Address—P. Wilson
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1St.
As introductory.
What has been before me this afternoon? I would like to go back for a few verses.
In Exodus 16.
In fact, I would like to read first the last verse.
Of the 15th chapter and they came to Elam.
Where were 12 wells of water?
And three score and 10 palm trees.
And they encamped there by the waters.
And they took their journey from Elam.
All the congregation of Israel came into the wilderness of sin.
Which is between Elam and Sinai in the 15th day of the second month.
After their departing out of the land of Egypt.
These this first verse that I read the last verse of the previous chapter here.
Was read to us.
The 1St morning of these meetings.
And it was. It's important.
The children of Israel have started out from the land of Egypt.
When they were in the land of Egypt.
They were amenable to the judgments of God that fell on that land.
For they were not better than the Egyptians.
But God made a way.
Whereby he could Save the Children of Israel when the judgments fell on the land.
It says there in Exodus 12 / 13 that you may know how that God does make a difference.
Between the Children of Israel and the Egyptians.
The difference was accomplished by means of the lamb, the Passover lamb.
That was slain at the appointed time.
It had to be a lamb without blemish. It had to be taken at a certain time.
And killed at a certain time. The blood had to be put into a basin.
And then it had to be sprinkled on the outside of the houses where they took refuge.
And they went in through the door and were sheltered on the inside by the blood on the outside.
That was the way that God made a difference, and God has made a difference between his people today and those who are not.
And the difference lies in one thing.
His own or sheltered by the precious blood of Christ, the unbeliever is not.
It isn't not that he may not be, but if he hasn't accepted Christ as his Savior, he is not young.
Now there was that difference.
Well then, after there, being sheltered by the blood of the lamb.
They were brought out of the land of Egypt by God's almighty power.
That brought them down through the Red Sea, across the sea.
And into the land of Canaan.
There, on the banks of the Red Sea, they saw their enemies dead on the seashore.
Figurative of Satan and all his power and all the hosts of darkness.
Defeated a vanquished foe on the banks of the Red Sea.
But as soon as they were across the Red Sea.
They began a journey, and that journey went from the Red Sea.
To the other side of the Jordan River.
It took the mall away from the borders of Egypt into the land of Canaan.
Into the land that God had promised to give unto his people.
And so he kept his promise. His promise was fulfilled, and they were carefully shielded and taken across the desert. It was indeed a desert. It was a wilderness. There wasn't anything in the wilderness for them.
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They didn't want to make a home there.
There wasn't water, there wasn't food.
For everything, for their sustenance as they traverse the wilderness.
From Egypt to Canaan, they had to depend on the power of God.
Now on the way as they journeyed across.
God made special provision for them, and one of the provisions was this place called Elam.
At Elam, there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees.
There was shelter and there was refreshment.
Something they needed very badly in the wilderness.
And they were dependent upon God for it.
So when they came to Elam, they no doubt rejoiced. She was a veritable Oasis in a wild, howling wilderness.
Now you know that the number is 12 and 70 are connected with ministry. The Lord appointed 12 apostles and 70 disciples.
So 12 and 70 are those numbers now, brethren.
We have been brought out of the world and we have been sheltered from the judgment that is hanging over the world.
He we have been delivered from the wrath to come by the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are not only brought out of the wilderness, out of Egypt, but we're brought into the wilderness. And as soon as we enter into the wilderness, we're on a journey.
We want to remember your fellow Christians that we do not belong to this world.
We are. We are merely in a journey through it.
Our destiny is heaven.
And that is where we are going.
But our way lies through a wilderness.
And God has made provision for us as we go through the wilderness and this that we have had here these last three days.
Is a veritable Elam.
Now you and I and the rest of us have very much enjoyed the fellowship, the ministry, the food, the refreshment that we've had these days. I know I've enjoyed it. It's been a needle for me.
And I and I trust that there is no one here who knows the Lord is the Savior that cannot say the same thing.
If you haven't enjoyed it, there's something wrong you.
You're probably sick in your soul.
Remember a farmer taking a friend who came to see him and they were looking over the farm.
He was looking at his sheep. There was one sheep that wasn't with the rest. He was all by himself.
The farmer said to the friend, You see that sheep off by himself suggests, well, he said he's sick.
If he weren't sick, he'd be with the flock.
So if you can't enjoy this Elam, you may be sick.
You know we can be spiritually sick in our souls too. Other things come in and equips the beauty that we see in Christ and that which we see in our fellow brother, so that it spoils the happiness of our fellowship. I trust that none of us are that.
But now the first verse of the 16th chapter.
Because most of us here have to leave this place. I don't think any of his plan to stay here and.
In Warren, MI, we have to move on. Some have already left duties. Call them and they're on their journey.
Most of us will be on our way by tomorrow, I suppose. Back to our places of a boat.
Now, when the children of Israel had been refreshed at Elam, with God's special provision for them, they began fresh on their journey. Wasn't it gracious, wasn't it wonderful that God would cause them to pause and be refreshed?
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I think it's beautiful that such a place as this has been ours.
And we thank God for the Elam.
But now what did we gain here? What have we profited by being here?
I trust that what we have gained is simply this strength and energy to proceed on the journey.
That our steps may not lag. That there may be no faltering.
And if there are any who are weak and stumbling in the way, may we seek to help them?
For as we read in Hebrews 12, we're in a race, we're on a journey.
And we find that we do not run single file. We do not like run singling. We run as a flock. And in the flock there are some who are weak, some who are feeble, some whose knees are weak, some whose hands hang down and the rest of the flock are supposed to help. So if if we're.
Know some who are weak. May we help help them, may we encourage them. And I trust that we'll all be encouraged.
To go back to our respective places of abode and to our little meetings which we came from with renewed courage, with renewed purpose, with a renewed sense in our souls that we're only pilgrims in the world, that we belong to heaven, we're redeemed from the earth, and we're passing through the world where there's nothing.
To satisfy the new nature, we're not only passing through a wilderness, but we're passing through an enemy's land.
This land is occupied by enemies.
There are wicked spirits in heavenly places, and there are wicked spirits controlling the minds of men.
And we're passing through the midst of it. Everything in this world is contrary to the mind of God.
I remember some years ago our brother Mr. Brown came to California.
And he gave an address and he said at that time he said, I have just come from Iowa.
And he says in Iowa, we have a geranium. We put it in a pot and we put it in the window.
And we water it and we move it from window to window. World get the most shape, most sunshine. We move it around for for it's good.
But he said if we get one to bloom, we think we've accomplished something.
But he said, I came out here and I see your geraniums are as high as fences. And that was no exaggeration. Now he said, why the difference? He says this is a natural habitat, this is where it naturally grows. And so he likened it to this, that this world is where Satan is a God and principle.
And everything that is sustained or backed by Satan is nervous.
It flourishes in this world, but the things of God grow in an adverse climate.
And we belong to that climate of heaven. We can't expect to find our refreshment here.
If we feel perfectly comfortable and at home and the company of the ungodly.
There is something wrong with our sights. We have forgotten whose we are.
Oh, it isn't just what we belong to, but to whom we belong. We belong to one who was cast out of the world. We're his. And the world hated him. It still hates him.
I read not long ago a statement of a noted rabbi who said that if the Lord were here today.
Any self respecting community would do to him what they did when he was here before.
Sharking, but that's the heart of man.
Wasn't wanted then, and he's not wanted now. And if you and I, as fellow Christians, are going to walk faithfully to the Lord, we will in our measure share that reproach. We'll know something of what the cross of Christ means.
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But now to go back to Exodus 16.
The second verse.
And the whole congregation of the Children of Israel murmured.
Isn't it sad to see the sunset at noonday?
They had just been delivered from the power of Pharaoh. They had been delivered from the mighty judgment of God in the land of region.
And on the banks of the Red Sea they sang lustily.
What a deliverance it was, and how they appreciated. But the song had hardly died away, and they were especially encouraged by the refreshment of Elam. Still, murmuring broke out.
Brethren, that's a sad commentary on Israel.
Isn't no less true of.
Do we get discouraged in the way and murmur a bit?
It isn't here that they murmured against God, but they murmured against his servants, against Moses.
And error.
A sad state of affairs when the dear children of God, especially those gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
Begin to murmur.
Complain.
Now let us not say that's not true.
Because I think if we search our hearts.
We'll find too often that the root of is. It is there.
They murmured. And God.
Often bore with them. Sometimes he judged them, but how often they murmured.
Brethren, when we get back to the little meeting, when we get back to the familiar faces that we see Lord's day after Lord's Day, week in and week out.
Reading meetings, prayer meetings and all we may we not give way to disgruntled feelings or murmur. These are practical things. Now remember that the children of Israel were brought to Elam for their special refreshment and nourishment, and then when they left it, they fell into murmur.
Well, the Lord has been very gracious to us here.
And I think we have much to praise God for. For these three days. We've had happy meetings. I believe the ministry has been this ministry of the Spirit of God. In most part, at least we thank him for it.
But may the spirit of murmuring not overtake us when we get back to the little.
When I want to pass on to the Gospel of John, I merely wanted to.
Connect this meeting, the last meeting for ministry, with the verses that were read in the first meeting.
About the children of Israel coming to Elam, well, we've been to Elam. It's time for us to go on. We can't stay here, but we have received, I trust, strength and encouragement to press on in the wilderness. Let us not expect to find anything but a wilderness.
Suppose you went into the wilderness and you planted a lot of flowers there. You thought you'd make a very little paradise out of the wilderness.
What would you find? You'd soon find that they were all with. We can't make a paradise out of this poor earth that casts Christ out.
I was passing through.
That desert in Southern California?
Down off the border of Arizona.
There, it's a bad desert.
I understand when people want a picture of the Sahara Desert, they only have to go there and take a picture.
It's so similar.
The shifting sands drifting across there. There was a time when they thought they couldn't even build a highway through it.
And when they did build a highway, they they nailed planks together and they invented the machine that would go out there and pick up sections of these planks and dump the sandal.
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In fact, you can find sections of that old road on the side yet, and even to this day, that road grew there while it's a modern concrete highway.
There are signs along it. Watch out for plows for they have to run plows through there at various times just like you would run snow plows.
To move the sand off the highway.
One time I was coming through there and I saw a real looking Oasis.
Look like water palm trees.
Somebody had sent it out there for a picture.
I came back through that country 60 days later.
And everything there was dead, drooping over. It was a sorry sight. They planted those things out there in the desert without any root or any way of getting refreshment for them, and down they went. It was a sorry sight when I came back by there. Well, brethren, if we're going to make this world a paradise.
We're going to have the same kind of success as those people have. We'll find it'll all whip before our eyes.
Well, we must press on now. I want to go to the end of John's Gospel.
Just that we might find a little more.
Of the enjoyment of Christ and the things of Christ, for that is what sustains us as we press on through an enemies land.
And an enemy's land that's ruined by drought.
In John's Gospel.
The 19th chapter.
Now there are some little couplets of three words in these end chapters of John's Gospel.
And I would like to emphasize some.
And in the 19th of John and the 30th verse.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said.
It is finished.
And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
3 solemn, sublime words.
It is finished.
I want to what does this refer?
This is a language, the Son of God.
This is the one who came down into this world and passed through it perfectly.
He's gone to the cross at this time.
He has endured all the indignities and hatred of the human heart.
And great it was.
And while you do not get it in John's Gospel, for John's gospel presents him as the Son of God.
And it would not be in keeping with the truth of the revelation of Him as the Son of God.
To tell of his agony in the three hours of darkness, nor hear that cry of abandonment.
Abandonment, as we read this morning in Psalm 22.
Not in John's Gospel, but that's all behind now at this point.
Hasn't been mentioned in John, but the sufferings, the forsaking of God, all that's behind.
And now the Son of God from John's gospel, when he is presented as such, he's able to look back over it all. He's able to renounce his own judgment of it, his own sentence of it. He knew all the scriptures, the prophetic scriptures that prophesied of his coming and of his rejection, and they were all fulfilled.
In detail, one after the other, he came of the Virgin.
Came as the son of the woman. He came at the appointed time, according to Daniel nine. He came into the appointed city, Bethlehem. Everything was done according to those scriptures.
And now, at the close of that life, at the close of that surrender.
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He looks out over the whole scene, nothing more to be accomplished.
And he is as a son of God, he can pass judgment on it and say it is finished.
Oh, what works, The Son of God.
Saying it is finished.
Oh, when God created the earth, he could look over the scene and say it is good or very good.
But here now, looking over the work of redemption and all connected with it, he can say it is finished.
Who can add anything to a finished work?
I remember hearing of a man that was an artist, he just completed a beautiful painting and a friend came in to see see him and he was showing him the beautiful painting.
The friend picked up a brush and put it in the paint and he started to dabbling on the finished painting.
The artist stopped him and he said you ruin it.
What could an untrained hand do with a finished picture by an artist?
And here is the Son of God reviewing it all, and he says it is spinning. And if we go to the Epistle to the Colossians, we find there that the Saints were being spoiled by philosophy and vain deceit.
They were listening to the false philosophy, philosophy of Gnosticism that sought sought to have something to the finished work of Christ. And what's the answer to it?
Ye are complete in him who can add to a completed work.
You'll never be any better than when you're complete under the shelter of the work of Christ.
Well, here it says.
It is many.
Only one thing more. Now he must needs go down into death.
And in John's gospel, he says I laid down my life that I might take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. And then he just quietly lays down his life. He delivered up his spirit and said he had said it is finished. And everything was done. And he descended into grave, the grave, and came forth a mighty victory. Brethren, that's the Savior we have.
And everything is finished. Not only finished for our blessing, but finished for the glory of God.
To perfection. Now I want to go on to the next chapter. Then the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark unto the sepulchre, and see if the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
She came when it was yet dark.
Strange time for a woman to be out alone.
Late in the night, before the break of day, when it was yet dark.
What took that dear woman out there?
Into a cemetery at that hour.
All that was attachment of heart to Christ. That dear woman had found Him the engrossing object of her heart. She was so occupied with Him. He was her role, and when He was gone she felt bereaved. The world was a wilderness to it. The world was more than the wilderness. It was just. It just had nothing to hold her.
She was bereaved.
She went to the sepulchre early in the morning.
Maybe she didn't know much.
Mary of Bethany didn't go there.
Mary of Bethany seemed to enter into the mind of the Lord. She wasn't found there.
She didn't look for the living among the dead, but Mary Magdalene did.
Maybe her knowledge was deficient, but you couldn't say her affection was deficient nor her affection was.
Full, full blown. She was attached to him and everything else was lost.
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Well, what does she do?
Early in the morning she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. John speaks of himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Peter, you know, spoke of his love to the Lord. John speaks of the Lord's love to him.
And she says they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. She couldn't enter into it that he was risen. She thinks human hands had removed his body. And she's all distraught.
Peter therefore went forth and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
Fourth verse. So they ran both together, and the other discipled it outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he's stooping down and looking in saw the linen clothes lying yet when he not in.
Then Simon Peter, then comes Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulchre and see if the linen clothes lie. The napkin was that was about his head, not lying with the linen glow, but wrapped together in a space in a place by itself.
Went in also that other disciple that came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed, for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away under their own homes.
When they look into this sepulchre, they found everything in perfect order.
The linen clothes line. It wasn't. It wasn't what you would expect to find after a thief leaves.
When the thief leaves, he leaves everything in disarray. When when the Lord was left that sepulchre, everything was in perfect order. He didn't leave there in a hurry. And this, the napkin that was wrapped about his head, was in a place by itself. I understand that in the original you can tell pretty much about the position, the shape of things I believe he left.
There in perfect order, and these disciples are impressed.
But what? How much did the impression mean? Do?
Not much.
And the disciples went away unto their own, began to their own homes.
It's one thing to be satisfied in our minds of the truth of Christianity.
Another thing to embrace them in the affections of our heart.
They could be satisfied that he was risen. They could look and see, for the stone was rolled away, not to let the Lord Jesus happen.
But the Lord the stone was rolled away to let them look in to.
Let them look in and see that he was gone and see that he had gone out as a victor.
With everything in perfect order. But then they went away to their own homes.
You know, I read a little note.
Of callousness in this a little note of lack of warmth.
Now compare that with the 11Th verse.
But read the but.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre.
They went in, they satisfied their curiosity, they went away to their own homes, in the comfort of their homes.
But Mary continued standing there, just outside the tomb.
And what did she do? Standing there? She went. She still didn't possess him. Him, you say? Yes, him.
She doesn't even stop to explain to the one that she thought was the gardener of who she was looking for. She merely says, tell me where thou hast borne him, and I will take him away. She just refers to him as him.
You know if you go to the door to inquire about a sick person.
You don't go to the door, and probably as a friend and say, well, how is Mr. Johnson today?
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If you know the family well and they meet you at the door, you say, how is he today?
How is he today?
You don't have to say who.
The one whom you are looking for, the one whom you are seeking information about, is the one that is the object of those who live there. And so.
Here it is.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping, and as she wept.
Here's a here's a devoted woman, a woman who found out what Christ was, and he was precious to her heart so that nothing took his place. And through those tears, those bitter tears.
She stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, looking through tears.
Into the sepulchre. And what did she see? She saw two angels in White City.
The one at the foot, the other the feet were the body of G at the head, and the other defeat where the body of Jesus had lain.
Oh, what a sight. Peter and John didn't see this sight. They were satisfied he wasn't there and went away.
No, she saw something more. She saw angels and white. Sitting there was perfect calm, perfect peace.
There wasn't peace in her own mind, but there was peace in that sepulchre. Everything was serene. 2 angels in white, not fluttering about, not trying to do something. They're sitting, it's all settled.
Well, wasn't that a wonderful sight for human eyes?
To see two angels in white, brethren, what would you have gotten?
You saw two angels sitting.
Wouldn't just stop and gaze upon them.
Not married. Even angels knowingly were angels.
They couldn't detain her.
And they say under her woman, Why weep us out?
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they've laid him.
That's this language of devotion. She doesn't calculate on her strength, she just wants to get to him. Where did you put him?
When she had thus said, she turned herself back.
Here's a dear woman that turns her back on angels.
A sight that would glue most of us.
Riveted steadfastly to the sea, she turns her back on angels. And when she does?
She saw Jesus standing. Oh, that's the one she was looking for.
But she couldn't. She couldn't distinguish him.
She hadn't entered into the fact that he was to rise.
And looking through her tears, she doesn't deserve it.
And.
Jesus.
He breaks the news of who he was gently and with affection. Woman.
Why weep us now? He draws out what's motivating her woman. Why weep us out?
She is supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Supposing him to be the gardener. Now she speaks to him. This brings out her whole heart's affections.
Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou has laid him, and I will take him away. Oh, she doesn't calculate on her little strength, on what she could do if she could find his body. She just thinks if she could even claim his body, it would be a recompense.
Oh, you know, you take a family that has one member that's gone we say to see or on a long journey.
And they get sick.
The family is all concerned about their welfare.
How they do?
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A mother will say, oh, if I could only get the boy back. If I could just get him back.
Even if he's sick.
How they'd like to have the sick one back, just a comfort to have him there. And she thinks it would be just a comfort if she knew where his body was. But one thing she didn't know that he was risen, and she was never more to know him as a man down here. But she would soon know him in a better way.
Jesus said unto her, Mary. Oh how often she'd heard that word, Mary from his very lips.
You know, it tells us in the tent of John that the sheep know his voice.
And Mary knew His voice, she recognized, recognized the Shepherd's voice, and it beeped within her heart. Suppose that you thought that this afternoon you would hear that shout from the Lord's blessed lips, be caught up to see Him, would it's really.
How much would our hearts be thrilled to think?
We had heard his voice.
Calling is my name. He calls it old sheep by name.
And she says, Mary, she turned herself and says unto him, wrote rabona, which is to say, Master Jesus said unto her, Touch me not Now in Matthew's Gospel they do touch him. But in Matthew's Gospel you have another line of truth. For the Lord Jesus is presented to Israel in Matthew as their Messiah, and when rejected by them, he still has a contact with a remnant of faithful remnant.
Which he resumes with them in Galilee after his resurrection. You don't get that here in John's Gospel.
When here he says touch me not says to know him in a better relationship, for I'm not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren.
Now did she need a book of instruction to find?
Who his brethren were.
No, he just says, go to my brethren. We read the 22nd Psalm this morning.
And when you come to that point of the resurrection of Christ.
All at once you get Christ in resurrection.
And he says, I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
As soon as the Lord comes forth in resurrection victory, he says, I will declare thy name unto my brethren. And he says to Mary, And now she is commissioned to carry a message, And the greatest message that had ever been trusted had been entrusted to human lips, to carry the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Telling a poor redeemed woman.
You go over and tell my bread I ascend. I'm going back to my father.
And your heart, before that, the Lord was down here, you know, and he told about the Father, but he didn't reveal Him as their father. He couldn't bring his disciples into relationship.
You know, in the 16th Psalm he refers to the disciples who pleased him.
As the excellent in the earth, the Saints.
In the 22nd Psalm, when He comes forth in resurrection, he refers to Him.
As brethren in the 45th Psalm, which gives him the Lord Jesus coming back to reign, he'll have associates, and in the 45th Psalm he calls them his fellows. His associates never mix the three words of those three songs.
Leave Saints in the 16th.
Fellows in the 45th but keep this blessed title in this 22nd, brother. And so this blessed message is given to Mary to carry. Now I know that people have taken this out of its connection and said that Mary was commissioned to preach.
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The Lord never commissioned a woman to preach, but He commissioned her to carry a message, a message that none of His disciples had the privilege of carrying. Blessed position, blessed place Mary had. And why did she give? Because she her heart was devoted to Christ. This world was all nothing to her.
Without him but all she's he says don't touch me.
But go to my brethren, say unto them, I ascend to my father, and your father, my God, and your.
Brethren within brought into that blessed place of relationship.
He would when he was here, he spoke of his father, but now the one that he called his father is our father. And as we had yesterday in the eighth of Romans, by the Spirit of God, we're brought into this enjoyment of this relationship, and the very words of the Lord Himself are put upon our lips.
Have a father, Father.
Father. Father, in the simplest way of expressing an ABBA.
And Father, in all the consciousness of who he is, of what he is, brethren, that's our privilege. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples, he said, my brother, where did she find him? His disciples? Well, his disciples were here this morning.
Disciples came together to break bread in this very room this morning.
And that's what we should have done. It was our blessed privilege. It may have been for the last time, for before we do it another time, we may hear His voice as the voice that spoke to Mary, but the voice that calls all the redeemed to himself.
And that may take place before we ever reach our regular places of abode.
Now.
19th Verse The same day at evening being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst.
Notice this, that Jesus came into their midst with the doors being shut.
The Lord Jesus came forth with a resurrection body. He could go into the room with the door shut. He could leave the tomb without moving the stone.
He came forth in resurrection in the power of.
And he stood in their midst. And then what does he say?
He sent it and to bolster that to back it up.
He shows them his hands.
Sigh, brethren, think of it that there was the one that could say peace.
And show them that he was qualified to give it because he was the one that had been in death, but he was raised.
I often think of this scripture in connection with the Word in First Samuel.
You know, David went down into the valley of Elam and he overcame that mighty fog, Goliath.
David is a beautiful type of Christ there.
Goliath had challenged and defied Israel for 40 days.
Satan had defied man and God for 40 centuries when Christ came.
And David, as a stripling, went down into the valley, and he overcame him.
No sword in the hand of David, but he cuts off Goliath's head with his own sword.
Oh, the mighty Lord Jesus, he rose from the dead. Satan says if I can get him in death, I'll have gained the victory.
But the Lord Jesus broke the bands of death. He came out of death, the victory, and he goes into the midst of his assembled disciples and shows them his hands.
Brethren, I like to think of this, that it was like it was with David when he appeared before King Saul. He went before King Saul, the one who gained the victory, and he had the head of Goliath in his head. Here was evidence, here was.
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True proof of his victory. He had the head of Goliath and his head, and now the one who was down in death. For Satan had held the power of death and kept man in fear.
40 centuries this what Blessed One now comes forth.
The proof of his victory. And he shows him his hands and his son. Yes, this was the true daily with a head of Goliath in his hand. Here is the true day. That is a mighty victory. And he speaks peace to troubled souls. Oh brethren, we have peace, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Where he not only discharged all that was against us by a holy God who bore the consequences in himself, but, brethren, he went down into that which Satan held the power over, and he came forth the mighty victory.
All our foes are vanquished, and is associated us with himself. We sometimes sing his be the victors name, who fought the fight alone. Triumphant Saints no honor claim his conquest was their own.
Yes, it's our own and well, can we have peace for the mighty victory.
Came forth for us in victory, and he associates us with himself in the victory.
Now we.
I wanted to look at another verse right here, the 21St verse.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace. He can leave that.
Be out, it's an italics. Peace unto you.
As my father has sent me into the world, Even so send I you.
The Lord Jesus has been down here in this world of enmity toward God.
He'd suffered their enmity, their rejection, and now he's leaving and he has these disciples here.
And he commissions them, and he sends them forth back into the place where he was rejected.
To witness for him.
And he commissions them for that, but he says, Peace unto you.
Oh, when we find the combat, when we find the enemy arrayed against us, we do not do so at our our own charges. For the one that met him and conquered him, that conquered death and all the power of it, is the one that has commissioned us to witness for him, and the one who has said peace unto you in connection with that very mission.
I want to turn to the next chapter for just a few moments.
Now in the next chapter, we have an entirely different scene.
We find Peter.
And six of the disciples.
Seven in all.
Going out on an unauthorized fishing expedition.
Peter had been fishing, and the Lord had called him and said he would make him fishers of men.
But now the Lord is gone, and He isn't right there with them visibly.
So Peter worries and he gets a hankering for the old net and he says I go fishing and six others go with it. Now I'd mention the fact that there are 7 fishermen here.
In the Gospel net in the 5th chapter of Luke, you'll find that the net broke.
That's a figure of the gospel.
But here is the figure of the nations that will be brought in to Blessing and the Millennium.
You know God is going to have other people in another time and he's going to have fishermen.
And Peter will be the chief fisherman, and so seven other seven.
Fishermen go to work and they bring in a Great Hall of fishes.
And although there were so many, yet the fish, the net did not break. Well, there be no breakdown there. The Lord will have it all different in another day. And I might add just another thought as.
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Accompanying it when the Gentiles were brought into the Kingdom, into the church in the 10th of Acts.
Peter and six other fishermen went to see Cornelius.
The 11Th chapter of the Acts. He says. These six brethren from Joppa accompanied me.
There were seven fishermen again going on an expedition, and there the Gentiles were brought into the Church of God.
Cornelius in his house. What a what a wonderful day that was. What a wonderful hall. When the Gentiles were first introduced into the church. I just mentioned that as interesting that there were seven fishermen in the 20th of John and there are 7 fishermen in the tent of backs. They're only mentioned, of course, in the 11Th.
Now looking at this fourth verse of the 21St chapter, and when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore with the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus said unto them.
Now mark the delicacy, the warmth of this. The Lord says, Children, have you any meat?
Notice his warmth.
Notice a term of affection here. Children have any meat.
Oh, how warm. How blessed. How do they respond to that warmth?
What did they say?
They answered him no.
See any warmth in that?
All their hearts were cold.
He speaks with freshness. He says, children, have you any meat? They say no.
I like those touches that you get here and there.
And.
Then what happens? He says. Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you shall find.
Oh, he directs the net.
And they get this tremendous catch of fishes, and although there were so many at the net, did not break.
It's a Kingdom that.
And now we go down.
The 12Th verse Jesus saith unto them, Come and die.
And none of the disciples nurse asked him, Who art thou, knowing that it was the Lord?
Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them, and fish likewise.
Oh, he had a meal for prepared for them. They had nothing for him. He has a meal for them all prepared. But then he even takes the fish that they bring and he uses that too. Yes, it'll all be used for their blessing.
Do we know the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ? You know we'll be all eternity discovering that the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And.
Now I want to go down to just one or two points before we close the 19th verse.
This he spake, signifying by what death he should glorify God. He tells Peter, You know, Peter had boasted that he would die with the Lord rather than deny him.
But to save his life, he denied him.
Peter had been quite broken up over and.