Cuyahoga Falls Conference: 2023
Table of Contents
Genesis 22:1-2
Reading
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Sorry 72 in the appendix, but though I cannot tell or sing or know the fullness of thy love while here below.
My empty vessel I may freely bring, O thou who art of love, the living spring, my vessel fill.
72 in the appendix.
127 as well, brother.
I'll bless the home, the Father's house.
There love divorce.
What?
Is.
The.
Rainforests on God's Lord being in the heart of the heart, and I can't believe I'm not going to get.
We just say just give him 127. Two things that touch my heart in verse one that we're saying about his Father's love.
In the second stanza, we sang about the son. Who knows?
Is well beloved. I just like to make a suggestion that a portion that I'm sure we all very familiar with.
Genesis chapter 22.
Let someone else have something of their heart. Picking that portion speaks well of the Father and the Son.
Genesis chapter 22, verse one. The cage cops have released things that attempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get the end of the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his *** and took two of his young men with him.
And Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went under the place of which God had told him.
Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the *** and I, and the lad will go Yonder and worship, and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac's son.
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went, both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire in the wood, But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them together, and they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order.
And bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand.
And took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I.
He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.
For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, as is said to this day. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and he said.
By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing.
Thou hast not withheld thy son thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba.
00:15:04
And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba, And it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milka, she hath also borne children unto thy brother Nehor us is first born, Buzzes brother Camuel the father of Aaron, and Chesed, and Hazzo, and Pildash, and Jidlaf, and Bethie. Well, and Beth, you all begat Rebecca. These eight Milka did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother and his concubine, whose name was Rumah. She bear also Tiba.
Gam Deash.
Reading Beating took up the New Testament passages and often the following doctrines. There is no reason that we can introduce many of those thoughts in this chapter.
I like to frame something in our mind too, before we get any deeper into this. We often think of the story of Abraham, the obedience one, and rightly so, and and Isaac, Justice, obedient to the Father's will.
But I'd like to add another thought to this here, and if we can focus on that, that is, This chapter is about God's mind, God's will, and God's commandment to Abraham.
So we have to think of this as is not about me first. We often have thought when we read Scripture is how does that apply to me? I believe that will come naturally. We need to see what does God have in mind. So we find in the very beginning it is is that God did tried Abraham or the King James used the phrase tempted. We'll find in Hebrews He used the word he tried them, it was God.
And what was he to do? He is to bring his son. We often think of that as an offering, but what does it say here? It's a special offering. It is a burnt offering we don't really know much about.
The four or five types of offerings until we get to the book of Leviticus, But here is mentioned, it is a burnt offering. It's an offering specifically.
For God, All of it is for God.
As a sweet smelling savior. So I like to just preference that. As we go through this now, you may see this is still Old Testament. Let me preference something a little bit further. How does the New Testament begin? You can look at it. We should know that it start off by saying the generation of Jesus Christ.
The son of David, the son of Hebron.
If you can't see or do it doesn't it God has this in mind. How does this chapter we read ends now I end interestingly because it applies to us. Well, I'm going to read let's jump down to verse 23 is close enough to the end is that end back duel he got Rebecca.
Why Rebecca? Because she's the bride. Here in this chapter we will read that Isaac was to work, was to be offered up as a third offering for God.
We don't read up Isaac coming back with him, he said. Abraham returned back to his young man. So in type, Isaac was offered up after the death and resurrection as if it were.
A bride was being prepared. So I hope you see where I'm trying to go through this trust of the Spirit of God will guide us to see more of how God has His plan for us.
I.
00:20:01
Is said in verse two. We have a sacrifice of degrees.
It's one thing.
To give up a son.
We think of families where there are several sons and to give up one of several would be at trial.
But then it says thine only son.
That makes it even stronger, doesn't it?
And then?
Whom thou lovers?
And we can't contemplate with our human minds.
What that meant for God the Father.
To send his well beloved.
I'd like to go back to verse one just a little bit, but we mentioned that God is trying Abraham. I thought perhaps we can take an application here for us too. Have we been tried?
Have there been time that we felt that we're going through trials and difficulties?
Don't know about you. I know I have. And I'm sure many in this room have gone through different trials. And as we grow a little bit in Greece, we learned that the Lord allowed that for our learning, for our strengthening of faith. But interesting to see here. When Abraham was tried, he said. And I thought this is interesting because often we crumble under trials here, Abraham said.
Behold.
Here I am, obedience to God's will.
Even though trying time is ahead of him. Can we say that when we're in difficulties and say to the Lord, here I am. He's basically saying, Lord, what would you have me to do? Can we truly say thy will be done? It may not be pleasant. And as Bruce mentioned, giving up a son, the only son. That's a great trial, that's a great testing, here I am.
And.
The fact that God is love is significant.
And so he says, Take now thy son, thine only son. You know, he had Ishmael, but he was not a son of promise. This was the son of promise.
And offer him up for a burnt offering.
I don't know if I'm right, but I think it's basically before Leviticus. It's only burnt offerings that were are mentioned, aren't they?
I don't remember for sure, but.
That's the predominant offering before the levitical order was given that.
Like you say, it's a picture of the Lord Jesus completely.
Dedicated to God the Father's glory, so he's going to be burnt to ashes.
And to think of how that Abraham. I just marvel, brethren, that.
Verse three it says he rose up early in the morning.
He didn't delay at all.
And we know in the New Testament what it says, that he knew that God could even raise him from the dead.
If God had given him a son when he was 100 years old.
And his wife was 90 years old.
Something that was miraculous, really.
Would there be anything too hard for God to raise him from the dead? And since God had already promised him that his seed was going to be like the stars of the heaven and as the sand by the seashore, why it was a matter of simply believing God. Would God forego? If we're going to burn him to ashes, would God forgo that promise? No.
00:25:04
Abraham knew that and I think that's beautiful. That's that's faith tested, exercised.
Probably signify a sweet smell. We often associate things with words. So if we were to associate burnt. So if a house was on fire and you go there afterwards you smell the burnt smell of the house. But I do not believe that's the thought in connection with burnt. Awfully is a sweet smelling. Savour the Lord, look at that essence.
It was nice.
Is for him so here he was to offer that up even though he's testing Abrahams faith. We see Abraham have to fade. I'm going to jump ahead. We'll see look look at the latter part of verse five. He he said told the young man I and the lad will go Yonder and worship. Well that's nice. It's going to go where the Lord asked him to go, but then he said and come again to you.
He has that confidence, but yet his faith took him further than that. And I'm jumping ahead again. We find that he was ready with that knife, the thrust into his son. The Lord as it waited, waited and testing, and that as if it was still the last moment, they waived Abraham. Now I see your faith. So when we are in trials and difficulties, we have to remember that the Lord knows.
Because often things look so dim, looks like there's no way out. And actually when we read you the word of God, we often bring ones to the lowest point where we can see that there is no way out. Then we see his hand coming into the box because He knows how hard. If you don't like me, I will say, Lord, it's OK. There's one more thing I can try. I got this. And then when that failed, our hearts were, well, maybe I missed something. There's another thing I can try.
Instead of leaving it in the Lord's hand.
People to get ahold of that God's promises are true. You can trust God.
There is one thing.
That we do that God cannot do that is lie. So if he gives you a promise.
You can trust it. Well, maybe I don't understand. Well, that's a possibility. I don't understand very well the word of God, but.
Get to know the promises of God.
Exceeding great and precious promises.
And let me tell you, young people, if you believe them, the Lord may allow you to be tested how far your belief goes.
And it's something that is true in the life of faith.
That if you believe God, you're going to be tested. How?
Real is that faith, you say? And so here it is, the test of faith for Abraham. I can't think, like you say, of a harder task to do than to take your son and to go and offer him a burnt offering. But that was the test. And Abraham?
There is no sign of any back talk to God, no sign that he said, but Lord, you said this was to be the Son of promise. No back talk, simply obey. And that shows how much you really trust God. How much do you owe me?
Taking out the honorable form of connection.
Be leaving, he could say in Acts chapters 27 for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. That's confidence, isn't it? And it was clear. It was clear to him. God said it, I believe it. And as we say, that settled.
00:30:08
Like to comment on two things have already been brought before us. As Bob said, this chapter is the first chapter in the Bible that brings love before us.
Also, David said one of the thoughts of the chapter is the purpose of God, What's in the mind and will of God. I'd like to connect those two thoughts with the chapter by what I believe the Spirit of God gave to us in hymn 127. I'm going to reread the first verse and a little of the second verse and then comment on these things. I'll bless the home, the Father's house.
Their love, divine death, rests. What else could satisfy the hearts of those in Jesus? Bless.
This home made ours His Father's love, our hearts full portion given the first portion of the first born Son, the full delight of heaven. Oh what a home, the Son who knows he only.
All His love and brings us to His well beloved, to that right rest of all.
Everything that's the purpose and will begins in the heart of God as to what will last. And here we have brought before us in this chapter the preeminent, I believe thought is what's in the heart of God.
And the heart of God is seen here in the way in which he tempts Abraham. He uses Abraham as a means to display a truth to us.
And.
We don't have the son's love in this chapter. Isaac is simply there and the father of Isaac is the one that makes all the decisions and Isaac is just simply passive, if you will in the chapter.
But the father?
As we talk about Abraham, what was he willing? Was he willing to obey? Yes, he was, and we see faith in Abraham. But what about the Father, our God? Was he willing to give? Was his love strong enough that he was willing to give?
And of course, we know the answer. He was. And so he takes, in reality his own son.
To be the burnt sacrifice. It's God's heart that produced that, in which His Son would give everything to himself and the Son here and type. For example, they clave the wood for the burnt offering. That's the manhood of both Son brought before us in figure, and so it's the two of them together.
That go alone.
For the offering.
And that's the truth of what it costs. The father, his son and he had to go together. We had nothing to do with it in purpose and thought, in heart or any other way. We were just get to see it, if you will, in picture here. And so the father's heart was satisfied.
But at the cost of his son giving everything to himself.
But.
The other side of it is.
And it's also the Father's heart, but it's the other side of it. The sun here is passive. We don't see anything of his love here, but we get it in John's Gospel. We get the sons heart displayed to us in the Gospel of John. And he says in the 14th chapter, I'm going to go to my father's house.
But what is his joy?
The Father wants the son to have his joy.
We sang 127. We sang in the in the appendix.
The 22 is it, and you find the word high in there a whole lot of times. Why? Because we're so fixed on our joy and we miss out on the greater joy. The Father's joy is preeminent, and we should learn to make it preeminent in our own hearts. But following that.
00:35:22
What does the father do for the son? He says to the son, I want your joy, your joy, my son to be full. And how's his son's joy going to be full?
He says you've got to be with me in my father's house, and then I'll be satisfied. If I bring you to my father's house, my father's joy. And my joy will be fully, perfectly satisfied. And so when he's leaving us here on earth and John, he's returning to the father's house. But is his joy satisfying? Not yet, not yet. And it won't be until you're there.
And I'm there, and then he sees in us the fruit of the travail of the soul, his soul's love, and he's satisfied, and the father satisfied because he can't be satisfied unless the heart of his son is at rest and enjoy. And that's in my own soul. That's the preeminent purpose of this chapter.
We got faith tested and so on, and Abraham, and it's an important thing for us to learn. But Even so, if we talk about purpose, Abraham doesn't have a clue in this chapter what's going on. There's absolutely no intelligence in his soul except the question of obedience and submission. And Abraham is the father of faith to us because he submits and obeys even when he knows nothing.
And that's another purpose of the chapter. But we miss a lot if we if we don't see in a the purpose of the Father's heart for us and the satisfaction of the complementary satisfaction of the Sun.
There's a thought that.
What you're saying, Brother Dawn, with regards to Abraham's faith?
In that first verse.
A man of faith always answers the same way Abraham did here he said, behold, here am I. It's the way a man of faith answers. But to me, what really emphasizes.
Abraham's faith that there was number question here as to what he was going to do, but the burnt offering was a voluntary offering.
We don't get that until we get to Leviticus that.
God is not confined with time. The burnt offerings was a voluntary offer.
Burnt offering is mentioned at least three times. We find that we read that earlier in verse two that God said to Abraham to take his son. He said for a burnt offering.
What's your thought? And then Abraham said that as well in verse six. He took the word, this is Abraham took the word of the current offering.
Then we find Isaac in verse seven. He said behold the fire and the word, but where is the lamb for burnt offering? So we see the Godhead is working on this together.
What the university and Leviticus chapter one voluntary offering and I thought of that portion there and how one would might take their.
Their best lamb or their best animal without blemish, it says, and offered as a burnt offering. But.
This man was going to offer his only son, Isaac, and what it must have been for him to consider that and to obey it in complete dependence upon God and his authority and his guidance. And that's the picture for you and I. And, and when we consider that little portion in this chapter that says God will provide himself a lamb, we see that in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't we behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world? And we often read that verse in first Peter.
00:40:10
Chapter One. For as much as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of Lamb, without blemish and without spot. And he offered Him up.
For us there, we even read it in Isaiah, don't we? When?
He wrote here am I send me And he voluntarily went to the Cross forest, didn't he?
I think if you look in John chapter 5, there's a little bit more there.
That speaks about the father and the Son.
Further rule is bringing out.
And.
John 5 and verse 19 it says the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do for what things. So whatever he do, what things so ever he doeth these also do with the sun. Likewise for the Father loveth the Son, and show with him all things that himself do it, that he will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
And so on. He says, verse 23, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.
He that honoreth, not the Son on earth, not the Father which hath sent him.
Verse 26. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have light in himself.
Participating in that expression to that was called the mind in verse 2.
For a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell the other by contrast, and 2nd Kings chapter four we have name it and.
God told Naaman a specific river that he was to.
He submerged in but then he questioned that, didn't it? Aren't the rivers of Urbana and far Par those rivers in his own land?
Better.
He didn't accept the.
The provisions for his own blessing. And it was that river, the Jordans that he was to dip himself. He questioned it. But here Abraham does not question it doesn't. Here's a specific commandment. I don't question it. It's God's will.
Servants that.
Encouraged him, and he was encouraged to do it, to do what God had said. God didn't change his his instructions, did he? But naman.
In a gracious manner, too, didn't they? My father had gone.
Burnt offering being holy for God is connected with.
Fact that it's voluntary in a greater sense.
That God had a choice.
He could say I will or I won't.
He could send his son, he was not obligated to and the other offerings it was an obligation to offer. If it was a sin offering or a trespass offering the one who offered, there was no choice in it. It was a commandment.
It was an obligation to do what you had to do because of your sin.
You couldn't provide the offering really yourself. That is the lamb. There had to be a lamb for you to offer. But with God it's not. So God didn't have to.
Do it. But He voluntarily chose to send His Son. The Son likewise in deity could say, hear my, send me. And so with the Son there was that voluntary will, as in perfect unity with God the Father to do it. Having become a man, He puts aside His will completely to do the will of the Father.
00:45:08
I do always those things which please the Father characterized his life perfectly. And so in that way he's passive as to will as we see him, the sun, passive as to will in this chapter. And yet it's a wonderful thing to recognize. It's another expression of the greatness of the love of God that's brought out in this chapter that he voluntarily chose.
To have a sin offering.
Army as well, I should say, have his Son the for himself a burnt offering, and we do well to, as it were in some sense, put aside our own needs and whatevers, and see the heart of God manifested even in the offering.
Like to perhaps look at a practical example. Brother mentioned Leviticus, one that give us a detail of the offerings of the burnt offering I'm thinking of. The smallest of it is the turtle Duff. Let's turn to that. There may be something we can learn from that. Leviticus chapter one.
When one is to bring in a turtle down, there is a set of things there to do. Now, of course there are other things. If you're rich, you can bring in an oxygen, a Bullock, and so on.
But this is the part I got in my heart there, verse 15.
Perhaps I'll start at verse 16. And this is for the turtle dot. And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side by the place of the ashes. So the first thing, this offering, even though it was a willing offering coming in, what does this the priest have to do the crop?
What's the crop? Guess the gizzard and some of you who raised chicken would know what that is. Chicken eat almost anything. I remember we used to have chicken when we were young and I remember we used to tea stones. Not a good thing. You throw rubber bands on the ground and they would, they would just gobble it up thinking as it were and where does it go? It go into the gizzard and you go into the crop. A lot of undigested food.
So we have things that we haven't meditated on, but we know we can repeat it. Have you make it good for your own soul if it's just part of the crop, things that you are just repeating and echoing? Is that here? The Lord just said take it, cast it away into the ashes. So we need to make the word of God good to our own soul. But then what about the feather?
Again, how many of you have seen?
A chicken before the feather has been plugged, you look at the size of a chicken and once you pluck the feather off, the sides look a lot smaller. I think the feather as if it was something that, well today I guess we can use the phrase it's for the show. We fluff it up to look bigger. No Peacocks do that. There is a form of a hand and they flubbed up those big feather to make it look so huge.
Supposingly pretty, the Lord said all this fluffs, cast them aside. So when we come to the Lord now, there's more to it. I don't want to seek too much more of the time on that. You have to cleave it and so on, so that everything is exposed, so that it can't find any fault as if it were. But it's an interesting thought for me to think of even the simplest of the offering. The Lord wants reality. He wants that faith from our hearts, the obedience, like Abraham of old.
To do what he was asked to do.
I just want to make a quick comment about suffering.
In a first in Philippians chapter one and verse 29, it says unto you, it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. We may be called on to suffer in in unimaginable ways. And as you mentioned earlier, David, we've all suffered to different extents, but we can't choose our own Crucible.
00:50:00
We can't decide how I'm going to suffer.
We've been talking about voluntary.
Suffering voluntary burnt offering. Are we willing?
To accept what God has given to us to suffer.
It may be very difficult.
But the Lord gives us the grace to go through the suffering, and there's just one verse I want to read in First Corinthians 10 and verse 13.
The temptation, the the testing.
1St Corinthians 10 verse 13 There hath no temptation taking you.
But such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that she may be able to bear it. Some people have to go through incredible suffering in difficult times, and we wonder how can they bear it?
Without the Lord, how can we bear? But the Lord? He goes through these difficult times with us, and He wants us to know that He's there for us.
We take 18 in the back, 18 in the appendix.
And.
I.
Believe Lord.
Genesis 18.
There are 17.
And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do both in prayer?
Jonah
Gospel—Tim Roach
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Good evening.
Let's start this evening by singing hymn #4.
Christ is the Savior of sinners. Christ is the Savior. For me, the Savior of sinners will sing the 1St 2 verses.
Christ is the Savior of.
Grace.
Straight.
The lady had a Dalmatian puppy.
The lady had a fear of birds, especially when they're flying indoors.
She had a phobia of flying fowls.
Well, a bird got into the basement, and she didn't know it. She went into the closet. There was a little door on the floor of the closet, and the bird came up and when she opened the closet door, the bird flew out and it frightened her.
She went and opened the outside door so the bird would hopefully go out of the house and then she ran into the bedroom.
With the puppy and close the door to protect the puppy from the bird.
But the bird would not go out. We're just flying around the house.
And so the lady got brave and she went to the kitchen to get the phone and called the neighbor. And the neighbor came with a tea towel and caught the bird and put it outside.
There was danger in the house.
But there is a way of escape.
Let's sing the last two verses of #4.
Justice.
00:05:09
A young man, he worked all night and then he worked all day and then he worked again all night and he thought he could manage without sleep. The father received a call the next morning. Hi dad. I can't get my car out of the ditch. And so the father came to the rescue.
The young man had fallen asleep and he woke up with a problem.
Thankfully there was a solution.
Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping in your sins? That is a problem because you are going to crash and burn. You need to wake up to your problem now. Jesus is your solution. Let's go to the book of Jonah.
Jonah Chapter one and I want to talk about Jonah tonight.
Jonah chapter one, Verse one.
Now the word of the Lord came unto Joan of the son of Mittai.
The Lord called Jonah. He called him to go to Nineveh. The people of Nineveh needed help, but they didn't know that they needed help. They were bad sinners. They would tell lies. They would pinch their brother or their sister.
They would scream if they didn't get what they wanted.
They take a cookie off the plate.
When mom wasn't looking.
They would fight, they would argue, and they would yell at each other.
They were selfish and they wanted everything for themselves and they did some other very bad things and they lived like there was number God.
They were bad sinners and judgment was coming. They needed help. And so God called Jonah to go and help them. Jonah, you need to go and help these people. They need a way of escape. I have a message of warning for them. I want you to take them this message.
Have you ever needed to call for help? That is why we are here tonight.
Because you need help. You are a bad Sinner and there is danger coming for you any day now.
The wages of sin is death.
And the lake of fire is waiting for you.
Do you know that you need help?
You need to call the Lord Jesus for help.
You can pray to God, Lord Jesus, I am a Sinner. I need help.
Lord, save me.
The Lord Jesus wants to save you, and He's waiting for you to call upon him, And he will save you from your sins, and He will save you from the punishment of your sins, and He will give you.
Eternal life. The people of Nineveh. They needed help, but they didn't know it. But they would soon find out that they needed help.
Jonah. He was also going to learn that he needed to call on the Lord for help to save him from his trouble.
Jonah one, verse two and three.
Lord said, Jonah, Arise and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish.
From the presence of the Lord and he went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to turd, ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with them under Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
The Lord had something for Jonah to do. God had a message of warning for Jonah to share with the people of Nineveh.
And these people were in danger of God's punishment because of their sin.
But Jonah, he did not listen to God. Jonah hated these people of Nineveh. They were his enemies. And Jonah was selfish. He did not want God to give a warning to Nineveh because he thought they deserved to die. But God is not willing that any should perish. He's not willing that anyone should go to hell. So God gives everyone in the world.
00:10:16
Witness.
Of God, so that all have an opportunity to believe in God and to trust him.
Jonah. He did not obey God. He ran the other way.
He ran away from God. He got on a boat to sail across the waters.
Everyone here tonight, I think everyone here tonight knows the gospel. You've heard the message of God's love and of Christ crucified, and some of you have heard it many times.
But why? You have not accepted Jesus as your savior yet. Why? Why are you waiting? Why are you resisting? Why are you running away from God?
Do you think you can get away from God and avoid eternity? No, you cannot. You cannot get away from God. It is appointed unto man and to woman. And child wants to die.
In other words, you have an appointment with death.
After death will come the judgment. You are preparing your body with your sinful life to be sentenced to eternal destruction in the damnation of hell.
You cannot avoid the judgment unless unless you accept Jesus. Jesus took the punishment for you so that you can go free.
Verse four, Jonah one.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty Tempest in the sea.
So that the ship was like to be broken.
Jonah was sailing on the boat to get away from God, but he could not get away. God followed Jonah. God sent a big wind to rock Jonah's boat. You cannot get away from God, read verse 5. When the Mariners, then the Mariners. That's the people that were working on the ship. The Mariners were afraid and they cried every man unto his God and cast forth the wares.
That were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them, but Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship.
And he lay and was fast asleep.
The people working on the boat, they prayed to their gods because they were afraid, but their gods could not hear them. Their gods could not answer their prayers.
Who do you pray to when you are afraid? When you have trouble?
Sometimes children say they have my teddy bear, or it's my Bunny, or my blanket, or my friends, and these are all nice to have, but they cannot answer your prayers. Only God can answer your prayer.
The false gods of the ship crew.
They could not answer their prayers. Jonah, who had the one true God. He was not praying. Jonah was down in the bottom parts of the ship, where it was dark. He was sleeping. Jonah was angry. He was discouraged. He was depressed. And when people get depressed.
They want to sleep all day. That was Jonah.
And when they're depressed, they start thinking about ways to get out of their problem and justice. Like Jonah, sometimes they think about suicide and life becomes very dark for them.
But God does not want to leave you in the dark.
It's time to wake up and call upon God.
Verse six, Jonah, one. Verse six. So the shipmaster came to Jonah, and said unto him, What meanest thou sleeper arise, call upon thy God? If so be that God will think upon us that we perish not.
The captain of the ship.
He found Jonah. What are you doing down here? Sleeping. Wake up, Jonah. Pray to your God. Maybe he will be able to.
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Save us.
The message for you tonight is a Waco sleeper. It's time for you to be saved in Jonah One verse 9 and 10.
Jonah said unto them, I am in Hebrew, And I fear the Lord the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
It is a very dangerous thing to run away from God. It is dangerous for you, and it's dangerous for the people around you. Look at Jonah. It was dangerous for him, and he got everybody else on the boat in danger because of his sin, because he was running away from God. And if you run away from God, you will begin thinking badly about God, and you will think badly about other Christians, and you will discourage.
Others.
You will drag your friends down with you. Do you want to take your friends down? To hell with you.
Don't do it. It's a dangerous game that you are playing.
Verse 11.
Then said they unto Jonah, What shall we do unto you? That the sea may be calm unto us? For the sea wrought, and was tempestuous?
By this time, God was really rocking Jonah's boat. Jonah knew that he was in trouble because he had run away from God. He was disobedient. He knew that he had sinned against God, and he knew that God was following him.
Do you know that your lives?
And you're pinching your sister, and you're snitching your cookie and your selfishness.
It is sin. It is sin against God. Yes, it's a sin against your brother or your sister.
But it's a sin against God. But we don't always think of it that way. I'm just taking a cookie, but it's a sin against God.
Jonah verse 12 and 13.
And he said unto them.
Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. So shall the sea become unto you. For I know that for my sake this great Tempest is upon you.
Nevertheless, the men rode hard to bring it to the land, but they could not, for the sea rot and was tempestuous against them. Tempestuous means it was very stormy, with high winds and big waves, and it was so bad that the men were afraid. They lived their life on the waters. They knew what storms were like, but they were afraid of this storm. No, they didn't want to throw Jonah overboard into the water.
They did not want to be responsible for Jonah's death, and so they rode hard. They tried to get to the the out of the storm. And you might think that by rowing hard you can try, and you can do what's right. You can work hard to honor God and please him, but you can't do it. You think maybe it will help me get to heaven if I do some good things, but there's nothing you can do to satisfy God about your sins.
Except accepting the Lord Jesus Christ and his death.
For your salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, he went down into the waters of death.
For you.
Jonah. I like to look at him as a picture of the death of Christ. You know, the man on the ship, they could not be saved unless Jonah went down into the waters of death.
That's like the Lord Jesus. He had to go down into the waters of death to take the punishment.
For your sins, verse 14.
Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, Let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood. For thou, Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
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So they took up Jonah, and they cast him forth into the sea, And the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
They didn't want to throw Jonah into the water, but they realized it was the only way. So they picked Joan up and they threw him into the water.
Splash. And there he was in the water and the waters became very calm. There were animals on the boat.
And they could use some of these animals to offer a sacrifice to God.
And then they made vows and they made promises to God. I don't know what they promised because we're not told, but they made promises to God in their vows. Maybe they said God, if you save us from this storm, we will believe that you are the one true God.
Do you fear the Lord Jesus Christ?
Do you believe that Jesus is the one true God?
Will you accept Jesus as the sacrifice for your sin?
You might make vows to God and promise God that you will be a good person.
But none of that will save you. Only believing and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can save you. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Verse 17.
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days and three nights.
As the men were enjoying the calm waters, they could look over the edge of the ship.
They could see Jonah down there, floundering like a fish in the dark waters of the sea.
And as they are watching, they were astonished to see a big fish come along, and come up to the surface and come closer and closer. And they saw the big mouth open, and it swallowed. Joan Jonah was gone from sight. They would see him no more, and they sailed off in the calm waters.
Imagine the terror in their hearts as they saw Jonah being eaten by the big fish.
It was a very fearful experience for Jonah too, as he was floundering in the water.
He could see the big fish approaching him, and the big mouth open and coming towards him, coming closer and closer. And Jonah went down into the mouth of the fish and down the gullet and settled down in the darkness of the belly of the fish.
You know, Jonah wanted darkness down in the in the bottom of the ship so he could sleep through his depression.
And now he was enveloped in the inner darkness of the belly of a fish, and his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death.
If you reject the Lord Jesus again tonight.
You have the prospect of being enveloped in outer darkness in the bottomless pit of hell, and you'll have inner darkness in your soul.
An outer darkness for your physical body as you flounder in the eternal destruction of the lake of fire.
The only thing Jonah could do was pray.
He did not pray to my bunion.
He did not pray to the false gods.
Jonah called on the eternally existent God, the Lord of heaven and earth. He prayed to the one who created the fish.
Jonah chapter 2.
Verse one.
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord. And he heard me out of the belly of hell, cried I, and thou heardst my voice.
Jonah knew.
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That the Lord was still following him.
He knew the hand of the Lord was there, ready to save him. And so Jonah cries to the Lord, and the Lord is here. He's ready to save you tonight. He's waiting for you to call upon him. The Lord heard Jonah cry out for help.
And God was going to answer Jonah, but not for three days.
The Lord was going to save Jonah in God's time.
Do you hear the Lord Jesus calling you today?
He says Come, come. I love you. I have loved you with an everlasting love.
I am going to follow you until you come to me.
Come.
And I will give you rest. I will take away your anxiety. I will calm the waters and the fears of your soul. And I will give you peace. Believe in me. Trust me. Come to me, and I will give you eternal life. And you will never perish. And nobody will be able to take you away from me. Not your friends, not Satan.
And not even yourself. You cannot get out of the hands of Jesus. You are safe.
Forever.
Are you saved? Can you remember when you asked the Lord Jesus to save you?
Do you believe on Jesus?
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall immediately be saved.
And if you trust that the word of God is true, and you believe that Jesus means what he says.
You can have assurance that you are saved and you don't need to worry about it again.
Trust Jesus. Trust Jesus with all your heart and you can know.
That you have eternal life.
Verse 5.
The waters compassed me about even to the soul. The depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about my head. This verse reminds me about the Lord Jesus at the cross. The Lord Jesus went down into the waters of trouble when he was punished for our sins, and while he suffered on the cross he called for help. He said, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me?
There is no answer from God.
There was number help for Jesus. He received only the punishment and the death that we.
Deserve.
Christ died for our sins.
When I was a boy.
There was a fisherman. He had three sons.
Mark, Amos and Robin.
And their father was a fisherman and the mother had died and they had no one to take care of them. And so there's another brother and sister in the assembly there. They took them into their home. And these young boys, they're about my age and they grew up with with us and and we got to know them pretty well. And when Amos got older, he became a fisherman also. And one day he was out in his ship way, I don't know how many miles, 50-60 miles out in the ocean fishing.
And when you're fishing and you need a bucket of water, sometimes you lean over and you get the water.
But if the boat's moving a little bit, it can pull you in. And somehow Amos went overboard in the Atlantic Ocean, the cold waters of the North Atlantic.
Those waters are so cold you don't have much time before you go under.
Most of the fishermen there don't know how to swim because it won't do them any good.
But Amos?
He had no answer. He could call, but there is no one to answer. And Amos went down under the waters and he went down, down down to the bottom of the ocean.
He still at the bottom of the sea. That was some years back.
Jonah 2 verse six I went down to the bottoms of the mountains.
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The earth with her bars was about me forever, yet thou hast brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.
Now, Jonah, he went down in the water.
Amos who went down in the water. You are down in the water, buried in your sin.
The waters are washing you away into the lake of fire, where you will never have an opportunity to get out. At that point, it's game over for you.
When I was a boy.
That was bad.
And my mom, She had a wooden spoon. She had it in the kitchen drawer. Sometimes I'd hear my mom searching through that drawer, looking for that wooden spoon. Then I'd hear the footsteps coming up the stairs. And as the punishment came closer and closer.
I would quickly pad my bottom side with extra clothes.
But mom would always get me on the leg below the padding. Ow ow ow that really hurt.
But imagine if it never stopped.
Oh.
For eternity the screaming and the torment of the flames of hell will be unbearable for you.
The judgment of hell that God had prepared for the devil and his demons is far worse than a wooden spoon.
God has no other choice for where to put you if you reject Jesus.
Verse 7.
When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came in unto thee into thine holy temple.
Jonah remembered the Lord. He was inside the fish's belly, where it was so dark. But he remembered the Lord, and he called for help. I have sinned. Oh Lord, save me.
And the Lord heard Jonas prayer his cry for help.
But now we have a problem.
The problem is sin.
Are you a Sinner?
You may say, well, I'm not sinning right now.
But when you do not obey.
For when you are selfish, you do that because you are a sin.
Whether you're sitting right now or not, you are a Sinner and that's why you sin some of the times. All of the times.
Some people are bad sinners.
Some people are good sinners.
But your goodness is useless.
Being good cannot save you. Every Sinner needs to call on the Lord Jesus to save you from your sin.
Verse 9. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of Thanksgiving.
I will pay that, I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.
Jonah knew that he was going to be saved by the Lord, and you can know that you are saved too.
You don't have to fear when things don't go right, you can know that you have eternal life.
Verse 10.
And the Lord spake unto Jonah, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
This verse is another proof that God is the creator. This world was made by intelligent design. The Lord spoke to the fish and the fish obeyed the Creator.
The fish vomited Jonah unto dry land.
That sounds disgusting. That is so humiliating for Jonah.
We have all vomited before and it's not nice.
Jonah became a piece of Vilnius.
And he had to be humbled like this so he could be saved.
And when we are in our sin, we are no better than a peace of vomit.
There is no good in us. There is none good. No, not anybody. Not you, not me. We are nothing without Christ. But you know Jonah, he did not care about the humiliation of becoming a piece of vomit. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. And so Jonah was happy to be out of the fish's belly and on dry land. Now he was ready to go and serve and to do the will of the Lord.
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In the city of Nineveh. And so the Lord called Joan again and said Jonah go to the city of Nineveh.
Verse 9 says that Jonah was thankful. We also need to be thankful for what the Lord has done for us. You know God wants to save you.
And he wants to give you eternal life so that you can be a worshiper of God the Father.
And of his Son Jesus Christ, I want to read one final passage of Scripture.
In Romans 5 verse 8:00 and 9:00.
Romans 5 verse eight and nine. God commends his love toward us.
In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us much more than being now justified by His blood.
We shall be saved from wrath through him.
Let us sing #11.
The first two verses of #11.
Will you?
In verse 3.
Will your anchor hold in the floods of death when the waters chill cold chill your latest breath? I can just think of Amos as he was in those cold North Atlantic waters.
And that cold water chilled.
His latest breath, if that was you.
There's a lake just out here.
If you slip into the water and you can't reach the bottom.
You might panic.
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Amos, he went to the bottom.
And he didn't. He will not come out until the Lord comes to call us to heaven.
Are you ready? Are you ready for the Lord Jesus to come? If the Lord Jesus doesn't come soon, he promises he will come soon, but there's a chance that you could die very easily.
You need to be ready to meet the Lord Jesus.
Let's sing the last verse.
Will your anchor.
If you want to be saved tonight, or you want to have assurance of your salvation, or if you have any questions, ask your mom. Ask your dad.
Ask Ask your friend and if you want to you can come and talk to me. I'll be here around for the this weekend.
Follow That Which Is Good
Genesis 22:3-24
Reading
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No tongue declared, Oh, give our hearts its depth to prove and reign without arrival there from thee, O Lord, we all receive thine, Holy Thine alone we'd live 274.
Hey, Cortana.
These are completely.
Although I've ever had.
Continue with Genesis chapter 22.
I would suggest perhaps reading from verse 3. Read from verse 3.
Chapter 22, Verse 3.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his *** and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clayed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went under the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.
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And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the *** and I, and the lad will go Yonder.
And worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son.
And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went, both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, my father. And he said, Here am I my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an alt sorry. And Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.
For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.
And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh, as it is said to this day. In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.
And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said by myself, have I sworn, saith the Lord, For because thou hast done this thing.
And has not withheld thy son, thine only, son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
Because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. And it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milka, she hath also borne children unto thy brother. Nahor has his first born. And Buzz's brother Camuel the father of Aaron, and Chested, and Hazzo, and Pill Dash, and Jitlap, and Bethuel.
And Bethiel begat Rebecca. These eight Milka did bear to Nehor, Abraham's brother and his concubine, whose name was Rumah. She bare also Teba and Gahem, and Dehash and Mayaka.
I like to connect the first verse and the third verse together as we talk about Abraham's faithfulness toward God. He has faith, He has worked. He did not hesitate. So we commented yesterday that Abraham answered to God was behold, here I am. It shows his willingness. He didn't question what God wanted him to do.
They just simply say here I am. What an example to us when there when God has called us to do something. You know, we sometimes as children and perhaps even parents here where children would appreciate this. You call your young child or teenager over and you know that even before you ask them to do something. You see the attitude that I don't want to do this. It's not for me.
They will argue, Can you imagine you have a child that will come when you call for the name? They'll say, behold, here I am.
Mom dad, what would you like me to do now then in verse three it gives us more sense. It sets here and he rose up early in the morning. Now I don't know about you when there are things that I don't like to do things that I dread doing I don't get to it right away. I wait and here what an opposite. It was the thing that Abraham.
Not despised, must have grieved him to offer up his Son as a burnt offering, but yet because of his obedience to God, he rose up early as if he couldn't wait. He couldn't wait to do God's will.
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I have a question now, but I was wondering if someone could help me understand what gave.
Support The law is going up, but it's not quite Deuteronomy chapter 18 and verse 10. I think it's pathogen Leviticus also, but they're in Leviticus chapter, sorry, Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 10. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire.
And that was an abomination of the people of the land.
Of course, Abraham had here a very.
Close relationship with the Lord, but is there anything further that we should understand about how how it was known that this command of human sacrifice was was was ripe and for Abraham to do, but it would be clearly wrong under the under the law there.
School gardens were very slowly better.
This chapter is just one phase of the life of Abraham and the question is what gave him confidence. You have to go back to chapter 12 to start to get an answer to that question.
In chapter 12 it says Now the Lord God. In verse one, Now the Lord God had said unto Abraham, yet thee out of thy country.
And from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee, this is the beginning. God calls Abraham. He was living in a land of idolatry and among his family and his friends and so on in that land. And God calls him and says, Abraham, you're going to leave. I call upon you to leave everything that you've had in your life up to this point.
To go somewhere you've never been and somewhere you don't know what it's like.
And when you leave it?
I'll show you where to land. He didn't even know where he was going to stop. He was simply called to leave everything behind and go.
That's why in one sense he's called the Father of faith, because he is the first example in Scripture that we have of what it is to live by faith. And faith to be lived begins with the developing of a trust that God is to be trusted. Whether I have any idea or not what's going to happen, God is to be obeyed whether I have any idea or not what the outcome is going to be.
Of the result of that obedience, Abraham didn't learn the lesson immediately.
He starts out, but before very long if we follow the chapters which follow.
He ends up in Egypt, a picture of the world. What sent Abraham down to Egypt? His faith wasn't developed and it had to have learning by the experiences of life. And every one of us is in that same school. God has called us by faith, and in the beginning of that journey we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's just the beginning of the learning of what faith would bring us into.
And so.
The process starts in chapter 12, and I'm not going to try to develop it through the chapters that we would be done and not get through the first verse. But as it says in chapter 13, verse one, and Abraham went up out of Egypt, he'd already gone down to Egypt and in faith he doesn't want to let the king understand who his wife really is. He doesn't count upon God to preserve.
So he mixes his faith with some of his own devices, if you will, to protect himself in the circumstances. Because she was one that was beautiful and so on. But when we get to Chapter 22.
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Abrahams faith has been developed to that point where we can see him in the primary character of the chapter, which is a picture to us of the love of God the Father. And the first part of this chapter, as we had yesterday, is the major really thought of it until verse.
Through verse 14 from verse 1 to 14 there's a picture we see an M faith and we've been emphasizing what he did in obedience and so on. But it's all that which he had already gone through the process of learn and God's trying him in verse one to say have you learned the lessons yet Abraham and he had he had learned the lesson of being a heavenly man and he had gone out from his country not knowing where he went we.
Are to leave the world. We know where we're going. We know we're going to heaven.
What we have to learn by faith to leave the world behind and live as Abraham lived. And so in the 1St 14 verses in this chapter, it's bringing out that he's now a picture of the love of God the Father and the Son and giving his son. And then he in verse 15, you get a new start for himself. And God says, because you've done this, now I'm going to bless you. And so Abraham learns and gets blessing for himself.
As well as the beginning of the family of God on earth. He's the father of the family of Israel and God setting them aside as a people for himself. And that you get the start of that in verse 14.
Wonder if I could add to that.
Instead of looking at Genesis 12, go to Acts 7, which is really the same portion that you brought before us, but Steven takes it up in his discourse in Acts 7.
Acts Chapter 7.
Of course, the previous verse, they're all sitting in the council looking steadfastly on Stephen. The high priest says, Are these things so? And he takes up with what you've been bringing before us. He said, men and brethren and fathers hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he'd dwelt in Karen. And he said unto him, Get thee out of thy country and of thy kindred, and come into the land which I will, I shall show thee.
And then came thee out of the land of the Chaldeans that dwelt in care. And I've I've tried in my own life to try to.
Picture what this looked like.
So just picture Abraham. He's umm.
He's he's there in Mesopotamia.
He he has this message from the Lord.
He loads his camels up or whatever he had. I don't know what he had at that point and and the neighbors, they say so.
So where are you going?
Well, I don't know.
And they say, well, are you kidding me? Here he is. He's all packed up, ready to go.
Obviously with with some intent, Abraham, I'm sure his neighbors recognize them as someone that was a reasonable person. And his answer is I, I don't know where I'm going. And I think that was.
A very impressive in connection with what our brothers bringing before us because if we go over a few chapters in Genesis.
Look at Genesis 15.
I'm going around in circles here, eventually your question, sorry.
So in Genesis 15.
We have this statement. It's repeated enrollments.
Like Paul, It's repeated in Galatians by Paul. It's repeated in James by James.
And it's this statement.
In verse 6.
He believed in the Lord.
And he counted it to him for righteousness. And so we have in Romans, he believed God. We have in James, in Galatians, rather he believed God's.
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Three times in the New Testament, this this item of faith, which is is so impressive that we have it repeated that he obviously developed from that time that he sat on his camel and had to tell his neighbors. I don't know where I'm going. He had the he had to, he had to lay hold of something. And I think what we see in our chapter is, is the experience of him having laid hold on that and now here years later.
As our brothers brought before us, the Lord brings this test to see what was so manifest to so many people that was so real in His life, and with which the Lord desires to be real in our own lives as well.
After 13, the Lord's promise to Abraham in verse 16, I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that man can number the dust of the earth. In shall thy seed also be numbered.
And in chapter 15 the verse was before where you read.
Verse five He said he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven until the number of the stars.
They'll be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And later on, we know that Sarah didn't bear him any children so.
She makes a suggestion and through that suggestion.
A son was born, but it's Ishmael, and the Lord says this shall not be the one through whom I will give you blessing.
And so it seemed pretty impossible situation that Abraham 99 years old. And that's what we have in verse seven, chapter 17.
He's 99 years and nine the Lord.
90 years old and nine. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said I am the Lord Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect.
You know, we, we tend to look at difficulties, brethren, in our own ability to meet those difficulties, and that's what gives place to doubt.
But he is the Almighty God, and I think it's so amazingly wonderful that finally, at 100 years old, Sarah bears him a son, Isaac. And this was must have been a tremendous joy to Abraham's heart.
This was the son of promise, and so now he says.
Take that son and offer him for a burnt offering and you can imagine what it must have meant. But it was so I think this is the way God developed his faith, like you were mentioning, Don, and through those circumstances, through those experiences.
He learned that God is faithful to His Word.
And so when this test came, there is no evidence of any delay on Abraham's part. He rises early in the morning, saddles his *** and goes off to do what God had asked him to do.
You know, Abraham, I don't know how old Isaac must have been at this juncture. I don't know that there's any way of knowing. But the fact that.
Abraham laid on Isaac the wood for the burnt offering, and I would imagine you'd need quite a bit of wood for a burnt offering. He was not just a young boy, he was a young man, probably, we don't know how old, but he was one also, who had evidently seen his father offer sacrifices before.
And so, when they leave the two servants behind, he asks his father.
Where is the Lamb? And I say all these things, brethren, so interesting to me. I just wanted to mention something that I find very helpful. In Romans chapter one, there's an expression. It's mentioned twice in the book of Romans at least.
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In verse.
5 Romans, 1/5.
Apostle Paul says, By whom we have received grace and apostleship or obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name Romans 16.
And verse.
26.
Talking about the revelation of the mystery that is now made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment.
Of the everlasting God made known to all nations for the obedience.
Of faith, that expression, the obedience of faith.
If you really trust God, you're going to obey Him what he says.
If I don't obey him, what am I basically saying? I'm saying, well, this time I think I know a little bit better than God, so I'm going to go my own way. That sounds pretty bad, but that's basically what we're saying if we don't obey. So there's one characteristic of faith. It's obedient. And so we see the obedience of faith in Abraham here in these verses. What a wonderful thing.
I'd like to make another formula, one of the same time will come on and one of those Abraham's. Abraham starts out in the life of faith and as we've already had bought before us he.
He stumbles in it, he has to learn it. And until the 22nd chapter.
Where we have him in a mature faith. But I want to comment on it in connection with the comment made last night in the gospel meeting where Jonah, it was commented on Jonah. There was not only what was going on in Jonah, but he had an effect on those around him.
And so he was having an effect on the others in the boat by his own.
Disobedience to the will of God at that point and not being willing.
In Abraham's case, and in your life and mine, learning the path of faith is a humbling experience.
We're all learned to be humbled in it, and in Abraham's case.
He had been promised a blessing when he was told to go out. And yet what happens? He's old and nothing's happening. You know, sometimes we believe God's going to read the word of God and we say, well, God's going to do this or that. Time passes and it we don't see the result. So what sometimes happens, our faith fails and we take matters into our own hands.
And so he did, Sarah said. I'm old. I can't have kids. I can't have a child. It's too late.
So what happens? The handmaid Sarah was put in the picture and she has the child Ishmael, which is already said in pictures, a child of the flesh. But what's the consequence for Abraham, the children of Israel to this day and in the coming day of tribulation?
Are going to feel the effects of Hagar's descendants. He also when he leaves in chapter 12 when he's called to leave, he takes luck.
Is relative with him.
What's the consequence? Lot wasn't a man of faith like Abraham. He didn't have the same character of faith. And so the effect was Lot chose the world. He goes into Sodom, and while there was faith in law, I believe he has to be dragged out of the city before the judgment falls on it. He'd gone into what we call the world, to live in the world and try to mix the world and have it with his faith and when they go out of it.
His wife, who didn't have faith, has turned into the pillar of salt. But then he.
By his two daughters starts another family, not a family of faith. From that point on, those children, along with Hagar's children, were a constant born in the flesh of Israel.
00:30:08
They became the enemies in many cases of the Israelites. And so the bottom line message is, brethren, we're in the path of faith too. But it's a humbling path. And sometimes when we don't walk in faith, in the learning process, we bring upon ourselves or upon our children or upon the assembly where we are consequences that go well beyond our own generation.
God will thank you, Abraham.
He's proving Abrahams faith, perhaps to us to show that he was right. His faith was counted to him for righteousness. These two verses you mentioned, the one in Deuteronomy and the one here in Genesis 22, they seem contradictory, but I don't believe they're contradictory at all. God never intended to allow Abraham to kill his son. And when Abraham got to the appointed place on the mountain.
God stopped him. He did not allow him to sacrifice his son, to pass his son through the fire. I think perhaps the thought may be substitution.
Abraham turned around and saw behind him a ram caught in the thicket by the horns.
And he was able to use that RAM.
In the place of his son as a substitution.
If you look in verse of our chapter, look in verse 12.
God commands Abraham not to not kill his son, he says in verse 12.
Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from thee. Neighbor him lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, behind him Iran caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for his burnt offering.
In the state of his son. So God never planned for Abraham to go through with this sacrifice of his son. These two verses are not contradictory.
Like to comment?
Part of a verse that was read yesterday and briefly commented on.
Where at the end of verse six it says they went both of them together.
That same expression occurs at the end of verse eight again. So they went both of them together.
And.
Then we see a modification of that statement again in verse 19.
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together. Well, we know that Abraham in this case pictures the Father, and the Lord Jesus would picture that son who willingly gave himself for us. So we see unity here. We see communion between the Father and the Son that was never interrupted.
Which was constant and consistent. And so I believe we have that thought and there were a couple verses that came to mind that.
I was just looking at the other day in connection with walking together, and here it's not the father and the son, but it's the believer walking.
In communion with the Lord and walking in communion with His brethren. Let's just turn to 2nd Kings chapter 2 for a moment.
We see Elijah and Elijah here brought before us in this chapter and I just want to call the mind.
Several expressions that occur here in the chapter the end of verse 6.
And says they too went on. There's a togetherness there, isn't there? There's communion not only with the Lord, but with one another.
The end of verse seven. They too stood by Jordan.
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The end of verse eight, they too went over on dry ground, but I think that verse 11 is a culmination of what we have in the earlier versions and it says and it came to pass as they still.
Went on, we read in Galatians, it says we did run well, who did hinder you? And so it's the Lord's desire that each one of us go on in communion with himself. The Lord looks at the end as well as the beginning. And so may we be like the apostle Paul to finish our course.
With joy. And so I just thought of that word together they.
Still went on.
Just said further justify God and then to Abraham.
Very quickly, Hebrews 11 gives Abraham credit, in God's view for completing what he was told to do. It says in Hebrews 11 clearly that he offered up his only begotten son. Here in this chapter, he was told to offer up his only son, and so he did what God told him to do, and God gives him credit for the ACT. That his son wasn't burnt wasn't something that Abraham could have seen. In fact, Hebrews 11 Says he looked past death to resurrection, something he'd never seen.
But he knew the heart of the gods that was calling to him, giving him instructions, and so he continued on, even though he thought the flames would end up consuming his son. But He carried out what we were reminded yesterday was a voluntary offering. The burnt offering character, the voluntary character of it. God credited him with it in Hebrews 11. There was no inconsistency between what happened and what God told him to do. Also, one other point in Deuteronomy 18.
Verse 9, prior to the instruction in verse 10, the key to that is that they were not to get their instructions from the abominations of the Canaanites. Their instructions were to come from God and they were not to follow the people in the land. What's Abraham doing here is getting his instruction from God. So he's consistent in getting his instruction from God. God's consistent in what he asked him to do and what he credited him with doing.
And there's no.
There's no injustice or inconsistency with God in it. There's one count that you referred to in Hebrews 11. If we read the first part of verse 19, it says accounting that God was able.
That's a powerful statement, isn't it?
I should comment on this. Thank you for the question to a lot of young people here, younger ones too, I think it's good to raise questions and don't feel that you've been corrected. Sometimes we listen to the answer, we feel like we're being corrected. No, we're trying to help. So thank you for that. One more thought. And that is often we found in the Word of God. It would tell us something and then Satan will come along.
And he would trust that just so slightly. Either he adds a little bit to it or take a little bit away from it or simply just lied about it. So it should be an encouragement to us in a sense that we're the search the scriptures, we need to study the scriptures study so that we can be approved of God, not of men. So we know how to cut a straight line when the time comes.
Like that or a few more words about they went together to.
And what it's a picture of.
As we know, here is the burnt offering, and the Father and the Son.
The New Testament picture is carried on in John's Gospel.
And in John's Gospel, you have the character of the burnt offering and you have the Father and the Son going together. And when you get to what we read about in the end of the life of the Lord Jesus, we have nothing about the three hours of darkness recorded for us. We have it in Matthew, we have it in Mark, we have it in Luke, but you don't have it in John.
00:40:10
The Father and the Son together in the matter of atonement, go beyond what is revealed or our capacity to know, and it's well for us to respect and reverence. There are things in which the Father and the Son go together that go beyond whatever we will ever be able to comprehend or understand.
It's their own, and uniquely their own joy.
In some things and their own understanding.
Gardening
Address—Don Rule
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Start this afternoon with the 1St 2 verses of #18 in the appendix.
#18 in the appendix.
And anybody that knows me knows that somebody else going to have to start it.
Turn with me to Genesis chapter one.
We're going to talk about gardening.
And so as we read the initial verses, keep your eye out.
To notice anything that to you might have to do with gardening.
We'll start in Genesis chapter one and verse 27.
God created man in his own image, and the image of God created he him.
Male and female created he them, and God blessed them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it.
Verse 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you. It shall be for me for food.
Verse three, God said let there be light, and there was light.
Now chapter 2 and verse 6.
But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth. Verse eight And the Lord God planted a garden.
In the eastward of in Eden, and there he put man whom he had created.
Verse 15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and keep it, or to till it and guard it.
The Master Gardener is God.
We see as we go through the Word of God that God's works with gardens that He has planted.
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And you're part of his garden this afternoon, as we shall see.
So God is a master gardener, and he.
His very first words to man after he created him that that is the words that are recorded for us as he says to man this creation, you're in my image or he says to us, tells us we're in the image of God. And so that means to be like morally like particularly. And so he says to them who are to be morally like him in verse 28 of chapter one.
God bless them and said these are his first words.
Be fruitful.
If you're going to have a garden, you want to have fruit, right? You don't just have a garden to produce weeds.
What's that word? The object of a garden. Gardens have objects, and the object is to produce fruit. And so God says to you very first words he says, and the whole of the word of God where he addresses mankind personally is be fruitful and multiply.
We had, in what we just read, five or six things that are necessary for a good garden, a proper garden. The first one that I want us to notice is in verse.
29 of chapter one.
Every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you, it shall be first thing is seeds. You're going to have a garden, you're going to have something that produces seeds.
Any I I can't profess.
Give any explanation of good physical gardens. We're going to stick to the kind of gardens that are represented here. And I, I can't claim to be a farmer or know what kind of good seeds farmers use and the rest of that. But we recognize from the Word of God that if you're going to have a garden, one of the important components of your garden is to be the seeds.
That you plant in it, that's a very first point.
And it's an important one. We'll look at it more later. The second thing you need for a garden is light. You're not going to have a garden.
Some of you in this room have physical gardens and you know that we all know whether we're any good as a gardener or not. That light is important for the development of the plant or the tree that's bearing the fruit.
Letter God provided for the garden even before Adam and Eve were put in a garden for them to be responsible for.
Was the needed water.
Last week I was where Dan Brown is in Illinois, and Dan was commenting as a farmer, a literal farmer. He wanted to plant his seed.
But he was holding off a little bit for whatever he was going to plant because the ground needed water. And so water is an essential ingredient, and it's also nice to recognize that.
Some things in gardens only God can produce.
We can't. Apart from God, nobody, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever, is going to have a garden in which you produce truly what's needed in terms of light and water.
The verse chapter 2 and verse eight again. Another important activity in a garden is the Lord God planted.
Lord God planted.
But you're going to have a garden. Typically it starts out with ground land.
And in that land you choose a seed and then you prepare the garden by tilling it or some other means for the purpose of planting something that's going to produce fruit for you. So gardens need somebody. They don't plant themselves. Gardens need someone to plant.
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And in the first garden, gods, they it's God's garden. He does the planting.
Later on, I'm going to tell you you're a garden that has to plant, whether you're an individual or a family.
You there's planting that goes on.
The other two items are found in verse 15.
He gives man responsibility and connection with having put him in a garden which God himself had planted. And we find that we as gardeners have responsibilities given to us from God as to the gardens that we are responsible for. And so in verse 15 it says Lord God took the man and put him in the garden. What?
What were his two responsibilities with respect to gardening?
The first one was, as it says, to dress it and to keep it. Mr. Darby's translation says to tell it and guard it.
You can have earth, but if you're going to plant seed in the earth or a tree in it, you need to prepare the ground.
Dan, when his comments on it said, you know, if the ground is not broken up.
If it gets too hard and I put my seed in it and there's no water.
There's no way that the nutrients that are needed to feed that plant to make it grow will grow and it will be unfruitful.
I won't get a crop because the ground's hard. So God was saying to Adam, and this was before there was any sin. God's garden isn't a matter of simply doing something since their sins.
Something happened to the garden after Man's Sinned which we didn't read but I'll comment on, and that is when he did it.
He said. Now, Adam.
You tell that ground, you keep it nicely kept, so that when the rain and the sunlight comes.
There can be a growing process that will produce the fruit. The other thing he said to Adam is you need to guard it.
You need to protect it because there are things that can come into the garden that spoil it so that there is no fruit and that will result from from it. So we said that Adam, you also need to guard it.
OK.
After Adam sinned.
That garden he got put out of. God didn't allow him to stay in that particular garden. There's reasons for it. We don't have time to go into them, but there was reasons why he had to put Adam out of the first garden, but he also still had to garden.
But he also said to him, now, Adam, when you work that land, there's going to be thorns and thistles, There's going to be things that will enter into your garden that will work to try to spoil it from producing any fruit.
And the gardens of our lives were some of us pretty familiar with.
What comes into the garden, and so easily comes into the garden is the thorns and thistles to spoil the production of fruit.
I'm going to say we're only going to probably touch on the top a little bit, but if you really have time and get interested in the subject, you'll find that Scripture is full of illustrations that God gives to us based on gardening.
But for our purposes, in the time we have this afternoon last now we've been introduced to a garden and things that belong to it. Now let's turn over to Isaiah chapter 5 and we'll look at a next passage concerning the matter of gardening.
Isaiah chapter 5.
Here we have God.
Jehovah.
And it brings into us the Lord Jesus as well as Jehovah.
Gardening.
So we're going to see how God developed the garden and what's happened to it and what God did as a result.
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We'll read chapter 5, verse one. Now I will sing unto my beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. That was this type of garden vineyard.
My beloved tap the vineyard in a very fruitful hill.
And he fenced it. Notice the things repeat themselves. Maybe we need that repetition to get the points into our minds and hearts and consciences where necessary. But he fenced it. The very first thing said about his garden, He was going to protect it. He was going to set it apart so that it could be as we haven't we've already read a fruitful garden.
So he says he fenced it.
It was the land wasn't the best that he started with, so he says he gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest.
Best seed, if you will. That could be the vine that he plants in his garden. He built a tower in the midst of it and also made a winepress therein, and he looked at it that it should bring forth grapes.
You got a garden, no doubt. If your garden is growing this afternoon, when you get home, you're going to go out in the garden and see how it's growing. Is it developing the way you hope, the way you anticipate to have the fruit that you desire? So here it says he looked that it should bring forth grapes. He put out a lot of effort.
In his garden.
And So what happens?
He it says it brought forth wild grapes.
That's a problem, isn't it?
The desired object of the garden isn't being realized. Let's see why. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard?
When I looked that it should have brought forth be bringing forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. He raised the question here, What more could I do? What more could I have done?
So he says in verse 5, Now go, I tell you.
What I will do?
To my vineyard. I will take away the hedge. I'm going to remove the garden. I'm going to remove the fence. I will take away the hedge.
And yet the garden shall be enough.
I'm going to break down the wall and it shall be trodden down.
And I will lay a waste, and I will not be. It will not be pruned nor digged.
Can't read that word pruned without thinking of a personal instance in my life. I tried to garden multiple times in multiple ways and I always liked grapes and tried to have a grape vines to produce and I never could figure out how to prune them right until I finally got a pruner and by the name of Clarence Lundeen. And every time he visited he had to go out and properly check out the vines and prune them because he understood he knew how to do it and as long as.
He was in my life. We had good grapes because of the work that he had the knowledge to do. But here is it says.
I will lay it waste, it shall not be pruned or digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns, and I will command something else necessary, the clouds that no rain be upon it.
For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts. Now here's the vine. Here's the vineyard.
That Jehovah was had.
Tells us what it is. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the House of Israel.
And the men of Judah, his pleasant plant.
And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression. Are you looking for moral fruit from these people?
And righteousness. But behold a cry, Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.
Well, they had people in his vineyard that his plants. They had their own agenda.
00:20:04
It wasn't his and it wasn't going to produce fruit for him, but sure, they wanted to have house to house. They wanted to have the land.
Somebody told me once in farming that how much acreage is enough? And they said if you're doing it for yourself, always the farmer's field, you'd like to have to add your own. So your farm keeps getting bigger and bigger. And there's no end, in other words, to the desire to have in the natural heart.
And so he says.
Verse nine In mine ears saith the Lord of hosts of a truth, many houses shall be desolate.
Even great and fair without inhabitant. Yeah, 10 acres of vineyard shall yield 1 bath, and the seed of a Homer shall yield an ephah.
Put that in maybe a little bit today's vernacular.
And after is 1/4 of a bushel.
So 10 acres to produce 1/4 of a bushel of fruit, You think it's paying for itself. Is that far worthwhile? Would you like to have 10 acres of land that you're paying for and you're doing all the work in the seed and everything else and you get a quarter of a bushel of of fruit or crop out of your land. The Lord says, well, that's what it's like in my vineyard that I have.
Now, thanks Joe. Now.
But what's the point of this story? It's not a story. What's the point of this? This chapter and this question? What more could be done to my vineyard is considered by many very well thought brothers to be the key question of the Old Testament.
It's a very key question of the whole of the Old Testament that God planted.
A people in this earth that he was going to separate through that man we had this morning, Abraham.
He was going to separate Abraham. He was going to take him to a land of fruitfulness. He was going to put his people in the land. He was going to put a fence, if you will, around the land. He was going to give them perfect.
Everything of, if you will, the water of the Word, and the cultivation by the prophets and the teachers of the ground, that was necessary to produce for God's pleasure of fruit.
But it did.
That didn't.
The whole question of the Old Testament.
And yet this special people for God set apart his vineyard, his vine.
No fruit.
And so his end result is I'm going to take it down.
At this point, I'm going to let it go.
Because.
Why?
We find out the answer in the New Testament. So let's let's go to the New Testament and we'll see why this particular wonderful best should have been the best garden in the world didn't produce. Let's go over to John's Gospel, chapter 12.
John's Gospel chapter 12 and verse 24.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone.
But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
This really answers to the question, or it's the beginning of an answer to the question of why didn't my garden produce fruit?
When you look at a garden that doesn't produce.
Probably one of the first things you have to consider is the seeds. Were the seeds good?
If you don't have good seed, you're not going to get a good crop.
I assume probably in the natural realm, billions of dollars have been spent to try to develop the very best seeds.
Or man's gardens for corn and wheat, and so on.
00:25:04
And when it comes to planting the planters or I'm like imagination out of sight expensive anymore because they're so sophisticated in order to plant very, very carefully, the spacing, the contour of the land is taken into account and a whole bunch of other things, whether it typically has more or less moisture than sometimes the seed has to be adapted to even within a field.
To match.
To produce.
But what has to happen to a seed regardless if there's to be a crop?
It has to die.
It has to die.
Except a corn of sweet wall into the ground and die. Going to buy the full loan.
God wanted.
He didn't get it from sinful man. No matter how perfect he made the circumstances, no matter how carefully he walked with men, the children of Israel, it was fruitless.
Because the line. The people.
We're not a good seed.
They were not a good seed.
Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. So God put that aside, and in the New Testament he tells us about a new seed.
His son. His son.
He's the sea.
His son.
Is perfect man.
Perfect pleasure to God.
As he alone, as a man walked through this world, God saw all the fruit that his heart could ever desire.
In his son.
The man who went about good doing good to others.
Healing.
Walking in righteousness and truth and love.
And peace.
And God could look upon that and say, there, that pleases me. That's fruit.
With the Lord Jesus, well knowing his mission here, His purpose here, why he had been sent could say to his disciples.
Except for corn of wheat fall into the ground and die. That is, except I die.
For you at the cross and do the work there.
There'll be no fruit.
If that had not happened, I trust I'm saying this reverently. It was not the purpose of God, so it couldn't happen, but I'm just showing the natural end in the Old Testament. There was no possible fruit for God in the New Testament if the Lord Jesus, the perfect seed, had not fallen into the ground and die.
The only can I say alternative for God would be to destroy the earth and everything on it because it was going to be fruitless.
But that perfect seed was planted in the ground of death.
And then what in that seed it says it bringeth forth much fruit?
I'm looking at A room.
Not all finished fruit, but I'm looking at a room of the fruit of that seed.
It's a joy for me to look at you as you sit there and see you as a fruit.
Produced from that feed.
That one who went into the ground and died.
We think we have time. We'll turn over to 1St John chapter 3 to read a word in connection with this seed.
00:30:01
One John chapter 3 and verse 9.
If I can get to the right book of the Bible.
First John chapter 3 and verse 9.
That which is born of God.
Doth not commit sin.
For his seed remaineth in him.
And he cannot sin.
Because he is born of God.
You started your life, Horn of Adam.
You're part of Adam's race.
You're part of a race that we read about in Isaiah that produces no fruit for God.
Your life in Adam never produced and never will.
That which God can take lasting pleasure in.
But the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man who died and rose again, that and of course we have in Genesis 1 Those seeds that bore fruit, that fruit, in fact everyone, we didn't comment on it, but then and it said every herb.
Producing seed every tree.
Producing feed they could eat to be fruitful and multiply has the sense that the tree that produces fruit is a tree that produces seed that can then be used to produce the next crop.
And the Lord Jesus, the perfect seed, is the beginning, but it produces a crop, and that crop bears a seed.
The life of Christ and resurrection with the Spirit of God in them that can be used of God.
And what does it say about it? What is the character of the life you have? You still have the atom life until the Lord calls you to be with himself, and you get that one's done because it doesn't produce fruit. But what is the character of the life that you now have?
That which is born of God cannot sin. You have a life that cannot sin.
The seed remains in it the life of Christ. The perfect seed remains in you.
And.
He is who's the source of it. It's no longer here born of Adam, it's born of God. And that which is born of God directly by this seed is eternal in its character, as God is eternal.
Now let's go over to John's Gospel again, chapter 15.
See a little more about the matter of gardening.
John, Chapter 15.
Verse 5.
I am the vine. It's the Lord Jesus speaking. Israel had been a vine. Unfruitful God replaces it with a new vine.
He puts that one aside. He starts with a new vine, the Lord Jesus Christ, who says I am the vine?
Ye are the branches.
Now we have the picture, a slightly different view of it, but we know.
That if you have a tree planted in the ground or vine planted in the ground and it comes up, then from that stock you have your branches, and at the ends of the branches you end up with the fruit. And so he says to them.
As God's purpose was, I want you to be fruitful, he said. I'm the vine, you are the branches.
But it's necessary. There are certain things necessary. So let's read verses 6:00 to 11:00 about how the fruit gets formed and developed. If a man abide in me, he is. If a man abide not in me, whoops, I'll read verse.
Five over again. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He had abideth in me, and I in him.
00:35:04
The same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered.
And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you.
He shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.
So shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.
Continue ye in my love, if you keep my commandments, you abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and your joy might be full.
If you go outside and one of these trees and you see a branch and you break the branch off from the tree.
How much fruit is that branch going to produce?
Is separated from the source of its life and its nourishment and it will produce nothing. God uses things that are pretty easy to understand to teach us spiritual things so that we can understand them as well. And he says the Lord said I'm the vine. But if you the speaking practically to them, we can never truly be separated from him, but we can in communion and in our walk and he says if you don't walk.
And abide in me.
Is or in a practical sense that it was like it was like you were broken off. How much fruit will there be in your life?
There will be none, no fruit. However, I think we have the character of some of the fruit that's looked for and the conditions of it, he says.
Verse 9 Continue in my love.
Did you walk? Have you been walking today? In the conscious enjoyment of his love? That's one of the important things for the health of the plant. The health of the branch is to enjoy consciously as the day goes on that I'm walking the day and the love of God. That is God's love for me, not a question of how much I love God here. It's keeping in the enjoyment of God's love to me.
Second thing he says.
Verse 10 if you keep my commandments.
In this plant, fruit requires obedience, submission, and if you want to be a fruitful plant in your life, you're going to have to learn to walk in submission and obedience to the Word of God.
What's the result though?
Your joy might be full. Your joy might be full.
Can you say you're a happy person?
I don't mean waiting until you go to heaven. You know, it's pretty instructive. The 1St 8 chapters of Romans, you get the teaching of how to be saved and why you need to be saved and being made the righteousness of God in him and so on. And there's a development of truth there. And you finally get to the point where the person being addressed, if you will, says.
Oh, wretched man that I am, he'd been taught all the truth.
But he says, oh, wretched man that I am, he's miserable. He's not walking in the joy.
That's described here. You have to learn some things.
But sometimes they're pretty painful, whether you're young or if you're older and haven't learned them.
But he gets, when he gets through that process, he says, the spirit of the life of Christ.
In Jesus has set me free.
The Spirit, the power of the life of the capital S the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. That life that is that perfect seed, when that is enjoyed and learned.
Has set me free. And then there's the happiness of the joy of a life and fellowship with God. OK.
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You also hear.
One other important ingredient that's given in John's gospel that we already have had, but just to look at it in chapter 4 and verse 13.
There's a woman, she's not satisfied her life, she's miserable.
She's thirsty if you don't know the Lord Jesus, or if you do and you're not.
Walking, abiding in him, you're like the woman there's, there's in you a thirst that's not satisfied. And she tried her hardest to find out how to be happy, but she recognized that she wasn't. And so she says to the Lord, who gets her alone.
And John here, chapter 4, verse 13, Jesus said unto her.
Whosoever drinketh of this water, that was the physical water out of the well she'd come to draw from.
Shall thirst again. But whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, sprinkling up, springing up unto life, everlasting. Well, the woman says to him, Sir, give me this water.
That's the water I want.
You have in your hands the water of light.
Did you?
Satisfy your mourning thirst since you've been up.
Did you spend time feeding on it?
If you want to be happy, you'll learn to do it.
If you want to enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son.
You need the word.
And you need it every day.
Probably 90 some percent of the people in this room will make sure you got three meals at least today.
Do you ever go a day where you don't perhaps even have multiple meals of the word?
Get your physical ones.
The word of God is even more important.
In the long sense, long term sense and the physical side of it.
OK, let's go back over now to.
Song of Solomon, chapter one.
Solemn Solomon, chapter one and verse 6.
Look not upon me because I'm black.
Because the sun hath looked upon me, My mother's children were angry with me.
They made me a keeper of the vineyards.
But my own vineyard have I not kept.
There's an unhappy person.
Here's a person that had to look at their life and say my own vineyard have I not kept.
How are you doing on keeping the vineyard of your life?
Are you allowing good seed?
Are you taking in the water?
Are you taking in the light?
That gives understanding through your soul. It gives wisdom.
Are you tilling the ground of your garden?
Are you guarding it?
A couple of days ago, in this connection, I think the Lord allowed it. It was of the Lord. I received an e-mail from a brother in India, and in his e-mail he had an attachment, and I think that attachment was being sent to me so that the Lord would have it read to you. This afternoon. I'm going to read it from a daily calendar or a daily meditate. Yes, from a daily calendar.
The verse of that day was for he that thinketh in his heart.
So is he.
I have a garden called My Mind.
Which no one else can see.
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For it grows all kinds of things all planted there.
By me.
Before me lie two different sects containing different seeds.
The first is labeled spirits, fruit, the other fleshly greed.
Don't be fooled, God is not mocked. We reap what we sow.
Though hidden there inside my mind, in time that fruit will show.
It shows up my character, my words, my walk, my ways.
Eventually, the garden. No one sees my mind. It's hidden.
Work.
To be displayed.
So tend that garden carefully.
For thoughts.
Are just like seeds, they'll either grow the spirits fruit or harmful choking weeds.
This I say he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Second Corinthians 9/6.
We all need to tend our garden. May the Lord encourage us. Intended carefully, but then just to go back to that verse in Song of Solomon, it says in verse five or six.
They made me keep her of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept It's the word to moms and dads.
You not only have your garden, your heart, your life.
But God has given you the responsibility.
To be a keeper.
Of some plants in your garden that he has given to you.
Your children.
Their children are a seed from God.
In the garden of your household.
That you are responsible.
To give the light, the water, the tilling of the ground, the guarding of it.
As responsible to the one who has put that seed in your that plant for you.
For you.
The chores and it's your responsibility to work.
On Behalf.
Of God.
That what has been entrusted to you.
Will bear fruit for God and for His glory.
And ultimately, if the responsibility is carried out according to God's will, you with God.
Will eternally enjoy the fruit.
You will get to enjoy the fruit.
You do certain things and when this life's over, they're over.
But that seed, that plant in the desire and will of God is one that He wants to enjoy the fruit of it for eternity, and He wants you to share with Him in the enjoyment of that which He entrusted to you.
But as is in this verse.
If you don't tend your own garden.
You can't manage that one properly.
It's important you have to start with your own.
And then if it's taken care of my own garden I have not kept. But if it is, then that responsibility as a garden keeper, we don't have time to turn to it. But in Matthew and in Luke we have about the the master that let out his garden, if you will, the people that keep it. And the day came when he returned and he looked at.
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How well had they kept it? They kept it for him.
Or had they used it for their own God has given you?
Means spiritual and natural means to care for what He is entrusted to you. And the day is coming when there will be an accounting like there is in the parables in the gospels as to how was how well was it taken care of.
It's something to think about, something to consider.
We have.
I'd like to at this point go to Romans chapter 13 or Romans Chapter 11.
Verse 16. Romans 11. Verse 16.
For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
So I'm told.
People that are in gardening or farming for a living.
Look for the first of their crop, the first fruit of their crop, and they look at it and very often what they see.
Gives them an indication of whether they're going to have a good season or not.
Because it's an indication of what the what comes on after is going to be like.
First fruit.
What's God's first fruit from his garden?
His son.
His son.
He's the perfect seed.
He produces the fruit.
But looked at in himself, if the first fruit be holy.
And that which comes on with cake. It's character.
I enjoy it put this way.
God looks at his Son.
As a man and in resurrection.
And he says.
I want everybody to be just like him.
I want everybody to be just like Him. God wants you to be like His Son. That's the purpose of the end result of his work in gardening is to make you so that you are the image of His Son. No, you're not deity, but I'm speaking as a person, His Son, as a man.
Is perfectly satisfying in the heart of God.
And he's doing a gardening work so that the end result is that you'll be just like him. Pretty nice future.
But it's an ongoing work at this point. OK, let's go over to Isaiah 53.
Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 11.
This was last week's Sunday School verse, I believe.
Partly my mind going in this direction.
He shall see of the fruit. I'm sorry. He shall see the travail of his soul.
Or Mr. Garvey's translation he shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul.
And shall be satisfied.
So the most elevated way to say it, but.
Can you imagine?
Being in heaven.
And seeing the Lord Jesus look at you and everybody else.
And ask himself the question, was it worth it?
That all that I went through Indiana, my life on earth and in my death and I see this.
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Is it? Was it worth it?
Can you imagine yourself being happy?
No, I'm in heaven. There's no sin here. There is no.
Lust here anymore in me?
Everything is wonderful.
My body is restored to a state of perfection.
Would that satisfy you?
I don't think so.
But when you look in the face of the Lord Jesus.
And you see him looking at you with perfect satisfaction and joy.
In the result of the travails of his soul.
And see the joy of his satisfaction.
Your heart will be full to overflowing for eternity.
Let's go back to number 18 in the appendix.
Well, I'll read verse 2.
Maybe it'll have a little more meaning now than it did when we were, at least for this afternoon, a little more significance to you than when we started the meeting.
Oh Jesus, Lord, who loved me like to thee.
Fruit of thy work with thee, there to see thy glory, Lord.
While endless Ages role myself the prize.
And travail of our soul, Let's read Stands or Sings, 4:00 and 3:00 and 4:00.
2 Chronicles 20
Open—Don DeGraaf
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Interviewer.
Cortana.
Could we turn to the 20th chapter, Second Chronicles?
It is a blessing.
With the pandemic being over that we can gather together as the people of God.
Malachi reminds us they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and put in a book for them that thought on the Lord. It's not an exact quote but Malachi 316.
Just want to read a story, make a few points and perhaps the Lord will lay on someone else's heart something to follow.
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It's a story that has come back to me over many years because.
God see us, not as man see us.
Men look upon the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts.
We live in a world that offers everything you can possibly imagine in the click of a button. Wisdom, knowledge, history, tips, tricks, solutions, remedies.
But God gives us His Word, which lives in abides forever.
And God would seek to garden, as our brother is mentioned in each one of our hearts, that which is for His glory, for without him.
We can do nothing. He wants us to bear fruit, more fruit.
And much fruit.
In Second Chronicles 20, I'm going to start by reading a couple of verses and expressions from the previous chapter. This is about King Jehoshaphat.
Second Chronicles 19. I'll start and read verse 7.
Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you.
Take heed and do it.
For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no respective persons.
Nor taking of gifts.
Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set the Levites of the priests and of the chiefs of the fathers of Israel.
For the judgments of the Lord, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully.
And with the perfect heart, the end of verse 11 deal courageously.
And the Lord shall be with the good. Chapter 20. And it came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon.
With them, other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle.
Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, on this side Syria.
And behold, they be Jesus on Tamar, which is in Gedai, in Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim to fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord in Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem.
In the House of the Lord before the new court, and said, O Lord God of our fathers.
Art not thou God in Heaven in Rule? Is not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thy hand is there not power and might, so that there is none able to withstand the art not? Thou art God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gave us it to the seed of Abraham thy friend.
Forever.
And they dwelt therein, and have built the sanctuary therein for thy name saying.
If when evil cometh upon us as the sore judgment, or pestilence, or famine.
We stand before this House and in thy presence.
For thy name is in this house.
And cry unto thee in our affliction, Then I will hear and help. And now behold the children of Ammon and Moab, and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt. But they turned from them and destroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit.
O our God, wilt thou not judge them, for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us.
Neither know we what to do.
But our eyes are upon thee.
And all Judas stood before the Lord with their little ones.
Their wives and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah the son of Bennaya the son of Jayal the son of Mataniah, Levite of the sons of Asaph, gain the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation.
And he said, Hearken ye all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you.
Be not afraid nor dismay by reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours.
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But gods, tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the Cliff of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeriwell. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed.
Tomorrow, go out against them.
For the Lord will be with you.
In Jehoshaphat bowed his head.
With his face to the ground.
In all, Druda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord.
Worshipping the Lord in the Levites of the children of the Kohath Heights and of the children of the Koh Heights stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high, and they rose up early in the morning.
And went forth into the wilderness of Toccoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, in the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Believe in the Lord your God. So shall ye be established. Believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord that they should praise.
The beauty of holiness as they went out before the army to say praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever.
And when they began to sing and to praise the Lord, said ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, which were calm against Judah.
And they were smitten.
For the children of Ammon stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir too utterly to the slay and destroy them, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seer, everyone helped to destroy.
Another. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth.
And none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies.
And precious jewels which they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away than they were three days in gathering of the spoil. It was so much. And on the 4th day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berekaya. For their they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of the same place was called the Valley of Berekaya.
Unto this day. And they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem.
With joy, for the Lord had made them.
To rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with sultries and harps and trumpets under the House of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord was in all the kingdoms of those countries.
When they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
God's word is our food, It's our light, it's a lamp unto our feet, it's our guidebook. It's all that we need.
I think it was Job that said your word was unto me. Maybe it was Jeremiah. The joy and the rejoicing of my heart. God's word is all that we need through this world. This world has got the whole Internet to try to tell you everything that they think you need to know. But we have the living, abiding Word of God sometimes what men consider wisdom.
Is just natural wisdom.
First Chronicles, no Finari Chronicles is on my mind. First Corinthians. Just read a few verses to connect.
With this chapter.
One Corinthians one and 18.
Through the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but do unto us which are saved. It is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, and the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom.
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Knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Verse 23 We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block under the Greek's foolishness.
But into them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because as the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world.
To confound the things which are mighty, and the base things of this world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen. Yeah, and things which are not to bring to not things that are that no flesh should glory in His presence, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness?
And sanctification. And redemption.
There's more in the next chapter, but you can read it yourself later. What I'd like to convey in this story in Second Chronicles is don't worry about what the world thinks. Worry only about what God thinks. What is written in this book in God will win, God will triumph. God is seeking to produce fruit.
For His glory from His people and thankfully we have the freedom to gather here together.
And men are rewriting history. They're they're reinventing things that they think belong in this culture. And what do we find that they were given instructions, very clear instructions in in Second Chronicles. They were told to thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully and with the perfect heart faithfully with a perfect heart. But guess what, When, when God works.
The wrath of the enemy is raised up in our flesh, and our failures we can turn to the things of the world to solve.
The ways of God, God's ways are higher than ours. God's wisdom. If we fear the Lord, we fear nothing else.
Joshua could say just be strong and courageous. Moses, my servant, is dead. He wrote the books of Moses. And so were they afraid? Perhaps they were, but what did they have? There's some instructions, and I want to leave plenty of time for others. So I'll just hit a few of them because it's God, God's words that feeds. But I just want to point them out.
We need to fear the Lord when we were trying to evaluate something. We need to say what is.
To be for the fear of the Lord in verse three of two Chronicles 20 And Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near asking. You shall receive, seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto me.
And he proclaimed the fast.
We need to set aside our natural pleasures. How many natural pleasures are there? There's a food you want. If there's some toy, if there's something, it can be ordered from your office. It can be your.
Doorstep by tomorrow. But God has given us what we need right here and right now. He's given us wisdom. They proclaimed it fast, you know, not like the Pharisees fast, not that anyone else needs to know. But he proclaimed it fast. And they gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Nothing wrong with going to a good doctor. Nothing wrong with a specialist.
You know, my mother's cargo Noel changed yesterday and I didn't want to do it myself.
We need experts, but we need the Lord first and foremost and always to ask the help of the Lord, even out of all the cities.
Every single member is useful. Every single one. The ones we think are not necessary? They're even more useful. Every member is needful.
What we do is not measured by how we care for the rich and the powerful and the wealthy. It's about what we do for those who are the most in need, the most, in places of sorrow, in places of difficulty. They sought the help of the Lord. They came to seek the Lord.
He recounted Oh Lord God of our fathers, aren't not thou God in heaven, and rule us not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen.
Oh, how many times? Once it said. Oh, what about the election in 2024?
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This book, in God's leadership, in God's wisdom, is really all that is enough. God will reign no matter what happens in the courts of the Supreme Court or in the elections of this country or Canada or anywhere else. God reigns. He must reign.
Until all authority be put under his feet.
He sits at the seat of power of the universe, and we need to look to him for help, for wisdom, as Jehoshaphat did. Art not thou art God, who did drive out the inhabitants of the land?
And he recounts history, God's Word. The history matters. God's Word is very clear. When they were, they were fallen to sin, they would be defeated, they would go into captivity.
And yet they were delivered. God brought them back. Maybe 42,000, that's not much. They couldn't even feel a lot of sports stadiums. 42,000 came back. But they came back in Ezra and Nehemiah, in Hagei and Malachi, and they were exhorted. They were exhorted to follow the instructions, the wise instructions.
And Judas stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
Never give up on your children, your grandchildren.
Never, never give up. As long as there's breath, there's hope.
God is able to save the uttermost those that come unto God by Him.
The battle is not yours.
But gods, they came to the Cliff of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook.
Sometimes we are at our wits end. In Psalm 107 they cried to the Lord once, twice, 3 * 4 * 5 * 43 verses, and after the fifth time they cried to the Lord.
Let me just read it, I don't want to misquote it.
They cried to the Lord five times and we need to persist. Remember when Elijah came to the prophet and he smote his sword in a couple times and he said, you know, if you'd done it five or six times, you would have won. You just did it a couple times. If you'd done it five or six times, you would have won. Don't give up. Don't give up. God has got a path. If we look for Him and we persist and we cling to him, we look to him, we're guided by him, by his holy word.
It says.
In verse 20 he sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness for his wonderful works to the children of men.
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing, they that go down to the sea, and ships that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raises the stormy wind which lifted up the waves thereof. Do we not know that when the storm comes, when the trouble comes, He commands the stormy wind that lifts up the waves thereof?
It is from himself.
He's the one who raises the gourd, and he's the one who sends the word.
It's from him, from his hand. Look not at the object, but ask why the Lord allowed. He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifted up the ways thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end, and they go. Then they cry unto the Lord, and their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves.
Still, then they are glad because they be quiet. How much quiet do we have? 24/7 alerts things from every imaginable device. Sometimes we need quiet.
Quiet before the Lord, It took a couple of prayers this morning. We need as many prayers as we need because.
In the quietness, in the presence of the Lord, there is strength and there is wisdom. When flesh is put in a place of death, when we have the wisdom of the Word of God, then they are glad because they be quiet. So we bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.
The last verse of this chapter. Who is wise, and will observe these things? Even they shall understand.
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The loving kindness of the Lord.
God loves us in what he provides, that is according to his mind, but he also loves us and what he withholds.
That would harm us or maybe even destroy us. He loves us more than we can possibly imagine.
We have to trust Him always, and He brings things in our culture and our consciousness and our lives and our families to draw us to Himself, to reveal Himself. Verse 17 of chapter 20. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves standing still and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Jude and Jerusalem, fear not, neither be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them.
Where the Lord will be with you. And he bowed his head with his face to the ground, and then they also fell to the ground.
We need to sometimes fall at His feet. We need to worship Him. Maybe others will see something of the character of Price in what we do, in what we say.
In the Levites, the cohabites, the core heights, they stood to praise the Lord with a loud voice, and they rose early in the morning and they went forth.
And just in the interest of time, I'll skip forward verse 21. He consulted with the people. He appointed singers that they should praise the beauty of holiness, sometimes in prayer and in praise. You know, when the Psalms we have, we have pain, we have petitions, we have prayer, we have praise.
We sometimes we feel pain, we have petitions, sometimes they're selfish, but we need to be in prayers so that we can then.
Praise the Lord, praise Him in the storm. Praise Him for the suffering. Praise Him for the sorrow. Praise Him for the things that make no sense to us because God's ways transcend our ways.
And they went out saying, praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. And they began to sing and to praise, and the Lord said ambushments.
We don't need to learn military strategy. We need to read God's word, which has Ephesians 6. We need to have the armor of the Lord on. We need to have the wisdom of God.
And then they defeated each other.
Let God fight for us, but we have to come to Him, we have to cry to Him, we have to look to him, It says none escaped.
Nothing escapes the attention of God, nothing good nor evil, when we have to live in the presence of God. On the 4th day they assembled themselves and they bless the Lord, and they returned every man to Judah, to Jerusalem, where the Lord had made them to rejoice.
Our joy needs to come from Him. Oh, there were times when if my team didn't win, oh, if it would take me a couple of days to recover from that. Our joy needs to come totally, wholly, absolutely from Him, because our flesh is we're going to have it. And so we're called home. We have to be so careful. The Lord made them to rejoice, and they came to Jerusalem with sultries and harps and trumpets, and the fear of the Lord was in all the kingdoms when they heard the Lord had fought the enemies of Israel.
Look to him, let him fight for you. His triumph is what matters.
What we can do is seek wisdom, gather together, share and stand upon His Word. This world will tell us to do 101 Things and then more. And there is there is natural wisdom in practical things when it comes to the things we need to take care of. But when it comes to the things of God, when it comes to our life choices, we need Him and we need His Word.
We need His power and we need it in humility. Cry to Him and ask for His help.
The Lord Our Only Resource
Open—Ted Allan
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
I'll be brief, I just wanted to share a few verses that I felt like the Lord put on my heart.
A little bit in line with what our brother Don mentioned in first verse I'd just like to read is in Deuteronomy chapter one.
And verse 30.
The Lord your God, which goeth before you, He shall fight for you.
According to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen, how that the Lord thy God bear thee.
As a man to bear his son in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
First Samuel.
Chapter 8.
In verse 4.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel unto Rama.
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old in thy sons, walk not in thy ways.
Now make us a king to judge us, like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us.
And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee.
For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee Now therefore hearken unto their voice.
And then over in Numbers, chapter 14.
Actually just read a verse or two from chapter 13 first.
Verse 31.
But the men that went up with him said we be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger.
Then we and they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel. Chapter 14, verse one. And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, And the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the Lord, and I'm sorry in the whole congregation said unto them.
Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt, or with God we had died in those wilderness?
And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?
Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the Congregation of the Children of Israel.
What I would like to say is that.
It is the Lord who wants to fight for us.
I believe it was the Lord's intention that we.
Look to him for every answer in detail in life.
I believe that it was his desire that we gather around him in his person and have no one reign over us.
Than himself.
And if ever there was a time in history where there is a feeling amongst young families and young people to say let us have a captain over us and go into Egypt, today is that day. But young people and young fathers, young mothers, they truly believe with all of my heart, it was the Lord's intention.
00:05:05
That he was to be the sole resource that we turned to.
For everything.
And so we have the wonderful privilege to be gathered to his name, to be gathered around his person and look to him.
For every answer and for the leading of His Spirit to bring out in our local assemblies just what we need.
Yes, there are difficulties.
When the people heard the evil report.
It filled them with fear. It made mention of their wives and their little ones as they heard about the giants that were in the land, and they were afraid.
And I stand as one before you that has felt that for my own children, for my own family. We feel as parents the deepest needs.
Of those that are close to us.
But the Lord would still have himself to be the ultimate resource to go to for every care and every need.
It is true that the Lord hearkened to the people when they wanted to make for themselves a king.
Because he knew that they were insistent upon their own way.
To be like the nations around.
If we look around to the culture, if we look around to what is around us, that will be the natural response. But we've had before us in these meetings the life of Abraham, the life of a man who walked by faith in a very difficult day. Do you think that that was easy for him to leave his family, his kindred, his father's house?
To go to a land he knew not where.
But it was a life that was marked by faith.
And as the culture continues to deteriorate.
It's going to require a life marked by faith, like Abraham to follow the Lord through the midst of the most difficult times.
And the Lord will honor that faith, and He'll give us the courage to endure whatever we have to endure. It's going to be a life that's not easy, young people.
Young father, young mother, each person in this room, we don't know how much longer the Lord's going to leave us here, but there is a path.
Marked by faith.
Where the Lord will be that resource that we need to meet.
In the hour of need, whatever it may be, whether it's in the local assembly, whether it's in your local situation, in your school and college, in the workplace, the Lord will help you.
My son came to me the other day. He just started a new job and he said, dad, pray for me.
He said I just started working with somebody who's transgender and he said I know it's going to be difficult to know how to interact with them. What should I say? What should I do?
And so these are the real challenges that we have as to walk a life marked by faith in the midst of a day where there's a lot of confusion.
And confusion of balance.
But let's not give up.
As difficult as the day may be, I know that there's some probably sitting here today who are perhaps on the verge of giving up and saying it's no use.
But the Lord desired that He would reign over us. He is the one that will fight for us.
And defend us and help us to meet whatever challenge we may face. As long as we cast ourselves upon Him, may He give us the courage to do so.
Dust Breath Enclosure Person Person
Open—David So
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I think we have before us this whole.
Eating time, that faith dependence.
I'd like to turn to our verse here in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9.
Just the latter part of verse 9.
Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9, the latter part of verse 9.
There is.
No new thing under the sun.
We have challenges, as we mentioned and as some have mentioned already.
I look around the room is refreshing to see many whom I picture to be little one and then we come into some earlier I still picture you to be this high and now your parents.
And we see little many of you and excuse, perhaps I even make apology for many my age group that still think of you as little babies.
The world was getting complicated, as our brother already mentioned.
But we still hold the same word, thus this need to be updated.
How many of you carry your cell phone in this room? I've seen many.
How many of you noticed that every few weeks it needs an update?
Or computers.
And when the program comes out, they say it's the latest, greatest it can do this and that.
Within days, weeks, there are flaws.
And I.
Remember being in the business 40 somewhat years ago. They always look forward to a new update. This new update is going to fix this and that. And then within days they find that those new updates introduce more problems. So you need another update to do the updates. That's the world. But there's no update needed in this world, in this book that we have. The principle is the same.
Yesterday.
Today and for Avogad's principle doesn't change, he's dealing with men may change a little bit. So with a little bit of time, I'm trying to rush a few thoughts and I'm not good with framing things together. So I hope that you can follow my thoughts. It could be scattered. First I want to mention a brother mentioned garden. Now as I look across the room, I don't know how many know Chinese.
How they read and write.
Yes, I see one hand up there. She can read and write Chinese.
Now for some of you, there's no Internet here, but when you get home, there's a think of Google Translate. You can verify this by writing the English word and see what the Chinese character will come up. And the word I'm thinking of is what's before us Garden. So if you Google that or do a Google Translate, you see it. Interesting. Garden consists of one little symbol called Earth or dirt.
Why dirt While there's dirt in the garden, We know that.
And right underneath that has a little square.
Maybe not quite square. It's close to a square. That symbol can mean different things. It could mean the mouth, or it could mean a language, or it could mean someone breathe into disturbed.
Dirt mouth. Someone breathed into this dirt and underneath.
It's a stick man figure and Barbara M would verify that. Just two lines like we draw stickman.
Is a symbol for a person, and interesting enough, the two of this symbol two people. So dirt breath two people.
You know that story.
Oh.
On top of that, there's a square box around it.
Two people dirt brat, two people protected in this enclosure. This is the Chinese character for Garden.
Isn't that interesting? The word of God tells us soul. Let's turn to Genesis chapter one. I'd like to turn to it because I find often which hard to find answers the hard way when there are many simple things we need to go back to the word of God. The basic so I'm just I know many of you know that the chapter well, so I'm going to read just the last verse.
00:05:16
And God saw.
Everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
It was very good. When God made the creation, it was good.
We need those principles or a man said this doesn't do well, that no, we destroyed it. God didn't make it bad, it was good.
Well, I'll throw another Chinese symbols to you. I'm sorry this wasn't prepared. It would have been nice if I have the overhead projector behind us and show the symbol. So you have to use your mind's eye for now.
It was good.
In the Chinese symbols or characters, the word character good consists of two known characters that will be a symbol of a woman or girl by a salary means a girl, a symbol of a boy. You put the two symbols side by each to form one new word, and that word is good.
How did the Chinese know that? Because they knew the word of God, you laugh.
And you'll find it's not laughing matter because the word of God is throughout the world. It wasn't exclusive to us. We think that a lot of these countries don't know. God makes sure that the word was known. The story of Noah is well known throughout the world, isn't it? I'm sure when you go to Africa, they'll have a form of the flood story. Now time is going. I want to just say one more.
There are many, in fact.
Some people have said that you can explain the 1St 11 Chapters of Genesis using Chinese symbols, so I'm going to jump to Chapter 11.
Then I'll use one more example. These are more to encourage you to read the word of God. I believe this Chapter 11.
Chapter 11 Now under the preference this.
I've never warned you about Internet. Let's read about this.
And the whole earth was.
Of one language and of one speech.
Interesting, isn't it? One language that means anybody can walk up to anybody and talk away and they can communicate and make things, do things. And what's the term we use today? Collaboration, right? We want to collaborate one language, but there's a problem when there was one language.
Because every thought we find I think is in the 6th chapter. You can look at that. Every thought of man, what is it? An imagination of man?
Was it to do good? No. The word of God tells us is evil continually. So in other words, one of you would say, hey, you know, we can make gunpowder and we can save a lot of work. We can blast those mountains with ease. Another man will come and say, wow, if I take this gunpowder, I can blow up hundreds of people with it.
That's the thought of heart. And has it changed?
No, it's not. It's the same today, so in the 11Th chapter.
They have one language. Maybe I just won't go. You know the story well, that God came and confounded the language because they wanted to be reaching to God themselves. Man's religion, man's way to get to God.
The Chinese character for Tower. Now some will say these are just pictograms, so this should be a picture of something tall and high and wide, as Tower is nowhere near that. It consists of a number of symbols together. It consists of grass and dirt.
Now that took me a long time to try to figure that out. What does grass have to do? And dirt? What do you do with grass and dirt?
That you have to go to the Book of Exodus. What did Pharaoh say to the slaves? He was so upset. He said don't give them any straw to make brakes. Oh, grass. And if they were making brakes?
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And then it said they had man had one mouth.
It had one language making bricks.
Power.
Man was able to communicate so well that the thought was evil continually.
Well, today with Internet.
Now, just so you know, I use it.
Until you come to a place like this where you can use it when there is no access.
God confounded it because of man's problem. In fact, we find. Here's another thing. Have you ever known some Chinese from China, from various places? I don't remember how many, 50, Some are dialects. Now these are not accents. It's so different that you will not be able to understand another dialect. So the old joke was EC6, Chinaman's together they were writing. They can't talk to each other, but they can.
Because the writing is the same, but the pronunciation of the words are totally different. So you see them years ago, just write to each other. You possibly moved well. Today English in many ways becomes more like a universal language. You can communicate with Internet, you can communicate.
The point here, brethren, young people.
Those who I thought were still children.
What are you doing?
With that communication.
Is that good communication that we encourage one another in the Lord?
24th chapter with the two of the Road to Emmaus, we won't have time to go to that. We know the story. They were communicating with each other. Do you remember that story?
But they sound like.
It was sad. What manner of communication was that?
How do you communicate now that you have free access? You know, I remember years ago, communication was not easy, and if it was, it was wasn't cheap. My wife's not here. She doesn't like me talking about things like that while she's 45 years ago, we don't even have cell phones. We didn't have cell phones. We have telephones.
And long distance call was expensive. Some of you were alive. What's a long distance call right now? It's free call throughout North America, long distance. And I remember calling from Toronto to New Jersey during the day was $2.00 a minute.
So how long you talk depending on how much you have saved up. But then if you call after 12:00, it was down to $0.50 a minute. So we have to learn to wait. And then I learned too, that man was cunning. If you call one minute before 12, it start the pricing start with a connecting time. So you think, oh, it's cheaper, I can talk for an hour and you're being built an hour for $2.00 a minute.
Communications. What are you talking about?
Are you encouraging one another with the word of God?
Like we have and I trust this.
Day, yesterday, today that we have encouraged one another with these words. We have encouraged one another that the Lord Jesus is the center of everything. Yesterday someone made some fun about putting up their hands. I forget the actual connections on it, but I often tell stories like this. A Sunday school, you may have noticed, with children.
You will say, OK, I have a question for you.
And then you see the children put the hands up, they all fall over the hands up. And you go, well, I haven't asked a question yet.
They put their hands up because they know. In most cases they know the answer because most answers should be Jesus. Isn't that true? So they put their hands up knowing that they say Jesus.
More likely they are right and I want to share with you we have questions in this book. I have many questions still and I was glad a brother raised a question in the last meeting.
We have to look at it with the view that knowing whatever that question is, the answer is Jesus.
00:15:03
Every word here is connected to our Lord Jesus Christ and if we have that in view, we can see and understand Scripture more. Just a couple of minutes left, turn back to Genesis chapter 22. I suggested that I don't we didn't have time to finish. I just want to share.
Couple more thoughts that I had on this chapter. Here we talked about the Lord Jesus, about God and Father walking together. But here too it gives us a lot more. It gives us an outline as if it were. We mentioned a third day. Death and resurrection is to always be in view.
Abraham got the answer on the third day and he saw at the place of fall off was shown to him.
We know the story of how he was ready to put that knife through his son.
And the Angel was able to stop him. The brother mentioned the thought substitution, a ram caught in the thicket.
Replace that. But then in type we'll find that Abraham said and they returned. There's no mention of the word Isaac and Abraham returned. Why? So I believe in type that Isaac was OfferUp.
But he didn't die, did He? In type there was resurrection. Death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus has to take place. But then what happened after death and resurrection? There were blessings. His seed's going to be like sand in the seashore. And then let's go down to verse.
Verse 23 I enjoy this part. Verse 23 is that and Beth real begets Rebecca. Oh, after the death and resurrection, a bride was being prepared. Rebecca has to come from somewhere. Someone asked how old do you think Isaac was? I don't know.
But I do know that Isaac is a lot older than Rebecca because Rebecca was born after this event. Isn't it interesting? So we see the outline in the sense from the Word of God, death and resurrection.
And then a bride is being prepared and the bride is going to be home for blessing, but the bride won't be home for blessings right away. That's the 22nd chapter.
23rd chapter. Sarah. A Picture of Israel.
Sarah, Israel has to be put aside first. Sarah has to die first. And then the 24th chapter, the bride after Israel was set aside as if it were the bride is now brought into blessings. And then you go to the next chapter after you see Abraham.
More sons and daughters. The rest of the world are blessed because of Abraham. Oh, there's so much in these.
Chapters that we look at and say is the Old Testament, we don't need to know. No, that is not true. In fact, one more comment to understand the Book of Revelation. Often we will say that book is so difficult to understand. You know why it's difficult?
It's because the writer assumed that you have read the 65 books before that. So a lot of it is saying you know this already, then it's easy to understand. So I would encourage you, there is nothing new under the sun. It's the same Word of God. Where to study this word of God so that we know how to walk in this present evil world?
We don't need instructions of exactly what to do, but we need direction from God.
And the Spirit of God.
130 What raised the wondrous thought, Or who did it suggest That we the Church to glory brought, Could with the Sun be blessed? 330.
00:20:00
What?
Race the world.
Be Reconciled To God
Gospel—Bernie Roossinck
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Well, good evening everybody. My name is Bernie. I am from Fremont, MI I'm really happy to be here with you tonight.
The message of the gospel that we're going to share with you tonight is a wonderful message.
Of the love of God and the provision of God.
For our needs, and we have a great need.
I know it's been really fun to be swimming and playing out there, hasn't it, guys? Pretty fun right now. I want to talk to you for a little while about your soul. So I want you to listen to the Word of God.
You know, I have the dinner hour, kids.
I saw up there on the deck.
A2 lists one of them said found and one said lost.
And I was happy to see a lot of names on the found list.
Well, you know, as I looked at that list, kids.
I remember a day when my name was on the lost list.
And I saw five names on that list tonight. This.
Was under the word lost and the news of the gospel is Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And that's what we're going to present to you tonight. I wonder if we could stand up and sing #10.
M #10 on your hymn sheets.
Not going to talk for a long time tonight.
I would like to ask you to listen carefully.
This might seem like a strange thing to say, kids.
For the next 40 minutes, don't be a bird.
What I mean by that is.
The enemy could use you to distract your friend next to you, or maybe show you something on a phone or look at a book, and it takes God's Word out of your heart and ears and plucks away the seed of the Word of God. So I want you to listen carefully to what God is saying to you.
The gospel, friends, means good news.
Proverbs 25 verse 25 speaks of cold water to a thirsty soil and that's what the gospel is, good news from a far country, and the good news is Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
I don't want you to listen to what I'm saying tonight. I want you to hear what God is saying to your heart and your soul.
We read in Two Corinthians 5.
We are ambassadors for Christ.
We beseech you.
In Christ's stead, maybe I have to read this to get it right.
I want you to listen to what God is saying to you.
Two Corinthians 520 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God, said, Oh, listen to me.
Listen to the Word of God as if God Himself was speaking to your soul from the pages of His precious book. Sir, we all know what this book is.
00:10:05
What is this deal? The Bible, God's precious word, and in it we have his message of reconciling. What does it mean to be reconciled? Somebody help me out.
Jack, what do you say? What's reconciled mean?
How about Marcus?
Reconciled means there are two things that ought to be like this and they're not. They're way far apart and they need to be brought back together. Kids, when God created Adam and Eve put them in the garden. We had this earlier today. It says that he saw that it was very good. Everything was very good.
And you know, it didn't take very long for Satan to come into God's creation.
And he began to work to get Adam and Eve to sin. Sin means go against what God says. And he was successful in doing that. And so we find that.
Satan tempted Adam and Eve and he put doubt in their mind and they disobeyed what God said. God said don't eat of the tree.
And the Satan said, did God really say that? And Eve said, well, he said don't look at it, don't touch it, don't eat it. Well, he has said don't eat it. And then Satan said to her, now that's a lie. God's not being truthful with you, you'll be fine. Eat it.
And so she did, and sin entered into the world. They disobeyed God.
And suddenly that fellowship and that communion was broken.
And God was perfect and holy and mankind, everyone of us has descended from Adam and Eve. We're sinners, we're born in sin, and we're shaping in iniquity the Word of God teaches.
You know, I'm going to tell you kids something that I'm ashamed of. When I was about the age of 1 of you boys, I was in.
A store in York Harbor, Newfoundland, owned by, at that time, Pauline and Faye Byrne, both sisters in our meeting at that time. And there was a box of candy there in that store that looked really good to me. You know what I did?
What do you think I did, Aidan?
I made sure that they weren't looking and I snuck one of those. It was called the chocolate chunk.
And I slipped it out of the door as fast as I could.
And I ate it. I stole it.
I'm ashamed to tell you guys that, but it's true, Becky. You probably stood in that same store a bit many times. I stole a candy bar from Bay and Pauline Burn. There was sin against God. Why did I do it? Because I'm a Sinner and you were a Sinner. And we need to be reconciled to God. And so.
That's what the gospel is about. You know, before we get any further into this, I want to.
I try to remember when I was a kid like you guys, I liked it when people told me a few stories. You'll guys like stories, all right? I also like history.
Today is Canada Day, July 1St is Canada Day and.
I'm ashamed to say, even though I'm a Canadian, I have no idea how old Canada is today.
But it's also another day for Newfoundland. There's it's called Beaumont Hamill Day.
And that day was the.
Beginning of the World War One some offensive, which is a battle that happened in France over many months and on July 1St.
19 Sixteen, 780 Newfoundlanders went over the top.
And in less than 10 minutes, there was only 69 men left alive.
So that's called Beaumont Hamill Day. To Newfoundlanders. If you ever go to France and Belgium, I'd like to go with you and see that memorial. But anyway, there were men that day, that morning in that trench that were in imminent danger of entering eternity within minutes.
00:15:08
And friend, that could be you. Right now. There is no guarantee that that clock will get to 8:20 and you could be an eternity.
Two weeks ago tomorrow.
5.
Explorers got into a small submarine called the Titan submersible.
That was towed out of St. John's Harbor by the Polar Prince. I feel like I have a connection to this because it happened in Newfoundland.
And those five people begin to descend into the depths of the sea.
And an hour and a half after they left the surface.
In 0.2 milliseconds they were ushered into eternity when that submarine was crushed.
By 67000.
Pounds of pressure on that submarine and those people in that were in that submarine were instantly killed. I doubt they even had a chance to hear the thing breaking.
You know what's sad about that story to me? There's lots of people told them don't do it, it's not safe, you won't be able to survive. And they did it and they were ushered into eternity.
Two weeks ago tomorrow.
It's funny how.
A story like that can capture the imagination of the world. Well, you know, friend, as I thought about that and you kids, as I thought about that story, I thought about how if you do not know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you right now are in imminent danger.
Of going into a lost eternity should your life end or the Lord Jesus come back. And both of those things are mentioned in God's Word as facts. That will happen. Either the Lord will come back and you're going to go to heaven if you belong to Him, or you're going to go to hell if you don't. Or you're going to die and you're going to heaven if you belong to Him, or you go to hell if you don't.
And the message I need to impress upon you kids so strongly is now is the time.
To accept the Lord Jesus as your savior? Well, maybe you say, hey, Uncle Bernie, I don't understand.
I'm just a kid trying to live my life, so I want to try to make this as easy as I can for you.
All of us are born in sin. God is holy. He can't have sin in his presence, and so somebody has to pay the penalty for sin.
You know, I thought of a lot of different things today. I really enjoyed the meetings today.
And I thought of.
Abraham and Isaac as they went up there, you know, through that mountain and God told Abraham, you're going to have to sacrifice your son. And it reminded me, really brought tears to my eyes of God the Father and the Lord Jesus looking down at you and me and all of us in this room and saying.
They need a savior. Who's going to go?
And the Lord Jesus said, here am I, send me with.
Find that in Isaiah 6.
And so the Lord Jesus came into this world.
Born into Bethlehem's Manger or into the Virgin Mary. And the Angel of God had told her, that holy thing that will be born of you will be called the Son of God. And so God's beloved Son came into this world.
You know what happened the night he was born, guys.
They said to his mother, we don't have any room for him.
There was no room for him at the end, and so he was born in a barn, out in a stable, since they laid him in a Manger, wrapped him in swaddling clothes.
What a humble beginning to the Son of God.
And he could walk through this world.
And in perfect obedience to His Father's will, time after time is written in the New Testament of my need is to do the will of Him that sent me.
00:20:09
I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightened? Don't be accomplished and so on. The Lord came for one reason and that is to go to Calvary's cross and die because you and I.
We're in a hopelessly lost condition with nothing that you could possibly do.
To get out of it by yourself, Nothing. You know, another thing that happened in history that intrigued me was.
Guys, remember when the mind collapsed in Chile?
And this is about 12 or 15 years ago, there was 33 miners that were.
Way down deep in the earth mining for gold and copper and there was a mine collapse and they were trapped.
Down there and there is absolutely nothing that they could do to rescue themselves. Zero. They tried to climb up the ventilation shafts and they were all blocked. And they came to the realization we're doomed and we're going to die and there's nothing we can do about it.
But you know, up there at the surface, the Chilean government had put together a plan. They needed to be saved.
And over about 69 days, they were drilling, drilling, drilling through all this rock, about 2600 feet of solid rock. And I think they missed their target like 20 times.
Finally, 1 drill hit the target and those miners that were down there spray painted the drill bit red and when they pulled it up they realized somebody painted this red. They're down there.
And then they drilled out a bigger hole and they got those men out of there.
And a little capsule that was only 21 inches wide, and these men were getting pulled up. Let's think about that, Brother Tim. I'm claustrophobic.
Here they had to. That's the only way to get out. Either get in the capsule and be saved, or stay where you're at and die. That's it. And that's the way it is. What the gospel to you kids say to God. Well, I think my way is good enough.
I'm just going to do it the way I want to do it, and God will. He'll probably be happy with that. No, that's not the way it works. It says in Hebrews, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The answer is you won't escape if you neglect so great salvation. And so God sent his Son into the world. You know something else about that minor story that really thrilled my soul?
When those men came up, they were all wearing the same shirt.
You guys know about this?
And on it, in great big letters, it said Gracias senior, Thank you, Lord. And it had I think it's.
Psalm 95 maybe?
The deep places of the earth are in his hand. We'll have to look it up after, but every one of those men came up wearing that shirt. Thank you, Lord.
I sat in my truck soil sampling a field.
When the 1St man was lifted and then I was fascinated by that and it took like 1/2 hour for him to come up and they opened the door and he stepped out and the announcer read that shirt and I thought, great gracias senior, thank you Lord.
Friends, that's what the Lord Jesus wants to do for you and your sins is bring you up out of that horrible pit. Tim was talking last night about Jonah going down to the bottoms of the mountains.
You know, think about that. You know, I was thinking about that submersible sub too and.
It's way down there, 12,000 feet down, and they were hoping to see the Titanic is what they wanted to see.
That's the bottoms of the mountains. That's where you're at, friends, without the Lord Jesus. That's where I'm at.
We need a savior, and the beautiful news of the gospel is Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You know, I thought of another verse. I've been quoting a lot of verses here, but I think it's good to have the Bible open and I feel bad that we haven't opened it enough yet. Turn to Romans 8.
00:25:02
I was thinking about Abraham and Isaac.
And I was thinking about God and his Son.
Let's read verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.
Think about that, brethren, God gave his Son.
His only begotten Son, that One in whom was all his delight from a past eternity.
And they sent him into this world. He spared not his own son. You know, I think about kids, the Lord Jesus and the cross, and he's arrested and hauled away on trial. And they convict him to be crucified and they take him out there. And I take that they would have a cross laid there on the ground and they stretched him out.
Started pounding those nails into his hands and feet. You know, this past week I had a problem with this finger right here.
And I don't really know what it was, maybe gout, but I'm not sure except to tell you this. It hurt a lot. I couldn't even hold a pencil.
And you know, I was laying in bed and going like this. Oh man, this hurts. You know what I thought about?
The Lord reminded me, since my hands, my hands hurt too.
They pound those nails into the hands of the blessed Lord Jesus.
Pound those nails through his feet. They pick up that cross, set it in a hole in the ground.
And there he is, kids, God's beloved son, hanging there.
Between heaven and earth.
And he's there because of my sins and your sins. But you know, it wasn't the Lord hanging on the cross that paid for my sin four years.
It tells us in God's Word that at the 9th hour, 6th hour, there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour. And during that time God poured out on His own Son. He didn't spare His Son. He poured out on the sun all of the blame and the penalty and punishment that belonged to me and to you for our sins.
That's what paid the penalty for our sins, God.
It says in Two Corinthians 5/21 He hath made him to be sin for us.
Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jack, that's what it means to be reconciled to God. God didn't have to change. It's me and you that had to be brought back. You understand? God was perfect, God was right, God was holy. We were sinners.
I hope that the word were is correct. If you're still in your sins right now, you are on your way to a lost eternity. I hope your kids understand that and think about it. God didn't have to change. We had to be brought and reconciled to Him.
Another verse that I think of is.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. I think that's first John Four, We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. And so the Lord Jesus, in obedience to his Father, went to the cross.
You know, Aiden, there was a on either side of the Lord Jesus, there were two other people that were crucified.
And they were thieves and they were bad dudes and.
For a while they were making fun of Jesus, like hey, hey, take us down, take us down.
And then I think one of them realized something about the Lord Jesus.
And he said we're getting what we deserve here. But this man has done nothing in this. And that was true. But he was there because of me and because of you. That's why he was there.
You know, we had that story of Abraham and Isaac earlier today, and it says that Abraham bound his son and laid him up there on the altar and he took the knife and he held it up like that. And Brother Don, I really appreciated what you shared about the Lord. Jesus spared his father from bringing that knife down.
00:30:00
But you know kids.
Somebody had to be punished for our sins. The Lord Jesus paid the entire debt, all of the penalty for our sins. And when it was done, he said it is finished. And then instead of God taking his life, the Lord Jesus dismissed the Spirit. He said it's finished, completed, all done, all paid.
And then he laid down his head and dismissed his spirit, and he died.
They took him down from the cross, they put him in the grave, and probably most of them thought, well, that's the end of a bad job.
But that's not the end of the story. You guys know what happened next.
On the first day of the week, some of those friends of the Lord Jesus, dear friends of his, that were so sad that he had been killed, they went to the grave.
And they were bringing some spices and some other things, things that they could treat the body of Jesus with kindness and dignity. And you know what they found?
He wasn't there.
There was a giant stone in front of that cave where he had been buried.
The stone was rolled away.
And there were some angels there and they said he's not here, he's risen.
And they're like, what?
And a couple of them even went in and looked the Ellis. Sure enough, he wasn't there. There was the evidence that he'd been there.
Wrappings that they would have wrapped up his dead body and were there. I've often tried to wonder what that looked like. I don't believe it was a strewn around mess like some kid getting out of a sleeping bag. I don't think so.
Sometimes I thought it was almost like there was a balloon. Then he just pricked the balloon and the balloon deflated and everything was just all wrapped up. But there's nothing in there. He's gone.
He's alive, and God raised him from the dead. His Father was totally satisfied with what he did at the cross to pay for sin, and he was so satisfied that he brought his Son back to life. He rose from the dead. It's called resurrection. And the Lord Jesus right now is a man in the glory.
And he's there inviting you to take what he has done.
As a gift from him to you. How much do you have to pay for a gift, young people?
It's free, right?
The Word of God tells us the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now you have the ability to turn down a gift.
It's not a very smart thing to do, but some people have done it over history. There was a man in this state, Ohio, one time that was a terrible criminal, and some of his family and friends were lobbying the president of the United States to give him a pardon. And they were successful. And the president agreed to pardon him and let him out of prison. I can't remember his name now.
Anyway.
The warden of the prison went out there and we'll just say his name was Theo. He's a Theo.
I have here a pardon and it means you can walk out of here a Freeman. No penalty. You know what that guy said, Theo?
He said I don't want it.
Isn't that crazy? Who would say that? That's what he said, I don't want it. I reject it. And the warden of the prison said, well, you can't do that. What do you mean you don't want it? Yes, I don't want it. Get it out of here. And I went all the way through the Supreme Court of the US and the decision was made. A pardon is only a pardon if it's accepted.
And that man rejected his pardon and he was executed for the crimes that he did and he deserved it.
Kids, God is offering you a pardon. He says I paid my son, paid all the debt for your sin. All you got to do is accept it. Believe that my son did what I asked him to do on your behalf. Believe that what he did was enough.
Are you willing to believe in what God is offering you and accept the gift of God? I hope you are. Don't put it off kids. You know I put it off a grid many times.
00:35:07
But there was a night a couple weeks ago I was up in Rideau Ferry and I went to a senior citizen's home with the.
My uncle Ralph and with Paul House and after the Bible study that they did with the senior citizens, we went by a lady's room named Judith Wilkin. Maybe somebody you remember her.
I was sitting in Sackville conference.
One time I think I was 7 or so, eight maybe, and her husband Cam Wilkin was preaching the gospel and the Spirit of God got a hold of my soul. He said do it now, don't put it off. And you know kids, I said yes, Lord Jesus, I believe in what you did for me at the cross of Calvary. I accept what you have done for me. I know that you paid my debt and I.
Believe it, and I'm happy to take it. And I got saved. I got rescued from that deep dark pit of sin that I couldn't get out of by myself. Well, it was nice to see Missus Wilkin. I don't think she knew who I was, but I remember her. I spent many a happy hour at her basement playing with Ross and Gretchen and different ones.
And I mentioned Ross to her. Oh, that's my son, you know.
She remembered her son. She didn't know much about me.
But you know, God values his Son too, and he wants you to love and accept him too. You know, sometimes we sing Oh what a Savior that he died for me. The Lord Jesus loves you dear one, my friend He.
Wants you to accept him, to open your heart's door, to say yes, Lord Jesus, I'm a Sinner, I can't save myself. I need you to pay my debt. That's what happened at the cross. You know, when the Lord Jesus shed his blood. There's one more thing before we end here I was thinking about.
Isaac there as as going up that mountain with his father, and the question is asked.
Here's the fire, here's the wood, where's the burnt offering? And Abraham said to his son, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And that's what he did. And the Lord Jesus is called the Lamb of God. But you know, I thought about.
All of the thousands, hundreds of thousands of lambs that had been sacrificed through the centuries.
Think of the Passover lamb, right? They had to take that cute little lamb and keep it in their house for four days, get all attached to it. That's what would happen in our house, I guarantee you that.
And then the last day the dad would say, OK, kids, hand me the lamb. Look dad, what are you going to do?
But it killed it.
Take the blood, put it on the door. God said when I see the blood, I will Passover you. Then after they had the blood on the door, they would take that lamb and they roasted it in fire. Now you kids, how many of you are brave enough to stick your finger in a candle for three minutes?
About 3 seconds.
I tried it too once a day and then I didn't make it.
I remember giving this analogy in thorough Nova Scotia when I was in college and there was a kid named Andrew Devoe and he was a bit crazy and I gave him a 5 second challenge and he made it to four. I'm like, dude.
His mom yanked his hand out and it busted it all up.
Anyway, where I'm going with this is fire is really really hot and it says they had to roast it with fire, not boiled in water. When you boil something in water, it only gets to 212. That's what water boils at and it doesn't get any hotter unless you put it in a pressure cooker. But when you put something in fire, it gets.
Way, way hotter. Vastly hotter. But you know those, none of those lamps ever felt the fire. They did feel the myth, though. They never felt the fire. But kids, the Lord Jesus felt the fire of God's wrath against your sins and my sins, and he paid it all. And when it was all done, he said it's finished.
00:40:11
100% paid. All you got to do is believe that I did it for you and accept it. Are you willing to do that?
Dear friend, we're out of time.
Going to quote to you a couple of things that came to my heart today. You know, when I walked past that sheet up there at the on the porch with your names on them under lost and found. I thought about this him.
Those who are young.
Oh God.
Make them thine own.
Hear from thy blessed abode.
Make them thine owns now in their early days, turn them to thy blessed place.
Save from the giddy maze, Make them thine own. That's the heart of the Lord Jesus for you kids right now, that you would come and be saved.
That of another him, Julie. I learned this from your father a good many years ago.
Oh, don't turn the savior away.
He's calling unto you today.
I'll cry out unto him and pray or weep in that great judgment day.
Oh, your time is running out. Run center. Run to the arms.
To the arms of the Savior he's calling you come.
Oh rest not don't sleep till the matter is done.
Oh, flee while you can from the wrath that's to come.
Someday when your story is told.
And your body lies silent and cold.
What then of the riches you hold?
And what would you give for your soul? You know, people think about that, the ambitions to make money.
Have a big house, Have a fast car. Think about that.
What would you give for your soul? Don't turn the Lord Jesus aside. Make him your own tonight.
Oh what a Savior that he died for me. I hope everyone of you knows who loves the blessed Lord Jesus.
There's lots more we could say, but we're going to be done.
That's it.
Nothing to be added to the Word of God.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
The Parable of the Sower
Children—Josh Stewart
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
There's a lot of children here already, so we can go ahead and get started with the Sunday school for today.
I think we'll begin with singing some.
Some songs from this little hymn book here. So anyone has one they would like to request, we can try to sing it.
Graham.
Number one, OK.
Number one.
Almost persuade.
OK, we'll have another one now.
Sophia.
Number six, and I should mention that in the last page of this hymn book, is children's hymns and choruses, but.
Good with whatever ones you want to give out number six.
God in mercy.
All right, let's have another one. ISA 41.
Very nice.
Around the.
All right, let's have another one. Jewel 47.
47 This song even has your name in it. Very nice. OK #47.
00:10:04
When he cometh. When he cometh.
OK, let's have one more Betsy.
#43 that is a nice short one, thank you.
Wondering.
Sky, according to you.
OK, thank you. Tell you what, with that rain coming down, it's sure nice to be on the inside of the door. All right, now it's time for the memory verse. If you learned a memory verse and you'd like to say it.
I have some things in this bag, and maybe I'll give you one if you are brave enough to say your memory verse, but make sure that you at least mostly know it before you volunteer.
All right.
Who would like to start and if you could tell me where the verse is found that would be great.
Joshua, we had it over one sitter that repented more than over 99 just persons which need no repentance.
Good job. Do you know what verse where that's found?
Luke 15 is at verse 7. All right? Very good.
Would anyone else in this area here like to say it before we move on?
Joy shall be in heaven over once, and of that repenteth more. Thou were 99 just persons with need no repentance. Luke 15, verse seven. Very good.
All right.
Thanks, Lisa. There you can hold the microphone. Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth or the other 99 that need no repentance. All right. Good job.
00:15:00
Oh boy.
This is there's going to be a lot of volunteers this morning.
So I shall be over one Sinner that repentance over the.
99 that need your repentance, Luke.
15-7 Good job.
Luke 15 Seven joy shall be in heaven over the 99.
One Sinner that needs repentance over 99 just persons that need not repentance.
Luke 15, seven.
Joyce, he'll be in heaven over one Sinner without repenteth more than over 99 just persons with need no repentance. Luke 15, seven.
Anyone else here would like to try it?
Graham.
George shall be in heaven over one Sinner that were Princess more than over 99 just persons that need.
Which need no repentance. Luke 15, seven. Very nice.
All right. And if you eat these candies, just put the wrapper in your pocket or give it back to me so we don't leave it on the floor.
Joy, Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth more than over 99 just persons which need number repentance. Luke 15, seven. Very nice. Anyone else over here?
You can hold the You can hold it. Luke 15, seven.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that that repetitive over 99 portions that don't need.
What? What? 15-7?
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth, and more than over in 99 just persons which need no repentance. Luke 15.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repents more than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance. Luke 15. Seven. Very good. OK over here.
Joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth over 99 just sinners that need no repenteth.
Luke 15, seven.
All right, anybody else over here want to try?
You want to try and make it.
John, please. Luke 15, seven. Luke 15, seven.
Joy so be in heaven over one single that repentance, that repentance more than warden.
Over 99 / 99 just persons. Just persons.
That that leaves no repentance. John Freeze. Luke 15, seven. Luke 15, seven. OK, anybody else want to try?
You don't have to know it perfectly. Anyone else want to try over here?
Luke Swift, Luke 15, seven. And joy shall be in heaven over once in another that repented Luke 15 seven.
Okay, over here.
Joyce shall be in heaven over one Sinner. I repented.
Over 99 trespassers that need no repentance, Luke.
15157 Very nice. Anyone else here?
Luke 15 Seven joy shall be in heaven.
Over.
One Sinner that repenteth more than 99 just persons who.
Which need, which need no repentance.
Luke 15, seven.
Anyone else?
In heaven over one Sinner that repenteth over 99 just persons, and Nina Repetit Luke 15, seven.
00:20:05
OK.
And if I didn't get to you and you want to say it after, just feel free to feel free to come on up. Oh, boy. OK, what's something out of the bag there? But hopefully it'll still be a surprise.
OK, we have one more over here.
Yeah, OK. Luke 15, seven.
Joy shall be in heaven, in heaven, over one Sinner, now in one Sinner.
Any Francis more than more than over 90 and nine more money 9%.
Repentance. Repentance 15737. All right, OK.
All right, that is quite an interesting verse. Joy in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth, rather than over 90 and nine just persons which need no repentance.
Can somebody tell me what repentance is?
Graham.
Wow.
This is a hard one.
The painting means.
Here, let me. Let me come back to you, OK? The word repent has the word pent in it. And when you say someone is pensive, what does that mean? Has anyone ever heard that say Aiden looks pensive over there?
Does anyone know what pensive means?
Never heard that word. Maybe that's an old word that we don't use very often. Maybe someone who's older can tell us. Pensive.
Anybody.
Deep in thought. Thank you, Mr. Smith. There you are.
Deep in thought to penta is to think, and to repent is to change your thought.
And what God wants the Sinner to do is to change his thoughts, to change his thinking, because, you know, each one of us is born into this world as a Sinner. We have a nature that can only sin.
And what God is looking for in each of us, boys and girls and all of us in this room, is that we would have a change of thought.
Not just in our minds, but in our hearts, as well as to God and as to ourselves. He wants us to take His side, to think the way He thinks.
And you know, there were 99 sheep in this chapter, Luke 15, that were safe in the fold.
And I believe he's comparing these 99 sheep to the leaders in Israel who didn't think that they were bad.
They thought they didn't need to change anything, they were on the right track.
They didn't realize that they were lost.
And so they felt like they didn't need repentance.
Was there joy in heaven?
Over those leaders who didn't think they needed to change.
No, but one Sinner, and maybe there's one here. I think there's probably over 99 people in this room. If there's one person here today who turns from their sin, who turns to God, who changes their thinking.
There's going to be a party in heaven today. There is going to be joy in heaven. Isn't that amazing that we can do something that will cause joy in heaven? I want to speak a little bit about repentance and we'll maybe get to that in a minute. But first I have another question.
Can anyone remember?
What the address yesterday was about, I know that the children were not in the children's meeting for that meeting. So there's no, there's no excuse.
Mr. Rule had an address. What did he speak about? I see ASA gardening very good. Excellent.
00:25:05
He spoke about gardening and he talked about a number of different things in the Bible that have to do with gardening and how God has a garden and how we have a garden. And he talked about a number of things that are needed in a garden, and we just experienced one of them, which is.
I wanted to turn to a chapter that speaks about gardening.
And it's in Matthew chapter 13. It's called the Parable of the Sower. So I'm going to be looking for some volunteers to read a few verses if you have your Bible.
Matthew, Chapter 13.
And verse three, who can read Matthew 13 verse 3?
Jack.
And he spake many things into him in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to show very good. A sower went forth to sow.
What is a sower?
Sophia, maybe it's like somebody that sews clothes. That's what I was hoping you would say. That's what I thought this was talking about. And I was very confused when I was your age as to why this man was called a sower. But thank you for answering that. The word sow can mean when we spell it SEW can mean so enclosed, but when it's spelled sow.
It has to do with putting planting seeds.
Putting seeds in the ground.
So a sower is a planter. He's someone who plants seeds. So a sower went forth to sow is not talking about somebody who gets their needle in their thread and they go and they begin to.
Sew clothes. It's talking about someone who takes seeds and what they would do.
In the old days they would take a bag like this and they would fill it up.
With good seed.
And they would actually go ahead before they got the seed and they would actually till up the ground.
And make it good for seed.
They would use maybe a plow to start with and turn over the sod. Then they would use a cultivator to break it up into little pieces. That dirt had to become little pieces of dirt such that the seed would find a place to go such that it would grow. Then they would take a bag not exactly like this, but probably a big heavy bag that would be over their shoulder full of seed.
Then a sower would go out to sow.
Reach in that bag, get a handful of seed and he would sling it out like that and that seed would he would be an expert at that and that seed would go and become a uniform. If I did it, it would probably end up with one big lump of seeds in one spot, but these guys knew what they were doing. They could throw that seed since it was a fine uniform.
The deposition of seed over that good ground. That's what a sower would do. Now I've got some seed in this bag.
That I found at the store the other day.
See that? Does anyone know what kind of seeds these are?
Sunflower, sunflower seeds. Very good. All right, sunflower seeds. I'll show you kids what these look like. These particular kinds are dill pickle sunflower seeds.
So.
That's what they look like. If you want to try one of these later, I'll let you try 1.
All right, so if you were to plant one of these, maybe not the dill pickle kind, but the regular kind, you might actually have a sunflower that would grow.
All right now.
It also says.
In the word of God, that the seed that God plants is good seed.
It says in verse.
18 that the seed is the word of the Kingdom. The seed is the word of God. This book that we're reading today, God is using this word and he is planting a seed.
00:30:08
And it is called the good seed in another place. Now I have another kind of seed here.
This is also called sunflower seeds. Freshly roasted sunflower seeds and lightly salted and they are good. Would anyone like to test that out and tell me if they're good?
Are they good all right? Anyone else want to try 1?
Anybody else want to try a seed?
All right, Now, this would not actually be the seed that you would sow in the field because it wouldn't survive, I think, because it doesn't have the protective layer on it. But.
It's good so that you can.
Test it and make sure it's good seed.
So this is actually inside of the outer piece that we saw on the other seeds.
All right, you want to try one? All right.
So he would reach into his bag.
He would sow that seed in this field.
OK, now we're going to read what happened with that seed.
Who would like to read?
Verse 4.
Matthew 13, verse four. Can I get a volunteer please? All right, Avery.
And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them all right.
So what we find in this parable is that not all of the seeds.
Fell in a good place. So what I've brought in here today. I scoured our campus here to find some different things.
What I have to start with is.
Bin #1.
Want you children to look at this and tell me what you think about this kind of ground.
How does it look to you?
Look pretty good.
How does it work?
Smart Marcus. It looked good, but he touched it and guess what? Very hard. I stepped on it with all my weight yesterday.
What's the problem with it being hard? Anybody.
You know what's the problem with it being hard? Because if it's too hard, then the seeds will be able to grow. That's right, the seeds will not be able to grow because what will happen with the seeds when they land on it?
You know Avery.
That's right, the seeds will stay on the surface.
And as it says here.
It says here that the birds came and devoured them up.
Every person in this room has a heart and your heart.
Is like a piece of ground and God is looking to sow His seed in your heart.
And I hope that your heart is not like this piece of ground. It looks good.
But when you touch it, you find out that it's packed down. This is what's called wayside ground. It's the ground where the people walk and the wagons ride and the horses ride and it gets packed down. And when the seeds land on it, they can't sink down in and they can't take root and they're laying right there on the surface. And then it says the fowls of the air came and devoured them up.
Now I'm going to read from the Lord. Jesus explains this parable to his disciples.
What he meant when he said that?
Verse 18 Hear ye, therefore, the parable of the sower.
When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom, and understandeth it not.
Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside. So the Lord Jesus says that taking seed.
00:35:00
As I'm about to do here.
And casting it on the wayside.
Is like someone who hears the word and doesn't understand it. Now I don't think what the Lord meant when he said understand it is that the message was too complicated. That's not the point, wasn't it? The gospel is too hard for them to understand. It's that they never understood that it was for them.
It was a nice message.
But they didn't understand that this is God speaking to you.
Very important when we hear two very good gospel messages the last two nights.
But you know what? God is speaking to you. You are a Sinner. There's a real heaven, there's a real hell where you will go.
And God is speaking to you. We don't get saved in a group, we get saved individually.
And each one of us needs to be real with God, that this is for me. God loves me. He sent his Son to die for everyone, yes, but He also sent his Son to die for me and to be real with God and to understand that this is for me. That is the problem with the wayside ground.
It's hearing it but not really understanding that it's for me. So I hope each one of us.
In this room, really understand that God's word, that the gospel message is for us.
Well, let's read verse five. Who can volunteer to read?
Verse 5.
OK, Kira saw your hand.
Some fell upon Stony places where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no dependence of earth.
Nice job. OK, we have now another kind of ground.
And for most of these I had lots of.
Great.
Things to find around this camp.
We have another kind of ground here.
So the last one, Marcus pointed out to us that it was too hard.
But now we've got another kind of ground if we look at it. Is that hard?
Very quickly, it's actually soft on the surface, but you know what? Down deep, if you look through the sides of this container, what do you see down there? Stone, stones. There's dirt on the surface, but underneath is what?
The deep, the dirt is not very deep on the top, is it?
See that some dirt on the top but underneath is rocky ground.
If you think seeds are going to grow very well in this.
Nope, they will not.
And that is exactly what the Lord Jesus said in his parable.
The seeds it says in verse five that Kira read to us they had not much earth and they sprung up because they had no depth of earth and I should have had a read verse six as well which says.
And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.
So seeds, when they grow, they grow up, but they also grow down and the plant has a root.
And the reason why it's important for the seed to have depth of earth is to give room for that root to grow and that there's not enough depth of earth, there's not enough soil for the root to be in, and it can't get water. And when the sun comes out, the sun is very hot. And that plant that sprung up then becomes begins to wither.
00:40:04
And die. And we'll read about what the Lord Jesus said about that.
Kind of ground he said in verse 20, But he that received the seed into Stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and Anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dearth for a while. And when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
What I believe this brings out to us is that there are it is possible to hear the word of God and understand that it's for me, but that we don't let it get down deep in US. There's no depth of earth. It doesn't reach our conscience. Maybe we think I want to be a Christian too. This is going to be great. We're going to get to go to heaven. I want to be a Christian too.
But we don't understand it. It has to go deep in US, deep in our heart. It has to reach our heart and our conscience. We have to realize that it's not just about going to heaven.
It's about the issue of sin, and that was talked about in the two gospel meetings. We have to realize that the reason why we need a Savior is because of sin, because of those things that we have done that have separated us from God.
And the word is good. Seed needs to have depth. That root needs to go down deep into our conscience and our heart.
And so.
That seed that falls on the Stony ground, it springs up and it's like someone who hears the gospel and they're so happy immediately.
You know, it's when we really deeply understand the gospel and we come to terms with it. The first reaction, really.
Is that there's sorrow to realize our sin and to realize what it costs God to save us, that he sent his Son to die on that cross, that awful cross for our sins.
And then when we realize next is the depth of his love and what He has done, and then we realize his plans for us in the future and the deliverance that we have and the freedom that we have, then there's joy.
But when there's joy quickly, without the depth, without the conscience, then it's like this plant that grows up in the Stony ground. Well, I hope that no one in this room is like that. Well, then we have another kind of ground.
Verse #7.
Who would like to read verse #7 I think I saw Marcus.
And and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. OK, very good. Now believe it or not.
I had a hard time at Carrollton finding thorns. They did a really good job at this place, but I did manage to find some thorns.
OK, does this look like a good place to plant seeds in your garden?
Nope, I would agree with that.
One of the things that we have to do in a garden is weed. Get rid of the thorns, get rid of the weeds. Not a good place.
And also, these are not very nice to touch, are they?
Yep, I had a hard time finding thorns here, but I did finally manage to find one. So make sure you don't touch the thorns. They they don't feel too nice. All right, Thorny ground the sower when he cast out his seed. The thing with the seed is it doesn't all fall in one place. Some of the seed falls here and some falls here.
And some falls.
On the thorny ground.
Now we're going to read about what the thorny ground is.
Verse 21. Verse. Sorry. Verse 22. Maybe I'll get a volunteer to read this.
Verse 22 got a lot of boy volunteers to read verses over here. Can we get it over here?
Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of which is choked the world, and he becomes unfruitful. All right.
00:45:12
The next kind of ground.
The Lord, Jesus explained, is like someone who understands it, who receives it. But then there are other things that grow up alongside that seed, that choke it out.
And he explains what those things are.
The care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches.
Meeting over at 10:00 OH.
All right, we're going to move fast. I didn't realize that we were behind on time.
It's very important that we don't allow other things in our life to distract us.
To make it so that we don't pay attention to what God is saying to us. And finally we have one more kind of ground.
And that is?
What kind of ground would you say that is?
It's like soil. Yeah, that's good.
Would you say that's bad ground for growing?
What kind of ground would you say that is?
That is the good ground. Very nice. OK.
There are no thorns in it, there's no stones underneath, there's no it's not packed down like the wayside and the good seed.
Falls in that ground as well.
And when that seed falls into that ground, it's understood. It reaches the heart, it reaches the conscience.
There's no distractions there to make someone say I'll put it off. Well, I'll think about it later. I'll trust the Lord Jesus later in my life. No, it's received, it's believed, and it bears fruit. Some 30 fold, some 60 fold, and some 100 fold. Well, I hope that this lesson has helped to you.
That when we hear the gospel as we had it last night and the night before that we make sure that our heart isn't like the wayside ground, the Stony ground, or the thorny ground. That we make sure it's like the good ground. And what I meant to say earlier was that I think the good ground is a repentant heart. It's a heart that is turned over and tilled up.
There's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repenteth.
And so even for us as believers.
I'll say one more thing before I close. It says that it brings. When the seed falls in good ground, it brings forth fruit. Some 30, some 60, some 100. That means that one seed.
In its lifetime would produce 30 fold 30 more seeds, or 60 more seeds, or 100 more seeds.
Why are some only produced 30 versus 60 versus 100?
I think we need to look no further than this very chapter to see what it is that can cause us to be less fruitful than we ought to be. The same things.
The stones packing down the thorns. It's important that even if you are a believer that we don't allow those things in our garden to hinder the fruitfulness for God.
Three Days
Address—Bob Thonney
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#168.
168.
The night is far spent and the day is at hand. No sign to be looked for The stars in the sky.
Rejoice then, ye Saints, tis your Lord's own command. Rejoice, for the coming of Jesus draws nigh.
168.
The night is far spent.
1.
2nd.
What's in the world?
Want to start by reading one verse in first Peter?
Chapter 4.
Verse 7.
But the end of all things.
Is at hand.
Be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
00:05:01
I find it fascinating, the subject of time and eternity. And of course, when we talk about the end, we're talking about time.
Time has an end, yes, when heaven and earth pass away, that's the way time is measured. The earth gives 1 rotation on its axis, that's one day, goes around the sun one once, that's one year. So when heaven and earth pass away, there will be.
No more time and I find that.
Something that just kind of blows my mind.
Because then we are dealing with eternity.
And I must say I've struggled with explaining eternity. People say what's eternity? And they say, well, it's.
Goes on and on and on and on for billions and millions of years and.
That's really not the case.
Eternity is just one day.
It's called the day of God.
But it's a day that never ends.
And so it blows my mind. The best definition of eternity I've found is in Isaiah 5715 where it says thus if the high and lofty 1.
Who inhabits eternity?
Eternity is the habitation of God because God is eternal. But try to imagine in your mind.
A Dean that never had a beginning. That's just beyond my capacity. I'm sorry, this head just doesn't fit there. We accept it because God shows that clearly in his word. He's eternal. Never had a beginning. The Lord Jesus was the eternal.
Son of God, Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
So I'd like to speak this afternoon on three days in Scripture. Let's go to the first one in First Corinthians chapter 4.
And verse.
3.
The Corinthians were judging the apostle Paul and.
Here's what he says.
But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you.
Or of man's judgment. My Bible, there's a margin and it has a reference there. It's day instead of judgment.
We are living today in man's day. Man is the center of his world.
And so the reference for it is what we want. We have a democracy. You need to respect me. I have my rights, and I'm going to go to law if it's necessary to have my rights.
It's man's day today.
The next one is actually. The next two are in Second Peter chapter 3.
Two Peter chapter 3 and verse 10.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
There's the day of the Lord.
That same chapter.
Verse 12. Looking for and hastening.
The coming of the day of God.
We're in the heavens. Being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
So there's the three days, the day of man where we are living right now, the day of the Lord.
00:10:11
A day that is coming fast, dear brethren.
And then at the end of the day of the Lord, the day of God, eternity.
Tremendously interesting to me to see in the world that we live in, and I desire to give you young people some exhortations about understanding the prophetic picture we have in Scripture. There's so much information out there on the Internet.
And so much that is confusing and people don't know what to believe. If you do not have a basis in the Word of God that lives and abides forever, that never changes. Let me tell you, you're going to get shaken. There's no question about it. My desire is that you would have that basis in the Word of God so that you would not get shaken.
When things start to happen.
Then when I look at this world today, and I don't know, some of you have probably seen on the news what's going on these last two or three days in France.
Total havoc the police can't hold. They can't contain it. They have to withdraw and let the terrorists burn buildings and loot stores. And I don't know where it's going to end.
Well, things are showing where they end. When man has his way, his day, it's pretty scary. But before we go into these three days too much more, I want to.
Step back.
And think about the Lord Jesus.
Our glorious Savior, the one we remembered in the breaking of bread meeting this morning.
Oh, brethren, we don't grasp properly the glory of His person.
And the sufficiency of his work.
So I'd like to first of all go to the only book in the Bible.
That starts with the word God, the first word of the book. I'm sure many of you know what book I'm talking about.
God.
Book of Hebrews.
Interesting. We believe that the Apostle Paul wrote the book.
There is no conclusive evidence, but he does not mention his name once in this book.
Because his purpose is to occupy them with the person of the Lord Jesus.
And he realized that they had such a problem with his person.
Being a Jewish zealot that he was and then converting to the.
Missionary to take the gospel to the Gentiles. They had problems with the Apostle Paul and so I think that's probably why he doesn't mention his name.
Most of the other pistols he begins with Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, sometimes a servant of Jesus Christ.
But hear no mention there is an apostle mentioned in chapter 3 verse one.
But it's not him, it's the Lord. Jesus is the apostle.
And I think this is so incredibly wonderful, brethren, that we, in our breaking of bread meetings, keep our focus. Right, you young people.
Get your focus on him, get your focus off of yourselves. That is the problem with our American culture. It is self absorbation. We want to do what we like, what we enjoy.
That is not living in Christianity.
00:15:02
It's not living and I want to challenge you if you have that idea.
To give that up and to focus on this person that is focused in on the 1St 3 verses of this chapter, let's just read them God.
Who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time passed into the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world's, Who being the brightness of His glory.
And the expressed image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power.
When he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
There's seven.
Phrases that we want to focus on about the person of the Lord Jesus to in verse two and five in verse three, the first one is.
He's appointed heir of all things. You know, I find it strange. Why would he start before there's even creation mentioned talking about the error of all things.
It was because in those eternal purposes, God in those eternal councils.
In thinking about a creation and thinking about putting human beings into this creation.
There was already one who was going to occupy the place of error of all things.
And so in the second phrase it says by whom also He made the world. So there we have the creation. There's three portions of the New Testament that speak of the glories of the person of the Lord Jesus.
John 1. Hebrews 1. Colossians one. I find it so tremendously thrilling to focus on this glorious person.
Oh brethren, how little we grasp of His glory.
Here it says.
He made the worlds.
He made the cosmos. He made the universe.
You have any idea of the grandeur of the universe?
I must say I we live for 16 years almost in Bolivia and I love to go to the High Plains, the Alta Plano, you know, in in the West Coast of South America. You come down to the southern part of Peru and the Andes range splits into two ranges.
What they call the inner and the outer ring Andes. And so as you come into Bolivia, there's those two ranges and in between those two ranges.
You have what is called the Altiplano. The altiplano is 12,000 feet altitude.
One time we were coming across the.
Inner Andes from Potocy over to Uyuni, which is situated on the Alta Plano, and we came to the place where the road drops down from. I don't know if it's 15,000 feet, sometimes I get up to 16,000 feet down to the 12,000 feet level.
And we decided to just stop there and watch a little bit.
To look at the scene, I must say the grandeur of it all out way to the distance in the West, I can see the outer Andes, those majestic mountains, and I just felt how insignificant of a little blip I was in connection with it all. And yet.
We're not talking about anything beyond planet Earth. Planet Earth is small in connection with the sun.
1,300,000 Earths could fit into the sun, and the sun is not one of the larger stars.
00:20:00
And.
You know, I was stuck in some time ago to group of young people after the singing Los Angeles and I mentioned how in our Galaxy there is approximately 100 billion stars. After the singer, a young brother came up to me and says you know what brother, it's closer to 200 billion.
Thank you. That's great.
Thank you. But a few years ago, I was out in California and my brother let me see a video from some astronomers, and they say it's closer to 300 billion stars. The numbers just keep going up and up. And how did they ever get to be there?
There's only 8 billion people on this Earth, and in the Galaxy we're located in this 300 billion.
I have a book at home because my kids know that I love to study the stars and in the book it says.
They're approximately 250 billion more galaxies like our own.
Well, that number has been revised quite a bit as well.
The other day I.
Saw a talk online of some Christian astronomers and they said the number of the galaxies now they calculate to be.
Between 3:00 and 4:00, trillion galaxies. I mean, it's going to keep going up like that. I don't know.
But the person we're talking about here in this verse? The Lord Jesus Christ.
Is the one who spoke it all into existence by the word of His power. He spoke and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast.
I don't know if you get the feeling, folks.
I'm just so insignificant. What is my nothing important. Here's the important one. And yet we're in a world that tries to focus in on ourselves and make ourselves the center of our world. That's what man's world is.
Get out of there, my dear young people.
Change your focus. It's not about you. It's not about me either. It's about this person, the one who made the world's by the power of his own word.
Verse three who being the brightness of his glory, the full out shining of the glory of God, how can we ever.
Understand such a thing as in that person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the express image.
Of.
His person.
Images visible representation of what is invisible. God is invisible.
There's no way we can comprehend him. How can we know God then?
Well, the Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible God. In other words, you want to know God.
Get to know Jesus. He is the image of the invisible God. Oh wonderful, how incredible to think of him.
And then it says.
And upholding all things by the word of his power. And not only did he create it, he upholds it by the word of His power.
What tremendous power.
I've often used the illustration of my watch. I get these watches down in Bolivia because they got calculator on them and I like to have that when I go to different countries to calculate the money. But.
It says on here it has a 10 year battery.
Great problem is that after about four or five years it runs out.
00:25:01
Tell me, how often has God had to recharge the batteries of the universe?
Thousands, maybe millions of years and they run clock like.
This is the power. Not only has he created, he maintains it, and I find that so incredibly wonderful. We don't have to be worried about.
This world coming to an end until he brings it to an end.
But then the next phrase. Notice when he had by himself purged our sins. Here's a part of the the phrase that talks about his work of redemption.
By himself, He purged our sins. Don't tell me that the same God that created the whole thing is the one who came here to purge my sins is guilty Sinner that stands here. How can that ever be?
Can you see the young people that my heart is captured by this person? It's not about me anymore, it's about him. The Lord help us not to be deceived by man's day.
I have to say as I travel throughout Latin America.
That I say the number one reason for the decline of the Christian testimony in the United States and the reason why there's been such a tremendous working of the Lord by His Spirit in Latin America.
Is because we are self-centered, self pleasing, but you know this person we're talking about, it says in the book of Romans even Christ pleased not himself.
Just think of it. The Lord Jesus Christ when he was here, the glorious, eternal Son of God, the one who spoke the universe into existence.
Is the one.
That they took.
And the chief priests came up to him and spit square in his face.
Have anybody ever spit in your face?
I've never had that happen to me.
I've had people spit at me but not spit in my face and they spit in the face of the glorious Son of God. They crowned him with thorns, they beat him, they scourged him even when Pilate three times. We read it this morning in what was read and they're breaking their bread said I find no fault in this man.
Even then.
They condemned him to the most awful death possible, the death of crucifixion.
Did he resist?
No, he told Pilate. He says you could have no power against me at all, except if we're giving you from above. And so they let Jesus out.
Side of the city of Jerusalem to Golgotha's Hill, and there they nailed him to the cross. There he hung for six hours in life. First three hours the people were passing in front of him, mocking him, cheering him.
They said he said he was the Son of God. If he's if God is his father, let him come and deliver him.
Did God come to deliver him? No. Why not? Didn't God love his son? Yes, he did.
But there was number other way that you and I could be saved, but that the Lord Jesus died on that cross. And so when it comes to 12 noon.
Everything gets dark. The Lord Jesus is still hanging there.
And then those three hours of darkness, God lies on him. The iniquity of us all in God's holy character that had to be vindicated so that we can be saved, was vindicated fully.
00:30:01
And the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on that cross for sin.
Oh, I stand there and I marvel. I can't grasp the full impact of it all. I don't think we ever will. But again, I say it to you young people and older ones too. What happened there captures my heart. It's no matter no longer about me. It's about him.
So when we talk about man's day and you find the question addressed through the epistles.
That we need to be delivered from the idea that we can do our own thing, have our own way. If you do that, you're going to lose out.
Lord Jesus said a number of times in the gospel, he that loveth his life shall lose it.
He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal.
Are you losing your life because you're just doing the things you like?
I can't think of a more disastrous thing. Don't be deceived.
By the philosophy of man's day.
But I want to go on now to.
The day of the Lord.
Because the day of the Lord.
Is a day that begins at the end of the Great Tribulation period, when the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven.
In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when he comes, it says in Second Thessalonians chapter one, he's going to be accompanied by his mighty angels. How many angels are there?
I don't know.
I suppose there are billions, just like there are billions of people.
But I say those angelic hosts, that you can accompany him when he comes out of heaven.
Are extremely powerful, much more powerful than any humankind.
We know, too, that when he comes out of heaven, he's going to be accompanied by his Saints.
It's going to be 1 tremendous invasion from outer space.
I really believe, brethren, it's going to be the most glorious event ever in human history.
The day of the Lord.
And there is so much that could be said by it. I'd like to go over to 1St Thessalonians chapter 5 because it speaks of it there. The end of chapter 4 it gives us the details of the rapture.
Something that we believe will happen before.
The Great Tribulation and as I said, we believe that the day of the Lord begins at the end of the Great Tribulation, when the Lord Jesus comes to exercise his authority and take back the reins of government in this world.
Tremendous to think about.
You know.
God gave to David and to his descendants authority to reign.
But David's descendants were not faithful, so they lost that. And with the introduction of Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel chapter one, when he comes to conquer Jerusalem, destroys the temple, and takes the children of Israel away captive to Babylon, is the beginning of a period that's called the times of the Gentiles.
It's the time of Gentile dominion, and that's the time we live in.
Remember, dear brother, Clint Buchanan used to say you could put over the book of Daniel.
00:35:00
The subtitle The Times of the Gentiles, and that's very helpful to remember because the Talians of the Gentiles began when God took away from Israel.
The authority to govern and gave it to a Gentile king.
And the 10 times of the Gentiles will end when the Lord Jesus comes back to take the reins of government away from the Gentiles and He will establish His Kingdom, a Kingdom that will last for the whole millennial day.
Wonderful to think about it again, I say. I do believe, brother, that is going to be the most glorious event ever.
In human history.
You remember there was somebody before the flood.
That learned about this day.
It was Enoch.
Enoch walked with God, but he didn't have any Bible.
Where did he learn about this day?
I can't say conclusively, but he knew about it because in the book of Jude we have the.
Prophecy that Enoch gave Behold, the Lord cometh with 10 thousands of his Saints to execute judgment, and so on.
Where'd he learn that? I really believe it was when he was walking.
With God.
God probably says that, Enoch, I want to tell you about an event in the future that's going to be extremely glorious. And so he told them about something that hasn't even happened yet. We're waiting for that day too, when the Lord Jesus is going to come back, the man that hung dead in that battered body on that cross.
That day.
That was the last time this world saw him. The next time they see him, the heavens are going to rip open and the Lord Jesus is going to come out on a White Horse.
To reign.
With his Saints, he's going to be a company.
You know, people ask me if I've ever been to the Holy Land. I said I'd sure like to go, but I've got plans, definite plans to go.
And I think you know what I mean.
I'm gonna go, I'm gonna get a view from the Mount of Olives with the Lord Jesus. It's gonna be.
So extremely.
Glorious that I'm really not interested in having very much down here. I'm waiting for that day, the day of the Lord.
Wonderful day it's going to be. And you know, when we go to the book of Isaiah, it speaks a lot about the day of the Lord. I just like to point out a few things to me that are extremely interesting about that day.
Isaiah chapter 2, please.
Verse 2 will come, shall come to pass.
In the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord.
From Jerusalem.
He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people.
And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their Spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up and sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. How different than the world we live in today.
I understand.
I've seen these figures some time ago. Maybe they should be revised, But I understand that if you take after the United States, the budget that is allotted for defense, if you take the next 10 nations.
00:40:04
That expend a lot on defense.
US spends more than the next 10 nations.
On defence.
Well, you understand why when you see what's going on in our world.
But isn't this going to be wonderful?
Nations shall not learn war against nation, neither shall they. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Oh House of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Verse 10.
Enter into the rock, hide thee in the dust for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His Majesty. The lofty looks of men shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down.
And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, for the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty.
They found everyone that is lifted up and he shall be brought low.
So there's the day of the Lord. The Lord Jesus only is going to be exalted in that day.
Dear young people, we need to live for that day, not anything down here. It's just too puny. Whatever riches you might go for possessions, it's not worth thinking about. Yes, we have to provide for our families, That's a given. Scripture is clear about that. But beyond that, dear young people, let's keep our focus.
On that day, the day of the Lord.
Chapter 11, There's a lot that could be referred to, but I just want to show you some of the differences there's going to be. It'll be a different world that will exist in that millennial day.
Verse one.
Isaiah 11 One there shall come forth out of the rod, out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, in the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, shall make him a quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears.
But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reigns. The wolf also shall dwell with the land.
And the leopard shall lie down with the kitten.
And the calf and the young lion and the fat lane together, and a little child shall eat him. Completely different world than what we live in today. The violence that there is even in nature, one animal eating another. That is the way it has been for a long time. It's going to be changed because the Lord Jesus is going to free this creation from the.
Of corruption and be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Oh, what a wonderful day it'll be.
There's so much that we could talk about, about the day of the Lord.
I I'm sorry, I took you over to 1St Thessalonians chapter 5 and then we didn't even read it. I'm sorry, forgive me.
And let's go back there again.
First Thessalonians, chapter 5.
I mentioned how that the rapture is mentioned at the end of chapter 4 from verse 15 to verse 18. Now let's read the first verses of chapter five of the Times and the Seasons. Brethren, you have no need. I write unto you. There is time mentioned again. I find that fascinating time.
A sequence of events.
00:45:01
That we measure time.
When you talk about the Rapture, there is no time, no event in human history that signals when it will be.
We do believe that it will be before.
The 70th week of Daniels, 70 weeks.
Will take place, will start.
But it is not signaled by any earthly event that could take place at any moment. Are you ready? You got something pending in your life?
Your young people live for the Lord. Whatever the place is that the Lord has put, you, live for him.
It's so worthwhile. I see people who live for themselves and you know they're empty. Unhappy people don't go there.
Live for him.
So.
Times and seasons are connected with what we have in verse two. Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord.
So cometh as a thief in the night.
Would you like a thief to come to your house, David?
Are you waiting for one to come?
No. Do you wait for the Lord?
So he's not coming for you as a thief?
Is for the people that don't want him to come and don't wait for him to come that he will come as a thief. There's the thief has gotten come into the house and that's the way he's coming for this world at a moment least expected in his coming to reign supreme to establish his Kingdom. The day of the Lord is connected with many signs and wonders.
I suggest.
One of the signs that is most notable that has already happened.
Was the establishment of the nation of Israel. You know, this year they celebrated their 75th birthday.
Of the establishment after close to 2000 years of not existing as a nation.
On again there is the nation of Israel. The Lord Jesus said when you see the fig tree and all the trees budding, know that the summer is nigh. Victory in the Old Testament is a figure of the nation of Israel. The fig tree is butted.
Not a sign of the rapture, but it's a sign of the Kingdom, the coming Kingdom. It has to exist, and it does exist now. Tremendous to think about.
So the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travel upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should take over, take you as a thief. It's pretty clear.
We're not in darkness about this.
No, we have been given the light of scripture to know when that day will take place.
You're all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch.
And be sober, for they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
What is sleep?
Sleep simply means you're not alert.
Person sleeping on the floor here. I can tell he's just sleeping because I can see him breathing.
Hey, you, does he listen to me? No. Why not? He's asleep. And sometimes we're asleep. Brethren, the Lord speaks to us. The way this country is going, I do believe that God means us to feel.
The degeneration of the moral structure of this country. Not that we can do anything about it, because the Lord is going to take care of it as it's come at it's coming, but I think we need to heal it and confess it. We don't. Maybe we're asleep.
But there's another thing. Drunkenness. What's that? Under the influence? Not only under the influence of alcohol, under the influence business, under the influence of pleasure.
00:50:12
Music.
Sometimes I go along and stopped at a stop sign and I hear that it's thumping in another car there. Now here I see a guy moving himself along. He's under the influence.
Dear young people.
Be careful not to get under the influence of present things.
Lord help us to be alert.
Watching not asleep, sober, not under the influence.
And then I just want to point out verse.
Nine, because it's one of the verses that is very clear about.
We not going through the Great Tribulation, for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Great Tribulation period is a period of wrath.
He's not appointed us to that. He's going to take us out before that day comes.
Wonderful, wonderful day.
Lord help us brethren to be watching and sober.
Your life habits.
Don't let the Internet dominate your world. Yeah, I use the Internet too. We get on meetings with our brethren in South America with the Internet. I'm thankful for it. But you got to watch continually. You got to watch to be exercised, not to get under the influence of those present things.
Well, I'd like to.
Go back to first Peter chapter or Second Peter chapter 3 to talk the remainder of our time about the day of God.
Let me say this, young people, I found it very helpful in Speaking of these three days, the day of man, the day of the Lord, and the day of God.
Man's day today.
Grace.
Reigns through righteousness.
The day of the Lord, righteousness reigns. It will not be a day of grace. Anybody who sins in the millennial day, the next morning he's gone. He's taken out.
Righteousness reigns. You'll find it in the book of Isaiah.
A king shall reign in righteousness, and Princess decree justice.
But in the in the eternal day, there's a difference. And if we have it in verse 13.
Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Again, Let me put it this Give it to you again. Man's day is a time when grace reigns through righteousness because of the work of the Lord Jesus. God is showing grace.
To this world, he's waiting for men to come to repentance.
But in the Millennium, righteousness reigns, and the eternal day righteousness dwells.
Because in the eternal day there will be no sin left at all. There's no need of raining. Righteousness dwells. And I'd like to go briefly to the first verses of Revelation chapter 21, where we have.
The Day of God. We have it mentioned in a few places in Scripture, but let's just read a few of these verses.
In the end of chapter 20, we have the heaven and the earth.
Passing away before the face of him that sat on the great white throne. And then it says in verse one of chapter 21. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
00:55:16
And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he.
Will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.
He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.
And he said unto me, It is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his gods, and he shall be my son. Verse 8 talks about the.
Eternal state of the loss.
I just want to make a comment or two. This is eternity.
They're still the heavenly. And there's the earthly. Remember the promise made to Abraham in the book of Genesis?
God promised Abraham as the stars of heaven, as the sand by the seashore. There's always 2 spheres and their purposes and counsels of God, a blessing, the heavenly and the earthly. And here they are together, a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy city coming down out of heaven from God.
Interesting.
Doesn't say it arrives, but I think it just simply means that there's communication between the heavenly and the earthling.
How many of you ever had a visit from an Angel?
Brother Bobby Woods, have you ever had a visit from an Angel?
Not sure I have to say the same thing because sometimes there are situations that take place that make you think it might have been.
But it's not an open thing. But in the Millennium, in that eternal day, there will be free interchange between the heavenly and the earthly. Oh wonderful. God is a God that enjoys fellowship, and he wants us to have fellowship too. Wonderful to think about One other thought before I close, brother. It's in verse.
6.
And he says, I will give unto him, That is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. You know what?
I read that at first and I could not grasp why does he talk about thirst in the eternal day? What does that mean? We're going to be thirsty there?
But I enjoyed this thought, brethren, and I share it with you, that even in that eternal day we will not be sufficient in ourselves. We will need God to satisfy belongings of our soul, and He will be there to satisfy us for all eternity. I will give.
Him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely God is the fountain.
And He's there to fill, to satisfy us forever. So there's a brief repass of man's day, the day of the Lord, the day of God. Young people, older ones too. We are waiting for glorious things. Don't get distracted by this present world.
Lord help us.
To live for that coming day of glory.
Malawi
YP Address—Dave Mearns
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It's good to see you all.
You're all tired. I'm not going to work you very hard tonight. Might work you a little harder tomorrow morning though.
I'm just going to have a short message and then most of you are not going to get to Malawi.
So we're going to try to transport you there for a little bit and I think that'll.
Maybe make you appreciate the circumstances that you have, even if you don't appreciate them now and you might in an hour or so. So I'd like to start by singing.
The last verse.
Of #46 in the appendix.
I was thinking of these last two lines of that verse.
That I may undistracted be to follow, serve, and wait for thee #46 if somebody could start that.
00:05:23
So 2 verses turn with me.
To Mark's Gospel.
Mark's Crossbow Chapter, Chapter 3.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 3.
This is the Lord ordaining the disciples and he says this, and I've spoken on this many times, the first part but not the second part. We're going to look at the second part tonight. So we read, we read here in the 14th verse it says he ordained 12, that they should be with him.
That is the purpose that He called his disciples. That is the purpose He calls every one of us here. He wants our company.
We enjoy having, we enjoy having company. We enjoyed our company a few minutes ago in the basement. We understand the concept. The Lord chose these just so that He could have our company. Just think in your mind, how much today did you focus on?
Granting that desire that the Lord had of having your company, you got up this morning.
He was waiting for your company. Maybe he had it all day with some of you. Maybe he didn't have it at all with any of you.
But that's why He, that's why he ordained these disciples. That's why he saved us. But over and above that, what does it say?
The ordained 12.
That they might be with him, That he might send them. That he might send them.
Now turn over to John's Gospel, Chapter 20.
John Charles Gospel, chapter 20, verse 21.
Then said Jesus again.
And said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, Even so send I you.
Just like you think about that for a moment. I was, I was talking to an older person just this past.
Week something has been elderly wanting to go home and wondering why they were left here.
Wondering why they were left here.
So we shared they weren't left here, they were sent here.
Everyone of us here has been sent.
Every one of us we have been sent.
Sometimes it takes some time for us to to understand that concept, but.
The concept of being sent, I'm not talking about in our lives that we're sent through our lives. I'm talking about it on a daily basis. You got up this morning, you were sent.
This morning I don't know what with a brother came to me.
A couple hours ago just came over to me and he.
His hand, my shoulder said 3 words. I'm not going to tell you what they were. And he walked away and it was a tremendous encouragement. 3 words he was sent.
He was sent.
We're going to look at.
Some slides.
That.
Concept of being sent to Malawi is a much, much bigger concept, but every one of us has been sent.
Some time ago.
00:10:01
I came to tell you this because.
I'm so so impressed more and more how much my life is affected by this book.
It's there was an older brother used to come to Montreal and he was talking to a bunch of us young ones and he said to us.
As we were standing around, he's a bright man, but he held up his Bible. He said there is nothing in this world, nothing in this world that we should know more than this book.
He was hired to make bank mergers. Very bright man.
And that's what his advice was to us young guys as he held up his Bible. There is nothing.
In this life that we should know more about.
Than this book so the power of it I I came out of the bank some time ago and there's a.
There's a homeless guy outside the bank. We don't have this and it falls much. They're in the big cities, but not in Smith Falls. They just don't see that. And he was hungry and he wanted a little bit of cash. And you can't fix everything. I kept walking and I'm getting to my truck and I felt the Lord was saying maybe you should deal with this one. So.
I.
Take a deep breath and he starts to walk up the street. And when he gets to my truck, I said, hey, I want to go for something to eat. Yeah, that would be great. So he hops in the truck. We drive over to a fast food. On the way over, I said, you know, you've got a story and I've got a story. Let's share each other's stories.
And he said sure. I said, you know, you can decide who goes first. He said, yeah, sure. So we get to the restaurant, we get our sandwiches. We go sit in the booth, and he looks at me and says I'll go first. I said sure, that's fine. And.
He said you're going to think I'm really strange. You're going to think I'm really, really weird. I said try me.
He said no, it doesn't matter what you think, he said. You're going to think I'm really worried.
He said I am what they call a Christian.
And if you don't know what that is, that is someone who has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
I just about fell off my chair. I didn't say a thing. I thought I'm just going to let him go. I'm just going to see him where he's going to go with this. So I sat there. He said I never knew my parents. I was an orphan.
I went from foster home to foster home to foster home and every one of them were Christian homes and the Bible was read to me and he said I came to know Christ as my savior.
He said I got married, had four kids.
So I got in with a bad crowd at work and I started to drink and I immediately became an alcoholic and he said it destroyed me. I lost my job.
Then I lost my house, I lost my wife, I lost my four kids. That addiction went to other addictions. I lost everything. I became a derelict on the street. But he said three weeks ago.
God I'm listening to this like this is my dime.
I'm expecting I'm going to take this guy and give him the gospel and I'm hearing the story. You couldn't make a story like this up, You couldn't he, He says.
Three weeks ago, God put it in my heart to start to read my Bible again. And he says it's real. It's absolutely real. It's the only thing that's real in my life. He says someone who has just started to help me with my addictions, but I'm now back in the Bible and I'm so thankful. And then he started to give me a short gospel. Well, that was as far as I wanted him to go. I said, hey.
You're talking to a brother in Christ. Pray for this guy. His name is Gary Horn, but I tell you that.
To show you the power of the word of God, here's a guy that's absolutely destroyed his life and God puts it in his heart and says, hey.
Start you read your Bible again. And it was so real to them. As I'm sitting there in the booth and my jaw's down here, I'm listening to this story and he's telling me the need for me to read the Scripture.
00:15:02
Young people, I tell you that because.
This man was sent. He was sent for me. I thought I was sent to him. He was sent to me. Everyone of us has sent, every one of us on a daily basis. Get ahold of that when you wake up tomorrow morning that you're sent and the Lord has something very special. Well, we're going to look at these.
Most of you are not going to go.
It would be nice if you could go, but at least you'll be able to go tonight. So this is this is Malawi, just to give you.
An orientation.
Mozambique is right there, then you have Malawi, then you have Zambia, then you have Angola, and straight across the ocean is Brazil right here. So there's Malawi. It's landlocked.
When I was there, I flew into.
Into a long way and we took a trip up here to the top. This time I'm going to fly in there again. I'm going to take a trip up to the top and then back down to the bottom. This is the area where the hurricane was, where there's 60 some people in one assembly that lost their homes or in the area that lost their homes and 50 some in another area totally devastated.
I'm going to go through these these quickly. There's a lot of them, a lot of single pictures of people that are just people I communicate with, so I won't spend any time on them. We hopped in the in the rig. We headed off down the road. 3 hours later, we blew an engine.
And this was where we thought we were going to spend the night. There's our engine all over the ground. This is typical for Malawi. It was actually very nice. We rented a rig.
Which had no first gear. Third gear you have to had to hold it in.
But it worked for us. It could carry passengers, which I was. I was very thankful for.
I don't know if we got any sound here.
Looks like we don't.
These are just brothers that I traveled with that.
Helped us with with some translation. I'm not going to give you the names. This is Brother Augustine. I'll take you. For those of you who are working and are not real happy with your job, I'll take you to I'll take you.
A gravel quarry. So this is a mountain here. All rock out of that mountain.
With a crowbar and a sledgehammer, they break these rocks. Now this is this is a four person operation. Two guys, 2 girls. This is their job. And from those rocks.
They make gravel.
There's the finished product.
I.
Anybody want to sign up?
Just to.
The girls are not going to get it off the hook.
People said she was going faster. That was only because I was taking her picture.
This is this is the living for these four that's making gravel. And on our way back, they were loading, they were loading a truck, a dump truck of gravel, no shovels. They were loading it with their hands. The four of them loading the Scrabble into this truck. And I'll add if you, if you want to buy a dump truck load of these rocks, it's way cheaper and you can make your own gravel.
This is Malawi.
There's the finished product when we were there.
There was some flooding, some storms.
I'll just show you this video. I'm not in a boat here, I'm on the road.
This this storm completely took out the crops that were all planted. So it's very, very difficult. We went by a market. People were standing in the market up to their knees in water, their tables all destroyed, their little huts all destroyed and that's.
00:20:10
Something that just happens and they they kind of pick up and.
They build when they can.
A very, very difficult place.
Let's go here.
This is the assembly of rumphi.
I took this picture for any of you who are builders to see how they make their trusses.
So you don't have a button core that goes all the way across.
They just scab them in. This is one of the meeting rooms.
These bricks here, I'll, I'll show you a, there's a, there's a close up of the bricks. The they make the bricks out of the clay. It's the same clay they grow their crops on and it's the same, it's the same mud that they laid the bricks in. So they lay the they lay the bricks in mud.
And if they have a little extra money, they will scrape out a little bit of the mud into the cracks and point in a little bit of cement just to hold up. And they have to quickly get a roof on it. They don't get it on quickly. The rain comes and the whole thing washes down and it's just a pile of mud. So that's what the people are dealing with in the South that have lost their homes.
There's a number of brothers here that I took their picture. I'm not going to give you any.
Any names for these? These are just brothers that I communicate with.
Some of them are younger, some of them look older, but they are younger.
There's a joyful news calendar. This brother, we it's one of the main brothers in that assembly. We took him out to a restaurant.
He hadn't eaten for three days. He's got a family, five kids, been working the land for three days.
Was very hungry.
We sat around, there's five of us. We left the food on our plates. He.
He ate all his own food. He ate our food, too. When it was all done, there were no bones. All gone, everything. They don't get to eat meat. Very much this, Brother James. You might pray for him.
Very dear brother, but runs a very, very tight ship like so many of them.
Umm, I took this because we provided a meal there and they were just doing the cleanup after.
I haven't seen that kind of cleanup done around here.
This is a very nice meeting room. It was provided by the brethren here. It's got a cement floor, but.
That's how they clean it. I'm going to Fast forward here. This is what the crops looked like when I was there.
In the rainy season, they get lots of moisture. The crops show tremendous promise. The problem is all their.
They need a lot of fertilizer and all their fertilizer comes from Ukraine. So this year there's no fertilizer. So Fast forward here a couple months and.
Crops did very, very poorly, even though they had a very good start.
As soon as the rain stops, that's what it looks like everywhere. I took this for some of the guys that are contractors back home. This is just a pile of bricks. If they don't cover them, what happens? The rain hits them and it just starts stirring the mud.
These are these are things that of course we would not experience over here. This is Brother Joseph, one of the, one of the main brothers there. This is a brother that does some translating for us. I'm going to, I'm going to put some singing on here. And you'll notice that there's a brother that sings a line of a hymn and then everybody else sings and then he sings another line and then everybody else sings.
And wherever you go, that's what happens. And the reason is most of them can't read. So a brother sings a line and that way they know what it is. So you'll listen to this. And that's how the singing is done pretty much everywhere.
00:25:19
This, incidentally, is the meeting room.
If it rains, too bad. This is the meeting room.
This this assembly.
They they suffer a lot of persecution. This man here, his name is Christopher He.
The village where he is and the village where his family are, and there's a few families, they, they have headmen. And when a headman dies, they vote for another headman. And they voted for him to be the next headman. And he said, you know, I've been saved. My head man is up in glory. I'm not going to be the head man. And because of that, they've all turned against him.
Very, very difficult for this civil assembly to to function, hard for them to buy food, hard for them to get anything like fertilizer. Just pray for this assembly. And this brother, his name is Christopher.
I.
I thought maybe for some of the sisters here we could go through.
A Fellowship Lords Day.
So this is an assembly of there were sixty people there and they put on a meal for us. We had meetings in the morning and then they put on a meal in the at noon and then we had meetings in the afternoon. So the way that happens is they build 7 fires and they they cook. They cook the.
Sister. Oh, no.
There's a bunch of sisters, there's some 5 gallon pails of rice. They're going through the rice to pull all the bugs out of it and all the little stones and then they'll cook it. And they killed, they killed a goat here, which was next level for us. The goat, of course, has been lifting weights for the last several years. So it's very, very tough. This is what the sisters go through. They're going to do a meal.
Here's them going through that rice.
They tell you to eat very, very slowly. I eat fast and I didn't pay attention and I bit down on a little Pebble. It's no fun.
Rice is something that it wouldn't get very often because they just have pretty much corn.
That's the skin of the goat.
I'm not sure how they cut it. They cut it into bite sized pieces. It couldn't be chewed, it had to be swallowed whole.
It's sort of fascinating to watch the way they they load the plates up.
The sky with his hand, he's just, we've got some beans there, so he's just taking the beans out and loading them on all the plates.
They don't worry too much about hygiene.
This was a novelty for these young folks who of course don't never see crayons or anything.
Is 10.
I took this picture.
Umm.
This sister's a widow a couple of years ago, her not even a couple of years ago, but her husband got into some financial straits and he hung himself, main brother in the assembly. She has a very, very tough time. These two boys are two sons. This one here was just in an accident and I, I took this picture. Well, here's the next one. Here's the accident he was in. There was six people.
00:30:10
He was the only one that was was alive after it the other the other five were killed and I.
I pondered that and I took that picture because.
Not too long ago my brother my brother passed away and I I drove. After he passed away. I drove to where we were both brought up in Montreal and I thought I was going to park.
At my old high school, I hadn't been there for years, went and parked at my old high school and I just reflected on my life.
And how so many different ways my life could have gone.
And I was looking, I was looking at this, at this accident, and I thought, you know.
So many of my peers, they made shipwreck.
In fact, that high school I was at was a high school I was kicked out of. And as I sat there and I just realized the grace of God reaching down and picking me up. And I I say that because I'm, I'm at the other end.
You young folks are all in a position where you have your life ahead of you if the Lord leaves us here and the enemy wants you to shipwreck your life.
And I dare say in a company like this, there are going to be some that do it.
That's a very sad comment to make. I remember the young people in Montreal, they got together and gave me the Bible treasury when I turned 21 and I still have the card.
55 signatures on it, and there's four of us that are gathered to the Lord's name now.
Out of 55 Very, very sad. The enemy wants every one of us here to shipwreck our life.
You know, just have a sense that the Lord hasn't just picked you up for for you to be.
In his company. But he sent you, He sent all of you, He sent me. We've all been sent. And if we could just get a hold of that in our souls, it's such a help. All these young guys that you're going to see at this stage of their life, they have a sense that they're being sent. There's so many people. Have a good start.
So many people I've just gone through Second Chronicles in my own my own private reading and so many kings. Ted, you brought your No, it was Dawn brought before us a Jehoshaphat. Lovely story.
Not sure what happened here, lovely story, but Jehoshaphat didn't have a good end. And there's so many kings that that had so many kings that had a good start, but they had a bad, bad ending. And I look at you young folks, so many of you here, a good start. The Lord wants you to finish and he wants you to finish well, not just to have a good start. A lot of these guys.
You'll see these young guys, they've all had a tremendous start and our desire is to see them go on. It's really my purpose in going to places like this that I go to.
I took this picture.
Just to show you, it is a fishing village and it's in one spot.
There are some fishermen they have.
You see all the little kids running around with these, these fish that are dried and that's the protein they have. They either have this or they have termites.
That which is their basic.
Protein.
I'll show you also.
Their fishing boats are dugouts. That was fascinating to me. Logs that are dugout.
There's a fishing net and a dugout.
You can't go in the water there if you go in and you come up with parasites. So you have to be very careful.
00:35:01
This is a typical breaking of bread.
Um, most of the places there's no wine, so that would be Coke.
You'll notice they're singing. This is the same place. You'll notice the same thing though. There will be a brother single line and then the rest of them.
I took a picture of this Melissa named this little guy when she was over there seven years ago. So I took his pictures. His name's Asher. His brother's name is Green. I communicate with him probably every day. These young guys, they all communicate with me.
If anybody wants a pen pal, come to me and I'll give you numbers of some of these guys. These are just the families in that one assembly.
This brother here, the Tweak. Oh, he's a good translator. He's also a Barber. He did my hair. My wife didn't like it.
They just do one cut. Not everything comes off.
And speed up these.
Ever seen those folks before?
Tim and I have really enjoyed traveling together. We've come to a point where we're not going to travel anymore, not because we don't like it.
We came to the conclusion it would be better for the Saints in Africa at different places to get.
Instead of one visit with two of us. So it's not that I will never travel with anybody else, but we're probably not going to travel together.
There's a meeting room. I took this, I took this picture. Just, I know we're roughing it here, but that's the bathroom for this meeting room. That's the, that's the front of it.
The the next picture.
Is the other side of it.
That's the bathroom for the assembly.
There's not even a hole.
There's brother Daniel Cabbage, He lives up in the north. Very earnest evangelist. Much blessing through him. I'll spend some time with him next week.
This is in his compound. He has a wall around his place. He provided a meal for us before we went to the meeting room for some meetings. Much the same as what you saw before. This was the one meeting room that had chairs.
Pray for these dear ones, life is hard.
This brother is much younger than I am.
They they, they work. Everybody works the land. Doesn't matter what if you have a job somewhere else, you work the land. And that land is just a little bit that's around your house. You put in a little bit of corn if you can.
Those that have a little bit of intuition that maybe have a little bigger piece of property, they can put a little bit more and they might even be able to sell a little bit, but for the most part they just provide for themselves.
This brother does a bit of evangelizing with a motorcycle.
That's his father.
These are brother brethren from Tanzania that came down. They came. Actually it's three widows and a widower that came down on their bicycles and we didn't have a visa to cross the border, so they came down to be with us in the northern part of Malawi. This is just them taking off on their bicycles.
As I say, if you can walk, you work a hoe. If you're 3 and you can walk, you work a hole. If you're 60 like this person, you work a whole. That's for anybody who doesn't know what a mosquito net is, That's what it is. You pretty well need one just to keep the mosquitoes from from. If you get bitten by a mosquito and it's got mold and it's touched in with somebody that has malaria, you're going to get malaria. So we whenever.
00:40:28
Go over, I start taking medication for it a few days before, which I'll start tomorrow and I'll be there. I'll take it all the way through the time there and then a month afterwards.
Just undo that. That nasty thing, you tuck it all the way around your bed and you crawl in there and you listen very closely that there might be a mosquito in there. And if you turn on your flashlight and you try to get them, and you may be able to get some sleep.
A typical That's a ritzy hotel room. Actually, this was this was a village.
Much better off than the others. Had a pump for the well instead of just a hole for the the buckets to be lowered down.
Those open wells are a hazard. Children fall down in them. A lot of brethren have lost children in the wells.
There's difficulties there that.
We don't experience here this brother just before I got there took a second wife.
The the pressure for taking a second wife is.
There is so much work to do that a wife will put pressure on her husband to get another wife just to help out with the workload. It's not something we'd experience here. There are brethren that have two wives that were, that were saved after they have the two wives and they're providing for their two wives and their families. But of course, after you're saved, take a second wife and this brother is in a position where he's committed adultery, one of the main brothers.
Actually, but tremendous load of work took another wife. Just pray for them for their challenges that they have that are much, much different than ours.
Again, these are just brethren and I communicate with.
I just to show you how any money we take over, we buy corn.
You can.
You can get a sack of corn.
This sack that the guy has, they'll put three of those 5 gallons buckets of corn into that sack.
And that will cost about $22.00 and it'll it'll last a family of six or eight for both.
A month and 1/2.
Which is the staple diet that they don't, they really don't have have have food. They don't have don't have meat, but they have they do have corn and when they grow it, that's what they eat. If they don't have it, we somebody got to buy it for them. They just load it into the truck when we drop it off at the brethren at their houses. So that would be about 80 lbs.
And that's all they would have.
They would grind the corn into powder, they would add water, they would cook it, and that's all they have, day after day after day.
It's a ritzy thing when we come there and buy them.
Rice or they have a little bit of meat or to go to a restaurant and the restaurants are a facade they give you and it's only in the big cities they give you this, this menu, and it's meaningless. A whole long list of things in the menu. All they have on, all they serve is chicken and fish or chicken and rice. I guess they have rice and chicken too. But that's all. That's all there is.
And that's a big thing for them to be able to go out and have some of that. So we would buy that.
For them when they, when they would have a fellowship, Lord's Day or any other day that we would have a meal during the day.
I'll skip through these quickly.
For those of you who have.
Have read jungle doctor, that's a baobab tree.
That one's about 800 years old. There's a mango tree.
00:45:01
When it is in season, they do have some mangoes.
Give you some.
Know the hymns, but three newcomers? They still sing it that way. Somebody sings the first line, and as you see, there's a few of them there. They're able to read.
That's what the brethren in the South are waiting for the grass to grow so that they can put that on their roof. So they have them. It's not quite grown yet. They have the bricks, but they they do not have the roofs.
That's a, that's a carpet for the meeting room. It's just, it's sacks of the corn. There's some more, there's some more mortar that's been tucked in, just about half inch of it, mud taken out and they put a little bit of that mortar in the bricks.
That's a meeting room. A brother that was more well off, he had a house. He donated that. They took the walls out from inside and they have a meeting room there.
On our way up to Chitipa.
It's very mountainous.
And they don't have any runaway truck ramps for when the brakes fail. So if the brakes on a truck fail, they just jackknife.
So this guy, Jack Knight right in front of us and the car started to pile up and they'll get piled up. You can't call tow truck, so they'll be piled up for weeks.
And there's the truck and people were getting out of their cars, They're going into the woods. They were coming out with with trees to try to winch this truck off the road.
It was, it was a sight to behold. What the trucks doing there, I don't know. There, there's, there is a highway, this is the highway that goes right up through Malawi. And there's trucks that go from South Africa trying to get up through Malawi to the north. And that's what these trucks are doing. But some of them, of course, don't make it.
It's very difficult. I'm going to move ahead here. That's brother Harold from the South.
He has.
A very good evangelist, a very good teacher, has a little better circumstances than most of the rest of them. I'll travel with him when I, when I go there. He doesn't know the language in the North, but he'll be able to translate for me at least in the South, and we'll get another couple of brothers to translate in the North. He will, he will minister with me as well. They expect any visitor, of course, to.
Be on deck all the time, but this is a brother that.
Well has been a help and is well able to be a help.
We did. We did go to, there's a, there's a Congolese refugee camp in Malawi which has 58,000 people in it and there is an assembly in that refugee camp. So we got to get to that little assembly.
There's all their little huts.
There's the breaking of bread. People are all behind me.
This is this is just grinding corn for our noon meal.
Sometimes you look at a plate load of stuff and you think, wow, how am I going to get that down? I was sitting there looking at a plate load that Well, I'll tell you, it was the sisters. They thought at one assembly as we left, they thought they'd, they'd do something special for us and they'd get us a fruit salad and they gave us a lovely fruit salad and it was just laced with big chunks of.
Greasy fish. Cold fish.
I kind of looked at it and you know, there's three things you need if you're going to do some traveling like this. You need a strong stomach, you need a weak nose and you need a sense of humor.
But I was sitting there looking at this and I looked up at the brother and he was looking at me and he just looked at me and he says, brother, smile and eat.
So you smile and eat.
This was lovely in the refugee camp. This lady came out with this poster seven years before she took a picture with my daughter Melissa. She showed that to me, so I was delighted to see that.
00:50:11
Brother William.
This is probably the main brother in that refugee camp.
I'll show you some of these. This is because for some of the kids to see.
Kids are all hungry.
I.
They line up in a line and.
Their hands are washed before they eat.
Loaded up with food.
I.
Sorry.
For these kids.
They'll they'll get a meal maybe once every three days.
They share a plate.
This brother gave me a message for my local assembly. We are very happy to see you.
You sleep.
David and the sister Ellen and we have paid that wish if his body brings you back.
Past our own greetings to your friends and relatives, mainly the brethren in Canada and the Americans so.
I didn't know I had this on here. There is a.
There is perhaps a few pictures of the cyclone that took place.
How old are you? I needed to come up this time.
It's really been devastating to the brethren's homes there.
That's not swimming, that's being swept away. It's it happened very quickly.
No.
00:55:02
I do have a video of them pulling all the bodies out. It's not very pretty. I'm not going to show it. This is a funeral though with lined up with caskets.
I want to turn to one more verse before I pray. Maybe we can have the lights.
Matthew's Gospel.
Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 9.
Matthews Gospel, Chapter 9, verse 36.
When you saw the multitudes.
He was moved with compassion on them.
Because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd.
And you saith unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous.
But the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will.
Here's our subject that we started with.
That he will send forth laborers into his harvest.
We started by.
By speaking about how everyone of us is sent.
I mentioned the brother coming to me, putting his hand on my shoulder, saying 3 words. Tremendous encouragement he was sent.
I think that brother I took out to give the gospel to he was sent.
I think of those that labor in a place like this.
Those are different areas that were sent, but here the Lord says.
Pray ye, therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. That's not just Malawi, that's going to to a brother or a sister and putting your hand on their on their their shoulder and just giving them an encouraging word. You know, this morning I was watching.
You perhaps sought to. I was watching.
Josh as he went through the Sunday school and then he started to to have the kids say their verses.
And you may have noticed one of the little girls that are versed perfectly and then she was so concerned that her sister would say it perfectly. She went over there and she was trying to help her sister because she wanted her sister to get a treat too.
You know, her sister didn't get the treat and she sat down. You may have noticed two drippy tears coming down still a girl's face. And I thought, you know, that's such a lovely example of care.
I know who she is, she's 7.
Little Sister's 3.
The care that she had for her sister, how are we doing with that care with one another? How are we doing with it?
The Lord wants us to have that cure.
He wants us to have a sense in our souls that we're sent. We're not just left here. We're not just floundering to see what we're supposed to be doing, whatever it might be. No, we're sent. Everyone of us were sent.
Relativism
YP Talk—Joe Countouris
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
So the topic I'd like to talk to you guys about tonight and I'm just going to be 5-10 minutes.
Is relativism.
And relativism in regards to culture or morality. And so if you look up relativism and Google on your phones, this is one of the definitions that you'll read, the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exists in relation to culture, society, or historical context and are not absolute.
The doctrine that knowledge, truth and morality exist in relation to culture.
Society for historical context and are not absolute.
So I'm talking tonight about.
An offshoot or a subsection of human wisdom which really is taken up in First Corinthians 1:00 and 4:00.
And it's just another Ave. that Satan is going to try to attack you. And if you were to go to a professor at a college who is an atheist, almost every single one of them would believe in relativity.
Everyone would believe that you would have to look at the society in which the moral dilemma that you're presenting.
Or the historical context in which the moral dilemma that you're presenting is found for him to be able to say whether that was right or whether that was wrong.
Does anybody know why man?
Who does not believe in God would believe in something like relativism.
To ease this conscience, that's true.
So I would just add to that. I think that is the answer if there is something that is absolute.
Who made it?
Who made it? Absolutely. There must have been someone who made it absolute, that this moral question is always absolute. And the only Ave. that that takes man is that there's a God and that they are responsible to that God. And so man comes up with terms like relativism and they tell you that there are no absolutes.
And that the society says it's OK.
And it's OK. And if you look back in history, you see some of the horrors of the flesh. If it happened in a society that said it was OK, then it was OK because there are no absolutes.
So just a couple of examples lying.
Is lying an absolute or if you feel that the lie only rises to such a level?
It's not that bad.
Then it's OK. Or if you live in a society that says a little white lie isn't that bad and as long as it's not going to change the course of the world, it's OK. Does that make it OK?
What about abortion?
If the society that you're living in says that abortion is OK, does that make it OK? If you look back in history at different cultures and you see a society in history that performed abortions and they thought it was OK, does that make it OK? What about murder? What about cannibalism?
Did you know that the heart of man in regards to.
This belief leads them down the path to allow for every.
Depraved thought and action imaginable because they don't want to be responsible to a God, a God that actually loves them. And you guys, if you guys go to school, if you go to college, if you interact with your coworkers.
The intellectuals of this world, this is where they're going to be coming from. This is their set of beliefs. They're going to be instructing you and trying to teach you from that standpoint, and you need to be on guard.
So where do we always come to in regards to man's wisdom versus what God says?
Come back to his work and what do we find in his work?
00:05:01
We find that there is a God in the beginning God.
Created the heavens in the earth.
We had Bob, Tony talk to us today about that God and and the incredibleness of his creation.
We find that that God spoke.
And not only did he speak, but He's given us His word. And you can read about that in Second Corinthians near the end, halfway down to the end. And also we can read about that in First Timothy chapter 3. I'll just read the verse. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction and righteousness.
Not only is there a God, not only has He spoken, not only has he given us his word.
But that word teaches us how we learn the power to live what we're to do, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So let's look at God's Word in relation to just these few things that I've mentioned.
And see what God says about why, what God says about killing, about abortion. And these are just a few apples that they kicked off in your life. You're going to face tons of questions and.
Attacks in regards to it's OK, everybody's doing it, it's OK, society allows it, it's OK. You have to come back to the word of God and say what does God say about this and be satisfied to be on God's side.
At his word side OK, so in Proverbs chapter 16, it says these six, these six things the Lord hates A7 are an abomination for him. A proud look aligned. What does God say about lying? He said it's an abomination. Sam, do we want to take up with something that's an abomination? Tam, you're going to live in a culture that says it's OK.
We don't.
Hands that shed innocent what?
Taking all killing, is there anyone anyone more innocent than children in regards to abortion?
Or killing at all. These things are an abomination to the Lord, and I know, I trust, I know that all of you can easily see these things.
So there's going to be many more.
Moral questions that you're going to be faced with in your life, you have to come back to what God says.
And stand with God in relation to His Word, not with man's wisdom.
All right, that's all I have.
The Parable of the Sower
YP Address—Dave Mearns
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Everybody got one of these. I want to sing one of the hymns in here.
Just tell you where we're going. I'd like to take up.
This morning, the same portion that.
Josh Stewart took up.
It's the parable of the sower.
I don't want to do it in Matthew, though. I want to do it in Luke's Gospel. There's a difference between Matthew, Mark, Luke, Matthew.
The emphasis is on the sower. In Mark, the emphasis is on the work of sewing. But in Luke's Gospel, the emphasis is on the seed, and I want to focus on that as we go through that.
That parable, but I want to start off by.
Singing #7.
In this little book.
#7 the chorus says. I surrender all. I surrender all, all to thee, my blessed Savior.
I surrender all.
If we could sing that together.
All to Jesus.
Aww, Christine's eyes.
Are under.
All without against skinny high thou.
Surrender.
Lord, I give myself to me.
When I'm over glad I was in swallowing.
Is going to be sunrise and they'll never fall.
It's pretty easy to give lip service to that, doesn't it?
I was thinking of.
Of the portion that we opened with Michael opened up with us in Matthew 11 and this year on my way back up to Rideau Ferry from Florida.
My wife and I stopped at a a Cracker Barrel and a lot of the Cracker Barrels, when you go in the front door, there's a, there's a yoke right over the front door.
00:05:10
This particular one was a was an interesting one though.
Usually you see a yoke and it's got two bends in it like this to be able to yoke 2 oxen together. This one had a a yolk with a great big bend and then a little small bend.
And I really enjoyed that.
Looking at the thought of taking up.
The yoke here, take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. You shall find rest unto your souls. So if you could turn to me.
With me.
The 8th chapter.
Of Luke's Gospel.
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 8.
At at the outset, I would like to maybe ask this question that we could all answer for ourselves, and some of us don't know the answer. Some of us have a number of answers. What is it that makes us go? What is it that makes you go as a believer?
And I, as I as I look at this, this parable of the sower, Josh took it up with regards to the children and he took it up with regards to the gospel. I don't want to do it that way. I want to take it up with regards to those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus and in these different.
These different soils that we're going to look at.
I want to look at four different states of Seoul.
I'm just going to tell you a story. When I was when I was a child, we used to love to on Saturday mornings, my dad was at home, so we used to love to head over to his bedroom. My mom would get up and make breakfast and those kids would would pile into bed and we'd want to hear stories. He'd tell us various stories. We tried to push him to tell us some of his war stories.
He was very reluctant to to tell some of them. Some of them he told us. This one I only ever heard him tell it once and it was difficult for him.
He was. He was in the Navy. He was.
His portion was to work in the engine room on the battleship. It was the Nelson that he worked on and.
The the Nelson.
Was hit by a torpedo at one point and the way the the the battleships were constructed up to that point, it's different after that. This was one of the one of the older models.
They had a of course they had a generator keep getting things going if the if the engine was hit. In this case, the engine was hit as well as the generator and which meant everything went out.
Which meant that when the water was coming in, there was no way to get out of it, get the water out. Well where it was hit was the engine room. And in order to keep the the water from getting into the rest of the ship, they locked down the Hatch which was the access to the engine room. Which meant the men that were down there was where the water was coming in.
And the Hatch was sealed so that the water wouldn't get out. So the water would, if it did, it would rise right up to the top, of course, drown the people in there and.
It wouldn't get to the rest of the ship. Well, they had bailers, but they also had mechanical bailers, and in this case the generator was hit, so they had to use the mechanical balers. So they divided up into groups. One was going to repair the hole that was.
Was blasted in the sight of the ship and the others were bailing. And so there was pumps and they pumped mechanically by hand. Well, with the Hatch closed, the water's coming in. It's coming in. It's coming in fast. The water's coming up. The level of it is coming up fast. They're bailing and they're really bailing with real purpose. And one after another they were, they were taking shifts. There was two of them could go at a time and they were just working their hearts out to get this water out.
00:10:04
At the same time as the other crew was trying to patch this hole. Well, my dad at the time.
He's in his early 20s, is a wife at home, is a little girl at home.
And he's bailing and he's bailing and he's bailing. And one after another they were bailing and baling and the water was rising. The water was rising, the water was rising when the water got to this level.
Was the time.
That the water coming in equaled the time the water going out.
And gradually as they as they worked.
So hard the water started to recede and, and they got it down to the bottom. But what a process. And I just thought of that. My dad told me that they told us that with tears in his eyes as he was bailing with a purpose for his wife and his little girl at home, as well as the rest of the men in that ship and.
He told me as a young, as a young person, he said Dave.
Whatever you do, make sure you're all in.
Whatever you do, make sure you're all in. And I was speaking to a brother in Brazil just before I came here who has been trying to ski down to hills at the same time. And when he was doing that, you can't be all in, everywhere. You have to be all in, in whatever you're doing. He's got one foot in the world where he's trying to satisfy himself and he's got a foot in the assembly where he's trying to live a life for the Lord. And.
Just doesn't work. And now as we go through this portion, I just want to exercise all our hearts to realize that if we're going to be able to to take up what our brother Michael brought before us just at the beginning of this day, there's a catch. There's a catch.
We have to be all in.
So let's look now at Luke's Gospel Chapter 8.
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 8.
And the fourth verse.
When much people were gathered together and were come to him. Now notice that expression. We looked at Mark's gospel.
Last night, 2 items that the Lord mentions when he called his disciples. One was that they would be with him, and the other that He would send them forth. Here we find they're coming to him. So it's the action of what we find in Mark's gospel and they come to him from every city.
And he spake by a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed.
So there is the focus now of what we have in Luke's Gospel, it's the seed. In Matthew, as I said, it's the sower. It's the it's the act of sewing that is brought before us there. And here it's the emphasis is on the seed. A sower went out to sow his seed and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside.
And it was trodden down in the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell upon thorns, and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bear fruit, and hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries.
Of the Kingdom of God, but the others in parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. That statement is peculiar to Luke. Not going to find that in Matthew. Not going to find you to Mark. We're going to find it here. The seed is the word of God.
Now I don't have the visual aids that Josh had.
But you were all there, you saw them. So we had this first little container and he had this hard, hard packed dirt.
The wayside in the Word of God we find in a number of places.
00:15:03
We were to go back to the book of Genesis when Judah was walking along, he saw Tamar by the wayside. We if we were to turn to the the story of Eli Eli, we find him sitting in a chair by the wayside when the news came that Israel had had been defeated and the ark of God was taken the the wayside. The wayside, as Josh put before it, it's the hard packed dirt.
It's a hard packed dirt. When the seeds go on it, they can't germinate, they can't sprout because it just can't penetrate. And I want to look at this now as we're going through these, these different.
Different types of dirt to realize that their states of soul that every one of us experience at one time another and there may be there may be some here.
And.
The Word of God just can't penetrate.
Maybe even you'd like it too, but there's a hardness there.
There's a hardness in your heart.
And how do you, how do you, how do you deal with that? How do I deal with that? Maybe generally when there's a hardness of heart, there's a reservation you don't want the word of God to, to penetrate. And I'd like to look at the book of Job for a moment, if you could turn over there to, because I believe that Job experienced this very thing in his own life in Job chapter 23.
I.
Job is is is responding to a life as here in in in this chapter and he says.
He he says in the 10th verse, Speaking of the Lord, there is some tenderness there that he he desires to have, but it's it just hasn't been unfold. And he says, you know what, the way that I take when I shall be tried, I shall come forth as gold. He knew that he says in the but he says in the 12Th verse, neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. I've esteemed the words of his mouth.
More than my necessary food, I so appreciate the exercise here in Carrollton to make sure that there's a time.
For personal study of the word for personal.
Time just just with the Lord. However, however way it is, whether it's prayer, whether it's the word, or just seeking to be with the Lord.
I appreciate that so much because Job says here that that he had an appreciation for the for the for the words of the Lord more than is necessary food. And then he goes on to say he says in the 14th verse for a performance. The thing that is appointed for me and many.
Such things are with him. Therefore I am troubled at his presence.
When I consider I am afraid of him.
Yeah, I don't like that.
And yet I found myself at times when I'm not ready to receive what the Lord has for me. There's this reservation and there was a reservation that that that job had here. He says. I'm troubled at his presence. And I'm wondering if there's someone here perhaps finds himself in that scenario where you take up the word and it's and it's hard.
Because you're almost afraid of what you're going to find there.
But it's a wonderful thing to be able to to be able to, to find things that that work on us, that, that, that, that speak to us.
That encourage us. But if there's a hardness in our heart, it it just can't. It just can't penetrate. But what does Job know and what does he say and what does he impart to us? It's what comes next.
He says here in the 16th verse, For God maketh my heart soft.
God maketh my heart soft and I would just plead with anyone here that you have a hardness in your heart.
That you would just ask this of the Lord that He would make.
There to be softness in your heart to be able to receive what He has for you.
So that the good seed can, can, can penetrate down, it can germinate and it can sprout and there can be fruit. Oh, that was the desire of Job's of Job in his life. And as we turn back here to Luke chapter 8, we find this condition of soul, I believe that so many of us find ourselves in at various different times.
00:20:19
So what does it say here?
Luke chapter 8.
And.
And verse 11 we read the seed is the word of God, then it says those by the wayside are they that hear and then cometh the devil.
And taketh away the word out of their heart.
Lest they should believe and be saved.
Now, as I said, Josh addressed the the the children and the thought that he brought was that they would be saved in their souls. That's not what I'm bringing out. My desire is that every one of us here would have a saved life. And if we were to look at Luke's gospel, we find twice that the devil is mentioned.
The first time that the devil is mentioned is in connection with the temptation of the Lord Jesus.
Where he he he tries to tempt the Lord Jesus and he is unsuccessful. And the other time is here.
Where the enemy tempts mankind, and he is successful, and so he says here then cometh the devil taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. You saw some of the.
Some of the pictures I had last night and in my own life I have seen so many people.
Make shipwreck of their lives.
You know, I did something on the way here that I don't generally do. I I stopped at the Ohio Welcome Center.
The only other welcome center I've ever stopped at is Florida because they give you a free glass of orange juice or a free glass of grapefruit juice and if you get back in line you get another one. Nothing like that in Ohio, just the whole.
A whole bookcase of little pamphlets. I pulled one of them out and I looked at it. The first thing I opened was I opened it up and it said all roads lead to home. I thought, wow, you know, in a certain sense, as believers, that's true. All roads are going to lead us home. But.
There's some pretty bumpy roads and young people, if you can preserve yourself from those bumpy roads, it would be a real blessing so that you wouldn't make shipwreck of your life and as it says here, that you should be able to believe and be saved.
This next verse here.
In the 13th verse.
It says then.
On the Rock.
Are they?
Which when they hear.
Receive the word with joy.
And these have no root, and for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away, or as Mark says.
Endure for a while.
I've looked at this and I thought of how so often in my own life I've heard I've received the word, and yet there's this. There's this time of temptation that we have slipped in here.
And what is that?
I so appreciated you're having some some time alone here. We all need time alone to spend in the word but.
If our alone times are not with the Lord.
They are far more to be feared.
Than our busy times far more because that's the time when the enemy focuses in focuses in on our minds we have that brought before us.
Let's turn over to Corinthians for a moment. I just want to look at a verse there.
00:25:02
The apostle understanding this concept that I'm I'm trying to to to bring out here.
In.
And let me find it here. First Corinthians.
I can't put my finger on it. Somebody can help me here, Bring me into captivity?
Every thought.
To the obedience of Christ.
Thank you 2nd Corinthians 10.
10/5.
Casting down imaginations.
And every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. You know our thoughts. They do not want to be captive.
They do not want to be captive, and that's why we have this exhortation to do that.
Our thoughts want to go thousands of different ways, bringing into captivity every thought the obedience of Christ. You know, young people just that this at this juncture, I'm just going to say this, I'm going to I'm going to change gears here and turn to Timothy for a moment. If you could just turn to first Timothy for a moment, you'll see why I'm changing gears here.
There's a there's a word that.
The.
Apostle gives to Timothy.
In Second Timothy.
Chapter 4.
Second Timothy, chapter 4 and verse 21.
An old brother in California gave me this verse when he was visiting with me when I lived there, and he read this verse to me in verse verse 21.
He said, David, do thy diligence to come before winter.
Do thy diligence to come before winter.
And he paused. And let me, let me look at that verse. I looked at it and I thought, Well, what?
What, what's he trying to come up with? And he told me, he says, David, I'm in the winter time of my life. You're in the springtime of your life. You're at a time when you can assimilate things. You're at a time when you can remember things. He said, I'm in the winter time. Everything I had I got when I was younger and I can't assimilate anymore. And also I can't remember a verse like we just turned to.
Someone help me with the verse. I'm thankful for that. When you get a lot of birthdays.
There's breakdown, and I would just encourage you young people, be diligent in the Word before the winter comes. I'm in the winter time of my life. You're not. You're in the springtime. You're at a time when you can study, you can assimilate, you can hang on to it, you can remember it. That is the time of your life that you need to really be diligent in the Word. That's just by the way. So let's go back to Luke's gospel. Luke's gospel.
I'm going to grab a drink here.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 8. That 13th verse.
These have no root, which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away. So last night we spoke a little bit about having a good start and being able to finish well. I'm looking at a room full of people that have had a good start.
So many people.
Do not finish well.
Yes, all roads lead to home.
But there are some disastrous roads that lead to home.
Disastrous ones.
They on the rock.
Are they which when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root for a while, Believe in a time of temptation fall away?
00:30:01
Let's go to the thorns.
The thorns.
Verse 14.
And that which fell among thorns are they, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked, and cares, and riches and pleasures.
In Matthew it's different. In Matthew it says the riches and pleasures of this world.
Here it's of this life.
And I have found in my own life on an ongoing basis.
That there are the necessary things of life. Every one of us has those necessary things of life. And it's a challenge to me to be able to keep those necessary things of life, to do them, and to recognize that the Lord gives us time. I'm always challenged by the Lord Jesus having in his life every day.
Just the right amount of time he had to do what God the Father wanted him to do.
The Lord Jesus never had too much time.
He never ran out of time.
So often I run at a time.
Because I add things in there, they're perhaps not supposed to be there, or I have too much time because I'm not occupied with what I brought before you last night. The thought of being sent I, I, I coast.
The Lord wants us to make good use of our time, and he says here that there are things that infringe on our time. They have heard, they go forth and they're choked. Even the necessary things of, of, of of this life, they can choke the word. I ask a question. Has anybody here ever not choked?
Anybody.
So you're going to understand the concept. Everyone of us has choked. It's fascinating to watch a little, a little child choke and to see the mother tear right after that little child and try get whatever is out of the out of the throat out so that the child can breathe again. We all know what it's like. We choke. Thank you. You just choked for me. That was a cough, not a choke.
When we choke, it's because something is stuck there and when we're choking.
We're not thinking about anything else. And that's the whole point of the enemy of our souls. If he can get us so occupied even with the necessary things of life that we just cannot think of anything else. That's that's the whole thought here. It chokes out the word. It chokes out the things that matter. And there is there is so often in my life when even when I sit down to to enjoy a portion.
The enemy brings thoughts in and pretty soon I'm thinking about what I have to do and what I what I what I haven't done that I should have done and and and the word is choked out.
It's really the work of the enemy, but it but it's very, very real. And then it goes on to say though, that the cares and the riches and the pleasures and a brother once came to me once and he said, you know, David.
If I in my life.
If I can't trust God.
To be able to do his will.
I'm going to have to trust myself to try to do my own will to make myself happy.
If I can't trust the Lord to give me a happy, fulfilling life by doing His will, then I'm going to have to revert to trying to make myself joyful and happy in this life by doing my own will. Now we heard Bob Toy bring before us. It's not about ourselves. And so, so true. That's just what we were seeing, weren't we? Here in this little hymn, I surrender all.
I surrender all all to thee, my blessed Savior.
I surrender all.
The cares, the riches, the pleasures of this life and what happens?
It says and bring.
No fruit.
To perfection.
No fruit to perfection.
Well, let's go on to the last one now.
00:35:02
It says, but on the good ground, are they?
Which in an honest and a good heart, having heard the word.
Keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. Now that's that's that's a statement that's unique to Luke's gospel, the concept of patience, I think.
If my wife was here and she.
Heard me starting to talk about patients. She'd get this funny look on her face.
Typically I'm an impatient person.
Well, you have to wait for for fruit, don't you? But here it says there's good ground and there's a catch.
They have an honest, a good heart, and they've heard, but now there's this little word.
To keep it.
To keep it.
You know, I was reading this portion. I had a customer. This is a few years ago.
While I was still hammering some nails, I had a customer that called me up and he was the same age as I am.
And he said, you know, Dave, I had.
I had an aunt pass away.
And she had what you have.
She had peace and he said, I want your peace. I said, well, come on over. So he lives just around the corner from me. He he came over, sat in our living room. It was actually my wife was in Florida. We sat in the living room together and we chatted.
And.
After about half an hour, I said so, So how real is this? Well, it's real. It's real, I said, Is it real? Real enough to talk to God about it right now? Yeah, it is. It is. And he poured his heart out to the Lord there in my living room.
Very sweet to see man in his early 60s and it was lovely. I had a thereafter I had a Bible study with him for a for a period of time.
And I met him at AI, met him at a store.
Sometime later he's still in my life and he came to me. He says, you know, Dave, I, I just, I just having a hard time reading the Bible. I read all kinds of things and it's easy to read, but I'm just having a hard time reading the Bible.
And I, I, I tell you this because we need to be, we need to be conscious of the Lord's timing in our lives.
And I went home and I was actually in this portion and I was reading in this portion and I read, you know, in the first part of the portion it speaks of, it speaks of the, of the wayside. And then verse six, it says some fell on a rock. And it says as soon as it sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. I thought, you know, he, he needs to hear this. He needs to hear that he needs the moisture of the word. So I get in my truck.
This would be a couple days later after I'm reading this and I I'm going to drive over to his place. So it's in the springtime. He's only about a three minute drive.
I pull off to the side of the road and I just asked the Lord to help him be able to be in a position where he can receive this and, and help me to be in a state of soul where I can deliver it. And, and I with fear and trembling, I, I'm going to read him this portion about how we need moisture. And so I, I drive, I drive up to his place and I'm just coming in the driveway and he's walking down the driveway with a sprinkler.
And he has, he has sewn a little patch of grass over in the corner. I'm not sure he was working on it. And the grass is up this high and he's going over with with the sprinkler and he does that. He goes right over to the.
The patch of grass puts the sprinkler down, comes around to my truck and says, you know, how are you? And I roll down the window and I just read in this portion.
In verse six, I said some fell upon the rock and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. I went back and I read the earlier verses and I said, you know that that grass, when it didn't have moisture, it just withered away.
He stood there and he looked at me. He looked over at the grass, at his sprinkler, looked back at me and said, you know, I get it. I get it. I just thought of the timing in my own life, you know, if I'd have waited 10 minutes or if I'd have done 15 minutes later, the timing would have been off. But the Lord arranges things in our own life that way. We, we sometimes worry. We see, we think the Lord needs more help. But no.
00:40:14
The Lord has has things timed for us, but we need to let him. And so here we find that there's, there's, there's good ground.
And it says here they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, they keep it, they keep it, You know, that that's such a, that's such a word to my heart and to my conscience to keep it so that there's fruit and young people.
My desire is that for everyone of you.
That there wasn't there would be this keeping it, you know, so much.
But as it found its way into your heart, and as it found its way down into your feet.
Have you, have you come to that point in your life where as we were seeing, you know, I'm going to sing this again, where you surrender all?
The Lord doesn't want half measures.
If the Lord is going to be Lord in our life.
He has to be Lord of all.
Or he's not Lord at all.
And he desires. He desires to be that, and he desires to.
To be able to have fellowship with us on a daily basis. That's his desire, the enemy. He wants us to have these other states of soul that we've had. But oh, that the Lord would, would, would work in each of our hearts that that which we know would find the 12 way down into our feet, that there would be fruit for his honor and glory. I wonder if we could just pick up now and and sing that little song that we sang at the beginning.
More #7 in this little book.
All to thee, my blessed Savior.
I surrender all. Somebody start with that for us, please.
All to Jesus.
All Japan, my great evening.
I will never bring the Lord and trust him in his prayers and gave me a good life. It's not bad and no matter how.
Surrender.
Lord, I get myself significantly.
My heart and heart like plastic fall on me.
00:45:15
When I was driving here, I got this text. We sat through two prayer meetings, didn't we? And we heard Will Will Hayhoe Junior speak about.
Little Elise that's having heart trouble and Jeremy and and Lydia, of course, are going through this trial with their little girl. Well, I'm, I'm driving along. I'm just just getting to Ohio and I get this text and it's from Esther. It's from Jeremy's mother.
Alisa is right, pulmonary arteries are failing her. They're at the sick Kids in Toronto. Her cardiac cast and open heart are cancelled because of her heart isn't strong enough to go through it. She's on meds which we are praying will help her so she can have life saving surgery. If the medication works, she might have the catheterization in a week.
The open heart would not be until after their baby comes. Please pray for them.
I read that text and I burst into tears and I'm not I'm not.
I'm not given to bursting into tears.
And yet my mind goes back 36 years in my own life.
To when I held two little baby girls.
And they didn't make it. The Lord took them home.
It was a time of great exercise in my own heart to look forward to these two little baby girls. Twins and became a little bit too early, lived for a short while.
And the Lord took them home.
And I look back and I recognize that there's times in my life when the Lord had to use strong measures to get my attention. He had my attention then. And I very much remembered it as I was driving along and trying to go through this trial that Jeremy and his dear wife are going through with this little child. And of course, expecting another one that's got similar.
Similar complications.
And, you know young people.
The Lord brings things into our life to get our attention, to get us to surrender. It's it's so much easier if we can surrender without hard and bitter experience. I've had lots of them. I've been the type of person that's needed a lot of stress in my life just to throw me back on the on, on the Lord. Why? Because naturally speaking, it's not my bent. It's my bent to do my own thing.
Young people, if you can just do what we've just been singing. Just surrender.
It's it's such a happy pathway, the pathway of submission to to lay your head on is just such a soft pillow. And dear young ones, I you're the beginning of your life. You know, I was just reading in job the other day. Man that is born to trouble.
A man is born to trouble as a sparks fly upward and it's it's true. There's I look at you at the beginning of your life.
Some of you have had some trials, some of them not.
They're going to come. They are going to come, but oh, just to be able to submit to the Lord, to whatever the Lord brings across your pathway.
And then adjust yourself and recognize the state of soul that you're in when He addresses it. We've seen these states of soul, and the Lord would have us to be able to have that good seed fall on the good ground that there would be fruit for His honor and glory.
The Goodness of God Part 2
The Goodness of God Part 1