YP Sing Address—D. Graham
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Is that right?
Let's just look to the Lord for his help.
And.
I.
Don't know if any of you have seen any of my Bible in the bigger room.
Takes about.
18 shelf feet.
To put it together from Genesis to Revelation.
Umm, Galatians, through revelations revolving about that thick.
So he'll understand why I don't have my Braille Bible with me.
So what I've done is I've taken the liberty of just writing it down. A few not notes here that I can follow.
So if you'll bear with me, we'll do it that way.
By the way, I enjoyed hearing the singing.
And reminds me, you know that we're going to be singing eternally in the glory those of us who know the Lord as our Savior. And I trust that we all do here.
But if there is one that doesn't know, the Lord is his savior or her savior.
It would be our prayer that before this night is out, you might lay your head down on your pillow with a saving knowledge of the Blessed Lord Jesus.
Because you might not have another day.
So I've got in my heart, umm 6 or 7 items that might be cultivated in the believer's life. So we're really talking about believers.
One is the cultivation of thankfulness.
Paul says in Umm, Ephesians I believe. Is the 5th chapter 21St perhaps?
Giving thanks always.
For all things.
Unto God and the Father by Jesus Christ.
Now that's a very sweeping statement. Always and for all things.
We sometimes might ask, Well, there are many things that occur in my life that I don't know that I give thanks for. Sickness, sorrows, disappointment, deception. Many things have happened to me and I I would find it pretty hard to give thanks for all of those things. But the apostle here says giving thanks for always for all things.
Well, I would just bring a couple of scriptures before you.
We all know that verse in Romans 8.
Verse 28.
We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Now, that verse doesn't say that all things are good.
I think that's what some here might be thinking.
That we give thanks for only the things that are good and pleasant. But what that verse is saying that all things work together for good.
To them that love God, them who are called according to his purpose.
God sees the broadview, the broad picture. God has His purposes for your blessing and mine.
And it may involve, naturally speaking, circumstances that are not pleasant.
And that verse doesn't say that all things are pleasant, but just that all things work together for good.
And they work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And that purpose is that we should be conformed to the image.
Of his son.
That he might be the first born among many brethren.
So God in his grace and in his wisdom, sees fit sometimes to allow things to come into our lives which are not pleasant, and we could never call good.
But he's working out something that is for our blessing and that is, as I said, we might be conformed to the image of his son and he knows what he's doing.
I'd like to bring the Lord in here in Lord Jesus Christ.
In Luke chapter 10.
I believe it's 21.
He came, you know, to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
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And if Israel had received him as their Messiah at that time, he would have removed the Roman yoke from their necks. Given them liberty from their enemies, he would have.
Righteously judged His enemies and those of His people. Set up His Kingdom with His people as the head nation of all the nations of the world.
That's what his Kingdom was for. Would be for and will be for.
But they didn't receive him.
One day he sent out 70 disciples to preach the nearness of the Kingdom of God, because the king was there.
And he's ready to set up his Kingdom if they would just receive him.
And He gave them power to heal, to do miracles, to signs, to raise the dead, and and to preach the Kingdom.
And they came back to him and essentially their message was this.
Lord, they don't want you.
You don't have any. You don't have any desire for you.
Well then we read the next thing in that chapter. Is that the Lord Jesus?
Rejoice in spirit. It was real with him. It wasn't just fake, he rejoiced in spirit. It came from his heart.
He had from all outward and natural appearances.
Come for nothing.
Lost everything that he had come for.
And then it says that he looked up and he said father.
Lord of heaven and earth, it seemed good in thy sight, and he thanked the Father for it.
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and Spirit in heaven.
And Earth.
For SO it seemed good in the eyesight.
He acknowledged that.
God his Father, the Lord over heaven and earth, all authority given to him and in his hands. And yet he had allowed this seeming failure.
Well, I think the Lord knew, of course, what God's eternal purposes were, and that was that something better was in the store for the Lord Jesus, and that was a bride, a gentile bride. But he was going to have to die together.
And yet it also rejoiced his heart that that prospect did, that he was able to look up, rejoice in his spirit, and thank the Father, because in his counsels it seemed good to him.
So there is one or a couple of examples where we might give thanks for all things always to God and the Father by Jesus Christ.
All things, all things are working together for good.
Even things that disappoint us.
Because we know that God has something better for us.
And the next thing on my list here is a dependent spirit is something that the Lord would have us to cultivate.
And the 16th Psalm, it begins by saying, Preserve me, oh Lord, for in thee do I put my trust.
Now that's a a prayer or a desire that we all may have.
But you know that Psalm is the Lord speaking really prophetically in the Old Testament, it's the Lord, a man here on earth who is asking his father to preserve him, for in him he puts his trust.
Then further down in that same sum we read how that he always had the Father before him, and that that was the delight of his soul day and night, and and that he knew that the Father was going to, umm, deliver him from death, because he knew he was going to die. And so he said, my hope, my soul or my flesh arrested in hope because.
Thou art going to show me the path of life he was anticipating dying, going across the river of death, you might say, and coming up on the other side, he'll show me the path of life. And not only was he did he have death and resurrection before him, but he also had been glorified back up to the Father's right hand, where he says there are pleasures forevermore. So with such a prospect as a man on the earth, A dependent, obedient man, he could say.
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He asked the Father to preserve him and keep him even through death and into life and up to glory.
So now we have similar anticipations. We're looking forward to being caught up in this world, and if we should die, we know that the Lord is going to raise us from among the dead if we're believers. And not only that, but we're going to be caught up to heaven on high to be with and like our precious Savior.
So we have everything to give thanks for, and we have the knowledge that God is for us. He's not going to abandon us.
Next, the list on the point, a point on the list.
Is umm. He's looking for an obedient spirit.
The Lord says in chapter 6 of John, I came down from heaven not to do my own will.
But the will of him that sent me.
Then he says I do always those things that please the Father.
Then he says, as the Father hath given me commandment, Even so I do, that the world may know that I love the Father.
Then he says father if it is possible.
Remove this cup from my hand.
But nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And he says, The Father, The cup to which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
This was a man who was obedient as no other man.
And as we've had in the reading meetings, he was obedient unto death.
And even the death of the cross, with all its shame, not to mention all of its suffering.
He was obedient unto death.
And on the other side of my list.
Looking for the cultivation of a tender conscience.
God said to Samuel that he had a man that was after his own heart.
It is going to select out and make king over Israel.
Man after my own heart, he said.
And yet, we know from David's history, and that's who he was talking about. There was a lot in David's life that was to God's dishonor and displeasure.
However, there's one thing about David.
He was quick to judge himself.
And he also never.
Once sought after a heathen idol.
Couldn't say that about his son Solomon.
He went after idols by the drove, and the Lord told him that he had pleased him. But he was not perfect the way his father was. His father never sought to worship an idol, another God, then Jehovah.
Well then, David committed some terrible sins, as we all know.
And uh he uh.
He was so lacking in a conscience that never bothered him, never crossed his mind that he had done something horrible.
Committed adultery with a man's wife and then he murdered the man. Just cover it up.
But Nathan the Prophet came to David one day and he gave him a little parable about a man that had just one little you. She that he loved is there's only one. He didn't have two. He had just that one. He even slept with him.
But he had a rich neighbor who had lots of cattle.
We're going to have some neighbors or some friends over for a few nights, a few days. And so he stole that one lamb from that man and killed it and served it to his friends.
David said That man is going to pay fourfold for this terrible thing he's done.
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Nathan said. Thou art that man.
You did that?
And David's immediate response was I have sinned.
And he meant it.
It wasn't just from the lips out.
He met it at the Spirit of God took that finger pointing.
And he says I have done a terrible thing.
Then in Psalm 51, David is seeking restoration.
And concerning that terrible sin that he had done, he says to God against thee the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Now he had sinned against Uriah the husband, and he had sinned against Bathsheba the woman.
But all sin is against God.
And so he said, against thee the only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.
He confessed what he had done.
But he confessed more.
Because I was shaping in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.
What does that mean that means?
I was born.
A Sinner.
A wretched, miserable Sinner by nature from the instant of my conception in my mother's womb.
And he wasn't saying this to excuse himself.
But he was saying I acknowledge what I am and what I did was the fruit of what I am. I'm rotten to the core.
And then he said, I know that you don't want sacrifices now, he said. I would gladly give you a sacrifice. I would offer a better offering to you. But I know that's not what you want right now. What you want right now is a contrite and repentance spirit.
And says that's all I can give you right now.
But he says, when you have restored the joy of your salvation to my soul.
Then I'll offer you offerings of Thanksgiving and burnt offerings.
And men will see how you've done, how you've dealt with me in a merciful and gracious way.
Transgressors and sinners.
And they'll join me in singing praises to you.
So David went through a real churning up of his soul.
When he realized the seriousness of what he had done and he was quick to judge himself for it, I think that has something to do with God's delight in him, man after my own heart.
Now then, you and I too. We have our failures. Every one of us.
And it says that we have an advocate with the father.
Jesus Christ, the righteous who bore our sins.
The minute you or I sin in a wish, a thought.
A word or an action, he begins to advocate for us immediately.
Then the Spirit of God, whom we have grieved by our sin, grieves us.
And causes us to repent.
And then the word is that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Our relationship with the Father was not affected by it. Otherwise he would be advocating with us, with for us, with God. But he advocates for us with the Father.
He hasn't disowned that we're his sons and his daughters.
But he has.
He has indicated that we have sinned against the Father, and earlier in the chapter we read that uh uh, God has brought us into His light.
And as such, our joy is full. Not half full or quarter full, but full. And we have fellowship with the Father with His Son, Jesus Christ, fellowship with the Father concerning His Son, and fellowship with Jesus Christ concerning His Father. You and I as believers are brought into that.
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What our sin has done is to break the joy, not the relationship.
But the joy of our salvation that David spoke of.
And then when he when we confess, and his faithful and just to forgive us.
Then that joy is restored.
So the Lord wants a tender conscience in US.
And he wants us.
To live lives that please and honor and glorify him.
Lives that enter into the joy of God.
And fellowship with him and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And those things that concern both of them.
But when we sin, he has a remedy.
Remedy to the joy that we have lost, and that is by confessing.
And we've often heard it said, let's keep short accounts with God and I think all that all that is saying is let's have tender consciences. And when we do sin, let's be aware of it immediately, judge it immediately, and by the time and by the way, when we confess it, let's name it, not just some general broad category like, oh, I've sinned against you.
But I've lied. I stole. I committed some terrible offense.
Name it.
Otherwise, it's not really in force, you haven't really judged it, and you're not going to be restored to full joy. You'll be restored to full joy when it's from the heart and it's complete and it's specific.
That's having a tender conscience. If you don't do that, your conscience will get harder, harder and scab over, become scarred, unfeeling.
And you'll get to the place where you won't even be able to judge yourself. You may be a real believer, but you will let that go on and on and on and other cases develop without being judged. And pretty soon you won't be able to feel the seriousness of sin.
And uh.
You'll be in heaven and you'll be rejoicing.
But in this life, your communion with the Father and with the Son will be broken and you won't be a happy Christian.
And these things, after all, only make for a happy, fruitful Christian.
Well, next on my list is Wholesome Companions.
And the 119th Psalm, the writer says, I am a companion of them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
It's very important what kinds of friends we choose, what kind of friendships we make.
Our friends that we choose can drag us down or bring us up.
If they are unbelievers, they have no way of ministering to the needs of our souls. They don't know what they are. They don't know anything about them.
And if we try to lift up our companions and make something better out of them than what they are?
Without faith in Christ, they're gonna drag us down.
Think of the picture of a man standing on the edge of a table trying to pull up his companion onto the table with him.
What happens?
The table goes over and you and your friend go down.
You're not gonna get the friend on the table with you.
So by no human efforts are you going to be able to benefit from an unbelieving companion. And even among believers, there may be those that aren't walking in a way that would please the Lord, or in a state of soul that would make for your health and your happiness and your blessing.
So the Lord would have us to choose our friends carefully and in His presence and with His fear.
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Friends and companions can be wonderful things and wonderful help, Great help to us.
But they can be a terrible.
Influence in our lives, too.
So they went, and he wants my heart.
That is.
Uh, a heart that delights in Christ.
Umm, you know, there's umm some. I'm trying to think of how it goes. Umm.
Delight thyself in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.
I think that's Psalm 37.
If your heart is full of Christ.
What you're going to desire is more of Christ.
And.
He'll give you more of Christ, too, you know, the apostle Paul says in the very chapter we were reading in the meetings this afternoon, This morning.
He says, Umm, that I may.
I think about how it goes. Umm.
That I may win Christ, and also that I may know Christ.
The Apostle Paul wanted more and more of Christ.
He would win Christ by.
Uh, desisting and resisting and refusing those things that the flesh takes pleasure in. But he would know Christ by way of sharing his sufferings with him, not his atoning sufferings. Of course, no one could share those, but.
The sufferings that the Lord knew as a heavenly man walking here in a sin cursed scene of sorrow and shame darkness.
Enmity against God. Those were sorrows that were responsible for the Lord's being called the man of sorrows.
So there are two ways in which we can win Christ and know him. One is by resisting the pleasures of sin and.
By sharing the Lord's sufferings with him too.
I once knew a man. He's with the Lord now.
He was a godly man. A man that umm.
Most of us knew. I think we're my generation anyway.
As he grew old.
He was about ready to die, actually, he said to his son. He said. No son, I've had a good life.
But it says there's one thing.
That I have to say I haven't got enough of.
And his son said, Who was that father?
Because I haven't got enough of Christ.
I haven't got enough of Christ yet.
Well, you can have as much of Christ as you want.
And it's been said by that same man, your life will show how much you want Christ.
And I'm reminded of another saying that that same brother came up with that I've enjoyed for years.
And it might be helpful in connection with the giving of thanks for all things at all times.
He said.
Every circumstance in your life and mine as believers.
Every circumstance. Not a lot of them, not many of them, but every circumstance in the believer's life.
Is a mountain of blessing beyond which God could not go.
If he could, he would.
I just think of it. Suppose you're going through a terrible trial, a sorrow, perhaps a sickness, perhaps a disappointment.
Oh, Ma, many sorts of things, you know, that come into our lives as trials. And yet, as I said earlier, God knows just what you need.
And he will give you just what you need in order that you might reap blessing in the long run.
And that is for the for the time being, that is the best he can do for you.
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And in that coming day, he'll review that with you and you'll thank him for it. He didn't give thanks for it now. You'll give thanks in that day.
That day when he refused to you what he was doing for your blessing.
Well, May God just bless his word.
All of these cultivated things should all require confidence in God.
It requires that you know God.
And if you don't know him, all of these things are just vain, empty words. But if you know the Lord is your savior.
These are the desires that God has for you. They're very practical, they're very real, and they have consequences that are eternal, not just for your lifetime down here, but for eternity. God wants your eternal blessing and happiness.
And everything that he does in your life is with that and in view.
And if, as the one said, preserve me, O Lord, for in thee do I put my trust. If you trust him, you'll give him thanks. And even David will have to do that too.
You have re any refreshments.
At these things.
There are refreshments all right.