Chicago Conference: 2008
Table of Contents
Numbers 21
Address—B. Prost
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275.
Our God is light and holy God.
That's why.
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I'd like you to turn with me to a very familiar passage in the Old Testament.
Numbers, Chapter 21.
Numbers 21.
What we want to speak about today is the passage of God's word. That I suppose.
Everyone here, including even the young children, are probably familiar.
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The story of the Serpent of Grass.
Let's read it together.
But first of all, we will start with the first verse of the chapter just to get the connection Numbers 21.
And when the Canaanite which dwelt in the South heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies, then he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoners.
And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand.
Then I will utterly destroy their cities.
And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them into their cities.
And he called the name of the place hormone. That means destruction or complete destruction.
And they journeyed from Mount for by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
And other people speak against God and against Moses. Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread.
And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord.
And against thee pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from.
And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, And it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man when he beheld the serpent of brass.
He lived.
I suppose we have been accustomed to hearing this passage spoken of in connection with the Gospel.
And rightfully so.
So that the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, when speaking to Nicodemus, said as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And there is no other way that we can be saved other than looking to the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who was made sin for us.
However, I'd like to make a different application of this passage today, because we must remember that primarily this occasion took place among the people who already were in at least outwardly relation with God.
They had been in Egypt and had been delivered by that Passover lamb with the blood on the door.
They had been given at this point the sacrifices that we read about, the various offerings given in the first part of Leviticus. They had been told how to build the Tabernacle so that God might dwell among his people. They were a people already, at least outwardly, in relationship with God.
Yes, to be sure, there was what Scripture calls a mixed multitude.
And some of them were destroyed along the way. And in fact we know that because.
Of their unbelief because of the sad report of those 10 spies.
God had made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years, so that all of that generation.
Who had rebelled and said we can't go up into the land, all of that generation.
Had died.
But what had happened? A new generation had risen up.
I'm not here particularly to speak to the young people. The address is not an address particularly to young people, but I'd like to point out that those who were involved in this incident would have primarily have been young people.
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They were the children of those who had rebelled earlier on in the wilderness.
Because this incident takes place almost at the end of the wilderness journey.
I suppose they were at the very most two years away from entering into the land of Canaan, probably less than two years. And so those that were responsible for all of this were not those who had rebelled against the Lord 40 years or 38 years before.
They were young people, they had seen all that the Lord had done.
They had seen the way that the Lord had provided for them for almost 40 years.
More than that, there was a victory.
The Lord had allowed this King Arad, a Canaanite. Evidently he saw what Israel was planning to do, and he said in his heart, no doubt, let's strike first, let's preempt the situation, let's get them before they get us. So he attacked Israel, and we find that God in his ways allowed.
At least for the moment. King Arad to take some of them prisoner.
But it was a test. Israel turned to the Lord, and they said, Lord, if you will deliver this.
King into our hands we will utterly destroy their cities. And so the Lord gave them a tremendous victory.
You know, the day in which you and I are living, I don't think it's going too far to say that it has been a day of tremendous victories. We are right at the end of the wilderness pathways. And that wonderful Canaan is just just ahead. And they knew it here. They knew it would be 40 years. They knew it. And so they knew that Kanan was just ahead. And so for you and for me.
The Lord's coming is just on the horizon.
It can't be very far off.
And God has given some wonderful victories. He has opened doors in this world that have not been opened before. He has provided opportunities in the gospel that have never been known before. And almost every week I hear some report of how God is working in some place in this world to bring souls to Christ.
Now I grant you that in those lands like North America and Western Europe where there has been a bright gospel testimony for many years, there has been a very sad giving up and we have to hang our heads in shame as we see the way that things are going. But nevertheless, there are bright spots that God has given, showing that He is the same, His power is the same, and He has given.
Tremendous victories.
But you know and I know that we are never so vulnerable to the attack of the enemy as we are after a victory. And if God is working, there is a real danger of resting on our oars, as we say, of thinking we've got it made, and perhaps of looking at ourselves.
And that's the picture we get here.
Because it tells us there at the end of verse four, that the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Does that strike a chord with some here? Maybe with more than a few?
I know that there are discouragements in a lot of lives. There are personal problems, There are family problems. And now with the economic meltdown that seems to be getting worse rather than better that some thought was just going to be a bump in the road. It turns out to be a much bigger bump than that. And literally, we see men's hearts failing them for fear and wondering where it's all going to end. And I.
Suppose that while you and I look for the Lord's coming, yet there may be those here who are feeling the difficulties, who fear the loss of their jobs, who feel a business set back potentially down the road or something like that. And then there may be assembly problems and difficulties that are weighing the Saints of God down.
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And there are. Permit me to say this as I travel around.
More than a few who fit into this category who are much discouraged because of the way. And I am not suggesting that the reasons for it are necessarily the same as what we have here, but I believe that God has recorded this for our instruction because it's easy to become discouraged.
I suppose if we were to define it, discouragement in spiritual things involves.
Getting taken up.
With what I want and expecting something that doesn't come through. Maybe I expect something from others and it's not there. Or even worse, even deeper, I expect something from the Lord and it doesn't come through.
And even though we might not voice it, deep down in our hearts we may be saying, I don't deserve this. Why does the Lord allow this to happen to me? I did not do anything to deserve this.
It doesn't say that they talked like that, but I suppose some of these children that were growing up may have said in their hearts, why should we have to wander 40 years in the wilderness? We were only children. We were victims of circumstance. It was our parents that rebelled and wouldn't go up and take the land.
But you know, it's a wonderful thing there were two men who were among those spies, Caleb and Joshua, and who were ready to go right up and take the land at that point, and who were compelled because of the unbelief of others.
To go 40 years in the wilderness and you know what has encouraged my own heart? Not once from either one of those men do we hear one word of complaint, do we hear one word of murmuring and saying, why do we have to suffer?
For the sins of our brethren. And I say to each one of us here.
You and I may be going on, I don't.
Say that about myself, but I say it in a general way. Maybe you are going on well for the Lord.
And maybe you have a real heart for the Lord, and maybe you say, but I'm not discouraged. But I'm having to put up with all kinds of discouragement around me and it drags me down.
It's difficult.
Caleb and Joshua had to face it, and they had to spend 40 years in the wilderness through no fault of their own.
But you know, the wonderful thing is, and we'll just take a quick side glance at Caleb. When it came to the end of the wilderness and you can read about it in the book of Joshua, Caleb found that the Lord was as good as his word. And Caleb could say with confidence when he was 85 years of age, he could say, I am just as strong today as I was 45 years ago.
And he went out and took the land and enjoyed it even though.
He was past his prime, humanly speaking, and I say to each one here in going along with the condition of things that you may find in your family, in your local assembly in the world of today, you will never lose if you submit to the conditions that the Lord is allowed, but yet don't let them drag you down to that same level.
We never read of Caleb and Joshua being discouraged.
We never read of their being dragged down to the level of their brethren. We never read of their murmuring in the wilderness and saying there's not enough water to drink.
Or there's no bread to eat or listen, that is happening to us. We want meat and there's no meat and all the things that.
They murmured about.
But the fact remains that there were many here. The soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
What had happened? Let's read on in verse 5.
And the people speak against God and against Moses.
Notice that.
Oh, it was God in whom they had lost their confidence. First and foremost. It was God whom they were speaking against. And that's the first point I want to make to each one of us, that if I murmur and complain about a situation, I have to recognize that that self.
I don't think I haven't done it and don't think I haven't been upset at situations.
I can be upset with the condition of things in the world. I can be upset with the condition of things among my brethren, and I can say, why aren't they more spiritual? Why aren't they a bigger encouragement? Why do they do this and that and the other thing?
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And that's just what the devil wants. And in reality, I am speaking against God and that's what these people did.
They were rebelling against the Lord.
And against Moses, ultimately, they looked to Moses as their leader, and he was their leader. And Moses did take that place, and rightfully so, of responsibility over them.
But was Moses the one, if we could use the modern expression, who was calling the shots? Was Moses the one who was responsible for all of this? Oh no, Oh no. Moses looked to the Lord and looked to him for guidance and help. And Moses, at least as far as it went, submitted to what the Lord had allowed.
Now we know that if we were to go back a few chapters, we would find that dear Moses.
In being provoked by the murmuring and complaining of the people lost his temper, and dear Moses, man of God though he was, instead of speaking to the rock, as we read this morning in the 20th chapter.
He took the rod and you'll notice if you read carefully.
It says he took his rod. He didn't take Aaron's rod, the rod of priestly grace. He took his own rod, which was the rod of power and authority, and he smote the rock twice instead of speaking to it.
And because of that failure, Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land.
So there was failure in Moses too, but nevertheless the people were murmuring and complaining against God and against Moses, and let's take that to heart. We'll see later on the importance of the repentance that took place.
In the right order. But they say, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul loathe this light bread.
Was there water to drink? Indeed there was. Was there bread to eat? Indeed there was.
Why could they say then there is no bread, neither is there any water?
The second point we want to make is this.
God did not provide them with either food or water.
Independent of himself.
If they had been wandering in a place.
Lake, Illinois.
There would have been plenty of water, wouldn't there? Plenty of rivers, plenty of streams from which to drink.
And if they had been in a place where there were plenty of farms and plenty of food available, where they could have bought it on their own.
They could have lived and walked in that wilderness independently of the Lord.
But the Lord wouldn't allow that.
He made them, if we could say it reverently, to be dependent on him.
When they needed water, they had to look to him and he brought water where out of the rock where it wouldn't normally come, or when they came to water, such as at Mara where it was too bitter to drink.
They had to look to the Lord to know what to do in order to make.
That water's sweet.
They had to depend on the Lord.
That manner that came every day, It came from heaven, and they could not.
Walk independently of the Lord. They had to recognize that every day it was the hand of God that laid that manna down for them to go out and pick up.
No bread, no water. You know the human heart wants to walk.
Independently of God and I fear and please permit me to share this burden with you, because it's a burden I share from my own heart.
And maybe we're more guilty in North America than in other nations because?
As the dear brother wrote to India, wrote from India to me once and he was wrong to do it and he was in a fit of temper when he wrote it.
Nevertheless, he wrote to me quite a few years ago now and said, when did you last have to worry about where your next meal was coming from? When did you last have to worry about paying your electric bill? When did you last have to worry about paying your taxes on time?
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And he was right because I have to confess to you that I have never been in a position where I couldn't put food on the table or pay my utility bills or pay my property taxes and what have you. He was right, and he was speaking from the vantage point of people who were forced more than we are to be dependent on God.
We like to walk independently, but God has His ways of making us dependent upon Him.
And if the economic crisis that we are facing makes us more dependent on the Lord.
It's not all bad, is it? No, it can be a good thing. I remember a few years ago, at least 30 years ago, 35 years ago, when there was a little economic meltdown. And I remember my late father-in-law, Albert, Hey, Jose, saying, you know, Bill, it wouldn't be all that bad if this world had to go through another depression.
I'm not old enough to remember the depression, but there are those here that doubtless can. A few anyway.
And the times were tough, very tough.
But he pointed out that it was much easier to reach people with the gospel, and it was much easier to get children to come to Sunday school.
And it was much easier to talk to people about the Lord in general because there was a realization that they were dependent on God from day-to-day.
That we have gotten away from that.
And so God makes us dependent in one way or another. And if we are not made dependent so much in natural things.
God will make us dependent in other ways, perhaps in spiritual things, perhaps in family life.
Perhaps in assembly life, perhaps in many circumstances that he brings into our lives, where we have to say.
The situation is beyond me.
But then there was worse there, because it says our soul loatheth this light bread.
Well, they get tired of the man.
Can you identify with that?
If I could say it, humanly speaking, you and I might get tired of eating the same thing day after day for 40 years.
And no doubt desert life was a bit monotonous and a bit boring at times. Get up every morning and gather the Manor.
Same manner, same thing. Oh, doubtless they cooked it up in different ways, as it said, and did things with it to make it more interesting, but nevertheless, that manner came day after day, day after day. And humanly speaking, from their side, life probably did get boring.
Through the wilderness 40 years and your life and mine perhaps acquires a certain monotony to it and natural things.
Every job has its episodes of Board a Minute, some more than others.
But nevertheless, most jobs are not exciting every moment you're doing them.
But you know what?
What does the manna speak of? Manna speaks of Christ.
Particularly Christ in manhood.
And is.
If I could say it very reverently, is there such a thing as boredom in feeding on Christ?
Is there such a thing as getting tired of Christ?
I hope not, brethren, I hope not. I speak to my own soul.
Is there not more in Him to encourage my heart, more in Him to bring joy?
Than any of the circumstances around to discourage Oh indeed there is, indeed there is.
And God has given us that Blessed One as the food of our wilderness pathway.
Do we feed on it?
If you read, and I'm not suggesting you need to, but if you were to read Napoleon Knowles History of the Brethren.
Some of the history is very sad, but I remember enjoying in the front of that book a letter written by a brother by the name of Mr. Bellitt, John G Bellitt, written to his good friend John Nelson Darby. He died quite a few years before Mr. Darby because Mr. Bellitt went to be with the Lord when he was only about 70, so he wasn't a really old man.
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And Mr. Darby was five years younger, so he would have been about 65 when this letter was written.
And Mr. Bell writes something like this, and some here will remember the letter. He was on his deathbed, but he had all his faculties. And he was saying, you know, people come to me and they tell me that I'm going to heaven. I tell them to stop.
He says they tell me of all the glories of that place and I say don't talk to me about that.
He said what do I want to see? Oh, he said. I want to be with the man.
Let's sat at Sidecar as well. I want to see the face of the man who touched the coffin of the son of the widow of name.
I want to see the face of that man.
Who went to Calvary's cross and died for me? That's the one I want to hear about. That's the person I want you to talk to me about. Did he have a deep understanding of the things of God? Indeed he did. Did he have an understanding more than most of the whole counsel of God, as Paul speaks of it in Acts 20? Indeed he did.
What did he want to hear about on his deathbed? That lowly man, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Who himself without sin, came down into this world, walked through this world as a man.
Felt all the effect of sin from without that you and I feel.
And as it were today says to you and me, I have been there. I have been through that wilderness, and now I want to go through it with you. And in my great High Priestly character, I want to help you in every detail of the way, while at the same time I want to be the food that you never get tired of.
Our soul loath at this light bread. Oh, how sad. Well, what happens?
Verse six. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of Israel died.
We're not told exactly what character those fiery serpents took as far as what species of snake they were, but they were evidently very poisonous. We don't have to worry a lot about poisonous snakes in North America. Oh yes, there are rattlesnakes and you better stay out of the way, and there is the odd copperhead and so on. But there are countries in this world where you really have to be concerned about poisonous snakes.
I walked with a brother in Christ to work one day in Australia and I noticed he had a little packet in his hand.
They said what's that for? Well, he said that's an anti snake bite kit. He said, because if I got bitten by a snake, he said cutting through this park, he said it's the grass here and that he said a snake bit me on the way through this park. Excuse me.
He said I could be dead before medical help could get to me. So I carry this snake that there's one right there, he said there there's a brown snake, he said. One of the most poisonous snakes in Australia. You see him go.
I didn't say it, but I thought I think I'd go by the road and go a little extra way round rather than cut through the park for that, for that risk. But anyway, it's a real thing in many places.
But here this was from the Lord, this was from the Lord.
What are those fiery serpents?
It can be many things.
Again I say they can be problems and difficulties in your life and mind, a family difficulty, very real today.
More out there than you and I realize.
Job difficulties. Assembly difficulties. Difficulties in many spheres of life. Fiery Serpents.
And much people of Israel died.
Here it was physical death for you and me.
Its moral death, and there are many dear believers today, to use the phrase of our beloved late brother Eric Smith, many dear believers today, as he used to term it, that are dead on the battlefield.
Lost dynamics for Christ.
That was the phrase he used. What did he mean? He meant that those fiery serpents became so overwhelming that people gave up and either went out into the world saying it's no use, I'm not going to try anymore, or they gave up the precious truth that they knew was according to God's Word in order to have an easier path.
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Or they simply did nothing because.
If you don't do anything, then nobody can criticize you. You can't be criticized by something wrong if you do nothing. Oh yeah, you may get somebody that wants to give you a prod now and then, but there are believers who take that position, who get discouraged by the condition of things.
Fiery serpents and much people of Israel died.
We see that happening today.
And it's a very real thing. Does that strike a chord with some here? It does with me. And the devil never gets up, gives up. It wasn't a case of just a few fiery serpents. Usually if you happen to see a snake and it's going after you, if you can manage to kill the snake, you can have a breather and relax. It's not as if they're coming at you from all directions at the same time. But I get the impression here that these fiery.
Were everywhere and that it wasn't sufficient just to pick up a a stick and try and kill one or try and secure your tent against these snakes. It wasn't that easy.
But you know it had the desired effect. And I say to your heart and mind today, if there is a fiery serpent in your life.
Allow it to have the right effect, as it did on these people.
They said first of all, verse seven, therefore the people came to Moses and said we have sinned.
Very important.
We have sinned and noticed that they took very carefully upon themselves exactly what they had done.
For we have spoken against the Lord and against thee.
You know, it's an easy thing to say. Well, we've all failed. I heard a brother many, many years ago who had left the Lord's table for 10 years and then wanted to come back. And when he wanted to come back, there were questions raised about why he'd left and some things that his brethren wanted to hear wasn't in our local assembly. But I knew about it. And his attitude was, well, what do you want me to say? We've all failed. We've all failed.
You know if I can use an expression that's passing the buck?
That's not really getting before the Lord into His presence. If you read about the trespass offering in Leviticus chapter 5, when a man came having committed a trespass, you'll remember he had to confess that he had sinned in that thing. In that thing, he had to identify that in which he had failed.
And confess it. It wasn't enough to make a general statement and say yeah, we've all failed. If I've done anything wrong, well.
Forgive me. No, that's Slytherin out of the situation, isn't it? You know very well, at least I would imagine it's the same today.
If you got called to the principal's office, in my generation it was a serious thing. I don't know whether it still is, but it was a serious thing.
And if you were caught doing something wrong, the principal didn't want somebody to say, well, yeah, we weren't, we weren't doing, we weren't behaving too well.
That wasn't good enough, was it? And if he said what were you doing? Well, yeah, I guess we got into some mischief.
That wasn't good enough either, he probed. What did you do?
And you know God wants to hear that from your lips and mine, not because he doesn't know, but because the pathway to restoration and repentance is to confess that we have sinned and to say before the Lord what it has been. And it may be different for me than for you, but the order here is important because once again, they start with the Lord.
They say, We have spoken against the Lord and against thee.
Isn't that good? Against the Lord and against thee, all we have to recognize if we're going to be right with God.
Where we have departed from him in the 1St place, and I say this to the children here and to the young people, as well as to those who are in my generation.
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It's important to have a personal relationship with the Lord.
The people came and said we have sinned.
But ultimately, it had to be individual. Yes, there was a collective sin, and it was right that they own it collectively. But ultimately it came down to an individual repentance, getting right with the Lord, confessing to him, and then recognizing that they had spoken against Moses.
But then they say, Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.
And that usually is our response, isn't it, to something in our lives. Lord, we did wrong. OK, we understand. Lord. Now you can take away the trial. Now you can take away the difficulty because we understand what you're trying to say to us, and we're sorry.
But you know what's very interesting here?
That Moses doesn't pray that way. Moses doesn't pray that way. It says specifically. And Moses prayed for the people. He does not pray. Take away those fiery serpents. Why?
All because I believe that Moses recognized that if those fiery serpents were immediately taken away.
There was a danger in cutting short the work of repentance. There was a danger in the people turning back too quickly to self-reliance and walking independently of the Lord.
283.
And.
I guess we got we can sing the whole hymn. We have time. Let's sing the whole hymn together reading the last verse.
Where the whole realm of nature, hours that were an offering far too small, love that transcends our highest powers, demands our soul, our life, our all.
When we survey.
Now.
2 Corinthians 11
Reading
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303.
Brethren, I suggest that we take up Second Corinthians Chapter 11.
I believe that it complements what the Lord brought before us this morning in the address.
It brings before us this morning that Christ as manna.
If despised, what did God have? The only anecdote was Christ.
As the crucified one in a different form and the Apostle Paul was.
Concern for his brethren that they not lose their personal.
Individual and collective attachment to the person of the Lord Jesus. And if we lose that, we've lost everything. But if we have Him, then we have all that we need.
That's Second Corinthians 11. Dawn, yes.
Read the whole chapter.
I don't know how long it is, I guess so.
2nd Corinthians.
Would you go if you could bear with me a little in my calling of disease to play with me?
For I am jealous over you with a father's jealousy. For I have 1000 to be one husband, and I represent you as a change of person.
But I see the earth left by any means. Of course the guy would be easier to settle things and tell them why. I mean, it's just a bit of the rest.
For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
For I suppose I was not a whip behind the very chiefest apostles.
But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge, but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.
Have I committed an offence in abasing myself, that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
I robbed other churches taking wages of them to do you service.
And when I was present with you and wanted, I was chargeable to no man for that which was lacking to me, the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied. And in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you.
And so will I keep myself as the truth of Christ is in me. No man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of IKEA.
Wherefore because I love you not, God knoweth.
But what I do that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them, which desire occasion.
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That wherein they glory they may be found, even as we. For such are faults, apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ, and no marvel.
For Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
I say again, Let no man think me a fool, if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly in this confidence of boasting.
Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer. If a man bring you into ******* if a man devour you, if a man take of you.
If a man exalt himself, if a man smites you on the face, I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit wherein so ever any is bold, I speak foolishly, I am bold also.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I? Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I? Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool. I am more in labour's, more abundant in stripes above measure, in prisons, more frequent in deaths OFT of the Jews. Five times received I-40 stripes save one.
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my known countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness.
In watchings, often in hunger and thirst. In fastings, often in cold and nakedness.
Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches, who is weak and I am not weak, Who is offended and I burn not?
If I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern my infirmities.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forevermore, knoweth that I lie not.
In Damascus the governor under Aratus, the king, kept the city of Damascus with the Garrison desirous to apprehend me, and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands.
Second verse.
Middle of the verse to me is something of the essence of what's on the heart of the Apostle Paul and redressing his brethren as he did. He said I'm jealous over you, for I have espoused you unto and I'm going to read Mr. Darby's translation onto one man.
God has.
Espoused us.
To one man.
His son, Jesus Christ.
And if anything.
Falsifies the truth as to the one, the man to whom we have been espoused.
Then it corrupts.
And destroys the very foundation of our relationship.
The children of Israel in the wilderness got tired of.
The manna.
But there was no other. That was the pure food of heaven. There was no substitute really for it. The anecdote, that is, what was given for the poison of the snake, was to see Christ crucified, as we had this morning.
Made sin for us. Here we have the Lord Jesus Christ in several different ways in which Satan tries to rob us of him.
00:15:02
My subtlety as he did in the Garden of Eden as an Angel of light, as we see later in this chapter, and the intense love of the apostle Paul for the Saints. He was willing even to talk about himself as necessary because of his godly jealousy that they not lose the true Christ.
And.
I don't think of this so much as the apostle and his person, but rather what he represents.
God has given us the Apostle Paul as a patterned St. He's given us a person whose life and doctrine went together. He didn't just teach.
But he lived what he taught, and God gives him to us that way as a pattern. And so the apostle Paul is given of God to us, whose ministry draws our souls.
To the man.
And we need that. We need to have.
God by the Spirit draw out our hearts to be attracted and live in the enjoyment of the person, the man Christ Jesus.
Just one more thought and by way of introduction, someone was saying to me something about it's nice to be here and be together with our brethren, and it sure is and we enjoy it.
But in another sense, it's just a short little weekend in a long year, you might say.
We have the privilege of being with our brethren a few times a week. Many of us, at least a few of our brethren in the faith. But what about the rest of the week? The 24/7 if you will. Really the only one that goes with us 24/7 is ourself. And yet that's not it. Because the Lord Jesus the man.
That we need to have a conscious, individual, personal 24/7 enjoyed relationship as a not a doctrine, but as an individual person that is with us and loves us and is our friend and is our Lord and so on. We have to have it with the Lord Jesus and any false anything that comes in that falsifies the truth of what He is to us.
And our relationship with him is extremely dangerous and harmful to our souls, and subtle because we can lose him and not realize it.
Don What is meant then by the simplicity that is in Christ?
We know that in the Word of God there are things that.
Shall we say we can meditate on? And there are heights and depths of truth that are far, far beyond us, so that even if we spend a lifetime in the things of God, we still feel as if we've only scratched the surface. What, what is the expression, the simplicity that is in Christ meant to convey to us then?
Stop listening.
The Apostles.
Let me give a partial answer, but I hope it's not all that's said on that.
When we have a trial in our lives.
Very often it exposes whether we have him.
As a person that's precious to our souls. Or we only have him as a doctrine?
And I say.
Oh well, the Lord is.
00:20:00
And I quote something about him that I have been taught is true. The Lord is going to be with us in every circumstance. And so on. In other words, my response is a teaching.
But the reality that God wants is the responses. Lord help me.
In other words, there's an immediate connection between my soul and the Lord Jesus, if you will. There is a certain simplicity in my relationship, that is.
Real to my soul, that I.
Exercise with the Lord Jesus, but it is very easy to only know him in a doctrinal way. And if the doctrine is not sound, then I don't even know the doctrine. I don't even know him.
And and it gets complicated.
We see it illustrated.
In the Garden of Eden.
When God's relationship with the children of Israel, I'm not children of Israel, but God's relationship with Adam and Eve had a simplicity to it.
I doubt that Adam and Eve spent much time in the garden going to this one tree for which they were not to eat.
And looking at it and saying, boy, that's beautiful fruit and uh, what's wrong with that tree and why shouldn't I eat it and so on. But Satan, when he came into the garden, started to deceive them and the simplicity as to their relationship with God started to get complicated and confused and falsified because.
He took their eye off the relationship and just.
Simply obedience to it and put it on something and said look at that fruit.
And their eye was on the fruit and was number longer walking in a common simplicity with God. And then it started to get complicated. Did God say this? Did he say that? Could you do this? Could you not do that? Well, can you touch it? Can you not touch it? And and then the not only the deceit and the deception comes into it, but outright lies are introduced into the conversation and the simplicity as to.
The matter was totally lost. And Satan does that to us. He takes our eye off our simple relationship with the Lord Jesus gets our eye on the circumstances themselves and the issues connected with the circumstances, and so on and so forth.
One more little comment. Everybody's preoccupied in the United States, at least today, with the economy and what's going to happen with what Bill called the meltdown. And the moment one thinks about one's bank account or this or that, it gets complicated.
But if yesterday the Lord Jesus was truly looked upon in my heart as the sustainer of my life, spiritually and physically, if the simplicity is there, He's the same today. Nothing changed between yesterday and today, or between pre meltdown and post meltdown.
But the reality sometimes is that circumstances expose whether our hearts are in that simple relationship or we're in relationship with respect to simply doctrine, right, as it necessarily must be, but still not enough.
Well, I think that's very good because in Corinthians, in Corinth, we know that at least for the most part, it was a wealthy city, wasn't it? It was a place that prided itself on its wealth and ultimately on its intellectual attainments too. And it were, it was those things that had gotten in the way of their enjoyment of Christ. And so right at the beginning of his first epistle, the apostle says.
00:25:03
I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
That did not mean that Paul did not go beyond the gospel in speaking to them, not by any matter of means. But it meant that he did not get into human wisdom. He didn't digress into all the wise and wherefores of things.
The philosophies of men, all those things that men have brought in to complicate the issue, He simply brought in God's one remedy, one antidote for sin, Christ and him crucified, and that ultimately made nothing of man and everything of Christ.
Well, then the danger was that here they had come to Christ, accepted him as their Savior, but now they were going to live the Christian life in their own strength. They were going to look to human wisdom somehow to.
Add to what God had given in divine revelation and ultimately, as you were saying, Don, it's the same principle as Israel of old. They said the manna is not enough.
Morally and spiritually, in our day, the believer is perhaps prone to say Christ is not enough, and so we need to add something to it, whether it's the wisdom of man, whether it's the things of this world, whatever it might be. But we are prone to say, as Israel said, our soul, lo, that this light bread.
When God made.
The world, he says each day. And it was good.
The enemy corrupted that and said half God said.
And doubted the goodness of it.
The world at Christ time.
Put him to death on a cross and made him look like a criminal.
But to the eye of faith, he's a perfect burnt offering to God.
We need to remember that.
Bill, the question that you asked earlier about the simplicity that is in Christ.
In that sentence.
It's a warning against false teachers and.
He is concerned about their minds.
Lest they should be corrupted.
Paul when he wrote the book of Philippians, he wrote about four different kinds of minds. He wrote about a, uh, a single mind.
He wrote about a submissive mind.
He wrote about a spiritual mind, and he wrote about a secure mind.
And here he is concerned that their minds would become corrupt.
And what he wants them to do.
Stick to.
The purity towards Christ at the end of Philippians in chapter 4 it says in verse 8, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are good, report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. He's concerned about the minds that they are stable and secure.
And well grounded.
Impurity about Christ back in verse two when he's speaking about a godly jealousy. It's a holy, holy, fully complete jealousy. I have espoused you to one husband. It's it's similar to a relationship and he compares it to a marriage doesn't he and it's a union with Christ but we want to remember that he's writing to a an assembly a collective assembly and so we see the body of the Saints as in relationship compared to a marriage with Christ in the union there.
The Saints and Corinth were from.
A city.
That, to some extent, was saturated with the philosophies of men.
Very intellectual.
00:30:04
And.
It is easy to take out the truth of God.
With the mind.
In addition to that.
And that's as Paul Bill has already said, he said I'm I'm determined to know nothing among you who saves Jesus Christ and his crucified. I'm not going to be with you on the grounds of human philosophy and what men have to say with respect to it.
And consequently, as he says here, he was concerned about their minds, as our brothers just mentioned, because Satan easily manipulates the human mind.
With false ideas.
And there is a danger when we even have right thoughts. I'm going to use the expression right doctrine.
There's a certain sense commonly in this room that this room has people who are well taught in the whole of the Christian, the Christianity on earth with the knowledge of right doctrine.
Well, that's essential.
But it is not enough.
And it's essential, but there's a danger in it as well.
And the danger is that we are dependent on the doctrine.
And not on the person and sometimes when difficulty comes.
We may have difficulty even evaluating how to cut the doctrine correctly, how to cut in a straight line the truth, when in reality the difficulty is not the doctrine itself or even our understanding of it. It is that it has been disconnected in our souls from the person of the Lord Jesus, and we've lost, in that way, the truth.
Of the simplicity as to the Christ, we depend on, if you will, our knowledge of the doctrine, rather than depending on the person to be the one that will take care of us in the need. I remember some years ago when a problem came up and a brother said to me, he said about a man, he said he won't understand all the doctrinal issues that are involved, but he'll be all right.
Because he has the person of the Christ that he hangs on to, and he was, I believe, at least my understanding of the truth. He was carried through properly. And Paul was concerned because this was a group of brethren who came behind in no gift, who were full of knowledge.
And the very fact that they had gift in the assembly and they had knowledge in the assembly.
He expresses his concern for them that when something false was introduced.
They would be susceptible to it and not know it.
And so he recognized there was false ideas that were creeping in.
To the Corinth and he also saw that it wasn't being discerned and the anecdote was not only correct understanding of doctrine, but Paul, more concerned with Paul was to attach their hearts to the purity of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's our need as well, brethren. We need to be attached in heart and soul.
To the person of the Lord Jesus in our daily lives. And then the Lord can use by the Spirit the doctrine or preserve us from the idea that because we know a lot, we can evaluate anything that's not correct and find the rights and the wrongs of it and we'll be OK if there's a problem. If that's how our mind is working, we're not going to be OK. We are susceptible to Satan as an Angel of light.
00:35:04
One of the important things to recognize is that.
Ultimately, the truth of God is beyond the human mind to understand completely.
It comes from an infinite God, and as such it is infinite.
In fact, as we've said before, the wonder of Scripture is that God communicates it to us.
In language, and so far that it is human language that we can understand and the words are clear, but what is conveyed is ultimately beyond our understanding.
What then do we do? Well, sad to say, we know that men's minds, even among believers, have picked up the Word of God and have tried to reduce the truth of God to that which man can understand, and in doing so he always falls into error.
What scripture wants us to do and what it does properly, if we are paying attention to it, is drive us back to the source of it. So that, as Dawn has been saying, I can't live and walk in the things of God. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps and so on.
Rather, we have to go to the Lord and say, Lord, I need thee to help me understand and walk in the good of this. And that involves continual dependence at every step of the way.
It's not easy sometimes because.
As Dawn has been saying, it's not that doctrine isn't important. It's not that we brush it aside. It's not that we say all I need is to go to the Lord.
Thank God the Lord does as it says. The Lord preserveth the simple and if I have a very limited understanding of the things of the Lord and going to Him, I can get guidance.
There's nothing wrong with having a full understanding of the things of God, but ultimately I can't apply it practically. I can't walk in the good of it without having the person before me. And that's I hardly agree that's.
Something that the Apostle is very strongly bringing before us in this chapter.
I wonder if we might look at a case of the Lord in John 11 within the day that Lazarus was raised from the dead. And, and I've just enjoyed this, uh, example of how the Lord speaks to Martha. Umm, I trust it's an example of what we're speaking about.
Umm, they didn't know about Lazarus being raised that day. They believed in a general resurrection, that Lazarus would rise and someday in the future. Jesus says in verse umm 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha says unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her.
I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead.
Yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believeth thou this? Now notice her answer. She said unto him, Ye Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Isn't that the simplicity in Christ of her? She didn't understand all about the truth, the resurrection, but she believed the man that was before her, and that was good enough.
I think it's good to realize that, uh, in the Old Testament, God planted a fruitful vine in Israel. He took a sample batch of man and he said, I'm going to make my blessings revolve around this group of men. And that was man under responsibility and he failed. So in the New Testament, God introduced another man and that man is Christ. And he said, all of my blessings, all fruit is going to be channeled through this one person.
And that's what we need to lay hold hold of in our soul. All blessing, all of our resources, all fruit is going to come through this one person, that's the Lord Jesus.
It's all based upon the fact that He went to the cross and He bore our sins and He gave up His life and He suffered for our sins. He made atonement for God, and now you and I have our life in Him.
00:40:06
We have life because of Christ and everything that God is looking for, and you and I is going to come through that person. If it doesn't, it's from that old man.
That God condemned and determined wasn't worth looking for fruit from anymore.
So that's something for our souls to get all it's very simple, isn't it?
God blessings for all eternity is going to flow forth from His Son, the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus himself provides us a beautiful example of.
What's needed sometimes for our souls?
I'm referring to the day of his resurrection.
And the two that were on their way to Emmaus.
They said to him as he conversed with them and they didn't know it was himself.
He said we try. They said we trusted it had been he which should have redeemed Israel.
They had a certain perception of the Lord Jesus.
They were true followers of the Lord.
They did have.
A false expectation of what was going to take place at that time, even though doctrinally he is the one who will redeem Israel or has redeemed it and will redeem it in the future.
But they're discouraged because what they saw him to be didn't happen.
They consequently were heading the opposite direction. And that discouragement they were going home.
They hired him, but they didn't really enter in at that moment into.
What their hearts needed. So the Lord Jesus, He goes with them. He attaches himself to them.
And he presents what himself, no matter what, that's what we need. We need himself. And so he presents himself. How in as the Scriptures present him. That's the only way we want to present him. We don't.
Get apart from the Word of God. It's essential, but the person of the Lord Jesus is presented to a soul according to the word of God.
And it makes him real.
It opens him up to the soul. And they were then as a result attracted to himself and to his person. And when?
He reveals himself to them and then disappears from their eyes and they go back to Jerusalem immediately. It wasn't to talk about all the Old Testament scriptures and an increase in understanding of prophetic things and what was going to happen.
Those they knew they enjoyed we should know and enjoy, but preeminent in their souls is they now had himself.
As they hadn't had an hour or two before. And when we leave this place, if the Lord leaves us here through the weekend, we want to leave it with a conscious, personal, individual sense of going out the door.
With the Lord Jesus with us.
As we go forward.
And if we don't, if it's only the doctrinal side of it or certain truths as there are, it's not fully what Paul was desiring, that they be a spouse to that man in a pure way.
That's important too. An uncorrupted Jesus.
They needed to have. We need an uncorrupted Jesus or we will not be able to lock.
00:45:24
What, what I think would be good if we said something on the chase virgin to Christ. Uh, if you have a thought on that, on, uh, I'll interject, uh, what you're thinking about it. Uh, you've mentioned about those two on the way to Emmaus and how they, they had a false hope. They expected Israel to be established here on earth and the Lord was in resurrection. He was about also to ascend up into heaven.
And he was going to gather people to himself there. And I believe that's that connects with the chase Virgin to Christ. That is, we're called to be the heavenly bride. We're not called to be reigning here on earth as earthly people. Our earthly time today until the Lord comes is a stranger's and pilgrims. And then the Lord's going to take us into his home, the Father's house.
And that's when we are going to then enter into the full enjoyment in the presence physically of the Lord there.
Uh, that is the simplicity of the relation, our relationship, what we're called to be that chase virgin.
Nothing in this world is pure.
As a world system, nothing, absolutely everything that we interact with every day bears the corruption of sin.
And no matter what a person sets before them as a goal or an object in their life, and scripture uses and I'll use the example of money.
Money as an object is a corrupted thing.
And as a consequence, it's the mammon of unrighteousness, and it can be properly used. But when it is an object of the heart, it will bring a man to all evil. There's nothing he won't do if he lusts after it sufficiently is an object to his soul. There is absolutely nothing for the human heart to be attracted to in this world.
That is pure nothing.
Any measure in which our hearts are drawn to something in this world system that is set up in sin, it is impure. Some things are more impure than others.
But Paul recognized that you take on the character you become formed by.
What your object is.
And every single one of us, to the extent to which something in this world is drawing us, is corrupted by it because it's impure. And yet it does form us. It forms our lives. And as a consequence, Paul said, God has given to us one and only one thing that is a pure object.
To the heart.
And that will form us after that object, and that is his son Christ.
Example Bill used this morning the manna.
And it's very Scripture is very, very careful to show us that the manna.
Was pure.
Because it never touched the ground, all the food of Egypt is characterized as coming from or on the ground.
And consequently it bore the odor and the taste of.
What it came from?
And it's a picture of impurity. But the manna came down on the dew, and it came down on the dew because it was to be that which was pure and undefiled by the earth itself. And so it was their food.
00:50:12
As the old corn of the land, we have the Lord Jesus in heaven as a man, and in John 17 he set before us, he said, I sanctify myself.
To the Father in that prayer, what he's saying is, when he went back to heaven, his presence in heaven.
They're separated from the ur as the object of our hearts gives us an object outside of the pollution of the world.
It also implies the relationship of love, that we would be attracted to Him there. And if my heart is with Him where he is this afternoon, truly with Him as He is sanctified at the right hand of God, then I have.
Something pure and chaste to keep me.
But if that's not the object, or there's a mixed object, then to the extent to which something else is drawing me, to that extent I'm subject to corruption and pollution.
To make it practical, we all understand.
What it means to see a young couple who are engaged, don't we? The joy on their faces, the pleasure the girl has in showing others her ring, the best wishes and congratulations that are given, maybe some gifts, and all the rest of it.
But what would we think if?
Some days later we heard or saw that girl out with another boy.
Keeping company with someone else.
Oh, we would say, what is going on? Something is seriously wrong here.
We know that God did not institute engagements. They were something that man brought in. But God recognizes them. God honored them. God gives instruction concerning them in the law, and here He uses them as an illustration of our relationship to Christ.
What a wonderful relationship that is. The marriage in that sense has not taken place yet, but there is a commitment there, if we could use that expression.
A commitment on his part. There ought to be a commitment on our part. And Paul says, as it were, I want you to be 100% for Christ, not for anything else. I want your heart to be 100% for him.
And his brother Dawn has pointed out that will keep us in problems and difficulties. Some of us have to hang our heads when we look back on our lives and remember when it wasn't so.
But I can remember.
And I don't think it hurts to mention it because it was certainly not said privately, but our late brother Armstead Barry, who has been with the Lord for more than 30 years now. So quite a few here would not remember him. But I will remember his telling us how that he almost went off the rails at the time of the Tunbridge Wells difficulty. That was almost 100 years ago. And he recalled how that there were various things being said at that time.
And comments being made about this brother and that brother and how he would deal with the problem and how this one would deal with the problem.
But I never forgot what he related to us.
He said someone said concerning an older brother at that time.
Brother JB Dunlop, he said someone mentioned and Mr. Dunlop, what do you think he'll do?
Mr. Dunlop at that time was probably.
About 70.
And he had been through a good many difficulties in his lifetime and someone intending it as a somewhat derogatory comment said.
Oh, he'll just pray his way through it as usual.
But in saying that, he paid him, shall I say, the highest compliment he could have paid.
00:55:06
How did that dear man, we don't wish to eulogize anybody, but how did he survive all of those difficulties?
Not by his knowledge of Scripture, not by his understanding of right doctrine, Important though it is, we please understand we don't minimize it.
But he went the right way and chose the right path because his eye was on the person and he recognized his need for dependence. He recognized that human wisdom, even in spiritual things, would not find the right way that he needed the person.
Speaks about another Jesus.
He the cometh.
Preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached.
There's only one.
And when we have them and when we receive them.
It doesn't change.
Well, doctrinally, we all recognize that.
But what we have to realize is we live in the United States.
In 2008.
And we live in a society that we tend to be influenced by more than we may realize.
In which nobody.
Stay satisfied with anything very long.
Everybody gets.
The work board.
Was used this morning and so.
And there is a constant driven system.
To have something new every day and.
And there is no tendency or even teaching to be satisfied with anything.
And consequently, when we get influenced and affected by that, there is an unconscious tendency to have to add to embellish change.
Unconsciously, not intentionally, but introduce another Jesus.
That is more exciting. That is more relevant, that is more.
Uh, satisfying whatever it is.
And it's true whenever what governs connects itself with the mind, particularly because.
The Lord Jesus that we know, we know in our minds, yes.
But the truth as to his person?
God has given us minds for that purpose, but the problem with the mind is it likes to judge and evaluate. So God has given us a conscience that we can't use to judge and evaluate. It just doesn't.
By itself we can't change how it works. God tells us it has to have the right enlightenment. We have to have the truth that it will work on.
But at the same time.
What really governs our lives?
Is our hearts.
And if we live in this society, which in some ways the heart is, man may crave what his heart is, but he tends to be constantly drawn to something new through the mind.
And it's a particular I speak to young people. The world is changing every day and it's changing in a way that tends to create within you and us that were older too.
But it ends, especially when our minds are young and life change.
You get old enough and you don't like change, but when you're young you like it and the IT is also a time that it's easy to be susceptible to a different Jesus.
That is Christianity and the truth related to his person having to be improperly adapted in such a way that it's no longer the truth. And Paul saw in Corinth that danger, especially because of the mind, and he was concerned for his brethren. And he said, if I preach a different gospel, then don't accept it even if I do.
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If an Angel does, it doesn't matter. There is only one, and when you have it, you have it. Don't give it up.
And don't seek another.
Failed to see where the blessing comes from and failed to connect our Christianity with the person of the Lord Jesus and it become a mind. That's when we change it to another Jesus, if you please, by going back to the illustration of the manna.
If the children of Israel had constantly associated that manner with the Jehovah that had brought them out of Egypt and that had told them he was going to take them into the land of Canaan, if they'd have kept that before their souls as a living reality, they wouldn't have needed to take that manner and pound it and to make it and get occupied with making it more.
Palatable to the taste buds.
Because they'd associated it with what it spoke of.
It seems to me here it's not the taste buds, but it's the person of Christ and so people make Jesus.
What they think will satisfy them, and it's their minds that do it, and they destroy the real one.
There is a difference too, and I know.
Our brethren would agree with this between something new and something fresh.
The Manor had to be fresh every day, didn't it?
Only on the day before the Sabbath could they take a nap for two days.
And have it stay in a state that it could be eaten if they tried it any other day. It bred worms and stank. It couldn't be done. And so the Word of God never brings before us anything new in that sense. It doesn't bring before us that which is beyond Christ. It doesn't bring before us things that are innovative or that kind of thing. But it does, I believe, present Christ.
In that freshness, which is always something that appeals to us. It's not if I could say it very reverently, it's never the thought of having leftovers served up to us. It's always that which is fresh. Is that possible? Yes. There is more in Christ than you and I will exhaust for all eternity.
And surely there is more in Him than you and I can ever enjoy and assimilate in our wilderness pathway down here. So let's not mistake the lack of newness, for, shall we say, that which is flat, or that which is old, or that which has no freshness to it? Far be the thought. I believe the way the manna was given brings that out. As Dawn says, it never was on the ground. It fell on the dew, and it had to be collected every morning.
There was energy involved, but there was always that freshness with it. And as Doug says, had they recognized with whom it was in relation and how God had LED them out, they would not have, as Doug says, tried to.
Mix it and bake it and do all kinds of different things with it. God didn't in that way rebuke them for it, as far as I understand from Scripture, but it shows the beginnings of a heart that wasn't satisfied with God's provision.
Really would link it closely to the source and that makes it fresh, isn't it? And so it's that close link of where it came from that makes it fresh, isn't it?
And also it's food.
Nobody's planning to go without food. In fact, you can't.
And the Lord Jesus is the food of our spiritual life.
01:05:05
Not only on Earth.
He will be the food.
Of our lives throughout eternity.
And when we talk about food, we don't talk about the intellect. We sometimes someone says, oh, that's good. How do you make it so that it can be reproduced as food by someone else? But for most of us, that and all of us, and to even if we're the ones that prepare it, we take it in not as an intellectual exercise. We take it in because we need it. We live by it. We can't live without it.
And the Lord Jesus is presented to us as the food of the new man, not only while we're here on earth, but he will be the food. We have eternal life, yes, but that life will be sustained in us by having forever food, which is the person of the Lord Jesus. And as Bill said, we will never exhaust.
His person we will never get properly in heaven anyways. We'll never get dissatisfied with the quality of the food.
But it will always be the same person.
And we will enjoy it, perhaps in a growth sort of a way, but it's still the same. That's the point. Paul was concerned that a true Jesus would become a false Jesus, and not real food at all, but something else that fed the old man and not the new. And so it was no longer the truth as it is in Jesus.
They just take a moment to point out a point that's been helpful.
Here we have verse 4.
For, uh, Speaking of the preaching of Jesus, and that's the son of God in his humiliation. And we have that contrast in Philippians chapter one, just one, a sample expression.
Philippians chapter one.
Where verse 18 the doctor Paul mentions the preaching of Christ.
That's the Son of God and his exaltation.
And, uh, they're both precious to us, but the Corinthians needed to understand that they didn't reign with Christ. They were down with. They were here to represent one who had suffered and been rejected. And so the needed food for them was the Lord Jesus in his rejection and suffering. And that's why I believe we have the preaching of Jesus brought before us here.
Nsnoise.
Well, it's beautiful to see. We don't need to spend a lot of time on it. But the apostle here speaks about what he is going to bring before them as a little folly.
Why does he say that? Because he was going to have to speak about himself.
And it was because of their condition that he had to do it. And that's why he says in the end of verse 4.
Ye might well bear with it. Shouldn't be him there, it's really it.
Referring back to the folly that he mentions in the first verse, Paul didn't want to speak about himself. He would much rather speak about Christ.
And he does minister Christ, but in meeting the things on which they were having difficulty, if we could use the expression, he is compelled to come down to their level. There were those in Corinth who were trying to take over. There were those who were at least in a subtle way, trying to bring in another Jesus and another gospel, to put a slant on things which instead of ministering to the new man.
Ministered to the old man, which brought Christianity ultimately down to the level of this world.
01:10:01
And Paul, in seeking to combat that, is compelled to sink down. I shouldn't say sink down, but to come down to that level and to speak about himself in order to show them how far away they were. We wouldn't know much about the sufferings of Paul if it weren't for this chapter. Most of the things that are mentioned later in this chapter are not recorded anywhere else in the Word of God.
Some of them are, but most of them are not. Most of the occasions that are mentioned in the latter part of this chapter we do not know the details about, but He mentioned to them, I believe, to show that He had suffered for Christ. If they were trying to be exalted, if they were trying to take a place of pride, if they were trying to abuse human wisdom to supplement the things of the Lord, what had the apostle done?
He had followed a pathway of rejection and suffering even to the point of being made nothing of. They said, Paul, your bodily presence is weak in your speech, contemptible. Paul says, well so be it. I didn't want you to look at me anyway. Brethren, if that's the way it has to be, that Christ may be exalted, then that's alright. And so he used every opportunity to minister Christ. But he comes down to their level in talking about himself.
And so it ought to be with you and me. God doesn't want to occupy us with ourselves. He doesn't want us to occupy others with ourselves. He wants us to be taken up with the person of Christ. But here the apostle is compelled to come down to that level and to point out to them where they had failed. Not an order that they would be taken up with it. Not in order that they would make a big thing about it, but in order that they might judge where they were and what was hindering their full enjoyment of Christ.
I wonder how our time is is gone. I believe we've spoken much about the simplicity which is in Christ and I wonder if I put one verse.
Maybe as a simple description of that in the The Lord's Prayer to the Father in John 17.
And the last verse.
And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it.
That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them.
And I in them.
Isn't that?
The simplicity of Christ, what the Lord desires of us, he's declared unto us the Father, and he wants, He seeks to dwell on us, that that love which the Father had for his Son may be in US, and that he might dwell in US.
Time is up. I'd just like to say trust will be fresh exercises to the next reading meeting. I'm not personally suggesting that we need to go farther in this chapter, but.
Umm, as the Lord directs, there might be other subjects or aspects to take up in other readings.
Shall we sing again the last three verses of Hymn 303?
His word of light before us, spread by which our past is seen. His love a banner, or our heads from harm preserves us free stands as 4-5 and six.
Hebrews 13
Reading
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276.
That was 276.
No, no, no.
I want my heart that Abrams Chapter 13.
Hebrews 13 verse.
Eight, says Jesus Christ, the same yesterday.
And today, and forever.
We're told in verse 13 to uh, verse 13 says let us go forth therefore unto end. So they can't.
So that would be the my suggestion. It was 13.
00:05:08
Were you thinking of the entire chapter then, Brother Gattan?
Perhaps it'd be nice to begin with the seventh verse and read to the end of the chapter that in order to concentrate on the verses he specifically spoke of.
Well, that's five and six that might be good to be home soon.
OK.
Hebrews chapter 13, verse 5.
Let your conversation be without covetousness.
And be content with such things as you have.
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God.
Whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation? Jesus Christ. The same yesterday and today and forever.
Venot carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with means which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin.
Are without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp.
Bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come by Him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience.
In all things willing to live honestly.
But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep.
Through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
And I miss you too, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.
Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the Saints they of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen.
00:10:19
Well, we have in this chapter a number of practical exhortations, coming as they do at the end of the book of Hebrews.
Excuse me? We know that Hebrews was written primarily to Jewish believers, likely by the Apostle Paul, but the author isn't named. And it brings before us the precious truth how that everything in Christ is so far superior to what they had been given in the Old Testament. But here we have practical exhortations, no doubt related to what those Hebrew believers needed at that time.
But given here by the Spirit of God for you and me in our day.
And we can consider them in a general way. We can also consider them one by one. But they all have a voice to us, don't they? In particular, verses 5 and six bring before us.
Not to be covetous, not to be seeking after the things of this world, but then isn't it beautiful to see how that God never, if we could put it this way, take something away from us without giving us something far better in return?
I can well remember quite a few years ago now, quite a few years ago, at least 30 or 35 years ago, a brother who was relatively poor in North America voicing his dissatisfaction with those who had more than he had and allegedly telling him to be content with such things as he had.
And I was very thankful that it was pointed out to him. Brother, it is not.
Some other individual who says that it is the word of God.
It is God himself who says be content with such things as ye have. But does it leave it there? No.
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
I suppose it is not out of place to say that at the moment there are people in North America who are.
In deep distress over economic difficulties, and I suppose that those who have the most have probably lost the most in the last week or two.
It is causing them some anxiety.
And I suppose it is not going too far to say that, at least in a measure, some of the difficulties in the broad sense have been caused by the fact that we have tried in a general way to live beyond our means.
What does the Lord say here? Oh, he says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
And some of our dear brethren in foreign lands have appreciated those words more than we have, because they have had to rely directly on the Lord from day-to-day, even to put food on the table, even to have a place to live, even to be able to afford the necessities of life. But how good to recognize, even if the Lord has given us relative plenty, that ultimately the Lord, as we had this morning before us, occupies us not with His blessings, not with His mercies.
But ultimately, with himself.
Yes, it is wonderful to enjoy everything that God gives us, but He doesn't want us to lose sight of the one who gave it. And if he takes everything that he has given us away.
The devil. No one can touch that which is ours beyond this world. And so no doubt those dear Hebrew believers were suffering a certain amount of persecution. We know from other scriptures that they were poor. We know that there was a good deal of hardship in Judea.
And they were feeling it, Paul reminds them. At least we assume it's Paul.
That God wants them to be occupied with that which is beyond this world. The Lord himself who says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
00:15:04
Would you like to quickly review the various expectations?
Just to give an outline.
That's quite a mouthful.
About an hour.
Well, I will say a little bit and then I, I know others will go in here, but we have a number of things particularly that we have read together here. One is the issue of covetousness.
In verse seven we have the need to remember those whom the Lord has set over us as guides, those who have spoken to us the Word of God.
But notice it doesn't say whose failure follow, it says whose faith follow.
And so no doubt there was failure in those to whom these Hebrew believers could look, and there is failure in those to whom you and I will look.
S guides over us.
But who is the one again that is before us?
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.
And if we have seen anything in an older believer, a brother or sister, that is of Christ, God says I direct you to the source of it. Yes, remember the guides, but remember what they set before you.
Well, the exhortations that follow, they're too much to go through in just one short.
Summary. But he brings before them the need.
Not to be carried away with diverse and strange doctrines, because the Judaizing principles have always been that which were the bane of the church, not only the Jews, but also the Gentiles, because it brought Christianity down to the level of this world. And So what we get brought next before us is the way that we are to go outside the camp, outside of all of that which would speak of Judaism.
That.
To have only Christ before us.
And finally, later on in the chapter, we get worship connected with service. And that's as far as I'm going to go, because I don't know how far we'll get in this chapter. But there are a lot of very helpful details here, aren't there? And we don't need to dwell on them at great length, but they give us a lot of precious truth, which is important to remember in a practical way.
If I take up an interest in votes.
I don't have one at the moment.
I might look at a rowboat and say, boy, that'd be nice. I'd like to have a little rowboat. I can go out on the pond and enjoy the water and maybe fish a little and so on.
And so I will say I buy a rowboat.
But the tendency of the natural human heart is I've got a rowboat now and I decided I could get around better, so I'd be happy if I could have a little motor on it.
And so my present circumstances aren't quite satisfactory. If only I had the motor. And so I get the motor.
And I'm quite delighted with my little boat and my little motor. And in fact I try it out on a little bit di bigger lake and someone goes roaring by me and I say whoops, I need a little bigger motor.
And if only I had that, then I could just keep up and things would go better. And so in due time I I get my boat with a better motor.
But then I find out there are other people on the lake that have better features on their boat. And so I say if only. And, uh, so I have my eyes set on the catalogs in the store and so on. And I, I want a a little nicer one. And there are people today who.
Have built $400 million yachts.
And spent several years and that's a lot of money to spend on a boat. But no more had they got it in the water than someone else decided they needed a $500 million one that was a few feet longer.
00:20:01
And it's just a statement of the human heart. It is never satisfied.
It's constantly. If only then I will be.
And the an Israelite understandably had his hopes in the world.
But the Hebrews were being taught as believers that their hopes were not in the world. It wasn't how big a house they had, how big a farm they had, how much money they had, and so on, but the whole of basis of their life was.
To heavenly.
Well, I say.
Yeah, but I'm here right now, so I like that boat. And that's just the problem. If my heart is I'm here now until the Lord takes me, then I'm looking for my my boat or my car or my whatever.
The I'd like to expand the comments though, as Mr. Darby's translation it says.
Be satisfied with your present circumstances. I may not want more things. We live in a materialistic world and I may not say well, I need a bigger boat. I'm satisfied with what I got. But the test of our hearts as to being present since our home and our hearts.
Are with a man in the glory, it's easy to not be quite satisfied.
With my circumstances. And so I say, if only this was different, or if only that was different, then I could be satisfied, I could be happy. But to the life of faith.
The essential that I have to have is the Lord with me.
And if I have the Lord with me, I can be happy with the Lord with me without changing my circumstances.
And that's the difficulty. We think that satisfaction and happiness depend on circumstances. And God says no, Satisfaction and happiness for the believer do not depend on present circumstances.
They depend upon himself.
And I it's not easy to learn. That's something that we each have to, with the Lord, go through and perhaps little by little learn that it's not our circumstances that is the real root of our happiness or unhappiness. It's really as he says here.
The Lord my helper may keep me in my circumstances as they presently are.
But he's my helper. He's the one that sustains me in whatever circumstances I am in.
And that's, uh, something that Paul or whomever writing to the Hebrews wanted them to practically recognize that.
There was a life of faith, it was not a life of circumstances and it wasn't connected with this world.
The, uh, first nine verses of the chapter are basically about a a changeless Christ, Christ that never changes and therefore the chapter has been sometimes referred to as unchanging chapter.
Uh, when you look at those things in there, there are things that.
Should be the same all the way to the end.
An experienced by all in comparison to uh, contentment of a Christian and the contentment of the world. Look back at Mark chapter 15 together.
And Mark 15 and verse 15.
I was looking at this less than a week ago, so I'm glad to hear the the verse be read. Mark 15 and 15 and so pilot willingly to be to contend the people released Barnabas to them and delivered Jesus when he had scourged him to be crucified. He wanted to contend the people. He wanted to calm them down. He gave them Jesus and released a thief.
How long were they content?
I'd venture to say they weren't content very long.
It might have made a contempt for one day, maybe two or three.
00:25:05
But it didn't contend them very long.
So now look in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 11, Philippians 4 and verse 11.
Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned.
In whatever state I am in, in this to be content, that's where our brother was just talking about.
Whatever we are in to be content, James has counted all joy when you fall into diverse temptations.
Uh, we're not very joyful sometimes when we go into divers temptations, but the Lord has placed us there to teach us something and he is going to bring us through and we are going to be more mature and a better Christian in the end. So therefore we need to be content.
In whatever state we are in now, look with me at Timothy, First Timothy chapter 6.
First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 6.
With contentment is great gain.
Godliness with contentment is great gain.
Contentment spiritually.
We have an unchanging God.
He's the same yesterday, today and forever. He has satisfied my soul.
I can turn to him anytime I want to.
And have contentment in my Lord and my Savior.
Physically, on this world, I don't always have contentment.
But I have to learn to be content in whatever state I am in.
It's an unchanging Christ that we have, and what a beautiful thing that is.
There's some other little passages throughout versus or versus their other little things I thinking about verse seven says, remember.
Verse 17 says obey.
Verse 24 says to Greek.
Saluda, Reed.
There's one that is a guide.
In our life.
And we have to remember.
And we have to remember those that rule over us and teach us.
Those that lead amongst us.
And I have to obey them.
And I have to greet them.
Because they've has the old saying gone, walked down in my mind. The moccasins before me, they've been there.
And I can learn from them too.
And they can teach me if anything helps keep.
Assemblies happy.
And content and going good in these last days.
It's the word of God. It's our unchanged Savior, and thus those.
That are leading us, that are helping us. That's what our brethren are doing here today. It's been beautiful to sit back and listen to them and lead us and guide us through these scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Bill, Bill, would you say that I never had this thought until now? I was just curious if, uh, if I commend itself.
That in verse seven there where it says where it's umm brother Bill, just read, remember them that you have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God.
Who pray follow with, uh, Paul or whoever wrote the book of Hebrews?
He tied in the those from the Hall of Fame in Chapter 11.
Our whole, uh, so to speak, Hall of Fame.
A lot of them unnamed there. I was thinking a neighbors back in there when he wouldn't give up his vineyard, his inheritance.
Nabals is remembered.
I was also thinking a little bit of something else too. Titus chapter 2 I believe it is, if I can get you with the Titus.
Hi, this chapter 2.
Verse 7.
In all things, showing thyself a pattern of good works and doctrine, showing uncorruptness and gravitativity and sincerity. I was thinking that little bitty word of pattern.
00:30:17
On my way here I developed a knock.
Motors evidently rocking. I think I broke a motor mount. When I get back home I'm going to have to tell them the year and the VIN and I hope I'm not getting this distracted on something. But by that year, in that vent and everything, they can give me the exact piece that fixed the exact car and the exact place to secure my problem there, see.
And this speaks about the unchanged Christ. And we have those that have gone before us that are a pattern or a type, and that helps keep the assembly strong and healthy.
And we have a leader that is unchangeless.
Unchangeless.
And we have those that are pattern and a type for us.
And we need them to teach us.
Unchanging.
To answer your question, Brother Russ, I I would suggest that the thought here primarily is those in the present. I don't want to exclude those in the 11Th chapter because the Spirit of God records their faith in order to show them that at any time, even under law, faith was necessary in order to please God. But we see here there's an exhortation in verse 7.
And a somewhat similar one in verse 17, both involving those who are in the present.
Those who have the rule over us, those who are leaders and guides. And in that sense, I believe the Spirit of God is right down to the time when they were living and of course for us to the present day too, where God always, even in a day of weakness and failure, I believe will provide those who can be a leader, who can be a help, who can be a guide. We are to recognize them. We are to respect them. As it says here in verse 17, we are to obey them.
And ultimately to consider the end of their conversation. Sad to say, there has been failure in every guide that God has ever provided for us, and if we focus on that, then we can.
Go wrong way and those who take the place of leaders have to recognize that, as someone has said, when one who is otherwise faithful to the Lord in his life and his service.
Allows that in his life which is not according to the mind of God.
He lends the weight of his godliness to that failure which he allows.
And that's the solemn thing to think about. But at the same time, He calls on you and me to recognize what is of faith, but not necessarily to follow what is a failure.
At the present time in the United States, since everyone an adult at least here I'm sure is very well aware of is that.
There are two men particularly who are spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
To tell the people.
I am the one you want to be your leader.
I have the answers to your needs.
Follow me.
Here we have a con.
Complete contrast to that.
The leader here is he who has spoken. What? I have the answer to your need no.
Who have spoken unto you the word of God?
There is a true source of truth and authority and knowledge.
That is necessary, and a true leader in spiritual things is not about oneself.
It is about the word that comes from God.
And so we are taught to remember what?
Those who have given to us.
The word of God, they're not a true leader if they have something else to offer us.
00:35:00
And the second part of it is equally if not more important, and that is.
Considering the issue of their conversation, that is, considering their manner of life, there is something about them that you are and I am to imitate.
It's their faith.
And immediately the object of their faith is presented to us, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.
There are many of us who remember leaders, guides among us who are with the Lord now and there as well here living ones, but.
What was it that should have and we trust did does stand out in our souls about them? It was the faith they had in the object that we have before us today of Jesus Christ. He was the same yesterday. He is the same for us today. He will be the same for whomever comes along tomorrow.
It's an unchanging, unchangeable object for our souls that we can imitate.
The faith that they had or perhaps have in himself, What else is there?
We don't say follow the leader, follow what he believes in.
We had something better and that is the word of God and an unchangeable Christ that is given to us and those whose manner of life and conversation.
Draws us to that end.
I was enjoying the thought in Genesis, we don't need to turn to it, but the Lord spoke to Abram when when Abram was 90 years old and he says I am the God Almighty, Almighty God. In other words, he's all sufficient. He's all we need. And we see the apostle Paul instructed Timothy, he may mention Timothy in first Timothy chapter 4.
And I think it's good for all of us to lay hold of, especially the youth in First Timothy chapter 4.
We see in verse 12, Let no man despise thy youth. Be thou an example of believers in Word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Then we see in the next chapter he says, keep thyself here. What an expectation it is an encouragement to the youth, to the young.
To go out and speak well of this Almighty God, the one who is all sufficient, all we need.
I can carry on with the, the leaders. There's, uh, some thoughts I've pondered a bit over the last several years and would appreciate just a minute to share those.
There seem to be, uh, two different ways that they're looked at the New Testament and one is in this chapter. And the word is, is really the word those that are esteemed. And so as Dawn has said, there's a manner of life.
That goes with it.
It it they have walked in the path of faith and they are recognized by those around us. They don't set themselves forward. It's that they are recognized.
In, uh, Thessalonians, you know which verse it is, but.
Uh, 1St Thessalonians 512.
There's another, uh, word and, uh, to, to, to know them, which labor among you and are over you.
And that's sometimes it in translated leaders also are mentioned that way. And really this is someone who has the capacity, has the capacity of going, uh, and being able to stand in front of a, a group in front of a class or has the capacity to be at the front of the line. And so, and God gives those kinds of capacities and we appreciate it. These things are to be appreciated.
00:40:12
And also we recognize in their lives and they are to be esteemed.
But it's not a position as you sometimes think of a leader musician.
There's another word that has sneaked into our language.
And that is the word leadership.
Now that's quite a bit different than a leader. As a matter of fact, if you kind of peruse Brethren's writing, I do not find there might be some exceptions. I do not find it was ever used before the year 2000 in Brethren's legitimate Brethren writing. And so it's very recent among us. Matter of fact, it's very recent in the English language. 1821 is the first written use of the word leadership.
But, uh, that's a whole different thing. And that is, uh, a class of people, not, not a person, uh, when used in that way. And, uh, I would recommend myself that that word be, uh, not used by us. I do not find that it is at all the scriptural word. And there's at least 5 words in the Bible that can possibly be translated. Leadership.
And out of a multitude of uses it.
Never use a Christian except once.
And in those cases where it's, uh, used as the people of Israel and so forth, it's most frequently used in a very negative sense, those who set themselves actually in opposition to the Lord Jesus.
So.
Umm, I would suggest we we think about these words and, uh, use them in the scriptural context.
And, uh, be careful with, uh, the words that we use. Instead of projecting, uh, uh, a concept that may not at all be in the Bible, it might be good to avoid a word like leadership.
And the assembly that those who have the rule over us.
Be characterized as fathers.
First first John chapter 2 gives us.
As it were three stages of Christian growth. You have little children, you have young men and you have the fathers. And what was characteristic of the Father's is that they know him, that is from the beginning.
That is a a process.
That we go through in our Christian development.
Where through experience of walking with the Lord, we come to know Him.
How well it would be if those who had the rule over us.
Too.
Just like to connect back with the reading meeting we had this morning, uh.
For one verse in connection with what we have now before us.
Two Corinthians, Chapter 11.
All of us would recognize that the Apostle Paul was one who led. He was a leader.
You said be followers also of me as I also am of Christ. He was uniquely really in in the New Testament given to us of God as a patterned St. and He is.
A umm.
An example of what true leaders.
A true leader is to for the Saints of God, and here in this chapter there were those who wanted the place of being followed in Corinth, and the apostle Paul was compelled to speak about himself as a result of that because he loved the Saints so much that whatever it took to draw them to Christ, he would say or do legitimately.
00:45:08
And so the verse I want to.
Uh, to notice.
Is.
I've already lost it, but hold on a minute.
Nsnoise.
Somebody can help me find it? It's it's the verse that says.
The truth.
Of Christ that is in me. That's the expression.
Verse 10. Thank you very much. The truth of Christ is in me.
We're not gonna try to define that very much, brethren, but that's a pretty conscience.
Check up for any in this room that might think of themselves as a leader, or the Lord might want to lead. But here was a man who could say to his brethren, The truth of Christ is in me. He didn't say, I know the truth of Christ. I can teach the truth of Christ, but the truth of Christ was livingly.
In the his conversation, in his manner of life, and that's what he's really bringing. He isn't contrasting himself doctrinally on some point of doctrine with these others that were there, but he was essentially saying to the Saints, you see in my life the truth of Christ being lived out.
Tremendous.
Can I say voice to the conscience?
And yet He was one who could even go beyond that. And he said, be be an imitator of me, be like me, as I also am of Christ. Christ is the one and only standard. But they could see in Him that which was to be imitated as a reflection of Christ. The truth was in Him, and He lived it out in a way that others were to follow.
In their own life, that same thing. May the Lord help us.
That the realities of what we know be the realities of what we live.
And.
That doesn't put people looking at us.
But it it puts people that will say, I want what that person has of Christ.
And what do they have? A person who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
I don't know who's the Lord is going to allow to be the next president of the United States, but I can say from my lifetime, whoever it is, the people won't be happy with them very long.
It just doesn't matter who gets to be that. They won't have, as the world would say, very long honeymoon before something that they have promised to some significant number of people doesn't turn out the way those people who chose them for the intent that they were going to fulfill those promises. It doesn't work that way, and it's important for us to have a proper Jesus.
A proper Christ that we have our faith in because if our faith is.
Not in the true Christ. We may be disappointed too, when.
Something happens in the circumstances of our life and he doesn't change the circumstance.
He doesn't. We get sick. He never promises that we're going to get well.
Yeah, we we are in poverty. He never promises that that's going to change.
He promises no matter what circumstance you're in, I will be with you in it.
And I will be your helper in it. That's the promise for this life.
And if we expect something different from him?
Now then we can be disappointed in the Lord. We can say I trusted the Lord. I thought he was going to do this and he just didn't do it for me. So I don't know that, you know, I, I, I had to go some other way.
00:50:02
I meet, not all that infrequently, young people who say I tried Christianity.
And there's their words. It did not work.
So now I'm I've given it up, I'm looking for something else.
And the problem is, they were not presented with a true Christ.
They were presented with a false Christ. They embraced a false Christ because they were promised in the false Christ something that he was not. And when he didn't deliver, that is, the false Christ didn't deliver. They said, I tried it, it didn't work, and now I'm looking at something else.
And so it's, it's incumbent upon us, it's a necessary for us to be sure that we are disappointed either because we have lost the truth of the one who is the same yesterday and today and forever.
1St and asked us to look at this chapter about Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today and forever.
If God.
Was not 100% everything, whether that's love, judgment, or whatever you wanna look at. He would not be God.
Jesus Christ if he was not 100%.
Perfect. He would not be Jesus Christ neither.
He changed in any percent, in any way, shape or form.
So when it says that God repented.
God still hated sin, and he never changed in his hatred against sin.
He changes with the way that he deals with mankind about it and we've seen different dispensations where he's dealt with it differently.
He still has 100% hatred for sin and he will judge it in a coming day. Any of those that are unsaved in our midst, there's coming a day the door is gonna be shut and they're gonna be cast in the eternal lake of fire, unchanging. 100% the same yesterday, today and forever. Whether it's love or whatever topic you wanna talk about, He is perfect. When we spoke this morning about the virgin, the chased virgin, the bride of Christ, looking at verse 12. Therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people, settle them apart.
With His own blood can never forget the power of the cleansing blood of the Lamb suffered without or outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without or outside the camp, bearing His reproach. Jesus is outside the camp, and we have to go to Him. What we didn't discuss this morning a little bit about the chase. Virgin that she is called out from the world called out. Rebecca is a beautiful type.
Of the Virgin, and in Genesis 24 and 16 it speaks of that.
And we are called out from this world. We have to leave the systems of this world, don't we? And we go on Sunday morning to remember him.
And were called out outside the camp and that, that is beautiful to see that there is one that's wanting us to come outside there and remember him.
Stop.
I want to give a little application of Jesus Christ the same yesterday and forever.
Before this world ever was.
God the Father, I'm going to be personal about it because it touches my heart and the personal sense. You can be personal as you listen with yourself.
Before this world was ever created.
God the Father.
Gave me.
To God the sun.
And his desire?
Is that I be with himself?
And every single thing that was necessary to fulfill His desire, as He has in John 17. Father I will, but they also whom Thou hast given me, be with me.
00:55:09
From that uncreated day, before this world ever began, his heart was set upon his desire that I, whom he loved as a gift from his father, be with him.
And everything in his unchanging character of yesterday that was necessary to make that desire come true, he undertook.
Including including becoming a man.
Because that was a tremendous step on his part of putting aside his Godhead glories from to reveal himself to a creature and to come where that purpose of his could be realized, that I might be with himself.
Set it uh, different ones in this room multiple times, but.
He never talks about really heaven.
It's his desire he talks about heaven, but with respect to us is his personal individual desire that we might be with him.
And its scripture presents it always that way that I will come again that where I am.
There you may be.
So shall we ever be with the Lord, to depart, to be with Christ, which is far better? The thought is always being with Himself, because that's what His desire is. It doesn't matter where it is, it's that we're with Him. And consequently, for now, when we're here, He puts it the opposite way. As long as you're on earth, I will be with you.
And that's what we have in multiple places. And in this chapter it says what do I fear?
He says I will be with you and consequently, as long as we're here because He does anything to keep him from the fulfillment of His own heart's desire. He said, well, I'll be with you there. And when the Father's time comes and when the moment comes, then you will be with me where I am, and we will be together forever. And He will never change. Nothing that has ever happened from past eternity to future eternity.
Will ever change that that is a constant of his own being with respect to me, the individual and to us as the body of Christ or part of the body of Christ. So he says I we can say from the Lord saying to us even individually, I will never change. I am the same yesterday, I'm the same with you today and I will be the same with you to ever forever.
And consequently, his work today and many of the circumstances of our lives is to use those circumstances to attach our hearts to himself.
And to detach them from everything else that wants to claim them.
With the altar here.
We have an altar.
That's the place of nearness to to God, to the Lord Jesus and he would bring us to that fellowship where no other no Old Testament St. could ever be brought into that place of nearness with God. They had types and figures of it in the Old Testament in their offerings. But when when the Lord Jesus offered the sacrifice of himself, then God, the grace of God goes out and can bring bring.
Lost centers into that fellowship. It's a wonderful thing then, to be strong, uh, in the grace or to have our heart, as it says here, established in grace. If what we've been talking about gets a hold of our souls, that is the heart, then we're established in that we will not be content with any other place of, uh, pleasure or entertainment or.
01:00:29
A worship.
Uh, because there's no comparison where God would bring us into fellowship with Himself.
There's a beautiful verse in uh, first Peter chapter 4.
First Peter, chapter 4, verse 19.
I want to break into the verse.
Commit the keeping of their souls unto Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Saves our soul. We heard that we were the bride of Christ this morning on a chaste virgin, and they were called out.
He is a faithful Creator.
He is unchanging and we have committed our soul to.
To an unchanging faithful Creator.
Forever, forever.
What a safer place can we put our soul?
You know when vows rang out in heaven, and the angels rejoice over one soul that is saved, and there are vows that rang out, the committal, the commitment.
That's what a wedding is about.
There is the other side of it. What has He committed unto us?
He's committed the gospel and we have a gospel meeting tonight.
And we all need to pray for that gospel meaning for the unsaved souls.
We've committed our soul to Him and He's committed His word, the gospel of the precious Lord Jesus Christ, and their blood that is shed on Calvary's tree.
For the remission of sins.
Phone number 46 in the Doctor's book. He devoured objects bright and fair to fill and satisfy the heart and my, hopefully in the air and Nevermore.
46 in the back of the book.
Have I an eye?
01:05:12
Nsnoise.
Gospel 4
Gospel—A. Coleman
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 open our gospel meeting tonight by singing hymn #11 #11 on our Gospel Hymn sheet. Will your anchor hold in the storms of life? When the clouds unfold their wings of strife, When the strong tides lift in the cable strain? Will your anchor drift or per remain? We have an anchor that keeps us all.
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll fast into the rock.
Which cannot move firm indeed in the Savior's love. Somebody starting to Him, please.
While.
I'm falling now. We're done demonstrating whatever it is and you're in the car. I.
Uh, on the rising day, you can never.
Hear.
On your own, devils of death.
We have nicely.
Nsnoise.
Turn first of all to Hebrews chapter 6.
Hebrews, chapter 6.
Verse 18.
That by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. I love that He cannot lie a wonderful God.
We must have strong consolation who have pled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor for the soul both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.
00:05:11
Made in the High Priest.
Forever After the Order of Melchizedek, Matthew Gospel, chapter 3.
N.
Matthew's Gospel chapter 3 and the latter part of verse 7.
Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
And then one other verse in, umm, uh, Luke's Gospel, chapter 23.
Luke's Gospel chapter 23 and verse 34 then said, Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Dear ones, tonight I have in my heart tonight to take up, uh, Deuteronomy 19, the Cities of Refuge.
And this is a tremendous gospel portion, tremendous. And I just, I've been, I've been sort of going over it for the last few weeks and just like to share some things in this chapter.
You know.
A chapter such as this and the story of the, umm, cities of refuge. I believe that when we look at it, uh, I like, I like to look at it this way, is that God had two things in mind when he recorded this and, and, and Deuteronomy 19. He had instructions for the children of Israel when they were going to come in to the promised land.
And so he he showed them that they were supposed to have these cities of refuge. But he also had something else in mind when he recorded this. And that very thing is happening tonight. He was looking ahead to when the gospel would go forth to whosoever will now wonderful. What a wonderful God. And you know.
Whe. When you look at the cities of refuge, I see this one thing.
That God is giving man every opportunity to be saved, every single opportunity to be saved. And so it is that tonight, here you are in this gospel meeting, He's giving you another opportunity to be saved. If you're not safe tonight, another opportunity. And we and we trust that you will.
As this person Matthew chapter 3 says.
Flee from the wrath to come, because there is coming wrath upon this world.
And I don't have to go into all the events that have happened in this last few months because we know that this world is in awful shape right now. And I believe this world is right for the judgment of God. But first of all, the Lord Jesus is coming and coming to take His own, to be with him. And what a wonderful, wonderful moment is just before us to hear the shout that is going to take us out of this scene and into His very presence forever.
I'm looking forward to that.
Over a moment just before us, he's coming. He's coming as as sure as the dawn. And we're going to see him. We're going to see that Blessed One who hung up on Calvary's cross for our sins. To think that that Blessed One who hung upon Calvary's cross 2000 years ago, we're going to see him soon.
That face was that that was once so marred, more than any man who hung upon Calvary's cross and who could cry out, My God, my God.
Why hast thou forsaken me? It was an account of his sins. It was an account of my sins that he was there.
Being the sin bearer for me, yes, he did that for me. Why did he do that for me? Because he loved me. And it's the same for you dear friend. Tonight he went to Calvary's cross in obedience to the Father because he loved you and and and and I trust that tonight you'll be able to say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so I like these these these portions of scripture here.
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If you, if we would just turn over, we'll just digress for a minute and you turn over the page and we'll find another one here. Similar that God had instructions to the children of Israel, but he also had something else in mind, the gospel going forth.
And so we come to 3-4 verses. It is in the 10th verse it says, when thou comest nigh into a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. Well, what is happening? The gospel today is going forth to whosoever will the proclamation of peace to this world.
By the blood of his cross, the proclamation of peace. Think of it when you come now into the city to fight against it and proclaim peace to it.
You know God is not going to bring judgment upon this world until the church is taken home.
And then there's going to be judgment.
I wonder, I wonder, is there one here tonight that are still in their sins?
And would you?
Dare to walk out of this room tonight still a lost Sinner. God has given you every opportunity to be to be saved, and He wants you to be saved.
And in that verse, verse 11, it says, Then it shall be if they make an answer of peace. Have you made that answer?
Have you made that answer? Have you come as a guilty, lost Sinner?
You know his arms are outstretched to you. He's saying to you, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. A wonderful God outstretched to this world. Think of that as loving heart of mercy lingering over this world.
Giving you every chance to be saved, if it may be an answer of peace. And open unto thee have you opened to the Lord Jesus. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will stop with him, and he with me. He's a wonderful God.
I'm not sorry I ever became a Christian, a child of God, and I've been a child of God for over 55 years.
And he's been a wonderful God. How wonderful savior to me. How wonderful, wonderful savior.
And we want you to know this wonderful person.
You look after you, He'll care for you, He'll love you, He'll keep you, He'll bless you. All the blessings that he showers upon me every day of my life, I thank you for it, Wonderful God. And I say this, that, and I've said it before in the gospel meeting, you know, if you haven't accepted Christ as your Savior, you're missing something very wonderful.
If you don't know Christ, there's a void in your life. There is a void in your life, and oh that that void can be filled by the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the void that can be filled.
And all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. Oh you know in that wonderful the minute I came to Christ, I was brought into a family, the family of God. And here I am today in Addison, IL.
And I'm with a family. Beautiful, isn't it? I'm with a family.
My, when I came here this morning, there was quite a few. I was trying to bewildered. I didn't know a lot of them, you know, but we're all brothers and sisters in Christ. If we belong to the Lord Jesus, we've been brought into a family. Beautiful, isn't it? Let's go to our chapter.
A Chapter 19. Deuteronomy 19.
When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose.
Land. The Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwelleth in their cities and in their houses.
Thou shalt separate three cities for the in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.
And now look at these, this next phrase. This is beautiful. Thou shall prepare thee away. I'll repeat it again. Thou shalt prepare thee away. And divide the coast of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit unto 3 parts, that every Slayer may flee thither.
00:15:12
And this is the case of the Slayer, which shall flee thither.
That he may live whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hateth not in times past.
I was when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hear wood and his axe. Fetcher spoke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the hell, and lighteth upon his neighbor that he died. He shall flee unto one of those cities and live, lest the avenger of the blood pursue the Slayer while his heart is hot.
And overtake him. Now the next phrase I've undertined it, because the way is long. And slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in times past. Wherefore I command thee, say thou shalt separate three cities for thee, And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath given unto thy fathers, and give thee all.
And which he promised to give unto thy fathers, Thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them.
Which I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways.
Then shalt thou add three more cities besides these three, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and sow blood be upon thee.
But if a man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he died, and pleth unto one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall stand and fetch him, fit and deliver men into the hand of the injure of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thy 9 shall not pity him, thou shalt put away.
The guilt of innocent blood from Israel.
That it may go well with thee. At the end of this gospel, I'm going to tell you about a man that went to the city of refuge.
Right here we find a man and his friend, and they've gone out into the wood to chop some wood.
I know what this is all about.
Because.
I used to have a mountain cabin in north shores of Vancouver and I used to go up there and cut wood for the winter and piled it up and I'll tell you what happened.
So this man and his friend, they're cutting down wood and he takes a big swing with his axe and he's coming down on this block of wood and.
The axe head comes off.
And it goes like this and it comes down and it hits his friend on the head.
And his friend?
Just keel silver.
And he dies right there.
And this man that had the axe head, he looked at his friend and he said.
This is terrible.
My friend, he died.
This is an awful calamity. This man, this man, my friend, is dead.
You know I was chopping wood.
And I did the same thing. I bought a brand new Axe O Sharp. It was great. The wood cutting was fine, but my thumb just went took that off. I know what it's all about. I was all alone, nobody in the mountain and blood was coming down. So I had to get going. But here's his friend Deb.
And he says, what am I gonna do?
What am I going to do? My friend is dead. And then he remembers Ah.
His friend. His other friend.
00:20:00
He might think that I killed that man.
He might think I did.
So what does he do? He does the only thing possible that he can do.
He flees to the city of Refuge.
And dear friends, tonight, if you're without Christ tonight.
We want you to please to the city of Refuge, and I want to tell you one thing right now, the city of Refuge is.
The city of Refuge is Christ. That's the only one.
That you can come to.
Acts 412. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven.
Given among men, whereby we must be saved.
And so this man goes to the city of Refuge.
His friend is hot on his tail.
We're gonna find out about that later.
But then it says here thou shalt prepare thee away. You know, this is the one, the wonderful part of this chapter. And I think that if I was there, and I can just imagine that that if I was there.
There's a signpost, and the signpost, what does it say? Refuge. It was clearly marked.
The way was the way was clear. I, I imagine it, well, I'm not going to say it was a blacktop Hwy. but you know, God wants it that way. He wants a real blacktop Hwy. whereby you can get to him.
He's so anxious for you to be saved that he has cleared the way and he showed near the way.
There it is, the Signpost says Refuge.
You're going down the highway.
And all of a sudden.
Auditor, you've we've all had it going down the freeway. Massive log jam. Detour. Yeah, detour. You know, I believe that sometimes God puts a detour into our lives. Why? Because sometimes we're going our own contrary way.
And that way is leading to hell.
Yeah, that's that's the way I was going when I was a young man. I was on that broad road to hell.
And God had to put roadblocks in my life.
So that I realized that I had to do with Him. I needed him as my savior. I found out that there was nothing in this world that can satisfy.
You know what says in Psalm? It says He satisfies the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul and fatness. Oh, what a wonderful thing it is to be a child of God.
Exciting.
To know the Lord Jesus my Savior, my sins are all gone.
Washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, are your sins all gone?
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
There's nothing left for you to do, dear one. Tonight just come. It's all been done. All been done. You see, man's religion is always do, do, do. But God's religion is done, done, done. Everything's done. It is finished.
It is consumed. Done.
What a savior. Nothing left for you to do but come. And He wants you to come, and He's longing for you to come.
Year 1 tonight.
Thomas shall prepare the way.
And divide the coast of thy land.
And here is this man, he's fleeing to the city of refuge.
And then in verse six it says, lest the avenger of blood pursue the Slayer while his heart is hot and overtaken, because the way is long. Did you know, dear one, tonight, that there is a person, a real person?
00:25:03
Who is saying to you that appears not saved tonight is saying there's lots of time ways long don't worry about it.
Wait till next week, wait till tomorrow. There'll be another gospel meeting tomorrow. You can try it then.
No, no, friend, God says be old. Now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Remember now thy Creator.
In the days of thy youth, dear young boys and girls, sit beside your mother and father tonight.
Do you know Christ as your Savior as a commonest? As a Sinner?
He wants to save you. He could say to the children, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not for such as the Kingdom of heaven.
You have to come as a little child, like him as a little child.
This man receiveth sinners in Edith. What a savior.
He'll receive you him that cometh to me. I will in no wise.
Cast out is never turned aside. One who had come in faith to him, but a Savior.
Because the way is long and and and slay him because he was not worthy of death in as much as he hated him. Not in time past.
But you know you're one tonight at the cross, it says in Psalm 69. They that hated me are more than the hairs of my head to think.
That our blessed Lord Jesus, God's beloved Son, hung upon Calvary's cross, there on that cross, all for suck him, and fled. He was alone and he could cry out, my God.
My God, why hast thou forsaken me there? Dark hours and Calvary's cross, when He was made sin for us all to think of it. Think of the love that held Him there on that cross for you and for me. He did it all for me.
What a savior. Do you know this wonderful, wonderful savior? He's my savior. I trust he's yours if he's not.
You can come tonight.
Because the way is long.
Because the way is long.
I wonder how many more days we're going to have in this earth.
How many more?
How many more?
What a mess this world is. What a mess. What a mess.
Right for the judgment of God.
And so we say to you tonight, flee to the city of refuge, which is Christ.
The only way.
The way is clearly marked he could come.
You know, man was guilty of murder.
They murdered God's beloved Son.
They murdered him.
They put him up on the cross in hatred to God.
We will not have this man to reign over us.
And there are many that tonight.
Hate the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That name which is above every name, sweet His name. That name transcending every name on earth in heaven. What is the name of Jesus mean to you?
Does it mean savior to you? It is to me.
They put him up on the cross.
They murdered God's beloved Son.
But you know, I read that verse in Luke 23.
And it said this Father forgive him, for they know not what they do.
Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
00:30:04
The Manslayer.
Was changed.
To manslaughter.
What does a man do then? Please to the city of Refuge.
To be saved.
Have you flown? Have you gone there yet?
In the end of this chapter we have some very solemn verses and I'm going to read them.
But if any man hate his neighbor, verse 11 and lie and wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he died, and flee unto one of these cities, then the elders of that city shall send infection fence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
Thine eye shall not pity him. Thou shalt put away.
The guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee. You know, dear one, tonight you go out of this room a lost, guilty Sinner.
Without being saved, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.
And there will be no pity at all for you.
In a lost eternity, no pity at all, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
And you'll have the thought.
Of being in a gospel meeting such as this.
And hearing the gospel and having the opportunity.
Of accepting Christ as your Savior and go out of that room.
Still a lost Sinner and go into a lost eternity.
But a solemn thing.
They shall look upon me whom they pierced.
God wants to give you every opportunity to be saved.
Every opportunity if Torrey don't mind.
I was invited to North Carolina.
In May and I had an interesting situation. Bert says well you can stay at our place. But he says I got a friend of mine down the street. He says I want to want you to stay with him.
And so I I stayed with Ted. Is it Ted?
I slept there overnight and I had my meals at at Brother Bert's house and my we had a nice time. But I found this man to be 86 years old and, uh, friendly, very kind.
His wife at Poway. He was living in a lovely home.
And the accommodation was very nice in the bedroom. I slept there.
And he was a Jew.
He was a Jew.
And what I found out is that God had given this man.
Numerous opportunities to hear the gospel. Every opportunity to hear the gospel.
His, I think, was his brother-in-law or something like that. A relative of his had given them the gospel. Bird had given them the gospel. A friend of his had given them the gospel.
And then the Lord sends this poor fellow along. And So what was I to do? And I, you know, I asked the Lord and Lord to help me. I need to get give this man something and being easy. Was that you? I thought, well, there's only one scripture. And so I, I started reading Isaiah 53.
And then I said to Dad, I said, Ted, who is he talking about?
Who is he talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ. He didn't know. He didn't realize.
Oh, think of it.
I say it again, as it was with Ted, he had given every opportunity to be saved.
00:35:00
And I say again, you'll have nobody to blame but yourself.
If you go out of this world a lost soul.
And you know what the portion will be for you.
If you leave this world without Christ.
Turn with me to Revelation. We'll go back to this chapter again.
Revelation chapter 20.
And this will be your portion, and I believe in faithfulness of the Lord.
I need to bring this out tonight because.
Of judgment that God doesn't want to bring in the judgment, and here it is.
Verse 11 and I saw a great white throne.
And him that sat on it, who's that going to be? The Lord Jesus?
From whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
Think of it standing in place before the Lord Jesus Christ.
How many that have said, when I see, am I going to tell him no, you're not, You're going to be speechless?
To think of that Blessed One in all his glory.
And you'll laughed about the knee till the Lord Jesus Christ, He says, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
If you haven't bowed your knee to him, you will bow in the coming day at this great white throne of judgment.
And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. That will be your portion.
That's the dark side of the gospel, but in faithfulness we feel we need to do it.
There was a man.
By the name of Abner.
And ever killed a man?
You'll find it recorded in uh uh, Second Samuel chapter 3.
He had killed Joab's brother, uh, brother Hashiel.
And Abner was.
Going somewhere?
Abner was going to Hebron.
Hebron was a city of refuge.
You know this is a very solemn portion if we were to read it.
Yeah, let's read it.
Second Samuel, chapter 3.
Now to realize now he has already killed a man.
I heard it explained this way the other day. It was interesting. They were walking along. Asia was behind him.
And Abner was in front, had his sword done like this.
And as Yale kept following them.
And Abner didn't like it. And so you know what he did?
Witherspoon.
And hit him. Get on.
Under the fifth rib.
Dead instant.
And Job was hot on his tail.
And he was going to Hebron.
And you know the enemy of your soul tonight is hot on your tail, and he doesn't want you to accept Christ tonight.
He said I want you to just wait another day, another hour.
Another moment.
No, dear friend, God's time is down.
Procrastination. Put it off.
I know all about it.
I grew up in a Christian home.
I put it off and put it off and put it off.
Until I was a young man.
The time to come to Christ is when you're young.
00:40:04
An Abner was going to.
Verse 27 And when Abner was turned to Hebrew, and Joab took him aside in the gate to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he died, the blood of Ashiel his brother.
He was raised at the gate of Hebrew.
Do you have a bloody man? He was.
Later on, he was slain for his crimes, Abner being one of them.
And Joab was.
Coming up behind him.
And Abner comes to the gate.
And Joab says, just a minute, Abner, I want to talk to you.
Oh, just a minute.
And you know, that is the very thing that the God of this world, Satan, has sent to you tonight. If you're without Christ, he's saying just a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
What happened?
Abner probably took a hold of the doorknob or wherever the gate of that city.
And died right there.
He died right there.
Oh, you know dear one, tonight this brings tears to my eyes because he had an opportunity to get into the city of Refuge.
And he died right there in the gate. All he had to do was open the gate and walk in, and he was saved. Joab couldn't have touched him.
And you know a friend tonight.
All you have to do is to escape to the city of Refuge tonight, which is Christ. That's it.
Come to Christ tonight, the city of Refuge, and you be safe.
You know what the epitaph for for Abner was?
Dyed Abner as a fool.
Died. Abner is a fool. Died.
You'll have nobody to blame but yourself if you go out of this room tonight and into a lost eternity. I say, dear friend, you're a fool.
You're a fool.
Because God has given you every opportunity to be saved.
Are you sheltered under the precious blood of the Lord's Christ?
He says your hands were not tied a better. I better read that carefully now. Yeah. Verse 34 Thy hands were not bound, neither thy put a feet put in fetters. As a man falleth before wicked man, so fellest thou.
And all the people wept again over him.
What a solemn thing.
Have you ever been to a funeral where the man that, that, that was, that was uh, uh, that died?
Was not saved.
Solemn funeral.
Weeping.
My father-in-law was not saved.
My mother-in-law was a very godly woman. Thank God for her wonderful, wonderful mother-in-law. The best mother-in-law I could have had.
But he wasn't saved.
They died a month apart.
One general absolute rejoicing My mother's, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law weeping.
We never knew where he went.
But a solemn thing to go out of this world.
Without Christ.
No one to blame but yourself, he says. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet were in fetters.
00:45:01
So that I never forced you to come.
But you know the Lord Jesus is pleading for you to come.
Yes, He is. He's pleading for you to come tonight. That's our loving Savior.
And so I asked this one thing tonight. Here it is. It's 7:50 and this meeting is just about over.
Have you fled from the wrath to come? Have you fled to the Lord Jesus Christ tonight? He's a wonderful Savior.
Anomaly Home, Saviour.
And he's going to take us home.
Pretty soon, maybe tonight. That's my constant prayer, you know, It's so precious since the home going of my wife.
It's more precious than it ever has been.
These cities of refuge mean something. I'd like to share them with you.
Quresh.
The Lord Jesus is wholly harmless and defiled. Teddish means holy Hebrews 726 Hebrew fellowship. We were brought into a fellowship. Our fellowship was with the Son.
In first John chapter one, Beazer Fortress.
He is my high tower, my fortress. Psalm 18 Two Raymond, Hi. He's given the highest place in glory.
Golan joy. We joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Checking shoulders Luke chapter 15. He brings us on his shoulders. Rejoice. Oh, I love this. I love this one. Shechem. I want to just share this little thought with you.
The, uh, the mountain cabin that I was telling you about earlier, we, uh, uh, each of us, there was about 100 and some odd California, uh, cabins up there. And when the kids were small, we used to go up there and, uh, but I would have to carry the kids on my shoulders and, uh, pack sack and everything else. And so we named our cabin checking.
Shoulders.
Because when I got to the very door of my cabin, I could take off my pack sack and my son and everything else and, and I just.
He brings us home on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Oh, friends, tonight, do you know this wonderful God, this wonderful Savior? I say tonight, have you come to the city of Refuge, which is Christ? Let's sing. Umm, I think it's uh yeah #20 Behold, the Savior at the door. He gently knocks, has knocked before, has waited long.
Is waiting still.
You use no other friend, so I'll hymn #20.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Shall we pray?
Being Sure
We Are All the Same - Sinners
Children—J. Bilisoly
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're going to have a little illustration this morning, and I think it would be helpful if you could come up where you can see it. OK. I don't want you to miss out. So why we're getting ready to sing here? If any of you children would like to come up, feel free to come on up. There's some other seats back here too, so.
And while they're coming up, umm, why don't we go ahead and, and sing a song while we're waiting, OK, Do one of you boys or girls have a song? There's some that are real nice ones, some of our favorites on the back, but you can choose another one too if you'd like. All right. Brandon #40 was given out. That's a very nice one back. Jesus.
Love Jesus.
I know for you.
Nsnoise.
Yeah, it's 8016.
454734.
Uh, yes.
Yes, yes.
I married with Daniel from his shining all my life. He will watch me where I live. Yes, Jesus must be.
Asking I want me.
Yeah, he's always been.
Yeah.
Yeah, I must be.
Happy.
To go.
OK, let's have another one.
All right.
4646.
00:05:12
OK, I think we have time for a couple more songs. So good.
#4141 was given out.
Around the throne of God.
Bring them to the world of thy hands of brightness.
Will always be enjoying one of the children's and singing parties.
Everything.
Is very good.
Because the Baker champion wants to watch all the ways I do. No one can have no precious life. Behold in my hand clean things.
Oh Lord, everything glory.
Glory.
OK, is there another girl that has one? OK.
43 Thank you.
One door and only one.
Hence I get a house. I'm glad I hurt you. I don't know the door. And the only one that has a time for you. I don't want you. I'm a man. I love you.
OK, children, why? We're going to sing another one, one more. And while we're doing that, again, I would ask if there's any of you that would like to come up. We have some more seats here on this side. We have some over here. We can bring a few more up if we need them. We're going to have a little illustration and I'd like you to be able to see it, and you might not be able to see it very well if you're too far back. So feel free to come up. I know it's sometimes a little scary, but maybe you could sit by the rules there and I'm sure they wouldn't mind.
You'd be back a little bit further, so let's have one more, OK. All right. OK.
44 OK, Thank you.
44.
9:50.
Which Harry's happy.
And they are. You know why I don't have so many people?
And unto me, like a thigh in front of joy.
00:10:06
Thy not better in my heart will be more.
Nobody, ever. The story has told.
Him ever again.
Now and again.
Salvation. Sorry.
Dell laptop.
No idea.
And I am sure that he sent him for me.
OK, I think we're going to stop for right now, children with the singing and maybe we'll see. There's one song I would like in particular to sing at the end of our little talk this morning. But now I'm going to ask if there's in the sake of time, since time keeps going on. I'm going to ask if maybe we could, if there's any two boys and two girls that would like to.
Say a memory verse for us and share that with us if you'd like to just I see a couple of girls here. So we'll have the girls do it and then maybe we can hear from some boys. All right.
Maybe if you stand up and just talk into that little button there that.
I'm 91 one to two only with financials. I'll be holding to the war of the wicked because those may the Lord, which is my God. Even the wolf ties by habitation from 9192. Thank you very much. OK.
Some 91 one and two.
Hi Amy, how are the Tabernacles? The Lord of my soul longest ye even fainted. For the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cries out for the living God. Some 84 one and two. Thank you very much. Very good. I took some work. I know. How about a couple of boys on this side?
Gonna share with us something boys.
I know it's kind of hard.
At a big conference.
Any volunteers to share a verse with us?
If you know John 316.
OK. Would you share that with us?
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. John 316. Thank you. OK, how about one more boy?
There a boy here that has committed a verse to memory that they'd like to share.
One of you boys have what?
How about one of your boys down here?
Paul, do you have a verse you want to share with us?
You can pick whatever you like.
There's lots of them, isn't there? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart, but God has raised upon the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10 and nine. Very good, thank you very much. OK now is there anyone here that was hoping I would ask them that Really wanted to share a verse but I don't want anyone to feel like they got left out.
So just raise your hand if there's anyone else that would like to share one.
OK. Anybody OK.
Well, you know, children, I like I said, I have a little illustration I would like to share with us. And the purpose of this illustration is to impress upon us something that I want us to get ahold of. But before we do that, let's turn, if you have a Bible, to Romans chapter 3 because I want to establish something right away about us.
00:15:12
Romans chapter 3 You know, Romans chapter 3 has some very faithful things to say to us, each of us.
Whether we're a boy or a girl or an older person in this room, it tells us what we are by nature. And so it says, and the man that's writing this, the Apostle Paul, he's quoting from the Psalms. And so he says in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are all they are together, become unprofitable, unprofit.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And then in verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You know children, there is something that puts everyone of us in the same position in this room, regardless of our age, regardless of our what we do in this world.
We are all the same. We, we come into this world and you know, we, we have a nature. We come into this world with a nature.
That is a sinful nature. That's what the word of God tells us.
Adam and Eve fell and the sinned in the Garden of Eden. The human race was plunged into this problem, this great problem. And so when you're born into this world, we have a sinful nature. But you know, it isn't very long after we're born into this world that we practice that we practice sinning. And what I mean by that is, you know, we talk about being sinners by nature. That's how we're born, but we're also sinners by practice.
And how long does it take before we see, even in a little tiny baby that we're holding in our arms?
We see evidences of that sinful nature. They stiffen their.
Backs. They clinched their little fists. Have you seen them do that? And it isn't very long before.
They manifest that old nature in other ways too, and pretty soon they learn to talk, and it isn't very long before they learn to say the word no.
Is that right?
You ever heard a little child saying no and just the way they're saying it? You see an evidence, don't you, that they have that old nature, that sinful nature that we received from Adam when Adam fell and sinned. And so it says here that all have sinned. Well, I'm going to put my Bible down and I have written a number of scriptures on some paper because it's a little easier for me to.
Have them in front of Maine and be able to share them with you. But what I want to do this morning.
Is I want to demonstrate this problem, this principle that.
Has infected all of us, the whole human race, and that is that we are born into this world as a Sinner.
And as a Sinner, we have no strength in ourselves. And that's what I hope to illustrate. Now, I want to do this. I, I trust in a very careful way, but I would like to. What I want to do this morning is I want to have a little tug of war. Okay, now maybe you've heard of the game, the tug of war. We often associate that with the Sunday school picnic. But I want to do it a little different this morning because I don't want it to get.
Rambunctious.
And out of hand. I just want it to be controlled. So we're going to be more careful. But, you know, I have fond memories of the game tug of war at Sunday school picnics. And I can remember being a little boy and there was a big long rope stretched out where we used to have the Sunday school picnic. And all the kids would run and they'd get on either side of this rope. And even the dads would come in too. You know, it was always nice to have the dads and some of the big dads.
Get in the back of the rope, you know, and they dig in their heels. And then the tug of war would begin. And it looked like maybe one side was gonna win and then another side was gonna win. And on it would go. A tug of war. Well, you know, boys and girls.
There is a conflict that goes on in every human heart. When man is born into this world as a Sinner, that conflict begins immediately. There's a warfare, there's a conflict in his heart. And that conflict is there's a conflict between doing that which is wrong and that which is right. You know, it's, it's a terrible conflict. It's a struggle that goes on and on and on and.
00:20:02
And I hope we can illustrate that a little bit.
This morning and I'm going to ask these boys here to help me with that, OK, But I'll, I'll have you come up in a minute and when we get going. So I'm going to go ahead and get some things out here.
Now I've got a rope here that I was able to pick up.
At Walmart so.
I'm going to stretch this out.
And uh, let's see. Well, doesn't really matter, but.
I'm gonna stretch it out here and you notice I have two pieces of tape here on the floor. Actually, there was one there. I'm gonna use that one and I'm gonna put this.
Hanky right in the middle here. And when we have this little struggle, we're not gonna have to go very far because I don't want kids to fall over and things like that. OK? So we'll be real careful. I'm gonna stretch this out a little bit. Maybe I'll move this.
OK, we're gonna just leave that stretched out right now.
Just a few little precautions there, OK now.
I'm going to ask Brandon. I was wondering if you would mind helping me quite a bit this morning. Is that OK?
All right, so if you want to come up and just stand right right here and.
Good. OK. Uh, uh, actually if you could stand on this side, just stand, Yeah, like this.
There you go. Thanks. Now, one thing I'd like to say is these these I've made some signs and I'm going to put them on you boys. And and I I just want you to know that I most of you, I don't know. So don't be offended by what your sign says because any one of us, any one of us could be standing up here, OK? So like, for example, one of these sciences dishonesty. I don't want you to think I'm picking on you, OK, Because any one of us.
Fit in that category we could stand up there and have that sign put on us OK so right now we're not going to put anything on Brandon but Brandon is going to represent what we just talked about he's going to represent man by nature and man as we said is born a Sinner he has a sinful nature and he practices sin and like we read in in Romans 3 all have sinned and come short of the glory of God now we talked about this conflict the struggle that's going on as soon as a little child is born into.
World that conflict, that struggle, that warfare, begins with evil and good. OK, so now.
We're going to have some forces that are working against Brandon, forces that are pulling and working against him. Like every man we said has these forces working against them. So we're going to have, let's see, maybe you want to come up and stand on the other side and just face Brandon right there.
See Did anyone see my tape?
There it is.
Alright.
OK, we're gonna just try and do this fairly quickly.
And we'll just.
Tape that on your back there.
Like that, OK.
There we go. Now I did it on the back because people can see, but what it says is dishonesty. Now, is there anyone here that would admit that they've never told something that wasn't true? They've never told a lie. You know how? Let's just let's just give a little scenario here. Let's say that you hit your sister, OK, You're mad and you hit your sister and your mommy comes to you and she says.
Did you hit your sister and you say?
Have have we been guilty of that, boys and girls? Have we said things that weren't true? You know, dishonesty is a real problem and it's a real force. It's a real force in the human heart. You know, it says the heart is deceitful. Jeremiah says that above all things and desperately wicked deceitful. That's what we're talking about. Deceit. Deceit is like telling a lie. The seed is trying to.
00:25:12
Distort the truth, cover up the truth, not really tell the truth. Deceitful. Our heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. Now listen to this. These are serious things. Listen to this, children, I want you to listen to this, these six things that the Lord hate.
Yeah, seven are an abomination unto him.
Abomination is a strong word. We won't go into all of these words, but let's just say these six things does the Lord hate. And here they are. The A7 are an abomination unto Him. A proud look, a lying tongue. OK, that's what we're talking about.
Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that deviseth the wicked imaginations.
Feet that be swift and running to mischief of false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren. So it's Proverbs is telling us King Solomon is telling us those are things that God hates deceitfulness. OK, there's another force.
That's working against.
Man and I picked some of these. There's many things we couldn't cover the mall. We would have a huge, big long line here. We'd run out of boys.
But here's another one that plagues us and it's called, I'm going to call it jealousy.
Or in Scripture, it's often called envy. OK, we're going to talk about that. OK.
I'm just going to grab someone. Do you mind helping us? OK.
You can stand right behind him here and we're going to stick this on you and.
For anyone that can't see it says jealousy.
Now this is a very solemn verse too, and it's again found in Proverbs, Proverbs 14 and verse 30. Those other verses were in Proverbs 6. But Proverbs 14A sound heart is the life of the flesh that envy the rottenness of the bones. Oh, that's a solemn verse. I'm going to have to hurry here. We're running out of time. OK, so envy. Now there's one more.
See. Can I grab you? Maybe you want to come up here.
I'm.
OK, this one is bitterness.
You ever had a bitter thought?
That I don't like that person. I don't like him, I don't like her. I'm not going to let them play with my toys.
OK, let's see. I'm going to have Paul. Do you want to help us? OK, stand up over here. Now. This is one that says the world, the world. And when we talk about the world.
We're talking about not just this planet we live on.
But that which?
Who's the IT says Satan. Satan is referred to as the God of this world. But here's a verse I want to give you for bitterness. The heart knoweth his own bitterness. That's in Proverbs 14 and then in Acts.
8.
Did I, Uh.
Today, maybe bump it off. Here we go. OK, in Acts 8.
It talks about.
A man named Simon the sorcerer. And Peter says to him that he was in the gall. He said, I perceive the thou art in the gall of bitterness. Bitterness is an an awful thing. OK, let's one more thing we're going to put up there and let's see here. You want to help us over here OK. And this is called the flesh and.
I wish we had more time to develop these things, but we don't.
But anyway, the flesh is that, that we're born with, that we have that, that old nature we talked about that.
That sinful nature that we we inherited when we were born into this world, the flesh. And it's a terrible force that works against us. OK now.
Umm, one verse for the flesh.
For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And I forget got to give you a verse about the world. A very good one is in first John chapter 12. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. OK, what a force this is. Now if you boys would just pick up that rope.
00:30:24
There. And Brandon, go ahead. OK, Now does this look fair to you?
It doesn't look fair to me either. And I feel I really do. I feel sorry for Brandon. But you know what, boys and girls, this is the the force. This is the let let me ask you this May maybe we'll just hang on to it. Let's not wrap it because I don't want anyone to get hurt. So let's just grab it. Just take a good grip on it. And all we're going to do is pull to one line or the other. And I'm going to ask when I ask you to pull, you pull it and let's see if Brandon.
He represents man by nature. Let's see if he can withstand.
All of these forces. Now I want you all to pull OK? So get ready. OK, go ahead.
All right.
OK, now you know Brandon, did you really try hard? Could you really let's let's do this again.
Certainly you can pull these boys over, can you? All right, let's try it again. OK, go ahead and pull.
OK, you know what? I think we could. You boys just stay there, OK? I think we could do this all day long.
And the only thing that would happen is poor Brandon would get more and more tired. That's what would happen. But he made a good effort, but it wasn't enough. And that's the point. You can try as hard as you want by nature or in the flesh, and you're not going to be able to overcome these forces. They're too great. But you know, children, there's wonderful news that we have for you. There's good news this morning.
And this good news comes from the book of Romans. And this is what it says. Now listen to these words.
This is good news for when we were yet without strength. In due time, Christ.
Died for the ungodly when we were yet without strength. That's where Brandon is. He tried hard, but he can't overcome these forces when we are yet without strength. In due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
And then it goes on to say, But God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Wonderful news, much more than being now justified by His blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Oh, boys and girls, what a wonderful provision God has made. So now we're going to put on Brandon, we're going to put a title here and it says Christian.
So put it right there, Christian. And you know now, now that there's a remedy, now that there's been hope, there's hope for Christian. But he's going to need help, doesn't he? He needs help. So we need something to counter these other things. So I'm going to ask you three boys.
Can you come up here? Let's see, maybe you 2 and you want to help us? Do you want to come up here?
We need some things to counter these other things. What do we need to counter dishonesty. Well, we need honesty, so let's put honesty here.
OK, now you want to stand behind Brandon? OK, oops.
You want to turn around and we'll just stick it right there, OK?
OK. Oh, yeah. Thank you.
OK, I'll take the next one too. All right. And then while he's doing that around, he's taping that up for me. Honesty.
Romans 12 verse 17 Repentance recompense to no man, evil for evil provide things honest in the sight of all men. Now as a Christian, we have a power that can counter that power of dishonesty. We can.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men. OK, the next one contented.
Let's see.
Put you here.
Uh, let's do it like this.
Hey, remember we talked about envy and we had this yesterday and I thought it was so good. And I'm going to read that same verse in Hebrews 13 that we had. Let your conversation or that just means your manner of life, be without covetousness or the love of money and be satisfied. I thought this was good, that this was brought out to us and be satisfied with such things as you have or your present circumstances, OK.
00:35:17
That's the.
That's what we have.
To counter that force of envy. So we've got contented and one more.
Umm, forgiveness. You know this. This is you want to stand behind him, OK.
If you can turn around here and I'll.
All right.
I'm not doing too well with this. OK, there we go. All right. Now do you want to just stand right over here and watch? Help me watch. OK, All right, now let's go ahead and stretch this out again, fellas, and and let's put this in the middle. OK? All right, you ready to go?
OK, All right, that's good enough. That's what I thought would happen. And you know, boys and girls, this is my illest. This is what I want to get. The point I want to get across is that.
Even when we become saved, we still have this conflict and these things, this new life that we have. It can counter these other things, but there's still something that we need. There's still something that we need to counter this force. This force is tremendous, and we need some help, don't we? You know, there's something that is so needed in our lives, and it's so important.
And that's called prayer.
We need prayer. That is such a powerful thing. You know, we could read a lot about prayer and we don't have time, but it says this is a good verse in Philippians 4. Be careful for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Boys and girls, you have the resource of prayer. Are you doing it? Are you doing it? OK, I've asked Clayton to help us with this one.
Because we need some help and prayer is such a a powerful resource for us. So we're.
We're so thankful that we have this provision.
All right. Sorry about this, Clayton, but we're going to have to do this.
OK, but you know, there's something else that's very important, children and everyone of you can pray. Did you pray this morning? I won't ask you to answer that out loud, but did I pray this morning? Did we each pray this morning? Why? Why? If we didn't, why didn't we? It's such a powerful force for us. And you know, this conflict, like I said, it goes on every day of our lives, whether we were.
A man in the flesh or whether we become a Christian or I should say an unsafe person and then a Christian.
We still have this force, these forces working against it. Well, there's something else that is a tremendous resource, and that is reading and obeying God's Word. What a wonderful provision He's given for us in this life. He's given us His Word. I've asked Him to help us.
These fellows are being good sports.
Umm, OK, now we have some some help. Do you feel better, Brandon? I would too. All right, now, I don't want you fellows to get hurt. Let's see, Reg, maybe you can go that direction or I just don't want you to. All right, let's see if we can help these fellows out here. OK, go ahead.
All right, OK, come back and stay there a minute. OK, All right, just stay where you're at that that's.
I was glad to see that.
That's a relief. And you know what, children, we can't underestimate the power of prayer. And even when you're little, do you think that your prayers are powerful? Your children think your prayers are powerful. Let me tell you, they are. Let me tell you, they are. So reading the word of God is that important? What we're going to show just how important that is, I hope in this little lesson. Let's come back to the middle here.
All right, now, now. OK, let now this is what we're going to illustrate here. Let's say that Christian feels, you know, he gets a little confident and he says, you know, I, I did OK. We just pulled him right over. You know, it wasn't that hard. So he starts to feeling confident and he says, you know.
00:40:14
I'm so busy, I, I don't have time to pray. I, I just don't have time to pray. So, so prayer drops off.
And he says, you know what? I I sit down to read and there's 10 things I need to do. I just don't have time to read. The reading drops off. All right, let's pull.
Oh, what happened? OK, that's good. All right, all right, that's good. Let's come back now. Stay there a minute. OK. So what happened, Brandon? What happened when those big boys dropped off? The struggle was.
Very, very hard. And you couldn't overcome it, could you? OK, can you guys hop back on one more time?
All right, so then, OK, just a minute. So, so then Brandon realizes the need of prayer and reading, and I hope we can get the point. All right, let's see. Let's get this in the middle. OK, go ahead.
Well, well, all right. Now, if you would help each other take your signs off, that would be good. And then you can sit down and we're going to finish up in the few minutes that we have left. We're going to give a little summary of what we've had.
OK, you can sit down. Just help each other. Take your signs off, OK. And Justice, let the rope drop down here. Just let it fall down. Thank you very much for helping us.
Very good.
OK. Yeah, just hang on to those or here I'll take them. So they're not a problem for you. It doesn't. It doesn't matter. Thanks.
OK children, I hope you can understand what we're trying to illustrate, that when we were born into this world, we're born as sinners and we have these forces working against us, but wonderful provision of God. He sent his Son, the Lord Jesus to die on the cross. And when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. So the Lord Jesus has come into this world and now we have a power outside of ourselves.
Now we have a power that doesn't depend on us, and that power, the Lord Jesus, can overcome all of these forces. And you know, we didn't speak a lot about it, but behind all of these forces is the God of this world, Satan. And he wants to pull us away. He wants to pull us away from the Lord Jesus. We might look at this side as doing bad, doing evil and trying to do good and that struggle, but Satan would.
Into that with the Lord, Jesus can give us the victory, and I want to end with a few verses.
And then we'll just sing a part of a song and then we'll be done. But I want to end with a couple of verses. And, you know, our brother Campbell began the meetings with some verses that touched my heart. And I just want to read a couple of those in Psalm 73. In Psalm 73, we had those verses that we began these meetings with yesterday. And you know, this is the the book of Psalms is divided into five books, but we won't go into all of that.
And most of it is about the remnant of Israel that is going to have all these struggles in a coming day.
And there are going to be enemies that come against them. Literally, this is going to happen. They're going to come against them and annihilate their land. They're going to come in and, and just devastate their land. I know those are big words, but it tells us in Psalm 73, we get a little bit of the feeling of their heart. And this is what I hope is our feeling. Verse 26, Psalm 23, my flesh and my heart, Faileth.
You know, I hope I'm going to apply it in this way. I hope that your children have gotten to the point where you say.
Like Paul said, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. I can't do this.
In my own strength, I hope you've come to the point where you say the flesh faileth, my flesh faileth, and my heart faileth. If you with your natural heart are going to try and overcome these things, you can't do it. You can't do it. But he goes on to say, but God is the strength, or really the Word is rock. God is the rock.
Of my heart and my portion forever. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it wonderful to have a strength outside of ourselves? And then we have that well known verse in Philippians chapter 4.
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This man, the apostle Paul, had to come to this point to, you know, this isn't something like I said, when we're saved, that struggle continues. We don't instantly become victorious, but it's a daily thing.
It's a daily struggle. That's why we need to pray. That's why we need to read the Word of God, children, for ourselves.
It's good to be at a conference and hear it, and that's wonderful, but we can't be at a conference all the time, and yet this battle goes on. So Paul says I can do all things through Christ, verse 13, which strengtheneth me.
And then he says to the Corinthians in First Corinthians 15.
And this is where we each have to come to where we realize that it's nothing in ourselves. The battle is too great, the enemy is too strong. But we can say in verse 57, thanks be to God, which giveth me the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Have we come to that? Can we say?
The victory is not mine. I can't do this in my own strength. The enemy is too strong, but God.
Can give us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful.
Provision. Well, let's just sing a little bit of that hymn. Read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow with your children. Like to stand? Just go ahead and stand and sing that. And if you want to do the hand motion, that's fine too. We'll just sing that one part of that, that little hymn. Read your Bible, pray every day, read your Bible.
For every day and pray and everything and pray and have a great day.
OK, let's.
Address 7
One For
Open—B. Imbeau
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.
His various little sayings around this school and there's.
One that I jotted down and I thought I might use it in a gospel meeting sometime, but the Lord seemed to keep impressing it on my mind.
That, uh.
I'm going to mention it now.
To go out this door and just kind of go to the left.
You'll look at a little poster that is promoting teamwork and it goes like this.
One cannot help many.
But many can help one.
You know, this is a school in the United States, as far as I know.
That might have been a little more appropriate in Communist China or Communist Russia, but here it is near Chicago.
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One cannot help many, but many can help one. Very collectivist, very socialist.
And especially for a school.
What do they teach you in these schools?
Have we never learned of Louis Pasteur?
Have we never learned of Luther Burbank?
Have you never learned of George Washington Carver?
Where one has helped millions and perhaps billions of people.
Anna School has no one ever heard of a teacher?
One teacher.
In a class of 28 kids.
One helping many and yet you turn this corner out here and it's flatly says one cannot help many.
Go ahead and check it out after this meeting and be shocked for yourself.
Has none around here heard of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Let's open our Bibles.
First Timothy.
First Timothy, chapter 2.
And verse 5.
For there is one God.
And one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself.
A ransom for all?
To be testified in due season or due time.
One there's one God and one mediator.
And he gave himself a ransom.
You know, it's nice to turn our eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's nice to consider that there is indeed one.
Who can help men?
And this is not a gospel time, but there's always time for the gospel.
And if there is anyone in this room perchance that you would not consider the claims of that one person on your life and on your heart that you would consider that person as we talked for just a few minutes about that one.
That he has a claim on you.
For your good.
An eternal blessing.
I jotted down a few verses at lunchtime and the lunch table and.
It would be nice to look at a few of those.
Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter one.
We're very familiar with this and so we'll just go right to verse three speaks about the Son of God who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself.
Purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
By himself.
Not one person made purgation for sins, and now he is seated.
At the right hand of the majesty on high, the one who is to attract all of our attention.
The one, the one.
Who brought blessing into this world through the sacrifice?
Of himself.
And later on in Hebrews, I'm sure there's lots of verses that probably people already thinking of.
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But in Hebrews chapter 10.
And verse 12, Hebrews 10. Verse 12. But this man.
This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool for by one offering.
He has perfected forever them.
That are sanctified and that's the position that we have. Do we consider ourselves as being blessed people? We should, no matter what our state of soul it might be. We are certainly blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're seen as in Christ. We're seated in Christ in heavenly places. It's this one, this man.
And he's given one offering.
For sin, so that he could perfect us forever. Them that are sanctified.
Set aside for blessing.
You have a heart to do something for him. It's motivated by him. He's the one who sets you apart. We've had a whole meeting about being called.
And he's the one who has called us.
Over in Romans, and I'll probably jump around here as I.
Try to remember some of these verses Romans.
Chapter 5.
Romans chapter 5 and verse 18.
Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, now that one is Adam.
The offensive of Adam judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so by the righteousness of one.
The Lord Jesus, the free gift, came upon all men unto justification of life.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one.
Shall many be made righteous?
Now go, someone has good calligraphy. Write that out and tape it onto that little motto over here. See what the principal does on Monday morning.
Uh, Wednesday, Monday morning, Tuesday morning this week.
By the obedience.
Of one shall men be made righteous? What an incredible thing that the work has been done. We don't need to make our own righteousness. We don't need to somehow prove ourselves in the presence of God whether we're lost or whether we're saved. We don't have to prove ourselves in the presence of God at all.
Through him, that one.
We've been made righteous.
Lay hold of it.
You say I don't feel very righteous, but you know, that's the position that you've been put into by that one.
Who's redeemed, loved you, then the sacrifice for you?
I mean, I've checked some notes here.
We won't read in Isaiah 53, of course, the well known verse. By his stripes you're healed.
By his stripes you are healed. You have a standing in the presence of God because.
Of what the Lord Jesus did in love for you.
At the time of the cross there are the two thieves or on each side and you should just turn to it. Luke 23.
23 and verse 39.
And one of the manufacturers which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ.
Save thyself and us.
I guess maybe he was hoping there was one who could help the many.
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God?
Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our sins. But this man.
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Has done nothing.
Amit, this man has done nothing amiss, and he said in him, Jesus.
Said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
This man has done nothing amiss.
He's the one that has stepped forward and does step forward to be a help to the many, to you, to all of us who will accept him by faith.
And can we live for him? Of course. Look at all that he's done. Look at the position that he's put us into, and he can do that.
You know, the little saying around the corner here is kind of a motivational thing for teamwork.
But that sign is really not going to be there, probably much longer.
Because it's going to be replaced with another sign that will read something like this.
One has come to help us.
And we must rally behind him.
That'll be the new sign out there. You won't be around to check it out, I can assure you, but.
It's an interesting thing, isn't it?
An interesting thing? Let's turn to John chapter 5.
John chapter 5 and verse 43.
I am come, this is Jesus speaking, I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not.
If another shall come in his own name.
Him ye will receive.
I guess for obvious reason, there's been few comments made in the last day and a half about the situation in the world.
We are priming ourselves.
For the ascendancy of a single person.
Who will solve our problems?
Now, that actually might There's two main characters. We're going to kind of refer to them both, but.
That's what the world is being primed for.
They're willing to say this now what you find around the corner in this day of grace when the gospel of Jesus Christ goes out.
But as soon as the new gospel goes out of a man who says I have it, they will change their tune.
And it'll be fast.
Someone who will come in his own name.
Christ, they've refused.
And the beast and the false prophet, they'll accept.
With open arms.
You know, in John chapter 10 a few chapters later.
Speaks about a hireling that's going to come.
And the real situation there is that he doesn't care for the sheep.
Doesn't really care for the sheep and when he finds himself in a real pickle he just runs off.
That's the type of person that this world is going to really want to begin with.
Now where is our heart?
We've had some ministry about the world around us and so forth, but very legitimate. Where's our hearts?
As our hearts there with the man who is seated there at the Father's right hand, and the glory.
One who's done everything for his people, for blessing and for good. The one who shows grace to us.
Has manifested in.
So many ways.
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Or are we really looking for an earthly solution?
Something.
Just something.
Well, our hope that our hearts are lifted up above this world and that we can see something better than what's going on down here. And we've set our affection on those things which are above, considering that there's a treasure in heaven and certainly Jesus Christ, and it can never corrupt. It can never fall apart.
And all that's associated with him.
Is eternal.
There was a day in the past.
Where a man asked the question and it's later on in the book of John. Also John.
18 Verse 39 But ye have a custom that I shall release unto you one at the Passover, Will ye therefore?
That I release unto you the King of the Jews.
Then cried they all again saying, not this man.
Not this man.
But Barabbas.
Now Barabbas.
Was a robber.
Brabus.
Was a robber.
And in this world we choose even as Christians, even as Christians.
We choose to associate ourselves with that man that's in the glory.
Or we choose to be robbed by what is happening in this world.
Sometimes we call it spinning our wheels. You know, we got to accomplish something.
It doesn't pan out. We say, well, that I just spun my wheels on that.
But the Lord.
His interest in his people, his desire that we grow in grace and the knowledge.
Of that one, that's his interest for us.
Lord, what would thou have me to do?
He has an interest in what we do and he doesn't want us to have our time robbed by things that are around us.
In the Book of Revelation.
Maybe one last verse about this person that's come or or people that that are to come.
Revelation 13 and verse three and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed.
Now this is the verse that the part that I was really interested in, all the world wondered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?
You know, it's, it's a sad thing to think of our neighbors.
And those around us.
This is what they have to look forward to, those that are not safe.
And it's saying we can be thankful, we can put a smile on our faces as we think that this is not what we look forward to.
That we do not look forward to the.
Antichrist and people say.
Or the beast, the false prophet. Those are not things that really fill our minds as far as our expectations.
Our expectations is to see the Lord Jesus Christ face to face.
One who will come.
To take us home.
The one for whom we should be looking for and anticipating not just this afternoon, but also.
Tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday afternoon.
The one that we should be considering.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Consider him.
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There's our brother here. As frequently Say has said, reduce your thoughts.
To him.
The world has their mottos.
The world has their principles.
And if we're even halfway alert, we realize that those mottos and those principles change very, very quickly. If you want some examples, talk to me afterward.
But just a little observing that it's an unstable world, not only in finances, not only in job security, but it's unstable in the way people think.
In the way that people think is unstable.
Their thoughts shift this way and that way, like they're being whipped with the wind. And they are, by satanic forces, no doubt.
But our thoughts are to be reduced to him.
To that One who is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for whom we wait.
Master of the Heart
Open—L. Smith
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.
Turn with me, please, to John's Gospel.
End.
The 19th chapter.
As our brother Bruce was speaking, I was thinking.
Of these.
Thinking patterns and so forth that he mentioned and.
The blessedness of having divine revelation.
From the word of the living God.
In chapter 19.
Verse 30.
We find ourselves at the end.
Of the Lords.
Crucifixion.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar.
He said.
It is finished.
And he bowed his head.
And gave up the ghost.
Another verse, he tells us.
The foxes have holes.
The birds of the air have nests that the son of man have not were to lay his head.
This isn't.
An earthly rest of sleep.
He bows his blessed head.
On his own breast.
And as a conversation on the Mount of Transfiguration.
His his decease.
Which he should accomplish.
At Jerusalem.
All of divine revelation.
Comes to a focal point.
At Calvary.
That is unequal in all of history.
Let's go to Chapter 20.
Well, perhaps chapter 19 and verse 38.
We find Joseph.
Ine.
End.
Says after this Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.
Besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him leave.
He came, therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and Alice, about 100 LB weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and bounded in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Knowing the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
There laid they Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews, preparation day for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
We read in Isaiah 53 he was with the rich in his death.
So many wonderful prophecies.
That could not have been planned to be fulfilled.
By this blessed man.
No mere man could cause this to happen.
God's whole purpose is being accomplished.
00:05:01
But I was on my there was on my heart particularly.
The next chapter, the first day of the week, cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre. And see if the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Then she runeth and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them.
They have taken away the Lord out of a sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
Peter therefore went forth and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
So they ran both together, and the other disciples did outrun Peter and came first to the sepulcher.
And he stooping down and looking in.
Saw the linen clothes flying yet went, he nodded.
What is happening in these hearts?
Mary Magdalene.
Peter and John.
They have one object.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed.
For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Then the disciples went away again under their own home.
What was it John believed?
That the body was gone.
These are.
Very important moments.
We read of the disciples. They all forsook him.
And fled.
Verse 11 but merry.
Stood without at the sepulchre, weeping.
And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre.
And see if 2 angels in white sitting, the one at the head, the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain.
Lacey under her woman.
White weepers style.
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
She has one object.
You could say there's a lack of.
Understanding as to what's going on.
But, beloved brethren.
She has.
The right person in view.
The heart will have nothing less than its object. What is her object? A dead Christ.
We could say that's not very intelligent.
From a Christian point of view.
But its blessed instruction to your heart and mind to say.
That heart will not settle for less than its object.
Has anyone here ever seen an Angel?
I don't think I have. I'm not aware that I have.
I've seen things happen that made me feel they were quite near.
But how does an Angel affect Mary?
Her heart says you're not my object.
Not even an Angel or two angels deters her from this.
I want Jesus, isn't that wonderful?
Is my heart like that?
00:10:00
I feel the need in my own heart.
Of that.
To apprehend himself.
Do we dare do with less?
As we read his word.
And when she had thus said.
She turned herself back.
She's weeping. How much do you see when you're weeping?
You don't see very well, do you?
Things are blurry.
But she has one object in view.
She turns herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus.
Where's John and Peter?
They went home.
Perhaps they reasoned about it.
What do we do now?
We learned a little later there's really quite a bit of fear because.
Of what the Jews had done. When they do come together, they close the doors for fear.
Verse 15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?
Whom?
Seekest thou?
I ask my own heart.
Would you ask yours?
Who do I seek?
She is supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir.
If thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him.
And I will take him away.
Have you ever dealt with a dead weight?
Of a human body.
Her love said this.
But that'd be pretty difficult.
For any man or woman to take a full size human being by themselves.
Deadway.
What do we learn from it? A heart that wants its object, Unintelligent it may be.
But at once, Jesus.
Let's turn to Chapter 10.
And come back to this other this same chapter.
Chapter 10 and verse four, the last five words. Read about his sheep.
They know his voice.
Verse three says.
He calleth his own sheep by name.
Back to our chapter 20 and verse 16. Jesus saith unto her.
Mary.
She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabona.
Which is to say, master.
I've heard it. Rab means teacher.
Rabbi means teacher of my mind, and rabona means master of my heart.
I don't have any way of verifying that I don't know but.
This is not used.
Maybe what this once in the scripture?
What a revelation.
This one man, if I may use Bruce's words, is going to do good.
To all that will happen.
What a revelation. Let's look briefly at.
Luke's Gospel chapter one.
00:15:11
We are familiar with this portion, I trust.
There's an old man.
A priest who goes into the temple.
To offer incense at the hour of incense.
And he's been praying for years.
For a son.
And now he's very old. His wife is barren. Verse 7.
Both smell well stricken in years.
And verse 11 There appeared unto him an Angel of the Lord.
Standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
You know when Mary saw those angels?
Her object is so much the Lord Himself.
You don't read of fear there.
Isn't that amazing?
Those mighty beings are.
Is it miracles?
Is it having life the way you were used to it?
Or is my object.
Jesus, this man is told verse 13. Fear not Zechariah, for thy prayer is heard. Thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness.
Many shall rejoice at his birth, for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord.
Well, we know the rest of the story. How Zacharias?
Didn't believe it and we got a rebuke from the Angel.
And the point I want to make is this.
For nine months, this man could not speak.
Can imagine.
How to use the expression the gears turned in his head.
And he had to write notes.
Annette Hart.
Watched as his wife.
Pregnancy.
Waxed greater and greater.
In his heart began to believe.
In ways that maybe he hadn't for some time, but after nine months of silence.
You just see praise and prophecy. That is amazing.
Wonderful.
If I didn't say that right, I'm sorry. I'm not sure how I said it, but anyway.
Here in chapter 20 I was thinking how you get a deaf situation with echoes.
They're both advanced in age and God brings life out of death.
In our chapter in verse 16.
Jesus has been down into death, many deaths.
And now there's a bursting forth with life and life and immortality through the gospel, like it was never ever known to man and is yet proclaimed today.
When he says and she says.
For she says.
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not.
You see this?
Precious soul, though unintelligent in apprehending the situation, she has the right object.
And.
But she's touching him and he says don't go on touching me.
I'm not ascended to my father, but.
Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your father.
And to my God and your God.
What a revelation.
All that Zachariah said in Luke the earlier chapters.
00:20:04
You know, this is such a tremendous thing.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has had that sword go through her own soul.
She's not the Mary here. Isn't that amazing?
Who's Mary Magdalene?
What's why is she getting this?
Direct divine revelation.
Of the resurrected Lord.
Because of heart.
It's not the mind that's at work.
It's the heart that will have nothing less than Jesus.
For its enjoyment.
And that's my need.
That's your need. This blessed man has just broken the power of the grave.
Completely.
Verse 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and he had spoken these things unto her.
What a precious revelation.
Then the same day at evening being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.
Came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus unto them again, Peace be unto you.
As my Father hath sent me, Even so send I you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost.
How wonderful.
This divine revelation, this breaking of the power.
Of the grave, you know, in Luke chapter 8.
It speaks of the woman that followed him.
It says I think in verse 3.
Certain women out of whom he had cast out of Let's read it. I don't remember the exact words. Luke chapter 8.
Verse 2.
We'll read from verse one. And it came to pass afterward that he went throughout every city and village preaching and showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God. And the 12 were with him, and certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils.
It's interesting that in other gospels it says out of whom are cast.
Seven devils.
In this gospel it says they went out.
You know when the heart and even in verse Chapter 7, the woman of the city that was a Sinner was likely Mary Magdalene.
So occupied with that one who was so good.
The Devils could not feel at home.
They had to leave.
Is Jesus your object?
Is Jesus my object?
Mary at his grave would have nothing less than himself.
If we turn to.
First Peter chapter one.
Inverse.
Tim speaks of.
The salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, did signify, when it testified beforehand? The sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, under whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you.
00:25:17
With the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels.
Desire to look into.
We read in Hebrews that they are ministering spirits sent forth on account of those that shall inherit salvation.
They're learning as they observe the redeemed.
The power of the message of the gospel. Think of those two angels sitting there at the head and the feet of where Jesus body had lain.
And they are observing a human heart.
So broken that we have no one but Jesus for its object.
Are they observing that in my heart today? In your heart today, God delights to reveal Himself.
In his sun to your heart and mine.
Let our affections be warmed and filled.
With what is so real, you think of it at his birth, suddenly there's a heavenly host.
Crazy they had never seen their creator before.
He was a spirit, but there's suddenly a little baby in a Manger.
And the heaven is filled with heavenly ghosts. And here at the grave.
Where you'd say, oh, this is so hopeless coming to a grave.
No it wasn't. Not this grave.
You know, when I think of the many dear Saints we've.
Laid their remains to rest.
I couldn't help feel the need of meditating a little on this portion.
Hear.
Where the heart gets filled.
Directly with.
The person of the Lord Jesus in resurrection life.
Death's power is broken. Let's look at another verse in Revelation 1.
Verse 5.
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 hath made us kings and priests under God and his Father, to whom be glory.
And dominion, forever and ever.
Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.
And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen.
This victorious man.
All what He's done for you and I who know him as Savior and Lord.
Verse 17.
John writes and when I saw him.
I fell at his feet as dead.
And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not.
Back in John 20 we had there are various. Fear not at least two. I am 1St and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.
And have the keys of hell and of death.
Ephesians, chapter one.
The victor has risen.
He has the keys.
Of hell and death.
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Ephesians 1.
In verse 17, Paul's prayer.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling.
Brother Bob touched that.
Today, And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us? Would who believe?
According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named.
Not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and have put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
The death of Christ, many deaths.
There on Calvary's cross, he bore my sins. He was.
He had to go into death for me. I hope each one in this room can say that personally. Jesus had to go into death for me.
That I might be delivered.
That power in verse 19 and 20 included the resurrection of any believer that needs it.
The power was so great.
It reaches into those graves.
In fact, it'll empty every grave.
He breaks Death's power soul.
Triumphantly.
Heart and your heart.
Have that purpose.
To say I will have nothing less.
Then thee, Lord Jesus.
I don't want to settle for less than apprehending thy person.
As I read.
They were as I said.
Around thy table as I partake of those emblems.
I want to apprehend the.
Mary's heart.
Saw him.
She doesn't use his name when she answers the angels.
She just says.
I know not worthy of laid him.
It's wonderful.
And to that heart he reveals himself.
May it be so with each one here.
And as you.
Saints of God, leave these meetings.
I believe He would covet for each of our hearts His words.
To His disciples in the 21St verse of John 20.
Peace be unto you.
He had showed them his hands and his side.
And then there is this, as my Father hath sent me.
Even so, send I you.
Sometimes we get up in the morning and it's kind of like a daily grind.
But how sweet those moments, those mornings when you have a sense in the soul.
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From himself.
As my father had sent me.
So I send you.
To grade school.
To high school, to college, to business, to farming, to motherhood.
The home keeping.
To whatever your calling is.
How elevating to hear from himself.
As my father has sent me, so send I you.
He seated at the Father's right hand. He's waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool, and he's waiting.
For his bride, and we certainly say Even so, come.
Lord Jesus.
Convert 37 in the appendix.
M37 in the back of the book.
The Lord of life is raised.
And as I am all.
Done today.
I'm staying with him, I pray.
Gospel 10
Gospel—T. Roach
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.
Good evening. Welcome to the Gospel Meeting. Let's start by seeing #13.
Man of sorrows.
And.
Every life I've never gone through all my life.
Thy heart and work and flawed I'll take the glory of God.
One day.
We've been saying that the Lord is going to come now for 2000 years.
The Lord said when he in Revelation, he says, Surely I come quickly.
But we've been waiting for so, so many for so long.
But we are still waiting.
Jesus Christ is coming soon, but I think there's some things that are happening in our world today that are showing how close the coming of the Lord really is. We see the financial fallout all around the world and all the problems it's causing for people. Many people are losing their retirement funds and they're helpless. They don't know what to do.
And now there's a possibility that this country will elect a president who has close alliances with the Islamic world.
Something like that.
Could neutralize the protection of the State of Israel.
That's what they want. They want to destroy Israel.
If that happens, the beast will have to take control in the Roman Empire.
The confidence of the Arabs will increase. They will want to destroy Israel.
But these things cannot happen until the tribulation, and that is very soon, but before the tribulation comes.
The Lord Jesus needs to come and take us home to be with himself.
That means that the coming of the Lord is very near.
Very near. There's not anything else that needs to happen before the Lord Jesus will come to take us to heaven to be with himself.
Are you ready? Are you ready for the coming of the Lord? Let's go to Romans chapter 3.
Romans chapter 3.
We'll find that there's two ways that God has for a person to inherit eternal life. We all know that one of them doesn't work.
But there's the law and the gospel.
The rich young ruler came to the Lord Jesus and he asked him.
Lord, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The Lord Jesus told him, Thou shalt not murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Oh, this young man, he rejoiced. He says. I have done all these things from my youth up, but what do I lack? What else do I need to do? The Lord Jesus said to him.
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He said.
Sell everything that you have and give it to the poor. Oh, we find the young man. He did not love his neighbor as himself. He was so involved in his in life with the pleasures of this world. Pleasure, success. That's what this world is going after today. Pleasure, entertainment and success.
The rich young man, he hung his head and he walked off.
He enjoyed the riches and the pleasures of this world. He was a success. He was a successful young man.
What about you? Are you going to miss out like the rich man? He walked away from Jesus.
And Jesus loved him. Jesus loves you too. He loves you.
And that's why the Gospel goes out again tonight.
There's the law and there's the gospel. The law can only bring to you condemnation.
The Gospel.
Offers you salvation.
The law is like a mirror, and if we look in verse 23 of Romans 3, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The law is like a mirror. It shows us what we really are. It shows us all have sinned and that we've come short of God's glory. There's no law that we can keep to get to heaven, to get to the Lord Jesus. And then the Law is also like a hammer.
The law, it can break up any idea that we might have.
That we can be good enough to get to heaven, and so the law breaks up those notions and look in verse 20.
Therefore, by the deeds of the Law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.
For by the law is knowledge of sin. When you read through the law, you find out you can't keep them. Maybe you've been able to keep one or two, but you've been breaking one. When you're guilty of one, you're guilty of them all. And the law shows you that you cannot be good. You're not good enough to inherit eternal life. And then the law is like a whip, a whip that drives us to the cross.
To the Savior and look down in verse 28.
Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. You can't inherit eternal life with the deeds of the law you try.
It's gonna drive you to the cross, drive you to Christ. You can only be saved through faith. Faith with faith and not works. There's thousands of religions in this world.
They're based on the law.
There's a song that that old hymn that we sang, we sing.
Everything in my hands I bring.
We can bring all sorts of things to God, like Cain, who brought his good works, his good fruits.
God doesn't want them.
We can bring our money, we can give to the poor.
We can help the needy. We can pray to Mary, None of it. We can bring nothing to God. He doesn't want those things.
The law says we heard this last night. The law says go, but the gospel says come.
Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The gospel of the law says do.
But the gospel says come, sit, sorry, the gospel says done. It is finished when the Lord Jesus just before the last thing he said.
Before he commended his spirit to the Father, he said it is finished. There's nothing more that needs to be done for you to inherit eternal life. You cannot do the law. You cannot do the good.
There's 40,000 religions.
All based on the fact of doing, doing, doing.
But the gospel, it says.
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It is done. It is finished that that old hymn. It goes on to say nothing in my hands. I bring it simply to the cross I cling.
The cross. That's where Jesus Christ bore our sins on himself. We need to admit that we are a Sinner, that we're lost. We cannot help ourselves. We deserve the punishment that Jesus took on the cross. We deserve to go through hell. The Lord Jesus went through hell and punishment on the cross for you because He loves you. Let's go to Romans Chapter 5.
This this verse speaks about death.
And you know in Psalm 116 it talks about precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. If you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, it's not a thing you need to fear of death.
But in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 31 it says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God if you die in your sins without Christ.
It is a fearful thing.
There's a lot of death in this world. I just came back from Malawi. There's a lot of death in Malawi. There is a 12 year old boy. We went to a village one day.
To to share the gospel in the village and when we got there.
One of the children, 12 year old, they asked us to take him up to the hospital and so we went up to Livingstonia Mountain. There's 27 switchbacks all the way up to the top, very rough road. And we got up there and dropped the boy off at the hospital with his mother. We went back there a couple days later to see how the boy was and when we got there the boy had died. So we brought the family. All the relatives had gone up there and so they all piled into the back of the pickup and they put the body in the back.
And down we went down the hill back to the village as we were getting close to the village.
All the ladies in the back of the pickup started wailing their death howl.
As we got up closer to the village and brought the body into the house, there were thirty or forty women and men around the house wailing the death whale.
It was frightening.
There's a lot of death in this world. Fear of death, Romans chapter 5, verse 12.
Wherefore is by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.
And so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
In Genesis chapter six we find that man who God had put on the earth had corrupted. They had sinned by one man. Adam started it. Each and every person in the world since then is a Sinner. That includes you. And in in Genesis chapter 6, God looked down at the world. He saw how wicked man had become.
He says. I'm going to wipe them off the face of the earth.
God was sorry that he had ever made man. The sin is a distress to God. In Numbers 22, we find that God says sin is perverse, It's unacceptable. Sin is wickedness, disobedience, stubbornness.
Sin is wrong.
Proverbs tells us that sin is an abomination. What is an abomination?
An abomination to the Lord. It's God has an extreme hatred for sin.
Let's go to Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy, chapter 32.
God says that if you disobey in Genesis. He says that if you disobey God, you will surely die. I think there's not one here in this room who has not disobeyed God. Everyone of you in this room deserves to die.
Let's read Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse. Start at verse 19 and when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters. The Lord was looking down and he was seeing the wickedness of man.
And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be. For they are a very flower generation, children, in whom is no faith. Do you have faith? Are you trying to get to heaven by your goodness?
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Are you sitting back saying, oh, I have time? I tell you, you do not have time. The end is very near. The Lord Jesus says, surely I come quickly. Do you have faith? Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior? Verse 21. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people.
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Now listen to this verse 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase and set on fire.
The foundations of the mountains.
Sin is an abomination to the Lord. He has an extreme hatred for sin. The fire is kindled in his anger against sin. Once you sin, it's easier to sin again the next time.
And sin will just drag you down into the pit of hell.
One one day I was in St. St. Paul, MN.
And I was sitting in a motel room reading my Bible, and I heard a noise outside, and I looked out the window. And here there was a helicopter out there between the two tall buildings.
And there's just a street between the two buildings and a helicopter in the middle there. And he was looked like he was doing maneuvers there and tricks. And I'd never seen a, uh, a helicopter do somersaults and and and tricks like that before. And it was quite interesting. But then I noticed that the pilot was out of control, The engines were cutting out and he was diving down then then he would restore the engine and he'd be able to come back up and he was doing flips and finally he went into a down spin.
Down, down, down until he crashed on the roof of a building close by.
The pilot, he was frightened. He had fear. He jumped out of that, that upside down helicopter and he ran across to the other end of the building.
Sin is like that. You start sin once you allow something in your life and it will take you down into bigger sin and you will go down, down, down until you crash into the lake of fire.
God says.
That you are born as a Sinner.
And that your heart is evil from your youth up.
Each one of us is a Sinner. Let's go to Luke Chapter 5.
Now before I read a verse here.
I have a poem that I wrote and I want to share it with you and I think maybe some of you who have been born in a Christian home.
We'll be able to identify with some of the thoughts in this poem.
Born and raised in a Christian home some odd years ago, doing everything just right was all that I should know.
The Bible read the rules, laid down just as Dad saw fit.
When does this meeting said my prayers was not to stray a bit, learn some verses, answer questions down at Sunday school? You'd never know. I wasn't saved by acting out the rule. I'd listen to the gospel many thousand times, though held in very high regard, meant little more than rhymes.
Then one gospel message heard. I trembled at the thought. Jesus shed his precious blood for me. It could be not.
Parking in the Fire Zone wasn't good, I'd see.
If standing at the great white throne, he'd say depart from me. So then it was that I got saved, confessing all my sin, believing on the Son of God, His love, my heart did win.
Maybe you can identify with some of that, but I had to admit that I was a Sinner, that I was lost.
If you are not convinced that you are a Sinner.
If you do, if you feel that you do not need a savior tonight, then you have no hope.
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You have no hope and you can have no peace.
Jesus did not come to save you. Let's read our verse in Luke 5 and verse 32. I came not to call the righteous, that's the good people. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
In Romans chapter 3, verse 12, we find that there is none good. There is none righteous, no not one that includes you. There's no goodness in you that can please God that can satisfy God. Verse 17 in Romans 3 says there is no peace, You can have no peace without God and then verse 18 says.
You have No Fear of God.
Some years ago, a lot of the young people used to wear T-shirts that sat across the front. No Fear.
Maybe you think you have No Fear today. You have No Fear of your friends. You think you're in control of yourself. You have No Fear of the school or the teachers or the police. You have No Fear.
Why? Why do you have No Fear tonight? I want to put the fear of God in you. And we will shortly. Let's go to Second Peter, Chapter 2.
Second Peter Chapter 2.
This chapter has some very serious violations against God.
If you want to get ahead in this world, if you want to follow your own desires.
You can.
It's scriptural. God records these things in his word. In verse three, it talks about covetousness. How many of us want something more than what we have? We go and spend our life striving to get these things.
We're covetousness.
Verse six talks about the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah which were condemned and burned in the in the fire.
What is Sodom and Gomorrah a picture of? We know that it was destroyed because of all the wickedness there that sickened God at his heart, and so he destroyed the city with fire and brimstone.
You know, I know a man.
He used to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to the meetings.
He even spoke in the Sunday school.
That man.
Decided that he had a liking for other men.
After several men, he found one he liked.
He married that man.
They adopted two children.
That sickens God.
It's a violation.
Of the will of God.
That's homosexuality. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of that sin. Verse 7 talks about filthy conversation.
How many of you have told some dirty stories?
How many of you had views, words, cursing God?
I used to drive a tractor trailer truck and in the truck there was a CB radio and sometimes you turn it on to hear the the weather or the uh the traffic conditions.
And when you turn that on, you hear a lot of bad language, filthy conversation.
And so I would tell those men, I'd get on the radio and I'd tell them, look, if you're going to curse on my radio, I'm going to preach on yours.
And and I quote some verses to them.
And then you hang up the radio and you'd hear the responses, and it would make some of them curse even more.
But then there's some who would respond.
And give thanks and appreciation for speaking well of Christ.
Filthy conversation. Verse 8 talks about unlawful deeds, verse 10 talks about.
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Walking after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, despising governments, speaking evil of dignitaries, dignities.
We have an election coming up very soon.
It's a democratic government, so we have democracy. One is one of the worst forms of government.
That goes against God. Democracy divides the people.
Christians get involved in in politics. They have to choose one side or the other. I was speaking in the past couple of weeks to two separate very nice Christian ladies at different times. One lady was very pro Democratic and she could speak. Nothing bad about the demo, the Democrats.
And their candidate. And she could speak nothing good about the other side, the Republican side. Then later on, I spoke to another woman who has just as died in the wool Republican, and she could say nothing good about the Democrats, and she could praise the Republicans.
If these two lovely Christians got together, what would happen?
And they discussed their politics.
There would be division in the body of Christ. There's enough division in the body of Christ.
The Christian does not belong in politics because in order for you to get into politics, you have to speak, go against.
The dignitaries.
These people were speaking evil of dignities.
You can go and get whatever you want in this world. You can go after schooling and education. You can go after money. You can go after cars or business. You can go after sex or alcohol or drugs, entertainment. Everybody was going after success and pleasure in this world. You can have it. God allows it. It's scriptural. We find that right here in this scripture.
All of these things that man wants. Enjoy it while you can. This may be the only time you get pleasure is getting involved in the entertainment and pleasure and success of this world. Go and get it while you can, because there's coming a day when you won't enjoy anything like that when you are in hell.
Tormented in the lake of fire, you can only think about those desires. You'll have those desires just as strong then as you do now, and there will be no pleasure for you in hell. But you can enjoy these things today, and God is going to reserve for you a reward. Let's read about it. Verse 12. The end of the verse talks about these things and you shall utterly perish in your own corruption.
And God shall receive, and you shall receive.
The reward of unrighteousness. Do you want that reward? Do you want the reward of unrighteousness to spend an eternity in the lake of fire? Go on, enjoy the pleasures of sin. Let's go to Ezekiel Chapter 3.
You may wonder and ask why are you getting so serious?
Why is it so solemn and sober? Why are you trying to scare us tonight?
I've been asked to preach the gospel tonight.
I have a responsibility to warn you to flee from the wrath to come and look what it says in verse 18.
When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, let's God speaking, and thou giveest him not warning nor speakest, to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life. The same wicked man shall die in his iniquity.
But his blood will I require at thine hand.
I have a responsibility to warn you of your wicked way, and where it will take you into eternal damnation in hell. But if I, if I do not warn the wicked, and you do not turn from your wickedness, nor from your wicked way, you shall die in your iniquity.
But you.
Will die in your own iniquity. You have a responsibility tonight to respond to that warning, to flee from the wrath to come.
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To save your life. How can you save your life? It's only by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In faith.
Having your sins washed away in his blood.
There is nothing that keeps a wicked person out of hell for a moment.
Except for the pleasure of God.
God doesn't only have the power to cast you into hell.
But he can do it very easily.
Some years ago.
Back when they when the Osama bin Laden was around.
And they crashed into the Twin Towers and there were some other other terrorism.
Osama bin Laden was the worst enemy of the United States and they haunted all over the world to find him and they could not find him. They have not found him yet. They could not find their worst enemy. Maybe you think you can hide in the back row tonight?
Whispering to your friends, Maybe you think you can hide under a veil of Christianity living, so you make others think that you are saved.
You can't hide from God. You maybe can hide from the government. You maybe can hide from your family.
But you cannot hide from God. He can find you the Sinner, and he can wipe you off the face of the earth just as easily as he did with those people in the day of Noah. He can wipe you off whenever he pleases. Nobody, nobody can hide from the face of God.
Let's go to Ecclesiastes.
Chapter 2.
Many of us have some worldly wisdom.
And with our wisdom and our strength, we can make plans.
Carefully plan to preserve our future and our families.
We make good investments. We ensure everything we can. We prepare for retirement.
We put up security systems in our homes.
We have a lot of wisdom.
But God says in Ecclesiastes 2 verse 16.
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool.
Seeing that which now is in the days to come, shall all be forgotten.
And how dieth a wise man, He dies the same way as the fool. I want you to think back now to your great, great, great, great grandfather. What was he like?
Was he a wise man? Possibly.
You don't even know him. You don't even know what his name is.
He's forgotten.
What about the drunken fool on the side of the road?
He's given up everything in life and now he just sits on the street and drinks every time he gets a little bit of money. Oh, we think, oh, what a fool. Why did he waste everything like that?
He comes along and he dies back in the same time when your great, great, great, great grandfather died.
Do you remember him? You don't remember him any more than your.
Wise great grandfather.
How do we die? What's the difference between the wise man and the fool? Both die.
The same way.
You can die just as easily. Nobody will remember you many years to come.
It's easy for us to see an Ant walking across the floor in our home and go and step on it.
Sometimes the flies come in and they bother us and we love to just squash that fly.
End its life.
When we're in Africa, we see a mosquito.
It's not long before we try to to squash that mosquito before it gives somebody malaria.
It deserves to die, we think.
Well, so it is with your hand, with your life, in the hand of God.
The unrepentant Sinner deserves to die.
Deserves to be cast into hell.
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You may say, oh, but God is a God of love. He would never put me into hell like that. He would give me another chance.
He would never throw me into hell. But you know God's love never stands in the way of God's justice. Justice says you have sinned, then you must die. God's justice will destroy the unrepentant Sinner in the lake of fire if you reject the offer of God's salvation, if you reject his love that offers that grace to you.
There's no hope.
It is the love and the mercy of God.
That holds back the anger of God. Let's go to John chapter 3.
As you resist the Savior's love.
Your sin is preparing you as fuel for the flames.
Of the lake of fire.
Let's read John 3, verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
You, the Sinner, not only deserve to be cast down into hell.
But God the judge has already pronounced your sentence.
He says he that believeth not is condemned already.
You are guilty before God.
Right now, there are many wicked sinners in hell.
And they are be torn, being tormented by the fierceness of God's wrath against sin, God's anger and frustration at sin.
You can think of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus is sitting in the bosom of Abraham at peace.
But where is the rich man? He had no thought of God during his life. He put God out of his mind, just like you may be doing tonight, putting God out of your mind.
He was tormented in the flame. He had no comforts in hell. He was thirsty. There was no relief from his desires, from his thirst.
The wrath of God was on him and the same, the same wrath of God burns against you tonight as you sit there rejecting God. Look what it says in verse 36. It says he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. The wrath of God is abiding on you because you believe not your damnation is prepared and the flames of the fire of God's wrath.
I was ready to receive you.
You are you are condemned already.
That's what our verse 18 says. You are condemned already. Go to John chapter 8.
John Chapter 8.
Verse 23 and 24 And he said unto them, You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. He makes 2 significant statements in these two verses. He says you are from beneath.
You shall die in your sins.
Hell in all its terrors, were created for the Devil and his angels. They were not prepared for you.
The devil has many demons and spirits that are working for him.
And they look like Christians. They look like angels of light.
They can go in and out among you and you think they are a Christian.
But really, Satan is using them to destroy you.
Satan uses these in any other way he can think of, of dragging you down.
Into the pit of hell with him. If God allowed it, Satan is like an old serpent, the devil. He would drag you down and swallow you up in the jaws of hell right? Now let's go to Isaiah chapter 57.
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Isaiah chapter 57 and here God is comparing the wicked.
The wicked sinners to the troubled sea, Verse 20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters are cast up.
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt? There is no peace, says my God to the wicked.
So God is comparing the wicked here to the troubled sea.
Back in Hurricane Katrina and then this latest one that we had, there's a lot of damage done.
By the sea, the waves and the wind that came and destroyed many houses and buildings in Katrina's man had put up in his wisdom, had put up a big wall to hold back the waves and the waters.
But the foolishness of God had prepared a flood plain.
For the storm And what happened? That storm knocked man's wisdom over and flooded out the city of New Orleans.
This we don't have the sea coming up here in Illinois. This isn't the boundaries of the sea. The sea stays within its boundaries, and the flood plain is the boundary of the sea.
And the sea cannot come outside those boundaries.
God also restrains the wickedness that is in your heart.
So that you might not do all the wicked and evil things that you think of.
I remember there was a lady.
And she thought she was good. She didn't need all this salvation stuff. She didn't need a savior. She was good enough.
And then one night she had a dream. And in her dream she was thinking.
About some bad things, some sinful things.
And she realized that if she could think of such a thing.
That she must be a Sinner, and she was saved because of that. But sin, sin will ruin your soul.
And lead you into an eternal misery. And in the damnation of hell, as you are right now, there's nothing between you and that dreadful pit of God's wrath against sin. It's as if God is holding on to a a thin wire, and you are at the other end, and you are suspended up over the lake of fire, held up only by the mercy and the love.
Of God Look Back in Luke, Luke Chapter 12.
Luke, chapter 12 and verse 4.
And I say unto you, my friends.
The Lord Jesus is calling you his friend.
He loves you. He does not want you to go into that judgment and damnation of hell. And so he calls you my friends.
Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear. Fear him, that is God. Fear God, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yeah, I say unto you.
Fear him. You see, God is not willing that any should perish.
God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
But have everlasting life.
The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who loved me? He gave himself for me. God doesn't want you to perish in hell.
But their judgment of God was coming down on you, and God could not take the frustration of sin anymore.
And his anger against sin raged within him.
And he could contain it no longer. And as it was coming down on you, He loved you. He does not want you to go into that lost eternity.
And so he sent his Son Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, And the Lord Jesus was raised up on the cross above the earth and below heaven. And there he hung for all to see.
And there he died. Then there were three hours of darkness when God put our sin on Jesus Christ, and all the anger of an holy God was poured out on Jesus Christ, and Jesus took all the judgment.
00:45:14
He took every he, drained out every last little bit of judgment for you, and he left nothing for you.
But love.
Let's go to Matthew Chapter 5.
Matthew Chapter 5.
Now when we started the meeting, we we spoke about thousands of religions trying to appease or dissipate the anger, to turn away the anger of God.
And they tried to do it by keeping a standard of the law.
But we can never turn away the anger of God by doing good works.
If you could be good.
How good would you have to be to inherit eternal life?
How good would you have to be to get to heaven? Let's look at Matthew 5, verse 48.
Be therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven.
Is perfect.
Can you attain to the righteousness of God? Can you be as good as God? There is only one person who is as good as God. There's only one person, and that one could say I do always those things that please my Father.
There's only one person who lives a perfect life.
And perfectly obeyed all of God's commandments.
He is the one who said.
I will go.
He's the one who is willing to go to the cross.
And that one is Jesus Christ.
Now that same Jesus Christ.
Is the substitute for the judgment and punishment of God against sin.
Jesus has taken my place on the cross. He has suffered for my sins.
He died for my sins. He shed his blood to wash away my sins, and my sins are gone. And He offers that to you too. He wants to take away your sin. He wants you to be with him.
In glory. And now he offers to clothe me with the perfect righteousness of God. Let's go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5.
2nd Corinthians 5 Sometimes we sing in a little flock hymn book. Umm. We sing the perfect righteousness of God is witnessed in the Saviors blood. The Sinner who believes can point to the atoning blood and say This made my peace with God.
When God looks at me.
He sees a perfect person. He sees a person who is as perfect as he is.
God sees me in Christ.
Enclosed in the righteousness of God, let's read verse 21.
For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin.
That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
In the day that I stand before the presence of God, it will be in a robe of righteousness.
Do you have that righteousness?
Have you had your sins washed away in the precious blood of Jesus Christ? Have you come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith?
If you haven't, won't you come tonight? Come to the cross. The cross is where Jesus took our sins. On him. You need to admit that you are a Sinner.
You need to admit that you are lost in your sins and you can't be good enough.
To inherit eternal life.
The law cannot help you. The law condemns.
The gospel justifies.
The law convicts.
The gospel releases you from your sin.
The law says go go to Mecca, go to church, go pray to Mary.
00:50:06
The gospel says come.
Won't you come to Jesus tonight?
Jesus says, come unto me, He wants to protect you from the anger of God against sin.
The Lord Jesus has already taken the punishment for you, and now he offers you a free salvation, the gift of eternal life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
The law says do in the Gospel says done.
The work is finished.
Jesus suffered. He will suffer no more for sin.
The choice is yours.
It's being offered to you tonight. There's only one choice. It's an easy choice to make.
The choice is life.
Salvation.
Christ, Won't you choose Christ tonight? If you decide not to choose? That's not a choice. That's rejection. That's rebellion against God who has told you to repent from your sin.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Come now, don't challenge the mercy of God.
Today is a day of grace when His mercy is offered to you. Let's go to Romans 10.
Romans 10 and verse 9.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
This verse is talking about confessing Jesus as Lord.
If Jesus is your Lord, that means you're giving him control of your life.
You're repenting. You're turning away from yourself and your own desires to follow Jesus Christ.
As Lord, have you confessed Jesus? As your Lord, have you given control of your life?
Over to Jesus as your Lord? Or are you still going after the pleasure of the world?
Are you still looking for success in this world that's going to be condemned?
And burned up.
Repent.
Or perish. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and Thou shalt be saved. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you'll be saved. You will have eternal life. That's the life of Christ. It's more than just the life that exists forever and ever. It's the life of Christ. And he offers that to you tonight.
God, the Lord Jesus is God. He is righteous, He is holy, He is sinless, He is eternal life. And that's a free gift he offers to you tonight.
He wants to clothe you in the righteousness of God. If you do not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you've rejected the Savior's love.
And you will fall. You, the Sinner will fall into the hand of an angry God.
Let's go over to Romans chapter 8.
Romans chapter 8 and verse one and this is speaking about a believer.
And when you are saved.
This is your condition before God says there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. You're in Christ. That goes back to the verse we had in Corinthians about being made the righteousness of God in him.
We can't have righteousness apart from God.
If there are things that are done in your body.
Things of which you are ashamed of.
And you have terrible guilt.
On you because of those things that were done to you or the associations that you have had in the past.
00:55:06
You need to tell Jesus about it.
He wants to free you from the guilt of sin. You do not need to carry that guilt with you.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
He wants to set you free not only from your sin, but also from the guilt of your sin. That's what's called justification, therefore being justified by his blood.
We need to be justified by his blood.
He wants to set you free.
If the sun therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
Jesus wants you to have peace.
He wants you to be able to worship him. He wants you to be able to serve him. He wants you to be able to give glory to God.
Let's look down in verse 13.
Before I read this verse, I want to give one more warning.
There is something that's a big word.
It's called Antinomianism.
That's a big word.
Antinomianism.
This is the idea that.
You you can be saved. You may say, oh, I'm saved. I'm baptized. I cannot lose my salvation.
So I can do whatever I want.
And I'll still go to heaven.
It is true that you can never lose your salvation once you are saved.
But if this is the mind, the thinking that you have, that you can do whatever you want.
That tells me.
That you are probably not saved.
Let's look at verse 13.
Of Romans 8, if you live after the flesh.
You shall die, but if you, through the Spirit, do mortify or put away the deeds of the body, you shall live.
If you think that you can do whatever you want after you get saved because you can't lose your salvation.
That's living after the flesh, and this verse says you shall die.
You have no guarantee that you are saved if that is the way that you think, because that is not the way a Christian thinks.
The end of the verse says that through the Spirit you mortify, you put away the deeds of the body.
If you do not have the Spirit of God.
Within you, you will not be able to put away the deeds of the body. You will go on in willful sin, habitual sin, and there is no sacrifice. There is no help.
For the willful sin, unless you can come and confess it to the Lord and turn away from it.
Verse 14.
As many as are led by the Spirit of God.
They are the sons of God.
Are you a child of God? Are you a son of God?
Are you led by the Spirit of God?
I don't know the things that you allow in your life.
Some of those things may dishonor God.
Does the Spirit of God lead you into those things?
If you are not LED.
By the Spirit of God.
You must be dead in sin.
You're not saved.
I know someone can be saved, they can backslide.
But I'm not talking about that tonight. I'm talking about a person who thinks they are saved and they can do whatever they want.
If you are led by the Spirit of God, you are the Son of God.
If you do are not led by the Spirit of God, and you are allowing all these things in your life, willfully doing those things.
You have no guarantee that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
01:00:04
You need to turn to Christ.
The Savior of sinners and accept the love of God.
Christ is the Savior of sin.
Christ is the for it.
All my life savings and darkness. Now I am straight. I am free.
Prayers.
And then 5/3.
Now I can say I am fine at the end of the night.
Nsnoise.
Uh, I want everything to be drinking from the 25th place. Now there is no contemplation.
This is the standard for me.
Save your husband.
They put her on the Standard and 3418.
0225411 256514.
God Has Given Us What We Need
YP Sing Address—S. Froese
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.
I wanna start in Ephesians chapter five. One verse there.
While we're turning there.
You may have heard.
Some of the brothers in the meetings over time say some quotes from an old brother, Harry Hayhoe, and I want to give you one, he said. All the exhortations in the New Testament are based upon what we already have. Now, I may not have said that exactly how he said it, but that's how it means something to me.
All the exhortations, that is when God.
Tries to get us to do something. He doesn't give us to do that on our own. He already has given us what we need. Now let's look at this verse in Ephesians 5. It's the first verse.
Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children.
Now I'm speaking just to the believers. If you're not saved, you're not one of these children. But if you are, you're a child of God. You have that relationship with a living God.
A dear child, isn't that nice? I am a dear child of God. All his children are dear to him and so.
You give your chil if you don't have children. Most of you, but I give my children.
Instructions that I wouldn't give the neighbor kids.
They're not my kids.
But my kids are my kids, and they're dear to me.
And so the relationship that I have with God.
He tells me some things to do in that relationship.
Now, umm, really? That quote from Harry Hayhoe is my point, but let's go to Matthew chapter 25 for an illustration of that. I think it illustrates it pretty well.
And then I got, uh, a little, uh.
Some facts to tell you about something that I read about and the, the Golden Gate Bridge relates well to this story, I think anyway, uh, Matthew 25 and let's see.
Verse 14 For the Kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And under one he gave 5 talents, to another two and to another one.
To every man according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey than he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents, and likewise he that had received 2.
He also gained other two, but he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received 5 talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered done to me 5 talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered son to me two talents.
Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee, that thou art and hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strode. And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast, that is thine. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant.
Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strode. Thou Artest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers.
And then at my coming I should have received my own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath 10 talents. For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him.
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That hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye, the unprofitable servant, into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Three men.
All given something and I'm going to speak of it as.
Men before God I I'd get all confused if I try to make the the, uh analogy. Other than that God is given to us.
How do we view God?
Do we view him as a loving father?
If you do if, if you have that relationship and you know it and you enjoy it.
You're going to act differently than the person who's afraid of God. Now that's different than the fear of God. The fear of God is, is his holy respect because the God that we have to do with.
He's great, He's wonderful, He's way beyond us. And so the fear of God is right. But to be afraid of him is to demonstrate that we don't have a right relationship with Him. If I'm scared that God's after me, I'm going to act way different than the person who knows him as their own father.
I asked my kids and their son in the Sunday school class one time if you're in trouble.
Who would you rather have to meet, your father or somebody that you don't know?
And every one of them said I'd rather meet my dad because they know that he loved them. But somebody you don't know? Oh boy, that's scary. Well, I told you I'd tell you about the Golden Gate Bridge. I had heard that when they built the Golden Gate Bridge. And I suppose everybody knows about the Golden Gate Bridge. Big Bridge 22, uh, main supports that are about 750 feet high.
The road beds I can't remember exactly but it's a couple 100 feet high I think.
You fall off of it, you die. It's cold water, and when you hit water from 200 feet up, it's like concrete.
Uh.
I had heard that they had built a net under that roadway while they were working on it, and so that I wouldn't be just telling things that I'd heard, I went and got a book from the library and sure enough, they had built a net under that bridge. As soon as it was, the superstructure was up enough to put a bridge.
Net under it. They ordered this net. It was made out of 3/8 Manila rope and it covered the whole area underneath where they were working. They would move it along.
As they were working.
They demonstrated to the men by taking 400 LB weights and throwing it into the net. The net would go way down, but it would catch it. It was designed to do that. And so the men that were working on that bridge when they were working, say on a girder that was fairly narrow if they slipped.
And they fell. They were OK. They got some rope burns. It wasn't fun exactly, but quite a thrill.
And they were able to work up there without the dread that if they fell, it was 200 feet and smack it was it.
You are done and so.
What I'm getting at is if you have a relationship with God as your father.
And you know your position with God, how you stand before God, and you're enjoying it. You're going to have confidence. You're going to be able to take a risk.
Those first two men, they were given 5 talents and two talents. When you invest something, you're taking a risk, and we really know that nowadays, don't we?
I've got a customer that just ordered a a big job and we're committed to the job. And he said, you know, all the money I was going to pay you was out of stocks that aren't worth anything now.
So we'll see. The Lord will have to work that out for us. But, uh.
Anyway, you take a risk when you invest. When you step out to serve the Lord, you take a risk. You might blow it, right?
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And if you think God is mean and hard, you're not going to take that risk. You're not going to stick your neck out to be embarrassed or make a fool out of yourself. You won't do it.
This guy that had one talent, how did he view God?
Hardman.
A mean, demanding God.
No.
What we've heard here at this conference is the opposite of that. A God who loves us.
Our Father.
Now you may have accepted that, but it is important, I believe, to be living every day in the good of it, to not just go through life as though, well, I'm saved, I'm a Christian, and you don't think anymore about God and his love.
If you don't think anymore about the wonderful position that God has put you in because you believed in His beloved Son.
If we don't think about those things, that's no way to grow in our confidence in God.
But to meditate?
In the epistles I'm going to say Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians in particular. Maybe I'm naming those because those are the ones that have affected my life most, and maybe you'll find help other places too. But take those books. Read what God has said about you as a believer in Christ, and believe it and live in the good of it. Rejoice in it.
And you can have confidence as you go through.
Tomorrow.
Today, whenever you can have confidence that you can stick your neck out, you can take a risk to do something for the Lord.
And it's worth it because if you mess up, he's not there to jump on you.
He's not there to say you did it bad. No, that's not our father.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You'll never hear that if you think he's a hard man.
But if you go out in confidence, and even if you don't, do it just as perfect as you thought, it ought to be done.
He's not picky either because he's gonna give me a reward. I'm gonna get a reward just because I believed in his son.
It says every man shall have praise of God.
If you get there, you're gonna have praise of God.
Your only way to get there is through Jesus Christ.
If you have him as your savior.
You have God as your Father.
And you can know.
Every day that he's on your side.
Let's close prayer, our Father.
We give thanks for the Lord Jesus Christ.
For that great price he paid.
Jabez
Reading
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 read a verse in Acts.
Shall we turn to Acts chapter 10?
In the middle of verse 33. Acts 1033.
Now, therefore.
Are we all here present before God to hear and then chapter 17.
When Paul had come to Thessalonica.
17.
And.
Verse two at the end of verse 2, Paul reasons with them out of the scriptures.
And verse four and some of them believe.
And then in verse 11 Concerning the Bereans.
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and search the scriptures daily whether those things were so.
Therefore, many of them believe.
Yeah, I can read and Romans chapter 15.
Romans chapter 15 and verse 4.
For whatsoever things were written at four times were written for our learning that the way through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have both now the God of patience and consolation drank you to be like minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus. He made with one mind and one mouth glorified God, even the fog through of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And also in the.
Deuteronomy chapter 19.
First Aid.
And if the Lord thy God enlarged thy coast, and as the sworn unto thy Father's, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers, if thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them which I command thee this day, who love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways, then shalt thou have three cities more for he.
I would suggest that a portion in the Old Testament.
Uh, First Chronicles.
Half to four.
The well known portion, uh, has been uh.
This one book written on that has been very popular in the state.
Nothing I agree what was written or not. I just uh, it really has touched my my heart is the portion. It's in First Chronicles chapter 4. It's in verse 9.
And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren. And his mother called his name, Jabez saying, Because I bear him with sorrow. And Jabez called unto God of Israel.
Saying, oh, the dog would have blessed me indeed and enlarged my coat.
And that's thine hand might be with me, and that would escape me from evil, that it may not grieve me for costing. And God granted him that which he requested.
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I would suggest rather than that we in considering Jay Baz, that we also read Hebrews 11.
The last couple of verses and the first few verses of chapter 12.
No doubt.
And God answered that faith in his earthly blessing.
In Hebrews Chapter 11, were we given get another list of those who.
Uh, lived and died in faith. Uh. It concludes the list with these words, verse 39.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.
God having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily does so easily beset us.
And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and they sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Or consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest she be wearied and faint in your minds.
There's a very noticeable difference between the story of Jfaz and.
While this Chapter 11 ends up, many in Chapter 11 gained their objective, the their earthly possession that they sought. They sought by faith and they obtained it. But the list doesn't stop with those that gained their here while here on earth what they sought after.
Some live by faith and never saw the answer on earth to what they looked for. They died in faith.
The the last two verses give us the reason.
That they without us should not be made perfect.
God was going to bring in a heavenly and God was gracious and gave it to him. But we noticed something very different. Different here in Hebrews.
After the list of faith and those who gained their.
What they sought by faith and those who didn't.
We find that the Lord Jesus is the one who is going to give everyone.
What they get?
And so it's kind of a comparison and a contrast. Yes, the faith of Jabaz is a wonderful thing.
I believe that the present use of it often today is mixed up, though, with seeking after earthly things and pursuing it with lots of enthusiasm.
And it is used as a means.
To obtain in Christianity.
What was really promised to Israel?
We know our blessings are not earthly, they are heavenly.
And so.
I just suggest this as an introduction.
I think that's very good, Doug, because as you have pointed out, in the Old Testament there were material blessings, and it was a real mark of God's blessing when a man was prosperous in natural things.
00:10:07
And I believe that's why when the Lord Jesus came to this world and began to show his disciples, for example, that it was difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
They wondered, well, this is very strange because we have been accustomed to looking at those who are wealthy and prosperous as being those who were faithful and who in consequence had earthly blessings. And so it was.
But it's beautiful to see how this chapter brings out those who at the end here, that is Hebrews 11, were tortured, not accepting deliverance to those who didn't get the promises down here. And God is reserving them for blessing, but not until He has brought you and me into that supreme position of being part of the church.
There's actually more.
Similarity.
Then contrast if we look carefully at JBEZ and its application to us.
What we have here in First Chronicles 4 just to look at it again.
It says, and I'm reading Mr. Darby and Jabez was more honored than his brethren. And his mother called his name Jabez saying, because I bore him with sorrow or with pain. The name Jabez means sorrowful.
It means pain.
Here's a mother.
That has a son.
And she?
His pain connected with it.
The Sun.
Seeks blessing of God and he seeks it in faith.
Keep that in mind for a moment and back what we have in Hebrews 11.
Where there were those who in faith looked on beyond the presence to something that was from God.
That was the blessing of their souls.
Proper Christianity promises us nothing in the world.
But it tells us that we are immensely blessed.
In Christ in the heavenlies.
But to properly enjoy what is ours, we have to enjoy it now by faith. And this is getting to the point I want to make, which I think is very important.
Very often, in the ways of God, the path of the present enjoyment of blessing is through sorrow and pain.
Say that again.
Very often in the ways of God, the present path of the laying hold of the blessing for us is through sorrow and pain.
There's and I can't remember. Somebody can give the reference perhaps, but, and I think it's Mr. Darby's translation on it is in pressure. Thou hast enlarged me.
In pressure thou hast enlarged me.
Often God puts upon us the reality and the value.
Of that which is before us in faith. That is the enjoyment of our blessings that are to be enjoyed now and to be realized in their fullness when we're in heaven.
Very often the weight of them, the value of them, the importance of them to our souls is very often brought to us through pain and suffering.
Someone who has a loved one and the Lord takes them.
It weans the soul from earthly things and gives it more of a sense of the reality of the eternal and.
In the future, and I believe for myself that this little picture of Jabez in the Old Testament is partly to from a Christian application to remind us and bring before us the fact that sometimes it's the pain, it's the suffering that God is using to bring in reality and wait to our souls that which is really.
00:15:28
The same that they had in Ephesians and so are in in Hebrews 11 and then in the 12Th chapter, the perfect example of the Lord Jesus. He looked at the presence and he despised the shame because he had something before his soul that was beyond it and outside of it.
And uh.
J Bezzin figure and picture form brings before us that pain that in faith looks beyond and says, I want the blessing, and God says you want the blessing, then I'm going to enlarge in your soul that which you seek.
It it really for us, has nothing to do with prosperity or present advantage or gain.
As an application, the truth of it has to do with what's really ours.
Which is in the heavenlies in Christ.
First, you're looking for Don is Psalm 41.
The world has expression that's worth remembering for the believer, too. The coaches of the athletic teams often use it. No pain, no gain. And it's true in the Christian life.
Real.
Look at verse.
Five of uh, First Chronicles UH-4.
Or verse 19, verse 10. I'm sorry, verse Chronicles 410.
All that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast.
All the hath blessed me indeed, and enlarged my coast.
Are we willing?
To say to the Lord Lord, whatever pain might be necessary in my life to fulfill this desire.
Please do it.
Please do it.
We want the blessing.
Do we want?
The Lord's way to the president enjoyment of it. Do we really want to say that?
That's a real test to the reality of what we want to lay hold of. It's a little different point, but some of her demonstration of a brother that went to another brother and he said, Lord our brother, he said I want you to pray for me.
That I will have patience.
Your brother said, Are you sure you really want that? Yeah, he said, I, I want you to pray for me. I want patience. So the brother prayed, Lord, give him tribulation.
Give them some tribulation because scripture says tribulation worketh patience.
Well, that was a little harder to take. He he the the brother wasn't so sure that's what he really wanted to ask for that way, but sometimes.
The Lord knows what really makes good in our souls, the truth of God, and there is often connected with it, if we would humanly speaking, say a price.
The Lord Jesus, the one who brings the blessing as an example to our souls. What price did he play?
That we might be blessed.
And if we appreciate the tremendous blessing that the Lord Jesus has brought into our life, would we despise?
Learning a little more sincerely in our souls, even if it's nothing like it in real, and the depth of it passing through a little bit of difficulty and sorrow that we might realize what it does take to bring blessing.
00:20:16
Or is our natural self? Lord, Take Me Out of this.
In other words, yes, all the blessing that we have is 100% the work of the Lord Jesus. But sometimes, umm.
I'll be honest.
To try to be very personal, an example.
A night or two, brother Al Coleman was talking to me and and was telling me a little bit about what he's been through in the last six months.
And I could listen.
My my mouth was sealed because.
There's not a thing that I could say from personal experience to say, brother, I understand.
But when we go through a little bit at least.
Sometimes in our lives, then at least it gives us a tiny little.
Uh, sense in our souls of what the Lord Jesus went through that we might have the blessing.
And it's profitable. It's it's beneficial to our souls.
To appreciate it and go through it.
In Philippians 3 and verse 10.
All right that I may know him.
And the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.
Being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
One brother said this tenth verse is experienced in reverse order.
Umm, but there you get something of.
The lesson we all have to learn to make progress, and that is what.
Self is.
We need to learn to judge.
So Paul had written in Romans 7. I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
But trials often expose.
What that is in US?
To us.
Sometimes even in sorrow, we awake to the fact that.
We've been weeping for ourselves instead of before the Lord.
But the God of all comfort wants to be our company.
Not just having us think of the loss.
Our earthly losses, heavens gain.
End.
You think of Paul. His desire was to pass through.
What Christ passed through.
That he might know him better.
Imagine that morning, dear brethren, when the Lord shout.
Brings us into everlasting day.
Oh, what a wonder it'll be to all of us.
And Paul is going to experience.
The literal resurrection.
And you'll know something more of Christ than the rest of us.
If we are the living, which remains.
You'll have an ingredient in his recipe.
That you and I won't have if the Lord comes while we are alive.
But still, he wants to experience it all, to know him.
Sometimes we go and visit.
Uh, maybe there.
Family farm where we were reared and.
Walk over lands where?
Our parents walked or something to try to relate to life as it was but.
How much more?
The Lord of glory.
00:25:03
The Lord Jesus Paul wanted to know him in every way he could experience the same things.
How much his life showed.
That as trial increased, Christ is more his object. One brother said it. The Lord put him in prison.
So that he wouldn't waste his energies on trying to straighten out what was slipping in the church.
But to be occupied with Christ?
And write things that would be to the health and blessings of the Church in all ages.
One point Brother Lemoyne just made.
What the apostle Paul is saying is.
Thank you. What the apostle Paul is saying is.
If passing through death.
Going through the same experience of death that the Lord Jesus went through.
Makes me know him better by that shared experience.
That's what I want.
And we look at death often as the ultimate pain.
The ultimate sorrow connected with this light.
And yet the apostle Paul is saying, if I can know him better because I passed through the same experience that he passed through, I want to do it.
It's because our sights are set beyond death.
In that eternal day, that's what we are called for, brethren, and and faith lays hold of that, doesn't it?
Says in the beginning of Chapter 11 of Hebrews, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen so often in trials down here we.
Try to analyze it. I find that we as Americans have a more of a problem with trials than sometimes in other countries, because we're always trying to analyze it, trying to figure it out.
Why is God allowing this?
He's preparing us for something up ahead and sometimes we're not going to understand it. Sometimes there's going to be sorrow like you were mentioning, and pressure.
It's not always outward pressure either. I can say to blow up a balloon, you put more pressure on the inside of that balloon.
That's the way it gets blown up, and sometimes the Lord puts inner pressure on us. We don't understand these things, but if we can accept them from His hand and continue in the first verse of chapter 12 of Hebrews, we're encouraged to lay aside the weights.
And the sin which doth so easily beset it.
We're on a race.
It's not a time to be relaxing and taking it easy.
Not on a race.
And you don't take when there's a race going on, you don't take breaks, you keep going.
And this race, this Christian race, is all our life down here until.
We get to the glory. That's where the Lord Jesus is now. He ran that race before us and we are called to run a 2 but in this race.
There are ways.
And there are sin. There is sin that besets us as well.
Weights. They suggest their things that in themselves are not wrong.
But that hinder us from running properly as a Christian.
00:30:03
Brother, I really believe the Lord is allowing times of difficulty in our country.
That we can evaluate things in the light of eternity and lay aside some of the weights.
That weighs down.
It's evident. It's interesting to say that it seems like the Christian testimony is going down in this country. That's the way it seems. Meetings are getting smaller, some are disappearing. Why is that to really believe One reason is is that we are allowing the weight we're trying to cling to the.
Things that are weighing us down, We're told here to lay aside those weights, whatever they might be in your life. I can't tell you what they are, but you can evaluate them and know that there are things that don't let you run properly as a Christian. What are they?
Lay them aside.
The Lord help us, brethren, in looking on to that glory that's ahead of us like the Lord Jesus did.
To lay aside the weights, the sin too that defects.
I'd like to comment too on the other side of that.
That is an exhortation to us.
From our God.
But sometimes we don't heed that exhortation.
And the Lord enters into our life.
The trial.
And in the trial, he takes those weights.
From us because the trial itself produces such a greater weight in our souls that those things that previously were preoccupying us and hindering us.
Become trivial or unimportant to us. Perhaps because we're in a life and death situation, or we're in something that is so great upon our souls for ourselves or someone we love, that suddenly the things that occupied us previously are easily set aside, in fact forgotten, because we are focused, as God has allowed it, on something else that is far more pressure.
Upon our souls. And so even in the larger sense of what we're talking about sometimes, when we don't volunteerily put aside that which is hindering our progress and enjoyment of spiritual things, the Lord knows how to do it in love for our souls.
The faith is that which would give a soul to.
Continue on in spite of the trial, the pain and the PR and the difficulties. And, and throughout that list of, uh, in Chapter 11, you, you have, uh, their faith expressed in many different ways. And we've already mentioned about Jbaz and he, uh, I believe it was his faith that gave him to say the words that he did and to pursue it. Umm, sometimes it's like in a man like Jacob, it's hard to see what distinguish between the scheming and the faith.
I believe it's that way with us often times.
But our faith in the end desired end.
And everyone of us brethren, is all going to depend on what the Lord can give us in the end. And that's why this Chapter 11, after Speaking of many different people and, and the way they lived in faith and how they overcame or didn't overcome, still went on in faith. The answer to them all is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's the only one that's really going to give them what they live for.
Whether in the Old Testament or in the New. And This is why it's so important to connect this all up with the first verses here of chapter.
12 Because that brings us before the Lord Jesus, brings before us the Lord Jesus.
And, uh, introduces him and he's a prime example. And I would just like to go ahead and connect it with what we had the day before yesterday, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. That is, there were all these previous examples and cases that God gave throughout the history of the Old Testament.
00:35:12
But when the Lord, when the Lord Jesus comes upon the scene, he is the true fulfillment of what all those others spoke of.
And he is the one who's going to give the answer.
To the faith that the different ones sought to live by including ourselves. And so it and then it that verse really means that there's never gonna be anybody that's gonna replace him as that one that is the same. He's gonna be the same and God isn't going to bring along somebody different. Jesus is the the final fulfillment of it all and he's never gonna change.
Jabez praised something tremendously wonderful.
That we want for ourselves.
Says and that thou wouldest.
Uh, and that thy hand might be with me.
When the Lord Jesus was here.
He loved the company of the disciples.
They didn't fully appreciate or understand the importance of his presence with them.
He valued it more than they, he said. In the end year, they which have continued with me, he appreciated their presence.
With himself, their hands, with him, and his hand upon their lives. The Lord Jesus recognized it in such a significant way that when he was leaving them and concern for them and making provision for them in his separation from them, He said, I'm going to send the Spirit.
To manage the affairs of your life as I have managed them up to this point.
We want that, brethren. We need it. We need the Lord Jesus by the Spirit.
Every day of our lives that we may walk together in companionship.
And that we have one like in Psalm 23, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. We want someone who cares so much about us that he says, I'll go with you all the way.
And as needed, I'll put my hand upon you, I'll steady you, I'll draw you back as needed. One of the worst things that could happen in our lives is if in the government of God, as it were, the Lord Jesus has to withdraw his sense of his presence from us and we learn what it is to try to live a life without him. And that can happen in God's governmental dealings. But.
Oh, the desire that.
We might walk through each day with His hand upon us, whether it's in comfort or whether it's in admonishment or whether it's in protective care of us. It's something that we we would stand with Jabez and say, Lord, that thy hand might be with me. It's a tremendous blessing that He promises that to us. He recognizes the importance of it more than we do.
But Moses is a wonderful example to us when the children of Israel were to go up into the land.
And we're gonna have to go through the desert.
The Lord said they're stiff necked people and I'm not going.
Moses said to the Lord. Well, Lord.
If you don't, go with us.
Serious, not offense. We can't go if your hand is not with us. And the Lord said, OK, Moses, I'll go with you. May we have that spirit never to say, Lord, please step aside. There's some things I want and I need them, and you don't seem to want to give them to me, so let me have them.
No, we want the Lord's hand upon us in life.
00:40:10
To what to keep me from evil that?
A little, uh, like saying, I guess, uh, he does not have compensation realizing that he's tweak and he can't do nothing without the water. Is that correct?
Uh, brother, I didn't.
At least us and to temptation since the role of what it's time again realizing it is weak. You can do nothing without the door.
It's important that.
We can't keep ourselves from it. We're not strong enough.
And uh, and so it's not wrong to say lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. And the Lord is the only one with us that can give us a safe path.
In in the path of faith through life. And so he said that, he said.
What does evil in our lives do?
It grieves the Lord, as he says here, that it might not grieve me, that evil that comes in both without and from within. It grieves the Lord, but it grieves us too, if we have right hearts before God, that is, if we have eternal life.
The evil that comes into our lives is not only a grief to God, but it's a it's a grief to our own souls as well. It produces significant depression and and pain in the soul and.
His prayer is Lord preserved me and we need that prayer.
We need the prayer of Jabez that we might in faith walk with the Lord with His hand upon us and with His protective care over our souls, not only externally, but as Bob said, the greater pressures of life are generally what's inside of us and what's outside of us. Most of us have more struggles in our lives concerning what goes on in US than the outward things that go on outside of us, even though they be evil.
It can be our prayer to ask the Lord to keep us from evil, but if your comfort to know that the Lord has the same prayer for us. If you look in John chapter 17 and verse 15.
He says, I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. And so the Lord, he's, his prayer is that we would be kept from the evil in this world. He knows that we're not part of this world.
It's this is not where our future is.
Our brother mentioned earlier that.
The pair of Jay beds has become popular in the United States. Why is that?
There they have more of an idea that.
The Church is Israel in this world and that our blessings are going to be here in this world.
We are not His real brethren. We are the Church. Our blessing is in heaven. Our home is in heaven. The Lord Jesus is in heaven.
And we're going to be with Christ. We're not looking for a blessing on this world. And so the Lord, he prays that we be kept from evil in this world, their spiritual evil and their moral evil. And we need to.
To be trusting the Lord and to follow His word. He says I am the way, the truth and the life. We need to follow the Lord as the way we need to follow Him and the truth.
And then we can live in the good of the life that we have.
I believe in the First Peter chapter 2 There's a verse that goes well into what we're saying honestly. First Peter two and verse 11.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
It is important, like you are mentioning, Tim, that we understand that our blessings are not material. And there is a real movement in Christian circles that preaches the prosperity gospel and says if you are really living like you should, you'll be prospered down here.
00:45:19
But I don't know how they explain what happened to the Apostle Paul who lost everything.
And yet was rejoicing in what was before his soul. And I think it is so important for us to understand that our blessing is characteristically heavenly. And that's why in the first verses of this 12Th chapter of Hebrews we are looked at as on a race. We are pursuing something. There is something before our souls.
And it's not down here, brethren, it's it's interesting to think of it that the Lord Jesus was never prospered down here in his life materially. He never had an answer in this life. He died crucified as a criminal and in a certain sense it was never rectified in the life down here.
God's answer is in resurrection.
On that side, the Apostle Paul in the like way.
During his life down here, he lost everything. It looked like total failure, his life, all those in Asia, including those in Ephesus that were so blessed.
They abandoned him and I'm sure many said, Paul, you're just too extreme. Look where your life has led you. There he was in a prison, ready to have his head taken off. And Timothy, he writes to him and he says, remember Timothy, Jesus Christ of the seed of David, raised from the dead according to my gospel. And brethren, let's remember.
That we are called for that side, not anything great or wonderful down here. We should be running in view of the goal, and the goal is Christ in glory. Notice it in verse two of Hebrews 2. Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down.
At the right hand of the throne of God, there's the goal, brethren.
It's not in this life, it's in that. And so that's what we're running towards.
And we need to be encouraged to continue on. Things look discouraging down here. Yes, they do.
But we need to be encouraged to run, brethren. The goal on the other side is well worth it. It's interesting how it puts it here. For the joy that was set before him.
I remember you mentioning it in an address one time. I think it was Dawn. I'd like you to elaborate. What was that joy that was set before the Lord Jesus that encouraged him to through all that awful ordeal of the cross that He did not turn aside? Not one.
Go ahead.
Well, I'll tell you what I remember of it and then you can elaborate maybe a little bit more.
But what so thrills my soul brethren is the joy that was set before him. Sometimes it says it's been said that it's to have us with him, and I'm sure that's included. But there's something much more blessed in my own soul brother, and it's when he was able to go.
Into the presence of God.
And say the word that thou gaveest me to do. What must it have been when the Lord Jesus as a man went back into the presence of God in the virtue of a work that was completely done to God's own glory?
00:50:10
The glory of that moment, we just don't have any concept of it.
But we stand in all the blessedness of that work, brother. But I think that was the joy that was set before him.
To be able to go into the presence of God and present himself before His Father and say in the words that we have spoken in John 17.
Father, I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do. Who of us can ever say that when we get to the end of our lives? Perhaps the Apostle Paul was the closest.
He could say I finished the course.
But will you and I be able to say, because the Lord has given us something to do too down here, brother, are you going to be able to say, and I think we should desire this.
The work that we've been given to do. What about that work? May the Lord exercise our hearts. But that's what I've enjoyed. And maybe you wanna go a little different direction, but.
In John 17, going back to the evil for a moment that Tim mentioned to us and read the verse like to call attention to the very next couple of verses in John 17. We don't have to turn to it. I think we're familiar enough that we just quoted that.
When he says keep them from the evil.
Then the Lord says.
Sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth.
We have to have truth.
To be separated from evil if you have error, if you have corrupted profession of truth.
It's tainted. We, we had that before us, maybe Saturday.
But and everything in this world has that character. It's all messed up. Man doesn't know what truth is anymore and he he can't present it either because it's so mixed with sinfulness. But the Lord said keep them from the evil and then he presents to them and we have pure unadulterated truth in the written word of God, which is more than written. It's a living book.
It has a living effect upon our souls and it's it's essential to us for preservation from evil, among many other things. It's life giving and so on. So it says, set them apart by truth. But the other thing, immediately after that, he says, I sanctify myself.
Maybe I better turn, maybe we better turn back to it just.
Worth reading seeing with our eyes in John 17.
In John 17.
And verse umm 19.
For their sake.
I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
I'm going to connect that to a verse in Psalm 16.
Psalm 16.
And verse 11.
That will show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. I want to read the middle part of the verse in the new translation.
Thy countenance.
His fullness.
Joy. Thy countenance is fullness of joy.
In John 17, when the Lord says I sanctify myself, he's saying I'm in heaven.
And I put myself separate there.
As the object of my people's hearts.
And because I'm not on earth, but they love me, they're going to have their eye on me where I am in a sanctified place separate from evil, and the attraction of their hearts to myself is going to preserve them from evil.
00:55:12
Connected with Psalm 16. Brethren, can't you in your soul? Can't I in my soul this morning by faith look up?
And see a countenance of joy in the face of the Lord Jesus.
Our beloved one, as it were, saying to us. Here I am. I finished the course.
The end of result is perfect joy.
Come on, keep coming. You'll soon be with me here.
And if we could only in our hearts lay hold of his countenance of joy.
Toward us, with the realization that perhaps this morning we're going to see them.
What is it going to be to look face to face upon us the joy that is in his face as he looks at the fruit of the travail of his soul? And even now he wants us to see him with that countenance of joy. And we know what it is. You get a you get a little child and and there's mommy or daddy and it's learning to walk and it can't walk very well. But they stand there with their arms out and say, come on, come on.
Come and the little child gets his eye on the mother father and starts to take those few halting steps until it can take the last step and it reaches them. And it's as if the Lord Jesus knows the haltingness of our steps. But he looks at us with with joy, with with anticipation in his own soul of what it's going to be to be together, what it's going to be as it were individually to put his arm around us and embrace us and say we're home, we're together.
Forever. And if that lays hold of our hearts, it makes the world and everything seem pretty.
Pretty small, pretty unsatisfying. The one that.
Loved us and gave himself for us. The one who's in heaven this morning laboring, just get us safely with himself. And now he says.
Our its fullness of joy is true, but and we'll have a happy face.
But his will excel.
Patrick, that's really our verse too, Don the, the, the Lord Jesus that sanctified himself. He set himself apart from our, uh, this world, an object there in heaven. Uh, and, and, and it is so beautiful to see him that in that way, looking to be able to look to him who sanctified himself in that way. And it's, uh, he, he's presented there, uh, not only the sanctified, but.
One, but he's presented the author and finisher and he, he tells us there in verse two that of how he got there. Uh, he's the author and finisher and the glory is the finish. That's where he is, but he's the author. That is, he designed it. And then it speaks about how he got there. Uh, which is the path that we go to in following, uh, The Who endure who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.
Not only putting up with the shame, but despising it. You could only despise shame if you've got the, if you've got the glory before you. Uh, that principle comes out in the, in the children of Israel when they reproach of Egypt was cast off. It was only as they got to the cross the land of the river Jordan and into the, into the land of Canaan that they could look back on the things of Egypt.
And and that there would be insulted against them and and, uh, cast it off.
And so with us, it's a vision of glory of the Lord Jesus there that gets us to put, to put up with the what is along the way. Despise it. And, uh.
The difference between us brethren and the Old Testament Saints is they had to look forward into faith too, uh, to the answer to what they live for and what they went through and, and endured in different ways. The difference is they didn't have the conscious knowledge that the Lord Jesus was already at the end and he was the finisher of it. We do.
01:00:19
MMM, so everything here is in Christ as an example for us, isn't it?
The Lord Jesus is presented four times in Hebrews as having sat down, or being sat down at the right hand of God. Three of those times He stands alone when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, and then going on with His priesthood in the 8th chapters and in the 8th chapter. He stands alone in that.
And then again in the 10th chapter we find that.
He had offered one sacrifice for sins and then sat down at the right hand of God.
But here the atoning sufferings are clearly left out, aren't they?
The atoning sufferings are not here. In the 12Th chapter it says He endured the cross, despising the shame.
The atoning sufferings, I suggest, are not brought in here because He is an example for us. Now I agree you cannot separate the atoning sufferings in one sense, but at the same time, it's the shame of the cross that's here, similar to what we get in Philippians 2. There. Once again, the atoning sufferings are not brought in because here, as Doug has presented, it's Christ as an example for us.
And so the joy in that sense is not so much the joy of having us with him, although there is a wonderful joy.
But as it was, as was brought out, the joy is primarily the joy enduring the Father's will, and having the sense in our souls that as Christ perfectly did, the will of the Father.
So you and I follow him in that path again, as Bob has brought out, there was only one who could say.
I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do.
And none of us at the end of the journey will be able to say those words in that way.
But I trust as we've had brought before us, that we'll be able to say along with Paul, I have finished my course, I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith and that's what we have brought before us here. There is a pathway. The Lord is encouraging us as an example and says now you follow me in that path and that joy is before you.
Verse three of Hebrews 12 Says consider him.
I love that, brethren, it's.
Having our thoughts on him.
The Spanish, the old version and the Spanish puts it. Reduce your thoughts to him.
And we need to this is what Christianity is, to have our thoughts directed to Him.
And it will transform us, brother, It's being occupied with him. Now you can look at yourself and you can be occupied with all your shortcomings. And at times we have to be brought up to judge ourselves. But that's not what's going to transform you. It's to be occupied with Him that will transform you. And so consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
You often find Christians that are weary, just weary of the struggle.
Saint, consider him. He went through far more than any of us will ever go through. So often we're down because we think of how we've been treated and the set of our circumstances. Brethren, let's be delivered from thinking about ourselves.
Let's consider him. That's what Christianity is, and I think we'll find that it'll be a real help and an encouragement in our souls. Go on. Was he misunderstood? Yes, he was, far more than anybody else. Even his own disciples didn't really understand him when he was talking about being crucified. They were squabbling amongst themselves about who was to be the greatest.
01:05:25
Oh, brethren, is that characteristic of our hearts? Yeah, it is. Let's consider him. How different. How blessed.
Thanks, welcome to Jesus.
A good runner will look ahead, won't look down or behind. Otherwise you might stumble or you might make others some stumble.
I've enjoyed the story of Eric Little, uh, Olympic runner in 19. Early 1900s I think it was.
And somebody made him fall down as he was running in the Olympic race. And he quickly got up again. And with determination he went and he won. We need determination. We need to have a focus on the Lord and the diverse. I enjoy first John chapter 2.
First John chapter 2 and verse 10.
Peter loves his brother, abides in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him.
Uh, this, uh, verse would say with me, uh, there's no stumbling that it you will not stumble and he will not make utters and stumble.
#12.
#12 I'd like to, uh, share a few more things. Just, uh, 5 minutes more or less. You can be patient with me. Umm, Eric Little, I mentioned was uh, uh, a runner in the Olympics.
He was also a Christian and uh, he finished his race, uh, his life, uh, serving the Lord. He finished uh, the course the Lord gave him to, to run. He was, uh, a missionary in China. He had a very good testimony.
And I'd like to read one more verse in the the chapter we were looking at the First Chronicles 4.
The the same verse we read before.
Uh, verse ten of First Chronicles 4.
What I heard about that first is it's pretty much the same verse as first John chapter 2. We read that there is no stumbling. There can be read both ways that it may not agree with me.
Nor it may or it may not really bothers. So I really enjoyed that job. And if you don't mind, could we sing 35 in the back hymn #12 Sing without ceasing sing the saviors present grace, how all things shine in light divine for those who've seen his face.
Verse four such here on earth we are, though we in weakness Rome are placed on high God's self so nigh His presence is our home, And stayed by joy divine as hireling fills his day Through scenes of strife and desert life, we tread in peace our way.
Hymn #12.
Sing Welcome to the.
Glory to life.
Oils and being here and praying.
01:10:39
800 and $1000.
I saw you.
Know there's a wireless wireless Brave.
A lot of our friends.
Of a purpose, things are great.
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01:15:59
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Uh, but I probably don't. I don't know if it's crazy.
Uh, let's go. And all my life, let's go all the way home. Oh, OK. Oh my God.
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The Lord Jesus As Our Pattern
Address—D. Buchanan
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 sing him together. Hymn #172.
I'll teach us more of thy blessed ways, thou holy Lamb of God.
And fix and rudest in Thy grace, as those redeemed by blood tell us often of thy love, and of all Thy grief and pain. And let our hearts with joy confess that thence comes all our game, 172.
Oh, teach us more.
Of God.
Praying by Gray.
0325 1.
Oregon.
I would like to speak this afternoon briefly.
About the Lord Jesus as the pattern or example.
Of godliness.
Godliness. Propriety.
That which is.
Real worship or reverence to God out of His people.
We've had the Lord Jesus.
Focus before us, and I believe we'll find that the Lord Jesus is the pattern of that display of what godliness is.
Many times when we think about godliness, we think of how.
We look within ourselves and say.
I want to be a good representative of God. I want to be godly. I want people to see Christ.
That's a good desire.
But we must approach this subject in the right way, and the right way is not by looking within.
The right way.
Is looking to the one who is the pattern of godliness.
The author and finisher of faith. The one who, as a man, walked here on earth.
00:05:03
And gave us a perfect demonstration of what a godly man is.
So he hasn't called us to do something. He hasn't already walked.
In and showed forth.
First Timothy, chapter 3.
We like to read these last few verses of this third chapter beginning with.
Verse 14.
These things right I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou Artest to behave thyself.
In the House of God.
Which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground.
Of the truth.
And without controversy.
Greed is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Justified in the Spirit.
Of angels.
Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Here we have the apostle Paul writing to Timothy and giving us.
The order in the House of God. And it's often been commented that this first epistle of Timothy is the pattern of the House of God.
It's the instructions of how.
Timothy was to establish the assembly in the beginning.
After the right pattern.
And it's been compared to a model home.
Where a builder will have a pattern house a a model home that he builds and furnishes, and that anyone interested in a home can go walk through and see.
Visualize experience.
And appreciate.
This home that will be built for you.
And so God gives us.
In first Timothy this pattern.
And this 16th verse, or the 15th verse here I believe is the key verse.
To this epistle.
And so as we think about being the House of God, the place of witness.
To carry on the order that God would have us as his people.
For God has left us. The Lord Jesus has left us in this world.
To be his representatives.
The Lord Jesus was rejected and cast out.
So he spent the Spirit of God down to gather us together in one body.
To build his house. To form his house.
And we that are left here in this world.
Are the representatives of the testimony that God would have this world deceive?
And so we have to stick close to the pattern.
If we're going to represent the Lord the right way.
And I'm sure that each one of us here in the room has that desire to.
Be a good representative, to be a good pattern, to let the world know what the Lord is like, to reflect Him properly, to be a godly witness.
To our Savior.
In the Old Testament, we know God had a temple. He had a Tabernacle.
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And many of us have appreciated the studies of those who have gone into the dimensions in the pattern. And there's beautiful pictures and.
Teachings that we can learn about God by studying how he had.
The house built, or in that case the Tabernacle or the temple, everything was according to the model.
That was shown. Like Moses, David got further instructions too.
And we have a pattern in the Book of Ezekiel of a coming temple too.
It all has its meaning.
So Paul here writes to Timothy with this in view.
Thankfully, this has been preserved to us today.
You know, if we look out on the Christian testimony today.
We and we judge what God was like by what we saw.
We wouldn't come to a very correct conclusion of what God's like.
When we went over to Romania.
Number of years ago after the communist regime fell.
There was a great hunger and thirst to receive from the so-called Christian lands, the Western.
World.
That we're known to be.
Christian countries and there was a hunger and a thirst to receive people from Europe and the Americas, where there was a nominal at least witness to what Christianity is about.
And it was so sad to see that along with.
Sincere Christians that would go.
And open up the Bible as some of us ought to do in those early days.
There was also.
An influx.
Of all the worldly things.
Of the Western world.
The very soon dominated.
All the magazines.
All the Christian profession.
Ways of organized Christianity immediately also came in.
And filled that land.
It didn't take very long until those who were sincere believers.
Who had a?
Sincere desire to follow the Word of God.
That had been partially caught off guard and before they realized that all kinds of corrupt and wrong things came into the Christian churches over there.
And worldly practices and dress.
And models.
And as the years went by, the barriers started going up.
We don't want this. We don't want this.
There's another element that readily would receive that kind of thing.
Where was the godliness of the Christian testimony?
People judge Christianity by the outward things that they see.
They do not distinguish between those that are truly gathered to the Lord's name and those that meet.
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And other churches with all their kinds of doctrine, they don't see the difference in that.
And so.
The Savior of Christ.
Is lost because of the Christian testimony.
Godliness.
I like that little saying.
Preach Christ at all times.
And if necessary, use words.
That is, people read us by how we live and what we do.
They detect.
Piety.
It's important.
How are we going to be godly?
I believe the following verses are the secret.
Great is the mystery of godliness.
And then it proceeds to give us that which is really clearly.
A testimony of what the Lord Jesus Christ was.
When here on earth?
I believe the Spirit of God is.
Pointing us and saying there's only one man, there's only one godly 1.
That I can give you an example.
That's my son, the Lord Jesus.
Our Lord Jesus.
When Moses went up on the mount and got the pattern of the Tabernacle the first time.
Are the 1St.
Not the first time he went up, but the first Tabernacle.
He was there 40 days.
The second time when he came down his his face shone because he had been with God and he was.
A witness.
He was the godly man. They saw the godliness.
They saw it reflecting in his face. In fact, it was so bright.
He had to put a veil over his face because they weren't godly and he was.
Or they hadn't been with God and He had.
Now in the New Testament, we know Corinthians takes this up and says that we view Christ through an unveiled. That is, there's no need to cover it up because it's too bright for us because we now have the life and nature by the Spirit of God.
We can take these things in, We can appreciate first hand who Jesus Christ is and look to Him in glory and see him for who He is.
This is how.
Comes out of us.
I might I might comment just a little more on the end of the 15th verse.
The House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church is not the truth. Jesus Christ is the truth, and we have the word of God which is the truth, but we are the sustainer or the pillar and the base, and so the Christian Church.
God's assembly, the House of God is to be.
That representation?
Of the truth.
Not very much of it gets across.
Today.
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In the world.
But there still is a Savior of Christ. We're still, even though we're at the last time in the darkest hour.
We still have this opportunity.
Of representing our our, our our Savior.
The church or the assembly that he has formed?
Verse 16.
Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
This is a great and wonderful thing. I believe it's called a mystery here because it's not readily seen.
But I believe if.
The people of God.
Look to the Lord.
Learn of him.
Live Christ, it will no longer be a mystery.
They will see it.
But it needs people to show it out.
What a wonderful privilege.
To show it out. Godliness or piety?
It's a little like the mystery in contrast, the mystery of iniquity.
Which is.
It's spoken of in Thessalonians about the Antichrist.
It says the mystery of iniquity was already present.
But at the end of time, when the Antichrist comes forth, it's no longer going to be a mystery. It's going to be a full-fledged, revealed, plain, evident Antichrist.
There's a spirit of God that would hinder it being manifesting itself in its full-fledged form.
Here, it's not the iniquity, it's godling.
That is spoken of as a mystery.
I believe the Lord would have us to.
Not having a mystery, have it opened up so people can see what it is.
And the only way a lot of people are going to get it is if they see it expressed.
In a living practical example.
Of one who lives.
Like God.
Or in piety.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Mr. Darby also has a footnote saying it could be translated. He was manifest in the flesh, and I've taken it this way. I don't know whether this is right, but it isn't just the thought that it was God come in flesh, but it was godliness in flesh.
He's pointing the finger here to the practical, living example in display of the Lord Jesus.
In a human form.
Of our likeness.
He didn't take the form of an Angel, he took the form of a man, and he lived among us.
And a little later, we're going to at least turn to one gospel and notice something of of that godliness or piety.
God.
Came down.
Jesus Christ.
Was manifest.
In the Flash.
Complained about how God was in a far off place and he couldn't get near him.
Or he couldn't reason with him to resolve his problem.
But when Jesus?
Became man.
No one can can say.
God isn't near and living among us and giving us a demonstration of what He's like.
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That's what the Lord Jesus did. He revealed to us like no one else. What?
God is like we learn more about what God is like through him than anyone else.
This is why this is the secret.
To godliness.
Look at him.
He shows us he didn't just preach it, he lived it.
Godliness isn't isn't a doctrine, it's a life lived.
It's something in evidence by the way you behave. That's what it talks about here. That will misbehave. How the the artist know how the artist to behave. It's behavior.
Justified in the Spirit.
These are indeed profound words here.
I'm surprising myself to even be Speaking of them because they're so profound, I believe.
The Lord Jesus as he walked here as a perfect man.
Was always.
Guided by the Spirit of God. Never took an action without the guidance of the Spirit of God. I believe this is.
Picture to us in the anointing of the priest in the Old Testament, the oil.
With the oil, which is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
And so the Lord Jesus.
Because he always looked.
To the Spirit of God as a dependent man, as a perfect man here on earth. We're not talking about his divinity. We're talking about his humanity.
As a man, he walked and talked among us, and he gave us a perfect example of how we should always.
Seek to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
It's when we look to ourselves or other resources for guidance that we go astray.
We don't need to be afraid of what's going to happen if we look to the Lord for guidance.
We may make a mistake, but we can be sure that the Spirit of God will stop us.
Or change our course. Paul made certain decisions to do certain things and when he prayed about it says the Spirit suffered him not.
And so the Spirit of God could give his stamp of approval.
On everything that Jesus did.
He was justified.
In the Spirit.
There may be other meetings too, but.
Just share that with you.
Seam of angels.
Her brother commented. Brother Lemoine commented about that yesterday very nicely.
When the Lord Jesus was born.
Here on Earth, in his incarnation, the Angel saw.
God for the first time, for God is the Spirit.
And until God had taken the form of man with their physical eyes, if I may put it that way.
They had not seen their creator.
And they they, they praise God on that scene.
In Bethlehem.
But it says scene of angels.
They are the spectators.
But we're more than spectators, brethren.
He didn't take the form of angels to redeem angels. He didn't take the form of angels.
To rescue them or to bring them into adoption, into the family.
He chose man.
And so there's a difference here.
Preached.
Unto the Gentiles are the nations.
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He's presented to us. The message is to us. It's witnessed of the angels.
And so.
That's why it speaks of the.
For example, in connection with the head covering.
The angels look down and see the order among us.
And when they see that new subjection, they notice it.
If they were ever in subject.
They would be forever doomed.
What a wonderful thing to appreciate.
That God became man, and he.
Preached to us, he's presented to us.
Scene of angels.
And it says of the angels too, they witness in the in the assembly the manifold wisdom of God.
But we are the chosen ones.
If that gets a hold of our souls.
It will make us godly.
You know, it's nice to see when a young couple gets married.
How they like to be like each other. A lot of times they dress alike, use the same colors and so on. And.
And.
It's nice.
It's natural. It's in its order.
And it should be that way with us and the Lord Jesus too.
The more we appreciate about him, I believe the more we're going to want to be like him.
And a testimony will result.
But the testimony, the godliness, won't shine out.
If we start being, if we occupy ourselves with being that godly one or that testimony.
A secret?
Look, Jesus.
And so this list here presents to us that pattern of godliness in a person.
The Lord Jesus.
We can also read it and apply it to ourselves.
And individually.
Seek to be those the various things here.
And represent the Lord Jesus in that way. Behave in the House of God.
Like these verses say.
Preached unto the Gentiles, Believed on in the world.
And then it closes, received up into glory.
I really enjoyed the comments that Bob made about Our Calling.
We have a heavenly calling.
We have a heavenly calling because Jesus was received up into glory.
And he's calling us there, too.
And that's what will make us like him.
If we forget that calling, if we forget where our destiny is, where Jesus is and where he's going to take us, it's so easy to become earthly minded or worldly Christians.
We ever lose the hope of the coming of the Lord.
We will become worldly.
The Lord Jesus was received up in glory. Soon we will be there too.
Now I'd like to go back to the Gospel of Mark and Justice. Notice one little portion.
About the Lord Jesus in his life here on earth in chapter 10.
This these verses have been referred to more than once already in this conference.
In Mark's Gospel chapter 10.
Beginning with verse 17.
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And when he that's the Lord Jesus was gone forth into the way.
There came one running and kneeling to him, and asked him, good master.
What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not honor thy father and mother.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed.
From my use.
Then Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor. Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
And he was sad that thing, and went away grief, for he had great possession.
Too bad we have to read that last verse.
But it teaches us a very important lesson.
Not even the best of men.
Have it in themselves.
To be that godly 1.
But the Lord Jesus met this man where he was.
He didn't.
Correct him and say you're all wrong.
He points him to the right way.
And he gives them some secret thing or some important things.
That I would like to take and apply for ourselves.
He was off basis when he began.
He addressed the Lord Jesus as good Master.
I believe this was a very subtle attack.
When God created man.
He did not create man to be self-sufficient of himself.
And to be good of his own accord, or within from within himself.
And that's what these words insinuate. Good master. That is, you have something good within you. I believe that's why the man went to him. Because.
The young man thought he had something good too, and they would be good buddies. Or they would. They could be companions or he could learn something from this good man.
Willie, he could.
Joe seems to have fallen into that trap.
When God tested him.
He had a lot of good qualities, the Lord tells us he did. He was perfect.
That is evident. There wasn't anything outwardly evident wrong.
There was something within, but not outwardly.
And the reason that Job had so much difficulty is because he hadn't learned.
What the Lord Jesus is speaking here?
That is that everything that had received.
A blessing didn't come to him because he was good.
And earned it or got it on his own self.
All of us are creatures of God. He made us, we didn't make ourselves.
Everything we have about us is given to us. Nothing of it is.
Have we gotten of ourselves?
There we breathe the heart that pumps within us.
All our faculties are from God.
And yet we think we're so self-sufficient.
It's a part of our culture. We're taught to be that way.
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The Lord Jesus said.
Why call list?
Thou me good, there is none good but one that is God.
Yes, we know Jesus was God. He is God.
But he's speaking here as man.
He is this godly one. He is this perfect representation of godliness.
He assumes nothing of himself.
And John, he says I can do nothing of myself.
That's not weakness, that's perfect submission. God created us to be that way. God did not create us to be independent and self-sufficient from Him. He created us to be companions with Him, to be dependent on Him. He delights to provide for us and He has proved that. And now and then in Jesus Christ here we have.
A perfect man.
Taking that perfect place as a dependent, perfect man, never doing anything without God.
Beautiful.
This is the secret to godliness.
The one who made us is the best plan for our life.
He knows all the answers.
Not only does he know the answers, he will give them to us when we need them.
That's why they're in the 5th of John where it says the Son can do nothing of himself. The rest of the verse or the following verse says the Father. Well, let me just turn to it so I don't misquote it.
John's Gospel chapter 5 verse 19 in the middle it says the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. For what things so ever he doeth, that is the Father. These also doeth the Son. Likewise, for the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth.
And he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
The answer from the Father to the perfect obedient son is he showeth himself.
All things.
There never came a time in the Lord's life.
When the God withheld from the sun, what would be the right thing to do?
He gave the answer.
Sometimes his parents or as responsible ones, we fall down on that.
It takes both to make a perfect relationship.
And so in godliness.
It takes a perfect obedience and dependence accompanied with a God who will show.
What we should do? Give us the pattern.
And so I enjoy seeing this in the Lord Jesus here.
He didn't assume any goodness of himself apart from God.
Then he goes on and he points out the law and gives the.
Several of the commandments here.
Not because.
He thought the man could complete them.
He gave them as a means of proving to him he could not do it.
But the man didn't get it. He missed the point. Or he wasn't.
Willing to submit to the point he wasn't willing to give up a certain thing that was dear to him.
But the Lord didn't just give him the commandments.
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He gave him a little added portion there at the end.
Like as if if you can't do this, I've gotten reserved something better.
On a better way for you.
And that is, come take up your cross and follow me.
May the Lord help us to do that.
Follow the Lord.
He gave us the pattern.
Let us follow him.
Thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
He also says there in connection with the giving up of everything.
That is, if he gave up his worldly goods.
That blessed man knew what he had in store in heaven.
There will be no disappointed Old Testament Saints in heaven that get there and say, oh.
I was looking for earthly blessing and here you gave me heavenly blessings.
There's not going to be none of that in glory, brother.
And those of us who look for heavenly blessings.
And get caught up with earthly things now that drag us down from time to time.
And we struggle with these things. It's a challenge to not leave these things.
Have an undue influence in our lives. I know that I struggle with that myself.
But the fact that we fail here and there should not 'cause us to give up the race.
Give up the whole thing.
You know that happens sometimes, brethren, they give up. We've had a lot here in these meetings about continuing on.
And so on. And I believe the enemy would.
Seek to overwhelm us with the the problems and the failures, the groanings and so on. Get us distracted from the goal, get us diverted from seeing in the Lord Jesus that perfect example, the beauty of it. And it's only as our souls glean that and see it in the Lord. And that's one of the beauties of reading the Gospels.
Is to see in the Lord Jesus his perfect manhood.
He did give us a good demonstration of it.
This is just one little portion.
And then he says.
Through the Apostle Paul.
This is the secret or the mystery of godliness.
Well, those are just some of the thoughts that I've enjoyed on the subject of godliness, piety.
Uh, I believe it's primarily towards God, but I believe it it's towards our fellow men too.
They read in US.
May the Lord help us to have the focus on Him.
That great.
Example of godliness.
Let's sing in closing hymn #230.
Oh Lord, when we.
Love the river?
Where we come.
10-4.