Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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Like to look this afternoon at a few scriptures in connection with the word come not so much in connection with the invitation to the law as to the invitation that the Lord gives that we might walk through this world and in his company and as a testimony for him. We all know the joy of having a friend who wants our company, and it's a pleasure to be in their company. Well, isn't it wonderful that the Lord Jesus.
Not only died to deliver our souls from hell and coming judgment, but he's not going to be satisfied with anything less than our company for all eternity. It will be his joy to have us there in the Father's house, just as we have been reading in the 15th chapter of Luke of the Father's joy and receiving home, the prodigal. And you know, it tells us there they began to be married, but it never says the merriment ended.
And so God would have us to enjoy something of this here about there's a more wonderful day coming when we will enjoy his company and he will enjoy ours for all eternity. A little Him puts it like this. He and I and that bright glory 1 deep joy shall share mind to be forever with Him His that I am there.
All what love this is and only trust the Lord will use these scriptures to encourage us.
It has been said that every heart desires two things very specially, and that is understanding and love. Isn't it wonderful that we have that in the Lord? Understanding and love? To know someone who understands you, who can enter into your feelings, is wonderful. But if they knew all about you, or they knew all about me, perhaps they might not feel just exactly the same.
But oh, isn't it wonderful.
That there is a person who knows all about us, pulls us through and through. There's not a thing, not even the motives of our hearts that he does not know and yet loves us with an unchanging love, a love that goes on to the end. Well, let us turn first of all to Matthew Chapter 11. Matthew Chapter 11.
And the 25th verse At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank the old Father Lord of heaven and earth, because Allah hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hath revealed them unto babe. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father neither knoweth any man.
Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest under your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Well, the Lord Jesus was the rejected 1 here, but we find that He took everything as from His Father's hands. And at this time, when He had to speak of these cities where His mighty works were done, who had rejected Him? You and I might have felt very cast down and sad, but isn't it blessed to hear the Lord Jesus speaking in this way, looking up to His Father? Luke's gospel tells us he rejoiced in spirit.
How could he rejoice in spirit at such a time as this? Well, because he took all things from his father. And it says here he said, even soul, father for soul, it seemed good in thy sight, and, you know, in the disappointments and trials of life.
The only thing that will give us peace at such times is to be able to say the same thing.
To be able to recognize that God is our Father and that whatever has been allowed has been allowed because He saw it was for our good and for our blessing. It doesn't require a special intelligence. Or it says here these things were hid from the wise and prudent. Because the more wise we are, the more tendency there often is to question the ways of God to try and reason things out.
How about isn't it lovely when there is that submission to His mind and will, when we can just receive it in this way? Oh, what peace floods our soul. I'm sure all of us have experienced in some little measure, but would to God it were always so that we not only would accept it in, shall I say, submission about accepted as our Father's will and that He thought it was good.
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For all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And then he goes on to tell us how this can be. He says, all things are delivered unto me of my Father. Now the Lord Jesus hasn't yet taken the place of a headship over everything.
In the way of power as that is, as tells us in Hebrews 2, we see not yet all things put under Him.
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor as faith looks up and sees him there, knows he's in that place of power. And so we are willing to accept things because it's possible for him to change any situation if it's his will.
It tells us that he's head over all things to the church, which is his body.
It tells us, too, that angels and authorities and powers are made subject unto him.
When He gathered with His own in that place in the last chapter of Matthew, a mountain where He had appointed to them, there were some who had doubts. How did the Lord answer their doubts? Why, He said He said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And isn't that the answer to every doubt that is in your mind and mine? In other words, if it were God's will?
He could and would change things about if He allows it to be otherwise. Faith can say Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. Those two on the road to Emmaus were depressed and sad. And why? Well, it tells us that they thought that the Lord was the one who would redeem Israel, and they expected Him to do it at that time.
And isn't that the root of a lot of our problems?
That we know the Lord has power, but we don't want his time. We want our time.
So they thought he would do it in their time and it was a disappointment to find that he was going to do it in his time.
He's going to redeem Israel, but in his time. And so here we find the Lord Jesus. He accepts all from his Father. Satan had offered him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if he would fall down and worship him. And sometimes we may think we'll gain certain things by sidestepping the path of obedience. We may think there are certain benefits to be had.
But the Lord would not accept it from Satan.
He waited the Father's time, and how long has he waited? Has he received the kingdoms of this world yet?
No, it's almost 2000 years. A long time to wait, isn't it? But he's waiting the father's time, when the father will say son, the hour is come when he will say ask of me and I will give you the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. So face knows how that there's one who is in control of everything.
Even though he may not as yet openly manifest his power.
At peace, I say, it gives to know that all is under His hand, under His control, and then to defined, as He says here, no man knows the Son but the Father. Neither knoweth any man. The Father saved the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. The first part of this verse shows us that we are never to try to understand the mystery.
Person of Christ, no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. And so, as we sang in the little hymn with which we closed this morning, how wondrous the glories that meet in Jesus. And from His face shine. His love is eternal and sweet. His human tis also divine. We can never comprehend the divine mystery of His Person.
But it tells us here that the Sun has revealed the Father isn't that of most blessed thing.
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So that when you and I get home to glory, we're going to be in the presence of one who has been.
Fully revealed. I've enjoyed the thought that when we get there, a thought will come into our minds at once. Why, this is home. I'm no stranger here. Oh, what a marvelous thing. God has been revealed. He has been made known. And as we trace the pathway of our precious Savior, we see Him standing still at the cry of a blind man.
We see him weeping at the grave of Lazarus.
We see Him sitting at the well talking to a poor woman whom His disciples couldn't understand. He would have any interest in such a person. But that is the heart of God revealed. Oh, doesn't this touch your heart and mind? This is the one whom we can call Father. This is the one with whom we're going to spend eternity. And the precious Savior here in this world was walking in the consciousness of His Father's love.
His Father's presence, and so He would have this to be known by His disciples. And then after telling this in the 28th verse, here we have this little word. Come, come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. All if this is true of this One who once walked this world, now He is giving a very personal word.
Just like you enjoy something and you have a friend you love and you say come and enjoy it with me.
And the friend comes and enters into and enjoys what you yourself are enjoying. It's shared together. Isn't this most blessed? The Lord Jesus saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor under heavy laden. Of course we know that there are many who are laboring and heavy laden in their sins. And the Lord Jesus went to Calvary's cross and settled the question of sin.
Saw that there would be no barriers to the telling out of God's heart to sinners like you and they yes, he's so glorified God about the question of sin that God could come out in all that was in his heart. That's why the veil was rent not only so that we could go in, blessed as that is, but that God could come out and that he could.
Make noon all it was in the heart of the Father.
That's why the Lord Jesus said.
I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightened until it be accomplished?
The Lord was restricted in all that He would seek to declare and manifest until the question of sin was settled. And when it was settled at the cross, immediately the veil of the temple was renting twain from the top to the bottom, as though God were saying, now I can come out, now you can go in. All the barriers have been removed. And so he calls on everyone, come unto me. Is there one here that's not saved the.
Says, Come unto me, do you feel the burden of your sin if you're not saved? I hope you do. You will someday if you don't feel it now. Those in a lost eternity will surely feel what it is that has separated them from God for all eternity. But isn't it blessed to feel it now, to know that the question of sin was so settled, and that he says, Come unto me, all either labor under heavy laden, and I will give you.
To have rest of conscience to know that not a charge can be laid against you, because all were laid against Christ.
And he settled it to God's glory. And then he goes a little farther. He says, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your soul. I believe we could speak of the rest in the 28th verse of being the rest of conscience that we receive in salvation, but in the 29th verse its rest unto our souls. Now that is, the soul is the seed of the appetite and emotions and desires.
And the yoke is for two, you know.
When oxen are yoked together, here are the two oxen, and there there's a yolk placed over them, and there they are connected to one another. And this is what I had particularly on my heart, of how the Lord would have you and I to go through this life with that yoke upon us. Now that is feeling that He is with us, that we are walking in His company. And so he said, take my yoke upon you.
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Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. What is a meek person? Well, I believe a meek person is one who doesn't resent it when he's put in the low place. You know, it's comparatively easy for us to say I'm nothing, I'm a poor failure, I make many mistakes. This perhaps we have all confessed at times, but we don't like it very well.
When someone else says, oh, he's nothing, pay no attention to him, he's just a big failure. All this test how much there's reality with us. Well, as the Lord Jesus went through this world, oh what, what indignation, what, what indignation, what empathy, what?
Despising was his portion as he went through this world, and yet we find him even before Pilate.
It says he answered not a word. And oh, how blessed it is the Lord says this to us. Don't we run into a lot of trouble by the resentment that stirs up in our own heart about things? Oh, how often someone has done us wrong, someone has done us harm and we see I just can't get over it. And what is it? It's ourselves that needed the correction because we didn't accept it as from the Lord.
And so the Lord Jesus said, I am meek and lowly in heart. He not only took the low place through this world, but when men as it were pressed him down, He in loneliness abowed to all of his Father allowed. And that precious Savior go often was misunderstood, falsely accused, and yet we see nothing hindered that blessed.
Pathway of love and service command.
They took up stones to cast at him and as he passed by he saw a man that was blind from his birth and he stopped to heal him. He arrived, say well they don't want us, we better get out. But how different would that blessed one? He was always seeking the good and the blessing of others.
Well, He not only invites us to find rest of conscience, but rest for our soul. Oh, I desire this for my own heart, rest for our souls. I believe it's found as we walk in the company of the meek and lowly Jesus, that precious One who walked through this world, who accepted all as from His Father's hand.
And then he says my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Perhaps, I hear someone say, but that's not easy to do that. Well, I'll say this. It's far harder to go through life with an unforgiving spirit. It's far harder to go through life with feelings of bitterness toward others. That's a far harder path.
As unto seek grace from the Lord, to forgive. Oh what peace it gives in the soul.
When we're able to accept that which He sees fit to place us on us in our pathway here. So here we find the Lord Jesus inviting to come to Him and receive salvation and find rest for our souls as we walk through life in this way in His company, seeking to manifest the life of Jesus in our bodies. Well may He give us this exercise, beloved, may He.
To desire this saw that there would be more of this seen in us. I'm sure it would be the cure for so many of our problems in our homes and in our assemblies. Meek and lowly in heart, take my yoke upon you and learn of me all that precious Savior and all what what joy there is. Just think of the difficulty that came into the early church. Here were some that were complaining because they were neglected.
Daily ministration and the disciples, I believe, were walking in meekness and lolliness of hearts. And so when some of them complained, they said will you choose out seven and the way you distribute it will satisfy us. Well, no wonder the difficulty was settled in a moment. That was meekness, that was loneliness, wasn't it? They said you can just look after the distribution and we'll be satisfied with it and the result was the.
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Things spread out from Jerusalem. Many were added to the Lord. So instead of them saying, well, we'll, we'll go halfway and you go halfway and then they would never have been happy, would they? But oh, what lovely. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Oh, may the Lord give us to see the blessedness of this for our own souls. I'd like to turn over to.
A portion and a somewhat figurative way in Genesis chapter 45 Genesis chapter 45, verse four and Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray you and they came near and he said I am Joseph your brother, whom he sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieve nor angry with yourselves that she sold me hit her for God did send me before you to.
Of life for these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the which there shall neither be earring nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So, no, it was not you that sent me hit her, but God. And he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout.
Land of Egypt.
Haste you and get go up to my father and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down unto me. And Terry not well we could read more of this, but what I was particularly thinking of was those words. Come near to me, I pray you, we've been reading.
In Matthew 11 Come unto me, all either labor, and are heavy laden.
And now we have come near to me, I pray you. And then as we read on that we see Joseph not only wanted them to experience that momentary nearness on that occasion, but he also wanted them to come and live right where he was. He wanted them to dwell in Goshen. That was the place where Joseph dwelt. So he wanted them to be near him all the time.
And what I particularly had in mind in this passage was.
The privilege that we have of being in the company of the Lord Jesus as we walk through this world and looked at in two different ways, individually and collectively, that's very blessed. There is a way that we can enjoy His presence individually at all times because the Lord Jesus said in the 28th of Matthew.
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
He also tells us in Hebrews it says, I will never leave thee.
Nor forsake thee. And so this I would desire for my own soul.
And I trust each one of us desire this, and that is to enjoy the company of the Lord Jesus all through our pathway here. There's nothing more blessed than to walk through life in the enjoyment of His company. Our brother mentioned to us yesterday how the Lord was on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was the Lord.
We also find in the 24th chapter of Luke.
Jesus threw near, but their eyes were holding that they did not know Him.
And the Lord has promised not to leave us nor forsake us, but very often we are not conscious of His presence, and we walk as though we were walking through life alone. But He is telling us that He's not going to forsake us. And what He wants us to enjoy is the sense of His company. Oh, how wonderful it was for the disciples when they realized whose company it was He was made.
To them, what a moment that was when he revealed himself to them.
And I say to each one here, and may this be the greatest desire of our heart to have the sin at all times, whether it's in our work, whether it's in our play, whether it's in any part of our lives that we would just live and act as though the Lord, our very best friend is with us all the time.
I've sometimes said the test of true love is that you don't tire of a person's company.
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You really love a person, you don't get tired of their company if you don't fully love them. And then there are times you can enjoy their company and there are times we just wish they'd get away, but not so where there's real love. And you know the Lord Jesus is never going to tire of your company or mine.
Not even for all eternity. And he wants us to sense this and to enjoy it ourselves. And Joseph realized it was a barrier between him and his brethren. And he had to break down that barrier. He had to bring them to realize what it was that made them uncomfortable in his company, in his presence. And I say to each one of us here, if there's something that's been allowed in your life or mine that has hindered the enjoyments of.
Enjoyment of the Lord's presence and company. Let's have it out with him. It isn't worthwhile to go on and allow that thing to remain a barrier. Because I want to tell you he's missing something as well as you. He died, I say to have your company and mine, and He's missing something because he wants us to enjoy his company and He wants to enjoy ours.
And so there was a barrier. Joseph, brethren, had something to acknowledge. And if there's anything that you and I have that we should acknowledge, let's own it to him. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Oh, don't go on with something in your life that you know is a barrier. It's not worth it.
Just robbing God as well as yourself.
Or when they had acknowledged their guilt and when they were brought down to repentance. Now the barrier is gone. And Joseph said, come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And did he keep on talking about their failures? Did he say all that you've done and so on? No. Isn't it lovely? He looked at the other side of it now. When they had owned what had taken place, he said.
Don't be angry with yourselves, he said. God sat me down here.
To preserve your lives by a great deliverance. And isn't it very blessed that when we have come and own things to the Lord, that then the barrier is gone, and in spite of all our failures, that it's possible for us to enjoy the sweetness of His love and of His company, and find, as a little Him says, still sweet. Tis to discover if clouds have dimmed my sight when past.
Eternal lover towards me as heir thou art bright. Oh, I think it's so lovely to hear Joseph saying to his brothers here, don't be angry with yourselves. And perhaps you and I might be filled with remorse as we think of what our lives have been and how little we have answered to his love. But he said now it's all been owned. He said now we're perfectly free. We can enjoy.
One another's company, and as we read on in the chapter, Joseph made the advances.
He went and threw his arms around them and kissed them just like the father did the returning prodigal. And then he told, told them, he said it's going to continue five years more of famine. And you know, brethren, we're not expecting things to get better in this world. We're not expecting things to improve even in the Church of God.
But we do know that no matter what lies ahead.
There is one who says if you keep close to me.
You'll be well fed and you'll be safe. That's what he told them. He said come down to Goshen and he said I'll make you my charge, I'll take care of you and I'll protect you. But he said if you don't stay close to me, you and your households will come to poverty. And it's possible for a Christian to come to poverty, poverty of soul, even although we're so rich in Christ.
So he warned them about the difficulties that were ahead.
And I often say it's very lovely to see how realistic the Scripture is. God shows us just what we can expect. There are days of famine ahead, but here was the assurance given by Joseph and that as long as they were close to him, they would be provided for. Then I just want to make a little mention of enjoying his presence collectively.
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In the 28th chapter of Matthew.
There was a mountain where Jesus appointed. There was a special place that the disciples had to have the energy to seek out, to go to, and when they went there, it says that they went to that place and Jesus was there and when they saw him, they worshipped him. I believe we could think of that as being the enjoyment of his present collectively.
And we all know, and we hang our heads in shame as we think of the failure of the Church of God collectively and our part in it too. But isn't it an encouragement to us to know and that there will be a collective testimony until the Lord comes?
That He has asked us to remember Him until he comes. And I believe from this that we can be sure. And that if He's asked us to do this, that He has a place away in which we can do it in a way that's honoring to Him and in obedience to Him.
May we value this privilege too. It's very blessed to enjoy His presence individually, but it's also very blessed to enjoy His presence collectively. I believe the enemy is at work to try to spoil our personal communion with the Lord, and I believe he's at work to try and break down any collective testimony to being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
It requires the energy of faith to go on.
To walk in that path that he has marked out. So perhaps we could say that we have this brought before us. Come near to me, I pray you. And there is the individual side of it in our own lives. And then there is a collective side of it that we have this privilege that we had even this morning of gathering around the Lord as it was read to us.
Or were two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
And I just want to say to some who may have come here, and perhaps you have never enjoyed this in your soul, you say I'm saved, but I have to hunt around for the place I'd like to go. Oh, May God give you the sea. That there is that which God is established, there is that which God owns. And if you and I have our eyes upon the Lord and are seeking his mind and will through His word, I believe He'll show us.
It's not a question of us choosing the people or group. It's a question of being guided by the Spirit of God through the Word in order that we might enjoy this privilege. And oh, what a privilege it is until He comes. And now let us turn to another passage. That's in Psalm 34, Psalm 34, and the 11Th verse.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good?
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. Well, here in this chapter, perhaps we could think of this invitation. This little word. Come again in the 11Th verse.
How are we going to learn the fear of the Lord?
It through his word and know how important it is that we should read his word. I believe it's very easy for us in this day with so much to do such busy lives as many of us lead to neglect the reading of God's word. And so when situations arise in life, we don't know what the Scripture says. We haven't acquainted ourselves with God's mind as revealed.
Word and as I have often said in talking to the young people, read the Bible through.
Many Christians just read the New Testament, read the Bible through. You'll find the Old Testament gives you much wonderful instruction. You'll find, as I have sometimes said, there are pictures there of every kind of situation that we can get into. And then we find how people acted in those situations and what happened, whether it was wisely or unwisely.
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Because.
God has this for us, not only the instruction but the pictures for us. When difficulties arise in my life, I usually try to think of some person who was put in a similar situation somewhere in the Bible. And I find that there are places in almost every situation you can think about where someone was put in a very similar situation and then there's instruction for us.
About how do act for God is not only interested in the salvation of our souls.
He's not only interested in the privilege that we have of being gathered to his name and walking in his company, this is most blessed, but he is interested in every detail of our lives. It says here, what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good, and that is, he's interested in your natural happiness.
Your friends, your home.
All those things that are connected with our everyday life. He's interested in the job that you have. He's interested in the place that you live. And if you and I would only take time to listen to the instructions of his word, that we wouldn't be, as our brother said yesterday, like Peter, who decided that he liked to go fishing and so he just did it and brought others with him. But here he says, come.
Hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord, and then He tells us about.
Desiring life alone us many days.
He tells us about keeping our tongues from evil on our lips from speaking guile to depart from evil and do good. Oh, this is what we need in a practical way in our lives. Every Christian doesn't have a happy life. I've often said to the young people, all Christians don't see good days. Some Christians, even the law, they're on their way to heaven. They're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
But they don't see good days.
Perhaps they do a lot of talking and make a lot of trouble for themselves. They don't keep their lips, they don't do good. They're not exercise to show kindness to others. Life centers around self. Or they don't seek peace. Wherever they go, they stir up trouble. Well, you know, we can't see the good things that God intended for us if we don't follow the instructions of His words. So here we find.
That God is interested in these things.
He want us, wants us to know what it is to find rest for our souls to walk in His company.
He also teaches us how we should act with one another. Of course, I the scripture makes it very clear that we don't condone evil at the expense of the at the at the expense of holiness. We can't say well, we have to have peace at any price. He says first in his 14th verse, depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. He doesn't just say to seek peace and leave out the departing from evil.
We recognize that we have to be faithful, but I'm speaking about the things that we seek to go on with and then we can look up to the Lord and command our pathway to Him. There is the the joy of such a path. I've enjoyed that expression about the Lord Jesus. It says he went about doing good. He went about doing good as he saw people in need.
What characterized his life? He saw them, he tried, and he did as seek their blessing and their good. So here we have following the instruction of God's Word for our pathway. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. How may each one of us then walk in the fear of the Lord, Be more afraid of doing something that displeases the Lord.
And displeasing a friend. Sometimes you have to displease a friend.
To please the Lord, to please the Lord. And so here it tells us, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. This is very important. It says in another place, be thou in the fear of the Lord all day long. That's a good thing for us. In days when the rights of Christ are being set aside, let us remember to walk in his fear. It's the beginning of wisdom. And then there's another passage in the 60.
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The here the 66th chapter Psalm, Psalm 66 and verse 16. Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
Well, I was just thinking of this verse in connection with our testimony for the Lord.
He says come.
And here all ye that fear, God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul.
And very often we can not that we want to make a great deal of any experience that we have gone through, but how often things that God has passed us through can be a blessing to others. Paul said that the Lord comforted him and his troubles that he might be able to comfort others who were in trouble. And so very often as the Lord passes us through things.
And then when we find others in a similar situation, we can go to them and say, well, I understand.
I've been in that place. The Lord helped me through that difficulty. He'll do the same for you. And what that that means a great deal that we can tell others. Perhaps there's been some experience in your life that's been hard to understand because we don't always understand. Life is full of hard questions. The Queen of Sheba had a life full of hard questions. She was wealthy, but that wasn't the answer to.
Question and she didn't get the answer until she saw Solomon and then it says he told her all that she all her questions he answered all that was that was in her heart and she was perfectly satisfied and there's another day when we're going to get the answer to all our hard questions. But sometimes I believe that the Lord passes us through things here and then he fits us. Perhaps I.
I speak a little of myself and I look back and see things in my life that the Lord passed me through that I couldn't understand at the time. But I can see it was part of His way of fitting me for things that He wanted me to do that I couldn't have done as well if I hadn't passed through those things. And then I could, through experience, speak of what the Lord had done for my soul. I see young people going through.
The very same conflicts and the very same feelings that I had.
Because I have a very reasoning mind, and I could see the conflicts that they go through, and I think the Lord passed me through those things. And He may be passing you through something. And there's a big question mark. Why doesn't He Take Me Out of it? Why doesn't He relieve me? But maybe He's helping you. So someday you're going to tell another person what the Lord did for your soul, what He meant to you in that situation. That was so hard.
And as Paul spoke of it, and even our precious Savior, as has often been said, He came down from heaven and went to Calvary. He could have accomplished that work without those 33 1/2 years. Why did He go through those lonely, sad years in His blessed pathway? All it tells us in Hebrews that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest.
That he was in all points tempted like as we are, then apart. So if you're lonely, you think of how the Lord Jesus was lonely. If you're misunderstood, you think of the time when the disciples misunderstood the Lord, and when all the disciples forsook him and fled.
And you can just think of all the situations that you meet, and then you look and say, well, the Lord went through these. Oh, may the Lord give us grace and to not only profit for our own souls, but that these things could become a blessing to others. There is such a thing in this way of sharing these things with others and being a help to one another. And many of us have proved this as we have.
Learned through the experiences of others. So let us not rebel on what He sees fit to pass us through.
00:45:03
I say again, the precious Savior in his pathway passed through every form and kind of suffering that a righteous man could endure apart from sin, and so he's a merciful and faithful high priest. So this is lovely here, isn't it? Coming here, all ye that fear God? And I will declare what God, what he has done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
Isn't this most blessed? And it's such an encouragement to us all to hear others, not in a boasting way, but telling how God taught them certain things in His school and they declared what He had done. So too, even in regard to our testimony to the unsaved, how often the Lord fits us for the work that He has for us to do.
How? By what He passes us through, perhaps even in our unsaved days, we have learned the rebellion of our own hearts.
And then seen his patient grace that enables us to present the message.
Faithfully to others through here. This verse about coming here seems to suggest rather that we can be made a blessing to others as we have gone through these things ourselves. Now I'd like to turn to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. And we speak of this very thing here that we're talking about.
Verse 14 seeing them that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.
Let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Well, we spoken briefly about the Lord Jesus as our great High Priest.
But it's particularly the 16th verse. Let us come boldly onto the throne of grace. Isn't this the most blessed expression? Let us come boldly. You know, if we have a friend and we burden them with some of our troubles, we may feel all I've said too much. They don't want to listen to all my problems. They must be weary of having me talk to them about all the problems. But here is one.
And he is infinite in love and in holiness. He says, you can never weary me.
Because he said I care. And he says just come with absolute confidence to the throne of grace. Why is it called a throne of grace? Oh, you see, I've been unfaithful. I don't even deserve for him to help me. I've just been so unfaithful. He says that it's not a throne to get what you deserve. It's a throne of grace. It's where he meets us in grace. We didn't deserve anything but judgment and he meets us in grace.
Says he never wearies to have us come. He never slumbers or sleeps. Our tale of sorrow is never such that his ear will refuse to listen and say, you've told me enough. Oh no, what a blessed Savior. I've enjoyed that verse of late. Pour out your heart before him. And this is what he wants us to do. And I just love that little word bully. Let us come boldly.
Because.
One who is perfectly fitted to fulfill that place because as I said before, he walked through the Path Center park when we asked a friend. The friends advice may be somewhat slanted. Sometimes we give others advice that are affected by our own mistakes and failures. But the advice that he gives will never be affected by failures because he never did fail. He never could fail.
He was perfect and so he understands the situation perfectly, but he can't give us wrong advice. He can't sympathize with us in anything that's wrong, but he fully enters into our infirmities and he feels sometimes we read little booklets and so on that almost make us think we should be without feelings about things. But that isn't the way the Bible talks. It tells us the Lord Jesus.
Speaking prophetic, prophetically said reproach hath broken my heart. I am full of heaviness. I look for some to take pity. And there was none. And for comforters and I find none. I found none. Did he feel things? Indeed, as a perfect man He felt them. There was never any resentment to His Father's will. It was always Even so Father, for so it seemed good in my sight but he.
00:50:23
Things and to say to people that they shouldn't feel things isn't the way the Lord Jesus walks in his pathway, but in that path he entered into what we passed through. He became a merciful and faithful high priest. He's just exactly the one that we need. And you know, this is to me most wonderful because when you talk to somebody that's been in the same place as you.
You feel, well, they can understand. But here was one that was infinitely Holly, who in condescending grace, took that place.
So that he could be a merciful and faithful High priest. So what an invitation this is. Let us come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may find, obtain mercy and find grace to help. Another translation puts that I believe timely help just at the time we need it. Not ahead of time, not behind time.
Samuel couldn't wait. He couldn't. I mean, Saul couldn't wait.
Until Samuel came, so he forced himself. And sometimes we think the help should come a little bit sooner than it does, but it's timely help. It's time we help. And as the Lord knows us exactly when that right time is to reach out his arm like he did to Peter. I don't know how far he let him go down, but I know he didn't let him go under the way. He reached out and he caught him and he lifted him up and so he.
The timely help, what a blessed Savior we have. Well, let's turn to another passage in Revelation chapter 4 and verse one. After this I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up, hit her and I will show these things which must be hereafter.
And just turn over to the last chapter of Revelation, 22nd chapter and the 20th verse. He which testifies these things sayeth. Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Well, here we find, shall I say, that come call, that we're waiting for it pictured to us, I believe in the first chat in the first verse of this 4th of Revelation. I believe this is a little intimation of the Lords coming. The third chapter ends with the Church still on earth.
And the 4th chapter begins with the Church raptured the glory. So this is the one that we're waiting for. He has invited us to come to Him, and He gives rest, rest of conscience, rest of heart. He's invited us to come near to Him and enjoy His presence here in the time of famine, individually and collectively. He's invited us to come and learn the fear of the Lord through His Word. He's invited us to.
Share with others some of those experiences that we have proved in our lives lives of his grace. He's invited us to come to the throne of grace, but isn't it lovely? Someday we're going to hear this word come and what is it come up, hit her. It's all going to be over. We're going to be ushered into his blessed presence and there will see him in this chapter set this before us. It's so lovely in this chapter as soon as he got.
What we see he saw the throne and he says he saw a rainbow round about the throng insight like unto an emerald. I think this is a lovely picture. As soon as he got there, why did he see the rainbow? Well, you know the rainbow is a picture of God's promises. Oh, you said I thought the rainbow was all colors. Why was it green? Why was it in flight like under an emerald? Well, I believe rather than that just means that.
That that God's promises are always fresh in his mind.
Green is the color of freshness, isn't it? In the winter time we we see the green disappear, but we love to see it come again. And so doesn't it tell us this? We make promises to people and we forget them. We make promises to people and sometimes we can't fulfill them. But as soon as John got to have him, he saw all the redeemed around the throne, and there was the one as though it were.
00:55:09
I haven't forgotten any of my promises.
I haven't forgotten many of them. And he hasn't, brethren. And he's going to call us home and we're going to prove this. We're going to see.
That the way he led us was the right way. We're going to say like Israel in the Psalms, it tells us that they will say he led them forth by the right way, that he might bring them to a city of habitation. And so sometimes here it doesn't seem like the right way. They could have gone to from Egypt to Canaan and I believe 11 days and it took 40 years.
If it took me 40 years to go a journey that I could have made 11 days, sure missed the way. However, did you take so long? But when they get up there and when we get there, we're going to say it was the right way. Why was it the right way? Well, he knew just what we needed. He knew the lessons that we needed. He knew the experiences that we needed. So we're soon going to hear that voice that says come up, hit her. We're soon going to.
That one in the center of the throne, we're soon going to see that rainbow and now that he hasn't forgotten many of his promises and we're going to do just like they did. They cast their crowns at his feet. But now he likes to hear us say Even so come Lord Jesus, he likes to keep that hope burning brightly in our soul. He's more patient than we are. So he's waited to this day. But when we.
Hear that shout and are called up there. What a moment it will be. May He keep us in the attitude here that is saying at all times this is not our rest. Even so, come Lord Jesus. So we ask the Lord bless.