Burbank Conference: 2011
Table of Contents
Revelation 1:1-6
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#267 has been given out.
Awfulness free sights in Jesus.
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I wonder bro.
Revelation chapter one.
But perhaps the view of getting into further into chapters 2 and three. I'm not sure how the Lord might lead, but.
I have been impressed.
So we're getting close to the end of this age and judgment begins in the House of God that.
There is a message for us in those chapters especially.
I submit that to my brother, and if there's any other exercise I would be willing to think about that too.
Revelations chapter one.
The revelations of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things.
My SU must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his Angel unto his servant John, who bear a record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ of all things that he saw. Lest it is he that readeth they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.
John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you in peace from him.
Which is, and which was, and which is to come? And from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.
To Him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eyes shall see Him they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of earth shall well because of him Even so. Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning of the end, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. And I, John, who also am your brother and companion of tribulation.
And the Kingdom of the patience of Jesus Christ.
It was in the aisle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ and I was in the spirit on the Lords day and heard behind me a great voice of a trumpet saying I'm an Alpha and Omega, the 1St and the last.
And what thou see us write in a book, and send it under the seven churches, which are in Asia, and Ephesus, and in the Smyrna, and unto Perkamus, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me and thee in turn. I saw 7 golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like under the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, gird about paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as flame of fire.
And his feet like under fine brass, as if they were burned in a furnace. And his voice at the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp 2 edged sword.
And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his hand, right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the 1St and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.
00:05:16
The mystery of the seven stars with our sauce in my right hand or the seven golden candlesticks.
The seven stars are in the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks were sausage or the seven churches.
We're all aware of the fact that the one who wrote John's Gospel is the same person who wrote the revelation, John the Apostle.
And it's interesting to think about it because.
The first verse really gives the title of the book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.
My sage John, did you not know the Lord?
Yes.
He would say I knew him.
I was so close to him I leaned on his breast at the Last Supper.
But in this book we have the revelation of Jesus Christ in a different way that he had not learned him in the Gospels, where he came in meekness and lowliness.
Here we have him in his character as a judge.
And we tend to think of that in a negative way, but it's interesting that in the very first chapter, it speaks of his love.
And brethren, it gives confidence to know that there is one walking in the midst of the seven churches.
In his characteristics, judge, but that he puts his hand on us, and he is putting his hand on us, brethren.
And it's something that we feel it's because we're getting close to the end, brethren. And before he begins with this world, he touches us, those of his own household. So John, when he sees the Lord Jesus at the end of this chapter, falls that his feet is dead.
The Lord puts his hand on him and says, fear not, it was the same one.
That he knew in this life, but now in a different character.
And it's important when sin is running so rampant in today's world.
And we tend to be affected by the currents of this world to realize that God is going to directly intervene into the affairs of this world. And in the meantime, He is working amongst us brethren. He is walking in the midst of these 7 golden candlesticks, that which bears the light of testimony. It's easy to say we're BR. We're gathered to the Lords name.
We enjoy the Lord in our midst.
The brethren, this is a very solemn thing to reflect on as well, and it's something that should exercise us in view of that fact. So this is a burden on my heart rather than suggesting this, and I trust it'll be for profit as we meditate.
This portion.
Helpful to when we take up revelation to realize that perhaps it can be broken down into three general sections. In this first chapter we have the vision of the Son of Man, as you say, Brother Bob, walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks as the judge, discerning those things that are for his glory and are for His glory, and yet in His California with in love and for the blessing of his people.
Then in the second and third chapters you have the seven addresses to seven literal assemblies that existed in Asia Minor at that time. And those assemblies had difficulties. In each one there were problems. There were things that were wanting in each one. And remember, they were seven literal assemblies with those difficulties that existed in those assemblies when John, by the Spirit of God wrote to them.
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But those assemblies were chosen very carefully by the Spirit of God. And they are. Their letters are recorded in an order that I suggest, as many have, that gives us an ecclesiastical history of the Church from its formation and on the day of Pentecost until the very end when the Lord Jesus comes to call his own home and rapture the Church away.
And then from the 4th chapter on, we have prophetic events unfolded in connection with the judgments, but also again, the ultimate blessing of this earth and God's earthly people in the coming day. So it's helpful when we take up the Book of Revelation to see those 3 divisions. And as we launch out on this chapter, and as Brother Bob suggested, perhaps into the next chapter, let's realize too, brethren, that while we come from assemblies gathered to the Lord's name.
That have today many difficulties and problems. And there are. We don't want to pretend like there aren't difficulties and problems. We no doubt all have to hang our heads and own that there are things wanting in our lives personally and as a result collectively as assemblies. But there's always been the work of the enemy. There's always been the raising of the flesh. There's always been the trials and the tests that the Lord has allowed. And we're not unique in that way.
But what we can find is that we have the same one, the same resource that we have that the early brethren had. We have the same one that we can we can turn to. But they did, whether it was in Ephesus or Laodicea, we have the same resource. We have the same heart of love toward us. And yes, he deals with us in his governmental ways and the governmental ways of God with his people are very, very real brethren. And it needs to solemnize us. But let's be encouraged too, that what he desires is.
That we would give ear like those in the days of John and those he wrote to, that we would give here.
Take heed and find our resource in the same Lord.
The same one that still walks in the midst of his own That we too might be overcomers in the days in which we live.
When the Lord Jesus came for the first time, he came his Savior.
And when he returns for his own and comes in the character that is seen in the Revelation, he'll be the deliverer for his own people, as he says in First Thessalonians to the Thessalonians, the the new translation, you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait from his for his Son, from heaven, our deliverer.
From the coming Wrath.
It's a solemn thing to realize that when the Lord Jesus.
Having come as Savior.
Returns to heaven, the Father says to him, you into your hands. I am going to commit all final judgment with respect to man and respect to the earth, and so into His hands has been placed the responsibility.
To set everything right for the glory of God in His creation and in the revelation. We have, as he says to us, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him. That is, He is this. What is here is what God gave to him.
Thus Jesus Christ as a man, this responsibility that he's going to carry out for the glory of God.
And it's bears with it is has already been said in this first chapter we see him presented to us in his judicial glory, and even John, who on earth had lay on his bosom in the closest of relationships, when he sees the Lord in that glory in which he is going to deal with all things connected with the earth, he's afraid.
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He he's scared and the Lord has to reassure him. I want to give a little illustration of what I think is seen in this and make a comment about it that might help get the thought in our souls. Brother Bob Bauman, some here will remember him, used to tell this true account of something that happened to that he saw while he had been a lawyer in Toledo, OH.
In that area there was once a man who went into a house to rob it.
And in the house was the father, a mother, and a daughter. And when the man came in to rob the house and they were there, he still robbed them.
But he said to the man first he abused the mother and the daughter.
Umm, he hit them and slapped them around and so on. And he said to the father, he said don't call the police. If you call the police, I'm gonna come back and do a lot worse than the man left.
The man did call the police.
And after he called the police, they caught him. And a few days later, he went to court for his arraignment. That is when the charges were to be presented to him. He was handcuffed to two deputies as he walked down the courtroom to go to the judge's bench to face the judge and have the judge, the charges read out against him. And when he walked down the aisle and he looked in the at the judge, he collapsed.
The judge was the man he had robbed.
The point of the story, however, is every man who now or woman and child who at this time receives the Savior receives the blessing, but the day is coming when anyone who has rejected Him is going to face Him as Judge.
The Savior will be the Judge, and in the revelation we have the judge, if you will, ordering by power all things to bring them under the right relationship to God, both in heaven and in earth. And woe, woe to Him who refuses the Savior now and then has to face Him as Judge.
When Daniel was given revelation in his day, he was told to seal up the book because the time was not at hand. But it's different, isn't it, with John? Here we have the revelation from an ascended Christ. The work has been accomplished of eternal redemption. As a result, all judgments committed to the Son, the Lord Jesus is. When this is given to John, He's risen.
Ascended. Exalted. He's.
Glorified and seated at the right hand of God as God's Amen to the work of Calvary. And now the time is at hand. What John is not told to seal up the book, but he's told to write these things for these these things are shortly to come to pass. And as he says in the end of verse three, the time is at hand. And I think that ought to exercise each one of us, especially in connection with what Brother Dawn has said.
If the time was at hand when John was given the revelation. If these things were shortly to come to pass.
How much closer are we now? You know the things that we have unfolded in the Book of Revelation, brethren.
Are about to take place and I sometimes wonder if we really have a sense in our souls.
Of how short the time is we're right down at the end. And as we visit together, I'm impressed to realize how often we say seems more than ever as we see the world stage being set and events unfolding that point to what is going to take place after the Lord Jesus comes. How often we say it can't be long, we must be right down at the end. Now it is true that God is far more gracious than I am.
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The Lord Jesus is more gracious and patient and long-suffering than I am. But brethren, can can it be long until we're going to be taken away. We're going to be out of here, so to speak. We're we're looking for, we're not looking for these events so much, although it's part of our hope. In fact, just hold your finger here and in connection with these comments. Let's we could quote it, but let's read a portion in Titus.
'Cause I, I think there's something we often miss in connection with this and in connection with what we're looking for this morning, the hope of the Lord's coming for us and what is unfolded later on in the Book of Revelation, the prophetic events that take place after the Lord comes and then we come back with him and so on. But just notice, it's a very familiar verse.
Gonna back up here in Titus two and read the 11Th verse and 12Th verse before I focus in on the 13th.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope. Now notice this and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. You know we often say, brethren, and and rightly so, and I understand what we mean when we say it.
But we often say that the proper hope of the believer is the Lord's coming for his Saints, what we refer to as the rapture.
That which I trust everyone of us in this room are gladly anticipating this morning.
And that which might take place before the new meal is served or this meeting is completed. But there are two things that are brought together here in this verse in the book of Titus that are part really of our hope. Yes, we're looking for the blessed hope, the Lord's coming at any moment and the glorious appearing. It's all really connected, isn't it? Paul speaks of it again to Timothy in his final epistle. He says all those that love his appearing, we speak of.
Anticipating and looking for and loving.
The hope of his coming, the rapture. But do we anticipate and do we love his appearing as well? And I believe that what Titus or what Tim Paul is really saying to Titus is in the measure in which that is true. And you understand and have a sense of grace in your soul. It will give you the proper character to live soberly, righteously, and godly when.
Right now, brother, in this present age, right down where we are and what is going to form the proper character of a believer.
It's to be looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing. And brethren, these things are a reality. We talk about it. We talk about the Lord's coming in. It's two aspects. But do we realize that these things are shortly to come to pass?
That the time is at hand. This is no time to be living carelessly in this world.
This is no time even to be throwing up our hands and being discouraged with circumstances.
I I'm gonna say this, you'll smile. And I know what the brother meant when he said it. We were talking about events on the world stage and the Lord's coming and prophetic events. And he said, Jim, bring it on. I knew what he meant. If these things that we see point to what we have in Revelation, and if they point, point and point in pointing to what unfolds in Revelation, it means the Lord's coming is even sooner.
He was like, bring it on. The bittersweet of it is many of our brethren are suffering under these kinds of.
Things in other countries but brethren, it's exciting this this is tremendous we're we're just about there let's let's.
Hold fast to what we have and the truth we've been given in light of what is unfolded in these chapters.
And if we love the Lord Jesus, we want to see Him publicly vindicated in this world where he was so dishonored. It's not only our deliverance we should think about, but His vindication, brethren. And that's what will take place when God introduces His Son. And I really, truly believe, brethren, it will be the most glorious display of power and glory that there was, ever, ever has been, or ever will be.
00:25:08
When we come back with Jesus, sing for.
In this chapter it says things which must shortly come to pass.
And really, like you mentioned, Jim, when the Lord Jesus accomplished redemption, there is nothing really hindering for God to bring it all to pass. But it's just because in his patience, he's waiting for souls to come to repentance. But he's waited these long while. It's close to 2000 years now that he's waited since the Lord Jesus hung on that cross. But brother and I really believe when we get home to the glory and look back, we're gonna see.
It was just a little while. It seemed like a long time to us, especially maybe young people think, wow, it's a long time. Well, it might seem like that from our perspective now, but when we get home to glory, it'll, we'll see it. It was just a little while, but the time is at hand, brethren, and these things could start to happen at any moment. So how we need these, uh, encouragements, I find, uh, like you said, Jim.
Sometimes people shy away from the Book of Revelation because it's kind of hard to interpret all the all the figures that there are there. And that may be so. But look at the verse in the 22nd chapter, which confirms what you said. Verse 10 on the 22nd chapter, he says to John.
Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book or the time is at hand.
So we need to read it, brother, as much as we don't understand very much about it, read it. Notice verse three of our chapter. Blessing is he that readeth not only reading.
They that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein. It's not only reading, it's hearing.
Rather than not to confess for myself that sometimes I read a chapter.
But I've been thinking about so many other things that I really haven't heard what's been said to me.
We need to be alert when we read and listen to what he has to say to us.
I've had the experience I'm sure many have of talking to somebody. You can tell you're standing in front of you, but you tell they're not really listening.
So may the Lord help us, brethren, to not only read, but to hear, and then to keep the Saints of these books.
Store them up in our souls. These are real. These are things that must shortly come to pass.
Whatsoever things he has to say unto us, just a little comment on that. I wonder if we could just turn for a moment on that to the second chapter of John's Gospel.
And the verse 5.
I was thinking of this in connection with the precious privilege and the exhortations of scriptures would have us to be diligent in studying His precious word and learning precious truth.
But that is not enough. And we see it brought out here in the and you've brought it out rather here too in this way. Verse five His mother Jesus mother said unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you.
Do it. There needs to be not only that knowledge of the word and precious to have a greater knowledge of the word than we do each one, but all the Lord wants something more. He wants obedience. So just that little comment in connection with that.
There may be many things we don't understand about the Book of Revelation. I'm thankful for those who can unfold prophetic teaching to us. It's not my line of things. But when I read the Book of Revelation and any other scriptures that bring before us prophetic events, there's one thing I understand, brethren. God's man is gonna be glorified in the end, and God's man is going to win in the end. And God's heart will never be satisfied, brethren, till his Son.
Is fully vindicated on this planet. You know the Lord Jesus has his rightful place in heaven today.
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And God has set him at his own right hand and given him a name which is above every name, and we're exhorted to look up and see him crowned with glory and honor and so on. But God's Son, who was so treated on this planet earth, has never been vindicated yet. But he's waiting for that, you know, that's why the Lord Jesus could leave things that were said and done against Him when he was here in this world.
It says, who when he was reviled, reviled not again When he suffered, He threatened not. You say, how could he do it? He committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. And he knew that there was a day coming when God the Father would completely vindicate Him here in this world. And when the heavens open up, as is described later on in this chapter, and every eye sees him, He's not coming, brethren, in lowliness and grace.
The last glimpse this world, God of the Lord Jesus, was crowned with a crown of thorns, hanging on a Roman cross in his shame and agony.
The next glimpse they get of the Lord Jesus, God the Father as it were, opening the heavens to reveal Him coming.
As it says in the 19th chapter, crowned with many diadems and all the world is going to look up and they're going to see this one, the one that was crucified and cast out, the one that they said. We will not have this man to reign over us. He's going to come in power and glory. God's heart is going to be satisfied finally to have his full vindication here in this world. That's another reason why we ought to love his appearing brethren, not just because we're going to be with Christ and we're going to reign with them and we're going to see righteousness executed, but to enter into the heart of God.
To see that he's going to have.
His heart satisfied to enter into the heart of the Lord Jesus, the one who's going to come and set all things right and be vindicated and and so on. But I'd like to give a little illustration that I know it's been given before in connection with why we should be very interested in what we have unfolded in the Book of Revelation. Because I've had people say to me, real Christians say to me, well, I'm not really interested in prophetic events.
I'm interested in living for the Lord now, and I know the Lord is coming at any moment, and I just leave prophetic events. And I don't delve into Revelation or the book of Daniel or Isaiah or whatever, but I sometimes use this illustration to show why we should be profoundly interested. I was in business for many years and in the town of Smith Falls, where I come from, and we'll suppose that having been in business, I come home from the office one day.
And we've made some changes at the office, maybe some investment that has panned out for, uh, some business venture, maybe some expansion at the office. Maybe we're gonna move to a bigger facility, whatever it is. And we'll suppose I come home from the office and at the dinner table in the evening, I begin to explain to my wife and children what's going on at the office and the changes that we're gonna make.
And suppose my wife and children, this never happened, but suppose my wife and children said, look, Jim, Dad, we're not interested in what goes on at the office. That really doesn't affect us. We have the home. My wife might say, well, I have the care of the home here. And as long as you provide and you come home at night and things are happy in the home, that's really all that matters. And my children say, Dad, we, we love you and we're glad when you're home and spend time with us and so on. How would I feel?
If my wife and children responded in that way, I'd feel pretty bad, wouldn't I? Because what affects me affects them. In fact, if things didn't go well at the office, things weren't going to go so well at home. How are you going to provide for your family at home and keep a roof over your head and meals on the table if things aren't going along well at the office? No, thank the Lord. As I look back on those years, my wife and children were interested in what went on.
At the office, because especially my wife, she understood that what went on at the office affected what went on at home. And because there was a relationship and love, she was what interested me, interested her brethren. These things are the interest of God the Father and our Savior, his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and if they are of that paramount interest to to the Father and the Son.
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And for the full exaltation of the sun in this world that cast him out, then we ought to, if we have that real love for the Father and the Son, then we, we ought to. And we'll have that love and concern and connection with what's going to go on in a future day.
Brother, what you have just said, uh, so precious to our hearts, reminds me of the verse in that first chapter. Which verse was it? Uh, blessed is he that readeth.
Blessed is he that read us and we've enjoyed in our little meeting, going through Revelation. We all crumbled a little bit, uh, especially after, uh, chapter 3, but we have gone through it, uh, recognizing our weakness.
And it made me think of something that I think is worth repeating and may be an encouragement to all of us. Uh, recently, I think it was two years ago, we were up at Fort Flagler and our dear, our beloved brother Dave Lundeen, now with the Lord, got off and gave us a little talk and he started out with this. He said, perhaps some of you will remember who are there. You pick up the word of God, especially the Book of Revelation, Daniel, you just say Isaiah other.
Parsons that may seem a little, uh, make us a little fear fearful, but he said, you know, uh, you, you're almost hesitate to even go there and you so you don't read it. And so he said, I wanna give you an illustration, supposing you are near a forest and you, you go into the forest once and you just get lost. And so you don't wanna ever go back to the forest again. Now, what is the cure? He said, what is the cure to that?
Uh, fear of going into the forest?
It's the fact that you need to to frequent the forest, frequent the forest, and so with us, we need to frequent the Word of God, read it, read it and read it. Read it in dependence upon the Lord and ask the Lord to show us His mind as we read it together. As we were going through a revelation, I got all the books I have on revelation. I was reading them a little bit, tried to understand a little more.
And I found that these dear respected authors didn't all completely agree on every every issue there either. And so I thought of this, how good it is to just.
Be careful, be dependent upon the Lord continue to read it to read it diligently and and it'll it's such a blessing in each one of our lives to be diligent in the reading of the word of God. It produces fruit. It's the unerring precious word of God that we have been given. Brother, I hope those that story will be an encouragement to each one of you here as it has been to my heart.
Like to notice the?
Statements of John in the second verse and then in the ninth verse and the second verse, he says, Who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ. In verse nine he says, I John, who am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, who was in the aisle? That is called Patmos. Why?
Same verse, same words as in verse 2 for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ in connection with the burden of why we have the revelation given to us.
It begins with the Word of God. God has spoken, God has chosen, God has planned, and God will see that His counsels are fulfilled. To whom did he entrust his word first? Jesus Christ.
It's the revelation which Jesus Christ receives from God.
Was he faithful in what had been received to him?
Yes, perfect in his testimony of it. Perfect in the testimony in which he lived, in which he presently lives.
As he is presented to us later in his character in the chapter. But at the same time he takes that testimony, and he gives to the Angel to be a testimony to John. And so John receives from the Angel the word, that which began as the word of God, that which is seen as imperfection in its testimony in this Jesus Christ.
00:40:11
John receives it. What does he do with it? Does he simply say, well, someday all this is going to come to pass and I'm going to look forward to it and it's all going to be wonderful, no.
No. It's so affected his life that he ends up on the Isle of Patmos as a prisoner. Why is he there? Because he intelligently and in faith accepted the testimony that was given to him, and he lived it.
And the consequence for John was it put him in tribulation, it put him on an island, it put him in a place of having to learn to patience the patience of Jesus Christ.
That patience which waits until God's time for the fulfillment of what He has given a revelation to.
In connection with Bob's burden, I'm going to anticipate and look ahead for a moment to chapters two and three. The Lord Jesus gave the perfect testimony as to God while He was here on earth. He's not here now.
But he has given to his people, the church, the responsibility of the testimony. And what is it?
You're the light of the world.
The testimony is to be that which presents to man what God is, as light and as love.
And connected with it in the Revelation is the day is near when all who refuse it are going to come under God's hand of government in judgment.
Every one of us individually, and all of us collectively.
Are responsible to bear this testimony for God faithfully.
And if we in any measure enter into the truth of it, what we have in the revelation.
Effects every single day of our lives.
How does you can say to somebody in the world, Jesus is coming back, Are you ready? And he's going to judge the earth? That person can look at your life and mine and say, does his life show it?
That's testimony.
Does His conversation show it or not? That's testimony. That's the calling of responsibility to us today. If we truly and honestly and believe what we read, are we living it in a way that bears testimony for God as to the truth of it and is a fulfillment of the testimony of Jesus Christ?
That it is so.
Or is it otherwise? That's the burden. And John is a faithful one to us, of one who lived it out in his life and paid the price that was associated with it. And we'll share in the coming day of glory as identified with the one who is going to manifest himself as.
As it says, the verse, that was the glorious. What was it, Gem? The glorious theory. Pardon me, Glorious appearing. What that is, is the appearing of the glory of the person. That's what the appearing is about more than any other thing. It is the coming appearing of the glory of the person of Jesus Christ to the world.
That's why it's a glorious thing, and it's why we are to live to His glory and His honor. In view of that appearing in that regard, Brother Dawn, I'd like to read a verse in Proverbs, and I'm going to read it in Mr. Darby's translation because I think it is helpful in regard to your comments in Proverbs chapter 29.
And verse 18, they say, I'm going to read this in Mr. Darby's translation where there is no vision. The people cast off restraint, but happy is he that keepeth thy law. I believe this goes along with what our brother Dawn was saying. Because what is it that's going to give us the proper character of believers? What is it, again that's going to cause us to live soberly, righteously, and godly right down at the end in this present age?
00:45:25
It's to have a vision, brethren, of what is ahead. John had a wonderful vision here, and he records it by divine inspiration for us. But what is it that's going to give us the proper character of as believers here in this age in which we find ourselves? It's to have a vision rather than of what's ahead. It's to keep the glory before us. It's illustrated, perhaps with the children of Israel. When they were in the wilderness. They often became discouraged.
They be, they murmured, they fought, they found fault, they looked back toward Egypt in their hearts, they returned into Egypt.
But what was the answer to it all? Well, if you'll sometime, if you look it up, you'll find it in the 16th chapter of Exodus. When they look back, the Lord told Moses to tell them to turn around.
To look ahead. And when they looked ahead, what did they see? They saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. And as long as they had that before them, they were encouraged to press on mile after mile, day after day and year after year. And if we lose sight of what is ahead and the full glory of the and exaltation of the Lord Jesus and his full revelation to this world in a coming day.
And the joy that God is going to have in all that is going to take place.
And the ultimate blessing that there's going to be as a result, we're going to get discouraged too, brethren, where no vision is that we're going to cast off restraint. We're not going to live soberly and righteously. We're going to live for ourselves. And let me just say this, too, in connection with Dawn's comments, because I think it's very important to understand, brethren, this is not the reigning time now. This is not the day in which prophetic events are being unfolded, John.
Was in exile for his testimony showing that.
This is not the time when Christ has his full exaltation. This is not the time when we are associated with Him in His Kingdom. The it's the story of the nobleman who has taken his journey into a far country to wait for his Kingdom and to return. This is going to shortly come to pass, but are you and I willing, with a vision of glory and what's ahead in our souls, willing to follow the same?
Christ that John followed, are we willing to suffer a little? I know most of us in this these countries don't know much about actual suffering, like John and many of our brethren today in other countries. But are we willing to bear his reproach to follow a rejected Christ now with a sense in our souls of what is ahead and how close it is? If we are then like John, he's willing to reveal wonderful things, not new things to us.
But to reveal wonderful things from this book, wonderful revelations that he has given.
If we are willing to quietly follow him now and wait for the day of glory.
We are part of his Kingdom, not right now, aren't we? But what characterizes is Kingdom like was brought out in verse nine is tribulation and patience. If you say you recognize the authority of the Lord Jesus, which is what we mean when we talk about his Kingdom, then there will be tribulation involved and you won't have things set right right away. You might have to wait a bit. You might have to be patient and that's what you're saying and I think that's.
Very good to recognize it's the coming day when his Kingdom will be characterized characterized as power and glory. That is not the present day.
But going back a bit here, brother, into these verses, uh, the introduction John to the seven churches, verse four. Notice, I think we see here the whole Trinity, uh, mentioned.
First it says from him which is and which was and which is to come.
That is the ever existing 1 The Eternal. That's God in his full character, and then from the seven spirits which are before his throne.
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Seven is completeness.
In number. And so it is the Spirit of God and it's sometimes shown in seven eyes and it's completeness. But then verse five, and from Jesus Christ, the one who is going to be revealed, there's three words that Scripture uses about the Lord's coming in glory at the end of the tribulation. We've spoken about them appearing as one.
Revelation that we have here is another, and manifestation is another. They're all referred to the Lord's.
Coming at the end of the tribulation, when he, when every eye shall see him. But it's beautiful the way it introduces this, uh, book in verse 5, introducing the Lord Jesus. And notice there's three things that it says about his person and then three things that he has done. First of all.
The faithful witness.
Secondly.
The first begotten of the dead.
And thirdly, the Prince of the kings of the Earth.
Oh, isn't it wonderful, brethren? And in the midst of a world where there's so many lies, so much unfaithfulness?
Even amongst those sometimes that they're the name of the Lord, there is one faithful witness.
He cannot be anything but faithful. He cannot deny himself. Sometimes brethren give up and they want to quit coming to meetings.
Brother, maybe we're all unfaithful, but there is one faithful witness there. Don't give up.
He is faithful. He is the faithful witness.
And He is the first begotten of the dead, the 1St to rise in the power of a life that death cannot touch is so wonderful, brother. We face an uncertain world where death, sin and death are realities.
But we know one who is the first begotten of the dead, and when he rose from the dead, he dieth no more.
Death hath no more power over him.
We know that one. He's the one that's in the midst, brother.
And then the Prince of the kings of the Earth. So in this book we have him coming back to take the reins of government in this earth.
Is number one authority of the world to come? It should just thrill our souls, brother.
In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and they and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be punished with everlasting destruction for the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.
And he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and be admired, and all them that believe, because our testimony among you.
This is the same word that we have as the title of the book we're reading revealed. And so it's the his coming at the end of the Tribulation period that is spoken of there. And it says that he verse 10 that he's going to be glorified in his Saints. And so we're going to be with him when he comes.
At this moment, and it has its practical effect, as you mentioned in verse 11.
And that's why he brings it out here, because these Thessalonians believers were suffering for their testimony.
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They had, as it says in the end of the first chapter, the first epistle, turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven. But while they were waiting, there were they were suffering, there was persecution.
And the apostle writes to them here to encourage them that there is a day when not only is the Lord Jesus going to be vindicated, as we've said, but when his people are going to come with him. Think of it, brethren, those who are laying down their lives as martyrs for their testimony today in other parts of the world. The day coming when the world's going to look up.
And they're going to see the Lord Jesus coming in power and glory. But they're gonna see something else, too.
They're going to see the Saints of God who have suffered, those who have quietly followed the King in his rejection, now those who have been part of the Kingdom in its tribulation and suffering, in its patience, in its waiting. They're going to see those that they treated so bad, those that they reproached and ridiculed and perhaps even put to death. And isn't it a thrill to our souls, brethren, to think that not only is he going to be vindicated, but his Saints are too?
And not only that, but according to verse 10 of the chapter that Brother Virgil has just pointed out, when the world looks up and they look at each of the heavenly Saints, they're going to see a perfect reflection of Christ in every St. of God. He's coming to be glorified in His Saints and to be admired in all them that are about Him in that day. Sometimes what the world sees in my life is not a very good reflection.
Of my Savior, the Lord Jesus. But it throws my soul to think someday they're going to see me.
He says just go on quietly, follow the Lord Jesus, sin his rejection.
And wait patiently for that day when he will be vindicated, and you will be vindicated with him.
Before we get to the end of our meeting, I'd like to comment on those three things that it further mentions in verse five and six and to him that loved us. I think that is so interesting in the book of judgment your minds is of his love. He loves us, brethren, and nothing can ever change that. That's what God is in his very person. God is love and nothing can change that and so it's wonderful to be reassured of that.
But it's like sometimes people say.
Why, if God is a God of love, does he allow evil to go on rampantly in the world we live in? I say, brethren, that's why He's going to judge. It is not love to let it go on unchecked. And the time will come when God is going to say that's it, that's all, and he's going to directly intervene into the affairs of men.
That's love too. He will not let it go on, go on for ever, unchecked. So He loves us and then He washed us from our sins in His own blood. The one that's coming is the one that shed His blood so that we could be washed from our sins and have a relationship with Him. Isn't this wonderful? Incredible, brethren? That is that same one. That's the one that paid the price of redemption.
And then it says, and has made us kings and priests, or a Kingdom of priests, and to God.
And his Father to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.
So he's made us kings and priests, and to God and his Father.
Rather than this is something that is true today and we need to live more in the enjoyment of it even before we get to that day of glory. We're going to reign with Christ in glory. But we are priests and priests have activity. They present to God prayers and praises. Not only.
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Our men priests, but sisters are priests too. When we sing, we all sing. That's a priestly activity.
And to pray, brethren, we need to be exercised about this in our assembly life. It's not just a few brothers that are sitting towards the front that are the priests. It is every redeemed person. The Old Testament, to be a priest, you have to be born into Aaron's family, the New Testament, to be a priest, you have to be born into the family of God, everyone that's born into the family of God.
Is a priest who exercises me, brother, and that sometimes we come to these conferences.
We just wait for the brethren up front to take part in the prayer meeting, in the breaking the bread meeting. That is not proper, brethren. And we say we don't recognize clergy, but brethren, let's be exercised. Then your brethren, that's sitting further back. You are a priest just as much as anyone else. We're in a meeting like this. To expound the word, there is such a thing as gift of a teacher. Not saying who has that gift, but I'm saying that.
It's not the same as priesthood. Priesthood is what we exercise in the prayer meeting.
And in the breaking of bread meeting. And we need to be exercised, brethren, all of us, not just a certain few. I was thankful in the perimeter last night in the meeting room. There was a lot of participation from all over the room.
I trust, brethren, that we're not giving that up in practice. The tendency is to give it up in practice and then we give it up in doctrine. The Lord help us and encourage us, brethren, to exercise.
Our priesthood.
When we're in his presence.
Was that too hard in that?
No, that's excellent. As you say, there's there's gift in certain circumstances, but priesthood is very important. And again, don't wait for some of us up front who've taken part in this meeting to give out a him or prey at the end. It's important that we all be exercised. So you say Amen, Amen. Absolutely. And #325.
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I'll read just a few verses from Isaiah 26.
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Connection with what we've been reading.
I'll start at verse 7.
The way of the jost is upright thou most upright just way the path of the job.
Gay in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have.
We waited for the.
The desire of our soul is to Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee.
With my soul have I desired thee in the night.
Day, with my Spirit within me will I seek Thee early, for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
Revelation 1:7-16
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Book of Revelation chapter one verse.
4.
7 Revelation chapter one verse 7 Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also were pscierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall well because of him Even so Amen. I am alpha Omega, the beginning and the ending saith the Lord, which is.
Which was which is to come the Almighty I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the Kingdom of patience of Jesus Christ, was in the Isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit of the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the 1St and the last.
And that what thou seest, write any book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, under Ephesus, and under Smyrna, and unto Perkins, unto Thyatia, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia, unto Laodicea. And I turn to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw 7 golden candlesticks in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about.
The Pabst with a golden girdle, his head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow. In his eyes was a flame of fire, his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in the furnace. And his voice at the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp 2 edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet. Is dead. He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the 1St and the last. And he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and death write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars.
Are the angels of the seven churches, And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
It's helpful to realize as we embark on this verse that this verse is not talking about the what we refer to as the rapture or the coming of the Lord Jesus for His Saints. Because when the Lord Jesus comes for us to call us to the Father's house in First Thessalonians 4, it's explained very carefully that he's going to come on the Cloud and give a shout.
And those who are have died in faith are going to be resurrected, and they with us who are alive and remain, are going to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord? It's going to be, I believe, a quietly orderly exodus out of this world. Things are going to deteriorate in the world very quickly after we're gone and the Spirit of God is gone. But we're going to be quietly and orderly called out of this world.
And So what he's referring to here is when the Lord Jesus comes back in power and glory.
We referred to it this morning in connection with His coming with His Saints, and He's going to be glorified in His Saints and admired in all them that are about Him in that day. Now just say this about the Cloud and Scripture Cloud. The Cloud or clouds are often connected with the Lord's glory. You find that in the Old Testament so often. We mentioned this morning in connection with the glory of the Lord. They saw the glory of the Lord in the Cloud in Exodus chapter 16.
And often through the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord is connected with the Cloud and the glory of His person.
And this verse here will really be the fulfillment of what we have, or partially anyway in Acts. Just go to Acts chapter one because I think, again, it's good to have sorted out clearly from Scripture the difference between the Lord's coming for his Saints and the Lord's coming with his Saints. The rapture and the appearing notice been a lot of confusion and there is a lot of confusion often amongst Christians.
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And even amongst those gathered to the Lord's name sometimes miss applications because we don't take up the coming of the Lord in its proper context and character. Just notice in Acts chapter one when the Lord was taken up and again it's connected with the Cloud verse nine. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, he went. As he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Now again, I don't believe this is the Lord's coming for us.
That is referred to in First Thessalonians 4 and other places when the Lord, what he's referring to here is when the Lord Jesus comes back, the Cloud received Him out of their sight. They saw Him no more to the physical eye, but He is coming back and the world is going to see Him and His earthly people represented by the disciples here, these men of Galilee, they're going to see Him. He's going to reveal Himself to them.
Going to reveal himself to the world, but it's not going to be until that day, as we were saying this morning, when he comes back in power and glory to execute righteousness and judgment and to bring about eventually order and that millennial scene of of the Kingdom. So I just say that that when it says in the verse, we begin with, behold, he cometh with clouds. It's not the rapture, but it's that day of glory that he is anticipating.
He went up from the Mount of Olives. That's where he's going to come back to as well. Notice it in Zechariah 14, so beautiful to Connect this in Scripture, verse 4, Zechariah 14, four. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the West, and there shall be a very great valley.
Half of the mountains shall we move toward the north, and half of it toward the South.
You shall flee to the valley of the mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach into Hazel. Yeah, ye shall flee like as ye fled in the day before the earthquake, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and the Lord my God shall come.
In all the Saints with thee.
So he's coming back. That should thrill us, brother, and that should encourage us. He's coming back, He's coming, and every eye shall see him and he comes for us. I don't think there will be wailing, but in this coming there's wailing because people will realize the partying's over. No more drinking, no more.
The ****** of this world.
They have to meet with the King of Kings and they're going to wail.
It's also a statement right in the beginning that.
Is a statement of the grace of God that He has not abandoned his earthly people.
The revelation has to do with the earth seeing from the perspective of heaven and.
And so John, in order to properly see what was going to take place, is taken envision up to heaven so he can see things as God sees them from his perspective and he gets to look down and see what's going to happen on the earth. The church having a heavenly destiny is seen in chapters 2 and three and it's testimony days on earth. But then from that point until the Lord comes in glory in chapter 19, it's not taken off. It's it's not the subject of the book.
But the subject of the book and much of the language of the book is Jewish.
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In its character, because God's dealings with the earth as an earth had to do first of all with His people, Israel, and then they have to do with the nations of the earth and His judgment upon all. And consequently, just as there's a word of grace to us to reassure us in John as to our portion, so there's this little message here, as John says about it in the new translation. Yay, all men. Yes, Amen. Thank you, Lord, for that little statement.
Should go back to see it as it says here, they which pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Go back again to Zachariah chapter 13, where you have what's going to take place and what this verse just described or states is going to happen. And here in Zechariah chapter 12, did I say 13, chapter 12, you see why it's a word of grace.
To the earthly people.
In chapter 12 and.
Uh, verse, don't want to take too much time with this, but it says verse 7, the Lord also shall save the tents of Judah. First, that the glory of the House of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah in that day. So the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them in that day shall be as David, and the House of David shall be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them.
And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem, and I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they this is what's directly connected with the verse in our chapter. And they shall look on him whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall see in bitterness for him the one that is in bitterness for his first born.
In that day there should be a great morning. This is again the wailing of our chapter. A great morning in Jerusalem as the morning of Aden ribbon in the valley of Mageddon. And the land shall mourn. Every family apart. The House of David apart, their wives apart. The family of the House of Nathan apart and their wives apart. The family of the House of Levi apart and their wives apart. The family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart.
All the families that remain, every family apart and their wives support what's being described here in Zachariah is the Lord Jesus when he takes up his earthly people again, they're going to have to go through all these judgments that are given in the in the book of the revelation. But he gives them a word and he says, but I'm going to take you through it. But first I have to Restore you to myself so that when I take you through it, you'll be able to be with me in it.
And so there will be a process in which those who have faith on earth in in the land, this is speaking about the Jewish people. Those of them that have faith will be restored to the Lord and they'll be restored through a process in which they see the the hands pierced and they say, he can say to them, what are these wounds which which I was afflicted in the House of my friends?
And they'll say, we did it, we crucified you, but you were our Messiah. And uh, there will be mourning among them. Every family apart will mourn for their collective responsibility and having put him to death and crucified him. And in the revelation as it unfolds itself in Chapter 7 and in chapter 14, we see these same ones again as marked out by God to be preserved through it all.
Aft and also, as he says here, you'll know when these things unfold that the nations will come against Jerusalem. But I'll be with you. I'll be with you and I'll take you through it and I'll preserve you. They have to go through a process of restoration. It's not instantaneous. And they'll suffer as an as a people and and yet these words are to them or for them.
A little statement of the Lord before I unfold this whole picture to you. Yes, you'll mourn, you'll know you crucified me, but I'll be with you in it. My soul is very, very touched whenever I read the story of Joseph in this respect, because Joseph and his brethren is a picture to us of the Lord Jesus in this process in which his people are restored to him. And I think it's seven times in the end of Genesis, the Lord weeps.
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And uh, we'll see the Lord Jesus week then I believe we'll weep with him as this process takes place and they are restored to him and then he protects them. Many of them, some of them will die and have a heavenly heart in the first resurrection, but many of them will be preserved as well to go into the, to the Millennium, their brethren who are not of faith. One more comment about it. We learn from Zechariah.
That of the if you take the people of Israel during this period of which the revelation covers 1/3 of them will survive as being of faith or at least submission to the Lord, 2/3 of them will die. Tremendous terrible day is coming, but the Lord says I'll be with you. So what you're saying brother, is that this is.
Not all the people that are in the earth at that time, but this is the tribes and it says every eye shall see him. That's not every eye on earth. It's the 10 tribes, right?
Well, it's.
In Scripture.
And the prophetic word, there's a distinction carefully made between the land, the earth, and the world. And this is describing the restoration of all 12 tribes. And in fact, the two tribes are restored first. I'm afraid we're going to get too far down this road, get away from our chapter. But the two stripes are restored first. But they're restored in such a way that they don't glory.
Over the restoration of the other ten. That's what you have in chapter 12 That we read. But what he is saying to them is that in the total process, the all 12 tribes will be dis restored. The one third 2/3 is the two tribes. The other 10 tribes are restored later and they're restored with an even greater loss of life. Just to bring that out that we don't want to belabor it, but let me read in Mr. Darby's translation the verse we're considering.
In our chapter, because as Brother Dawn has said, there's really two, if I can put it this way, two parts to the restoration of God's earthly people. The one we get in the 12Th chapter of Zechariah, and the other we get in the 13th chapter, and we'll notice it in a minute. But let me just read this in Mr. Darby's translation. Behold, he comes with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and, and they which have pierced him. I'm going to stop there for a moment.
When the Lord Jesus was here, it was the Jews that were in the land. It was not the nation as a whole. And so they are held responsible for having pierced Him. And so they're going, they're going to look on him whom they pierced, those that were in the land at at the time. But let me finish the verse in Mr. Darby's translation. And all the tribes of the land shall wail because of Him.
Yes, Amen. Just go back to Zechariah for a moment and follow on. Let's follow on for just a moment with what dawn has brought before us. So in the 12Th chapter we have they shall look on whom him whom they pierced, and they're held very responsible because they were in the land and it was their leaders that cried away with him, crucify him. But the language is a little bit different in the next chapter, in the 13th chapter.
In verse six. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thy hands? Then he shall answer, Now notice this.
Those with which I was wounded in the House of my friends. A little different, isn't it? They look on him. They don't know what these wounds are. The 10 tribes were not in the land when the Lord was there. They will. All the tribes of the land are gonna be brought back. They're gonna see him. They're gonna be blessed, and they're going to have to own their part as being part of the nation of Israel. But they're not held as responsible. And so he says.
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So what this this is what I received in the House of my friends, those that were in the land of Benjamin and Judah at the at the time when the Lord Jesus was here. So I think it's helpful to make that distinction. But as Dawn said in our verse, it's all-encompassing. It's those who pierced the Lord, those who were more responsible because they were in the land at the time. And then the other, all the tribes brought back. And they're all going to have to own their part in one way or another, and they're going to wail because of him.
But then there's going to be wonderful restoration for them as a result of their repentance.
Is that what you? Is that helpful?
How subtle it is that to whom much is committed, much is required. And that's just what we've been reading. So we need to each one of us, make this personal and ask ourselves how much has been committed to each one of us in this room.
To the children raised under the sound of these words.
Much is required.
But it's not a duty as much. Well, of course it's a duty, but it's a privilege.
The next verse, verse eight, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is and was and which is to come, the Almighty.
He is Jehovah.
But in this first chapter, it brings before, in the later in the chapter, the judicial character of His Majesty to judge and to bring about all that the revelation speaks of. But it just gives US1 short statement about him and his and his being as to who he is and who he is, gives him the right to do what he does. It's important he he's he gives these little introductory statements before he unveils the truth of the whole book.
And if we Passover them too quickly, we miss something really important in them. And in this first chapter, this is Mr. Darby's translation is just one little paragraph of one sentence long of its own to tell us the greatness of this person in his character. Get over to the testimony of the church in chapters 2 and three. It fails and it's put aside because it did was not faithful to its.
Testimony. But when you get to chapter 4, when the church has to be put aside, then the question is, well, who can take it up? Who can give glory to God on the earth? Who can be a proper testimony for God's rights and interest in the world?
The one in chapter one that we just read about here, the Almighty and that character, he has the right to it. He is over it all. But in chapter 4.
He specifically brought before us as creator. Does not the creator have the right to the earth? Of course he does and so he's going to take the earth as and his rights as creator in chapter five he has an additional claim to the earth and to set it right because.
Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. What does that give it to him?
As we have in the Gospels, He has the right to the earth as the Redeemer, and so Creator, Redeemer, the Almighty, all these attributes and actions of His, of His person, give Him the right and the glory to do what He does. And so He goes on to fulfill it and to carry it out on the earth.
Not only does he have the right, but he has the ability, doesn't he? And so he is the Almighty. And I've enjoyed it in connection with the Lamb and the Lion. You know, it's interesting that in Revelation you only have the Lion once. The Lamb is, I believe, 28 times because the Lamb shows his worthiness on the ground of the sacrificial work of Christ and the blood that he shed.
But the lion, he's able, you know, someone might be worthy to do something or take up a work. They might even by birth have the right entitled to something, but they may for some reason or other not be able. You know, there have been many born into this world, the sons of kings and great leaders. And they had the right entitled by birth, but for some reason, maybe something physical, something mental.
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Or some other external reason beyond their control. They weren't able to carry on the line of power in that country or whatever it was. They had the authority, but they weren't able. But there's one who not only has the authority, but he's able and he is going to carry it out. Great men rise and fall today. You know, there are many who the world would say today have the right and title as leaders to carry out certain things.
But things are so out of control in this world that even men in high places who feel they have the right entitle, they're realizing they're dealing with an A, a interplay of economic and political and social forces that are far beyond their control. But the elastic is being stretched further and further and that it's gonna snap and they can't stop it. They may, they may have the they may have the right, but they don't have the ability. But brethren, there's one who's coming. It says not who's right. It is.
But he is also able, and so he's going to take the reins of government. He's going to bring about blessing for his earthly people, Israel, yes, but for the whole world. And he is the Son of righteousness is going to rise with healing in his wings. The Prince of Peace is going to come back. The judge is going to come. And there will be no question not only as to his worthiness, but his ability. And that if we can grasp that in our souls now, it's going to give us the patience and the confidence to just leave it for now.
To not try as Christians to grab the reins of government and control now.
But to realize that there's one who's in control behind the scenes and one who's going to take full control outwardly and bring it about regarding his standard and what he sees is right and proper and equity and justice. Are you and I willing to and content to leave it? If we understand that he is the worthy one and the able one has the ability, I believe it will give us that confidence to do it.
Like to make a comment a little added on the Lambs I think is important too in the Revelation when we go back to the introduction of the lamb in Exodus.
God was going to bring his judgment upon Egypt.
And the question was preserving, were there any that could withstand the judgment? And he's the when I passed through the land, every single first born in the land was subject to it. Whether he was a Jew or whether he was an Egyptian, he was under the.
Eye of the Destroyer.
But provision was to be made that there would be preservation through the process of his judgment. And so every person was given the opportunity to provide a lamb that would preserve and shelter from the judgment, to make atonement the covering that would preserve. And so you go to your.
Field and you look at your sheep and you say I don't have one. And so you go to your that's perfect, that meets the criteria. You go to your neighbors.
He says. I've been looking and none of mine measure up either. And so you go on to the rest of the village because the provision was you could share.
And as you see in the picture in Exodus 12, it ultimately says the lamb.
There weren't 57,000 of them, but it was the Lamb because in type there was only to be one that could meet the criteria to preserve. And you see the lamb in Genesis 22 in the person of Isaac with his father. And when the question of the Lamb comes up, it is answered and the statement God shall provide for himself the Lamb.
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And who is it? John's Gospel presents the Lamb to us.
And as the Lamb, there is only one that can preserve from the judgment of God, and as a consequence, the Lamb does preserve. But in his introduction to us, he's presented to us as, behold, the Lamb of God, which beareth away the sin of the world. It goes to the extent of not simply the individual protection from God's judgment by atonement.
But also that the Lamb would be the one that would remove from the sight of God all sin and everything that was out of character and order, with God the same.
One given to record John's gospel is given the responsibility of recording the revelation to us because it's a continuation of the story and the sense of it is the Lamb is going on with that work of removing.
The sin of the world. It won't all happen until all of new creation and a new heaven and a new earth. But the process of ordering it for God, that and the removal of that which opposes.
God is taken care of, but This is why I was making all these remarks. It's beautiful in the Revelation to see where the Lamb's name is mentioned because sometimes it's connected with glory and honor and judgment, but equally sometimes it's connected with preservation. He preserves You go to the 7th chapter and the representatives of the 12 tribes of Israel are seen and.
His mark of the Lamb is placed upon them, and what does it do?
It preserves them through the process. Why do we get preserved?
From God's judgment on the same ground, there's only one.
The one Lamb, God's Lamb preserves us. Otherwise without the Lamb, the whole creation would be judged. Every single person in this room would die and suffer the eternal judgment of God and responsibility. But God preserves by the Lamb, he's preserved us and he will preserve many in the revelation. And, and so you see the the goodness of God even in the judgments of God.
In this way through the one the lamb.
Redemption means to buy back and set free. So when the original creation fell under the consequences of sin and was ruined, the Lord Jesus came and as the Lamb paid the price to buy it back. What we have in the Book of Revelation is when he comes to set it free. Gonna completely set free the whole creation is what's re mentioned in.
And Ephesians chapter one when it speaks about the redemption.
Of the purchased possession, purchased possession is the whole creation. He bought back the whole field, the whole field. Now the whole world is under the consequences of sin. Well, he's coming back to undo that. All the millennial day, the ******* of corruption is going to be lifted off of this present creation. What a wonderful work. So he has the rights as Creator, but as also as Redeemer.
To judge.
Want to get on in this chapter to the part that speaks about where the Lord Jesus is presented in such a tremendously wonderful part? It's the introduction to the judge in here in chapter one.
And we met, we talked about verse nine, I think in a previous in the previous reading.
But in verse 10 he says I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.
It's what we call the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice.
As of a trumpet.
Saying I am alpha and Omega, the 1St and the last.
He's gonna, He began it all, He's going to see it through. For God's glory. What thou seest write in the book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia.
00:40:04
I would like to hear comments on why John heard the voice behind him.
Not sure that I've ever got that question satisfied. Perhaps someone has a thought on that.
Book of Revelation is a prophecy, isn't it?
What's ahead? And John's ministry is therefore a ministry of prophecy.
Not of the Church of Prophecy.
But the sound he hears comes from behind him, the direction that he's not looking in.
So he has to turn back and look at that which has to do with the church.
That begins at this point in the book.
So he has to turn back from prophecy to see that which has to do with the assembly.
Then in chapter four, he turns back around, you might say, and continues to look in the direction of prophecy. What is future?
Thank you, David. That's good.
When he does turn to look, the first thing he sees is not.
The one who had spoken but the seven golden candles? Interesting.
Verse 12 I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being turned I saw 7 golden candles sticks.
The light bears.
The light of testimony through the present age is what is.
Uh, reflected on here and that's the first thing he sees and as he sees the seven then.
We have that expression in the mix. I think that's such a beautiful expression that goes all the way through Scripture in the midst.
Different than the Lord being with us, the Lord is with all his redeemed people. But here is the Lord in the midst.
Oh brethren, what a tremendous reality this is.
There he is in the midst. Are you looking at Him? Do you see Him?
How important it is for our whole hearts.
Could someone explain why there's a different word used for lamb in the Book of Revelation than?
When is used for redemption and now in Revelation, it's a different word.
Compared to the one used like in John chapter one, behold the Lamb of God, that's more a mature lamb. But here's in a diminutive it's used one more time in John 21.
Uh, the little lamb is uh.
It's it's, it's the idea of a little lamb.
And I I just offer this thought that.
Uh, there's no competition between him and the little horn. Can I put it that way?
The the Lord Jesus is one who is, He's the eternal one. But it makes a remark somewhere I was looking for earlier this morning.
Uh, referring to the beast, I think it is he was, but he is not.
I don't know if that's the, uh, the real meaning of it, but, uh.
There's the little lamb who humbled himself to the death of the cross, uh, is able to overcome all enemies.
00:45:15
This is part of it too. That revelation really has to do with God's vindication of this one that suffered so cruelly at the hands of man. It doesn't bring so much before us the blessed result.
And you do have it there in the end of the chapter, the throne of God and the Lamb, the blessed blessing that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb through redemption. But primarily the Book of Revelation doesn't give us the fullness of blessing of the atoning work. It doesn't give us Christian position. It doesn't bring us into the knowledge of God as our Father.
And so it is a book of judgment and it's so beautiful to consider this side of it. As was touched on this morning, it's.
God's answer to him before the before this world, not again the great blessing that flows to us who is atoning sufferings. So both are included there. But I believe that's the emphasis there in the Book of Revelation. And so you see it there in the 6th chapter. They see the great the, the, the great day of his wrath has come, the wrath of the Lamb. Now they're wrong as to fact it's not the great day of his wrath yet, but it's the wrath of the Lamb that they fear the wrath of this one.
When they treat it so cruelly.
One in the midst is likened to the Son of Man. That's the title he takes.
In judgment.
Go to John chapter 5.
Says.
Verse.
26 As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.
Verse 27 is what I want to do is show and hath given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man. That's the title he takes in connection with judgment. So we have the judge introduced.
Clothed with a garment down to the foot. Girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Gold is divine righteousness.
And that's what he is, a God of love. Perhaps speak of love, but.
It's girded because it's a question of judgment here.
On the one hand, it's very solemn to consider his character here and where he is actually walking. He's walking in the midst of his own because I think as you said earlier today, Bob, judgment must begin at the House of God and so be before he takes up the judgments of this world. The Lord Jesus is a judge is walking in the midst of his assembly. He's walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, His own.
In the character of judge, and we see that from the robes and the hair and so on, and the eyes is a flame of fire. It's the character of judge. It's very solemn, brethren, to consider this aspect of things. We don't often or always think of it in connection with the assembly and being gathered to the Lord's name, but let's remember that the government of God with His people is a very real thing.
Yes, as we've had, He does love us.
But you know, he loves us too much to let us go our own way. He loves us too much to just let things slide amongst his people. And sometimes we think that things are just going to get swept under the carpet. Sometimes we think, well, if we just ignore it, time will heal it, it'll go away. But there are things that need to be dealt with collectively amongst the Lord's people for his glory. He his glory must be owned and, and, and authority must be owned and maintained.
00:50:19
We profess to be gathered to the Lord's name. Are we giving him that place not a place of authority? Do we realize that He's walking, discerning those things that we think we have hidden? You know, I think of when I was a young person, you know, sometimes there were things I allowed and did in my life. And I thought, well, my parents are never going to find out about that. My brethren are never gonna find out about that.
You know, we learn, perhaps in a little way as we get older. We hide nothing.
From the Lord we might hide things, and we might hide things for a long time.
We might cover up things for a long time, but he has eyes as a flame of fire. He has those judicial robes in that right to judge, and will never be judged for our sins as far as a lost eternity.
But I say again, and you see it with the children of Israel illustrated over and over again, the governmental ways of God with us individually as families and collectively as gathered to the Lord's name are very, very real. The other thing, though, not to discourage us in this regard, is that we can take comfort from this as well. Maybe there's someone here and you say, well, you know, I've seen some things that are covered up and even when they're brought out, just doesn't seem like they're dealt with properly and so on.
Remember, there's one who'll deal with it. If we don't deal with it, there's one who will deal with it. And I've often said to, especially to younger brothers who perhaps raised concerns about things that they felt weren't dealt with properly in the assembly amongst the people of God. I've often said if you've delivered your soul on the matter, just leave it. He's walking, he's discerning, he's the judge, he does right.
The little different aspect, but there are two other aspects of the Lord Jesus in this regard.
That have brought me great comfort in difficulties and problems amongst the Lord's people.
One is he's head over the body. He is the head of the body.
He he's in, he's in charge. And the other one is in Hebrews. I think it's the third chapter. It says his son over his own house.
You know, we need to be faithful, but I've had to realize sometimes, brethren, He doesn't need me to clean house. It's His house. Now, if we don't take care of it for His glory, the house cleaning may be a little bit rough. He may have to, instead of taking the broom, he may have to take the scrub brush. I'm speaking very plainly, but His Son over his own house. And so it helps us on. On the one hand, it is to solemnize us.
That nothing escapes him. The government of God is real. On the other hand, there's someone here and you're a little discouraged with things you see going on even amongst the people of God.
Just leave it with him. He is in full control of every situation, nothing is hidden from him.
I've often found Jim, in my own experience, if things don't come out right away, it's because there's something deeper that he sees and is dealing with, and I wanna address that thing that seems to be rather superficial.
And it doesn't get to the bottom of it. So we need to walk in fear before him, brethren. And, uh, but in confidence, as you say that there is one who is faithful. But brother, and I just feel that we need to be exercised and view the fact that we're getting down to the end. The Lord is speaking to us. Lord is touching us. I'm not speaking about anybody else but myself. I see his hand in my life in a way that is.
Extremely difficult at times. What can I say? Am I going to escape it? His hand can't escape it. He has those eyes like you say is a flame of fire. They're extremely penetrating. You think you're going to get away from his eye? You can get away from your brother's eye, get away from your parents eyes, but not his eye.
Is the faithful witness.
I'd like to add a little bit on the Son of Man in connection with.
00:55:01
His place here in Revelation 1 go back to Psalm 8.
Familiar verses to us, but in verse three when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars.
Which thou hast ordained, What is man?
Thou art mindful of Him and the Son of Man that thou visitest Him, for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet. Verse nine. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name and all the earth.
God placed man on the earth.
In his image and likeness to the head over it for him and man failed God.
And brought dishonor upon his glory. And the question for God is, do I destroy it all we learn in Genesis 6. It depends. Repented God that he had made man, and God could look upon it.
And he had been shamed in man and in man's behavior. He had created man in a way that could represent him and bear his place.
On the earth and in certain ways like him. But what did man do? He shamed God. He rebelled against him.
And now the question comes, is God what is man? Is God to be honored in man or not? Or is man simply going to have to be removed from God by destruction?
The Lord Jesus came.
And vindicated God in manhood.
The Lord Jesus came and upheld the honor of God in manhood.
And it is the specific title that he personally used in his life.
But in connection with the revelation, and just notice here it says Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and made us him to have dominion. Just keep in mind hast made him to have dominion.
Now turn over to Matthew 16.
Here we have the wonderful revelation that's given to Simon Peter and verse 16, the hour to Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord honors that statement about himself, and on that statement, the church, the foundation of the person, and this testimony, the church is to be built.
But immediately after that Peter misses the mark and the Lord Jesus says to him.
Umm, we'll skip that part of it for shortness of time, but it says, uh, the Lord says to him, verse 23 He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. Well, why?
Peter objected to what he said in verse 21. From that time forth Jesus began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day. And then he says later to him in verse 27 for the Son of Man.
Is come, for the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works. And so the Lord Jesus as Son of Man glorified God on the earth and gave to God that glory in man that God was worthy of and do from man's standpoint. He crucifies him and says we won't have him, and he returns to the glory.
But when he comes back, God is going to continue.
To show that he is not frustrated in man.
But this man, the Son of Man, has so honored him in his first coming that when God says the time is now, he then sends him back.
01:00:12
To give the established on the earth the order and honor that belongs to God and man. And he says you're worthy, that I put under you everything.
And I want you to, if I can speak in the vernacular of the day, I want you to clean up the mess and establish it all to my honor, to my glory. And the the one point I want to emphasize, though in it, brethren, is as Son of Man, He never steps out of his place of man. It's beautiful.
He is the Almighty, but as Son of Man. He never steps out of His place as man. And so he waits the Father's time. He acts according to the Father's will. He does what the Father asks him to do when he is finished with the full results of this work that the Father gives him to do this in his second coming. He presents it all to God in First Corinthians 15, and that God may be All in all.
That is, maintaining his place as man and God being. Ultimately all glory belongs to God in that way.
And so he does it, and here he is in that character, and yet he is in a majesty.
That as it says of him as Son of man here in the John falls at his feet is dead, and it says the sun shineth in its strength. What is it? It's it's it's the Son of man is so great in his glory that it's like the sun shining in its strength. Is God dishonored in man? In that No.
No, he shows the full character of his own glory in a man and.
Vindicates himself in all that he created and has done, and we shall say Amen and worship.
Verse 14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.
Beautiful to go back to Daniel Chapter 7 to see the Ancient of Days there and it's mentioned twice.
Second time it is the Lord Jesus, quite clearly, but.
Here's the one that relates to the Ancient of Days.
Judgment is given unto him.
And his eyes were as the flame of fire. We had already spoken about that. His feet like undefined brass. Gold is divine righteousness.
But brass is divine righteousness and judgment. The brazen altar was made of brass.
His feet are his ways, and all His ways with his people, brethren.
As if they burned in his fir in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters.
He had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp 2 edged sword. His word.
And then this part that Don has mentioned, his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Supreme power and authority, the sun is to rule the day.
So the Lord Jesus is going to rise as the Son of righteousness with healing in His wings. Think of looking into the face of this glorious person, Brethren, this is the one that is right now walking in the midst of the assembly. Do we see Him? Do we discern His presence in the midst?
How solemn it is. How? What a wonderful privilege.
But what a tremendous responsibility. At the same time, we're living in a world where sin is made light of increasingly, it's made entertainment.
And the current is so strong that sometimes we get swept along with it.
Brethren, sin is serious with God, serious business. God just does not take it lightly. And if we get into that frame of thinking, the Lord is going to touch us, brethren, He's going to speak to us. He's faithful and He has the last word. He is the alpha and the Omega. He's began this whole creation. He's the one that's going to see it through to the end.
01:05:26
The Lord help us to.
Walk before him.
The proper attitude these last days.
We think 219.
219.
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Working again.
All the of the 2019.
And the fireplace.
9.
Oh, 10-4, oh, 10-4, 0100000 whatever you can do whatever you want to do, whatever you need to breathe. Please don't let me turn the screen.
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Uh yeah. Uh.
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20th Nsnoise.
The Gates in Nehemiah's Wall
YP Address—N. Simon
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Could we begin?
Singing.
That well known hymn #256.
Praise the Savior, Ye who know Him, who can tell how much.
Keep us laughter, keep us cleaving to thyself, and still be leaving till the hour of our receiving promised joys with thee. If someone could start that, please #256.
Experience Rainforest.
Training ground.
Is low of my grass and it's a little darker so I'm going to be.
A lot of yeast must pray in the life of the lights.
I would just like to read 2 verses in Revelation chapter 3.
Revelation chapter 3 and verse 2.
Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die.
For I have not found thy works perfect before God.
And then verse 11 Behold, I come quickly, hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Shall we just pray?
If we could turn to Nehemiah chapter 3.
Nehemiah chapter 3 is a chapter that has been taken up in meetings no doubt many times.
It's the story of the rebuilding of the Wall of Jerusalem.
And in particular, in that wall, there were 10 gates. Now, this chapter could be taken up in different ways. And I would encourage you, each of you here, to read that chapter and just meditate upon it. If you look at the people involved, there's much to be learned and and much encouragement, much instruction and admonition. I don't intend to take it up in with respect to the people that were building.
This afternoon, but rather.
I would like to look specifically at those 10 gates that I mentioned, and it seems to me that each of those 10 gates represents some truth that was recovered in the history of Christianity, in the history of Christendom, and.
Is in danger again of being lost.
The walls of Jerusalem were in disrepair, the gates were burnt and they had to be restored.
And so they were.
But if we go on and read more through the Old Testament and the New Testament, we find that again things fell into decay, into ruin. And so as I said, I want to take these 10 gates up, especially in regards to truth that was recovered in the history of Christendom, but of very much in danger of being lost again.
00:05:19
There are 10 gates now in the Book of Nehemiah. We know there's actually two more gates, but they're not in this chapter.
So altogether there are 12 gates, but there are 10 mentioned here. 10 would speak of responsibility. We have a responsibility and you young people, you have a responsibility. You might say, well I didn't choose to be raised in the Assembly.
I'm afraid it doesn't matter. You have a responsibility.
Responsibility to purchase for yourself those truths that are faithful, faithfully been taught over the years and to make them good to yourself. It's not something that you can be handed on a platter and that you can take away. Know it comes at a price. So the first gate, we have 10 gates and we have an hour. So you can figure that out. It's not much time for gate, so let's move along.
In chapter Nemi chapter 3, verse one, then Elias ship the high priest, rose up with his brethren the priests, and they builded the sheep gate. They sanctified it and set up the doors of it even unto the tower of Mihah. They sanctified it into the tower of Haniel.
Well.
Just one comment on these gates. You'll find that with names in the Old Testament that the Hebrews or the Jews were not necessarily particularly imaginative.
They tend to call things exactly what they were, and so I have no doubt that the sheep gate served the function of bringing in sheep especially for sacrifice.
And so it comes should come as no surprise to us that the very first gate is the sheet gate and that.
Perhaps not. Perhaps that is the very first thing that we must have a grasp of in our lives. Our faith must rest on that perfect and complete work of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that He has done it all, that He has shed that blood that washes us from our sins, and that we can rest upon that and know that we are saved. Not wonder, not fear.
A day where we're going to have to be weighed in the balance and all. How am I going to come out? But there was a time.
When that truth was forgotten. When it was unknown.
Where if you ask that question that Job asked in Job Chapter 9, how can man be just before God? There was no answer that could give you any comfort whatsoever. And then the light of the Reformation came. And that's why I read those verses inside us in chapter 3. Now Sadas has described in Revelation chapter 3 is not so much the Reformation, but where the Reformation has become.
But just returning back to the Reformation, it wasn't just one man, but I will mention Martin Luther and it's it's always amuses me a little bit that when you speak to a modern generation, you have to remind them the Martin Luther I'm Speaking of lived back in the 1500s. He didn't live in the 1900s. But I'm talking about a man that lived in Germany.
Back in the 1500s He was born in the late 1400s and went on into.
The 1500s and he struggled with that question, How can a man be just before God?
And finally an old monk said to him, I believe in the forgiveness of sins. And the light came on. I feel like I may say that reverently.
Can you imagine the state of a man knowing or not knowing that there is any forgiveness of sins, Always wondering, always fearing, always doubting, never knowing that perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ?
In connection with the Lamb, let's just read a verse.
First Peter chapter one.
Well known verse that everyone here probably learnt at some time or another in Sunday school.
First, Peter 118 For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spark. And as I said, as we go through these gates, this really forms the foundation. And if you take this gate away, and I believe that in Christendom, looking at the Christendom as a whole, that this gate indeed has been given up in many places.
00:10:09
Completely forgotten what Christianity is, the very meaning of it.
But we move on now to the next gate, the fish gate chapter verse three but the fish gate to the sons of Hassan Hassan are build which who also laid the beams thereof and set up the doors that are off the locks thereof and the bars thereof. Now I said that the gates weren't named particularly imaginatively. So the fishgate. What do you think it was for? Well, the fishermen were out out in the morning and caught their fish. Now I realized that Jerusalem is neither on a lake nor on the ocean, but I believe that they.
Have brought the fish into the city through the fish gate and perhaps the men that got those fish went out through that gate. Well that was speak to remind me of what we find in the gospels. We just look at a verse in Mark chapter one.
March chapter one verse 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become.
Fishers of men you know when the light of.
The truth of the gospel came on during the dark ages. There was finally some good news to preach. Now you could go out and preach the gospel, you know, as I said that.
The Reformation didn't revolve around one man. There were many.
And the morning Star is he's often been called as the Reformation was a man by the name of Wickliffe.
I hope I get these things right.
But anyway, he translated the first part the the New Testament into English.
And in those days, that was before the printing press, and they had every Bible, every New Testament had been written out by hand. And those handwritten copies of the New Testament was so precious that you can still buy them today if they're not in a museum. I looked on the Internet some years ago and I discovered you could acquire a copy for about $5,000,000. Do you value what you have in your hand?
That much, but I'm digressing. We'll get on to the Word of God in a little bit when we get to another gate. But what I want to emphasize here is that when those men got the Word of God, they had something, They had a message. They could go out now and preach the gospel and that's what they did.
But I just want to look at a verse in John 10.
Because the Fish Gate is a gate in the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and the city of Jerusalem was a very special city. It just wasn't any city. It was the city where God had placed His name. It was there that the children of Israel were to go and to worship and to no other place.
And again, we'll look at that some more detail when we get to yet another gate.
But the fish gate was a gate where you could go out. And so in John 10 it says in verse one, Verily, verily I say to you, that he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold the class up by some other way, the same as the thief and the robber, but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
Skipping down to verse nine, I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find posture. And so we come in through that gate, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone we cannot come in any other way, but we go out in service and we come back in for worship. And so the gospel must always be.
Remembering that the assembly, that place where God has put His name, is the center. We don't just go out and save people and say, oh, but you're free now to do whatever you want.
We read further on in this chapter and it says in verse 14, I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep, and an owner mine as the Father knoweth me, Even so know I the Father.
And I lay down my life with a sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one flock.
And one shepherd, the point of the evangelist is to bring those fish in, to bring those lambs in.
So that there might be 1 flock gathered around 1 shepherd.
And so there we have the fish gate.
Now again moving on to verse six, the Old Gate.
Moreover, the old gate repairs Jehoiada the son of Pasia and Meshalam the son of they laid the beams arrive and set up the doors that arrive and the locks thereof and the bars thereof. Now one thing just to back up just a little bit.
00:15:12
You know, I said that during the dark ages, when the Gospel, the light of the gospel, was pretty much hid, shut out, as it were, by and large, what did men do? Well, they thought by their works they might merit salvation, by their works they might.
Find a way into heaven. But we read in and you don't have to turn to it. Romans 4 it says in verse five, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness. That's how we're saved, not resting in our own works, but resting in that perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there's other verses we could turn to. I just turned run Romans 10. Speaking of the Jews, it says for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God.
And so men, not knowing the righteousness of God, was seeking to establish their own righteousness.
And the law demands righteousness of man, but it cannot produce righteousness.
And I want to talk a little bit about the old gate.
Now let's just look at a verse in Deuteronomy chapter 19.
Chapter Deuteronomy 19 and verse 14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmarks, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.
And then umm.
A verse in Jeremiah chapter 6.
Jeremiah chapter 6 and verse 16.
Thus after the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said We will not walk therein.
You know, I spoke some years ago here to the young people on this subject.
Of the the old landmarks and not moving them and I commented that.
Stonehenge, which most of you probably know what it is. It's a monument in Great Britain on the plains of Salisbury, and no one knows what it was built for. Just recently there was an announcement, just like last week, how that they discovered the almost precise location where they got the rocks to build that monument from, and those rocks came from whales, which is 100 or more miles away. Why did they cut this bluestone out and move it all the way down?
Plains of Salisbury and make this circle of standing stones. No one knows. Now there's lots of speculation, lots of theories, and some may well be close. I don't know. But let me tell you something. Those that built that circle knew why they built it, and their children knew why they built it, and their grandchildren no doubt knew why they built it. But at some point.
There was a generation that no longer knew why that stone circle was built.
And so each generation has to buy the truth.
What does that mean to buy the truth? Well, let's just look at where that's found. It's in Proverbs and, uh, it's chapter 23, verse 23.
That helps to remember things sometimes. 2323 but it says buy the truth and sell it, not also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Just to illustrate what it means to buy the truth, let's look at Second Samuel.
Chapter 15.
And this is a very sad story. David is being driven out of Jerusalem. His son Absalom has mounted an insurrection and taken over, and David has driven out. Who is it that goes with David? Who is it that flees from Jerusalem with David? All you say it's, it's the children of Judah. They love him. They're going to go with him.
But you know, family connections will never keep you if you are here today because of family connections.
00:20:02
It's not going to keep you if you're here today because your friends are here today, it's not going to keep you.
In second Samuel chapter 15 it says in verse 19 well.
I will read in verse 18, Second Samuel 15, verse 18. All the servants passed them beside him, more than Cherathites or Kerasites, and the Pelophytes and all the Gittites. 600 men which came after him from Gaff, passed on before the king. Then said the king to Iti the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger and also an exile. So here we have one Ittai the Gitai, who was from Gath, who also was from Gath.
But at some point it ties history, he said. I have done with the idols of this world. I don't need Goliath anymore. My affections are with David. And even when David goes into exile, Iti, the man from gas, the Gentile goes with him. And as far as we can tell, the Kerasites and the Pelophytes were probably Gentiles as well.
It was no longer a question of family connection, it was a question.
Of the sections of the heart, and Ittai's heart was bound up in that one that he gave up all four.
He left gas and he said my lot is with David, I am going to go with him. That's what it means to buy the truth to sell it not but back to we mentioned I read there in Deuteronomy in 19 verse 14, I believe it was that they want to remove the neighbor's landmarks. Well, those landmarks were not strictly speaking in the sense of.
A landmark like Stonehenge was, but rather they were markers that marked the edges of their property.
And I know that on my yard I can go to one corner. I can still see a survey peg that was pounded in there that marked the corner of my little lot that I own.
And for an Israelite, their land was very important. It was their inheritance. It couldn't even go from one tribe to another. You couldn't even sell it.
You could lease it.
But that was as far as you could go. Their land was so important and you couldn't move your landmark to steal a little of your neighbors.
And he couldn't move that landmark and steal a little bit of yours. And so I asked you today, young people, do you know what your inheritance is? Do you know what those old paths are? Do you have any interest in them at all?
It's your heritage.
It's your inheritance. You know, I believe that both through during the time of the Reformation in the early part of the 1800s, there was a desire to return back to those old paths in the Reformation. Perhaps it was very little. Perhaps it was just knowing that we were saved by faith, justified by faith and faith alone, and not by works, not by works of righteousness, which we have done.
But there was a returning back to those old paths and then in the 1800s again, there was a far deeper understanding of what our heritage is, those things that we have in Christ.
Our salvation rests in Christ, our redemption where you can look this up for yourself. All the things that we have in Christ, look at that expression in Scripture. There are so many things that we have in Christ. Do you know what they are? Do you even know what they are? Do you value them? You know, I remember when I spoke to young people some years ago on this.
That I mentioned that I grew up on a farm in Australia.
Because most of you probably know and uh.
It was in hilly country and the farm was long and thin and wound its way along the valley, a steep sided valley. And I can remember with my brother, my older brother Steven, he and I would periodically head off to one corner or another of the property. We'd say I haven't been down to the far end.
For a long time, let's go down there and we'd walk all the way down there to the far corner of the property. Then we might walk up the hill and walk along the Ridge all the way back to the other end of the property.
You know, it says in Joshua chapter one and I'll just read it.
Joshua chapter one, the Lord says, every place that the soul of your feet shall tread, upon that have I given you, as I said unto Moses. And so dear young people, unless you walk these things, you know there is such a wealth of ministry. Perhaps it's overwhelming, but you know, you don't even have to read it for yourselves anymore. It's all available online. Go back to those old.
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Meetings, addresses from this you know, from conferences in the Los Angeles area from years gone by and listened to what those older brothers said. Find out.
But those old paths were. Find out what the corners of your heritage are and walk those paths.
And make a conscious decision to buy. You know, there are other examples in Scripture too, I think that we could come up with if those individuals that bought the truth and there's always a price that comes with it.
But it was a price that they were willing to pay.
So let's move on now. As I said, these are things that were recovered and in danger of being lost, and each generation they did. You just don't inherit it. You know that happens a lot these days. But if you inherit money, you don't have to do anything. It just comes to you. Well, these things don't just come to you, you have to make them your own. So then the next gate is the valley gate, and that's found in verse 13. The valley gate repaired Hannon and the inhabitants of.
They built it and set the doors thereof. The locks are off and the bars are off. And 1000 cubits on the wall. And to the Dung Gate. Well, we'll talk about the Valley Gate first.
Well, let's read a well known verse in Psalm 23.
Psalm 23 says the Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the positive righteousness for his name's sake. Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me well. I just want to share something that a brother who is in this room.
Umm, shared and, uh, probably on multiple occasions now.
But he pointed out that the valley gate, the the the umm, the valley spoken of there in Psalm 23, is often used in connection with those sorrows that we encounter in our lives. But he suggested that the valley is spoken of is really this world, you know, the shadow of death.
The shadow of the Cross is cast upon this world in which we live.
This Weld is really the valley of the shadow of death.
And so how does that connect with a truth that was recovered? Well, I believe that when you look at the Reformation.
Well, let's just if you look at those seven churches in Revelation chapter two and three, we find that with Ephesus.
There is a church as a whole that is separate from this world.
When you get to Simona, we find a church, an assembly that is persecuted by this world.
When we get to Pergamos, sadly, which would speak of the time of Constantine and so on, we find a a, an assembly. The Church is settled down in this world. When you get to Thyatira, which would speak of the system we call Roman Catholicism, we find that the Church rules the world. And when we get to samurai coming to Sardis, we find that the world now protects the Church.
When we get to Philadelphia, it's not like emphasis where the church as a whole is separate from the world, but we find a remnant.
Separate from this world. And when of course, when we get to latest here, we find a system that is completely indistinguishable from this world. And so the Reformation, that's something they never saw. They never recognized this separation from the world. In fact, those we call Protestants, that word comes from protest. And the protest it speaks of was a protest that was signed by various German Princess.
It was signed by political heads. There was not a single signature by what we would call an ecclesiastic on that protest. It was a protest that was entirely political in nature.
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Indeed, that was one of the downfalls of the Reformation.
So many of the churches that came out of the, what we call churches, the umm, denominations that came out of the Reformation are connected with nationalities. So you have the Dutch Reformed Church, Swiss Reformed Church. Lutheranism is especially connected with Germany and Sweden. Not entirely, of course.
And when we look at the address, decide, as it says unto the Angel of the church inside us, write these things right. These things, says he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. If you look back at.
Revelation chapter 2, verse one. It says these things, saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand. We don't see inside of those seven stars in his hand. Or rather the church looked to the world for its protection.
There was another reformer by the name of Zwingli.
And I'll refer to him again in a minute.
Have a have a habit of saying that and then forgetting to, but you'll forgive me if I don't. But Zwingli, he went further than Luther, and he saw things a little clearer than Luther. Luther never could free himself from the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, and I won't digress to explain that. Instead, he came up with a system called consubstantiation, where he believed that the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ were not physically in the blood in the in the wine and the loaf.
And the loaf and the wine was there nevertheless.
Zwingli saw that the when he said this is my body, that it was just like the Lord said I am the door, he didn't mean he was a physical door. And when he said that that loaf was his body, he didn't mean that it would become his body, flesh and blood.
Swingley saw that, but sad to say, guess how Zwingli died?
He died fighting a battle. He took up the sword, and he died by the sword. And so, as I said, the Reformation, they never saw that there was to be this separation from the world. And it's not until we get until the 1800s and to those early brethren that there began to be a clearer picture that we have no place in this world. And young people, what is this world? What do we mean when we talk about the world?
Well, the Greek word for world is.
Cosmos and the cosmos. We use that word today for something a little different. When you go out at night, look up the stars. That's what we refer to as the cosmos. And you know, if you go out and look up in the stars every night, apart from the fact they all rotate a little bit, they're all perfectly ordered in the same place. And the reason why? The word world.
Comes from the word cosmos because it means an ordered arrangement of things.
And this world has its ordered arrangement. It has its politics.
It has its entertainment, it has its sports. You know, every Sunday thousands of people go and worship at the stadiums. They're heroes.
We need to be careful that we're not caught up in this world system because Satan has a system. He has his own religions.
We have no pot replaced. You know, I mentioned some of the things that we have in Christ. Well, in Ephesians in chapter 2 it says I'll just read it.
And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You know, I I'm not just speaking to you, I speak to myself. You know, we cannot help but recognize that the, the character of Christendom in the day in which we live is Laodicean through and through. And it affects us. It affects us.
And so, as I said, these are gates that were built up.
And they're falling down again. They're falling into decay.
So now we move on to the next gate, the Dung Gate. The Dung Gate repaired Malkia the son of Rahab. This is Nehemiah 3, verse 14.
The Dung Gate, Well, again, as I said, Hebrew names are very descriptive. This is where the waste and the refuge was taken out of the city.
00:35:02
Let's just look at a verse now in.
Chronicles, chapter 34.
We know that prior to the captivity.
That the city of Jerusalem and the temple that lay in the midst of her became increasingly under decay. And you can read in the book of Ezekiel where you find that the inner walls of the temple seem to be covered in graffiti and pictures of idols and every filthy thing.
But there was a king just prior, just prior to the captivity of Judah.
Josiah, who cleansed that city, he cleansed it. He took out all those things that were contrary to the word of God and would have exposed them out through the Dung Gate. And as I said, in the Reformation there was not only not a recognition of separation from this world, but the world was seen as a useful tool, but there wasn't even really a clear recognition of separation.
From all those things that were standing against.
So Luther didn't see that it was necessary to remove the idols from the churches because he thought it would arouse the people.
Zwingli went further. He removed all the idols and images from the churches and whitewashed the walls.
But then again, he did never recognize that that building was not the church.
No, it wasn't to the for the reformers to recover that truth.
But as I said with Zingley, there was a, an, an expulsion of those things that were at least outwardly recognisable, was very contrary to the word of God. And that's what we find that Josiah did. It says that in in Second Chronicles 34, in verse 3. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father. In the 12Th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the Groves and the carved images.
And the molten images, these are all things that have been brought into the city by various kings.
We turn back to Chapter 28. We find.
King Ahab, great great grandfather. I think of Josiah.
So Second Chronicles 28, Now Ahaz was a very refined man. He liked science, he liked the arts. But it says of him in verse 24 of Second Chronicles 28 that he made at the end of the verse, he made altars in every corner of Jerusalem. That describes Christendom today. Jerusalem. Well, that was the place where God had put his name. So what's wrong with putting altars in every corner? Everybody could go wherever they like.
That's not what God intended. There was one flock and there was to be 1 shepherd.
A lot of time is moving on.
Let me just read one other verse in connection with the dungate, and that's in the last chapter of Hebrews.
Last chapter of Hebrews Hebrews 13 and it says.
Verse 9 Be not carried away with divers, or diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the happy establishment of grace, not with meats which have not profited, and which have not, which have been occupied therein we have an altar where are they have no right to each which serve the Tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is broad near the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.
Oh, I do want to say a little more about the dungate. You know, the one thing that people resist more than anything else is separation within Christendom.
But when those things are brought in that are contrary to the word of God.
Then there must be a separation when the camp became defiled. Then the sacrifice had to be taken outside and burnt without the camp. And that's where we're to go without the camp.
Unto him, not just to gather wherever we like, but unto Him without the camp bearing his reproach. Second Timothy, chapter 2.
Second Timothy, chapter 2.
Says.
00:40:02
In verse 20. But in a great house there are not many vessels of gold and silver, but also wooden of earth, and some to honor, and some to their son. And if a man therefore purge himself from these, reject them, reject those things, and unfortunately the house will also be a separation from those that refuse to reject those things.
And he shall be a vessel of honour, sanctified, and meet for the masses, used and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful us, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Let's look at the next gate.
The 15th of our chapter, Nehemiah 3. But the gate of the fountain repaired Shalom, the son of Cocola has Cohosa, the ruler of the part of Mizpah. He built it and covered it well. The fountain gate I would believe, I believe would speak of the Spirit of God. You know, there wasn't a recognition in the Reformation of the the Spirit of God as being that which lights us together to our glorified head in heaven.
Liberty was not given to the Spirit of God.
To act in the assemblies, in the churches of that day, they were appointed ministers. Even missionary work was directed by a border, some form of governance.
But.
In the early part of the 1800s, there was a recognition of the true character of the church. Now I'm going to read to you something that I know I've shared many times before, but I want to share it with you. This was written by a Presbyterian minister.
I don't know. There was a Presbyterian minister to the end of his life. He was also the 1St president of Dallas Theological College.
This was written by a man whose heritage was the Reformation.
And he wrote, following the clips of nearly all truth. In the Dark Ages, it was given to Martin Luther in the 16th century to reinstate the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, and in the last century it was given to J&W of England to reinstate the doctrine of the Church.
Andrew Miller wrote a little book called The Brethren, so commonly, so-called, and he has something in there and I paraphrased it. He says that the Church was the body of Christ, of which he is the glorified head in heaven, and it being indwelt and governed by the Holy Spirit was completely foreign to Christendom in 1827. Astonishing. What you young people I don't think realize is how much of those the truth that was.
Covered by the exercise of those early brethren are not putting Mr. Darby on a pedestal, any more than I want to put Mr. Luther, or the Wingley or John Calvin, who were very important men, whose heritage we should value what they did, and those that gave their life. John Huss. Wickliffe, Tyndale.
These are men that in some cases gave their lives for the truth. We should value what they did not put them on a pedestal, but to dismiss them and and somehow say, oh, Mr. Diver, you all, all you just don't put him on a pedestal. I I don't want to have anything to do with that.
That's just an excuse.
But you don't realize, young people, how much that the churches around you, evangelical Christendom is called today, how much of the truth, the truth of the rapture, which we'll get to in just a minute. How much came from the exercise of early brethren and to give the Holy Spirit liberty in the assembly was something that was completely new. Now I just want to touch briefly on the Holy Spirit. It says we can grieve the Holy Spirit that's in.
That was speak I think of us individually and you know what spizzle the fountain gate that it was covered. If you look in the Song of Solomon, you find out that it speaks of the the bride as a I'll just read it Song of Solomon.
Song of Solomon chapter 4, verse 12 A gardening closes my sister, my spouse a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
You know, if we're just an open vessel, all sorts of things can fall in and we can grieve the Holy Spirit. You cannot lose the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of your saved. If you don't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you're none of his.
But if you're safe, you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now. There was also a counterfeit movement in the 1800s as well that emphasized manifestations of the Spirit. Speaking in tongues is what we call the charismatic movement. That word charisma comes from the Greek word meaning gift. It means the showing off of gifts. The Holy Spirit was not does not exalt man, it exalts Christ.
00:45:15
I'll give you a verse.
It's.
In John.
16 There are many verses we could look at in connection with the Holy Spirit, but time is moving on.
John 16.
In verse 28 it says.
Sorry.
John 16 verse 14 It says, He shall glorify me, for he shall receive a mind and show it unto you. The Spirit exalts Christ.
And makes his present glories known. It doesn't exalt man. So often we find that every movement, every restoration of the truth is is accounted by something that's counterfeit, something that is either false or counters the truth.
I was working with someone who had only worked for the company for a very short time and we're on a business trip and we had to drive many hours to a location in Wyoming from Colorado, what would have been a six hour drive, I suppose. And we started talking and he seemed a bright man and, uh, interested in religious things. And he asked me what I believe and he, oh, yes, oh, yes. Oh, that's lovely.
It turned out he was a Mormon.
Mormonism also arose in the 1800s and he recognised that instantly. He said, oh, how interesting that what you call brethren and Mormonism rose about the same time. Yes, a false system to counter that which was true and I'm not resulting brethren as not brethren is that I want to talk about. Anyway, let's go back to.
Near my chapter 3 so we have the fountain gate.
Speak with the Spirit of God.
Verse 26 it says more of the Netanyahu dwelt in Ophil unto the place over against the Watergate.
If I haven't skipped anything, I believe that is the next gate, the Watergate, and the Watergate would speak of the word of God, Ephesians 5.
Allow me to read that well known again verse. It says in Ephesians 5 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water.
By the Word. So the Watergate will speak of the Word of God. And as I said with the Reformation and again with those early brethren in the 1800s, it was going back to the Word of God as being the sole source of authority.
You know, that's one thing that they they did in the Reformation. They debated teachers from Roman Catholicism and they would stand there with the word of God and say, no, here it is. And those Roman Catholic teachers said nothing to turn to but the writings of their own, which are in many cases, as soon as we get writings of men, you find things that are contradictory but the word of God.
Again, I don't know that Well, in this case, I don't know that.
Much needs to be said about the Word of God. I trust that you're reading the Word of God. It's no good sitting on a shelf.
It's no good putting up by your bed, and it's a good place for it, but if you never open it, it doesn't do you anything. You need to read the word of God. You know those men, They lived and they died for the word of God.
Do you value the very fact that we still at this day have copies of those handwritten Bibles? The time of Wickliffe shows you how men valued those copies.
Do you place a $5,000,000 value of what you hold in your hand?
I don't mean literal money.
Do I? You know, as I said, I I'm not standing here lecturing you. These are things that we all need to be concerned about, to hold fast at which we have.
The next gate was the horse gate from above the ho, the verse 28 from above the horse gate repaired the priest. Everyone will go over against his house. So let's just look at one of the most beautiful descriptions of a horse occurs in Job 39.
So let's just look at Job 39.
Job 39. Verse 19. Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with Thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He poureth in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goeth out to meet the armed men. So, so horse gate. It would especially speak of strength.
00:50:24
And again, as we look at the Reformation, we find that they put.
Their trust in armies.
But is that what we find in the book of Nehemiah, You know, is Nehemiah built this wall. He was constantly being counted.
If we look a little ahead in the book of Nehemiah.
In chapter 8, in verse 10, it says for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Now when you first read that, at least in English, it seems to suggest that depending on the amount that you're joining the Lord, that's gonna be the measure of your strength.
That's a good thing to be enjoying the Lord, but it's, you know, when you draw a circle, you put a center and you draw a line. Well, that way of thinking puts me at the center and God is the outside. We need to put God as the center. Now what that verse means is what gives us joy and what gives us strength is knowing that the Lord has joined our walk.
And he will have joy in our walk to the degree that we are obedient to the Word of God.
And that's where we derive our strength and obedience to the Word of God.
I had a dentist once and he was remarking on a a church that had been.
Speaking in language of Christendom and he commented the parking lot wasn't very big.
Well, I don't know if that was a lack of faith or not, but to him, the thing was that what made a church significant was the number of attendees.
You know, as we look at the sad state of brethren around us and we have to own and hang our heads with shame, the division that's come in and, you know, pretending that there aren't divisions is not fixed division. You can go between A&B and pretend there's no division. It doesn't get rid of the division. All it does is sanction the division. All you're saying is, oh, well, I guess it's OK, we'll just move back and forth. It's like when Paul spoke to the Corinthians and he said there was division amongst them, so they wrote a letter back.
Paul and said, oh brother Paul, we fixed the problem. We decided that each group is no better than the other and people can just move between them.
That didn't get rid of.
The problem that Paul saw at Corinth that didn't get rid of anything. All it does is sanction it.
And so we do have to hang our head with shame when we look at the state of brethren.
And.
Have you ever considered that when?
Those, there are three men that met together. It was in the winter, I believe of 1827 to break bread for the first time. There were three, just three I believe, gathered to the Lord's name with the Lord's Table recognized in its true character, breaking bread and remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just three. Well, you say what? There are other Christians in England at the time, Absolutely.
Faithful men that love the Lord Jesus Christ. Who you say there was no activity of the Spirit of God anywhere else? Oh, absolutely there was activity of the Spirit of God elsewhere.
There it was. But if you belong to the Church of England, guess who the head of your church was? It wasn't a head in heaven. It was a head on the throne of England. The king was recognized as the supreme governor of the Church of England.
They were not gathered on the ground of the one body you had if you were. I don't exactly know how it works, but I won't digress. So time is almost up.
Oh, I just want to read one verse in Zechariah. You know, Zechariah was a prophet during the time of umm, the previous book, Ezra and Zerubbabel. He had to learn in Zechariah 4/6 at the end of the verse it says not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. The host speaks of strength, and as I said, our strength is not in numbers, it's not in politics, it's not in having the government recognize who you are.
And then we have the Eastgate in verse 29. Now if you're looking at Ezekiel chapter 43, Ezekiel really gives a history of the glory of God in connection with the people of Israel. And in the first chapter, we have the glory of God presented to us. And then throughout the book of Ezekiel, we see the activity of the glory of God as it departs from that temple that was.
00:55:16
And then when you get to Ezekiel 43.
Well, it looks at a temple yet to be built. In verse 43 it says, and behold, the glory of God of Israel came from the way of the East. Well, we don't wait for an earthly Kingdom as the reformers did, but we wait as what has already been said, for the Lord Jesus to come and take us to be with Himself.
And so the proper hope of the church, as was mentioned this morning, the very expression was restored again with the early brethren. And we can be thankful that many in Christendom have recognized that the rapture is indeed to be found in Scripture, and that we are soon going to be called out of here. It says in at the end of Revelation, it says, the Lord says, Behold, I come quickly.
Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus, that's the hope of the church. Let's look at a verse in Matthew 24.
In Matthew 24, there's a break at verse 44, and it continues on into the next chapter to verse 31. And what we have in between is something of a parenthesis.
So beginning at verse 45, we have no longer now in connection with Israel, but I believe in connection with the day in which we live. It says Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord has made rule over his household to give them meat and due season?
Blessed is that servant whom is Lord, when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him a ruler over all his goods. But if.
But, and if that evil servant shall stand on his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and he shall begin to smite his fellow servants to eat and drink with the drunken. I believe that's an apartment description of the dark ages when there was no hope of the Lord's coming. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, in an hour when he's not aware of. Then in chapter 25 we get the parable of the 10 virgins, and we find that at midnight there was a cry. And I believe this did occur in the 1800s.
And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom. The cometh shouldn't be in there. Go ye out to meet him. You notice in revelation the Lord says, Behold, I come quickly. And the bridary, the church replies, Amen. Even so come, it doesn't say, Even so, come quickly. We desire to be with the Lord. And so it's behold the bridegroom. Not behold the bridegroom cometh, but we behold the bridegroom. That should be our hope.
As we mentioned today that if we're living in the good of that hope, just like Daniel who was offered a third part of the Kingdom by Belshazzar, but he had seen the writing of the wall and he said no, I have. No, I don't want your Kingdom. Well, I don't want your Kingdom. It's going to be gone in a day.
What Kingdom are you looking for? What are you working for? It doesn't mean to say we shouldn't occupy until he comes.
But what is the hope? The hope that was restored with that cry? Behold the Bridegroom? Is it still our hope? Are we giving up on that?
Then the last gate and the last gate is found in verse 31. It says and the Mer. I'll just read verse 31 after him repaired Malkaiah the goldsmith's son under the place of the Netherlands and of the merchants over against the gate miskind and to the going up of the corner the gate Miffkad speaks of the appointed place. If we look in in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
We find a principle that says true today as it was in Israel's day in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
In Deuteronomy the children of Israel are given instruction before they enter the land, and there told that in verse three that there would overthrow the altars and break the pillars and burn down the Groves that they would find in that land, that they weren't to worship in those places where the people had formerly worshipped in the land of Canaan. But in verse five it says, But under the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name, there, even under his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shall thou come.
Verse 11 Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell. There shall ye bring all that I command you. So there is indeed an appointed place. We don't worship in the place of our choosing. As I mentioned, there was to be 1 flock and one shepherd. We've found gathered around that shepherd. There will be unity. There will be an expression of unity.
Of course we know that there is much division and confusion come in, but as we find at the end of the book of Judges, there can still be found a way, I believe, as guided by the Spirit of God and we walk, and if we walk that path by faith, where we can find that center where we can be gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
01:00:13
And we can be found there in His presence to worship Him.
Just one other comment in connection with the Appointed Place. If you read the story of Ruth, we find that.
Boaz went to the gate, that was the place where decisions were made. And so again, I believe that the assembly, there is authority that the assembly has because of the presence of the Lord in the midst. The assembly doesn't have authority in an of itself, but acts because as we had this morning, He is son of his own house whose House of weed.
And so it's not because it's our house that we act in matters of discipline, but we do have a responsibility to act.
Because he is son over his own house, whose house so we and so again, I was think that the appointed place would speak of that authority that is in the assembly because of Christ in the midst. And that appointed place would speak of that place where he is where we come together to worship him. So let's just close in prayer.
Our God and Father, we.
Readily admit that we're very good at giving up on things very good at letting go, very good at weakening things and. And we can even do it in a way where we're pretending we're gonna make things stronger but it's really about our own wills and so Lord, we pray that we might return back to those old paths that we might be exercised by these things that.
Are written in thy word that faithful men.
Paid a price for in times past that we might make them good to ourselves. We know we cannot do it through our own strength but.
Through the power of the Spirit of God, through obedience to Thy word, we just cry to Thee, Lord, for Thy help to keep, to preserve us, to hold fast.
We just pray these things in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Gospel 4
Gospel—S. Bambauer
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
We'll start this evening.
With him #2.
Cheers Jesus, gently calling.
Ye with care.
Nsnoise.
McDonald's.
Nsnoise.
Welcome. Come.
Oh my God, I think that's a great question, please.
Can I have anything?
To do with anything you're blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
You know, well, I don't know anything that you got all over the place.
OK.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Verse 2 with its love and light. God is love and God is light. We are not able to define or fully comprehend either love or light, but God manifests himself in light.
And in love to us and we can embrace him. Let's pray.
Our God and Father.
Thy being is transcendent and beyond our grasp, and yet thou hast come near.
In the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And declared thy heart, and declared thy love and light to us in that blessed person. And now this evening, as we take up the Scriptures, thy precious word.
00:05:12
To get instruction for us in these things, we pray that the Word of God would drive home to the heart and to the conscience, and that thy Spirit would reach out and to penetrate the wall of the flesh and the will. We ask these things now, our God and Father, in complete dependence upon thee, in the name of our Savior and thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit joint and Marilyn's discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Forever, O God, thy Word is settled in heaven.
Forever. The Word of God is eternal.
The Word of God is transcendent. Oh God, thy word, the Word of God is unchanging. It's settled in heaven. We have then, one source of eternal, transcendent, unchanging truth at our disposal in our hand, the Word of God.
The word of God I have hidden my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed.
But of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. What a tool.
We have no use coming here with the newspaper.
Or with a philosophy book.
Or even a history book. Or a math book. Or a science book.
The point at hand is the salvation of the soul.
Bing born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. So where do you start?
I said it's transcended. I announced the time before I started. Gave you a right to the second.
It's not a wind up. It could lose time, it could gain time. This would directly connect it to satellite and get it at Costco for 50 bucks.
It's handy to have you know exactly what time it is. I'll know right when to end.
I've got right here in my hand, and so do you in your lap, the word of God.
Thought we might go through it from the beginning to the end.
Very briefly cover a few high points.
To see what we can clean.
So if we're going to start at the beginning, that's Genesis chapter one and verse one.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, or heavens and the earth.
That is a sublime statement.
An overarching statement as to the origin of all things.
In the beginning, whenever that was God.
Created the heavens and the earth and all that's in them.
He created them, heavens and the earth.
You will hear other stories.
Origin stories, perhaps at the university among your friends. I remember talking to one person, Patty and I head over for dinner one night back in Pensacola, and I began to talk to him about the Lord. He lived next door. He was a student going through the flight program. He said he didn't believe in God. I said well.
How do you propose everything came into being?
You said it's always been here and that's pretty much a scientific perspective, or at least had been. This was over 25 years ago that we had this conversation.
Since then, The Big Bang Theory has come into some popularity and level of acceptance in the scientific community.
They propose that perhaps in the neighborhood of 12 million years ago.
There was an explosion and here we are 12 billion years later for the universe, about 6 billion years, maybe 5 or 6 billion years for the Earth after it spun off, settled down, got itself situated, adjusted itself so that anthropically that is in all the.
00:10:05
Facets.
Of the Earth, its distance from the sun, its rotation around the axis, it's.
Its circuit around the sun.
The third one out. All of these things fit together perfectly to sustain life as we know it on this planet and nowhere else.
Well.
This is complex.
If they thought then that.
Through The Big Bang there was some extreme explosion of energy and matter. Beginning from a point of singularity where all the laws of nature breakdown. There was nothing there. It had a lot of the metaphysical naturalist, that is, those people who analyzed the whole show and from a godless perspective.
Said that metaphysically, that is the grand story of all physics.
Is purely naturalistic.
The Big Bang Theory came as a bit of a surprise to them and they weren't really in a hurry to accept it because they understood the ramifications that you don't get something from nothing.
And it's still true.
So you usually saw at that time a pair of parallel skid marks in the sand and that was the heels of these agnostics and atheists being drug up to this particular.
View of origin.
They have to deal with it, not to worry. If you want to be an atheist, you can find some reason for it. It doesn't have to make sense, You can go for it. A person isn't an atheist.
Because of the evidence, a person is an atheist because he doesn't want control, he doesn't want accountability.
He doesn't want to have to answer to God.
So the the convenient way out is the atheistic paradigm, way of thinking of things, way of describing it.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Well.
He looked at it, he saw that it was good. That's Genesis chapter one and verse one. Now, if we go to the end of the book of Genesis, you know, in the third chapter.
Man is introduced.
And he is to populate the earth.
And they did. But before they did anything, they disobeyed God.
And passed that same inclination on to their posterity. We call that the sin nature.
If you think that you are pure enough to stand before God.
In all that you have done or thought or think you will do, you're deceiving yourself and misrepresenting God. Because God is holy. God is love, but He's also light, and the light exposes everything.
Man will head for the darkness with his deeds, but God sees him there.
And fleshes him out there and will.
And all of those things will be brought back up.
As judgment soul, the gospel this evening, what to do?
What will you do with your sins?
If you perform enough good works, will you outwork your bad works and get maybe a level on the scale where you can negotiate with God over your good works that he should admit you?
God is holy and no sin comes into His presence.
The book of Genesis starts on such a fine note.
And we see God and his purposes.
To form a stage for man with whom he could have communion, with whom he met in the cool of the day.
When we come to the end of Genesis.
And Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
It starts with such a fine scene in the Garden of Eden and ends in a coffin in Egypt. For the wages of sin is death, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death.
00:15:06
Death. Death, no exception. Each one of us subject to that.
Well, the Scriptures tell us God's mind, and they tell it bluntly, with accuracy, yet tenderness and love and provision.
We've gotten clear through Genesis already.
We might go then to the middle verse of the Bible.
In songs.
118.
And let's see if we're making any progress.
Psalms 118, verse 8.
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
Is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princess, Man in his inventions, man with his legislators, his Princess.
We're thankful for government.
Bad government is better than no government at all.
Anarchy we wouldn't survive.
That is the desperate condition of our nature. Man cannot survive in anarchy. There has to be a government with a police force. There has to be a government with the military. There has to be a government to set the standards for the society.
And that's why it says that we are to obey the powers that be and we are to pray for the powers that be. That's what we're told to do, and we ought to be doing it.
There is no use appealing.
To a world council, to a United Nations, a League of Nations, an organization of countries to get together, to collaborate, to pursue a policy of peace. It's been tried.
But man is not a governable person.
That's the way we are. Loose cannons, every one of us.
So where there is no use.
Trusting and putting our confidence in man or in government to settle the whole issue so that we can live happily ever after without God.
We've got.
X number of thousands of years of history tucked under our belt. Man has been at war with man, neighbor against neighbor, nation against nation, over and over and over again.
How many wars has this country itself fought?
How many of them were an absolute necessity? Why do we do this?
Not Why do they do this? Why do we do this?
This is what lurks in our own heart.
Violence and corruption.
Is what typifies the show.
And it's not just this country, and it's not just Europe.
It's the whole world.
Well.
We'll go to the end of the Old Testament.
There we read.
I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Another warning, another provision, because the great and dreadful day of the Lord is coming, and that's judgment.
This is a fact of life.
I had a roommate when I was carrier based in the Navy during Vietnam and his name was Ward, and Ward was from Glendive, Montana, Solo country town up there in eastern Montana. He was a country boy.
We got along real well.
We still correspond a bit. He lives down in Escondido area.
00:20:06
We were roommates over in the war in Vietnam. That's the war they had for my generation.
You younger ones get the Gulf War. You older ones had Korea. You really older ones had World War 2.
Everybody gets a shot at it.
Ward and I were sitting in the red in our our uh stateroom and the carrier USS Constellation.
And I said, ward, God is a fact of life and we have to deal with that.
He looked at me with this kind of puzzled look.
And you said?
Yeah.
He did, Lord got saved, doesn't take much bring him into the presence of God.
Hard wasn't antagonistic to it.
That thought went into his mind, burrowed down in his soul, came out with the response, yeah, He goes to a church down there in Escondido. It's a fundamental church. Patty and I had gone there before we were gathered. He's gone on with the Lord for these last 30 years or so since I had that conversation with him.
The pilot that I flew with.
Jeff Bradley. He lives down in Rancho Bernardo somewhere between.
Escondido in San Diego.
We flew together a lot, so we got to know each other pretty well.
He went to UUCLA or UC Berkeley, I've forgotten which. He called it the Little Red Schoolhouse.
And we would have conversations.
That mattered. We had some that didn't matter, but we had some that mattered.
And Jeff got saved and his wife got saved.
And they went to Berkeley and they got saved.
God is able.
I wasn't.
Clever.
It's just a word like God is, and we have to do with that.
And it sunk in.
And we have to do with it on his terms and we've got his terms. He's spoken to us. We don't have to make up the rules as we go along. It's not every man for himself.
Otherwise we wouldn't be having these meetings here. We have to have a reference point, the transcendent reference point when we're dealing with God. If he hasn't spoken, we're sunk. We don't know anything.
Well, what about man?
God sends the Prophet, He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Blake, the Old Testament.
He gave them law.
They're in Exodus chapter 6. For Deuteronomy 6 you gave them Law 10 commandments. This do and live.
Marked out of special people for those particular instructions.
Weren't up to it. Favored people. God visited them. He led them. He guided them with the cloud by day, in the fire by night.
You would think.
That they would have obeyed for their own blessing.
We come to the end of the Old Testament.
And now God is going to send the promised Messiah to his own, and he came unto his own.
But his own received him not.
So as many as have received them to them gives you the power to become the children of God in relationship with God as children.
Not some.
Lone place within the veil, as the hymn goes, but in all the intimacy.
As children.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
The second man, the last Adam, Matthew chapter one and verse one, beginning immediately with the introduction of the one in whom now there is hope and restoration and a presentation back to God of all those things which He took not away, restoring all back to the Father in perfection.
00:25:25
Well.
Now because.
The man in whom God can have confidence.
The man who came to do his will.
Actually the Son of God who came and became a man.
To do the will of God.
Did it perfectly.
But was cast out.
Look at Matthew chapter 27.
I used to ask as a boy.
I grew up in a system that I don't think had a clear gospel.
What if they did? I didn't get it.
And I remember coming under conviction and exercise as a lad.
But it's not until I got into quite a bit of mischief and had to pay the price for that, because sewing involves reaping.
Reaping in tears.
That I came to Christ.
Years later.
One of the fellows that was the pastor at that at that time, years later.
At the little church where mom and Dad took us on Sunday, if uh, uh, the weather wasn't good enough to go snow skiing or water skiing in the summer, they would take us down there.
And there was a certain amount of conviction when you're brought into the presence of God. But without deliverance, with a clear gospel, you don't quite know what to do with it, and you're always in anguish. How am I doing?
It was just honest enough to know I wasn't doing very good and just dishonest enough not to pursue it and get to the bottom of it.
Years later.
I got saved when I was probably about 23, not too long before I met Patti.
There and going through flight school in Pensacola, got down on my knees one night.
After studies. Rigorous studies.
And I asked the Lord if He might have a help meet for me.
There was another fella in the, uh, class that I perceived to be a believer. I said, hey, Lee, where are you going to church now? Uh, we, we finished OCS and they would let us off on Sundays before that they would March us down to the Chapel and a Chapel had a podium like this that swiveled and on one of it was the Star of David. On the other side was a, a Catholic emblem and over here was a Protestant.
Side and they turn it depending on who was coming to the service at what time.
And.
The Protestant fellow there and on cruise, if you wanted to find him when we were in port, he would probably be bellied up to the bar having a drink. That was the first cruise. In the second cruise we had a different chaplain, but if you wanted to find them, you would probably find them in port, bellied up to the bar, having a drink. It's the same song, second verse, so we're pretty much on our own.
Well.
This fellow Lee.
That was in the same class program. I perceived him to be a believer and I said, Lee, where are you going to church? We were there in Pensacola at the time going through the flight program. He said I'm from Seattle. I went to school at Whitworth. I'm a Presbyterian. Uh, I'll go to the Presbyterian Church. I said, OK, I'll go with you.
So we went to the one down about five blocks from the Navy base gate there. It's the closest one.
And that's where I met Patty, and she'd been sitting in the pews there, saved as a young child. They preached a good gospel there. This was a conservative Presbyterian Church. It's one that didn't go in the modern route. So I was fortunate.
00:30:06
Lee, where are you going? To church? What a vulnerable question. I didn't know.
And I heard the gospel there.
And I met Patty there, and she was sitting there growing up in high school and junior, sophomore or so, one of seven children all lined up there, alphabetical from left to right, top to bottom, according to size and the Pew about third back and listening to the preacher preach. And she's pondering, she's right in the middle of the family. She says, why do I go to school? And I have friends that are believers, and they're over there at the Baptist and they're over there at the UFC and so on.
And so on and so on.
Why is this but no answer?
So all her brothers and sisters are saved and still are, but they didn't ask those questions.
Didn't occur to him.
That was before I met her Lord. Would you have a help meet for me? I don't know if it's down the road.
That the Lord would bring the truth of the ground, the gathering before me. There is one body.
That He would settle me as to absolute truth in every category. It's not up for grabs. It's not a personal choice. It's not a preference issue. Neither is salvation. There is one Savior. There is one body. He brings us out. He brings us in to the company of believers. That's the way it should be.
Well.
We've gotten to Matthew, the introduction of the Lord, the last Adam, the 2nd man.
The Savior of sinners.
Come down to Revelation chapter 22.
We come to the end of the book.
Only took us 34 minutes.
The end of the book. How does it end? You ever go to a book and read the last page to see how it's going to end?
He which testified these things say surely I come quickly is not through.
With His purposes here, it's going to restore this and present it back to the Father in perfection. He's the one who restored that which He took, not away.
The man we read about back there in Genesis chapter 3 might say drop the ball.
Fumble it was never able to pick it up again.
God clothed him with coats of skins. It's a picture.
That we would be clothed with the righteousness of God in Christ.
He which testifies these things saith, Surely I come quickly. The answer is Even so come Lord Jesus.
The response is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Patty likes that verse. You all.
I like it too.
It's all of us that belong to him.
Otherwise, no.
Judgement.
Well, there is a trip in between.
MMM. But let me, before I tackle that, go to Matthew 27.
And I'm going to read from verse 39.
On down a few verses.
The Lord Jesus came into the world.
And went out by way of a cross.
Man put him there. God allowed it.
He died there for our sins.
He died for all that all may come.
But he died for the sins of many.
You're.
The category of the all he died for you. I can say that.
If you come to Him, you will have your sins forgiven, otherwise no, and you'll stand before God, an answer to Him for you every sin that you have ever done, and He has a record of it. And some of them may even surprise you because you probably don't keep a record of them. You would just as soon sweep them under the rug and hope nobody notices.
00:35:10
Unless you belong to Him and then you're sensitive enough to confess them, and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all righteousness. He isn't all the way home, Savior.
How can he save us?
I was in my early 20s once and I was designated to go down to Marysville from Chico, about 30 miles, and pick up a guest speaker for a banquet.
And my dad wanted me to do that, so I did. And this fellow was going to he's a believer. He's a retired Army general, I think. And so I drove down and picked him up and it's about a 40 minute drive back.
And he asked me. I knew it was coming. I was just cringing. No, it was knowing it was coming. Steve, are you saved?
I didn't want to get into that conversation, but I knew it was coming. I said no. I was about 22 at the time, 2122. Well, why not?
Well, I said, why is it that the Lord Jesus?
Came here and died. What does that mean? Why didn't he stay here? If we wanted to know what he had in mind for us and what we're to do, why, we could ask him. But he's not here.
What does it mean Jesus died for me? I didn't know the answer to that question.
Can you imagine that I did not know the answer to that question at 21 years old?
Having been raised in that little well, I won't mention the name of the denomination is just down the road from where I live.
So he explained to me.
That Jesus died to pay the penalty of sin. I said, oh, it was new to me. Imagine that.
How many people here 8/10/12 years old and know that already and I didn't at that age?
To me it was you wrap both hands around the Lord Jesus and hang on as long as you can, as hard as you can, and if you make it to the end, you'll be all right.
I know that's what they believe because the fellow, by the time I'm 35, I've moved back there. He used to come over and play tennis. He was the pastor down the road where I was brought up.
And I wanted to know why I didn't get it. Am I that dense? Well, possibly so.
But we finished a set of tennis and I said Ray, Ray is probably that time my 30s and he was probably at least 2025 years older than I am, said Ray. If somebody were to ask you what must I do to be saved, how would you answer him?
Yeah, see, he represented that little system there.
Went to their schooling and so on he goes.
If you abide to the end, you'll be saved.
That would be the answer I would get. That's what he said.
Well, I knew myself just well enough when I was in my early 20s that I wasn't up for that. But that's the gist of it. That's what I got when I was growing up and I wasn't hanging on and embracing very well.
So I just gave it up.
Until the Lord grabbed me by the lapel and had to start shaking me a bit to get my attention.
And then gave me the opportunity to hear a clear gospel. It's important. Christ died for our sins. You have a substitute at hand. He is available. He died for all. All may come.
He died for the sins of many. I've already mentioned this. If you don't receive Christ as Savior, you will die in your sins. That's what it says. Now I know a popular gospel goes around saying that he died and bore the sins of every man, woman, and child that ever lived at that occasion on Calvary's tree.
But that's not what Scripture says.
Indeed, he died for all.
And all may come.
You don't have to be Jewish.
Black and yellow, red and white, all are precious in his sight.
And there is no distinction.
00:40:03
I want to look at Matthew 27 just a moment.
I said I would read you a few verses there.
I'll start at verse 39, Matthew 27. And they pass by. They that pass by reviled him, wagging their heads.
And saying, Thou that destroyeth the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Likewise also the chief priests, mocking him with the scribes and elders, said He saved others himself. He cannot save if he be the King of Israel. Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
I want you to look at a verse in Nehemiah.
Chapter 6 Verse.
Three.
I'll read from verse two. Nehemiah 62 Sand ballot and Geshin sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief, and I sent messengers under them, saying, I am going doing a great work so that I cannot come down.
Why should the work cease?
Whilst I leave it and come down to you.
Again, our chapter in Matthew 27.
Let him now come down from the cross was their cry, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. Now from the 6th.
Power. There was darkness over the land unto the 9th hour, and now we are getting the work of atonement.
In these hours of darkness and about the 9th hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani. I don't think that was a cry for intelligence. That is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He knew, He submitted, He went.
Willingly to the cross to redeem us. That was a cry of anguish.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken of his God when He took our place on the cross to redeem us from our sins as God placed those sins upon Him.
And he bore them stripe upon stripe. Every single one.
We have a substitute.
We have a savior.
Come to the end again.
He which testified these things saith, Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. It's He is in all the way home, Savior, a Savior to the uttermost.
I wasn't taught that as a youth.
Where I was, that is a most comforting truth of Scripture. Them that cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out. He loses none of his sheep. The doctrine of the truth of the security of the believer is, that the Lord does not lose any of his sheep.
Now you may come or you may not come. The lot is cast into your lap. The whole disposing of the matter is of the Lord. He is sovereign, but you are responsible. And the whole lot is now cast into your lap. And you cannot plead ignorance. You cannot plead innocence.
To whom much is committed, much is required. When I think of the gospel that went out last night, if you're still not saved, if you're still lost, if you're still digging in your heels, I don't know what I can say this evening.
I am not in competition with the gospel that went out last night. I am not trying to match with this is just another gospel going forth as scheduled.
With a.
Fella just on his knees asking the Lord for the words.
That they would reach home to the heart and to the conscience.
00:45:01
Bringing you up into the very presence of God and eternal issues.
God is.
And we have to deal with it.
And we have to deal with it on his terms.
Shall we sing #27?
And I'll read a few of them. My God, I have found the thrice blessed ground where life and where joy and true comfort abound.
Just found in the blood of him who once stood my refuge and safety, my surety with God. He bore on the tree the sentence from me.
Not for the other guy. Well, he did, but he bore it for me. And now both the surety and the debtor are free. Will begin at verse four of hymn #27.
All right, I'm explaining.
Your own? Yeah, that's fine. But I'm going to be uh-huh. Uh huh, man.
I'm like the boy.
And they're by myself. My father's not on the game. Can't find him. I'm not gonna hear you again before he's in the end of the evening when you're alive.
Umm.
Hallelujah.
Be with you all, Amen. So be it. Our God and Father, what a savior we have. What a privilege to bring him forth. An introduction to each one here. We know that many here have received them already. We pray for the young ones. Anyone that's come in never heard this before. Father, the eternal word, thy truth, thy provision, that they would wrap both arms.
The blessed Savior make him their own. We ask it Father, my precious name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
The Need to be Encouraged
YP Sing Address—P. House
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Well, I used to, uh, come to a lot more things like this at conferences than I do now.
And, uh, I look forward to the things.
I think because I enjoyed, I Can't Sing very well, but I enjoyed the songs. I like to think about the words that I'm singing.
Many of those songs that we sang tonight were just wonderful. When you look at the words and what they really what the words really have for our hearts.
But I look forward to the things because they were encouragement to me.
You know, we need encouragement, each one of us. We need to be encouraged. That's why I'm here. I came to the conference because I need to come to the conference. I came to hear about the Lord Jesus. I came to get things that would make me happy, meditations that would fill my heart with praise for Him. That's why I came. And so this little thing that we have together is same purpose.
Just one more thing in a grand day that we can be encouraged by.
Pardon the reference to myself, but.
I've just spent the last couple of months reading through the book of the Psalms.
And it's been a real special.
Groups of readings that I've had for myself.
One of the things that's impressed me the most is.
That most of the Psalms are written by David, and you know, the affection that that man had for God is incredible. It's incredible.
Now who can tell me what the first verse that was read to us in the conference was this morning in the prayer meeting? Does anybody know the first one?
Anybody.
You remember.
It's alright.
Yeah, that's right. What verse?
Verse what? Verse 4 Correct. Let's read it.
Thank you very much.
The fourth verse of Psalm 27.
One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. 3000 years ago, young people, 3000 years ago, this man had this meditation.
And by the Holy Spirit of God, he wrote it down.
3000 years ago, this man loved God enough to have this desire. And to me that is so impressive. And if you read through the book of the Psalms and just keep that in mind that this man, he loved God so much. And very often I would sit and think, is this the response from my heart?
Do I want this?
Do I have this desire toward God that I would write down these beautiful lines? Have I ever done that, just written down my thoughts toward God? Well, David did by the Spirit of God 3000 years ago.
You know, sometimes we think that we're advanced and progressed and all these things well.
The affection that this man had for God puts me to real shame.
But you know what's encouraging to think about the heart that this man had. You know, we read in the book of Acts that.
David had a heart after God's own heart, and God chose him.
To lead his people.
But you know, he had some rough times. He had some difficulties in his life.
And you know where he turned, He turned to God, and the Lord helped him in his trials and his adversities, his difficulties. There were many years that he was haunted like an animal. He ran away from a man that he had been kind to for years. He lived in the deserts, in the caves, and yet he was able to come out with verses like this.
00:05:07
One thing have I desired.
Of the Lord that will I seek after, that I might dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life.
Well, let's stop there for a minute.
I said that I like to come to these events because they were an encouragement to me.
Sometimes a challenge can be an encouragement.
I challenge you tonight.
When you read a verse like this.
One thing have I desired of the Lord? Have you had that desire? Have I had that desire?
To dwell in the House of the Lord. Now we may take it this way.
Do we want?
To be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All the days of our life.
Do you, do I have that desire? That's a good desire.
You know, there's a lot of Christians that would say, huh?
But you know what?
By the grace of God.
God has given me that desire.
And I trust that each one of us here today has that same desire.
To go on, to serve the Lord, to be preserved in the assembly, to be a help to others, to be a joy and encouragement.
To behold the beauty of the Lord.
To behold the beauty of the Lord. You know, I think of David and the affection that this man had for the Lord Jesus.
You know, sometimes us guys, we like to be a little bit kind of, you know, like this isn't kind of language that we're comfortable with.
But you know what? It's OK. It's OK to love the Lord.
He loved us.
How is it with each one of our hearts?
Do we love him?
Do we love him? I trust everyone of us can answer that question. Yeah, I do. I do love him. You know, when we come to the assembly meetings, when we come to the conferences like this, this is when we get to see a little bit more of the beauty of the Lord.
You know, we have time to think and reflect and hear thoughts that perhaps we've never thought of before.
I got a few today I'd never thought of before. It was such an encouragement to me to see these little things about the Lord Jesus. Man, that's beautiful and reflect on it.
But how is it with our personal lives?
You know, and we, we're busy, all of us. We're busy. We live in a world that just packs everything into our day. I'll tell you a little story. When I worked at the Compu at a computer company for a few years.
One of the things that we had was a beeping watch survey. So all over the world they gave everyone of the sales force, I don't know how many thousands of people that was, but many thousands. They gave them a nice, really nice watch. It had all kinds of features on it. It could do everything it was. It was a nice ******* watch and it was free, but the hitch was every 17 minutes.
Every sales person in the world that worked for Hewlett Packard had to record what they were doing.
No matter what it was, if you were in the bathroom, you wrote, I'm in the bathroom. If you were in a sales meeting, you're in a sales meeting. If you're on the phone, you're on the phone. If you're in your car, you write down, you're in your car. Whatever it was, you wrote it down. And you did that day after day after day. And then the survey information went off to wherever in the somewhere in the world. And they put it all together. And then they decided, OK, well.
These are the results the whole sales force in the world spends this many hours a day.
In our bathrooms, this many hours a day, in their cars, this many hours a day, writing letters, whatever it was, I forget, but it was amazing. They tabulated this, they spent thousands of dollars on it, and then they said, OK, these guys are in their cars a lot of the time. How can we get more productivity out of them? We'll put phones in their cars. This was when it was expensive to have phones in your car.
00:10:18
But we got phones in our car built right in by 4, right at the factory. Why? Because they wanted to squeeze.
A little bit more time out for the company. So what they ended up doing was they let go 20% of the sales force and sales went up 25%. And you say, well, how would that work? You got rid of sales people, but you got more results. Yeah, because they gave us tools.
But what did it do? It took all of our time and squeezed more of our time and squeezed more of our time. And all these nice tools that we have, what do they do? They take our time a little bit, a little bit here, a little bit there, and before long we're busy. The point is, yes, we're busy, but what do we do with the time that we have? Do we sit and reflect?
On the Lord, just have a little bit of time to tell Him that we love Him.
You know, if you love somebody.
You love for them to say, you know, I really love you.
That's OK to tell the Lord that we love him, He loves us.
He wants to hear our voice.
That I may.
To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.
To hear him speak to us.
You know, the Lord spoke to us a lot today, didn't He? He had all kinds of things for us.
I have to admit that there were times where I was kind of dead, you know, tired. I missed a few things in the meetings. Now, am I gonna get some tapes?
And play the meetings again and get the rest of what I missed.
Do we want that?
Well, it's available four different ways, we heard.
Cassettes, we all have some way that we can review these meetings again to get something more for our hearts. Now we read another verse in this chapter today. The last verse that was read in the prayer meeting this morning was the 14th verse.
Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.
You know it's hard to wait.
It's really hard to wait sometimes.
I know about that.
But it's important to wait.
If it's the Lord's will for us to wait, we need to wait.
And not give up. Not give up.
You know, I used to benefit by hearing these words from other people who said the same thing 20 years ago, 30 years ago when I was a lot of your age. But, you know, times gone along. I got some white hair. I'm losing some hair, but the message is the same.
We need to have courage and wait on the Lord, and it says here, wait on the Lord, be of good courage and then what?
He shall strengthen thine heart.
And, you know, this is one of the things that I really appreciate about being at a conference.
We need this, I need this, we all need this, we need to be strengthened.
In the Lord.
And isn't it a joy to be here? You know, it's a privilege to be here. It really is. It's a privilege. There's a lot of people that would give everything they could find to be here, but they can't come.
You know, we have this privilege, we value it.
Is it important for us to be here?
I repeat one more time.
Do you have that one desire?
Is that the desire from the very bottom of your soul?
That you want to be with the Lord.
Here, and for all eternity.
To enjoy him, to love him, and to enjoy His love for you. So may it be an encouragement for us tonight to follow the Lord, to wait for him, to be of good courage and to be strengthened.
00:15:03
By the Lord Himself. So we ask his help.
The Truck Inspection
Children—J. Lunden
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
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Ever told me before?
This little boy at the end of his life was sure of one thing.
He was sure that the that God sent his Son for him. Are you sure of that?
That's a good question, isn't it? Are you sure that God sent his son for you?
Let's sing one more. So who has singer song to sing?
This thing #41 around the throne of God in heaven. I like to think of this song as practice for when we get to heaven. What are we going to do when we get to heaven?
00:05:05
Singing Glory to God. So this is like practice, isn't it? You know, our whole lives if we're Christians.
Our whole lives should be sort of practiced for getting to heaven, shouldn't they? Let's sing #41.
10203.
Welding in Half Round, Lasting Life and Joyce of Naughty Birthday.
Lottery.
Lottery.
1372.
Brighton and Flair where always be inside, Joy and Love out and the children.
Everything.
Partying to fall on the hall.
Just put our hymn books down now for a minute and let's look at the Lord for himself.
How many of you children are in school?
Home, school, or regulars? Almost everybody, huh?
You like school. How many children like school? You don't have to raise your hand.
Oh, most everybody likes some. You know, I think I'd have to raise my hand only some of the time. Like, maybe like this.
Well, if you asked me that when I was a child. Because sometimes I like school and sometimes I didn't.
Do you like? Do you like tests? Do you like tests at school?
Anybody this voice or something? Not so much.
I wanna talk a little bit about tests today.
Which Which would be better? A test with just one question or a test with let's say 20 questions? Which would be better? Which would you rather have? He says one. This is a trick question. I'll have to warn you. What? How many would you like to have? Just one. How many would you like? 20. OK, he says 20. You know, Let me explain something you know, a test with 20 questions on it if you miss one.
Then you still get a pretty good grade, don't you think? If I calculate right, that's a 95%, that's still an A. But if you have a test with one question and you missed that question, what do you get? What happens? What's the grade? That's right, a big zero. You flunked it, didn't you?
So which is better? Now? If you know the subject really well, I agree with you. I'd rather just have one question because then you'd have the tester be over easy if you knew the answer.
But if you didn't know the subject very well, maybe it'd be better to have 20 questions.
Is there a test to get into heaven?
Huh. I don't mean to test like.
How many books of the Bible there are? Or name all of the children of Israel? Or is there a test?
Is there a test to get into heaven?
You know what, children? I think there is.
I think there's a one question test to get into heaven.
Neither. You get it right or you don't.
What do you think that question would be?
00:10:01
That's right, she said. Are you saved or some question like that? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your savior? Are your sins forgiven?
Have you trusted the Lord Jesus to wash your sins away? It's almost kind of the same question.
And if you get it right, what would be the right answer to all those questions?
Are you saved? What would be the right answer to that question? Yes or no?
Yes, right. You said yes. Then you could get into heaven.
You only get it either right or you get it wrong.
I want to tell you a test that I had. You know, we have tests all through our lives, not just in school, school now, but when you get older. You have tests to get out of school, you have tests to get into more school, you have tests to get your driver's license, you have test.
We have tests lots of times. Maybe sometimes your mother thinks you're a test.
But we have tests. We have tests all through life. And you know, I want to tell you about, I'm sorry I have to tell you this story and it's about me. But I had a test at a truck stop at a truck weigh station. I want to tell you about that you know what a truck weigh station is. Any of your boys know what a anybody know what a truck with.
Anybody. Nobody knows. This girl knows.
Here let's use this you can tell everybody.
What a truck goes on it like you weigh the They weigh a truck so that you can go it. No, you can go on a certain hail or Rd. That's right. That's right. She's got it just about right. If trucks are too heavy, they break the road and they have laws about how heavy trucks can be. So trucks have to go on a scale kind of like your bathroom scales, only a great big one. And they weigh the truck and if it's not too heavy, then it can go. And if it's too heavy, then it gets a fine and then they have to unload some of the weight.
And also at those truck weigh stations, sometimes they have an inspection station there and it's not about weighing the truck, it's about checking out to see.
If it's working properly, if it has the brakes or working, the lights are working, the steering wheel work works properly, all the safety things on it so it doesn't run into somebody or it can't stop.
Well, for my business I had to buy a truck and not a big one. It was not a big 18 Wheeler semi, but it was just a little was like a pick up only instead of a pick up it on it, it had a flatbed kind of like that stage there, just a flat deck on it and I have to go to California for my work. And so when I was coming down to California there's a truck inspection station at Shasta and I heard from other guys who drive trucks that they didn't like to go through truck inspection stations because.
Well, it's a test and it's kind of a one question test. Either you get it right or you don't. If your truck's not right, then you can't go. And so a lot of truck drivers, they try to figure out ways to go around the truck's way stations so they don't get caught. It's not really right. They try to do that. There's no way to get around this one. It's right on the freeway. And when I came down the hill to it, there was a big sign there that said all trucks must stop.
I don't know. I'm gonna have to stop.
I'm not really too worried about being overweight because I'm a little truck.
But I might get inspected and then I'm kind of worried about.
Well, a little way, a little farther along there was another sign that said no pickups.
And I thought, you know what, my truck is kind of like a pickup. It just has a different bed on it. It doesn't have a regular pickup. It has it. So I think I qualify as a pickup. So I went right on by.
You know what, children? The Bible says our hearts are deceitful.
My heart is being deceitful, I have to admit.
Because that was an excuse, wasn't it?
You know how I know it's an excuse? As soon as I drove by that weigh station, I wanted to, like, do this when they went by.
I wanted to try to hide from the guys in the trucking space. What's that called? That's called the conscience. Do you have a conscience? You know what a conscience is? That little guy inside that says, uh, uh uh, you're doing wrong. And that little guy inside of me was saying, I think you should have stopped at the weigh station. And as soon as I went by, I kept looking in my mirror to make sure that nobody was coming to catch me and take me back there to get weighed.
That's my conscience telling me you did wrong, but you know.
00:15:03
Sometimes when we do something like that.
And we we don't. We ignore our conscience the next time it gets a little bit easier, doesn't it?
If you do something wrong, the next time you do it, it's just a little bit easier.
And our consciences get a little bit harder and a little bit harder. And I have to admit that several times I went by way stations. Well, I'm just a pickup truck. I don't need to stop. And then one day, my friend Ray and I were talking about truck weigh stations. He has a truck too. And he said, you know, I think you should stop. I think you're supposed to stop, even you were supposed to stop. He has a bigger truck than mine.
He was right.
But I didn't like to hear that, you know, the word of God says.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Sometimes friends tell us things that they're right. It's the truth. We need to hear it.
But we don't like to hear it.
In fact, our parents are faithful to bring us to Sunday School and to put the word of God before us, and to tell us what the Word of God has to say. Some things We don't like to hear from the Word of God, do we? Do you like to hear that you're a Sinner?
No, I didn't.
We don't like to hear those things, but it's the truth and we need to hear it. And the people that tell us that they're faithful, they're telling us the truth. And Ray was telling me the truth.
But I was still wasn't very convinced. So when I got home, I got in the telephone and I called the California Highway Patrol department.
And I tried to use that same excuse with the guy that I talked to, the officer that I said, well, I just have a little truck and it just has a little bit. You know what he said? He was very simple and very plain. Maybe he thought I wasn't very smart, but he was very clear. He said if you have a flatbed truck, then you intend to carry things. If you're carrying things, then you need to go through the weigh station.
Very simple and very clear. Very easy to understand.
Is the Gospel hard to understand, children?
It's not, is it?
Sometimes it's hard to accept, but it's not hard to understand. There's a little track back there that BTP has that says four things God wants you to know, and it's the gospel in a nutshell. You need to be saved. You can't save yourself. Jesus is the only Savior and you have to accept Him to be saved.
That's pretty simple, isn't it? That officer was pretty clear and pretty simple to me, but my deceitful heart made it a little bit more complicated. Well, I have a different kind of a truck that can I can go by. So after that, when I came down the hill to Shasta, I realized I had to stop.
At the truck stop.
The next time that I came down there, I pulled off and I stopped. You know, there was a big semis in front of me and big semis behind me and little me. I thought I felt pretty insignificant. And I thought, I bet those truck drivers are kind of laughing because here's this little guy trying to be a big truck. But you know, that's really not important. I was being obedient to the truth, wasn't I? I was supposed to stop and I was stopping. It doesn't really matter what other people think.
If you know you have to believe the Lord Jesus and take him as your savior. If your friends make fun of you, that doesn't matter. What matters is what God thinks and that you're being obedient to Him.
And so I stopped at that. And when you're aligned at the truck stop, the trucks only go 3 miles an hour over the scales. So I had a long time to wait while each truck went over the scales. And I was way back there and I waited. And you know what I noticed? I noticed a curious thing.
While I was sitting there in line off to my left, I could see the freeway.
And every once in a while I could see a big semi truck go.
Right on by and now I knew that the law applied to them because it said all trucks must stop.
I knew that and and there would go another one and they couldn't hide obviously. They're so big.
And then I remembered that I had seen a sign up there that said trucks with transponders that receive a green light can bypass the truck stop.
00:20:05
I read, I remember reading about this that some trucks have a little thing inside that talks to the weigh station, to the guy at the weigh station and says I've already been pre approved, I've already been checked out and I'm OK and I have the right weights on so I don't need to stop.
No, I thought. That's just like someone who's accepted the Lord Jesus. They're pre approved, aren't they? They don't have to stop and see the judge, They don't have to get checked out.
They're already approved, aren't they?
When you take the Lord Jesus as your savior, does God see you in your sins anymore?
They're all gone, aren't they? The Lord Jesus paid for them at the cross. And what does he see instead? He sees that you're just like the Lord Jesus, just as perfect as he was. Isn't that amazing?
Those trucks were all checked out and approved. They could just keep on going. They were good to go. Boy, I thought, I wish I was one of them. While I was sitting in that line, I sure wish I had that transponder in my truck and could tell the guy. But I was sitting there waiting for judgment.
That's what I really want to talk about.
Children, if you don't know the Lord Jesus, you know you're waiting for judgment and that's a serious thing.
So I slowly crept up to the waist scale. It was night time and they had great big lights out there. There was a guy behind the tinted glass looking at each truck. 5 trucks ahead of ME4 trucks ahead of me. My hands were getting sweaty on the steering wheel.
Two trucks ahead of me. Pretty soon it was my turn and I rolled. I didn't even dare look at the guy in the in the window. I couldn't see him anyway, but I was afraid. He was looking at me real hard.
And I could see up on the reader board it gave the weights right up there and had a green arrow that said keep on going. Or it had a red X that said stop and there was a green arrow. And I saw the numbers for my front axle and my middle axle. And then the green arrow turned to a red X and a voice came over the intercom that said Corral Creek Orchard. That's the name of my truck. Corral Creek Orchard, please pull into inspection Bay #1.
The thing that I feared the most was happening. I knew that I wasn't going to have a problem being too heavy, but I was afraid about getting inspected. And you know, by then it was too late. It was too late to get out and fix my truck and check it out. I had to pull in the inspection Bay. You know what? That inspection Bay has a great big door, almost as tall as the ceiling, and as it goes up, it was bright, bright lights inside.
In fact, the light came spilling out onto the pavement as the door went up, up, up, brighter, brighter. And I could see here was this room. You know what I thought about this bright, bright room. I'll tell you the verse that I thought about when I when I saw that room. It's a verse that I think we were already read in meeting.
Revelations Chapter 20 and verse 11.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the small, the dead, small and great, stand before God. I thought, This is like the great way. There was light in the ceiling.
There was lights in the walls. There was even lights in the floor of this building shining in all directions. Why do you think they had that?
Why do you think they had lights in there?
To see under the truck. That's right. It was an inspection place.
So I pulled in there and a man in a white suit came up and he asked me for my driver's license and he looked at it and he said, Mr. Lundeen, can I see your log book?
And I my mouth just went.
Log book.
I know that big trucks have log books, but I didn't know that I had to have one.
You know every mouth will be stopped. When people have to stand, when this lost have to stand before God, There won't be anything that they can say. And I want to tell your children this because if you don't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
00:25:01
Something far worse than me going before the judge at the truck inspection station will happen to you. I want to use this as a warning. I think it happened to me so I could share it with you. This is a warning.
Here was this bright, bright place. There was nothing I could say or do.
And the guy said I want your log book, and I said I don't have one.
And he said, well, you know, ignorance is no excuse. You're supposed to know the law. You know what our brother said? Brother Jim said last night you learned verses in Sunday School. And if you don't, and if you don't come to the Lord Jesus, those verses will probably come back to you when you stand before the judge. Isn't that awful? Those same verses will come back to you.
I had nothing to say, he said. Well.
Do we just started enforcing this law about 14 days ago, so I'll let you off on this one.
I'd like to think that was mercy, but it really wasn't. He was just avoiding the law a little bit.
And he said, no, I'm gonna have to inspect your truck now. Do you think that he wanted to look at the paint on my truck and make sure that I'd washed and waxed it and kept all the bugs off the grill? Do you think that's what he was interested in looking at? What do you think he was look interested in looking at?
The important parts, the inside part, you know, what are you gonna say?
The battery and the brakes and the lights, right? All that important stuff about how the truck, that's what he was interested in.
He didn't look on the outside. You know, there's a verse that says God doesn't look at us like other people look at us. We like to dress up the outside. You guys are all dressed really nice today for Sunday school. We all put on our nice clothes.
What's the What really counts is what's inside. And that inspector was interested in what's inside, how the truck really works. So he got out his creeper. You know what a creeper is? Maybe your dad's have one. It's like a little like a little skateboard, only with really little wheels. And you lay down on it, you can scoot around underneath your truck. He got that out. And you know what else he got out? And this bright, bright room, a room so bright that it made you squint. You know what? He got out.
I'll give you a hint.
What is this?
The flashlight in this bright, bright room. You gotta. I thought, good night. This guy is really interested in inspecting my truck. And he got underneath with his flashlight and he went around. I could hear him say. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. OK. Mm-hmm. Sometimes he didn't say anything for a while.
Oh dear, what's he seeing now?
You think God is going to miss anything when he reviews your life if you stand before him as a judge.
Do you think God is going to miss any little thing? He's gonna know every. He knows everything about us, doesn't he? What are you gonna say? He's gonna see everything about us, isn't he? He knows one end to the other. He knows everything in our life.
Well, finally the inspector got out and he said, Mr. Lundin, it looks like everything's in order under there.
And I was just about to say, oh, good, then I can go. And he said one more thing. I wanna check your breakaway system on your trailer. Now, trucks with trailers have a little electrical thing so that if the trailer comes disconnected from the truck, it makes the brakes, right, just like that, just stop so the trailer won't go, he said. I'm gonna activate your breakaway system and you get in your truck and you drive and we'll see if the brakes work on your trailer. So I got in and I turned on my truck and started and said, OK, go.
And I went and the wheels on that trailer, they rolled just like there was no brakes at all.
I went, he came up to me and he said a curious thing. He said. He didn't say, oh, your trailer doesn't work, you're out of order, you're you have to stop. He said to me, what do you think? I don't think that that.
Breakaway system work and he asked my opinion.
I said, well, I had to agree with them. I don't think it did, he said. Let's try it again, just in case. So we backed the truck up.
And he unplugged the thing again, and I rolled forward. And it worked just the same the second time as it did the first time. The brakes didn't work. And he came up to me and he said, I don't think your brakes are working. And I had to agree with him. You know what, children? If you have to stand before the judge on that awful judgment day, I think in the end you'll have to agree with what he decides. God is the judge, and he's going to decide your fate.
00:30:17
And I'm afraid you'll have to agree with him that what you're getting is what you deserve.
Would be a terrible thing. Don't don't get in that situation.
So he said, well, your truck is not in compliance with the law. You can't go.
You have to stay right here. You can drive your truck out there in the parking lot. You can't go.
And then I wished for sure that I had been like those trucks with the transponders that were all checked out ahead of time.
I want to just leave you with one more verse.
Just a simple little verse that I know you've learned in Sunday school, John First John one.
First John one and part of verse 7. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin children, if you trust the Lord Jesus.
You'll never have to stand before the judge. You'll never, ever have to stand before him as the judge.
And you will never have to worry about it.
All my equipment in order so that I can get by.
You can be like those trucks with the transponders that go whizzing on by that are all pre approved.
Those of those of you who?
Put it off and put it off. We would listen to your deceitful hearts and put it off and say no some other day.
You'll have to stand before the judge, and not a single person who goes before the judge will get the green light to go again.
That's the truth.
Put your trust in the Lord Jesus. Make sure you put your trust in Lord Jesus and his blood will take away all of your sins, so there's nothing that God will find in your life to keep you out of heaven.
Let's pray.
Our loving God and our Father we thank you for.
The simple truth of the gospel that children can come to Jesus while they're young, put their trust in him, know they're on their way to heaven, know their sins forgiven. We just pray for each one here that they have trusted Jesus today.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Open Mtg. 8
Gospel 9
Gospel—J. Hyland
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Possible meeting this evening with hymn #20 on the gospel hymn sheet. Behold the Savior at the door. He gently knocks. Has knocked before, has waited long, is waiting. Still, you use no other friends, so we'll open the door. He'll enter in and Sup with you and you with him. Hymn #20, if someone could please start it.
Hello.
Uh-huh.
Nsnoise.
Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father how thankful we are tonight that there is an invitation being given out in the gospel. Still. We thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee for each one in this room who knows the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
But our God and Father, our hearts are burdened now as this gospel hour is upon us, and as we are about to open my precious word and speak of the precious things of Christ, To think that there may be someone in this room who is lost and in their sins, someone who is on the broad Rd. that leads to destruction. Our God, if there is such. Tonight in this room, we pray that by thy Spirit Thou would arrest them in their course, that their eyes might be open to see beauty in Christ, and that thou wilt draw them to the Savior. We pray that thou give listening ears tonight.
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And that's how it worked mightily by Thy spirit, and help us to present simply and clearly.
The blessed Gospel Story. The story. The wonderful story of Jesus and his love.
So we ask thy help and blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
I'd like to read several portions of the Word of God this evening, beginning with a very, very familiar story in the New Testament found in Luke's Gospel chapter 19.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 19.
And we're going to begin reading at verse one.
And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed up into a Sycamore tree to see him. And he was for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him.
And said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.
And he made haste, and came down and received him joyfully, and when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man that was a Sinner.
And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation, come to this house for as much as he also is the son of Abraham, for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Now hold your finger here. We're going to come right back to this story. But I want to read some Old Testament portions to connect with it. The first one is in the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy, chapter 34.
Deuteronomy chapter 34 and verse 3.
And the South and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees unto Zoar. And then in the book of Joshua, Joshua, chapter 6.
Joshua chapter 6 and verse 26.
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord that raiseth up, and riseth up and buildeth this city, Jericho. He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first born.
And in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it, And then one more portion in First Kings Chapter 16.
First Kings chapter 16 and verse 34.
In his days did Heil the Bethelite Bill Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his first born, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son, Sega, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. I realized that this story that we have read from God's living Word in the book of Luke is a very, very familiar story.
It was perhaps one of Dwight L Moody's favorite gospel stories. He often preached on it in the city of Chicago and around the world in the days when he was used mightily of God to propagate the gospel. And hundreds, yeah, thousands, were saved under the sound of the Word, which he preached so faithfully. But I have it on my heart to take up this familiar story again tonight, because God teaches us in His Word.
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Not just by precept, but he teaches us by story and illustration.
And God not only tells us the way of blessing, He not only tells us how we can be saved.
But he gives us examples of boys and girls, of young people and men and women.
In the Word of God who came into association with himself and as a result came into the good of blessing and salvation. And here we have perhaps one of the outstanding examples of a man in the days when the Lord Jesus walked here in this world, who had a desire to see the Lord Jesus who wasn't going to let anything stand in his way.
And as a result, he received eternal blessing. What a wonderful experience this man had in his life the day he met the Lord Jesus there under the Sycamore tree in the streets of of Jericho. And oh, tonight the way of blessing is open for you. If there's someone here tonight who does not know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, the burden of our hearts tonight is that before this gospel hour is completed.
You will come to know this blessed one, this one who desires your blessing far, far more.
Than anybody who invited you to these gospel meetings. Far, far more than a parent or a grandparent. Far, far more than any loved one, far more than the gospel preacher. God desires your blessing and your salvation. The Lord Jesus desires that you would not leave this room. In fact, He desires that you wouldn't wait one more moment to come to know him as savior. Oh, I say, the way of blessing is open.
And here we find as the Lord Jesus came to Jericho and his pathway here there was blessing within the walls of the city of Jericho. Before I comment particularly or specifically on what we have read here, you know it's interesting to trace the history of Jericho. And perhaps even before I say anything about Jericho specifically, I might add that cities in scripture.
Are often brought before us in various ways as pictures of this world in its confusion without God, sometimes in its religious confusion. Because, you know, tonight, there's plenty of religion in this world, but there's plenty of religion without Christ. But it's not religion we're preaching tonight. It's not Reformation. It's not sociology. No, it's Christ and Christ crucified. Christ is the answer for this world.
He Christ is the answer for you tonight if you're lost and in your sins. Sometimes cities are brought before us, as in connection with the political confusion of this world, sometimes as the social confusion, sometimes simply as men going on in His wayward sin and degradation without God. The reason I say that is because the first mention of a city in the Bible is in connection with Cain.
After Cain had offered that sacrifice that was not acceptable to God.
And after he was remonstrated with by God himself, and he went out from the presence of God, it says he went out.
And he built a city, and cities often speak then of man going on in independence of God. We find later on that after the flood they traveled towards the land of Shinar. And when they came to the plain of Shinar, they said, let us build us a city and a tower that will reach to heaven. And most, I suppose, know the story of the tower of Babel.
This is just a little parenthesis, but several weeks ago my wife and I were in Europe and we landed in Brussels and we had an extra day. And though we have connected through Brussels many, many times, we had never spent any time in Brussels. And so we spent some time in Brussels and one of the things we did was to go down and wander around the grounds and the compound of the EU.
And those buildings are impressive and we all are aware, especially today.
In the news and so on of the EU and the economic crisis in Europe, and so on.
But, you know, it's interesting to realize that there are two headquarters of the EU, the one in Brussels that we usually hear about, but there's another headquarters, and that's in Strasbourg, used to be part of Germany. It's now part of France. And, you know, it costs the eurozone thousands and thousands, millions of euro every year to have two headquarters because they go months about from one place to the other and they have to move themselves and their staff. And so on one month they're in Brussels, the next month they're in Strasbourg. And it is to satisfy.
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The French in that regard, but you know, it's interesting if we were to look up.
And see on the Internet some pictures of the headquarters in Strasbourg. We'd be surprised because the headquarters in Strasbourg was built after the pattern of an old painting that hangs in Europe by one of the old masters of the Tower of Babel. I suppose if we were to bring that a picture of that painting here tonight, most perhaps would recognize it if you have a Bible with.
Old pictures, Bible pictures, or the artist's depiction of Bible scenes.
You might find that very painting in your Bible, somewhere in the book of Genesis.
And that building is purposely built after the pattern of the Tower of Babel it looked, it's left to look unfinished at the top. There's a metal framework around that building that is to represent scaffolding. But what is so solemn about it is that when that building was opened and they began to use it as one of the EU headquarters, one of the top EU officials said these words. We built this building purposely.
After the pattern of Babel, because what they began at Babel 3000 years ago.
We in Europe are going to complete, Isn't that solemn? I think that's very solemn. You know this world is right. Not just Europe, but this world is ripe for the judgment of God. But I only say this to point out that as we come to the history of Jericho again, we have a little picture of this world in several aspects. I read back in the book of Deuteronomy because usually when we take up the subject of Jericho.
Or any story connected with an event that took place within that city. We think of it as the city of the cursed, and certainly it is, and we'll speak of that in a moment. But before it's introduced in that way, it's introduced to us in connection with the story of the children of Israel going around.
Or even before they went around the Jericho and it it was destroyed, it's introduced to us.
Not so much as the city of the curse, but the city of palm trees.
You know, it's interesting that the name Jericho itself means constant fragrance.
You know, when we think of fragrance and palm trees, we think of something very wonderful, don't we?
I suppose up in Canada, where I come from this time of year, most people, if they could afford it.
And have the time they would desire to go to a place where there are palm trees this time of year.
Canada is in the throes of a Canadian winter.
In fact, I was thankful that I took a flight out on Wednesday, because if I had taken a flight out a day or two later, I'm not so sure. I didn't check, but they were predicting some inclement weather.
I can well remember on a number of occasions approaching Grenada by boat.
Grenada is an island. It's the Spice Island and.
I know they've been devastated by hurricanes in the last few years, but I remember.
Approaching Grenada by boat when you could smell the spices wafting over the water.
If the breeze is blowing the right way, oh, it's a wonderful fragrance to smell the nutmeg and the spices as you come into the port in Grenada. Constant fragrance, lots of palm trees. A place where many people would covet being so that they could relax on the beach. Take a little vacation from the daily grind. And it's interesting that Jericho has a type of This world is presented in that way.
Because, you know, man features this world as a playground in which to indulge himself.
He says there's only one life and we only pass through this world once.
00:20:00
Make the most of it. You've heard me say this before. At least many of you have. You know, amusement, which is so prevalent today. Entertainment amusement. It's interesting what that word in itself means. You know the word muse is the Latin word that means to think, and in Latin, if you put an A in front of the word, it gives it the opposite meaning. The word amuse means not to think.
We see it every day, don't we? People can't even go out for a walk in the evening without plugging something into their ears so they don't have to think. I'm not saying there aren't good things to listen to, but the world goes on.
Not thinking about their eternal ruin, they go on full of amusement, Something before their eyes, something to listen to some activity.
You ever have the carnival come to town? You ever think of what the root of the word carnival is? It's carnal. You ever think about that? But it comes to amuse people to keep them indifferent. And don't get me wrong, those of us who've had children, those of us who have young people, there's diversion and things that we can enjoy.
But oh, I say, the enemy is busy with that constant fragrance, the city of palm trees to keep man insensitive to his ruin. And if there's someone here and you're just out for a good time, you're just out to enjoy the fragrance and palm trees of Jericho, so to speak. The relaxation and amusements of this world and the ease of it all tonight would that the spirit of God would stir you up to realize that this world is under judgment.
Because Jericho is not only the city of palm trees, but it's the city of the curse. And we find between it being the city of palm trees and the city of the curse, we find that it came under judgment. The children of Israel went in to take the land of promise and the first hindrance that was there was the were the walls of Jericho and you know obedience to the word of God. We know they marched around that city.
And they marched around it for seven days. And on the 7th day they went around it again and again and again.
And at the right moment, God they blew the trumpets, and God brought the walls of that city down.
That city came under judgment and this world tonight is under judgment.
It's about to pass away, just as the story of Jericho in the Old Testament is a reality.
Just as it came under judgment in the days of Joshua and the children of Israel, so this world, it says he has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And I don't know when that judgment is, But I can tell you one thing for sure. We are closer to the judgment of this world tonight than we've ever been before.
You know, it is a serious thing to consider that there are many people gearing up this very day.
To celebrate tomorrow the birth of their judge.
Saul Amisendick.
I'm thankful for any recognition there is of God in Christianity in this world. Don't get me wrong.
But there are many people who are going to celebrate the birth of their judge, and if they go out of this world rejecting Christ, they're going to look into his face someday. And they are going to remember that they celebrated the birth of their judge. And the last thing they will remember as they go into a lost eternity is the word of God ringing in their ears. The Lord Jesus said the word that I have spoken.
The same shall judge him in the last day.
Have you ever heard scriptures quoted before?
You probably have, in fact, as I lookout over this audience and I can see right into the back row. But as I look over this audience, I realize that there are hundreds of people here who have heard and memorized the word of God. And there are boys and girls and young people who have committed in Sunday school, the word of God to memory, who've learned it at the dinner table as dad and mom so faithfully opened and read it.
From day-to-day and year to year.
But won't it be a serious thing, young person to remember in a lost eternity?
00:25:04
John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I don't think that's the first time you've heard that verse, and if it is, you've heard it now.
And if you don't receive the message of that verse as to a point of refuge and salvation?
That very verse will rise in judgment of you.
In a coming day, because you will remember it knowing that it offered you salvation at one time, but it will rise in judgment because you're rejected that offer of salvation and mercy.
And when the walls of Jericho came down, and they went up and annihilated their inhabitants, all but who were in Rahab's house, and as they took the spoil, there was a curse placed on the city of Jericho.
And that curse, we read, was that whoever raised up the city of Jericho again would do it at the cost of their first born.
And their last?
Was God fooling?
Heil found out in the days of the kings that God wasn't fooling.
He rose up and he built, rebuilt Jericho.
And he lost his sons as a result, when he laid the foundation and when he laid the gate. When he began and completed the city, he found out that God wasn't fooling, and God's not fooling tonight.
A lady one time was invited to a gospel meeting like this, and I happened to be at that gospel meeting. And as she went out the door, someone said to her, what do you think? What did you think of the gospel message tonight? She said, well, the preacher was passionate about what he believed, and we are tonight. We're serious because God is serious. We're passionate in presenting Christ as the savior of sinners, but also in presenting the judgment of God that hangs over this world.
And not only that, but the awful reality of entering the lake of fire. It is a reality tonight. It is a very serious reality. And if we were to back up just a few pages in the Book of Luke, we would find there that the Lord Jesus not only warned about a lost eternity, but he again told an actual story.
About a man who ended up there.
You know the rich man.
Who ended up in a lost eternity in hell? That's not a parable, That's not a fable.
That is a real story. You know, whenever I read the story of the rich man and Lazarus, I am solemnized to realize that when the Lord Jesus told that story, that rich man was already in a lost eternity. Now how long ago was it that the Lord Jesus told that story?
About 2000 years more or less, wasn't it? Do you realize that man is still in a lost eternity? Do you realize he's still in a place of torment after 2000 years?
And do you realize that He will stand at the great White Throne judgment, and he will be bound hand and foot, to be cast into outer darkness, into hell, the drop of water that he desired for momentary relief?
Back when the Lord Jesus told the story, he never has got and he never will get.
Eternity is a long time. I don't think any of us can wrap our minds around eternity. It's a long, long time. We're so governed by time and clocks and physical limitations. But this is reality. To think that tonight, if you reject Christ and go on in your sins, you will come under the judgment of God and you will spend eternity in hell.
Just to go back and thought to the story, we didn't read it, but the story of the children of Israel and the destruction of Jericho in their day, You know, there were some in the city of Jericho who were saved.
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They were those who came into the House of a lady named Rahab.
Rahab had faith, and not only did she have faith, but she hung a scarlet rope in her window. And it was that scarlet rope that I believe God saw, as well as her faith, of course. And it was that scarlet rope that came under the eye of God that saved Rahab and all that were in her house, you say why? Because to the heart of God it spoke of something very precious.
It spoke to the heart of God of what was going to take place at Calvary's cross when his son, the Lord Jesus, would go there and lay down his life and shed his precious blood.
It is only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ tonight that's going to save you, and I want to stress it for a moment. It is only the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, that cleanseth from all sin.
Ruthann Metzger is a well known singer in certain circles. She's a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and sings sacred music at different events. And she's sometimes hired to sing at weddings and funerals and other events, often by wealthy people.
And the story is told of a time when she and her husband, Roy, were invited.
To a very prestigious wedding in the city of Seattle, WA.
They were very excited, as she tells, to attend this wedding. It was the wedding of a the son of a very wealthy man, and this wedding promised to be quite an event. It was to be held. The reception at least was to be held on the top floor of the Columbia Tower in Seattle, WA. I believe it's considered the tallest building in the Northwest.
And the story goes that as the wedding feast was about to begin.
The guests congregated a floor below at the base of a glass and brass stairs.
Someone very ceremoniously cut the satin ribbon. The bride and groom and the wedding party ascended the stairs.
And the wedding guests afterwards, Ruth Ann, had sung at the wedding.
And now they were going up the stairs to the wedding reception.
There were waiters in white tuxedos. There was an orchestra tuning, tuning their instruments, getting ready to play during the wedding feast. There were all kinds of delicacies, lading the tables, ice sculptures, A centerpieces, and a great deal of pomp and ceremony connected with the whole affair.
But at the top of the stairs there was a maitre-d' with a bound book. And as the guests approached the top of the stairs, before they were allowed into the feast, they had to give to the maitre-d' their name. And he would look in the book, and he would see their name, and he would check it, and he would allow them to take their seat at one of those tables.
Ruthanna and her husband Roy approached the maitre-d' and he asked them your names please.
She told them their names. She said. I'm Ruth Anna Metzger, and this is my husband, Roy. He opened the book. He ran his finger down the page, said I don't see your name. She spelt it for him. He looked again. He said, I'm not finding it. She said. There must be some mistake. I sang at the wedding.
He said. Ma'am, it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, if your name isn't in this book, you cannot attend the wedding feast.
As he said those words, he motioned to a waiter and instructed them to escort this couple to the elevator and have them sent down off the floor.
This waiter ushered them inside the service elevator and rather unceremoniously pushed G for garage.
00:35:00
The doors closed. The elevator descended.
And in silence, Ruthanna and her husband Roy found their car.
They drove out of that garage in silence. They drove for some time before Roy said anything.
Put his hand over on his wife's hand and he said. Ruthanna, what happened?
Tears filled her eyes, she said. When the invitation came, I knew I needed to RSVP, but she said I was busy and besides, I was the singer. I didn't think we needed to send in the reply card.
But as a result of not sending in that reply card, they were banned from that wonderful wedding feast.
They felt bad. How disappointed they must have been. But oh, tonight.
There's a wedding feast being prepared in heaven. The marriage supper of the lamb.
And only those. I want to say this so carefully and with all reverence. But only those who are SVP are going to be there. In other words, only those who come to the Lord Jesus and say yes.
I'm a Sinner. I want to be saved only those who avail themselves of the precious blood of Christ.
And have their names written not in the Maitre DS bound book at the top of the stairs.
But in the Lamb's book of life that will be opened in a coming day, Only those.
Will be at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Those who are not found written will be cast into the lake of fire. We find the Lord Jesus came then to Jericho.
And it's interesting that as he entered and passed through Jericho and there was blessing as a result, we never read of the Lord Jesus entering and passing through Jericho again.
You know, tonight you have entered this room.
You're sitting listening to the word of God read and quoted and, at least in some feeble measure, the gospel message being presented.
But I'm not going to promise you that you will ever be in this room again.
Or that you will ever have another opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as your savior.
You know, if we were to back up in this story, we would find that as the Lord Jesus entered Jericho.
There were a couple of blind men. You have to compare the accounts in the different Gospels. But it was a couple of blind men, and they called out, and they received blessing. Suppose they hadn't called out. Suppose they hadn't desired to see the Lord Jesus. Would he have ever passed that way again? We never read that he did. They would have missed the one opportunity that they had. Suppose Zacchaeus had said, well, you know.
Jericho and yeah, I think the Lord will come this way again and there'll be another opportunity and maybe the next time he comes there won't be such a big crowd and.
I'll have a better opportunity to get acquainted with. The Lord would have never had that opportunity again. You may never have the opportunity again.
Some of us have come to this room for many years. But you know, as I look out over this audience, I realize there are those who have sat in these, this audience before who are in eternity tonight.
They're not here. They're in eternity.
What about you? When you leave this building tonight or you go out those doors? Will you ever enter this building again? Oh, you say. Well, what about tomorrow morning? I'm not going to guarantee you tomorrow morning.
The Lord Jesus may come tonight, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Not only that.
But you may take your last breath sometime between this evening.
And tomorrow morning and you will be in eternity. I remember some gospel tent meetings we were holding years ago.
In the town of Curling, Newfoundland, just outside of Corner Brook.
And I remember some young men. I believed there were four of them who came one night.
To the Gospel meeting. They sat at the back of the tent and I watched them. I knew those young men. I'd seen them there before.
But I realized very quickly as the Gospel Meeting commenced, that just like on other occasions, they hadn't come so much to listen to the message.
00:40:07
But more to cause a disturbance.
And after the Gospel meeting was concluded, they were standing around outside the back of the tent and they had lit up their cigarettes.
And I went back and I said, Fellas, tell me something.
I knew they knew the story. I said Tell me something. Is it worth the risk? Is it worth the gamble to say that tomorrow you'll have another opportunity to come back to this tent and another opportunity to get saved? Is it worth that risk?
You know what they told me? I tremble to repeat what they told me. They said we'll take that risk. You know, man is a gambler at heart, isn't he?
He likes an adrenaline rush. He likes to take a risk. He likes to go to the casino. But all tonight, don't risk your life. Don't gamble with eternity. It's not worth it. It's eternal.
There's no going back. A person may go to the casino and lose everything and start over.
A person may risk their health in one way or another, and they may go to the doctor and they may get a treatment and they may heal, at least for a time.
But to gamble with your soul and end up in a lost eternity is to realize that it is final. It is very final. And so we find as the Lord Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, there was a man, and he desired to see Jesus. I love this who he was. He wasn't just interested in seeing some miracle.
He wanted to get to know the Lord Jesus who he was. You know, there was another man in the days of the Lord Jesus that says he wanted to see Jesus for a long time.
That he might see some miracle performed. You know, we don't ever read that he saw a miracle performed in his presence.
But Zacchaeus desired to see the Lord Jesus, who he was, and who is he?
Oh, tonight he's the son of God. He's the savior of sinners.
He's God manifest in the flesh. He's the Savior on high in the glory.
He's the one that loves you. He's the eternal person who desires your blessing.
He's the one who laid down his life, who shed his precious blood. He's the one that's coming again.
You know Zacchaeus had some hindrances, you know, every time the Gospels presented.
Whether it's in a setting like this, whether it's a gospel tract handed to somebody.
Whether it's a word spoken faithfully to an individual.
Or whether it's a life lived quietly in testimony. Every time the gospel is presented, Satan the enemy is busy to try to hinder the blessing of souls.
There was somebody in Jericho who didn't want Zacchaeus to get to know the Lord Jesus, not with the enemy Satan. And he tried one way or another. Here particularly it was this great crowd, this great press. Zacchaeus might have got discouraged.
And said, well, it's not worth it. Not only that, but you know, Zacchaeus was a prominent man in the city of Jericho. And he might have thought too well, with all this crowd around, somebody's gonna see me that I know, somebody I work with, somebody I do business with, maybe a friend, maybe a neighbor, And they know what I'm really like. And maybe they wouldn't like it so much if they saw me talking to the Lord Jesus. But he didn't let any of that stop him. Such was his desire, Such was his earnestness.
That he wasn't going to let anything stop him.
You know.
His possessions could have stopped him too.
You know, those that are rich hardly enter the Kingdom of God.
To the poor, the Gospels preached, not many noble, not many wealthy.
But thank God he didn't let that stop him either. You know, the point really isn't here, Whether he was a tall man or a short man, whether he was a rich man or a poor man. The point really, we want distress tonight, is that he had a desire to see the Lord Jesus, to get to know him, and he wasn't going to let anything stand in his way. What are you letting stand in your way tonight?
00:45:15
Maybe it's your possessions, I don't know.
Maybe it's your job, your profession.
Maybe it's the people, I don't know, but there may be any number of things that the enemy is using tonight.
But it's not worth it.
When we see Zacchaeus in heaven, those of us who know Christ.
Is he gonna say that it wasn't worth it? That he should have waited? Oh, he's gonna be thankful that he was in earnest and we find here that he ran what the souls would run to Christ tonight.
Would that souls were in a hurry tonight to come to the Lord Jesus?
I'm going to pause for a moment because I have a bit of a burden on my heart in connection with this audience.
You know so often when we present the gospel in a setting like this.
We stress to the boys and girls and young people the need of being saved now and while they're young and that's certainly very important, but maybe there's an older person here tonight.
I have a little bit of a burden because I look into the faces of all age groups and I know there are a number of older people tonight, perhaps what we would label today as senior citizens. Maybe you've gone on for many years, 7080 years, and you're not saved.
I suppose most of us have eaten, at some point or another, a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
You know, sometimes when we're in the islands in the Caribbean, the only thing we can get that.
It's really safe to eat and it at least fills the hole. It's not my favorite.
But I've often eaten Kentucky Fried Chicken.
And we often have seen that symbol, that picture of Colonel Sanders.
You know, Colonel Sanders was 65 years of age when he founded or he began that franchise. He had run a restaurant and cooked and been been in another number of business ventures before that. But at 65 years of age, having lost everything, he started up again and he started a very, very successful franchise. And it seems like almost anywhere you go in the world, you'll find a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.
Colonel Sanders all his life was what he called himself in his autobiography, A God fearing man.
He gave 10% of everything he made.
To the church, as he called it.
He sought to live upright. He wasn't a gambler. He was a morally upright man.
But as he said himself, there was an empty, aching void.
In his heart all those years.
He sought to find peace and something to satisfy his soul in various ways, and he even traveled to Australia to attend some evangelical meetings that were being held there.
Didn't find it there, he came back.
To Kentucky.
And one day, he was invited by a friend to a gospel meeting in the city of Louisville, KY.
He went and sat on the front row.
While the preacher presented a very, very simple and faithful gospel message.
And the Spirit of God was working with him. He was 80 years of age.
It's never too late, is it? As long as there's breath, as long as the Lord hasn't come, there's hope.
At 80 years of age, he got down on the floor.
On his knees with his friend and with the tears streaming down his face.
Colonel Harlan Sanders.
Who was very, very wealthy at that point?
He accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, the verse that impressed him that night and that the Spirit of God used.
Was Romans 10 and nine, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved.
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And as he says in his own words, when he left that meeting, the hunger of his soul was satisfied. He had found something that he had not found in any other venture.
Or pursuit that for 80 years he had sought after.
He lived another 10 years. He lived to be 90 years of age with a very, very real testimony. And maybe there's someone here and you've gone on for many years. Maybe you've even made an outward profession of being a Christian. But you're not real. Oh, tonight was that the spirit of God would work in your soul and the tears would flow down your face and you would come in repentance.
Because it's repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Almost persuaded.
There was a man that Paul preached to one time in the book of the Acts.
And he said, Almost thou persuadeth me to be a Christian, but Zacchaeus wasn't almost.
He ran. He climbed up into a tree. He wanted to see Jesus. But you know, he found out something even more wonderful than his desire to see the Lord Jesus on that occasion. He found out that the Lord Jesus desired to see him.
He wanted the company of the Lord Jesus, but the Lord Jesus wanted his company even more.
And the Lord Jesus wants your company. He wants your blessing tonight.
And the Lord Jesus came. I can just picture Zacchaeus up there in that tree. And the Lord looked up, and he called them by name. Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus must have just about fell off the branch. It must have been an awful shock, an awful surprise, but an awful joy. A real joy to Zacchaeus. The Lord Jesus is calling each one of us by name. Tonight he looks into this audience. I try to work on remembering names.
And when I shake hands with you, I might say your name to try to reconfirm it in my mind that once in a while I make a mistake. But the Lord Jesus looks down into this audience tonight, and he knows every name, every heart. And he's not just calling people tonight as a group. He's calling you by name.
I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. I know there's hundreds here tonight. Rejoice in a scripture like that.
He called us by our name. He's redeemed us. We belong to him. Can you say that tonight?
You know Zacchaeus. I love what it says here. It doesn't say Zacchaeus came down.
It's true he came down, but he made haste and came down. This gospel meeting is almost over.
I know the young people watch their clocks, their watch, their watches. They they're going to see if I go overtime tonight.
But you know Zacchaeus.
He didn't wait for any overtime. He made haste. Oh, tonight don't wait till this meeting is over. Don't wait till I pray and say Amen. Don't wait till you go back to your room tonight. Come to the Lord Jesus. Be like Zacchaeus and make haste. The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He's seeking for you. He desires your salvation. And I suggest that there was a turn around that very day in Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus perhaps had a reputation even in his business in the city of Jericho. But there was a turn around and I suggested Zacchaeus had come to your house to collect taxes because that was his job. He was a tax collector. If he had come to your house to collect taxes, or you had gone to the tax office to pay your taxes after Zacchaeus was saved, after he came into acquaintance with the Lord Jesus, you could trust Zacchaeus now.
Maybe you couldn't before. Maybe you tried to ex exact too much from you put a little bit in his pocket and went on his way, but not after he was saved. There was a difference. There was a testimony. You know, I rarely ask someone if they're saved. I wait to see if there's some change in their life. When I see a young person or anyone with a change in their life, a desire to live for the Lord, I say, oh, I believe there's a person who's come.
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To know the Lord Jesus as their savior. I want to tell one more little incident before I close about a young lady named Abigail. She was 16 years of age at the time I knew her and know her very well. She lives in a country very different from North America and many miles from here.
She was brought up in a Christian home. I stayed in her home and visited in her home parents home many, many times.
There were Bible readings and prayer and hymns singing and going to meeting.
If you had asked me before this event if Abigail was saved, I would have said yes.
But one night after the presentation of the gospel.
And I was not the one that presented the gospel that night. But after the presentation of the gospel, Abigail stood up.
And she said, I've got saved tonight and I want to confess Christ as my Savior.
You can't imagine the ripple of joy through that room.
Wasn't hundreds of people like we have here tonight? It was just dozens. But there was a ripple of joy, and for one hour, we never left that building. We sang. We praised the Lord. We prayed. There were tears of joy running down many faces, including her parents.
Oh, tonight if you know Christ, confess him. If you, if you just come to know him tonight during this meeting, turn to somebody and tell them there'd just be so many who would rejoice to know that another soul is saved. There was no doubt rejoicing when Zacchaeus got saved, not only with Zacchaeus, but with the Lord Jesus. Oh, tonight there's joy in the presence of the angels of God over 1 Sinner that repents.
Oh, be like Zacchaeus. Make haste.
And come to the Savior of sinners. Let's pray our God and Father.
We pray for blessing on the gospel tonight. We pray that souls might be saved before they leave this room.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Y.P. Sing 10
Revelation 2
Reading
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172.
Oh, teach us more.
By loving.
Love.
And everything. I have a little time.
In my life, right?
I think we covered chapter one pretty much on Saturday.
I suggest brethren and I'm open to others thoughts too, but.
Since we have two readings left that perhaps we can more or less give an overview of chapter 2 This meeting and Chapter 3 in the next.
There's much that can be gleaned. We could go into it into detail too, but I wonder if it might be better just to give.
Uh, more of an overview.
Revelations, chapter 2, verse one unto the angels of the Church of Ephesus. Right he sings, saith, He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And I has tried them which say that they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars, and has born and has patience for my name's sake, has labored and has not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou has left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the work first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove the Candlestick out of his place, except I'll repent.
But this valve has the valve has the deeds of the Nickelodeon's, which also I hate see that has the air. Let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of paradise of God under the Angel of the Church of Smyrna. Right these things say at the 1St and the last which was dead and is alive. I know thy works, thy tribulation, poverty.
00:05:18
But thou art which, and I know the blasphemy of them, which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that has it a heir to let him hear what the spirit saith under the churches.
He had overcome it shall be hurt of the second death, shall not be heard of the second death. And to the Angel of the Church of Pergamus right these things, saith he which has the sharp sword with two edges. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is. And thou holdest fast my name, and has not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas.
Was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
But I have a few things against thee, because I'll have their them that hold the doctrine. Balam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling bark before the children of Israel, to eat those things sacrificed unto the idols, and to commit fornication.
So has thou also them that hold the doctrine of the nickelings, that thing I hate, Repet, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and I will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth. He that has ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith under the churches, and to him that overcometh, while I give the Eid of the hidden manna, and will give him a whitestone, and in that stone a new name written, which no man knows save he that receive it.
And under the Angel of the Church of Thyatira, write these things say at the Son of God.
Who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass.
I know thy works in charity and service and faith, and thy patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou suffest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophecy to teach and seduce my servants to, to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed into idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fortification, and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that committed Olive tree with their into a great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and the hearts. And I will give unto everyone of you, according to your works, but I but unto you I say, and unto the rest, and thy attire as many as have not this doctrine.
Which have not known the depths of Satan as they seek. I will put upon you none other burden but that which you have already hold fast till I come. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end. Him will I give power over the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of Potter shall they be broken to shifts serious even as I receive of my Father. And I will give him the morning star, and he that has air.
That I'm here what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Brethren, I wonder if.
As we look at chapter 2 here, if we could just look at one verse in chapter one before we go ahead and I'm thinking of it as that which I believe would be a help to all of us, some of us more familiar than others. But I'm thinking of, uh, what we read in second Timothy, don't have to turn to it, but that 15th verse where it says.
Study or be diligent to show thyself approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And I'm sure I'm not alone in saying this. I need that diligence. I need that rightly dividing the word of truth and perhaps in a special way when it comes to this wonderful Book of Revelation. So if we could just look at the verse 19 of chapter one for just a moment here.
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And we see the past, present and future all mentioned in this verse, which we find, uh, takes up the Book of Revelation. The first one is, uh, uh, write the things which is thou hast seen. And I look back and there's more of it just to 0 in on verse, the end of verse five of that chapter unto him that loved us.
And washed us from our sins in his own blood. To him be glory.
Umm, and made his kings of trees unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever. Amen.
Then, uh, chapters 2:00 and 3:00.
The things which are.
More particularly the last, uh, churches in chapter 3, but then from chapter 4 on.
That, as it says here, the things which shall be hereafter, but, but just that thought and, uh, one other thing I just mentioned that I would like to get some help on. I've noticed something special in connection with chapters two and three here. I just mentioned here at the onset that, uh, with every one of the churches, it seems that the Lord comes to them in a different character. And if I could just mention a little bit of that to start with.
Chapter 2 and starting with the the Church of Ephesus.
Notice what it says here under the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, right these things, saith he. Now notice this that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. And then at verse 8 with Smyrna.
Under the Angel of the church, of these things set the 1St and the last, which was dead and is alive. Different character.
Verse 12.
Unto the Angel of the Church of Pergamus rites sings, saith he that has a sharp sword with two edges.
See Yes, and then Clara Tyra.
Uh, verse 18 and under the Angel of the Church of Thyatirite, these things set the Son of God who has his eyes like a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass. And just in the overview, look next in chapter 3 for a moment, Sardis under the Angel of the church's Sardis Sardis rite, these things set.
Key that has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou live us and art dead. And then Philadelphia to the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia, right? These things set, He that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that opens and no man shudder, and no and no mansion, and no man openness. And then the last one, number seven, glad to see it under the Angel of the Church of Laodiceans, right?
These things sent the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
Just those thoughts in connection with the different character, the blessed Lord, as He is speaking in judgment, as He's judging these churches.
That's helpful, Larry. I would like to say too that as we take these seven churches in the two chapters here that they can be looked at in perhaps three different ways. I think Jim mentioned it, uh, the other day that there were actual.
Actually seven different assemblies that had specific problems that were addressed in these letters to the seven assemblies. But we can look at it too in their moral teaching and there are things in each one that can be applied very profitably, and perhaps we can keep that in mind too. But then there is in the 7A prophetic overview of the Christian testimony.
From what followed the time of the apostles to the Lord's coming? And when I say the Lord's coming, I'm not speaking merely at the rapture, but of the coming at the end of the great tribulation.
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Remember Brother Chuck Hendricks one time was asked will the church go through the tribulation and he said yes and no.
There will be a false church that, yes, will go through the tribulation.
And there is the true church that will be raptured out before. But notice in chapter 2 and verse.
Verse.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation.
Now notice chapter 3 and verse 3.
Remember therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If, therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as AT is coming at, as a thief is at the end of the great Tribulation, and there will be.
What relates to the Christian testimony on the earth? The false, of course, right to the end. And the Lord will come as a thief for those very solemn to think about it and think that is there somebody in this room that's going to be left behind at the rapture that will meet the Lord at that time as of the well, these are warnings and we need to think about them. So we have a prophetical view in these seven churches.
Of the history of the Christian testimony through the ages, the first three do not mention the Lord's coming. It is when you get the Thyatira that you have the Lord's coming mentioned in verse 25. And of course what we have mentioned in verse three of chapter 3 and Sardis, and also in Philadelphia verse 11 speaks of it and Laodicea doesn't specifically.
Address the Lord's coming, but it does speak about.
Spewing out of his mouth that which he finds he cannot stand. And that is the false church. And I suppose that will be some time after.
The rapture that that will take place, I'm not sure if I can put any date on it. Maybe somebody has a thought on that. But at least it shows that we have a historical view of the Christian testimony from the time that right after the apostles through to the Lord's coming. And that's helpful to see it if we can, perhaps especially the 2nd way where we can use.
Brethren, moral lessons in what is spoken, we can reflect on that with profit and also the historical view. Perhaps so the book, the these assemblies were chosen very carefully, as we said at the beginning of these meetings by the Spirit of God and written to in this particular order to give that ecclesiastical overview of the Church period.
From the day of Pentecost when it was formed.
Until the end, as you say. I suppose in connection with the false church, it's not completely judged till the 18th and 19th chapters of Revelation.
And then the true church is married to the Lord in heaven. That's why you don't get the.
Marriage Supper of the Lamb until the 19th chapter of Revelation, because the false church is completely judged first, and then the true church is brought forward at the marriage Supper of the Lamb.
But I think what Bob said is very helpful, and that is to, as we go through these churches to realize that there are many practical lessons and warnings and applications that we can make in connection with ourselves, no matter which church or assembly we're taking up. We say, well, that applies to a certain period of church history, but there are things for us to consider and brother, not only to consider.
Collectively.
But individually, you know, sometimes the tendency, I suppose, of our hearts is to read things that apply collectively.
And perhaps shuff it off and say, well, that applies to things in general, and we don't take it to our own hearts like we ought to, because we can be no more collectively than what we are individually. For instance, we find here that he begins with this.
00:20:07
Comment in connection with them having left their first love. Now perhaps when we read this, the tendency is to say, well, that's a point of departure.
That began in the early church, to which the church has never fully recovered collectively and so on. And we leave it there. But you know, in the days in which we live and we have to hang our heads and say we're right down at the end, we're in Laodicean days. But let's not just let this statement, this exhortation slide as to being something to Ephesus or something to which the church will never fully recover.
Collectively and leave it there. You know, as individuals we ought to be in the enjoyment of first love, brethren.
Everyone of us ought to be exercised. Can you and I individually think of a time in our lives when our hearts went out more in affection to the person of Christ than they do now?
If we can think of such a time, then we ought to be stirred up to get back in His presence, to enjoy His love, so that there would be that fervor of first love with us individually and if that was true, individually. Yes, I agree. Collectively, this was a point of departure to which the Church will never return as a whole. But it is possible for individuals and even assemblies locally to be enjoying first love if everyone of us.
Went home to our home assembly in the fervor of first love. Wouldn't that make a difference collectively?
Wouldn't we be in the fervor of first love collectively? Wouldn't there be a zeal and a desire and a fervency collectively amongst us in connection with the truth, with the blessing of the people of God, and with the getting forth of the gospel if we were all individually exercised in that way? So there are things that apply collectively, but let's not forget that it begins with us individually. And as we go down these verses, brother, let's take these things to heart individually.
That they may be more true of us collectively as gathered to the Lord's name.
How do you recover that state?
The state of first love. I believe, Brother Bern, it is by being occupied with himself and his love. I'll repeat the illustration that I've often used from the Old Testament, and I'm going to repeat this because I think your questions helpful. Sometimes I think we get discouraged because we get so occupied with our love for the Lord and trying to within ourselves, generate more love because we have to often hang our heads.
At least I do. I better not include my brother. I better include myself only. But often I have to hang my head and say I'm not in the fervor of first love. I I'm not enjoying the Lord's love like I ought to. What is the answer? To try to try to generate that love within myself, to be discouraged about it? No, The bride in the Song of Solomon, when you read that dialogue between particularly between the bride and the bridegroom as she is awakened in her affections and as she is more occupied with himself and his love.
That's what generated or deepened her love for him.
She becomes, through that dialogue, less occupied with herself and with her response, more occupied with himself and his love for her. And at the end of it, her affections are deep and she back, if I can say in the context of what we're talking about this morning, she's back in the fervor of first love. Why? Because she tried to generate that love within herself? No, because she was so absorbed and lost in the sea of his love that at the end of it all, she says.
He's all together lovely, he's mine. Her love had deepened but it was a result of a more appreciation of his love for her, as our brother Don Ruhl reminded us yesterday.
It's not about us, it's all about him.
There it is. It's good to see also that it doesn't say that she lost her first love.
It doesn't say that she grew cold. It says she left her first love.
That's a conscious decision. You know, thinking back to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when they wrote letters to prevent the rebuilding of the temple, they said that Jerusalem was a rebellious city. That describes our nature.
00:25:08
And so if we have left our first love, then restoration must begin with repentance. If it does not begin with repentance, that cannot can be no restoration. And just one comment about the individual application of these portions.
This has been spoken on many times, but just very briefly. You'll notice each one is addressed to the Angel of the church. The word Angel, both in Greek and Hebrew doesn't necessarily mean an angelic being. It can also mean a messenger is Speaking of office not of nature is Speaking of one that is representative of the church. And these letters go from an address to thou as if it's written to the this representative of the church to use So for example, in verse 10 it says.
And ye shall have tribulation, that's now plural. So it takes in all of us. We can't say, well, this just refers to those that are responsible and not to me. And then each of the, to the overcomers individual, He that hath an ear, let him hear. So again, it's very much to the individual.
I I feel that's one of the words I would say Vernon is the way back is repent and it's mentioned twice in verse five, if you'll notice. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent.
I I think it is helpful to understand that we use that word a lot in the Gospel and it's an important word in the gospel, but it comes from the Greek root To think in Spanish it's pensar and repent means to change our thinking and we have been thinking wrong thoughts and we need to correct our thinking. That's important.
And I agree with you what you say, Brother Jim, that it's being occupied with him. But why have we left? Our first love is because we weren't thinking right. And so he mentions it twice. In fact, in these seven churches, five of the seven uses that word. The Lord uses that word repent.
I thought that was for unbelievers. No, it's for believers, at least those that take the place of believers, repent rather than it's so important to have right thoughts. What I find in the culture we're living in, there's such a stream of media that we're just caught by it and carried along and we need to get back to the Scriptures and to rethink things in the light of the Word of God.
And I think that is so important in connection with recovery. If there's going to be any John's Gospel, it begins with the the word coming into the world. And it says of him in the beginning of John, in him was life.
And the life was the light of men.
He lived here as God's witness to man of God.
He lived here as the light of men. He manifested the heart of God in his life and in his death.
He's not here anymore.
But God does not leave himself without a witness to the earth. In John's first epistle we see that that life.
Has been communicated to the children of God.
And in the first chapter that light is seen, and it is seen in its fellowship with those who have received that light, eternal life we call it, and they have received it from God.
The love that is in the heart of God is seen in chapter 4.
Of that epistle, as the human heart is looked upon as a vessel.
Into which the love of God is poured, and that love of God poured into that vessel can then.
Bring it out and then overflow to others.
In the revelation that is given to John to continue on in that truth, we see the God's assembly.
00:30:01
Is to be the vessel of testimony for God in the earth.
And that testimony for God is to be a testimony, as the Son was, of what God is to the world. God is light and God is love, and that's what's emphasized in the epistle, and that's what's explained to us in John's first epistle.
So the Son of Man is the one who overseas that testimony.
In chapter one of the Revelation and the Church.
Not the Church and the character of the bride of Christ, but the Church and her responsibility for God is a Candlestick to the world of light and love.
Is seen being examined as to her performance, if you will, being judged as to what she is doing. Is she bearing a testimony for God? Is the world seeing what God's heart is in her?
In the first church, Ephesus, that's being reviewed.
The judgment is made, Thou hast left thy first love.
The consequence is that if it's left, then the heart of God is no longer being displayed to the world.
As it should be in responsibility if she herself is not a pure.
Full vessel of that love, then she cannot display it to the world.
And if she doesn't, then as a testimony for God she is of no purpose.
So she is taught and told that if you don't repent then I will remove you as a candle sticker.
Its first, its foremost. It's everything you don't have in any other church. The statement I will remove you as a Candlestick.
Because the whole testimony of the Church of God for God in the world is lost.
If that is lost.
It won't matter about any other features or any other things that are seen later, but God as a using her as a vessel. We know after the third chapter, after the review is completed, she is set aside because she has failed in that responsibility for God. And then the question is, who will take it up? How will the witness of God continue in the earth?
How well God is light and God is love be seen among men.
And then we have the rest of the revelation as to tell us how God does that.
And he takes it up in the person of the sun again as the Lamb in chapters four and five and so on, and takes us through the steps that he is going to take, so that when the Millennium comes.
God is light and God is love will be established in its order and seen in the whole creation from that point on.
But in the first church, the essence really of the message to her is if you don't display my heart.
Then what are you for me as a witness and as just to make the personal application that I think is the great advantage to our souls, brethren, is it's true of us individually.
You it says in Ephesians chapter 5 to the Ephesus, the Saints in Ephesus, ye are the light of the world. It says in Ephesus chapter 5 that the love that's in the Father's heart is to be displayed.
RI individually displaying the heart of God and the light of God.
Untainted. Undiminished.
Or is it in its purity, in its fullness. We all know what it is to see a dim light versus a bright light. We all know what it is to see something that's less than full in the expression of love in the heart, but God will not if it's a matter of faithfulness to himself. It has to be 100% and consequently in just one last remark in the really introduction to what happens is about.
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And and that is.
In first John chapter one where you have the individual expressions of this character of life, it says God is life and the you can't have personal fellowship with God in anything less than the fullness of the light that God is. There is no ground for any one of us to have communion with God on any basis except that our lights.
Our lives are before His eye, in the fullness of his own light. That exercises me. I hope it exercises all of us.
So in the emphasis there was outward order, but that.
Vital love was lacking. I know thy works.
In First Thessalonians it speaks of the work of faith.
And I labor. First Thessalonians speaks to the labor of love.
And thy patience, First Thessalonians, speaks to the patience of hope.
It had lost its character because of having left the first love. They had lots to say to their favor. They had tried those that said they were apostles and found them liars. They had borne. They had patience.
For my name's sake and had not fainted.
My brother. And so often the lack is inward and we see each other and we think we're doing all right.
It's not what we think of ourselves, brethren. That's what he thinks as he sees us.
And there was something tremendously wrong like Don says it's the only church that he says I will remove the Candlestick except thou repent. And so it's something to really exercises all brethren.
We can be so orderly in an outward way. I find myself, brethren, that it is so important in my own life that I don't miss the breaking of bread meeting. It's when I get back there to see the love that was displayed at the cross. That's what rekindles that love in my own soul, gets my thoughts right about everything.
Oh brother, how he lost.
Brother Dave used to say, be honest to God.
So that's one of the secrets.
The transparent for it.
Something that perhaps is good to mention. We need to be moving on. But in verse six it mentions the deed of the Nicolaitans.
Further on in the address to Pergamus, it mentions the Nicolaitans again, but not the deeds, rather the doctrine. To me, there's something to be learned there. Some have suggested that the word nickel Latins means to dominate the laity, is the meaning of that word, and perhaps the beginnings of the clergy call system.
That developed, and the clergy is in a certain way a following going back to Judaistic principles, where they had in Judaism one tribe that could do the service of God. Of that one tribe there was only one family that could go into the presence of God, and of that one family there was only one person that could go into the holiest of all.
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That was a special people amongst the people of God.
Brethren, this thing he hates and I, I think there's something we need to be exercised in these last times, brethren. So often we notice as we go around that in assembly meetings, it's left to two or three brothers when there is a good number of brothers there. And I'm speaking about you younger brothers too. Don't you exempt yourselves?
But to be in the presence of the Lord in exercise of heart, to be a vessel for his use, if he wants to use you to give a hymn to get up and express.
Prayer or praise to the Lord, those priestly activities if we think that there are certain brethren, and this is what scares me in these conferences, brethren so often I'm thankful this morning in the prayer there was a lot from further back that prayed. Thank God for that.
But I say sometimes we look at the brothers up in the front rows and we kind of leave it for them. So a lot of you brethren back further that are well capacitated, just as able as brethren up in the front row. Brethren, are we falling into the deeds of the Nicolaitans? If we allow that and we're not exercised about that, what will happen? It will develop into a doctrine in time.
May the Lord help us that that does not happen.
We use that word here too, and I'm thinking of something that is said to all seven of the churches too.
Something very personal, an exercise for each one of us. To him that overcometh.
Perhaps someone can make some remarks about that for us. I think you can, Larry.
I'd like to hear others.
The precious place of communion, isn't it?
And as a personal exercise with each one of us, it's it's.
If you can say it there, it's the laity that makes up the assembly.
Each individual precious to the heart of Christ, that personal communion with him, that having those right thoughts, as we are reminded in the uh, uh, letter to the Church of uh.
Philadelphia.
Thou has little strength, it's a good thing to have a sense of that. Has kept my word, kept my word. How am I going to have right thoughts? I need to be diligent in His word, reading His word in communion with him and fellowship with him, and not deny His name. I enjoy the word too. Larry and 1St John, uh, five it is.
This is the victory that overcometh the world. Even our faith, and I like to think of overcoming is in connection with the difficulty. In each one of these particular assemblies, there were things that they had to face.
Uh, there are two that the Lord doesn't say anything negative about Smyrna and Philadelphia, but like you say, in Philadelphia there was not great strength. There was little strength. And so overcoming is going on with God in the circumstances that we are in, counting on him to carry us through that is overcoming whatever.
This set of circumstances the Lord has put you in don't get the mentality of escapism.
This seems to be something that really afflicts us, brethren, when you get into a problem, I'm out of here. I'm going somewhere else.
I'm moving to a different meeting.
Brother, if God is dealing with you about something, you're gonna carry your problem right where you go, and you're gonna have to face it there, too. Don't think you're gonna escape. Overcoming is not escapism. Overcoming is counting on God in the circumstances He has put us in to carry us through. It's not ignoring the problems.
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But it is facing them.
With God in the picture.
And in every assembly we'll find that there was an overcomer, no matter how difficult the circumstance, no matter how much the indifference, even in Laodicea, there was in that assembly an exhortation to the overcomer. Because the tendency sometimes, especially in the day in which we live, is to be overcome and overwhelmed and perhaps to think, well, we're the only ones that have ever faced these kinds of difficulties. And no one knows what I'm going through individually.
No one knows what's going on in our assembly. It's so difficult. Yes, it may be very difficult. And I recognize that there are perhaps problems facing the those gathered to the Lord's name and assemblies gathered to the Lord's name that perhaps we have to say in a sense we've not passed this way heretofore. They're unique to the day in which we live. But nevertheless, there were real difficulties in these 7 literal assemblies.
That John wrote to very serious problems, problems that they needed to repent of, problems that needed to be taken up and dealt with for the Lord's glory. And we're gonna, you notice in Smyrna there was physical persecution and they were laying down their lives for their testimony, things that most of us have never been called on in this country to face and suffer. But in every case there was an overcomer.
And it's beautiful with the overcomer in Ephesus that he was given to eat of the Tree of Life.
You know, it's the man forfeited his right to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and, uh, God had to drive him from that paradise and put the, uh, cherubim with the flaming sword and so on. But you know, the overcomer here, he's given to eat of the tree of life. And it's interesting that in the end of Revelation, we have that tree of life in the midst of the heavenly city bearing 12 manner of fruit, and of that fruit is born each fruit in its season.
And it's for the sustaining of divine life. And you know, it's interesting that it the overcomer here who eats of the tree of life. It's not simply because they have all their doctrine and their truth in order.
You know, this was said in Ephesus. They did have that. In fact, so much were things in order at Ephesus that they were able to detect the false apostles. You say that's pretty good. Yes, it was good. But that's not what the the one who's gonna enjoy the fruit of the tree of life. It's not simply because they have all their doctrine or truth in order. But if I can suggest it this way, it's holding the truth in love.
It's having that truth affects the heart. And so I think again, it's the bride and the Song of Solomon who said I sat down under his shadow in the in the shadow of the person, the bridegroom. And what is the result? His fruit was sweet to my taste. You want to have the not only the truth held in a outward doctrinal way, but have it enjoyed in your soul.
It's the truth as it is in Jesus. You have to take it up and let it affect the heart. And if I can just say this too, I believe, I think it's in the ninth of John, but you can look it up where he speaks of the truth in two different ways. There it he speaks of of it. He says you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. That's true. We need to have the truth and we need to be able to set it out orderly and in the way God has delineated it forth in Scripture.
But there's something even more than that. If you know the sun, ye shall be free indeed.
That goes beyond just knowing the truth in a doctrinal or intellectual sense. Why is it that if you know the sun, you'll be not only free, but free indeed? Because you can't know the sun and not have the heart affected. And when the truth is taken up in relationship to the Lord Jesus, even prophetic events, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy when we take it up in relationship to the person of Christ and sit down under his shadow with great delight.
Then we're going to enjoy those fruits, and it's going to be sweet to our taste, and it's going to sustain the divine life. The divine life is perfect, but it's dependent, and for all eternity we're going to enjoy the fruit of the Tree of Life. He wants us as overcomers to enjoy it even now. I remember many, many years ago when our dear brother Harry Hagel was ministering along these lines, and he made this little remark that I think startled us.
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When I see someone, when someone, when someone steps on your toes, I find out what kind of a Christian you are starting with that and how true that is. And it comes to this. We look at that blessed Savior. Was anyone ever so dishonored?
Cast, cast out, rejected, even accused of having a devil and all these things. And so someone that said this and I've enjoyed this so much.
As to overcoming here too.
When I we do overcome.
As we see with the blessed Lord, with all these things, His answers were always perfect. We really do display where where our heart is. Maybe if we were more occupied with the one in the enjoyment of Him.
We would be a little more like him, but may that be the world is looking on too and they they see how react, how we react to problems that are in our lives.
Uh, are we trusting the Lord? I speaks to my conscience, to my heart.
And with each one of us, how do I react when things seem to go all wrong? Is there that power that is from on high that would give us to overcome in every detail of our lives? Certainly in the assembly, in the workplace, in the home, with our beloved children? How many of us here too? And we pray earnestly for the many dear young families here raising children in a day like this.
I'd like to comment on a verse in the end of.
John's first epistle in connection with these seven churches.
Umm in first John chapter 5.
Verse 18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not.
But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself and that wicked one.
Toucheth him not.
And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
There is a conflict.
In the world between God and Satan.
And God's interest is to the exultation of his Son.
Satan's interest is in the exaltation of himself.
And in the seven churches there is a progression from the first one to the last one concerning that conflict between the two, and you can trace it through all seven of them in this matter of the conflict between God and Satan for man and man's heart.
What we just read in in the end of the epistle is that when that life, that eternal life that we have is not being hindered by anything. And in chapter 4, you see what hinders the love, the divine love of God from being operative in the heart. We don't have time to go there, but it's you. You look at it in chapter 4.
But yes.
God is free in our souls to display to our hearts His own divine love, and there's nothing hindering it if the life that is in US is in fellowship with God in practical, everyday enjoyment of Himself.
The wicked one can't touch it.
He cannot tempt us with anything better than what we have. And the heart itself, the nature itself, which is the life of Christ, cannot be seduced by Satan. However, the moment there's something comes in to hinder that, then Satan has an advantage to take advantage to bring the world into the heart.
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And in the first of these churches, nothing is mentioned about the world, nothing is mentioned about Satan and the first one because.
If the heart is right.
The motives are right. If the motives are right, then the actions are right. And when he tells them, you have to go back and repent to do what the 1St works. But you can't do the 1St works if you don't have the first motive in the heart, the first love, because it's that love in the heart of God which gave His Son His love provided the motive for the action of the work. And that's always one comes before the other.
But if the 1St is lost, if the motive, purity of the motive is lost, then the word, the actions themselves don't have their value before God. If I could put it this way, you have to have a right motive to have a right action. And God judges the motive of the heart as well as the action of the heart. So in the first church, nothing is mentioned about it but except the fact that they were now vulnerable.
To Satan's attack as a testimony for God when the heart wasn't right as it should have been. Consequently, just to give a very brief outline of what I'm saying, you go to the second church in Smyrna and verse 8 to the Church of Smyrna, right? And then verse nine, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty. And then he speaks about that and.
The end of the verse, The synagogue of Satan, and verse 10. Behold, the devil shall put some of you in prison, and so on. What is going on here? Is God then allowed?
Tribulation and the work of Satan as a means of bringing them back to reality as to the relationship with God, to be a testimony for him. Thank God for tribulation. It's a use of God for our good and our blessing.
In West Bengal, India, in several past several months, two of the Saints gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ were martyred.
And I know of nowhere in that little sphere of things that I know where God is doing more blessing at this present moment than there among those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. But at the same time God uses.
Yet almost, if I could say as a defense for his people when there is a starting of losing of that which is pleasing to him in testimony for himself.
To go to the next one, the Church of Pergamos.
What you find in Pergamos is what you found in Balaam, and it brings before us the works of Balaam. And what is it saying? It's saying that, OK.
If I can't.
Come in.
Among God's people, Balaam said to Balak. Tempt them to come out. Tempt them to come out.
And so let them come out and join the world.
That's right, is represented in it. Let them the world lives by its spiritual fornication, if you will. It's not physical here, but tempts those who are to be a testimony for God to come out into the world and share with it.
Rather than these things have a lot to say to our hearts individually and so it's the work of of Satan is OK. If I can't breach the wall by persecution. Then I'm gonna turn around and use another mechanism to get you. I'm gonna tempt you to come out into the world where I'm the Prince and join with my children. If you will join with those that are in darkness and let's let's have fun together.
Let's enjoy together. And that's what happens in the in the in the third church. In the fourth church, it gets worse.
Jezebel is allowed in. Jezebel is a Gentile. Jezebel is the spirit of the world. Jezebel comes into the testimony among God's people and starts to teach.
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It's awful what happens then the church starts to take up the principles and practices of the world within and starts to certify them as good and let's do it. And it's been seen in the whole history of the church that the world has been not only allowed in the door, she's become a teacher. Her principles, her practices, what's good.
Is embraced as church truth, if you will.
But it's Jezebel's lie. And what does it do to the children? It kills them.
That is, when that kind of teaching is passed on to the next generation, it destroys it.
And that's the, if you will, a little overview of Satan's work to destroy the testimony of God in the earth and to work in the vessel of God's testimony to the world. And here we see it in the end of that chapter. It's gone all the way to get in and to become a teacher within. And I'll just say and leave it for the afternoon. But the same thread goes all the way through the 3rd chapter in every single one of them and in every single state, it gets worse.
Until, just to say it, the world has so taken it over that the Lord has looked at us on the outside, knocking on the door and saying, well, you let me in.
Is really changing the grace of God and the lucidity I I I believe that what the brother said is true. You know, it's a laity, but you just find that was with Mr. Grant and that's it's good. It's it's the truth. But I'm saying that most all the other commentators will say that it's what the brothers just said. It's changing the grace of God and the lasciviousness.
And then you get in where? But they are the synagogue of Satan. It really is the law coming in. So there's those two principles, the legal legality and looseness. And somebody said that Christianity.
Has been crucified between two thieves, liberality and legality.
So I, I think that the, that runs through pretty soon you've got in the, the 15th, uh, verse of this chapter sold out after them that pulled the doctrine of nickel and then.
Of course, Jezebel teaches like the brother said, The world has just come in.
Historically, I think just mention it that we've mentioned if the Ephesus was that which followed the time of the apostles and then Smyrna was a time of persecution and it mentions in verse 10 they would have tribulation for 10 days and there were 10 distinct periods of severe persecution in that time frame and then Pergamus.
It was the time when the church, like Don's, mentioned it in principle as a the conflict of Satan. But uh, it is the time when.
Constantine. He ceased to persecute the church, and the church became mixed with the world and so it was popular to be a Christian, and Christians started holding high offices in government. It was at the time of Constantine who professed faith, but it was probably not real.
Then Thyatira is the papal system. Notice verse.
19 says I know thy works and charity and service and faith and my patience and thy works, and the last to be more than the 1St. So it's a system of works. Nothing wrong with works. We are exhorted to do good works too, but it's a system of works.
And I mentioned about the woman Jezebel teaching the Catholic Church teaches such and such doctrine and even in evangelical circles that sometimes people say, well, our church teaches the Church is not a teacher teach churches to be taught by.
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Teachers that are gifts from the ascended head. Never in scripture does the church teach.
So this woman is totally out of her place. We are to be taught by the Lord through the gifts that are given by the Spirit of God. And so you have the question of spiritual adultery. And there is no system in this earth that has been so mixed with the political system. They have embassies throughout.
The governments of the earth, the Roman Catholic system, and if you go to the Vatican City in Rome, you'll find that most countries have embassies there. There is that unholy wedlock, or a union, you could say not wedlock, but it's union, churches for Christ. It was never meant to be for anything great in this world. And so it's become.
Something great in this world that is not proper.
So it's quite interesting to notice it seems to be the Roman Catholic system in the historical context.
Is it always Satan's way to 1St use the iron fist?
And then the velvet glove, that's I remember Jimmy Smith saying that was true in South America. At first it was the persecution, the iron fist. But then they said we'd like to join you and put off the velvet glove. And that's always been the temptation is to take the velvet gallery.
It is interesting toward the end of this chapter times just about up, but that it mentions I will give him the Morning Star. It also mentioned I should mention it probably.
He says in verse 24 unto you, I say.
The rest in Thyatira, there were those in that system that did not know, did not have this doctrine, which had not known the depths of Satan. I will put upon you none of their burden but that which ye have already. Hold fast till I come. Interesting. There was a remnant there in that system. I believe that's the case today.
And he says, I will give them the morning, I will give him the morning star, the hope of the Lord's coming before the day.
Those dark ages.
Started to become there were different ones. Umm it was the reformer that was called the morning star of the Reformation. Is that symbol is that John Huss? It would be Witcliffe. Witcliffe. John Huss was another one though too. I think that had but it had a light. It's amazing how God always has a testimony even in the darkest of times.
Number 42 in the appendix.
Wandering from thee we are feeble. Lent thy love, Lord, keep us nigh.
Savior, lead us by thy.
Power.
Blame into the promised friend Can love Hathaway? What happened?
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To me, all art of man.
We are guided.
We aren't able.
Led by Long.
Working on my.
First Thessalonians chapter one verse 9. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus our deliverer from the wrath to come.
God, what a deliverance it is to turn to God from idols, to turn to thee, to be occupied with thy beloved Son, who He is and all that He has done.
To read the scriptures diligently for ourselves, for our families, and collectively like this. To be diligent in these things and to redeem these opportunities. What a privilege, our God and Father, and we thank Thee for it. We commit ourselves to the now in this reading of the Scriptures. These words would have their entering in to sink down into our hearts. We pray the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Revelation 3
Reading
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The night is far spent and the day in that time.
89.
333.
4.
Brilliant.
Revelations chapter 3, verse one.
And unto the Angel of the Church of Sardis right these things, saith he that has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou has a name, that thou liveth and are dead. He watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief. Now shall not know what hour I will come upon thee. And thou has a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before my father.
And before his angels, he that has a heir, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and to the angels of the church in Philadelphia, right these things, saith He that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David.
He that openness, and no man shut us, and shut us, and no man open us. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a open door, and no man can shut it, for thou has a little strength, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name. Behold, I will make of them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not but due to lie. Behold, I will make them to come and to worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
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Because I has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou has, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make it pull over in the temple of my God, and ye shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God.
Which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven for my God, and I ride upon him my new name. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and under the angels of the Church of Laodicea.
Where the singing is right, these things say the Amen, the faithful, and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, and I would that thou Wert cold or hot.
So then, because thou art Luke warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because I'll say it. I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, poor and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, but thou mayest be rich in white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.
And anoint thy eyes with Isla, that thou mayst see. And as many as I love. I rebuke and chase these Ellis therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will Sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame.
And sat down with my Father in his throne. He that has an ear, let him hear with the Spirit saith under the churches.
I'd like to take up a little what?
The finish what was started in the last meeting.
But to back up to get the context.
The Church was given to be the testimony of the light and love of God in the world, and as long as it lived out individually in the hearts of the believers, the truth, the first John as to having that eternal life operative in the soul of love and light.
Satan could not touch it, could not attract it.
But if it was not, the soul was not walking in that.
Then Satan had an Ave. in which to attract.
And consequently, the Lord shows that there was the giving up and the vulnerability to Satan to rob the Church of being its light and love to the world. And in the second assembly, tribulation or persecution is allowed of God to sharpen up the hearts of the Saints and to act in preservation to them through that tribulation.
When Satan attacked them from the outside.
But failing in that way, Satan then used the same character that he used in the time of Balaam to attract the hearts of the people, to go out, if you will, side that which is in the church, to the world, and to mix with it and its pursuits and its interests and occupation, to tempt it into spiritual fornication. And it did successfully.
It also allowed the church to identify itself, make Christianity popular with the world.
But having opened the door in that way, then in the case, the next progression of it was to allow the world into the Church itself, and into its profession by way of its principles. And so in the Church were introduced the things that are of man and the way man sees things. But the problem is that man's in his condition is dead in trespasses and sins.
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And so when Jezebel, the world, the woman comes in and starts to act, he says in verse 23 in the end of the previous chapter, I will kill her children with death. That is as that teaching is allowed to go on from generation to generation, since it's not of God, it's teaching the world. It teaches death because man doesn't. Man of the world can't teach life.
He doesn't have it and consequently when you get to our chapter and it comes to the state of Sardis, the progression gets worse because he says thou has the name to live and are dead.
That is, Christianity brings man into a new condition before God. In Adam I'll die. That's the world man's dead in trespasses and sins. But.
In Christ shall all be made alive. But if you allow the principles of the first man to control, all it can introduce is that which is connected with one that's dead.
The world is a system of dead people operating on the principles of death, because Satan is the Prince of it, and that's all that he has to offer to man. He doesn't give life. And consequently, as he says that you have a name to live and are dead, you present yourself as that which is of God, of that which is of Christ.
But your practices, you can't be distinguished from the world. You act and live just like the world because you operate on the world's principles. And as so the case being such, he warns Sardis. He says when I come, I'm going to come like the thief. That is, I'm coming just like I'm coming to the world.
Because you're operating on the principles of which you can't be distinguished from the world. You're just like it.
And so she is treated in that way.
In the the next assembly in Philadelphia.
You'll notice it says in.
Verse in Philadelphia it says in verse 9, Behold I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.
One of the characteristics of God's work by the Spirit to recover to the Church of God truth that had been long lost. One of the first things that the Spirit of God did was work in such a way that after a long period of not knowing it and the Reformation didn't bring it back, was to be able to distinguish between the church and Israel.
And God so worked that the brethren of that time were given of God to understand that there was the Church had a heavenly calling.
And the world, Israel, had an earthly calling, and connected with that truth was then the recovery of the enjoyment of the rapture, because with a heavenly calling there was a sense of looking for something for the Lord to come before he appeared. And so the distinction between what we call today, the rapture and the appearing was recovered because of the understanding of that.
But what has happened, because the church hasn't been aligned with the world and the principles of the world have come into the church, is that in recent times, beyond the days of those who saw and recovered, God used to recover that truth, has developed a lie that Satan is using against the earthly people to be restored to their blessing, he has said.
And the sad part is, the condition is so bad that now Satan is actually using the church for his own purposes.
And that's part of the condition that's seen in Philadelphia, not among the faithful remnant, but in the overall picture of things and what has happened today under the name given for those that follow such things. It's called replacement theology. And replacement theology is the error that is characterized by they say they are Jews and are not, but do lie is that.
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The Church replaces Israel in the purposes of God.
And consequently, Israel has no right and it is being used of Satan to make it difficult for the Israel's position now in the world, in the land, because those under the name of Christianity support the idea that they have no, that land isn't theirs and the church has its place. That is, they're saying they're Jews.
We have taken the place of the Jew, but it's a lie. But the consequence of it is, is that in the bigger picture of it, Satan has so destroyed the testimony of God in the earth and the church that not only has he spoiled it, but he's now using it. And the church is the false. That which is false in it is being used by Satan against the purposes of God described later in the Revelation.
Finally, the final characteristic of it and Laodicea is seen in the very beginning in the way in which the Lord describes himself. He says in verse 14 under the Angel of the Church of Laodicea right. These things say at the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. And then verse 20, behold, I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door.
I will come in to him and we'll Sup with him.
Satan has so successfully ruined the testimony of the church and the those responsible in it have given in to it by joining as they have with the world, that the situation is that the Lord here is seen on the outside. He doesn't even have a place in the church. He has nothing. And in fact, when it's a matter of testimony, as it says, as he introduces himself, I'm the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
He has to go all the way back to his testimony and creation to be a testimony to the world, because that which should have been a testimony for God has been totally spoiled.
And so he reverts to his own claim of testimony himself apart from the church, because within it he only can, as it were, stand on the outside and knock on the door to the individual, and say, can I come in? Will you Sup with me?
Well, this is all what's happened and we can say, oh, that's interesting. But brethren, the application that I believe is so important to our souls this afternoon is the very same things are tested in every one of our lives. Every one of us has been given the life and nature of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, which Satan cannot touch.
The last words of John in his epistle was little children, keep yourselves from idols. And the moment the idolatry of the world gets any place in our hearts, we're going to go down the road of the seven churches morally, individually, in our personal lives, in our family lives, in the assembly and the principles of the world. Once they get a chance to come into our lives, they destroy us. They destroy our children.
We ultimately can get to a point where Satan actually uses us for his own purposes. Uh, and it's a solemn and it's a serious thing. It's a warning to us to apply these, the moral intent of these to our own lives. And one last comment.
If you try to mix the hot and the cold, you get the mixture of lukewarm. You can't mix the 1St man.
The hot man, if you will, with the dead man, the cold man, if you try to mix the two, you'll get something that's lukewarm, that is nauseous to the the one who has given us life in Christ and it is of not no value to him. And it leaves the soul in the state that's described there, which is a state of the soul says I'm rich.
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I don't need anything. The Lord looks at the soul and says you're naked, you're miserable, you're blind, you're poor. Think of those characteristics. Do you think many people in the world go around saying I'm rich when they're absolutely poor? It happens, but it's a sad condition. They're not. A lot of people that go around in the world and say I, I, I got everything I need. I need nothing.
And someone else says, but you're blind and so on. How many people say I'm rich when they're actually miserable? In other words, the condition can get to be if you allow this to take place, the soul has no, no understanding of its own state. And that's the state of the church today as a whole. It has no understanding of its own state. It is blind to it. It doesn't see it, it doesn't understand it. And the Lord himself has to come individually. And if we allow our lives to get into this condition of things.
Will be the last to know. We will not be able to discern our own condition and the Lord will have to come in grace to us individually and say to us, can I come in?
In a historical way, you can say that Sardis was what came out of the out of the Reformation.
And we can be thankful for the light of truth that was recovered at the Reformation, truth of justification by faith. But it was a partial recovery. And it's like it says in verse.
Verse.
Two.
Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die. For I have not found thy work.
Complete, I think Mr. Darby's translation reads before God. In other words, it was a partial restoration. But Martin Luther, although he was a tremendous instrument in getting back the truth of justification by faith, didn't get too much further than that.
I think it was uh.
Uh, was mentioned the other day that Swingley recovered a little bit more and there were some of the reformers that did, but it wasn't until later on that there was a fuller recovery, which we have really reflected in Philadelphia. And I'm, I'm giving the Don is giving the point of view of how the enemy works and giving more the historical picture. So we have the recovery of the truth.
In Philadelphia, Philadelphia itself means brotherly love.
Which is significant.
They do not have great strength, but they have a little strength. It's the same strength as they had in the beginning of the church's history.
Great power was evident then. It's the same power today. But not.
In large measure it's little power, but they have kept my word, it says, and not denied my name. So the Word of God was what was opened in the time when the truth was recovered in a special way. So we can say that.
Philadelphia is what pleases the Lord, what we can desire for ourselves. Brethren, I trust we don't take it upon ourselves to say we are Philadelphia. If we do that, we are.
Really qualifying to be Laodicea because Laodicea pronounced their own judgment on themselves, not realizing that it was totally.
The opposite of what the Lord saw. And so, brethren, let us not.
Be self complacent. Let's desire, as Philadelphians do, to keep his word, to not deny his name. But let's not pass judgment on how well we're doing. That is not proper for us.
00:25:01
And then Laodicea is, as Don was saying, the last state, which is probably most characteristic of the Christian testimony today, and the Lord Jesus on the outside of a closed door.
That is so incredible to think about. This is the reality today and the call in verse 20. Notice it brother and it's individual if.
Any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him individual and Sup with him and he with me. And so he's not saying if you all inside can hear my voice and I'll come into you all. No, it's individual. So let's ask ourselves, do we have place in our lives for the Lord Jesus? You have time to read his word.
To really get serious in His presence, to listen, to pray. Is there time in your life for that? You meet so many dear young people. Real energy.
But so often they tell me I just don't have much time to read the scriptures.
Let's give place to him. It's so important. So if we will do that, we can become overcomers even in this awful state of the church.
Those men that God used in the Reformation that ushered in what we often refer to as Protestantism, they were men used mightily of God, although they didn't understand the true calling of the church. They felt that they needed to get ready to usher in the Kingdom and so on. And Dawn has mentioned replacement theology. We often speak of covenant theology too, and so on. But God used them at the beginning because.
Things were moving back towards the truth and God doesn't recover things all at once. He doesn't flip flop things just as if just as there was a transitional period at the beginning of the Church of the church period in the book of the Acts. So there was a a a slow recovery, so to speak, at the beginning of the Rep with the Reformation that led to what we have characteristically at least.
In Philadelphia, where there was eventually men who opened the scriptures and prayerfully searched the scriptures and the Spirit of God revealed to them more than just justification by faith and and so on.
But the danger is, brethren, that in a day when things are moving away from the truth again, when things are are on a decline, the danger is not always to look for something new, but to go back to what there was when there was partial light or partial recovery. And that isn't that what we find today? We find that Christians are going back to that which.
The church fathers taught that which the reformers taught and believed, which was not completely accurate, which had some truth, but they didn't understand true Christian position. They didn't have the truth of the discerning between the, as Dawn says, Israel and the Church, the heavenly calling of the church versus an earthly people that are yet going to be brought into earthly blessings. They didn't differentiate between the rapture and the appearing, the Lord's coming for his Saints and the Lord's coming with his Saints. And so we want to be careful, brethren, that in the day of decline.
And a day of regression, we don't go back to those things. And that's why they're told very clearly here that what they've been given there to hold fast. And how long are they to hold it fast? Till, Till I come. We need to be exercised, brother, that we don't let these things slip. You know the enemy, he doesn't flip flop things either. He comes in with things gradually. We often refer to it as the thin edge of the wedge.
Just a little here and there, but we need to be exercised that we would hold fast to these things. And it's interesting too, We talked about repentance this morning in connection with Ephesus and leaving their first love. But both in the church to Sardis and to Laodicea, he speaks about it again, showing brethren that this is ongoing individually and collectively. There needs to be that change of thought, that change of mind.
00:30:15
We get, so we, we, we get so saturated with the spirit of the age, with the thoughts of the day, with what's propagated. If I can just make this practical suggestion to, to all of us, but maybe to those who are younger, who are perhaps beginning to pick up ministry and read it, you know, we need to be careful. There's lots of good ministry written today. And I'm not discrediting contemporary writers in any way, but let's be careful.
When we pick up something that has been written in the last few years that we don't become slowly tainted and saturated in our thoughts.
In the vein of justice, what we've been saying that we're spiritual Israel, that we need to be a moral force to change the world, that there needs to be a certain moral level amongst Christians to usher in the Kingdom and and so on. Let's be careful that our thought, our minds aren't turned in that vein of things and it can be very subtle sometimes. And if we pick up that which is written by those who are are holding that.
We're gonna begin to think that way without even perhaps realizing it.
Let's go back to that which was written in the days. Again, I'm not discrediting contemporary writings, and certainly there's much that sound that's been written recently. But let's go back to those things that God allowed men to write back in the days when the truth was recovered and the the hope of the Lord's coming, the calling of the church and so on. Those things along with your Bible, with the Scriptures, are going to be a help to confirm.
Consolidate in your mind, but not only that, to keep those things before you, lest your thoughts become otherwise. And so we need to have constantly that change of of mind. And so it that repentance stands the whole church period, doesn't it? From Ephesus to Laodicea, there needs to our thoughts, our minds need to be brought into tune with what God has established in his living word.
Just like to mention though that more about the what was mentioned, the replacement theology or covenant theology which says that.
The church has taken Israel's place and it's become so prevalent in Christian circles and.
That's what's behind the push to get Christians into the political procedure. If it is true that the church has taken Israel's place, then it would be proper for us to get into political arenas, would be correct. And many that are Christians, because of that bad teaching, are in there. And I think they're in there sincerely. We need to recognize that that that doesn't make it right.
Here I have a heavenly calling, and as beautiful to see in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus never got into political arenas.
He lived in a time when there were terrible injustices done.
He never got into that. It is said My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I might not be delivered to the Jews, but now is My Kingdom not from? Hence, brethren, Our Calling is heavenly, and our place in this world is to preach the gospel, give people to hear the message, and get saved, so when the rapture comes, they can go too to the glory, but to get into involved in political things.
Like Don was saying, the result is that in the end the enemy uses it against the Christian testimony in the world and it it is a backlash. You can see it sometimes happening. I think it's going to happen even more. The Lord help us brethren, to live in the enjoyment of our heavenly calling. We've been called the greater things here and the enemy in this world is going to carry the his way.
We're going to see the rise, and I don't think we'll see it while we're here. We're going to, but there's going to be the rise of the Antichrist, the lawless king and the beast, and they're going to go directly against the Lord Jesus when he comes out of heaven. So our place is not in the political arena, our places in the heavenly calling. Sometimes I see young people, they seem to not grasp that. And I just want to encourage you to get into the Scriptures.
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To enjoy, not only understand it, but walk in the enjoyment of our heavenly calling. It's far greater than anything that could ever be involved in in this world. Get into it, enjoy it, walk in the power of it, and you'll find that it'll be a blessing in your soul.
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he wrote to a young man, and he didn't encourage him to go out and lobby against the government or the abuses of humanity. And it's interesting that it's in Timothy where he's told to pray for those who are in power. And I suggest that if believers would spend more time praying for those in power, as the Scripture enjoins us to do, it would have a lot more effect.
It's interesting, too, that when Paul wrote to Timothy to pray for those in power.
Who was in power? One of the worst tyrants that ever reigned in this world. Nero was in power. I remember some years ago being in Nigeria in the early 90s when they tried to implement democracy and there was a dictator in power who was reputed to be one of the worst dictators of the 90s. And it was really exercising to my soul to go to prayer meeting on several occasions in Nigeria.
And to get down on our knees and to hear the local Nigerian brethren pray for General Hibachi. He was a ruthless man. But I thought, you know, it's easy for us to pray for the Prime Minister of Canada, the president of the United States. We may not agree with all his policies or his Mor morality, but you know, they leave us alone. We're able to meet freely in a facility like this. We have the doors open. We're not afraid of the authorities coming in and arresting us or shooting us.
For having viable meetings. One thing to pray for the authorities under these circumstances. But what if we lived in some of the circumstances like our brethren have lived? What if we lived like in the days of Timothy where our brethren did in the 90s in Nigeria, or our brethren in Egypt today, or our brethren in Cuba, or many of these places? That's the real test. But I believe to pray for the authorities rather than lobby against them will have more effect.
And if I can just make a practical comment in connection with the reformers and what is happening today?
You know what really brought down persecution on the heads of the reformers was that they didn't understand true Christian position and they were go again. God used them, but they rose up and they were fighting governments and state churches. You know John Knox would go in and reason with Queen Mary till all she wanted to see was his head roll in the tower. Some of those men would go into the cathedrals of Europe and smash the images of the Apostles and the Virgin Mary.
Well, no wonder the authorities wanted to burn them at the stake. They didn't understand true Christian position.
And brethren, if we suffer persecution in the western world before the Lord comes, and we might.
I'm looking for the Lord to come this afternoon. But we might if the Lord doesn't come. But I have often wondered if what may bring down persecution on our heads if the Lord leaves us. Here is the fact that Christians are rising up, going back to what the Reformers taught, seeking to lobby against governments and states. They're not gonna stand for it. That may be what brings down persecution on our heads, but Our Calling is to go on quietly.
As the Philadelphian brethren are commended here, keeping His word and not denying His name. Now, I'm not saying that what brings down persecution on the heads of believers is solely what I have just cited, but I say we need to be very careful. Let's seek by grace to go on keeping His word, not denying His name. But, and this is the point I want to get to, but we don't want to give the impression in doing that, that we are indifferent to the abuses of humanity.
The reason I say that is I've had a number of young people come to me at late and say, Mr. Highlander, Jim, if we don't get out and plot hard against abortion, if we don't get out and vote and exercise our what we feel is our right as a Christian and try to be a moral force to change things, we give the impression that we're indifferent to these things. No, we don't want to give the impression we're indifferent. Let me use the illustrate the example of abortion.
00:40:28
I am not about to get out and plot card in front of an abortion clinic this afternoon.
But I am not going to give the impression for one moment that I am indifferent to abortion. It is against God and against Scripture. And if my neighbors or anybody else ask me what I think of it, I trust I have the grace to show them from the Word of God why it is wrong. But I'm not going to get out and try to be a moral force to change things. I'm thankful for any Christian influences. Bob says that there is in high places. It's a check on things and God can use it.
And I'm not indifferent to the abuses of government and the things they're carrying on with, But I am not going to get out and run for political office. I'm an ambassador for Christ. I have a a far greater calling. And so we're responsible to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present age as citizens of heaven, reflecting Christ, representing heaven, keeping his word, not denying his name.
Not but not involved in this world, but not involved with its policies and with its programs, but pointing others to heaven so that they can become citizens of a world where these things will never affect us again.
In verse 7 where it speaks of the key of David, wouldn't that in some respects speak of what you're talking about? The key of David would speak of royal authority?
It doesn't say that Philadelphia has the key of David. It doesn't say that he gave the key of David to Philadelphia. It says that he has the key of David and he opens which no man can shut and he shut up which no man can open. So he is in control. And as I mentioned the other day with saddest we see that it says that, umm, in verse one of chapter 3, these things says he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. But that's in contrast to what we find in Ephesus where it says he holds the seven stars in his right hand.
There wasn't that recognition with the reformers that he held those seven stars in his hand.
There's, uh, parallels in the Old Testament with A2 recoveries that are mentioned here in Revelation 3, and that's Hezekiah.
And, uh, Josiah Hezekiah is very, uh, extraordinary recovery, very broad and even affected the 10 tribes that were up in the north part. And uh, uh, it was, it was very momentous event in digital history, Josiah and recovery was, uh, not as.
And it affects, but there is a verse and a second Chronicles 35 that has impressed me in connection with Josiah.
I'll start at verse one a second final 35 we're over Josiah chapter Passover unto ward and Jerusalem and they killed the Passover the 14th day of the first month and it's kind of time to they weren't able to do it in that time. They delayed it, I believe it was by one month.
So it wasn't on the exact day, but when they did it. But in Josiah's time, there was the opportunity to do it intensely.
The right time shall we say, and in verse 3 is really the verse that I had in my mind. Instead I didn't Levites that taught all Israel which were wholly under the Lord put the holy heart in the house which is all over the son of David, the king of Israel did build and it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders. Serve now the Lord your God, the people Israel. The situation with Israel or Judah at this time was so bad.
That apparently the priests were carrying it about.
00:45:27
I'd like to also comment on the fact that Hezekiah recovery had greater breadth than Josiah's, so maybe it didn't have as much of A depth as Josiah's.
The Reformation had a tremendous breadth to it. I mean astonishing. It affected virtually the entire world.
And it was, it was known what was going on. One of the.
Shall we say large results of the Reformation of the formation of this country, the United States?
And it has, matter of fact, the United States has been called a light upon a hill, and it's been held up by both secularists and, uh, uh, those that are religious, uh, Protestant.
Grand Pinnacle.
Of of accomplishment, and you know, in many ways it is. The very fact that it wouldn't gather a room like this with 650 people or so really is an astonishing accomplishment in world history. There's no doubt about it.
But that in itself becomes so attractive. That is one reason why we are right now, in this year, these years, going back to come next, theology, why we are going back to the writings of university performers, because we see what the threat of it was, and we like that. The sense of power is a sense of accomplishment. We see a great country that was born. We say wow.
We just do this again.
But #1 is not going to happen again and #2 That's not our call in this world. Our Calling is really and suicide time. But to see to it that the person of Christ has in place that the artist placed properly in that temple. And that is a thrill to God that we can simply acknowledge the one who is the board of Savior and is becoming Him.
Will not be a king under the present circumstances of this world.
In the future and we have to see that in our hearts. Have that heart in the right place and and let it rest there.
I'd like to make a comment on the moral ways of God that are seen in Sardis and Philadelphia as well.
God's a giver.
And God likes to give. It's it's according to the very nature of his own heart He gives.
And in the time of the Reformation, as we call it, God gave from his own heart to his people on earth. The time of, described historically of Philadelphia, it's the same way. He gave. Everybody in this room has received from the hand of God. Every one of us have received. We've been given. And after God gives, if there's something that requires responsibility, then God leaves us.
To the responsibility of keeping that which he is entrusted to us as having given it to us. And what's seen in Sardis is the result of how that responsibility wasn't carried out. It says remember, therefore, umm, how thou hast received. They tried to keep it in ways that they had were different than the way they had received it, and in a certain sense they lost it because of that.
They were told to remember that and as a result, repent, go back to the way in which you received and keep.
Umm, when the children of Israel were given the articles of the Tabernacle in captivity to carry back to the land, everything that each one was given to take back was recorded. It was recorded by number, it was recorded by weight and when they got at the end of the journey.
They collected up everything that had been entrusted to each one, and it was measured out by its number and by its weight. And everything that God has given to each one of us is the truth of God.
00:50:16
When we get home.
There's gonna be an accounting that I not only keep it by number, but did I value it by its weight? And it's not simply that I will be able to recite the truth of the rapture or the truth something about the truth of the church. But did I keep it by weight? Did I keep it in my soul in the same value with which the giver gave it to me or to you? It's, uh, something that exercises the heart when it's considered.
I want to say by contrast to it, think of the young man in Luke 15, he said. Father, give me.
And so he took everything that his father had given him. He went into the far country and he wasted. He wasted the substance with his riotous living. Woe to us if we take what God has given to us and as it were, taken into the far country of the world and wasted.
Each one of us has not only been given spiritual truth, we've been given gifts from God.
Those gifts that have been given to us by God have a measure. They have a weight. It's different for each one of us. But the day is coming when the Lord will say to us, did you use it? Did you use it by its measure? Did you use it by its weight? For me, uh, and so that's what seen in Sardis and Philadelphia as well.
And it's, it's put there because if it's not held in the manner and there's truth that's given to us, that's given to us in a certain way, but it can only be kept in the way in which it's given. Uh, you can't take it in one form and take it in from the word of God and then establish rules and regulations to maintain it. It has to be maintained in the same character.
In which it was received. So in the Reformation things were given, but then they tried to use human means to keep them. And in that way they couldn't. Some cases they lost their lives trying to hold them as they understood them, even though in some cases they didn't understand it perfectly. At least the Lord said to him, what you do have, keep it. And so the Lord says to us, as it were, I've given you my word.
That's one of the things I've given to you. Are you going to keep it? Keep it. Don't let it become a matter of opinion, as the Lord brought before us yesterday. But will you keep it? And so, brethren, may the Lord help us to keep them by measure and by weight. I'd like to make a further comment in that connection in regard to this well known statement at the end of verse 8, where they are commended for keeping His word and not denying His name.
No, I think it was mentioned by someone earlier that we cannot hold our heads up as to being Philadelphia.
And that's true, brethren, but we do see in Philadelphia that which met with the Lord's approval.
And isn't that what we really desire in our souls, brethren, the Lord's approval? The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted or approved of Him. And that ought to be the desire of each of our souls. But what met with the Lord's approval in Philadelphia were these two things that go well together. And in this order, just take a moment. I could quote it, but let's go back to the 138 song because I believe it's connected with a statement back there.
In the 138th Psalm.
And just the last part of verse 2.
Per Thou has magnified thy word above all by name. Now notice that it's the word 1St and then the name, just as the commendation to Philadelphia. It doesn't say they didn't deny his name and kept his word. The order is very important. Why does it say Thou is magnified thy word above thy name?
Well, I'm going to make this suggestion, brethren, and that is that we are never justified in doing anything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ without the authority and sanction of the Word for what we do.
00:55:13
You know there is much done in the name of the Lord Jesus.
That, I fear, does not have the authority and sanction of the Word of God. You know, when the apostle wrote to the Corinthians, there was a very serious problem in Corinth, the moral issue, and they were to take up that issue and deal with it for the Lord's glory in the name of the Lord Jesus. But when they did that, they had the authority of the Word of God for what they did.
Paul wrote to them by inspiration. Now if a similar problem arises as to as the same problem that we was there in Corinth, what do we do? We turn to 1St Corinthians 5 and we say here's the authority to act in the name and for the glory of the Lord. Sometimes people go out with the gospel and I've heard it said, well, all that matters is that souls be saved. It doesn't matter how it happens. It doesn't matter how we propagate the name of Christ, as long as souls get saved, brethren, it's wonderful.
For souls to get saved. And Paul said, Whether in truth or pretense, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice yet, and will rejoice.
But, brethren, if we go forth bearing the name of Christ in the gospel.
It must be in a way that conforms to the word of God. He's magnified His word above His name. Don't put the name above the word. He professed to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus according to Matthew 18 and 20. Wonderful privilege. But you know there are many who say they're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus too. But when I go back to this book, it's the word above the name. We can't profess to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
Unless we have searched the Word of God and vowed to the authority of the Word of God, the Word of God is the basis and authority for being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. And so I think it's very beautiful to see here in Sardis they had many names, but here they kept His word. That was the basis. As we said, men search the Word of God, the Spirit of God.
Exercised them according to the truth.
That they were reading in the word of God, and as a result they sought them to act in the name of the Lord Jesus.
What accommodation? Don't you and I, as I say, covet a commendation like that?
Something else that is so wonderful here in verse 10 of this chapter about Philadelphia. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world. Try them that dwell upon the earth.
Go back to the first chapter. We mentioned that when we were going through it in verse 9.
By John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. That's what's our character now brethren, to have patience. We're not going to get everything straightened out here in this world. We're going to have to have patience until that day when he will come in power in glory, but because.
We have kept the word of that patience. His promise is that He will keep us from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world. So we have there a real wonderful promises to being taken out before the tribulation ever comes upon this world. Wonderful promise that we need to. This is something else that is challenged sometimes in the Christian world. This is a wonderful promise we can rest on.
Just like the comment in connection with it, it's his patience. In other words, he wants us to be like himself.
He's saying I don't just want you to be patient and wait, I'm patient and I want you to enter into my patience. And so as he waits.
The father's time to accomplish his purposes. So he wants to teach us to enter into that same character that he has, which is the patient one. And when the father says it's time, son said everything right, he will do it. And he will appreciate those who have identified themselves in his own character with himself and says, and when that time comes, I will express my appreciation. I will keep you from that hour.
01:00:16
That it has to come. And that's not only applied here, but rather than in a broad sense, there's a certain measure in the natural heart of everyone in this room. There's impatience at time. You see it in a little less child. You say Saturday, we're going to do this. And after a while you learn not to tell them that much ahead of time because it's too much for them to hold it patiently until the day comes. The Lord has chosen to tell us.
And he's also, in God's wisdom, not chosen not to tell us the day or the hour, but he has done it in a way that we can learn to be patient with him.
Something else for our encouragement as our time is almost gone. You know, we began with Ephesus and we spent some time Speaking of how they had left their first love and so on. And that pointer that that point of departure from which the church has never returned collectively. But it's interesting in these last two churches that we have a confirmation of his love. You know, it's the only Philadelphia and Laodicea are the only two churches where he confirms his love to them.
Just notice it first of all in connection with Philadelphia at the end of verse nine, he says.
I have loved thee. And we read this and we say, Oh yes, I can see why. He confirmed his love to Philadelphia.
They were seeking the Lord's approval. They were keeping His word and not denying His name. I can see why He confirms His love to Philadelphia. But brother, notice what it's what we read in verse 19. This is Laodicea. Now this is a state of indifference. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, You know, precious to my own soul, that after confirming His love to Philadelphia, where there was this beautiful state of things.
Then lest we think he loved them any less, and Laodicea or any other assembly, he says as many as I love, I rebuke, and Chasten have enjoyed it too. In connection with the end of the Old Testament, you come down to Malachi, a state very similar to the state of things in Laodicea, indifference to the claims of Jehovah. He brings many things before them in Malachi, and they're so indifferent that even when it's brought before them, they say, wherein have we done this?
But that little book begins with this confirmation. I have loved you, saith the Lord.
And maybe we feel like our love hasn't been what it should be, collectively or individually or collectively. But let's go back, brethren, as we said before, to His love. Let's rest on that. We have to hang our heads and say we're in the Laodicean Church days of the church. But brethren, don't let that discourage us. He loves us, and if He loves us, He's going to review contastin us. He loves us too much to let us go our own way.
Why are things allowed amongst the people of God today? Serious things.
Why are things brought out at the beginning of prayer meeting that burden our hearts and make us?
Weep and fall on our faces. It's because He loves us.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. And if He allows His hand to come upon us in some rebuke or chastisement, I'm not saying it's always, that's always the reason. The trials are always the result of that. But if He allows those things because He sees a need, oh, let's be exercised. Let's go back to His love, that our hearts then might be warmed. And brethren, isn't it wonderful that even in Laodicea there's an overcomer?
Right down to the end.
You know, one of the, I guess it was the last visit I ever had with brother Eric Smith where he could communicate. I, I think I did visit him once after that where he couldn't really communicate. He was well over 100 years of age. Notice the last words that man ever said to me was this Jim, Remember, we can still be overcomers, not be overcome. I never forgot that from a man who served the Lord for many, many years.
A man who lived to be over 100 years of age, he said. Jim, remember, we can still be overcomers, not be overcome. And I know there's brethren sitting here in these seats today who are concerned about going home after these meetings are over. You say there's just overwhelming problems and difficulties in our lives, personally, in the family, often in the assembly, but don't be overcome.
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What are we told here in these chapters to hold fast till He comes to be overcomers? We can, brethren.
We have all the resources that are needed to overcome individually as families and collectively as assemblies gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if the day ever gets so dark that we cannot overcome with the resources that God has given us in and through Christ, then the Lord will take us out.
But as long as we're left here, these resources are at our disposal. And even like the Laodiceans, we can overcome even amidst the indifference in which we find ourselves.
Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
What a word for us, brethren, when we consider that the Lord is walking.
In the next and observing today, the Lord help us to be exercised individually.
We be not ones that pronounce how good we are.
And find out later that the Lord's estimation was totally the opposite. The Lord give us His thoughts and walk before Him as overcomers. Like you're saying, Jim.
Till that day.
Could we sing hymn #169?
Stop.
Umm.
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109.
Nsnoise.
Comments. One is from history. Actually they're both from history, but Jonathan Edwards, a very remarkable person connected with great awakening in this part of the world in the United States.
And he actually became the Dean of Princeton. First Dean, I guess.
But he was a pastor of a church there in that area and.
After he'd been passing the church for some 25 or 26 years, he saw from Scripture that only people who were saved should break bread.
And so he preached that and said this will now be the requirement of this little church.
Well Needless to say he was kicked out and was replaced pronto. Very interesting.
You know, I have an attraction to a lot of Reformation type concepts.
Our own day.
And there was a quote that was made from another person back in, uh, great awakening times, John Wesley. And this quote comes from Jim here last night. So I'm going to read it because I noted it down. It was in the sink.
And I think it's it's worth pondering. It's out of context of what Mr. Wesley said, but for anyone else who's like me, who has certain.
Visions of what could happen in this world, you know what I mean?
I'm going to repeat what John Wesley said, says I too.
Have a liking for these things, but there is another world.
Let's skip. Thanks.
Our God and our Father, we just do thank Thee that Thou hast provided for us.
Uh, the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ, thy well beloved Son. That was also provided a sense of where we are in history and the eminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ that will probably be today. But if not.
Certainly be in the next couple of weeks or months. We just do pray that we might have our visions turned to the other world. In Jesus name we give thanks, Amen. Amen.
Gospel 14
Gospel—T. Sester
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Welcome to the Gospel meeting tonight. My name is Ted Tester from Gresham. I'm humbled to think that I have the privilege to give the gospel to you tonight.
It's a privilege to give the gospel.
One of the problems I had to having the gospel tonight.
I was thinking about anyone in this room sitting through three days of meetings and not being saved.
If you have heard the gospel before, you are a gospel hardened soul.
If this is the first time you've been here, welcome to the Gospel meeting.
The Lord Jesus Christ, He loves you very much, much more than I could ever love someone.
Tonight I'd like to open with singing #13 Man of Sorrows. What a name, the name for the Lord Jesus, for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Bearing shame and scoffing, rude in my place, condemned, He stood, sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Guilty, vile and helpless, we spotless Lamb of God was he.
Full atonement can it be Hallelujah, what a savior. It's another verse I'd like to read. Lifted up was he to die? It is finished. Was his cry now in heaven exalted high Hallelujah what a savior. We sing 3 verses here of #13 and found in the alone the peace, the joy I thought so long the bliss till now unknown, now none but Christ can satisfy none other name for me there's love and life and lasting joy.
Lord Jesus found in thee, you know if you're not saved, you cannot sing this song tonight. You can, you can just listen along, but you cannot say these words. Oh Christ and me, my soul have found. You know, you're empty tonight. If you don't have Christ, you have nothing. This world is thirsty, this world is hopeless. This world has nothing to offer. And you know, if you're not saved in this room, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, your Savior.
I don't need to tell you how miserable you are. You know there's something inside of you that is wanting. It's something that needs to be filled. And the Lord Jesus tonight would like to give you peace and joy. So let's sing #19 oh Christ.
Ian.
Nsnoise.
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Nsnoise.
So we can open our Bibles to Romans chapter one.
Romans chapter one.
Romans chapter one and the end of verse one says the Gospel of God verse 3 concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
That is what we have to talk about. The Word of God tonight is the authority by which I can stand here. I'm the authority on no subjects. But with this subject we're gonna speak of tonight, I can say with confidence that I have the Word of God if these are my ideas tonight.
Then it's not worth talking about. But tonight we have the authority of the Word of God.
I was thinking about that last verse that we sang in our song.
It says, Till grace the sightless eyes received thy loveliness to see.
You know, the Lord Jesus is a very lovely person.
But tonight, if you don't have him as your Savior, there's no beauty that you found in the Lord Jesus, it says in Isaiah 52. There's no beauty that we should desire him, but tonight.
Those of us that know the Lord Jesus Christ, we found beauty in that one. He's our Savior tonight. If you don't know him, it doesn't mean anything to you. And tonight.
By the Spirit of God working in your soul.
We'd like you to see that the Lord Jesus loves you. He died for you. He wants to redeem you. He wants to bring you back to God.
We're gonna turn and read in Genesis 1, just the one verse. We had it last night, but we need to see.
What it says we all know this by heart, but we need to stick to the word of God tonight it says Genesis one and verse one in the beginning God period the heaven and the earth.
Then it says a little bit later that God saw that it was good.
In the verse 10 it says that it was good and then we had a verse read today.
And it's in, I believe, Genesis chapter 5.
In verse 12.
It's Genesis chapter 6, pardon me, verse 11 and it says in the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence.
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They say what happened in six chapters. It was good and then it was corrupt. Well, there's something called sin. And my friend, your sins will separate you from a holy God. Your sins will separate you from blessing. Your sins will keep you out of heaven. Your sins will make you miserable. You'll die in your sins. You'll be punished for your sins. Your sins have separated you from God.
The problem was.
Is Adam sin and we are Adam's children? We sin.
We were born in SH, sin and shape and iniquity.
You are born into sin.
You're born lost. Your mother was lost. Your father was lost. You were born lost.
You without the Lord Jesus Christ are lost.
I was the grace of God. I'm a Sinner saved by grace. I'm not referred to in scripture as a Sinner anymore. I'm a St. A called 1A chosen one. But you know, I had to take my place as a Sinner before God, everyone in this room.
If they're saved tonight had to take their place as a Sinner before God. The only qualification to becoming saved is to admit that you are a Sinner.
That's what you have to do is you have to admit that you are a Sinner.
You know, if you don't believe that you're a Sinner and you don't believe the word of God, there's nothing I can do for you tonight because it says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
You know, I've made the mistake of trying to debate this with people. Doesn't work.
Doesn't work.
I dangled a man over hell for about an hour and a half.
I thought he would be scared.
He got it from dinner and thanked me for the debate. He is entertained. He goes to gospel meetings to be entertained.
Is there anybody in this room?
That is not saved, but finds a gospel meeting entertaining.
It was incredible to me. Without faith, it's impossible to believe God. You have to have faith tonight, but you know the Lord Jesus wants to give you that faith.
Let's read that.
There's nothing you have to do tonight. It's not one thing.
We're going to read another verse.
That's not the answer to that question, but it says.
In Galatians 2 and 20, I just turned to that verse. It says the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, you know?
God loves you.
Jesus died for you.
He sent his son.
To pay the price that you could never deserve, that you could never pay. In Ephesians chapter 2, we have the, uh, answer to the question about.
How you can get this gift?
In Ephesians chapter 2, it says for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You know, I didn't bring anything to the Lord Jesus except for my sins tonight. That's all you have to do. You don't have to bring anything. You don't have to do anything because there's something I could do that I would boast in my goodness or my work.
He wants to give you the gift of faith to believe.
You know.
The Lord Jesus does not want to force His way upon you. I want to look at a little story in Second King. He doesn't want to force his wave on you, but he's gonna work with you so tenderly. But he wants to warn you also at the same time. We read in Second Kings of a man that was proud. It's a well known story, probably one of my favorite stories because I can relate with this man.
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You know, I was always thinking about what to talk about tonight.
I was thinking, why would somebody sit in this room for three nights, listen to speakers who are much, much more skilled than I am?
And they're not saved.
Could it be they're proud?
You know, I'm a proud person.
You know, we've had a lot about pride as an underlying discussion here in these meetings. You know, if you want blessing, Christian or non Christian alike, you've got to humble yourself, you've got to let the Lord come in and you've got to empty yourself and surrender tonight.
You need to let the Lord have His way in your life.
Maybe tonight can be the first day of your brand new life.
Maybe you can just say, you know, I'm tired. I'm tired of doing it my way. I just wanna do it his way.
And you know, we're gonna see that here with Naman Second Kings chapter 5. We'll read a few verses here. It says now name and captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria. He was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a lever.
You might be a great man tonight.
You might be in your 60s.
You might be 16, it doesn't matter.
Gospel is a special the gospel mean as a special place in my heart, I was saved in the gospel mean.
You know, I think there's two kinds of people in this room.
I'm embarrassed to say this.
I don't think I was saved because the Lord Jesus loved me so much and I wanted to come. You know that verses in the Bible. Come unto me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden and I will give you a rest. I was scared to die in my sins and I knew I was a Sinner.
Maybe you're not attracted to the Lord Jesus.
Maybe there's no beauty in him. Maybe the story of the cross is just an historical fact for you.
But there is one that you will have to do with.
There is one you will have to do with.
Some of us were just talking about a man who.
I think you call him an atheist. We get a little bit older.
Things he's thinking about things.
He's thinking about his life coming to an end. You know what I'm thinking about tonight. Behold, I come quickly. The Lord Jesus might come before this clock at 7:45.
And if he comes and you're in your sins.
You will go to hell.
It doesn't matter how great you are. It doesn't matter how.
What you think of yourself. It doesn't matter what your wife thinks of you, or your boyfriend thinks of you, or your friends at school think of you, or your people at the office think of you.
Or the people you go to meeting with think of you. It really doesn't matter. This is a discussion that you must have with your Creator.
This is something that you have to do with personally, not anything to do with a person next to you. Your father or mother can't make this choice.
You have to do with this.
Everyone here in this room.
It's a little bit like Neiman.
Just this one little word at the end of the verse just kind of ruins it for you. But he was a lever. You can tell me all about all the things you have going, but if you're a Sinner, you have nothing.
You know, I talked to men.
I talked to a wealthy man.
And they just love to talk about themselves. I don't know if you ever noticed that because all they got.
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I, I, I. Let's see if we see that.
Verse two. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid. And she waited on Neiman's wife. And she said unto her, Mistress, Would God, my Lord, were with the prophet, that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy.
And one went in and told his Lord, saying thus and thus.
So the maid that is the land of Israel and the king of Syria said, Go to go, and I will send a letter unto the king Israel. And he departed and took him with him 10 talents of silver and 6000 pieces of gold and 10 changes of raiment. That sound like enough?
I couldn't do this because I don't have this much.
Some people are trying everything.
Everything.
We're going to find out it's not enough. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent name and my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy. And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes and said, Oh my God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send me to recover a man of his leprosy. Wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
And it was so when Elijah the man of God, had heard that the king of Israel had read his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the House of Elijah.
I must say thank you for being at this gospel meeting tonight.
You might be in your sins tonight, but you're here in this room.
Nieman with all his pride, Naaman with his sins, Naaman with his leprosy, says any king. What is he going to hear?
And Elisha.
Sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan 7 times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
Tonight, that's the gospel.
Believe and thou shalt live. Wash and thou shalt be clean.
You don't need any more than that.
Wash and be clean.
Your sins tonight can be washed away in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can wash all your sins away.
They do a perfectly, perfectly clean so you can be seen in Christ.
What that means is when God sees you, He sees his Son.
You're just not gonna see you as a Sinner anymore. Your name can be written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
You know that's what's gonna get you in heaven tonight is if your name is written in that book of life.
Is your name written down in the Lamb's Book of Life?
Let's continue on.
Verse 11 But Nieman was wroth, and he went away.
And he said, Behold, I thought.
Tonight this Gospel maybe meeting may be very disappointing to you. You thought you were coming to hear something new.
There's nothing new you're gonna hear tonight.
It's the old story of Jesus and his love.
He got angry.
Tonight, do you wanna do something?
It says all your righteousness.
Is as filthy rags. All the good things that you can do are to God worth nothing?
It says the plowing of the wicked is sin. There's nothing that you can do for God in your sins.
You need to be saved. You need your sins washed away. Naaman needed to be washed from his leprosy.
He says, Behold, I thought, I want to turn to Isaiah 55.
You know this seems to be.
The big roadblock and a lot of people's minds is this, I thought Word and Isaiah 55.
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In verse one it says ho everyone at Thurston.
Come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy, eat. Ye come by wine and milk, without money, without price.
There's three incline your ear, and come unto me here, and your soul shall live.
Verse six. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
I wanna queue in on verse six. Seek ye the Lord. While he may be found, he may not be found in 5 minutes.
Think about this room.
And you'll be the only one in this room.
I can't think about worst setting. Not one worst setting, I mean left behind.
That's scary.
My brother and I used to take turns going to my mom and dad's room to make sure they were still there.
Do you know what it's like to be in your sins without Christ? It's serious.
Call Ye upon him while he is near. Doesn't that infer that he's not going to be near?
He's not going to always be near. That door of grace is shutting. We don't know when it says, behold, I come quickly.
This is what God says, verse seven. Let the wicked forsake his way.
You have to repent of your sins tonight. There's a verse in Psalms talks about being sorry.
You have to be sorry for your sins. Are you sorry for your sins tonight?
And the unrighteous man has fought.
Verse 8.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts. You see, this is the problem. Your thoughts and my thoughts aren't his thoughts.
Tonight we're dealing with God. We are not dealing with another man like we are.
You have to leave your thoughts aside and you have to take his thoughts. He's the authority on this subject. You are not the authority.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Verse 11 is a comfort. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please.
Back to our story in Second Kings.
His name is that I fought and he got angry.
He said I sure he surely would come out to meet to me and call on the name of the Lord as God and strike his hand over the place and recover the lever. Verse 12 we're not a banner and far, far rivers of Damascus better than all the waters of Israel may not washing them and be clean. So we turned and went away in a rage. You might have the solution tonight I'm gonna ask you a question. How's it working out for you?
Do you have peace through God? Do you have peace?
Tonight, if you're in your sins, it's not working out well for you. It's not.
I had a man and he wants to argue with his book.
And you know, I just had to look at this, man, and I was like, man, it's not working out very well for you.
It was not working out well for him at all. And you know, he used to go to Sunday school. I didn't know the man talked about his, talked about how I get along with his mom and dad, said your mom and dad are the Christians. Yes, they used to take me to Sunday school.
He said. Ted, do you know what my problem is?
He said I need to get saved.
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I the blood just dropped out of my body. I I didn't know what to say.
He said. But I'm too proud to get saved.
Yeah, man, I don't think it's still safe. That was just a few weeks ago.
It's not working out well for him, you know.
Do you think this leprosy was gonna be cured until Naman came God's way?
You to come to God's house. You got to come God's way.
You know, to come to our house, you gotta cross this little.
Culvert.
There's no other way into the house.
No one's tried. You can't. There's a stream in front of the house.
Just simple illustration.
To go to God's house, you gotta come God's way.
So what does he have to do?
Verse 13 And his servants come near and spake unto him, and said to my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing which thou not have done it, how much rather than when he said to thee, wash and be clean. You know the Spirit of God is in this room tonight, and he's working with souls and he's working with hearts, and he wants to bring you to Christ. He wants you to feel the weight of your sin tonight.
You may never have felt the weight of your sin till tonight.
He wants you to be miserable in your sins.
He wants to give you life.
He wants to give you Christ.
He wants to. It's like the Spirit of God is like these servants. They came near to Naaman.
How much rather when he said to the wash and be clean. Verse 14 is an awesome verse. Then he went down and dipped himself seven times, and Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God and his flesh came again.
Like in the flush of a little child. And he was clean.
That kind of rhymes with a verse that says and thou shalt be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. There's no maybe there.
Tonight, this is what the Word of God says.
We'll look very briefly in Luke.
Gospel of Luke.
Gospel of Luke, chapter 12.
There's another man I wanna read about. It's just a few verses.
Luke, chapter 12.
Verse 16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful.
Any spot within himself.
We know that's a mistake from the last.
Portion we just read.
What shall I do?
Because I have no room were to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And this I will say to my soul.
Seoul that has much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.
Didn't really count this out so I'm doing this off memory but I think I is the middle letter and pride tonight. You gotta leave your pride alone. This man is completely full of himself if you don't have Christ.
You're probably very very self-conscious about everything you do. You're either trying to be perfect and do everything just right and earn your way, as we've had the last couple nights, and trying to make your good outweigh your bad or.
You know your center.
You're like that woman in John Four. You're not gonna fight it. You just know.
The gospel is for either one, but tonight I have a special burden with a Christ rejector who has listened to the gospel many times and their gospel hardened.
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I wanna focus.
On verse 20.
20 But God said, tonight, it's not important what I have to say, but this is what God said. But God said unto him, Thou fool, It says, The fool has said in his heart, There's no God.
This night.
This night thy soul shall be required of thee.
Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided?
Return a few chapters later.
That rich man that is in hell tonight.
He said. Can you send a message back to my brothers and tell them not to come to this place? Don't come.
What did Abraham say?
He said they have Moses and the prophets if they don't believe them.
That keyword believe.
Without faith, it's impossible to believe God.
I wanna read that just so I don't misquote it.
Chapter 16.
Verse 28 For I have 5 brethren that may testify unto them, lest they come into this place of torment. Abraham says unto them, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham, But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
This is a solemn verse, verse 31 And he said unto them, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, that's the word of God.
Neither will they be persuaded, though 1 rose from the dead.
If that rich man came and gave you the gospel behind this pulpit tonight, you would not believe. Not unless you are willing to accept the gift of faith that He's going to give you tonight. If you just take it, He's not going to force His love upon you tonight.
You know, people want evidence. We heard that last night.
What my Bible said right there is if you had a man from hell come give this gospel, you would not believe.
We have incredible, incredible hearts. Our hearts are so wicked. It says they're desperately wicked. Who can know it? You can't trust your heart. Do not trust your heart. What you need to do tonight is trust the Word of God.
I wanna read.
A couple of verses in closing Romans 3 and verse 23.
For all have sinned and come short of the gospel.
Come short to the glory of God.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You know tonight, if you're in your sins, you're a mess.
I'd like to turn back to Romans chapter one and verse 16.
You know, if all we had to do is talk about you and your sins, it'd be a very, very, very depressing subject. But there's an answer. God does not point out the problem without giving an answer. And we started the meeting tonight. It's concerning his Son Jesus Christ, and you know, he's risen from the dead, and he's my Lord.
You have to deal with a risen savior. He's not a dead savior.
He's a man, the son of man.
He's seated at his father's right hand.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.
It says in Philippians that every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that he is Lord. You will confess that he is Lord. And verse 16, Romans one and verse 16, it says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation.
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The words that we have here are life, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says for the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. There's power in the gospel. They can change your life. Will you let it change your life tonight?
You know, our brother Ernie Wakefield used to say, and I believe it's so true, the cross, the road to hell is blocked with a cross of Christ. Tonight you've got to say no to Christ to go to hell. The provision has been made.
Gods, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. We thank him. Our God and Father, we thank thee for Savior, the Lord Jesus. We just thank thee tonight that many of us can say that we're redeemed with a precious blood of Christ. We thank Thee that we're safe. We thank thee that we have a hope.
We just pray for any soul in this room that does not know thee. We pray that before they get up off their seat tonight, go to ask the end of their heart in Jesus name, Amen.
The Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father
The Awakening Of Love
Ten Gates