Address—Robert Boulard
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I'd like to start the meeting this afternoon with him #77 in the appendix.
Number 77 in the appendix.
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No.
Time.
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My name is on Friday. Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah Nah Nah.
Let's ask the Lord's blessing on our meeting.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee for thy heart of love. We thank the our God that though its desire to provide a bride for thy Son.
And in that marvelous work that took place at the Cross of Calvary.
Let's, let's save. You're in the darkness of those three hours, those long, dark hours.
Let us bear the judgment for our sins, to make us fit for Thy holy Presence, for the holiness of our God, and to transform us, as it were.
Into companions 1 Companion one bride that would be suitable to thy companionship eternally and in this scene to represent the as those that are members of thy body. What marvelous grace. And in the little meeting that we have this afternoon, we just asked you the thoughts encourage our hearts to walk with thee and to live in the path of righteousness.
We pray for the little ones here. We ask Thee for special grace for them. We thank thee for the sound of the little ones here in the assembly.
Thank you for our young people. We pray that they might have courage to live for Christ in this day, this wicked day that we live in, and to buy the truth, not to sell it, and to have value for the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And in the words of that little hymn, we think of how thou, it's how it's phrased. I gave my life for thee. What hast Thou given for me?
We pray that there might be a turning around decisions for Christ, not only for salvation, but for Lordship. This afternoon we ask thee to bless thy precious word, give strength to the speaker and our God that each one of us might receive food for our souls. We pray for our older brethren too, perhaps suffering in the body, and we just pray that they might have special grace for the hour before us. So we ask thy blessing, cast ourselves upon thee in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to turn to the.
Book of Proverbs this afternoon.
Speak a little bit about a passage of scripture that we don't often read, we don't often really speak of, but was, uh, this chapter the 30th chapter of Proverbs with quoted different verses of Scripture were quoted in this chapter.
During our meetings yesterday, and, uh, I must confess I was enjoying this little passage of scripture personally.
Maybe the last four or five days, and I thought maybe we would take it up here this afternoon. It only takes maybe about 3 or 4 minutes to read the chapter, so we'll read it and then make some comments about it.
The words of Edgar the son of Jakey, even the prophecy. The man spake unto Ethiol, and even unto Ethio and Yuko. Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. I neither learn wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended, who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath found the waters in a garment? Who hath established the ends of all of the earth?
What is his name? What is his Son's name? At Dawkins tell every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
Two things have I required of thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steel, and take the name of my God in vain. Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he cursed thee, and thou be found guilty. There is a generation that curseth their father, and their doth not bless their mother.
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There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, oh, how lofty are their eyes, and their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. The horse Leech hath two daughters crying. Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied. Yeah, four things. Say not it is enough, the grave.
In the barren womb, the earth that is not filled with water, and the fire that saith not, it is enough. The eye that mocketh and his father despised to obey his mother. The Ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, pick it out, and the young eagle shall eat it. There be three things which are too wonderful for me. Yeah, for which I know not. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea.
In the way of a man with a maid, such is the way of an adulterous woman. She eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear for a servant when he reigneth.
And a fool when he is filled with meat For an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. The answer of people not strong, yet they're they prepare their meat in the summer. The colonies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. The locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them.
By bands the spider taketh hold with her hands, and his king. In King's palaces there be three things which go well. Yeah, four are comely and going. A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any.
A greyhound, and then he goat also, and the king against whom there is no rising up, if that was done foolishly, and lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. Surely the churning of butter.
The turning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the ringing of the nose bringeth forth blood. So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strike.
Well, you know, I have a burden on my heart as I see so many young people. I see all the potential in this room and I see, I trust, by the eyes of faith, another generation that has risen up and.
There's some desire of heart, perhaps you're saved, you know the Lord Jesus the Savior, and you have some desire of heart to be here. And I trust it is to know something more of the Savior and to know of this love.
And to learn more of His blessed ways and a desire of heart.
In some measure to buy the truth.
To exchange the folly and the wickedness of this world. To purchase for yourself something that can never be taken away, an inheritance that's reserved for us in heaven, incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not away, as Peter says.
Here you know, it says that there are the words of Eager, the Son of Jakey, even the prophecy, the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ethiol and Yuko. And in this chapter we have the words.
Of eager, as you know, the book of the Proverbs is perhaps divided up into about 6, uh, portions, 6, uh, little divisions. And this is the 6th division. The last chapter is the last division.
And, uh, God by his grace gives.
A man, all that we know about him is that he was the son of Jakey and he gives us a little bit of what he had to say. He had something to say.
But his message wasn't very popular. He had two people that were willing to listen.
And I hope you're prepared to listen to something of the Word of God this afternoon.
But you just don't take from the hand of God the blessings from the hand of God, but that you desire to know His heart and the affection that He has for you.
Because, you know, he went and sold all that he had and bought that one Pearl of great price. He went and he sold all he had. There wasn't anything that he kept for himself. He proved his love at the Cross of Calvary, bought you for himself. And if you were the only Sinner on the face of the earth, he would have purchased you for himself because that's how much he loves you. Someone said to me, well, prove it. Give me a verse of Scripture that says that. I said well.
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The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Can you say that this afternoon? If you can't say that this afternoon, I trust that while we're speaking, even now, you'll bow the knee to the Lord Jesus. Every knee shall bow every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Well, this man eager, his name means a gatherer. He was a man of faith and he was gathering a little bit and his, he was the son of Jakey. It means, uh, this name Jakey means umm, a man of.
Piety, or he was a man of the fear of God. So you could read it this way, that the words of a gatherer, the son of the pious.
You have a pious father. Do you have a father that fears God?
I thank God that I had a Father, particularly the 1St 10 years of my life, that feared God, that was pious, who wanted me to go on for the Lord. I didn't even give Him too much encouragement in those days. I had a sin that I really, really valued, I might say, but the sin of sport, the sin of hockey, not a failure, it was a sin whatsoever is not a faith of sin.
It took up my time. It took up the best.
18 years of my life.
I can never recover those years.
Be careful what you bring into the house.
My dad moved into a home and the man was actually one of our relatives left a little television set in the corner of the house.
I moved into a house I've never seen a television set in a home 10 years old.
And I was given up to that addiction of hockey. But this man, eager, he had a father.
He was given up to piety, to the fear of God. He was afraid of displeasing the Lord. Sometimes we're not afraid to displease the Lord, but this is something that God tells us about Eager. He had a good father.
Those of you that are young fathers.
Brother made the comment yesterday that there was perhaps 75% of what we say is given by body language.
Brother Norman Berry used to say that the educators in this world had come up to the conclusion that 85% of what you learn is, is what by what you see.
Very solemn thing.
My children are what they saw. 85% of what my children are is because of what they saw in my my life.
So wonderful that we have an object that can never fail. The Savior, the Lord Jesus, our perfect object.
Well, this man, he had something to say, He had a message from God. He spake unto Ethio and unto Yuko. Well, you know he had a subject. You know what the subject of this chapter is.
It's how to get on in this world, how to get on in this world and to be preserved in it while we walk in it. And he gives little snapshots, as you notice. There's four of this and four of that, three of this, four of that. And he gives a little bit of a snapshot of the character of this world and how we can safely be conducted through it.
Because you have an enemy.
And he's never going to give up, to seek to destroy your life. Doesn't matter how young you are, doesn't matter how old you are, He'll never give up.
And God, in the wisdom of the book of the Proverbs, he's given us 29 chapters of his wisdom, Solomon's wisdom, and the wisdom that the man of Hezekiah copied out of Solomon's Proverbs, and so on. And then, as it were, right here in this 30th chapter, he gives us a little snapshot.
How am I going to preserve my life in this wicked world? How am I going to do it?
And so he says here in verse two, surely I am more brutish or more stupid than any man, Have not the understanding of a man, neither learn thy wisdom nor have the knowledge of the holy. Now isn't that something for somebody to say that they're more stupid than anyone else? And here they are trying to give instruction to two men.
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Well, you know, I just want to point this out that this man was a humble man. He knew what it was to be humble.
He wasn't saying look at me, he said to these two men, Ethyl and Euclid.
I'm gonna tell you something, but it's not because I'm so smart.
He didn't go to the schools of men. He neither learned wisdom. Perhaps he never went to what we might call a university. But then he didn't go to a religious school. He didn't have religious training, you might say, nor have the knowledge of the holy or holy things.
He didn't have a formal education in that way, but God was going to use him to give a message. He gave it to those two men. Wasn't very popular, but he gave it and he wanted to give it to you this afternoon if you will receive it.
Would you open up your heart this afternoon to allow the conscience to be exercised in the presence of God? Receive a little message from this man.
Don't you ever feel stupid? Don't you ever feel ignorant?
I pick up this book, I say to my wife. Sometimes I'm so ignorant.
Here I am 56 years old, I hardly know anything in this book.
This man didn't have a high opinion of himself and I hope there's no one here that has a high opinion of themselves.
Because there's only one man that deserves to have a high opinion.
That's the man Christ Jesus who gave himself for us a ransom, never sinned, not even once, didn't have a sinful desire, never had a desire that was out of communion with his Father.
My brother, My twin brother.
Has a little text that he made when he was a young man. You know some of you young people, maybe the children here color the text at a hobby class or something.
I don't have any that I made. Actually, I have one that I made when I was younger.
My brother has one. He carved out a little piece of oak, maybe not even a half an inch thick.
And it's hanging on his wall, up at the top of the stairs of his house.
Has a carving of a little sheep grazing on the grass.
Has three words under it. Says he humbled himself.
I stop and I read that text every time I see it.
Went to God that everyone of you could hang a text like that in your home, in your bedroom. He humbled himself.
Oh, let's never exalt ourselves. Let's exalt the one who God has delighted to exalt into place on the throne, and may he be placed on the throne of our hearts that he might have his way. Well, he says in verse 4.
That who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended, who hath gathered the wind in his fists, Who hath bound up the waters in His in a garment, or who hath established all the ends of the earth, what is His name, and what is His Son's name? If thou canst tell, you know in Job 19 he says that Job says, I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand on the earth in the latter day. How did he know that?
How do you know there was a Redeemer?
How did Edgar know that there was a man that was going to ascend up into heaven?
And that there was one who was going to descend.
How did he know?
There was a witness in creation. If you read the 19th Psalm, the first few verses of that Psalm, there's a witness of God in the creation. Those first few verses and then the next few verses are the witness of God, the man in connection with his Word, his word of God. And then the last two or three verses in the 19th Psalm have to do with the witness of God to man through his conscience.
But you know this man eager, we're going to look at some of the things that he knew.
I didn't know that much in this world's wisdom. He didn't know much about religious things, if you might put it that way. He knew what it was to see his father walk in the fear of God. He knew what humility was.
He wasn't trying to exalt himself.
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But the other thing is that he knew his God. He knew the Lord.
He didn't have the revelation that you and I have. He didn't have the Word of God, the written Word of God, all of it. He had perhaps some of it, and He had the revelation of the creation. And He had the revelation what God could use in connection with His Word or the creation to shine upon His conscience and to give light. And so He could speak this way. He was a prophet. It says even the prophecy, you know, that's what prophecy is. It's not telling the future. That's not what he's saying here.
Prophecy is having a message from God, from the heart of God, for His people at a particular time.
And this man was giving so a message from the heart of God for everyone of you young people.
Is that the first thing he wanted us to know, that Eager knew was he knew how to be humble?
He wasn't making something of himself. He didn't want to be something in this world. He knew what the world was. The second thing is that he knew his God. He knew something of God himself and he knew that he was the Creator. He could say this. What is his name and what is his Son's name? You know, I want to just say this, young people, if you walk with God.
In communion with the Lord, if you just be a gatherer, just like eager, I see some of you with notepads, just gather little fragments, just little notes, little gems from the Word of God. If you're a gatherer, God's gonna use you in the future. God's gonna use you in a way that you don't know. This man. I don't think he ever knew perhaps that his, this little chapter in the Word of God was going to be put placed in the book of Proverbs alongside with the man that was the wisest man that ever lived. Solomon hears this chapter from Aegar.
But he was a humble man, and I believe God gives us to understand that He walked with his God.
He walked with God, He knew God.
And then he says he points out the word of God here. He says every word of God is pure.
Now there's different words for the word of God, and this is really a saying or an expression that God has, every expression that God has.
Is pure, it's tested, it's true. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him.
You know, there's something that the Spirit of God can't do.
There's something that the Spirit of God cannot do in your life, and that is to bring to remembrance the scripture that you've never read.
You have to have read it.
God wants you to read His words and He doesn't want you to add anything to it.
Why, He wants you to read it, and He wants you to trust it. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. You know it says in the, I think it's 119th Psalm, it says Thy word is very pure.
Very pure, it's tested.
He's a protector, if I could put it this way. He's a protector of those that trust him.
Do you believe it?
You know, my father-in-law was in the West Indies and he was there alone. Sometimes he would go with Brother Eric Pilkington, sometimes he would go with Brother Albert Hale, sometimes he took Brother Jim later on in life, several times. One time he was there in the West Indies all by himself and he had to go from one assembly to another and he had to go through a banana Grove where there had been murders in the past and so on.
Dark place and he was going at night from 1 little assembly to another walking on foot.
And he just trusted the Lord for safety as he would go through there.
You know the Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. He trusted the Lord to walk from one place to another.
On that island.
And he says he just about started. He was almost to the edge of the banana Grove. He showed me the place.
Where he went, maybe he showed Jim. I can't remember whether he showed you or not.
But he got to the edge of that banana Groves and there was an A woman, a black, a black woman that came and walked right alongside with him. And she said, bro, she says this is awful place for a white man all by himself. I walk with you, We talk.
She walked with him through that banana Grove to the next assembly.
When he got to the next assembly, he turned around to say something of his face, a word of thanks to this woman that had walked along with him, and she wasn't there, he said. You know, I've wondered whether that was an Angel.
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I want to just encourage your young people.
We read and had brought before us yesterday that every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
His own opinion is what was really held weight with him. But God has given us His Word so that we have something that's tested and proven and that's foolproof. So that we can lay our safety, our soul safety, and the safety of our own lives upon the truth of the Word of God. So that we don't need to guess as to whether or not this is going to work or not.
We'll trust the judgment of God in connection with his truth and will accept what he says in the Word of God. And you know if you do that.
The Lord is going to shield you from danger. He's going to shield you from sin. He's going to shield you from the effects of the enemy and the attacks of the enemy.
He says don't add anything to his words, it's all sufficient. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. While those are things that men are trying to do today is add something to the word of God.
It's not sufficient. We have to have the Word of God and something else not so. We do need instruction. We do need teaching and the traditional teaching of Scripture as we have in Paul's epistles and so on. But what a privilege it is to have the very Word of God and to recognize its purity. Are you trusting it?
Do you know it? Have you ever read through God's Word once? From the first of Genesis, in the beginning, God right to the end. Have you ever done it? I'm ashamed to say it, but I never did it until I was maybe 18 years old and I was brought up in a Christian home. Shame on me.
Do you know how long it takes to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation? I'm told it's approximately 45 to 47 hours.
I thought mine must take three weeks to read through this, no?
Take a week off work and read the word of God. Read it from the front to the back. Maybe you don't have a job. Maybe you're still going to school.
You're on summer vacation. Read it from front to back. There's one thing that will change your life more than anything else and preserve your life.
Is if you read this blessed book.
I look into the faces of those that are older in this room and I believe that every single one of us would say exactly the same thing. The one thing that made a difference in my life.
Was when I picked up this book and I decided I was going to read it from the front to the back.
And by the grace and the mercy of God, I did.
Well, it says here in verse seven that he made this request to the Lord. It's a good thing he had confidence with God. He knew his God. He knew that there would be a listening ear. You know what? Everyone's getting sleepy. Let's sing #5 in the appendix, let's stand and sing #5.
Yeah, I've ordered.
Friends.
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Mariah Carey, Oklahoma.
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All right, so the first thing that this man Agar knew, he knew how to be humble. The second thing is he knew his God. He walked with his God. He knew the Word. He trusted the Word.
He wouldn't add to it, wouldn't take anything away from it. And now we find that he knew himself. He knew what he was like. He knew the flesh. He knew how weak the flesh was. And so he prayed. He made some requests to his God. I didn't like these requests when I was younger. You know, it says there's, there's 31 Chapters in the book of Proverbs and you read it one, one chapter a day and you get through it every month. I try to do that still.
But I come to this chapter, I didn't like this prayer that he had, says Umm.
Remove far from the vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, I said. Boy, that's a little too strong for me. I'd like to have it a little easier than that.
I'd like to have something of a wealth of what this world has and live a little easier.
I grew up on the railway. Those first happy 10 years we lived in a shack on the railway, 20 feet by 30 feet, four kids.
Nothing. No leftovers. Everybody had enough to eat.
I thought it might be nice to live like some of the other people live.
But you know, this man knew his heart. I didn't know my heart. He knew that if he had a lot, he might forget God. He might live in independence of God.
Do you pray for something before you go to buy it? You just reach into your wallet and say I think I like that and you take it.
You know I think of the little verse in First Corinthians chapter 4. It says, What hast thou that thou hast not received?
Oh, it wasn't wonderful to get just a little present from the Lord, a little gift from here. Little gift is a car, a little gift of a house, a little gift. Whatever it is, the silver and the gold is mine, he says in Haggai. It's mine, don't you ask him. He didn't think that he would walk in dependence, and he knew his heart. He says he wants these things before he dies. Why?
He knew he was going to leave this world and he wanted to end on a high note.
You're gonna end on a high note.
You're gonna be walking with God, fellowship with the Lord, enjoying heaven on earth as it were, living in the presence of God when he comes to receive you unto himself. We're gonna hear the shout. I we're the generation that's going to hear a shout.
Maybe the Lord will call you home to himself. Maybe you will die. We don't know what the everyone of us has a different story to tell. We're going to have a different story and glory. But he said, you know, I want to end my life on a high note.
He knew, his heart said, you know, if I have all the money that I want.
Hi Mike, deny my God, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord?
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But you know, man is needs balance, needs a little bit.
To provide he needs God knows what we need and this man here, he knew his own heart and he says he was going to put himself in the into the hands of the Lord. Not nice. He says feed me.
With food convenient for me.
He says I don't know what I need.
You choose.
You're letting the Lord choose kind of hard, isn't it?
I went with my daughter. I had the experience of helping.
Some of my children have asked me to go with them when they go to buy a car. I work for the automotive industry for about 25 years, and so I've been in a lot of the factories and I know a lot of the systems and so on. So my daughter asked me to go with her.
Umm, this past Thursday and Friday, she said. I need a car, Daddy, can you help me? Let's go shop for cars.
And there were some choices to make. There's something like 350 different car models, and the world is geared to get you to buy something.
Without any reference for God, just whatever you like, All kinds of an assortment without any dependence upon Him.
And we went to look at some of these vehicles and she said, Daddy, something like this. She said, Daddy, I don't know what to do.
Can you choose for me?
Tell me what you would do, Daddy.
Isn't that nice?
We picked out something that was suitable.
And she has another vehicle to drive.
She didn't know what she needed. And dear brother and sister in Christ, you don't know what you need.
May God give us to understand that we don't know exactly what we need, but He does.
And don't reach for the world, don't reach for the riches. Give me neither riches nor poverty.
And so ask the Lord to provide for you what you need.
And he will what you need. My God shall supply all your need, not all your wants, but all the needs according to his riches. He is rich in grace, rich in love, rich in mercy. But this man, he knew his heart. Do you know your heart?
None of us know how far we can go from the Lord.
How far we can stray from the truth of God, and how far we can stray if we will not walk with God and we will not let Him choose.
The happiest lives that we know of are those in which the Lord is given His due place, the 1St place.
Not the last one.
That in all things he might have the preeminence. Well, this is what this man was saying. He didn't know his own heart. He didn't know if he would steal. Lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he cursed thee, and now be found guilty. Well, what's this he's saying?
He's saying, you know, servant or a slave has a hard time, is having a hard time.
And some of us, you know, might be tending in our hearts to have a critical spirit and try to make something harder for somebody else, even though we don't need to, we shouldn't, instead of being tender hearted. And I think that this is what this man wanted. He wanted a tender heart.
I'm gonna read you a little verse of scripture in Ephesians chapter 4I enjoyed this.
Little nugget brother Ted brought out yesterday this little expression. Love one another.
That we find in John's Gospel and in you might say, well, how do I do that? How do I love one another?
Well, you could read First Corinthians chapter 13. You get a lot of instruction there. But there's a little nugget here in Ephesians chapter 4, it says this.
At the end of verse 31, put away from you with all malice all those other things that he had spoken of. And then verse 32 be kind one another, one to another.
Tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. So if you could read it this way.
Be kind, forgiving.
Define a kind, tender hearted and forgiving.
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Because you are forgiven.
You know what it is to be tender hearted.
Means to be quick, to be compassionate, to look at someone as brother Al Coleman looked in this box, as he told us this morning, he looked in this box. His heart yearned for that little animal.
His heart yearned even more when he saw those five little ones come out of that box, too.
He was quick to be compassionate.
Not quick enough to pick it up and then bring it home, but.
He he got the, he got the matter looked after.
But you know.
Beloved brethren, there are some things that God tells us about.
This word tender hearted, that's the only time it's used in the Word of God.
Tender hearted.
Right along with forgiveness. That nice.
This man, Yuko and Ethio, they were sitting under this teacher, you Agar and he's praying perhaps this and he he gives them this instruction. He says accused not a servant or a slave unto his master, unless he cursed the another found guilty. He didn't want to have a critical spirit.
He wanted to have a tender heart for all of God's people, for all those.
Of God's creatures. I'm a little bit like alcohol, and I do like to give out a few gospel tracts. I don't do it like he does. We've gone together and he's better at it than I am. But I give a little gospel track once one in a while, once in a while.
I was in the McDonald's store when I was on the road. I came into the door, walked in and I saw a young man, maybe 20 years old.
Looked like he'd fallen off of his bike. He was all scraped up and had his legs up and he looked in a very bad shape.
And my heart just broke for him.
I went and I used the restroom. I came back out and I took the gospel track out of my little pocket, shirt pocket and I gave it to him and he, he said this to me. I don't want it.
I don't wanna hear you. I don't want it.
I stood there with that gospel tract.
I had to walk away. He didn't want it and he didn't want to hear what I had to say. I just say this.
Sometimes God doesn't tell us what we want to hear, but He tells us the truth.
And he gives us this instruction to be tender hearted to one another. And umm.
Sometimes we don't wanna hear it, but we wanna. We nurse a grudge. We're injustice collectors. But, uh, this man here, Hager desired his brethren to be blessed, those that had poor circumstances, and he wanted to have a soft heart. Now, the fourth thing that he knew is he knew the character of this world. And we're gonna go through this just a little bit. I don't have a lot of time, but he goes through four groups of four and he gives an outline of the character of this wicked world.
So in verse 11 it says there is a generation that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother. That's the first characteristic of this world in connection with how it goes on morally, and that is that there's rebellion, rebellion and particularly against parents curse that their father does not bless their mother.
You ever thank God for your parents?
Thank God you pray for them.
Two.
There was a little boy, he was lying down beside his granny at night before he went to bed.
You said granny, I don't have a daddy.
Oh, she said. You have a daddy.
You have a Father in heaven, He loves you, He's caring for you. He says yes, Granny, but that's not the same.
I want a daddy, he doesn't have a father.
And some of you that have a father that love you.
Father that takes and with their hands provide for you in everything they can do. You value the heart that comes behind it, the heart as well as the hand or you take and then behind the scenes there's curses. You curse the way that your father walks curse pretty strong word doth not bless their mother. How wonderful to bless the mother. You know, we have a a little bit of a habit in our house. Maybe you can pick it up too.
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Sometimes I ask my wife for a glass of water or something. She brings a glass of water. She plunks it down on the table. I say, oh honey, you're so kind. That's why I married you. You're so kind.
You know, someone else does something and, uh, we say, oh, you're so kind. So kind of you, Gabriel, you cut the grass. That's so kind. I really appreciate that.
You know when we get to the glory.
The Lord is going to remind us what it meant to His heart.
Tell them thank you for provision, the provision that was made from the father's heart. We didn't just take from the father's hand, but we appreciated the heart behind the gift. So it's a very serious thing. The world is characterized by rebellion and insolence against authority and the authority of the parents. Second thing is that there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filth. So this generation is not just the generation of 20 years or something like that.
It's a generation, it's a light kind of individuals. It's they have common characteristics. So the world has a common characteristic. The people morally in this world that live without Christ are characterized by rebellion against authority.
And it says they're characterized by being a generation that's pure in their own eyes. They're self-righteous, yet is not washed from their filthiness. They're guilty before God, but they say they're all right.
I hope there's no one here that's self-righteous, You know, why do we live in this generation, in this world?
Is to manifest the Spirit of Christ.
He took upon himself our sins, who knew no sin.
You did know sin in him is no sin. John says that. Paul, who is the apostle of knowledge, says he knew no sin. Peter, the apostle, apostle of action, says he did no sin.
But He took his, our sins upon Himself. Well, their eyes, their own eyes, their pure and their own eyes. Yet they're not washed from their filthiness characterized by self righteousness. Why is it hard to say I've sinned?
When we were younger and we would go to weddings, different weddings, different ones of our generation, oftentimes brother Gordon took the, uh, wedding and he would say, you know, as a young couple, I want to give you a few sayings. There's a few little expressions and if you remember these expressions, you'll have an easier marriage. It'll be a helpful thing. One is.
I'm sorry.
The next one is please forgive me or I was wrong, I'm sorry I was wrong, please forgive me.
I love you.
But you know, when we're dealing with the holy God, we need to say I've sinned.
Why was David a man after God's own heart? Why? Why does God say that about David? Because as soon as David sinned and God, soon as God told him that he sinned, he says I have sinned.
Against fee thee only have I sinned. That's why he's a man after God's own heart.
He knew what it was to walk in communion with the Lord. He wanted that communion.
Well, the third thing is that says in verse 13, a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up. It speaks of pride. The first thing is umm, here they're rebellion. The 2nd is self righteousness. The next is pride. Pride is sin. I just got something in the mail from the veterans.
Administration or whoever puts these little stickers out for the address on the top of your envelope and had my address on name and and they come with a couple of little pads of paper. I looked it up and I was gonna give it to.
Gabriel But I threw it in the trash. You know what it said?
Little slogan that says American pride.
American Pride.
Pride.
Pride, sinful pride in the sight of God. May God help us not to lift up ourselves.
Not to lift up the nation.
I threw it out. The next thing is, there is a generation whose teeth are swords in their jaw, teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men.
This little expression he uses really has to do with ex really resorting to violence to get their own way. So that's how the world is, isn't it? Resorts to violence to get their own way.
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Press the Flash.
If you don't give me what I want, I'm going to take it anyway and I'm going to get it.
That's the way the world is, those four things. He goes on another four things in verse 15, and I'm gonna read it the way it reads in Mr. Darby's translation. The Leech has two daughters. Give, Give speaks of covetousness. That's the world covetous. Nanny says there are three things that are never satisfied, yet four things say not it is enough. The grave, the barren womb, the earth is not filled with water, and the fire that saith not it is enough.
Well, you know, this world is never satisfied. It's never going to be satisfied.
I'm going to be satisfied, and I try very hard as I walk through this world one day at a time, to be satisfied with the present circumstances. That's Hebrews chapter 13, if you read it in Mr. Darby's translation. Be satisfied with present circumstances. A believer has that capability because he knows the Lord Jesus. He has a life, the very life of Christ. But the world wants give, give, and then it's not enough. The grave is never satisfied. We live in a scene of death.
And then the Baron Womb, the hope for another generation future that never dies within man, and that's another generation isn't coming up. It's just there's something in the heart of man that isn't. He can't be satisfied. The earth is not filled with water. It doesn't matter how much rain you get here in New York. Just doesn't seem like there's enough rain. Unless the river floods, then we have too much rain.
But then there's a fire, let's say if it is not sayeth not, it is enough.
A fire. What's a fire do? It's destructive. You know when God speaks of fire and the word of God, often times he speaks of the tongue. We don't have time to look at it. Our time is gone. James chapter 2, is it chapter 3? The fire is a tongue.
Rules. I guess we ought to. I'm not going to be able to quote it, James.
Chapter 3. Verse 6.
Verse 5. Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasts with great things. Behold, how great a matter. A little fire kindless, and a tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body.
And set it on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell, the tongue destruction.
You know this man agreed. He knew that there was.
An unsatisfactory that a world that could never be satisfied and there was the characteristics of those that are never satisfied is often times that there's a destructive element of what they do. And I just want to make this comment in connection with the tongue. It says where no wood is the fire go without.
And often times we're telling stories we're we're trying to keep the station, the flames alive of whatever story it is that we want, we have.
We're looking down on a brother or sister or whatever it is and we have an opinion and we want everyone to know our opinion.
But the Spirit of God says it's in the book of Proverbs 2 Says where no wood is, the fire goeth out.
I have some.
Advice for you if you could take it.
Let the fire go out.
Stop talking about the situation.
Stop talking about your brother in a negative way.
Go and sit where they sit.
Let the fire go out the eye that Marcus, that his father despises his mother. The Ravens of the valley shall pluck it out, pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it. I'll just make a comment on that verse and it's really in connection with the governmental ways of God in connection with.
Mocking the Father, despising obedience.
God has given the parents, your parents, the dignity. The Father is a God, a position of dignity and honor from God himself and ought to be reverenced. And the mother has been given a special privilege of guiding the family and guiding the little ones. And to obey is a place, a place of safety. And if you disobey Mother and you despise the instruction of Father.
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What happens in the animal Kingdom? And this man agreed, knew that the animal, the bird comes down.
And he sees a prey and the first thing he does is he picks out the eyes so that his prey is defenseless, and then he attacks that prey and kills it and devours it.
My grandson Gabriel was out at the lake and he said, granny, look, there's a there's a seagull. It's marvelous, just kind of flying around and then just drops into the water and comes out with a fish.
The Swift.
May God give us the desire of heart.
To walk tenderly, tender hearted to one another, and with a desire to obey and to be submissive to those that are in authority over us, that we might not lose our discernment. Let's commend ourselves. Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee for thy precious word. We thank thee for the Lord Jesus.
Who loves us?
Gave himself for us. He's given us instruction in this word, in this, uh, in his word to tell us the character of this world, all of its pride, self righteousness, wickedness that goes on in and umm, we know that we're able to be preserved. And my word will give us wisdom to be preserved. So we thank thee, our God for thy word. We ask thee for help that we might be able to just digest a little of what uh, we've had before us.
And then it might bear fruit for thee, our God, We ask it in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.