Address—D. Rule
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The Lord this afternoon by singing.
#22 in the appendix #22 in the Appendix.
Thou, Holy One and true, our hearts indeed confide.
And in the circle of thy love, as brethren, we abide.
Teach us that name to own.
Whilst waiting Lord for the.
Unholiness and sin to shun from all untruth.
To plead #22 in the appendix.
Some brother started please.
To turn with me to Luke's Gospel chapter 12.
Luke's Gospel chapter 12. We'll just read a few verses here, starting with verse 15.
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness.
For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things.
Which he possessed.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do?
Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.
And he said this will I do. I will pull down my barns and build greater.
And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool.
This night thy soul shall be required of thee then.
Who shall those things be which thou hast provided?
So is he that lay us off treasure for himself.
And is not rich toward God.
I'd like to go back and reread verse 15 or part of it and Mr. Darby's translation.
For it is not because a man is in abundance.
That his life is in his possession.
Read that again.
It is not because a man is in abundance.
That his life is in his possessions.
Over 30 years ago now.
I had the privilege of being entertained with some real hospitality.
In three different homes that come to my mind.
In the surrounding in the city of Lima, Peru.
These were three homes of fellow members of the body of Christ.
Gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus in that city.
The first home was.
Made out of justice sticks like you might break off a tree and.
Amongst the sticks were cardboard and that was the walls of the house.
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The house had to be kept. If you want to call it a house 24 hours a day, seven days a week, somebody had to be in it less the possessions in that house while.
Everyone was away would be stolen.
Since there's not much security and sticks and cardboard.
But I enjoyed hospitality of my brethren in that household.
Second household was.
On a hillside.
Hillside had not a blade of grass on it.
It was pretty steep.
And it was covered with dwellings of the same type that I just described.
There was number water on that hillside and so everyone had to go. Depending on how high up they lived, they had to go down to the bottom and to a common well and get their jug.
And climb back up the hill with their water.
Another I guess I'm going to describe for because another one comes to my mind. Another household that had walls.
And the walls were actually concrete.
In the home, but it had no roof.
But enjoyed very happy hospitality there with my brethren providing food.
And fellowship in the Lord.
The 4th home was a brother and sister.
That had a concrete walls.
And they had a ceiling or they had a roof over their heads.
But they had the dirt floor.
Now I want to say, brethren, about each of these four households, 30 years later and more.
Everyone of those brethren are in fellowship still.
And.
I enjoy knowing some of their children and grandchildren.
But I want to describe a little more about the 4th house.
The one that had a concrete walls?
And a roof.
I still remember to this day in conversation with those in the household that.
The matter of the concrete, the lack of a floor being dirt, came up.
And as a consequence.
The brother and sister were lamenting the lack of a floor.
And we're speaking a little bit along the lines of if only.
We had a could take this dirt floor and make a concrete floor out of it.
Everything would be well.
I visited them a year or so later and they had a concrete floor.
And in the course of the visit, again the object of their hospitality and love.
Subject brought up the matter of if only there was a refrigerator.
Things would be well.
And.
A year later, there was a refrigerator.
But I want to say, brethren.
I could use examples, perhaps the people in this room.
Perhaps, brethren in India?
But you all can listen to tapes, and these brethren won't hear this address this afternoon because they don't speak English, so they're not likely to hear what's being said here. So I'm going to use them for my examples.
But I want to say to you and measure.
There was truth in this verse in their lives.
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But to some measure.
It says here again, it is not because a man is in abundance.
That his life is in his possession.
Our lives can be in our possessions, whether or not we have.
Or don't have much.
And I believe, brethren, that.
A word I trust of loving exhortation is in order this afternoon. Because.
We do, and we had yesterday Satan's work against us to destroy the family and to destroy the assembly.
Through the breakdown of the family.
But I also want to say that we are all subject to tremendous pressure.
And.
That we live in a society.
Which is centered in its possession.
And it's as easy to be affected by it as it is to breathe.
And it is destructive.
To the purposes of God.
It's interesting to me, in rereading this little passage that we have here, that this man wasn't asking for more.
The Lord speaks about it as covetousness.
And says this man is a fool, but notice he had plenty.
If you had accused him to his face and said Sir your covetous he would have said no. I'm content with what I got. In fact I have plenty. I'm going to sit down and I'm going to enjoy it.
And that's what he purposed and that's what he planned to do.
And he was just going to take what he had.
And he was going to enjoy it.
He was going to eat, he was going to drink and he was going to be married.
And God was going to take his life that day.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 14 for a connected verse.
Romans chapter 14 and verse 17.
For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink.
But righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved.
Of men.
Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, the things wherewith one may edify another.
For the meat destroyed for me destroy not the work of God.
Apply that. Not exactly the first thought here, but don't destroy the work of God for me, brethren.
And I speak to my own heart. You know, it's always easy to speak about things rather abstractly.
And yet everyone of us, if we're honest in these things, face them sometimes almost daily. The subject that I'm referring to and have on my heart this afternoon.
Couple of days ago just before coming here to the conference.
Someone asked to borrow.
A car for the weekend from a.
And that's fine. I have two.
But you know one of the things that.
Came through my mind in responding to that request was.
Which one?
Is it going to be the one that.
If something happens to it, I'm most willing to part with.
Did that thought come from the Spirit of God? No.
No it didn't.
It came from my feelings about my possessions.
Thankfully, the Lord gave me a further thought. I believe this one was from the Lord, no?
Which one best serves and suits the needs of the one that's going to borrow it?
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We live in a time in which there is the characteristic of being takers and not givers.
The truth of God is that Christianity, properly lived, is seen in what it gives and not what it takes.
The purpose and responsibility of our lives in this world at this time is not.
Meat and drink.
It is connected with righteousness and peace.
And joy in the Holy Spirit.
And I'd like to trace that a little bit more in detail in First Timothy.
So would you turn with me to First Timothy?
First Timothy, Chapter One.
Verse five we don't have time to.
Go through the book, but we're just going to emphasize this one line of thought through it.
In connection with what's before my heart and conscience, it says here in verse five, the end of the commandment is charity.
Out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith on feigned.
Log out of a pure heart.
That's something that supports.
The purposes of God today.
Good conscience.
I don't think it can be over stressed the absolute importance.
Of a walk of everyone of us in this room.
With a good conscience.
Perhaps today it's not too hard to have a good conscience because we're in an environment that, for some of us, might seem as close to heaven as we're going to get on earth.
Everything is on our side, if you will, in the circumstances of being together in this way and the character of what is before our hearts.
And the enjoyment of the things of God. But this isn't everyday life.
Everybody in this room has everyday life to live.
And it's a life in many ways rather different than we're enjoying this weekend.
And the issue of a good conscience.
Is a terribly important one. All things are naked.
And open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Your Life and Mine is an open book with our God with whom we have to do.
And he would have us live it in.
Relationship to himself.
Keeping a good conscience. Is there something, brother, sister in your life?
That is not consistent with what you know to be the truth of God.
That's a pretty sharp knife in my conscience.
Is the tears.
It says faith unfeigned, don't fake it.
We are to live in the conscious.
Sense of daily dependence upon our God.
Several weeks ago, my wife and I were.
Driving down the highway and we're going about 55 miles an hour on our way to Rockford, IL to be with the brethren there for the breaking of bread and.
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All of a sudden we were hit by another car.
And immediately going 55 miles an hour or so, we were out of control.
And.
We ended up.
The Lord, because of His purposes, spared our lives and was mercy.
And we're not hurt.
Vehicle wasn't quite as spared.
You know, after we found out we were all right.
One of the thoughts that passed through my mind was.
Will a car ever be the same again?
That matter.
Possessions.
The sense that something has to be. And does that have to do with faith?
Is that what sustains life?
God wants us to live with faith on faith.
Not Oh. I wonder if the other party has good insurance.
If you read carefully through First Timothy you will find that over and over again the word godliness is used.
Or piety.
Some can be translated.
Piety has to do with man in his relationship with God.
Everyone of us and every person in this world is to have a relationship with God.
And we are to maintain in this world.
In the assembly and to as a testimony to this world, the truth.
As to godliness or piety.
Our lives are to be a witness.
To man of the truth of what his relationship.
Should be with God and the world will either see it or not in our lives.
We have a Creator God who is also through his Son, the Redeemer God.
And so it says in the second chapter in verse four, God who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men.
The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified.
In due time.
That is a mighty truth of God for this world.
That man has in the person of Christ the mediator with God.
And we know what it is to say those words to a fellow.
Human being, most of us have had that privilege, if not all of us, to speak to a fellow.
Person on earth and tell them that there is a mediator between them and God.
The Man Christ Jesus.
But I want to say to you, and I would urge you to read this little letter through.
The apostle Paul emphasizes to Timothy the importance of piety in his own life.
As a direct support of that truth.
Yesterday, or I guess it was when Gideon was referred to, he and I incorrectly said it, but he had a.
A pitcher and a trumpet, and the pitcher was broken to show the light, and the trumpet was given to sound.
And I would like in this afternoon, the sounding out of the message is the trumpet.
But I would also say the outshining of the light in the light is the light.
And both are necessary to the truth.
To be supported in this world like God's assembly and so he says.
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And I the contrast of possessions here is because.
Preoccupation.
With possessions.
Destroys or diminishes or makes ineffective.
He says there for example.
Umm.
Go to chapter 5, I'll skip around maybe a little bit as thoughts come to me, but in chapter 5.
It says concerning a woman.
In verse five of chapter 5 it says Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications night and day.
But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.
Mr. Garvey translates that she that lives in habits of self indulgence.
Is dead while she lives. Listen to those words.
Lives in habits of self indulgence.
That ring any bells?
Is there anything in your soul that reacts to some words like that? Habits of self indulgence?
Let me be real down to earth.
So it doesn't seem too abstract to some that are younger.
Me too.
We live in a time when somebody gets a possession and the next thing you know, we look at their possession and we say in our hearts, me too, I got to have that and we set our hearts on it. We wanted to.
Particularly a problem when we're younger, but it can affect us all our lives. It's a habit forming thing.
To indulge ourselves.
It is not the Kingdom of God.
Even says in connection with the responsibilities of those the characteristic of those that were to be have the responsibility of oversight in the Assembly of God.
New Translation uses the word Not fond of money?
We understand that not fond of money.
Unless I be misunderstood, brethren, there are few perhaps in this room that have quite a bit more than most of the rest of us.
I say to you who have lots more, I'm not concerned about you.
That is not my concern.
Most who have quite a bit more than others feel the burden of it in truth and how to use it wisely for the Lord.
It's the rest of us that share this common concern or need for our souls.
He speaks in chapter 3 to Timothy and he says Timothy and verse 15.
But if I tarry, long Timothy, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is.
The Church of the Living God, the pillar and supporter ground of the Truth.
We know what that most of us have some sense of what that verse means, and we speak about the assembly as such and how the truths of the assembly are to be maintained, and I do not deny that.
I believe that is absolutely important and the tremendous importance of the character of our behavior.
But I want to say to you this afternoon, brethren, the force of this passage.
Is connected with the next verse.
The mystery of godliness is great. God was manifest in flesh.
Justified in the spirit scene of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in the glory.
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Godliness that is brought out in that verse or piety.
God has spoken.
Through his son.
He has sent his son into this world to reconcile man to himself.
And his Son came into this world the mediator between God and men.
And here is a man on Earth, he maintained.
In holy the rights of God.
Before men.
This man was born into a family in which the head of the household was a Carpenter.
And he learned that trade or that craft, and he was himself a Carpenter when he became an adult.
And in that way, I suppose he had possessions.
But his life was not taken up and characterized by what he had.
But his life was characterized.
By righteousness and peace and joy.
In the Holy Spirit.
His life was characterized if you turn over to the 6th chapter where Timothy is being exhorted as a man of God to flee these things that take possession of us.
In verse 11 of chapter 6, thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. His life was taken up and characterized by those things.
And Paul is exhorting Timothy as an individual member of the Assembly of God. The pillar in support of the truth of God is a testimony to this world.
And here in this chapter, it's or this book, it's a testimony before the world. It isn't a testimony to fellow believers who may not be walking according to the truth of God in in assembly matters.
Important in its place and taken up elsewhere but here in this letter.
It is that pillar and support of the truth and testimony to this world of its proper relationship with God.
That the Lord Jesus Christ lived, and Paul says to Timothy says Timothy, you're a man of God.
And this is what a man of God is going to manifest to the world.
And as believer.
As an example of the believers.
He's going to see in life.
Righteousness and godliness and faith and love and patience.
And meekness.
And Timothy, there's going to be a conflict in it.
Because the world will oppose it. So he says, fight the good fight of faith. It takes faith to lay, hold and live for the unseen world.
It doesn't take faith to go after the present visible possessions that the world lives for.
And so he says to Timothy, you've got to lay hold on eternal life. Does that mean? Says it twice to him in this chapter. He says, Timothy, you've got to lay hold on eternal life.
You need to practically.
And enter into the daily living out of the gift.
Eternal life that's been given to you.
And there are things that are going to press on you, Timothy, man of God.
To prevent you.
Living that out in your life.
And so he says, can I say put it back up a moment and put it this way?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Was the visible display to man's eyes.
Of what God is.
And He is the visible display to man also of the glory of God.
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And God has given to everyone in this room the same life and nature.
That he has.
And as it were, he says, now you are to display before man.
The truth of what I am.
Of light.
In love.
Patience.
In your life.
When your neighbor looks at you, it doesn't matter whether your car is the latest model or not.
But it does matter.
If when they see you.
They see a display of love, patience.
Joy.
It's the truth of God.
And it is to be the truth of the manner of your daily relationship with the God of all creation.
You're to be the pillar and support truth.
As to God and the relationship that man is to have with God.
Man wants to destroy that.
He wants to go out from the presence of God and live as if there was number God.
We know the history of Cain. He went out from the presence of the Lord.
And tried to live as if there was number God.
And that is the characteristic of the day in which we live in the United States of America.
In large measure to go on as if the purpose of life was to accumulate and to enjoy what we accumulated.
As if that was an end.
So he says, Paul says to Timothy.
Chapter 6.
Verse three if any man teach otherwise.
And consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine which is according to.
Godliness.
The sound teaching which is according to godliness is a teaching which says.
This is God.
Represented to man in this world.
Let me try to put the truth in a different way.
He says in this chapter, he says we brought nothing into the world.
And we're going to take nothing out.
When you leave this earth.
When I leave this earth.
Is the character of our life.
Going to change?
It will.
If our present character of life is taken up in our possessions, it will change dramatically.
But I present to you that when the Lord Jesus left this earth.
His life did not change.
He did not have to change the things that motivated him.
That characterized him.
They stayed the same. He went from this earth into the glory.
I don't want to be unbalanced if you will.
There are certain responsibilities in this earth that the Lord Jesus left here on earth when he left it, but I'm talking about the character of his life.
One of the last things that the Lord Jesus did.
Was to entrust his mother to the care of John.
A very tender expression of the sense of earthly responsibility that he felt.
And I'm sure that when he entrusted his mother to John, he did so.
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For her spiritual well-being and for her material well-being as well.
But He put that aside, if you will, and the character of the Kingdom of God that was manifest in His daily life was the same character of life that you will see, and I will see when we see Him for the first time in glory.
He so he says here.
Being practical, if you will.
Verse six of chapter 6. Godliness with contentment is great game.
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.
But having food and raiment, let us be therewith content.
They that will be rich shall fall into temptation, or fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts.
Which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is.
The root of all evil.
Which some have coveted after they heard from the faith, pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things.
Mr. Kelly suggests that the word raiment in verse 8 means not only clothes on your back, but a shelter over your head.
Given that we have food and we have raiment, we have an adequate amount of this world's goods.
To be able to live in a way that fulfills our purpose in being here.
And if our hearts get taken up?
With the desire.
For more than that.
And again, I want to use the word if our hearts get taken up, we're not saying that God may not. And very often it happens that a Christian is an honest and diligent and upright worker in his work and.
Receives appropriate proper.
Payment for that diligence and in turn is able to accumulate more and I'm not saying a word against that, but I'm saying brethren that if.
The process in itself of having takes a hold in the heart.
We've lost the source or the basis of contentment.
I go back to the dear brother and sister in Peru that pierced themselves through with many sorrows in their life.
It started with the.
Earth Floor.
The keywords were if only.
The test, at least to my own soul, of whether I am or am not content is whether or not my heart says.
There's always going to be one more thing.
That my eye will set itself upon.
If only I had the newest computer.
If only I had this particular appliance. Whatever, it doesn't matter.
Everyone of us has something.
That will be put before us in that regard. But the the thought in the heart is if only and if only comes in. We need to get in the presence of God to get refocused, if you will, or to judge ourselves that we might be on about our Father's business, which is the representation of Himself and His truth.
To our fellow man.
And so he says with these things.
Let us be content.
I'm just going to take a moment, though, to go on a rather struck with the Apostle Paul. I think he went an extra mile.
Or maybe many extra miles. But turn over to Philippians chapter 4. Most of us, can, I say, would be content if we had the living reality of first Timothy that we've just been in. But I think Paul goes beyond that here in first Timothy or in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 11, he says.
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Not that I speak in respect of want.
For I have learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content. For I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me, notwithstanding ye have well done, and so on.
When I say I believe the Apostle Paul, here goes the extra mile. It's in this sense.
He had learned to be content without even having an adequate amount of food or clothing.
He said. I have learned in whatever and at times, as he says here, he's he's to learn to be hungry.
In his service to God as a patterned St. Really. And God I believe has given us the apostle Paul to.
Show us the pattern.
Did he work? Yeah, I did.
He was a tent maker.
He knew what it was to have different things.
But he wasn't keeping up with it. He actually did it not only to supply his own needs, but for the sake of his brethren. But there were times when, because of his faithfulness to the.
The service entrusted to him by the Lord that he suffered hunger.
And went without suffered privation, he says he was abased.
But he said I've learned even in those circumstances, to be content.
So if you want to learn to go the extra mile, there you are.
This isn't precisely on the subject.
But I believe that in my heart, the need to take it up a little bit because it does have to do, at least in a broad sense, with contentment.
And I want to turn for a few minutes to the book of Esther.
I think most of us are familiar with the broad outlines of the story of Esther, and so we won't try to cover the whole picture of the story here, but.
We know Esther's cousin, I think it was a cousin older than she was by probably by some years, took her into his home and cared for her as his daughter.
When her parent, When she was her parents, when she was orphaned.
And she's a main person in this story, but so her cousin Mordecai is as well. And there's also one of the King's Princess or great men called Haman.
And in chapter 3 Haman is promoted. It says in chapter 3 verse one after these things did King Ahashi whereas promote Haman?
The son of Hamidatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the Princess that were with him, and then.
In verse two, it tells us that everybody, when they saw Haman, because he had gotten this great place of honor in the King's court, were to were to bow down to him.
But one man Mordecai wouldn't do it. Verse five and when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence.
Then Haman was full of wrath.
Now turn over to.
Chapter 5.
And verse seven, Esther is inviting the king and Haman to have a meal with her. Verse seven, she says, then answered Esther and said, my petition and my request is, if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleased the king to grant my petition and perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said. Then when Haman forth that day, joyful and with a glad heart. Sounds good, doesn't it?
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Haman went forth that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the King's gate, that he stood not up nor moved against him, he was full of indignation against Mordechai.
And Haman goes home and talks to his friends and his wife, and he tells them of all the glory of his riches, and how he's been promoted in verse 11 above everybody else. And he says, just, just the king and I have been invited, as it were by the queen in verse 12. And then notice verse 2, verse 13. Yet all this availeth me nothing.
So long as I see more to chaos.
There's not only the if only of substance.
There's the if only people.
I would be content and happy if only this brother or that sister or this person at work was different and treated me in some different way.
God raised up Haman, I think in part as in an individual picture to us as an example, that God knows how to give things to man.
But if he doesn't have them in relationship with God as he should.
There will always be a thorn in them that robs the man of the pleasure.
I don't know if it's an example of it or not, but John D Rockefeller at his time was the richest man in the United States. And he went outside one day of one of his plants and there was a man sitting on the on the grass eating his lunch. And he saw him just eating a simple lunch on the grass. And he went up to the man and talked to him for a couple of minutes. And he said to the man, he said, you know, I'd give $1,000,000.
That was a lot of money on those days. I'd give $1,000,000 if I could sit down and eat.
A sandwich like that?
But he said I've had so much pressure in my life with all that I have that my stomach won't take it.
He had, as it were, something that God allowed to come into his life. That can I say, if only. Just like Haman says, it's all for naughty.
He had all these things, and he was joyful and pleased with himself and all that he had. And then.
And then he saw Mordecai, and just the face of Mordecai spoiled it all for him.
Oh, brethren.
Contentment.
Sight of God does not depend on if onlys.
It does not depend on how this person or that person is treating you.
Your responsibility and mine before God is to show the love of Christ.
To one another.
And to our fellow man.
It is to display God's character.
To maintain the truth of God in this world.
To be characterized.
The Christian is to be characterized by good works.
Created, it says in Ephesians unto good works.
We sometimes and so enjoy the elevated position that we have in Christ that we forget the practical outflowing of it on the earth, he says to them, they're created and the good works.
It is to be the display of God in His own goodness toward man.
Is to be seen in our lives.
Show out.
Who he is?
And it's not.
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A self indulgent, self oriented. I want to have and enjoy as much pleasantness as I can and tell the Lord takes me home and then it's even better.
May God help us. Let's pray.