Address—R. Thonney
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Like to start this afternoon with a few verses at the end of Marks Gospel Mark chapter 16.
Beginning with verse 9.
Now, when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene.
Out of whom he had cast 7 devils.
She went and told them that had been with him as they mourned and wept.
And they, when they had heard that he was alive and had been seen at her, believed not.
After that he appeared in another form, and to two of them as they walked and went into the country, and they went and told it unto the residue. Neither believe they them.
Afterward he appeared unto the 11 as they sat at me, and upbraided them.
With their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not him which had seen him after he was risen.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.
Verse 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them.
He was received up into heaven and sat on the right end of God, and they went forth and preached everywhere.
The Lord working with them and confirming the Word with signs following.
Amen.
I just enjoy this portion so much, brethren, because here in Mark's Gospel we have the Lord Jesus presented as the perfect servant.
And hereafter his resurrection, he meets with one and another.
Interchanging with them, interacting with them according to their varied needs.
And then in verse 19, it's as if he walks right into the glory of God and sits down at the right hand of God.
I must confess, brethren, I don't believe the truth.
Of the present at God's right hand. Of a real living man of flesh and bones, Has laid hold of our heart like it ought to.
He continues to work. Notice Verse.
20 says they went forth and preached everywhere, but then it says the Lord working with them, and it's beautiful to see the Lord working in this world.
The privilege that I value very highly as I move around a bit, brethren, to see real evidences of the Lord working. He uses different instruments.
And to get to know some of those instruments and to know how God has worked in their lives to make them instruments of His blessing as a tremendous privilege to get to know some of those dear people that God is using in a marked way. And I know that everyone here in this room, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, have a desire in your place to serve the Lord.
Let's never get the idea that the servants of the Lord are a certain class amongst God's people. We are all servants of the Lord. In fact, it is interesting.
That Paul addressing those who were really slaves in Colossians, chapter 3.
Says to them, you know, a slave never had his own liberty to go about as he wanted to. He was always at the command of his master. And many of those slaves had unsaved masters. But he tells those slaves they were called servants in Colossians 3.
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Ye serve the Lord Christ.
Sometimes I said is to the brethren in South America, and I believe it is true. Brethren, the idea that to serve the Lord you must leave your secular job and go out with your Bible in your hands to preach has done tremendous damage in the Christian testimony. No, wherever you are, you serve the Lord Christ. If you're a bricklayer, you serve the Lord Christ laying bricks.
If you are an accountant, you should serve the Lord Christ by pushing that pencil or using the computer, but you serve.
The Lord Christ. And if you do it in that sense, you're going to do it properly.
Because he's the one that really gives the rewards. The rewards aren't the paycheck at the end of the pay period.
And so I want to speak and encourage each one in their desire to serve the Lord, not only.
Brothers, but sisters as well, because there are some very effective servants of the Lord that are sisters.
Wonderful to see how God uses them. But you know what has impressed me in recent times, brethren? Because we do live in a time of the history of this world that is called in Scripture man's day, when man has his thoughts, his ideas, his program.
You and I passing through.
The world that we are are often affected by those kind of thoughts.
And we need to be challenged.
And I'd like to read before we go too much further.
A series of verses in the Old Testament.
That has impressed me in recent times.
About brokenness.
You know God uses broken vests.
Anybody here like to be broken?
I can say I don't like it.
But I approved in my own brief experience that it is a necessary thing in the ways of God if he's going to use a vessel.
To break.
And who of us would choose that way? None of us would. But that's what our God does so that he can use us. And I suppose we can say the reason why he has to break this vessel of mine is because there's a strong natural will that wants to do his thing. And if he doesn't break it?
He can't use me like he once to use me. Let's go to Psalm.
34 to start.
The few verses to show this principle because to me it is so marked.
In the word of God.
Verse Psalm 34 and verse 18. The Lord.
Is 9 unto them that are of a.
Broken heart and saveth, such as be of a contrite spirit. The Lord is nigh.
To those that are of a broken heart.
Another well known verse in Psalm 51.
That, to me is extremely beautiful.
Psalm 51 and verse 17. This is David song or Psalm of repentance.
After he had sinned so grievously.
But this verse 17 is an extremely.
Beautiful word for our hearts to encourage us even when we may have failed severely.
The sacrifices of God.
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Are a broken spirit.
A broken and a contrite heart. Oh God, thou wilt not despise, Isn't that beautiful?
Not pleasant, but beautiful.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
Isaiah chapter 57.
Verse 15.
For thus saith the high and lofty 1.
That inhabit of eternity, whose name?
Is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place.
With him also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit.
To revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
One more place.
Isaiah 66.
Verses one and two.
Thus saith the Lord.
The heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that he build unto me? Where is the place of my rest for all these things at mine handmade?
And all those things have been, saith the Lord, but to this.
Man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembling at my word.
Brethren, these verses the Lord seems to have brought home to my own soul recently.
The importance of brokenness in the hand of our God.
If we want to be instruments for blessing for him, and again I say the reason I believe it is necessary.
Is that we are so affected by the culture we're passing through.
Where man is set forward that we tend to get that mentality.
Of setting ourselves forward in one way or another, and we hinder.
Definitely hinder God's working in this world by that kind of a mentality, and so he has to.
OFT times break.
The will break the heart, break the vessel.
In Second Corinthians chapter four, we don't have time to go to it now, but we had that verse read yesterday I think it was.
That the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ. And then it says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. That the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of men.
God is going to do the work in such a way, brethren, that we will not be able to take any glory for it. Yes, He does use human instruments, but the men the the moment the human instrument starts to take the glory for himself, he hinders the work of God.
An example.
Gideon in the Old Testament.
Was one who was small in his own eyes.
And God came and.
Told him to go against the Midianites.
And immediately Gideon blows the trumpet and 32,000 men of Israel follow him. Pretty good sized army.
And the Lord said.
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Today the Excellency of the power is of God and not admin.
If I give the victory to Israel with 32,000 men, they're going to glory and save.
We have done it with our own might.
Tell all the ones that are afraid to go home.
22,000 went home. That's reducing your army pretty drastically. 10,000 Well, maybe Gideon thought I could work with 10,000.
The Lord says no, still too many, 10 thousands too many.
Even though the Midianites were spread out in the valley, innumerable.
Still, that was too many, and the Lord brings into another test that the waters.
And after that test, only 300 were left, only 300. Brethren, it's a lesson we have to learn. The Excellency of the power is of God and not of us, and how readily we start to think that we are something that God has used and that we are important. And immediately we start to hinder the work of God. What happened?
Gideon won a great victory.
He stood around the camp of the Midianites.
And at a given signal at night, it happened because the arms that they had in their hands, one was an earthen vessel with a lighted torch inside, and the other was a trumpet.
Figurative of the two forms of testimony that we have, the light and the word.
It's not only what we say, brethren, that is a testimony. It is what we are, and we are the light of the world. But before that light could shine, Gideon gives the signal, and they break that earthen vessel. It was necessary that the vessel be broken so that the light would shine around the camp of the Midianites, and they blew the trumpets, and the Lord went before.
And the Midianites beat down themselves and there was a great V1 Tremendous victory.
What does Gideon do afterwards?
You get some of the spoils together, and he makes the golden ephod.
And.
That ephod is a snare to all Israel.
Isn't it the story of our own heart how easily we tend to think that we are important? Brethren, if we I must say, in my own experience, if the Lord hasn't used some heavy blows to keep me down, I don't think there would be any way I could keep any measure of equilibrium. May the Lord help us, brethren, not to glory in men. God may use gifts amongst us.
And we thank God.
For gifts that he gives. But as an older brother has said amongst us many times, brethren.
I don't know if we've really heard what he said. You don't give thanks to the gift, you give thanks to the giver of the gift.
The Lord help us in that, brethren. So I just feel that sometimes we push certain ones forward to the point they couldn't keep their equilibrium and they didn't.
The Lord help us to keep our eyes on that man in the glory. Blessing comes because of his presence there at God's right hand. He is the head of the body. It is through him that all blessing comes down here. Brethren, it is such a lesson to me in Latin America, down in Bolivia, they have a lot more conferences than they do up here in the United States. And I don't want to be glorying about the brethren in Bolivia. Please don't get me wrong.
But sometimes they get together.
In quite a bit of weakness.
And you look around and say, where is somebody that's going to minister the word here?
But when there is simplicity of looking up to the Lord Jesus.
As head in heaven, I've been amazed, brethren, at the way the Lord opens blessing out to those dear ones some time ago.
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They were having announced a conference up in La Paz, Bolivia. That's at 13,000 feet above sea level on the Alta Plano, Bolivia.
And they didn't have a large enough room for it, so they pitched a tent outside the.
Meeting room.
The only problem when they got together for prayer the next morning, they get together about 6:30 in the morning.
It had snowed the night before.
And it was rather cool.
Snow doesn't last very long down there because they're not that far below the equator.
But they did get together in spite of the snow, and the Lord did give blessing. Brethren, God uses instruments and we thank God for the instruments that He uses. But let's not glory in man. Let's glory in that man that it's that God's right hand above. I think it's so majestic to think of our Lord Jesus walking here, interacting amongst his people down here.
And the moment comes after those 40 days, He walks right into the glory of God and sits down at God's right end. And what is he doing there? Continuing to work amongst his people. And he wants to use human instruments, and he will use them if we make ourselves available to Him.
Scripture speaks about it, but I'd like to go back to the Old Testament now, to one of the examples we have there of an instrument God used. Maybe we don't think he would qualify.
The way he lived for a servant of the Lord. But I love to think of how God used him. I'm talking about Jacob. Let's go back to Genesis chapter.
28.
Jacob was a twin.
He had an older brother that was born just before he was Esau, but before the two children were born.
The Lord told the mother.
That two nations were inner womb.
And that the elder would serve the younger. So it was before they were even born.
They knew that Jacob was going to be the one that would be served by the elder Eson.
The struggle still goes on over in the Land of Israel and the surrounding lands today.
But it is sure God's purpose, and in the coming day Israel will be the head of the nations. But it is interesting. As these two boys grew, I would suspect that if you would have gotten to know Esau and Jacob. But now the blessing.
By deceiving his father, Dorsey's mother was the one who told him how to do it.
Which is kind of sad, but that's what happens sometimes.
But Jacob has to flee for his life.
You know when you take things in your own hands, you only make things harder for yourself. You really do.
Listen to me young people, taking things into your own hands, you make it harder for yourself.
But as he's escaping, the Lord meets him, and I think this is beautiful. Let's read from verse 10. Jacob went out from Beersheba and went forward, went toward Heron, and he lighted upon a certain place and carried there all night, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for pillows.
And laid down in that place to sleep. I wonder who is here has ever used a stone for a pillow?
I slept on cement sometimes, which is kind of hard and and you're glad when morning comes so you can get up off of it. But I've never used a stone pillow. I think that'd be tough.
It is tough when you try.
To make your own way.
It's tough, It's hard.
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Verse 12 And he dreamed, and behold, the latter sat on.
The earth and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac the land where on thou liest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the east, and to the north and to the South. And indeed.
And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed, And behold, I am with thee.
And will keep thee in all places whither thou goeth, And will bring thee again into this land, For I will not leave thee.
Until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Want to stop there and ask you to look at those verses. Is there some condition?
That he would have to perform so that this promise that the Lord gave him would be true. Did he say, Jacob, if you behave rightly, I'll do all this for you, Not a word of it for the promise of God.
Did Jacob believe it?
His actions.
Showed that he really didn't believe it.
Still, it's true God pronounced the Word, and for as much as he didn't believe it.
It was still true. Only God was going to have to use hard circumstances in Jacob's life to bring him to the point of simply believing God.
Notice what he says toward the end of the chapter, verse 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleeping set. Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not, and he was afraid.
Why was he afraid? I'm afraid that Jacob didn't have a good conscience. He knew that he wasn't acting right. Still, the Lord had blessed him. And when you're not walking in a good conscious conscience, you cannot enjoy the blessings that God has for you. They're yours if you are one of God's people.
But you cannot enjoy them if you do not walk in a good conscience before God.
And he said, How dreadful is this place? This is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven. Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel. The name of that city was called Luz at the 1St. And Jacob bowed a vow. Now listen to his vow contrasted to what the Lord had told him if.
God will keep me. Now he's making a contract with God. God had given him.
Unconditional blessing. And here comes Jacob now with his contract. If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10 unto thee.
I don't know that we ever have any record of Jacob's given attempt to the Lord.
Now he kept it all pretty well for himself. He didn't keep his side of the bargain very well.
But can you get the picture? Dear young brother and sister and the Lord, I'm speaking to all of us today. Here's God's unconditional blessing that applies to him unconditionally and here.
Been attracted naturally to Esau. He was a better looking fellow.
And it says that Jacob was just kind of a plain man.
Isaac liked Esau better. He.
Haunted and brought in the meat and stewed it up in a way that.
Isaac Love.
But why was it?
That years later the Lord could say Jacob.
Have I loved Esau? Have I hated? Remember, that was not said before.
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They were born. That was said years afterwards. Why? Because Jacob, for all his scoundrelness, for all his naughty nuts, had an appreciation for the things of God. He appreciated the birthright.
And Esau was a profane man.
What does profane mean? It means to treat sacred things as if they were common. And when it came to his birthright, which was given to him of God, he treated it as if it were something that was common. I'd just soon have a bowl of little soup instead of that birthright. That's profanity. That's treating things that are sacred.
As if they were common. And God appreciates those who value his word, and Jacob did.
But I'd like to go back to see how God worked in Jacob's life because it's instructive. I really believe in chapter 28.
Jacob because of the way he deceived his father.
And got not only the birthright, but now the blessing.
By deceiving his father, of course, his mother was the one who told him how to do it, which is kind of sad, but that's what happens sometimes.
But Jacob has to flee for his life.
You know when you take things in your own hands, you only make things harder for yourself. You really do.
Listen to me young people, taking things into your own hands, you make it harder for yourself.
But as he's escaping, the Lord meets him, and I think this is beautiful. Let's read from verse 10. Jacob went out from Beersheba and went forward, went toward Heron, and he lighted upon a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for pillows.
And laid down in that place to sleep. I wonder who is here has ever used a stone for a pillow?
I've slept on cement sometimes, which is kind of hard and and you're glad when morning comes so you can get up off of it. But I've never used a stone pillow. I think that'd be tough.
It is tough when you try.
To make your own way.
It's tough, It's hard.
Verse 12 And he dreamed, and behold, the latter set on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac the land, where on thou liest to thee will I give it into thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth.
And thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the east, and to the north and to the South, and indeed, and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be black. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring me again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
Want to stop there and ask you to look at those verses. Is there some condition?
That he would have to perform so that this promise that the Lord gave him would be true.
Did he say, Jacob, if you behave rightly, I'll do all this for you, Not a word of it. It's unconditional, the promise of God.
Did Jacob believe it?
His actions.
Showed that he really didn't believe it.
Still, it's true God pronounced the Word, and for as much as he didn't believe it.
It was still true. Only God was going to have to use hard circumstances in Jacob's life to bring him to the point of simply believing God.
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Notice what he says toward the end of the chapter, verse 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not, and he was afraid.
When was he afraid? I'm afraid that Jacob didn't have a good conscience. He knew that he wasn't acting right. Still, the Lord had blessed him. And when you're not walking in a good conscience, conscience you cannot enjoy.
The blessings that God has for you, they're yours if you are one of God's people, but you cannot enjoy them if you do not walk in a good conscience before God.
And he said, How dreadful is this place? This is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel. The name of that city was called Love at the 1St. And Jacob vowed a Val. Now listen to his vow contrasted to what the Lord had told him. If God will keep me, now he's making a contract with God. God had given him unconditional blessings.
And here comes Jacob now with his contract.
If God will be with me.
And will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on.
So that I come again to my Father's house in peace. Then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 10th unto thee.
I don't know that we ever have any record of Jacob given attempt to the Lord.
Now he kept it all pretty well for himself. He didn't keep his side of the bargain very well.
But can you get the picture? Dear young brother and sister and the Lord, I'm speaking to all of us today. Here's God.
Unconditional blessing that applies to him unconditionally. And here on the other side, Jacob makes his own contract, which is a lot less really, and he has to perform to get his part. For God to perform, he has to perform.
And Jacob, as you know, was a scoundrel.
When he went up to his uncle.
House and there he got his two wives.
And there he got lots of cattle. God was performing his unconditional blessing to Jacob. He was keeping him in spite of it. But every time Jacob schemes and tries to bring about the blessing through his own machinations, he only brings greater problems on himself. And that's what happens when we don't.
Simply believe God and rest in His promise. Now go over to verse chapter 32 because in chapter 32 after a number of years.
In Edinerum he comes back now to the land of Canaan.
And it says in verse one Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.
When Jacob saw them, he said this is God's oath. God was performing his part of that unconditional promise.
He was keeping him to tell you. That's a great comfort to know that the angels of God are going before you and taking care of you.
Lot better than any human army to have the angels of God going before you.
And yet when he sends messengers ahead into the land of Canaan to tell Isaiah's brother.
And the messengers return in the following verses to tell them He saw us coming with 400 men.
Jacob gets tremendously scared.
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If I was mad, he's going to get me this time. He's going to kill us all.
Fear. Why that fear? Because he didn't believe God, simply believe God. Oh what lessons these are for our Christian lives. Dear brethren, God promises are valid in the year 2001. They are just as valid as they are when the book was written.
You can trust God, He is faithful even if we believe not yet He abideth faithful. He cannot deny Himself. You can trust Him.
You're a young person you can trust.
In amazed at how many I've met up with recently that has serious doubts as to God in his word.
I say if it's doubtless to my person, I can understand why you would doubt me.
It's doubt, says to any other person. I can understand that to, but never allow a doubt to penetrate your heart.
About God and about His Word, because it comes straight from the devil and he only wants to level you on the battlefield of life.
Don't allow it to happen. Put up the shield of faith. Say I believe God.
And search for his promises, lay hold of them. So here's Jacob, and he does a series of things. We don't have time to talk about it all. How he arranges presents for his brother Isaiah to appease his anger. And he goes and he sends the message, thy servant Jacob to my Lord Esau.
Is this the one?
Esau was going to serve.
He didn't really hadn't grasped the promises of God yet, but I love this.
As you get down a little further in this 32nd chapter, it says in verse.
24 Jacob was left alone. You know, it's important sometimes that we be alone with God.
In fact, that's where issues are really settled. It's nice to be at a conference like this and be encouraged with the presence of a lot of other brethren with their tongues. A time when there's issues that you have to settle alone with God.
And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
He didn't get any sleep that night. It was wrestle, wrestle, wrestle that whole dark night through.
Who was that man that he was wrestling with?
It was the Angel with a capital A. It was the Lord himself. You know, I marvel at that. The Lord wrestled all night with Jacob. You mean it took the Lord that long to break that man down?
And he says, verse 25 when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he.
Touch the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him.
He couldn't get anywhere with Jacob. Jacob, it was so tenacious, that tendency to want to manage his own life, to do the things his way that he wouldn't let loose. He kept right on a wrestling until the Lord breaks, the vessel touches his thigh, his thigh goes out of joint, and that's a painful situation and Jacob can't wrestle any longer.
What does Jacob do now? The Angel says to him. Let me go for the dawn horizon.
The day break it. What does Jacob say? I will not let you thee go, except thou bless me.
Oh, I think here finally Jacob comes to a realization that it's not his own efforts that's going to bring the blessing of God. What's going to bring the blessing of God in his life is to simply lay hold on that Angel. And the Angel asked him his name and he says, what is thy name? He says Jacob says thy name won't be called no more Jacob, but Israel.
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For as a Prince thou hast power.
With God and with men and half prevail. What? What is this saying, Jacob? This scoundrel, this guy that was always deceiving, doing things his own way, He prevails with God. That's what it's saying.
Oh, I think this is so wonderful.
He prevails with God, and it's at that point he prevailed when he couldn't wrestle any longer, He could not take things in his own hands any longer, and he lets loose of the situations of life and he lays hold simply on that Angel in appreciation of the blessing that was there for him.
Jacob's life finishes much brighter than Isaacs life because he got to this point.
In fact, a little later on in the Book of Genesis and we don't have time or time's up.
Will allow me to stay a little later on in the Book of Genesis, Jacob's down in Egypt.
And Joseph, his son, takes them into Pharaoh's presence.
And Pharaoh asked him.
How many years old he was?
And he said, you and evil have been the days of the life of my pilgrimage.
But Jacob ends up blessing peril. I would guess that Pharaoh probably was the mightiest monarch on earth at that time.
And Scripture tells us in another place, without controversy, the lesser is blessed of the greater.
And so Jacob has a place, morally speaking, greater than Pharaoh there in Egypt.
Oh, how God had worked in the life of that man, Jacob. And that's what he's doing in our lives too, brethren. More and more I'm convinced in my own soul that it's not the work we do for God that is important.
It is the work that God does through human instruments and perhaps.
I may be an instrument if I am a vessel ready for his use.
The Lord help us to keep our eyes on that man and the glory to not glory in men.
But the glory in the Lord, let's just pray.
Gracious Father, we're thankful.