Chicago Conference: 2014
Table of Contents
Matthew 18
Address—Bill Prost
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Could we sing together part of hymn #6464 beginning at verse 5?
Our God the center is His presence fills that land, and countless myriads owned as His round Him adoring stand #64 beginning at verse 6.
Our God, the centuries.
Is present.
And.
Kind of.
Now we are on.
The key line in that hymn or the key lines that I had before me are the last two.
That gives us now as heavenly light what soon shall be our part.
Attach the Lord's help.
Our loving God and our Father.
We thank Thee that we can sing together of coming glory of that place where Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, will be the center of glory and the center of all praise and honor, according to Thy purposes in a past eternity.
So we thank Thee, our God, that Thou dost give us here and now the enjoyment of all of that which in a coming day will be a full reality to us. Help us to live and walk more in the good of it, in whatever time may be left to us here.
And now we pray for Thy help as we open Thy word together, guide and direct our.
Thoughts. May what is expressed not merely be according to thy mind, as given in thy word, but may it meet the need of our hearts, our God, and above all, may it exalt our Lord Jesus Christ.
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For we ask that in his alone worthy and precious name, Amen.
I hesitate a great deal to enter in onto the subject that I had before me. Excuse me?
But I trust it's of the Lord.
Several weeks ago in our home assembly. Well, it wasn't even that long ago. It was just last Lord's Day, I guess. Someone in our afternoon meeting that we have once a month after our fellowship meal.
Raised some questions about a verse that has been the subject of much controversy.
Much joy and blessing too. Matthew 18 and 20.
We had a very good discussion about it in a meeting together and I have had it on my heart for the past week.
Could we turn to that portion again? Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18?
And just to get the connection.
We'll read from verse 15 of Matthew 18.
Matthew 18 and verse 15.
Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou St. gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, but in the mouth of two or three witnesses.
Every word may be established.
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church.
But if he neglect to hear the church.
Let him be unto thee, as in heathen man and a publican.
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.
And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done of them, done for them, rather of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, they are my in the midst of them.
In prefacing what I have on my heart today.
We need to remind ourselves, as I suppose we scarcely need to be reminded, that we are indeed living in the last days of the Church's history on earth.
And all around us we can see the signs of what the Lord is doing in setting the stage for coming judgment.
Already we can see the Lord allowing some of those things, although in a limited way.
That eventually will come to full blown reality during the Tribulation period. We're seeing climatic changes, we're seeing natural disasters, we're seeing diseases that man seems powerless to control. We are seeing an interplay of political and economic forces.
With which man is unable to cope.
We are seeing the rise of rebellion and war, which defies even the strongest military power in the world today, namely the United States of America, to deal with effectively.
And men's hearts are indeed, as we read in God's Word, beginning to fail them for fear.
As they look for those things that are coming on the earth.
And yet, what is so beautiful for you and me as believers is that absolutely nothing of all of this.
Can, shall we say, put a dent in the grace of God that is just as much here today as it was in the beginning of the dispensation? And nothing can stop the flow of that grace of God to you and to me, both individually and collectively.
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Until the Lord calls us home.
Isn't that wonderful? And isn't it wonderful that God has promised to be with us?
All the way home.
And among those most precious things is what we have just read in Matthew 18.
As I said earlier on just a few moments ago, these verses have been the subject of much controversy, perhaps more so, at least in my experience, in the last 20 or 30 years. Although I suppose there have always been difficulties and problems over it. And I'd like, with the Lord's help, to talk a little bit about what the Lord has before us in this passage, not only seeking to get the truth of it for our souls, but also.
As an encouragement to our hearts.
What is the Lord really doing here?
We know that in Matthew's Gospel the Lord Jesus is presented.
Primarily as the rightful king. He comes into this world as the rightful king. It's in Matthew that you get the record of the wise men bringing their gifts to him as the rightful king.
It's in Matthew that you get the emphasis on his presenting himself to Israel.
As their rightful king.
But what happens are you and I know very well that while there were those that accepted them, and we thank the Lord for it, yet for the most part the nation rejected Him. And it started right at the very beginning.
Isn't it solemn to consider that when the wise men came to Herod?
And asked him where is he that is born king of the Jews?
For we have seen this star in the East and are come to worship him.
It says not only Herod was troubled, but all Jerusalem with him. What an indictment of that nation who had been promised that Messiah.
In so many scriptures in the Old Testament and yet when there are those who come on a long journey having seen his star that told them that he was to be born or had been born in their case.
All Jerusalem is troubled along with a heathen king.
And that translated eventually into the nation of Israel's rejecting the Lord Jesus.
So that in Matthew's Gospel, I believe it's chapter 12, you find the Lord Jesus formally and definitely rejecting Israel as a nation.
And then in the 13th chapter you find the Lord leaving the house, which is typical of Israel.
Going out by the seaside, which is a type of the nations of this world.
And giving the parable of the sower, showing that the grace of God was going to send that seed out.
Into all the world in order that not just the nation of Israel, but that all men might be saved. And then you find the Lord Jesus gradually, and this is just background, revealing to his disciples, although in a limited way, that something different was going to happen. They were disappointed. They were in some cases devastated by the fact that there wasn't going to be a visible Kingdom.
That that which they had looked for was going to be deferred. But the Lord soothes their fears by telling them something far more wonderful, something far more blessed, is going to be revealed.
And he brings out, in a limited degree, the fact that there was going to be the assembly.
Now again, I say the full truth of the assembly, and we'll talk more about that later, is not revealed in Matthew. But I suppose it's fair to say that Matthew's Gospel speaks more of the church, the assembly, than any other, in fact more than the other three Gospels, I suppose, put together.
And so there is much said in Matthew's Gospel concerning the church.
And beginning here, I suppose, with chapter 18 and going to the greater part of chapter 20, you get the Lord Jesus bringing in various elements that are going to characterize the scene down here during the time that He is rejected.
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Now let's center in on what He is bringing before us here in Chapter 18.
It's noteworthy that, at least on the surface, Chapter 18 deals very largely with interpersonal relationships. The first part of the chapter deals with the attitude one might have towards children and the need not to offend them, and the precious truth that those who have not yet reached an age of responsibility.
The will of the Father takes over, and they will be taken to that heavenly glory, for the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. Then we find here beginning in verse 15, which is what we have read together, the dealing with offenses between brothers, and that applies to sisters too, and then finally toward the end of the chapter.
A parable that illustrates the importance of personal forgiveness.
Very, very important. What is the Lord bringing out here? And again, these remarks might seem to be a little disjointed, but I'm going to present them just as they come to my mind. And I trust the Spirit of God is over all that.
We find that the Lord, among other things, is showing His own that now, instead of what they had in the Old Testament under the Law, God is going to bring in something different.
That was difficult for them to grasp, as we know it was difficult for a godly Jew to realize that all that he had valued for 1500 years since Moses gave it to them.
Was now going to be superseded by something different.
And so the Lord breaks it all to them, gently showing them, particularly in what we have read, that instead of.
The temple, the Tabernacle, instead of the priesthood, there was now going to be something else that was going to be the center where difficulties and problems could be settled.
We won't turn back to it, but in Deuteronomy I believe it's chapter 17.
We find the Lord through Moses detailing how difficult it is between individuals who were to be settled, and they were to go to the place where the Lord had chosen the place's name. They were to go to the priests that shall be there in those days. They were to lay the matter before him, and whatever sentence was handed down that was binding on those who went there with a difficulty or a problem.
But now all that was gone. The Lord Jesus had been rejected. The Lord could no longer own that system of Judaism, although God gave them grace to get over it.
God gave them after the Lord was crucified, a period of approximately 40 years during which he bore with Israel in grace, until finally about 40 years after the Lord's crucifixion.
The Lord allowed the Roman general Titus to come to Jerusalem, as we know from history, and utterly and completely to destroy that place, to destroy the temple, although he didn't intend it to be destroyed, but God did.
To destroy that place of worship and eventually, over a period of years, eventually, sometime later, uh, another Roman emperor.
Decreed that Jerusalem should be raised to the ground, and it was in fact leveled to the ground. And as the custom was in those days, the site plowed over as if that's the end of that city. And when it was rebuilt, it was rebuilt not by the Jewish nation, but by Muslims.
Who held it for many, many years?
And so God allowed judgment to fall on that city. But what do we have here? We have the Lord Jesus bringing before them that which would take the place of Israel, that place where God.
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Would have difficulties and problems to be settled.
We don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but.
The Lord recognized that even under the blessedness of Christianity, the truth of which is not brought out fully here, yet even under the blessedness of all that Christ was going to accomplish with His work on Calvary's cross.
Offences would come.
There would be a brother who would have a difficulty with another brother.
And without wanting to spend a lot of time on it, we find the details brought out here about how it was to be handled, and I would only emphasize these briefly to our hearts.
If there is a difficulty between me and another brother, I'm not to gossip about it. I'm not to go and complain about it to someone else. I'm not to go and say to someone do you know what he did to me and so on. No, I'm to go to him personally and seek to settle it between ourselves.
And I believe that involves and it humbles my heart to think of it.
It's not a matter of my going to the brother with my finger pointed straight at him.
And trying to make him grovel into the dust.
It's a matter of my humbling myself.
And I like the words of another brother who raised the question.
How much do I need to humble myself in the presence of a brother who has offended me?
And his answer was very searching to my own soul, and I pass it on to you.
He said I need to humble myself enough to compensate for my brother's lack of it.
The brother who has offended me in some cases, I suppose, may have done it inadvertently. We need to recognize that.
But very often it represents a state of soul that shows us that, according to John 13, he needs his feet washed. And I have to get down, down low in order to do that. And I have to humble myself if I'm going to gain my brother and seek to be reconciled to him. But there is, I suppose, and it gives the result here a situation where no matter how much humbling there is, it doesn't work. And then I'm to take one or two more.
And see if.
In the presence of witnesses that accomplishes the desired end, and finally in verse 16.
Her verse 17 rather caledon to the church.
That is, from that point on, to be the place where these matters are settled.
And notice what it says here. If he neglect to hear the church, notice the verb here, and not the verb so much as the.
Word that is this object of it. Let him be unto thee personally, as in heathen man and a public. I just have to leave that brother alone, as it were, and let the Lord work in his heart.
It's singular there. It involves the one who was offended.
But then it goes on in verse 18 to say.
Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye plural, ah, this now brings us to the assembly. And I would say to your heart and mind, let us not try and take these verses out of the context of the assembly. That is what the Lord has in view here. That is the context in which these verses are presented.
Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Very, very solemn verses.
And yet very, very necessary, and may I say it, they echo back to what we have in Deuteronomy 17, because there was a most serious thing under the Law of Moses for those to go up to the Tabernacle or the temple with a difficulty to hear the sentence that was given there by the priest that was of the Lord in those days.
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And yet, having heard that sentence to say.
I don't go along with that.
Could the priest make a mistake being human? I suppose he could. We know that in Israel's history, some of the priests, sad to say, were ungodly and corrupt men, and it might well have been that the sentence they handed down in some cases was not always what it should be.
And so it happens in Christianity that sometimes the assembly can make a mistake.
But here it says, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
The assembly has the authority to bind, and if it felt that the individual here, and it doesn't say it was necessary or that the assembly had to be involved, but if they felt under the circumstances that there was that which had to be bound on that man who had neglected to hear them, there was the authority to do it. Careful. They also had the authority to loose and to me that is most beautiful.
Because, and I call your attention to it, what is the very next verses after those that we read in verses 21 and 22 and going down to the end of the chapter? It has to do with forgiveness.
Forgiveness.
Losing.
Forgiveness on a personal level is perhaps what is given in these verses, but if it is important on a personal level, how much more on a collective level?
You will pardon a story that took place many years ago.
And I don't think anyone here will identify because it's so long ago and nowhere near Addison, IL, but there was a difficulty in an assembly once, and not a particularly small one either.
And there was a lack of unity about how to deal with it.
And a brother, not from that assembly but from another one, had a conversation with one of the responsible brothers in that particular assembly where the problem was.
And he raised a question, he said, have you had problems like this in the past, say, the last 25 years?
Oh, the brother said with sadness. Yes, we have.
And he said, have you had to put people away from the Lord's table?
Was the problem in many cases or some cases that serious? He said. Yes, we have, I'm sorry to say, many of them.
And then the brother from the outside dropped his bombshell.
Brother, he said.
Of those that you have had to put away, say, in the last 25 years?
How many have been restored?
Long silence. The brother thought and he thought and he thought and he thought.
And finally, reluctantly, he had to say brother.
I'm sorry, I can't think even of one.
Ouch.
The brother who was not of that assembly didn't make any further comment. He didn't stick the knife in any further and twist it. He just left the matter.
Often I say to my own soul.
The measure of our walk with the Lord, collectively and ultimately individually.
Is our ability, or the lack of it, to restore those who have gone astray?
A brother many years ago, more than 100 years ago, made a comment in a letter. He said I knew and I have no idea where he was talking about. He said I knew of an assembly.
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Where for many, many years they never had to put anyone away, he said. Not because people didn't behave badly, Not because they were a magical assembly where no one ever stepped out of line or fell into sin. But he said there was a guard shepherding care, a watching out for one another that he said very often headed off things before they escalated to the point that they demanded.
Of putting away from the Lord's table.
I don't wanna find fault and please don't anyone take it this way, least of all the assembly that hosts these meetings.
But very often we see today in a in an invitation to a conference, we cannot accommodate in either.
Lodging or meals. Those who are under assembly discipline.
My late father used to point out, brethren, he said that phrase is a misnomer.
He said those who are put away from the assembly are not under discipline. It is the result of discipline in every kind of having failed.
They are outside of assembly discipline. They are put away outside where the Lord is to deal with them. Let's remember that. And again, I don't find fault with the words. I know what is meant.
I just point out that properly discipline is carried out with those who are still within.
At any rate, let's go on with our chapter.
Four says in verse, or rather verse 19 again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
I want to comment on this verse a little. It has often, in my humble estimation, been used in the wrong way and different thoughts have been advanced as to it.
Some have said, and I believe they are right, that the verse.
Refers to verse 19.
Or I should say to verse 18.
That it is the assembly who carries out whatever kind of discipline it does in the name of the Lord.
That they ask the Lord.
To do for them what they are asking.
I believe that is true. I believe that is true. I believe that when there is binding or losing by the assembly and the reason it says 2 here is because that's the minimum. It can be two, it can be 20, it can be 200, it can be 2000.
But two is the minimum.
And if they?
In the Lord's presence and with his authority.
Carry out.
An act of discipline.
I believe they are in the sense of verse 19 agreeing on earth.
Is touching that thing and asking it.
Does that put the matter in a solemn light? Indeed it does, if we as an assembly are going to go to the Lord with that kind of a request.
Oh, how serious to go with that.
Which may not be according to truth. How serious to go with that which may be?
The result of the particular bent of mind, or a vindictive spirit.
Or pride, or anything else that might enter into the picture. How serious to go to the Lord with something without having our hearts humbled thoroughly before Him, without having eaten the sin offering, without having personally and collectively taken that sin upon ourselves as a local assembly?
And being thoroughly humbled before the Lord as to why He allowed something in our midst of such a character that the assembly had to be involved rather than shepherding care in individuals.
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I believe that is in that verse.
But I'm going to bring out something else here that I think to my soul is very beautiful.
It was brought out in our local assembly last Lord's Day, and I believe it's very true.
Anything to do with judgment is God's strange work. Anything to do with that which deals with sin is not something God relishes doing. His holy nature demands it.
And what we have in verse 20, the Lord's presence in the midst of His own today demands it.
But it's not something that God enjoys doing. Neither should we.
It has often.
Then a humbling thing to my own soul.
And I have seen it more than once and in more than one assembly.
Where those who are seldom seen at a prayer meeting or a reading meeting, and those who seldom open their mouths in praise and Thanksgiving on Lord's Day morning.
And others care meeting where a question of discipline comes up.
They are right there and don't. They don't sit quietly in some cases either.
I have seen it.
Her brethren, if there was to be a brother's care meeting after the prayer meeting, would skip the prayer meeting and yet turn up after the meeting in order to be present at the brothers care meeting.
What do we have here?
If two of you shall agree on earth as touching an act of discipline in the assembly, is that what it says?
Anything that they shall ask, Isn't it beautiful? Oh Lord, I believe would broaden our hearts.
To show that wherever his people gather together in an attitude of prayer as an assembly.
There is a special power, a special privilege.
A special authority from the Lord granted to that meeting.
The word for and it was called attention to last Lord's Day in verse 20 shows that it points back to verse 19, four, where two or three are gathered together in or unto my name.
Oh, brethren, isn't it wonderful that when we come together to ask anything of the Lord?
Does that mean that when two or three people get together to pray about something, this is true?
I don't want to limit the Lord. I believe there's always a special blessing in collective prayer.
No matter where it is carried out.
But I believe here the assembly is in view, and there is a special way in which the Lord is in the midst of His own.
And isn't it wonderful that he uses prayer here, and he broadens the horizon to say his touching anything that they shall ask?
Excuse me?
It shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
Let us never neglect that privilege. Let us never turn the prayer meeting into a dry recital of particular needs. Let us come with burdens on our hearts. Let the prayers collectively be short and to the point, and let them be fervent. Oh, what a privilege we have. Why? Because the Lord is there.
But now we come, and we have only 20 minutes left to that verse, which, as I said before, has been the subject of so much controversy.
For where two or three are gathered together in or unto my name, there am I in the midst of them. All kinds of controversy has.
Surrounded this verse, I have heard so many arguments about it and all kinds of references to the original Greek language in which it was written and so on.
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With the Lord's help, can we seek His mind as to that?
First of all, the question has come up, why is this verse only in one place?
And only in Matthew's Gospel. And you don't get it in Paul's epistles where the truth of the church is brought out largely. Why do you play such emphasis on a verse that occurs in Matthew's Gospel before the church was even formed?
I would suggest that here is the reason the Lord Jesus was bringing out that yes, there was going to be a church.
But the whole truth of the Church was not brought out for this reason.
The Lord Jesus, when he went to the cross, rose from the dead, and then ascended up to glory, was going to give the nation of Israel one more chance. He was going to give them the testimony of a risen Christ in glory. And we know from those gospel messages that were preached by the apostles.
Right after the day of Pentecost, that if the nation of Israel as a nation had accepted the witness that they gave, the Lord would have come back and set up His Kingdom.
God shall send Jesus, Peter says, whom the heavens must receive until the restitution of all things.
But as we know and very sad to say, the nation of Israel in the person of the stoning of Stephen sent a message after the Lord Jesus saying we will not have this Mandarin over us. And from that point on you find that.
The Lord gradually turns his eyes away from the Jewish nation as a whole.
Of course, they're still welcome to hear and believe the gospel, but you find that God gradually turns his face toward the nations and toward the Gentiles.
He raises up the apostle Paul, who gradually begins to eclipse those like Peter and John and others.
And after chapter 12 in the book of the Acts, who will hear no more of Peter?
It's all the apostle Paul and what he is doing. And so we I believe that the Lord Jesus doesn't bring out the whole truth of the church here. He leaves that for the apostle Paul to bring out. Paul was going to receive those precious revelations from a risen Christ in glory. He was the vessel that the Lord chose to bring out the truth of the church. But can we divorce Matthew 18 and 20 from Paul's ministry? How can we do that?
Can we, to be blunt about it, divorced Matthew 18 and 20 from the truth of the one body? Can we suggest that somehow the Lord Jesus means something here in Matthew 18 and 20 that Paul does not say in his ministry? I suggest that we can't do that. The truth of the church is all one and if the Lord Jesus gathers around himself here in this world.
It is the place where the Lord would have it, as we sung in that hymn.
Where you and I can enjoy His presence here on Earth.
Before we get to the glory now, I freely admit that there are hindrances. We still have the old sinful self that gets in the way. We still have bodily ailments that prevent our full enjoyment of Christ. We still have a hostile world around us that gets in the way. But nevertheless, as our late brother Eric Smith, whom some of us can remember used to say, to be where the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst to gathered around himself.
Is the dearest place to my heart this side of the glory.
Isn't that wonderful? And he has said here.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, they are mine in the midst of them. It is not a promise, it is a statement of fact.
For where two or three are gathered.
There has been a lot of controversy about that.
Some translations today translate this verse for where two or three gather themselves together in my name.
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And they claim that that is according to the original Greek language.
I got so.
I don't know what the word is concerned and a bit frustrated with it more than 20 years ago. Now that I finally said I'm going to get to the bottom of this, and you'll pardon the personal reference, but I had a bit of an advantage because my younger brother and also my son studied Greek at the same university and under the same professor, although about 25 years apart.
And I knew who he was, so I thought, I'm going to go right to him and see what he has to say. So I made an appointment to see him, told him who I was, and I said, tell me, what is the exact construction of that verse? He taught classical Greek, but he was very familiar with what is known as New Testament Greek, the Queenie, which was a more colloquial Greek spoken by the masses of people.
Very familiar with it.
I said tell me what is the actual construction of the verb tsunago in Greek to gather in this verse?
And he told me what I already knew, that Greek not only has an active and passive voice, it has a middle voice, which means to do something to yourself.
And he said in the construction in this verse, he said the middle voice to do something to yourself and the passive voice are exactly the same. It's definitely not active voice.
But he said it could be read as middle voice or passive voice. He said it could be translated for where two or three gather themselves together in my name. That would not be, according to the original language, a mistranslation. Or, he said it could read as it is in the King James, where two or three are gathered together in my name. That would also be a correct translation.
And then he said the whole interview, and I have no reason to believe he was the Lord. Nothing he said gave me that idea, He said. But you can't settle these theological questions by appeals to the Greek language.
I thought there it is.
The Spirit of God is the interpreter of Scripture.
It is not merely looking at the Greek language, you have to look at the whole context.
Not only of the passage, but of the Word of God and all those.
Who understood the Word of God, and whom God used to restore to you and to me the precious truth of the assembly?
150 a 170 a 180 years ago.
Without any hesitation, without any question, whatever.
Translated it as it is here because the Spirit of God is the gatherer, and if the Spirit of God is the gatherer, he gathers to Christ, and he gathers on the ground.
Of the precious truth of God's Word. Oh, how wonderful. And I say to your heart and mind, this precious truth was given before the truth was formed, and it is the resource of you and me in these last days when the church is in ruins. When you go to Second Timothy, you find the church is not even mentioned because it's failed. It has failed.
And if you read about the House of God, it's no longer called the House of God, it is called a great house.
But I say, if I may be so bold to your heart and mine, does the Spirit of God gather to Christ?
Is Christ in the midst of that which is not according?
So that precious name?
On the other hand, brethren.
Let's not try and tell the Lord what he can or can't do.
You will remember that when Peter.
In John 21 received a Commission from the Lord, and he wanted to know what John was going to do. And he said, Lord, and what shall this man do?
And the Lord's reply was in so many words, Peter, you mind your own business. What is that to thee? Follow thou me.
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I say that to each one of us here.
Over 450 years ago now.
In the city of Saint Andrews in Scotland, and I've told this story before. Pardon me if you've heard it.
A man by the name of George Wishart, one of the outstanding reformers of that country.
Was led out at the age of 33 to be burned at the stake.
You can still see the place in the middle of the street. It's marked there where he was burned. You can still visit the prison in which he was kept. It's still there. Worth a visit.
And on the morning of the captain of the soldiers, who was responsible.
To carry out the sentence, he had no choice but to carry out orders as a Christian.
He said to George Wishart.
Have you got any last request? Whatever it is, He said. If it's within my power, I'll do it.
And George Wishart, not knowing the precious truth that you and I know, not knowing much of what God has restored to you and me.
Made a last request.
He said. You know who is real in this city?
You know who they are.
Gather as many of them together as you can. I'd like to break bread one last time.
Would that be your last request?
If you were to be flat out and burned alive within a few hours, that's what was his.
No eyewitness.
Said it was the most wonderful experience to see a man go up to the table and give thanks for the bread and the wine, knowing that he was going to suffer for Christ and be with Christ in a few hours.
He said we were all agitated. George Wishart was perfectly calm.
You and I are going to say the Lord wasn't in the midst.
I wouldn't dare make a comment like that. I wouldn't dare comment on that.
And brethren, let's never try and tell the Lord what He can do. Let's never suppose that the Lord cannot be in the midst where those.
Who with the knowledge that they have?
In ignorance, come together seeking to honor Him with whatever light that they have. The Lord doesn't call on you and me to try and express our opinion on all of that.
Likewise, the Lord doesn't tell you and me that we have to be involved in everything that He seeks to do in the world today when the church is in ruins. He doesn't say that you and I have to lay our hands.
On everyone in order for his presence to be there. Now, God doesn't in any way desire independence. God predicates against that in the strongest possible way. But what I say to you and to me is we are responsible to live up to the light that we have. And I would suggest to your heart and mind that I cannot expect.
To enjoy the Lord's presence in a pathway of willful disobedience.
That's the question I need to ask my own soul.
Quite a while ago I was talking to a brother.
Who had left? Those that I consider to be scripturally gathered.
I said.
Are you comfortable that you are scripturally gathered is what is going on where you are now according to the word of God? Oh, he said, Oh no, no, I know that. I know that.
Then he tipped his hand a little bit when he said, you know Bill, it's so nice though. I missed the breaking of bread. But it's so nice to get up Lord's Day morning, have my breakfast, get in the car, drive down to the so-called church, slide into my seat.
Somebody else does all the rest.
He didn't want responsibility. He didn't want to have to be concerned about his own state of soul.
He didn't want to have to be concerned about whether the Lord was leading him to have something to say, because he didn't need to. There was no room for that. Somebody else got up and preached and did whatever was being done.
00:55:16
I say to your heart and mine.
Let's not confuse the presence of the Lord with the presence of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is wherever Christians come together because He dwells in the House of God and they are responsible to recognize His presence.
Many, many years ago, and I have this on good authority probably more than 150 years ago when brethren were coming out in the.
Country of England.
In large numbers to gather to the Lord's name, and the whole thought of the Spirit leading.
Was being noised abroad and people were beginning to realize that such a thing existed. A group of people came together, including a number of clergymen, ministers, pastors, however you want to call them, and they all came together on a Sunday morning and they said let's see if it really works, let's see if it's real.
And so they came together with no agenda, no preconceived order of meeting, no one nominated to take any special part. They just came together, some from different denominations, many from the so-called Anglican Church, or as it's called here in the United States, the Episcopal Church.
And to their surprise and astonishment.
They found that indeed the Spirit of God was there, and that indeed the Spirit of God LED out this one and that one to take part in a remarkable way, with no clashes and no one interrupting one another, nothing that was said that was disorderly.
And they were amazed, as the meeting came to an end, of how the Spirit of God had worked.
You say, well, what was the sequel?
They said, isn't that wonderful?
And the vast majority all went back to where they were before.
Too much to give up, I say to your heart and mind.
It's a humbling place to be where the Lord is in the midst. It's a humbling place to gather. Simply just ground.
Let us never go around saying that we have the presence of the Lord. No, that's not the point.
The focus is on himself.
Many years ago there was an argument amongst some.
And a brother raised the question.
You mean to tell me that if the Lord came to this town, this city next Sunday?
He'd come to your meeting and not two hours.
Brother spoke up and said, oh, he said, brother, it would not be a question of that.
He said wherever the Lord was, I trust that's where I would be.
Let that be before you and me, and if we are seeking to be where he is, I don't believe there will be a difficulty. If my own will is out of the way, I don't believe there will be a difficulty. Let it never be a matter of pride. Let it never be a matter of self satisfaction. Let it be a matter of faith. Not something that I say with so much confidence.
Remember quite a few years now when I was at a Bible conference, a brother who's now with the Lord, I started out a comment in a reading meeting. I said if we are gathered to the Lord's name and he interrupted me with a with a bang. He said, brother, what do you mean if we are gathered to the Lord's name, we are gathered to the Lord's name.
I trust we are that dear brother didn't understand the if of condition and the if of argument. There are two ifs in the English language. But anyway the point is.
I'm thankful that I can have the sense in my soul.
That I am where the Lord is in the midst. But it's a matter of faith.
And it's a matter of being humbled in these last days. Let us value that precious privilege. His presence is always blessing. His presence is always joy.
His presence is that which He has given us, not merely as we have here in verse 20, as a matter of prayer, or verse 19, I should say as a matter of prayer, but as a matter of when we come together to remember Him, as a matter of when we come together for an open meeting as the Lord may lead. Oh, how wonderful to be able in these last days to have the sense of His blessed presence.
01:00:26
Where he is.
For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, they are my in the midst of them.
Let's sing another hymn together.
#67.
I guess our time is gone.
Let's sing just the last three verses of #6767, beginning at verse 3, just as thou art.
Nor doubt, nor fear can air to those like thee veneer.
O boundless love, as thee were seen the righteousness of God in him. 67, beginning at verse 3.
Just as thou art, nor God, nor fear.
God.
He wants my day in here. Oh oh oh, Oh my God, I must have been praying.
Ephesians 1:1-6
Reading
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210.
One spirit with the Lord.
The blessed and one draws word for God. Like what furniture? I don't know.
444.
Nsnoise.
I wonder if we might, uh, read Ephesians chapter one, brethren.
Brother Bill spoke about the church and the way it's introduced in Matthew this morning.
Very interesting and helpful to get that perspective.
In Ephesians chapter one, we get a perspective that is a little different according to God's eternal counsels, and I just find for my own soul how wonderful it is to get those truths before us.
Would that be suitable?
It's gotta be very good.
Do we have a reader?
Ephesians chapter one, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. By the will of God to the Saints which are Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ.
Both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things, after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory. Who first trusted in Christ, and whom ye also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed.
00:05:15
With that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.
Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith.
In the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, 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, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us. Words 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 hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things, The Church to the Church which is, is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
Yes.
This morning Bill mentioned how God introduces the question of the church in the book of Matthew, and it's interesting because it is really the only gospel that mentions the church as such. First of all in the chapter 16 and then the chapter that Bill read in chapter 18.
And because God in the Old Testament times had a special chosen people and in the New Testament, the main theme of the New Testament is the church, in contrast with the in the Old Testament, which is Israel, God's earthly people. And it's very helpful to see the contrast, the difference between.
God's earthly people, Israel, and God's heavenly people, the Church.
Umm, there's a lot of movement in Christian circles today to try to obliterate the differences.
And to make them all one and the same. But it is very interesting in Matthew's Gospel, and Bill showed this morning how the Lord Jesus was rejected at the end of chapter 12 and the beginning of chapter 13. And then he begins to bring in the mysteries of the Kingdom, the way the Kingdom will appear when the king is rejected and absent.
And then in chapter 16, we have the church introduced God's.
Eternal purposes. But when we come to the book of Ephesians, we really have it as.
God sees it from the eternal perspective. In verse four of our chapter it speaks about that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. So.
God's first thoughts about the church? There was not any.
Any world in existence yet.
It's, it's really amazing because we are brethren, heavenly people, the fact that we are here in this world.
Is just a brief moment in view of our heavenly destiny. And so in chapter one, as we go through it, I'd just like to point out that we have the will of God mentioned. I think it is four times.
It's not man's will that is in the picture here. It's you don't get man's will until the first verses of the second chapter. But notice in verse one Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.
00:10:04
Verse 5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. Verse 9. Having made known unto us the mystery of His will in verse 11.
In whom we have also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh.
All things after the council of his own will. So what is focused on in chapter one is God's will, and I'd like to think of it at a vast stream of blessing that flows in.
From what we call from our vantage point, the past eternity.
Crosses the eons of time and out into that future eternity.
O brethren, God has this purpose of blessing that was established before there was any universe in existence, before the foundation of the world. We were chosen in him wonderful, wonderful place of blessing that we occupy.
As the church.
Some believers have a very difficult time understanding how that God could, on the one hand, present the gospel to Israel from a risen Christ in glory.
Assuring them that if they accepted it, Jesus would come back and set up the Kingdom.
And yet knowing full well that they would reject him.
Having purposes which were.
If we could say it reverently thought out in a past eternity as to the church which he then would proceed to bring out after he had set Israel aside.
We freely have to admit that it is beyond human understanding, don't we? Man can't understand it. It's a matter of accepting that no one under God are all His works from the beginning of the world, and no one under God are His purposes from before the foundation of the world. That's not scripture, I'm just saying that from reference to this chapter.
And so the way God works is not comprehensible, not if we could say it entirely within man's reason and mental powers to understand. It's not the way man would work.
But it is the way God works, and He has revealed it all to us. And so, as Bob says, what a wonderful thing it is to be born into this time of his grace, to be able to be part of that jewel of all of God's purposes, the church, and to be in a more privileged time than at any other time in the world's history.
So as you say, Bill, God has for the time set aside Israel, but it is important to see that God is not done with Israel. He's going to bring them back in his own way in time. And it is amazing to look at what's happened in the Middle East now, makes us realize that we're getting close to those times when God will bring.
The focus back to his people, Israel, after we have been taken home.
Romans 11 Says in verse one. I say then has God castaway his people?
God forbid he's talking about Israel, for I also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham.
Of the tribe of Benjamin, God has not castaway His people Israel. They are set aside governmentally for the time, but He is going to bring them in after we are gone.
To our heavenly portion.
00:15:03
Well, it's wonderful to see here how that the Lord works in a way that is perhaps.
As far as we are told, here, almost greater than any other area, the city of Ephesus, which was the seat of idolatry. It was the place where the temple of the goddess Diana was situated, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
And where you might say Satan had a stronghold of idolatry and false worship. And yet it is in that city that the apostle Paul stayed longer than any other place, as far as we know at least. And where the Word of God went out to all of Asia. It seems as if the Spirit of God was going to take hold of that place and not merely make it a center where the gospel was preached.
But deal, as it were, a fatal blow to all of Satan's aspirations. And we know, of course, that the devil, and he's the same today, didn't give in easily. The.
What we might call the riot that occurred as a result of the, uh, silversmiths who made shrines for the goddess Diana, the riot that occurred as a result of their displeasure with the gospel preaching was of such dimensions that later on in his life in Second Corinthians, Paul recalls that time and says we were pressed out of measure and so on. He says so much that we despaired even of life.
He really thought that on that occasion it was going to be the end. In reading it. There isn't a lot of time devoted to it in the book of the Acts, and it doesn't seem to have been that difficult. But evidently it must have been a very, very difficult time in Paul's life. And yet the Lord so worked in that place that here now, when Paul is in prison in Rome, it is to that assembly.
That he can communicate what I believe is the highest truth as to the believers blessings in the whole word of God. There's no higher truth as to the blessings of the believer than what we get in the book of Ephesians.
Make a few remarks on that connection in which he writes this letter.
Based on what Bill just said.
If we had an opportunity to have a conversation with Paul at at the time, we'll say the day he writes this letter.
We would have expected him to talk a lot about his present circumstances. I'm in prison and I'm not quite sure when the trial is going to be. But brother, pray for me. I need real help in my present circumstances here and things aren't going very well and I don't have a real good outlook or expectation as to what's going to happen to me when the trial takes place and so on. It's not hard to imagine that.
Now we read the letter.
Nothing.
Focused on that is there?
He's not talking about himself.
He's not focusing us on himself and his need at this moment in his life. As Bill just said, he's free in his spirit to be used of God to give us some of the highest truth of the revelation of God to man that's found in all the scriptures. Was talking, I guess it was last week to a person who has very severe medical problems.
Needs brain surgery for the third time. And the medical people that have to deal with this situation don't seem to be showing very much interest in it or activity because he's in prison for life. And so there's there's not a whole lot going on.
He heard about.
Bennett in Tasmania.
And, uh, the uncertainty at that moment as to whether the little baby would survive.
Called a couple of days after that, not to talk about himself, not to talk about his medical needs and condition and so on, but because his heart was taken out to the need of someone else that he and others in the prison were praying for with the desire to see God's hand in whatever it would be in that situation.
00:20:23
Point here is that you can read the 1St 4 chapters of this or first three chapters of this epistle. There's no exhortations to you.
You're not the focus of it as #1.
None of us are.
Where the object of some and of for our blessing in it. But the whole first chapter is about God and his Son. We're brought into it because we participate in that which he purposes.
It's his will, his purpose, his carrying it out. We come into it as his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all. And if we're gonna enjoy the chapter?
We can't sit in our seats and say, Oh yeah, this is for me.
There is a lot in it for us, but the greater thing is to see, if I could put it this way, what's in it for God? What's in it for His Son? Do we care? Is that more important than what we're going to get, what God is going to get for Himself, what He purposes to do, His glory and that which He is doing, and so on. As you go through it, notice His.
That word occurs over and over again his and because that's the focus and the emphasis of it. Do we want to be happy as a result of taking up the chapter? We'll be happy in the measure in which.
We enter into the enjoyment of that which fulfills the heart of God and His Son and what He will do to accomplish that, and the enjoyment that we, by God's purposes, are brought into it to share in it and enjoy it as well. Paul prays in the chapter. Does he pray that we'll get through tomorrow's trial?
That will have a better job next month. No, he doesn't. That has his place. It's very important in its place. But in this particular setting that the Spirit of God is bringing before us, He says what? What does he pray for? In the first chapter? He says that the eyes of your understanding might be opened, that you might see what God is doing for His own purpose. A blessing and glory and love so that we can see what He is and what He's doing.
And in the third chapter, when he prizes the praying that that power, his power that's at work in the first chapter, might also be realized in us to enter into it and the enjoyment of it more.
Yes, just to add to that, in that same connection, a brother made a remark many years ago.
It's never left me, he said. The man who is occupied with himself is never happy.
And that holds true for an unbeliever, but it holds true with the believer, too.
The man that is occupied with himself or the woman for that matter, is never happy. And if you and I are going to enjoy the things of the Lord, God takes us out of ourselves. As Dawn says, we are the object of much of this. We are blessed in verse three with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies or in heavenly places in Christ.
So it is intended for our enjoyment, but the source of those blessings is Christ Himself. The purposes originated with God himself and whenever man starts with himself, as we've often heard.
He not only short changes himself, but he dishonors the Lord eventually, if only because he doesn't realize all that the Lord has for him. But when we start with God and His purposes in Christ.
00:25:03
Excuse me? God is far more honored, man is far more blessed. And so that's the way the whole matter is approached in this chapter, isn't it?
Three with blessing God, doesn't it?
We could become occupied with our blessings in this chapter because it's God's purpose to bless us in Christ so that he could have a portion of blessing for his son. That's really the thought in this chapter is God is preparing, uh, a bride and, uh, a relationship of blessing for his Son, and we happen to be a part of that blessing. But the apostle Paul here doesn't start with our blessings.
He starts with the blesser and his heart is filled with the blesser and so he says blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's that's what happens when we when we when our hearts are filled with who God is it if we back up a verse, it says grace to you and peace from God our Father. Both of those things don't have man as its source.
Grace doesn't come from.
What man can produce for God, that grace comes because of what God is, has been, has been for man.
Peace is not, does not have its source in what man has brought to God, but what God has brought to man. And so the Apostle Paul here is setting the, the the the table as it were, to place God in his proper place in our souls and to cause us.
To bless him.
It's a wonderful way to start the chapter.
Don mentioned the prayer at the end of the chapter. I'd like to just, uh, call attention to the fact that he prays, uh, as Don mentioned, uh, that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened.
Uh, in verse 18. And then there's three things that he mentioned specifically notice in verse 18. First is what is the hope of his calling?
#2 And what I what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints?
And #3 What is the exceeding greatness of His power to us word who believe according to the working of His mighty power?
Those three things is what he wants the eyes of our understanding to be enlightened about. You remember in the Old Testament, uh, in the life of Elisha?
One day he got up in the morning and his servant went out to see the Syrian Army, completely encompassing the city and he was quite worried.
And Elisha doesn't seem to be worried, but he prays. Lord, open the young man's eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the young man's eyes, and he saw.
The horses and Chariots of fire and it doesn't say round about the city.
It says round about Elisha.
God's purposes center in His people and brethren, I I find in my own soul a continual need to have our eyes open spiritually. We are geared in this world of materialism to gauge everything by material advantage. You want to get a job? You want good pay? You want a decent house? You want a nice car? Those are all material things, and there's nothing wrong with them and themselves.
But we need our eyes opened to a different sphere completely, and so that's what the apostle.
Is praying for in chapter one at the end of the chapter, but I'd like to notice that I think there is a little outline of the chapter.
In what he asked for, go back again to verse 18. The 1St is what is the hope of his calling?
That is the spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. Perhaps we could say from verse three to about down to verse nine. And then the second thing is what is the, uh, riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? It speaks about the inheritance which is focused on in verses 10 and 11. And the third thing is what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us? We're to believe.
00:30:31
And that is what is focused on, perhaps we can say in verses 13 and 14, where the Spirit of God.
Is brought into the picture as the seal and as the earnest of our inheritance. So it's kind of an outline of what the Lord has or that God has a purpose for us in this chapter. But going back to speaking about the blessings that we have mentioned, somebody has already mentioned in verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ? There's the expression that is very common in Ephesians in Christ.
It's interesting to look at Colossians where the focus is more Christ in you, the hope of glory, but the focus in Ephesians is that we are seeing in.
Christ beautiful to meditate on that, but this is the blessing that is ours now in Christ, every spiritual blessing is ours.
Brother and sister in the Lord Jesus, you will not be more blessed in heaven.
Then you are right here and now. Isn't that amazing to think about? It's the same blessing. We are blessed right here and now with every spiritual blessing. Do I enjoy it? Not like I should. Do I understand it? That's why the apostle had to pray that our eyes would be opened to understand these things. Oh dear young people, dear older ones too.
Let's let these things sink into our souls. The reality of the spiritual blessings, everything materially it material is for a moment. It's temporal.
How long are these chairs that we're sitting on? How long are they going to last? I don't know, but I don't think in 100 years these chairs will be around anymore. They'll be gone. But the spiritual blessings we have in Christ are forever.
That wonderful brother.
One of the most coolest bumper stickers I've ever read in my life was over 30 years ago. Some of us were driving down from Wisconsin back to the Addison area and following a car. In the bumper sticker on the car it said he who dies with the most toys wins.
And the person was driving a very nice car.
I don't know where the person is now, but it doesn't matter how many toys, how many possessions someone has at the end of their life, they'll leave absolutely every one of them behind, whether they're a popper or a billionaire.
And there's just to repeat what's been said. All of these are ours. We're not gonna get any more. But if you read through the list, there's not a single one of the blessings that are in this chapter that are visible to the physical eye.
Because the things that are visible to the physical eye apart from people, will be gone someday. Every one of these things is only visible to the eye of faith. And the question is, do we understand what is ours? If I can pardon me perhaps for some of the younger ones. Use another example. I was sitting in a chair because I had to have a paper notarized yesterday at a bank that's just two or three blocks.
Down the main road here and I was agent between a bank officer who went back and forth between his desk and when there was need as a teller and a man and there was very clearly a language barrier between the two. And the bank officer kept repeating to the man, the man that pulled out a debit card and he said you have in this account $179 and the man was trying to answer back and he didn't understand. Well, 179 dollars are all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
00:35:11
Don't even compare but I think he said to him 8 or 10 times he printed out printouts from the bank and everything else. He said this is yours, someone has put it in your account.
Well, all of this is ours, whether you realize it or not. The question is.
Are we enjoying what is ours and our position in Christ? What we're given here are things that is already been said and pardoned for repeating it, but are ours for all eternity. What we have can never be taken away. There's often the expression used that we've been someone who's been blessed with this or blessed with that. God loans as many things and He doesn't ask us to pay them back. He doesn't charge interest. But when something is taken away, whether it be health or possessions or even some relationships.
It's not that He's taken away our blessings. He's stopped loaning us something because the time of the loan is come due. What He's given us in Christ is for enjoyment now and for our full enjoyment for all eternity.
That's a good point, Dean. I think it is.
If you look at Deuteronomy 28, you see the contrast with Israel, and that's why it's important to keep these two peoples distinct in our mind's eye, because Israel's blessing was material and earthly.
Notice in verse one of Deuteronomy 28 shall come to pass, that thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
To observe, to do all his commandments, which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God.
Will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth, and all these blessings shall come upon thee.
And overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed thou shalt thou be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, and the increase of thy kind, and the.
Flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shalt thou shalt be. Thy basket in thy store, Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in.
And when and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. So that their blessings were all counted in material things, and it was real.
But, brethren, the one who wrote this epistle of Ephesians.
Could say.
For Christ, he had lost everything, and yet the spiritual blessings that he has, that he had and that we have were never, never lost, cannot be lost because they are in Christ. And where is Christ now? He's at God's right hand and that's where our blessings are in him. They cannot be lost forever. So.
To make that distinction, yes, some people are more prospered economically.
That does not mean that they are more blessed. The blessings of the believer.
Are forever and they are spiritual and a person that has more things economically. Like Dean said, you can lose it.
And if you're faithful with it, it might prosper and multiply, but it's only put in our hands for a few brief moments of time to be used for Him, and then we're going to leave it all behind. But the spiritual blessings we have are forever.
Been said just to comment on it. Verse 10 has been called the key to the whole Bible.
It's often been remarked it's the key to the whole Bible.
And I want to look at it for a moment in connection with what's just been said in the last few minutes.
Says and read verse 9 to get the connection, Having made known to us the mystery of His will, in other words, what God has purposed from past eternity. He didn't tell Adam, He didn't tell Abraham. He didn't tell Noah. He didn't tell Moses. None of them could have explained or talked about what's before us today.
It was not known to them in their day. It had to wait until the Lord Jesus had come to earth and done the work that was the foundation on which the purposes and will of God were to be accomplished.
00:40:13
And in Paul's day, God said, Now I can say all that's been in my heart since before this world began, so he says, has made known unto us.
As it had not been before the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in himself, He didn't have any council meetings except in the Godhead. He didn't consult with us about our future or our role in His plans and programs. He didn't have any such meetings. He purposed it in Himself.
It all comes from his own heart, his own thoughts, his own will, his own purposes.
Everything that's good comes from the heart of God never originates with man, so he says.
Which he purposed in himself, and what did he purpose?
What's the whole Bible tell us the purpose? It says that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, that is according to his timetable. Not to get too technical about it, but according to his timetable, He's planning to gather together everything in his creation under His Son, under Christ.
Everything that he's created in heaven and in earth, he has purpose, is going to be under His Son.
The Chief.
Supreme object of his own heart.
And he says it's not limited to heaven. It says both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Even in him, His place, the sun is supreme, and his purposes and everything to do with heaven and everything to do with earth. It's already been commented about heavenly blessings. Little thing that might help a tiny bit in that regard.
I remember many years ago a couple of ladies came to my door along with their children that were with them and they started to present some thoughts to me about if if this and if that. I might look forward to being able to live and be blessed on the earth in a coming day.
That I could identify them for you. That I could, uh, be under Jehovah's authority and be a blessed one in the coming earth. I said to the ladies. I said, oh, I'm sorry.
I I'm not interested. I had to give up too much for that.
I, I, I've got so much more to look forward to that in heaven that to tell me that I'm, I'm just gonna have a kind of a little place on earth. No, I said. That's, that's not God's purpose for me. So I'm not interested.
It says in heaven and in earth, What's your blessing in mind that's been brought out here for us? It's heaven.
For others, it's Earth.
And all of us will be perfectly satisfied. But just we talk about them as spiritual blessings, but just look at a couple of them to see what's ahead. And he says that we should be holy.
God purposes us for His own glory and His own pleasure, to be in His presence for eternity in the closest possible place to Himself.
And so he says that's where I'm going to take you and, uh, in order for me to be happy with you and you to be happy with me, I'm going to bless you with a position of being holy.
All that's can abide in his presence has to be holy, and so he says, through my son, I've done a work to make you holy so that you'll be suited to the place that I have for you, he says without blame.
No one will ever be a thing against you.
I have done a work through my son that you will be permanently and forever.
Unblameable in my sight.
He says.
00:45:01
You're gonna be before him in love.
That's my heart. I'm God I love, and I want you to be perfectly comfortable in the place that you are to occupy for my glory. And you'll be happy. You'll be satisfied with it. You didn't participate in the choice and the council that led to it, but I, he said where I can say I assure you, I'm satisfied with what I've chosen for you. And so you're going to be without.
As it says here, it's it's my will and further than that.
I want you to, uh, have the relationship to me as being my child.
So I, I want you to be part of my family. You're not just going to be an invited guest in a wonderful place, sinless as it will be. And so I know that's that's I have something better that I will satisfy my heart. I want you to be my child in my family. You're not gonna be a grandson or granddaughter or a great all my children are first generation. So I'm gonna make a first generation child in my family.
And, uh, just one more. There are many more. But in our sex, he says. You're going to be to the praise of the glory of my grace.
That's a blessing to be the praise of the glory of his grace. And so he says, I've made you accepted in the beloved, My Son. He's the Beloved and I, I've made you accepted in him.
Anytime from now to eternity, someone looks at you are you look at yourself and you can realize that your relationship to me is.
Perfectly in the full acceptance of mine own beloved son.
It's a blessing. It's a present blessing.
I'll enjoy it better when I get to heaven, but it's yours and mine now, brethren. And uh, if we forget ourselves and look at what God does, He'll take care of making us happy.
Our hearts will be happy the the fullness of where you can go and the whole book of Romans is found in chapter 5. We joy in God.
It's the height of Romans. We joy in God. Everything else is to put us into that condition of soul that we can forget ourselves and find our joy in God.
And that's the source of permanent and perfect joy.
Want to mention, uh, in verse four, it's clear that He chose us.
Before the foundation of the world.
How is that possible if we did not even exist?
If the human race did not even exist, there is a word that is used in scripture that is helpful in understanding this.
It's the word for knowledge. God knew everything beforehand, and according to his foreknowledge, He chose us in Him, in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Want to show in contrast those who inherit earthly blessing in the future day in Matthew chapter 25? Just notice it.
These are important things to show the distinction between heavenly blessing and earthly blessing.
Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34. This is the judgment of the living.
And those who will inherit earthly blessing on the earth.
During the millennial day, notice what it says. Then shall the King say unto them, on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.
From the foundation of the world, so that when the world was founded, the Kingdom was prepared for these who will inherit earthly blessing. But when it's talking about us who have heavenly blessing, it was before the foundation of the world that God chose us in Christ. Wonderful to think about it, brethren, for there was any world in existence.
00:50:01
He was thinking about you and me, and specifically.
Chose us, and I'd like to just briefly mention the relationship between verses 4:00 and 5:00 because in verse four we have choosing, which is really election.
In verse five, we have predestination. When we talk about election, we're talking about persons. When we talk about predestination, it is to a position He had in mind for us to fill. And it's not merely as Dawn has been mentioning. It is not merely that we be saved. No, that would be tremendous, just that. But it is God.
Has predestinated us unto the adoption of children or sons.
By Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
That's what God wants, his sons and brother. When I go back to the parable of the prodigal son, you remember when he came back from the far country, his thought his purpose was he was going to say to his father, make me as one of thy hired servants.
God has millions and millions of angels to serve him.
He at the what we're talking about here is not interested in merely having more hired servants. What he wants is sons that can sit down at the table with him to enjoy his fellowship, his thoughts that he has had from all eternity.
Sorry, President.
For the Ephesians here.
In verse two, that is grace be to you and peace.
Now grace is unmerited favor. We know that.
And you might have noticed that in all the epistles of Paul.
Grace is mentioned at the end, at the beginning, and the end of every.
Ourselves at pastors that Paul wrote almost all the epistles except the few where he starts out different.
And that's a great wish, because that's what we all need.
Unmerited favor and peace from God.
He's in this world.
It's worth nothing.
Because it won't last.
Only peace that we have from God can last for us while we are here in this earth, and it will last forever when we are with Him there in heaven.
Because He is our God and Father and the God of the Lord Jesus Christ and.
And he is one with the Lord Jesus, so he wishes that from the Lord Jesus Christ at the same breath.
So all our blessings come from God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And he has blessed us with spiritual blessings.
Earthly blessings will last for a while, but when we come to the end of our lives and we have had a lot of activity in this world, we're going to find out.
These earth, earthly things that we have all accumulated.
We have a hard time to get rid of them because nobody wants to buy them. He needs blessings himself and that cannot be bought. The blessing from God has is a free gift from him.
And that's given us also in heavenly places when we are there.
00:55:01
Well, he's spoken already about.
Shows being chosen and predestinated.
But then we have it. It was to the good pleasure of His will.
So if we want to please God.
We ought to be wanting these blessings.
And actually, every letter. When we write letters, we could start them with grace and peace, like the apostle did. It would always be appropriate if we wished everyone to whom we address a letter, we could wish it for them.
Because that's what everyone needs.
And that is through the praise He says it again, the praise of His grace, of that what He gave us.
For eternity.
And and also because we are accepted in the Beloved, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, his beloved Son.
Danny speaks about redemption.
Through his blood we have been re redeemed, only through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And our sins forgiven.
And to the riches of His again, His grace. His grace is mentioned all the time throughout this chapter here.
For what uh Don was mentioning before that.
The choosing was that we should be wholly.
And without blame before him in love. And that is positional holiness. And it is perfect, completely perfect.
There is in Scripture other scriptures that speak about practical holiness. Just to give one, in Second Corinthians Chapter 7 it says. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the sphere of God.
And there is the need of exhortation that we should perfect holiness practically in our lives. But what we're talking about here is completely perfect holiness. That's the way we are seeing in Christ. And I think it is, brethren, when we get the enjoyment of that into our souls, the wonderful perfection.
Of the place into which God has put us, that gives us.
The power to walk in holiness of life. Sometimes I give the illustration of a girl who's going to get married. She puts on this beautiful white dress. Maybe she has to go outside to go to the place where she's going to get married. Maybe there's some dirty cars in the street. Do you think she's going to be careful how she walks? Yes, she sure is. Why is she so careful?
Because she has a completely spotless.
White dress on. That's why she's walking carefully. And oh brother, and it's the enjoyment of the fact that God has put us into that position. We don't struggle to attain holiness. God has put us into that position. And it is in the measure that we are in the enjoyment of that, that we will seek to walk practically in holiness of life. And if there is something lacking practically.
In my life, it's that which I will seek to put away, put it out of my life so that I can practically be as well, holy and without blame. All of us lack that. We're not completely, wholly practically yet, and that's why we have exhortations about walking in holiness of life. But what we have here is the.
01:00:08
Positional place of complete holiness without before God, in love without blame. Amazingly wonderful.
Many years ago, a young boy came up to the gate of, if I remember correctly, Windsor Castle. And it was when again, remember correctly, but Queen Victoria, Queen at that time was in residence and he asked the guards for permission to go in and see the Queen. And the guard said, well, you know, who are you? He was not in the best of clothing. It was clear he wasn't from some part of the royal family, and they denied his permission.
Along came another boy up to the gate.
And the other boy said, well, what is it he wants? Why is he crying? Why he said, well, he wants to see the queen. The other boy said, here, let's go. They opened the gate right up. They ran in through the, umm, the courtyard and into the palace. The other boy wasn't questioned by the guards. And here was a young boy who was saying, let's go to another young boy in the presence of the royal guards. Who was the boy? He was the Prince, the future king of England.
And when he came up to the gate, he didn't ask permission to get in and he didn't have to ask permission to take someone with him. We have the same acceptance in the Lord Jesus Christ. The difference is when he got in to see his queen, he didn't become part of her family.
We've been brought into a position as we've heard this far closer, and so there are several words before it in verse six that maybe we could just briefly look at to the praise, praise his admiration to someone for what they've done. Glory. It's the Excellency that's been manifest or shown out. Grace. It's when we get something we don't deserve. And so we have a reason to praise his excellence in giving us life eternal, but also bringing us into his family.
Giving us the position of acceptance, that's the same position that his own Son has, his own perfect, eternal son.
Is accepted, of course, in the Beloved and we have the same acceptance now and for all eternity. That boy didn't have to ask to go in because he was going in to see his mother. He was in a relationship and he didn't have to ask to bring someone with him because he was the future king of England. He was the Prince. We've been brought into position even far closer than that young boy who got for that brief moment in to see his queen.
Well, that second boy got in through.
The grace that you received from that first boy who had already.
Receive entrance.
Into this, into the presence of the Queen.
Right here we have now we have received that through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, and that's what we have received according to the riches of his grace. And then how do we get the riches?
Wherein He has abounded towards us in our wisdom and prudence.
That's the wisdom of God. Now the world has their own wisdom and prudence, and we all know about it when we buy life insurance. Now, I didn't buy any, but there's many who buys buy it, and that is.
Because this life insurance company has been very prudent and has used their worldly wisdom to become like that.
Because they gather.
Lots of money from people.
That think they have received something for themselves which they have not because it is for their children and whomever these life insurance company will give it because.
A lot of them.
They can keep it for themselves because the one who has bought it has passed away and there.
Children have passed away, so who is ending up with that?
01:05:06
Money that they have prudently edge.
And made with their own wisdom, accumulated its new life insurance company. Now we got it. Our insurance is from God Himself for eternity, and He keeps His word.
We will receive the wisdom that we need, and we have had prudence enough to chose to choose him instead of choosing somebody else.
Of whom we have no assurance at all that it will do any good.
101.
In the eternal.
God.
Is different. I want to say it's not a big man's birthday.
God's a person thus born blood thinning. I know it's the man's name.
Nsnoise.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Bob Thonney
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Good evening.
Let's start our meeting with #2 on the Gospel hymn sheet.
Come tis Jesus gently calling ye with care and toil, oppressed with your guilt, thou ere appalling. Come, and I will give you rest.
Whom is Jesus gently going?
He will carry the crown.
Where did I go down there? I'm calling.
And I will give him right.
Do you may thou be long?
Flights and then climb down, climb up, climb the car plane.
Flowering his thighs and thighs on.
Fire in front of the planting and no fathers welcomed his welcome. Come.
The United Gallery.
Or the world's last livinghead.
And, you know, anger Millennials.
You will, Shirley, miss your way.
There's no way it's timely waiting.
To OWA day and forest has gone.
Reservation on our baby.
Stop Lakers for you come.
Let's sing another hymn.
#31.
I will sing of my Redeemer.
Ah, he will sing of my reading.
I do want everybody.
All right, I'm not a friend. Good sighs being greedy.
Want to turn first of all to Luke's Gospel Chapter 13 to read?
A few verses to begin our time here this evening.
Luke chapter 13, verse one.
They were present at that season, some that told him that Jesus.
Of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifice.
And Jesus answering, said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans?
We're sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things.
I tell you Nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
Or those 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.
Want to talk this evening to begin with about the question of sin. It's not a pleasant subject, but it is a subject that has to be addressed. God is holy, as we were commenting in our Bible readings today, and God cannot have sin in his presence. And so it is very important that you and I have the right attitude about the question of sin.
Sin enslaves people.
Sin degenerates people and sin kills. It's a serious matter. We're living in a world where everywhere you look, you see.
Sin and death. Has God addressed this issue? Yes, He has, and we're going to talk about it. And that's the good news of the gospel.
In how he has addressed the question of sin.
But I want to speak to your consciences. I don't know you all that very well. I know some of you better than others.
But I feel that sometimes there are those who are accommodating.
Some little favorite sin in their life and you really haven't repented.
Repentance is necessary if there's going to be salvation, the idea in the United States of America, or you just accept Jesus as your Savior and everything is going to be all right.
It's true we need to receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior, but if you don't have the right attitude about sin, there is no salvation. The Lord Jesus said it very clearly here.
00:10:03
Those people that Pilate mingled their blood with their sacrifices and that an awful thing, bad government. And you see that in every side today, how people have no conscience. It seems that government of killing and killing and killing. I don't know how many. The number is over in Syria now of people that have been killed in that civil war. And I think I heard the other day it's getting close to 200,000 people.
That had been killed in that civil war.
Topple. It's tragic. We're the Syrians, sinners above all men that they got that kind of treatment in their country. The Lord Jesus says no, but except ye all likewise repent, ye shall all likewise perish and accept you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And then the second case that he speaks about here is a tragic accident.
A tower.
Fell and killed eight people. Those things are happening today too. Just think of those two Malaysian airliners that went down. One have no clue where they are, absolutely no clue. The other one, they knew where it came down. But did those people? Were they sinners? Above all that they got the untimely death that they suffered. The Lord Jesus says no.
But except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And we live in an extremely permissive society. People say don't judge anybody, That's their business. Yes, it may be their business, but if it is their business, they need to know that if they don't repent of that, their business, they're going to perish. What does perish mean? Somebody has put it this way, it means to pass.
Eternally ruined into Satan's hell. That's what perishing means. Awful. And for those who do not repent, repent is a word that comes from the Latin Pant is a word that means to think. Repent means to rethink. It means to change your thinking about it. That sin that you are.
So subtly accommodating in your life.
You need to repent about it. It's wrecking you. It's enslaving you. And I'm amazed how people get enslaved by sin. They think I have my rights, I can do what I want with my body.
Remember.
Sin enslaves.
I lived here in the Chicago area.
Yeah, from 1962 to 1974 approximately. And I remember with Chuck Hendricks, we used to go down to Skid Row and preach the gospel there. And of course there are people who are enslaved to drink to alcohol and remember talking to one man on the street and he said.
I'm enslaved to it. It's just like when I go down the street and I pass that Tavern door, there's an invisible force that just pulls me in for another drink. Yes, that's true.
Sin enslaves the Lord Jesus said he that sins is the slave of sin. But now sin doesn't only enslave it degenerate.
And it's awful to see how it degenerates the human race.
Terrible.
Drugs.
And sexual sins just ruin people, ruin families. Some people think that no harm. If I see something on the Internet that is really, I realize it's not right. But nobody else is watching. Don't you think that God is watching? You remember the King David in the Old Testament?
One time saw a woman when she was bathing.
And his lust started working, and he called for that woman, and David, the king committed adultery. He probably thought I'd just kind of cover it up afterwards so that nobody really realizes what happened. You know what? It's written down in God's Word, and we're reading about it today. So don't think that your sin is a private sin.
00:15:25
For as much as nobody sees you doing what you are doing.
Remember, sin enslaves and sin degenerates. It's to me it's sad to see the awful way the United States has slid down the slide, morally terrible, terrible situations in so many side, you know, sin degenerates.
We've often mentioned this, and I repeat it, that when God first made man, Adam was the first man that was created and.
He lived to be 930 years old. One of his descendants lived up to 969 years.
Whatever happened to us?
We can barely make it up to 100. A few of us make it up to 100, but now the normal is 70 years and in the more in the strongest maybe 80 years. Whatever happened, sin degenerates. Instead of evolving, this creation is devolving.
And it's sad to me to see young people sometimes that are not that old, 30 years old, maybe a little bit more.
But.
Their bodies degenerated. They're not going to live our normal life.
Sin degenerates. Are you trying to hide something from God? Don't do that that's futile. You know I, Doug and I go to a prison sometimes when we're home at in uh, Lawrence County, uh, Illinois and.
When the men come in to the meeting, I like to try to greet them at the door. We have a Spanish meeting 1St and then an English speaking meeting.
And I like this you read them at the door, but it's interesting to me to see the difference. Greetings. Sometimes they will be friendly as I grab their hand and shake their hand. And sometimes they shake my hand and they have their head off over in this one side. I'm not sure why. Maybe they're just shy. I'm not a judge human character that well, but makes me wonder sometimes, are you trying to hide somebody thing?
You can be successful, maybe in hiding it from your parents or from your brethren.
You know, and the prayer meeting for the gospel this evening, somebody prayed for young people, perhaps.
That say they're Christians and they've been baptized and maybe even they're breaking bread, but they're not saved. Is that probable? Is that possible? Yes, that is possible. I don't know where you are in this group tonight, but I want to say to you get real with God.
We are living in serious times. We are coming right up on the most awful judgment this world.
Has ever seen or will ever see.
Yes, sin degenerates, but sin kills too. The wages of sin is death. Seems like an awful thing, doesn't it? Death. How many of us have to die? The Lord doesn't come. It's going to touch every one of us. Nobody is exempted.
My wife goes to a nursing home in Lawrenceville and met up with a man one time. She took me in later to.
Visit him. He was a churchgoing member.
Very respectful person.
And he made the comment, Why do we have to die?
Well, the reality is that we die because we're sinners.
00:20:00
And it touches everybody. Nobody is exempt. Absolutely nobody.
Sometimes it touches people earlier, sometimes it touches people later, but everyone has to come to that point when they're going to exit planet Earth. Are you ready, Sin?
Hills People.
I still remember when I did live here in the Chicago area one time going to under a Funeral Home.
Where somebody, a young, a brother that had passed away.
Was his body was there and as we went into the Funeral Home.
Another brother said, I want you to look into this room here and there was something I've never forgotten. 3 caskets. In the middle was a casket of a woman who was a young mother, perhaps 3540 years old.
And on one side was the gasket of a little boy about five years old, on the other side of casket of another little boy about 8 years old.
Killed in an auto accident.
Death does not discriminate. It takes everybody, young and old, and when it comes knocking at your door, you can't say, hey, wait a minute, I gotta get things straightened out in my life. No, you're going with that touches you. And that's why it's so tremendously important to be ready.
I don't know where you stand with God.
I don't know where you stand in relation to sin, but sin must be repented of.
There is no way to saw footing this in question. God has not soft footed the sin question. No, God takes it seriously and I'd like to turn over now to Hebrews.
Chapter 9 to tell you what God has done.
About the question of sin. Hebrews.
Chapter 9.
Verse 26.
And the start at the 2nd.
Sentence of the verse but now.
Once in the end of the world or the end of the age.
Has He, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and as it is appointed unto men once to die?
And after this the judgment soul Christ was once offered.
To bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time.
Without sin unto salvation.
Want to speak specifically about verse 26 and then verse 28, you know the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that is taken up the sin question.
In the Old Testament we read various stories of how seriously God treated the question of sin when the children of Israel were in the land of Egypt.
The time came when God wanted to take his people out of Egypt and started sending plagues upon the land of Egypt.
One plague after another, and Pharaoh continued to harden his heart.
And so God said, I'm going to send one more plague, the plague of the death of the first born son. In every house in Egypt there's going to be deaths.
But he said this to the children of Israel, to those that believed his word, he said, take a lamb.
And keep it for four days to make sure that it is completely without any blemishes.
And on the 14th day of the first month, you're going to kill that lamb.
And catch its blood in a basin and take that blood.
00:25:02
Wasn't wasn't enough to just kill the lamb and catch its blood, but they were to take that blood and take it to the outside of the door of the house as they were living in and apply that blood to the two sides and to the upper level or the door post, whatever they called it then. And then he said, I'm going to pass through the land of Egypt.
And when I see the blood, I will Passover you. That's why it's called Passover.
You would Passover them. So the time came. The midnight hour came.
For the Egyptians, and in every single house in Egypt there was death. In some houses they had a substitute that would die instead of the first born. A lamb, A lamb without blemish.
It was only the blood that God respected. There was number other question asked as God went through the land of Egypt.
He didn't stop and say, are there nice people living in this house, Oregon? Are there kind of Armory people that live in this house? Didn't say that. Only one question. Is there blood on the door? If there was blood on the door, he passed over it.
But if there was no blood on the door, in he went and the first born was killed.
God serious with the question of sin, the only thing that will protect you.
Is blood the blood of an acceptable sacrifice, people think?
That they can please God by their lives. If I do enough good works, maybe that'll balance out the bad works. You know, even human justice doesn't work that way.
If I lived in Addison and was well known as a person that did a lot of good.
But one day I got into Fury.
And hit somebody in the face really hard and they die.
Oh, here comes the police.
Please, Sir, I want you to understand I'm a person here that's well known for doing a lot of good in this in this town. So I would like you to consider that and let me go. Do you think they would let me go?
Definitely not. You know that human justice isn't that, uh, bad? No. Doing good things. We should all do good things. I'm not speaking against that, but I'm saying doing good things does not blot out the bad things we've done.
Only thing that will blot out the bad things is blood of an acceptable sacrifice. Remember when I worked at the hospital downtown Chicago a couple of years, Met up with a man who told me that he used to be a Christian and he had converted to be a Jew?
I said, well, if you're a Jew, then you know the only thing that can remove sin from the eye of God is the blood of an acceptable sacrifice. Where's the blood for you?
I hadn't thought about that, he said. He said. It's pretty serious matter. You'd better start thinking about it. That's the only thing God respects. But you know that blood of the Passover lamb shielded them from that plague that fell on the land of Egypt.
But that was not God's ultimate sacrifice. No, that didn't take care of the question of sin with God.
Sin is extremely serious. You know what sin does? It calls in question God's holy character, because God made man and man's in this awful mess now.
And when Jesus came, he came to settle the question of sin completely, forever.
Oh, to me, it's extremely wonderful to think of the fact that it wasn't somebody else. You know, God told Abraham back in the Old Testament as well to sacrifice his son Isaac. And he got to the point of taking the knife to kill his son like God had told him to do. And God stopped him there and showed him. Behind him there was a ram.
00:30:04
Caught in the thicket by its horns and he was able to sacrifice the lamb instead of his son Isaac.
But God had to have a sacrifice that could settle the question of sin forever.
The work of the Lord Jesus, because he's the one that came in to me, it is the most wonderful thing.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. The substitute that will be accepted for you and me is none other than God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God sent him into this world. And you know the story of how the Lord Jesus came into this world. He was born of the Virgin Mary.
It was a miracle because it was necessary that the sacrifice for our sins be completely without any sin contamination. And the Lord Jesus was without sin. Not only did He have no sin, He was sinless in His character. He was holy. The Virgin Mary was told by the Angel when she was to conceive.
That that.
Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Wonderful, wonderful. The one who was the sacrifice for me.
Was number less than the very Son of God? The same one that created the universe in which we live is the one who came to redeem us to God. What a wonderful, wonderful story.
But you know sin had so degenerated the human race.
That when he was born in Bethlehem, they had scriptures in the Old Testament that told them where he was to be born and more or less the time frame and as well in which he would be born.
And yet, when he was born, the people had the Bible in their hands.
They were supposedly zealous for the Law of Moses.
And yet they had no clue that God himself in his Son.
Had come into His own creation to redeem lost mankind. So the Lord Jesus grew up in this world. We have a little glimpse of Him when he was just eight days old, and then another glimpse of him when he was 12 years old. And then we see nothing of him until he was 30 years of age, says about 30 years of age.
Anyhow, in those silent years, from 12 to 3018 years, that's a long time.
Some of you young people are 18 or a little bit more. What happened in those eighteen years of Jesus life?
I don't know, but Scripture tells us that he was known as the Carpenter. At first he was known as the carpenter's son, then he was known as the Carpenter. And so we take it that the Lord Jesus spent 18 years of his life in a carpenter's shop. Often thought I would like to have a piece of furniture made by that Carpenter, because he was the same one who made the whole universe.
Wonderful to think of it, that he came down to where we were.
Then he went into his public ministry and at the end of his public ministry of 3 1/2 years.
He was taken by the Jewish people who had rejected him.
And condemned. He was taken to Pilate, who was the Roman governor in that time, because the Jews could not put anyone to death. They took him there. And Pilate again and again said, I find no fault in this man. Yet Pilate himself took him out and scourged him. I don't know if you ever read any books about Roman scourging. It was awful. I read one book that calls it The Living Death.
People often died from scourging. It was so terribly awful that people often died from shock. But the Romans were practised in cruelty and they would splash water to revive them enough to continue their torture. So Jesus was scourge, even though Pilate had said I find no fault in him.
00:35:19
Finally, the people had their way and Jesus was condemned to the death of crucifixion. The most awful death in human history. I think you'll find it was crucifixion. People would often last three days in life, hanging on a cross, sometimes even more. But they took Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem.
And there he was, nailed to a cross.
Wonderful hands that had given such blessing to mankind. That was what they ended up doing. The religious people were the ones that wanted it done, and the Romans carried it out for them. Nailed those hands to that cross. His feet, His head was crowned with thorns as mockery as this is the king of the Jews.
Is he the king of the Jews? Yes, he is the king of the Jews, and he's coming back again because he is the king of the Jews. But he is more than the king of the Jews, he is the king of kings.
And Lord of Lords.
And there Jesus was hung approximately at 9:00 AM, the way we calculate time. And for six hours in life he hung on that cross. The first three hours people passed in front of him.
And mocked him, and cursed him, the blessed, sinless Son of God.
He says reproach has broken my heart.
He said if he is the Son of God, let God deliver him.
Did God deliver him?
God didn't deliver him. Why didn't God deliver him if he didn't, If he loved his own son?
You know why? Because he loved you and he loved me, and he wanted to save us, and he couldn't save Jesus at the same time. Somebody had to die. Somebody had to pay the price in full.
At 12 noon, the scripture tells us.
That everything got dark. Nobody could see what happened for three hours.
Was in those three hours from 12 noon to 3:00 in the afternoon.
That God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, according to Isaiah the prophet and the full weight of divine judgment fell in all its fury on Jesus head. For three solid hours he suffered alone.
No complaint from that center cross because they nailed 2 Thieves on either side of him to make it look like there were three thieves that were dying that day. No complaint from that center cross.
Until the very end.
3:00.
There's an awful cry.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
The only sinless man that ever lived, forsaken by God. Why? Because there was no other way. You and I could be saved but that way.
Then, he said, it is finished.
And he bowed his head and died.
It is finished.
You know, in all the Old Testament sacrifices that were offered and there were many animals sacrificed on the altar.
The flames consumed those sacrifices.
00:40:00
But here was a different sacrifice. In this case, the sacrifice consumed the flames.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Oh, how important it is to be in Christ as a believer in Him. Are you there? Have you repented of your sins? Have you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? There is no other way of salvation. Jesus died.
After he was dead.
A soldier came up to make sure that the three that were crucified would die that day.
Came to the first thief who is still alive and broke his legs, and that thief suffocated to death. Came to the other thief and broke his legs, and that thief died as well, and he comes to Jesus.
Dead already, no one could take his life. He.
Laid it down of himself. He wants you and me to know how much he loves us.
But that soldier took his spear and plunged it into his side.
And outflowed blood and water.
Scripture gives us plenty of testimony.
The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Oh, the power of the blood to cleanse from every stain of sin.
I've told the story before about one of the persons I found very interesting to get acquainted with down in southern Mexico in the state of Oaxaca.
Was a man who in his life had been abandoned.
And he had killed.
21 People. He was so bad that the Mexican government gave the orders to get him dead or alive and he knew they were looking for him and so he would not go inside of any building. He lived outside so he could escape if he knew there was some plot to get him.
But one night he was standing outside of a little gospel hall.
In Ocotlan, down there, the town of Oketlan, which is high, kind of high on the mountain side.
And the little halls there made of slats of wood, kind of, you know, straight line for the walls. And so he could easily stand outside and listen to the message. And he heard that verse, the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son.
Cleanses us from all sin.
He didn't know whether to believe it or not, but he came to someone of the brother and in the meantime and said, is that actually in the Bible, in the brother of God, his Bible out and showed it to him? Yes, there it is. The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Senado Ruiz accepted Jesus as his savior. He repented of his sins, accepted Jesus as his savior. I found it a real blessing to get to know that man you had never.
Ever guess that that was the kind of person he was? The blood of Jesus Christ, God's only Son, cleanses us from a sin.
You know another testimony is in first Peter chapter one. It says we are redeemed not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious.
Blood of Christ, wonderful.
To realize that that's the only thing that God will accept. You can give all you want to charity. That is not going to take away your sins.
It won't work.
It's the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son. But I want to speak a little bit more directly now on these two verses, Verse 26 says.
00:45:07
Now, once in the end of the age has he, that's Jesus appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He's going to completely put away sin from this world, the sin that makes people suffer so terribly. He's going to put it away. I mean, he's addressed the issue at the highest level possible.
This is a word sometimes we use and I think it's important for us to understand. It's called propitiation. We don't use it in everyday life very much, but the word means.
That which is necessary towards God, so that God in forgiving the guilty Sinner is not compromised in his character.
If I can put an illustration, supposing there is a judge in the court system here in Chicago, that every time they bring a guilty person before him, it's proven that they're guilty. He says, we're going to just forgive you, you can go now. It doesn't matter what the crime is, He says, we'll forgive you, you can go now. Is that a good judge?
You say no.
He doesn't make the laws of the land valid. That's true. Then how can God forgive us when we've sinned so many times against God? How can he do it if he is holy in his character? That's where propitiation comes. And propitiation is that part of the work of Christ that is towards God. And I like to say it this way. I think it is important, Christ.
Died for God, He not only died for us, and that's what we always talk about.
That's what we have in verse 28, but in verse 26 it's dressing the whole question of sin. The whole question of sin is settled once and for all by the Lord Jesus work on the cross of Calvary. Oh, how wonderful, how amazingly wonderful that the same question has been addressed completely so that God's holy character is satisfied and He is not compromised.
In his character by forgiving the most guilty Sinner.
But do you think?
That you can keep on sending without any feeling about it.
And say you're serious with God.
That puts up a whole bunch of question marks in my mind. I.
I'm not the judge and I don't pretend to judge, but I see more and more people that try to accommodate people that are sinning, overtly sinning. Oh yeah, they believe in the Lord. They're just away from the Lord for a while. They'll come back.
Lord is the judge, but I say that to me is not repentance, and if you haven't repented, you will all likewise perish. How terribly serious this question is. The Lord Jesus, by His work on the cross of Calvary, has been propitious to God about the question of sin. God's holy character has been vindicated.
So that now God can come out and say to the guilty Sinner, if you will repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, I can legally discharge all your sins. And that's what we have in verse 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins. And notice it says of many, doesn't say of the whole world of many. Why does it say that?
Because only those who apply the work of Christ to themselves are going to be forgiven of their sins.
The others will bear their own sins before God in that coming day of judgment and going to a lost eternity. That is what God does not want to happen. He's not willing.
That any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
00:50:01
Notice now verse 27.
And as it is appointed.
Unto men.
Once to die, and after this, but after this the judgment.
As it is appointed unto men once to die.
Here's a very good verse that shows that the theory of reincarnation that seems to me making more and more strides in many parts of this world is invalid.
Man dies once, and after death the judgment.
Sometimes, you know, you find people that.
Are suicidal.
They think that taking their own life is the answer to their problems. Just want to say, if you do that as soon, as soon as you step across the line, if you kill yourself, you're going to meet with your creator.
Think about it. Don't do such a thing. God does not want anyone to perish so.
It is appointed and demand wants to die and after this the judgment. I'd just like to touch briefly on what the judgment is because there are several sessions of judgment that are told, we're told about in Scripture. First session of judgment is in Matthew chapter 25. Just look there a bit. This is the judgment.
Of the living nations when the Lord Jesus returns.
In power and glory to this world.
Matthew chapter 25 and verse.
31 When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.
Then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory, and before him.
Shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a sheep divides.
His shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall he, the King, say unto them on his right hand, come.
Ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Bruce, 40.
And the King shall answer, and say to them, Verily I say to you, in as much as ye have done it unto the one of the.
Least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me. Verse 41.
Then shall he say unto them that are on the left hand, depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. So when the Lord Jesus comes back, there are some people.
That even before they die they are going to meet with Jesus. You cannot escape the Lord Jesus. You must meet Him sooner or later. Either you meet Him now in this time as your Savior, or you will have to meet Him as your judge in that day. And notice how it says it in verse 41 to those who have heard the gospel and have not accepted it. What does He say? Depart from me.
He cursed it into everlasting fire, prepared not for man, but for the devil and his angels. God didn't prepare any place.
For lost humankind, he wants everyone to be saved, to come to the knowledge of the truth.
But if you continue to reject what the Lord Jesus has done for you.
Then you will find your portion forever with the devil and his angels in that place that was prepared for him.
That's the judgment of the living, but I'd like to go over to the judgment of the dead.
Person dies.
He meets with God, it's not a question any longer of time. He's departed from the realms.
Of time. In chapter 20 of Revelation, we read about the judgment of the dead.
Read a few verses there, verse 11, and I saw a great white throne, him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
00:55:12
And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened.
Which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life.
Was cast into the Lake of Fire.
Awful, awful end for the person that dies without settling the accounts with God.
I pause here for a moment to speak to you directly. You young people who are here, have you gotten serious with God? Maybe you kind of go along with your parents, but never have really truly gotten these uh, the the matter settled with God. You must do with God your parents faith.
Want prepare the means by which you can be saved, but you yourself have to put your own faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. I just fear that perhaps there's many who are sitting here thinking they're all right. You know that man that my wife visited in the nursing home I told you about that said why do we have to die?
He told my wife, he said. My pastor tells me I'm all right, that I'll do all right with God because he had made some generous donations to the church.
Awful, awful, awful thing to wake up on the other side in the wrong place. Don't let it happen to you. The only thing that can settle the accounts with God.
Is the precious blood of Christ that is powerful to wash away every stain of sin. Doesn't matter if you sinned lightly, 1 little lie is enough to keep you out of God's heaven forever. You must take care of that before you leave this world.
We pray that God will speak to you. There's any question that we can help you with. We're open to talking to you after the meeting. Please do so if there's any question you have. Let's just pray to end our meeting.
Being Tied to the Lifeline
Children—Mark Breman
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.
Morning.
My watch says 930.
And our schedule says Sunday school starts at 9:30 this morning. I see three girls here. Maybe one of you have a song you would like to sing this morning.
You know one off the hem sheet.
Why? Why does the ocean? Mm-hmm. That one on here.
OK, let's do Why? Why does the ocean? Do you know the hand signals?
OK.
Why do? Why?
Don't the love.
Is being translated.
Love.
I'm not so angry.
Everywhere.
OK, that's a nice one to start with. OK, how about you?
Jesus loves me.
Jesus Loves Me is number 40 on our little hymn sheets #40.
Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so let go one to hear me. Long may I wait. I need a strong.
Darkness of rain.
Yes, she's not love me.
Nsnoise.
830.
5.
Jesus loves me so I love and it went to make me laugh, wait to hold me in the long, give me safe from everything.
Umm, yeah, it's like, lovely.
Yeah, she's a long spring.
Yes, she's on the update.
Survival tells me so.
She loves me, love me so when I'm bury ring I know wrong is shining O my heart.
He will watch me where I want.
Yeah, she's a blood made young Jesus love me.
FIFA10.
Zero 18.
00:05:06
OK, before we sing one more, let's bow our heads and let's just thank the Lord Jesus for his love to us, OK?
OK, we had two girls that gave out hymns. That was nice. Now does the boy have one?
OK.
#47.
When he cometh, when he come.
In.
The sight of the morning is bright from the morning.
Lake of shining Earth yelling.
Down for him.
Are the jewels precious jewels?
Is my grinder on?
Like the stars of the morning.
Is bright brown on Dorney. There shall shining. I'll give it right and for him.
I have a question, maybe somebody can help me. How old do you have to be to be a jewel in the Lord's crown?
Any age. That's a wonderful, wonderful answer. That's very true. Our hymn says little children, little children.
Now I'm going to tell you a story about.
What she just said any age, OK.
A couple of years ago, my boys and I were visiting a neighbor that didn't look too far from us, an old man who was in his 90s, and he was walking with his cane out by the porch of his house, and we were talking with him.
And in the course of time of our conversation, we brought up the Lord Jesus.
The importance of knowing the Lord Jesus as our Savior.
Why did we mention that to him? I'll tell you why, because while he was speaking, he used the name of the Lord Jesus too, but not in a very nice way.
So we wanted to make sure that that old man knew the Lord Jesus in the right way.
Well, he got kind of a a look of.
Arrogance on his face and he said if I had to do it all over again I would do it just the same.
That's sad, isn't it?
You know, a couple, uh, months later, that man died.
And we were sad. We were very sad.
Well, I think it was about two weeks ago.
Uh, Lane had to travel with a man.
To centralized somewhere in central Iowa and that man just happened to be that old man's son-in-law.
And well, if Lane and this man were travelling along, they were talking a little bit about the neighborhood and those kind of things. And.
The man says to Lane. I'm going to tell you something about my father-in-law.
When he was dying.
00:10:00
I went to talk to him.
And I told him of the love of the Lord Jesus and how he needed to be saved before he passed from time into eternity.
He said that old man accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Just before he died.
Isn't that nice? It's wonderful that even an old man can change his mind if he lived his whole life to dishonor the Lord. And at the end the Spirit of God works in his heart and conscience and convicts that old man. He can be like.
The song says little children who love their Redeemer, he can come to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior. But boys and girls, don't put it off till you're an old man or an old lady because we don't know. We don't know.
The Lord may come this morning before the Sunday school is even over.
Now you, you probably have all noticed I don't think this real fuel was last was here last night, was it? No, I put it up here this morning. You probably looked up there you went. What is that rope there for? Well, this morning I want to talk a little bit about a rope, but I want you to think of this as God is up in heaven and he gave a lifeline to us in the Lord Jesus.
Now we can see there's a rope and look at that rope and think, yeah, that's, that's nice. You know, we can do the same thing with the story of the Lord Jesus. We can say, oh, it's nice, but until you take that rope and you attach yourself.
By saying, Lord Jesus, I'm a Sinner and I need the Savior. Now I'm going to show you a few things with the rope this morning that will help you understand that I'm going to teach you how to tie a special knot. I like to tie knots. I tie lots of knots all the time and come up with some interesting knots, but this one knot is a common knot. It's called a bowling, but I'm going to teach you a little bit about that knot.
In a story, the story goes like this.
For God so loved the world, He wrapped his love around us.
That He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Now to tie the bowl in.
You have to do something.
You have to make a loop in the rope.
And it goes kind of like this.
This is the gospel.
Is moreover, now I declare unto you the Gospel, how that Christ died for our sins and he was buried. That is when the Lord Jesus came in this world. He went into the grave. OK, I stuck that rope through the hole, didn't I was buried and he rose again.
So we're going to pull that back through the hole. He rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. Now if we just let that get tight.
That rope is around me in a knot that the rope would break before that knot came undone. And it's a very, very simple knot. In fact, you can use that knot to pull for one tractor to pull another tractor out of the mud.
And it won't slip. The rope would break first.
Try and do it. You just pull on that and it comes undone.
I wonder if every boy and girl here this morning.
Has come to know the Lord Jesus as their savior and been attached to the lifeline.
I'm going to tell you another something about knowing how to tie that knot. If you were in an emergency, say in the river and somebody threw you a rope. If you know how you can tie that knot with one hand if you get it around your body like this.
You can take that rope and go like this if you are hanging on to something with one hand.
And if you can get your hand back through there?
Like that you have just tied that knot with one hand. And if you kids want to after the Sunday school, I'll show you how to do that, OK?
But I'm attached to the lifeline.
00:15:03
There's another way to do it with one hand.
I need a volunteer to help me.
These girls have volunteered a lot. OK, here's the boy that can help me.
I want you to hold your arm out like a tree branch.
If you had to, with one hand, tie that knot around a tree branch to lift yourself up or something, you hold the rope like this, go like this.
And you throw that around the branch and you catch it on the other side, and when you pull it through, you have that same knot.
OK, now why did I show you those?
Because I want you boys and girls to know that once you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, once you have been fastened to the lifeline and you become familiar with the Lord Jesus, you can share His love with others. You can tell others of the love of the Lord Jesus and how to attach to that lifeline as well.
OK, I'm gonna read a couple of verses.
In Acts.
Chapter 2 is a verse.
In verse 28, Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized.
Everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.
The next chapter in verse 19, he says repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Let's go to the next chapter, chapter 4 and verse 12. It says neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
This man who said that his name was Peter. And I want you to remember that when you say your verse this morning, OK?
Did you guys remember? Did you remember memorize a verse? You did OK, Would you like to say it?
The doers of the word, not hearers only. James 1/22. Thank you. Would you like to say it?
OK. Would you like to say the verse?
Would you like to say it without it?
Be doers of the word.
And that here is James one verse 22.
The dealers have the word and not hears only James 1/22 Thank you. These doors of the work work and not doers only does James 1/22 Thank you. Would you like to say it?
The Doors of the Word and not hearers only. James 1/22.
Thank you.
I have some stickers up here. If you guys like stickers you can come get one.
I like that verse. Did you know that there is a name in the Bible and the definition of that name is this verse? Did you know that?
The doers of the Word and not hearers only. The definition of a name in the Bible is.
Explained in this verse.
Now I'll tell you something else.
It is the most common used name in the Bible. There are quite a few people in the Bible with that name.
Who knows what that name is?
That's the definition of the name.
Do you know?
James. No. That's good, though. James is the one who wrote this. That's good. I'll tell you. The name is Simon.
Simon and there's at least seven, maybe 8, and I don't know for sure if one of the Simons might have been the same Simon in two cases, but the word, the name Simon means to hear the word of God in such a way that it affects your life to where you do it. That's what that name means.
00:20:00
And so, with the Lord's help, let's look at a few examples and we're going to find out.
If these assignments were doers of the Word and not hearers only, in other words, did they really take hold of the lifeline for themselves? OK, so let's look at Matthew's Gospel chapter 13.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 13.
We're going to read about a family here.
And this family, one of the one of the members of the family, well the father was a Carpenter and these people were talking about one of the members of the family. In verse 55, he says, is not this the carpenter's son? Who do you think they were talking about?
The Lord Jesus, that's right. And then he names the family here.
Is not his mother Mary and his brethren James? James, I believe, is the one who wrote the verse that you memorized this morning.
And Joseph and Simon, he had a brother that his name meant the definition of this verse in Judas and his sister. So he at least two sisters, four brothers, two sisters. We know that from this verse.
Maybe he had more sisters, We're not told.
But let's go to John Chapter 7 and look at a verse that would tell us something about.
These ones John Chapter 7 about the Lord Jesus's natural brothers and sisters.
In John Chapter 7 and verse 5 there's a a verse there and it says that neither did his brethren.
Believe in him. Oh, that's a sad verse. Do you think that at this time his brethren, the Lord Jesus, his brothers and sisters had taken hold of the life line for themselves?
Did they? No, not at this time. They didn't believe. And I wonder if there's a boy or girl here this morning who's like that.
Maybe there's somebody in your family who loves the Lord Jesus, but you haven't made it your own. That's sad, isn't it? Oh, we pray this morning that you'll take a hold of that lifeline, wrap it around you, and tie it as it were.
Believing that the Lord Jesus loved you, He came down into this world, died and rose again for you personally, and each one of us have to take the lifeline.
For ourselves.
Now let's turn to Matthew's Gospel 26.
So let's read about another Simon in verse six. Now when Jesus was in Bethel in the House of Simon the leper.
To read a little more about them, let's go to Luke's Gospel Chapter 7.
MMM.
Luke 7 This man, he invited the Lord Jesus to his house for a meal.
And there was a a lady who came to that meal in verse 28, it's or 38 I'm sorry. It says she stood at his feet behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with her tears. And it wiped them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet and an anointed them with ointment.
Do you think this woman appreciated the Lord Jesus? Yes, she did. Yes, she did. But the man, Simon?
Who, whose name means what you learned in the verse today.
Let's read in the next verse. He spake within himself. Notice that boys and girls, sometimes you might speak within yourself. Do you think the Lord knows when you speak within yourself? Sure he does. In verse 40, Jesus answered him, the Lord knows when you speak inside yourself. He knows what you're thinking. And he answered him and said, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he said, Master.
00:25:16
Stay on. The Lord has something to say to each one of us, doesn't he? And we should listen. That's what our verse is about, listening when the Lord says something. Well, the Lord tells him that he didn't provide any water or a kiss for him or anything nice for the Lord Jesus.
But the woman didn't stop doing nice things for the Lord Jesus, and this man only had bad things to say about that Lady for doing that.
Do you think he had a hold of the lifeline? No, no he didn't. That's so sad.
John, Chapter 6.
And verse 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you? 12 And one of you is a devil.
He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now here's a man, and his dad's name means to be hearers of the word and not doers only.
But this man was under the influence of Satan. I wonder, is there a boy or a girl here this morning who does not love the Lord Jesus and has just rejected the Lord Jesus? Do you know that Satan is in control of your life, not the Lord Jesus? Isn't that a solemn thought?
Well, I hope that every boy and girl here this morning could see that this man did not have a hold of the lifeline.
Acts Chapter 8.
Acts chapter 8 and verse eight it says. And there was great joy in that city.
And I'll tell you why there was great joy in that city. There was a man named Philip, and he came and he preached. And I'll tell you what he preached.
He preached Christ.
That's what he preached, and it caused great joy in that city. Boys and girls, if you can get a hold of Christ in your soul, it will cause great joy. These people wanted to get a hold of the lifeline because of the message that Philip gave of preaching Christ. But there was a man in that city, and his name meant the same thing as your verse.
But there was something the matter with that man.
In the end of verse nine it says that he was giving out that himself was some great one.
He wanted to exalt himself. He wanted people to think that he was a great one. Who should we think is the great one?
The Lord Jesus, right? That's right. Yeah.
And he saw how these people were receiving their joy by believing on the Lord Jesus and all the blessings that were coming. And he thought that he too could would like to do that. For God's glory, no, but for his own glory. And so he offers money.
To Peter to say I'd like to. I'd like to do that too.
In verse 20 Peter says thy money perish with thee. Into verse 21 he says thy heart is not right with God.
In verse 23 he says Thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Does it sound like that man had a hold of the lifeline?
No, but what did his name mean?
To be a hearer of the word and a doer as well.
Let's turn back to Matthew's Gospel chapter 10.
Matthew's Gospel chapter 10 and verse four when we find that one of the disciples.
His name is Simon.
The Canaanites.
00:30:03
Now let's let's look at look at six to find one more thing out about him. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 6.
Luke's Gospel chapter 6 in the end of verse 15 it says in Simon called Zelotes.
Now that might seem a little bit interesting called Zelote, but I will tell you what I've enjoyed about this name.
He was known by other people, by how he lived.
And they, when they saw him, they saw that he loved the Lord Jesus.
He was very zealous for the Lord Jesus.
Isn't that nice? I wonder when if you love the Lord Jesus that's so nice and to be a testimony for him so that when others see.
They say, oh, that one. And that boy, that girl, that man, that woman has a hold of the lifeline.
That night, yeah, that man, he, he had a hold of the lifeline.
OK, let's look at Mark's Gospel, chapter 15.
Now we're going to look at a little family. Mark's Gospel, chapter 15.
And verse 21.
Actually, let's read verse 20 as well, Speaking of the Lord Jesus.
On his way to the cross, and when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe from him and put on.
His own clothes on him and led him out to crucify him.
And they compelled 1 Simon, a siren who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
This man was called to carry the cross for the Lord Jesus.
Now let's go to Acts chapter 19.
Acts Chapter 19.
And verse 33.
I wonder if this is that man's son, Alexander.
His father was drawn out of the crowd.
For the sake of the Lord Jesus A.
Now his Son, I wonder if this is the same man being drawn out of the crowd for the name of the Lord Jesus in verse 33. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward.
Let's also go to Romans chapter 16.
And verse 13.
It says Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord.
And his mother and mine, this man, Rufus.
I wonder if it is the same man.
And here it speaks of his mother being close to the Apostle Paul. If that is so, this is a family.
Who is devoted to the Lord Jesus? They all had a hold of the lifeline.
Isn't that nice? It's one of the sermons, OK.
Acts Chapter 10.
Acts Chapter 10.
We have two Simons in the same house.
In verse 5.
Well, the story is that there was a man named Cornelius and he had a vision. Actually, I believe an Angel appeared to him.
At 3:00 in the afternoon and said I have a message for you, you have to go.
To this man Simon's house. And there's another man there by the name of Simon too. There's a message from the Lord there for you.
This morning I trust you boys and girls.
Hear a message from the Lord.
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And be doers of the word, and not hearers only.
In verse.
Five. It is one Simon, whose name, whose surname is Peter. He lodgeth with one Simon a Tanner. Let's go to Chapter 11.
And we'll see the result of what happened here in verse 18.
And when they heard these things?
They held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also?
To the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. It's wonderful boys and girls, that this morning we who are Gentiles can be brought in to the Lord Jesus and take hold of the lifeline. The wonderful methods are good for us too this morning. I hope every boy and girl here this morning.
Has made the Lord Jesus their own said yes, I need the Lord Jesus as my Savior.
The rest of that verse in John 316 it says Shall not perish. We heard in the Gospel meeting what parish means.
It's solemn, isn't it?
We don't want any boy or girl to perish when all the boys and girls here and everyone in the room to put their faith in their trust in the Lord Jesus. Now Matthew's Gospel chapter 10 again.
Matthew's Gospel chapter 10 and verse two. Now these are the names of the 12 apostles.
Are are the names of the 12 apostles? Are these the first Simon who is called Peter, the first assignment the Lord Jesus called Simon? Now let's look at that in the in the 4th chapter of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 4 and verse 19 and verse 18.
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren Simon called Peter and.
Andrew his brother, casting their net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he said unto them, Follow me.
Did Peter obey Peter follow Lord? Yes, he did. Isn't that wonderful? He was not only a hearer of the Word, but he was a doer of the Word. The first thing that he heard from the Lord Jesus was follow me, and he obeyed. Now let's go to John's Gospel, chapter 21.
John's Gospel, chapter 21.
And verse 21.
And Peter seeing him, saith Jesus.
Says to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him.
If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.
Perhaps the last words that the Lord Jesus said to Peter was the same as the first words he said to Peter.
Follow me and.
Follow thou me.
We are so thankful.
That Peter is the one who is able to say those verses that we started out with this morning.
There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we that includes boys and girls this morning, whereby we must be saved.
Peter took hold of a lifeline.
Have you this morning. We trust that if there's a boy or girl who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you'll see the importance of not saying, Oh yes, I believe that there is a gospel. I believe that that Jesus came down into this world to save us. And it's nice, but I'm just going to leave it over there.
I trust this morning that every boy and girl here and everyone in the room, if there's anyone who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, will take hold of the lifeline for themselves and tie on.
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Be doers of the word and not hearers only. Let's pray.
Hidden in The Old, Revealed in the New
Address—Doug 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.
I would like to sing the 1St 2 verses of hymn #64.
Oh, bright and light and sweet.
And God never.
Come.
In everything.
When the ice cream rolled on the sun.
It's gone.
Did I say the 1St 4 verses?
1St 4 verses. I'm sorry, let's continue on.
Yes.
Yeah, I'm there from home.
We begin with first Peter chapter one a few verses to introduce our subject.
First Peter chapter one and verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Which according to his abundant mercy.
Have begotten us again unto a lively hope.
By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven, for you who are kept, and then will drop down.
In verse 10.
Verse 9. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which 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 would that should follow.
We have been enjoying in these meetings.
From the book of Ephesians and other Scriptures. The heavenly portion.
That is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I would like to try to go back.
And trace a little bit, beginning in the Old Testament, How God?
Hid those things in the Old Testament and revealed them to us in the new.
The purpose of God.
The Godhead.
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Planned this in the past eternity.
Has has uniquely.
Brought it out over the course of time.
Our New Testament, and especially with the Apostle Paul, was the key person whom God used to reveal open up.
Heavenly truth, but we've read here Peter too laid hold of it and he he comments about how even the Old Testament writers, they searched their own writings because they didn't understand the VO, the all the intent.
Now, in hindsight, we can go back and look and see.
It was not an afterthought with God to introduce the Gentiles into blessing.
It was not an afterthought for God to send His Son into the world.
To redeem mankind.
It was all a part of the plan.
We're living in a day when.
The truth of the Lord's coming and the heavenly portion has been propagated and and ministered in the Christian testimony.
And there's a turning away from it.
Back to occupation.
With the things of this earth.
This is the reason that I purpose to speak what I do today because if our hearts are grounded in this and we really see our heavenly portion.
Lay hold of it.
We ought not to go back and become occupied as earthly Christians.
Scripture itself tells us this is the snare that's coming in the last days. This is what we are contending with as we go through life.
It's not Even so much just terrorism and and wickedness and immorality, but it is becoming earthly minded.
In the Old Testament, and I'm briefly going to go over and refer to the Seven Feast of Jehovah which I've spoken on.
At other occasions.
But in the seven feasts of Jehovah, there are two of those feasts.
That refer and are prophetic of the present time in which we live.
They begin with the Passover.
Which is a prophetic picture of the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world.
There were three times the children of Israel to go up and celebrate.
When they got into the land of promise, those three times that they.
Went up to celebrate our prophetic of the three times that the Lord Jesus comes to earth.
The first is already passed as the Passover He came. The second we're still waiting for when He comes to take His heavenly people home to gather in the heavenly harvest. This is our subject, the last.
Time the children of Israel went up was at the Feast of Tabernacles, which was in the seventh month, and at that time they all went up. And it's prophetic of a future time when the Lord Jesus will be put on display and He will reign with His people here on earth, with the heavenly people associated with him.
But I my purpose in speaking to this afternoon is to concentrate on the part that applies to us.
If we go back to Exodus chapter 12.
And I I just want to read the first verse and make a comment on that.
This was when God began to reveal to Moses.
The whole subject matter which we're Speaking of, the seven feasts of Jehovah.
Notice in Genesis in Exodus chapter 12.
Verses one and two.
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The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying.
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months.
It shall be the first month of the year to you.
And then he proceeds to tell them about the Passover.
This was a new beginning in the dealings of God with Israel. He was about to take them out of the land of Egypt and carry them into their land of promise, give them deliverance from slavery.
And we know, readily understand, it's a picture of how the Lord Jesus.
Was going to be that Lamb of God that would be the fulfillment of that.
But there's something here I want to comment on.
When the Lord introduced this to the children of Israel and Moses by Moses.
He started a new calendar.
Now that may not seem too significant.
I understand that the normal calendar, and there's a Jewish calendar to this day, begins in the fall in September, the time of the equinox.
When the Lord spoke this to Moses, it was the spring.
Equinox.
It was a new kind of a calendar.
What's significant about it?
My belief is this.
It changed the order of the two harvests.
It made the the wheat harvest the first harvest of the year.
And it made the fall harvest of the vineyards the last harvest of the year.
God was beginning to introduce.
His preferences as to heavenly things.
And so in this sequence of the following seven feasts of Jehovah.
The Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost come first, and the Feast of Tabernacles comes last, and the other two associated with it.
Interesting.
I'd like to think that God gives priority.
To his heavenly people.
Over his earthly people.
We ought to be very thankful that we live in the present day.
When God is gathering a people for heaven.
During the Millennium, in the future time after the rapture of the Saints.
And the heavenly harvest is taken home, which is pictured in the Feast of Weeks.
Which was celebrated at the time of the wheat harvest in Israel.
That comes first.
Now in the calendar year.
And it follows.
The earthly blessing as pictured in the last three years.
And so I'm passing over quickly a lot of ground here. Umm, I trust that I don't leave lose people and my thoughts and, uh, expressions here.
Uh, let's umm.
Let's.
Let's go on to uh.
Let's go on to Exodus chapter 23 and justice quickly notice, uh, the three times that, uh, I spoke of these, the three times the children of Israel were to go up and make it just a few brief comments on this in Exodus chapter 23.
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Verse 14.
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Thou shalt keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
That includes the Passover. Thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee at the time appointed of the month a bib.
For in it thou camest out from the Egypt, and none shall appear before me empty, and the feast of harvest, the first fruits of thy laborers, which thou hast sown in the field.
And the feast of Ingathering. Now this is the third one, which is at the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy laborers out of thy field, God, Lord, Jehovah, related to the people of Israel.
In this way, which I refer to as an agricultural people, perhaps that's why I take up this line of ministry because being a farmer, it, uh, I relate to that.
And it means, uh, something special to you when you work with the land and the harvest.
There are these two harvests are four months apart.
The wheat harvest in the land of Israel is more or less in May or June.
The fall harvest, of course is September, October ish.
And, uh, and that's the way it is. It's similar in southern Illinois. You go down to Texas and it's about the same as the land of Israel. And so these feasts went, were celebrated in conjunction with their annual laborers of sowing of seed and harvesting it. And then when they had harvested it, they were to go up and to rejoice before the Lord Jehovah.
In the harvest that he'd given them.
All of this is a picture of.
How God Himself also would rejoice in the gathering in of His people with Him to celebrate it together.
And so the experience of doing it here on earth prepared their hearts.
For what God would enjoy with them.
In heaven or on earth?
As it corresponds to their lot. And so we today can go back and see how God gave this in the Old Testament as a picture of His ways.
Though they did not understand, no doubt, of the prophetic view of what was had happened, but they did. They could well relate to how they had been delivered from Egypt and brought into a land flowing with milk and honey, and where they could rejoice together in peace and protection from their enemies.
Here on Earth.
Now we look back and see how God had planned this all.
Now, if we'll go on to chapter, uh, the Book of Leviticus, chapter 23, I want to comment briefly on the Feast of Firstfruits.
Leviticus, chapter 23.
This is the third feast. This feast that we're going to read of is a prophetic picture of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that opens up this new creation of which we belong. When we are saved and when we accept the Lord Jesus our Savior, we're born again.
We become a part of a fruit of the travail of the Lord Jesus soul and going down to death and rising again with a life beyond death. And this is the life that's communicated to us through the gospel.
The part we don't have yet is the change of the body that's still waiting, that will take place at the rapture, that will take place when He gathers all the heavenly souls home to him. But it is all dependent on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:20:14
Peter speaks about that in those verses that we read.
By the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
So here in Leviticus 23.
And in verse 20.
Let's see if I'm alright.
No, it's earlier.
Verse 10.
Leviticus 23, verse 10.
Speak under the children of Israel, and say unto them, when you become into the land which I give unto you.
And shall reap the harvest thereof. Ye shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest.
Under the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you.
On the Morrow after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it.
You ought to offer on that day when you waved the sheaf, a heel lamb without blemish.
Of the first year for burnt offering unto the Lord, and the meat offering thereof shall be 2/10 deals of fine flour mingled soil.
An offering made by fire unto the Lord for sweet savour, and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine.
The fourth part of the hen ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the self same day that ye have brought an offering unto your God. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in your in all your dwellings.
First Corinthians chapter 15 gives us the key to the understanding of this. We'll briefly read it.
First Corinthians, chapter 15.
Verse 20.
But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, For as in Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order.
Christ the firstfruits afterward, they that are Christ at his coming.
It's wonderful to think of the Lord Jesus.
And the the consequence of his going down into death, and robbing death of its sting, and bringing life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel, that there is a man who has overcome death.
And there is the possibility now that a man can ascend up into heaven.
And God rightfully raises him there, not just as he was before, ever as the sun, but now as a man, the seed of the woman.
Who enters heaven?
We have worshiped him there this morning and we are called to be a people associated with him.
And this was his desire.
And the New Testament is full of teaching as to his.
Presence there in heaven.
Stephen a little later looked up and saw him there standing and so on. The Apostle Paul was taken up there.
And various testimonies in the New Testament of this new creation.
That was opened up.
And so that is the reason in picture why the children of Israel were prohibited of tasting the wheat.
Before.
A man had taken that sheaf of firstfruits and presented it to Jehovah.
Impossibility of a resurrection life that this was all a picture of until.
00:25:05
Jesus rose again.
And could be presented to God, that perfect man.
The resurrection life.
God could not keep him out of heaven. God must honor him. He was rejected on earth, and so God says I must give him a higher Kingdom, a higher sphere.
Than just earth.
And this was his plan from the beginning. That's why he allowed sin and death to come into the world.
He knew he was going to send his son into the world to deliver us and give us this life that could ascend up into heaven to be with him.
And so when we see this, how is it that we easily get occupied with earthly things?
I confess this because it's easy for me.
It's easy to get taken up with harvesting your wheat or your corn or your job and these kind of things and they are necessary, but we cannot let them eclipse the reasons of why.
God has saved us and what his purpose is, is not to leave us here on earth to inherit some blessing, a Kingdom here.
The Kingdom is forming here now, yes, but that's the earth is not its destiny. The parables in Matthew 13 of the Kingdom of Heaven take this theme and develop it in the New Testament in a marvelous way. Those seven parables, and a lot of them used the very imagery of wheat and the sowing of the seed and the harvest and the gathering into the barn. And so it all dovetails together.
In God's ways.
This is the heavenly harvest of which we are favored to be a part. And so even though.
Uh, no, let's, uh, let's go.
Let's go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 and notice a verse.
It's already been quoted, but we can turn to it. Second Corinthians, chapter 5.
You all readily see my inabilities to remember and quote correctly and so I will be safe in reading 2nd Corinthians 5 and.
Verse 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all. That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth?
No way, no man after the flesh, though we've known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know ye Him no more. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
The New Testament in these verses develop what the feast of firstfruits was, a picture of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the consequences if one man died for all, then they're all that may be wrecking themselves dead as to the things of this life and participate now in a higher order of things, the new creation.
How wonderful it is to be born again.
And that's the life that we relate to God with.
That's the life that He gives so we, His creatures, can enjoy fellowship with Him in His presence, not just as mere people on earth, but as having life. Life that will go on everlasting life.
The body may die.
Or if we are alive, when the Lord comes, it will be changed.
00:30:04
Will put on new bodies.
All of this is the reason.
They could not partake of the wheat until the first fruit, the sheaf of first fruits, had been presented to Jehovah.
How Jehovah must have looked down when those those priests would take that.
It doesn't say which day of the week. This is another interesting thing.
Wheat harvest does not always start on the same day every year. It depends on the climate and the temperature and so forth. Some years it's earlier than others. Down in Illinois. This year it was almost a week later, maybe five days later than normal.
And so it must have varied over the course of the years and the children of Israel.
It happened that the year that the Lord Jesus was crucified, it happened to be.
Three days.
After.
The Passover.
And the Lord Jesus rose.
On that day.
The priest would would whenever they determined that the wheat was at the point ready to harvest. It was not a question of times and seasons or months.
Of the year, it was totally dependent when the wheat was ready for harvest.
At that point they took the sheaf.
The wheat and put it together. Perhaps it was barley or wheat or both. It does. Scripture does not say. They're very similar crops. They took this sheaf and waved it before Jehovah along with the sacrifices that we've noticed. There was no sin offering with this sacrifice.
Because it was a picture of the Lord Jesus.
And so all of that is there.
Prophetic of the Lord Jesus resurrection.
Now we go on to what follows.
The next feast back in Leviticus 23 is the Feast of Weeks. That means seven weeks of 7 + 1 day makes 50 days. In the New Testament, it's called the Feast of Pentecost.
Let's go back into Leviticus 23 and just read a part of it. I wanna be quickly here. I'm not. I'm not so interested in explaining the feasts of Jehovah as what they are a prophetic of back in Leviticus 23 and.
We'll begin with verse 15.
And ye shall count unto you from the Morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering.
Seven Sabbath shall be complete even unto the Morrow. After the 7th Sabbath shall ye #50 days, and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord, and ye shall bring out of your habitation two wave loaves of two tense deals.
They shall be a fine flower, they shall be bacon with leaven. They are the first fruits unto the Lord. And then it goes on and, and, and, explains the, the SAT, the, the other, uh, sacrifices that accompanied it.
This is a picture.
Of the gathering together of the harvest of wheat.
There were seven weeks in between the two. That's a perfect time to harvest. That is what began on the day of Pentecost and is still going on to this day and will terminate when the Lord Jesus comes back.
To gather in His heavenly people.
And that is what is pictured in these two loaves. The loaves were now not just the beginning of the the heads of wheat that were roasted as they as they began as in the early part of the harvest.
00:35:04
You know, think of yourself as kind of hungry and maybe your food has run out and there's the wheat out in the field there and, uh, you're told you cannot eat of that wheat until the sheaf of first fruits had been offered.
And so they had to wait.
There's a reference to that in Luke 6 where the disciples walked through the fields and plucked the grains, and it specifically says it was the 2nd Sabbath after the first.
That means that that was after the sheaf of firstfruits had been offered up.
The second Sabbath after and so it was permitted to eat the wheat.
And the Lord justifies the disciples eating that wheat as they walk through the fields.
The results of the Lord Jesus, death and resurrection are.
That the blessing and the gospel can go out.
And this harvest of souls can be gathered in. And so the the the king, the king, the parables of the Kingdom of heaven take this up and how it they explain how the harvest at the end will be.
When the Lord gathers the wheat into his barn and we have the tares that are left in the field and so on. And this is all prophetic of what will happen when the Lord comes and how the Lord will gather.
Into his barn, the heavenly harvest. And so it all is completed in the New Testament, and we are living at the time close to when the Lord comes back.
During these last days when the harvest is about finished.
There's an urgency.
Because.
Afterward.
There will be no souls taken to heaven except there is a one conditional thing, but we won't go into that. And in the in Leviticus 23 there is some grain left in the field referring prophetic of the some souls that will be martyred during the tribulation. They will be killed and they will partake of the resurrection life and they will be raised in a special resurrection of Revelation. Chapter 20 talks about that but basically.
After the rapture of the Lord's coming.
When He takes the heavenly harvest home, all future blessings from that point on is going to be earthly, and God is going to then take up His earthly people, Israel.
And they are going to be the ones who will largely preach the gospel of the Kingdom, and there will be blessing on earth, and souls will go on and live for the whole Millennium if they walk in obedience.
There will be no death, there will be death, but there will be no death of those who walk in obedience and faith, and they will partake of what the last feast is a picture of the Feast of Tabernacles.
And so it is important for us today to understand the times that we live in, not mix up heavenly things with earthly things. This is the exhortations that we get in the New Testament, and this is in our book of Ephesians.
Let's turn over to Philippians Chapter 3.
The last two verses.
Well notice, umm, notice what Paul says in verse 10. I think this was referred to in our in our reading meetings Philippians chapter 3 and verse 10. Paul is speaking here.
And he says that I may know him as Jesus in resurrection and glory.
And the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, that is the practical experience of it. He didn't doubt his salvation, or doubt that he would be in heaven when the Lord came and took his.
00:40:20
His own home then down in the last two verses of the chapter it says.
Umm, well.
Let me let me begin reading with verse 18, because there's an exhortation here, and we need these exhortation sometimes for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame.
Who mind earthly thanks for our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body.
That it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working, whereby He is able even to subdue all things even unto Himself.
Paul here living in the wilderness, experience in this book and suffering and in prison.
Unfolds to us the why he strove for the heavenly harvest to obtain that in a practical enjoyment of how he went through life.
Instead of complaining about how hard the bonds were, he looked at them as a means of learning of what Christ had to go through to redeem his soul and present him to God.
In a resurrection life.
And so he wanted the full experience of it by how he lived. And so these things are not just something for the intellect, there's something for us to how we live our lives practically.
The more we live our lives in conformity to these things like Paul did.
The more I believe the reality of resurrection life will mean to us.
And the hope that is ours and the less we will be conformed to this world.
And occupied with earthly things like it says there in verse 19 who mind earthly things. Satan loves to dress up this world and make it attractive.
I have a nature that gravitates to that thing.
But I also have.
Nature, A born again nature that loves God and is attracted to Christ in glory.
And would seek to be a follower of him and reach on to those things in heaven. And so this is what we're faced with here in this late day here.
The feast of Pentecost.
Began at Pentecost in Acts 2.
But let us not just think that that was the full development of what it speaks of.
That was the initiation of it. That was the beginning of this of the weeks, if you might say.
When the harvest was going on.
And when souls could be gathered in?
And so the last nearly 2000 years souls have been gathered in and what is their destiny?
Will they just be raised here on Earth?
The Apostle Paul, Peter, John, the martyrs down through the ages.
Our brother referred to the one who was martyred in in Scotland there and and broke bread one last time with fellow believers. Will he just be raised to a life here on earth?
To live again.
Oh, he will be raised to heaven.
And enjoy the Lord's presence there. What a hope.
And so in Philippians in in in, uh, First Corinthians 15.
I want to I want to call attention to a thing or two there and the rest of our time.
00:45:04
Returning back to First Corinthians 15.
I believe Paul develops this subject further. We can't read the whole chapter, but it's called the resurrection chapter. It tells us how the Lord who is able that we read of in Philippians, He's, he's able to raise those bones and present them in new bodies before God. He's the same one who created the first creation.
He's the same one who rose from the dead in resurrection life.
And he is able to take the bodies of those who have died in faith.
And raise them again and present them to God.
In an acceptable way. And he's going to do that. And that's our hope. So in Rhode Island in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 23. Notice how it reads.
Well verse 22 Says as in Adam will die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order.
Then he talks about the two parts.
Christ the first fruits that has already happened.
He's the beginning of the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming. That's the second part of the first fruits. That's the part that touches us. That's the part where we believers in the Lord Jesus will also be raised. And so that's what is presented in the feast of weeks there when they took the two loaves, wave loaves, and presented them to Jehovah.
In the same way that the sheaf of first fruits had been waved before Jehovah.
But what you notice in the Feast of Pentecost or Firstfruits was that there was a sin offering and the loaves were bacon with leaven. Because they are not a picture of just Christ, they are a picture of the believers.
A testimony and so the full fruit of the wheat is not just grain that is toasted, but it's grain that is ground up made into bread, the the the bread of life, the bread that sustains our life. And and so it's a picture of believers that are a part of what God reaps.
For heaven to have a people, isn't it that wonderful to to think that the Lord Jesus, that's why he changed the months of the year so this this harvest would be first.
The harvest on earth will fall and there will be a people they will actually have borne new life to. They will have a born again life and in a new way, in a broader way here on earth.
And and so that's not the subject before us, but so I won't go into that, but here in First Corinthians 15 would drop down and read just a few more verses.
Umm umm, verse 24 it speaks about. They then cometh in when he shall deliver it up to Kingdom, even the Father. Now that's the he passes on to the very end of time.
And so on. But now we'll drop down to uh, uh, verse, umm, verse 35. There's a question here about how resurrection life takes, how resurrection happens. How is it possible to take out of dust and raise it up and make it into a living being to present to God?
The natural man can't can't get this, but Paul explains it here.
Verse 35 But some will say, how are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Thou fool, That which thou sowest is not quickened. Quickened means given life, except it die, though death has to come in first.
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And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain.
It may chance a week or some other grain. To me, it's very significant that the word wheat is used here because this is connection with the whole general picture that we're Speaking of, of the wheat harvest. It's not talking about the fruit of the vine. It's not talking about olives or any of the other fruits of the fall harvest. It's talking about the first harvest, the wheat harvest. And this applies to us and so.
Uh, it receives a new kind of a body when the week when the seed is sown, it's bare grain that connects us up with the parable of the sower. And the sower was the Lord Jesus and he sows the seed. The word of God is sown in the hearts of men and it depending on how it finds lodging in our hearts, whether it's received or whether it's rejected, whether the cares of life.
Choke it out, or whether the birds pluck it away or whatever.
That causes it to either bear fruit or not. And so it is in the lives of believers today when we believe the gospel. That is the bare grain seed sown in our hearts that finds a lodging and grows up its life. It's the new life that we receive.
And that life goes on.
And so would God that there would be a lot of fruit individually, but if we mix up and confuse heavenly things and earthly things, there will not be.
Lot of fruit in our lives and so it all fits together. God here sows the seed. It's sown as bare grain. And so we have laid aside many of our loved ones.
Who have died in faith and we believe they're going to rise again. And together with the living who believe. It's all explained in this chapter.
And so there is, uh, God giveth it a body, verse 38 as it hath pleased him, we talk about what our bodies will be like when we're raised again, and that the dead.
Or when we're changed and when the dead are raised again. We don't know completely what it's going to be like, but it he gives it a body that pleases Him, and it will be a body that's suitable to live with him in glory. How wonderful.
And so he uses the illustration of different kinds of flesh on the earth, of flesh of men and beasts and so on. And so he explains in, in, in very, uh, uh, easy to understand terms how God makes different kinds of bodies. And, and then verse 40 even says there, there are celestial bodies and their bodies terrestrial. That means earthly, that is God makes some bodies for heaven. Angels have heavenly bodies.
Or, or they can at least take what maybe their spirits, but they are suitable for heaven in that sense.
And so God can do all of this and then if we go on down in verse, uh, umm.
Verse 40, Verse 45. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body.
And so when you go to a cemetery, you lay aside a loved one, you sew up a natural body, but when it rains, when it is raised again, it will be a spiritual body suitable to God. All of this is going to happen at the rapture. All of this is pictured in that time when Israel waved those two loaves before Jehovah.
And the heavenly harvest was represented in those. And so all of those people from, from, from uh, Abelon who died in faith in the Old Testament are going to participate at that moment.
It's all dependent on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and they are all going to have a heavenly portion in our time is almost up. I believe that's why in John 14 we just turn there. In closing UMM John's Gospel chapter 14.
00:55:25
Where the Lord Jesus opens up heaven for the first time in the Gospels.
And he's going there.
In verse two it says in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.
The Lord Jesus.
Was now beginning to reveal heavenly things in this Upper Room ministry.
He had been rejected on earth, He had been re presented to be received, and if they hadn't received him, the earthly blessing could have been introduced there. But God knew beforehand. The same one who changed the calendar.
To to begin in the spring instead of the fall knew all of this ahead of time. And so the heavenly part must happen 1St. And so that develops our brother Bill referred to it in the how even in the book of the Acts until the stoning of Stephen, the earthly part was still being offered. But God knew that the heavenly part was to take precedence and that's really what he wanted. And so he said, I would have told you.
If I hadn't had this better plan to reveal to you now, Now I'm telling you that in my father's house are many mansions. So Abel or Moses or Abraham or no one in the Old Testament is going to be disappointed that there were only raised here on earth when they appear at the rapture, at the coming of the Lord.
May the Lord help us to distinguish earthly things in heavenly light. Clothes singing a couple verses of a hymn.
244.
Wicked dressing the 1St 3 verses maybe?
The praise and blessed morning.
Ephesians 1:7-23
Reading
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214.
This is part of a verse in Revelation chapter 4, verse one.
Revelation chapter 4, verse one. After this I looked and behold the door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up, hit her.
We haven't finished Ephesians 1.
Would that be suitable to continue?
Yes, I would think so.
What do you suggest you start?
Well, we were talking about a lot in general terms and, uh.
I would suggest verse 12 or verse 13. Is that about right?
00:05:10
Walt, can you read it for me?
12 verse 12.
Ephesians one, verse 12, That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, and whom ye also trusted. After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession.
Unto the praise of His glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, 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, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance and the Saints.
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us? Were to 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.
I would suggest that there are.
A couple of things that can be noticed here in connection with this 12Th verse.
Back in verse six we have the expression to the praise of the glory of His grace.
Because.
What we have in verses 3-4 and five concern us.
But what we have in verses 10 and 11, while they concern us.
If we could use the expression, they first of all concern Christ. And so as I pointed out before, and others have too.
When Peter and John and others preached the gospel in the early chapters of Acts, they began with man's need and how God had met that need. And that's wonderful. But when Paul preached the gospel, he preached it from a different point of view. He calls it my gospel. And Paul's gospel begins with God's purposes in Christ. And so the order is important because in verse 10.
We have God's purposes in Christ. In verse 11 we have how that God brings you and me into blessing with Christ.
And then the expression is that we should be not simply to the praise of the glory of His grace, although that is true, but to the praise of His glory. And so, as dawn was calling to our attention yesterday.
And it has been remarked before that the 10th verse is really the key to the understanding of the whole Bible.
Because we might say in one sense, that the reason God created this world was to use it as the stage, if you like, on which to work out His purposes concerning His beloved Son.
And when he's finished with the world as it is today, he'll burn it up because he doesn't need it in that sense anymore for that purpose. But in this world, and excuse me, through the present creation, God is using it as a place to.
Work out His purposes concerning His Son, in order that He might be head over all things, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Well, isn't it wonderful that in a coming day you and I are going to see that Blessed One exalted His head over all things, and we brought into favor with Him are going to be to the praise of His glory?
00:10:19
No. Of course Paul is talking mainly in verse 12 about himself and others who first trusted in Christ. But then in verse 13 he brings the Ephesians in true.
In two and others who had heard the gospel. And that reaches all the way down to the present day to us, doesn't it? We too are included in that expression in verse 13, In whom ye also trusted, and so on.
So it's the Jewish believers in verse 12, isn't it? And the Gentiles, which includes us in verse 13. It's interesting. He says we and in verse 13, ye. And so Jews and Gentiles both are brought into blessing. But it's interesting.
First trusted in Mr. Darby's translation. It's pre trusted because the whole nation is going to be brought.
Into blessing in the future day, but prior to that time there are those who are brought into blessing in this way that we have in versus 12 and 13.
Through the Holy Spirit.
Being brought into what we have later in the chapter, the body of Christ.
Just as an expression, Bob, is that what Paul means in First Corinthians 15 when he speaks of himself as one being born out of due time? Is that the thought there?
You have the nation as a whole.
Connection with these verses, I'd like to have us notice a little bit of the Lord's Prayer in John 17.
In John 17.
Where the Lord is giving his prayer.
In anticipation of the time when he would no longer be on earth, but he was going back to heaven. And so he speaks to the Father concerning that and he says in verse six, I have manifested thy name under the man which thou gave us me out of the world. That's the 12 apostles and others who put their faith in the Lord Jesus but.
Particularly the apostles were before him, and he prays about them, but then later in his prayer he says verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word. And we come into that class. We are some who have believed through the word.
That they were given and uh, So what is he says after the his prayer for them? Well, he's just to get the umm, notice verse 22. Since our verse is about glory, he says, and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them.
That they may be one even as we are one.
And uh, verse 23 I and them and thou and me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know.
That thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me.
In the coming day, in the Millennium, the world is going to see us.
In association with himself and his glory. And the world's gonna know.
That is to the exceeding greatness of His own glory, that the world is going to see Him and those who are in association with Him and know the heart of God in love. That God would take people as they were, the Gentile and others of the Jews on this earth, and bring them into a relationship with Himself who's worthy of that glory.
00:15:13
But it is to the greatness.
The focus is on the greatness of himself, and then the world's gonna look at that and know.
His glory in a way that when they see His glory displayed in those who are in himself and in those who are in association with him, uh, then they'll say, as it were, the world will say, thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. His heart was for us in that. And when we are identified with Him and his glory, then the world will look at that and say, whoa.
God loves them like he loves him and, uh.
That's beyond my little mind to to fathom that God loves me like he loves his Son. But that's what he says.
Maybe we just have to say, Oh yeah, of little faith, but God wants the whole world to see that. And when it does, it's the display of the greatness of the glory of the person that has so done such a work that others could be associated with them as they will be.
Little other example of that in a similar character is when the Queen of Sheba went up to visit Solomon.
And she saw his servants.
It was to Solomon's glory.
It was to Solomon's glory.
But when she saw the place and performance, I suppose you would say, of the servants of Solomon.
It was to Solomon's glory and God is working that out in us to the end result that we will be fully, properly to His glory.
If we're honest with it, we would have to say, well, I can't say I am now in the way I will be, but he says the day is coming when I finish the work I'm doing. And you'll be like one of Solomon's servants. You will be to his glory in the day of his glory before, not only in heaven, but it before this world.
Verse 13 we have the Spirit of God.
As the seal.
It says after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
So it's the gospel is brought in, the gospel of our salvation, which is includes the work of Christ, very important, the work of Christ because salvation is based on what happened at Calvary, the work of redemption.
There, when we believe that, then God puts his seal on us to Marcus as his own.
Somebody has said that the ceiling is for security.
And the earnest is for enjoyment in verse 14. The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance. We've been talking about the inheritance, verse 11.
And God wants us to enjoy the fact that we have an inheritance. In fact, He's so interested that we enjoy it now, brethren, that he gives the earnest.
The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance.
Brother Gordon Hayhoe used to give the illustration. I thought it was very good.
00:20:04
Supposing there is a piece of property in the Chicago area that has a price tag of $100,000.
Somebody is interested.
Very interested and they come to put a down payment on it.
And he says, I'm so interested in getting this property, I'm going to give you a down payment of $1,000,000.
Well, you say that the price tag is only 100,000.
Yes, but I'm so interested that I wanna put that payment down of, uh, a down payment of $1,000,000. And so when you compare the inheritance and the earnest of the inheritance that God has given us now, which is greater?
Necessarily the earnest is greater the spirit of God. Just think of it, brethren, God has put his spirits, his spirit into.
Our hearts into our bodies, uh, I don't think we really grasp that properly. Tremendous import of that, uh, fact that the God, the Holy Spirit dwells in these bodies of ours.
And so this present age in which we live is often been called the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. It's when the Spirit of God is down here in this world, in God's people, the church.
He inhabits the church, the habitation of God through the Spirit. Wonderful, and so in verse.
13 it's the seal for security in verse 14. It's the earnest for enjoyment. He wants us to enjoy these things. I must say, brother and I have enjoyed going over in Scripture what relates to the inheritance. And our inheritance is extremely great and I think we need to stop and think about it and realize how great our inheritance is.
And again, I say, as we mentioned yesterday, if we do that, it will deliver us from the materialism that seems to motivate the culture that we're passing through.
O brethren, our inheritance.
You have a father that is not that wealthy. Why? You might expect something of an inheritance when he passes on, but if your father is extremely wealthy, then you will get something that is far greater.
And since God is our Father, brethren, we should be interested in what the inheritance is. And I think we have the inheritance in its widest sphere presented to us here in Ephesians one and verse 10. It says all things in Christ, both which are in heaven.
And which are on earth even in him, so that the inheritance is every created thing.
Could not be more wealthy.
I so enjoyed years ago the.
Story of old brother Harry Hagel. Can you tell it better for me, Don?
Felt better, but I was sitting here thinking about it. Thank you so much, you said.
He used to travel a lot on the train.
And, uh, as he traveled on the train as a way of engaging people in conversation.
Uh, he, as they got out into the countryside, he point out the window to a farm that had some cows or something on it and he'd say, see those, those belong to my father.
They drive on or you know, the train, I'll go down the tracks X some more miles and he'd lock out the window again. It's something else. You see that land there? That land belongs to my father. And of course what he was doing was leading him to say who's your father? And that was the opening. He wanted it to say that God is my father. But as Co heirs with Christ and the way Bob was presenting it to us, he could have said, you know, I'm going to inherit all that.
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If if in the sense of our chapter, he his story didn't go that way because he he was trying to focus on getting them to ask him the question that he got to preach the gospel to them. But we could look out the window and say, well, that's part of my inheritance.
But I also remember another brother in the other way. Uh.
Having to do with these things, he.
Took up a position in this world that perhaps is not very suited to a heavenly citizen in contrast to earth. And someone said to him, aren't you raining a little early, brother? And uh, I think sometimes we need to recognize we do wrong really of not identifying ourselves with the Lord Jesus and his present rejection if we seek a place in this world.
That he could not have now.
And so these things are for our present enjoyment and anticipation of when they are to be realized. And it's good for us to recognize even in that, that he himself.
Will not take his inheritance until we can have it with him.
That's a precious thing, brethren, to think that he, he, he in his own heart, he would say, well, I can't I I don't want my inheritance yet.
Because those that are going to have it with me are not all with me yet. And so until he can take this inheritance which is his and which we are Co heirs, then he says no, I'll wait.
That's what we have in the second part of verse 14, until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory.
What is the redemption of the purchased possession? We go back to Matthew chapter 13.
In the parables, one of several of which are, uh, likenesses of the Kingdom of heaven. It's interesting what it says there in uh.
Uh, verse. Umm.
44 Again, the Kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure.
Hit in the field which the witch, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth, and bieth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. He bought the whole field. He was looking at the treasure, but he bought the whole field in another place that says The field is the world.
So when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, he paid the price not only to redeem us, His people, but He prayed the price to redeem the whole creation.
Is going to bring it all out from under the ******* of corruption.
In that coming day of glory. And So what it says here, the redemption of the purchased possession, it's that day when he's going to take his inheritance and bring it out from under the ******* of corruption under which it groans to this day. Wonderful, beautiful fact.
Like to notice a verse, It's a little different aspect of this not so much chapter of Ephesians one, but I think it's worthy to notice it if you go back to Isaiah chapter one.
We'll see the use of the word redemption.
In its general meaning, but a little bit different aspect of it.
00:30:05
Then, uh, what we have in Matthew 13.
He paid the price.
At the cross, really to have the world.
Uh, to bring it back out of its condition into a condition that is pleasing and satisfying to God.
But the world doesn't. We're not talking so much here about individual souls, but the world doesn't want to accept that. It's not going to be happy when he says I'm now going to claim what I have a right to. So I just like to notice the consequence of that in Isaiah chapter one.
And, uh, the Lords here referring to Israel.
And uh, he says verse 20.
Uh, but ye, if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. How is the faithful city? That's Jerusalem, the common harlot?
It was full of judgment. Righteousness lodges in it. But now murderers, the silver has become dross, the wine is mixed with water, The Princess, the leaders, if you will, are rebellious and companions of these and so on. And he then states that he's going to bring judgment upon the beloved city, beloved, to his own heart. And the verse I want to really notice is verse.
Umm, verse 27. Zion. That's the Bluff City.
The only city on earth that specifically in Scripture he says my city, the only land on earth other than owning the whole earth itself in its broad sense that he calls my land, is the land of Israel as a very special place in his heart. And so he says in verse 27, Zion shall be redeemed with judgment.
Solemn thing, but it to claim that which is his to get it back for himself, he's going to have to do it by judgment. And so we see in the tribulation the execution of that by judgment to bring that which is his back into his own place and as a possession and, uh.
We won't be part of that, but it ought to solemnize our hearts to see the state of rebellion against him by his people. That is the Israel right now, the people in the land in a general sense.
Have something of the character of Isaiah 2 where they say, look what we've done, look at this land, look what we've done against all enemies. We've held this land, it's ours. And the Lord is going to bring His hand on that because it's the voice of pride. And they will be humbled before they're restored to Him so that they will be brought into that state where they say salvation.
Is of the Lord.
And not themselves in their present state of saying look what we've done.
There's a solemn days ahead before the Lord will have his.
His glory, and even in the property sense of the word, it's redeemed. The property itself is redeemed by judgment.
And not to complicate matters here, but I've enjoyed, I trust from the Lord, a precious thought in connection with this. I believe that verse 10, which we have already identified as perhaps the key verse of the whole Bible, will find its expression during the millennial day. That is, in that day the glory of the Lord, as we've already heard, will.
Uh, fill the earth and also we know the glory of Christ will fill heaven and he will indeed be head over all things both in heaven and which are on earth but.
In another sense, again, if I may quote Brother Harry Hayhole, he said, remember that the Millennium is only the front porch to the eternal state.
00:35:04
What does that mean? It means that the So excuse me.
The day of the Lord that is referred to in Scripture.
Not only that is the Day of Judgment not only refers to the judgments that will usher in the Millennium.
It really takes in the whole of the millennial day and it takes in that judgment, those judgments, I should say, at the end of the Millennium, first of all, when there is a tremendous rebellion after 1000 years of peace and righteous government and blessing. And secondly, the great White Throne judgment that our brother Bob referred to in the gospel last night. Both of those take place at the end of the Millennium.
And it's in the eternal state that the full fruit, the full blessing from the work of Christ will be realized. And so while I believe with all my heart that what we have here is going to find its expression during the Millennium, it's really all pointing and leading up to a day. As are Him in the little flock. Him book puts it, all taint of sin shall be removed, all evil done away.
And we shall rest with God's beloved through God's eternal day. Well, what a future there is for us. And we might remind ourselves that although the Kingdom is finite.
It'll last for 1000 years. The inheritance, I believe, is eternal, as Brother Lundin used to remind us, When God gives Christ his inheritance and you and I share it with him, he never takes it away again. Well, again, it reminds us, and it speaks to our hearts as we've just heard. How can we possibly get enamored with the things of this world when?
All that is before us.
Add a little to that.
Umm, the next big day, if you will, for the earth is is Bill just said is the day of the Lord. But the very expression brings something of the fact that there's.
Lord is authority, and often authority over that which may rebel.
And the Kingdom of 1000 years will require reigning for authority to maintain the order of that. And the reason is because they're still sin in existence.
And as long as there's sin and existence, God cannot rest.
God cannot rest.
When Adam sends.
God's rest was broken and is never come back. Lord Jesus, when he was here, you could say my Father worketh hitherto and I work, and even through the whole of the millennial day that work will have to continue.
And only.
The day of God that's been referred to can come when all sin is forever removed from God's creation, and then God will dwell with man without, and then he calls it the day of God, the time when God is able to dwell with man and there will be no longer sin, and so God can rest and he will rest forever.
And he won't need to govern which will satisfy his own heart. And so in the day of God, there's nothing about reigning. There's nothing connected with that anymore. It's not really God's desire. He introduced that to keep order. But when it's no longer necessary it it's brought down to its most simple God satisfying condition.
And God will rest in His pleasure, and He will rest for eternity and not need to maintain anything in the sense of governing over it.
But just to dwell with man in the common.
Mutual enjoyment of the satisfaction of his own heart and his son and man likewise to be satisfied in the sun.
00:40:09
Another.
Sort of assurance. We have here what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 1.
Now he which established us with you in Christ.
And half annoying the dozen is God, who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
So this makes me think that we can get lost.
Whatever happens.
You said we cannot get lost. Is that what you said?
But here it's interesting in that verse, brother, that there is not only the ceiling and the earnest in verse 21, there is the anointing.
And we have that in First John chapter 2.
For intelligence, for understanding the Scriptures, the Spirit of God is the anointing. Also for power and service, the Spirit of God is the anointing. Says in book of the Acts that when the Lord Jesus went out in service, he was anointed by the Spirit of God. Spirit of God came upon him. We know at the.
Time he was baptized, and then he went forward in his earthly service down here in this world.
Wonderful too, to realize that.
The power to go forward in service is the power of the Spirit of God in US.
RIP the rest of the chapter. Here is a prayer of the apostle. I think we've mentioned that yesterday, but it is tremendously beautiful prayer and so much to be gleaned here says wherefore verse 15. I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you.
In my prayers.
This beautiful making mention of you in my prayers.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.
We mentioned yesterday in verse three begins out blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's beautiful to see that in verse 17, the prayer begins.
To the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whereas in chapter 3 there's another prayer in verse 14, that is to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's in keeping with the character of the prayer.
The prayer here in verse chapter one is more towards those things that are without, and in chapter 3 the prayer is about those things that are more within.
That.
Uh, he deals with here, but beautiful contrast here, brother, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, dear, the Father of glory God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ both.
And the relationship of father is something that he.
Enjoyed eternally.
He's the eternal Son of God, so that that was never a time when he became the Son of God. Important, wonderful truth. He's the eternal Son of God.
But when he became a man.
He then could look up to.
God as God because he had become a man and then genes are in Psalm 22. He says thou art my God from my mother's belly. So as soon as he became Incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary, he could say thou art my God. Wonderful to think about it, the Lord Jesus.
00:45:27
Speaks of the God and Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we enjoy both things, Brethren, God is our God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, but he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so we can enjoy those things because it is true of us.
We see it here. We see it many places in Paul's epistles and elsewhere. The three characteristics of Christian life are given here, and they're very interconnected. If one of them is not active in our lives, it's going to affect the other two very shortly. Those three things and umm Paul in his prayer.
Uh, brings them something out, but when he says in verse.
15 He gives the first two of them.
I heard of your faith. That's number one.
In the Lord Jesus and love, that's number two.
Those are two characteristics of Christian life, and it's very often love of the brethren, because having eternal life in me displays itself in my love.
It's an evidence, it's a mark that it's there, it to be seen in the life. And so the love is always part of it, but it begins there with the first aspect, faith and love. And then the third, you might say pillar is that for which Paul is praying here. And it's in verse 18 that you may know what is the hope.
And the hope is the third aspect of Christian life. You see it in newborn believers in First Thessalonians chapter one, UMM, speaking about their faith, hope and love when they turn to God from idols and so on.
Umm, And just a comment connecting it with some of the other things that we've had over the weekend and with regard to these three things.
When the church in Ephesus, this church right here is addressed in what sometimes is called the 2nd Epistle to the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2, when they're addressed as an assembly again later.
He says I have something against you.
And then he says you've left your first love.
What's the consequence if the love of these three things is not active as it should be?
It opens the door to the world.
And when it opens the door to the world, it gives access to the world to have a place in us if our hearts are not taken up with that which is our own in Christ. And whence the world gets a point of entry, as you see in the progression of the seven churches, until the 7th church, the world is so taken over the profession of Christianity that the Lord has seen on the outside knocking to come in.
If any and and Laodicea, the world had completely got an entrance in and in the process, once it gets an entrance in, it's going to make us earthly minded or it has no other hope for itself but earth. And so it's important for us in the recognition of the prayer and these things that we need to have the hope.
To be heavenly minded and recognize we're a heavenly people. But I just also say two other things are very important to the maintenance of that, and they are at the activity of love and the faith that characterizes Christian life.
00:50:08
In the beginning of.
Chapter verse 18 We have the eyes of our of your understanding, being enlightened.
Now JJ and David says the eyes of your heart being enlightened.
Oh, that would mean that we have to have a a heart for these things.
Not just outward understanding that we could maybe even boast of it, but inward appreciation.
Of these things.
Namely, our closeness to the Lord and our God.
And he goes on, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.
This all goes together.
The real challenge? I really believe that, brethren.
We need to have our eyes opened as to spiritual realities. We have the verse in Second Corinthians chapter 4 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, and the things which are not seen are eternal. Everything visible is passing away.
And the culture which we're passing through makes its full emphasis on things that are visible.
Brethren were not called to that. We are called to something that will last forever and we need to have our eyes opened us to that. I must say it's been a challenge to me to go into some of the poorer parts of the earth and to see some individuals that the Lord has given to have their eyes opened as the spiritual realities and how much enjoyment there is.
It's been a tremendous challenge to me to see how much I have been robbed with the, uh, enjoyment of spiritual realities by the occupation, with present things, visible temporal things. Yes, we're passing through a world where there's a lot of temporal things, and in a certain way we have to relate to it. But if we can.
Have our eyes focused on what's beyond?
Oh how, what a difference it's going to make. And I've mentioned it before, but it's so impressive me with the way the Lord Jesus passed through this world as a homeless stranger.
He had so little material things down here, next to nothing. He did have a few things, but why did he live so simply?
Brethren, he came from the Father's house, and it wasn't that. It's wrong to have those things.
But there is nothing down here to attract his heart to those things.
Since he knew what it meant to dwell in the Father's house, brethren, may the Lord help us to have our eyes opened just feel increasingly how much we've been robbed by occupation with present material things. May God grant that we would have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him that the eyes of our.
Hearts he brought out was being enlightened that we may know, and as I was mentioned yesterday, there are three things specifically. First is what is the hope of his calling? Second, what is the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And then third, verse 19, what is the exceeding?
Greatness of his power to us were to believe according to the working of his mighty power just like the apostle Paul just runs out of adjectives and Speaking of the immensity of the power that's in operation to bring us into.
00:55:19
The enjoyment of these things.
Just emphasize again.
The eyes of the understanding of your heart. True knowledge.
Finds its lodging not in the brain.
In the heart.
And maybe this illustration will help by turning this whole subject upside down for a moment.
Suppose you took a man of the world, an earthling to heaven.
We're on earth as a heavenly people, but let's turn it around for a moment and let's take an earthly man to heaven.
Would he be happy?
No.
His thought would be I wanna get out of here.
I'm not interested here.
There's nothing in heaven that satisfies.
The earthly.
You see the Lord Jesus here. Does that satisfy unearthly man? No.
We will not have this man.
Well, so I go to the home of the man. Is he gonna satisfy me? Because it's a different environment and I'm gonna suddenly say, whoa, heaven's a nice place, No.
Not at all, he'll say. There's nothing here that satisfies the desires of my heart.
I wanna go back to earth.
The activities here don't have anything that satisfies me. Remember Me is sinful flesh. That's all he's got to work with. And so he would say the man here, no, I don't have any interest in him. The activity here, what's people are interested in, I don't understand it. I really don't have any interest for it. I want to go back where I was.
And he would. The first thing he'd want to do is get out of heaven and and get back to earth.
What attracts us to Earth is the same thing that attracts him to Earth.
Is that which has to do with the sinfulness of the first man. And so we're constantly exhorted to say, and it's takes a lifetime, I think, to learn it, but we're exhorted to say, I'm dead to that.
And what attracts the heart is the new of the new life, and heaven is perfectly satisfied to it. But it's lay hold of my faith because our eyes spiritually are connected with faith. Unbelief blinds.
And our hearing is connected with our will in a spiritual sense. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. If our will is involved for earth, then we'll say, I don't want to hear right now. We'll be like the little boy or girl that puts their hands over their ears. I I don't want to listen. I want what I want. Same way with the man in John nine. He had a he believed in his eyes were open spiritually and naturally.
The Pharisees who say we believe are in that chapter, John 9. Their unbelief made them blind, and so we don't take in the truth of God except through the senses.
But the senses that are important, if the eye is the eye of faith and the submissive ear that take them into our minds and they have to go through our consciences and then they find their lodging in our hearts, and when they do, there's understanding.
And peace and satisfaction. But these things war against us that keep us, you might say, at times half blind.
Or too stubborn to accept and submit and we're not understanding as a result.
What was the main occupation of the Lord Jesus when He was here on this earth?
01:00:00
It was having a heart for those who were in trouble for the sick.
And he drove out demons.
And when a man came to him and said or in a man spoke up out of the crowd and said.
Lord, I want you to tell my brother.
To divide the inheritance with me.
What did the Lord Jesus say?
What have I to do with these things?
He didn't want to have anything to do with that.
His heart went out to the people who had needs.
The power that's looking up here in verse 19.
And 20 is interesting, brother. And when we look at creation, it is a tremendous display of the power of God. And the more you study the universe and see the tremendous expanse of the universe and realize we're talking about a God who spoke and it was done, the power of God, that is.
Evident in creation is incredible, but here we have the power of God in a different sphere completely. And how was it displayed not in creation but in resurrection? Doug was talking about that last meeting and it says which he wrought in Christ verse 20, 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, in every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
It's just amazing, brethren, to think that God reached down and took the Lord Jesus from that place of death and raised him until the Lord Jesus.
As a man is in the highest place in the whole universe.
There's a man there. A man.
A real man of the human race in the glory of God, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. Oh, isn't it wonderful, brethren, to realize His presence there, and not only realize His presence there, but realized the relationship that we have to Him in that place?
And that's where we come to the end of the chapter. And hath put all things under his feet.
And gave him to be. And notice this it doesn't say head of the church.
That head over all things to the Church, which is his body.
The fullness of him that filleth All in all, so that every situation.
That takes place in the life of a believer. The Lord Jesus is head.
Over it all in relation and so when things happen that can be rather negative in our lives.
How important it is, brethren, to not be short sighted. So often we get occupied with that brother that doesn't understand me.
For that neighbor, that gives me a hard time.
Brethren, let's not be short sighted and just look at him and instruments. Let's look up to that man in the throne of God to whom we are united here and now. We are united. Every situation of my life, every situation of your life is directly controlled by that man in the glory of God.
No wonder the Apostle Paul later on in this book, in chapter four, he says, I therefore the prisoner of whom does he say of a prisoner of Rome? That's what he was. No, he doesn't say that. That would have been short sighted. He says the prisoner of the Lord isn't that beautiful, brother? He accepted it from the Lord's hand. And that's where we need to get in our souls, brethren.
01:05:08
Oh, the wonderful reality of the fact that even now, in the day in which we live, when there is so much ruin in the public testimony, we are united to that man in the glory of God, his head not only of his church, but his head over all things to the church. Wonderful, wonderful reality.
Greater light brings greater responsibility.
We just over time is gone but in First Samuel chapter 12.
Umm, just a few verses in contrast with what we've we've read in this chapter. It talks about not ceasing to pray for them. Umm, there's another few verses in First Samuel chapter 12 That talks about Samuel's promise to pray for Israel.
First Samuel chapter 12, verse 20, there's very brief comments because the time is gone. But Samuel said to the people, fear not, you've done all this wickedness yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart, and turn you not aside. For then you should go after vain things, which cannot profit or deliver for their vain. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great namesake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you as people wherever. Moreover, As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.
But I will teach you the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart. For consider how great things he has done for you. Uh, and then in Lamentations chapter 3, just a very, just one verse to put in contrast with what we've had in the end of this chapter, Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 26.
We read from verse 25, the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both open quietly, wait for the salvation of the Lord. Samuel and in this case Jeremiah were among those who we would say had.
Tremendous spiritual light among their contemporaries, but it doesn't even begin to compare with what we have.
They were still and there were going to be with them in heaven, but they they didn't couldn't have the perspective. We can look back now. We have the complete word of God in our hands. We have the Holy Spirit in us. We have not. You wait and quietly wait because you don't even know exactly what your hope is. Our hope is so clearly laid out for us. It's not something that takes speculation that they had to sometimes, if I could say, serve without much light, and many of them did.
We are so much more responsible and comparably more responsible. And one of the things that they both said, Samuel said it to them, Paul said it here. Cease not to make mention for a few of my prayers, Umm.
Think of, and if I can use this to practical example, it struck me many times, uh, knowing what he did know. And I don't think in some ways he had the life that we've been given, but Hudson Taylor prayed by name for over 1000 people a day. How many of us could name 1000 people to pray for in a day? We go from here, We've had this and yet there was a, there's a practical, if I could put an assignment that we can have to pray that we each can enjoy what we have in Christ.
For heavenly people, we have far more light than anyone had in the Old Testament. Our hope is now clearly laid out for us. The work is done. Christ has died, is risen, He's ascended into the glory and umm.
He's waiting perhaps today to take us home to be with him.
237.
The third stanza, His faithfulness is forever sure for endless ages will endure His perfect work through the depth of his unchanging love. 237.
Rejoice.
And pray.
01:10:00
Amen, Grace.
Song of Solomon, I think it's Chapter 7.
Song of Solomon, Chapter 7.
And verse 10.
I am my beloved.
And his desire?
Is toward me. Spray.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Dean Rule
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.
It starts this evening by singing in the M sheet #10 just read the chorus while turning to it. We'll come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior. Receive him this moment and peace shall be thine #10 If someone could start it for us, please.
I Savior, and I in my glory.
I'll say.
Word on God restraint.
I'll take you out with nothing to say now I suffer.
1, 8214.
Oh no, good day to God.
I did love it, and it's your great name and this moment and it can be hardly.
00:05:06
Some 10 days ago.
Got on my laptop and I deleted.
All of the information.
In my contacts and outlook for Roberto Nevada.
I went to my phone and I deleted his telephone number and his information.
Four weeks ago today, I stopped praying for him. I'll never call him again to have breakfast together, and we had breakfast together every three or four months.
Why? Because four weeks ago today, he died.
Four weeks ago today, he went into eternity.
And I've had some tears in the last four weeks because it's someone who I had quite a bit of time with.
July of 2013 I was being wheeled down in a wheelchair because it was in the hospital with a kidney stone. Going to have an X-ray before they would blast the kidney stone apart and get rid of it.
When in the hallway of the hospital.
Uh, Giselle Marisol de Nevado, his wife was out in the hallway and I had met her and I said, Giselle, what, what's happened? She said Roberto is here because he has colon cancer.
Said, well, can I see him for a few minutes? And so the person was Wheeling the wheelchair, wheeled me in and we talked for a little bit. An optimistic man, a man who was successful in many aspects of his life. He sometimes said the one he wasn't was Giselle was his fourth wife.
His business has been sold in the last four weeks for what I understand is principal business for $6 million. He didn't take any of it with him. I went back. I was out of the hospital a day or then after, but he was in the hospital every other week for 12 weeks. That was his first time in there for chemotherapy. Went back with the Bible, went back with a book. His wife was quite interested, but he was a man who seemed to be sufficient in himself.
And.
Sad. It's absolutely sad the last four weeks to realize that a man who considered a friend a man who had contact with.
Is someone that there's no reason to pray for anymore because his eternal destiny has been determined and there's nothing that can turn the clock back. I hope that I will have the pleasant surprise of seeing him in heaven when the Lord Jesus comes.
But in the context I had with him the last few weeks of his life, he's from Spain. He went off to Spain to have a very expensive treatment where they would pull one organ after another out of his body and wrap it and give it a special chemotherapy.
But it didn't work.
He said, pardon me, some other things that put the things on my mind and the word that I have on my mind tonight, and we're going to come back to it. It was in the hymn is now.
A week ago today with my father-in-law, we were driving in a mountainous Rd. going down the West side of the Andes to a Bible study to have on Saturday, Lord's Day evening in the front room of a store of some who are now believers. Some are not, but they're there. On the way down we came up to where the path was and on the opposite side of the road there was a truck flipped on its side, but the police were there and an ambulance was on the way.
On the way back after the Bible study, we came around the corner and there was a car flipped on its roof, pulled over the 3rd or 4th vehicle there and everyone had gotten out. They made it in time. They had another opportunity on the 16th of October.
Ten days ago or so to calculate it, 16th of October, heading out of town, there was a car, an SUV, a small one that was tipped up on its on the front end with its wheels on the on the top of the roof of a smaller car behind it. And there were two cars behind it that ended up in the accident.
On Wednesday of this last week was on a road winding again another Rd. heading out of the western slope of the Andes and there was a bus on the upside upside down hit a tree against a another wall.
And the question in every one of those cases in my mind was, did the person make it out alive? Because if they didn't, they were in an RN eternity.
00:10:01
And when it comes time, the worst news that you can ever get that I can think of down here, the worst news is to hear that someone has gone into eternity without knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Everything's been done. We've heard that in these days about what the Lord Jesus has done for us. We've heard about the marvelous hope there is in heaven for everyone who believes in Him as their Savior.
But how easy it is to have it go in one ear and out the other, How easy it is to have it be something that's known in the head and never reaches the stage of repentance and belief. And so the word now has been on my mind a lot in these last 10 days. But as I started to think about the word, if you take letters off and you add letters to it, that's a progression. That's something that if we could look at tonight, and I'd like to start in Psalm chapter 34.
Psalm chapter 34 and verse 8 and I'll write the 1St letter here.
The letters O.
As far as I know, in the English language there's only three words that only consist of one letter, OA and I I and A are easier to define than O, but it's something at the beginning of verse 8 calls our attention.
Wonderful simple verse in the Old Testament it says, O taste and see that the Lord is good.
We live in a world that doesn't have much news that's very good. I haven't seen the news on a newspaper on the Internet for the last few days. But I think if we were to pick up and see the news tomorrow online or in in on the Chicago Tribune or whatever the newspapers are, we would find that probably on the front page there would be an article about Ebola.
Perhaps about the doctor in New York who contracted it when he had gone to one of the countries in West Africa to help. The world has disease problems. We could probably look on the front page of the paper and find some news about ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and how many more people have been killed in the difficulty of defending Baghdad and some other cities. We could probably look on the paper and find out whether the the jittery stock market has gone down or it's gone up.
The news of this world isn't very good. 20 years ago you heard people say, well, things are getting better. You know, it's a little more education, a little more this and a little more that. The world will get better. I haven't heard that for a long time. But there is good news tonight. And it says that right here. It says, O taste and see that the Lord is good. There's not a person here tonight who hasn't heard the gospel multiple times. Who's had it reason with him? Who's had it presented to them? Who's had it shown to them? Who's had it pleaded with them?
But have you ever tasted? Have you ever received the Lord Jesus and found that it's good?
If I were to describe to you.
Try if I were to say to you, or do you know what, umm, raspberries or strawberries or oranges or apples?
Tasted like everyone in this room would be familiar with the taste. But if I tonight were to try to describe to you the taste of uh, not in here, maybe I'll ask my nephew Steven. Why does it not in here taste like?
Makes a good juice. And how would you describe the taste?
I can't do it. And if I were to ask someone, what does a peppino dulce, a sweet cucumber taste like? If I were to ask someone here, what does a TuneIn, I don't mean the fish, I mean the fruit off a cactus tastes like or a Chitty Moyer or a guanaban or something. And you were to say, I would say to you, those are all good tropical fruits, but most of them you don't get here. If I were to try to describe the taste to you, I couldn't. But if I could say one thing, if you want to know what it tastes like.
If I had one that I could put on a plate here on the table, I'd say taste it and you find out it's good. And that's what it is with the Lord Jesus. Those of us who know Him as our Savior cannot describe what a marvelous thing it is to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. We cannot describe what a wonderful thing it is to know with absolute certainty where we're going to spend eternity. We cannot describe what it is to know with certainty that our sins have been washed away in the precious blood of Christ.
We cannot describe what it is fully to say we have a new life because he gave his life. But he didn't stay in the grave. He rose. Again. We cannot fully describe what it is to say what we have is because he did it all.
00:15:10
The most impacting prayer meeting that I've ever observed in my life.
Was not a prayer meeting of people praying to the true God. It was not a prayer meeting where people were praying to the Lord Jesus, God the Son, the eternal Son of God. It was not a prayer meeting where people finished their prayers at the end of the prayer meeting with in Jesus name, Amen. It was a prayer meeting that when I saw it was at 2:00 in the morning, it was.
A prayer meeting that I couldn't see, but I was arriving in a city in the Middle East.
At close to 1:00 in the morning, picked up a rental car, was given the direction to the hotel where I was going to spend the night. Drove out of the hotel and the instructions marked were wrong on the map and I ended up on a side street at the head of the prayer meeting because I couldn't see. Inside was a mosque.
And then the people, the men were there, all of them on mass bent over, and they completely filled the applause in front of the mosque. And then they went and they completely filled the street to where I could see to the right. And so I had to back out of the thing. But I took a camera up and snapped a picture, which I've got, which isn't very clear, But those men were there at 2:00 in the morning. And they were doing it, I believe, every day during Ramadan.
Trying to appease.
And earn favor with a God who does not exist.
Reading.
What was written by Muhammad, a messenger supposedly of that God who does not exist, who stayed and has stayed ever since his death in a grave.
I thought those men, those sad men are there, they're praying every night during the middle of the night when most of us are in bed and when I would normally be in bed. But somehow, thankfully, I ended up on the wrong streets that night.
Because it impressed me to say those men are trying to work to get something that they'll never get. The work has already been done. The Lord Jesus Christ has finished the work on Calvary's cross, and all their prayers are to no avail.
And some of their fellow people who believe what they believe, instead of praying or out saying, I'm going to strap a bomb on my back and I'm going to walk into a group of people and I'm going to somehow get to heaven because I'm going to blow myself and all of them up tonight. We're talking about someone whose love says, I'm not going to take anyone's life. I'm going to die so that you can go to heaven. And what? Let's go on now and just add one letter to this word. And the letter is N and go to Romans chapter 3.
A very well known verse that most of the children have memorized, Romans chapter 3 and we often start with verse 23. We're going to start with verse 22 tonight. Romans chapter 3 and verse 22.
Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe. And now we come to the clause that has the words that we've written on the board, the letter we've added to the word O, for there's no difference.
No difference if there were to be a survey done online or some newspaper, you were to come into Indian Trail, uh, middle school tomorrow and do a survey, a survey with the students and you were to name several people. You were to name the man who's head of ISIS and who's the one who's directing this, the killings in, in the Middle East. Or if you were to name the most notorious prisoner in the Illinois prison system, as it was John Wayne Gacy or something as his famous names that are known. But you were to name someone who was known to be a pious person.
Someone who's known to be a doer of good deed, someone who's known to perhaps read the Bible and everything else you were say to say to the the people there. You were to give four choices. You were to say, well, is the head of ISIS or Mr. Gacy or that pious person, or none of the above deserve to go to heaven? What would be the most common answer?
Most people would say the third person, they'd say, well, that person's good, you know, that they they should deserve to go to heaven.
It's not what the Bible says.
The Word of God says there's no difference. Our tendency, our problem is we tend to compare ourselves among ourselves, and that's wrong.
00:20:09
Because the standard is not some other human being. We can all probably find someone and say well I, I'm better than they are. And we find others. We say they're better than us. But what does it say in verse 23? It says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God's standard is not some other human being like ourselves. God's standard is the only perfect man that's ever been on this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says between us there's no difference.
We've all come totally short sometimes. I stood on the on the shoreline looking out over the Pacific on the western coast of Ecuador, and I've thought about how far it would be if someone set out across the ocean and tried to arrive in Asia swimming.
And if we were to put a whole bunch of people from any group of people, including the best swimmers in the world and people that didn't know how to swim at all, the people who didn't know how to swim at all would make it until they were in an extended period of time of water above the top of their nose and they would drown.
The very most capable swimmers might make it a distance out. A woman and a NYAD or something swam from Cuba to Florida last year. So there might be some who would be very capable of swimmers and they might make it 100 miles off of shore.
But with no help with having to stay in the water, every single person who would start out on the journey to try to swim across the Pacific Ocean would drown. Everyone who thinks that they can get to heaven on their own is absolutely sure of coming short, because God's standard is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if we had to stop there, I wouldn't want to be standing up here.
But we don't have to stop, because what does it say in verse 24? It says being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.
Price.
Can only be met of our redemption by the blood that the Lord Jesus Christ shed on Calvary's cross. It's not a single one of us that's capable in ourselves to do anything to take away one single sin. But it says justified freely by his grace. And let's look at chapter 5 just very briefly at two things it says.
In verse.
9.
Much chapter 5, verse nine of Romans much more than now being justified.
By His blood we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Chapter 5 and verse one. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace.
With God for our Lord Jesus Christ periodically for certain paperwork in the country where we live, we have to get a police report and used to be that you had to go to an office. Now you can put your identity number in and and online and pay a small fee and outcomes a report that says whether you have any, any police record.
Tell this story before, but I'll tell it again.
One time in a jail with **** Gorgas in New Jersey, and we were with a group of prisoners for a Bible study in that jail. And I asked them, I said, what would be the thing that you would most like to have? And they said would like to be free. We'd like to go out of here tomorrow, be free. And I said, and what if you went out of here tomorrow and you went to apply for a job as a bank teller?
Umm, they kind of.
Looked a little bit chagrined and said well I think we might have some problem. And I said why? Well, they said if I was going to work for a try to go work at a bank and count money and some of them had been in the in jail because they were robbers, they said they would ask for some sort of record, some sort of police record that would show up on there.
If my record had to be put on the wall behind me, as many have said many times, I wouldn't want to be standing here in front of you if my record before had been justified by the Lord Jesus was put on the wall. But there's three things. Grace. Why grace? Because He gives us something we don't deserve. He's a merciful, gracious God. He wants to give you eternal life, but the way He can do it is because he shed his blood. So we've been justified by His blood.
00:25:06
Those of us who believe.
But that's only 2/3 of the way. That's all the work. But faith. You have to accept it or receive it. As many as received Him to them gave you the power to become the sons of God. Is there someone here tonight who knows about it? Who can explain justification by grace? Who can explain justification by the blood, and yet is never opened the tap of faith?
If you do.
He does something for all eternity. He takes that record and he leaves it completely clean. If those prisoners could have gone out of there and been justified by the state of New Jersey and had a completely clean record and went in and presented that at a bank, perhaps they could have gotten a job. But I don't think they could. But God does that because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. It says in verse 22, going back to Romans chapter 3.
Even the righteousness of God, it's not a righteousness. It's not something you could do or work. Oregon try to get those men who are out on the street in the United Arab Emirates that night. We're trying to do something themselves to be righteous before Allah, who they refer to, who they think is a living God.
But they're never going to get there because.
He can't justify, He doesn't exist. There may be demonic manifestations and everything else, but it's by the faith unto all and upon all that believe. And so if we could go to the next in Second Corinthians chapter 6. Again, these are very well known verses.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 6.
1St 2:00.
We're just going to read the first half of the verse to start.
Frisaeth, I've heard thee in a time accepted.
And then the day of salvation, I suckered her healthy.
What's happened?
To make us be able to be absolutely.
Positively sure of what we believe, those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. We're going to come back to this verse, but I wanna go for just a minute to the first chapter of Acts.
Go to the first chapter of Acts.
Chapter One.
And verse 3.
Read from the first first one the former treatise. If I made a Theophilus of all the Jesus began to do and teach until the day in which He was taken up. After that He had, through the Holy Ghost had given commandments under the Apostles whom He had chosen, to whom also He showed himself alive after His Passion by many infallible proofs.
Being seen of them 40 days and Speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
Many infallible proofs.
Taking a math class that involved proofs, you know that they're asking for something that's not.
Perhaps, but it has to be the the logic there has to be proper. It has to be on a proper basis to come to the conclusion.
Not open to debate.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is just as sure it's not open.
To debate.
In Ramadan.
Many try to make it.
To Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
And they have to handle crowds, which can, in time over the days of Ramadan, number in the millions.
To walk around the grave of a man who is still in the grave.
It would be interesting to go to Jerusalem, but not to see.
For the Lord Jesus is buried because he's not there.
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A couple of years ago, news came out that they found some bones or something in a cave and they said, oh, maybe this is the the remains of the Lord Jesus. No, it's not. It's not there. He rose.
From the dead.
40 days later after being manifest to many. Read in First Corinthians 15 scene of many.
He went back to heaven and he's coming again very soon.
There's a lot of people that will put up with a lot of things, a lot of suffering, thinking that it's going to gain them something as far as going to heaven or whatever.
Of the 12 apostles, we know that one was a fake. It was Judas.
Never see them. Ten of them evidently died a martyr's death. Not because they said by dying a martyr's death they were going to go to heaven, but because they said the one we followed was put in the grave. And we saw him come out and we saw him walk around and we talked to him and we saw him go back to heaven. So he said, if you take our life, So what? We know what's going to happen after.
It wasn't to get something that they went through what they went through. It was because they already had something. They had life. They had absolutely certain assurance that they were going to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. My question is now do you have that same certainty? Do you know where you're headed? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior?
Because it's now or maybe never when we ran when I jumped out of the car a week ago today at about this time and ran back. My question is.
Did everyone get out?
Or someone still in the car, perhaps dead, perhaps wounded. And the good news was that everyone had gotten out of the car that was flipped over on its roof. They had another opportunity. And tonight you've been given one more opportunity, but there's no guarantee that you'll have one beyond tonight.
So going back to our verse and 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, read the rest of the verse.
Says behold.
The last half of verse 6. Behold now.
Is the accepted time Behold now as the day of salvation. Doesn't say anything about tomorrow. Doesn't say anything about later tonight, because later tonight or tomorrow, maybe too late.
I know we don't work in hearts, but a couple of times over the in the few weeks before Roberto Nevada went into eternity on Skype, his name popped up on my computer and I said I'm gonna call him tomorrow. I'm busy now. I'll never call him again. It's too late for him.
It's gonna be too late for someone here tonight. Now, now let's add the West to it.
Now maybe the only opportunity you have.
Well, let's add one more letter. Go to Second Timothy.
Second Timothy. Chapter One.
We're gonna read.
Starting partway through verse 10.
Our Savior.
Jesus Christ.
Who hath abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light?
Through the Gospel.
Someone could walk through any hospital in Chicagoland tonight and.
Umm, a doctor or a group of doctors and nurses walk through and be able to come up with an absolute cure for every sickness, every disease, every wound that any patient in the Chicago hospitals would have tonight.
The phones of travel agents all over the world.
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The connections to Orbits and Expedia and the different airline web pages would be very busy.
There would be masses of people wanting to come to Chicago and receive treatment for a problem for their body.
But tonight there's something that's far better. The Lord Jesus has not promised that you won't get sick.
He's not promised that I won't have some injury.
But he said he's abolished death.
The body that I have, the body that you have, may die, but you have a soul, and I have a soul that allows us interaction between ourselves and with God. We have a spirit that lets us know that there's a God. A dog or a cat or a horse or something doesn't have a spirit and their soul dies. Our soul in a never spirit, our spirit never do. You will never cease to exist.
But you may.
Have eternal death.
Death and ceasing to exist are not necessarily the same thing.
When we were driving on a road with a dog that we'd had for eight years, eight or nine years.
And dog's name was Woody, and someone had given it to us when the dog was five years old.
And that dog was evidently panting and having its last breath and it dropped. It died in the back end of the vehicle.
He felt bad.
Yeah, say it was just an animal, but God provided those animals and they can be of joy and comfort to someone. And yeah, there were four of us in the car and there were four of us that were crying.
And when we dug a hole in the ground and put the body of a golden retriever in the ground.
Painful.
And we knew that that was it, that it was done. When that dog died, its soul in its spirit also died.
Talking day or two about when my mom went home to be with the Lord on.
February 2nd of last year, it had about a day and a half, most of it coming after I heard the news that she was bad sitting at the foot of her bed. And yes, when there's death, we feel it.
But for her?
And I've said this and I think it the first words that came to my mind if she's home, I thought what a marvelous thing is that she is enjoying now being in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, she left a weakened body behind. It'll be transformed and they'll be brought together again. One of the marvelous thing it is yes, miss her but wish her back. She's just had just an incredible incredible over a year and a half because she's been.
With the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then when I think about Roberto Nevado, unless there was some change at the end that I do not know about, and I hope there was, he has had the most miserable 4 weeks.
With no opportunity to change His eternal destiny. You still have an opportunity. If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, it says He has brought life and immortality. He wants to make you immortal so that you cannot die. He wants to give you an incorruptible body that's never subject to any sickness, any difficulty.
He's done everything. And So what does it say in verse 12 for the which 'cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed for I know. And let's add that letter to this word. I know it's not I think, I hope, I wonder, but it's, I know when Paul wrote that, he wrote it with absolute certainty. And you can have that same certainty tonight. I know who might have believed.
And am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
There's no greater commitment that you can make than to commit where your eternal destiny is, and there's no other place that you should commit it to, but to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can know.
As most of us know here with absolute certainty that we have committed it into the hands of the only place our eternal destiny is safe and sure, into the hands of someone who loved us so much that He came to this earth. He came and suffered.
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The taunts and things of many. And then from 9:00 in the morning till about noon on a Friday, he suffered the insults, if I could put it this way, using a common term. Today suffered the worst bullying that anyone has ever suffered, because in those hours they put a crown of thorns on his head, they mocked him, they spit in his face.
And who are they doing it to? They were doing it to exactly the one who was sustaining their life. If he withdrew his breath, all flesh would perish in an instant. We read in the book of Job. If he were to have forgotten about one single human being on earth during those six hours he was on Calvary's cross, that would have been the end of their existence. And while he was suffering the the suffering that you and I deserve to suffer for all eternity in those last three hours.
When God turned out the lights, He made it absolutely black so no one could look into the face of His beloved Son.
Who suffered condensed in those three hours what you and I deserve to suffer for all eternity of the Lake of Fire.
He had to sustain every atom in the universe. He had to sustain every life.
He, the eternal, infinite Son of God, became a man.
Pay the price. Why? Because he.
His love.
He does not want one single person to spend one minute in hell and then in the lake of fire.
People are hurtling toward that end every day, I read.
Something in the last few days and it talked about 10 famous people.
And it was a secular thing on Internet and news 10 famous people who are atheists or agnostic.
They don't need to name their names, but these are people that most of us would recognize 80 or 90 or 100% of these people. These are people that names are famous. These are people that their bank accounts are in numbers that we could not understand. They're famous, known all over the world. Sometimes they're people that are known for doing tremendous good works and re eliminating minds and and then providing money for vaccines against.
Different sicknesses and everything else.
But if they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, it doesn't matter what they've done, it doesn't matter who they are, it doesn't matter what they have. They're going to spend eternity in the lake of fire because evidently they don't know who they need to believe in. Do you?
Do you know who?
You need to believe in if you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.
In First Corinthians chapter 13.
Will come to the next to last verse that perhaps we'll read this evening, First Corinthians chapter 13.
Verse 12.
For now, we see through a glass darkly.
But then face to face.
Now I know in part.
But then shall I know?
Even as also I am known.
I don't think there's gonna be a name tags on people in heaven.
Sometimes people that I've not met before, I haven't seen for a long time. This weekend I've had to say, pardon me, but what's your name?
When those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior with these physical eyes we have.
See him the first time.
There will be no need for any introduction.
When we get to heaven, there's going to be those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Just five wounds.
Some of us have scars from different things, from operations. They might be scars inside, they might be scars on knees, they might be scars on elbows. Uh, they're not going to be gone.
The bodies of those who know the Lord Jesus Christ are transformed at the time of the rapture.
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But our hand has five fingers.
Each hand in the hands of human beings like you and I.
Took the living, loving Savior.
On Calvary's hill and nailed him through his hands and his feet. 4 wounds. Those are physical wounds. And for all eternity we're going to be able to see those wounds as a reminder. His body will not be transformed. His body will show for all eternity the marks of a sinful race of beings, ourselves and what we did.
But the most important mark that will remain on his body is the mark on his side where a soldier lifted a spear and pierced him in his side, and from that side flowed out his blood. The only thing that's capable of Washington away, and he will be there for all eternity is a freshly slain land. We're going to be able to look into him, his face. We're going to look into his hands, his feet. And then we're going to look at his side for all eternity and remember that that was what it cost.
For us to go and spend eternity with him. But if you refuse him tonight, you will not see.
More than one time, but you will see one time those hands.
You will see one time those sides you will hear one time.
Some of the saddest words it says we'll know even as we're known.
But you're gonna hear another message and and Matthew Chapter 7 in Matthew Chapter 7.
And I'm going to read it from verse 21 to get the context. It says now not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, if we not prophesied in thy name, if we not in thy name, if we cast out devils in the name of we done many wondrous works. The wondrous works don't matter. It's his work that matters after we know him. Yes, he wants us to do work that please him.
The last phase that will be seen by those who refuse the Lord Jesus.
Is the face of the Lord Jesus.
The last pair of hands that will be seen as the hands that were nailed to Calvary's cross.
The last feat that will be seen are the feet of the Lord Jesus.
The last side will be seen as a side where he was pierced.
By that sphere where he shed his blood. And the last words that will be heard are these. And then I will profess unto them. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. If I could say it in a crude way, it's time to go. Get out of here. You're done. And those are coming from the mouth of the loving Savior. But if you refuse him, if you refuse such love, if you refuse such mercy, such grace, He has no other alternative.
We heard something this afternoon and I'd like to repeat it.
Heaven is a horrible place for those who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. It's like if we took a fish and said now this fish, you gotta live here on this table. The fish is not going to be very happy and it's not going to be very successful for it to do that. There is absolutely nothing in heaven for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. There's not one single verse in the Bible that says God made a place for those who refuse the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior.
But there's only two destinies. The only destiny that remains is a place that was never, ever prepared for human beings. It was a place that was prepared for the devil and his angels. But God has no other alternative. With such love, with an offer of mercy, with a finished work, there was no reason to prepare a place for those who refused the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. But there are only two destinies for eternity. One is with the Lord Jesus.
Which we know from His word is far better than the other, is a place prepared for the devil and his angels.
I know I said this before and some have been in a gospel meeting where I said it, but I'm going to repeat it because I heard my father-in-law on Skype a few days ago telling someone about it and made an impression on him. And it made an impression on me when he was in Pennsylvania for four years until he moved back with us in Ecuador, he's frequently spent time in different nursing homes around Williamsport, PA. And he would go in and and have Bible studies and he'd go visit people from room to room.
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And one man over 100 years old, and pardon me for those who've heard me say this before, one man over 100 years old said to him. John.
I want to go to hell and shovel coal with my friends.
That man is an eternity. There's no shovel in eternity. There's no friends in eternity. Every good gift and every perfect gift.
Cometh down from above, from the Father of Light. Every friendship, every positive thing that every person here on earth enjoys does not come.
From anyone but God.
That man.
Is in eternity and unless there's been some change, he's not shoveling coal with his friends, trading stories or anything like that.
He's gone into, he's left the body behind, but when he gets his eyes back, he's going to be in a lake of fire in the blackness of darkness forever. For those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ are going to be in a place where the total illumination is going to be from the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was here, his moral glory show now it was visible to all. But when in heaven there will be no light fixtures, there will be no need of it because from his very body he'll radiate.
To illuminate all of heaven for one eternal day.
So now what does he say?
Instead of known.
It's never new.
No escape, no getting out.
Heaven is going to be so marvelous.
That there's not much written about it comparatively in the Bible because it's beyond words. But I urge you to taste and see that the Lord is good. Receive Him tonight while you can. The alternative?
An eternity of judgment in the Lake of fire is so horrible.
That no words can describe it.
Think while we pray about what eternity is.
We think about time. We can understand years as they go on, days, months, years. We can understand a little bit about of it, about it.
But the decision you make about the Lord Jesus Christ?
Is not for time, it's for eternity. Make sure you repent and believe before it's too late. Just thank Him.