Chicago Conference: 2018
Table of Contents
Rest
Hebrews 12:1-4
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Guide us, O thou gracious Savior, 276.
Bread of Heaven.
Feed us now and evermore.
Guide us so thou praise Angel, and I don't forget the freedom of life.
We are. We are.
Blinded for us when I fall.
Man.
217.
3 something.
Like that?
So great hiding.
So real hard you.
Forgot.
Uh-oh.
My dream of God the Lord gave us a great thy way.
I have to read a few words that David spoke and the Psalms.
719.
From 33 to 40.
Teach me, alert the way of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law. Yeah, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments, for therein do I delight.
Incline my heart until thy testimonies, and not too covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and creaking thou me in thy way.
Establish thy word unto thy servant.
Who is devoted to thy fear?
Turn away my reproach, which I fear, for Thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after thy presence. Quick me in thy righteousness.
Yes.
I'd like to suggest that we might read Hebrews chapter 12, brethren. They'll mention it in his address this morning, but it was on my heart even before that.
00:05:11
If that is suitable.
That would be very good, Bob.
Hebrews chapter 12 will begin with verse one.
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which dost so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and it set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Or consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
Must she be wearied and faint in your mind?
He has not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin.
And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth.
If he endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons.
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement whereof all our partakers, then are ye ******** and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirit, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our Prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness.
Without which no man shall see the Lord.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Lest there be any fornication or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of me sold his birthright.
For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.
For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words which voice they had, they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not en endure that which was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake.
A year come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. And to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
See that you refuse, not him that speaketh.
For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape?
If we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as the things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace.
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Whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire.
Chapter 12 follows Chapter 11, in which we have the list of the faithful witnesses of the Old Testament times enumerated. And so when it begins here, it says, Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin.
Which does so easily be set as and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Our race is a race of faith as well as it was for them in the Old Testament. The exercise of faith and faith is based not on things which are seen, but on the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. How wonderful, brethren, to be challenged and to be exercised in our faith and, uh, the race that is set before us.
It's not anything down here. The goal is Christ in glory. And so, so often we get distracted by things down here and we're tired. We're told about.
Weights and we're told about the sin that the census. Those are things that distract us and how important it is to be.
Challenge in view of the tremendous calling to which we have been called, that heavenly calling to eternal glory. And yet so often we get distracted by things down here. The Lord help us.
Yes, it seems that the believers here in, uh, Judea and in the general area where?
Jewish believers were, and of course we know they were in some cases scattered around, but they were on the receiving end of an awful lot of persecution.
First of all, in Chapter 11, the Lord reminds them that the pathway of faith had always been like that. It had never been easy. And right from the beginning it had been necessary to exercise faith right from Abraham on down. And of course even prior to that, all the way back to Abel and Noah and men like that. But it's interesting here that the writer doesn't focus on the persecution they were suffering.
First of all.
He looked first of all at those things that came from within.
There were the weights, the things that are necessary in our lives down here, we might call them the cares of this life, and yet things which can be, shall I say, taken further than they need to, and then they become a weight.
And so the Lord Jesus himself warns us in his ministry.
About the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. But it's always been of interest to me that the cares of this life came first because they are a necessary thing.
And so certain weights.
In that sense, maybe necessary things, but at the same time they aren't to be carried too far. But real weights that hold us back are those things that we don't need. That is, things of this life that are carried beyond food and covering, and then we find that they hold us back in a race, don't they? And then of course, there's the sin, as Bob has mentioned, that easily besets us.
00:15:29
And that has to be dealt with as well.
So God always looks at the things that are within, the things with which we have to deal with individually ourselves from within, before those things that come at us from without, which of course are in the next few verses.
You can see how we can draw up an allergy in today. I'm thinking speaking more to the young people, we, we can picture running and in today's time, you know in our days when you want to run, you just put your shorts on and a T-shirt and you go outside to run. Today you want to run. You have to have the proper gears. Would you be picture those gears, they are very light. You don't carry excess weight.
You don't bring your lunch box with you when you want to run. You want to minimize everything possible so you can have an edge as if it were to run that race. So here I, I, we have to look and say what are the things that can weigh us down? And I'm thinking back as we mentioned this, refer to those of faith. So I was thinking on the 11Th chapter, the two, the first two men mentioned, perhaps bring us back to the basic bill. I was thinking of your stories there.
How you said that man said we need to go back to basic first because if we don't, we can do the questions at end. So the first person mentioned in Chapter 11 of Faith is able. Well, what's so special about Abel's state? Well, Abel learned to offer a sacrifice that was acceptable to God. So is that something that we have to learn as well?
That do we want to do things our way or do we learn that we have to do things acceptable to God? And then we find the 2nd man was Enoch. He walked with God, he learned to walk with him and there was special blessings with Enoch. He was translated out of this world. What a wonderful things when we go back to the basic and learn that we have to learn to do things acceptable.
And learn to walk with God first.
Not just the patients, I believe the translation have it is that we will have the endurance to run that race.
The question of waste is a one we need to continually evaluate rather, and I think it is keeping the goal before us. Eternal glory is before us.
Are the things that we have in life distracting us from that? And so a runner considers constantly if he's running, whether it's going to help him to get to his goal, and we need to do that. I I still remember our brother Lundeen making a statement.
Pilgrim living is.
Simple living and it impressed me and we need to in view the fact that we're going to be called at a moment's notice into the glory. Just think of it brethren who set before us here is the Lord Jesus and how simply he lived in this world. He did not have material things to his name and like Bill has mentioned, it's not wrong.
To have things that deal with the cares of this life. We all have that and we as a father of a family is to be responsible to provide for his family. But sometimes we take it further than it needs to be taken. When the Lord Jesus was here, what did he have? Materially speaking? The only thing I can come up with was the clothes on his back.
00:20:11
Just was impressed the other day in reading through John's gospel again, the end of Chapter 7. All the others went to their own homes and Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. He did not have a place to lay his head and I think he must have spent many nights under the stars. Is it wrong to have a home? I don't think so, but it's the point that he.
Did not feel the need of that. He had come from the Father's house and there was nothing that he was interested in having. And so, brethren, may the Lord help us to evaluate everything in view of that coming eternal glory that we've been called to.
It's important to recognize that.
Many of the people in Chapter 11.
Who were examples to us, witnesses to us of a life of faith weren't running a race.
For 1500 years, most of those people weren't in a race. If you had talked to Abraham, if you had talked to David and so on, and you said are you in a race, I don't think they would have known what you were asking.
Their home, given to them by God, was earth.
And the book of Hebrews had people who started life with this earth as the Center for them, a blessing and life. And if you'd ask them where they wanted, what they wanted, they would say, oh, I'm looking for the Millennium. I'm looking for when this place on earth is really a happy place to live.
What we're taught is back in Chapter 10.
It says the just shall live by faith, and they were treated of God by their faith as just people. And every man of every generation from Adam onward has been put before God to live in trusting God, in obedience to him in faith. But now there's a huge change for these people because they have been given a different hope.
Their hope isn't on earth, their hope is glory in heaven in the presence of the Lord Jesus. But he uses the example to teach them they need to live by faith. And then in our chapter he gives them the supreme example of the life of faith. You have all these witnesses that you can look back at and learn from the examples of their life, but then he turns their attention away from all that.
After benefiting from it and says in verse 2.
Looking unto Jesus. Why? Because he is the perfect final example of a life of faith. That's what's being emphasized in verse two. We look under Jesus in the glory as a man that has run the race and finished it, and now he's given to us as the perfect and prime example for a life that is suited to.
The destiny for him life also is very complicated in some ways because he was the Messiah to Israel and after he was rejected and so on, his mission changed, uh, in some ways. But here he's looked at as his own life. He had to live it with an, an object that gives him joy that was set before him.
And that was heaven. That was the presence of God. And so with that fixed in his soul, he endured everything through which he passed, uh, including the cross, including the shame and why he's now finished the race. And he sat down, as it says here at the right hand of the throne of God and.
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We look at him there, we gaze upon him there, but we learn from his life here as the perfect one to look at, to see what it is that the pattern that should characterize your life and mind and because.
This is not home. The ver uh, the hymn we sang. I didn't get very well past the second line of the hymn because the second line of the hymn used the words barren land.
Is the United States barren land to you?
You live in Canada. Is Canada barren land to you? If that's what you think about when you get up in the morning, that you're in a barren land.
Well.
If you have the world as having a pull on your heart, it's not a barren land, but in the measure in which it's no longer home and there is a home and it's set before you in the glory, then it's a race. It's something that to be endured until the end to the joy that's set before us. And so it's a challenge.
To the soul to recognize what this chapter is going to say to us. The weights that are going to have it and so on are not really going to matter very much in our souls in a practical way unless we firmly recognize that this is not home and that we truly are, like the children of Israel, were on a journey from a world that God rejected God.
To a promised land which is heaven.
To be like God. The Lord has moved the Gold Coast to a, to a better place. All the Old Testament Saints live for this earth and the future blessing that was here on earth. They didn't know anything about heaven. But when the Lord Jesus came and was rejected and he hoped opened up a whole new sphere and he umm.
Noticed at the end of chapter UH 11.
Versus 39 and 40, all these.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.
God, having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Hello. Those died in faith not knowing where.
Their goal was going to end up at what kind of a resurrection they were going to be raised in where that was, was it only on earth?
We hear, we hear, see that the Lord, the author and finisher of faith has opened up a whole new sphere in the book of Hebrews is about that. It's about heavenly things. And so they it's so wonderful to have more clearly before us where we're going.
Abraham had a vision of heavenly, a heavenly country, didn't he? He was looking for a city whose foundations, uh, were uh, verse 10 city which have foundations as builder and maker is God. And then in verse UH-16, it says now they desire a better country that is in heavenly. So you must have had some glimpse and I think that's why.
Even though he was a man that had over 300 servants, he was quite a wealthy man. You never find Abraham living in a house, he always lived in a tent and I think it was because he had that before him. Although like you say, I don't think they had it very clear like we do now.
So it is beautiful to see that we are called to greater things, brother, and especially now that we have the full revelation of the Church and it's heavenly calling. What a wonderful thing.
00:30:04
I'd like to ask the question in verse one. What is the sin of that so easily besets us?
Well, I suggest, Bob, that it's different for each one of us, perhaps because we all have been setting sins, and what's a temptation to one may not be to the other. And so it's whatever happens to be the particular sin, or in some cases more than one, that the devil knows very well he can use against us. And he tends to focus, doesn't he, on that particular thing which he knows will tempt us.
I remember reading in our written ministry and I thought it was very good. Of course, this is based on Victorian terminology, but he said a ribbon in a store window may be all that he needs. But on the other hand, if necessary, Satan can up the ante all the way to all the kingdoms of this world. So whatever he feels is needed, Satan will use.
In seeking to tempt us, and very quickly he learns what will tempt you, what will tempt me. So I don't know that we could focus on anyone sin and claim that it is the one sin that besets us, but.
I suppose there are certain things that rise above the individual sins that perhaps could be set us all in a certain way, like pride and self centeredness and so on. But the way I've looked at it is that it's not named here because it varies from individual to individual. Is that commend itself? Yeah, I'm sure that we're all different in our personalities, so that would be the case. Umm, I would like to read a verse in the third chapter.
That perhaps, uh, maybe in a more general way, at the end of the third chapter it says, so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. And sometimes it suggested that the sin that easily besets is the sin of unbelief. And it is true rather than that that is a problem with us when we have the word of God before us.
There's always a questioning, and perhaps some of us have more of that problem than others, but.
Oh, to simply believe God. Who is it that said that?
If it was a brother, he said that why I might have questions about it, but if it is clear in the word of God that that's what it says.
Brother let's the simple in believing it and if we don't, it can lead to problems in our ongoing race in the in the calling that which words we've been called with.
Translation, last phrase and sin which so easily entangles us.
And that's the character of Sin, especially if you're trying to run a race.
Sin easily entangles and in such way it automatically introduces hindrances to making progress going forward.
And some of us here are old enough to remember a brother who used to emphasize to us just what Bob has been saying. And I certainly appreciate it that.
All are failure, whether as sinners or as Saints, ultimately stems from our unbelief of the goodness that's in the heart of God. Do you remember that saying, Bob? Yes, I do.
And uh, so yes, in that sense, unbelief is the root of all our failure because God wants to bless, and man thinks he'll be happier doing his own will and enjoying the fruit of that rather than the blessing that God has.
00:35:01
On the one hand, we are reminded about the weight of sin that can entangle us and then we can see verse one ends with a comma. It's like the thought continue on. But here we can look unto Jesus. He's the beginner of and the finisher of our faith. But when we look on him, is it only for health? No, we look on him for help and also for example too, don't we? So it tells us how he was the one who.
That's a joy that was set before Him and there it give us some sense of what is to come, that if we are to follow Him, there will be hardship, there will be those that like they despise. And he despised the shame. And we too probably will find out when we process the name of our Lord Jesus, when we stand up for our Lord Jesus Christ, we too will be despised and rejected by this world.
And we should be prepared for that. But anyway, I was thinking when the Lord first commissioned his 12 disciples at the mouth, he told them something very interesting. Uh, let's turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 6, just for a very brief moment. I don't want to take too much time on this there.
In the 6th chapter he he chose his 12 to Commission with Him, and then he spoke to them as if he was preparing them because He knows he wants them to follow him. Let's look at verse 20. And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, now notice here He didn't address the multitude, He was speaking to his own.
Continue on, he said. Blessed be E4I. Perhaps I'm not a good reader and I would admit that I always thought it's a blessed other four, but here it says blessed.
VE 4 For yours is the Kingdom of God. I believe he's saying to them, you're going to be poor. If you follow me, you'll be poor in this world. You think of Simon Peter, He gave up his fishing fleet as if it were to follow the Lord.
You think of Matthew one who did very well as he was able to skim up the money from the taxation, but giving it all up to follow the Lord. He said you're going to be poor, but he said for yours is the Kingdom of God. Your blessing is with the Kingdom of God. Not only are you going to be poor, it says verse 21 plus that are ye the hunger now and then they go on and tell them that they're going to weep now and so on.
So he was preparing them for the Kingdom or for the the commissions to come that they could be and maybe poor, they may have to suffer hunger, they may have to suffer weeping due to the circumstances, but they have the Lord. So we here get encouraged by this thing looking unto Jesus.
Here I believe it is an example for us, isn't it? This is the practical side of Hebrews.
Three more times in the book of Hebrews, the Lord is referred to as being seated or having sat down on the at the right hand of God. And in all three cases I believe He does it in virtue of who He is and what He has done. But here He's an example for us, and we notice that the Scripture is very careful not to carry the wording all the way to the atoning sufferings of Christ.
It mentions the cross, it mentions the shame and so on. And we can follow Him there. We may be called to do that if the Lord leaves us here. And at least in many parts of the world today, many are being called. But you and I have the privilege of following Christ in a pathway of rejection. But.
It's his example that goes before us, and we have the same end of the pathway as he did at the right hand of God.
What carried him through it all was the joy that was set before him.
And because of that joy that was set before him.
00:40:00
He endured the cross, despising the shame.
And it's often been mentioned, the joy that was set before him.
Primarily was to go back into the presence of God into be able to say, Father, I have finished the work that thou gave us me to do. That was the primary thought. But then is also he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied when he sees the fruit of his work all his redeemed.
That will be the tremendous effects of the work of redemption. What a joy that was to him as well. Because of that. It carried him through the time of the cross, the awfulness of the shame, the pain, the suffering that it meant. And it's what will keep us too.
This life, brethren, is not meant to be an easy time. It's hard.
Everywhere I go I find people that tell me of their problems and I don't have most of the time. Any suggestions how to deal with it?
It's hard.
But it's not meant to be easy, brother. It's a race, and it means us to be focused on the goal and to use our energies in getting down to that goal.
Sometimes when we don't know how to go somewhere but somebody else has been there before and knows the way, they will say to us, follow me.
And so they become the one we follow. They're the leader, if you will, and we follow them to the destination. That's really the thought here when it says of looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, He's the leader.
He is the one who and the first one who ran the race that is described in this chapter. And so he ran the race himself. He finished the race. He shows us the destination of it and as it were, we're told now follow him. Put your eye on him sometimes when it's not a, you know, if you're trying to follow somebody.
Sometimes I've had people supposed to follow me in a car and I get nervous and not too happy with them, to be honest, because they start lagging farther and farther behind and so easily lose track and maybe not make a right turn when they should and so on. But we have one who has run the race to the end. Now the instruction to us is put your eye on that leader.
Who has run that race and keep it there? Don't get distracted, don't stop and sightsee. Don't let certain things hinder you. Just keep going and uh.
His example Where does it lead him? Where did it lead him? To the right hand of God. And so it is. That's where it's going to lead you, and that's where it's going to lead me.
To be in his presence where he is at the right hand of God and, uh, the whole chapter really is the danger of stopping the race. And if it were, if it's only profession, never even getting there at all. Umm. And so we, we have many things that besides the first verse that we see in this chapter that can hinder us from going on.
Umm, even one another sometimes. The biggest hindrances we have are each other and we see failure in a brother and we don't react properly to it and it takes us out of the proper flow of the race.
Spice, the shame. Uh, I was just looking. I brought along, uh, vines, uh, lexicon.
00:45:04
And the spies can have the view of to discount something to view it as of no great thing to to to view it as umm, to underplay it, to downplay it. And so it's saying, in other words, our courts suffering what he experienced. We can have problems that we magnify. We can worry about little things. We can complain about little things. We can blow little things out of proportion. Our Lord did the opposite with that suffering on the cross and viewed it as something temporary, something to be accepted from his father's hand, to be endured, that he looked beyond that to the joy set before you. And that's the example for us.
You know, we can complain about every little thing or we can rejoice in things and we can do that with our own temptations, our own problems, problems with the Saints, trials of life. We can weave them out of proportion and worry about every little thing, or we can do that as nothing and look beyond it lives our Lord here. That's I think the mean of the word despise here.
Just buy something, not just in this context. I don't think to hate it. Sometimes the word we say, oh, I despise that we say. I hate it. I think here it's more the sense of considering it something minor or insignificant, considering it a small thing. I think it was in the Old Testament where we have, and I know it's in our English translation, and she looked upon him and despised him. In her heart. She just counted him insignificant.
And so when the Philistines had taken the Ark.
And they started to realize that it was gonna re lead to real problems like it had led to with the Egyptians. They concocted a scheme to send it back to Israel with the milk cart and the two milk cows. And they weren't sure whether this was really something happening to them from from God or not. So they put it on there and they sent it back and said, well, if it goes back to Bathsheba, if it goes back to Israel, we'll know that it's the hand of the Lord.
Otherwise, it's just a chance. And this is the challenge not to jump ahead, but that you and I have in our in our Christian life with respect to the privilege of instruction or chastisement is to count the Lord's wise and loving efforts with us to instruct us as just everyday common things. To take holy things and to treat them commonly is profanity. It's profane and so to take.
The the wise, loving, thoughtful way that God puts things in our pathway to instruct us for our blessing and growth as just everyday events is to lose spiritual context altogether and is to despise chastisement.
We have the sense of that in the 10th chapter. The apostle or the writer tells us that in the 10 shops we'll talk about the offerings. And what we saw was he said the Lord said, I come to do thy will. There's no detail about how he felt about the offering. He speaks of the burnt offering and the the peace offering and all these sin offering and so on. Well, all we read obviously said I come to do thy will, O God. And then he said, I take away the 1St.
That they may establish the second. Well, we know it. There's a lot to do with the offering that the the offering has the has to be killed. And we don't see that as it it was just passed over knowing that that must be done. And we see that in the case too of Abraham and Isaac. We find Isaac a picture of the son there. We, we thought he, we said that they, they had a knife. They had the fire and the wood with them. But then when Isaac raised the question to the father, he would say behold.
The fire and the wood.
The way is the land for the burnt offering. We don't see the knife being mentioned, but we know though that was the picture wasn't it, of the sun being offered up. So it wasn't as important as it were, but it was looking forward as if it were. So we found the book of Hebrews often speaks of the suffering first and then the glory to follow.
The.
He said to him to about pause as if it were all upon our Lord Jesus Christ to consider him is really a contradiction isn't how he would come to die for sinful man, but yet here what's interesting is that less EB weary and faint in your minds. I was thinking more. Perhaps we will read it in the opposite way and say well, how come we faint along the way at times.
00:50:17
Is it because we did not or we forget to consider our savior of what he has done And you know, fainting is in is interesting because if it's a physical painting, if someone sits here and all of a sudden we see this person fainted or passed out, we would notice we'll run up and do something or try to do something. But when we are fainting in our minds, no one knows that it's like our brother mentioned about this brother who hasn't read in a year and a half.
Well, outwardly we couldn't tell that we all look good.
We all know what to say and how to say it, but are there some? Are we? We cannot ask ourselves that questions. Are we actually thinking in our mind and need sustenance? We need the Word of God. We need to consider our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone can bear us up and lift us up.
The thought and wearied and fainting in our minds, I believe, is the thought of losing courage and losing heart.
I've sometimes thought of this. Maybe it isn't the best analogy, but it makes the point. For many, many years people tried to climb Mount Everest.
They made every possible attempt and they just couldn't seem to do it. But finally, back in the early 1950s, there was a man that did it. He made it. And what result did that have? It inspired many others who said, well, if one man could do it, then why can't I do it? Why can't more people do it? Now? I'm not talking about some of those.
Well seasoned Sherpas over there who probably have lost count as to how many times they've been up.
But the point is that.
Now you and I will lose heart. We will get discouraged unless we realize that there is one who has run the race. He has reached the goal and we have his strength.
Those people that tried to emulate the 1St man that climbed Mount Everest, they couldn't say we have his strength. They had to rely on their own strength, their own resources. And as we well know, some who tried it didn't make it.
But the point is there was one who had gone before, and you and I have his strength. And so it's a very big encouragement to our souls here. So look back, look at the Lord Jesus. Look at everything that was contrary to Him. No one, none of us will ever be called to walk in the pathway with everything against us.
As was the case with the Lord Jesus, we may be called to give up our lives, but the Hebrew believers are in verse four. Ye have not yet resisted under sin or unto death, striving against sin. You haven't had to give your lives up yet. It may come to that. Be prepared for it. Be ready to do so. But at the same time, suppose it does come to that.
It's a victory. It's not defeat. And how many dear believers there have been who have gone to their deaths and they have won the victory. Why? Because they went out of this world, Yes.
Hands of persecutors, but they went out not as criminals, but triumphantly.
Staring their persecutors in the face, praising God to the end, and giving a testimony of the strength that they had to face, in some cases the most awful tortures. And yet God gave it to them in order that it might clearly be seen that they weren't doing it in their own strength. They were doing it in the Lord's strength well.
You and I may not be called to do that, but as we well know from Scripture, it sometimes takes just as much courage, just as much strength as we get in James, to endure temptation day after day, week after week, month after month, and so on. And that's why every one of us can win that crown of life, even if we don't end up giving up our lives for Christ.
00:55:21
I enjoy, uh, the way the.
Spanish translation gives verse three. It's the old version in the Spanish translation says.
It translates to mean reduce your thoughts to him and it really is brother and consider him reduce your thoughts to him when you think of all that he endured.
We live in a culture that wants us to think of ourselves and our desires and our rights. It's not about us, brethren, it's about Him. And so reduce your thoughts to Him. When He was betrayed by His one of His disciples, did He give up? When He was denied three times by one, who said He would never deny Him?
Did he give up? Never. Didn't come into the picture. He went straight forward. All the terrible circumstances that he went through. And so to think about him, to reduce our thoughts to him is the way to continue this race, brother.
Like to notice something that, if I could put it this way, he didn't have when he ran the race, but we have.
Umm, I might hope I don't go too far in it because he did have the most important thing, which was the fellowship of his father all the way through the race. But I want to illustrate something. If you go back with me to Matthew's Gospel chapter 4 and I'll say consider him. We're going to look at him. We're going to consider him for a few moments as he is presented to us in his race.
In Matthew. In Matthew chapter 4.
Jesus public ministry begins and it begins in verse after he's tempted of the devil and found proven to be a suitable servant of God.
Uh, in verse 17 it says from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Not a popular message.
We have to be careful to recognize the very first word of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ that's recorded for us is a message that is not popular. Repent and sometimes when this matter of shame comes up, I thought about it, have we ever been a little bit hesitant to pass someone attract?
With the unconscious at that moment thinking.
What if I do? What will they think of me?
Or will we despise that is think little of the shame of rejection Anyways, here in Matthew 4, he begins his public ministry and he preaches. We have the Sermon on the Mount which follows. Following that, we have him going from city to city, uh, showing the goodness of the heart of God and healing and doing good. And what's the end result, if you will, of it?
Go to Chapter 11.
By Chapter 11.
All his preaching and all his good works have come to the point of rejection.
In his earthly mission, in that sense, it's all now over. And from chapter 12 on it's the path of the cross. But what does he say to us? What does he say in his own heart? First in his path He says verse 25, after everything is over as far as his public ministry, and he's been fully rejected by those who came to say he says.
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And verse UH-25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it so it seemed good in my sight, He accepts it.
And he doesn't fight against it, but he accepts it and says for it seemed good. And I sight father, but then he immediately turns around to us.
And verse 28 he says, Come unto me.
Come to the man that's rejected. Come to the man that just had his public ministry refused. Come to the man that said repent and there was no repentance and there was shame and envy and dishonor heaped upon him. The people who later on got their chance said we will not have this man. But here he says to us, you Labor, can I say, is the race hard or heavy? Come to me.
And I'll give you rest.
He tells us what so easily makes it difficult for us is he says I'm meek and lonely.
Where we don't despise shame is when we want our reputation. We want people to think well of us, and that's important to us. We don't despise that so easily. But the Lord didn't have that spirit. And he says, Well, you let my yoke be on you and learn to make, and you'll find rest for your soul. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. And if we were practically looked steadfastly upon him in his life here.
And where it ends, then we would be able to walk the path, you might say, in fellowship with him. And that's special to us because he didn't have anyone among men that actually understood. And that gave him the most difficult of all races. With you and I, we run the race, but we also run it or should run it with the conscious awareness that he's going through it with us.
The long distance race isn't that, it is not a 50 yard dash. It's uh.
Something that lasts our whole life long and so the.
As mentioned in verse one, the word patience could be rendered endurance.
Continue.
Keep on, don't give up.
And it's interesting, those that run marathons, they don't take a break and rest a while. That's not in the picture.
Keep on. And so they have to measure their way of of running. And so, brethren, keep on. Don't give up. It's so easy to get discouraged. What is the secret? Reduce your thoughts to him. He went through it all. Where is he now? He's at God's right hand. He won the race.
And so it's a doable race, and it takes concentration. Lord help us to endure.
I think it's good for us, brother, and to realize like Bill was mentioning, that there were in the history of this world those who actually resisted unto blood and to read their testimony. And brethren, it's not only in the past, it's going on today, our brothers and sisters and the Lord in many parts of the world.
01:05:05
Are giving up their lives for the Lord Jesus. I don't honestly know how I would last in that situation. Don't think we can. God has put us where we are and we are to endure where we are. But to realize that here this is something that our brothers and sisters in many parts of the world. I have heard that there were more martyrs.
In the 20th century than all previous centuries combined. And it's never, hardly ever mentioned in the press how many people are killed for their faith in Christ. But it's going on today. People are resisting. Brothers and sisters are resisting into blood.
Still remember Brother Bill, your father-in-law, mentioning the.
Moving story of A2 girls and I think this happened way back in the time of the persecution of the Roman Empire.
Two sisters that were charged with being Christians and condemned to death unless they would deny Christ.
And one was to be taken and burned at the stake first.
And they talked between themselves and said.
Uh, give some kind of a signal before you die.
To tell me if it's worth it.
And so that one was let out and tied to the stake first, and the fire was ignited and burned and burned and the one that was watching.
Wondered if she had already passed, but all of a sudden she.
Sucked up.
And it's worth it.
And then die.
Rather, it is worth it.
This is something that is real.
Right now, in today's world.
Some foreign persecution in this land probably is not as prevalent in other lands, but there's something just as difficult in this land that is to keep its word and not to deny this name.
And with all of these things, we have to remember that those who stood firm and are standing firm today.
As scripture says.
Our men and women too of late, passions as we are. And the Lord gives the grace for whatever circumstances He places us in, doesn't He? And so wherever He puts us, He will give us the grace when we need it to follow in whatever way He leads us.
To the right hand of God that is spoken of here, we can rely on that. These who gave their lives in a wonderful, victorious way. We don't in any way take away from the courage and from the strength that they had. Wonderful. And sometimes you read these stories as Bob was recounting, and you wonder how it could be possible.
Again, the Lord gave them the strength, but He gave it to them when they needed it. And He'll give us what we need too, for whatever path He leads us in.
The fourth in the back of the book gym #4 in the appendix is the victor's name, who fought the fight alone. Triumphant Saints no honor claim his conquest was their own. Hymn #4 in the appendix.
This is loving.
Your time of all the.
Matthew 1
The Glory of God
The Lord's Coming
Gospel—Bob Thonney
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Good evening.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Let's pray.
Let's sing #4 on our hymn sheet.
Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior for me.
Christ is our Savior of sinners.
Rice is up there for me.
Long I was standing. Since I'm not now by his grape, I'm grateful.
Save your upstairs.
There is a sinners like you.
Shedding his blood for my wrath of this is a singer for me.
No, I can say I am bored of an happy and justified.
My blessed dream.
This is a savior for me.
To go out there.
Take your opportunities like this.
Platform Miraza. This is a singer for me. Shut up as I was irrelevant.
Now there is no condemnation.
This is a singer for me.
It's my purpose tonight to speak about the Lord's coming and how it relates to anybody.
That might not be a real believer.
As I look around the room, I think all who are here have been those who have heard the message many times.
But you know, it doesn't mean that you're straight with God necessarily.
To have a mom and a dad that are real believers is a real blessing.
But the time comes when you're going to have to make that decision for yourself.
I think of the time when I was seven years old.
My mom and dad. My dad had to leave early for work.
And my mom read the Bible some verses in the morning, and then we got down on our knees and prayed. I can still remember the morning when I said to the Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus.
I need to be saved. Please save me now.
That's quite a few years ago, but I've never regretted doing it early in my life. So you who are children here, think it through. I was only 7.
And I could understand my need of being saved, how important it is to do it as early as possible. But you know, the first verse I quoted, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners is not about the Lord's second coming.
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It's about the Lord's first coming into this world.
And if we don't have a proper perspective about the Lord's first coming, we won't be able to understand properly the Lord's second coming. So I want to spend a few moments talking about his first coming into the world. He came nearly 2000. Well, it's over 2000 years ago now that He came the first time into this world.
And I'd like to go to John's gospel chapter one, where we have the story.
Of the Lord Jesus.
Was interesting this afternoon.
In Matthew's Gospel and in Luke's Gospel, hearing about the Lord Jesus, his genealogy.
Matthew's Gospel as the King of the of the Jews, and in Luke's Gospel as the Son of Man.
And so the Lord Jesus.
Is God. And so in John's gospel, where he's presented as the Son of God, it's interesting you don't have a genealogy. And as our brother Re reflected, that's because he always was. I can't get my mind around that.
He never had a beginning. He is the eternal God. And So what you have here, it talks about a beginning.
In the beginning he was already there. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Tremendous statements of truth.
In the beginning was the Word his eternality, and the Word was with God, his distinct personality. In the Godhead, God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Word was not the Father, the Word was not the Holy Spirit. The word was the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, it's an interesting title.
And I like to try to explain it sometimes.
In this way that if I stood up here and looked at you all without saying a word.
You wouldn't know what I was thinking. You could make some guesses maybe.
But it's not until I open my mouth and use words that you understand what I'm thinking about.
And the Lord Jesus is the word of God. He is the full expression of all that God is before he came into this world.
People knew something about God because it says in Psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.
So here in verse three it says all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In other words, He is the Creator.
There are false cults. Let's say that Jesus was the first one created and then he created everything else false. Here's very clear that everything that was created, he created it. He is not then a creature, He is the creator.
And it's amazing our brother Don this afternoon was talking about.
The starry heavens, and I must say that is a subject that I love to study.
Years ago I read something that the Milky Way Galaxy in which we are located.
Has approximately 100 billion stars in it.
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I was talking to the young people seeing out in California and a young man came up to me afterwards and said, you know what, Uh, they're saying it's really closer to 200 billion stars.
The other day I was out in California.
In the town of Tehachapi and a brother showed me a documentary on the.
Starry heavens. And in it, it said there's really 300 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. That's where we're located.
Oh, the tremendous quantity of stars that there are. In our Galaxy alone, there's 7 billion people on the face of the Earth, but when we're talking about the stars in our Galaxy alone, it's 300 billion stars.
And as you know, there is. It's rotating in space as a dish out in space, rotating. And the distance across the Milky Way Galaxy is 100,000 light years.
And those numbers hardly have any meaning to us. But maybe it helps to say it this way.
That this light that started to cross our Galaxy when God placed Adam and Eve in this world is not even a tenth of the way across. That's how huge our Galaxy is.
And we're talking about one who created it by the word of His power.
But not our Galaxy alone. Listen to this to get a better picture.
They calculate, according to one of the books I've read, that there are at least 250 billion more galaxies in the known universe, and they just keep on getting larger and larger than numbers. And here's a person who spoke and it was done, who commanded, and it stood fast.
What a person, what a great God and Savior we have come to know in the Lord Jesus. The Word is the one who made all things. What a God in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. You know you need the light of the sun.
Not only to see the sun, but through the light of the sun you see everything else.
As well.
And so the Lord Jesus in Him was life, and that life was the light of men. You can't understand life properly unless you see Him.
And then it says verse five, the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. The Lord Jesus came into this world, He shone everywhere he went but the darkness because men were blinded by sin and Satan did not see it. You can shine a Searchlight into the face of a blind man and he doesn't see a thing.
The God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not if you say I don't believe it.
OK.
You've been blinded by the God of this world, and I asked you to open your eyes as to who this glorious person is.
Now verse six talks about a man, just a regular man. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This is John the Baptist. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe he was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
That amazing.
And we're so blind that he had to send a witness ahead of him to say, this is the true light. Open your eyes. He's come. Oh, what a wonderful thing it was.
And then verse 9, that was the true light, Speaking of the Lord Jesus, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
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For as much as they do not receive the light, it shines on them.
God is not have favorites, He shines on all in the like manner He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not in an incredible man is the most blind of all God's creation. The animals knew him, the fish obeyed him.
The donkey knew who he was when he mounted. He mounted on his back.
But mankind didn't know him when he died. On that cross the rocks ran. Their Creator had died. They knew Him.
Mankind didn't know him. Oh the tragedy of it. He came unto his own. The Jewish people on His own received Him not, but as many as received Him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.
How can you become one of the children of God?
What does it say you have to do? Does it say you have to pray?
What does it say you have to do to become one of the children of God?
Believe on his name how important that is.
They trust in your heart toward him. That is vital. We're not talking about a belief of the head, merely the devils believe and they tremble. They're not saved.
No, it's the belief of the heart, how important it is to believe, sincerely believe. You can fool me, and lots of people have. You cannot fool God. He knows exactly every little detail of your heart.
Then it says in verse 13 which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. You know the first time we were born was not our decision. It was our parents that wanted to have children and we were the result of the will of man, will of the flesh.
How about the second time when we are born again? How does that happen?
Viartwell, well, you might say I made a decision and that might be true.
But the point is, God wants children and His family, and He's sending forth His Word, and it's through His Word and His Spirit that souls are regenerated that are born again into His family. How wonderful it is to see it happen in this world.
Then it says verse 14, and this is the only verse in this chapter that really deals with the Lord's birth into this world. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The word was made flesh. There is his birth. He came into the world through.
As was read this afternoon, through the seed of the woman, every one of us has been born by the seed of man. Only one in this world was born by the seed of a woman. The Lord Jesus was born of a virgin, of a woman who had had no relations with man. That's important because God was his Father, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
Oh how important that is because every one of us born into the world as the descendants of Adam and Eve have a sin nature. Here was one who had to be completely without sin because he was going to be the sacrifice for our sins when it came to creating the world.
God could speak a word and it was done, but it when it came to saving your soul and mine, He could not merely speak a word. He Himself, in the person of His own beloved Son, had to come into this world.
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To pay the price of our redemption. Oh what a story. It's incredible. I still can't grasp it properly in my mind. The amazing wonder of it all. But notice it says we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
And I don't know that I'm very qualified to speak about that glory, but it was something that they saw in Him. He is the only begotten of the Father, the object of the Father's affection from all eternity. This is the One.
You know he was the object of the most brutal treatment.
Anybody has ever received in this world what a story it is. But then at the end of the verse it says full of grace and truth. Isn't that beautiful? You know, you and I appreciate grace and truth, but I find more and more that we tend to be lopsided.
Maybe we go to the side of grace.
And we're not very good on the side of truth, or maybe we are very truthful and very strict and we forget about the side of grace. But the Lord Jesus was full of grace and truth. Beautiful to see how He handled it when he met up with that woman of Samaria.
And he offered her the living water to satisfy her soul's thirst.
And she says, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not neither come hit her to draw.
That's the grace of God reaching out to offer her something she did not deserve, and she wanted it.
But how about the side of truth?
So he says to her, go call your husband and come here.
And she, I suppose, trying to make it simple and cover up, said I don't have a husband.
The Lord Jesus said you said it right, I don't have a husband because you've had five husbands and the one you have right now is not your husband. You said that right.
All of a sudden she realized she was in the presence of someone who knew every single detail of her life, that she could not hide anything. Do you realize that children, young people, older ones too, that we are in the presence of one who knows every single detail of your life and he loves you in spite of it all?
I sometimes say to people, if you really know me, I don't know if you'd like me that well.
But here's one who knows every detail about me and still loves me, full of grace and truth, and that amazingly wonderful.
But look down now at verse 29 talking about the same person, the Lord Jesus, and here John.
Sees Jesus verse 29 the next day John see if Jesus coming unto him and saith.
They hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The question of sin must be faced. It cannot be ignored. It cannot be swept under the rug. It has to be faced in all its awful consequences, because sin has a terrible effect on humanity.
When man was first created, Adam lived up to 930 years old.
And as time went on, the numbers kept coming down and down and down. After the flood, Noah's sons only lived about 600 years. A little bit further, 400 years, you read about Abraham's father was 205 years old, I believe, when he passed away. Abraham was 175 years.
Isaac was 180 years and Jacob was 147 years. We get down to Moses 120 years.
What's happening?
Today you very rarely hear about anybody 120 years old. The average is what David found to be that 70 years is the average.
00:25:14
What's happened? Sin has degenerated the whole human race and so there is need of dealing with this question of sin. This is brought out today when the Lord Jesus came into this world. You never find Him in the record of Scripture laughing.
It doesn't even say it was smiling.
He was called the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief because as he saw people suffering under the ******* of sin, the consequences, he groaned. That's not the way I made it, that's not the way it's supposed to be. He saw Lazarus sisters whipping at their brothers tomb.
And even though he knew he was going to raise up Lazarus, he wept there, too. He feels the terrible degeneration that's taken place because of sin, and he came to address that issue.
And that issue had to be addressed by death. There is nothing that stops sin except death. Show me any man that has been a terrible Sinner in this life. When he dies, sin is deceased too. It no longer operates. The only thing that can take care of that's in question is.
Yeah, the problem is.
If it's ourselves dying for our own sins, then there's no salvation for anyone. So the Lord Jesus came as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. So when the Lord Jesus at the end of his life in this world, went to that cross outside the city of Jerusalem.
You know the story, but I can't tired and telling of it.
They took those hands and feet and nailed them to a cross.
They hung him outside the city of Jerusalem for all to mock and to jeer the Creator of the universe. There he hangs. Can you imagine the pain that was experienced? Not only the physical pain, but the pain of his soul when they he said, Reproach has broken my heart.
I'm full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity and there was none and for comforters but I found none.
They said he is the Son of God. He said he is the Son of God. Let God deliver him. And did God come to deliver him? No.
It broke his heart.
Broken heart is a tough thing to have to deal with.
That was another of the way ways he suffered.
But all that suffering could not take away sin.
And so the record of scriptures is that at the 6th hour, that's nine, and that's 12:00 noon where we calculate time when the sun is overhead, everything became dark and for three hours it was complete darkness and complete silence. What happened in those?
Awful hours we can never understand. We stand at a distance.
To watch what happened. Isaiah the prophet gives us what happened. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
In those awful hours of darkness, God laid our sins on Jesus and then poured out the fury of his wrath on sin. Because sin had dishonored His name, God's name had to be vindicated. And in those three hours, God's name was vindicated because of what Jesus paid for our sins.
00:30:09
The Lord Jesus.
Didn't make one cry during those three hours until at the end of those three hours he cries. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken He?
Why was he forsaken? We have to tell you that he was forsaken so that you would never be forsaken. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, and so God wants you saved.
Young person, child, older person too. And sin is an awful thing in the sight of God. God's holy character had to be vindicated. And so he died for God, and he died as well for our sins on that cross.
And when he died, he cried again. It is finished.
In the Spanish it is consumed.
All the wrath of God that was against me as a guilty Sinner was completely exhausted. There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Oh, what a tremendous work it was. And then he died that battered that mangled **** on that cross. He had put his head down and died. And the soldier came and took a spear and pierced his side, and out flood blood and water.
And then they took him down from that cross. They buried him, and on the third day the women went to his tomb to anoint him his body. They found the tomb open and empty. The Angel had come down to push the stone away, not to let Jesus out.
But simply to let everybody see that he was no longer dead.
He had risen again.
God was satisfied with the payment that Jesus made, and so Jesus rose again.
I'd like to go over to the 14th chapter now, and I wanna talk about the Lord's second coming. He came the first time to pay for sin, to make atonement for, uh, us, and he's coming a second time. What is the purpose of His second coming?
I want to say that there are two parts.
Through His Second coming chapter 14, let me read the 1St 3 verses. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 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, notice the next 4 words.
I will come again. There's the promise, he says. He's coming again. It hasn't happened yet. We know it's still future. We don't know when exactly, but he's coming again.
And receive you unto myself, that where I am.
There ye may be also. So He's talking here to His disciples, to those that have faith in Him, and He's coming for those who are believers. First of all, this is the first part of His second coming, what we call the rapture. We have it detailed in First Thessalonians chapter 4, the Lord.
Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Oh, what a happening that's during the day and that for that part of his second coming, there is no sign that needs to take place.
00:35:05
It could happen at any moment.
Are you ready? I would start walking around here to ask you individually.
Are you ready? What would you say to me? Children, young people, older ones too. Are you ready? It could happen. And if you put it off and it takes place and you are left behind.
You know the way of salvation, and you have decided not to accept that way of salvation. Yet you will be left behind for the most awful judgment this world has ever known. We do not want that for you, not for a moment. And that's why we preach the gospel.
Even to those who say they're Christians.
What's scary to me is.
I know four or five people.
Here in the United States that were brought up as Christians.
They brought bread.
And today, they say they're atheists.
That scares me stiff. Is there still somebody here who has not made it real in their hearts? I plead with you to get it right, get it straight. We're not talking about fables here. We are talking about historical truth. There was a man called Jesus who was born into this world, who lived, who died.
Who rose again? Those are historical, well established facts in human history, even if you don't want to accept the truth of scripture.
What do you do with that?
How important it is to recognize that. And so there's some that are going to be left behind.
I think it is the most awful thing when I see the condition of our country so terribly divided.
The Lord would come to take all this people out at a moment's notice.
This country is gonna be one of the most awful places to have to live or exist. Should use the word exist because it won't be light living.
In the whole world.
We've lived in South America, and I can say far rather I'm not planning to be here. Don't make me, don't make a mistake, but I'd probably rather be down in the jungles of South America than live in the United States. After that, it happened, that happens, The Lord comes to take his people out.
Are you ready? It's gonna happen at a moment's notice.
And so that's the Lord's coming to rapture his own people out of this world.
But the second part of his second coming we find, and I want to go over to Acts chapter one to speak a little bit about that second part of his second coming, sometimes called the appearing or the manifestation or the revelation. Whenever it uses those terms, it's not talking about the rapture.
It's talking about his coming in power and glory to reign supreme in this world, and I truly believe it's going to be the most tremendous display of glory and power that this world has ever, ever seen or ever will see afterwards.
That man that hung on that cross, dead.
It's coming again to reign supreme. Here's what he said before he left.
Let's just read a few verses here in Acts chapter one, verse six. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons.
Which the Father has put in his own power, but ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
And he shall be my be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Verse 9. When he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight, and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven.
00:40:26
As he went up, behold.
Two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus which ye have, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Did you see that He's coming again just as He went into heaven?
He's coming again, then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount of the res, uh, the mount, uh, called all of it, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. You ever seen a picture of the city of Jerusalem on the east side of the city what is called the Temple Mount?
There is a valley, it's the Kidron Valley and then over on the other side of the Kidron Valley.
Is the Mount of Olives. That's where the Lord Jesus was when he was speaking these words to his disciples. And all of a sudden he went up into heaven and they said this same Jesus, not a different one, this same Jesus is going to come. And according to Zechariah chapter 14, his feet shall touch down on the Mount of Olives, the very same place he went up from.
Is the place he's coming back to.
Oh what a glorious time that's going to be. This same Jesus shall so come in like manner.
But His purpose in coming will be different than it is for us at the Rapture. His purpose is to establish His Kingdom, and there will be those who are ready to resist him. Like to go over to Revelation chapter 19 to read about what takes place. There is a man.
That.
Is called in Scripture.
The beast, you know, a beast doesn't have any consciousness of God, has no reference to God, and there will be a man in this world that will have no reference to God. He's called in the Scripture a beast.
And he's going to have 10 kings under his command.
And he's going to get his armies together when the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven to go to try to totally kill him and defeat him.
This time, it's not gonna happen. The reverse is gonna happen. The beast and his armies are gonna be totally destroyed. It's scary when you see what's going on in our world and how things are shaping up toward this end.
Some of our number were over at the conference in Belgium.
Barry Buchanan, you know, his last, uh, prayer meeting night mentioned how that people over there are apostate, they have given up on Christianity and even those who profess to know something about religion or God are fed up with the terrible testimony of those who.
Evidently are leaders in that religion.
And so they are going to rise up against the Christ of God. Let's just read about what happens here when the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven.
Revelation 19, verse 11 I saw heaven opened, and behold a White Horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true.
And in righteousness he does judge and make war. Did you know that Jesus is going to make war? That's why it's in the revelation of Jesus Christ. John, who knew the Lord Jesus in life down here, did not know him in that way, but he got this revelation. Yes, Jesus is going to make war.
00:45:10
Because he's righteous.
Or the awfulness of that time when he will make war. I sometimes say to people, it's not a God of love that lets sin run without any control and people do whatever they wanna do and establish their own norms with God, the God they think they know.
That's not love. The time is gonna come when God is gonna say that's it.
And he's going to directly intervene and he's coming back to establish his Kingdom in this world.
Verse 313 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God.
We already talked about that. Who That is, the armies which are in heaven, followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. That's the host, the armies of the redeemed. You ever stopped to try to think how many of the redeemed there are going to be in that company?
From the beginning of time.
Till now I think we could probably speak about billions. It's going to be a major invasion from outer space with the Lord Jesus that they had of those armies.
Another facet to consider, not only will it be his Saints that will accompany him in that day, according to Second Thessalonians chapter One, also to be accompanying him are the hosts of his mighty angels. Those angelic hosts are gonna come too. The beast and his armies are not gonna stand a chance.
We won't have to fight in that battle.
But the Lord Jesus with the sword of his mouth is going to level one army after another after another, until they all dead on the battlefield and the Lord comes to establish his Kingdom. People think they can have a word with God and tell it like it ought to be. They don't know God yet.
Oh how awful it's going to be. Verse 15 out of his mouth. Go with a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. You can't bend a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written.
King of kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an Angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying To all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven.
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.
That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men.
The flesh of horses and of them that sit on them. The flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
And I saw the beast. There's the man I was talking about. Good chance that that man is alive in the world today.
And the kings of the earth, there's 10 kings that are arrayed under him, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken. And with him the false prophet, that's the Antichrist, that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them, that received the mark of the beast, and then that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. They're caught in red handed rebellion against the Lord Jesus and they're not even given a trial. They're cash directly. They're the 1St to arrive in that place that's called.
00:50:00
Guiana, the lake of fire, an enclosure where there is no getting out.
Anymore, forever and ever, the lake of fire.
Verse 21 The remnant that's the armies were slaying with a sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their with his with their flesh. So the Lord Jesus is going to introduce his coming.
With tremendous judgments.
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness when they see His judgments in the earth.
Oh, it's an awful day that's ahead for this country. It scares me when I see the way things are developing and how there is so much animosity against God and against His order in creation. How important it is to submit to Him. Our brother Don mentioned today that word repent. You know what that word means?
Means to rethink.
You have your thoughts, OK.
But you need to rethink and thank God's thoughts. That's what repent means. How important that is when we're dealing with God and His Word.
So our purpose here tonight is to ask you again to seriously think about your state before God. If there is any question that we can be a help to you about, I'll be sitting up here for a little while after the meeting. I would appreciate it if you would have the frankness to come and speak if you got a question that's troubling you.
I trust we can.
Answer your questions in the light of the Word of God. But if you're here and you haven't got the matter settled, I urge you, and I know so many others here would join with me in urging you get it straight. And get it straight tonight. Let's pray.
YP Sing With Open Mic
Passwords
Children—Bernie Roossinck
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Well, I'm not sure what uh, clock we're going by so it feels like it's time to start. So let's start. Good morning everybody. My name is Bernie I'm from Grant, MI and I'm pleased to be here this morning. Umm, I don't see very many kids in here yet, but uh, I, I imagine there'll be some more coming. So don't be afraid to come up here in, in the front.
And I think I know almost everybody up here except for you. What's your name? Becca. Hi, Becca. I'm Bernie. How are you?
And Allison and Julia, what's your name? Hi, Emma. How are you?
And Nolan. And Michaela.
All right, well we're going to sing off our hymn sheets from last night and umm, you can pick any song in here you like. And just so your kids know, the back ones, the Backpage is more of the kids songs, but I like all the songs in here, so you can choose whatever you want and we'll sing it together. So let's have somebody.
That can start for us. OK, Julia.
16 OK.
I forgot to tell you that you have to start your own too.
Is that not a good idea? OK.
All right, let's say #16.
Oh so ever hear us shout shout the sun?
The joyfulness wherever man is found, whosoever.
Will may come, whosoever will, whosoever will.
An approximation over Bell and hill There's a loving father calls the wonderful little so ever will may come.
Whosoever comes not delayed. Now the door is open. Enter while you may.
Jesus is the truth will only living way.
Whosoever will make.
Whosoever will, whosoever will send the proclamation over every hill. Here's the loving Father, also wonderful.
All right. Thank you, Julia. OK, let's have another choice here.
Michaela.
Do you have one that you can give us now?
Alright, no one. What's your 5th?
Hi, this is Michaela.
The donkey song. OK, I think we probably know that well enough. Are you ready?
You know, when I was a kid, I sang this song once and I said I once was a wild little donkey. And you know what? That was true, too. But I was embarrassed about it. All right, you ready? No one. There once was a wild little donkey. Hey, I stupid. I do. What's really.
And Jesus was thinking about him, he said, go and bring him to me. And when they had brought him to Jesus.
As quickly as ever they could.
Restless matter while the monkey was quiet, obedient than God.
When Jesus was riding upon him, he went just the way that he shone, a quiet submissive. We don't give, made so by the blessing of God.
And Jesus is able to make you.
Whatever he wants you to be.
He loves you and wants to forgive you and make you both happy and free.
Alright, OK, let's have another one.
00:05:04
All right, 4044, OK.
Into a tent where a gypsy boy lay. I remember when I was a kid, uh, I think Tom Reno was in here, uh.
But I was telling you my dad had those old reel to reel tapes and uh, we had one of Albert Hejo.
Telling the story about this song and he said it was actually a covered wagon, so he made everybody sing into a van because it was a caravan.
So your parents that have your kids listen to meetings when you're traveling or whatever, it sticks a little bit. I remember that from being a kid into a van. But we'll sing it as it is here. And So what a gypsy boy lay dying alone at the close of the day.
Years of salvation we carry, said he.
Nobody ever stole it to me.
Do it again. Tell it again.
Salvation story repertoire can say of the children of men. Nobody ever has told me before.
It is so lovely. A poor little boy.
Said unto me, like a good tidings of joy.
May I not perish. My hand will be hold nobody ever. The story I told.
Tell it again. Tell it again.
Salvation story, reaping or endorse.
No one can say of the children of men. Nobody ever. I stole baby ****.
Bending, wake up, the last word zone is brown, just as he entered the valley of God.
What said this sun is so ever, said he?
And I am sure that he said come for me.
Tell it again. Tell it again.
Salvation story, Repeat or.
Alone tell them, can say all the children of men nobody ever has stolen before.
Umm, very good.
I would say we could have one from a boy, but we already did and it's the only boy up here. So girls.
Number six, OK.
God and mercy sent his son. It's a very lovely gospel hymn. God and mercy sent his Son to a world by sin and done. Jesus Christ was crucified. Those four sinners is the sun.
All that glory.
Of the Great Shining.
In the Savior's face.
Darling sinners from above.
God is light and God is.
Slow.
Sitting down no more shall reign.
The great shining in the Savior's face.
00:10:03
Ellington.
From above.
God is light and God is love.
All it will his name live.
Never lasting life received.
Lord of all is Jesus now.
Every day to him must.
Fall over, glory of the grace shining in.
A savior's face.
Uh, wing savers.
From above.
God is light and God.
Is love Praise the Lord welcome again.
Hear suffered once will reign.
Every time.
Jesus Christ is Lord alone.
Oh, like more ray of the grace shining in the Savior's face.
Telling service from above.
God is life and God is love.
I'm really glad you gave that one out, and we'll probably talk a little more about this one in a little bit. Umm, hey girls, we met last night, but I can't remember which one is which.
What's your name?
Elise and Paige, right? We met at the swimming pool, didn't we?
OK, we're gonna say one more song with one of your girls. Like to pick it?
#4 All right.
Christ is the Savior of sinners.
Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ as the Savior for me. How long I was sinned and sinned darkness.
Now, by His grace, I am free.
Of sinners.
Sinner of sinners like me.
Shame is one for my ransom.
Lest as the savior for me.
Now I can say I am pardoned, happy and justified free, saved by my blessed reading.
This is the savior for me.
Say, girl, sinners, Savior of sinners like me.
Just as I was erasing me, seeking from judgment to play, now there is no condemnation.
Whistle, the Savior for me.
Savior of sinners, Savior of sinners like me, shutting us, but for my ransom, this is the Savior for me.
Oh, will the love of the sun changing. What's with all boys sing so free? How shall I tell him his praise is?
This the savior for me.
Savior of sinners said you're up, Sinners like me shutting this one for my ransom. This is the Savior for me.
00:15:14
All right, well, let's put our hymn seats aside for now.
And, uh, now we're going to bow our heads and ask for the Lord's help.
Alright, now I think I have the right verse.
Umm, it says five word verse I think.
Anybody recognize this? Does that look right? Is that the one you got at your meeting last week?
You know, one time, uh, at our meeting, uh, I think before Saint Louis Conference last year, we gave out the wrong one. And so I was a week off of everybody else. But anyway, OK, who would like to, who has memorized this verse?
All right, would you like to start for us? How bravery are you feeling? You want to stay into this mic?
Go ahead.
OK, how about you know what, why don't we just skip 1St and we'll just go right to the second?
Would you like to be second?
OK, I'll say it first and then you. How's that? OK, the verse is Galatians 513 by love. Serve one another. Is that the one that you learned? OK, here we go. I love to have one another. Galatians 513. Very good. Good job.
Alright, Sage, do you wanna try it? OK, here we go.
Why lobster one another? Galatians 513.
OK, Michaela, are you feeling brave today?
Annette, you want to say it with me? Here we go. Ready. I love.
Serve one another, Serve one another.
OK, no one you wanna try it too? No.
I love.
Sir, one another.
Alright, Julia, Are you ready? Here we go.
Silos serve one another. Relations 513.
I love serve one another. Galatians 513.
Buy love. Serve one another. Galatians 513. OK, Alright. You wanna do it too? Yes. My love. Sermon Another. Can they change 513 Very good. Good job.
I love serve one another. Galatians 513.
I think we got everybody's. Did they miss any kids?
Again, this uh, Ryan staying back there.
OK, alright, now, good job my love, Serve one another. You know what the adversary reminds me of? A a time when the Lord Jesus was, uh, with his disciples and it was just before he was going to go to the cross and, uh.
You could say he had a lot on his mind and on his heart, and you know what happened in that room.
Did you guys hear? All right, you know what happened in the room? They got into an argument about who was going to be the greatest.
And, uh, the Lord said something very nice, He said I am among you. I see that service.
And that is the heart of the Savior. I am among you. I see the service. And He served us in ever so many ways, but mostly He went to the cross, and He did the ultimate sacrifice.
So that we could be saved and have our sins washed away.
But that's not what we're going to talk about today. And what kind of this. But I have a different story on my heart. Umm, I want to tell you something that happened to me this week. And I don't know if I hope I'm not over the heads of some. I think I will be over the heads of some of you little kids, but some of the older ones won't be. How many of you know what a password is?
How about it? Do you have to have a password for anything?
00:20:08
Yeah, you have to enter a password to get in, right? Yeah. How about it, Allison? Passwords. You have to have passwords for stuff. Yeah, well, I have a lot of passwords and it's kind of frustrating because none of them are the same and they all expire at different rates. And so I created a.
Spreadsheet of passwords.
That's two pages long.
And I thought I'm going to save it in a place that I can access on my phone.
In a program called drop box so that I can open it up and Scroll down through my 2 pages and find the right password. Well I had to renew the software on my phone and it made me answer the password for Dropbox.
Which was in drop box but I couldn't remember the password to open the program that had the password inside that's I electronically locked myself out.
And that was a problem.
And it still is a problem. I'll have to figure out how to get those back on Monday.
Is that the one? I thought it was that I used it enough times where it said now you're administratively locked out. Game over. Basically, you know, passwords, uh, uh, we're gonna talk about it, uh, a famous password in the book of judges here in a minute. But, uh, you know, there are other passwords, uh, historically, uh.
Umm, can you guys think of a You ever had somebody block your way and say what's the password?
Allison, have you ever had that? OK, what do you say?
There's probably a lot of things you could say, right? Julia? How about you? Anybody ever say you can't go by until you give me the password?
What's a common password?
Password is some people use the word password for the password. When I was a kid, we always said open Sesame, which was uh, I think a story about Alabama and the 40 thieves, uh.
It has nothing to do with scripture. You know, uh, our government has had had a password to launch nuclear missiles and somebody thought it'd be good to have a password. You know what they chose? It was really complicated. 8 zeros in a row, that's it.
You can figure that out pretty easily.
That's probably not the case anymore.
You know, passwords I want to turn to judges.
Chapter 12.
And we're going to read a little a few verses here about two groups of, uh, Israelites.
2 tribes.
Are fractions of tribes and uh, they got into a problem.
One of the groups was called the Gileadites, and the other group was the Ephraimites. You know, if you're from the United States, you probably have heard about the Civil War, right? And this country went to war and began killing each other.
Over various things and it was not a good time. A lot of people were killed.
Umm, this story is kind of like that.
Umm, I'm just going to read a couple of verses here. So Judges 12.
Uh, verse four then Jeff the gather together all the men of Gilead and fought with Ephraim.
And the men of Gilead smote Ethereum because they said ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites and among the monocytes.
Stop right there. This is, uh, it's a sad thing that way back in history and we don't have time to trace this out.
Probably Mr. So could give us all the numbers on it. Way back before there was a division in the families, Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph. And somehow there got to be this problem. And they went. There were issues here, and we're not going to get into how this developed, but these two groups went to war against each other.
00:25:15
Verse 5 The Gileadites took the passages of Jordan.
Before the Ephraimites, and it was so that when those Ephraimites which escaped said, let me go over across the river.
That the men of Gilead said into them, Are thou and E for you, mate.
In other words, are you one of my enemies?
And if he said nay, then they sent it to him. I'm paraphrasing here now. OK, say shibboleth. It's a test.
And he say sybilis, for he could not frame to pronounce it right.
Then they took him and slew him at the passages of Jordan, and there fell at that time of the Ephraim heights 42,000 Well, so here's what was happening.
These two groups went to war and the Gileadites were beating the Ephraimites. And so the Ephraimites, you might say, they scattered into the wilderness. And if you know anything about geography of, uh, the Jordan Valley, it's a deep valley and it's high sided. And, uh, so these Ephraimites perhaps were, uh, hiding out in the rocks and the caves and.
Umm.
They were defeated, they were beaten and the river Jordan is, uh, not a very Deep River. And so the Gileadites, they, they went to the places called the Fords, which means the river was shallow enough for say at least for you to wade through without going over your head. So you get to a nice narrow spot. It's like, boy, you know, I'm really tired of hanging around in the hiding in the rocks. Uh, I want to go home.
So you come out to this?
Police rig across the river and somebody would say hey.
Hold it. Stop right there. You know, as a kid, we used to do this, uh, you know, Newfoundland, where I grew up is kind of woodsy and, uh, forested. And my brothers and I and the neighbor kids, uh, man, we had forts and we had armies, passwords and all who goes there and.
There was my friend Bob Murphy. He wanted the title of Brigadier General and none of us had any clue what that meant.
But we all thought it sounded pretty cool, so Bob was Brigadier Bob.
But anyway, we played games like this. We didn't actually kill each other though. Umm.
So this Ephraim might come down out of where he was hiding and he would get to that spot and maybe Bruce would stand up and say, oh, halt right there. Are you an Ephraimite?
No, no, no, I'm not. Is that OK? Say this word, Shibboleth.
Now they had a different dialect and those men of Ephraim, they couldn't pronounce it right.
And those Gillies, I actually knew that. So this is how we're going to figure out this guy's really whose side he's on, right?
So he would try to say it.
Shibboleth, but he couldn't get the SH 70. Bruce would say you're one of them.
And that person would be captured and killed now.
Uh, this is a little bit of a rabbit trail, you know, and I was a kid, uh, I had a cleft lip and pallet and I couldn't pronounce things very well at all and I had to go to.
Uh, speech therapist to learn to pronounce some of the sounds.
And, uh, I hope Shannon this is OK if I tell this, umm, when our daughter Shannon was born, she had a cleft palate too and she had trouble with some sounds. So if I went fishing, which Scott and I used to do, Shannon would say dad is going ******** ********.
Or she would ask for her winning soup. Remember that, Shannon.
And sometimes, you know, kids.
When we're learning to talk, it's hard to pronounce things. But you know, David, you're talking about reading the names. I'm really bad at that, too.
00:30:07
Umm, but it's good to learn to pronounce those names.
Umm, you know, Moses told God when he was by the burning Bush. I can't talk, Uh.
I can't, uh, get the right words. And the Lord told them. Do you know Moses, who made your mouth? I made it, and I'll put my words in it. And so you can't.
It's OK if you can't pronounce some of these words right. God knows your heart. But now back to our story.
You know these men that couldn't pronounce this password right? They gave them away on who they were.
It reminds me of guys remember when the Lord Jesus was on trial?
And Peter had said to the Lord, though all men for safety, yet will not die.
And the Lord said Peter.
Before the cot grows three times.
You will have the pros. You will have denied me three times.
And Peter said, no, no. Well, the Lord gets hauled in before the authorities and there's a little maiden there. And she says that, Peter, I can tell that you're one of his followers because you talk like it. And because the Galileans had an accent, right? And I grew up in a place where they were dialects. Umm.
I don't know if I should try this on you or not. This is how a Newfoundlander would talk.
How are you all getting on this morning?
Understand what I just said, Doug? Yep, Beautiful day today, right?
And Newfoundlanders have an accent like that. And they were. I grew up in Newfoundland. There were people in Newfoundland that I couldn't understand.
There is a man named, uh, Ephraim Harvey and actually his wife Sabrina was, is at my mom's house right now visiting. And Ephraim was such a heavy accent at Newfoundlander. I said no idea what he just said.
So Peter's accent, he had a dialect too, and that made in that survey through there in the judgment hall, she said. You're one of his followers. I can tell by the way you talk.
There's another time in umm, Acts chapter 4 when it says when the apostles were uh.
Call before the Council.
And it says when they heard the words they were using and knew that they were not educated, people said they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and the way they talked showed out who they belong to.
Now I want to ask you kids this Who do you belong to?
The Lord Jesus. I belong to the Lord Jesus too. I'm so glad that you could say that.
I belong to the Lord Jesus and.
You know, let's say.
Somebody would would challenge you page. I'll use you. It says, are you a Christian?
Who do you belong to? Sometimes that can be scary, can't it?
But how nice and good it is to be able to say I belong to the Lord Jesus. He's my Savior.
And that is a, uh, a password if you will.
That can save you from a lot of trouble in your life.
You know, well, let's turn it over to, uh, Acts chapter 4 and we'll read a couple of verses here.
Alright, X4. Umm.
Yeah, let's read verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. You know, kids, I want to encourage you to take the name of the Lord Jesus and make it yours. Put it on. Make the Lord Jesus your Savior, as Bob was talking about in the gospel meeting last night.
00:35:13
The Lord Jesus loves you.
He died for you. He came into this world to save you. You know, we were singing and number six earlier, uh, God in mercy sent his son.
It's going to read verse three again here. All who in his name believe everlasting life, receive Lord of all is Jesus now.
Every knee to him must bow.
And to be able to confess with your mouth the word Jesus. Somebody challenges you, Julia.
Who do you belong to? The Lord Jesus?
What a great place of refuse. What a great confession to make. You know there are a couple of verses I really love in Romans 10/1 of them is If thou shalt confess with thy mouth.
The Lord Jesus.
And believe in thine heart that God hath raised in from the dead. Thou shalt be saved.
There's another one in Romans 10 I like too, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.
Shall be saved.
So somebody comes to you, Rachel, who do you belong to? I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my savior. You can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved from your sins, but you can call upon the name of the Lord, kids, and be saved from lots of other problems in your life. There's a verse in Proverbs that we have on our kitchen wall.
It's uh, Proverbs 1810 and it says.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runeth into it and is safe.
You know, I want safety in my life. There's a lot of things that happen in life that.
Concern us or we puzzle about what to do or how to handle things in your life. And as you kids get older, you'll be faced up with different things that you have to choose what to do. And I want to tell you if you belong to the Lord Jesus, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runeth into it and is safe and there's protection there so.
May I ask another question?
Yes, uh, I, I, I don't, I hope I'm not taking too many liberties here because I don't think this is the way it's going to be, but I'll ask the question if you were standing.
At heaven's door right now.
And the question was asked to you, on what basis should we let you in here?
What answer would you give that question?
Allison.
I know I'm putting you on the spot.
On what basis should God allow you into heaven?
Believe that Jesus Christ died in the cross for your sins. Yes, you know the name of the Lord.
Is what? And the blood of Christ is what?
Allows God to bring you into blessing spiritually. Now I know that God is not going to be quizzing us at the door, but I want to impress upon you kids.
It is the blood of Christ and the name of Christ and who he is and what He has done that opens up eternal heavenly blessing for you and for me. And so.
I hope that in thinking about this little story and judges about.
Being challenged.
And who you belong to we can take to our own lives today. Say, who do you belong to? I belong to Jesus.
He's my savior. He shed his blood for me. He died on the cross for me. You know, in a in a few minutes, we're going to have the remembrance of the Lord and.
00:40:06
Spend time thinking about and worshiping and praising the Lord for what He has done for us. Umm.
I enjoy the song and our little hymn book. Umm, Thy precious name is always show. Our only passport, Lord.
And so somebody challenge you, Des Moines, what do you belong to? I press. His name is all we show.
Our only passport Lord. So kids, love the Lord Jesus. Given your life. He died to save you. He set his blood on the cross for you. He loves you.
And.
Belong to him. So that's really what I had before me.
Umm, maybe we could sing one more and then we'll be done, all right? Who would like to choose? So yes #40.
OK.
Alright, Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him may long they are awake, but he is strong.
Just Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, yes, I'm still.
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me.
Here you die. Heavens get up everyone.
They will wash away my sins. What a little child come in.
Yes, she is a slow snake.
Yes, yes, I love me.
Loves me.
Just Jesus lost me. The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me, loves me still when I'm very awake, and I'll promise shining.
Home and by it will wash me where I lie. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Just Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me. He will stay close beside me all the way. If I trust him, joy die. He will Take Me Home. I'm.
I.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.
You know, there's another verse to this that we used to sing.
Maybe we could try this. It says I love Jesus. Does he know? Have I ever told him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say that I love him every day.
We sing that together, all right?
I love Jesus to say no.
Have I ever told him so? Jesus loves to hear me say.
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That I love him every day.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Kids.
You never regret giving your life to the Lord Jesus.
And to be able to say the word Jesus is mine.
And I'm his, I belong to Jesus. And tell people about it too. You know, it's a big encouragement to others and to your own faith to tell somebody I belong to Jesus.
You say that with your mouth. It brings a a security with it that is so helpful. Don't be afraid to tell your friends or your mom or your dad or grandpa or grandma.
Grandpa, I belong to Jesus. That's who I belong to. OK, we're out of time. Let's close your eyes and thank the Lord.
Proper Use of Creation
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.
We opened our meeting this afternoon with hymn #301.
I will just sing the first two and the last verses of this hymn of 301.
The rest is in heaven. Our rest is on here.
No matter what, I should withdraw more and tiles are near.
Near.
That can come much shorter than shorter.
And Hastings of homes.
With the script on.
Your nature.
Rapporteur Germont belongs.
Let's look to the Lord.
The burden of my heart this afternoon, the Lord put on it the last this past week, and I didn't know what we were going to be taking up here at the conference.
But the burden of my heart is to speak about the use of the things of this creation in the right way for the future.
We live as creatures that God has made.
In the beginning, he made us. He made us perfect. Good.
We have that verse. In fact, let's just go right straight to the first verse. I want to read in Genesis chapter one as introductory.
Genesis chapter one.
And verse.
20.
7 and 28.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him male and female created he them, God bless them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over the.
Every living thing that move us upon the earth.
Our Creator God.
Has established an order and he put man, Adam and Eve and headship over His creation as the administrators of his this creation. That has not changed. We as human beings are responsible to our Creator God.
To use it.
To take it and to fulfill our Creator God's desires.
His plan?
I'll go over to First Second Peter chapter 3.
But we know that man has failed.
And the creation is in part.
Marred and destroyed because of sin.
Now the issue is how would God have us to use these things of this creation?
00:05:00
What is our purpose?
Over the fish, the fowl, the animals.
Over the administration of government.
Between men and men, and so on.
It's a sad story, the history of man's responsibility.
In this creation.
So much so that God.
Had to send his son. It was his plan to redeem it. Turn over to second Peter chapter 3.
And verse.
7.
But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store, reserves unto fire against the day of judgment.
And perdition of ungodly men.
Verse 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
And then it goes on and gives us verses of hope.
Seeing them that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heaven shall being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Now we've gone in our scope here from the beginning of the creation to the end.
We live in between that time.
We live the time after our Lord Jesus came.
And, uh, he lived and died. He redeemed the people.
Now the challenge.
What I have before me is how do we use properly the administration of temporal material things here on earth in the right way?
I've been a farmer.
Most of my life serve the Lord.
In a way too along with it.
About 50 years ago when I started farming.
This issue came up before me.
Because farming was starting to change.
New technology was coming into existence.
I will remember when one of the first herbicides came out into use for corn.
It's a herbicide.
Does wonders.
You put it on the ground and it kills all the weeds and it lets the plants grow.
Well, that's a little exaggeration, but.
I can well remember looking out in the field where we put it on a band of a cornrow.
There was these beautiful plants of corn standing there and not a weed in the band where the herbicide was on in the middle of the row where there's no herbicide. It was full of fox tail.
But the issue came up.
Does God approve of herbicides?
Should we as Christians use this to get better corn yields?
To keep weeds out.
It's a complex issue.
And I didn't.
I didn't see the whole picture at that time, but I made some choices as a farmer.
And while some of my neighbors would complain.
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And use the old technology and the old ways of cultivation and so on.
And here I was, tempted this new thing.
Was this a part? Was this good for God's creation? Should I use it or should I know?
Now there's a lot of things that come out in the world today.
Herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, all kinds of sides.
Do we as Christians use them? Is that a good use?
In God's creation and the issue of the harmful effects, is it healthier? Is it not healthy?
Now we wanna turn to Luke's Gospel, chapter 16.
This chapter.
The whole chapter has been a great help to me on this subject.
And I'm going to try to.
In my simple way presenting it to you to have.
What I believe the Lord gives the right perspective of the use of the things of this life, of this created world, this.
Material.
Existence that we have at our disposal.
As responsible beings before our creator God.
So if you'll turn to Luke 16, we're gonna read the 1St 18 verses of this chapter.
This this chapter is divided into three parts. We're gonna just touch on the first two parts, but for time's sake, we can't get to the last part, which talks about the rich man and Lazarus and the change between this world and when they passed into the coming world.
This is the issue before us. How to use the things of this world in the right perspective?
First one.
And he said also unto his disciples, This is the Lord Jesus speaking. It was a certain rich man which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods.
And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear of the, uh, this of the.
Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? For my Lord takes taketh away from me the stewardship.
I cannot dig to beg. I'm ashamed.
I'm resolved what to do when I'm put out of the stewardship, They may receive me into their houses. so-called every one of his Lords debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much oest thou unto my Lord? And he said, 100 measures of oil. He said unto him, Take thy bill, sit down quickly and write 50.
Then said he to another.
And how much are we sell? And he said, 100 measures a week. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write for score or 80.
The Lord commended the unjust steward, because He had done wisely, For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Now we have the Lord given His interpretation.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves, friends of the mammon, of an unrighteousness, that when ye or it should read, and when it fails, they may receive you into the everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.
And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
00:15:02
If therefore, you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to you, to your trust, the true riches, And if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
No servant can serve 2 masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. The law and the prophets were until John.
Since that time.
The Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than one title of the law to fail. Whosoever puteth away his wife and marieth another committeth adultery, and whosoever marieth her, that is put away from her husband.
Committeth adultery?
It's very interesting here to see the application that the Lord Jesus makes of this rich man and his steward.
And we must distinguish between which part is.
The story about the rich man and his steward and how the steward behaved and the application that the Lord takes from it and applies to us. And I believe this application that the Lord takes on this this story.
Is a direct indication for us as how we should apply ourselves in the stewardship of the material things of this life.
It's very clear instruction.
First of all, notice.
The rich man told the steward.
That his stewardship was going to be taken away from him. It was not a question of if, it was only a question of when.
Beloved Christians.
The things of this life are going to be taken from us. Every one of us is going to give it up sooner or later. This first creation is not going to go on forever.
People used to think that through the preaching of the gospel.
The world would believe, get saved, The Lord would come back and make us live forever.
That's not gonna happen.
The Lord has a different plan.
Christian.
We have to look beyond this world.
Our California Our meetings have been about the future world.
We have noticed in Hebrew, Hebrews, how the Lord Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, he came and He was then rejected. He could and He was announced to introduce the Kingdom then and there, and if they hadn't received Him, He could well have introduced His Kingdom.
And brought in peace.
Emptied all the hospitals.
Raise the Dead and all the cemeteries introduced the Kingdom of Peace.
And everyone have lived happily ever after.
But it did not happen that way.
00:20:03
And God knew it before him.
Because God had another plan.
A backup plan that was began in God's council even before, and that was heaven.
And that's what we we. That's where our hopes are centered. I hope so. If you are just here as a mere Christian to improve this world and to set things right in this life here and now, and you have nothing beyond this life.
You are missing out on what Christianity is all about.
What?
We're still here, we still have jobs, we still have to feed our families, we still preach the gospel. We're waiting still for the Lord to come. And until that happens, there's something for us to do.
Now the issue is.
What is your purpose of living and using these things of this creation?
Do you have a good job? Have a nice paycheck?
What's the purpose of that money?
How you gonna spend it?
Well, Miss Stewart.
He was a he was a prudent, wise, or.
And he realizing that he was gonna be deposed of his job as steward.
Now some of us had a hang up with this.
This this story.
Of the rich man.
And maybe some of you have had the problem that I had. It didn't look like it was righteous.
Was the Lord condoning in faithfulness?
Was it right? Does the Lord condone cheating the your master, the owner?
No, I don't think this is what it's about.
The story is not about righteousness. The story is about stewardship.
Now there are farmers that are put in charge of farms.
And I know a little bit about what that's about.
And you're given a certain latitude of how to farm and how to conduct your business. The bottom line really comes down is at the end of the year when everything's done, how much money or how many goods you have to turn over to the owner.
If you favor one person and say Oh well, I'll.
Give me $0.80 on the dollar anyway.
That's a latitude. That was right, that was OK.
And so on.
It's about stewardship.
So this.
Wise, even though he had been unfaithful, he had failed in what was put in his charge. And brethren, since Adam.
Mankind has failed in the stewardship of the goods of this world.
Are you going to stand up and say I can do better than my fellow men with what's been put in my trust? Be careful.
4000 years God tried man in that way.
This trial was about to be over here right now.
In fact, this is what the Lord is announcing.
This whole story is about how we should live now after the Lord Jesus has been rejected.
And cast out he came, he healed the sick.
Open the eyes of the blind.
I enjoyed it this morning.
Bernie, when you when we sang that song.
00:25:01
There once was a wild little donkey.
That story of the donkey teaches us who Jesus is.
That obedient donkey recognized his Creator God.
And Jesus had total control.
And when he wanted to introduce the Kingdom, they said no.
That's the end of the trial of man as far as the stewardship of the world's goods.
It's no longer put out for Christians today, the option of trying again.
Let us as Christians recognize.
Total failure of mankind.
Our hope must center in the one who could do the job and the one who will put things right.
He's given every evidence that he's able to put things right into this world, and there is nothing that man has done since Adam and Eve that the Lord Jesus is not able.
To remedy and put back in order and he's going to do it.
Now today, we're living in a world in an enlightened society, educated society, and science and technology have come a long way.
The boys that are harvesting the corn and I could pull out my cell phone here and show you which fields they have picked and how much the yield was.
And every.
Little quadrant of every field.
And yields have.
Grown marvellously.
We were commenting the other day.
Corn yields are double.
What they were when I started farming.
And they're talking about it increasing.
In the last 10 years, it increased about 4% every year.
Soybeans is more like 1 or 2% every year. The science and technology Ernie knows what we're talking about. He deals with that issue.
Now.
Why? How should we do these things and use it?
It's not just enough for something to be good and better yields.
What I believe the Lord, this parable or not parable, the story teaches us and the interpretation that the Lord gives us from it.
We our perspective must be.
How it relates to our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the future worth that he has promised and opened up.
Heaven.
In particular.
What is God doing right now since.
Our Savior died and rose again.
Is he forming a Kingdom that's to go on and live here on earth and get better and double yields every 20 years? Is that what Christianity is about?
You know the answer is no.
It's not.
The answer is.
The same as what Abraham looked for a city.
Whose builder and maker is God A heavenly city?
Our perspective should be to use the things of this world with a view of how they will affect our Savior.
00:30:01
And how he.
Has a plan.
And what our destiny is.
So that this man that was a steward.
When he saw that he was stewardship was going to be taken from him, he thought ahead.
And he made he tried to make some friends. Maybe they would hire him. You know, it says he he he he couldn't dig and he he was ashamed to beg. That's that worries only two options today gets to work. It's like the law.
To beg is to apply, solicit the good graces of somebody unknown.
To favor you and help you.
Well, we know that the grace of God has favored us. There's no uncertainty about it.
We come before the throne of grace. We have that before us. God is disposed to bless us today because of Jesus Christ. We can count heavily on that.
We can trust the future world because what has been revealed to us about.
Life after this world.
Why did the Lord say into this chapter tell us the story of these two men that died?
One of the most marvelous stories for the Gospel it tells US1 lived his life in reference to God, his creator God.
And owned him. The other lived his life selfishly for himself only for this life.
And their two destinies were opposites.
So.
The The rich man commended that steward for what he did.
The Lord takes it up.
And you applies it for us today.
And.
We can take it.
As a guiding principle as to how we live our lives.
In this pers I believe we are being.
Tested on this.
At this late date in North America.
There are lots of movements going on today.
These are more recent things of movements to restore our Earth.
Global warming.
Animal Rights.
And you know the things that I'm referring to, a great emphasis is being put on these things.
Some of them are almost laughable as to what the attempts are are.
The goals are.
I believe that.
Well, let me see it.
The Lord has told us already.
He has a plan.
That plan is one part of it is this world is going to be destroyed as it is, as it exists.
God's gonna.
Bernadette or destroy it. I'm not not quite clear on how much of it's the beginning of the Millennium and how much is at the end of the Millennium, but plain and simple.
The Lord is not asking us as Christians to make this world a better place to live. He's calling us out of this world.
To be a heavenly people with Christ.
That's the view that we have to do, they have to take. That's how we are like this steward.
Who was told he was going to be removed from his stewardship, but he was still given time to finish his job.
00:35:03
How many years are left for you to, to and stewardship of this world?
I'm getting up there in years, not very many more.
Hope the Lord will come. That's my hope.
And so.
What? How should I look?
Or what kind of a farmer to be?
Why should I try to grow bread or corn?
Is it to make this world a better place?
Or is it to serve my savior?
The answer is simple.
So this this Stewart used it so that after he was taken away, the stewardship.
He would have a friendly people to meet him. Now the fact that the Lord Jesus takes this up and uses it to me.
Is a confirmation.
That the Lord is saying.
You you need to bank ahead.
You need to live the and use the things of this life.
For the heavenly people.
And for that goal?
The object is not to get things back in order here now that trial is already over. Don't waste your life trying to do that. Doesn't mean that these people that uh.
That follow these causes of earthly mindedness and improving this world. I'm not talking about abusing the world that God created.
It's sad to me to go down the road and drive and see see cornfields that are poorly managed.
To me, it's a dishonor to our creator God to not do a good job.
But why do I do a good job?
Is it so that I look better than my neighbors? Is it so?
I can brag about how good a farmer I am.
Or is it to serve my savior?
So the Lord tells.
And he goes on and gives us instructions.
About being faithful in that which is least and that which is another's.
It's interesting, you know, most of us think of our earthly possessions as ours. I have a car, I have a truck and so on. And we commonly say that's my truck, that's my car.
According to scripture, that's really just loan to me.
For a time until I leave this world, and I'm not gonna take it with me.
I remember the reading this story about this rich man, this millionaire that had this Cadillac he loved so much. And he loved it so much he requested that he be buried in his Cadillac Cadillac. And I suppose that's what happened. And we look at that and say ridiculous.
But that's the way some people live.
Like the bumper sticker, he that dies with the most toys wins. Ridiculous.
Is that all we have?
We have a better world.
The wonder.
Being able to.
Sit with our Savior when He comes back to reign and He associate us with Him as those who went life through life serving Him for the coming world, will we be losers?
00:40:01
Will it not be worth it to sit down with him there?
It will be to his praise and glory we will be able to say, Lord, this is yours, you deserve it.
Now's the time to spend.
Those material things for him.
Then you'll get what is really your own, and you'll never lose it.
Everything now you've got in the bank or in the in your in your garage or in your house, you're going to leave it behind.
Even the food we ate.
How well we eat.
Life is not just about eating well. I enjoy a good meal.
But if the Lord Jesus is not before us, and if we don't give thanks for our food to Him, we're missing something.
Bring him into the picture. He deserves it not only as the creator God, He's the Redeemer one. He's the one who who who bought it back again and then says now you go ahead and use it, you Christians, till I come back and serve me and honor me and then when I come back, I'll make it up to you.
So it says if you've been faithful, and that was at least.
The Lord will give you that which is much and then others and so on. Well, I didn't want to necessarily go through the D in detail. Then it goes on and it talks about no man can serve 2 masters.
These things are contrary. You can't serve the Lord and the the governing.
System of how this world operates, whether it's the monetary or the, uh, the, the system of, uh, the, the carries on this world. We live in a society, even though it's so-called a Christian nation, it has its own way of progressing and carrying on man. It's called mammon, the mammon of unrighteousness.
That is because it's unrighteous, because it's not really fair in life if there's anybody who thinks life is fair.
You got another thing coming, because this world isn't fair.
As far as just men administering the Lord's fair, yes, he's fair. He's righteous. Adjust. Not a single, not even a cup of cold water given in His name will lose its reward. He'll never overlook and miss anything that's done for him and the use of the things of this world.
Material, food, dog, money, goods, time, all of these things.
So we have to have the right perspective.
Living for the Lord.
That's the problem with these movements today that are so-called to make this world better place.
It would be just fine if they bring the Lord into it and say the Lord deserves this, let's do this in his name. But the Lord has told us that He's going to wait to set the world right if the Lord started administering righteousness in the world today and cutting off everybody who didn't live right and do right.
The gospel of the grace could not be preached. God has a purpose in why He's waiting now.
And not judging those who do administer the things of this life in a wrong way.
Now Christians don't get away with things. He has his governmental dealings and, uh.
Like one brother said, you know my neighbor, every time he go he he speeds down the highway every week and he never gets caught. The first time I go do it the the policeman stops me. Why is that? Because the Lord is over that.
And he cares about his children.
He wants to teach us.
00:45:08
Now I want to I want to touch on this second part of the story about the Pharisees.
You know.
In the Gos in the in the book of Romans we have a comparison. I believe it's the 7th chapter.
Where going back from grace to law is compared to adultery.
But where the husband is has died, then it's not adultery.
We have a similar thing in this chapter.
That verse, that last verse that we read seems strange there.
That has spoken strongly to me and I want to try to explain it.
Because I believe what those Pharisees were doing was the equivalent of divorce.
For God, they were leaving the Lord Jesus out. They were rejecting Him.
He was there.
And when the Lord Jesus would heal a person on the Sabbath day, they would find fault with him and say you did it on the Sabbath day, it's wrong. And they would elevate the keeping of their Sabbath day above the welfare of a poor human being that was stricken with some ailment.
Is that the way God looks at things in this life?
Why is it that God ceased to rest on the Sabbath day? Why is it that the Lord Jesus said My Father worketh and I work? Could the Lord Jesus?
Sit up in heaven and rest, or down here on earth, Rest when he saw the misery and the injustice and the needs of his creatures here.
Could he?
Discard all that you know.
When we moved from.
Peru to Brazil back in the late 70s we moved from a poor country to a.
Relatively well to do country.
And we invited our much appreciated brother Raval Rama.
That was a dear man of God, an evangelist who cared for souls. Hundreds were saved through him in Lima, Peru, than elsewhere.
At that time in Peru, there were.
Still under the remnants of the.
Communist regimes that were similar to Fidel Castro.
And they took away in the agrarian reform, which was.
I I'm I'm an administrative way of taking away all the lands of the wealthy rich people and dividing it among the people equally.
The result of that which happened back in the 70s was.
The people didn't know how to administrate those farms well and instead of reproducing the livestock as they should and maintaining food.
A scarcity of beef came into the country.
Because they didn't know how to administer.
There was a shortage of beef.
We lived there. It was against the law. They passed the law.
The 1St 15 days of the month, no fees.
We lived in that, couldn't buy hamburger during those days.
It was a failure.
The whole thing to try to administer.
00:50:00
That way.
Well, Brother Alvarama came over to visit us in Brazil.
It's a good country to visit. I encourage you to go there. We have some dear brethren there.
By the way, beef is cheap in Brazil and in Argentina, and it's customary there to serve two or three kinds of meat on the table for my for a main meal.
We have two or three vegetables here and usually one meat, one meat there. They have two or three meats.
Abundance.
Our dear brother Raul Valderrama.
I can still remember it. He sat down there. He saw all this abundance of meat.
And he lost his appetite, He said. How can I eat all this beef?
With my dear brethren in Peru would only eat that much in a whole year.
The Lord cares for His people.
We should care for.
It was wrong for the Jews to carry on an attempt of righteousness with the law and deprive God.
Of a right relationship with his people.
That's equivalent to putting way.
Hawaii.
They hinder those who would enter in.
It's a serious thing.
So the first part of that 18th, uh, the 17th verse, whosoever put it away, his wife marries another, committeth adultery. I believe that was a direct application to the Jews. Then who would reject the Lord Jesus?
Who wanted to set things right and bless people and they would hinder it. And so God, it was a hindrance.
Now the last part of the verse, I believe, speaks to us today.
Whosoever marieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery.
For a Christian to go back.
From a heavenly calling.
And to make earth the destiny of the people of God today is to rob God.
Of a heavenly bride in Christ for Christ.
That's what's going on in Christendom today.
A movement.
To occupy Christians with this this life.
Those of us who have been gathered through the Lord's name have a great privilege of ministry.
Of knowing our relationship with the Lord and of the hope of the rapture and of being called up to glory. It's very clearly been presented.
And many Christians.
In this world have been exposed to that doctrine.
God in His grace recovered that.
In the last 200 years, unless.
In some of my research and my early genealogy here in this country.
I've gone back and I've seen some very godly souls.
And their zeal.
And their dedication for the Lord and the Word of God. But they did not understand what we understand about the hope of the Lord's coming and of the heavenly calling.
For us now to receive that doctrine and go back.
And make Christianity all about.
This creation and not the new creation.
Is what the Lord warns about.
Marrying her that had been put away.
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It's a serious thing.
Thank God.
That He has made known to us these truths, the great privilege to have the hope of the Lord's coming.
So many Christians thought that those verses in Thessalonians about the rapture just referred to when somebody died then then that that was the how they were ushered in to the presence of the law. Well that's true. A believer that dies is with this with the Lord, but only in his soul and spirit, not in his body. The 1St Thessalonians 4 talks about a bodily resurrection and the changing of those who are living.
That time and to be caught up to with the Lord. This is our hope and this is the heavenly calling.
May the Lord help us to use the things of this world, our money, our time, and everything, with that in view. And that is what makes it right.
That's great.
Hebrews 12:5-15
Reading
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#5 in the back of the book. Hymn #5 in the appendix.
Interposed is precious one.
All the great.
Great honor.
Strangers.
Let the praise Lord.
Like a pleasure.
By my laundry.
Hard to be.
Yes, the Lord and inclusive.
With life experience from my heart.
How far did we get in our chapter, Bob? What do you think? I think we can start with verse 5, right?
Good.
Hebrews chapter 12 and I'll start with verse 5.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof?
All our partakers then are yeast ******** and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us.
And we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
But they verily for a few days chasing us after their own pleasure, but He for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet.
Lift that which is lame be turned out of the way.
But let her rather be healed.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Must there be any fornication or profane person, as he saw, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright? For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.
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We found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
Fear not, come unto the mount that might be, that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words which voice they had heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned, thrust through with the dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, And to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant.
And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that available. See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven? Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he hath promised, saying yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
In this word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
In the first part of the chapter that we have considered up until now, we've seen the Lord Jesus as our example, as the one who is and was the beginner and finisher of the life of faith.
But now we come to that which is needed for us, but of course was not needed for him.
The Lord Jesus was always the perfect example, and he was the only one who could say, I delight to do thy will, O God, with no qualifications or exceptions.
But in your life and mine, there is always the need, isn't there? For God's hand in government, God's hand in chastisement. And so we get that brought in in the next few verses. And as it is brought out here, if there were no chest men in our lives, we might wonder whether we were really, really sons of God because as it says here in verse seven, what son is he whom the Father chasing us not?
And so in all of our lives, there is the hand of God correcting us.
Sometimes preventative, sometimes after the fact to bring us back to Himself. But in every case there is that which God does in our lives in order to correct those things which are not of Himself.
This is a quote from Proverbs of course, Proverbs chapter three that is mentioned here in verse five. My son, despise not thou the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
Those are two of the fleshly reactions to chastening that are very common in our lives. First is despising it.
Have something go wrong in their life? Oh well, that happens to anybody. I just have to grin and bear it and go on.
Not recognizing the Lord's hand in it. That's despising the chasing of the Lord. But the other fleshly reaction is to faint.
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And that is when things come that are negative of my I don't think I'm going to be able to handle this anymore. I just can't take it any longer. Neither of those reactions gets the desired result that God has in mind. And what is proper for us is what we have in verse 11. It says no chasing for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward, remember, brethren, when you're going through chastening, you don't understand it at the moment there's an afterword. Nevertheless, afterward it yield us the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And notice this part unto them which are exercised thereby. In other words, when things happen in our lives that are negatives.
To recognize the Lord's hand in it.
And to the exercise, Lord, your sense something to me. I don't know that I understand it, but I want to learn from this. To be exercised is the important attitude when things happen. The Lord help us to do that, because this is something that touches every one of us. Sometimes I say.
To.
Our brethren in the South.
In the family of God, we are all under discipline.
And what we're talking about here?
Who of us has gotten to the state that we don't need correction, rather than the more I go on, the more I realize how much I need.
At least in some measure.
Perhaps I don't realize how much I need, but we learn to mistrust ourselves, and we trust the Lord. It leads to mistrust of ourselves.
If I could just add to that 2 Bob. And it's something that needs to be guarded against. There is in some dear believers A twist on that despising of the chastening of the Lord. Maybe others have heard it too. But I I say it very kindly, having heard it from some dear believers that just about every time.
Any adverse circumstance comes into their lives, their attitude is this is an attack of Satan to destroy my ministry, my service for the Lord, and everything is written off as if we have to resist this with all our might because Satan is trying to interfere with my life and with what I'm doing for the Lord.
That can be the case.
But before I make that conclusion, I suggest that we need, as Bob has just said, to go through verse 11 and be very seriously exercised about it. And if I do arrive at that conclusion, don't boast about it. Don't go around telling everybody else because.
Next time it may not be that. It may be the Lord speaking to me.
About something that I need to deal with, and to write it all off as if Satan is interfering with what I'm seeking to do for the Lord is really only another form of despising that I suggest.
There's three talks about painting. There's five talks about painting.
In verse three, it's fainting because of what centers may do against us. In verse five, it's when the Lord's hand is upon us that day we are exhorted not to faint.
Uh, it's to me we have to be careful and appreciate that if the Lord's hand is upon us or if a sinner's hand is upon us, that there is a purpose of God for our good and the motivation, if we don't recognize it, we don't have to understand it, but it's incredibly important for us to realize the first part of verse 6.
00:15:27
For whom the Lord loveth?
Every time the Lord puts His hand on our lives or allows someone else to put their hand on our lives, He has a purpose of love in what He is allowed.
And if we could simply rest in that, we would be more benefici benefi benefiting from that hand upon our lives and his his love causes him to do it, and verse 10 gives his purpose in it. He says in verse 10 that we.
Uh, it well, the latter well, we'll read the whole verse where they barely for a few days chastised us after their own pleasure. Never God doing it that way. What is his way? The Lord's way, but he for our prophet.
That we might be partakers of His Holiness.
God's ultimate purpose is that when he looks at you, he's looking at a reflection of the same character as his son.
You're a son of God and he's very satisfied with his own Son, and he wants you to be like him. And so the experiences of this life and love from God in his work of correction and government are intended to work out the result that will make you holy like his Son is holy. And then it's for.
Eternal prophet, It's not just to it's, if I could put it this way, God's government is not to punish. It's not an act of judgment. The wrath of God against sin is an act of judgment with an eternal consequence. But His hand upon our lives is a necessary hand of love for our good, and whether we understand it at the time or not.
We will profit by it if we submit to it and seek to know the why and whatever he wants. Change, change.
See chapter 3 this same word for chastisement in our chapter.
Is translated, uh instruction.
So, so it is, uh, verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine or teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. So as you were saying, we can't just sit around in our homes or, or, or somewhere nice and protected and read the word of God, as valuable as that is, and grow.
Umm, and God wisely and graciously orders our circumstances as we've been speaking, uh, instructing us through tribulation, which were patients, patients experience so that we can lay hold practically of the truth that we might learn privately in our, in our study or in our home. We need both. And we can put the word of God before us, but he's the one who puts the, the real training practically before us in our lives. And it's a, it's a great privilege.
And so I appreciate the comment yesterday about Old Testament Saints that are listed in Hebrews 11 not really having an object so much like we do with the glorified man Christ Jesus.
And so we were noticing back home in our reading meeting in 2nd Corinthians 318 well known verse, we all with open or unveiled face beholding is in a glass. The glory of the Lord are changed the same image from glory to glory. And we are wondering in the reading meaning, what does that mean? Glory to glory? And we, we're just just, umm, not getting that at all. And then then as we, uh, getting dinner ready and visiting a while, we said, you know, I think it must mean that it's gradual.
And I think that is the thought we have. It's important to have the Word of God to put our circumstances into context. So when I experience something, I can process it properly as a spiritual man. I don't have to understand it. As Bob was saying, I need to be exercised by it. And the Word of God teaches me that, puts it into the right frame so I can receive it properly, hopefully in humility. In contrast to that, I think it's at the end of Jeremiah.
00:20:28
Uh, where you have the children of Moab?
It's kind of interesting that that was the land that Elimelech took his family to. In the Book of Ruth, I think the name Moab means no father.
A land that was typical of being independent of God as opposed to the good land they had been in. But in Saint Jeremiah 48, umm.
I can find it here.
We have heard verse 29 of the pride, the pride of Moab, loftiness, arrogance, and so on. There's another verse in the chapter earlier on verse 11, Jeremiah 48 and 11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth. No chastisement here. He has been. He has settled on his leaves that's not been emptied from vessel to vessel and so on and so.
Is that, as our chapter says, if we don't have the privilege of chastisement, we're not even his children at all. Moab does not have the privilege or opportunity of being bored.
From vessel to vessel, but like we do as as much as we may grown or or or resisted as we're experiencing it.
Uh, it's a it's a wonderful privilege of being in God's family.
Six, uh says whom the Lord loveth thee chasteneth, And then it uses another word and scurget.
Every son who may receive it.
That's pretty strong word, isn't it?
Scourging.
Anybody here like scourging?
I don't think so.
But it says everyone receive it scourging.
I still remember brother Eric Smith talking about this, and when he first went to Bolivia, he said he got a royal dose of mountain sickness. It's pretty heavy when you first get there and he was pretty violently sick in his bed and.
One of the older brothers, older Indian brothers, sat by his bed, quiet for a long time.
And then he said.
Brother Smith, the Lord must love you a lot.
Why do you say that, brother? Smith said.
Because whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges.
Oh, brethren.
Let's recognize His hand. We need it, all of us. Every Son whom he receives needs that scourging. And then it goes on in the verses that follow as to earthly chastisement.
The endure chastening God dealeth with us sons, for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
And verse 9 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us. We gave them reverence. Shall we not rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
Therefore, a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. Sometimes that happens. We're chasing our children according to our own pleasure. Sometimes we make mistakes and chasing.
But we have a father in the family of God who never makes a mistake, and I have found brethren in my own life when I've had the recognition of His hand and bow in His presence.
The Lord gives me a peace that even though the trial may continue on for some time, still there's peace in the soul recognizing that it's His hand. And oh, that's so amazingly wonderful to experience in a time of trial. Lord help us to bow, to recognize His hand in it.
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We like to blame circumstances and people for. That's the way I'm having this problem. You'll never get peace when you do that, brother. You get peace when you accept it from his hand.
Yesterday, Brother Don, you were speaking about job when you spoke.
And it's interesting, the expression in verse 9, the father of spirits.
Could you help us with that?
Express.
I'm going to help by saying you tell me.
Mm-hmm. Just breathe. Problem all through and through, didn't he? Nobody else did. He was the father's spirits.
Yeah, so often not a matter of what we're doing as the spirit we're doing it in. That is the problem.
And he's dealing with that.
I think you made the comment though, brother Don about Joe that.
Job was a good man, but he wanted to take credit for the good he had done.
How did you put it?
God made Job what He was and what He was compared to fellow man. He was greater in his righteousness and in his character, uh, than those about him. But his difficulty was he took the credit for it.
And God said no, Joe, I made you what you are. And so.
Uh, at at the beginning when God put his hand on him, he said of God, you, you put me in destinations.
When he learned his lesson, he said, I abhor myself in dust and ashes. In other words, once he got into the presence of God and learned the lesson that God wanted to teach him out of love for Job and his blessing, he put himself in the very position in which he had charged God with putting him. And so he had learned. And as mentioned on the Father's spirits, it's important to realize that.
We do best, perhaps naturally speaking, of being able to discern things concerning the body, and then a little better or not so good At least we recognize the things of the soul, the things that are self-conscious among ourselves and others. But very often, when we have little comprehension is the matter of this, the spirit in which things are done, And that spirit is that which connects us with God.
Makes us God conscious and so we're thankful when the Father of spirits sees what we don't see and puts his hand on it for our good.
I'll make one comment that's been helpful in my own life in this matter.
And there are three words.
That have been a great benefit to my own soul when I reached the point of saying them with honesty and personal relationship with my God and these matters. And when in a circumstance where we have a sense that the Lord has put His hand on our life, it brings tremendous relief and blessing to be able to say thank you.
Lord. And if we can reach in our hearts in the middle of a situation that we recognize as the Lord's hand and say with sincerity about it, thank you, Lord, it's a path of real rest and it's a path of benefit.
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In that connection, I might mention something that a brother asked me about just in the, uh, break between the last meeting and this one, and I believe it works in here. I suggest that that is somewhat of the of the same thought as we get in Hebrews 4 with the throne of grace.
Who is on the throne? God himself.
And what is the thought in connection with a throne? The thought is of the the connection start again.
The thought of a throne is in connection with one who is in authority and who exercises administration, and God on his throne exercises that administration. A perfect administration in everything in your life and mine. But what kind of a throne is it? It is a throne of grace, as has already been brought out. It is.
God dealing with us not to punish us in that sense, but for our prophet. And of course connected with that in the verse is mercy in spite of his government, which of course was shown to Job and was shown to Paul and so on. When Paul had a thorn in the flesh, what did he find? That yes, there was a throne that gave him that thorn in the flesh, but there was grace that was sufficient for it because God had a purpose of blessing in it.
And so that all I suggest ties in a little bit with what we have here.
Thought but it I think I find it my own soul. I forget it sometimes Believers never experience the wrath of God. We do experience chastening, but it's in grace. It is not in wrath. How bad are we we're so bad we don't deserve God's chastening is chasing is not rap it's for our blessing and and we just have a way to to forget that and again that we don't thank God enough for all things. That's what we're told in Philippians chapter 4 that when we pray to pray with Thanksgiving.
So a problem comes and our first impulse is to do like the disciples did in the storm and to inform the Lord as if he didn't know, and to basically accuse him of not carrying. Our first impulse should be when we have a trial, is to thank God for it and for whatever solution he has. Perhaps he'll give us wisdom to solve it, and perhaps the means to solve it, or perhaps he'll give us grace to Barrett and again to pray as a a again. Sometimes things that are very simple and seem almost corny can be profound. The brother told me once.
When you're in trouble, don't pray, Lord, Get Me Out of this. Pray, Lord, what would you have me to get out of this?
Important, isn't it? It is, yes. So often when we get into an illness or a problem, our thought is, what's the best way to get out of this? And we don't wanna miss what he has to say with us, because if we despise it, he may have to speak louder. And he is faithful, brethren, and his dealings with us. The verse that Bill read yesterday and the address.
In Hebrews 412 speaks about the word of God and it really drew my attention. The end of the verse says that the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, so that so often we make judgments on people and we are mistaken in our judgment because we don't know the intense the purposes they have.
But the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and many times God is dealing with that. Brethren, we do not know our own hearts and.
Says in Jeremiah 17.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Ay, the Lord.
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Search the heart and try the reins. To me, it's interesting that that word the reigns in the Spanish. It's the kidneys. I've heard that it's that in the French too, and I'm not totally sure, but it's that which purifies the blood God is dealing. He sees things in us that we don't see in ourselves. We think we're in full control.
Brethren, the Lord help us to thank God's thoughts to recognize His hand when there is chastening, when there is scourging.
I'm gonna give a simplified version of chasing and scourging that I think a lot of us in this room can relate to. Might be slightly oversimplifying, but I think it's a helpful way to see something when I was a boy.
My father and my mother.
Saw the need frequently to chasten me by a word of rebuke.
You should not have done that. And uh, I was, you might say, judged in that way for something I had done.
But being the boy I was very often, I didn't pay very good attention to the rebuke.
And so sometimes it was my father taking me into the bedroom.
And he had his way. I appreciate it now as I didn't then, but he would say to me, take your belt off.
And he then used my belt.
Through chest scourge me give me a spanking and then I put my belt back on and I can tell you I was pretty conscious of the belt I wore.
Uh, when I had thoughts of doing certain things later.
I look back as that was love of my mother and my father to chasten me. But if I didn't listen and I didn't heed it, then something more significant or severe was used. And I'm using the word scourging to help me learn that lesson. And they also gave me, at least my dad said, the reminder of it to carry around with me, to help protect me from repeating it.
So in verse 12 it says wherefore lift up the hands which hang down and the people knees.
When we see.
Those who may be discouraged.
Because they are passing through.
The discipline, the chastening of the Lord.
Rather than we need to be very careful about.
Making judgments on the Lord's dealings with others. It's what happened to Jobs. Three friends they thought they knew. And you have to hand it to those three friends, They came.
When Joe was afflicted the way he was and they sat for seven days without saying anything.
In sympathy with him, that's that's saying quite a bit.
They were his friends.
But then they made the mistake of thinking they knew what God was doing in his life.
Oh brethren, Lord, help us to learn from Job's experience and his three friends. To me it is beautiful to see. Even though they made a mistake, God had a another one that had his mind and got him going on the right track.
And the Lord followed on after he spoke.
But then Jobs affliction was not relieved until he prayed for his three friends, so that there couldn't be in Job's heart any bitterness against those three friends for all the things they had said against him, although they really provoked him during the course of the book of Job and his answers to get stronger and stronger, until finally they're all quiet.
00:40:04
Well, God used that to bring out what was he was dealing with in Job. It was something that none of those three friends saw in him.
So when we see those, they were going through trials. We need to learn to encourage in the proper way.
Lift up the hands which hang down.
There's discouragement, the feeble knees. People don't want to get up and walk in the way they should any longer.
We need to say don't be discouraged. The Lord has something for you in this and it may take a while before you understand it.
But let's encourage our brother and that are going through trials.
It's interesting to see here with the hands that hang down and the devo knees is a very obvious position when somebody is either discouraged or under the, the, uh, correction hand of God. I believe there's a lesson in there for us too, that do we notice our brethren who are going through trials? Can we be of a help? Can we be more so of an encouragement?
To lead them on, to point them toward Christ, to look upwards. You know, hands that are feeble, but yet as feeble as we may be, we can still help them to look up. That's where the help is from, is from the Lord himself, as Steve over the knees. May be we can help together to be on our knees before the Lord to ask for help.
Make a comment of further comments on Job in the book of Job.
Joe's friends.
Tried to help him from their own ex perspectives.
Some by experience, and they had a lot of experience in the world and so they use that experience to try to tell Joe what his problem is. Some of them considered themselves as equal and uh, as such, they felt quite qualified to tell him.
What he needed to do and how to fix himself.
A wonderful thing about Job as you go through his difficulty very often. In fact, most of the time when he started to answer them, he would answer them for a while and then you find out by the end of his speech he's talking to God, not to them.
When the one that could and did the use of the Lord to help Joe start to speak to Job. He did not start from his own perspective. He he in fact, he said you're all older than I am. I'm not I'm not like the rest of you. But he had recognized that what was being said did not give God his place. And so when he spoke, he said, Joe, were you there?
And so on. And he said you're not honoring God. And so he immediately started to help Joe by letting Joe understand what God's view of the matter was. And the wonderful thing about it is after he's halfway through his speech, or we would say his speech without any transition, God is speaking to Job. He just, it just the flow of it.
Is Elijah speaking and he doesn't even get done, we would say. And God is speaking to Job and Job knew it and it was used for his blessing. And so, brethren, may the Lord help us if we're trying to help each other, to bring one into relationship with the thoughts of God. And if I could put it this way and let God finish the conversation, it's not us that can really in the end help another.
Yes, God, who is the power to make the necessary changes?
Thinking of a man named Apopress.
B has a special way of helping he pray. He said that. Let's just turn to that in the Colossians chapter 4.
00:45:01
But it's very interesting in his prayer. Colossians chapter 4, verse 12. Let me just read that verse together.
Aprophus, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salute you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers. Now let me just stop there. The reason I stopped there was often. That's all I know about that verse. That's all I think of Acrofest the one.
Praying for us it it's interesting to see it's it's one of us too. It's not just some stranger. Isn't it nice? But yet that verse didn't quite finish where I left it off. There's more to that verse, even though it says he was perfectly for you in prayer. But what did he really pray for? Let's finish that verse. He says that he may stand perfect and complete.
In all the will of God, what a precious prayer that he have for his brethren, that we may stand perfect and complete in the will of God.
Umm, I can't. I can't properly attribute where I've heard this statement, and maybe it's been commonly stated for many years, but I've heard the statement that all discouragement is of the devil.
And I, I just put that out there. Do you think that's accurate in Scripture or or is that way too simplistic?
I would suggest, Bruce, that it is accurate because.
Discouragement really stems from expecting something, sometimes from man, sometimes even from the Lord, and not getting it. And then I'm discouraged. That is, I lose heart. I don't want to go on in the pathway. And I can still remember reading.
And this comes from the pen of a servant of the Lord back in the 1800s who said I can thank God that I cannot honestly remember within my.
Reasonable memory being discouraged.
Uh, he said. Burdened, yes. Brought to tears, Yes.
So burdened that in some cases I could not sleep at night.
But not discouraged. And so I believe discouragement is from the devil because it is really saying.
I don't accept this from the Lord. I was expecting this to happen or that to happen. I was expecting either man to do something or sad to say in some cases, God to do something and I didn't get it.
And because of that, I'm no longer able to go on. That is really what happened to Job. He was expecting certain things from God and suddenly everything took a turn in a direction he didn't want. And he did get discouraged. He said I need a a middleman between me and the Lord because there's some mix up here. Something's gone wrong. And if only I could get the Lord here and we could talk it out, I'm sure we could get it straight.
No, what he needed was first of all, to justify God.
Accept the circumstances from the Lord and then do just what we've been saying all along here. OK, now where do we go from here? But I believe it's always of Satan to question God's dealings, whether through man that is allowed of God or whether directly from the Lord himself.
So wouldn't you, even though I agree with you that it's from the devil, that it is a fleshly reaction, So we have to get over that, don't we judge it? And I think that's what you're saying, isn't it? And thank you, that's very good. I don't need the devil to allow the flesh to get get me discouraged. That's what you're saying. And that is very true. Satan is behind it. But I'm good material for them. Yes, sometimes I hope not all the time. You don't need to listen to the devil's suggestions.
00:50:01
And sometimes we do.
Well, verse 14 is important. Or verse 13 I should say.
There is a need to make straight paths for our own feet.
Not that the lame have any excuse for being turned out of the way, because if the eye was on the Lord, that wouldn't happen. But as we have always heard, and it's true.
No man liveth to himself and no man dieth to himself, and So what I do and how I live my life will inevitably have an effect on others, either for good or for bad. And so.
How very important to pay attention to my own life. I may see the feeble knees, I may see the hands hanging down, but then I have to look at myself and say, And what kind of an example have I provided for that individual? What has my walk done for them? Has it been an encouragement, or has it tended to be that which drags someone else down?
And that's the grace of God, isn't it? To those who are lame, not that they continue lame, but that they be healed.
Lord help us to be helps in that direction.
I think it's important too, that verses 12 to 17, in our thoughts and in our responsibility, we include all men, not just fellow believers. Umm.
Umm, it's important for us at work to make a straight path for our feet. And, uh, it's important for us if we have contacts with a neighbor who met profession of Christianity. Maybe it's real, maybe it's not, depending on how well we know them and are sure one way or the other by their walk. But as Bill said, no man is, uh, lives to himself or dies by himself. Our lives have.
A an effect on everybody that we come into contact with, and that should be in effect for good and not for a hindrance to them. I've heard the comment made someone said of another. Well, if that's what a Christian's like, I sure don't want to be one. And uh, that's what can happen if we don't make straight paths for our own feet.
In verse 10 it mentions Holiness. It also mentions Holiness. In verse 14 it's.
We know in Scripture that there are certain places it speaks of our position, which is a position of perfect holiness. But here is, I think, practical holiness, the partakers of His Holiness. So there is a need to be correction, be corrected so that we would be partakers of His Holiness, holiness.
Is a word that.
Seems like it's kind of not real popular.
And sometimes people shrink from using that word. But there's a expression in the book of Psalms that I enjoy. It's called the Beauty of Holiness.
I've thought about it. Holiness is separation to God from evil.
It's separation to God from evil, and so it's beautiful to think about. I I sometimes use the illustration of a marriage and how many people love to go to a wedding.
You go to a wedding. What's so attractive about a wedding? People get married every day. What's so attractive about it? Why do people like to go to them? Because it's there where a woman separates herself to one man and one man separates himself to one woman.
And we find that beautiful.
Brethren, the Lord finds it beautiful too, when there's separation to Him.
00:55:02
Lord exercises. Yes, we are holy in His sight, but there is, as in Second Corinthians Chapter 7 it says, perfecting holiness in the sight of God. That's the practical side and that's what we are to be exercised about.
Cleanliness required the walkers we already mentioned, to obtain ourselves from evil. But it also, it tells us a little further. There's also the practical side. Perhaps I'm jumping a bit further down. We see the picture there at Mountain Sinai, there where even when an animal walked towards that mount, there were actions to be taken because that was a holy place.
So the Lord used His own to act on that. So even if an animal unwillingly walked toward that, they would have killed that. So require actions on our part too, to maintain God's holiness, don't we? So we find here not just for ourselves, but to maintain that, perhaps for lack of better work or even for us as an assembly. And then when we jump ahead to the end of the chapter, it tells us that.
Where to reference that regarding here and I believe, brethren, is something that perhaps you said already, but it's something that we forget. We often concentrate on the love of God, but then we forget the fear of God, the governmental side of God, that God is light.
Yes, it's an important balance to keep, isn't it? The emphasis here, of course, is on the grace of God, and that's why it says in verse.
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. It's easy, and we all know what it means to see, either in ourselves or in others, a root of bitterness develop.
And what an awful thing it is when that bitterness goes on and on, and many, as it says here, can be defiled with it. Well, the grace of God.
Ought to be able to deal with all of that because often times the bitterness.
Well, it is sometimes covered up by the excuse that it's for the Lord's glory. I speak to my own heart. In reality, most of the time it's because my feelings have been hurt or I have been offended or some kind of thing like that. And how?
Different it is from the Spirit of Christ.
When he was here on earth, they threw every possible insult at the Lord. They said to him, Thou art a Samaritan.
What an insult for a Jew.
They also said one that was perhaps even worse. They said we be not born of fornication.
Casting an aspersion on the virgin birth of the Lord, as if fornication had been involved in His birth. What does the Lord answer to those miserable jabs? Nothing.
Nothing.
Now in the first case, when they said thou art a Samaritan and hast the devil, to accuse him of having a devil was an insult to God the Father. It was an insult to the Holy Spirit in whose power he did his works of miracles. And everything that he said, He answered that, but not the personal insult. And how often those roots of bitterness start out with that which really?
If I'm honest with myself is a personal offense either that I can overlook or if necessary, if it really has to be done, I can act on Matthew 18 and go to the individual. But.
What should govern it all?
I need to look out that I don't fail of the grace of God.
But lest, as you say, Dave, the grace.
Goes in the other direction where I use the grace of God as an excuse for sin. I have to remember that our God is still a consuming fire. He's still a God of holiness. Whether I'm an unbeliever or a believer, He will not bring His wrath upon me for sin. But as Dawn has already pointed out, there may be some scourging that'll have to take place if I despise His grace.
01:00:24
And use it as an excuse for sin.
Number of occasions it wasn't with us here, It was actually one of my clients. He came in to do some business with me. He's, uh, a minister at a Pentecostal church and we got sidetracked and talking about scriptural things and he started telling me that how their church are able to bring in a lot of people for the gospel. And I said, oh, how so? He said, well, what we do is we bring in professional wrestlers and it draws a great crowd.
And I don't know exactly how my comment was. Oh, I remember what his wife finally said. Boys were here to do business. So we have to stop that conversation. But obviously that was brought very bad taste to my mouth in a sense where they bring in professional wrestler, where I felt that was entirely if we were to do so, you might say, well, I can justify that because a lot of people come in. But the act that they did.
Grace of God properly applied, does not, uh, minimize the holiness of God. It recognizes it. You go to the cross. Where was the question of sin more fully addressed than at the cross? Where was the grace of God shown more fully than at the cross? And so one does not deny the other does it? It's important that be the two things, but I think it is so important, brother, that we.
Watching our relations one with another.
So easily, roots of bitterness come in. You know our route is down under the ground. You don't see it on the surface, but there they are. And what does it say?
Many be defiled. Oh brother, and I do believe that this is very common amongst us as brethren gathered to the Lord's name we allow.
Those roots of bitterness, we don't address them, we allow them to go on and it continues to be a stumbling block and a problem amongst brethren. I often think of the.
Little parable that the Lord spoke in Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18 is a chapter we often quote for being gathered to the Lord's name. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. But in that chapter it addresses the matter of personal offense.
Is there such a thing as personal offense between us, brethren?
Yes, there is.
And sometimes we can simply let it drop. We can overlook it. We can bear with them. But there are times, like Bill was saying, then it has to be addressed and we are to go. Doesn't say wait for them to come to you, says go.
And brethren, these are important matters in our relationships with our dear brethren. But when I want to get to in this chapter 18 of Matthew is the parable the likeness of the Kingdom that he speaks from verse 23 on in verse 21 and 22, Peter asks how often shall I forgive my brother that sins against being He says seven times.
The Lord says, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 * 7.
That's why it's so important, brethren, that we don't fail of the grace of God. How often have we been forgiven rather than I have no clue how many times I may have sinned each day, but think of it over our lifespan.
The amount of sin that there's been and how has he forgiven me? He frankly forgave us all. And now in our relationships, one with another, here we have this parable of a man that was forgiven 10,000 talents.
01:05:23
And.
When he supplicated his master, his master was moved with mercy and forgave him the debt in verse 27.
He thought, he said to his master, have patience with me and I will pay thee off. You know what, it really makes me think that he had no clue as to the size of the debt that he had, and so he thought he could pay it back. But it was a debt that really in his whole lifetime he would never be able to pay back. And who of us could ever pay back the debt of sin we have had? But then he goes out and gets a hold of one of his fellow servants.
And takes them by the neck. And he has a small debt, something that was a minimal amount, and he won't forgive him, but he casts him into the prison till he shall pay the debt.
But notice what it says in the 35th verse of Matthew 18. So like I shall my heavenly Father, do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive. Not everyone His brother, their trespasses. Of course, it's talking about governmental forgiveness. And if there's not that forgiveness.
That grace, brethren in our hearts, if we're lacking it, then there will be a root of bitterness, and that shows itself very strongly in continued problems about amongst those who.
Profess to be members of the body of Christ the Lord. Help us brethren to recognize the importance.
Of not failing, Of the grace of God. Oh, how much He has forgiven us. How can we be hard on our brethren? The Lord help us.
We think 275.
275.
01:10:04
The scenes of strike like graves of us.
Our desert.
Path has been.
But here, O Lord, we've learned to draw.
And.
Loving the one sin.
Forgiveness and Justification
Gospel—David So
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Good evening.
I know we sang this hymn this morning, a Sunday school. I'd like to sing this hymn again. Hymn number six on our hymn sheet. God in mercy send his Son to a world by sin undone. This is the gospel message tonight, dear friends, how God send his beloved son, his only son, into this world to die for you and I. So the hymn writer can go on and say.
Jesus was crucified.
Trust for sinners. Jesus died. Let's sing hymn number six together. Can someone raise the tune please?
God in mercy, send it on to our world.
In a sight was pretty light, one warrior and the shades of joy.
Falls over again.
Let's bow our heads and ask the Lord for help. Let's turn to the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 13. I'd like to begin a meeting with this these two verses, and perhaps we'll quote many verses from scriptures throughout the evening. Acts chapter 13, verse 38. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man.
Is preached unto you the forgiveness?
00:05:04
Sins, and by him all that believe, are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
He is a special.
Commission of doctrine that we received from the Apostle Paul. It's wonderful to have that proclaimed to us how we have been justified from all things.
We have been forgiven, we have the forgiveness of sin because of this man, this man that we're about to proclaim this evening, the man Christ Jesus.
You know, sometimes we wonder the difference between justification and forgiveness. They sound almost the same, isn't it? But to me, forgiven of forgiveness.
Is very nice, but to be justified is even more precious, isn't it? I was thinking an old illustration that perhaps many have read that in Gospel tract. And I remember reading this and they used an example of two boys who got in trouble. And as I look around, there are boys here, but I'm not sure who I'm looking at. Perhaps some of the older one here that were boys at one time would know what I mean, that we got in trouble.
Well, one boy got in trouble. Well, what the trouble was is not important. He was taken to court, standing in front of a judge. And you know, today, especially in this land in the United States of America, if you have a good lawyer, sometimes you get out of things. So perhaps someone can plead on behalf of this boy and say how silly he was, and you tell them the story of how he should never.
Do it again and sometimes the judge may say, OK, we will mark this down and let him go this time. So he's forgiven but not forgotten that there may be a record of that boy without offense, but he was forgiven. But the nice thing is he's free from the charges. He's free perhaps even to spend time in jail.
And then perhaps there's a second boy right after that case, and that boy got in trouble as well.
But then not the fact that he had a good lawyer, but evidence were being presented and was able to prove that it wasn't this boy who committed whatever problem that was. And the judge may look at the boy and say he didn't do it, he is not guilty. We're gonna take this off the case. There will not be a record of him being convicted.
He's been justified, isn't it?
So here the apostle Paul reminds us how through this man, the man Christ Jesus.
Our sins are forgiven, and more so than that, by Him it says that by Him all that belief are justified. We have been justified before God and not only justified by the law of Moses.
This evening I'd like to look at perhaps a few men. The Scriptures speak up. I have three men on my heart, and perhaps if the Lord leave us here, we may speak up three more. After that I'd like to turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter one.
You know, we have before us the book of Hebrews chapter 12. I'm sorry, I said chapter one. I meant to say Hebrews Chapter 11. We alluded to this chapter as we begin, as we started in chapter 12, because we said it tells us the hinge there, wherefore, so it's connecting things in Chapter 11.
What I find it interesting in Chapter 11 is a list.
A a list of faithful men of old and I find I like to take up just the first two, perhaps three people that God has mentioned in these passages. There are many in there that some would refer to this chapter as that faith honor roll. It's wonderful to see how God honored the faith. So here the chapter begin by telling us what faith is.
00:10:06
Say the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. That's not my thought, but my thought is rather look at these men of how and why they were considered faithful. So let's begin by verse four. Here's the 1St man. His name is Abel. Let's read verse 4 together.
By face.
Able offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than king, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testified of this gift, and by it he being dead. Yet speakers, I know you probably look at it and say, David, this is a strange passage for gospel meeting, isn't it?
We don't often refer to this chapter in a gospel meeting, but I'd like to at least take the application of it, if not the thoughts behind it.
What's so special about evil?
In fact, I don't think we know very much of Abel other than what he offered. And then here scripture even go further and say that he did, but yet he speaketh. Isn't it wonderful to know that the testimony sometimes go further than just what one have to say before God?
This is for 6000 years later, he said. But he's speaking because of his action.
Abel did something that was very important. Abel did something that many in this world would not do.
Or try to do but not the way he did it. He did something so special.
He made as a sacrifice to God that was acceptable to God.
The problem we have as men is we like to do things. We know we have to serve God, but we like to serve Him on our terms.
We like to do it in certain ways. I was reading a conversion of a man and he wrote in there in this conversion he said the first night after he was convicted, he said he he now on his, he went on his knees and he prayed. He said, if you be the God. And by this, by the way, this man was a Jew, he said, and if you are truly the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
You need to show yourself to me and if you truly are the one who is the Messiah for this world, I like you to show me more of yourselves. And as I read that, I thought that was interesting. Here is like the beginning of a conversion. But then this man went on. This is his own biography, he said.
I learned that I was wrong. I learned that he said. I cannot demand God.
On my turn.
Is an interesting that how often we demand God on our terms and the religion of this world sometimes make terms to satisfy the people rather than God. A brother mentioned. Now this is not religion but it was close to it how the country was in Bolivia declared that there is no meat for the 1St 14 days.
Well, the government can make rules, but then we'll also learn certain churches where, say, you have to eat fish on Friday.
In order to help other fishmongers, what is that God's term or man's term? And not to belittle other religions, but to find that things man like to do is to put a man in the position that we think he represent God, but is put in there in our terms so that we can tell that man to say what we want to hear.
That's not God's turn. Abled understood that his sacrifice has to be by blood. His brother Cain, on the other hand, thought he could just make any offering, so he took up the fruits from the ground.
The ground that God has cursed and he returned that back. Is it not what we want to do? Rather than God's way? You may say, well, how did Naval know all this? I don't know. But I do know that God walked with this man of old, and perhaps his father and mother taught him what the right way is. The word of God doesn't tell us that, but He did what was.
00:15:23
Acceptable before God.
You know, it's interesting. Sometimes we still see little things, and I don't know how many of you have visited Chinese restaurants.
When you go into a Chinese restaurant, often you look carefully. They would have.
A lot of frying in the corner somewhere because they believe in gods too and I noticed I used the plural gods and they believe that they have to make offerings to God to appease whatever God they were appeasing. So they go through the motion.
So you see this little shrine, and on the shrine there's usually some fresh fruit or perhaps some fresh meat that they offer to their gods. But as much as they try to give the outward appearance, a lot of them find that it's a lot of work to put fresh fruit in that little shrine every day.
So if you look carefully in most restaurant you will see this nice plastic fruit that are shiny and new.
It saves them a lot of work having to replace each day. That man's way, isn't it? Then if you look carefully, you see for this little incense that they OfferUp and if you look carefully again, you'll find that the incense have no smoke coming out. It was a plastic stick that looked like incense with a little light bulb at the end to make it look like incense so they can go through the motion as if they were appeasing their gods. But.
Reality, they were teasing themselves by going through the motion. Friends tonight, how many of you? Or perhaps that's too strong of a language. Let me rephrase that. How many of us?
Do things that we think we're doing it for God, but really is to appease our own conscience.
Table offered up a sacrifice that is acceptable. God accepted this offer.
Now there is another reason why I thought able.
Able from the very beginning in Genesis. You know the story there.
Abel really is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. From the very beginning God told us the story that Abel is there is this man that offer of an acceptable sacrifice, and after he OfferUp that acceptable sacrifice, he was killed.
Interesting picture isn't it, of our lower Jesus. So we find in the book of Hebrews the Lord Jesus knew he can turn to chapter 10. We can make some quotation there. He knew that there is no other way to appease God. God may wage for children of Israel to have temporary relationship with men. He told them I want to dwell with them. So he.
Would not go there so that he can be with his people. But God is holy as we have before us. The meeting before last, that he is a holy God and he cannot tolerate sin in his presence.
So he separated himself in the Holy of Holies, and man cannot enter in.
But the offerings were to be made. As many of us have studied some of the offerings there were four or perhaps 5 or maybe more depending on how you look at it. So let's just look at that. See how the Lord Jesus is pictured.
Or foreshadowed through those offerings Hebrews chapter 10.
Back in the day they have to make continual offering. Let's begin with verse one for the law having a shadow of good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the commerce there unto perfect.
00:20:10
Oh, what an opening statement. All these sacrifices, these traditions that they have gone through.
All these years it said it didn't make them perfect. Verse 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshipper once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made again of sins every year. That's referring to the the Day of the Atonement, and then it tells us it is not possible.
So there the IT is, for it is not possible that the blood of both and of goats should take away sins. Oh, what a basic fundamental truth that their sins is only forgiven for a season that is not permanent. But then we find in verse five, it's interesting to see this is the Lord Jesus speaking before he came into this world.
He would say this to his father, is that wherefore when he cometh into the world, he says.
That's how I know it was before he came. When he cometh into the world, he said, sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins Thou hast had no pleasure.
Oh what a strong statement. We find at least 4 sacrifices mentioned here. So we find verse five is easy. It spells it out the that. Oh in verse six there is the burnt offering, the faces of all the other offerings and offering that is a sweet sweet smelling Savior ascended to God.
We see the burnt offering and the sin offering mentioned in verse 6, and that leave us to the previous verses with the other two offerings, the peace offering and so on listed there. So he said, he said, I know you're not gonna have pleasure in this. And then he repeated it as if it were. But this is after he came then he said.
I.
Lo, I come now. Notice that's in bracket, so I'm gonna skip the bracket to get the thought. I come to do thy will.
Oh God.
Even though in bracket they said it's been written in the volume, in the volume of books, it is written about his coming to be the perfect sacrifice. Verse 8 above when he said sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin that was not neither has pleasure there in verse 9 Then he said, lo, I come to do thy will.
He came to do the Father's will. He came into this world to be the perfect sacrifice for man. Abel made a sacrifice acceptable before God, but it didn't purge the sins of this world. We learned from the Word of God, the basic fundamental from the Word of God, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
That is a very fundamental of the Gospel tonight. If you do not acknowledge and believe that you have sinned because of one man's offense, sin came into this world, and death by sin, and that all have sinned, you and I are included in this world.
So the Lord Jesus came. He offered up himself to be the perfect sacrifice, the Son of God, the one who could not have seen, the one who came into this bodily form as a man, as we had before, was born of a woman's seed.
Born of a virgin, as we were reminded by another person yesterday morning that they came.
As men, so that he can taste death for every man he came into this world. We sometimes sing in the Sunday school hymn that he came, he was so kind and he did good. But then we know that man would despise him. They would reject him.
00:25:03
And they nailed him to that cross of wood.
So here we find a Savior Jesus. Let's just read couple more verses. Verse 12:00 we we read of this man. Now it's mentioned again in verse 12, but this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins.
Forever sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool 4 by 1 offering He had perfected forever them, that is sanctified this man. No other man could take away the sin of this world.
We found that when the Lord Jesus came into this world, I should say before he came, he had a forerunner. John the Baptist was to proclaim his coming.
There was that voice, as Isaiah chapter 40 proclaimed to us, a voice came out of the wilderness to prepare either way, There he could declare, Behold, the Lamb of God. There's no other way, for the Son of God must die for you and I. So Abel. Abel made a perfect sacrifice.
A picture of our Lord Jesus Christ who came.
He he looked forward or scripture look forward to the day.
When our Lord Jesus Christ will complete the work of redemption by dying on the cross. Now let's go back to Hebrews Chapter 11. Again, I'd like to look at the 2nd man.
The second man it mentioned here it says in verse 5 by faith Enoch.
Was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God.
Oh, what a wonderful statement about this second man mentioned in the book of faith here. He he walked with God and then we find in Scripture that he walked with God and then he was translated, taken out of this world.
Didn't go through the article of Dash and you know this is 1 difficulties we have as men because we know the word of God has told us that it is appointed unto men once to die.
But after this, not after death, but after the this the judgment.
Man is expecting to be judged by God, and many men did not escape the article of death.
Enoch was translated. He was taken out of this evil world.
Wait a minute, that was from way, way back. Enoch really was the 7th from Adam. How evil was the world that he was in? Let's turn to the book of Jude.
And we found again, we don't know very much about Enoch, especially from the book of Genesis. We know he walked with God. What a faithful man. But then Jude told us quite a bit more about Enoch.
Jude, as you know, there's only one chapter in verse 14. It's a Enoch also the 7th from Adam prophesied of these saying now this is very interesting word that the Spirit of God has laid here. What was he prophesizing the words we're about to read a very strong language from Scripture. Enoch was a behold the Lord.
With 10 thousands of his things, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their heart speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken.
00:30:02
Against him.
Wow, to think that early into the history of man the wickedness that Enoch had to face. No wonder his grandson Noah had to build an ark to deliver those from this present evil world.
All these ungodly man.
But Enoch.
What a commendation here.
The preacher of righteousness.
Let me address my brethren here just for three moments and not to. I hope you don't take this the wrong way. This is more for encouragement. How would you like the commendation? Not just as a preacher, but preacher of righteousness.
We're told from his word where to do the work of an evangelist.
What a, what a Commission. And, and I take it as this, brethren.
We often they stand there and say, I, I am not an evangelist. And you know, honestly, I don't feel myself to be an evangelist. But when I read that verse, I can see that it says do the work of the evangelist. And my answer is I'm not an evangelist. Do the work of an evangelist. There's no excuse.
And whatever excuse you have, the answer comes back, do the work of an evangelist. What a wonderful Commission the Lord has given us that we can do the work of the of an evangelist. And you know, what's even interesting is that it doesn't say the Lord's gonna give us a grade on how well we do the work as an evangelist.
You simply say do the work of an evangelist, so I encourage you to do the work of an evangelist.
Enoch said so. He was a godly man. He prophesied about the Lord's coming. You know, our brother spoke of how do we act in this world. And as Christians, we forget the responsibilities in this world. So sometimes we'll go, and I hope we're not repeating what was said. Sometimes we'll go what we need to straighten this world because we live here. We don't find that in the word of God.
We are to proclaim the news that this world is right for judgment.
That God is gonna come, and his coming is so ever near all these terrible sins of various forms that this world is making an acceptance of God is a righteous, holy God, that he has not changed. We often use that phrase, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. The standard God put in the day of Enoch.
Has not changed from the standard he put in the day-to-day God will not and does not tolerate sin. We're in a different dispensation that we're not gonna find God's gonna say you sin and I'm gonna struck you down with the day of grace but that day of grace is coming to a close very soon and the difficulties I believe. Please bear with me to digress from there is the fact that we don't.
By the word of God, properly so a lot of Christians do not believe the Lord's coming is imminent. They think this world, we can make this world better is wrong. Brethren, this world is not our home. And if you're not saved, the message is we're not telling you this world is going to get better. This world is get it's going to get worse and worse.
In our home, our hope is not this world. Our hope is to be with the Lord.
So here as Enoch, Enoch gave gives us a taste of what it's like when we walk with the Lord because he's gonna take us out of the sea. So we find we read sometimes in John 14. He he encourage our hearts by saying that I go to prepare a place for you. And he promised that if you go, he's gonna return and take us to be with himself.
You know, sometimes we think, well, when we die we go to heaven. Well, first of all, I don't believe the word heaven is mentioned much. We don't know what heaven is, but where the Lord is.
00:35:06
By having him as our Savior. God loved this world. God is a righteous God. Sin must be punished.
God must punish sin, you know, sometimes we make so light of it we think that when we walk.
He's honoring the Lord and then we got saved and everything is forgiven. Well, from the positional standpoint, we are, because we have eternal life. But we forget sometimes that there is the governmental side of God. We're exalted to walk in a way pleasing to Him. We're to remain holy as He is holy and as our Christians hope. It would be like Enoch of old.
Looking for the Lord's return to take us out of the scene. That is interesting. We find these are the Old Testament example, but from the very beginning of Scripture we see this.
A sacrifice that must be acceptable to God, not according to man.
The Lord Jesus.
Must die for sinful men. There is no other way. And through his death, and of course we can always say in resurrection.
The next thing will be like Enoch, the church. His people are special people.
His not part of this world a faded away. We have no portion in this world because we will be taken out of this scene to be forever with the Lord. And this weekend I believe will reminded many times of the Lord's soon return. And some people say, well I'm hoping the Lord will come so I don't have to face any more of those problems.
Well, that's not the thought I don't believe, brethren, is that we're to be with the Lord. This world will continue to have problems and we're part of this world. We will continue to be affected by some of these problems. Let's go back to Hebrews Chapter 11 again, I said we'll look at 3:00. So we find we talk about.
People how there was an offering made that was acceptable by God.
We talked about enough his faithfulness, and really it doesn't say that I take it as this, that through the death of Abel, through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the church is formed and the church portion is not earthly but heavenly being translated out of the scene.
The next man listed here, oh, before I go into this thought, there's another thought that came to me. Scripture is quite specific about this man, Enoch. Is that the 7th from Adam? He didn't just say Adam's descendant. It's kind of interesting it mentioned the 7th from Adam, and I'll let you do some searches to see why the 7th. But I see young parents here. I like to talk about another man who is the 7th or perhaps the 8th.
How you counted? Let's just go back to Genesis from Adam just for encouragement and also warning.
Genesis chapter 4.
Now you have to go to the Genesis genealogy to figure out which he is. I'm gonna just for time's sake, we started verse 19 and Lamac.
You talking to him? Two wives. I don't believe the rest of God.
Verse 20 Look at his children.
And Adarbeer Jabel, he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as half cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal He was the father of all such as Hendo, the harp and organ, and Zilla. She also bare turbo Cane, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron.
And the sister to Bocane was Naima.
I'm gonna read the next verse too, and Lamac said unto his wife. I'm gonna skip down, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my heart.
00:40:12
Play Mac. I believe it's the 7th from Adam.
The descendant of Cain and if I saw the chapter one said well it can be from Abel because Abel was killed.
You notice here that his family is still under Cain because one of his children's name is Tubal Cain.
What a chain do Chain was the first man born into this world.
And KQ, his brother, first man born into this world was a Sinner. He was a murderer. And it's not hard to deny from the word of God that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But when we reach through this list, sounds like he has beautiful wives. Some would make a comment from A-Z.
Children.
I would almost use the word of renown. It looks like they're very skillful, good with brass and iron and back in this is the early days. They must be good mechanic or perhaps engineers with all these materials and.
The daughter's name was.
Uh, Naomi, I believe it means pleasant.
The boys that are good with their hands, that can make things.
Daughter, that's beautiful, pleasant, isn't it? Doesn't it sound like a wonderful family to have? And I see some young people, young couples, and some just got married recently. And I congratulate you for that. But here is a warning. As if it were, even though on the surface it sounds so good. This is the heart of man. We want to look well before our brethren.
So here.
This successful family as if it were.
Compared to Enoch's family, who does Enoch have? Well, let's see, you can go through that. He has a son named Methuselah. Well, what was he known for? Well, he was the oldest man lived.
And then he has his grandson, Noah.
But what's striking is this as prominent as.
This man.
Lamak and his family and how successful. It appears something terrible happened to all of them.
Do you know what that would be?
Can you picture the next man we're gonna talk about? What's Noah?
What happened? What do you think happened to this family, this nice looking family?
I don't believe they survived the flood.
In fact, I'm sorry that wording was wrong.
They did not survive the flood. I know that was certainty from the Word of God because there were a soul. Scripture is very specific on that. Noah, Noah's three sons and the wives. I should say Noah's wife, the three sons and the wives a souls were spared. They were saved from the flood.
Nor are two being the preacher of righteousness. So let's go back to Hebrews Chapter 11.
By faith Noah being warned of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, and prepare an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
It doesn't say a whole lot here, does it? But by saying he saved his house, he saved his family, young family again.
Isn't it nice to raise children that are honorable? Reputable.
What about the eternal soul? What about the soul?
And you know many of us here, let me use the word.
Have a very godly heritage.
And we should be thankful.
Someone asked me that when I was saved and how I was saved and.
00:45:03
The answer is really, I'm no different than many of you. I was raised in the assembly, which many don't know that I have had the privilege of being raised in the assembly.
Did I follow and listen? Well? No.
But you know what, the fact that I want to meet it, I was under the sound of the word of God.
I have that preservation grace and it's wonderful. Bring your children out.
You may think they don't remember anything or understand anything. You will be surprised how much they learned. Like I'll. I'll share with you this story perhaps. Hope you don't mind us being very personal and not to be in any way of bragging. I don't often hear my son speak. It seems that when we're home it's not right, but often.
I got to speak and one day I was actually sitting there. He had the gospel meeting.
Now let me backtrack a little bit. I always look at my children don't listen very well. And some of you as parents may understand that it seems that whatever said seems to go between the years and straight back out the other side.
When I sat there that one evening.
I look at my wife, I said.
Is someone playing my tape?
I said he's even stealing my stories. He's using the same verses I would quote and I thought he never listened.
Parents, don't be discouraged bring them out lettle by little is precept upon precept. As we were reminded precept upon precept. Here's a little there a little the word of God as cleansing power and and not only can it save our souls, but encourage us on So let me go back to the story Noah Noah is very interesting.
I heard I overheard someone.
Behind me talking about well we're all from Adam. I didn't want to pipe in. It didn't seem polite but having you hearing aid it really helped. Picking up other people's conversation was before people could be talking to me and I have no idea and they think I was rude.
You know, we hear that phrase. We are from Adam. I don't think too many people would dispute that. But.
My thoughts often drifted and I guess I don't think very conventionally. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I would argue and say but we are from Noah.
Are we not? Are you from NOAA? I'm quite sure you are, because there will be no other man on Earth.
You are from Noah through one of his three sons.
Now I'm sure standing up here you can look at me and say you're Chinese and I'll tell you a little bit about Chinese. Little about Chinese history is if you look at the old, old Chinese history, they'll say the first Chinese. His name was Noah and they fixed the flood problem. In fact, it's not the thoughts tonight. If you can call me someday, I'll share with you that most you can use the Chinese symbols to explain the 1St 11 Chapters of Genesis.
It's hidden in the Chinese symbols. But let's get back to no one. Noah, that preacher of righteousness, we're all through.
But I've been meditating on the how come we don't say that or we do? The world doesn't seem to acknowledge that. No, this is my opinion whether you like it or not. Take it as my opinion and you can meditate on that and perhaps help me to correct me. Here's my thoughts.
Adam, no argument. Adam is a picture of one who is seeing he did bad things. But what was the bad thing? The bad thing was he disobeyed God. Disobedience of sin, he disobey God. We as men, we can say, yeah, I know, so I'm bad, So what? And I believe man's heart today have hardened so much that.
Some of us would accept that it's a So what? I'm back.
When it comes to Noah, Noah gives us a different picture. Noah, the picture of Noah is not only are we bad, Noah speaks of judgment. Not judgment to come, but judgment executed. Oh, that's a terrible thought to swallow, isn't it?
That God must punish sin.
00:50:01
Today we hear God. People will say God is a God of love. He couldn't let that happen to us. Well, friends.
God of two sides, as if it were God is a God of love. So we found scriptures that God is love. But then we also have to say God is light. In him there is no darkness at all.
No evil would be allowed in his presence, so Noah reminds us of the judgment.
That came and executed. And if we don't re remember that he even tells us look at the sky. We see the rainbow as a reminder. Well, some would say no, no, that's that's a reminder that God promised he won't destroy this world by water again. But I tell you this.
It's a reminder that God execute a judgment on that kind and there is a judgment to come, the Lord Jesus.
It's going to be that judge we had to start before us as the Son of man. The Son of man, He came into this world. Well, when we read Scripture as we've had it before us, there were many character. We see the Lord Jesus, He is the rightful king. We read in the book of Matthew. He has the proper title to be king of Israel.
He was also the Son of Man. The Son of man despised, rejected a man. He came into his own. His own received a nod. They didn't want him.
The only word we as men have for this man was away with him, crucified him. And even when Pilate was questioned, what has he done? He said I found no fault with his name, but they still led him away to be crucified. That's the heart of me.
We crucified him, the Scripture tells us Scripture knows this. So in John chapter 3 is this. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must.
The Son of man be lifted up, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth it, believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. God didn't send his Son into the world to condemn the world. He sent him so for the world through him might be saved. Dear friends, this is the gospel message. The message is that God send his Son.
As we saying earlier in that hymn, God in mercy sent his son.
To a world by sin undone this world sin oh is so wicked. The description we read by Enoch is probably not even close from today's stand standard. But Jesus Christ, he was crucified. It was for me that Jesus died.
Would you accept him, Mr. Lord and Savior? This is not something you have to do, something you have to buy. There is nothing you, we as men can do, you know, in our office or in our meeting room there, there are a lot of Muslims in that building. They believe of doing things, they must pray, they must kneel for so long, and so on, the word of God said.
It's not of works regardless of how well you try, how hard you try.
You can't save yourself but by believing. Believe that Jesus died and we died with him. We bury in the grave just like SFD did, and we rose triumphantly like he did. We are His and we belong to him forever.
Perhaps we're close in in singing.
Hymn #15.
We're just saying the first verse and the last verse of hymn #16.
Oh, blessed gospel sound, Yes.
Terrorism.
Lord can help your name on here, Oh my God.
00:55:36
I should finish the thought there about the three that meant that I picked for those who studied the Word of God. It's interesting to see how in the very beginning the God of Gentiles and Jews in mind.
You know there is this false teaching today.
That the church today is same as Israel, Israel same as the church. That's false. The word of God distinguishes very clearly right from the very beginning. So as we mentioned that Abel was a picture of the perfect sacrifice, but he must die. Picture of the Lord Jesus Enoch, picture of the church translated out of this world. No one Noah is interesting.
Is a picture of the remnant Jewish nation.
In the future, they that the Kingdom belongs to them, there will be those overcomer that the Lord would preserve for the Jewish nation. So it would encourage you to study the Word. Look at it to see God's love is great to all mankind. And today in the day of grace, how wonderful to see there is neither Jews nor Gentiles.
When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're part of the church and I enjoy the hymn writer that that role wrote the hymn that we just sang. He wrote the gospel hymn, but he wrote many hymns that we sing on the Lord's day morning and let me just read 1 stance and then we'll close in prayer. He said this is him 244 now little flocking book. He said that well that right and lesson.
Near when He the Bridegroom shall appear, do we wait for that and her, and call his bride away, such our blessings that we're waiting for her blessing then shall be complete, when with her Lord she takes her seat in everlasting days. Let's pray.
Hebrews 12:16-29
Reading
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225.
Mid scenes of confusion.
Increase your complaints.
Oh, sweet to the soul is communion with Saints.
225.
It seems of confusion.
And.
Greater complaint.
I'll swing the golden.
Wednesday.
Tonight.
00:05:04
Start with verse 16.
You guys right bro? Good. Yes, that would be good. We have one hour to finish the chapter.
Hebrews 12 and we'll start at verse 16.
Must there be any fornication or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright? For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected.
For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Fear not come unto the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dart.
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, into an innumerable company of angels. And to the Gen. to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. And to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant. And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than not available.
See that ye refused not him that speaketh, For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, How much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven?
Whose voice then shook the earth. But now he hath promised, saying that once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain, Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
Before we go on to these verses, I did want to.
Uh, repeat a statement that was made by, I believe it is Breyer, late brother Harry Hagel, brother Bill or brother Don. You can confirm this, but I think he was known to say never go home to bed at night with a hard thought about anybody in the sphere of your acquaintance. Was that, is that about right?
And he added one phrase.
He would say never go to bed with an unkind thought toward anyone in the world, no matter how they treat you.
I think that's a good challenge for our hearts, brethren.
So it might seem rather unusual that the Spirit of God connects the sin of fornication with what Esau did in despising his birthright.
It might seem.
A bit unusual to connect a very serious moral sin with Esau's act of trading his birthright for, as it says here, 1 morsel of meat, one plate of lentils when he was hungry. But the undergirding principle is the same.
Fornication is immediate gratification with that which.
Is immediately before us. But it's a trade off which has very serious consequences, doesn't it? The world today looks on that kind of thing very lightly, thinks very little of it, sad to say, but it does carry serious consequences.
And so it was with Esau. That plate of food looked very good to him, and Jacob knew just how to tempt him when he was hungry, coming in from the field, coming in from hunting. And he made his bargain, and he saw gave up his birthright. And his words are rather striking. He says I'm about ready to die.
00:10:15
What good'll this birthright be to me?
Would there not have been food for them without doing that? Of course there would. His father Isaac was a rich man. He didn't have to worry about starving to death in Isaac's household. But the immediate gratification is what captured him.
And I would suggest that.
From the point of view of opposed to whom this pistol was, this epistle was addressed.
They were in danger in one sense of losing that which God was offering by holding on to something that was really of no value to them. But I suggest there's a serious lesson for you and me, and that is, are we allowing immediate gratification of the things of this world?
To allow us to give up that which is of eternal value.
Again, we can't lose our salvation. Thank God for that. But are we in our lives?
Sacrificing that which is of eternal value in order for present gratification.
Poor Esau wanted the blessing, and that's why it says there at the end of verse 17. He sought it carefully, with tears. He wanted the blessing.
He pleaded with his father. Oh my father, bless me also.
But no repentance, no suggestion that he said, oh, Father, I was wrong to sell my birthright. I was wrong to despise it, which is exactly what he did, and so very often.
The spirit of this world says to the Lord, give me the blessing, but don't make me deal with the sins in my life. You and I as believers can want all the enjoyment and blessings of Christianity, but we want to have the world as well, and it doesn't work, does it? We have to have one or the other if we're going to live in the enjoyment of heavenly things.
We have to let go of this world.
Profanity is treating sacred things as if they were common.
That's what profanity is.
And that's what Esau did, didn't he?
The birthright was something that was given to the first born in the family, and he treated that birthright as if it were nothing more than a plate of food. He treated it as if it were common. That's what a fornicator does. Sex is something that is God ordained in its place, but its place is to be used in the marriage bond for a person to.
Practice that outside of the bond of marriage. It's treating that which is sacred as if it were common. That is not right. And so we don't know that Esau was a fornicator, but he was a profane man and it's the same principle involved. And we really don't have much reason to believe that he saw was a true believer.
In fact, even his descendants, the Edomites, the Book of Obadiah, are to be completely wiped out. That is one nation that will not enter the Millennial day.
Terrible.
Uh, this to have that in your descendants. Terrible, sad.
But I think it's good grill. What you mentioned in verse 17, if you look at Mr. Darby's translation, the end of the verse where it says for he found no place of repentance is in, uh, parentheses.
So he sought not repentance, but he sought the blessing with tears. Like you said though.
He wasn't repentant. He never repented.
00:15:00
And that's why in the book of Malachi, in many centuries after both Isaac and Jacob were gone, I I say Esau and Jacob were gone.
The Lord, says Jacob, have I learned that Esau have I hated?
That wasn't before they were born, that wasn't while they were living, that was many years after. Because he had shown his true character of despising sacred things. Lord help us.
These were apparently tears of remorse, which is a different thing than the tears of repentance.
Repentance is a process that God graciously, uh, umm, enacts in our souls, often coupled with confession, sincere confession before the Lord, and then that process of repentance can take place in US. But remorse is unhappiness with the consequences of our actions. And God has given man a will, though his will is not free, uh, Speaking of the Sinner. And he makes choices.
But God is the one who chooses the consequences of those choices, not us, and oftentimes those consequences. The way of a transgressor is hard, and there can be tears of remorse, which is nothing that leads to blessings.
So instead of repenting, he put the blame on his brother's actions. And there's enmity between him and Jacob and doesn't justify what Jacob did to get it, but uh.
Esau had no right to blame uh, Jacob for what he did in selling his birthright. It's an easy thing, brethren, to find excuses for our failures and put the blame on others.
And uh, it it. It's a sad thing because there's no restoration until repentance comes in. Remorse is different than repentance.
That's interesting in uh.
If you look at Matthew's Gospel chapter 27, another one.
It uses in our King James version, the word repented himself in connection with Judas Iscariot.
Just pointed out here.
Uh.
Verse 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, that the Lord was condemned, repented himself in Mr. Darby's filled with remorse. So there wasn't really repentance with Judas, was there? He saw that it really looked bad what he had done, and he was filled with remorse because there was no true faith in Judas. He didn't go back to the Lord.
It was that wasn't in the picture. He went and hung himself. Awful end of one who was so close to the Lord.
I wonder if there are lessons in there for us as well. I know scriptures always have lessons in there. We have two applications. I was thinking how thinking of how Israel of all as a nation, they were considering considered to be adulterous nation. They forsake God. They didn't do what was required of them before God. So I was thinking perhaps we can draw an application in our lives.
Uh, have we forsaken God?
Do we call Him by name outwardly, but inside our hearts have no place for Him? That's religion, sis, religious system, isn't it? And then there are many things that are basic, given to us for our own good. Simple thing is, we have before us unbelief, or rather the opposite of believing in His word. We say that we believe. Do we believe in all His words?
We might say, well, I believe in the gospel, I believe that my sins are forgiven. That's good. What about other things, other parts of our lives so we can easily give up things that are right before God? There are many truths that we have learned, especially for many of us who have grown up in the assembly. We're told to buy the truth and sell it. Not have we in our heart, perhaps in a small way, like Esau of all despised.
00:20:29
Some of the tools that we have.
What about the simple truth that being gathered to the Lord's name, is it just going to needing? I know for some of us growing up we're just going to need it. Or do we have that thought of going to be to meet the Lord, to remember Him with the express purpose of remembering Him? Because when there are problems and difficulties arises, those things could keep us or lead us away.
You may say it's little, but it's little things. When you're faithful with the little things, that is easier to be faithful with a big problems.
We have a great difference between the way of restoration under the law and the way of restoration and grace. So the following verses contrast those two things. And this, umm, for those of us in Christianity, uh, we are very privileged to come to Mount Zion instead of Mount Sinai and, uh, for restoration.
Just a quick overview of the company versus our timelines down from verse 18 to 21, it's headed up by the word in 18 for ye are not come. And so from 18 to 21, those things that were of touch and hearing and sight, things that were physical in this world are set aside. You're not come. These Hebrew Christians are addressed. You're not come to these things of touch.
Hearing and sight.
From verse 22 to 2422 begins with but ye are come. These are the things that were for them and and many extensions to us and there are eight things.
Easier to see and Mr. Darby's translation because he uses the word and, and they're all connected. They all begin with the word and, and the King James at the end of verse UH-22, there's one that spans across 22 and into 23 and it's not quite as clear, but it does say into an innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly and that fits together as one. And so there are eight of them and they're all things that are of faith that we receive.
Receive by faith that we take by faith, and not by sense. And then the chapter continues from 25 to 29 with a warning of about.
Not turning back. So those 3 divisions and what we have left, what we are not come to, what we are come to and then a warning.
It's helpful, Steven, to see that and Mr. Darby's translation.
Those categories are also divided by a semi colon and I found that helpful.
Bible to keep it straight, it's uh, let let let's read it and it's let me check me up if I do it right, umm, starting with verse umm uh.
UH-22.
But ye are come unto Mount Sion, semi Colon, and enter the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, semi Colon, And to the innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly, semi colon, and to the Church of the first born which are written in heaven, semi colon. And to God the Judge of all, Semi colon, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, semi colon, And to Jesus the meteor of the new Covenant, semi colon.
Am I right?
One more 2 Thank you.
And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. That's right.
00:25:02
I need some help on what these different groups are.
I'd like to back up a little further.
And uh.
Get even bigger picture, perhaps of what we have here in these verses if you go back to Chapter 9.
And uh.
If I can find the verse and uh, did I say Matthew? I mean Hebrews Chapter 9.
Versus 11 and 12, but Christ being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. He entered in once into the holy place or the holy of holies, having obtained eternal redemption for us. It's it's valuable to recognize.
As Mr. Kelly is the expression, a number of the New Testament Î epistles are Jewish epistles.
Hebrews is one of them. James is one first and second Peter. They're Jewish epistles in that they are written to Jews who have embraced something new, Christianity, and it's helping them to understand what it is that is different and change for them than what they previously had under Judaism. An absolutely huge change for people who had ancestors for.
Over 1000 years and more of a certain way of life that God they believed, and rightly so, had put his approval on. But under that.
Agreement between themselves and God. Under that covenant there were certain things they did not ever have, and one of them is they could not approach to God themselves individually. The way into the presence of God was withheld from them because if they were to approach, they had to approach on their own merit as righteous.
In the sight of God. And so Moses said to the Lord, well, we can't make this trip without you. And the Lord said, all right, I will establish my dwelling among you. And he established what we call the Tabernacle and all that's connected with it. But in establishing it, if you wanted to approach God, you approached the gate, if you will, and left your offering there. You weren't allowed to go.
Any farther, the Levites were allowed to take what you gave to them, and at the outside, if you will, of the dwelling where God was you, they could offer the sacrifice. And there was the labor and the, the, uh, altar. But they didn't go inside. They were not allowed to approach into the presence of God.
Once a year with fear.
Uh, Aaron did.
But they always feared that he wouldn't come out alive. There was that very real concern on the part of the people that once he got into the presence of God and His Holiness, he would die. And so it was a fear and trembling that he went in and he came out. And Scripture teaches us the way into the presence of God under the law was not yet open and could not be opened on those grounds.
And so the Lord Jesus comes and Christianity is established based on his work and He first as we have the verses we just read.
He could and did enter into the Most Holy of Holies himself by his own right to do so. And also when he went in, he went in with the blood of the Sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself on the Cross.
And so that's Chapter 9 to the Jew, just two. We weren't even allowed in the camp, but he could go in. And now to the Jewish mind, oh, finally, after 1000 plus years, there's a way that one person can go into the presence of God. The 10th chapter, the next chapter.
00:30:26
Brings up if you just to read one piece of it.
Verses 19 and 20. Having therefore, brethren.
Boldness to enter where? Into the Holy of Holies, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh. He's saying, And now you and I can go in, fellow previous Jew, but it implies to us as well. Now you and I can go in. We can approach the Holy of Holies where God.
Is and dwells.
With boldness because we approach under the fella sing and the work of that precious blood that was shed on the cross for us. And then going on to Chapter 11.
But we're not there yet to dwell. We don't live there. We're on earth still, and we're on a journey to get there. And so we're encouraged not to give up, but to go through the path of faith to get to the end of what is.
Promised to us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So now to the chapter we're in.
There is the grace of God to help us to get all the way to the end of the journey. Because in the Jewish epistles, you, you.
The end of the path is what's looked at is the full salvation. And so they were being instructed in a way that to get to the end, to get to the full salvation, you've got to go all the way through to the end. It doesn't bring eternal security, which we have in other epistles. So much before us is our responsibility to keep going to the end.
And then he says, And now we have.
New promises and a New Hope.
We never made it, if you will, to Millennium, but the verses that have just been quoted are verses which show us the administration of the Kingdom in its coming form, both as it has to do with heaven and as it has to do with earth. And so.
It's described in a way that shows us those who are going to participate in it.
Whether in the heavenly side or on the earthly side, and the role that angels will have in it as well, and the encouragement as well as the warning that what's coming for us is not going to be shaken. It's going to endure. Everything that man has had up to this point, even in spiritual things under law, didn't endure.
And can't endure because it doesn't have a solid foundation that can't be shaken. But we have. And so just to finish, umm, he says in the next chapter.
Uh, if I can find the one verse, umm.
Somebody can help me it Alright, it's first uh, verse 14.
This is telling them finally, then we have no consi here, we have no continuing city. We who are going to participate in the heavenly side of the millennial glory and Kingdom here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. In other words, all that's given to us is still in a form of not yet manifested. It's a promise.
But it's still future as to its fulfillment. And so he says we're not there yet. Here on Earth, where we still are, we have no continuing city lights described to us in the previous chapter. But we're seeking it and we're on a journey to it. And don't give up. Let's keep going until we arrive there.
00:35:18
Uh, I want to ask you a question, if I understand this right, are you saying versus 2223 or 24 are anticipating the Millennium that we look forward to? That's what I'm saying. They're anticipating and they're a description of the glories that are coming in the millennial Kingdom.
When the Kingdom of God includes both heaven and earth, and so it's not limited to the earth, but it is giving us a glimpse of that which is before us in promise that we are on our journey to that point when there will be established of God a Kingdom that can never be moved or shaken.
So as Steven was bringing out a little earlier.
From versus, uh, 18 to 20, we have that which is visible and that which you can hear.
And feel perhaps.
But when we come to verses 20.
To 24 We have those things that are apprehended by faith.
And, brethren, I don't.
Think we properly.
Grasp the tremendous.
Glory that we've been called to.
Just look at these things. I don't know that I'm able to explain. The Mount Zion is in connection, evidently, with Mount Sinai, which is grace. You remember what happened when David sinned in numbering the people?
And the Angel, the destroying Angel, was there with his sword extended, and he came to Jerusalem.
And David saw that, and he knew that the only thing that would.
Stop the slaughter was a sacrifice, and so he offered a sacrifice on the threshing floor of Orna and the Jebusite. And the Lord said to the Angel, put your sword into your sheep, because there was a sacrifice, that Zion brother.
That's great. That's where we stand before God now. Only on that ground can we stand. And that's why grace is mentioned in this chapter within speaking about it, how important it is to understand its import even now in our lives.
But think of the glory that's mentioned here unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Here's things in contrast with Sinai that was seen and heard and felt. These are things that are only apprehended by faith.
It's interesting somebody mentioned yesterday about an expression in the previous chapter about Moses he endured as seeing him that is invisible. How do you see something that's invisible?
By faith, brethren, because faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, And so they become more real than these visible things that surround us. And I have to confess myself, brethren, that we're totally affected by the material things that surround us as we go through this life.
The brethren, the Lord grant us the grace to look beyond. We're called to hire things higher glory. But Don was mentioning about the privilege that we now have to go right into the very presence of God that we do when we worship the Lord and when we pray as well. It applies as Brother Dave was mentioned in.
00:40:09
The breaking of bread. But it not only the breaking of bread, brethren, it's in our homes. When we worship the Lord, when we pray, we're entering that place of supreme blessing. Do we really grasp the wonderful privilege it is? I don't think we do, honestly.
The Lord help us to lay hold of these things. This is where we've come.
To Mount Zion to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
We're not called to our earthly city, we're called to heaven.
And eternal glory. And then what's been mentioned here through the innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly.
You ever thought of those myriads of angels? How many angels are there? We have no clue.
But Revelation 5 says the number of them was 10,000 * 10,000.
Really has 10 thousands times 10 thousands. It's myriads of angels.
They have a higher order in creation than the human race.
They are more powerful.
And when we go to the throne of grace, there's those angels around that throne.
And they open ranks so we can go.
Right before the throne.
Do we value it, brethren? Do we apprehend it? Do we grasp it? This is where we're called to.
You know what? It is them, don't you?
Christ on the cross and those awful hours of darkness.
When he was able to say at the end it is finished.
That's the sacrifice.
We do not fully understand or see how many angels, but I was thinking of the verse simple as women covering their heads. Why are your hair covered in a meeting? Well we know the answer is because of the angels. You know we think we sit here to show one another the love of God, but we forget that there are others watching. It is a testimony especially when we remember the Lord is a quiet.
Not a public testimony, but a testimony that there is one body is a testimony that we're there with the express purpose to remember Him in his death. But it's not just a testimony to the world because we know the angels also are watching. We know that as God is watching, because He appreciates the fact that we returns giving Thanksgiving, we acknowledge his Son.
But then the angels too, now the angels we know too, they are good angels. And then they're also fallen angels. And I believe too, they are watching as well. And I'm sure the fallen angels do not want to see anything we do that bring honor to the name of Jesus. So our testimony is just important to one another than to those unseen world, a world that we have no idea what it is, no idea of the power.
Other than the fact that we know what can be kept by the power of the office.
00:45:01
And so we get in First Timothy chapter 5.
We get in First Timothy chapter 5 and verse 21 as Paul's writing to Timothy. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels.
Let's observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. So it's not just about sisters covering their heads. This is a something to a brother too. And all the brother there's there are elect angels, and we're being observed.
Comment too and often when we gather we we don't think about it and sometimes we come very casual way.
And we're happy about those who can come. So please let me jump ahead. And towards the end of the chapter, it tells us that where to do it with reverence and godly fear. And I believe we forget sometimes that the Lord is in the presence and we have to do it with reference and godly fear. And then of course, it reminds us by ending the chapters seeing God. It's not just often we say he's a friend, which is true, but he's also a consuming fire.
Like to mention that aspect in which the angels have their part, and it's particularly I think connected with this chapter.
When the Lord Jesus was born.
Angels made a statement.
They said peace on earth, goodwill toward men. They are not only observers of us, but they are observers and participants.
And as servants in what God does. And when they looked and they saw the child born into this world, they recognized that God has such an interest and.
Care for human beings, mankind that he had sent the son among them and so it was goodwill toward men and they proclaim the worthiness in their own. They gave honor beyond anyone else really at that moment. They recognized and they gave honor to what God was doing. Turn over to very well known verses, but they're connected with our chapter.
In, uh, Revelation chapter 5.
Just to set the context here.
In John's Gospel, you have the Lamb of God presented as the Redeemer.
In Revelation, you have the Lamb of God presented as the Judge, and the one that accomplishes the putting down of everything that is opposed to God, so that the earth and the heavens too may be in order according to what God is. And so where there's a rejection of rejection, then it brings upon the soul by the same Lamb.
The work of wrath in that sense. And so in chapter 5, the question is raised by a strong Angel who's worthy to do the work that has to be done. And, uh, the angels are there, as we see, uh, in verse 11, when the worthiness of the lamb for the job that had to be done to bring into, you might say.
The existence of what's in our chapter, it says in verse 11 and I beheld and lo, the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 * 10,000 and thousands of thousands. And so you have again the quantity of referred to of the angels because they're there to the glory of God and the majesty of the work that's going on to accomplish.
The purposes of God. Umm one more comment and that is when referring to the context of Hebrews 11 in Romans chapter 14 it says the Kingdom of God.
It's not meat and drink.
Physical things that you can see if you will. It was already commented on as to our chapter, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. None of those things are the effects of them are seen visibly, but the thing themselves can't be seen as a material thing. Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost and what God expects for us is.
00:50:28
We are in the Kingdom morally now, and we are to live lives of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost such that when the Kingdom is seen in its millennial glory, we wouldn't have to have a lifestyle change.
If we were still, which we won't be living on earth according to our place in the Kingdom, our lives could just continue right on in the same character of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. But Our Calling is given in one of those things is Our Calling is heavenly. Our Calling is to be part of the heavenly company, not the earthly 1 And that's where we have our closest possible place in grace.
As the assembly of the first born and, uh, the church.
Make a comment on the expression in verse 23, The spirits of just man made perfect, that is the Old Testament believers.
Uh, and if you connect it back to the last verse of the 11Th chapter.
Says God, having provided some better thing for us that day, those Old Testament faithful ones without us should not be made perfect.
Remember asking Brother Clem the cannon, what verse do you give to show that the Old Testament believers will come into blessing at the time of the rapture with us? And it was verse 40 of Chapter 11. That was a help to me to see that they, the Old Testament believers will not be made perfect without us. And the time when we will be made perfect is that time at the rapture.
But let's get down brother, into the last verses here.
Brother Bill said that uh, we should finish the chapter so.
It speaks about those things that.
Can be shaken.
And we are living in those days, brethren, when everything that can be shaken is being shaken, and how important it is to have our lives based on those things that cannot be shaken.
Oh, how important it is.
Verse 28 wherefore we receiving a Kingdom Don's been mentioning that Kingdom of God in its broadest, uh aspect includes heaven and earth. Let us have grace. It doesn't say let us have zeal. Let us have grace.
How important that is that we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Brother Bill, did you have something more to add to that?
No, not particularly. Uh.
So, so enjoyable here and, uh, we just might make one last comment and that is it brings in, in verse 24, the new covenant, Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant and then the blood of sprinkling. Well, we know of course that the blood of Christ is the basis of every blessing, isn't it, whether earthly or heavenly.
But some of us were talking about this yesterday, and sometimes it isn't.
As clearly understood as it could be.
The Jews were used to that new covenant. It is brought out in the book of Jeremiah, and the verse there in Jeremiah chapter 31 is repeated in Hebrews 8 to show that the new covenant is definitely with the nation of Israel, not with the Church, but because the new covenant is based on the finished work of Christ.
00:55:07
We come into the good of it, but we are not in covenant relationship with God. Covenants are always with the earth. They're always with an earthly company. You and I have a heavenly hope. But I appreciated what Brother Dawn said because I believe he's right that in these verses both earthly and heavenly blessings are in view when the Lord Jesus has his rightful place.
That will come in judgment, as it is mentioned here. God the Judge of all. But that new covenant will be mediated through the Lord Jesus for the blessing of Israel and other nations too on earth. You and I come into the good of the basis of the new covenant, which is the finished work of Christ. But because we have a heavenly hope, we are not in that sense in covenant relationship with God.
And all of the language of Hebrews is very careful, very careful to avoid mentioning the church as being in covenant relationship with God. But it brings in that new covenant as the way that God is now dealing with man, not on the basis of the.
Things that are mentioned in connection with Mount Sinai, which of course was what man was supposed to do and could not, but rather on what Christ has done as a matter of grace.
#271 stands the #3.
We go from strength to strength.
Through this darnvale looking.
Television.
Rise at length and save in Earth.
Of Gloria City, where God the King.
What was the hymn you had, Brother Bob?
OK. Yeah. Thank you.
The Privilege of Priesthood
Address—Bruce Conrad
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Sure, great. Well, let's get a few verses before us quickly.
The first in Exodus 19.
Subject I had thought to take up was priesthood, our priesthood.
So it was striking to me that comments that have been made the last half hour or so.
In Exodus 19 and verse 4.
You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself.
Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. Ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests and an holy nation.
And then let's turn over to First Peter, Chapter 2.
In verse five he also, as lively or living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
And then verse nine, you are a chosen generation.
A royal priesthood and holy nation of peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
There's of course the number of references to priesthood and priests in the Old Testament.
Oftentimes early on with respect to idolatrous religions.
The priest of on in, in Egypt and all of that thing. But the first time is Melchizedek comes forward, the priest of the Most High God, which is not my subjects this morning.
But it's interesting in the passage we read in Exodus 19, which I think is perhaps the first time the Word of God refers to priesthood, and other than with Melchizedek in a positive sense, you'll see right after the verse that I read.
The people at that time said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
Solemn words that.
Began the unfolding of centuries long test of man.
Ending, of course, as we've had before us this morning in the end of the trial, the 1St man on the principle of blessing through obedience with the death of Christ on Calvary's cross.
But God's purpose, God's counsel, is never dissuaded, turned aside by anything, even our failure, even the entrance of sin into the world.
So lo and behold, we read centuries later, and of course, hundreds of pages later in our Bibles.
God's purpose? To bring up people near to Himself.
And as you've probably been taught, as I have from my earliest days as a Christian, you and I have the privilege of being priests.
We are holy priests.
We are royal priests.
My mom was born in the UK and so whenever there's some.
Wedding or.
Can't remember what else they have but it seems like the whole everything has to stop and they have to participate across the ocean and watching this royal. I have the the royalty has such a hold on some countries not so much we rebellious Americans, but.
What a thing it is for you and me to be.
Royal Greece.
Ala long time ago.
When the Lord took me, had to take me to a.
Outback place in the woods to save my soul.
00:05:02
And brought me into the knowledge of the truth.
Through men that were kind of like Galileans probably were. They were uneducated, formerly uneducated men.
Save later in life.
Kind of from a rough tribe, but those brothers who were my father's generation impressed upon me and the other only other young brother.
That worship.
Was the highest privilege of a believer now.
And I can still hear them in their thick accent saying the Father seeketh such to worship him.
And the true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
And we lived in a place that thought it was remote. We had the benefit of a lot of very gifted men and women who would come through our little town, our little village there and minister the word of God to us. We were richly blessed. But, you know, in their conversation, casual conversation, we live near each other. We were around each other all the time. The highest commendation they would give.
To some brother or sister that came through was not.
For example, when Albert came through.
Rather than from Montreal and other places, not so much. While that brother is really gifted.
They would say of a certain brother, brother really a worshiper.
That's what they thought was the highest.
And it's interesting how flip-flopped you and I can be because we appreciate.
In the New Testament, as the as our church life, our assembly life is brought before us. That there is there is office. Even in this day of weakness, there is office. There are those that take the lead. There are under shepherds, as Peter calls them.
Deacons and these kinds of services, and there's gifts and everyone that's a believer in here has one or more gifts.
By the possession of a gift, you and I are responsible as servants to use what the Lord has given us.
And yet it's good, I think, if a brother has a gift, especially a prominent 1, to look upon himself as somebody that chops wood and hauls water.
You know, because the proof proof of our the effectiveness of our service for the Lord in in our in in gift is not that the brethren on their way to their cars or the way home say, well, that was really wonderful, although we all enjoy that.
But how does it work out in our life? You know, week after week, month after month, year after year.
So if you live in a place and you've labored there and you come back like some of your brothers probably do in other lands, and you see and you sense the growth and the enjoyment of Christ and in the fellowship that we have with the Father and the Son.
Evidence in that priestly worship? Well, that's you. You've hauled the water forum. You've chopped the wood for them.
That they can respond to God in a way that brings him such delight and pleasure.
I have to ask myself sometimes, you know, you can go a number of days, can't you, and say, when's the last time I really realized that I have the Holy Spirit in dwelling my body?
It's amazing how many days we can go and all of a sudden you just say.
Dwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, a divine person.
And we can go on long time can't weigh in and not.
Be conscious of the fact that we've been made a company or a Kingdom, the word of God says of priests.
Young boys and girls in school and those of us working or walking in through the grocery store.
We don't have special callers or special clothes.
But as we have in Peter, there's two aspects of our priesthood in general, I would say there's that which we've already spoken about.
00:10:03
The appreciation that we share with the father of his beloved son, in whom he has found all his delight.
And we've been brought into the place of sons, and with Christ we can address God as our Father.
But then there's what Peter calls this royal priesthood, that we might show forth the praises or the excellencies of him that has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
I suppose in the Old Testament you could be a priest. You had to be born into the family. We've been born into the family of God, and that's why we're priests.
But they were born into it. And maybe they had the tendency to say, well, I'm a priest, my father was a priest. We all been priests. We're just, that's fine. I come from good stock.
You and I don't come from good stock. No matter what your last name is, you've been brought out of darkness even at the age of 3.
Hearing about a little person the other yesterday at the table that was saved, rightly saved at the age of 3. Some of ours were saved at that age too.
But we even run out of darkness. And so it if we're conscious of that, then we have there's a certain humility that just that that's part of us.
Because of where we've come from, the pit from once we've been digged.
It is interesting in the book of Deuteronomy that the the, the child of the, the the Israelite was to come and to put his gift, his gift to the priest. And he was supposed to stand there and say a Syrian ready to perish was my father. And he was to rehearse the steps that God took to bring him to the place of blessing where he finally arrived at Very interesting.
It's not that we need to do that at the Lord's Supper and worship, but in our souls we do do it, don't we? The Lord leads us to.
Remember the 5th from once we've been digged out of darkness?
But is our brothers back East used to tell us, you know, there was one brother, I won't mention his name, but he used to whenever we sing that him only a Sinner saved by grace. It seems like he couldn't help himself. And he said, excuse me, brother. And that's not exactly true.
That's not exactly the whole truth. We're not only a Sinner saved by grace, we're sons now. We're responsible to live in light of the privileges that we've been brought into. Of course he's right.
My brother used to say walk in humility because we know what we were. We walk in dignity because of who we are now by grace Royal priesthood displaying out in the life in your life and mine.
You know, I was mentioning to a brothers trying to get some help from him and I said the other night, doesn't it seem to you brother, that there seems to be more discouragement in people than ever?
Brother, before he left the meeting room yesterday, he told me where he lived in Chicago and I, I carelessly said, you know, isn't you live in the murder capital of the United States or something. I shouldn't have said it.
And he was kind of a factual guy and he said, no, it's not that way really. And it's the crime works this way and.
And then he said an interesting fact. He said either there's two or three or four times more suicides, he says, than there are homicides in the United States of America right now. And I don't know if we just hear about it more or it's just in these last, very last days, whether it's just the pressures of life in these Western countries or just pressing on souls. And I'm talking about believers, too.
Believers too.
And so it is that we can take courage, though the time is short. We have all resources that the brethren in the earliest days of the Book of Acts had. We have nothing less than what they had.
Brother emailed me recently. Texted me recently and said.
What do you do when? How did he put it when your assembly is in such bad shape?
That you don't even wanna bring a young Christian to the to the assembly.
I said you can never. I hope I was helpful in my answer.
I know what he feels like.
We're weak. We are. Weakness is not necessarily sin.
00:15:02
There's a difference between weakness and wickedness, though both are hard to enunciate.
But we have a special privilege.
We could be the very last ones.
To be remembering the Lord in his death.
We could be the very last ones.
And you know, it is humbling that we are so weak and we it's we take responsibility for it. I was thinking the other day of how.
How Abraham to the Lord, and to those angels that came before Sodom was going to be judged, He said Lord.
What if there's 50?
It was very.
Awkward, he felt.
Sensitive about saying that, Lord, if you don't mind me saying it. What if there's fifty? No, it's 50I won't, I won't judge.
What about 4545 goes to 40?
30.
20.
And then he gets and he says just one more. Bear with me. What about 10? No, I won't judge 10.
And in reverse order, sometimes I think brethren, and I don't mean to send anyone, but it just seems like we can't even handle being 50.
We desire.
To have the spirit of Philadelphians.
To walk in holiness and truth.
Philadelphia means brotherly love.
How easy it is for us.
To miss the AB CS.
The foundational things of Christian life.
And go on to the more complex things.
The Lord would say ye yes you should do this, but don't leave this undone.
And he has to reduce us to 40 and to 30 and to 20.
He says now we love each other.
Now we appreciate the brother who comes in late all the time.
Brother that comes in without socks on or whatever. Whatever it is that gets people wound up.
So funny it's not really funny.
We get to the point and I've had the privilege to live in seven or eight different gatherings, so they all have the personality.
Been blessed every single time.
But we get to the point now we get, we get just shaken down a little bit.
To the point where we just appreciate our brethren no matter what.
So let's turn in, just for a minute, to Leviticus 21. We don't have time to go through this.
And I have re rehearsed these to myself sometimes.
Because though you and I have been brought into God's family, God's priestly family.
Through his work alone.
We have a responsibility.
We have a desire to.
To enjoy what he has gone through such lengths to fit us to enjoy.
He's given us eternal life because he wants us to have a quality of life that can have communion and fellowship with him.
He didn't have to do that, but that's what he wanted to do.
Did you ever think of that? It's not just I'm just being bene, umm, benevolent and giving you this. That's wonderful. But I'm giving it to you because I want you to enjoy what I enjoy and think what I think and have the same attitude I have towards everything.
In prayer in John 17, the Lord expresses that.
Give unto them eternal life, that they may know thee.
And Jesus Christ, who now has sent.
Joseph finally revealed himself to his brethren.
They were terrified. The first thing he says is come nearer to me.
00:20:05
Leviticus 21.
We read about.
Blemishes, verse 17 of Leviticus 21.
Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations, and any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or anything superfluous, a man that is broken footed or broken handed.
Or crook backed, or a dwarf, Or he that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, Or he or hath his stones broken. No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire.
He hath a blemish shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his gone. He shall eat the bread of his gone, both of the Most Holy and of the holy etcetera.
For you and me, I think we learn in picture here.
That's all we are not gonna be.
Disbarred or something from being priests if some blemish or failure becomes chronic in our lives.
But the privileges that we were made priests to be able to carry out.
Will be compromised.
Our enjoyment of Christ.
To me it's you say, well why? Why can't a priest be flat nosed? Why does he need to smell?
Read in the earliest chapters in Leviticus that the offering was a sweet smelling savour.
To the Lord, He wants me, you and me to smell it too.
That's fellowship.
If we think of priesthood, we think of access which these brothers have beautifully brought out in the previous meeting. We think of access which we now have enter into the holiest or the Holy of Holies through the blood of Christ. That's what we have accessed by faith into this grace wherein we stand in Romans and Hebrews, access with liberty, the presence of the Holy God.
And what do we use that access for? We, we get in there and we, we don't know what to do when we're in there. No, it's he's given us a life and a nature that just worships in that place. He's brought us into the place and he's fitted us to have the only reasonable response to the one whose glory resides in that place.
You can read these if you'd like at your own. Obviously it would. You can just see a priest would struggle being blind.
We're living in a weekday. We're living in a day.
As Gent, as most of us came from the Gentile world, soon the fullness of the Gentiles will have been achieved.
And God will recommence His work with Israel, with Judah and Israel, as has been referred to.
And to whom much has been given, as much required in the judgments that are going to fall upon this favored Western world.
And upon the church.
Of which we're part.
Because it's a principle with God that judgment begins in the House of God.
I found it very interesting that a brother, I heard this exchange and a brother said someone said will the church go through the tribulation? The brother had a very unusual answer. He said yes and no. I thought yes and no. What's he going to say here?
They said yes and no, he says. The true church is going to be raptured to heaven.
But he says the rest, the false church, that empty profession of things that's going to go on without the true believers, is going to just go head long and meet the judgment and wrath of God through instrumentality that he chooses. And so it's sobering to walk through this world in this way. It's sobering to be a Christian.
In light of the testimony that we're part of, there's only one house and it's become a great house.
And the Laodicean condition is part. We are responsible and part of that.
00:25:00
So behooves us to walk softly.
Doesn't it? And it behooves us to be exercised that we as individuals.
Would be proper priests worshipping and maintaining carefulness in our lives, that we might be in communion with Him and enjoy the precious things of Christ.
And if that's happening, I suspect the other part, the royal priesthood display in this world, will happen to.
And we won't be scurvy. And we won't have.
Scabs and wounds and a bad walk and unable to hold things. You can read it for yourself.
We'll have spiritual energy.
It's interesting that the one thing that I've noticed that is not included is anything with respect to the year.
Because my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
And it's as if no, there's nothing ever gonna happen with the year. They're mine. They've heard my voice. They're mine forever.
Well, it's it's, it's humbling.
It's exercising, isn't it? For what little time we have left here that we might show forth the praises of Him is called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. You know, I've sat in assemblies where there was two or three or four of us. I've broken bread with just my wife and a granddaughter sitting beside us. There's a certain sweetness to it at times.
But it is exercising, isn't it?
But you know, as a priest, it's not just confined to the local assembly gathered to the Lord's name. We live in a neighborhood now. There's kids running around everywhere. There's Christians on this side, there's Christians on that side, there's Christians over there. There's Christians all over the place going to Starbucks and they're reading the Bible. And we try to open up our home and come, let's get have a meal. Let's get into the word of God.
Let's not just confine.
Our priestly activities. The priest's lips should keep knowledge and they should seek the law in his mouth. Priests should have discernment. It was the priest that went and determined whether the leper was cleaned or whether he wasn't. There are a lot of responsibilities connected with priesthood.
And there's all kinds of fields out there, aren't there? Amongst the Saints and amongst those who are not believers yet.
So we don't need to be discouraged as if God has put us into a little closet.
And we can't please him or walk to please him or enjoy him until he comes.
Well.
I think I'm going to sit down. It's the end of the conference and I'm going to allow some other, some other priest to end the conference for us. This part of it in prayer.
To him I gave out was #8 brother. Maybe we could stand and sing that.
Oh Lord, we are the.
Yes.
Yes.
Open Mtg. 2
Open—D. So, D. Rule
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I passed a shame and suffering horror. Thy heart shall grieve and learn no more 216.
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We read a verse before we pray.
John's Gospel, Chapter 7.
John's Gospel, Chapter 7.
And verse 37, John 7 and verse 37.
In the last day.
That great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said.
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
We pray together.
Matthew, Chapter one.
My thought is not to speak for very long, just to make room for others, but it was I was very impressed with the reminder that the Word of God and how precious it is that we have the Word of God before us. And of course we know we have the Spirit of God. We have the Son of God here with us and the Spirit of God is the one that will minister the Word of God.
And teach us more about the Son of God.
What's interesting is we sometimes turn to the Word of God and see different stories.
Sometimes we find portions in the word of God that perhaps.
We don't feel like reading. Maybe it's difficult, maybe it's for lack of a better word. We use the word boring.
Sometimes we even because of unbelief that we were reminded that we even say the contradictions we know none of these are true. The word of God append by many different writers.
But guided by 1 Spirit. We read this afternoon early on today about the well, touching on the fact about one body. But we know we have one God, one Lord, one body, one Spirit, and regardless of where we are, what country we are from, guided by the same Spirit. So we know that the Word of God is perfect in every way because it's guided by it. But do we value that?
Do we read it as we ought to? Now, I do know too, that we're all different. Some of us are, I shouldn't say us. Some are scholars. They I hear, some would say they have read the Bible.
Through back and forth, five or six times. I admire you for that. Some would even say they have the collective writing read too many times. I think those are wonderful things and some of us are different. I remember not long ago a brother was encouraging us to read. He said, he said for me, he said every meeting I go to, I would make a reference and read it. At least four or five references before I go to a meeting just to make sure.
That I have the right thought. I thought that was great, but some of us can read. I don't know if you know what I mean by that.
I for one I can read, not only distinguish not my first language, I just simply not a reader.
My wife will laugh at me because when I read, I'm one of those that would go, this is the beginning of the first line of the first sentence. A minute and a half later, I'm still on the 1St paragraph. So for me, reading is difficult, but yet we have such treasures.
Sometimes when we read.
The fact that you can read through a chapter quickly, have you learned anything from it?
I think the Lord wants to see our hearts.
Are we before Him? Is the Spirit that teaches us, isn't it?
And the book is so wonderful that we got different writers to express different, perhaps different aspects of it.
Some of us, I shouldn't say some of us. I know someone had a car accident the other day and I was thinking of that. What if there are different people at the accident scene giving a report?
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You have an accountant there, and I know there's some accountant in this room, but I'm sure the accountant write up the report and say how much the damage is, how much it would cost to replace the car, and most of the things you write would be connected to money.
Perhaps there's a physician or doctor as a witness in that accident seat. I'm sure his report would be a little bit different, wouldn't it? His report will probably talk about the physical damage to the person, the well-being of the person and so on. So we find that we all look at things from a slightly different perspective, but I find sometimes.
I'm caught. I think that you should learn the same way I do.
You know, again with my own example, I know I'm one that often will say, well, what do you mean you don't understand what I told you? I can tell you it again the same way.
But we all learn differently. But regardless, we need to learn from the Word of God through the Spirit of God on our knees before God. So I just want to share a few thoughts. I can't read as I told you, but I find this chapter, the 1St chapter of Matthew, to be a wonderful chapter and I do know that.
When I was younger, this is one chapter I don't like to read. We start perhaps the 1St 2 verses and then we'll say let's skip down to verse 18.
Yeah, I see smiling faces there. Part of it is I can't even pronounce half of the names in there. And perhaps some of the names doesn't mean much, but when we read carefully, we'll find it actually tells us. Sometimes the word of God knows that we're slow, slow learner, that we were reminded we need to learn precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line.
So.
The little that we learned and perhaps for the example of this conference, can you go home and remember one thing? You know, you laugh too. I often go home and people say, did you enjoy, enjoy the conference? I said yes, very much. So. What did they take up?
Umm, I can't tell you.
But there are sometimes little jams and of course, we know that when someone start talking about certain things about the conference, you'll go, oh, yeah, I remember that. I enjoy that part. So it's nice, isn't it, for young and old that we can take home something now, Matthew, chapter one, I'll share with you part of the portion that.
I find it interesting. Let's.
First of all, it tells us something about our Savior. Notice the book begins by saying the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Isn't that something we want to learn about the generation of Jesus Christ? We just finished in the last meeting to reduce everything to Christ. Christ is the object. He's the subject of all things we do. He's the one we're going to spend eternity.
With he's the one we want to be with here. The New Testament begins by saying this is the book of the one whom I love the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. Do you know about his generations that he talks about or do we say it's not important, skip it. Oh, and then it goes on. It's interesting to the order I put here seems to be our place. If I were to write it, I would say.
The son of Abraham, the son of David. But that's not what it says here. They talk about his genera, the generation of Jesus Christ, and then it would say the son of David, the son of Abraham. Why is that in a different order? Is it wrong? No, I don't believe there's any idle words or any mistakes in the word of God. I believe it tells us right from the very start, the theme of this book.
It's about the son of David, David's greater son, the one who is the rightful heir of Israel, the one who is the king.
And this chapter laid no doubt that he, through the royal line, is the son of David. Now I'm gonna jump down and then we'll come back a little bit. We're not gonna read all the names because I promise not to be too long. But I didn't have a plan on how long to speak. So I hope I'm good with the time there. Now. Verse 70. Verse 17.
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It gives us a summary of those 16 verses in their.
It's interesting, isn't it? Is that so all the generations from Abraham to David are 14?
14 generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon A14 generations, and from the carrying away into the Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations. I know I've been told that I used too many numbers, but there are sometimes numbers that are very simple.
So there are 14 generations and I mentioned that three times. I'll let you do the math 14 * 3. These are how many generations? They gave us a summary. Well, you find that difficult and break it down. There are six sets of sevens and that makes it even easier. Then for those of you who is going to study it, you can sit down and count the generations that are listed here. From Abraham to David, you'll find 14 From David to the carrying of.
To Babylon is 14, but you counted to only 13 names mentioned in the last 13 or 14 sets of generations. It's interesting, isn't it, because there was a carrying away into Babylon? I think something was lost then. You might also say there are certain kings that are not mentioned here. Well, as a first hint, anyone from the household of Ahab are not counted in there, even though they may guard in by deceit.
But they are not the rightful line. So it's very interesting as you go through this.
He said didn't tell you all the generations, and I'm gonna leave that what you're reading so it tells us the gospel.
Each has a specific purpose, as if we were seeing without accident with different one looking at it. An accountant would give you a different view. A physician will give you a different view. It's interesting that the book of Luke, the physician, he gave us a different perspective about the gospel. He wasn't one of the 12 he was afterwards. He's not even the Jew, but he gave us an account.
And I'm watching my time here and we'll find here in Matthew chapter one you start from Abraham and it go all the way through to show that that Jesus is the son of David. Now there are other things in there that I'm not going to get involved house that conai was rendered to be childless that will leave that issue with another time on there. But God reckons it that way. But in the book of Luke.
We'll find the genealogy is all different. Why? Why is it all different? If you get it going to the market? Look, actually before I go to look, Mark, Mark's gospel would be the second gospel. We don't find a genealogy in that gospel at all.
Well, why is that, in fact?
The John's Gospel we we don't see the genealogy mentioned.
I believe Mark Goss, each gospel has a character. We just finished saying that the book of Matthew is the Lord Jesus Christ is the son of David, the rifle king of Israel. The book of Mark is a servant, and if we understand the character and read through it, we'll find that servant is nobody. His genealogy as a servant is not important. The book of John has no genealogy because he's the Son of God. He was from ever.
Thing to everlasting before time was, He was always by the Father's side, always his delight. There's no genealogy needed to describe the Son of God.
Luke is a little bit different. Luke said the character of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man.
The Son of Man takes on a very different character. We'll find throughout the Word of God that the Son of Man is a symbol of one who is despised and rejected of man. Different character, isn't it? That it shows the one whom we talked about, the one whom we loved, the one who is now seated, the God's right hand on high. He was despised and rejected. He was a man of sorrows and acquaintance with grief. He was the one.
Hit our faces of the Civil War away from him. We find no beauty in him that we should desire him. That's the Son of Man. There's another character of the Son of Man. The Son of Man is the one who's going to come and judge this world.
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What a contrast.
Now, it's not my intention again to go through the genealogy in the book of Luke. It won't take too long, nor do I profess to know well enough. But we find in the book of Luke that genealogy go through Mary's one. Why is that?
I'm gonna offer this and let's turn to let's turn to Genesis chapter two first.
Genesis Chapter 2. Chapter 3.
Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we know the story there. This is the Lord said to the serpent that he punishing me shall thus shall he eat all his lives. Verse 15 he's speaking to the woman and I will put enmity between.
The and the woman in between thigh seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Interesting here he didn't say to Adam. Adam.
You're gonna have a seat that's gonna overcome the power of Satan.
It's a woman seed. So we find. Let's turn to another verse. Galatians chapter 4.
Galatians chapter 4, verse four. But when the fullness.
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son.
Notice here.
Made of a woman.
Made under the law, isn't it fitting that the son of man is such is from the woman seed? So we go through the genealogy. Now you can distinguish more in there and go to into detail the son of David in Matthews go through Solomon's line and we find that in Luke's Gospel it goes through Nathan.
Who is the son of David? There were many thoughts you can derive from that, but that's not my thought here this time my thought is to encourage you that we have this wonderful things before us that we carried, that we treasure. It's called the Word of God. We need to study it, we need to value it, we need to enjoy it. That God speaks through his Word and that God delight to glorify His Son.
NSFT delight to see that we delighted him. So we find the sacrifices the Lord himself would say to the Father, I come to do thy will, oh God, even though in bracket is in the volume of me, it is written in the volume of me. But he said, I come to do thy will, Oh God, He said, I come to take away the 1St, that I may establish.
The second oh, he came, He left you. Not only did he want to save you from your sins, He did more so, more than that, He wants you to be part of it. We began this morning saying that him what raised that wondrous thoughts? Have that we ever considered that that wondrous? What is that wondrous thought?
Oh, we need to answer that for our own soul, isn't it What raised that wondrous thought to things, that that we in His honor should be blessed, that we the Church?
We read of Israel who they have a special blessing, but we have more so to be known as the sons of God, to be part, to be part of that church, to be the bride and we find toward the end of Revelation, not just the bride, the Lamb's bride. Do we enjoy those portions? Do we look at what's in front of us and get locked down as we were reminded by those extra way those sins that beset our.
Is here, you know, I was thinking of the runner. I I made some comments on that. You know, today we see runners.
We have excuses, right? Many of us can run. I can't even run for more than 1/4 of a block. But yet we find a lot of people will say we're go, we're gonna do some running. And they realize the first thing they need is no still wait. So they buy these fancy clothes to make it look good. You know, it has to be uh, what do they call that? Umm, uh oh, I forget the word I'm looking for now that that moisture proof and moisture witching. That's the word. So.
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It looks like we're a runner, but they understand that, but we don't practice it. To be a good runner, you need to practice that and more. So if you were to run a race, would you bring this nice heavy camera because they take beautiful pictures. We still have the single lens reflex camera we hardly use. It weighs about 4 lbs. How many of you would like to run that race and have that around your neck? You will see nice sceneries.
But it's not your goal, is it? So we must remember this world is not our home. We want to be with the Lord.
Forever with the Lord where he is. So he reminds us that that in my father's house are many mansions. He wants us that where I am, there He may be also.
MMM.
A couple of days ago I received an e-mail from a brother in the northwest and uh, in the letter or the e-mail short e-mail, he asks, could you point me to us, some young people to umm, the written ministry on and the subject was the glory of God.
The conference here started with these words. What raised the wondrous thought, or who did it suggest that we, the Church to glory, brought?
Should with the Sun be blessed?
Oh God, the thought was thine. And in this and then the second hymn that we sang five times in those two hymns, the glory of God is referred to.
Umm, we say to glory brought and immediately our thoughts rightly we think of heaven and we. But why does it say glory? Because it is a place.
Where the glory of God is going to shine in ways that we do not see it now, I would like to.
Introduce, if you will, uh, something. And that is the glory of God.
Our brother commented in the remarks just made on perspective.
And each one of us tends to see something from our own perspective.
It's a wonderful thing.
To seek not our own perspective on something, but the perspective of God. What's God's perspective? How does he see it?
What's His view of it and His pleasure concerning it? And the Word of God, when it speaks of the glory of God, emphasizes God's perspective about really everything.
It's a huge subject, it's robbed me of sleep last couple of nights, part of the nights because of the grandeur of it. But I would like to at least introduce it to you. Hopefully not new.
But at least in reminder form, turn with me to Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12. I'm sorry, Romans Chapter 11.
MMM.
Romans Chapter 11 verse 33 All the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways? Fast finding out.
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? For who hath been his counselor, or who hath first given him to him? And it shall be recompensed unto him again.
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For of him, and through him and to him.
Are all things.
To whom be glory forever. Amen.
The word glory has been commented that it is the display of excellence.
When we think of glory, we think of something that is our inspiring, perhaps to us, something that stands apart in comparison to other things and, uh.
With God it is intended.
That we recognize he can't be compared to anything in His Excellency, in His greatness.
I say it, it's important to me at least.
Because there's a contrast between the glory of God.
And the glory of man.
Man seeks and has sought from the beginning nearly of the history of mankind to take God's glory.
And put it aside so that he can raise up his own.
Man said in Genesis, let's build the heaven.
The God who has said I will not give my glory to another, confounded the language of man, and from that time to this man's weak.
That compared to what he might be if the whole of the world's population could be on the same page for its own elevation.
That's the hand of God in government upon man, and it will continue that way.
Thinking about right outside the city of Cairo, Egypt are some of the great pyramids.
Along with the Sphinx.
And in that lands area, there is a cemetery that goes back to the people that spent their whole lifetime building those great structures, some of which have stones in them that are 20 tons. And they still say we're not sure how they transported them several 100 miles to the building site.
They're monuments of man to his own glory. They're considered.
Some of the seven wonders of the world and people spent their whole lifetimes adding to the grandeur of the individuals.
Oh well, What's in them or what? What's in them?
Somebody's grave.
They were buried people, the very ones that rose this grandeur to themselves. What was it for? So that when they died, somebody could stick them in there.
Is that glory of man really worth anything?
Man today is motivated.
By his elevation of himself to his own glory.
But the glory of God in contrast to that.
Here it says something that tells us about how God's perspective and God's purpose and what he does.
For him, through him, to him are all things.
You want to understand the creation? Do you want to understand yourself? Do you want to understand your destiny?
It's right there.
For him.
Through him and to him are all things.
You're a creature.
You can't create.
You didn't bring yourself into existence.
You couldn't say I am and I'm going to do for me.
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In absolute power.
You may try, you may ignore the God who has absolute authority, but in the end you'll be defeated. It will not last. It's not permanent.
But here God says to his glory, to his honor, to his greatness, to his person.
Everything.
Is of him.
Is the origin of all that is.
Through him.
Through his acting, as we get into His details, through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, everything that will remain and be permanent for His glory is of His own initiative, of His own power.
And to him.
No man lives unto himself. He may try, but in truth every single created thing is under his absolute control and power for his own purpose.
So he says.
The wisdom and knowledge of God.
It's the glory of God.
That all wisdom, all knowledge.
Is in himself.
Nobody in this room could say that. Nobody who's ever lived could say that.
Man strives to learn, to know, to make himself something. But.
God is truly the source of all knowledge.
All true wisdom comes from God.
Joe had a problem with that.
Uh, he started an argument with God and said I've been good, I've been upright, I've been a wonderful man. You can't I compare to my fellow man and I'd like to have somebody referee the difference, God, between you and me and why you're treating me the way you are.
God in love was teaching him about his own pride.
Because God could say, Joe, I made you what you are.
You are a good man because I made you that way.
I worked with you to produce that in you, and now you want the credit for it. And so in your pride, you're lifted up.
He uses the same thoughts that are here with Job. He says Job.
Were you around?
When I did what I did.
Uh, did you create this universe that you're part of?
Did you create yourself as it were?
Uh, did you counsel me how to do it?
And so we find the greatness of God is such that sometimes what he does we can't comprehend. It's unsearchable.
What can we know about anything unless he choose chooses to make it known to us?
And some things he hasn't chosen, at this point at least, to tell each one of us. He wants us to trust him, whether we understand or not.
What have you given to God?
As he says in the next verse, that he he owes something back to you.
That it be recompense unto him again. Has any person who's ever lived given God something that made God beholding to Him to respond? You probably given fellow man many times things that in a certain way you initiated it, you gave it to them, and in that way you might expect something in return.
But what have you ever given God on your initiative?
By what's yours and not given to you by God, that he owes you anything.
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Nothing.
It's to partly Georgia, help us to grasp in the little measure we can, the greatness of God, and His greatness is His glory.
I say it's glory, but I I want to make this point.
This means a lot to me.
Moses.
Went up the mountain to have a little time with God over the giving of the commandments.
And it tells us there in Exodus 33, that God made him see something of his glory, his greatness, His Majesty.
Having been exposed a little to the glory of God, he comes down from the mountain, and the people looked at him, and his face is shining.
That's what it is to see a little of the greatness of God.
Later on, the disciples when the Lord Jesus was here were taken up to a mountain, a few of them up to a mountain apart.
And the Lord.
Was seen by them in a little bit of his millennial glory.
His face shone.
There's only one man.
Among men apart from the Lord Jesus, who has ever seen that is in the body? Or while living here on earth, who has ever seen the glory of God in its heavenly character?
He came back from that vision. He didn't know whether he was in the body or not. The apostle Paul and.
The 14 years, he didn't say anything about it. He was, he had no words.
He couldn't describe it.
He spoke of it to help the Corinthians, but he didn't try to describe it to them either.
It's the glory, the greatness, the majesty of God is beyond description.
To man is in his present condition.
We're going to heaven, we're going to glory, we're going to get there.
We're going to say a majesty of perfection, a display of excellence that is beyond our present comprehension, but we'll enter into it.
Well, we have seen it all.
Never. We will never see the fullness of the glory of God. Why?
Because we're creatures.
And the infiniteness of it is beyond the creature. He's not created with that capacity. And so it says to us that God dwells in light, which no man can approach unto.
The essence of the greatness of God is such that it will never be measured and it will never be even entered into by little creatures called men.
But connected with the glory of the Person of God, Turn with me to an introduction to something at least that we've had in Ephesians chapter 3.
Galatians, I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 16 that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory.
That's God's glory to be strengthened with might by his God spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love. The next verse is often applied to the love of the Lord, but that's not what it umm, that's not what it's about. It's not the 18th verse isn't really about love.
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You may be able to comprehend with all the Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height.
And to know the love of God, to see the full panorama of the glory of God.
In display.
To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that she might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in US, unto Him be glory.
In the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen.
According to the riches of His glory, God has chosen to display himself by creating creature, man, and then saying to that creature, that special one, I'm going to bring you in to a relationship to myself that I may display to you.
Myself and my glory and satisfy your heart and mind.
For eternity.
For of him, and to him and through him. How does he do it?
How is he chosen to do it?
We wanna know the heart of God, don't we?
How can we know the heart of God?
Do you wanna know my heart? Probably don't. You saw what was in it, but in another sense of the word. If I wanted you and had the power to know what's in my heart, I put it in you.
And then you know it.
God wants us to know His heart, and So what has He done? He's given us the life.
A divine life, the life of Christ, and put it in US.
That gives us the capacity in our measure to know God's heart because he put it in us in the life that he's given us in Christ.
If we're to enjoy something of the supreme greatness of God.
We say we're weak, we're little, we're nothing. And God says in yourself, that's true, but I'm going to put my spirit, the power of which all things in this whole universe operate in you.
To operate in you.
As we have right here, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His might, by the Spirit.
That verse 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts.
What more?
And so with the Spirit in you, with the life of Christ, you may comprehend. Without it you couldn't, you wouldn't have the capacity to.
God is called the Father of glory.
Father always has the thought of relationship.
That's why God has become a father to us and brought us into His family, because in order to see His glory, in order to enjoy it.
We have to be in a relationship to him that brings us into a closeness.
That we would otherwise miss if he was just the God way out there, no matter how powerful.
God displayed Himself from the beginning of His creation in the heavens.
The immensity.
As time passes, man originally looked out in the sky and I forget what the number is, but he saw less than 10,000 stars planets.
00:50:12
When I at the turn of the 19th century, the only the universe essentially was the Milky Way.
Now he knows there are millions, perhaps billions, of Milky Way size parts to the universe.
We think it's a pretty big distance between ourselves and the Sun, 93,000,000 miles approximately. There are stars out there that you could put the sun in the middle of the star and the Earth could rotate all the way around it and the star would be bigger and diameter and circumference than that. That's pretty big object, isn't it?
But they they show us the firmament has always been a testimony to God's greatness and His glory, but not through his heart.
You're not satisfied until he brings us into a relationship to himself that, can I say, maximizes.
All of his self to us, that's caught possible for a finite creature to know, and consequently He brings us into things that we enjoy and we know, but they're beyond our mental comprehension. There are lots of things that we get to know and learn and appreciate that we couldn't.
Mentally explain or evaluate and there will be that for eternity that we will enjoy.
That is beyond our minds to ever explain or see the end of.
You ready to leave Earth?
You can spend your life in Egypt.
And, uh, help the pyramid building.
The pillars of man's glory for man's blessing, he thinks.
And you can, as it were, in doing so, you're building.
Tombstones.
That's the end of all the grandeur of man.
I've enjoyed the perspective as well that.
For other reasons, God chose to take one man and to elevate the glory of that man beyond any other person that's ever lived on this earth. I'm not Speaking of the Lord Jesus in this way. That man is Solomon.
He is the pinnacle. He is the highest example of glory that has ever been seen in a man.
Not respecting the greatness of the Lord Jesus, which is incomparably greater.
And So what did he have?
You had honor.
Beyond any other. He had wisdom and intelligence beyond any other.
He had wealth beyond anyone else.
He had a power.
He was absolute power over those he governed.
He had everything that a man could glory in to provide pleasure for his life.
And he had to do that nearly 1000 wives uncomfortable.
And his conclusion to the whole matter? He gives us an Ecclesiastes Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.
It it, it wasn't worth it.
God.
He's a very, very, very feeble, faint sort of picture of things from God's way.
God is one of absolute power. Absolute.
Riches a absolute authority.
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Everything that is done ultimately is done for his own pleasure.
Not sinful pleasure? Of course not. Man's way of pleasure. Uh, earlier in the meeting this morning, it talked about rest.
The rest was spoken of.
The Word of God begins with the words in the beginning.
And after that he did some things to bring in material creation into existence that you and I are part of. When he had finished, he looked at it and he said it's very good. And if you I could put it this way. He sat down and rested.
His pleasure to Him, He had created it himself by His own power for His own pleasure. And when He was finished on the last day, the Sabbath if you will, He, the 7th day, he quit. It was all there and He rests, it says.
But then there's Genesis chapter 2 and we have the story of Adam and Eve, and their disobedience from that moment until today is never rested.
He can't rest as long as his eyes see sin.
It's incompatible with his glory.
So he's working, and he will continue that work until he removes from his eyes, from his sight everything that was ever ruined by sin. The creation itself will be remade. Every single one person that's before his site will be holy and perfectly in love. You and I in our final condition and all the redeemed.
And then it tells us in revelation, He'll rest again. He'll rest in His love. He'll sit down and enjoy for eternity the results of His work for his own pleasure. And, uh, you and I will be satisfied beyond imagination with his purposes and the results of them.
Well, may the Lord help us to.
Can I say appreciate God's perspective? And if we do, it will help us to be pilgrims and strangers and recognize the earth in its present condition is barren.
It's.
It's not our destiny according to the heart, mind and will of God. And thank God, no matter what He will accomplish in you. And in May the final results of His perfect.
Will to his glory.
142.
Glory to God on high.
Glory to God unlocked.
Save yourself.
Untrue.
You might all day.
On the roadside.
All the time.
Jesus.
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Sucker.
Nothing.
For us dreaming.
Loving.
Love thy snow, dumb cathedral back.
To the gamer's no love.
Lightest.
God's Wants Us to Be Filled