Address—A.C. Hayhoe
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Like you to turn with me, please, first of all tonight to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament.
Book of the Prophet Malachi.
The third chapter of Malachi.
And the 16th verse.
Then they that feared the Lord.
Spake often one to another.
And the Lord hearkened and heard it, and the Book of Remembrance was written before him.
For them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name, and they shall be mine, said the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewel, and I will spare them as a man spare his own son that serveth him, then shall he return and discern between.
The righteous and the wicked.
Between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. I'm sure the 16th verse is very, very well known to everyone here. We've often read it before and enjoyed it together, but I believe it becomes more and more significant and needful as the hour draws nearer and nearer, when you and I are going to hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And be called home into his presence.
The little verse begins with the word then, then, and I believe that is very, very significant because it seems to suggest that there was an occasion which surrounded the attitude described in this verse. That makes it all the more important and all the more remarkable. I wonder if we could go back in our thoughts a little bit in order that we may picture.
Just exactly the condition that is described here and in which we find these few who were characterized by the fear of the Lord.
And who enjoyed the sweetness of his name and fellowship together in the bonds of that name? You remember that the children of Israel were carried away into captivity, and that magnificent temple which Solomon had built was utterly and totally destroyed.
And after 70 years of their captivity, a number of them were invited and privileged to return.
Through their own land in the days of Ezra and of Nehemiah, in order that the temple might be rebuilt, in order that Jerusalem might again be inhabited, well as the foundations of the House of the Lord were laid in the days of Ezra.
There were those who gathered around and observed the laying of this foundation, and their hearts were filled with joy. They had returned from the land of captivity and ******* and well might their hearts rejoice as they set foot again in their own land and as they looked at the laying of the foundation of the House of the Lord. Oh, what a privilege would now be theirs not only to stand in a place where the.
Set his name but to see the foundations of the Lord's house laid before their very eyes. But there were some who were present on that occasion, who, when they saw the foundation of that house, they began to weep, and they wept so vigorously that you could hardly tell who was weeping and who was rejoicing. The sound was heard far off, and if you listened carefully, you would hear something filled with joy, and you would hear some weeping with disappointment. Why?
Disappointed. Why did they weep so loudly? All because they were old, old men, and they could remember the magnificence and the glory and the magnitude of Solomon's wonderful temple. And as their minds went back to the days of Solomon's glorious temples, then they opened their eyes and they looked at the foundation of this House of the Lord. It was so small and insignificant, so lacking in glory.
Majesty as compared to Solomon's temple that they wept aloud with disappointment.
Does the Lord care of you? And I are disappointed?
You know, I feel the devil has two weapons that he uses very successfully. One is the weapon of pride and the other is the weapon of discouragement, and he doesn't care which one he uses. I believe one is just about as successful as the other.
When things are going well, dear Saints of God, do you and I not feel a danger?
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That the enemy brings forth that weapon of pride and begins to cause sorrow among the Lords people, even in a time when it seemed that all was going well. And then when things are very, very weak and the condition is very, very low, they can get their weapon of discouragement. And he tells us it's time to be cast down with despair, perhaps even to stay home from meeting. Because things are.
Small, and the attendance is so few. Oh, dear Saints of God, these are the weapons of the enemy. God looked down upon that company. He heard the noise of that weeping, and it touched his heart. He doesn't like to see disappointment, discouragement. Such things are certainly not from His hand. Oh, you say, but ought we not to feel these things?
Indeed we should. We were just reading today from Mark's gospel of how the Lord Jesus, that perfect servant, went forth in his Father's bidding and crossed the sea and presented himself to the people who were waiting there.
They saw him, they arrogantly asked of him a sign from heaven. What did he do? He sighed deeply in his spirit and said there shall no sign be given unto this generation. And he got on the ship again to the other side. It wasn't a matter of indifference to him. He cared. Beloved Saints of God, he.
Sighed deeply in his spirit. But I ask you, was he discouraged? Was he disappointed? Immediately you shrink from the use of such words.
In the life of the Lord Jesus, Oh dear Saints of God, as we look one another in the face this evening.
Is it not true with everyone of us that the enemy has been pretty successful with us in using these two weapons? My dear father used to say quite often. You know, son, the most dangerous time in the experience of any assembly is when things are going well. I'd rather a shocking statement to make it if not when things are going well, when all seems so smooth and everyone seems to be getting along so happily together.
And perhaps numbers are increasing. Why the danger? You know why.
Because although we hate to admit it, we begin to pat ourselves on the back a little bit and think that we're a pretty fine company. Others may have their troubles, others may have their disagreements, but not here. We get along so well. That's where the danger lies. Dear Saints of God, when there's trouble, you know as well as I do that we're on our faces before the Lord, crying to the Lord in our great need, that He may come in and grant restoring mercy.
Oh, why do we not do this also in times when things are going well?
Well, as I say, in the days of Ezra, there was this mingled weeping and rejoicing, and God sent a very special messenger with a very special message to that people. If you just turn back to Haggai, just two books back, Malachi, then Zechariah, then Haggai going in reverse, two books back in the Old Testament, chapter 2.
And verse 3.
Now this is the message that the Lord gave through his servant Haggai to these very people who were weeping as they saw the foundation of the House of the Lord laid before their eyes. Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory, and how do you see it now?
Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
Yet now be strong, O the rubble, saith the Lord, And be strong, O Joshua son of Desk the high Priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, said the Lord. And work, for I am with you, said the Lord of hosts.
According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you.
Hear ye not, Oh dear Saints of God, I think we need this word of encouragement.
It is a day of small things.
And in that day of small things, the servant of the Lord was sent to encourage his weeping people. With this testimony. I am with you, saith the Lord, according to the word that I spake unto you when you came out of the land of Egypt. So my spirit remaineth among you. Fear ye not. I believe there are three resources here which were to the encouragement of God's weeping people.
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And those three resources are the presence of the Lord and of His Word.
And of his Spirit. And I believe you and I, by the wonderful grace of God, are privileged to rest in and to rejoice in the wonder of these same three resources this very evening. The Lord Jesus Christ himself in the midst of his gathered people, His precious words filled by God's matchless grace available to us. And I trust we can say.
Our guide and our delight, and the Spirit of God to open its pages and its message.
Through our hearts. And so he says, be strong. Not only be strong, but be strong and work. Oh dear fellow believer in the Lord Jesus, We are very, very near the end of the journey. We are just about at the threshold of that glorious moment when we're going to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. And you know as well as I do that the enemy realizes the nearness of that glorious moment and is redoubling his efforts.
To bring in among the dear Saints of God that which would soon scatter us, whether the weapon be pride, whether it be discouragement. He is busy. And yet you and I can by the grace of God, rejoice in this wondrous provision that is ours. Now I would like you to turn over again to the prophet Malachi, and we will begin at verse one of chapter one.
Because I would just like to build up to the meaning of that little word. Then in the beginning of the 16th verse.
I would like you to see the picture that makes that verse so specially beautiful. You have seen a few of the children of Israel gathered back into their land. You have seen the House of the Lord rebuilt. You have seen an element of discouragement, and the Lord sending His servant to tell him not to be discouraged, but to be strong, and to work where He presents to them those resources.
But beloved paints of God, not many days and years roll by.
Before we see in the book of Malachi that which is so sad to read about.
And I stand here this night and say, by the grace of God, and with all certainty in my soul, that I am gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no shadow of doubt about this in my soul.
A good many years ago, by His matchless grace, He not only opened my eyes to see my lost and guilty conditions and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, but to see also the wondrous and happy privilege presented here in His precious Word.
Together with his own invitation that I draw near and share in that privilege.
And I want to stand here tonight and say but a matchless grace of God and with a thankful heart that I am gathered together with my beloved brethren in the precious name of the Lord Jesus on the ground that is marked out in His precious word. And I thank Him for it with all my heart. You know, I just mentioned this because I know that there are those who look around and Christendom.
And they see such very, very fine Christian people. They see such open doors for Christian fellowship here and there. And I have seen them too. And I have met dear and devoted believers in the Lord Jesus, whose affection and devotedness have humbled me greatly.
But I still thank God for the glorious privilege that is mine.
Of being gathered to his precious name.
I would just like to mention one such instance that humbled me very, very much on our way out from visiting in El Cacao in Oaxaca a year ago.
We came a long, long way on foot.
Until at nightfall we were found in one of the villages where there was very, very evident danger. Brother Doug Buchanan and I laid down to sleep, and as usual a company of about 15 Indians slept all around us for our protection.
Early the next morning, long before Daybreak, we started out and we were able to get a truck to take us part of the rest of the way. And this truck came into a village called Chaucer way back, still in the jungle area and still long before sunrise. And I heard someone stop the truck driver and ask permission to put.
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Four or five sick people on board this truck in order that they might be taken to a hospital.
The truck driver said no I'm sorry, I have been chartered for this trip and I can't take any more passengers. Well I leaned over the side of the truck and told him by all means I would like him to take these sick folk and whoever was responsible for them.
So the sick folk were put on board, and a young lady, a young American girl from Pennsylvania.
Got on board along with them.
She had been speaking in Spanish to the driver, and then she turned and began to speak in Miss Tack to some of the Indians who were on board.
Douglas and I just chatted one with the other and presently she said, excuse me Sir, but what church do you belong to?
And I said, well, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you and I belong to the same church, for I know the Lord Jesus, and I'm gathered to his precious name.
Oh, praise the Lord, she said. I was afraid perhaps you were one of these terrible cults that are beginning to infiltrate into such areas as these. And we began to talk together, and I found a very dear child of God waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus. And I said, may I ask, what are you doing in this remote village of Chaucer? She said, well, I'm trying to translate the word of God into the native dialect of these Indians. They don't have the Scripture.
Own tongue and I said, how long have you been here? 2 1/2 years.
I said about how long do you think it will take you to complete your task? He said. I think I can finish it in 15 years.
Now I left that place feeling exceedingly humbled and exceedingly small, and I think I had every reason to feel that way. Here was a very charming young lady in her 20s from Pennsylvania, isolated away back there in that village, trying to turn God's precious word into the native language of those dear Indians. And here I was on my way back home to my wife and loved one.
I say this, dear Saints of God, because I don't want you to think for one moment.
That because I exalt and value, by the grace of God, the wondrous privilege of being gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
That I looked with scorn upon those who know not this privilege. I rejoice in it, and I thank God for it with all my heart. But I look around and I see those who whose devotedness humbles me deeply. And I think of that as I read that which I'm about to read. Here is a company of people that is in the very place of the Lord's appointment. Here is the very company of people that return from the captivity.
They're gathered back in the land, they have rebuilt the House of the Lord, and they're exactly where the Lord told them to be. But what is their state of soul?
Let us read just a few verses here and there through the book of Malachi, The Burden of the Word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
Oh, I just have to stop here to tell you a little secret.
Some time ago I was searching this precious word love through the pages of this glorious book, and I noticed, as I know most of you have also noticed, that the first mention of love in all the Bible is the love of dear old Abraham toward his only son, Isaac. Take now thy son, thine only son.
Whom thou loveth. The preeminence of love in all the Bible is the love of that Father toward His only Son, whom he is about to lay upon the altar of sacrifice. Oh, don't tell me this book is not inspired. The Spirit of God reserved the use of that precious Word to be found on its first occasion in connection with the Father's love toward His Son, and then the next mention of love, as you know.
Is the mention of that same son.
Having been received back again in Figure from the Dead, he takes to himself a bride and the scripture says and he became his wife and he loved her. And I just couldn't wait. I said. I wonder when the last mention of love is going to be found in this history.
And I thought, it's going to take a lot of reading to find the answer to that one. I know it won't be found in Malachi, but I'm going to start at Malachi and read backward and see when I come to the mention of the word love. But I know it won't be in any of the last few books because Israel by that time has been so wayward and so disobedient that I just know I won't find it there. So I turned to the book of Malachi.
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The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, says the Lord. Isn't that beautiful, dear Saints of God?
There is a very disobedient and wayward servant standing up here tonight. That the Lord loves me still.
And he loves you, He loves all his people. And here in the days of their disobedience and their waywardness, he sent the very last of his prophets to them, and said, Tell them that I love them so. What did they do where their hearts melted with the news? Notice yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Brethren, isn't this sad? Wherein hast thou loved us? What a response, what indifference.
Look now at the sixth verse. His son honor of his father, and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fears? Said a Lord of hosts unto you, O priests that despise my name, Angie, say, wherein have we despised thy name?
He offered polluted bread upon mine altar, and ye say, wherein have we polluted thee? Would you turn now, please to the second chapter?
And the 17th verse.
Ye have wearied the Lord with your word, yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied thee?
The third chapter and the seventh verse. The middle of the verse, return unto me.
And I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But she said Wherein?
Shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me.
But he say, Wherein have we robbed thee? The 13th verse.
Your words have been stout against me, says the Lord. Yet he says, What have we spoken so much against thee?
I think you realize why I'm reading these verses.
Beloved Saints of God, can it be that this is the company of God's people in the place of His appointment? Sad to say, it is. This is the company that returned from the captivity, the company that rebuilt the House of the Lord. The years have rolled by and here they stand in a place of God's appointment, and their hearts have become so indifferent and so cold and so forgetful. And the Lord knows all about it.
So he sent his servant Malachi, Tell them, I love them. And their answer is swearing. Hast thou loved us? And beloved, we see throughout this book that every pleading of His love, every word of faithful reminder that He has seen that which is the true condition of their heart, meets with the same callous and indifferent and cold response. Wherein have we despised Thy name? Wherein have we polluted thine altars?
Wherein have we spoken so much against thee? Wherein have we wearied thee? Wherein have we robbed thee? Wherein shall we return?
Every pleading of his outstretched hand of faithful love is met with the same arrogant response.
Then they that feared the Lord, Oh, does that not put an emphasis on that word. Then there were those who lived surrounded by that very attitude of carelessness, who were characterized by that which is a was a delight to the heart of the Lord.
And as we read this verse once again together, beloved Saints of God, let it search my heart. Let it search your heart.
God is looking not at the place you occupy, but at the condition of your heart. Now you know when I say that, that I don't belittle the place of His appointment. God granted, it may be very real and very precious to every one of us, but it's quite possible to be in the place of His appointment and be very indifferent in heart toward the claims of His love.
Then.
Surrounded by an attitude like that.
Then they that feared the Lord.
They that feared the Lord, What does that mean?
Fear of the Lord. You've often heard about that, and you've read the term in scripture a good many times.
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What does the fear of the Lord mean?
With apologies to a sister whose presence tonight, I'm going to use an illustration.
I was driving along the streets of Washington, DC, 1 day with our dear brother Frank Jackson, and he and I were talking together about our school days and about his father and my father. And I could see that he loved his dad very much, even as I loved mine. And we were becoming pretty frank with one another in our conversation. And he said, you know, Albert, when I was in high school.
There were quite a few things that were quite attractive and interesting to me, but I never did get involved in them. And do you know why? Because I love my dear dad so much and I knew how my dad would feel if I got involved in this or that. So rather than grieve my dad.
I stayed away from those things that I knew would displease him. I said, Frank, there's a perfect example of the fear of the Lord, and I believe it is. I believe perhaps there's many a young person here that can say somewhat the same thing. There was a man who loved his father and whose father loved him with a very real affection. And that young man in the days of his school experience, surrounded by those things that were quite attractive.
Thought from time to time, would this bring sorrow to my father?
Who loves me so much then I will not do it. I will not get involved in it. Oh dear fellow believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they that feared the Lord. What a wholesome thing this is. You and I are living in a world whose moral standards are going downhill so rapidly that I think all of us are shocked and astonished. Perhaps we can say frightened.
What will preserve us? What will keep us, beloved Saints of God, dear young people.
The fear of the Lord. Not a certain code of conduct that your parents or your brethren might draw up for your behavior.
The fear of the Lord. You know if you came to our home, you would not find 10 commandments written on one wall by me.
In order to govern my wife's conduct and 10 commandments over here which he wrote to direct my conduct.
There are no such commandments or restrictions posted anywhere in our home. We've lived together for 27 years. And I'll tell you a secret. I know what pleases my dear wife and I know what grieves her. And do you know why I want to please her and avoid that which grieves her?
Because I love her very much, and I know that she loves me. And my dearly beloved brother and sister in Christ, there is looking down at you this very moment, and there is looking down at me, One who loved us with a love that was stronger than death. He loved you enough to take your place and die upon the cross of Calvary, to redeem you, to claim you as his own, that he might have the joy right now.
Of looking down at you, and calling you one of his own. And you know a sense of this enjoyed in the soul will produce that good and wholesome fear of the Lord. That everything that is presented to us will be looked at in view of the fact that the eye of the Lord is looking down upon us. And he longs to have us blessed and happy, but He cannot bless us if we walk in paths of disobedience.
Then they did feared the Lord spake often one to another. Oh, I like this also.
It's a precious and a happy thing when the people of the Lord meet together and speak together of the things of the Lord.
There was a dear old brother in the Ottawa Assembly who was as Irish as could be. His name was Brother Watson.
And now this story is no credit at all to myself. I should make that part quite plain. But I was walking on Bank Street in Ottawa one day and I happened to pass by a church bulletin board on which there was a text of the Word of God. And I glanced at it and rather enjoyed it as I saw it. And a couple of blocks later, whom should I encounter but Brother Watson, he said. Good morning, Albert, what's the good word this morning?
Well, you know the rest of the story. I quoted the verse that I had just read as I had passed by the church.
And you know, his face lighted up with joy and he gave me credit for something that I wasn't entitled to, he said.
Albert, When I was a boy in Ireland, my mother used to line us up every so often, make us all stick our tongue out as far as we could, and he could tell by the condition of our tongue if there was anything wrong with our health. I don't know what a physician would think of that procedure, but this is what brother Watson told me anyway. And he said, Albert, I can tell by a brother's tongue.
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The condition of his spiritual health, you know, I think there's something to that.
As I meet my brethren and as I meet my sisters, I just know when I meet certain ones among them, I know what they're going to talk about. They're going to talk about the Lord.
You know I shouldn't have done this but one day when my father was coming to our home in his later years to visit us.
I said to my wife, I'm going to see how long I can keep him away.
From the things of the Lord in conversation, it wasn't very kind to me, was it? Well. He pulled up outside the door with the old Plymouth car they used to drive.
And he walked in and I knew if I didn't start the conversation how it would start off. So I said, Father, your car is getting pretty well worn out isn't it? Well yes son, it is. But you know. And I knew what would come next so I had to quickly say something else. But after about 3 sentences I gave up because I just knew that there was one thing that he would enjoy and that was the precious savior that had loved him and died for him and cared for him and to whose presence he was soon going.
Now dear Saints of God, I just want to pass this on to you, for I lack in it so very very much.
They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. Isn't that lovely? He hears your conversation. He heard every word of it today. What does that word hearkened mean?
What difference would it make if this scripture had just said the Lord heard it and a book of remembrance was written?
That would be true. Why then does it say the Lord hearkened and heard it?
You know, it seems to me to suggest that He was listening for it. If there were a loud noise outside right now, I would hear it, but I couldn't truly say that I was listening for it. But do you know, dear fellow believer, the Lord is listening for something. He's listening for that in your conversation or mine, which He can have the joy of recording as that which will bring His own approval in that day. Yes, even your conversation.
They speak often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of Remembrance was written before him. Oh, how important every word is. In the glorious days of Solomon's temple, when all was in order, there was no mention of this book of Remembrance. But now, when things are weak.
When the attitude around is so careless, God values so highly that thought upon himself, that conversation concerning himself, that fear of the Lord, that he can seek in the light that he Harkins, he hears, and he writes it down in a book of remembrance before him, the book of remembrance before him.
You know, there are names that are so greatly honored in this world today.
And their names are on every lip men that have made great contributions to world affairs or science or adventure in one way or another. Everybody knows their name. But if you know that there was a book written up there in the glory in which the names are written down of those who walk in the fear of the Lord, who speak one to another of these precious things. And then it goes on to say.
For them that feared the Lord. Second mention of it in the same verse, I believe, showing a very vital importance of this in a day of very great weakness and that thoughts upon his name. Or how can we pass this by that thought upon his name. Is that not precious? Perhaps there's no one around to whom you can speak, but you can think about His name. I tell you, it would make me pretty happy right now if I could just look at.
Right now and say write this very minute, my wife is thinking about me way over in New Brunswick. I don't expect she is because it's four hours later than this over there. However, I just know how much it would mean to me if I just could communicate and know that she is thinking about me in love. Dear Saints of God, I say once again, the words of your lips and the thoughts of your heart were observed by Him all day this day.
With the joy of being able to write down all that which was for His glory. Now I'd like to slip down to the 18th verse. Then shall he return and discern between the righteous and the wicked? That's rather an astonishing statement, isn't it? Discern between the righteous and the wicked? Can anyone make that kind of observation?
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Surely, surely anybody can tell the righteous from the wicked. There are two extremes. You know wickedness when you see it and hear it. You know that which is righteous when you see it and hear it. Or do you? You know, the Word of God warns us that the day described here is so callous and so indifferent that only the man who walks in the fear of the Lord can discern between those two extremes, the righteous and the.
Kids and I feel the need of this solemn warning to my own soul. And beloved Saints of God, we all needed. We are living in a day when that which was wicked a generation ago is considered normal and accepted topics of conversation today. Can you discern between the righteous and the wicked? Not unless you walk in the fear of the Lord. Not unless I walk in the fear of the Lord.
Oh dear Saints of God, this is a day when we need these warnings from God's precious word.
He has given us every resource that we need. He has put within your heart by matchless grace, that love for himself, that value toward His precious name. But perhaps these things have become dim. Perhaps you have noticed. Perhaps you have.
At that which troubles your conscience a few years ago doesn't seem nearly so bad now. Am I alone in making this observation? I don't think so. Why has this happened? Because, brethren, we have been influenced by public opinion. We have forgotten what the fear of the Lord means, and we are going to lose our discernment.
Either personally or on behalf of our children, or even in our assemblies, we're going to lose discernment between that which is righteous and that which is wicked unless we walk.
In the fear of the Lord is that a long face, narrow and difficult path? I can tell you this, beloved Saints of God, and I dare not say it stole from public opinion, from personal experience, but I say it from the observation of those whom I believe walked in the fear of the Lord till the end of their days, that it is a.
Halfway filled with the richest blessings of the Lord and the joy of the Lord. Oh, May God grant that our lives and our homes and our assemblies may be characterized by the fear of the Lord. Now I'd like to turn over, please, to the epistle of Jude.
For I feel that the last words of counsel and warning, both in the Old and in the New Testament.
Are very, very appropriate for us today. The epistle of Jude.
And the 20th verse.
But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. I'm going to slip over to the 24th verse.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling.
And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
That the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
You know, in the days of the Apostle Paul, when he was sailing in the midst of that terrible storm, there came a time when it seemed evident that there was going to be shipwreck. The storm had continued on unabated for a long time. And at last, when they realized at the end of the journey was very, very near and the danger seemed so imminent, the Scripture says they cast.
4 anchors out of the stern and wished for the day.
I think there's something nice about that. They cast 4 anchors out of the stern and wished for the day. Well, as others have remarked, here are 4 anchors just at the very, very end of our journey. And as we read these four anchors of God's own providing, I trust we may see to it that we make application of them in our own lives and that we wish for the day.
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Let's go over them again, verse 20. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your holy face. Did I read that correctly?
I made a mistake there. Building up yourselves on your most holy faith. Why is that emphasized? Well, if we were to take time to read the rest of the epistle, I think you'd soon see why when you read that awful description, God own description of a heart and conduct of man in these last days.
You see, beloved Saints of God, why you and I are exhorted to build ourselves up not only on our faith or on our holy faith.
But on our most holy faith, is it not necessary that this viewpoint be emphasized strongly in view of the ungodliness and the unholiness that is all around us? That which is ours by matchless grace, dear Saints, as God is indeed a most holy faith, we're told in the beginning of this epistle.
Earnestly contend for the faith.
Once delivered to the Saints and the Epistle ends building up yourselves on your most.
Holy faith, may I just ask this searching remark? Do you, dearly beloved young brothers and sisters, do you read this precious book and meditate upon it and the sound ministry to that God in wondrous grace has put at our disposal? Are you building yourself up on your most holy faith? Are you able, as this book would exhort us earnestly, to contend for the faith?
Delivered to the same Oh, you say? I don't think that's necessary. There are plenty of well instructed brethren around who can do this on our behalf.
This is for everyone of us, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, and I would urge you and encourage you, dear young brothers and dear young sisters alike, to read this precious word of God.
Read it as a bulwark to your soul. Read it as light and wisdom for your daily pathway and as food for your soul.
Read it, beloved, so that your soul and mind may be built up on our most holy faith, for I believe in days like this there is nothing more needful than that our very heart and soul should be saturated with the precious living Word of God. I hope you will forgive these references to home, but I know that from time to time, as we would bring our questions and our problems and our.
For a little more liberty to our Father at home, he would answer us by the language of God's Word.
If he had answered us according to the wisdom of the Father, whom we considered a bit strict and old fashioned.
It would have been a little hard to bow to, although I have a feeling we would have bowed to it anyway.
But we felt that we were bowing to the Word of God, and that which was presented to us in the fear of the Lord.
For instance, I well remember asking his permission to go to a certain occasion at school in which part of the evening was spent in that which was worthwhile, and then the latter part of the evening was to be spent in that which was not at all becoming to a child of God. And I said, Father, is it all right if I go? And when it comes time for them to start these other affairs, I'll come right home, Dad, I really will.
Son, the word of God says he that trusted his own heart is a fool.
That was a good answer. I was trusting my own heart to expose myself.
To that which I knew would be a very real temptation to me. I was trusting that I would have the courage at a certain point to turn around and walk out. The Lord knows whether I would have walked out or not. But my father said he that trusted his own heart is a fool. Oh dear Saints of God, building ourselves up on our most holy faith, I believe, would indicate that in these last days surrounded by indifference and darkness of evil.
This precious book, the Holy faith.
And trusted to God's beloved people. And oh, what a holy faith it is, lifting us completely out of this world, and imparting to us that which is heavenly in its origin and heavenly in its destiny. Most holy faith. You know, I was much impressed recently in reading of Peter on the housetop when he was hesitant to remember to go down and be of help to these Gentiles. Unclean they were.
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And what did he see? You remember it well, a certain sheet knit at the four corners. And where did it come from?
It came down out of heaven, and he looked in, and he saw all manner of four footed beasts, and wild beasts, and fowls of the air, and creeping things on. A very pretty picture was it? And that sheet was taken up again into heaven three times, and you and I know what that picture represented.
I believe that picture represented you and I, poor unworthy creatures of the Gentiles.
From the four corners of the earth. Where did that sheet come from? It came from heaven, and it went back to heaven.
Thy stand here possessed of a citizenship and of alike that is heavenly in its origin and heavenly in its destiny. The faith that is mine, beloved strength of God, by the grace of God, is a most holy faith, and I needn't think that I can simply sit in meeting and hear it handed to me by someone else.
And trust to my memory to uphold this most holy faith. You and I are going to be tested as to it in the exhortation here is that we might be built up in this most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
Oh, do we not lack in this praying in the Holy Ghost?
How busy the enemy is to rob everyone of us of the time that ought to be spent in prayer. It's not wasted time, dear Saints of God. You can find and I can find time at least three times a day to sit down to the meal table and our bodies might be sustained. And yet, you know and I confess, how sadly most of us lack in that which is now before us.
Praying in the Holy Ghost.
Ever pray for the state of the assembly where you come from? I visited one assembly.
Quite unexpectedly, nobody knew I was coming and I turned up to the Bible reading and there were sixteen of us present at the Bible reading that evening and there are well over 100 breaking bread in that assembly and there were 16 including my wife and myself at the Bible reading.
You know, when that meeting was over, a brother came up to me and he said, brother, you caught us unawares tonight. And then he hung his head and he said, what shall we do? He said the ministry at the Bible readings is not such as seems to be helpful and encouraging to the young people and there are just so few that attend. He said, what can we do now? This brother had not opened his mouth during the course of the Bible reading at all.
And I said, brother, may I ask you a question? Did you get down on your knees before you came tonight?
And ask the Lord that there might be helpful, profitable, encouraging ministry from His Word.
No brother, I didn't. I said, have you ever done that in your life? He said, no brother, I never have. And there was another one standing right beside him and I said, Brother, have you ever done that? Have you ever gotten down on your knees before you came to the Bible reading and asked the Lord that there might be profitable and helpful ministry of His word? No brother, he said, I never have in my life. Well, I said, this just might be a good beginning if you two brothers and your wives would kneel down together before you come to the assembly.
That there might be that ministry which would be helpful and encouraging and food for the soul. They hung her head. While I'm very, very, very thankful to say that the picture now by the grace of God is quite different in that assembly. But I also want to add this as a word of caution, dear fellow believer, that it's no excuse for me to stay home.
Because I feel that the ministry is not that which I might like it to be.
Why do I go to meetings? Why? Because the Lord Jesus is there. Because the Lord Jesus is there. There was a dear brother at the Wheaton Conference whom I know very well and have known for a good many years, and I know that in the days of his youth, every Lord's Day, he walked 50 miles to be at the remembrance of the Lord.
He walked 25 miles to get there.
And 25 miles to get home and never miss the Lords day. Why do you think he went there? Because there were some wonderfully gifted brethren that he wanted to hear? No, but because the Lord was there. 50 miles. Every Lord there had a lot of coaxing to do to get it out of him. But I knew where he lived.
And I knew where the nearest meeting was. When I asked him where he attended, they told me and I looked him straight in the eyes. I said, brother, how did you get there?
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Well, I walked, he said. And I said, what time did you have to start in the morning? Well, he said, I usually start at about 3:00 and he stayed for Sunday school and he stayed for the gospel and went to bed and got up again at 3:00 Monday morning to walk 25 miles home. Again. I say this lest anyone think you have a right to stay home because you think the ministry is not quite as.
As attractive as you might wish it to be, our time has slipped by.
But we've got two anchors, and we have two more. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Is this not a needful expression? Dear Saints of God, that love of God shines down with a never changing fervor. But there is an enemy that knows what it means to your soul to be robbed of the enjoyment of His love. And He would busy you with this and that, so that you might fail to enjoy and to be kept in.
Sunshine of that love. You know, when Smith Falls where I live in the winter time, I used to walk to work there. The sun would be shining, of course, from the east, and the Main Street of that town ran straight North and South. And I always walked to work on the West side of the street, going to work in order that I might get the benefit of that early morning sun, particularly if it was 20 or 30 below 0. And coming home after a day of work, I would walk down the east side of the street in order that.
Western sun might warm me just a little bit. I kept myself in that sunshine as much as ever I could in those wintry days. And dear Saints of God, there's a shady side and a sunny side to the pathway to the glory. And in order to enjoy the warmth of that sun, you have to enjoy the light of it as well.
Does this not betray to us perhaps the reason why some of the Saints of God enjoy the warmth of that love more than others? Is there anyone here who would like to say the Lord loves that brother more than He loves me?
You know very well it's not true. You know he loves you just as much as he loves anyone else. But would it not be right to say that Brother seems to enjoy the Lorde love more than I do? And you and I know that we have seen this so often, and we ask ourselves, why is it so? Why is it so? Oh, I believe that brother has, by the grace of God, kept out of those shadows which would hinder him from the enjoyment of that love.
Now the one thing more is looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. What do we have to look forward to? Your Saints of God?
Oh, what a glorious prospect. May we be characterized as those who are not only waiting. This refers, I have no doubt, to his coming to take us away. And it's spoken of as a mercy. And indeed, there are many right now who think of that coming as a mercy. I have been in many homes recently where fathers and mothers are looking at their dear children, and they're seeing the calendar approach the time when their children are going to go back to school.
Or off the college and they are just crying to the Lord Jesus at a mercy.
That He might soon come and take us out of this corrupt and defiled world. Oh dear Saints of God, the circumstances in which you and I are found are pleasant indeed compared to those right now who are behind prison bars and suffering much for the name of the Lord Jesus.
And to them the prospect of the coming of the Lord is indeed a great mercy. And we visit with those who are in pain and suffering and weakness on a sick bed.
And we find them eagerly Speaking of the near return of the Lord Jesus, and we go into a home where all is comfort and pleasant.
What do we find? By the grace of God, I believe I can say I am finding from time to time, and I'm glad to see it and glad to hear it. A cry going up from many a heart, Even so calm. Lord Jesus, first of all, the desire of the heart is to be with Him, to see Him, to enjoy His love without hindrance. And then the very circumstances through which we passed.
Are making us more and more realize what a mercy it would be.
Jesus were to come and take us from this world from which the fear of the Lord is rapidly fading away. So, dear brethren, as we look at the last words of warning and comfort in the Old Testament, as we look at the last words of warning and appeal and comfort in the New Testament, may it just search our hearts and encourage our hearts to for I don't want anyone to leave this meeting room all distressed with the.
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And the indifference that's all around us, you and I have one to whom we can turn that will fill our hearts with joy.
You and I have a resource that can give us all the strength that we need to go on in the fear of the Lord, and you and I have a prospect before us that can send us out the door of this meeting room, rejoicing every one of us. May it be true then, with us that these four anchors may be the real experience of our heart, of our home, and of the assembly tool in which the Lord has placed us. And may there be granted to us by His wondrous grace that.
For the day that characterized those who cast out those four anchors.