YP Sing Address—B. Conrad
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Number one 15115.
We'll pay out of all them. Don't. So don't pay for them either.
Oh my God.
Isn't it wonderful mistake that the coming of the Lord is going to answer every expectation of the believers heart and the faith that His appearance is going to answer the groaning of an entire creation?
00:10:00
100.
101 hundred.
151 one 5150 was also given.
And then one of the United States.
#16.
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#180.
3183 and #30.
1183 and #30.
And we like the brothers to speak up for the children because maybe they're ten and twice will get drowned out. We'll go for the little ones. We like to hear what's on there.
I think I heard 100 and 9595.
27.
75.
After #75 we're going to ask our brother to speak to us and if there is an inclination to sing somewhere, you can. But I think it would be good to let our brothers speak to us. And then before we're all worn out and thing number 75.
195 in the middle block OK 195.
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Well, that's Let's ask the Lord for his help before we get started here. This is not a microphone, is it? This is. It's a mic.
Let's pray. Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for this time to be together with so many.
For many of us, our everyday path is just with a few.
Others of like precious faith.
Thanks very much.
Well.
Kind of have a jumble of thoughts in my ricocheting back and forth between my heart and my head here, so for the Lord's help, we'll share a few of them. The basic thing I have on my heart really is something I've been thinking about lately, which is care.
Care for one another and care that the Lord's people are meant to have for each other.
And so I like to read a couple passages of scripture that might seem a little bit unrelated and then make a few comments about them.
The first is in judges.
Judges, Chapter 8.
Gideon has won a victory.
And the two kings of Midian, Ziba and Zalmuna, are before him as defeated kings.
In verse 18, Judges 8.
Then said He unto Zebra and Zalmuna, what manner of men were they whom he slew?
At Tabor.
And the answer to Thou art so were they each one.
Resemble the children of the king.
And he said they were my brethren.
Even the sons of my mother.
As the Lord Liveth, if he had saved them alive, I would not slay you.
And he said unto Jeeter, his first born up, slay them.
But the youth through not his sword, for he feared, because he was yet a youth.
Then Zebra and Zhao Moon said, Rise thou, and fall upon us.
For as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose and slew Zebra and Zelmuna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels necks, and so on.
And now a passage in Luke 10 that's very well known.
Luke 10 and verse 30.
Or I should start with verse 29?
And he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
And Jesus, answering, said a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise the Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.
And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast.
And brought him to an inn and took care of him.
And on the Morrow when he departed, he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee.
Which now these three thinkest Thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves, And he said, He that showeth mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go.
And do that likewise.
And then one last passage in First Peter. The last chapter of First Peter.
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Verse seven first Peter five and seven. Casting all your care.
Upon him.
For he cares for you.
I would like to make mostly some practical remarks about our care for one another, but lest we get too far astray, it's always good to remember who really has the care for our souls.
The one who was willing to put aside.
His purpose? The priests and the Levite.
Probably thought, well I have divine business to take care of, I can't defile myself. This guy is disgusting.
He's bloody and beaten and in a terrible state. I'll be late. You can imagine the things that may have gone through their mind. And perhaps just a reticence, a drawing back from someone who doesn't look very lovely.
But the Samaritan came to where he was.
In Luke 10 is a well known picture of the way you and I were before we were saved.
Now if you were raised in a Christian home and saved at a young age.
Fortunately, you've never had the experience to really feel what it was like in this way to be.
A wretched and a helpless Sinner, but you were.
And for many that are raised and then saved at a young age, you learn what you were after you weren't that anymore. That's OK. Matter of fact, it's probably the best way to learn it.
I'll repeat that you learn what you were after. You're not that anymore.
The fools way is to touch the stove and say now I'm burned.
In the wise man's way is to heed and to not touch the stove.
But in first Peter Five we read He cares for you, and we see in the parable of the certain Samaritan that when he takes him to the inn, having first, as we would say, provided emergency care.
It says he takes care of him. He brings them to an end and took care of him.
He didn't just leave him on the doorstep, he took care of him, but there came a time when he would go away.
On the Morrow when he departed, he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host.
And said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spend this more, when I come again I will pay thee.
Now every woman that runs a household.
Has some kind of a budget. Maybe not a real defined on a piece of paper type, but a general.
Concept of how much comes in and how much can go out.
And the company I work for is very, very fussy about budgets.
And this kind of language would be just absurd in a natural context.
There's very few businesses just say spend whatever you need.
Money is there.
But such is the care, such as the commitment, and such are the resources of the Lord Jesus Himself when it comes to His own.
In first Peter Five, it's thinking about this, I remembered.
An occasion where we had the great privilege to host a brother as he was dying.
Servant of the Lord.
And.
The Lord had provided this place where we were living.
And it had a wonderful cheery room. Some of you came and visited there, I think on the 1St floor and it was set up so nicely.
And.
We got the hospital bed in there and there was we put some text on the wall and one night.
I get this way, I just it'll pass, just don't be so uncomfortable but.
So one night when we were kind of.
Making sure everything was OK for the next few hours. One of my little boys, who I think was six or seven at the time, brings a chair in, put some sort of a box or something on top of the chair and starts to climb up on the on the box on the chair and is rickety situation. And he takes the text, which normally are hung about, you know, at the height of the top of the door and he's reaching way up and putting the text with a, with a push pin way up on the wall.
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And the text was he cares for you.
And at first I'm looking why is he doing that? And then I don't know whether he said or whether we realized afterwards.
I think that was Brother Hardy's last night, but he figured where he was laying.
That's the only angle he could see it.
Now the Lord cared for that beloved brother, whether he saw or read that verse that night or not.
But it's just a little example that comes to me when I read the verse.
About how we can have an impact on one another.
A little boy took the verse and put it up there so it could be red.
And so here we are with one another, and the Lord is going on high in a certain sense.
And here we are left with each other, a whole lot of people that have been picked up out of the ditch.
And yes, I know the Lord loves you.
And the Lord cares for you, and he cares for me.
But we have a responsibility now for one another. There's no lack of resources.
We have the clear intent of one who is willing to apply all those resources whatever is needed.
Whatsoever thou spend this more.
Take care of it. So if I could get a little practical.
How are we doing at this?
We see with Gideon.
That he was when he saw those two men.
Who had slain his own brethren?
Something was bothering him. Those are the men that slew.
Those that were part of him and that he loved.
They were my brother.
What do they look like to you?
And God allows them to give that testimony.
They're like you. Each one resembled the child of the king. They were royalty.
Now I know we all don't look, a lot of us.
All of us like royalty.
Some sister recently in our meeting gave me wrinkle cream.
As a gift.
And our hair is not the same color or in the same quantity, et cetera, et cetera.
And so it's necessary for us to get the Lord's point of view about each other.
The young man, the first born, It wasn't his business to slay those kings.
The passion wasn't there. The love for the brethren wasn't there. He couldn't do it.
It was there with Gideon and he took care of it.
And so.
When the Lord was publicly charging Peter.
After he was risen, after the Lord was risen from the dead, what did he say three times?
Simon, son of Jonas, love us on me.
Because it's love that puts us to work, puts us to work for our brother, to care for one another.
But it starts with having a right value each one.
In my business, I work in the construction business and a lot of us get into that business because it's what we do when we're figuring out what we really want to do in life.
And then never leave it.
And the business kind of attracts. Somebody else is in the business. I don't mean to offend you, but it kind of attracts.
The kind of rough and tumble type people.
And yet our responsibility as those that are building bridges or tunnels or whatever.
Is to organize the work and direct the men in such a way.
That at the end of the day, they come out of the tunnel or down off the bridge or wherever they are with all their fingers and all their toes, and they walk out, may be tired but content. They go home to their families.
Believe me, you lookout at 6:00 in the morning, I had a safety meeting and you lookout at a whole bunch of people like maybe this number and they don't look very pretty and they don't shave very much and, and.
But you know what has helped me in having a care for the men that have worked for me?
Is unfortunately, if one of them does get hurt, or worse than that, if one of them is killed and then you have the sad experience of going to a funeral, you'll find that that was Grampy.
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And you find that there's a whole.
Network of people that that was a little guy was very, very valuable, very precious and very much loved.
Even though he maybe didn't have all his teeth and must only shave once a week or something like that.
And so the important thing is to get up as.
It says the numbers to the top of the rock and get a right value of one another.
And then the rest is sort of easy when we have that love for one another.
And so how does it go? How's it going? How are we doing at this?
We can ask ourselves, do I value my brethren?
Do I come in, Lord, today morning and look across the the meeting room and as they fill up the rolls and come in and all the hustle and bustle?
What is am I? Am I worried about?
Some of us are habitually late and all the other insurance and outs of any group of people Is there affection in my heart for the Lord's people.
The meeting I live in now is much larger than anyone I've ever lived in.
And I'm convinced that a person could leave their work if they had it upon their heart, and go into the Lord's service.
And never leave the confines of the local assembly there. There's that much going on.
That much need that much work.
And, and, and that much that a servant of the Lord could take up.
And never leave.
How are we doing at this?
When was the last time that I watched somebody's feet?
Is beautiful in John 13 that the Lord wash their feet.
But then he says you go and do likewise. When's the last time?
When's the last time on a Saturday morning? You said after Thursday prayer meeting, you said I really need to go see so and so and you spent just a little while Saturday morning.
Swinging over to their house.
For a few minutes.
It's so sad when, brethren, when we are not the help to one another we should be.
But it takes diligence, doesn't it? Turn with me to Hebrews 12?
The well known verse in the beginning of Hebrews 12. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher face, verse 2.
But there's another looking in verse 15.
Looking diligently.
Lest any man fail or fall from the grace of God.
West, any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.
And thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator, so on, a profane person, so on.
I have to admit that so many times I'm just so happy after the busy life that we all need, that I can make it to meeting on time, that I can be at the meeting, that I have enough energy left at the end of the day to enjoy the meeting and I really enjoy visiting with my brother and afterwards.
But do I, am I following this scripture? Am I looking after my brethren? Says diligently.
Lest any man fail from the grace of God. What does that mean?
What I think it means is that if you live in my assembly, you're to keep your eye on me to see if my attitude heads South.
I think that's what it means.
If I start to grumble and complain about my circumstances and you start to see my attitude go down.
Then that's the call to action.
Now many times this not just we just don't fly in there. We need to use wisdom, right?
And sometimes, like in the language of Deuteronomy, our brothers Ox is lost or is asked.
And we keep it by us. And he comes looking for it. And you're having a kid. You look to the Lord and maybe make a comment.
It's so humbling and so sad and has such serious ramifications when things get so far amongst us as brethren sometimes, isn't it?
When it gets to the point of contention, the contentions of brethren are like the bars of the castle.
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Picture steel or wrought iron embedded in stone. How do you move that? How do you deal with that?
An older person where I worked gave me some good advice when I was a little younger.
He said don't run from your problems. What do you know on a on a project or building something, a big organization of people? He said don't run from them, run to them, run to your problems.
And in many businesses they train the young men, the young women and being proactive.
If something is five degrees off and it's three or four feet away, it's only I can't do the math in my head, but it's only a few inches off.
But if I am off 5° heading home to New Jersey, I'm going to end up in Ohio or Pennsylvania or somewhere.
And so people use the word nowadays to be proactive.
But it's hard, isn't it, to say a word of encouragement, or a word of guidance, or maybe even a word of correction.
To someone you've never had a cup of coffee with.
Never had breakfast with never had over to your house if you have a house.
I think you get the point.
The ability to be a help to our brethren.
Way, way, way back before there's ever such a need.
Where there's ever such a need?
And so it ought to be diligent of all the young men.
Young men like to hang out together, and the young ladies hang out together.
Older people sometimes like to hang out together.
But if in your meeting.
And if a young person can walk up to you as an older person and say, you know, I know who you hang out with, I know who you like, you always have that family to your house.
You always have this family. Not good, not good. Oh, it's good. You're enjoying one another.
But those of us that are older that have houses and.
Live close enough to meeting, we can have people over. Invite someone to your home that you don't know very well.
And when things really get serious, it's the older brothers that handle it.
And sometimes it's an older brother speaking to another older brother.
And so how do we make it so that is possible to go well?
Says in James, confess your false one to another, pray for one another.
We men like to be like shut up castles. The women are less prone that way.
But young men?
There's something on your part that you need to do to develop good friendships. And I'm not just speaking about casual friendships. I'm speaking about valuable, edifying, lifelong, Christian, helpful friendships.
You'll have to open up.
To a friend in the Lord, and we that are older.
We need to open up and not just talk about the weather.
And things that are simple.
Because it's hard to penetrate, isn't it? But if we open up to each other and take others into our confidence, you know, this is, I'm struggling with this.
They can not only pray for you, but they'll say, well, it's funny you mentioned that and they have a word that would be helpful for you, for me.
Where I live in the New York City area, they often they, they worship the Yankees. And there was this player named, was it Lou Gehrig, I think, who came down with a very debilitating disease. I think they named the disease after him.
And it's often spoken about, and he stood there on Yankee Stadium as he was retiring from his playing days and said that he was the luckiest man in the world. And so in New York, you'll all hear that luckiest man in the world stuff about Lou Gehrig. I don't know if Lou Gehrig was a believer or not.
But I don't think he was the luckiest man in the world. I think I could lay claim to be in the luckiest man in the world. Not only was I one who got picked up out of the ditch like you, but I've been blessed and privileged to have older brethren that taught me to have older brethren that kind of thumped me on the head once in a while when I needed it, and to have brothers my own age.
With whom I've had lifelong 2530 year friendships.
Who are not like if you if you've ever read.
Like in some of the writings of brethren at Lady Powers Court. Obviously I never knew but she made this famous state.
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Nobody loves me enough to correct me or to even show me my fault.
And I used to think about that statement and say, well, that's too bad that Lady Powers Court never had. She was a sister gathered to the Lord's name, I guess at the end of the 19th century, if I have my math right. I used to think, well, that's too bad that nobody was faithful enough to help Lady Powers Court out in her Christian life.
But not knowingly. Power sport lately, I think to myself Will maybe some of the responsibility was on her part.
Maybe she needed to open up a little bit and to take persons into her confidence and so that she would develop those relationships which can be so valuable, so valuable. Let me end with a few comments on Psalm 19.
Say, how do I can? How can I tell that somebody is falling? Failing of the grace of God?
To fall from the grace of God is to lose the sense in your soul that God is for you.
And when we lose the sense that God is for us, we start to think we've got kind of a crummy deal, maybe about this or that, and we start to murmur and grumble and complain.
And if that isn't checked, it goes on and it hardens, it becomes chronic. And in the English Bible that chronic condition is called.
Bitterness and if you ever have a Lord's Day afternoon and you just just reading around your Bible, get a concordance or or vines and look up the word bitterness and you'll find it is one of the most prevalent roots in the human heart and is spoken of repeatedly in warning by the apostle.
But for the grace. But for our sense of the grace of God and our souls. As time goes on and the disappointments of life pile up, we become bitter.
And that is the exact opposite of having the thankful sense in our soul.
That God is for me.
It doesn't happen overnight.
And so in Psalm 19 where it speaks about the word of God in verse.
Verse 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous. Altogether. More to be desired, are they than gold? Yeah, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb.
That's the soul that's that's enjoying the Lord.
Feeding on the scriptures and enjoying more of Christ.
And it has a practical effect in verse 11. Moreover, by them, as thy servant warned.
Verse 12 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
And so in Psalm 16, the psalmist says my reigns and struck me in the night seasons.
And so we grow, and we communicate with the Lord privately.
As we read the word of God and ponder it privately and the Lord speaks to our hearts.
And work through our consciences enabling us to see things in our pathway or in our attitude that are 5° off or whatever they may be, and to get those things back on. That's the place to learn, isn't it?
But if I don't do that and things keep going.
Instead of it being secret, false, or an attitude, the Lord shows me in my heart that I say that's the wrong attitude. I'm not going to have that attitude.
Then it goes to keep back by serving also from presumptuous sins. Who?
It's gone further.
But running a stop sign?
Let them not have dominion over me.
I can't help myself.
It's going further now. The thing has dominion.
The Lord died not only to forgive us our sins, but to set us free now from the power of sin. Romans chapter 6. That's part of the gospel.
Norman Barry used to say when he came to visit us in Palmyra. I've told this before, but it's so it's good.
He used to lookout and find some unsuspecting young brother like me and he'd say.
Why do I sin?
And you kind of get nervous and not know what to say. And Mr. Berry in his nice suit and we're sitting there not going to tell the right real answer to Mr. Berry. And he would wait for a long, uncomfortable pause. And then he would say, because I want to.
And his point was that now as a believer, he didn't have to sin. He was free from the power of sin, that if he sinned, it was because he chose it. And that's why it's called presumptuous.
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Let them not have dominion over me, Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
The great transgression is you ran the stop sign, you ran another stop sign, you almost ran somebody off the road, you went through a red light and you crashed into a wall.
But it started way way way back.
It started way, way back because I was careless and I went as far as it did because I continued to be careless.
And maybe you could have stepped in.
I said hey brother, I noticed.
Whatever it is, am I my brother's keeper?
Yes, the members ought to have the same care.
One for another portion that Bill read this morning. The end of First Thessalonians 5 edify in the Darby translation, each one the other.
But the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in my sight. Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
It's so tragic when we when we crash into the wall.
And then it's not just my crash, it's my family has had the crash and those who love me experience the crash. And in my local assembly there's been a crash and and on and on it goes because people do love us.
And so I ask you and whether you're still in school and you come around with other Christians.
Christian girls at school I had the privilege of going to school with a lot of Christians, brothers and sisters in Christ.
The exercise wonderful to be looking unto Jesus, but look diligently after your your sister, your brother in Christ, that you might be a help, and that you might.
Stir them up in their affections so that they might not go down that.
Terrible progression, last verse, second Peter one.
1St 10.
Looking diligently for one another and verse 10 another diligence. Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you shall never fall, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We don't want to make shipwreck. We want to keep on growing and abounding more and more until that day when the Lord gives that assembling shout. Maybe even this afternoon. Let's just bow our heads and pray.
Our God and our Father, we give thee thanks again for bringing us into my family and making us thy children. Help us to be able to regard one another more closely to the Way without us, regardless.
With a profound love.
We read in my word, it says we love because that is first loved us.
And help us to be watchful for our brethren with godly care.
That we might stir one another up, provoke one another to love and the good works, looking diligently for each other. That we might not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but there might be a wholesome care and a helpfulness. We do thank the Our God and Father for the great privilege to have fellowship in our pathway. We know that thy beloved Son.
Walked alone as the Man of sorrows in a path that was his alone to blaze. We thank the precious Savior for having finished that all that work that was given me to do for living on high for us now as our great High Priest, the captain of our salvation. And we bless thee and praise Thee Lord Jesus, for all thy love to us. Help us to care for thine own and the little while that's left, that we might have the privilege of glorifying Thee and bearing fruit our God and Father for Thee in this scene.
Of his rejection.
We just ask Thy blessing upon the scriptures we've considered, and ask it our God and Father, in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Lord and Savior Christ, we're sending the diamond cross while we were getting and now we can actually with the greatest supervisor.