was going round and round doing work.
It's pretty sobering. We don't want to feel like we're in that kind of a situation.
So brother said on the break. He says we want to work to live, not live to work.
Never know anything more about anything than you do about this book.
Occupation with Christ.
Now I'd like to turn to Romans chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6.
Just pluck a verse.
Like verse 6. Knowing this, here's something to learn. Knowing this, that our old man is, or really it should be, has been.
Crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Verse 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Up at Jonathan's brother said. You know, when I was first came amongst the gathered Saints, a brother stood up at the podium and said, you're never going to hear what I'm teaching you right now, any other place.
And he was new, I don't think had been at the Lords table yet. And he he said, you know, I've heard that from my mom most of my life. So we don't want to make big bold proclamations, but I think it is safe to say.
That amongst the gathered Saints there is an understanding through the spiritual legacy we've been, we've been given.
To be able to understand.
The condition that we're in now as believers, as those that have not only had their sins forgiven, but as those who have been brought into a new position and condition before Christ.
Back in my early days, brother, that was kind of like my father in the Lord, and he decided that if he since he had to spend all afternoon in his dump truck, I might as well.
Too. And so he swung by and picked me up.
And I can tell you exactly where we were on the highway.
And it wasn't air conditioned. It was old and it was bumpy and the windows were open and he leaned over and he said.
Brother.
Is your old nature forgiven?
And of course, I knew it was some kind of trick question.
And so we just bounced around for a while and and a light went on in my head.
He says no, it's not forgiven, he said. It's crucified.
And, you know, years later, as I began.
With Steven and others to to be under some teaching from some really capable brothers on these subjects. You know, I I hail back to what Brother Royce taught me in the dump truck that day. I'm forgiven. But that nature that could do nothing but sin is not forgiven, it's condemned.
It's dead.
And my, my, my virtue, my, my intention is to reckon it that way, day by day.
The Scripture, I think, speaks in the New Testament three times of the old man.
And in every case, you can look them up in Romans and Colossians and Ephesians, I think are the three places always past tense.
What you were as a child of Adam. You aren't anymore. It's dead. Buried. You're a new creature in Christ.
And this is meant. This is taught to us for a practical reason.
So that we could learn how to walk through this world in a way that would honor God.
00:35:02
And you say, well, I feel like in the enrollment 7 all the time where you know that which I would, that I don't do, and the things I don't want to do I end up doing, you say I feel like I'm in Romans 7.
My brother up at Jonathan's camp when we were just kind of milling around visiting, he said. You know, if he says maybe if we learn the truth.
Soundly from Romans 6. We wouldn't even need to go into Romans 7.
Most of us have that experience, perhaps before we have peace with God and can say we're saved, or perhaps after.
But this also as to our growth, it is an important thing to lay hold of that you are a new creature in Christ.
And that you have new resources and a new power that you never had before.
You don't have to sin.
We do, but we don't have to.
And I've told the story before. I'm getting to that age where I know I'm repeating myself, but I attribute this to Norman Berry and.
Norman Berry When? When I was a young.
You know young man in the woods of Maine and he would come in this beautiful suit and.
Very dignified man. A brother from Montreal.
One time. And he looked and he stopped in front of Maine. And you know, I always say, uh, oh, what did I do?
And he looked at me and he stared me in the eye and he says, why do I sin?
And I I mean that's a difficult thing for a 24 year old to say to a 70 year old.
Who's so well taught and I didn't want to acknowledge that I knew that he sinned. Even I I.
I'm just my mind is going 1000 miles on it. I know what to say. I'm just standing there.
And he looked at me and he said because I want to. Then he walked away.
And I learned a lesson from that.
And the lesson I learned is the lesson of Romans 6 and I suppose also Romans 8.
We now have the liberty to be free from the power of sin, to be able to walk.
In Spiritual Christian Liberty. And if I Sin now, it's because, as Brother Barry put it, I choose to.
Well, these are nuts and bolts, parts of the Christian life that are not well understood in many places. And it's good young people to get an outline of these sound and practical tools for your toolbox.
So that you can make good spiritual progress and have good success, and that you can grow.
A third thing that I want to take up about growth is also something I'm indebted to my older brothers back then.
For first learning about and that is self judgment.
I had a pamphlet and I'm not sure if it was written by Gordon or his father, but I I think I still have it. It's a little square pamphlet called Self Judgment. And if you have it and you look on the cover of it and there's like a little quote out of the pamphlet, which I really enjoy, and it goes something like this. Self judgment is the inescapable condition of a walk in communion with God.
I think that's what it says.
And the brothers back then used to press upon us and remind us they would say things like keep.
A short short accounts with God.
And what do I mean by self judgment? Here I went and just said you're the old, the old Bruce Conrad is dead and buried. I have a new life and now I'm talking about going back and.
And dredging this up? No, not at all.
But as we go through our day, let alone our week, and go through our day, we want to take advantage of the presence of God.
Who knows?
Our inward thoughts.
Who knows everything about us Are unique and special challenges and all the rest.
And he's intimately.
Involved and knowledgeable about everything that concerns me, just like the verse in Psalm 139.
And Jim's exhortation and the others of us about reading the word of God is a good one.
00:40:05
But if you've got 20 minutes, don't spend the whole 20 minutes. My suggestion reading.
Spend 10 reading.
And then spend the other ten listening.
To what the Lord would say to you, or speak to you.
I know for young people you hit the pillow and you're and boom, you're out like a light. And as you get older you're going to find maybe a different experience if the Lord tarries.
In the Psalmist in Psalm 16.
He said. My reigns instruct me in the night seasons.
Everyone's so busy and plugged in, as Bill was saying up at camp with the with the ear buds and everything else.
That you wonder if you're even having a night season. A night season is a quiet time.
When instead of even praying.
You're just opening up to the Lord and listening.
And you know what will happen.
He'll bring things before you.
Things before you that are encouraging.
Things before you that warm your heart and remind you whose you are and whom you serve.
But also bring things before you that he wants you to judge by, that I think in English the best way to mentally disown something, I think perhaps is a as a definition of judging something.
To acknowledge.
A failure to acknowledge.
A tendency.
And let the Lord come in and speak to you and refresh you.
And recalibrate you, if I could put it that way in modern language.
By the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart, this is quiet time with the Lord.
And you wonder sometimes, well, how can a brother act like that? Or how can this sister act like that? Or how could this have gone on for all these years and years?
And we have to ask ourselves, and maybe this is more of us, older ones, do we ever get alone in the presence of the Lord?
And say like little little Samuel, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth you try it, and you just lay down.
And justice unwinding, so to speak, mentally, spiritually, and the Lord will speak to you. He's.
So he's so taken with us. He's in such love with us. He's so concerned and committed to our spiritual life and our growth.
Well, let's turn now to Galatians Chapter 6.
Now we're up and about. We can't lay around all the time.
Though those quiet times.
Are the source probably of our strength and power, but in Galatians 6.
In verse 4.
Let every man prove his own work.
And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
For every man shall bear his own burden.
If you hold your finger there and read a passage in First Corinthians chapter 12.
Chapter 12 of First Corinthians and verse.
Verse 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are differences of administrations or ministries, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations. But it is the same God which worketh All in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all of for the common profit.
And so now we're up and about.
And the Lord gives us opportunities to serve.
Does he need us? Someone was saying, you know, I just want to kick myself when I had an opportunity and I passed it by and I didn't give him a tractor. Speak to their soul.
No one is going to end up in a lost eternity because of you or me. I don't think it's a privilege that he gives us to serve.
It's for our benefit and blessing.
00:45:01
And so, young people, just as with maybe your line of work, it's good to be exercised about how the Lord is going to use you and how you're going to function in the body of Christ as one of its members.
And so when you bring this up and young people say, well, how do I figure out what my gift is? And again.
It's it's not being occupied with yourself or taking some sort of personal inventory.
We do know that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every person, every man, for the common profit.
And we do know that we are responsible to use what's given to us by virtue of receiving a gift.
You become responsible to the Lord who gave you that gift.
And how does it begin to take shape? How does it begin to be put in motion?
I think it's through a burden.
I'd be happy to hear the thoughts of others, but I think it's through a burden.
I think the Lord puts a burden on the heart, and you find yourself kind of intrigued with a certain need or a certain person or people or a place or just a certain function or activity that takes place in the Church of God, and you gravitate to it.
It's very exercising when you read about the parables.
In the parables where different ones are given different amounts.
And we read that to whom much is given of the same as much required.
And the limiting factor was not how much was given, but the attitude that the person had toward the giver.
It's very interesting.
The one who had who thought that the Master was an austere man. He just hit it in the ground. Master came back, be it unto thee, just like you thought.
You think I'm austere. I'm austere to you.
The sobering.
But we need to be exercised and get moving.
In the line of things that the Lord fills our hands with individually.
You can't ask another brother.
Or sister, what do you think I should be doing?
It doesn't work.
I know because I've tried it.
Suppose we can make references to dear brother Gordon. Hale is with the Lord.
Be in the kitchen with him in Pearl.
Asking him questions, very specific questions, and Gordon would always have that little chuckle. Before he'd answer. He'd smile and.
Invariably.
Always. He never gave you an opinion.
He gave you a verse?
So impressive when I think back upon it. He gave you a verse sitting with young people around the campfire. Questions asked.
Turn to a scripture. Bill and Jonathan do the same at the camp.
So I asked Gordon about a certain thing and and he smiled and he turned me to Acts chapter 13.
Which I will turn to now.
And in Acts chapter 13.
Just this little snippet out of this verse 36.
For David after he had served his own generation by the will of God.
Fell on sleep.
Brother Gordon, who was many decades my senior.
He said, well, in my day, this was the exercise that we had based on this scripture, But he says you're living in a different day.
And the word of God is such that it will guide you in your day, but you have to look to the Lord.
For how he will guide you in applying the same principles that I applied in my life. You have to apply those same principles and scriptures in your life.
And that was a wonderful answer.
Wonderful answer. And for those of us who are older, let's remember this in regard to the younger.
When we brothers who are taking part in the reading meetings and in the ministry, in the local assembly.
00:50:06
It is not our place to be giving people answers.
And so I look back on it over my 40 years or so.
We've given too many answers.
And we do the Saints of God a disservice when we do that.
I learned a lesson in engineering school. Spiritual lesson. I learned a lot of them, but.
The one that comes to mind is Umm.
We had a an exam in structural analysis. In its open book you have the same tools. I never became a practicing engineer, so I but for the real engineers.
You know, they have all these books and manuals that guide them to make decisions and so we were given a series of parameters or wind loads or snow loads or something like that. And for the whole hour or maybe it was 2 hour exam, you had just one problem open book and you had to work your way through all of these gates and wickets and and make all these decisions and come up with the right answer.
And so we went through the whole exam and, you know, got to know the other guys in the in the classes you went through and walking in the hallway and what you get for what was the final size of most of those beams. And I think it was, AW, 24 or something. Wow, that's not what I got. And I was starting to sweat that I had really blown this exam. Well, sure enough when I got the exam back, I had gotten the exactly wrong beam because I had made an arithmetic.
Arithmetic mistake way way early on.
But my thinking process was right.
And I and I went through the right steps and the right processes and came with the right processes to the wrong answer.
And I got like a 94 in the exam.
Because you said in practice you know you'll be, you'll be catching those little arithmetic errors. You won't be doing that, but you you follow the process, right?
And this is what our responsibility is to teach. And this is what your responsibility is to learn, is the principles of the word of God.
And the application of them needs to be done in your heart and in your life by faith.
As the brother said to me years and years ago.
As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, which was by faith.
So walk ye in him.
We would like to give you answers, believe me.
You like to, we tend to, but we do you a disservice.
Some of the most important decisions I had before me in my life regarding Christian service and regarding how the Lord would have me live my life.
I got a ton of really wrong answers.
Because they weren't didn't know me from my mother's womb, they didn't know how.
I was.
Bent necessarily how I was raised what the context of my life was.
And but I got a lot of answers. Mommy, love these brothers.
But it wasn't good advice.
You know, we read morally.
We read morally.
It's been said that the moral ways of God don't change with the dispensations. It's true.
And we read in the Old Testament, which for us are oftentimes pictures, and so there are proprieties of life with respect to intimacy.
With respect to touching another person or being intimate in that manner, whether it's a father and a child or husband and wife, there are these different orderly and appropriate.
Guidance for life.
And they're not to be violated.
And I would just submit to you all that it's the same thing spiritually.
You have to really examine yourself whether you have the right, in specific decisions of people's lives, to touch them in that way.
God wants us. He has guidance. We shake hands.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
And we interact with mutual respect.
And we need to respect the presence of the Holy Spirit, even in a young person, maybe I could say especially in a young person.
00:55:06
To take in the principles of the Word of God.
And to apply them in faith.
And come out the other end with an answer.
And so I think this helps explain sometimes why in the book of Proverbs it'll say things like answer not a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceits.
Or no, lest I'll be like him. And then in another verse it says, Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceits. Well, which one do I do?
Wisdom is profitable to direct.
And so, just a word of caution.
But let's finish up.
Let's finish up by turning to 1St Corinthians 15.
And justice for a little piece of a verse there.
Verse 41 There was one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars.
For one star differeth from another star.
In glory.
A God that formed you in your mother's womb who knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb.
Who is?
Followed you all your life through and will follow you.
Has an end in view for you.
Individual destiny for you.
We were looking the other night at the stars. What amazing thing how many there are, and you know with them all by name.
And so it is with you and me. He knows us all by name.
When he called us out, he called us by name. When the Lord Jesus said my sheep hear my voice, he didn't just turn and say, hey sheep.
I think he calls us one by one we come in one by one. He knows our name is the hairs of our head.
Are numbered by him. Think of that.
He knows us, of course, far better than we know ourselves.
And in that eternal day, he's going to rejoice over his own, each one a separate display of His grace, each one glorified.
All of us known intimately to him.
And then finally in Revelation chapter.
Three I think it is.
Revelation Chapter 2.
In verse 17 he that hath an ear.
But I'm here with the Spirit, saith them to the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone.
And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
This passage has always intrigued me.
I think the Lord is going to give me a new name.
I don't know what it is yet.
It's going to give you a new name.
And when you first hear it and he says it, it's just going to click, I think.
Think it's going to express the intimate knowledge?
Of your whole life, Your whole journey.
All those hidden sorrows and disappointments because they do come and they accrue.
And we go on.
And at the end of it all, he's going to give us that new name which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
I don't know. There's many things.
That are put before us in the word of God as promises and our portion with eternal blessing for some reason.
This one really is one of the ones I look forward to the most.
It expresses you know you name a child because it's your child.
And I belong to him. He bought me. He brought me like Jacob, all my journey through knowing all the ups and downs and the failures. You're going to give me a new name that's going to express all of that?
That would be a wonderful thing.
We're not just going to be a group, we're going to be individuals.
01:00:03
We are a group.
We are members, one of another, but we're individuals. So take stock of yourself and of your personal blessings, your personal responsibilities.
Take it seriously and look to the Lord and appreciate the fact.
That he has a unique and special personal relationship with you.
And at the end of the day.
He's going to communicate to you all of that. It's going to be wonderful.
In John's Gospel, the Lord Jesus says it's so interesting in the world.
You shall have, tribulation tells us right up front.
Tells us right up front.
In the world you shall have tribulation. You're going to have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. What a thing.
Psalmist could say, Put down my tears in thy bottle. Are they not written in thy book?
Even our sorrows captured by him, understood by him, the human heart has been said, has two very strong and deep, needs to be loved and to be understood.
If people love you and they don't understand you.
It's not quite as satisfying as it could be.
To be understood without being loved, that's not that great either. We have a desire, all of us to be loved and to be understood.
And he does both. And in that day, he's going to show how fully he's known our walking through this great wilderness.
And how wise and profound is love?
I think I've used all of our time.
So let's just pray.
Luke 24:25-53
Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
These verses and much we haven't touched on, but be nice to get an outline, at least a little bit of the last part of this chapter, and so I'm going to suggest that we start reading at the 25th verse.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 24 and verse 25.
O fools, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken ought not Christ to things, and to enter into his glory. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself, And they drew nigh unto the village, whether they went, And he made as though he would have gone further.
But they constrained him, saying, abide with us first toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them, and it came to pass as he sat at meet with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and break and gave to them, and their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us? By the way, while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the 11 gathered together, and them that were with him.
Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, peace be unto you. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said it to them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself handle me, and see, For a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have you hear any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and about a honeycomb.
And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which was written in the row of Moses, and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, And thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all nations.
Beginning at Jerusalem and your witness of these things, and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, But Terry, in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them, and it came to pass. While he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And we're continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
We often find that there are things that he said that just reading them on the written page sound to us very harsh.
And there are certainly times when, like here, he gave rebukes and admonishments. But I think one thing we miss on just reading the written page is the tone of his voice.
And the intonation with which he said things. And so where we started this afternoon, it sounds very harsh. Not, he says, Oh fools and slow of heart, sounded pretty harsh. And there are other times, but try to in your soul consider the tone of voice, and the look on his face when he said it. I believe, I suggest, that this was said while it was a rebuke and an admonishment with all the tenderness and grace.
That the Lord Jesus could do it with. You know, there were times again when the Lord rebuked the leaders of the day, and different ones, and they came away and marveled at the gracious words that preceded out of his mouth. And that interesting, because it was the weight, not just what he said, but the way he said it. And I want to pass along something to exercise my own soul, and perhaps it will exercise yours as well.
There are times when it is necessary to give rebuke and admonition.
And that's one of the characteristics of Scripture. It's given to us to admonish and correct and so on. But when we do it, whether it's in a individual setting or whether it's in a collective setting like this or in the local assembly meetings, let's be exercised that we do it with very much love that well, what we say might hurt in us in a way and it may be indeed be a rebuke.
00:05:23
Remember, there is a way to admonish the Saints of God without scolding them. So perhaps a funny expression, but I really believe that there's a way to admonish one another without scolding. And we see here the effect that this had. He gave what sounds like a very severe rebuke, but then what does he do? He opens the scriptures, and that's another thing, brethren, we need to be exercised about when we give rebuke, and I believe Bruce alluded to it.
In the previous meeting, it needs to be based on the word of God.
Let the word of God speak. Let the word of God admonish and correct, and let's learn to do it in love. And it. Just one other comment about this opening verse. Notice how long he had spent with them before he did this. He listened to them as was said this morning. He let them talk as was said this morning. He didn't immediately accost them earlier on.
And say, oh fools and slow of heart to believe no, they had walked with him for a time. And I believe again that if we're going to be a help to our brethren in that way, and this is something for brothers and sisters alike, because brothers and sisters alike, we can be a help and in the this way. But we need to learn to walk with somebody. We can't come to somebody out of the blue and admonish them if we haven't walked with them, if we haven't sat where they sat, if we haven't listened to them, if we haven't put our arm around them and shown them love.
Well, the Lord Jesus did that.
Then he gave the necessary rebuke, and then He gave them the Scriptures concerning Himself.
It's interesting that this chapter has seven questions in it, and I believe in the 26th verse their heart was redirected to the word of God, and then in verse 32 and they said one to another. Did not a heart burn within us while he talked with us, by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
Their affections were aroused as the opening of the Scriptures and then?
The 38th verse.
And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
There was only one left for them to lean on.
And then in 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? He's truly man, and truly God.
For those precious people.
Well, it's beautiful to see here the way that the Lord approaches these dear ones.
He could easily, as we mentioned earlier yesterday, he could easily have revealed himself to them right away and if we could say it in natural terms, solved their whole problem in an instant by showing who he was.
But he was not going to be with them.
From that time on.
Only for a period of a few more days. And then he would ascend back to the Father, and they would have to learn him through the Scriptures, and of course later on by the power of the Spirit of God.
So he directs their hearts to the scriptures. Before he reveals himself to them, he opens the scriptures.
Then in verse 31 he opens their eyes and then going on in verse 45 he opens their understanding.
And I would suggest.
Without laying a tremendous amount of emphasis on it, but just to make a comment, by the way, that that is the order in which we gain intelligence in the things of God.
First of all, being familiar with the word of God.
00:10:00
Then being drawn to the person of Christ. And then we have our understanding opened because intelligence in divine things comes through the heart and the conscience, doesn't it? It does not come through the intellect.
Not that there's anything wrong with an intellect. Not that there's anything wrong with acquiring knowledge. But intelligence in the things of God comes through the heart and the conscience, and through an acquaintance with Christ himself.
Then and in that way our understanding is opened, isn't it?
To see the two walls here. I think there's more than that in the chapter, but in verse 25 that we read.
Slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, and then in verse 27 and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
It's I read recently and I appreciated it, that in the book of Matthew we have primarily.
The prophets quoted and the fulfillment of them demonstrated in the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's true.
But when we read the book of John, it's not so much the prophets that are being fulfilled, but it's the types that are being expounded. That was a new thing, wasn't it? So we have the prophets in verse 25, but in verse 27 it's all the scriptures types are not understood until we have the reality.
The prophets could be understood in a measure before there was a reality because they speak of the future. But types are completely dark until we have the reality. You can imagine the Lord Jesus speaking for Moses. Think of him leading in so many places He could he could have read to them. But I think of Leviticus 23, the Passover, Exodus 12 and Leviticus 23 where we have the seven feast of Jehovah and on and on.
Those are types. They were completely dark before the Lord opened them up. What a wonderful meeting that was. And that's the privilege that we have today, isn't it? Not only to understand prophecy in a measure, and some measure better than it's ever been understood before, but also to understand the beautiful types? They're like gemstones, aren't they?
Scattered throughout the Old Testament, but we don't understand them until we have the New Testament.
The things concerning himself.
It's wonderful to realize that if we're going to understand the scripture.
We really need to understand that the scriptures point to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in so doing we can understand the scriptures better.
Than two names. The Old Testament is Christ. That's true, isn't it? The New Testament is Jesus.
Concerning himself, that's what the scriptures are about.
It's significant too, not to skip over, but in connection with these comments that when they return to Jerusalem and the Lord Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, in the 41St, 4th verse, there's something else added. And that's the Psalms, the things concerning himself in the Psalms, because the Psalms give us the feelings and expressions of the Lord Jesus as he walked through this world and as he went through the circumstances of life as a man.
And I'll just say this in passing that that's why it's important to go back to the Psalms and read them in that light. You know, there are so many who read the Psalms and they see nothing beyond some practical exhortations for our life. And and there are certainly many practical exhortations and things we can apply to ourselves.
But when we go back to the Psalms, it's good to see that many of those Psalms bring before us feelings and expressions that you don't have in the Gospels. I suppose that's why on Lord's Day morning, when we come to remember the Lord Jesus and the breaking of bread, we often read some of those psalms, the 22nd Psalm, the 40th Psalm, the 69th Psalm, the 102nd Psalm, those beautiful expressions. And there's nothing will pull at our heartstrings.
00:15:07
Like going back and reading the expressions and feelings of the Lord Jesus as a man, to see what entered into his very soul. Reproach hath broken my heart. I looked for some to take pity, and there was none. I sink in deep mire. All thy waves and my billows have gone over me. If those things don't touch our hearts, brother, and I don't know what goes on within our hearts. But it's interesting that it was not until they returned back to Jerusalem.
And were gathered together with the others, if I can put it for our purposes in this way, in a in a place of corporate obedience, that he could expound the Psalms to them, I'm just going to leave it there. But there's many who enjoy the Psalms from a practical standpoint. But isn't it wonderful that as those gathered to the Lord's name and the teaching we've had, we've had much brought out in writings and ministry as to that aspect of the Psalms being the expressions and feelings of Christ?
Passing through the circumstances of life as a man.
Really have an outline of the Old Testament in that verse. Don't wait. So when you mentioned the Psalms, think you were specifically referring to the Book of Psalms. But really here it's broader than that, isn't it? It includes that, but it includes what we commonly call the poetic books, beginning with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
And the Prophets? We might puzzle about that a little bit. We might say, well, what about books like Joshua Judges, First and Second Samuel, 1St and 2nd Kings, First and Second Chronicles? Well, the answer is quite simple, isn't it, That if we think about that just a moment.
And if we understand how the Jews referred to it, they referred to the former and the later prophets.
Were those who wrote what we call history? Because in a sense, history is simply prophecy that's already taken place. No historian can record every detail. He has to pick certain details that give the tenor of the times. And that's what divine history is, isn't it? It's a prophetic or priestly view of the history.
Of God's people. And that's a remarkable treasure. So in a sense, in that sense it is prophecy and the Jews understood it that way. And then of course the prophets that foretold as well. So as we've often heard, prophecy is both foretelling and forth telling. What we call the historical books are mainly forth telling, aren't they? Whereas the later prophets are more foretelling, Speaking of the future. But at both both cases they are prophetic.
Found that the Lord through of that time that he had expounded the scriptures to them, if we could say it with all reverence.
Had not merely given them.
If we could say it this way.
More intelligence in the scriptures. He drew them to himself, didn't he?
Here was one who not only communicated to them intelligence.
But he created in them a desire to have more.
When they get to where they were going, it's it's very instructive to see the Lord doesn't force himself on them, does he?
He makes as if he's going to go further. Why?
Because he wanted to draw their hearts out.
Had they really understood? Did they really want to know more? And the answer was yes. Now we know. Of course, in the East that's part of normal hospitality over there, and I suppose they might have done that even out of courtesy, but I believe here there was a sense in their souls.
Here is what we need. Here is the answer to our discouragement.
Someone has the answers, real answers, Not merely some little cliche or not merely some pleasant talk, but real answers to the discouragement and the problem that we are having. And they invite the Lord to come in with them. Of course not even at that point knowing who He is.
And that's what the Lord desires to do with our hearts, doesn't he? When we go to the Word of God, if we read it in the right way, it will reveal Christ to our hearts and create a hunger there to know more. And that's what it did when the Lord expounded it to them.
00:20:22
So what happened between verse 16?
And verse 31.
Verse 16 says.
But their eyes were holding that they should not know him.
And verse 31. Their eyes were open and they knew him.
What happened?
Brother Dave, a brother, asked me about that.
Earlier today and wondered if it could be talked about in this meeting.
Their eyes were Holden, but then the time came when their eyes were opened.
And what was it that is specifically referred to here that opened their eyes?
It says in verse 30 and it came to pass as he sat at meet with them. He took bread and blessed it and break and gave to them and their eyes were opened.
There are different thoughts on this, and I would very much like to hear what others would say.
Many times when I was younger.
I heard brethren say, Well, they recognized him because.
They saw the nail prints in his hands. And that's a beautiful thought. And it may well have been true, and it may well have been that there was the recognition that here was the one, the very one, about whom all those scriptures spoke, and there were the signs right before them that he had suffered for them.
But I well remember many years ago.
An old brother now with the Lord.
Saying these things and it much appealed to me and I pass it on for your consideration.
He said, concerning what I have just mentioned.
Yes, that could well have been true.
But, he said. I wonder if there isn't a deeper thought here.
And I'm only quoting him. I'll pass it on.
He said I would not go into someone else's home as a guest and start serving the food.
My wife and I have had the privilege of traveling a good deal and we have been in many homes and never once have I sat down at the table and started to serve up the food. I think our host and Hostess would wonder what was the matter with us if we did.
And rightfully so. That is their prerogative.
But hear the Lord Jesus.
Without any, without assuming anything in the sense of natural things.
Quietly picks up the food, breaks the bread and serves it.
And the brother made the remark he said he was showing them.
That not only was he the one who suffered for them, but he was the one who must have the first place.
Back when the Lord was on earth, before He went to the cross, it was He who would take a boy's lunch and break it and serve thousands of people. And here He was in resurrection once again taking the 1St place. And it did not seem out of place to them for Him to do it, because suddenly they realized this is.
The Lord. And that very much appealed to me.
He was showing them who he was, but in a sense of showing.
That he must have the 1St place and if you backtrack a little bit.
Through the Lord's life on earth.
A number of times he does that.
Quietly showing them that it was his glory that was before them.
For example, when he sent the 70 out to preach and they came back so overjoyed.
Saying, Lord, even the devils or demons are subject unto us through thy name.
00:25:04
And the Lord shared in that.
But then he gives them a very gentle and yet very firm twist on things, he says.
Rejoice not that the devils are subject unto you.
Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Why? Because even in service for the Lord, there was a danger that they became occupied with who they were and what they were doing.
The Lord says in so many words, Don't rejoice in what you have done so much. Rejoice what I have done.
And here he is going to be ascended soon.
Risen. Glorified.
And the whole future, if you like, was going to rest on a risen and glorified Christ who would have the first place in everything. And I just suggest that.
It starts here.
But again, I say I'd love to hear the thoughts of others on this.
Mark 16 and verse 12.
After that, he appeared in another form under the two of them as they walked and went into the country.
So must have been super something supernatural. He appeared to them in another form.
Who he was.
Would you say burn, that he had a glorified body that they didn't immediately recognize? Is that the thought seems that way Because when he appeared in their midst, not until they looked and saw the the nail prints in his hands and his side did they believe it seemed. Is that right?
Well, I enjoy that thought and again I repeat, I did not want to take away from it in any way by what I said.
I didn't know you're not saying that. I merely mentioned that along with that, there was an additional and perhaps a deeper thought that here was one who.
Quite consciously.
And without assuming anything.
Took the first place.
It shows too, doesn't it, that between the verses that Brother Dave mentioned, the Lord had a perfect timetable in his reaching these souls and their restoration. It might not have been according to what we would have considered to be appropriate, but it had its purpose and in the end had its desired effect. And the question might be well raised to why, when they finally recognized him, did they? He vanished out of their sight.
Well, I believe the answer again is very simple. They were in the wrong place. They really ought not to have been at Emmaus. They ought to have been back at Jerusalem with the others who were gathered together in the upper room. And so when they finally recognized him, he immediately vanishes out of their sight. Now, in that regard I'd like to give a little outline of what we have here up to this point and what follows. We can only hope in these few moments of readings to get little outlines, but.
I believe it's very important because I believe there's been a great misunderstanding between realizing that there's a difference between the Lord being with us as individuals and in the midst collectively.
There are two very, very different things.
Just say this is a preface to my remarks, and that is when you go through the scriptures. There's it when you have.
A have scripture or principle concerning the individual aspect of things. There's always a comparable truth concerning the collective.
Just give you one other example. The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, that's individual. What is the collective truth of that? Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That's collectively as the Church of God, the people of God, as the Church of God. And I believe we have it brought out in a very beautiful way here because as we said the other day, the Lord, or maybe it was this morning, the Lord Jesus is always with us.
00:30:02
He never leaves us nor forsakes us, but that is very different brethren, than the Lord Jesus being in the midst of his own collectively. Now I just want to point this out by going back and noticing what some expressions that led up to this incident where he vanished out of their sight. We mentioned it in the 15th verse. Jesus himself drew near and noticed this went with them even though they didn't know who it was, even though they were going in the wrong direction.
They were in a bad state of soul. He was with them. Then when we come to the incident here, they say to him abide with us. Verse 29 and the end of the verse. And he went into Terry with them. Verse 30. He sat at meet with them. They spoke of him in verse 32 as being with us, but as a result of what took place when he vanishes out of their sight, and because their hearts had burned within them.
They immediately rise up and they return to Jerusalem, where the 11 are gathered together and the language of the Scripture changes for the whole rest of the chapter. He'll never read of him being with them individually. Again, notice what he says in verse 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood not with them, but in the midst of them. And I think there's one other expression but.
Time, he said. He says that. But now when they return to where the others were gathered together, he can come and be in the midst with them. You know, I often hear Matthew 18 and 20 misapplied, But wherever Christians get together, the Lord is with is is in the midst. Wherever Christians are, the Lord is with them, and wherever our dear fellow believers are either individually in their homes.
Or even together for.
Meetings. Perhaps it's to remember the Lord for Bible study, for prayer. Meetings where the Lord is always with them. Because He's with us individually, He'll never leave us nor forsake us. But it is only as we follow the word of God in the power of the Spirit. It's the man bearing the picture of water that we hear so much about that we can claim to have the Lord in the midst. And so it wasn't till they returned back that the Lord came and stood in the midst.
And to be in the midst of something or someone is to be the focal point.
And, brethren, we claim by the grace of God and on the ground of Scripture to be gathered to the Lord's name. We say the Lord is in the midst. Is he really the focal point? Is that what we have before our souls? When we come together on Lord's day, morning, or any other occasion, we're with one another as believers. But if we come together in the assembly and the Lord is in the midst, he is to be the center. It's like the hub of the old fashioned wagon wheel.
It's the center, and it's what holds everything together. And if we lose sight of the Lord in the midst.
The enemy is going to be successful in discouraging and scattering the people of God.
There's difficulty among young people and other people.
They they make a mistake in feeling that the Spirit of God is in the assembly, no matter where he is. This, the Spirit of God, is everywhere. And where they see blessing, they feel that that's the very same thing. It's a different thing for the Lord to be in the midst.
And for the Spirit of God to be wherever Christians gathered. Is that right?
And so we see blessing. And then the spirit of God is blessing. He's blessing believers wherever. God has no favorites. He is feeding the people of God. Am I thankful for that? Is Christ honored for that? Then I'm thankful for it. If I've got the same thing on my heart that God's got on his heart. But.
I can't walk in that place if the Lord isn't in the midst. And there's things that go on in certain places that I can't go along with, you know it's not. We can't paint it with a broad brush, you know, I can be thankful what God is doing.
But they cannot claim that God is in the midst unless they're gathering on ground that is commensurate with the Scripture. Don't you see that burn with Elijah? And Elijah, two of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament? We never read They went up to Jerusalem.
But there was great blessing. God raised them up amongst his people, amongst the 10 tribes. And there was great blessing. As you say, that doesn't excuse us. If God brings us to a place, the Lord brings us to a place where he's the Lord. Jesus is in the midst. We're responsible for the light He gives us. But Paul said we. He said, whether in truth or pretense, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice. Yeah, and will rejoice. And so we can be thankful for it wherever the word of God goes forth.
00:35:30
Wherever there are faithful believers who are either propagating the gospel or encouraging the people of God. But these ones had a responsibility. When the Lord disappeared, vanished from their sight. Their hearts had burned within them. They had realized they had a responsibility to return where the others were gathered together. And what a blessing they got to find the Lord not just with them. He was with them in their home. He was with them on the Emmaus Rd.
But now there's a special blessing. There's something that is unique now, and that is that he can come and stand in the midst.
We have to distinguish 2, don't we, between the Spirit of God being in the whole house, which is Christendom, isn't it? So it's true that the Spirit of God indwells the house collectively.
And this concerned the early brethren, didn't it? Some of them had been clergymen, and Mr. Darby wrote one of his early pamphlets was He looked at clergy as the modern day sin against the Holy Spirit. How could that be?
Because he said the Spirit of God has been usurped, often used the example.
Kind of along the lines of what you were speaking about before, Bill, that if I were invited to the White House, which I've never been, but if I were invited to the White House, I went there, take over.
Much less than somebody else's house. But that's what happens in Christendom, doesn't it? The spirit of God is the president, and yet his place is usurped. But that's different from what you've been speaking about, isn't it, Jim? Matthew, 1820. We need to listen to it carefully for where that's a particular place. I know the NIV says wherever, and that's an incorrect translation.
Where two or three are gathered together, sometimes we hear it quoted unto Christ.
That's not exactly right unto my name. There am I in the midst of them. Why does it say unto the Lord's name?
And it recognizes all his rights. And where do we learn about the rights that the Lord has? We learn them from the scriptures, don't we? So it's a particular place where the Lord's rights are respected according to the directions of Scripture. But that's very different from the Spirit of God and dwelling the house, isn't it?
Chapter 2 is the, I think, the verse you're referring to.
Where it says in verse 19. Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God.
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief coroner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together, groweth onto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom he also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. So based upon the work of Christ, his ascension, and etcetera, in the Spirit of God, sent down not only to unite us together in one body, but the Holy Spirit of God has taken up his residence in the household of God in God's house.
And this is a distinct and different thing, as you say you put it. It's more general than the truth, the precious truth of Matthew 18 and 20. And so as I recall driving around and a brother when I was first saved and driving past the Baptist Church, and he said, oh, the spirit of Christ is not in there. And I am not so sure about that. I said under my breath to myself, But later as I began to read these scriptures and learn, it's really not a correct thing to say.
Not necessary either.
But it's not a true or correct thing to say based upon this aspect of the truth, which is different than Matthew 18 and 20.
Jeremiah chapter 14 that might be helpful to read.
It would.
Maybe move our hearts to what kind of attitude the Lord was trying to produce, or what character things the Lord was bringing out when we find ourselves in in a great dearth, in great trials and troubles, as these ones on the road to Emmaus were. And why does the Lord go through all this with Him? Why do they depart? Why?
00:40:14
Why does he have to speak to them the way they are? He's drawing their hearts out. He's drawing our hearts out to come to some conclusions and and to be freed and to be in the enjoyment of himself. And I was thinking of of the verses in Jeremiah 14, starting with let's say verse seven. You know, they had called him a stranger.
This is kind of interesting. They had called him a stranger, Artela stranger, and know us not these things. And then it says here in verse seven, O Lord Thor, iniquities testify against us. Do thou it for thy name's sake, for our backslidings are many. We have sinned against thee all the hope of Israel the Savior. Therefore, in a time of trouble, why should a cell be a stranger?
In the land, and a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night.
Why shouldst thou be a man, a Stony, as a mighty man that cannot save?
Yet thou, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name.
Leave us not.
You know whether I perceive the Lord is in the midst or not. Whether I focus on whether the Lord is in the midst or not myself, personally, that does not change the fact, does it? He is in the midst.
And this is something if our hearts would would just long onto that the Lord is in the midst, discouragement is.
Something that it's like walking a tightrope that leads to departure. That's what discouragement does. So if you find yourself saying I'm discouraged.
Beware, because you're liable to leave. And we're experienced in this, aren't we, brethren? We're experiencing, we're hearing they left, they left. We're often hearing that they left.
But you know, just remember that the Lord is in the midst. The fact is never changed. And why should he leave us? And why should he be as a stranger? And why should he be as a mighty man that cannot save?
It's it's wonderful, isn't it, to realize that our ups and downs does not change his position a bit.
The Lord is in the midst too, is to be be a place of peace and rest for the Saints of God. When the Lord came and stood in the midst, and they didn't at first recognize Him, there was trouble in their minds. They were afraid. But there's a little expression added in John's Gospel that we don't get here in our chapter. It says then where the disciples glad when they saw the Lord when they recognized who it was in their midst.
It brought a gladness and a joy to their souls. You know, we come on an occasion like this, or even in our home assembly settings, and we're glad for one another, aren't we? I've watched brethren here greet one another. We're glad to see one another, but brethren is our paramount.
Thought and focus the one who has promised to be in the midst. If we are simply occupied with dear brethren, and thank God they are dear brethren. But if we're simply occupied with them, we're going to, in the language of the 119th Psalm, see an end of all perfection, you say? Well, that brother let me down, but I'm sure that brother won't let me down. That sister offended me, but all I know that sister she'll never say something to. Oh, be careful, We're going to see an end of all perfection if we're looking for it in one another.
But we won't see it in the Lord. And it's interesting when you find someone, come and they.
They observe the breaking of bread and they see the Lord in the midst by faith and they rejoice and they want to take their place at the Lord's table. They talk about the Lord being there, being gathered to the Lords name. But you never saw someone leave the Lords table and say they were leaving the Lord.
What is the difference? They've lost sight of the one who's in the midst. They've got their eye either on someone or something, and they've lost sight of the fact that the Lord is there. And again, it's like the hub of the old wagon wheel. What holds the spokes together? It's the hub in the middle, and if the the spokes become detached from the hub, then the wheel is going to eventually deteriorate and fall apart.
00:45:08
And if we lose sight of the one who's in the midst, he's the one.
Brethren, let me just tell you a little story that I think helps to illustrate this.
I knew a sister. She's with the Lord now in an assembly many, many miles from here and in fact in another country. And this sister was very discouraged. She had got her eyes on brethren and circumstances and she said to an older brother on a Saturday night, I am never coming to meeting again.
And this brother, very wisely, all he did was quote her one verse of scripture. Remember, Sister, he hath done nothing amiss.
This brother told me this story himself because I was not present on the occasion.
He said at 10:50. I wondered if she was going to show up at the breaking of bread 5 to 11.
One minute to 11, the door opened. The sister sat down in her usual seat.
And she was remained gathered to the Lord's name until the day the Lord took her. And I had the privilege of taking her funeral. But I thought, what wisdom to just point that discouraged soul away from everyone else and everything else. And to say, sister, he's done nothing amiss, brethren. The one in the midst, he's done nothing amiss. If we're focused on him, if we're in the enjoyment of the person and work of Christ, we're going to be preserved by His grace.
Well, there is an app. I'm sorry Vern. Go ahead.
That quote, probably wrongly, the brother, he said. Love your brethren, serve them faithfully, overlook as much of them as you can, but never let them be your object. Christ is that he that loveth father and mother more than me, cannot be my disciple, and so anything, even family.
If it takes precedent over the Lord.
Be his disciple.
And so there is.
A real example here for us isn't there both individually and collectively?
The Lord how gracious he was to these two. On the way to Emmaus, he seeks them out.
He walks with them for approximately 7 1/2 miles, all the way to Emmaus.
Going in the wrong direction, yes, but the Lord graciously does that in order to reach them. He burns into their souls a desire.
To hear more by ministering to them the scriptures.
But then, as we've already had before us, there comes a point when he vanishes out of their sight.
As it were, the Lord is saying to them now, if you want to know more, there's something that has to be dealt with.
And the Lord does that in our individual lives, doesn't he? If we fail, if we become discouraged, if we do get our eyes on something else except the Lord, how gracious the Lord often is with us. And this works in every phase of our lives, too.
He graciously seeks to restore us, but then there comes a time when he may put his finger on something in your life or mine and say now.
That has to be dealt with.
If I'm willing to do it, we will have the experience of these two. On the way to Emmaus, they went back to Jerusalem.
Quite incredible. No problem. The night is far spent. 7 1/2 miles back was no problem because their hearts had been touched and they were fully restored. If on the other hand, and it happens that our will gets in the way and says no Lord, not that, maybe we don't say it out loud, but that's really the problem. No Lord, not that.
Then we lose the blessing, don't we? Then we lose any further growth. We lose the enjoyment of Christ.
Pride may keep us going on with something rather than humbling ourselves, but I believe the Lord very often brings us to that point where in grace he ministers himself to us, but then says now deal with that, deal with that.
00:50:02
May the Lord give us grace to do it, as these two did, and once again were restored to the Lord.
And to their brethren as well. I'd like to say to that I don't mean to discourage anybody by saying if you don't focus if if he isn't the main object, that doesn't change the fact. All I'm saying is this.
One who has left, where the Lord is in the midst, and they're out there right now that the Lord will bring them around and they'll remember that he's still there.
That doesn't change. He's still there and and I wonder what these two on the road to e-mail. It's like it's been said.
He vanished, but they knew where he would be.
And so the.
He chose.
Place his name.
What you say, brother Bill? I think there's a nice picture of that and some Solomon chapter five. We know that in the earlier chapters of Southern Solomon, the bride is attracted to the bridegroom in such a wonderful way. Her response is lovely. But we come to the fifth, Chuck.
Two, he says. I sleep, but my heart waketh.
To me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, to think of those precious terms all put together right at this time when she or her heart has grown cold and she's content to be at a distance from him. And he says, my head is filled with dew and my locks with the drops of the night. I put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I washed my feet. How shall I defile them? My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door.
And my bowels were moved for him. I rose up to open to my beloved, and my hands dropped with myrrh and my fingers with sweet swelling, Mirror upon the handles of the lock. I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone.
I believe that this matter of him vanishing is such an important ingredient in in restoration.
Sometimes in our in our desire and longing that someone's restored.
You see some some activity, some work, you see a softening and we're just right there because we want to encourage it. I wonder if sometimes we we don't allow this process.
Of vanishing of the Lord being able to draw the heart so that because it's been going in the wrong direction, but now as it's turned, it needs impetus.
You say, why did he leave her when he was calling for her? Why did he leave her when her bowels yearn for him, or you might say up when their hearts burned within them? Well, because he wanted that movement back to himself. He didn't want that to happen again. And so she goes through quite a thing to try to find him.
The watchman that went about the city found me, they smoked me, they wounded me, and so on. You know, if you would have come to her and said, why are you running around? What about your coat? What about your feet?
And all those reasons why she was had left, you might say in the 1St place she'd say. It doesn't matter now. I just. I need to find him.
And so I believe that's an important part of letting the Lord work when he's working with his soul. Again, we'd like to maybe shortchange that, but that that is so important in the soul. And the Lord is drawing. And then there's that hunger, and then there's that longing. And so when she finally finds him, she isn't going to let him go. And there's as a result, there's this lovely description of him in the end of the chapter, and the Song is Solomon 5.
That probably wouldn't have been there had she not gone through this experience.
Regard to Brother Ron, it's interesting how many times in the Song of Solomon the hands are mentioned of the bridegroom. He puts his hand under her head and she sees his hand through the lattice. And it's interesting in our chapter you see the parallel in connection with the restoration of these ones too, and their eventual blessing.
Because there are really three references to his hands in this chapter. In the first reference, the hands aren't mentioned specifically, but you know it has to be. That is, his hands take the bread and he breaks it and he provides for them. That sustenance serves them, that sustenance for them. They've taken a journey, they needed food, and so in love he takes over at the table, has been said, and he serves them. Then we find that in the 39th verse he shows them his hands.
00:55:14
Uh, behold my hands and my feet as I myself and so on.
And then in our time is almost gone. At the end of the chapter in in connection with his ascension in verse 50. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and noticed this. He lifted up his hands and blessed them. Those very hands that had broken the bread and served them, those very hands that had been pierced with the nails on Calvary's cross, are the very same hands that the Lord Jesus lifts up and gives that final blessing on earth.
To his disciples, before He is taken from this planet to go back to. To the Father, the hour was come that he should depart out of the world under the Father, as it says in John. But I think of it so beautifully. The hands and how often the hands in Scripture speak of the tenderness of love and restoration. Go through scripture and see how many times. And even in even in chastisement and training He uses his hands. The hands of the Father, the hands of the Lord are mentioned.
So often but here the final mention of his hands before he leaves planet Earth is He lifts up those nail pierced hands and he blessed them. He blesses them. And as we said at the beginning of these meetings, it begins, the chapter begins with his resurrection, but it ends with a glorious truth as well. And that's the truth of ascension because it was alluded to at the beginning of these meetings. Christianity sets us in relationship with Christ, but not Christ as the disciples had known him.
Paul in the 15th chapter of First Corinthians says henceforth know we know man after the flesh, though we knew Christ after the flesh. Henceforth know we him no more. And that's why Paul, to be an apostle, was caught up to the 3rd heaven. He didn't see Christ here on earth in the way the others did. No, he got a he saw the man at the right hand of God and brethren, that's what we need, don't we?
We need to see the man at the right hand of God. We need to look up by faith and realize that we are connected to a man, a glorified man who was here on earth, yes, and here accomplished the work of eternal redemption to the glory and satisfaction of God. But our portion is far, far more and far greater than what the disciples enjoyed when the Lord Jesus was with them physically on earth. We have now.
A far more intimate relationship and the capacity and resources that are beyond what the disciples had up until the day of Pentecost. We have those resources now What a what a portion we have. And then brethren, to realize that it's Christ. The first fruits afterward, they that are Christ that is coming. Brethren, we've spoken of the resurrection, we've spoken of his ascension. But brethren, we're going to be there someday too. And those of our loved ones who passed away.
You know there's a funeral scheduled for Tuesday may never take place. The body of our sister Eunice may never be carried to its grave because we're looking for the resurrection. We're looking for the shout. The rapture and the dead in Christ are going to rise 1St, and we which are alive and remain are going to be caught up there. Oh brethren, what a portion we have. But now, while we're here in this world, we now have the power of resurrection at our disposal to live for Christ. We have Christ as the object.
And we have all the resources to glorify Him and reflect something of those glories while we're here in this world.
Christian gets to live because he because White fans didn't get any.
You're not like Moses when Joshua was in the battlefield.
He lifted up his hands, and Joshua prevailed.
But when you put them down, the enemy prevailed. But.
The Lord Jesus, his hands. We don't read of them ever being down, do they? Do we? He's they're up. And the Christian gets the victory.
We sing #23 in the appendix.
In the appendix.
Good News
Gospel—Mark Rogers
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Good evening.
Good evening and welcome to the Gospel Meeting.
This has been advertised as a meeting of good news.
There were many mailers put out across the street.
This afternoon. And it says you were invited to a gospel meeting. Gospel means good news.
And that's interesting. I saw that here a couple hours ago because that's what I had on my heart.
Is good news.
Because we are finding out.
As each week rolls by, there is a new piece of news that is impacting US1 way or another.
Last week.
We know a big piece of news came out with Britain.
Wanting to pull out of the European common market, it roiled the financial markets, and men in Europe are questioning the stability of Europe.
Several weeks ago.
We had an edict. I'll use that word. Come down.
Of a moral decision.
That will impact.
Public institutions.
Schools.
Particularly impact the children of a moral nature.
Things that we determined as right and wrong for 200 plus years in this country is now being.
Evaluated and right as wrong and wrong as right.
Not too long ago, China did something in the financial markets reeled from this.
And then?
We have more on a local level. I don't know what is in your community.
But we have young people not having a purpose.
And taking their lives.
And the comments flood out why.
The young people don't have a purpose.
And they're taking their lives.
So there's not a whole lot of good news, but I will promise you this. There will be good news tonight.
Good news.
That you won't find on CNN, Fox News, ABC, The View or your favorite social media chatter. You will not find this news on there generally.
There does remind me, though.
Of in two days, there's an important day.
For those of us in the United States here, there's a day called Independence Day 240 years ago.
There was a variety of men that got together and said things are not right.
And they put together what we know.
The Constitution.
And a Bill of Rights.
We have commonly for the last 240 years enjoyed.
These defined privileges and rights that these 56 men signed together to say that these rights were from God.
And these rights are being taken away and usurped by the government. Interesting enough, I tried to get my hands on this book called the US Constitution, a pocket reference on the way down here.
And the bookstore told me there's a run on these things. We don't have any.
As we have a famous statement here, I only going to read one sentence because you will recognize it. The Declaration of Independence signed in July 4th of 1776 says. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unable rights. That among these are Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness. Those men knew that there were rights.
That man has and man should live by.
But this book is being given up.
Very recently and we're seeing the consequences of it.
But there's another book.
That's being given up as well.
This book has been around for at least 2000 plus years and it is the most best selling book.
In the world.
And this has been given up for fifty 60-70 years and we're seeing the results of it.
00:05:02
In this book, we will find what you and me as man and women are.
We will find the rights and privileges that you were destined to have but you may not have right now.
And they will also tell us the good news.
About how you can get those privileges and rights that your Creator gave you and has been taken away through sin.
So before we get into the book.
Let's go to the author in prayer.
Our Father, our God, We consider this book before us.
And we would ask for thy undertaking as we take up this book.
And we consider the message at us, leave us, and has been here for so long. We pray for any in the audience too, that indeed thy spirit be working, and opening up our eyes as to why we are where we are and what thy remedy is. It is our Father of sending thy Son, the Lord Jesus. So we ask all this, and thy name we pray. Amen.
Shall we open up to the very as we do in any good book? Let's open up to the very first.
Verse very first page.
Any good book that you open up, a lot will be revealed in the first of it, and a lot will be revealed in the last of it.
We have in the very first letters of this book Genesis 11.
In the beginning.
God. He introduces himself. God introduces himself in this book.
And tonight, if you're a young person, particularly.
Those of us that are older or there's even far more here that are older than I will tell you.
That God is being put aside in society and in this culture, and he may be foreign to you if you're a young person.
Maybe 4:00 and 2:00, if you're an older person, if you're rejecting it, but it says in the beginning that God he introduces himself, What's the next verse next bird created?
God is a creator.
He introduces himself here as a creator God.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. This is what gives purpose, and purpose is what's lost today in this generation.
Because of the fact that for the last 80 years a predominant theory has been pushed to which you have no purpose, you have come up out of the mud.
And you are what you are and your progressively getting better.
And yet we see the result.
Now, since God and I can, I wasn't born in the 60s, but I can definitely see a correlation now, as we've done a lot of things in the 60s that we're now seeing here, one and two generations later, that we now have the results of pushing God out of the classroom, pushing God out of the lives, and also infusing the various amounts of media that we have today to take over.
But we have a creator God, and this is a very foreign thing today.
That I want to bring forth that brings purpose shall we look over in the third chapter?
3rd chapter.
We have enjoyed this here in the eighth verse of the third chapter we have for the purpose and it says, and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Beautiful to see that man and woman were created.
And they had a purpose to commune with God in the cool of the day. We don't see God didn't say anything about God communing with the animals, but man and woman were the ones that he had in that garden that he wanted to commune with in the cool of the day. That was their purpose.
But we saw that that purpose got overridden, if you could say that.
Where we have sin come in. And that's another word that's not found on the major media news outlets, but we get it here in verse 6.
And when the woman saw that the tree.
Was good for food, and that was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also under her husband with her. And he did eat. And the eyes of them were both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron. Shall we read the last half of verse 8?
00:10:16
And Adam and his wife hid themselves in the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. So there were two things that happened here. We have a sin against God. He was the authority, and they sinned. They they they broke his will to have communion. And they ate of some of the tree that they were told not to eat the first sin. But then something came in.
At that point that they weren't designed with to begin with, and this is another topic that's been striking to me as we see this going on right now. It's called the conscience.
The conscience struck immediately when they ate of the fruit.
Immediately they had nothing to do. They saw themselves in a different light, and they sewed up fig leaves. And then we see there in the end of verse eight there that when God come calling on them in the garden, they were hiding in the trees.
Today there is an impact to the conscience. Perhaps you're hearing things. A conscience actually is, if I could use the word, it's the buzzer in your car. It's the, it's the it's the warning light that tells you the tires going down and low in pressure. It's a warning light that says your your fluid is overheating. It's the warning light that goes off that says that your battery has been left on too long.
What happens when that light or that buzzer is ignored for too long?
The car will fail.
And yet.
I had a car one time that you left the door open.
And I had a friend get anything and clip the wire because I want to hear that buzzer and today.
At the common thing with dummy light, sometimes you put a piece of tape over the over the dummy light or the buzzer is making a noise. I don't want to be bothered with the noise of the sound or the warning.
And so the conscience is that very thing. It does nothing more than does that. It tells you right and wrong, and that's it.
It goes no further.
Just like your dummy light in the dash doesn't pump up the tire if it tells you the tires is low, it doesn't give you more oil. If the oil is low, the dummy light is there to give you a warning and a warning only.
So what do we have today with the conscience?
We have a prevalence today.
Of alcohol and in my state of Washington and other states, we have now substances that people are taking to subdue the conscience.
We have media.
On 24/7 in the cars, in the rooms.
There are people that cannot sleep without a TV going on.
You shouldn't have that quiet time. That quiet time was talked about today. The quiet time.
The evening time. And yet there is a media there's sound going all the time.
The conscience.
Will talk.
And it can do no more than that.
Because we see here if we were to read further.
That they were helpless with the fig tree, with the fig leaf aprons on hiding the trees. They were helpless and God had to go search them out in the trees.
And give them a remedy.
That's what I'd like to talk to you about tonight. Is the remedy.
Because.
We If you're here tonight and you're in your sins, perhaps your conscience brought you in here.
And it's important that if your conscience is brought you in here, don't cut the dummy light.
Silence is a good thing.
The word of God is a good thing if you don't have the word of God. By the way, if you don't have a Bible in your hand right now, don't worry about it. Let me read you. Listen. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
It's important to have a Bible.
But but I certainly, as we get into some more more verses here, I want you to listen to the word of God.
So with that, should we turn over into Matthew?
00:15:05
Matthew Chapter 11.
Before I get into the verse, I want to have here in Matthew 11.
The remedy was was that God was going to send his son to earth.
To bring blessing unto himself, because man had sinned.
God created man. We just read that God created man for communion with him.
To bless him.
And man sinned and broke that.
And so God and his wisdom.
Sends his son, takes on him the form of flesh he was. A man came down, and you were well aware of the story in Bethlehem.
Where he was a babe in the Manger.
And then he grew up as a young man. And then when we pick him up here in the scriptures, generally we see here in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we're going to see him out roughly around the age of 30. And then we get to read about what he talks about, what his message was to us from heaven. We're going to read about him. And I'm only going to read 3 verses out of the Gospels tonight, three things that the Lord Jesus said.
But think of it, when we read these three verses, or you hear these three verses, this is a message that he was bringing from his Father to you and to me.
So in Matthew Chapter 11.
Verse 28.
Come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.
And ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
He's coming and he's presenting himself as the one that's going to make you rest. If you take his yoke, if you put on, if you, if you take him on, he's going to take the burden for you. He's going to give you rest. That's what people are looking for today.
But yet the stimulants, the media, the everything, the everything else that we have going on drives us so that we don't hear his voice.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden.
I will give you rest. No one else will tell you that they're going to give you rest.
The Lord Jesus is the only one that's going to give you rest because he has the capability.
To give you rest.
Shall we turn to the next portion, which will be over here in the book of Luke?
Luke chapter.
4.
In verse 18.
Again, it says the Lord Jesus himself. He was in the synagogue and he picks up a scroll and he's reading out the Old Testament. But he's reading it so that you and I know that it's who he's talking about is from the Old Testament. And the very one that it's written that was written about in the Old Testament, He's the one. Luke 418 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath annoyed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives.
And recovering of the sight of the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised. There's five things there and today.
There is a complete cultural society today that fits these five categories.
The Gospel to the poor.
He sent me to heal the broken heart. And how many broken hearts are there tonight?
It doesn't matter where you go. In every city there is going to be a place where there's going to be more predominant hearts per capita, but there's still predominant hearts.
Broken hearts.
You can't see them, but you can see the effects of it. You can see what they're doing to themselves. Or maybe you have a broken heart. Maybe you're in here tonight with a broken heart. And a heart can be broken from many different ways.
Maybe your heart's broken with things that are out of your control.
But the Lord Jesus says.
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted.
00:20:00
To preach deliverance to the captives, That was what was on my heart too.
There is a captivity going on.
And he's here to release you from that captivity. You know, I go back to the founding fathers of this country, and when they were sitting there debating amongst themselves, the situation they were in, they were finding out that they were literally captives.
To the country of England.
And so that's why that Declaration of Independence is put together.
Is because they want to declare them independent from England, from the captivity they were under. We also fought the bloodiest war in this country, associated with those that were under captivity, the civil war.
More men died in that battle than any of our US wars because it was on both sides between the countries and is all over. A main point was over those that were in captivity. Some wanted to release them, some didn't. And tonight there is a force that does not want to release you from captivity.
Ephesians 6.
Brings us out, and I think this is imperative, that we get a hold of this, that there is an unseen force.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. That tonight is where the battleground is. There is a force that's battling for your soul.
And we're getting to it that there's a savior waiting with his arms open wide.
You and I can only see visually. We can only see things with what we see with our hands and where we can feel.
But just because we can't see the forces beyond it doesn't mean they're not there.
Man is finding out things under the microscope and under the telescope that he never imagined was there.
Now he has a capability to do so with technology.
But there are principalities and powers that are enslaving people and they don't want to release.
And there is one that has come to set free the captives.
And that's who we present tonight.
Back to Luke 4.
And recovering of sight to the blind.
Recovering of sight to the blind.
You know what's crazy right now is that it's easy to look across the country and to see the culture. And you realize quickly that blindness is settling in.
And if you don't have the word of God in front of you to be that compass, that gives you the direction of which you should go.
There are many that don't have it, and therefore the direction is a different direction in which you thought you should go.
The compass is a different compass that they're using. Blindness is settling in. It's called moral blindness.
What's he saying? He says, And recovering of sight to the blind. We can read the story about him healing the man from his blindness.
It is a striking event to see our Lord Jesus heal the eyes of the blind to see and you know, interesting technology right now has it said that they're implanting things into thing and they and they're and they're getting. And the people, the children, I think there generally are are hearing things for the first time and to see their face light up, to hear voices of their parents for the first time because of the technology.
And that's just audible. That's just audible.
But consider the fact.
Of being spiritually blind, not seeing the fact that there is right now a savior in the heavens.
That died for you.
And is waiting for you.
To set at liberty them that are bruised.
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Are you bruised tonight? That's what's going on. Is there is a bruising in the captivity. I have seen and maybe you have seen, there have been those that have gone down to the end of the roads and there are popular icons in the music industry that are dying right now and I see it as one's.
That are being held captive.
It's striking to see and read into these lives. They are captive unto someone and it's not the Savior.
And we're seeing a prevalent span of those right now, too.
00:25:04
To see the power that Satan has.
On people.
And to see their lives of wealth.
They have everything that this world could offer in terms of wealth, popularity, fame. They can go anywhere in this world they're playing. People worship them.
But yet they're dying.
And they're going into a lost eternity.
Satan is a hard taskmaster.
Should we turn over to the next portion which would be over in the book of John?
This is the third.
Message that the Lord Jesus is on this earth delivering. He delivers many more messages, but I only want to focus on this third one. This is in John Chapter 11.
25.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life He that believeth in me. Though he were dead, yet shall he live.
But whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Now, if you've been in the meetings earlier today and yesterday, we've taken up the topic of resurrection.
And that too has been on my heart here recently, because it was brought before me that resurrection is the one topic.
That you will find that if you believe in resurrection, you will have to deal with the resurrected Savior again in one way or the other.
It's solemn to think about it.
A lot of the world celebrates Easter as being the joyous occasion of the stone rolled back and the savior risen. But don't follow on beyond it to realize that that savior is now risen and coming back.
And if you believe he rose from the grave, you're going to have to deal with him in one of two ways. Either he's coming back for you to gather him on, to gather you under himself.
Or he's coming back.
As a judge.
We can read about that in Revelation. It's a mighty thing to have the Lord Jesus rolling out of heaven on a White Horse with a host of heaven and he only uses 1 weapon.
It's the word of God.
And nations are falling down underneath the word of God.
And that's the solemn thing. And then that's why there's a gospel meaning preached regularly because of the fear that there is a soul that hasn't taken a hold of the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.
And we'll meet him as a judge.
That's why there's a gospel meeting going forth.
But he says, Here I am, the resurrection and the life. We can read earlier in John that he says for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should have ever, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And that's the purpose.
When teen suicide is on the on the on the increase, the purpose of life is gone. But to have everlasting life with the Lord Jesus, now there's purpose.
Now there's purpose.
Good news tonight.
He says. Believe us thou this.
Do you believe it? Do you believe that he is the resurrection and the life and justice to complete the story? Maybe you haven't heard about it, but they took him and they put him through a beating of about 12 hours inside a Roman hall.
And then they took him up onto a hill as he dragged his cross part way.
And they took him up onto a hill.
And they stripped him down and nailed him to the cross, heaved the cross up between two other thieves.
And they railed on him as he was on the cross for three hours.
Come down and we will believe, they said.
Meanwhile, about 1420 hours before some guy had chopped the ear off and he had done his last miracle. He had been healing miracles for 3 1/2 years.
And they said come down and we will believe.
So he's hanging on the cross for three hours.
Man doing everything he can do all the way through the night.
00:30:03
And then the lights go out.
At noon, the brightest time of the day, the lights go out and God has his time with him.
He takes him and he puts your sins.
And my sins, and lays it on him.
For three hours.
You couldn't see it? I can't see it. Very little is said in the scriptures about it.
There is some portions.
But he took.
Your sins and my sins, And put it on him so much so that he could not call him father.
When he was on the cross.
He said, My God, my God, why us? Thou forsaken me, Why you turn your face from me?
That's what's hard is when a relationship is broken.
And it's not even the right relationship. It's my God.
He knew him as Father intimately. Turn it back to John, 17 and you get to see a beautiful communication of him and the Father.
Having a conversation that is well worth reading on your own time.
For three hours he lays them down, lays the sins down on him, and then the sun opens up again.
The soldiers are mad.
They had to bring him down from the cross and so they take the club and they whacked the first guy so they whack him below the knees so that he sophisticates and he loses his breath and he dies right there. They do it through the other guy, but they come and they find the one in the middle.
The one in the middle was already hanging dead.
Father, in thy hands I commend my spirit. He gave up his spirit, and that soldier then took that spear, and he shoved it into the side. You and I get to have a viewpoint of that now you see blood and water coming from it.
And then they take him down and this is where we've been reading, they've been putting they wrapped the women there and Joseph Aramasia.
And his other guy there they roll them up, put them in the grave.
And the Jews still didn't believe they set a Roman guard there. Or the Pharisees. Rather the Pharisees.
Oh, it's solemn.
But then three days later.
Man couldn't hold him back any longer and he rises from the grave and that's what you have to deal with.
Is resurrection because he's out of the grave.
Solemn.
A risen savior went out of the grave.
And it's and that that fact has been debated over and over and over and yet it still comes back to infallible.
To see that one risen from the grave.
Shall we now turn to?
Another we're reading in John. Let's turn over to 1St John.
One John. And so John was one of the last writers that wrote.
And so I wanted to pick up, since we started in the beginning with Genesis, the very first words in the book in the Bible. Let's read the last words here that that were written here by man named John. It says that which from the beginning, John 11, that which from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life.
Testimony is big and John is saying I was there.
I was there. I saw him with my eyes. I heard him, I looked, I looked upon him, I handled him. He was a friend of mine. That's John saying.
And so we have the testimony of John before us.
For the and then we have a parenthesis for the life was manifest and we have seen it and bear witness is showing to you that eternal life, John is big on eternal life.
That's what's missing today, folks.
Is to have eternal life, that promise of eternal life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you. And He's speaking to you and me today, John, saying, I'm seeing it, and I'm declaring it to you. Believe me what I saw that you also may have fellowship with and truly our fellowship is with the Father.
And with his Son, Jesus Christ, now verse four is increased. And these things right, we unto you that your joy may be full. That's what's lacking today too. The ******* of sin has got maybe you enrapped in sin tonight. Maybe there's things you have in your life that have put you in *******. And there's one thing that won't go with ******* and that's joy. So he wants to release you from the *******.
00:35:25
To give you joy.
That people are looking for happiness today. Oh, happiness is being advertised everywhere.
But joy.
Joy is much deeper.
You can have just there's prisoners. There's been those that have been.
That have been put into the camps under the most dire situation, stripped of everything they have stripped of all their family and they have and they have the word of God in their heart and they have the Lord Jesus with them and they've got joy.
Joy is something that can't be taken away when he gives it to you.
These things right we unto you that your joy.
May be full.
Verse 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all in righteousness.
There's there's a simple, simple statement right there that your unrighteousness can be cleansed if you cry out unto him.
So as I mentioned, we have a day coming up in two days, less than two days called Independence Day.
And my hope was was I was preparing for this meeting, that there would be good news proclaimed that if you are in captivity, if you find yourself in captivity, if your conscience.
Is unsalable and keeps bothering you. And perhaps you're trying to patch it over with things, because there's plenty of things this world offers to patch over your conscience that maybe tonight is the time that you can become independent of the captivity of sin.
And come to a savior who's waiting and willing.
What does he want to give you? He wants to give you the privileges that are beyond what Adam and Eve got.
The Lord Jesus wants to give you his relationship. He died for you.
He wants to give you the eternal life. He wants to release you from the captivity.
He wants to call you.
You want to be he wants, looking for sons and daughters.
And we don't know how much longer we have. We have clocks that spin around.
Time is fleeting. There's one commodity here in this world that you can, you can use up and you never get back. Money comes, money goes, relationships, relationships come and relationships go. Whatever. Cars come, cars go. But time, time, when time leaves, it can't come back.
And I'm surprised we're here again.
You know, I challenge anyone in this room that's of the younger generation.
Ask anyone older in this room. Ask anyone older.
If what we're seeing here in the last year to two years to three years is different than anytime that they've seen in their lifetime in the last 4050 sixty 70 years, the rapidity of events and what's happening.
Because The thing is, if you're younger in here, you may not have a perspective of having 4050 sixty 7080 years to compare it against.
So I asked someone that's older, Are we in a different day? Do you see this being different?
And that's what gives us cause for concern.
We still have another moment.
To know the Lord Jesus as your Savior to accept that offer of salvation.
Many people today are working 607080 hours a week.
Many people are taken up with the media. Everything is going on South. They can push.
The silence of a conscience. The silence with conscience and a still small voice that wants to whisper, I love you. I died for you.
And all that stuff is going to go away.
And it's sad to think, and that's why there are those that are in there praying and they're been praying for weeks.
That there might be someone sitting in this room that hasn't yet taken that opportunity.
To plead with a savior for their sins and plead to take on.
His gift that he's offering because that gift is not going to be offered forever.
00:40:04
You believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross.
Do you believe that he was buried in the tomb?
Do you believe he came up out of the grave?
Do you believe?
These coming back for you?
As your savior? Or do you believe that he's coming back as your judge?
I like to read the final two verses here in the book of Romans.
Again.
Just listen. If you don't have a Bible, it's very important to get a hold of this.
Romans, chapter 10.
It says in Romans 10, verse nine, that a foul shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. This is the inner working that you will have to have with a savior is confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart.
That God has raised him from the dead. There's the resurrection again.
Thou shalt be saved, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.
And with the mouth, confession is made. So there's two things that will go on if you take this step to the Savior.
There's going to be that belief in your heart that you are a Sinner. There is going to be that crying out to God.
That.
You need a savior.
And then there's that confession with your mouth.
Because if you're just silent about it, then I'm not certain. And it's real.
When a major event, because it will hit you if you become saved that clean, that cleanness takes over.
And it is a true change.
And so to have confession to someone and say I just accept the Lord Jesus as my Savior, that is the second part of that portion.
And so with the time that we have here.
As I said with time, time passes by quickly. Life is very busy.
I would like to take a minute to two minutes.
To have that quiet time as you sit in your chair.
Consider the savior that holds himself open.
He holds himself open for a little longer because we don't know when he's going to come back with a shout and the program is over.
The day of Grace may shut, so I would like to take one or two minutes.
I don't know if that was a minute or not a long time, but it's enough time.
To cry out to the Savior. And if you did, perhaps you could sing with this now.
On the first part of the sheet #5.
Oh, Happy Day.
That fixed my choice.
On the My Savior and My God. And if you Can't Sing it, just listen.
Oh, happy day. That fixed my choice on the my.
Savior and my God.
Well may.
Until.
Its raptures all abroad.
Happy day.
Happy day.
When Jesus.
Washed my sins away.
He taught me how to watch and pray.
00:45:03
And every.
Joy seen every day.
Happy day.
Happy day.
When Jesus washed my sins away.
Tis done, the great transactions done.
I am my Lords, and he is mine.
He drew me and I followed on.
Glad to confess.
The one divine.
Happy day.
Happy day.
When Jesus washed.
My sins away.
He taught me how.
To watch and pray.
A happy day.
Today. Tonight. Right now.
We talked about Independence Day.
A day which celebrated across the country for a particular reason.
And you can have your own Independence Day.
To be free from the ******* and to fly into the Savior.
Who had a tremendous cost to pay your penalty to pay your SIN?
And so if you have making that decision, feel free to let somebody know because it is a joyous occasion. It says in Luke 15 there is joy in the presence of the angels over 1 Sinner that repents.
Think about it.
To have all heaven rejoice over 1 Sinner.
That repents.
That's a powerful thing. Repentance is a powerful thing to come flying back to a savior.
It's a powerful thing.
So shall we commend ourselves? Our Father, our God, thank we.
Clay Pot
Children—Steve Stewart
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
These hymn sheets we can pick from and I picked up one of these song books because I know probably we know a lot of songs from here.
So if anyone wants to give out a song rather than giving a number out, can you just tell me what song it is you want to sing?
And you can raise your hand. Here's a little boy. What would you like to say?
What's that?
Jesus bids us shine. All right. I think that might be on this one.
Let's see.
Thank you.
Jesus bids us shine with a pure clear light.
Jesus bids us shine with a pure.
Clear, light, like a little.
Candle burning in the night.
In this World of Darkness.
So we must shine.
You and your small corner and I in mind.
Jesus bids a shine first of all for him.
Well, he sees and knows it. If our light grows dim.
He looks down from heaven.
To see us shine you and your small corner and I in mind.
Sin and want and sorrow.
So we must shine.
You in your small corner, and I hand mine.
There's a lot of room on the carpet.
This might be the only Sunday school class where he get to sit on the carpet, so if you want to come up, come on up.
And I have a little something.
That while we're singing, I want to pass around and have you look at it and see what you think of it.
I call it my little pop.
You know who makes pots?
A Potter makes pots.
And this is a little pot made by a little Potter.
That you can look at it and pass it to the next person. After you look it over somebody else have a song.
They would like just raise your hand, yes.
What one's that? Do you know the name of it?
Working will not save me.
OK, 69, You know your songbook pretty good. Remember the number?
OK, 69.
Oh, I think that's a little further on.
46.
Oh, in the other one.
This 146.
100 and thank you.
OK 102 Working will not save me. Purest deeds that I can do. Holiest thoughts and feelings too cannot form my soul anew. Working will not save me.
Working will not save me.
Restives that I can do.
Holiest thoughts and feelings too cannot pour my soul anew. Working will not save me.
Jesus bled and died for me.
Jesus suffered on the tree.
Jesus waits to make me free.
He alone can save me.
Faith in Christ will save me.
Trust in Him the Risen 1.
Trust the work that he has done.
To his arms I now may run. Faith in Christ will save me.
00:05:08
Thus bled and died for me.
Jesus suffered on the tree.
Jesus waits to make me free.
He alone can save me.
OK. Anybody else want to come? I see more people coming in. You're welcome to come on down. Oh, we have a girl that has one.
#3 on that sheet, on the hem sheet.
Let's see. I have it under my arm. I'm looking around for it #3 I hope on nothing less is built. Is that what you were thinking?
OK, why aren't we saying?
Verse verse.
And the chorus.
And the last verse.
My hope on nothing less is built.
Than Jesus and the blood he spilled.
I dare not trust the sweetest spring. Would you guys like to look at that too? I'm going to use that for a lesson. You can look at it for a minute and see what you're thinking.
On Christ the soul and rock I stand.
All of the ground is sinking sand.
All other ground.
His sinking sand.
Eternally.
His promise stands.
My name is Gray.
Then on his hands.
Let all around my soul give way.
He still abides.
My lasting stay.
On Christ the Son.
Then rock I stand.
All other ground his sinking sand.
All other ground.
His sinkings.
We're going to pause, just for a minute.
And we're going to pray.
And ask the Lord's help for the Sunday School class.
Alright, let's bow our heads.
Our God and our Father.
We look to Thee. We thank Thee this morning for the Lord Jesus, our Savior. We thank thee for thy love and sending thy son into this world, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And now it's bring thy once lost children back to thyself for thine own glory. And we think of each of these.
Children, here this morning and all in the audience, if there's one that has not yet been brought to thee through the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might be this very day for thine own glory, for their eternal blessing, for our joy too. So we pray for thy blessing on my word and the Sunday School lesson. And we ask that our God and Father in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So can anybody tell me?
What that little pot is made out of.
Got three hands? Let's see this little boy.
Clay. Clay. Has anybody made anything out of clay?
1-2 Anybody else ever made anything out of clay?
Well, the little boy that made this out of clay was in a class at school.
And the teacher said, everybody can go to the clay bin and there was a bin on the side of the room and you could dig your hands in to the clay and you take a lump of clay and make whatever you want.
Make whatever you want.
And the little boy, he went to that clay bin and dug his hands into that clay. You know, it's cold.
00:10:07
That clay and it's soft and it's kind of sticky and it feels really neat between your fingers and you can squish it and make all different shapes and all kinds of things.
And there is a man named Jeremiah and God.
Sent him.
To a place where there was a man who worked with clay and he was a Potter. He made pots like that little pot, only I'm sure his were much nicer than that one.
What do you think of that little pot? Do you think the person who made it was?
Pretty good. They knew what they were doing.
Yeah, What do you think? Do you think it's like a really good pot or so? So pot, What do you think? What would you say? What's your name?
Would you say it's a good pot or kind of a in between?
In between, yeah.
The little boy who made it, he thought it was a very good pot.
He did. And he took her home to his mother and said yeah, and she said, oh how nice and put it up on her shelf.
Well, here's a man, it says.
Jeremiah 18.
Lord sent Jeremiah to the Potter's house, verse 3. Then I went down to the Potter's house and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
And the vessel he made of clay was marred in the hand of the Potter, so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to the Potter to make it.
And so a very good Potter has a big wheel, and he has a pedal, and he pumps that pedal and the wheel goes around.
And he puts his lump of clay in the middle, and it goes round, spinning faster. And he puts his hands and he makes a pot out of it, puts his thumbs down in the middle, makes the hole, and he makes a vessel, a little pot that will hold something.
That will hold something and then it goes into the oven and the oven's called a kiln and it gets very hot in that oven, so hot if you looked in the little peephole, they have little peep holes. Everything's just glowing red hot in there and it takes that soft clay and it makes it hard as a rock.
And then you have a little vessel, a little pop.
Now I'm going to go back to Genesis.
To where Brother Rogers was last night. Because, you know, there's something else made out of clay than pots.
What are you made out of?
What are you made out of?
Do you think you're made out of clay like that, pop?
No.
You think you're a little pot like that one, or you think you're made out of clay?
Let's look back at Genesis.
And.
Chapter 2.
And I'm going to read a verse.
And the verse is 19.
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every file of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.
God in the beginning when he created this world and shaped it out of the ground.
He formed all the animals, He formed out of the ground, the birds and the fish. The great whale here going to the sea, the eagle out of the ground, go fly in the air, and the cattle and the wild beasts go out into the forest, out of the ground. You know where that clay came from.
Where do you think it came from?
Out of the ground where I lived when I was a boy, there was a big hill.
And at the bottom of that hill was a Creek. And people would dig into the side of that hill and they would find clay.
And they would make things. They made tiles for roofs, they made pots like that. They made all kinds of things.
00:15:02
Out of the ground.
But what about you?
Well, let's read another verse.
Verse 7.
The Lord God formed man. That means.
This is where we came from. This was the first man, but we all came from him.
Out of the group.
Excuse me. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. That's where Adam came from. He came from the ground too.
The dust of the ground and God formed a man.
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living.
Soul.
Now when God made the animals, He formed them out of the ground too.
But he did something a little different. Not just a little different, big difference.
When he made a man, you know. Is there anybody here named Joshua?
I don't know any other boys, little boys.
Well, I have a son named Joshua.
And when he was about your age, he came home from school and he was laughing.
And he said, oh, he said to mom, you know what? The teacher told us, We're just like dogs. That's so funny. He just laughed. We're just like dogs. We're not like dogs.
Is that true? What that teacher said were like dogs?
You know, it says God formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field, and he formed out of the ground.
From the dust of the earth man.
But we're not like dogs, you know? Even Captain Abner said. I'm not like a dog. What do you think I am? A dog said You just go pet it and send it away. I'm not like a dog. We're not like dogs.
But what's the difference if God took the animals out of the ground and he formed man? Where you and I came from? Out of the ground.
What's the difference?
I want to turn over just a little bit to Chapter 6.
And verse 17. This is the story of the flood. And I know you children all know the story of the flood.
Verse 17 And behold, I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life from under heaven, and everything that is in the earth shall die.
That's both men and animals. Men and animals both.
Have the breath of life.
God gave them life.
But the difference is, is how man got the breath of life.
When God formed the animals out of the ground, He made them and gave them life all at once. There they were alive.
Breathing. They had a body. They had breath. A life all at once.
And what happens to an animal when it dies? Anybody know?
If you have a dog.
And your doggy died. I had one. He died. You know, I still have his collar in a box somewhere, because he was my favorite dog and he got hit by a car and I felt so bad. And I think I still have his collar in a box somewhere. Anyway, in the 104th Psalm, it tells us.
Psalm 104.
So I'm 104 and.
This is talking about the animals.
And God, Thou God, hidest thy face, and they are troubled, Thou takest away their breath.
And they die.
And return to dust. You know when the animals die, That's the end.
When they die, God takes their breath back to himself.
They go back to dust. That's it.
Thin.
But when God made man? When He made Adam.
He didn't make him all at once.
With a body and breath at the same time. First he made him like this boy here, just laid right out.
00:20:06
There he is, just a body.
Now see him coming up. You got breath.
There he was. There was Adam. All just perfect on the ground. I don't know if he's on the ground, but there he was. God made him. He formed him from the dust of the ground. Perfect.
A man.
But he didn't have any breath on him. He didn't have any life. God took the clay, the dust, and like a Potter, he made man just perfect. And then.
He breathed into him the breath of life.
And man became.
A living soul.
And so when a man dies, or a woman dies, or a boy. Or a girl.
That soul they have keeps living.
Because God first made a body and then he put a soul in it. And so that soul, that man has, that you have, it's a living soul.
God breathed in your little clay vessel.
Now I have a clay vessel here and I just breathed in it, but it doesn't have life, right? Only God can give life.
Well, let's say this little vessel is like Adam and he had life and we said well, little clay vessel.
You're quite nice, I think.
Where did you come from?
Who made you? Oh, he says. I wasn't made.
I wasn't mean, No. There was a lump of clay.
On a hill.
And it started rolling down the hill.
And it hit a big rock and.
Where did that?
And then I kept rolling them. Pretty soon there's another piece rolling by and they just kind of fit together.
And then it kept rolling.
And it went right through a forest fire, and it fired it hard. And here I am.
Do you believe this little pot?
You don't believe this little pot?
What would you tell this little pie? What would you tell it?
I'll put you on the spot. What would you tell? Would you say little pot? You're not telling the truth. I'm going to turn you over a little pot and right there.
On the bottom when your clay was all wet and soft.
The boy who made you took a pencil.
With a point.
And he put his initials.
Three in the bottom.
And it went into the kiln.
And it fired hard.
Now my pencil has an eraser. Do you think I can erase that boy's name out of there?
No, I could try hard. What do you think is going to happen?
My eraser is going to fall apart. Not much left on there anyway, but it would be all gone and that name would still be there.
You know, in Romans it tells us.
We know just by looking at everything that was made.
That God created it.
And everyone knows, even if they say no, I came from a monkey.
They know down deep in their hearts if you could turn them over and see down deep down, deep in their hearts, there's the impress of the maker.
And they know.
That they're creatures.
And God made them like this little pot. You know the boy who made this.
He thought it would be a candy dish.
And I can tell you he had hopes that his mother would maybe put some candy in there and he would come by and look and find something once in a while. But she didn't. She put it up on the shelf for a Knick knack.
And years later.
She came to him when he was all grown up and she said, would you like this back?
She doesn't fit with the rest of my stuff.
And he said, OK, I'll, I'll take it back because maybe it'll be a help sometime.
And it is.
00:25:00
You know God made you a vessel.
So you could hold something.
The breath of life. But what happened with that first man?
What did he do?
God gave him the breath of life and God said, I'm going to put you in the Garden of Eden, but there's a tree in the Garden of Eden. You can eat of every tree in the garden as much as you want.
But one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you can't eat.
No, because if you do, you'll die.
If I turn this bowl upside down, is it going to hold anything? Nope.
You can't see my breath, can you?
But it's not holding it anymore because it's upside down.
What if I took a hammer and broke this vessel, this little pot? I don't want to, but what if I did? Would it hold anything anymore?
Now you know what happened with that first man, Adam.
He took of that tree, he sinned. He disobeyed God.
And God said, if you do that, Adam, you're going to die.
You won't be able to hold that breath of life anymore.
No. And that's what happened. He took of that fruit of that tree and that little clay vessel Adam, that God made.
They couldn't hold the breath of life anymore. And the day came.
And he died.
And you know, boys and girls.
Each one of you are like that little clay vessel. Each one.
And God has put in you the breath of life, but you were born into this world.
As descending from that first clay vessel, you were born a Sinner, and you know how I know it. And you know how you know it, because you have sin.
Without even saying it out loud, when I say to you you've sinned, I know there's something in your mind. You're thinking of something that you did probably one time.
And because of that sin, you're like that vessel.
That can't hold on to that life anymore.
But you know, Adam didn't know what day he would die. He didn't know. Did God say on this day you're going to die? He just said you will. And the day came and he did.
A day came and he did die. Do you know what day you would die?
Anybody know? Nobody in here knows?
What day they might die. You know my brother? He has a tow truck.
And he drives his truck around and you know what he does? He looks for people and their cars, People who have bought a car and they didn't pay for it.
And they didn't pay for the car. And he drives around and he sees their car in a parking lot. And you know what he does?
He gets it, puts it on his tow truck, takes it away. It's gone.
He's called a repossessor. He's taking back what doesn't belong to those people because they didn't pay for it. You know, Adam lost that right to hold on to that life through sin. And these people, they lost their right to hang on to their cars because they didn't pay. But they never know. When my brother's coming, he he comes in the night.
Early in the morning he'll wait till they go to work and he knows where they work and he goes into the work parking lot and takes their car.
He's taken cars from very rich men, doctors.
And lawyers. He's taking cars from very poor people.
You know he went to a trailer.
On a winter's day, Winter's night.
And then that trailer was a lady with a lot of children like you.
And she had no husband.
And my brother came to the door.
And he said, I'm here to take your car.
And she had to give him the keys.
He had a letter from the bank that said he could take it.
And she cried.
And she said this is my only way to get my children.
00:30:00
To a doctor, this is the only way I can go get groceries.
And it's at what we call out in the boonies, way out, away from everything. And it was night and winter.
But he had to take him.
Because she hadn't paid for it and he took her car.
And left her there.
You know death comes.
At times when we don't expect it.
It could come anytime I want to read a verse from the book of Hebrews.
Because of sin, we can't hold on to this life.
That we were born with. It's got to be given up at some time.
Let's read a verse Hebrews Chapter 9.
Hebrews 9 and verse 27. This isn't about an appointment.
You know, when my brother gets his list of cars that he has to take, he kind of sets a time up when he's going to go get him.
Some people try to hide their cars. Oh, they do the best they can. They switch license plates.
They parked their car at Walmart and walked to work from there. So their car is not where they try to do all kinds of things to hide, but.
My brother laughs. He says I always get him.
I always get.
And he says, in fact, the harder it is to get him, the more I get paid.
Well, this verse says in verse 27 as it is appointed unto men once to die.
But after this, the judgment Why? Because we're not like the animals. When the animals die, they're done.
Their breath. God takes it. They go to dust. But when we die.
Our living soul goes on.
And each one of us.
Has a living soul that, should our body die, will go on for all eternity.
And after this appointment of death, the judgment.
But it says so or because of this?
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.
The Lord Jesus came to give his life.
Our life was forfeited. Couldn't hold it. The Lord Jesus came to give his life.
So that even though this life, we can't hold on to that if the Lord leaves us here that long, we'll die.
We can have a new life.
A new life that will live forever.
And those who have that new life are those who have received the Lord Jesus as their savior, He came.
He came to suffer on the cross to take.
Your place and mine. He came to give his life, he says. Here, I'll give my life.
He didn't have to lose his life. He never sinned. He couldn't sin.
But he said, I'm going to give it, And on the cross he yielded up his breath to God.
And he gave his life for you.
And for me?
So that we could have a life will never ever loose.
A life that everyone who possesses.
Should they even die and lose the life we were born with?
Will be raised from the dead to be forever with the Lord. Well, and you can have that new life right now right in your vessel.
If you ask the Lord Jesus to be your savior.
I got till 10:15 right?
I want to ask another question.
When the Lord Jesus came and went to the cross.
There is a kind of an animal.
That the Lord Jesus.
Has a special title, like a special name.
That belongs to him that.
Is an animal.
An animal's name. Does anyone know who that is? What animal that is?
00:35:06
What animal?
A donkey? No, I am thinking about a donkey, but not that one.
The Lord Jesus has a special name, but we're going to come back to the donkey.
Anybody ever hear the Lord Jesus called the lamb?
Yeah, The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, he came.
The Lamb of God.
To be a sacrifice, to give his life. Now I want to go back to what's your name?
Amanda, I want to go back to Amanda's donkey.
Let's go to the book of Exodus.
Actually.
I'm going to read on the way there since we go right by it in the book of Job. You know, Mr. Conrad over here many years ago, he had a little boy born in his house and he worked on a construction job and big, rough men. Construction job and oh, congratulations, Bruce had a boy. Yeah.
And there was a board on that to get that construction site where you could write things.
Special notes. And Mr. Conrad, he wrote a verse on that board when those men said congratulations, you had a boy.
And he wrote this verse from Job 11, verse 12. For a vain man would be wise though man be born like a wild ass's colt.
The Lord Jesus came into this world. He was the Lamb of God. But you know, you and I were born into this world like Amanda's little donkey, wild little donkeys. We know that song right there once was a wild little donkey.
That's how you and I were born in this world.
You know, in the Old Testament, if a family in Israel had a donkey and it had a baby.
There was something they had to do.
Let's I'm going to turn to Exodus 34.
If they had a little donkey.
That was born.
In their form, does anybody here live on a farm that has horses?
Or cows.
You do. You do.
You do. So you know probably what it's like to have a little baby animal, right? Oh, you do. And they get up on their legs and they're kind of wobbly to get going.
And they're so cute.
You know, they're all cute when they're young.
Then they grow up.
Well, Exodus 34.
Here was a house and they had a farm and there was a little donkey born in that farm. Cute little donkey, I imagine.
And they have this instruction from the Bible.
Verse 20 of Exodus 34, but the first link of an *** that's a donkey.
Thou shalt redeem with the Lamb.
And if thou redeem him not, thou shalt break his neck.
And all the first born of thy sons thou shalt redeem.
So in this family, here are little Donkeys born.
And Dad says, you know, we've got a lot of work to do on this farm. And we really could use a donkey because, you know, I used to live in Ethiopia years ago, and they would put huge piles of hay and sticks on donkeys. They could carry big loads. They're strong backs, strong necks.
And they could carry those big loads.
And father says, you know, we need this donkey. We got a lot of loads to carry on the farm, but the Lord has said that we have to redeem.
This donkey with a lamp.
And so he would go to the flock of sheep on that farm, and he would pick a little lamb.
Without any spot on it.
And he would take that lamb.
And he would cut its neck.
And it would bleed out and die.
As an offering.
To redeem that donkey, you know why a donkey's an unclean animal.
00:40:02
And children you were born, and I was born into this world just like wild little donkeys, unclean. We were sinners as we were born in this world. And God had to send his son his lamb.
To give his life for you and for me. Otherwise what would happen to that little donkey?
His neck would be broken. Not like the lamb whose throat got cut and it was bled out and offered as a sacrifice. Donkey was unclean, no good for sacrifice. Just break his neck.
Very.
I imagine that might have been hard. You know, they told us when we raised animals. I read a book that says don't name anything that you might eat because you get attached to it.
And I suppose it might have been hard on those farms. It would have been hard for me as a little boy, to see Dad take a little lamb and say we're going to have to kill this lamb.
So we can keep this donkey.
But you know, God said something else right after that, and we read it, he said of your children.
You don't have a choice.
You don't get the choice of whether to break their neck or redeem them with a lamp, he says. You redeem them with a lamp. God sent his lamb. He doesn't want any one of you children.
To die in your sins.
For your living soul that he put in your little clay vessel to go into a lost eternity to the judgment of a holy God.
And he sent his lamp.
To give his life for yours, to redeem you.
And you know, just like the father in that family, he says we're going to use that little donkey. He wants to make you a useful vessel for him.
To hold something for him.
You know this little pot.
If it had a heart, what kind of heart would it have?
Would it be? What kind?
A hard heart, Very good.
Just like the clay hard.
I want to read another verse.
From Ezekiel.
And the 36th chapter.
It would have a little clay heart that would be hard as a stone.
What about our hearts? As we're born in this world, What kind of hearts do you think we have?
Born in this world.
Well, Ezekiel says.
And chapter 36.
Verse 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the Stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart, a flesh, A heart of flesh would be soft.
He wanted to take away their heart of stone. He wants to take away your Stony heart. Have you ever heard anybody say, And I have said it give your heart to the Lord Jesus.
Or open your heart and let the Lord Jesus in. Have you ever heard that?
But you know something else has to happen first before you can give your heart to the Lord.
Before you can open your heart to the Lord, something has to happen first, he says. I'm going to give you a new heart, and then you can give that to me.
I'm going to give you a new heart first. I don't want your dirty old hard heart. It's no good.
I'm going to take it away and I'm going to give you a brand new heart, a soft heart.
And when we receive the Lord as our Savior, we find we have a new.
Soft heart. I'm going to read about that soft heart.
In Corinthians.
Because, you know, just like the little boy who made that pot.
2nd Corinthians.
Chapter 3.
Just like the little boy who made that pot and he took his pencil.
When the clay was soft and he pushed and he wrote his name.
In that clay.
God wants to give you a heart that's soft. That will never be hard.
And he wants to write something on it. What do you think he wants to write on your heart?
On that new heart for you.
It says in Two Corinthians 3.
00:45:04
For as much verse 3 For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink like this pen.
No, Written, not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God. Not in tables of stone, not in a Stony heart.
But in the fleshy tables of the heart, what do you think the Spirit of God is writing on that new heart?
That he gives each one that knows the Lord is savior. He has a name. What's that name?
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Writing that on that new heart.
Because he wants you to be.
A vessel to bear that name of Christ on your heart for him, and be a useful vessel.
We're at the end of our time, so I'm going to read a little poem.
Before we pray, who has ever heard?
Of that poem, Mary had a little lamb.
1-2 Mary had a little lamb. Oh, quite a few.
Ever heard of the poem? Mary had a little pig.
Nobody.
I heard that all the time when I was young and a while ago I heard the tape.
An old brother named Mr. Jevedon, stately old Southern gentleman, and he read this poem.
I want to read it to you.
Mary had a little pig.
And it was white as snow, that is, when it had a bath, as you of course might know. But Mary had an awful time to keep the piggy clean.
For it was just the dirtiest pig that one has ever seen.
She'd wash him, and she'd scrub him till he would squirm and squeal, as if he wanted her to know it was an unfair deal.
Then inside his green backyard, he planned for more. And tonight.
Unless he happened to sneak out and lose himself from sight.
And when Mary found him, he'd be blacker than ere before. So Mary get the soap again and scrub the pig some more.
Poor Mary thought.
And wondered much what she could ever do until she figured out a plan. And this she carried through.
She took him to a doctor.
Who put the pig to sleep?
And then he took his heart rate out, but not, of course, to keep.
And then he took a little lamb and took his heart out too.
And put it in the little pig before the piggy knew.
When little Piggy did awake, he had no more desire to wallow in the mud.
Or ever in the mire.
Try as hard as air he could, he never understood how such a pig as once he was, could ever be so good.
So you see, dear friends of mine.
You need a new heart too.
Just like the little piggy did, the old will never do.
If you will receive a brand new heart, well, here is how you may.
Accept God's Son as Savior now and let him in.
Today, let's pray.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word. Pray that it might.
And the power of the Holy Spirit make its deep impress.
The Counsels of God
Address—David Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
In books, please and turn to him #4.
Here God had built the mountains.
Or raised the fruitful hills before he filled the fountains.
That feed the running rills. Indeed, from everlasting the wonderful I am found pleasures never wasting, and wisdom is thy name hymn #4.
Think the old had built.
A mountain.
You know, friends.
When we opened this book, we have the Bible.
To me it's like this.
It's like going to the ocean and taking a dip in the ocean, little cup full.
And you know how much you get of that vast ocean? Not very much.
I have my heart.
To speak a little bit of the councils and purposes of God.
Know it's a marvelous thing that God has been pleased.
To take us in to the councils that he has had from a past eternity.
And for a coming eternity.
To all who belong to Christ.
So I'll start this afternoon.
By turning to.
John's Gospel, Chapter One.
God is pure.
Verse one in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
There's eternity in this verse.
In the beginning was the word.
This is the beginning before there ever was a beginning, as has often been remarked.
You can't go back further in this book than this verse.
In the beginning was the word.
And then it says the word was with God.
And the Word was God. We went down to birth. Think it's 14, it says the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.
You know, in the Gospel of John, very simple words sometimes when we're speaking to people and they tell them to open their Bible.
Tell them to read John's Gospel.
It's a lot of 1 syllable words in John's gospel.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
I can be with you, but I can't be you.
But this word says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What does it mean?
Well, in the 14th verse again, I think it's verse 14.
That it says yes, the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us, that we beheld his glory. That's Jesus.
And he was with God, and he was God.
Again we say.
We can be.
I can be with you, but I can't be you. Now we get into who he is and the majesty, and we stand back and we view.
The Deity of Christ.
The Triune God in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and this is a past eternity.
He dwelt with him from a past eternity.
The only begotten son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
00:05:00
Wonderful friends to dwell upon.
The majesty of who he is.
All that the world knew more about him.
Turn with me, please, to Proverbs, Chapter 8.
Verse 22.
The Lord hurts Jehovah.
Its Lord and capitalized like that. It's Jehovah of the Old Testament. Jehovah God. Jehovah possessed me.
In the beginning of his.
Before his works of old, I wondered at that.
Jehovah possessed me the beginning of his way. What does it mean?
Well, I'll tell you what I got from one writer.
One of the old writers was that.
God found his whole delight in his beloved Son in a past eternity.
He possessed him.
In the beginning of his ways.
And there's God the Father and God the Son in the past eternity that goes back friends.
To no beginning.
And they delight the Father delights in God the Son.
Just let that soak in.
As to, there they are in a past eternity.
He's dwelling with him.
Never anything to ever come in that Mars a sea.
God the Father and God the Son.
Beautiful to contemplate.
I was set up from Everlasting.
Before.
Let's go on a bit here.
Verse 23 I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was.
When there are no depths, I was brought forth.
When there are no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth. While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, or the highest part of the dust of the world when He prepared the heavens, I was there when He set a compass upon the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above.
When he strengthened the fountains of the deep.
When he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment when he appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.
The counsels of God.
With the Father, God the Father, and God the Son.
With this vast plan for all eternity to come.
They contemplate.
This scene.
Then I was by him as one brought up with them.
Dearly his delight.
And here it is talking about the Earth. But then it goes on.
Two verse 31, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.
Go with me, please, to the Book of Job.
Let's go to.
Job, Chapter 38.
00:10:03
Now here is God speaking to one man. You know, the book of Job is a wonderful book.
Because God takes this book. What is it? 42 Chapters do I recall?
And he talks about one man.
He has an interest friends in you.
And me individually.
There's no one that God loves more than you.
No one and.
Here.
God and patience allows things to happen in this one man's life because he wants him nearer and closer to himself.
And so we're getting down near the end of the book of Job, and Job is feeling pretty good about himself.
And his three friends.
Had a lot to say to him and to lie who spoke to him as well. And then God steps in. Isn't that quite often the way in our lives?
You ever find that sometimes, you know, just in conversations with various people and.
Circumstances don't work out too good, but God knows what He's doing. Friend. Our lives let us never forget that.
So anyway here.
In this 38th chapter.
God steps into Job's life and notice how.
In the verse one then the Lord answered Job what of the whirlwind? And said.
Verse three, gird up now thy loins like a man. That's brace yourself, Job. I want to talk to you.
Verse 4.
Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding, who hath, who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest, or who has stretched the line upon it, Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened, Or who laid the cornerstone?
Thereof when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
Verse 4 again, where were you job when all this happened?
Well, it wasn't long after that Job had to put his hand upon his mouth.
When God was speaking to him.
And God talks here to him about laying the foundations of the earth.
And you notice how it says and I've enjoyed this.
Where it says that.
Where are verse 6? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone? Now verse 7, When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, you know who the sons of God are.
You turn back to the first chapter of Job and you'll find out who the sons of God are. We don't need turn to it now, but the sons of God are the angels.
They had access into the presence of God.
And God has a host of angels.
Did you know how many he has?
Well, in the Book of Revelation, chapter 5, it tells us about one number, there being 10,000 * 10,000 and thousands of thousands. What's 10,000 * 10,000?
Got any math experts here? Most of the young people today, why they have to pull their calculator up?
It's 100 million.
If we turned over to the 12Th chapter of Hebrews, we would find this an innumerable company of angels.
That is, friends in the in the administration of the universe, in the hands of the Creator God. He has this administration at his hands.
Of millions and millions of angels.
And then we read verses like this. He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
And if we went over to the.
18th chapter of Matthew we would read about the children. It says they're angels. Turn with me for just hold this place if you would. I think it's such a lovely verse and I can't quote it very well. Matthew 18.
00:15:35
And verse 10.
Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Angels there is plural.
You mothers here that have children?
Did you know that they have a guardian?
They're the guardians, friends.
And they're your guardians too.
The angels are there for divine protection.
He shall gain in his adverse he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
It's a wonderful way to start the day, you know, to commit yourself to the Lord.
And he passes the responsibility on to the angels.
God's care for his own.
So here it speaks about in the book of Job.
At the at the time when the the earth was formed, when he laid the foundation and so on, it says the Angel showed it for joy. Now here's what I have thought of in connection with this.
Sometimes you hear about.
A. A.
A great development that is going to take place, say a great big manufacturing company is going to come into a certain community near where you live.
Say 100,000 square foot building or 200,000 square foot building, they're going to hire a whole lot of people.
In all the farmland. And then you see the great big bulldozers and the earth movers and all kinds of equipment come in and say, what's going on here?
Just a few miles will say from your home and you watch and you watch and and you hear about how jobs are going to be created to through this kind of thing. And the excitement in the in the newspaper about this big development and what it was going, what it's going to do for the economy and so on. And everybody is so pleased in the community to hear about it.
There's excitement about it. Well, here you see, God was laying the foundations for the earth.
And it tells us in this verse here when the morning stars, verse 7 again of chapter Job 38, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God showed it for joy. You see, friends, it was like this to me.
That in a past eternity.
There's God dwelling.
There with his beloved son and he has counsels for for.
The whole vast universe.
And he starts to unfold what he is going to do.
And the unfolding involves the laying of the foundations of the earth and the angels as they watch. And they see that God has a plan. They know the perfection of his being.
And he's laying it out. And they don't know what the whole plan is, but they rejoice.
They see God in action.
Oh friends.
Beautiful.
Now go with me, please.
To Ephesians chapter one.
Ephesians chapter One.
Hold this portion so special, I'm going to read quickly.
00:20:03
The verses from verse 3 down to verse 10.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's blessed us with all spiritual blessings.
In heavenly places, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him, and love having predestinated us.
Under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself.
According to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
Wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.
Were any other bounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he had purposed in himself?
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are in earth.
Even in him we have been speaking about.
The God the Father, and God the Son, and a past eternity dwelling in His He dwelt there in the bosom of the Father. We've been speaking about laying the foundations of the earth. And now, dear friends, in this verse here we find that before the foundations of the earth, wherever, wherever.
Developed.
That God had another God had a pre-existing plan in connection with the earth and who did it involve?
You and me.
Are you a Christian?
Is Christ your Savior?
You had a beginning, but you'll never have an ending.
And if you know Christ is your savior and dear friend, you're a brother of mine.
Dear sister were brothers and sisters in Christ.
And we have an end is going to end in the glory of God. And I don't know if we're going to to get as far as I'd like to get in this meeting.
But the end is dazzling.
It's dazzling.
I like that chart boost chart from eternity to eternity.
He has a big circle at the one end, another circle at the other end. The big circle at the one end is there a previous eternity, And then at this end is another circle with a great big eternity to come.
And a line in between of 7000 years, you know where we are.
6000.
About 6004 thousand BC 2080.
Dear friends were at the moment.
When Christ is coming again.
He's going to take his bride and he had it in mind.
From a past eternity.
Before the foundations, here God had built the mountains.
He chose you predestination.
Predestination.
You know those two words are there.
He chose you.
You know, when we were when I was young in Canada.
Many years ago, where you know the most famous gaming is hockey in Canada.
And we used to go to the river called the Humber River near where we were and lived, and the ice should be frozen over. And us boys, we'd we'd have a hockey game.
Just a game of shinny, so to speak. I guess we loved hockey.
And.
What we do is to choose two guys who are going to be the captains.
One guy here, one guy here, and everybody else stand in front. So you choose one, choose next. Well, you know the ones that got chosen first.
They were the ones who were the best.
And I usually got chosen somewhere near the last the way it was with me.
00:25:05
So we played hockey. We chose teams.
And here it tells us the Lord chose you.
And there's another verse that I like.
Where the Lord was speaking to his disciples, he said, You haven't chosen me, but I have chosen you.
And ordained you, you go.
And bear fruit, I'll tell you. Just a little incident, by the way, in connection with that.
This happened to our brother Gladding many years ago when he used to give out.
Tracks and board ship in Hong Kong.
And he went on board one ship and shipping the.
Captain said. What are you doing?
And he said.
I am I am giving a gospel tractor to your sailors on board the ship during wartime and.
The captain said to him. To him, you've been ordained.
Mr. Giding said, Yes, I have, and then he quoted that verse. Ye have not chosen me, but I have or chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and send bear fruit.
And the captain says, All right, you go ahead.
He used that verse properly.
The Lord has chosen you.
And He has predestinated you from a past eternity.
For a coming eternity.
So back in eternity passed before the world was made.
Dear child of God, you were chosen, You were predestinated.
And God worked in time in your soul, and brought you to Christ for the purpose of having you with him forever.
Revel in these precious truths.
Well, and then he brings in about his.
His Son. And we've often been told about this verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of time he may gather together in one all things in Christ. That's what God's purpose is.
You have everything centered.
In the Son of Man, the one he took taken delight in from a pass he turn.
You know God has made your heart and made our hearts, that we can't be satisfied with anything less than his beloved Son.
You can you know the little hymn that says I tried the broken cisterns Lord, but all the waters failed.
In as I stoop to drink, thee fled and mocked me as I wailed. Now none but Christ can satisfy.
None other name for me.
Are you enjoying him in your life?
Is he the object?
You have to have an object. God has made it that way.
The heart goes out.
And it longs to and you know, Satan has designed this world.
To try to get you and I to be satisfied with anything but Christ.
And no matter what you try in this world, you'll never be satisfied.
Unless it's Christ and he wants to fill your heart.
Day by day as you walk through this world.
Well, let's go on from here to.
The first verse in the Bible. Somebody quoted that.
Somebody I've forgotten who it was.
We had it before us anyway. Genesis one and verse one.
Oh, you know, it's astounding, this book.
It's astounding.
Now.
Let's read just the first three verses. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form and void.
And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light.
00:30:00
I want to first of all.
Talk about.
The first part of the first verse.
In the beginning, God created.
The heaven and the earth. This beginning that is spoken of here is different from the beginning that we had in John One.
In John one we mentioned in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that goes back to a past eternity. But dear friends, after some time after that it says in the beginning God created.
The heavens and the earth.
There was a time after God had been there for the billions of years, as we would say.
That.
He started to develop the plan that he had about having a future forever for his beloved son and a family forever.
And it was based on.
Building the universe.
He created the heavens and the earth. Now it's very interesting. I've never studied.
And I maybe there's some here that have studied Hebrew.
But the word God here in the Hebrew is elohim.
And Elohim.
Is Pearl.
It's plural, and I've also been told that not only is it plural, but it's more than two.
In the beginning, God Elohim.
More than two.
Three God the Father, God the Son.
God the Holy Spirit.
The counsels of God.
Were combined together.
In building this vast universe.
And then the next word is created.
And created.
As I understand, is in the singular.
Now, why is it that God would be in the plural? That's the subject, and the verb created would be in the singular.
I think you young people know that that's kind of bad English.
But dear friends, there's not a mistake.
There's not a mistake here because it's a triune God, and God is 3 and God is 1.
3:00 and 1:00 and 1:00 and 3:00.
You see from the very first few verses, the first few words in the Bible.
Every word of God is pure.
When you read the Bible.
Read it carefully and read it again. And read it again.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And even in that.
What is this earth?
The size of this world that you and I live in, compared to the vast universe around. What is it?
It's just a speck.
But dear friends.
God has that vast plan.
For the whole universe that would center with his, with his, with an earthly people here in this world.
He's going to have a heavenly people and he's going to have an earthly people. And so that verse we read in Ephesians chapter one that in the dispensation, the fullness of time he may gather together and one all things in Christ both in heaven and in earth.
Even in him.
And it starts from Genesis 1:00 and 1:00.
The purposes of God.
And you are included.
In that fine.
You know, I think of we'll get in, get to this a little later. But why think of that at him, 99 comes to mind. To view the vast building. See it rise the work. How great the plan. How wise. Oh wondrous. Fabric. Power unknown.
00:35:01
That rears it on the living stone.
And now it says the Spirit of God. Well, let's.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. I really.
I know there's sometimes a controversy that that Saints have in connection with this, but I feel this deeply in my own soul.
And that is that if you read over in Genesis 45, you would find it. It says the Lord did not create the world to be it was in a in a waste turn to turn to it. Isaiah 45.
Isaiah 45 and verse 18 For thus saith the Lord, saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it, He hath established it, He created it.
Not in vain, That's that is not in waste and not in a wasteland.
He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else.
I believe that God made their world in perfection when it was done. I don't know when it was done. God hasn't told us everything, but he's told us enough.
Created the heavens and the earth, and then the next in Genesis One it says, and the earth was without form and void. There's something that happened between Genesis One and One and Genesis One and two.
And there is darkness upon the face of the deep, and whatever that catastrophic.
Event was I don't know and perhaps there are some here that know but I don't know.
But it tells us darkness was upon the face of the deep.
But what I like about this is that God will never be frustrated in his purposes.
And then it tells us.
Darkness upon the face of the deep. And what's the next words?
In verse two in the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and then the next verse and God said, Let there be light, and there was light.
Darkness on the face of the deep.
And it says the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water. And what all is all involved in that? I just leave that and I revel in what it says.
That in the darkness there that God who can penetrate into the darkness.
And the Spirit of God goes to work.
And then it says, and God says, let there be light and there was light. And dear friends, what this speaks to me about is what happens when a God goes to work in a soul of a man or woman in this world.
There's darkness.
I know a man.
I know a man that.
A little bit younger than me, knowing many years.
Tell you his name. Nobody knows him here. Peter Reagan.
Born in Switzerland.
His wife died a few years ago. I think she got saved just before she died. Quite a story.
That man started to come to meeting in Pine Grove where I go to meet.
If you ask him where Genesis One was, he couldn't tell you.
He never cracked the book.
But he saw something happen.
In the and and the cousin of mine was in touch with him, and he came to meeting and he sat there in the breaking of bread, sat beside me. Actually that doesn't mean anything, but we knew each other.
I had to show them where the places were and God went to work in that man's life.
And he came to Christ.
There was darkness in the face of the deep at his wife's funeral.
Why? It was eerie music.
They have, but I believe that the light penetrated into the the darkness of her soul a day before she died.
And then God went to work in this man's life.
00:40:02
And he's a happy man now, happy in the Lord, you see.
When God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shined in our hearts to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
You have somebody you'd like to see get saved.
Press the gospel too hard, is my suggestion. Pray hard.
Pray hard.
Because he's the one that commands the light to shine out of darkness. Live Christ before them.
So he says, let there be light. And there was a light. Old friends, is there anything that this world wants more than light?
You know.
I understand. I've read even in this past year in Canada.
The number of teen suicides is it seems to me the number was over doubled in the year 2015 that it was in 2014.
No purpose in life.
No light amid the darkness.
The only answer to this world. The only answer to your friends.
Is Christ.
And the same one who's the answer for you and me.
So let's go on now to.
Yes, we'll go to. I've written a few things down here. Just in the next chapter, this verse was referred to. I'm just going to read it and then go on to some other verses.
Genesis 2 and verse 7. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
And man became a living soul, you know.
Our brother Steve was talking about.
The Potter. I love that portion. I like to think of it and catch of this verse. In this way it says the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.
And as that Potter takes that clay, he makes it exactly the way that he wants it.
You know, friends.
You ever wish you were like somebody else?
Sometimes.
Our minds go that way.
God has made you the way you are.
Because.
He wants you that way.
He formed you.
Walk with him in that body that he gave you.
Now go with me to the same chapter.
And and verse.
1St that I have down here verse 18.
And the Lord God, Genesis 218 the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make and help me for him.
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, every fell of the air, and brought them unto Adam.
To see what he would call them, And whatsoever Adam called them, called every living things, every living creature that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found, and help me for him And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof.
And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her under the man. Now my Bible in the margin for that 22nd verse, it says.
The and and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, builded he a woman, and brought her under the man.
No, I want to dwell for just a letter. I'm going to run out of time, I can tell.
00:45:01
The. The.
First part here.
You know, it says here it's not good that the man be alone.
I will make a helping for him.
God knows the emotions of a man.
And of a woman.
I will make a help before.
For you young people here, I suggest this to you.
Don't go on the Internet to try to find a partner in life.
Go to the one who is over all the Internet.
He knows who you need.
He knows.
Where she is, young man.
And he saw.
That Adam needed to help me.
And.
Another thing I'd like to say in connection with this.
I think Adam knew a little bit about loneliness in his life.
I don't know how long a time period was between the time that God made Adam.
And the time that he that he gave him Eve for a wife.
But I believe that Adam felt alone.
And when the animals came to him, he saw Mr. and Mrs. Elephant.
Mr. Missus Lyon.
Mr. Mrs. Tiger, etcetera. And Adams thinks I'm sure hey, they all got mates. I don't have a mate.
But God had a plan.
And the plan was that he put Adam to sleep and he'd take a rib from his side, and from that he would give him.
A bride.
And then it says that he brought her under the man.
Now you know the way it is at a wedding. Usually what takes place is the fellas standing at the front of the room.
And all has got ready for the bride to come in.
And the moment arise.
And there he is.
And the bride comes down the aisle.
You notice what it says here?
Look at verse 22.
In the rib which the Lord God had taken from man.
Made he a woman and brought her under the man.
So you see the bride coming down the aisle with her father. She's being brought to the man. There's a lot of mystery, You know, everybody loves to go to weddings. I think at least the ladies do. Maybe something don't like this so much, but you know, it's a picture you see of this scene here and also the scene that is yet to come when the bride will be brought to Christ.
In a coming day, and when you go to the next wedding and you see that bride coming down, think of the picture of what it shows right here in the second chapter of Genesis, where God brings Eve unto Adam.
Oh, it's beautiful. Beautiful. The wedding will be more meaningful if you see what God's purposes are.
It brings it beyond the wedding of those a couple. It takes in your thoughts sometimes.
My eyes filled with tears when I see the bride coming down the aisle.
And I think of that coming, that coming day when Christ is going to have, when the purposes of God are going to be fulfilled, beloved, now it says he builded.
Build it with that rib he builded a woman, and if you turn over to Ephesians Chapter 2, you'll find there where it says in whom all the building fitly framed together.
Groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, and that is the.
The Church of God that is being, that is being.
00:50:01
Growing in this world.
And made ready for the moment when Christ comes and he's going to have his bride. These are part of the Councils of God that we read about in Ephesians chapter one.
And if you're a child of God, dear brother and sister, you're going to be there.
Now I want to just spend a minute or two.
I want to go to another building as spoken of here in this because what what happened after this, you know as sin came into the world and admired the whole creation. But God is not going to be frustrated in his purposes. We know that. But notice in the 4th chapter.
After, after the cane slew his brother.
Able, it says in verse 16 of chapter 4. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bear Enoch. And he builded a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. And here we find another building going on. God is builded.
A builded a a wife for.
For Adam. And now he is building the church here, which is going to be the bride of Christ. But in this world there's another building that is going on. And you know what is how it all started from a man who went out from the presence of the Lord and all the systems as you leave this conference and you go home, remember.
That all the systems in this world are developed and under the control.
By by Satan and the world.
In all its systems is heading for the abyss.
And and Cain he he had a son.
And his His son went out and built a city.
Away from God.
And all the systems in this world are developed with that in mind, friend, and you don't want to be part of it.
If you're a child of God and you want to enjoy the presence of God in your life as you wait for the Lord's coming.
To walk with him.
He walked separate from the systems of his world that drag us down.
There they are, And John near the end of his life, and I think he was a man around 90 years of age, he said. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world of any man. Love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, and to me it just means this.
You can't enjoy the presence of the Lord if you walk with the world all week long.
You come to meeting on Sunday morning and you want to remember the Lord that died for you. And if I, I should say, speak for myself if I want to walk in the world all week long, I'm not going to enjoy the presence of the Lord on North Day morning.
So John, again I say a man I believe was about 90 years of age.
When he wrote that was written about 8090 or 95, he said love not the world.
Seen a lot of things happen his life. He walked with the Lord for three years.
He's seen a lot of things. He saw the church grow. He saw.
The he saw the declension during Paul. Paul died about 806068 and here was 1892. Three whatever the number was and John banished to the Isle of Patmos and he's sending out this message.
Love the world.
Neither the things that are in the world.
Fast cars, whatever it might be. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now, friends, my time is up. I want to, I want to. close by turning to 1St Corinthians chapter 15.
1St Corinthians 15.
Verse 23 Every man in his own order, Christ The first fruits afterward David, are Christ that is coming. Then come with the end, when he shall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, and he shall put down all rule, and all authority and power, and he must reign till he hath put all things under his feet.
00:55:09
The last enemy that shall be destroyed his death. For he hath put all things under his feet, for when he hath put all things.
All things are put under him, It is manifested, He is accepted, which he had put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that God that.
Under him that put all things under him, that God may be All in all.
Dear friends.
This is the beginning of the of the eternal state, and what I mean by that is after that 7000 years.
When when there's been the the effects of sin, like a snowball going downhill and downhill, and the judgment of God that takes place in the tribulation, the 1000 years of the Millennium, the final judgments that take place.
Then cometh the end.
And all things will be subdued under him.
And then what happens, friend?
Christ reigns until all enemies are under his feet.
And then he steps back.
That God may be All in all, and in that eternity to come, it's too much to contemplate.
But there God is the center of the theme and the sun steps down, if I can put it this way from the throne.
Why?
Because he wants to enjoy his family forever.
Old friends.
The the future that is before the child of God. You know, when a man goes to work.
Lori, some of you folks here are farmers and I know if you work hard.
You come the end of the end of the day, maybe the children are tired, so on and you have supper and it's over.
All the toil that you've gone through all day long.
And you want to enjoy your family. That's what it's going to be like with the Lord forever.
He has a family and he's looking forward to enjoying the company, you and I I like the little him that says.
He and I, He and I, in that great glory, 1 deep joy shall share.
Mine to be forever with him, his that I am there as bow our heads in prayer.
Self-Judgment
Open—Bill Prost
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Some who were here who are here this afternoon.
Were also at Morningstar Camp.
And among other things up there, we talked about self judgment.
Then in his talk yesterday.
Our brother Bruce mentioned it as well.
Could we dwell on that for a few more minutes? I feel it's needed, and for my own soul perhaps more than any other.
Let's read a couple of scriptures together, first of all in Psalm 32.
Psalm 32.
And we'll read from verse 2, Psalm 32 and verse 2.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now here's the verse.
When I kept silence, my bones waxed all through my roaring all the day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me.
My moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
Selah.
I acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity, have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sin.
And now in Proverbs 28.
Proverbs 28.
And verse 13.
Proverbs 28 and verse 13.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.
But whoso confesseth, confesseth, and forsaketh them.
Shall have mercy.
And finally in first John.
Chapter One.
I John chapter one.
And verse nine, first John one and verse 9.
If we confess our sins.
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And to cleanse us.
From all unrighteousness.
It's a wonderful thing to be saved, isn't it?
A wonderful thing to know, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior.
And to know as we read there in Psalm 32.
That our sins can be forgiven. We didn't read the first verse, but we could have blessed is the man.
Whose transgression is forgiven? Whose sin is covered?
Most of us, and I hope all of us here, know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and I suppose we can all remember the bubbling joy.
That overwhelmed our hearts and our souls as we realized that that burden of sin was gone.
And perhaps the greater the sense of sin that we had.
The greater the joy when we realize that we were forgiven.
But maybe you have all had the experience.
And I suppose I can tell this story on one of my grandsons, because none of them are here.
And I won't tell you which one it was.
But he got saved at a relatively young age.
And a little while later he came to his father rather distraught.
Daddy, I still do bad things.
Poor, he thought. Everything was going to be fine after that.
00:05:04
And while I have been on this trip, I talked to another father who told me the same thing about one of his children, who wondered why it was that there was still that tendency to sin after his child was saved.
But it's true, isn't it?
It's true, when we are saved, we have a new life in Christ.
But we find out very quickly that that old sinful self, that old sinful nature.
Is just as bad and justice as strong as it ever was.
What does that bring us to?
It brings us to that subject of self judgment.
And as Our brother Bruce quoted from a pamphlet that is well worth reading.
Self judgment is the inseparable condition of a walk in communion with God.
Why is that?
Because in order to enjoy all the good things that Christ has for us, the good things that our brother Dave Hayhoe brought before us in the address just a little while ago.
We have to exercise self judgment.
We still have that old sinful self.
It brings evil thoughts to our minds and if they are not judged, it comes out either in evil words or in evil conduct.
We want to mention something right at the very beginning here, though, because it's important.
The Spirit of God never occupies you and me with ourselves.
Except to judge self.
That's important because, and again, this was something we laid some emphasis on at Morningstar.
The Christian who is occupied with himself or even the Sinner who isn't saved, it applies a board.
The individual who is occupied with himself.
Is never happy.
That's why, in spite of all that we have at our disposal here in North America.
If an individual does not have Christ.
He or she is never happy. And that's why, with all of the glorification of self that is part of the culture of North America today, people see more and more discontent.
And yet sometimes we go to foreign lands where they have very, very little, and yet you can enjoy and sense the enjoyment of Christ in their souls. Why? Because they are not trying to fill themselves with that which can never satisfy.
And so God never occupies us with ourselves. Neither does the Spirit of God except to judge self.
It's a necessary thing.
For me, anyway, it's a daily thing.
If I want to walk in communion with God.
There are times in our life and our lives.
When we have a real sense of the Lord's presence, as we had a couple during the last couple of days, the Lord is always with us. And those two on the way to Emmaus, even though they were not sensitive to the Lord's presence, He was with them, but they weren't enjoying Him. Why?
Their eyes were holding. It says that they should not know him. And why was that all? Because they were on a wrong course. Oh, how gracious the Lord was, and we don't need to go over it all again. But how gracious the Lord was to follow them down that road, all of that distance to Emmaus, and to listen to them first of all, and that's important. And then to minister to their souls that which restored them.
But self judgment had to take place. All the details of it are not recorded in Luke 24.
But it happened. How do we know what happened? Because all of a sudden, when the Lord vanished out of their sight, they realized that they were in a wrong place on a wrong course, and there was no difficulty, even though it was night.
00:10:13
To turn around and go all the way back to Jerusalem.
And there they found not only the other disciples, but the Lord himself.
But sometimes we go on in our Christian lives and things go very smoothly.
And we are very happy in our souls.
I presume this water is to be used.
Thank you.
And we go on very happily in our souls.
But then there comes a point and maybe you have experienced this and this is what I want to emphasize above everything.
There comes a point where the Spirit of God.
Seeks to bring before you some new truth.
Seeks to raise you, as it were, a little higher spiritually.
And suddenly you find that that old sinful self gets in the way.
And you feel terrible.
Is that a bad thing?
In one sense, yes, because the old sinful self never does us any good. But what I want to say is this.
The the old sinful self gets in the way.
It is a good sign because, and this is important.
To every new truth.
The Spirit of God seeks to bring before your soul and mind will find its corresponding and antagonist.
In some aspect of my sinful self.
Satan hates the precious truth.
That God gave from a risen Christ in glory.
Through men like the apostle Paul and the apostle John. And Satan will sometimes, and this may come as a surprise, but it's true.
He sometimes tolerate blessing in the gospel.
If he can take a dead shot.
At something like the truth of the one body.
The truth of the abiding presence of the Spirit of God down here during this dispensation, or at the precious truth of the name of the Lord Jesus, or at the heavenly calling of the Church.
Satan knows.
And this is quoting the words of another, and some will recognize the source. Satan knows that when the Church loses the sense of its heavenly calling, humanly speaking, it loses everything.
We can't lose our salvation. We can't lose that security we have in Christ. But Satan knows that if you can bring Christianity down to the level of a worldly religion, he's ruined our testimony and he's doing it today. I feel it. You feel it.
And the influence of the the world around us is having that strong tendency to drag believers down. And it's not only in North America we have more of the world at our disposal, but with the Internet, with Facebook and all the rest of it, the world has become much more homogeneous than it ever was before.
Self judgment.
It simply means that if you and I desire to walk with the Lord.
We have to 1St. We have first to know ourselves.
And then we have to recognize what is not according to the mind of God.
You and I may go along in our Christian lives, and as I say again, the Lord may be using us.
But then the Lord, as it were, says, now I am going to put my finger on something in your life which is a besetting sin. And let me say this, I am preaching at this man here as much or more than anyone out there. But the Lord lays his finger on something. Maybe no one else knows about it. Maybe no one sees it, maybe they do. But He lays his finger on it and says.
Deal with that. Deal with that.
00:15:03
And well, remember quite a few years ago, now corresponding with a brother in another country.
And there was something in his life that the Lord was clearly speaking about to him.
I knew him well, and I ventured to bring it before him as well, because I knew that the Lord was speaking to him.
And his answer was rather interesting, he said. But Brother Bill, the Lord is using me and souls are being blessed through my preaching of the gospel, and souls have been gathered to the Lords name through my work for the Lord. How can it be that there's something in my life?
That needs correcting.
Have you or I ever felt like that?
Possible, isn't it?
Why was the Lord using that dear brother? Ah, because down here, which one of us would like to stand up and say watch me, I've arrived. I don't have to exercise self judgment. I don't have to be concerned about the activity of the flesh in me.
You know there's a bad doctrine. That's sad to say. Was started by very valuable men, John and Charles Wesley, who claimed that once a believer was saved, they could attain perfection down here.
But we don't find that in the word of God.
Someone asked a godly brother many years ago if it was possible to walk a Christian life without ever committing sin, and his answer was superb. He said. I know nothing stronger than the grace of God, but I know nothing weaker than my sinful flesh.
Rather, because I have no excuse to sin.
But at the same time, which one of us wants to stand up and say I've arrived?
No, we can't.
There is a need for self judgment, even if it's only to judge thoughts. And that's what we ought to do, because if we judge the wrong thoughts, they wouldn't translate into wrong words and wrong actions.
But back to what we were saying. The Lord is gracious, and He delights to use you and me.
Sometimes we hear people say.
You have to love me the way I am. Have you heard that?
I want you to love me the way I am.
Thank the Lord He does. He loves you the way you are. Otherwise He would never have reached out and saved you. He loves you.
But that's only one side of the coin. The other side is he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
And the Lord wants growth in you and me.
Growth and growth means that. Well, let's turn to the scripture in Second Corinthians chapter 3.
I think if I remember rightly, it was referred to already in these meetings, but we'll read it again.
Did you read it, Bruce? I think you did. 2nd Corinthians 3.
And I'm going to leave out a phrase that really shouldn't be there, and it makes it a little easier to read.
But we all verse 18 of 2nd Corinthians 3 with open or unveiled face beholding and leave out the words as in a glass. They shouldn't be there.
Beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
To see growth in you and me. One day, when the Lord comes, we'll be perfectly like Christ. But the Lord wants us to be more like him down here.
That is your testimony to the world and my testimony.
That we become more like Christ.
Yesterday, when Brother Bruce was speaking, he mentioned that pamphlet to which I referred and he said he couldn't remember who.
Wrote her whether it was Gordon Hayhoe or Harry Hayhoe.
Well, it was Harry Hayhoe, but as I mentioned to Brother Bruce afterward, not that it matters who wrote what, but just to give credit where credit is due.
The original thoughts of that pamphlet, and most of the body of it, go back a long way to George V Wigram, who lived back in the 1800s, one of the very godliest brethren.
00:20:10
And when he went to be with the Lord.
Someone paid him the highest compliment that could be paid to a believer.
He said.
Every time I met that man and was in his company.
I was reminded of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Give a better compliment.
Can you think of something more that could be said about a believer?
Hope it's OK to mention names, but it makes things come alive sometimes.
Dave Hayhoe and I were talking earlier today about some of the older people that we knew in our lifetime.
And I well remember a very godly sister who never married. Her name was Emily Gosby.
She spent most of her life in the Toronto Hamilton area, where I grew up.
I will remember her and I remember well when she went to be with the Lord at the age of 95.
She could well remember sitting on the lap of John Nelson Darby.
But what I'm going to say is not about her, but about her father, whom I never knew.
But I was told by my own father, who knew Mr. Cosby, that when he went to Mr. Cosby's funeral.
His neighbor, who was not a Christian, stood there by the casket.
And pointed at his body lying in the casket and said, you know that man never sinned.
Complement We know it wasn't true or he wouldn't have been in the casket.
But it was a pretty good compliment from an ungodly neighbor, wasn't it?
God wants to make you and me more like Christ.
God is willing to do it. We have a new life.
We have the Spirit of God as the power of that new life, indwelling every believer individually.
And as we had yesterday, dwelling collectively among believers as the House of God.
He is here.
To make you and me more and more like Christ.
But I have to get a few things out of the way.
We aren't going to dwell too long on the wares and why fours of all of this.
But we want to emphasize the need for it and the importance of it.
It's hard to confess sometimes when we're wrong.
And if you're anything like me, sometimes when the Lord brings a besetting sin before me.
Or perhaps he uses another brother or even a sister in Christ to bring it before me.
The thought that that sin is part of my old sinful self and that I am capable of it.
Is so awful to face that I go into denial.
When I used to practice medicine, I occasionally came face to face with drug addicts and with Alcoholics and others. And I met some who were in denial. I'm not an alcoholic. No, I'm not addicted to it.
But their family knew it, and so did everybody else that was close to them. And I knew it, but they wouldn't face it. And we can do that as a believer. And I have to say, and I trust I say it with tears, because the tendency is in my own soul that I have seen too many dear believers who are in denial about something in their lives that the Lord was seeking to bring before them in order that they might judge it.
And yet there was a denial.
What does it say? Turn back to I John 1:00 and 9:00?
We talked, first of all about an unbeliever coming to Christ. He too has to come as a lost, guilty Sinner. But most of us that grew up in Christian homes don't realize the depths to which the old sinful self can go.
00:25:03
I didn't. I grew up in a Christian home and with godly parents who kept me from much of the sordid evil that is out there in the world. I didn't realize what was in my own heart.
But the Lord has ways of teaching us. He has ways of bringing us, as one brother said in our good written ministry, to an awful Cliff and grabbing us by the collar and hanging us over that Cliff and saying, do you see where that sin could take you? Have you had that experience? I have.
And then we realize what we're capable of and how awful that sin is.
If we confess our sins.
It's good to confess our sins.
But sometimes we confess in a general way.
I don't suppose it hurts to use this illustration because the brother about whom I'm talking has been with the Lord for many years.
But I knew him well.
And he was away from the Lord's table for a long time.
And when he wanted to be restored.
His brethren expected there to be a confession of what had led him away and kept him away for many years.
His reaction was, well, brethren, what do you want me to say? We've all failed. We've all failed.
Does that really do it in the sight of God? Can we get away with that kind of a confession?
Let's turn to Leviticus Chapter 5, Very, very important scripture.
Leviticus, chapter 5.
This has to do with the trespass offering, but it applies, as we said earlier, across the board.
And verse 5.
Leviticus 5 and verse 5.
And it shall be when he shall be guilty in one of these things that he shall confess that he hath sinned.
In that thing.
Ouch.
That hurts, doesn't it?
The one who came having trespassed, could not make a general confession. He could not make a blanket shotgun confession which included not only his own sin but that of others. He had to put his finger on that thing.
May I say a word to parents here that's important?
I remember well reading about a young woman. Maybe she wasn't so young when she wrote this, but she told of how that when she was young and she had.
Than naughty.
And had done that, which had to be punished.
She said my father would never leave me after the punishment until I had gotten on my knees with him and confessed that sin to the Lord.
Sometimes it took time, but she looked back and recognized how good that was.
In that thing.
Is it sometimes pretty awful? Is it sometimes hard to face?
Even men of the world have different views of sin, don't they?
Men who are in prison, who think nothing of armed robbery and murder and violence of every kind.
It's well known.
That if someone is brought into that prison, who's a pedophile?
They are out to get them because for them, what they did is excusable to some extent.
But what that other man has done?
Well, he deserves to die. And often, as you well know and I well know, those men have to be put in a separate place because their lives will be in danger if they are allowed contact with other prisoners who have committed all sorts of terrible crimes.
But they have this double standard, don't they?
All sins are not equal. We know that from Scripture. That's why the Lord Jesus said to Pilate he that delivered me up unto thee hath the greater sin.
00:30:08
And there are other verses that would support that. So God doesn't view all sins as being equal.
Excuse me?
But at the same time, the old sinful self in you is no different from the old sinful self in Me.
And if there is that which needs self judgment, let's be willing to do it. Oh, how wonderful it is to be able to open that door.
I wish I could repeat the poll. It's a song again that has been sung several times and some will remember it's being sung a couple of times at Morningstar Camp. Something to the effect that my heart is like a house and it has different rooms in it and the Lord Jesus and I Speaking of a believer would visit from time to time in those rooms. But then there's one verse that says.
There is a room.
Where I don't go because I've got some things in that room that I don't want anyone to know.
And there's a need to open that door.
I hope this doesn't step on any toes, but I have occasionally been as a visitor in some homes where doors have been shut and locked.
And usually it was because the room was, in simple terms, a mess, and they didn't want a visitor to have to look at it. They didn't want a visitor to see the untidiness in that room.
You know, the Lord already knows what's in that room.
But he wants you and me to face it. Why? So that we can grow in our souls.
One more verse, because we could belabor this point all afternoon, but one more verse. Second Peter, chapter 3.
And to me, this ties in beautifully with what we've been saying.
The last verse of Second Peter 3.
But grow in grace.
And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and ever and forever. Amen.
What does it mean to grow in grace?
I used to look.
At some of my older brothers and sisters in Christ when I was young.
And in my ignorance.
I figured.
The old sinful nature must be pretty well burned out in them. They don't have the problems anymore.
I hesitate to make this remark, but I believe that it's every bit true and you won't read it anywhere. It was passed down by word of mouth.
Someone said.
And it was a believer.
Of John Nelson Darby. This may come as a shocker, but it's true, someone said of him.
I have seldom seen an individual.
In whom the two natures?
Were so strong.
Really. Yes. Why?
Because the more he wanted to learn of Christ, the more that old, sinful, sinful self struggled to get the ascendancy.
And those who knew him well sensed the number of times that self judgment had to be exercised.
How do we grow in grace? We grow because we appreciate more of the grace of God and what He did for us. We appreciate the depths of what happened at Calvary's Cross.
We appreciate what it meant for God to give his Son. We appreciate what it meant for the Lord Jesus to bear that load of sin because we realize more and more what was in our own hearts, what is in our own hearts.
But we can't realize it if we're in denial. We can't realize that if we don't exercise self judgment.
00:35:08
Let the old nature be as bad as it can be, and it is bad.
Christ has died.
The sins have been cleansed, and more than that, the old man has been crucified with Christ. Now we don't have time to go into it. But don't confuse the old man with the flesh. They're not exactly the same. It's never said.
That the flesh has been crucified.
We are to reckon it to be dead.
But the old man has been crucified. We're in a new position.
In Christ beyond it all. But now the Lord says, I want you to live up to it.
I want to reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.
But in so doing, you and I will find that it's a lifelong thing.
To exercise self judgment.
Just to go back as we close to one thing that we said at the beginning.
God doesn't want us to dwell on self. Sometimes dear believers get so occupied with thinking of all the wrong things that they've done. Excuse me.
Thinking of how bad they are and how sinful they are that they're down in the dumps and depressed all the time.
Satan likes that because Satan doesn't care whether you think about self in a positive way or in a negative way.
As long as you're occupied with self.
What's the solution?
God wants you and me not to be occupied with self, either positively or negatively.
Rather not to be occupied or thinking about self at all.
If Christ is before me, I won't have to think about self now and then I'll have to judge it. God wants me to judge it and then go on. I don't dwell on it. I judge it in the presence of God. No much more could be said, because in order to judge self, I can't use myself as a yardstick. I can't use others as a yardstick. I have to look to Christ himself. I have to judge in God's presence what that sin is.
But when I do, I get it out of the way. And then the Spirit of God is free to minister Christ to my soul, and I grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Well, I want to leave room for some of their brothers, so we'll sit down. But may the Lord impress this on our souls in these last days, so that instead of being conformed to this world that as we had in 2nd Corinthians 3, we become more and more like Christ and are changed into His image from glory to glory.
Priesthood and Advocacy of the Lord Jesus
Open—Jim Hyland
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
In connection with what our brother has brought before us, I'd like to go back to a story in the Old Testament that I trust will encourage us as to the resources that we have in connection with both preservation and restoration in the path of faith as we walk through this wilderness world. I'd like to go back and read a well known incident in the 17th chapter of the Book of Exodus.
Exodus chapter 17 beginning at verse 8.
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rafidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, choose us out men, and go out fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek and Moses. Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill, and it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat there on.
And Aaron and her stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side, and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, For I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi. For he said, because the Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Now hold your finger here, We're going to come right back to this place. But I'd like to read a verse or two in the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy, chapter 25.
Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 17.
Remember what Amalek did unto thee, by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt.
How he met thee by the way, and smote behind her most of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou was faint and weary, and he feared not God.
Well, we've just had some excellent ministry in connection with self judgment. But perhaps there's some of us sitting here this afternoon and we say, well, that's wonderful. I realized there's a need for self judgment. As I often heard growing up from my older brethren, we need to keep short accounts with God and so on. But how am I going to do it? Because as we read in the book of Galatians, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
And the two are contrary one to the other. And you say, I have this constant struggle in my life, and I just don't seem to be able to overcome. I come and confess it to the Lord, and I just get up and I go on. And I have the same temptations. I fall into the same problems and difficulties. But I suggest, brethren, that by type and illustration, here we have the resources that we need for our pathway.
We find at the beginning of this chapter that they came to refit them by the commandment of the Lord. The Spirit of God is very careful to record that because there were great difficulties at refit them. First of all, there was no water, and God gave them in the previous account. Here he gave them the water from the rock to refresh them. And then they're drinking from those refreshing waters. And over the horizon comes Amalek, a powerful enemy.
Now the children of Israel at various times faced various enemies depending where they were.
When they were in Egypt, they had Pharaoh and his hosts who sought to keep them in slavery. That's a picture of the enemy seeking to keep souls from coming under the good of redemption and deliverance. Tonight there'll be a gospel meeting preached if we're left here. And in these Pharaoh character of Satan, he's going to be busy to keep souls from coming, to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, to keep them in the ******* of sin.
And then, if we were to jump ahead in their history when they entered the land of Canaan, there were a number of enemies, a picture to us, of the enemy seeking to keep us from coming into the enjoyment of our heavenly portion and all that is ours in Christ. I say that because Canaan is a picture to us of that which we can have an enjoyment of now. It's that vast panorama of heavenly spiritual blessings that are ours for present enjoyment.
00:05:28
But in the wilderness, they had a powerful enemy here. His name was Amalek.
And if we were to go back and trace the genealogy, we would find that Amalek was a grandson of Esau. Esau was a man who sold his birthright for momentary gratification, And Amalek is a picture of Satan's working on the flesh to seek to hinder our walk with God through this wilderness world. Because Satan doesn't want us to walk with God for his glory and for our blessing as we pass through this world, wilderness, world.
He cannot take our salvation from us, but He can take our joy, and he can stumble and discourage us, and he can work on the flesh, and he knows well how to do it. He's had thousands of years of practice in doing it, and He knows well how to work on each one of us.
And so they face this enemy. We don't have time to mention all the things that are here illustrated in these verses.
But what I'd like to focus on particularly is the fact that Moses goes up on the mountain and eventually he sits down and two men, Aaron and her come and stay up his hands till the going down of the sun. And the Moses here is a picture of the Lord Jesus gone on high to fill all things. Isn't it wonderful that we have a man in the glory as we've been saying in these meetings?
One who not only died for us, one who is not only risen from the dead, but he is ascended and seated at the right hand of God. And that's the resource for us, brethren. If we're going to be preserved in our wilderness journey here, if we're going to go on, and when we fail, if there's going to be self judgment, it's to avail ourselves of the resource that we have in the person of Christ as a glorified man, living for us and interceding at the right hand of God, the place of power.
But I want to talk about these two men for a moment, because these two men represent to us two very important offices that the Lord Jesus is carrying on at the right hand of God this afternoon on our behalf. Because first of all, we have Aaron. Now I realize, brethren, that Aaron had not yet been officially put into the priesthood. That was until later on.
But I believe we see the picture very clearly. Aaron, on the one hand, represents to us the priesthood of the Lord Jesus, because as the book of Hebrews develops so beautifully, we have a high priest seated at the right hand of God. He's there at the right hand of God, to put it very simply, living for us, praying for us every hour of every day to preserve us in the path of faith and service.
And we have not an high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Isn't it wonderful to think that the Lord Jesus is praying for us? We think of how wonderful it is to be able to bring our own needs before the throne of grace, to pray for our families, to pray for our beloved brethren, wonderful privilege and resource that we have.
But just look up and realize there's one who's praying for you and He knows every need. He knows you through and through. He doesn't forget one need of each of his own. And not only is He sympathizing with us, not only does He know our our difficulties, but He is was in all points tempted like as we are. I want you to think about that, because there's nothing that you and I will ever pass through.
In the path of faith and service that the Lord Jesus hasn't felt as a man here on earth. That's why the Lord Jesus lived here on earth as long as he did, so that he could be a sympathizing and an empathizing high priest. You know, I might come to you in a difficulty, and I might say to you, brother, sister, I sympathize with what you're passing through, but unless I've been through a similar circumstance.
00:10:09
I really can't empathize.
A brother was telling me who went through a very severe trial, he said, Brother Jim, you wouldn't believe how many people called me and said I know what you're passing through, he said. That was no comfort to me because he said they had never passed through a similar circumstance. But he said a brother finally called me and he said I know what you're passing through. He said that was a comfort to me because that brother had a few months before.
Been through a similar trial and so the Lord Jesus he understands, you say nobody knows.
What I'm passing through, nobody understands. Oh, just look up this afternoon and there's one at the right hand of God who was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. And so I say again, He's living for us as our high priest to preserve us in the path of faith and service. But then we find, on the other hand, there was a man named her, and I suggest that her represents to us the Advocate.
Christ because it tells us if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father. I say that because hers name actually means purity and in that verse I just quoted from First John it goes on to say Jesus Christ the righteous. I have a righteous advocate because if his high priestly work is to preserve me in the path of faith, then when I sin his advocacy.
Is to restore me. But he does it on a righteous basis. You know, if I go against society and I'm brought up to the judge, and the judge listens to my case, and I get a good lawyer or I'm able to talk my way through it, he might let me off. But if he's a righteous judge or if I'm really guilty, I should say he's not a righteous judge. But we'll suppose, for the sake of illustration, that the judge says to me. Now, Jim, I know you're guilty.
And the penalty for going against society is thus and so. But I'm going to pay the penalty so you can go free. Now he's a righteous judge because the claims of society have been met, whether it's a fine or community service or a jail term or whatever it is. And when I sin, it's just as if the Lord Jesus in the presence of the Father, says I've paid for that sin. That's how he can be.
A righteous advocate.
Because he bore the penalty of sin for me on Calvary's cross when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. And so he's a right, a righteous advocate. Just a little difference to notice between another difference between his high priestly work and his advocacy.
His high priestly work is with God because that's power. But his advocacy, it says we have an advocate not with God but with the Father. To me that's one of the clearest verses in connection with eternal security, because I have heard many people say that when they sin, they lose their relationship with God, they lose their salvation. If it said we have an advocate with God, we might well wonder.
But it says an advocate with the Father, showing that when I sin, in no way is the family relationship broken, but I do have to do with my father. When my children went against me when they lived at home, I never brought them up to the court of law, to the judge on the bench. But they did have to do with me as their father. And so we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
But before we pass on, I would just say this, that in the measure in which you and I would avail ourselves of His high priestly work, we wouldn't need His advocacy. The Lord Jesus said to Peter, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and if poor Peter had just availed himself of that resource, he never would have denied his Lord three times with those and curses. Thank God there was restoration for Peter, and there is always restoration.
Maybe there's someone here this afternoon, and you say I failed so bad. I've sinned so bad. Can there really be restoration? Remember this, brother. Remember this, sister. The restoring grace of God is as limitless and powerful as his saving grace and preserving grace. David failed in his life, and he failed grievously, but he could say with confidence he restoreth my soul. And so we find that these two men hold up Moses hands, and there he is, as it were, an intercession.
00:15:25
On behalf of the people who were down in the valley of conflict.
And they held up his hands till the going down of the sun. Because, brethren, the hands of the Lord Jesus in that way will be held up as long as we're here in the valley of conflict. We sometimes sing Our great High Priest is seated at God's right hand above his hands.
His hands uplifted in sympathy and love, and so his hands are going to be held up. He's going to fulfill those two offices for us.
So that really there's provision for failure in our lives, but there's really no excuse for it. Brethren, we have all the resources that we need, and then very quickly we find another resource. Here we find Joshua leading the battle. Joshua's name is means Jesus, and he's a picture of Jesus on various occasions. And when I think of the incident here, on the one hand we have Moses seated on high, a picture of the Lord Jesus gone on high to intercede for us.
But the Lord Jesus, before he went back to heaven, he said to the disciples, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. He was Speaking of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And isn't it wonderful that we have the Spirit of God, the power for our lives as we meet the enemy? We have a powerful enemy, it's true. But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And so we find Joshua here. He's the one at the forefront of the battle.
What is in his hand? A sword. Because the word of God is often referred to as the sword of the Spirit. It's illustrated with the Lord Jesus, so beautiful. And when he was in the wilderness, here were the people of God in the wilderness. The Lord Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted before his public ministry. And how did he meet the enemy? Oh, he and the power of the Spirit quoted a verse of Scripture. And I believe that the word of God is the power of the Spirit of God.
And it's the power for meeting the enemy when he comes to attack us and seek to hinder us in our wilderness, in our wilderness journey. I say again, it's not our sword. Sometimes I've heard people say I've got my sword with me, referring to their Bible, but it's not my sword. It's the sword of the Spirit. And when it's used in communion by the Spirit, that's when it has its power. You know, Peter had a sword in his hand on one occasion too.
But he used it without the sanction of the Lord and what he did and what happened. Someone said he just ended up giving the Lord more work to do. He only added to the situation He didn't help it. I'll give you another little illustration. You know water. Running water in scripture is usually a picture of the Spirit of God. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And this he spake concerning the Spirit contained water is usually a picture of the word of God.
God, but running water, a fountain, a brook, a spring, a well is usually a picture of the Spirit of God. And I think of David when he went to meet Goliath. What did he do? He went down to the brook, a picture of the Spirit of God. And from the brook he took five smooth stones.
And he stored them in his shepherd's bag. I suggest it illustrates to us the word of God, appropriated to our own souls in the power of the Spirit of God. And when the moment came, he was able to take one stone out and to use it effectively to meet the giant, the enemy of God's people. And so here we find it doesn't say that Israel disquieted Amalek. No, it was Joshua. It was not in their own power. It was in the power of one who speaks to us.
Of Christ, or the the Spirit of God and his sword, the word of God. And so, brethren, if we're going to meet the enemy, if we're going to.
Go on in our Christian pathway. If there's going to be self judgment, if we're going to get our eyes off ourselves and on Christ, oh, it must be in availing ourselves of the resources that we have. And he was to write this in a book. There was a victory and it was Jehovah Nissi. The Lord is my banner speaks of victory.
00:20:03
You know, in the old days they raised flags when they had those battles out on the plains between various cities and and and factions, and they'd raise the colors and those on the wall, perhaps miles away, who were looking to see who had the victory. Well, when they saw the colors of the city or the colors of the army raised, oh, there would be great rejoicing because there had been a great victory. And brethren, we can only raise the banner as we have victory in Christ.
It's not going to be in ourselves. We've had a wonderful weekend blessed privilege to have this little Oasis, to be with the people of God, to be in the presence of of where? Of Christ, Christ in the midst, to have fellowship, to have the word of God before us, this little place of safety and and security for a few moments in a wicked world. But we're going to leave here. If the Lord leaves us here, we're in Satan's territory. He's the God of this world religiously.
He's the Prince of this world politically. He's there at every hand in the Amalek character. How are we going to have a victory? Oh, I say it's only in availing ourselves of the resources that they we have in Christ. And so they were to have.
A war with them elect from generation to generation, as has already been brought out. Brethren, we're not going to be done with Amalek until we get home to glory, as long as we're here in the valley of conflict, as long as we're here in this wilderness world.
The flesh is going to lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and the enemy is going to work on the flesh to discourage, to weary and confuse and divide the people of God. But the resources that we need are all there in an ascended Christ and the resources that he sent down to to us on the day of Pentecost and the Word of God and so on. But I want to just say this in closing I read in Deuteronomy, because there we find another little comment made.
About this battle that we don't have in the 17th of Exodus, we find there that Amalek smoke behind her. Most of them, if I can put it this way, those that were farthest from Joshua, those that were farthest from the captain. You know, Peter had that sad experience. Really. The start of Peter's denying the Lord. It was a course of things. He followed afar off, He followed the Lord, but he followed afar off. And these ones here, they follow Joshua.
But Amalek got those that were farthest away. And if we follow afar off, if we want to keep part of our heart for the Lord, for ourselves and the world, oh it's going to end in sad ruin. Again, it can't take, we can't, He can't take our salvation. But we can become discouraged and weary, as he says, faint and weary. And the great tactic of the enemy today, I believe, is to weary and confuse the people of God.
To wear us down, even if it's just using the daily grind of life. But oh, I say again, let's follow close to the Lord Jesus. Let's walk beside him in the conscious sense of his presence with with us. Let's look up and avail ourselves of the resources that we have in an ascended Christ. He's living for us as our great High Priest. He's there as our advocate, He sent down the spirit of God.
As the power for our lives, and we have the word of God.
To guide us and direct us, To refresh us and to encourage us. Oh brethren, we can go on. I know it's difficult. I know some of you are going through circumstances that I've never been called on to pass through. But the resources that you and I have in Christ today are the same limitless supply that has always been available to the people of God.
Every Man Who Has This Hope Within Him
Open—Darrell Kollman
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Part to cleave unto the Lord as those that did, as reported in Acts. One other resource here is the Lord's Coming. So in closing I'd like to read from First John chapter 3, a couple verses.
Chapter 3 and verse 2 Behold, now are we the sons of God?
And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.
We shall see him as he is, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. So I believe we've been instructed to realize that when we have this hope of his coming, you know that's two parts to that coming. It has a purifying effect, an ongoing purification in us that await his return.
Let's just close the threat.
God imply.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Ted Sester
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
M #37 The gospel of Thy grace. My stubborn heart hath one for God so loved the world, He gave his only Son, that whosoever will believe shall everlasting life receive.
The Gospel of Thy grace.
Of the world.
He gave his only son.
That is, forever will believe.
Y'all I'm our lastly life freezing shall have a sweethearts sweet lying.
The circle.
Once died. Bumpy, my man.
Everlasting.
Life receives.
Some.
Ever love.
Soul that's in.
My friend.
'S world.
That is so. Ever.
Will believe shall everlasting life.
Receive self.
Not to condemn the world.
The man of sorrows came.
Salvation through his name.
So ever will believe, shall I love.
My precision.
Lie on steam line freezing.
Let's ask the Lord for help tonight. Our God and Father, we just give thanks for another opportunity to sound forth the gospel.
The good news of salvation. The good news that the Lord Jesus came down to this world to save sinners. We just pray for anyone in this room that is without Christ. It has not made him their personal savior. Yet tonight we pray that tonight would be the night that they would.
Come and be healed our Father. We just pray that they would touch.
The hymn of the garment of the Lord Jesus, so to speak tonight, and be healed that they would just come the way they are.
In their sins.
Come and have their sins washed away. We just pray for help for the speaker. We pray that the Spirit of God would be working in this room tonight. We just pray for the powers of Satan, that they would be hushed for a few minutes as the word of God is opened. We just give thanks that we have the authority of the word of God to stand here this evening and sound forth the gospel. We just give thanks for all these things. And I precious name Amen.
You know, I'm humbled and I'm privileged at the same time to be able to stand here and give forth the gospel.
00:05:04
Tonight, our authority is the word of God. There's not anything that I say that's new tonight. If it's new, you need to correct me.
But tonight.
This, the word of God, is our authority. There's a well known verse in Hebrews.
Don't need to turn to it. If you don't have a Bible tonight, that's no problem. Just listen, says in Hebrews 412. For the word of God is quick, that means alive and it's powerful and it's sharper than any two edged sword, Peace piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.
And of the joints and marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, But all things are naked and opened under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Is our authority tonight.
I want to sing one more song here.
This song is.
#35 oh, what a savior That he died for me. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a savior that he died for me. From condemnation he hath made me free. He that believeth on the Son says he hath everlasting life. But sing together #35.
Oh, what a savior that he died for me.
From God.
I say unto you.
Verily, verily, verily.
Message. I'll burn you.
He don't believe upon the sun tails.
And everlasting.
1.
Oh, my iniquities on him.
All my indebtedness by him was made.
Only in my name not born, and I said.
Has everlasting my?
Verily, verily.
I say unto you.
Verily, verily.
Messenger.
He won't believe us on the Sunday is true.
Have everlasting life.
The wall and worthy yet I will not down.
For him that cometh thee will not.
Cast out.
He the believers, though the good news shall.
Have ever blasting my.
Verily, verily, I say unto you.
Verily, verily.
Message. Ever.
Hear that? Believe us on the slant is true.
Hath everlasting.
I'm turning our Bibles if you have one to first Timothy chapter one and verse 15.
We'll start with why don't we start with verse 14, First Timothy one and verse 14. The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.
Tonight I want to make sure that you know that the Lord Jesus loves you. He loves you very much.
And as we had last night, it was in his plan that you would be here somehow.
00:10:01
It was in his plan. Nothing happens by chance.
If you're in this room, if you're invited in this to this room, if you were brought in this room, maybe your parents brought you in this room.
If you came in this room and your sins tonight.
It's our prayer that you would walk out of this room tonight with your sins washed away in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is our prayer, very simply.
Christ is coming. Are you ready?
Before this meeting is out.
Christ could come.
And how you are when Christ comes, who is going to make the difference forever, for all eternity?
Heaven is a real place.
Hell is a real place.
Satan lies to men and women, boys and girls. He tells them to wait. He tells them it's not true. He tells them it's a fairy tale for women and kids.
Church Sunday School. The Bible is just a bunch of fairy tales.
That is a lie.
The word of God tells us there is a heaven and there is a hell.
If you leave this world in your sins, God has no choice but to let you go to hell.
That's how it is, my friend.
Tonight we want to warn anyone that does not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and is heard the word of God before.
You might be what I call gospel hardened.
You know, at work sometimes we have hardened steel and sometimes you don't know you're working maybe with piece of hardened steel and you'll take a drill bit and you.
We'll break it as you try to drill through it, then you pick another one up.
And I'm not the cat, the sharpest guy sometimes. And maybe I break 3 drill bits and then I realize that this is hardened steel. It's going to be really hard to get to the steel. But you know, tonight the word of God is like a hammer and it breaks the rock in pieces. And if you've heard the gospel.
God wants to give you one more opportunity to hear it before His Son comes and takes all of the believers out of here.
But you know, something might happen before that happens.
You might die. I'm not looking forward to dying. I'm looking forward to the Lord Jesus. Coming, says Behold, I come quickly. I don't know when the Lord Jesus is going to come, but I know tonight that if the Lord Jesus were to come right now, I would not be here. Would you be left here? Would you be left here in your seat?
There is no second chance.
It doesn't matter what kind of books are written. This is the book, the authority, the word of God.
God is very gracious tonight.
And I remember hearing.
One of my cousins give the gospel, and he talked about the gift of a warning. You know, I never looked at it that way. God is being gracious to you tonight to give you an opportunity. And he's going to warn you, do believe, because if you don't believe, I have to let you go to hell. Hell was not ever created for men and women, girls and boys. It was created for the devil and his angels.
That God has no other place for you if you will not have his Son. God loves his Son.
God, we sing a song here. It says God and mercy sent his son.
God loves you. I want to read another verse in Timothy says in First Timothy chapter two. You don't have to turn the page.
It says in verse 3, For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come under the knowledge of the truth.
We're going to skip around a little bit here.
That is what God's intentions are for you tonight.
He wants to have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
It's incredible. God has the best for you in mind.
But you have to accept accept his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ you calf.
To take the Lord Jesus as your savior.
That's what God wants you to do.
In First Timothy, back to the first chapter and verse 15, it says this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
00:15:09
That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That's the writer there, he says. I'm the chief if the chief's in and everybody can come in.
You're not too bad to be safe tonight. There's no one that's too bad. The grace of God is huge. Tonight the blood of Christ will wash all your sins away.
That's what he wants for you tonight.
And if we read again in chapter 2 and continue, it says, who will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.
As one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
You know, maybe you haven't heard. Maybe you haven't heard the gospel clearly.
You know God is holy.
God is holy.
And we are sinners, it says. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God's standards are up here, and ours are way down here. And there's a huge difference between God's holiness and our sin. God cannot look upon our sin.
He can't have our sin in his presence.
So when it says here.
There's one God and one Mediator. A mediator is 1 to come in between two parties.
I'm one party, God is another party, and the Mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is God's beloved Son.
It says for God, Southern loved the world. You know that's not the planet, that's the people in the world.
For God so loved the people in the world that he gave his only begotten son.
There was a plan.
We heard it this afternoon.
Go through that just a little bit more back before even you were created.
God wanted to have a family.
Just like his son, he want to have fellowship.
With men and women like you. But sin came in after Adam and Eve recruited, sin came in and that sin.
Created a problem because God could not have fellowship with man because man was sinful and God is holy.
This was not a surprise to God.
We read that says and Isaiah.
It's as a father and a son, we're talking God the Father and God the Son. And they devised a plan that says here am I, send me, that's the Lord Jesus, send me.
And he was born as a virgin.
Born by a virgin as a baby into this world without sin.
He came in this world and right off the start, before he was even born, they tried to kill him.
Herod King Herod, He tried to kill him. This world doesn't want the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then when he was born.
There wasn't room for him.
He was born in a Manger and we know the story.
And he walked this world.
God became a man.
It's an incredible. It's incredible God became a man.
They walked this world for 33 years.
And he went to the cross of Calvary.
And he let men like you and me nail his blessed hands and his feet to the cross.
Men spit on him.
Pulled out his hair.
He hit him in the face.
And mocked him.
To come down from the cross. What would happen if you came down from that cross? There'd be no gospel meeting tonight.
There would be no savior. He could have called one. Oh, oh, oh, oh angels we sing.
You know what held him to that cross? It wasn't those nails. That love held him to that cross.
God.
Could not look in the Lord Jesus.
Because there was 3 hours of darkness.
Where no one could see the Lord Jesus.
00:20:01
And God laid on the Lord Jesus all my sins. It says he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. That means that God took all of my sins and he put them on the Lord Jesus.
And he bore the punishment there for me.
So I wouldn't have to.
If you won't have him to be your savior, you have to bear that punishment.
And you'll have to bear that punishment in hell. Fire forever and ever and ever and ever, and it will never be sufficient to pay.
God does not have any, has nowhere to put you. If you turn your back on the Lord Jesus, God is handing you a gift tonight, he says. All you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There's nothing you have to do. You know what that is?
It's a surrender of your heart. That's what it is. That's what it is. It's a surrender of your heart all to Jesus. I surrender.
Are you willing to take your ways and your thoughts and lay them down and say I'm going to do it his way?
God be merciful to me, the Sinner.
You know that man, it says, went to his house justified. Tonight you can walk out of this room, justified, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
Let's look at it as scripture in Luke. Believe it's Luke Chapter 8.
There's a story about a woman.
We talked about briefly.
In the prayer.
In Luke chapter 8.
See what verse that is here? I think it's verse 43. Yes in Luke 8 and Chapman and verse 43. It says in a woman having an issue of blood 12 years which had spent all her living with physicians, neither could be healed of anything, came behind him and touched the border of his garment. That's the Lord Jesus and immediately her issue of blood staunch.
And Jesus said, Who touched me?
And then verse 46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me, for I perceived that virtue is gone out of me. Verse 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him. She declared unto him before all the people, for what 'cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made the whole go in peace.
You know the Lord Jesus is not standing in this room tonight.
In his bodily form.
But the Spirit of God is in this room tonight, and it's striving with souls.
In here you can touch the Lord Jesus.
By faith, you can just reach out and touch him and say I want you to be my savior. That's all you have to do.
And you will be saved forever.
There is nothing that can take that salvation away from you. And what do you have? You have an eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ. You are now into a family.
Of believers called the bride of Christ. You know, I said, I said this, I'll repeat this. God wants a family for his son just like his son.
You know when God looks at me right now, Ted Sester, He doesn't see my sins.
He sees me perfect in him.
Because the Lord Jesus for all of my sins in his own body on dream, I can stand here clean. You know, I remember Gospel meetings are very important to me. I was saved in the Gospel meeting.
And I remember the burden of sin was ruled away.
It felt like a big backpack of weight roll off my shoulders tonight. If you're your sins, you're working hard, you're working hard. You know, Jesus did all the work. He did all the work.
There's a verse. We don't need to turn to it.
3 words that won't read that verse.
It's words that the Lord Jesus uttered upon the cross. It says it is finished.
00:25:06
There is nothing for you to do tonight other than just to believe.
That's all you have to do.
He did all the work.
He was the only one that could do this work.
If you know a little bit of history about the Bible.
Know a little bit about the Old Testament if you know a little bit.
About the children of Israel, they were to have sacrifices.
They did wrong things. They did sins also, and they did sacrifices do. Does anyone think those sacrifices ever paid those sins? No. They put those sins on hold.
And they looked forward. They may not have understood this, I'm sure they didn't. But we have the word of God tonight, and we can see that all those sacrifices pointed to the cross.
Now, 2000 years later, we can look back at the cross.
The cross, it says, in the center of two eternities.
That's kind of complicated.
There it says, once in the end of the world, hath he the Lord Jesus appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. It's never going to happen again. God looks at the work on Calvary's cross and he says I'm satisfied.
I am satisfied with that work.
Jesus was a Holy, spotless Lamb of God.
He was a perfect.
It says he was.
In him was number sin, He did no sin and he knew no sin.
He couldn't sin.
He could not sin. He was God, manifest in the flesh.
You know, it's kind of a tongue twister, but I God.
The Son of God.
Became the Son of man so that sons of men could become sons of God. Just think about that.
The Son of God. He was always the Son, and he became a man. He took upon himself flesh and blood without sin like we have.
Into this world so that sons of men like us could become sons of God and the family of God. God became a man and a person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the Lamb of God, it says in John chapter one and verse 29.
It says the next day, This is John the Baptist, seeth Jesus the Lord Jesus coming unto him, And he saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
God's lamb. The Lord Jesus is God's lamb.
Will you have the Lord Jesus tonight as your savior?
We'll look at a verse in Revelation chapter one.
I think it's chapter one.
You know, it says in the Bible, it talks about the foolishness of preaching. Now outside these walls out here, this is foolishness, what we're doing. It's called the foolishness of preaching.
You know.
That's probably.
Very interesting to the angels why man, men and women would refuse.
The Gospel of the grace of God.
Can you think of that?
Men come up with every excuse not to believe.
I have heard almost every excuse, I think.
I hope there is no one here that is still thinking about all their excuses.
In chapter one of Revelation, there is a verse out of the very solemn verse to me. It's in verse.
18.
I am he that liveth.
And was.
And behold, I am alive for evermore.
Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death.
Let's look at that verse. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold I am alive forevermore.
You know, there's a part of this story we haven't got to yet.
Last night we heard.
The Lord Jesus is not dead in a grave somewhere. He is alive.
00:30:07
God raised Jesus from the dead.
God is 100% satisfied with the work of the Lord Jesus.
And the Lord Jesus is ascended on the right hand of God.
It talks about it in one place, the right hand of the majesty on hind.
The Lord Jesus is alive. He's the first man to be in heaven.
He has those marks in his hands, those nail prints in his hands, nail prints in his feet, and he has.
That scar, that wound in his sight.
Where that soldier took that spear and pierced his side. And it says unforced without their forthwith flowed throughout blood and water. And it says without the shedding of blood there is no remission. And the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. That's how you get saved tonight. The Lord Jesus had to die.
In order for me to be saved.
I could never get to heaven on anything.
I could do it says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.
There's a song we sing sometimes that says God in mercy sent his Son to a world by sin and done.
Jesus Christ was crucified.
God in mercy sent his Son.
There's nothing I can do. All the best things I can do, they won't do anything.
All my righteousness are filthy race just absolutely good for nothing.
You know sometimes in the shop we have regs that you know we have a Reg service that picks them up and.
You know, I don't know how they clean some of Ray. I think they just throw some away.
They're just all black.
Can't clean some rigs.
You just got to take a paper towel and you just clean it. Some of his grease is terrible. It won't clean out. That's the way your life is. You try to do something good without God. There's nothing you can do. You can live a perfect life that you think, but you know what? You're doing it for yourself. You're not doing it for God. You know you don't glorify God.
You're not pleasing God.
Let's look at that in Romans chapter 3.
You know, it's sometimes it's hard because, you know, I look into the face of people. If this room was full of a bunch of bums and a bunch of people in the prison, it may be a lot easier to give the gospel.
It really is.
Because they know they're sinners.
Is there anybody in this room doesn't believe that you're a Sinner?
You have to believe your Sinner. A You have to admit you're a Sinner. B believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and see confess him as your savior. It's easy to get saved Romans 3 and verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Then Romans 5.
Romans 5 and verse one. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you have that peace tonight? You can have that peace. In verse 10 it says when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. You know tonight if you're in your sins, you're actually at enmity against God.
It's so hard to tell you that, but that's what the Word of God says.
You're enslaved if you are not.
If you don't belong to the Lord Jesus, you're under the power of Satan. Tonight you have a different master.
And that's what the Word of God says. It's not my idea.
You know, we were talking about this a few days ago.
You were born into Adam's wrath.
And it's like, there's this line of people of Adam's race.
And tonight, God is handing you a gift. You have to get out of that line, and you have to get into the line of the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't remodel your life. You can't do it on your own.
00:35:05
You know there's a time for everyone when you are not going to be able to do it on your own.
Some people are pretty tough.
They're really stubborn.
My great grandpa accepted the Lord Jesus Christ at 95 years old. We have a gracious God.
Don't count on 95 years old.
95.
Some people say they're going to get saved right before they die.
That is really bad advice. Really bad advice. When are you going to die?
You're an enemy right now if you don't love the Lord Jesus.
When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God. That's what God wants to do, is he wants to reconcile with you.
And he's can do that through the payment of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, God cannot hold me accountable for my sins if He's already accepted payment from the Lord Jesus. That's the story of the gospel.
Are you going to accept his gift?
You know the gospel is free.
It's a free gift, but it costs God everything.
I hesitate to say this. It chokes me up.
As in breakfast with some people lost your son. They lost their son.
I have one son I can't even imagine losing, my son says. For God so loved the world that he gave his son.
They didn't give their son, They lost their son. But God gave his son.
For you, he would have done it for you if you were the only Sinner in the whole world.
God loves you, my friend.
God loves you. Jesus died void.
Are you going to have him?
You know, tonight it's not new with me.
People think, well, God isn't fair.
You know, this happened in my life. And this happened, and this happened. I understand them. This world is stained with sin.
You have to leave those things with the Lord.
I don't have all the answers, but I have one answer for you from the word of God.
The peace that you can have.
By accepting the Lord Jesus Christ is something absolutely incredible. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord His Christ, this world. There's no peace tonight. He wants to just hand you peace.
He wants to hand you peace.
What if you don't accept the Lord Jesus Christ, your savior?
You know, it doesn't matter if you're in a plane sitting next to somebody or you meet random people.
And they all have some reason why they're not going to believe. They're not going to believe because God isn't fair. Because the person in Africa hasn't heard. And that's not fair. What about you tonight?
You know, there's an answer to that.
It says they have creation.
And they're without excuse tonight. There's one thing for sure. There's not anybody in this room.
That does not have an excuse. You don't have one excuse. No one in this room can leave this room and say I do not know how to be saved. That's one thing for sure.
Christ is coming.
And the Day of Grace is going to come to a close.
And he wanted this gospel mean to happen because.
There might be 1 Personless room who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ.
You could be lost, you know, if you're not saved tonight.
You're lost.
If you're not saved, you're lost. You're lost. You're.
And the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. That's why the Lord Jesus came to seek you out.
You know, it's difficult to get to help.
It's been said the road to hell is blocked with a cross of Christ. You have to look up at that cross and see God. I will not have your Christ. I will not have that man to reign over me.
00:40:07
When you say no to God's Christ, that's what you're saying. I will not have this man.
Please don't walk out this room.
To get saved.
Would I pray, just bow your head and say, Lord Jesus?
Come into my heart and wash my sins away.
Our God and Father, we thank Thee for the word of God.
Our father, we tremble to think of someone in this room that has heard the message.
Self-Judgement, Priesthood and Advocacy of the Lord Jesus
Open—B. Prost, J. Hyland, D. Kollman
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Some who were here who are here this afternoon.
Were also at Morningstar Camp.
And among other things up there, we talked about self judgment.
Then in his talk yesterday, our brother Bruce mentioned it as well.
Could we dwell on that for a few more minutes?
I feel it's needed.
And for my own soul, perhaps more than any other.
Let's read a couple of scriptures together, first of all in Psalm 32.
Psalm 32.
And we'll read from verse 2, Psalm 32 and verse 2.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Now here's the verse. When I kept silence, my bones waxed all through my roaring all the day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me.
My moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
Sheila.
I acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity, have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sin.
Selah.
And now in Proverbs 28.
Proverbs 28.
And verse 13.
Proverbs 28 and verse 13.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.
But whoso confesseth, confesseth, and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
And finally in first John.
Chapter One.
One John, Chapter one.
And verse 9.
First John one and verse 9.
If we confess our sins.
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It's a wonderful thing to be saved, isn't it?
A wonderful thing to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.
And to know as we read there in Psalm 32.
That our sins can be forgiven. We didn't read the first verse, but we could have blessed is the man.
Whose transgression is forgiven? Whose sin is covered?
Most of us, and I hope all of us here, know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. And I suppose we can all remember the bubbling joy that overwhelmed our hearts and our souls.
As we realized that that burden of sin was gone, and perhaps the greater the sense of sin that we had.
The greater the joy when we realize that we were forgiven.
But maybe you have all had the experience, and I suppose I can tell this story on one of my grandsons because none of them are here.
And I won't tell you which one it was.
But he got saved at a relatively young age.
And a little while later he came to his father rather distraught.
Daddy, I still do bad things.
Poor.
He thought everything was going to be fine after that.
00:05:04
And while I have been on this trip, I talked to another father who told me the same thing about one of his children, who wondered why it was that there was still that tendency to sin after his child was saved.
But it's true, isn't it?
It's true, when we are saved, we have a new life in Christ.
But we find out very quickly that that old sinful self, that old sinful nature.
Is just as bad and just as strong as it ever was.
What does that bring us to? It brings us to that subject of self judgment.
And as Our brother Bruce quoted from a pamphlet that is well worth reading.
Self judgment is the inseparable condition of a walk in communion with God.
Why is that?
Because in order to enjoy all the good things that Christ has for us, the good things that our brother Dave Hayhoe brought before us in the address just a little while ago.
We have to exercise self judgment.
We still have that old sinful self.
It brings evil thoughts to our minds and if they are not judged, it comes out either in evil words or in evil conduct.
We wanna mention something right at the very beginning here though, because it's important.
The Spirit of God never occupies you and me with ourselves.
Except to judge self.
That's important.
Because, and again, this was something we laid some emphasis on at Morningstar.
The Christian who is occupied with himself or even the Sinner who isn't saved, it applies board.
The individual who is occupied with himself.
Is never happy.
That's why, in spite of all that we have at our disposal here in North America.
If an individual does not have Christ.
He or she is never happy. And that's why, with all of the glorification of self that is part of the culture of North America today, people see more and more discontent.
And yet sometimes we go to foreign lands where they have very, very little, and yet you can enjoy and sense the enjoyment of Christ in their souls. Why? Because they are not trying to fill themselves with that which can never satisfy.
And so God never occupies us with ourselves. Neither does the Spirit of God except to judge self.
It's a necessary thing.
For me, anyway, it's a daily thing.
If I want to walk in communion with God.
There are times in our life and our lives.
When we have a real sense of the Lord's presence, as we had a couple during the last couple of days, the Lord is always with us. And those two on the way to Emmaus, even though they were not sensitive to the Lord's presence, He was with them.
But they were enjoying him. Why?
Their eyes were holding. It says that they should not know him. And why was that?
Oh, because they were on a wrong course.
Oh, how gracious the Lord was, and we don't need to go over it all again, but how gracious the Lord was to follow them down that road.
All of that distance to Emmaus and to listen to them first of all, and that's important, and then to minister to their souls that which restored them.
But self judgment had to take place.
All the details of it are not recorded in Luke 24, but it happened. How do we know what happened? Because all of a sudden when the Lord vanished out of their sight, they realized that they were in a wrong place on a wrong course and there was no difficulty, even though it was night.
00:10:13
To turn around and go all the way back to Jerusalem.
And there they found not only the other disciples, but the Lord himself.
But sometimes we go on in our Christian lives and things go very smoothly.
And we are very happy in our souls.
I presume this water is to be used.
And we go on very happily in our souls.
But then there comes a point and maybe you have experienced this and this is what I want to emphasize above everything.
There comes a point where the Spirit of God.
Seeks to bring before you some new truth.
Seeks to raise you, as it were, a little higher spiritually.
And suddenly you find that that old sinful self gets in the way.
And you feel terrible.
Is that a bad thing?
In one sense, yes, because the old sinful self never does us any good. But what I want to say is this the the old sinful self gets in the way.
It is a good sign because, and this is important too.
Every new truth.
The Spirit of God seeks to bring before your soul and mind will find its corresponding and antagonist.
In some aspect of my sinful self.
Satan hates the precious truth.
That God gave from a risen Christ in glory.
Through men like the apostle Paul and the apostle John. And Satan will sometimes, and this may come as a surprise, but it's true.
He sometimes tolerate blessing in the gospel if he can take a dead shot.
At something like the truth of the one body.
Or the truth of the abiding presence of the Spirit of God down here during this dispensation, or at the precious truth of the name of the Lord Jesus, or at the heavenly calling of the church.
Satan knows.
And this is quoting the words of another, and some will recognize the source. Satan knows that when the Church loses the sense of its heavenly calling, humanly speaking, it loses everything.
We can't lose our salvation. We can't lose that security we have in Christ. But Satan knows that if you can bring Christianity down to the level of a worldly religion, he's ruined our testimony and he's doing it today. I feel it. You feel it.
And the influence of the world around us is having that strong tendency to drag believers down.
And it's not only in North America we have more of the world at our disposal, but with the Internet, with Facebook and all the rest of it.
The world has become much more homogeneous than it ever was before.
Self judgment.
It simply means that if you and I desire to walk with the Lord.
We have to 1St. We have first to know ourselves.
And then we have to recognize what is not according to the mind of God.
You and I may go along in our Christian lives, and as I say again, the Lord may be using us.
But then the Lord, as it were, says, now I am going to put my finger on something in your life which is a besetting sin. And let me say this, I am preaching at this man here as much or more than at anyone out there. But the Lord lays his finger on something. Maybe no one else knows about it. Maybe no one sees it, maybe they do. But He lays his finger on it and says.
Deal with that. Deal with that.
00:15:03
And well, remember quite a few years ago, now corresponding with a brother in another country.
And there was something in his life that the Lord was clearly speaking about to him.
I knew him well, and I ventured to bring it before him as well, because I knew that the Lord was speaking to him.
And his answer was rather interesting, he said. But Brother Bill, the Lord is using me, and souls are being blessed through my preaching of the gospel, and souls have been gathered to the Lord's name through my.
Work for the Lord? How can it be that there's something in my life that needs correcting?
Have you or I ever felt like that?
Possible, isn't it?
Why was the Lord using that dear brother? Ah, because down here, which one of us would like to stand up and say watch me, I've arrived. I don't have to exercise self judgment. I don't have to be concerned about the activity of the flesh in me.
You know there's a bad doctrine. That's sad to say. Was started by very valuable men, John and Charles Wesley, who claim that once a believer was saved, they could attain perfection down here.
But we don't find that in the word of God.
Someone asked a godly brother many years ago if it was possible.
To walk a Christian life without ever committing sin and his answer was superb, he said.
I know nothing stronger than the grace of God, but I know nothing weaker than my sinful flesh.
Right. Isn't it because I have no excuse to send?
But at the same time, which one of us wants to stand up and say I've arrived?
No, we can't. There's a need for self judgment, even if it's only to judge thoughts. And that's what we ought to do, because if we judge the wrong thoughts, they wouldn't translate into wrong words and wrong actions.
But back to what we were saying. The Lord is gracious, and He delights to use you and me.
Sometimes we hear people say.
You have to love me the way I am. Have you heard that?
I want you to love me the way I am.
Thank the Lord He does. He loves you the way you are. Otherwise He would never have reached out and saved you. He loves you.
But that's only one side of the coin. The other side is he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
And the Lord wants growth in you and me.
Growth and growth means that. Well, let's turn to the scripture in Second Corinthians chapter 3.
I think if I remember rightly, it was referred to already in these meetings, but we'll read it again.
Did you read it, Bruce? I think you did.
Two Corinthians 3.
And I'm going to leave out a phrase that really shouldn't be there, and it makes it a little easier to read.
But we all verse 18 of 2nd Corinthians 3 with open or unveiled face beholding and leave out the words as in a glass. They shouldn't be there.
Beholding the glory of the Lord, our changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Oh, the Lord wants to see growth in you and me. One day when the Lord comes, we'll be perfectly like Christ.
But the Lord wants us to be more like him down here.
That is your testimony to the world and my testimony.
That we become more like Christ.
Yesterday, when Brother Bruce was speaking, he mentioned that pamphlet to which I referred and he said he couldn't remember who.
Rotor, whether it was Gordon Hayhoe or Harry Hayhoe.
Well, it was Harry Hayhoe, but as I mentioned to Brother Bruce afterward, not that it matters who wrote what, but just to give credit where credit is due.
The original thoughts of that pamphlet, and most of the body of it, go back a long way to George V Wigram, who lived back in the 1800s, one of the very godliest brethren.
00:20:10
And when he went to be with the Lord.
Someone paid him the highest compliment that could be paid to a believer.
He said. Every time I met that man and was in his company.
I was reminded of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have a better complement.
Can you think of something more that could be said about a believer?
Hope it's OK to mention names, but it makes things come alive sometimes.
Dave Hayhoe and I were talking earlier today about some of the older people that we knew in our lifetime.
And I well remember a very godly sister who never married. Her name was Emily Gosby. She spent most of her life in the Toronto Hamilton area where I grew up.
I will remember her and I remember well when she went to be with the Lord at the age of 95.
She could well remember sitting on the lap of John Nelson Darby.
But what I'm going to say is not about her, but about her father, whom I never knew.
But I was told by my own father, who knew Mr. Gosby, that when he went to Mr. Cosby's funeral.
His neighbor, who was not a Christian, stood there by the casket and pointed at his body lying in the casket and said.
You know that man never sinned.
Complement We know it wasn't true or he wouldn't have been in the casket.
But it was a pretty good compliment from an ungodly neighbor, wasn't it?
God wants to make you and me more like Christ.
God is willing to do it. We have a new life.
We have the Spirit of God is the power of that new life, indwelling every believer individually and as we had yesterday, dwelling collectively among believers as the House of God.
He is here.
To make you and me more and more like Christ.
But I have to get a few things out of the way.
We aren't going to dwell too long on the wares and Y fours of all of this.
But we want to emphasize the need for it and the importance of it.
It's hard to confess sometimes when we're wrong.
And if you're anything like me, sometimes when the Lord brings a besetting sin before me.
Or perhaps he uses another brother or even a sister in Christ to bring it before me, the thought that that sin is part of my old sinful self, and that I am capable of it.
It's so awful to face.
That I go into denial.
When I used to practice medicine, I occasionally came face to face with drug addicts and with Alcoholics and others. And I met some who were in denial. I'm not an alcoholic. No, I'm not addicted to it.
But their family knew it, and so did everybody else that was close to them. And I knew it, but they wouldn't face it. And we can do that as a believer. And I have to say, and I trust I say it with tears, because the tendency is in my own soul that I have seen too many dear believers who are in denial about something in their lives that the Lord was seeking to bring before them in order that they might judge it.
And yet there was a denial.
What does it say? Turn back to first John 1:00 and 9:00?
We talked, first of all about an unbeliever coming to Christ. He too has to come as a lost, guilty Sinner. But most of us that grew up in Christian homes don't realize the depths to which the old sinful self can go.
00:25:03
I didn't. I grew up in a Christian home and with godly parents who kept me from much of the sordid evil that is out there in the world. I didn't realize what was in my own heart.
But the Lord has ways of teaching us. He has ways of bringing us, as one brother said in our good written ministry, to an awful Cliff.
And grabbing us by the collar and hanging us over that Cliff and saying, do you see where that sin could take you? Have you had that experience? I have.
And then we realize what we're capable of and how awful that sin is.
If we confess our sins.
It's good to confess our sins.
But sometimes we confess in a general way.
I don't suppose it hurts to use this illustration because the brother about whom I'm talking has been with the Lord for many years.
But I knew him well.
And he was away from the Lord's table for a long time.
And when he wanted to be restored, his brethren expected there to be a confession of what had led him away, and kept him away for many years.
His reaction was, well, brethren, what do you want me to say? We've all failed. We've all failed.
Does that really do it in the sight of God? Can we get away with that kind of a confession?
Let's turn to Leviticus Chapter 5.
Very very important scripture.
Leviticus, chapter 5.
This has to do with the trespass offering, but it applies, as we said earlier, across the board and verse 5.
Leviticus 5 and verse 5.
And it shall be when he shall be guilty in one of these things that he shall confess that he hath sinned.
In that.
Thing. Ouch.
That hurts, doesn't it?
The one who came having trespassed, could not make a general confession. He could not make a blanket shotgun confession which included not only his own sin but that of others. He had to put his finger on that thing.
May I say a word to parents here that's important?
I remember well reading about a young woman. Maybe she wasn't so young when she wrote this, but she told of how that when she was young and she had.
The naughty.
And had done that, which had to be punished.
She said my father would never leave me after the punishment until I had gotten on my knees with him and confessed that sin to the Lord.
Sometimes it took time, but she looked back and recognized how good that was.
In that thing.
Is it sometimes pretty awful?
Is it sometimes hard to face?
Even men of the world have different views of sin, don't they?
Men who are in prison, who think nothing of armed robbery and murder and violence of every kind.
It's well known.
That if someone is brought into that prison, who's a pedophile?
They're out to get them because for them, what they did is excusable to some extent, but what that other man has done.
Well, he deserves to die. And often, as you well know and I well know, those men have to be put in a separate place because their lives will be in danger if they are allowed contact with other prisoners who have committed all sorts of terrible crimes.
But they have this double standard, don't they?
All sins are not equal. We know that from Scripture. That's why the Lord Jesus said to Pilate He that delivered me up unto thee, hath a greater sin.
00:30:08
And there are other verses that would support that. So God doesn't view all sins as being equal. Excuse me.
But at the same time, the old sinful self in you is no different from the old sinful self in Me.
And if there is that which needs self judgment, let's be willing to do it. Oh, how wonderful it is to be able to open that door.
I wish I could repeat the poem. It's a song again that has been sung several times and some will remember it's being sung a couple of times at Morningstar Camp. Something to the effect that my heart is like a house.
And it has different rooms in it, and the Lord Jesus and I, Speaking of a believer, would visit from time to time in those rooms.
But then there's one verse that says.
There is a room where I don't go because I've got some things in that room that I don't want anyone to know.
And there's a need to open that door.
I hope this doesn't step on any toes, but I have occasionally been as a visitor in some homes where doors have been shut and locked.
And usually it was because the room was, in simple terms, a mess, and they didn't want a visitor to have to to look at it. They didn't want a visitor to see the untidiness in that room.
You know, the Lord already knows what's in that room.
But he wants you and me to face it. Why? So that we can grow in our souls.
One more verse, because we could belabor this point all afternoon, but one more verse. Second Peter, chapter 3.
And to me, this ties in beautifully with what we've been saying.
The last verse of Second Peter 3.
But grow in grace.
And in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to him the glory, both now and ever and forever. Amen.
What does it mean to grow in grace?
I used to look at some of my older brothers and sisters in Christ when I was young.
And in my ignorance.
I figured the old sinful nature must be pretty well burned out in them. They don't have the problems anymore.
I hesitate to make this remark, but I believe that it's every vet true and you won't read it anywhere. It was passed down by word of mouth.
Someone said, and it was a believer.
Of John Nelson Darby. This may come as a shocker, but it's true, someone said of him.
I have seldom seen an individual.
In whom the two natures were so strong.
Really. Yes. Why?
Because the more he wanted to learn of Christ, the more that old, sinful, sinful self struggled to get the ascendancy.
And those who knew him well sensed the number of times that self judgment had to be exercised.
How do we grow? In grace, we grow.
Because we appreciate more of the grace of God.
And what he did for us, we appreciate the depths of what happened at Calvary's Cross.
We appreciate what it meant for God to give his Son. We appreciate what it meant for the Lord Jesus to bear that load of sin because we realize more and more what was in our own hearts, what is in our own hearts.
But we can't realize it if we're in denial. We can't realize that if we don't exercise self judgment.
00:35:08
Let the old nature be as bad as it can be, and it is bad.
Christ has died.
The sins have been cleansed, and more than that, the old man has been crucified with Christ. Now we don't have time to go into it. But don't confuse the old man with the flesh. They're not exactly the same. It's never said.
That the flesh has been crucified, We're to reckon it to be dead.
But the old man has been crucified. We're in a new position.
In Christ, beyond it all. But now the Lord says, I want you to live up to it. I want you to reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God.
But in so doing, you and I will find that it's a lifelong thing.
To exercise self judgment.
Just to go back as we close to one thing that we said at the beginning.
God doesn't want us to dwell on self. Sometimes dear believers get so occupied with thinking of all the wrong things that they've done. Excuse me.
Thinking of how bad they are and how sinful they are that they're down in the dumps and depressed all the time.
Satan likes that because Satan doesn't care whether you think about self in a positive way or in a negative way.
As long as you're occupied with cell.
What's the solution?
God wants you and me not to be occupied with self, either positively or negatively.
Rather not to be occupied or thinking about self at all.
If Christ is before me, I won't have to think about self now and then I'll have to judge it. God wants me to judge it and then go on. I don't dwell on it. I judge it in the presence of God. Now much more could be said because in order to judge self, I can't use myself as a yardstick. I can't use others as a yardstick. I have to look to Christ himself. I have to judge in God's presence what that sin is.
But when I do.
I get it out of the way.
And then the Spirit of God is free to minister Christ to my soul, and I grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Well, I wanna leave room for some other brothers, so we'll sit down. But may the Lord impress this on our souls in these last days so that instead of being conformed to this world that as we had in 2nd Corinthians 3, we become more and more.
Like Christ, and are changed into his image from glory to glory.
In connection with what our brother has brought before us, I'd like to go back to a story in the Old Testament that I trust will encourage us as to the resources that we have in connection with both preservation.
And restoration in the path of faith as we walk through this wilderness world. I'd like to go back and read a well known incident in the 17th chapter of the book of Exodus.
Exodus chapter 17 beginning at verse 8.
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in raphidom. And Moses said unto Joshua, choose us out men, and go out fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek and Moses.
Aaron and her went up to the top of the hill, and it came to pass when Moses held up his hand.
That Israel prevailed. And when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat thereon. And Aaron and her stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua discomforted Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses.
00:40:09
Write this for a memorial in a book.
And rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi, for he said, because the Lord hath sworn.
That the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Now hold your finger here, We're gonna come right back to this place. But I'd like to read a verse or two in the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, chapter 25.
5.
Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 17.
Remember what Amalek did unto thee, by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote behind her most of thee even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou hast faint and weary.
And he feared not God.
Well, we've just had some excellent ministry in connection with self judgment. But perhaps there's some of us sitting here this afternoon and we say, well, that's wonderful. I realize there's a need for self judgment. As I often heard growing up from my older brethren, we need to keep short accounts with God and so on. But how am I going to do it? Because as we read in the book of Galatians, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
And the two are contrary one to the other. And you say I have this constant struggle in my life?
And I just don't seem to be able to overcome. I come and confess it to the Lord, and I just get up and I go on. And I have the same temptations. I fall into the same problems and difficulties.
But I suggest, brethren, that by type and illustration here we have the resources that we need for our pathway. We find at the beginning of this chapter that they came to refit them by the commandment of the Lord.
The Spirit of God is very careful to record that because there were great difficulties that refit them. First of all there was number water and God gave them in the previous account. Here he gave them the water from the rock to refresh them.
And then they're drinking from those refreshing waters, and over the horizon comes Amalek, a powerful enemy. Now the children of Israel at various times faced various enemies, depending where they were.
When they were in Egypt, they had Pharaoh and his hosts who sought to keep them in slavery.
That's a picture of the enemy seeking to keep souls from coming under the good of redemption and deliverance. Tonight there will be a gospel meeting preached if we're left here. And in the Pharaoh character of Satan, he's going to be busy to keep souls from coming, to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, to keep them in the ******* of sin. And then if we were to jump ahead in their history when they entered the land of Canaan, there were a number of enemies.
A picture to us of the enemy seeking to keep us from coming into the enjoyment.
Of our heavenly portion and all that is ours in Christ. I say that because Canaan is a picture to us of that which we can have an enjoyment of. Now it's that vast panorama of heavenly spiritual blessings that are ours for present enjoyment. But in the wilderness they had a powerful enemy here. His name was Amalek, and if we were to go back and trace the genealogy, we would find that Amalek was a grandson of.
Esau.
Was a man who sold his birthright for momentary gratification. An Amalek is a picture of Satan's working on the flesh to seek to hinder our walk with God through this wilderness world. Because Satan doesn't want us to walk with God for his glory and for our blessing as we pass through this world, wilderness world. He cannot take our salvation from us, but he can take our joy, and he can stumble and discourage us, and he can work on the flesh, and he knows well how to do it. He's had thousands of years of practice.
In doing it.
And he knows well how to work on each one of us. And so they face this enemy. We don't have time to mention all the things that are here illustrated in these verses. But what I'd like to focus on particularly is the fact that Moses goes up on the mountain and eventually he sits down. And two men, Aaron and her come and stay up his hands till the going down of the sun. And the Moses. Here is a picture of the Lord Jesus.
00:45:17
Gone on high to fill all things. Isn't it wonderful that we have a man in the glory, as we've been saying in these meetings? One who not only died for US1 who's not only risen from the dead, but he's ascended and seated at the right hand of God. And that's the resource for us, brethren. If we're going to be preserved in our wilderness journey here, if we're going to go on, and when we fail, if there's going to be self judgment, it's to avail ourselves of the resource that we have.
In the person of Christ, as a glorified man, living for us and interceding at the right hand of God, the place of power.
But I want to talk about these two men for a moment, because these two men represent to us two very important offices that the Lord Jesus is carrying on at the right hand of God this afternoon.
On our behalf, Because first of all, we have Aaron. Now I realize, brethren, that Aaron had not yet been officially put into the priesthood. That wasn't until later on, but I believe we see the picture very clearly.
Aaron, on the one hand, represents to us the priesthood of the Lord Jesus, because as the book of Hebrews develops so beautifully, we have a high priest seated at the right hand of God.
He's there at the right hand of God, to put it very simply, living for us, praying for us every hour of every day to preserve us in the path of faith and service. And we have not in High Priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. Isn't it wonderful to think that the Lord Jesus is praying for us? We think of how wonderful it is to be able to bring our own needs before the throne of grace.
To pray for our families. To pray for our beloved brethren, wonderful privilege and resource that we have.
But just look up and realize there's one who's praying for you, and he knows every need. He knows you through and through. He doesn't forget one need of each of his own. And not only is He sympathizing with us, not only does He know our difficulties, but he it was in all points tempted like as we are. I want you to think about that, because there's nothing that you and I.
Will ever pass through in the path of faith and service that the Lord Jesus hasn't felt as a man here on earth. That's why the Lord Jesus lived here on earth as long as He did.
So that he could be a sympathizing and an empathizing high priest. You know, I might come to you in a difficulty, and I might say to you, brother, sister, I sympathize with what you're passing through. But unless I've been through a similar circumstance, I really can't empathize. A brother was telling me who went through a very severe trial, he said, Brother Jim, you wouldn't believe how many people called me and said.
I know what you're passing through.
He said that was no comfort to me because he said they had never passed through a similar circumstance.
But he said a brother finally called me and he said I know what you're passing through. He said That was a comfort to me because that brother had a few months before been through a similar trial. And so the Lord Jesus, he understands, you say nobody knows.
What I'm passing through, nobody understands. Oh, just look up this afternoon and there's one at the right hand of God who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. And so I say again, He's living for us as our high priest.
To preserve us in the path of faith and service. But then we find on the other hand there was a man named her and I suggest that her represents to us the advocacy of Christ because it tells us if any man's sin. We have an advocate with the Father. I say that because hers name actually means purity. And in that verse I just quoted from First John it goes on to say.
00:50:01
Jesus Christ the righteous. I have a righteous advocate.
Because if his high priestly work is to preserve me in the path of faith.
Then when I sin, his advocacy is to restore me, but he does it on a righteous basis. You know, if I go against society and I'm brought up to the judge, and the judge listens to my case, and I get a good lawyer or I'm able to talk my way through it, he might let me off. But if he's a righteous judge or or if I'm really guilty, I should say he's not a righteous judge. But we'll suppose for the sake of illustration.
That the judge says to me. Now, Jim, I know you're guilty.
And the penalty for going against society is thus and so. But I'm going to pay the penalty so you can go free. Now he's a righteous judge because the claims of society have been met, whether it's a fine or community service or a jail term or whatever it is. And when I sin, it's just as if the Lord Jesus in the presence of the Father, says I've paid for that sin. That's how he can be.
A righteous advocate.
Because he bore the penalty of sin for me on Calvary's cross when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. And so he's a righteous advocate. Just a little difference to notice between another difference.
Between his high priestly work and his advocacy, his high priestly work is with God.
Because that's power. But his advocacy, it says we have an advocate not with God but with the Father. To me that's one of the clearest verses in connection with eternal security. Because I have heard many people say that when they sin, they lose their relationship with God, they lose their salvation. If it said we have an advocate with God, we might well wonder, but it says an advocate with the Father showing that when I sin.
In no way is the family relationship broken.
But I do have to do with my father. When my children went against me when they lived at home, I never brought them up to the court of law, to the judge on the bench. But they did have to do with me as their father. And so we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. But before we pass on, I would just say this, that in the measure in which you and I would avail ourselves of His high priestly work, we wouldn't need his advocacy.
The Lord Jesus said to Peter, I have prayed for thee that my faith fail not, and if poor Peter had just availed himself of that resource, he never would have denied his Lord three times with oaths and curses.
Thank God there was restoration for Peter, and there is always restoration.
Maybe there's someone here this afternoon and you say I failed so bad. I've sinned so bad. Can there really be restoration? Remember this, brother. Remember this, sister. The restoring grace of God is as limitless and powerful as his saving grace and preserving grace. David failed in his life, and he failed grievously, but he could say with confidence he restoreth my soul.
And so we find that these two men hold up Moses hands, and there he is, as it were, an intercession on behalf of the people who were down in the valley of conflict.
And they held up his hands till the going down to the sun, because, brethren, the hands of the Lord Jesus in that way will be held up.
As long as we're here in the valley of conflict, we sometimes sing Our great High Priest is seated at God's right hand above his hands, with uh, his hands uplifted in sympathy.
And love. And so his hands are going to be held up. He's going to fulfill those two offices for us.
So that really there's provision for failure in our lives, but there's really no excuse for it. Brethren, we have all the resources that we need. And then very quickly we find another resource. Here we find Joshua leading the battle. Joshua's name is uh means Jesus, and he's a picture of Jesus on various occasions. And when I think of the incident here, on the one hand we have Moses seated on high, a picture of the Lord Jesus.
Gone on high to intercede for us.
But the Lord Jesus, before he went back to heaven, he said to the disciples, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. He was Speaking of the descent of the Holy Spirit. And isn't it wonderful that we have the Spirit of God, the power for our lives as we meet the enemy? We have a powerful enemy, it's true. But greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And so we find Joshua here. He's the one at the forefront of the battle and what is in his hand.
00:55:31
A sword because the word of God is often referred to as the sword of the Spirit.
It's illustrated with the Lord Jesus, so beautiful, and when he was in the wilderness.
Here were the people of God in the wilderness. The Lord Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted before his public ministry. And how did he meet the enemy? Oh he and the power of the Spirit quoted a verse of Scripture. And I believe that the word of God is the power, the Spirit of God, and it's the power for meeting the enemy when he comes to attack us and seek to hinder us in our wilderness, in our wilderness journey.
Yeah, I say again. It's not our sort. Sometimes I've heard people say I've got my sword with me referring to their Bible, but it's not my sword. It's the sword of the Spirit. And when it's used in communion by the Spirit, that's when it has its power, you know, Peter had a sword in his hand on one occasion, too, but he used it without the sanction of the Lord and what he did and what happened. Someone said he just ended up giving the Lord more work to do.
He only added to the situation, he didn't help it. I'll give you another little illustration.
You know water. Running water in Scripture is usually a picture of the Spirit of God. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, and this he spake concerning the Spirit. Contained water is usually a picture of the word of God. But running water, a fountain, a brook, a spring, a well, is usually a picture of the Spirit of God. And I think of David when he went to meet Goliath.
What did he do? He went down to the brook, a picture of the spirit of God. And from the brook he took five smooth stones, and he stored them in his shepherd's bag. I suggest it illustrates to us the word of God appropriated to our own souls in the power of the Spirit of God. And when the moment came, he was able to take one stone out and to use it effectively to meet the giant, the enemy of God's people. And so here we find it doesn't say that Israel disquieted Amalek. No, it was Joshua. It was not in their own power. It was in the power of one who speaks to us.
Of Christ or the the Spirit of God and his sword, the Word of God.
And so, brethren, if we're going to meet the enemy, if we're going to go on in our Christian pathway, if there's going to be self judgment, if we're gonna get our eyes off ourselves and on Christ, oh, it must be in availing ourselves of the resources that we have. And he was to write this in a book. There was a victory, and it was Jehovah Nissi. The Lord is my banner speaks of victory. You know, in the old days they raised flags when they had those battles.
Out on the plains between various cities and and and factions, and they'd raise the colors and those on the wall, perhaps miles away, who were looking to see who had the victory. Well, when they saw the colors of the city, of the colors of the army raised, all that would be great rejoicing because there had been a great victory.
And brethren, we can only raise the banner as we have victory in Christ. It's not going to be in ourselves.
We've had a wonderful weekend blessed privilege to have this little Oasis, to be with the people of God, to be in the presence of of where? Of Christ, Christ in the midst, to have fellowship, to have the word of God before us, this little place of safety and and security for a few moments in a wicked world. But we're going to leave here. If the Lord leaves us here, we're in Satan's territory. He's the God of this world religiously. He's the Prince of this world politically.
He's there at every hand in the Amalek character. How are we going to have a victory? Oh, I say it's only in availing ourselves of the resources that they we have in Christ. And so they were to have a war with them elect from generation to generation. As has already been a broad out brethren. We're not going to be done with Amalek until we get home to glory. As long as we're here in the valley of conflict. As long as we're here in this wilderness world, the.
01:00:02
Flesh is going to lust against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and the enemy is going to work on the flesh to discourage, to weary and confuse and divide the people of God. But the resources that we need are all there in an ascended Christ and the resources that he sent down to uh to us on the day of Pentecost and the Word of God and so on. But I want to just say this in closing I read in Deuteronomy because there we find another little comment made about this battle that we don't have in the 17th of Exodus.
We find there that Amalek smoke behind her. Most of them, if I can put it this way, those that were farthest from Joshua, those that were farthest from the captain, you know, Peter had that sad experience.
Really. The start of Peter's denying the Lord. It was a course of things he followed afar off.
He followed the Lord, but he followed afar off. And these ones here they followed Joshua.
But Amalek got those that were farthest away. And if we follow afar off, if we want to keep part of our heart for the Lord, for ourselves and the world, Ohio, it's going to end in sad ruin again. It can't take, we can't, He can't take our salvation. But we can become discouraged and weary, as he says, faint and weary. And the great tactic of the enemy today, I believe, is to weary and confuse the people of God.
To wear us down, even if it's just using the daily grind of life. But all I say again, let's follow close to the Lord Jesus. Let's walk beside him in the conscious sense of his presence with it, with us. Let's look up and re avail ourselves of the resources that we have in an ascended Christ. He's living for us as our great High Priest. He's there as our advocate. He sent down the spirit of God as the power for our lives. And we have the word of God.
To guide us and direct us, to refresh us and to encourage us.
Brethren, we can go on. I know it's difficult. I know some of you are going through circumstances that I've never been called on to pass through, but the resources that you and I have in Christ today are the same limitless supply that has always been available to the people of God.
Part to cleave unto the Lord as those that did it, as recorded in Acts. One other resource here is the Lord's coming. And so in closing I'd like to read from Umm First John chapter 3, a couple verses.
Chapter 3 and verse 2 Behold, now are we the sons of God?
And it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, or we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
So I believe we've been instructed to realize that, uh, when we have this hope of his coming, you know, that's two parts of that coming. It has a purifying effect, an ongoing purification in us that awaits his return.
I got it 5.