Denver Conference: 2009
Table of Contents
1 Peter 4:1-6
Reading
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How you speak and how you pray isn't that presumption?
I presume that what God has said is what he said and that he messed what he said. What he said and anything else is not fake. My brother referred to Malachi 3 and verse 10.
And the last part of the verse says.
Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing.
And there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke to devour for your sake.
Someone mentioned that there are felt needs. I dare say every single heart in this room has some need or another belt. Otherwise felt or unfeel, known or unknown. Our Lord, our God, our Savior, He knows.
They have that scripture in James that says you have not because you ask them or you ask them. This Father, we just look to the.
We have lifted our voice up to the and ask for help. We've asked the thy Spirit would have free reign in direction and we asked now for us here in this room that you would pour out a blessing and open the windows of heaven so that needs no one and unknown fell and unselled.
Might be not. And that when we leave this place and go from this place that you leave us here through this weekend, then we might leave change and transform in our hearts and minds, and that these things that are brought before us by Thy Spirit in these meetings might stick.
Lord Jesus, we ask it, presume you met what you said in your work in thy name, Lord Jesus.
Amen.
First Peter, chapter 4.
And I'll see why I.
We know that Peter was the apostle to the Jews, the apostle who himself had failed rather signally in denying the Lord.
And the Lord committed to him the shepherding of his sheep.
He knew that one who had himself failed would be perhaps fitted.
Even more than others, perhaps to be a help to the sheet.
But also we find in Peter's ministry what perhaps brings before us the House of God. And the aspect of the House of God among believers brings before us responsibility in our walk.
And yet there is wonderful encouragement in all of that because if there is a pathway of difficulty, a pathway of suffering, a pathway that involves giving up down here. And that was particularly difficult for the Jews who had been, if we could say the word kindly, programmed to expect earthly blessing. Yet God brings before them the wonderful joy of heavenly blessing and.
Everything that.
Lay ahead of them after this life was over.
What would my brethren think of that?
Is there a?
Reader among us.
Likewise with the same mind, For he that had suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in flesh to deluxe in men.
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But to the will of God.
In the time past of our life makes Isis goodwill, the will of the gentiles when we walked into the previousness of us and excessive wine readily and pudding and abominable idolatry.
Well, they think it's strange that you are not with them, with the same excess of rotten speaking evil of you.
We shall give an account to him that is ready to judge who quit in the dead.
But for this 'cause we could offer a priest also to them that hard end, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the Spirit.
But the end of all things is at hand. He therefore sold him and watch under prayer. And above all things have heard about among themselves. For love shall cover them over to sin. These hospitality one for another, without prejudice.
The Every man hath received the gift, Even so minister the same one to another, and this stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.
Human ministries let him do it as of the ability which God-given that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom He praised, and dominion forever and ever on them.
11 Thing is not strange concerning the fiery car, which is the tribe, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, and as much as ye are partakers of bright suffering, that when his glory shall be revealed.
You may be glad also you could see enjoy.
Did he be reproached for the name of Christ? Happily for the spirit of glory and the God resteth upon you. On their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is your Father. But let none of you suffer.
Murder, or as a thief, or as a people do it, or as a busy body, and other men's matters. Yet if any man suffereth a Christian, let him not be ashamed to let him go. Or if I got on this behalf, for the time has come, that judgment must begin if the House of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall the envy of them that obey not the Johnson of God?
And if the right should scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear? Wherefore let them that supper, according to the will of God, permitted keeping of their souls to him in well doing it as unto a faithful Creator.
So, as we remarked a few moments ago, this chapter is a serious one and brings before us the suffering that is.
Part of being a believer.
And we find Peter does not shy away from bringing before the believers to whom he was writing.
That that was part of the Christian pathway. It wasn't something that could be avoided.
But on the other hand, what rejoicing there would be in that path, we might summarize this chapter by saying it's the flesh suffering, but the Spirit rejoicing. And that's a wonderful thing. And as we said also, Peter does bring before us ministry concerning the House of God. And so there is a behavior, there is a walk that is proper and characteristic of those who are in the House of God.
And the Lord looks for that in you and in me. And on the other hand, there is the prospect of coming glory, which in Peter's ministry, salvation is looked upon as that which we get at the end of the pathway. That is the full enjoyment, the full realization of it when we get our glorified bodies, when we're both with and like Christ. And so this chapter is very, very practical, I suggest.
It brings before us, for example, that what we read in verse.
Ate there or sorry, verse seven, that the end of all things is at hand. And so there is a sobriety. A character of soberness doesn't mean long faces, but a character of realizing the seriousness of the days in which we live and being willing to suffer for Christ. But on the other hand, they're rejoicing and all that he has given us and in that blessed hope that he has set before us.
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Peter is preparing the same.
Uh, for a pack of suffering, because the very nature of Christianity is that we're going against the grain. This world hates Christianity, hates the name of Christ. If we stand for Christ, then we live for Christ, there is naturally going to result suffering. And so he takes up various aspects of suffering that the believer must be prepared to accept. In taking the Christian testimony in chapter two, he speaks of what is normal to Christianity is well doing, but he shows there that you're, we're going to suffer for that.
That's chapter 2, verse 20, a lot of part of that 20th verse.
It says that when ye do well and suffer for it and take it patiently, this is acceptable to God. And so as I say, the Christian passes one of doing well, but we must be prepared that there is going to be suffering connected with it. Then in chapter 3 and verse 14 he speaks and suffering against but and if he suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye.
Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.
So the Christian path is also one of, of, of practical righteousness. But we must be prepared in our minds that to act in practical righteousness, there's gonna be suffering.
And then in our chapter in verse one, for as much then as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, learned ourselves likewise with the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh has ceased through sin. And so the Christian pathway is also.
One that refuses the flesh. But to do that, there's going to be again suffering in a different way.
And then in the 5th chapter and verse 10. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after we have suffered a little while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen. And so here we have the Christian path. This should be marked by.
A standing steadfast than what we had been given as far as the truth is concerned. But then again, there's going to be suffering that's going to result from that. But God will use it to protect the believer and to work His graces into him.
To the praise of his own glory. And so you can see that the theme throughout the epistle is to establish the believer in the mindset right at the very outset of the Christian path that it's living. The Christian path is one of accepting a path of suffering as rosewood.
I should have read the end of chapter in chapter 4 and verse 14. Excuse me, there's one more there. 414 If you'd be reproached with the name of Christ, happier indeed for the spirit of glory and of God rest us on you and on therefore he is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. And in verse 16, if any man something for being a Christian. So again you have suffering there.
Verse 17 of this chapter is kind of a key verse to this whole epistle.
Uh, I think it helps to see it, uh, the government of God in the House of God. And second Peter, it's more the government of God in this world and what's going to result.
In the destruction of this present order of things and the establishment of things according to God in what is called the day of God, that if you can get ahold of that verse 17 time has come that judgment must begin at the House of God.
And if it first begin at us, which shall end thee of them which that obey not the gospel of God?
It's helpful to.
Think of a book like Revelation which is really a book of judgment. God is a God of judgment.
But before you get the judgment of this world in the Book of Revelation starts really in chapter 6 on you have the Lord Jesus as a judge standing in the midst or walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks and observing in the seven churches which are representative of the test Christian testimony through the ages. He's in our midst, brethren.
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He's watching, he's measuring, and we can look like we're all right on the surface, but he sees right straight through us. And so he's working in our mix and he's dealing with us because the time is getting close when he's going to take up the judgment of this world. But before he deals with the judgment of this world, he's going to judge in his house. And that's what's happening, the trials, the problems.
Everywhere you go, it's notable that the Lord is dealing with us, dear brethren. Might be that he uses different circumstances, but he judgment it has begun.
At the House of God.
At us.
First Peter chapter 2 we have a model and for how we ought to suffer, how we ought to endure suffering because uh, it says in verse 21 for even here unto where he called because Christ also suffers for us.
Leaving us an example of the French translation uses the word model, leaving us a model, a perfect model that you should follow this step, who did no spin, neither with gile found in his mouth. So when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered.
Not so. There's a right way to suffer and there's a wrong way to suffer. And you present it to us, a previous pattern, perfect model for how we ought to endure, how this world treats those that live for Christ and that reflect Christ in their walk.
MMM.
So in the first verse of our chapter we have Christ presented as the supreme example of this, don't we?
Of course we know, referring to what our brother brought before us, that he never had to suffer. We say it with all reverence because there was anything in his life that was contrary to the will of the Father or anything in his walk that was untoward. But he suffered in doing the will of God, and that was right from the beginning when he was tempted in the wilderness. And the devil said, If you be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.
And the Lord, we might say, said, well, until I have a command of the Father, I, I won't do that. Was he suffering? I don't believe the Lord used any miraculous powers to sustain himself when he was without food for those 40 days. And you can imagine, if we could say it, how a relatively young man would feel under those circumstances. He suffered in the flesh.
And so it is for you and for me. There is suffering involved in refusing that which is not the will of God, and sometimes it may even be in things that are not wrong in themselves.
But if I am going to cease from sin if I am, because sin is really doing my own will. And so yes, we can say I suffer in the flesh. For example, if I'm hungry and I'm tempted to steal, and I don't steal in order to satisfy my hunger, I suffer in the flesh and I cease from sin. But in another sense, I can suffer in the flesh from not doing my own will, but simply saying.
I am here as the Lord Jesus was, to do the will of God. It's a wonderful pathway, but it's not an easy one. And the world of today would say, put yourself first, gratify yourself, and then if there's anything left over, look after someone else. But the Lord Jesus said first of all the will of God, then the good and blessing of others, and never mind about myself. Well, it's a wonderful path to follow.
And were to arm ourselves with that same mind, aren't we?
But it's not an easy path, and it will involve suffering in many different spheres of our lives if we follow it. Our dear believers in other lands, of course, in some cases are suffering the physical persecution that comes from standing firm for Christ. They will not sin in denying him. They will not sin in compromising. But I believe in these lands where we don't suffer in that way, yet there still will be real suffering.
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If we seek a path that is characterized by the will of God instead of our own will.
The subtle thing in art culture is that, like you say, it's self gratification. It's a current of things that is very strong. The whole system of life in this country is based on that, and to not go along with it is going to involve what you say suffering. Not suffering of persecution exactly, but the suffering of denying.
Ourselves.
That's what you've got to do. If you follow Christ, anyone will come after me. Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. What do you have to deny yourself? Got lots of money in your pocket, don't you? And there's nothing wrong with go ahead and buying it and doing it.
Well, are you doing it for your own gratification? Are you doing it in the will of God? That's the real.
Uh, challenge that's before us. Arm yourselves with that same mind means don't live a life of self gratification. It's empty. That's what really impresses me to travel from country to country to see how empty so many people in this country are because they live.
A life of self gratification that is not Christianity. You want to live a life of fulfillment don't live that way. Remember meeting up with a brother in South America who had.
Uh.
Giving way to sin in his life. And he said to me when I met him, he said, you don't know how much I suffered all those years and I just couldn't take it anymore.
I said yes, all those years you suffered and you didn't sin, but now you've ceased to suffer and your sinning. So it's a challenge to us. Don't get the idea that just because we live in the land of freedom where you have your personal rights, that following the Lord Jesus is going to be easy. It's not.
Christ is an example for us here in this suffering. You read elsewhere in the scripture that He suffered to put our sins away, but the thought here is that that he would rather suffer than to disobey.
And that is the example for us. But Scripture is very careful to guard that he had no sin nature in him like we do. And uh, you'll see that in more accurate and more critical translations such as Jay and Darby's.
When it says the flesh there in verse one the article though should not be there. It should be he suffered for us in flesh. That is when he was a man and here upon this earth the the article the before flashing usually in the New Testament and almost always if not all losing Paul's writings, he knows something completely different and that is of course the fallen sin nature of nature and the believers which the Lord didn't have.
And so it's a very significant here that the article has left off. He suffered for us anyplace in flesh and we're to arm ourselves. Likewise that same mind and the path of the Christian.
Is one of self denial. And I'm afraid in this land in which we live, we don't know much about it because, uh, the, the whole risk of life in North America is to let the, uh, flesh go and do what it wants. But that's not normal Christianity.
The wood used for mine here is intense for attitude, and we often need an attitude adjustment, don't we? In conferences are wonderful for that. We get online how intense our attitudes set by the things in this scene around us. So we might ask ourselves that question, what, what sound it's, how objective in life.
That's going to control the way that you live and behave.
Our Christian liberty is not for gratification, but for glorification. We're here to glorify the Lord, not to please ourselves and do things that the flesh wants.
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So that it's basically the old nature.
That is suffering and we deny those things that really appeal to us and those things that we really would like to do, but we have to realize that we're new creatures in Christ Jesus.
And we don't lost after the flesh.
And so there's going to be that suffering for the name of Christ because we're denying ourselves with something that the old nature would really, really enjoy and partake of. So there is a cost to go on in a pack of projections for the name of Christ. And to be honest with you, brethren, there are many things that we enjoy to do and like to do. There are hobbies. There are things that.
Really turn us on, as they say.
But that's when we really suffer and am I really wanting to do what he would like us to do and desire that we do And then we have to take a look at it and say.
I'm going to let that old man suffer and I'm going to do those things to please the Father. So it is a real trial. And for the younger ones, there's everything, everything in view that really appeals to us. The technology today is taking over. But if we deny something of one of those things that takes us away from the enjoyment of Christ.
Then we're going in the wrong direction.
So older or younger, there are things in various stages of our life we're going to find out the state is going to put something in our way to take us away from the things of God and the things of Christ. And so there's going to be a sacrifice that we're going to have to be made of our own lives, and what are we going to do with it?
And, uh, and you're going to put, we're going to please that we love and desire in the flesh. Are we going to feed that new nature?
And, uh, that, uh, we'll, uh, build us up in his most holy face. So I can, I can speak for myself as a younger, a younger one. And as I get older, there are still things in my life, even as I grow older, there are still those things that Satan will pass us and try us about. I'm not going to let us go. He doesn't want us to let us go. So we have to look to him.
Regard us and keep us from those things that are not profitable.
As to the Saints of God. And so we do suffer, young and old, we're going to suffer. There's a price to be paid for. And so do we want to place our West of Lord gas? Well, there are many things on a prayer meeting night. There'll be something on a reading meeting night. There might be something on the weekend that we deny ourselves from the members of the Lord in these deaths. And so these things bring us and they're tested. They're testing us.
And So what we do for Christ is going to last.
We need to be clear too, that in Speaking of all this, we're not talking about a monastic asceticism or something like that, that.
In in actual fact glorifies itself by denying oneself the necessities of life and afflicting the body in such a way that everyone can see it. The Lord Jesus spoke very clearly about that how that describes and Pharisees when they fasted.
They made sure that everyone else knew about it. No, that's not true Christianity. But if Christ is before us, I will use what the Lord has given me. I'm sure that in a short while after this meeting, there will be a meal provided for us. And I don't think we need to be apologetic or defensive about enjoying it because God says or Paul says in Timothy that he's given us all things richly to enjoy. The whole point is.
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Is it an end in itself or is it simply a means to an end? If it's a means to an end, I will eat, uh, good food. I will look after myself. I won't necessarily let my house run down so that it's falling down around my ears so that everybody sees how much I'm giving up for Christ and things like that. But it will be evident that my object in life is not self, but Christ.
And that's what it means here, doesn't it?
The rest of his time, not to the lusts of men in verse 2, but to the will of God. And God has a will for each one of us. It's not just for a few. There is a specific will for each one of us.
Which I believe he will make clear to us if we really are before him.
How long is the rest of our time?
If you don't know, do it. Lord may come today. Something may happen to us today to cut short our time, but whatever is left, the Lord says.
And Peter says.
By inspiration it should be lived for the will of God.
Verses two and three of our chapters show us that the believers, like every believer's life, is divided into two parts.
There is the time passed and there is the rest of his time.
Again, when they're both besides fast, if we've given way to the lust of the flesh and our own will in our lives in some way, uh, last year or the year before or whatever, even up to this day hour, we can't do anything about that. It is time past very solid really, when you think of it. But we can do something about the rest of our time. And that's the other part of our life is that Peter is addressing here.
What are we gonna do for the rest of our time? And we're gonna continue to live according to our own wills, which is only making us unhappy anyway, or we're gonna do it to the will of God. Verse two, intelligence. There's where real joy is found and satisfaction and fulfillment in life. And so the life, every Christian's life has two parts, the time pass and the rest of our time.
There is similarity here with our verses two and three with that found in 2nd Corinthians 5 and verses 15 and 16. He wants to give us some songs if there is a similarity of the thought here.
Exactly. We have the two parts of a Christian life again in verse 15. We can live our lives in two ways. That verse tells us you're talking about Second Corinthians 5 verse 15.
And he decides for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. There's two ways in which we can live our Christian life. One is under ourselves, and the other is unto him.
And the choice is ours.
The motive there is that he died for us.
I'm thinking of the motive here. He suffered while he was here and then gone, Father.
But in the last verse of the preceding chapter, we see where he is and what authority he has. So we might want to ask ourselves, who's in charge here? What is this all about?
What can we make as we look around and we look within and see how things function?
Where does it all end? What really is our worldview?
We're here as believers. What do we believe?
God has exalted his Son, exalted him above all authority, given Him authority and power, everything subject to Him, but it's not manifest yet here in this world.
But we know that it will be manifest.
There are two wills that are exposed here. The Spirit of God speaks of two wills, and one is the will of God.
And the other is the will of the Gentiles and their directly their diametrically opposed one wants the things of eternity. The heavenly things want what God wants, the will of God.
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But the will of the Gentiles wants everything that has to do with the earth and what we can see, what we can, what appeals to the senses. And so they're opposed. And the only path of fruitfulness is to desire and honestly desire the will of God.
Mr. Kelly made the comment that except for the will of God, all would be lost in this cousin's age, in this present world.
All seven of the will of God.
So some of these things are very practical for us and those things that are listed at the end of verse 3.
Peter says this is what characterizes the will of the Gentiles, not that Israel wasn't capable of those things. We know that God's Word tells us that when they corrupted themselves, they did worse than the nations around them that God drove out before them. But in a measure, through being God's chosen people, they perhaps at least.
Some of them had been kept from.
Some of this, and no doubt there were those who had sought in their way to live in a godly way for the Lord.
And they looked perhaps on the gentile world of that day, the Roman world, which at this point was at its height and characterized by just what we have here. Anyone who has studied history knows that. But it is the natural heart of man. And what is man seeking to do with all those things? On the one hand, to drown the sorrows out that this world brings in?
That sin has brought in and on the other hand, to enjoy himself as much as possible in a world that is characterized by sin, but leaving God out. And so man says, I know I had a nurse at the hospital where I used to work say this to me. She said we're not here for a long time, but we're here just to have a good time. And that was her philosophy of life. But the believers can fall into this. The believer can be led to think that.
Somehow getting into alcohol and getting into the kinds of revelings and partying and all this sort of thing, this is really light. This is really fun. And it is for a while. It is for a short while. It is a pleasure and sin for a season, but it doesn't last, as a brother back home said one time, he said when you do some of that sort of thing, and he had done a bit of it in his past, he said.
You never feel good about it afterwards. It never leaves a good feeling with you that lasts any time. No, you never feel good about it. Nor does the believer, because with the unbeliever there's always been sense longing.
That is unfulfilled. And with the believer, there is a conscience that says you're doing your own will instead of the will of God. And so Peter is very specific here, isn't he? Because there's a reproach connected with doing the will of God. Others and maybe even other Christians will say, why don't you do it? And there's a reproach, as it says in verse four, when you and I are not willing to run with them for the same excess of riot.
Or if you don't, in that sense, carry on with all of the things they're doing, at least come with us. At least lend your sanction to it by your presence. But the believer has something better. It's not that he takes.
Uh, a position of being better than anyone else, He says I have something better. I shouldn't tell a personal story, but I well remember when my daughter was growing up, one of her teachers used to lay it on to her and she was still in the later years of public school. And why didn't she come to some of the parties and get togethers they had? Why didn't she go along with things? One time we had a small Bible conference in our area and she said, well.
I'd like to invite you to come to the Gospel meeting.
And you please stay for the hymn sing afterward with the young people. You're warmly invited.
And he came, came to the gospel meeting, came to the hymns, saying afterward, and you know his remark after that, him saying when he saw the young people having such fun, what doing what drinking and partying and character. Excuse me, carrying on in a simple way, no enjoying the things, the Lord talking around, enjoying refreshments Afterward he came to my daughter and he said, well, he said, I can see why you don't care for anything we've got to offer. He said this.
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This sure is a lot better. And he wasn't a believer, but he could see there was a joy there. There was something there, there. He said we can't, we can't equal this. That's what these verses are bringing before. But it doesn't mean that we have to go to a conference every time to enjoy it, does it? Maybe we're in a small assembly. Maybe we don't have the fellowship and all of the get togethers as much as we'd like some of our brethren in other parts of the world.
They almost never get what we have enjoy together if Christ makes it up and doesn't.
There's another reason too here, Bill. I suggest that I certainly enjoy that which you mentioned, but the solemnity of the days in which we live goes on to stay in her survive.
We shall give an account to him that is ready to judge the quick, the living, and the dead.
To think just where we are in this world's history, to realize that the day in which we live, this age of grace, is just about over. And when you read the Book of Revelation and the book of Isaiah and some of those other.
Prophets and see the awfulness, the abject awfulness of what's coming on this world. Can you and I live lightly and do that? It isn't consistent. There needs to be a seriousness about our lives. Like you say, it doesn't have to be without joy, but like it says in verse 7, the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober.
And watching the prayer sober means with your wits about you.
Don't let anything dull at be in recognition of the fact that we are living right on the edge of the worst judgment that will ever fall on this world.
How should that make us when we reflect on that? Oh, the sobriety, the solemnity of the day in which we live. Oh Lord help us, dear brother, not to lose that. Books, hmm.
Until I remember something your your father-in-law said one time he overheard two young people talking.
Young man was introduced himself to this young sister and he wanted her to go to some function that the young people were going to have. And she said well I'm going to pray about it. And he said.
No, don't pray about it because I know if you did, you wouldn't go.
And that was two believers connected with Idaho. They were gathered, but they were connected to the assembly. No, don't pray about it because I know if you prayed about it, you wouldn't go.
How important it is, isn't it? You have that clear conscience before the Lord.
And I should make it clear that.
That incident did not concern some, shall we say, young peoples get together that had been arranged AS4 believers and for the Lord's glory. They were going somewhere to enjoy some worldly pleasures. So just so we have that clear, it wasn't that, uh, he was saying don't go to something that has been arranged for the young people in order to encourage and be helped. That's a helpful, helpful story.
Countries are very important. We've looked at some now the Lord is in charge. That's one he suffered for us and his wife here, that's why.
He suffered forest on the cross, that's why. And all these things should constrain us.
Sin has its consequences that should constrain us. Godliness is profitable not only uh, for the life that now is, but as well later Godness is profitable.
Then can have a very damaging re effect on relationships. Those are important to us.
00:45:07
They can have a very damaging effect.
On our health, that's important to us.
Sin has its consequences.
Past the time of our sojourning here and fear itself.
We don't want to, uh, lose the objective side that there are reasons for these things and they're laid out for us very clearly in the scripture.
And the issue of prayer that was just mentioned, even in all of these other things, we're not sufficient for these things. But the little anecdote that was just told, she would pray about it.
And if we hesitate or plunge ahead without prayer, we're going to fall into some things that will have its consequence.
Where is the strength is the approach to the throne of God with the high priest is and that's how we're sustained, not in our own strength.
The other side of that is there are things that we're told to do or not to do rather, uh, I just use the Leviticus 19 to illustrate what I mean. That chapter, if you were to read it.
That tells the children of Israel various things that they should not do.
And you, you count for your own exercise the number of times it says, I am Jehovah your God.
The charter begins by saying ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. And incidentally, that's the verse that's quoted in this epistle of Peter. He says in the first chapter, he as he would just hold you as holy, but as he would just hold you as holy, so he was holy. No manner of conversation. So we need to keep in mind that there are things that God has said that are inappropriate because he has said it. The will is gonna tell you exactly the opposite. It's gonna tell you what's the objection to behaving in this particular way. What's wrong with that? And if you reason through it and follows well with this reason, you're gonna arrive at the same conclusion that they do.
There's nothing wrong with it that God has said. Now there are. There are reasons and consequences being pointed out, but sometimes they aren't evidence for years in their life. But we have one who has made them, who understands the way that people work and the relationships.
And so there are the negative side of things that may appear ultimately in your life, but just remember there are things that God has told us not to do simply because he is God and he is whole. One other point I want to make is that in Regina, sister said to me.
Is becoming the attitude that as long as the young people do it together, it is OK?
Just be careful of that. Just because you deranged an activity with a group of other young people, it doesn't necessarily make that active activity OK. Depends on what the activity is.
Before we leave this umm, conversation, uh, about young people and college, umm, I just, I want to relate this and I hope it's helpful. I don't mean it to be amusing, but this was recently said, umm, in Minneapolis. I have a granddaughter that goes to the University of Minnesota. She's in second year dentistry, a lovely young lady, and I believe the Lords. I have a grandson who goes to college.
In Minneapolis, one of the colleges there, and his purpose is to be a sports medicine guy and, uh, therapy. Sports therapy. And I'm not sure of his salvation, which grieves me greatly. But this was said in jest.
About umm, some college students were talking and they were underclassmen and they were older class and senior classman.
And one of the.
One of the young people said, well, I know I've got a responsibility to go to class. There's a big test tomorrow, but it's Friday night and I want to go to this big party.
I'm, I'm struggling with which to do well. Unfortunately, the older classman who should have been a good role model or an example said, oh, by all means, don't worry about the test tomorrow. Go to the party. You can always make up a test, but you can't make up a party.
00:50:03
That was the advice, uh, that was given. Well, what a shame. Now, these people probably were not Christian young people. I don't know that. But there may be college people in this room and there may be those who plan to go to college. But I beg of you, be careful.
Who you associate with and what you associate with, because Satan has his, has his claws out there. He, he can OfferUp more enticements and glitter and goodies to distract you from studying for one thing, but also to distract you and how you've been raised and taught by Christian parents in the Christian home. You don't get to just throw that all away because you're away from home and mom and dad and, and wow, I, I, I'm going to, I'm going to try this.
I beg you not to before the Lord.
Well, as we mentioned, the Lord.
Draws out our hearts by a sense of His love. That's what we get in the beginning of this chapter and also in 2nd Corinthians 5. But He touches our consciences, as Bob was saying, by a sense of the solemnity of the day in which we live. And both ought to have a serious effect on us. Shouldn't they? I know I've talked to young men in college when I was going there, and sometimes they would be facing this kind of dilemma.
But I've heard some of them say.
But my parents really sacrificed in order to make it possible for me to go to college, and they are working hard in order to pay.
For me to go here, I have a heart that wants to do the best I can rather than disappoint them. And so there are different things in a natural sense, but the Lord uses both of those, one to exercise our hearts and one to draw our hearts out in an appreciation of His love and all He has done for us, and then to recognize not only what concerns myself, but a responsibility to others.
Because as Bob was bringing out, God is going to judge the living and the dead. And why are we in this world? Are we here just to live a good, morally upright life and then go to heaven at the end?
That's wonderful, but that's only a half story, isn't it? We're here to be living witnesses of the grace that sought and found us. We're here to be a testimony to this world. Not that we should look out to be a testimony, but we should be following Christ.
And we will be a testimony, but we are not here just to say, well, now that I'm saved, I'll just live a good, morally upright life and at the end I'll go to heaven. No, there is much, much more than that in real Christianity. Even though.
I was wondering if in the Ephesians chapter 5.
Two or three verses and I'm wondering if this would would tie in with with what we've been talking about. First, the first verse it says be therefore fathers of God as their children. And then we go on down to uh, verse UH-14 and I'll read it regarding wherefore he says wake up thou the secret and arise up from the moon with dead and Christ shall shine upon thee.
See therefore how you walk carefully, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time because the days that are evil and so forth. I was wondering if that would tie in here. What a word of a warning to us. We need to wake up, don't we? We may be sleeping Christians, you know, and I speak personally just to myself. I don't speak to others. I need to wake up. The Lord is coming is so very near, and it might be deeming that time for the Lord. Or am I doing it for myself? Am I living for myself?
Or am I living for the Lord? It says wake up and see that thou walk carefully. Oh how I need that in my life. And sometimes we, we forget that, don't we? Satan is so busy to allow us to sleep and to get us occupied with other things. But what's done for Christ is going to last. Everything else is going to be burned up. Are we living for Christ or are we living for self? That's something to speak to my own soul.
The secret is to fall in love with him all over again.
You know several times that someone has mentioned attitude.
00:55:04
When love is the attitude of the heart towards the Lord Jesus Christ or towards another person if it's difficult.
To operate in that relationship with someone when Love's there, it makes it not so difficult. I was reclaiming myself with the The story of James J Braddock, the boxer from.
Days gone by during the depression, he became well known. He was a devout Catholic. He may have been even been a believer that during the depression he had become a boxer of renowned and had made some money, but he lost everything in the stock market. He was down to living in a basement tenement with his children and he and his wife had very little. They even turned the power off and, uh, he tried to get work. Sometimes he'd go to the soup lines and food lines and.
And there would be nothing there.
And you get work at the dock sometimes you've been injured and wasn't able to box anymore. They've taken away his boxing license and he was down, way down. And then, uh, his old manager came to him one day after he'd been going through the depression and through these things and he said, uh, they're going to give your license back for one fight.
You said that the number one heavyweight champion contender for the heavyweight championship has been injured and they need somebody to box the guy that's supposed to be in the undercard.
And it's tomorrow. No one else will take it because this is a powerful man and, uh, there's no time, he says. I'm not really doing you a favor, but I thought you'd want to know. And he jumped at the chance to take it.
And when the the news people were interviewing him, he said, you're an old man, why are you doing this? You're likely to be injured. You're likely to be hurt, he says, what are you doing it for? He said. Milk.
This is my children, my wife.
And it was the love of his heart for his family that took him as an older man into the ring and fight again. And he was able to get a little bit of money to help his family, but love was in his heart. The story continues later.
He won that fight and he won a few more and he was brought up to face Max Baer, who was one of the most powerful and strong heavyweight champions in boxing had ever known.
And this man had killed people in the ring. And here's this smaller, older man, really a light heavyweight, and he was going to box it. And again, the news people are interviewing them. This Max Bear is the handsome, powerful strongman, and he's enjoying the wine, the women and the song. Everywhere he went, he wore furs, and he always had several women with him. So his motive was the fame and the glory of this. Once again, James J Braddock is asked, why would you step in the ring with this man? You're likely to be killed.
Once again, it was my children, my wife. I loved them and I'm doing it for that. I was thinking about that as we had this conversation about suffering. You know, you can draw back from things that might be painful if you look at them themselves. But even in a natural way, even in, in secular things, people will admire those who press ahead because they love their families and they love people and they sacrifice something. They endure pain or suffering because the motive in their heart is for someone else.
And they're able to go forward with it because they do despise the pain. They despise what might come.
Recently I read of a a young soldier in Iraq.
Who is with his troops and several men about And he was from where I live in Florida. And a grenade came in to where they were. And quickly he put his helmet over the grenade and he threw his body on top of it and he gave his life for the men around there. And these young men were going to the funeral and talking about how this man had suffered and given his life for them. And it sounded like he might have been even a believer from what they said.
But he said he was that way in life, that he thought of others first, he put them first, and he didn't give it a second thought because the attitude of his heart was right and his job and what he was doing there, He leapt upon that and saved the life of his friends. It's true with the believers. If we are walking with our hearts in love with Christ, if we know what Galatians 220 means to live a life yet not I, but Christ, it doesn't seem all that difficult to face difficulties. Some of the pain doesn't seem all that painful when you face it because you're not occupied with that. You're occupied with someone that you love.
01:00:18
And your love grows when that there's greater love that comes back. I don't know how many times I've heard in conferences and, and, uh, all my life, how that if you want to grow in your love towards the Lord Jesus, occupy yourself with his love for you. You know, we can talk about, and, and maybe as a teenager, I heard many times similar things about what we should be doing in the manner of life. You can approach that with religious self too.
You can begin to do what seems to be the right thing to do and begin to not do the things that you shouldn't do.
In a kind of a religious self, and that will end in failure as well until we graduate from God's school that I call the wretched man's school. That's what we'll keep doing. We'll keep returning to that that we need to, if we drift, if we grow cold or like the Ephesian church in Revelation where we've lost, left our first love, we need to fall in love with him all over again. A lot of these things just take just fall into place. They don't even have to give him a second thought.
When your object and you want to do that which pleases him. If you've ever watched a Little League game or, or some game where children are playing and you'll see a little boy or a little girl do something, uh, kick the ball or make a score. They look back where dad's sitting on the bench. They look back to see, did daddy see that? His daddy please.
If our thoughts are like that, we would look to our Savior. Is he pleased with what I'm about to do? It takes the pain and the suffering out of some of the difficult choices that removes it because we're occupied with him and that he's pleased with me and that's enough to do it for that reason. That decision is five and verse two and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself an offering and a sacrifice of God for sweet spending favor. But what she said it for if we're in love with Christ.
If these are objects.
We can please send and we, the, the herd is gone and it's honor and glory to his blessed name and it makes us rejoice and gives us the strength and the courage to belong because of all we've done for us. You know, the difficulties that, uh, surrounded what my wife has been through in the last year with facing cancer, Somebody said to me, well, that's really put a lot on you, what you had to do. And that must have been really tough.
No, it wasn't. I love this woman with all my heart and soul. Why would that be tough? Because I love her. If we love the Lord Jesus like that, it's not difficult, you know, And we're, that's where he is. Just fall in love with him all over again and a lot of these things will fall into place.
#288.
Oval's birthday card leave all week we will say, and then my people allowing Jesus there is a known display.
But I happen to go large us over here below by virtue of Chinese desk blood by virtue collection flow tip #288.
All the office mercies for exist.
In the market, so I'm getting God anymore.
01:05:19
First John 3.
And chapter 3, verse two. Love it now are we the sons of God, And it does not yet appear what we shall be, that we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, or we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath his hope in him purifies himself.
Even as he is pure, and ourselves for him.
Philemon
Address—R. Boulard
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.
Well, in our local assembly meetings at home in Hammer Bay, we just took up the little epistle to Philemon. Philemon. And I'm just going to refer to this as, uh, perhaps the working of the Spirit of God behind the scenes, as it were, to produce some thoughts by his grace that might be presented here this, this afternoon. And that might perhaps, uh, give us 'cause to pause and to consider how we're living.
And in whose company we're going. But there was a question raised by a young brother in the assembly at the reading meeting in Philemon as we began to take that epistle up. And it says here, I'm just going to read the first verse and then we're going to turn to some other portions. Philemon verse one, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer. And the question was this, what's the difference between a laborer and a fellow laborer? What's the difference?
Well, one has sought to seek those things out and to learn something perhaps will turn back a little bit later to this portion of Scripture. But I want to turn to John's Gospel and you can consider that question as we read some portions of Scripture. So John's Gospel Chapter 11, we're going to read seven things that of seven fellows, some.
Aspects of our Christian path that allow us to go in the company of others. And the first one I want to read of is in John's Gospel, Chapter 11.
And in verse 16.
It says Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him. Then Jesus, when Jesus came, he found that he had been lain in the grave four days already. Well, we're not going to read this whole account, but you know, the very first thing that we read in that is necessary perhaps in our Christian life is that we're saved by the grace of God, that we put our faith and trust in Christ.
But you know what the definition of a disciple is? Is one who follows.
And one who learns.
One who's a follower and one who learns. That's a disciple. You know, the the Lord called his disciples. He called them one by one. And the call doesn't go out to a group this afternoon, goes out to each one of us as individuals. Wilt thou go with this man? Will you follow?
Will you learn?
Each one is gets a call from the Lord Himself who bought us, paid a price on Calvary's cross to purchase us for Himself. There's one thing that He wants more than ever, more than anything in your life. He wants your heart. He wants your affections.
He wants you to follow him and there are so many voices in this world, so many people that want you to follow them.
It's easy to get distracted. You know, I looked up in the Webster Dictionary this, uh, little word fellow, and it really has the implication of one who's a comrade, one who's a kindred spirit, one who perhaps doesn't have natural relationship to you, but one who is, because of the way they walk and what they value the most in life, they become a kindred spirit with you. You just love that brother, that sister.
You know the Christian pathway is not.
Someone has said a Lone Ranger or Robinson Caruso Christians. That's not what God is looking for. He's looking for those that will follow with others.
Fellow disciples, those that would be called of the Lord out of this scene to follow the Lord Jesus. Fellow disciples, while Thomas here says he's called a twin and I'm a twin, I can identify with this because I don't like being alone. I don't know if there's any other twins in this room, but if there's there's something that a twin, particularly myself, I've never, never liked being alone. It's very, very difficult. I would rather work with someone else than work all alone in my office.
So in my office at home, I have a desk and has two sides to it. I have my seat on one side, Janet has the seat on the other side. Oftentimes we're both in that office at the same time. And so here this is a.
This is brought before us that Thomas, which is called, this is what he said unto his fellow disciples. Let us also go that we may die with him. Well, he didn't have perfect understanding as to what the Lord was doing here, but his disciple is characterized. I like to think of it three ways. He's characterized by following. We already mentioned that he's FA. He's characterized by being a learner and then he's characterized by traveling lightly. Three things he follows.
00:05:02
He learns and he travels lightly because anything in the way will slow him down. Let's just look at those three things in Luke's Gospel, Chapter 5.
We'll look at the first one.
Says in verse 27.
Luke 5 and 27. After these things he went forth.
And saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom. He said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, and rose up and followed him. Levi made him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of Republicans and others that sat down with them. Well, that's a follower then, a learner. If you look at Luke's Gospel, Chapter 10, one of these, we could turn to a lot of different passages. And perhaps you can look at some of these passages yourself on your own time.
But in Luke's Gospel chapter 10, this is a very precious portion of scripture that the Lord has recorded in His Word.
What meant so much to him? It says in verse 38, Luke 10. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village.
And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, and she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word.
A good disciple knows how to follow. A good disciple knows how to sit still and hear the word of the Lord.
And a good disciple knows how to travel light. Let's look in Matthew's Gospel chapter 19.
Not going to read the whole portion. Verse 21, Matthew 19 and verse 21.
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor.
And thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
You know, in the early 1800s.
There was an obsession with the British to find the Northwest Passage across the north of North America. They thought that there was a waterway there and if they could, uh, gain the passage, find out where it was, that it would greatly influence and, umm.
Greatly improve commerce in the western world. And so there was a, an expedition that was sent up there, the Franklin expedition. And some of you have heard of the Franklin expedition. He went out there with, uh, a ship or two. He went, uh, through the Northwest Passage. He went down into Hudson's Bay and umm, he had the finest of what this world had. He had fine China.
Engraved with gold and all kinds of things silk.
Tablecloth He had the best of what this world had, and he was going to find this Northwest Passage. And he, uh, his ship got locked into the ice and, umm, after several months, it was, uh, really evident that he wasn't going to be freed from the ice. And you know, those men in the Franklin expedition, every single one of them perished.
But the captain of that ship, Mr. Franklin, Captain Franklin, he wanted to save some of those goods. And so as they left the ship.
He had the sleighs loaded with these dishes, the silverware, all the wealth of that ship and those men were harnessed.
To those slaves with the ropes, and they pulled those sleighs through the snow and the hard ice until they dropped from exhaustion 1 by 1, and they died where they dropped.
Othello disciple needs to travel light and some of us are dragging some pretty big weights and we don't know how to drop them to let them go.
Just to leave them behind, they're not worth it.
We're paying precious moments, precious resources that we have the energy of our youth, and we're trying to drag things through this world that we think are valuable and we're just going to leave them behind. Well, this is a fellow disciple.
In chapter 20 of John's Gospel, we'll find his name mentioned there again, and there's a lesson with Thomas in verse 24.
John 20 and verse 24. Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord, but he said unto them, Except I shall see in in his hands the print of the nails.
00:10:13
And put my finger into the print of his nail of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe.
You know the enemy has a tactic in your life and mine.
And he never gives up, never, never, never gives up. He wants to isolate you or I isolate us by ourselves so that we don't walk with our brethren, so that in some way, one way or another, we will not walk with those of like precious faith. We will not walk with those that want to follow the Lord in the truth. You know, it says, I'm going to refer to umm, second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 22. It says there flee also youthful lust, but follow righteousness.
Faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. You know what Mr. Darby's French translation he says translates it this way? Pursue righteousness, faith, charity, or love with them that call them the name of the Lord out of pure heart. You know what it means to have a pure heart? It means to know what the truth of God is, what the Word of God teaches, and to walk in it with a pure heart to want to please the Lord.
You know what an unpure heart is it? It's a heart that knows what the truth of God is, knows what the word of God says.
And will not walk in it for one reason or another, something that will hinder.
And perhaps 'cause you not to walk as a fellow disciple, not to walk as the comrade of others, not to be in close association with your brethren and to want to walk with them, Well, you know it cost Thomas something. Thomas wasn't there in the upper room when the Lord appeared to the disciples. And, umm.
He learned his lesson. You know, I believe in Acts chapter one, it says in uh, verse 13 that uh, when they were come in, they went up into an upper room. It should say the upper room where a boat, both Peter and James and John and Andrew, Phillip and Thomas and Bartholomew and so on. You know, Thomas wasn't found alone. I don't believe you read of Thomas being alone again in the book of the Acts or in the Gospels. He learned his lesson.
And you know, you and I need to learn our lessons, to desire to follow the Lord.
And to follow in righteousness, faith, peace.
Love with those that call upon the name of the Lord out of pure heart. Well, isn't this nice that as a fellow disciple, I have a desire, and perhaps you have a desire to follow the Lord. And maybe it was mentioned this morning that maybe you're saved and you haven't been following.
The rest of our time.
It's a day of decision for you this afternoon if you haven't been following the Lord, but you know, if you've been following the Lord, desiring to please him, it's nice to have those too, that you can keep company with those that you can, that will strengthen you, that will help you, that will correct you. The disciples, Thomas, fellow disciples sought to correct him.
Well, let's just turn to Philemon then.
Now let's turn to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2.
And verse 19.
Because of the time, we're only going to mention these things very briefly, and so you can go back and study and meditate upon them yourselves. But the second thing here I want to call attention to in verse 19, Ephesians 2 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God. You know, a foreigner is a citizen of another country. He's a citizen of another country, and he owes his allegiance to another country. And there was a work of God.
At the cross of Calvary.
To make you a citizen of heaven, you are a citizen of earth, you are a citizen of a doomed place that was going to fall under the judgment of a righteous and a holy God. And the judgment is going to fall. It's going to be.
A scene that's going to be destroyed. Everything in this scene that you see and touch and feel and smell is going to be gone one day. And you were a citizen of that scene. You were you bore your allegiance to that country of this earth and all that it has. But now you're a fellow citizen with the Saints. You're not just a citizen of heaven, but God has ordained it that there might be others that walk in the path of faith that you can go a long with that. Oh, their allegiance to a heavenly man.
00:15:12
To a heavenly scene, to a place where Christ is going to always have the 1St place, The one who's won our hearts and whose allegiance has been won. Our allegiance has been, uh, given to.
Why? It's the Lord's desire that we would respond to that, that we're not, uh, citizens of this world, but that we're fellow citizens. We have privileges and responsibilities now in connection with heaven.
You know, my wife and I, when we lived in the United States after 911, we began some processes to become U.S. citizens because of travel and so on. I was doing a lot of international travel. And so my wife and I are U.S. citizens as well as Canadian citizens. Now, the Canadian government doesn't care whether you're Canadian and you're Australian and African and plus you have American citizenship. They really don't care. They just want the tax dollars.
But the American government when you cross the border into the US.
You're American, you're not Canadian, you're not African or anything else. You better say that you're American. So my wife, you know, she forgot one time and she was crossing from Hammer Bay down into Ohio and umm, or into Buffalo, NY and, uh, she handed the, the uh, customs agent her papers and he said, uh, citizenship. She says Canadian. He says, ma'am, I'm gonna give you these papers back again and we're gonna do this again.
And so.
He said. Now I'm going to ask you again.
What is your nationality? She says American. She, he says. Correct.
Welcome home.
You know, you and I forget sometimes our citizenship and we forget the immense privilege of being able to walk the path to glory with those that have their allegiance to Christ.
Their allegiance is wholeheartedly to that Blessed One in the glory.
But sometimes we forget, sometimes we pray unintelligently, sometimes we pray and we speak to one another unintelligent way. But isn't it nice that you and I have the present, present day, the privileges, the responsibility to lock this scene in the dignity of those that are heavenly citizens? Do you act?
And walk and conduct yourself the dignity of a heavenly citizen.
Whether you do or not, you're a citizen of Heaven.
And when this world asks you a reason of the hope that is in you, and you give the wrong answer, perhaps you don't look like a citizen of heaven. Perhaps you're not dressed like a citizen of heaven. Perhaps you're not even speaking like a citizen of heaven. Perhaps you're in a place where a citizen of heaven shouldn't even be, but you're a citizen of heaven. Oh, how wonderful it is. What a preservation it'll be if we walk the path to glory with fellow citizens, those that have an appreciation for their new.
Relationship with God and the fact that they're heavenly citizens. Let's just drop down here a little bit further in chapter 3 and umm, verse 6.
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ.
By the Gospel fellow heirs in Romans chapter 8, it's the the term is used joint heirs and I believe Mr. Darby's translation he uses here joint heirs and in Galatians mentioned as well. I would just say this that each one of these terms that is used that we're going to look at this afternoon are used very, very infrequently in the word of God and God never uses a term flippantly or without real weight to it.
And here he says fellow heirs, the Gentiles should be fellow heirs. You know, we were strangers from the covenants of promise. We were without God, without hope in this world. We had nothing. We were bankrupt, held hell deserving sinners. And God in his grace has made everyone of us who have been purchased by the blood of Christ, made sons of God he's made us heirs to.
Thank God none of us is going to take anything out of this world.
We may have a pretty firm grasp on some of the things that we have in this world.
00:20:01
But thank God we're going to leave it all behind says in I think it's first Timothy chapter 6 says for we brought nothing into this world and is certain we can carry nothing out. And So what is it that you value in life? What is it that's a present advantage to you in this scene? You know, young people, I see a lot of your faces here and I want to say this.
That the Lord Jesus is the heir of all things in heaven and in earth. He's the heir of all things. And one day you are going to physically stand beside his side. You're going to physically be seen by this world at his side. He's going to display His church by his side.
You're going to be displayed as a fellow heir, a joint heir with Christ over all this scene. The created world, the created universe is all going to be brought into subjection to the Lord Jesus and God is going to give his Son.
Everything that was ever created.
Everything, every being that was ever created and that has bowed the knee in this life is going to rejoice in the fact that the bride is a fellow heir. Every one of us is individuals, but you know, we're not always living as fellow heirs.
Have you surrounded yourself with those that have an appreciation for the inheritance that is in the glory?
Says in Ephesians chapter one. I think it is here.
It says in chapter one and verse 14.
Just at the end of verse 13, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance.
Until the redemption of the promised purchased possession under the praise of his glory. And so God has stated a fact that we're joint heirs. We're heirs individually with Christ. We're joint heirs with Him. But oh how He longs for us to enjoy it together.
Not to want the best of what this world has, because God himself is going to give us the best that heaven could ever give us. God is going to give us the best.
God is going to give His Son all things, and you and I are going to be associated with that blessed one.
We're joint heirs with that blessed one. Well, let's look to Philemon now.
Philemon verse one.
Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, our brother unto Philemon, our dearly beloved.
And fellow labourer.
Anyone here in this room ever dug a ditch?
I have Doug Ditches.
Labor is hard work, isn't it?
In other places these perhaps the term is used. Fellow workmen, I was digging a ditch in Michigan through hard pan. Some of you know what hard pan is. It's ground that's as hard as concrete and doing it by hand and with a pick.
We have hard pan up in Hammer Bay too.
All around Lake Huron is hardpan. It's just as hard as concrete. And Jonathan and I were just about 3/4 through digging a couple of ditches in Michigan and we had a man come down the street. He said I have a small backhoe. Would I, could I come and finish that job for you? He came and he finished that job.
Oh, I was so thankful not to have to hack through the rest of that ditch. I sweat. I had blisters and my young son had blisters that were bleeding. I was glad to have that man come.
And dig the ditch with us.
Paul never used these terms lightly.
Phi Lehman, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer here, was a man who knew how to work. He knew how to dig ditches, as it were, spiritually. He knew how it was what it was to dig in and to get the job done among the people of God.
It wasn't just something that was lightly done. You know, recently we painted the meeting room in Hammer Bay and it's a, it's a large building. It's about the size of what this building is without the, uh, annex at the back. And it's about 3 stories high at the rear. Wood building, wood windows took a lot of scraping to get that building. The, it's stained. So it wasn't, uh, you know, there was some scraping to do. There's a lot of hard work.
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And at the rear it's three stories high. We had scaffolding up and had ladders to get right up to the very peak. And the paint and uh, I learned something painting that room with brethren.
Everyone helped. There was one brother who didn't help.
And he, his father and he run a business, and they had some employees that are gathered to the Lord's name and part of the assembly. And that one brother who didn't come and paint at the meeting room ran the business and did try to do the work of three men.
To allow the others to come to pay.
He was working, he was laboring that the work might get done.
There was another brother, you know.
Lots of them. Lots of us start a job and we don't all finish it. And so when the project started, took two weeks to do the, the, the work and there were a lot of people there and a lot of the easy jobs got taken first, as it were. And umm.
There was one brother, I don't want to be humorous about this, but he likes the easy jobs. He's a dear brother. He has a heart of gold. He'd give you the shirt off his back. But he does everything he can to sweat the least, as it were. And he went and bought a $300.00 paint machine, paint spray machine so that he could spray the place. And so he said, no sweat. We'll, we'll paint this place in half an hour. And so the front of the building had already been done the hard way. And he, he was quite sure that he could do the rest of it very quickly. And so he got the spray gun out and he sprayed.
Three walls of the building and the.
Rear of the building and it took three men to clean up.
Lot of hours put in cleaning up the roof, a lot of hours the brother spent cleaning the paint off the windows and so on, and then it still needed two coats of paint that was brushed into it. There are no shortcuts when it comes to labor and the working in the field of the Lord. There's no shortcuts. We're going to have to sweat. We're going to have to do some grunt work, as it were, and it's not always convenient.
Paul slept under the stars.
Paul wasn't in the deep day and the night.
It wasn't comfortable. It wasn't convenient. We live in a day of convenience. There was another man that worked on the meeting room, an older man.
Your brother working behind the scenes.
72 years old and when everyone was gone and there was all kinds of work to do, the hard stuff.
He would drive by and I would be up on a ladder or on top of the scaffolding, whatever it was, and he would drive by the meeting room and see the vehicle parked out there and he would swing in.
72 years old, he'd be up on that scaffolding. He wouldn't see a brother working on that meeting room and he wouldn't come and do it himself.
He dropped everything in the business world. He'd go and do it. Is that how you are? The things of God, Are they, uh, importance to you? Is it important to you to see your brethren go on? Is it important to drop everything and make sure that the young people go on for the Lord?
My brother wanted the best for the Lord. He wanted the best.
And he worked hard, and he didn't feel that he'd worked hard enough.
And so he hired another brother to work at the meeting room, and he paid him out of his own pocket to make sure that he contributed enough.
There's going to be a reward in the glory for those that know how to labor and those that are fellow laborers, those that draw alongside the desire to have.
Be companions and do The Dirty work, young people. I just make this comment to you. Do The Dirty work when you're young. Do The Dirty work at the meeting room. Cut the grass and don't tell anybody.
Set the chairs up when no one's looking. Pick up stuff off the floor. God uses those that do The Dirty work, and later on in life, if you do The Dirty work, God may use you in a spiritual way.
But don't be afraid to get your hands dirty into sweat and to be a fellow laborer. Well, in verse 2 here of Philemon, it says to our beloved Aphia an Archipelas, our fellow soldier.
Into the church in my house.
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You know, this is the only time in Scripture that this term is used. Fellow prisoners, Fellow soldier. Fellow soldier, What's a soldier?
A soldier is one that goes out in the service of another.
And according to the will of another, conducts himself in military aspect.
He's trained in service.
And he's skilled.
He's doing a dangerous work and he knows how to follow orders.
He knows how to follow orders he's not seeking to.
Have a prominent place among his brethren.
And so in verse 2 here, it says Archopus was a fellow soldier. Let's just turn back to Colossians chapter 4 and we'll see there. The only other time that this man is mentioned that I know of in Scripture.
Verse 17 Colossians 417 I say to Arcapus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord.
That thou fulfill it.
You know, brethren, we have an enemy, a real enemy.
And he desires to destroy individual Christian testimony. He desires to destroy the assembly, He desires to destroy what is for the glory of God. And a soldier stands and holds his position and moves forward.
In its dirty, dangerous work.
But he does it for the blessing of others. An archipelas here perhaps were given this little picture of a man that had been given a service, a Commission of the Lord.
To go and do something for the Lord, it was a dangerous work, and he was given that work to do, and yet he might not have fulfilled it. And he got this little prompt from the apostle Paul in writing and to the brethren to just encourage archipelas, to take up the sword, as it were, and to go on. You know, I just want to turn to.
Second Kings, chapter 13.
There are a lot of portions we could turn to.
In this connection, but I want to just give encouragement to some of the older ones. Here it says in For the Second Kings, chapter 13. Now Elijah was fallen sick of his sickness, whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, Oh, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And Elisha said unto him, Take bows and arrows. And he took unto him bows and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow.
And he put his hand upon it, and Elijah put his hands upon the King's hands, and he said, open the window eastward, and he opened it. And Elijah said, said shoot, and he shot. And he said the arrow of the Lord's deliverance. Well, we're not going to read the whole portion, but umm, just want to make this point that there was an old soldier, as it were.
How are young soldiers trained?
Old soldiers train young soldiers, and there may be some young ones here that value the assembly, value what it is to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus and see that the enemy is at work to destroy. And they desire to engage the enemy, as it were, and to use the Word of God, to stand by the truth of the Word of God and to obey it and to be a blessing in the assembly. And perhaps you don't really have the experience, but you'd like to be helping your brother.
There are those that are older in the assembly and could put their hands on your hands.
They can help you to shoot the ball.
Draw near.
Young men, to those that are older in the faith, they want you to go on. They want the assembly to be preserved, you know.
I emailed the brother this morning and asked him if I could tell you this story and I'm he said yes, go ahead. You know there's a man in the little assembly in Nashville, TN, Tennessee. His name is Gary Peck. Some of you know him.
Dear brother, And he said, you know, as he was gathered to the Lord's name, he sat under the sound of ministry in different conferences and so on. But in his home assembly, he was a little a, uh, a man, an older man, Jim Thompson, who was not in, well, good health, But he says, uh, he and Jim Thompson sat for hours together over the word of God.
Jim Thompson would give a ministry to read Jim. Jim would do all kinds of things to urge this brother on in the path of faith. He said. That man was my spiritual father.
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And as Jim, in my last visit with Jim before he went home to be with the Lord, he said, won't you go to Nashville often and just spend some time with Gary? Oh, I love that brother. I wanted to go on.
Won't you just spend some time with them? You know, older brethren, there are younger ones here. Make time for your younger brethren and younger brethren. When you go to the Brothers Care meeting, don't be spouting off and trying to take a large part. Sit there and learn. Allow the older men to take their hands and put them on your hands and learn the ropes of what it is to be a soldier, a fellow soldier. God didn't intend us to fight the enemy alone, as it were.
But he's given us companions to push doggedly forward against this the enemy. Well, let's, uh, look in verse 23 of Philemon. This is the 6th, uh, one here, fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, fellow prisoner, APRA fresh. You know, Apifress has the distinction in Colossians chapter 4. He's mentioned as well. I think he's mentioned four times in Scripture, but uh, in Colossians chapter 4.
It says there in verse 12.
I prefer to Is one of you a servant of Christ?
Servant.
Here was a man who was a servant and he was also a fellow prisoner, and so he was a prisoner with the apostle Paul. If you wanted to be a prisoner, if you had to be a prisoner would have been a wonderful experience perhaps to be a prisoner with the apostle Paul who submitted to the Lord's dealings in this way. And he was writing these letters and he had apathres there. In Philemon verse 23, it says that after first my fellow prisoner Paul speaks of them in this way, and then in Colossians chapter 4.
He speaks of him.
As a servant of Christ, what was he doing? He was laboring fervently for you in prayers.
That you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. What a prisoner, what a prisoner. You know I when I was a young man.
There was a brother in the Lord Young Brother and he hadn't got a college education or anything. He had to. He went and took a factory job and they wanted him to sign the union card and he said I wouldn't do it.
That I belong to Christ. I won't sign the union card. They made him pay union dues, but umm.
They gave him a factory job, they gave him the lowest classification, the lowest pay, and they gave him the dirtiest jobs in the whole place.
He was a prisoner. He was a fellow prisoners that were with the apostle Paul and with the truth, the word of God. He wouldn't compromise the truth of God. He would rather suffer imprisonment in a circumstance like that than to disobey the word of God.
And to join forces with unbelievers to try to get something good. Oh, what a example that is. Well, let's turn to Colossians chapter one. And we'll see here that there's this man, Ephesus. He's mentioned in verse, chapter one of Colossians, verse 7, as he also learned of Epiphyrus. Our dear fellow servant or fellow bondsman, who is of you for you a faithful minister or servant of Christ.
This is the 7th 1A fellow servant or a fellow bondsman. You know the Lord Jesus has purchased you and I. He's made his fellow citizens.
Of heaven, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
In some aspect of our Christian lives, we trust that he's made his fellow prisoners of the truth, that we might walk in it and suffer for his name's sake. He's given us a desire of heart to follow.
To learn and to walk lightly through this world, travel lightly as those that are fellow disciples. And now he makes us bond servants willingly to serve the One who loved us and gave himself for us. While we don't have any more time, I'd like to sing #24 in the appendix.
#24 in the appendix.
1 Peter 4:6
Reading
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We didn't have any comment on verse six, so would it be all right to begin at that, even though we did go a little bit beyond it in some of our comments?
At the end of all things is at hand. He therefore sobered and watched under prayer.
Some of the old things have fervent love among yourselves. The love shall cover the most favorite sins. Use hospitality 1 To another without refuge. As every man hath received the gift, Even so minister the same one to another.
Of Ben Stewart, The manifold grace of God Can a man's feet let him speak as the oracles of God? Any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God-given that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Beloved thinketh not strange, and turned the fiery trial which is to triumph, as of some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice in as much as ye are for teachers to Christ suffering.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busy body in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed to let him glorify God on this behalf.
So the time has come. The judgment must begin. If the House of God, and if it first began at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly, the Sinner, appear?
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God.
Their souls to Him, and well doing as unto a faithful Creator.
Some were noticing that we hadn't commented on verse six and were wanting to have an explanation of it, so maybe.
We could have some thoughts on that verse.
In particular, how could, how could, how could those who are dead be preached to?
Would that also refer to First Peter 3 and?
20 or 19, would that be related?
I believe it's the same thought. All right. Yes.
I think the point in the verse is that is was for this cause was the gospel preached to them, which are now presently dead, and he's just showing that judgment, as he said is in the fifth verse preceding verse.
That would be executed. Is that there these people that are being judged are not being judged without a cause. And they have, it's not that they have not had an opportunity. God does not judge anybody, uh, unjustly. And so they've had a testimony rendered to them and they're going to be judged according to it.
I wonder if, uh, Hebrews 11:00 and 7:00 will give us what is said in juxtaposition 1 to the other.
That by faith Noah being warned of God, of things not seen as yet. Mooth with fear compared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world. How did he condemn the world? By building the ark, wasn't it?
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And had there been those that were willing to believe God's message through Noah, they could have found a place in the ark. The the door was open, wasn't it? And so it was God's desire that man should be saved. And so it is today. And the object of all preaching of the gospel is that men might live according to God in the Spirit, but if they don't pay attention to it, God holds them responsible for the message they have heard.
And I for myself don't believe there will be anyone at the Great White Throne.
Who hasn't had a clear and definite testimony in one way or another to his or her responsibility toward God and has clearly indefinitely set their will against it. You know, sometimes in the courts of today, people.
Can end up in a courtroom, perhaps because they got caught up in something that they didn't really understand. And they say, well, I don't know what's happening here, what I'm doing here. I'm I'm not sure what all what's going on here. Not that it happens that often, but it does happen. But there'd be no such attitude at the great White Throne, will there? Nor will there be an attitude like that with the judgment of the living when the Lord separates the sheep from the goats.
Some of them will say, Well Lord, how? How did we not?
Uh, minister to you and so on. But the fact is there was a clear and definite will that rejected. But God's definite object and purpose, shall we say, or desire, which is a better word, is that men should be saved. But you and I have a wonderful privilege to preach the gospel. And God is glorified even if men don't believe, but souls are far more responsible after hearing it than if they don't.
Euclidean 2.
Stop.
Excuse me, in Philippians chapter one verse 27 and 28.
This is only like your conversation. Be as become at the gospel of Christ, as whether I come and see you, or else be absent. I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries.
Which the gospel is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God, Is it true that the very thing that could have met, and is the means of salvation, the power of God, and the salvation the gospel, will, in that judgment day, be the thing that is brought up and said. This condemns you because you refuse to.
And so, as Bob was bringing before us in the meeting this morning, it lends a note of soberness to the day in which we live, doesn't it? Because the judgment is imminent.
If Peter could say the end of all things is at hand and of course as far as Israel was concerned at that time.
It was the end of their history as a nation, at least in responsibility, before God was at an end, and God was about to destroy that city of Jerusalem and about to take away every vestige that they could look to.
In terms of worship according to what they had had in the Old Testament.
But how much more for you and me who are living right at the end of the grace, and we can see all of the events forming around us for that judgment which will fall. So it leads into that next verse.
The end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober and watching the prayer. As we were saying this morning. That doesn't mean we are to walk around with a long face, doesn't mean we are never aware of smile. It doesn't mean we are never to have.
Joy in our hearts down here, but it is the sober and serious understanding of the time in which we are living and the fact that as the old.
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Saying goes that we're all familiar with row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.
Life is but a dream. Well, that's not the way the Christian life is. It's a life of joy. But as we had brought before us in the address, it's the life of Labor. It's the life of giving up my own things, my own will, my own comfort.
What I want to do in order to represent the Lord's interest down here.
We will realize the solemnity of the.
The changes that are ahead for planet Earth just to think rather than to live in land where democracy is, is, uh, defended to the hill.
And they don't realize that it's just about over. It is just about over. The whole system of government is going to be dramatically changed. God is going to intervene directly.
Into the affairs of this world and the Lord Jesus is going to take the reins of government. To me, it's so solemn to think that the Lord Jesus, when he was down here in this world, you never have him laughing.
He was one who had joy, said He rejoiced in spirit, but he was the Man of sorrows. How could he, when he saw the misery of the people amongst whom he passed, and then experienced their rejection, knowing that it was going to be for a terrible judgment? How could he laugh?
Could not and there needs to be that soberness with it. There's there's two things mentioned here in verse seven. Sober and soberness is in connection in contrast with drunkenness.
And watching this in contrast with sleeping.
And we can be those two things in the spiritual sense.
Drunkenness in the spiritual sense is being under the influence.
Not of alcohol, perhaps, but of other things to the point where we cannot function properly as Christians.
And watching is in contrast with sleeping.
Does it mean to be asleep?
Means not to be alert.
You know, sometimes we're pretty alert when it comes to our own affairs, but when it comes to the Lord's things, oh, how important it is to be alert in every sense of the word. The Lord help us, dear brother, You really believe the Lord is seeking to awaken us right at the end? And I don't think, I don't see how this world can go on very much longer the way it's going today.
I don't understand how it can. Others have said that before, you know, and here we are still here. But brother, one of these days it's going to happen. The Lord is going to come and things will dramatically change.
The Lord help us to live in the view of that fact. I think that's the expectation of verse 7.
For some time, but I believe that we're seeing now the begin, the beginning of the decline and perhaps the eventual fall of North America as a, a power in the world and the, uh, power, the, uh, government of this country and, uh, the country to the north, uh, they, most of, uh, the light that we've had in connection with Christianity is being given up and the word God is being given up in a public way. And so there's, uh, not that watch because they're.
As they do from the beginning. But umm, for the Christian, their responsibility now? Because we know these things, because we have knowledge of the will of God and we believe in the absolute perfection of the will of God, We say we do. Then we set aside the will of the Gentiles. We walk and we're responsible way before the Lord.
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You know what, sometimes in my own soul, uh, the Psalm 84 and I think it's verse 11, it says no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. That's the will of God. No good thing is he going to withhold from you or I?
If we walk uprightly, we'll have everything that we need in connection with our Christian path, but we need to recognize that this world is just about to end. What we see with our eyes and what we're experiencing in this scene is just both and last night, a Sodom. Nobody in Sodom had a clue that it was the very last night of their existence.
Not even a lot. A lot. And his wife and his two daughters had to be drunk.
In that song, serious to think about rather than it just seems to me that the Lord is speaking to us that we are giving down to the end. We need to hold on to things down here pretty loosely and be simple in our living habits.
Appreciate that Robert in the address, but remember brother.
Speaking about the importance of being simple, a Pilgrim is somebody that is simple and is living at this. Lord help us, brethren.
There's much to be done, you dear young people. It really is a joy to see you here taking interest in the Lord's things. But I'm gonna challenge you to use your talents.
For that which is going to last forever, this world is putting earthly objectives in front of you. The squirrel is not going to last that long. If you run towards those things, what are you going to have in that day when we're taken out of this world? You need to use what we have in view of God's eternity. Lord help you there, young people.
Well, one of the big hindrances to believers going on together is found in verse 8, isn't it?
Above all things, have fervent love among yourselves or charity.
For love or charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
That verse should not be used to.
Passover. That which is a serious sin, a dishonor to the Lord. That isn't a thought.
There are things that have to be addressed and serious sins that have to be taken up, but I believe the thought is here. So many problems and difficulties I speak to my own heart arise from.
Slights and misunderstandings and things that perhaps are done that affect me personally, not so much the Lords honor and glory, not so much something which the Lord is going to have to look to the rest of us to take up, but rather things that we can pass over. Excuse me and let them go.
Select something, go and to hold those grudges and cause strife among ourselves.
I was impressed a while ago by reading a story in a secular magazine. I was sitting in an office waiting for an appointment and I picked up a magazine there and there was a story there about a girl who had found herself in.
A Bob Evans or a Cracker Barrel or something like that somewhere in the United States. She was in her early 20s. She was all by herself, had a meal, went to pay your bill, swiped her card there at the cashier.
And was reluctantly told, sorry, your card is no good. I don't know whether she overspend her limit or what was wrong with it. But anyway, the card was no good. And there she was with only a bit of pocket change in her wallet and no money to pay her bill. What was she going to do? She said, I don't know what I'm going to do. She said to the cashier, I don't have any money. I have no cash. Well, have you got another credit card? No, I don't have another credit card.
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Man standing behind her said Here, use mine.
Swiped his credit card through.
Of course that one worked. He paid her bill for her. She said. Oh, she said, oh, Sir, thank you so much. Give me your name and address so I can pay you back. No way, he said. No way. I'm not even going to tell you who I am.
And she was so impressed that there were still people in America that would do that.
But I ask you and me, why could he do that? And why did he do that? It was over the goodness of his heart. But there was another reason, wasn't there?
He could well afford it, he wouldn't miss it, and probably many of us here in this room could and would have done the same thing because we wouldn't use it either.
$20 or whatever it was, So what?
And you know, it's those that are spiritually wealthy that are able to forgive. Are you spiritually wealthy? If you're spiritually wealthy, then you don't take slights you don't worry about. You may let them go. You say that's not worth getting excited about. That's not worth extracting the last bit from my fellow brother and sister as we get the young just servant in Matthew 18 did who was forgiven the huge debt and then went and grabbed his fellow servant by the throat.
So I suggest that that's the thought here. It's letting things go that affect me.
And if I can go on for one more moment, we find the Lord Jesus doing the same, don't we?
Just one incident that comes to mind. They said to the Lord Jesus, thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil.
How did the Lord answer that?
What an insult for a Jew to be called a Samaritan. Hard for you and me to understand, but that was a rough insult. The Lord ignored that completely, didn't He?
To say he had a devil was a reflection on his father and on the power of the Spirit of God in him. And so he answers that he says I have not a devil.
In Proverbs 19, which is perhaps where Peter got that, we have something of the same idea. Perhaps we could read Proverbs 19 and verse 11.
Says there the discretion of a man, the prudence is anger, and it is his, and it is his glory surpass over a transgression.
MMM beautiful. When there is personal offense, love is able to forgive and to cover emotions in offenses and just.
We may, uh, uh, come across as we seek to move together as Christians, but when we hold a person to every last ounce of what he owes us because we feel he said something or she said something shows that we're really not walking in Christian grace and the kind of love that is needed in these last days. And, uh, we need to have this kind of charity or love that he's speaking out here. I'd just like to say too, the beginning from verse seven on to the end of the chapter.
We have a series of expectations that pertain to how we ought to carry ourselves because, uh, it is the end of all, the end of all things about hand. And the first one is to, to be sober. And we need to be sober because we have an enemy that is lurking at all moments looking for an opportunity to upset us and to turn us away in the path and trip us up in some way. And there's no time for us to underestimate the power of the enemy. We need to be sober in our Christian lives.
And it's the opposite of carelessness, his father has been saying, But also we need to pray. And prayer brings before us the idea of express dependence. We may be, uh, super realizing there's an enemy, but we may, uh, overestimate our own power, thinking that we can handle the enemy and we're sure to fall. But we have prayer as a great resource for us, and that is to express our dependence upon the Lord every single day of our lives.
There were no match for the enemy and we're surely going to be swept along by the current of things in the last days, but.
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But the Lord would keep us, and then to express this love that we're Speaking of to one another in regard to those who overstepped their bounds with regard to us in a personal way. It is to the glory of a man to pass over transgression. Can we do that?
Are we able to have that kind of forbearance?
That's what Christian, Christian Love Is All about.
Another verse is in Proverbs is uh.
Chapter 10 and verse 12.
In our chapter it says love covers a multitude of sins where it says love sufferers all sins.
And I think it's like you mentioned, Bill, it's not a matter of trying to hide sin.
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, it says.
But it is.
There be a health to souls when there is sin. Notice in James uh chapter five I think he gives the sense in which way sin is covered.
In uh chapter 5 in the actually the last verse of the epistle.
520 Let him know, let's read verse 19. Brethren, if any of you do air from the truth, and one convert him, let him know that he which converted the Sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. So it's a sense to be a help to that person, so that the thing doesn't have to come out into the open.
In time, There's another verse in Proverbs 2 That I find very beautiful and I think, uh, flies.
Is in chapter 27.
And verse 5.
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Baseball are the wounds of a friend.
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
So sometimes.
We are wounded, I have to say that in my own experience.
There's been words administered to me at times that have left me wounded.
But getting into the presence of the Lord about it, I have found that what was said to me was extremely helpful. I needed the correction. We needed bread. None of us are sufficient in ourselves. And so sometimes in that way.
Sin is covered, not that it's ignored or try to be covered up.
Without addressing it, no sin must be addressed. And I, I really appreciate what was mentioned about this verse. This is the agape love. You know, in our day, it doesn't seem like we understand very well what that love is because we find it very easy to love when we're loved, when people treat us right, but when we're not treated right.
We find it a little bit tough to laugh.
And it's because we don't understand what this word love means. It's not love.
That comes as an emotion, and sometimes I think we think of love as an emotion. It may affect our emotions, brethren. Yeah, but love is more of a decision.
And I love to when I'm talking to the young people and the youth village, they're in our area where we go to preach the gospel, I often ask them, why does God love us?
The first answer I get is because we're his children.
Do I counter that? And I say, well, if you're not a believer in the Lord Jesus, you're not his children. You're not until you accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
The next answer I get is because we're His preachers. Well, that's true, and I would guess that God loves us because of that. But I say I want to give you another answer that I think helps to understand it better. God loves us because God is love. It's nothing to do with what's in me. He loves me because of who He is in His own person.
00:30:11
And to me, that is so beautiful to get a hold of. It doesn't depend on what he's found here. Even as a believer, sometimes I fail. Does he still love me? Yes, he certainly does. His disposition of love has never changed. He may not be able to show his love sometimes because of what I allow in life, but it's love never changes. And oh dude, get ahold of that, brethren. That's the love we are exhorted.
I should say commanded.
And in John's epistles, I should say, but John's Gospel and his epistles, there are seven times when we are commanded to love one another. Doesn't say love one another if you possibly can. No, it's a command rather, and it's the love of decision. It's the love of sacrifice, and God loves it cost him.
And it cost him terribly. Now that's the love we are told to love one another with.
Fervent love to one another. Oh brethren, to me it is exercising. I'd like to hear perhaps some thought.
Why does God have to command us to love one another? What did you say about that, Bill?
Well, I suppose on the one hand, we're not under law in the New Testament, are we? But God gives us commandments which are the delight of the new life, the new nature in us to carry out. And we get that in John's ministry, don't we? It says love is of God. And in our King James, that verse in first John 4 reads, we love him.
Because he first loved us. But if you notice in.
The Darby translation to him is left out. We love because he first loved us. But it seems, isn't it true, brother Bob, the way you were saying it, that all too often the natural tendency is to revert back to natural love and to revert back to that which is the response of the love of others, and when that is what characterizes us.
Then we will find that all the slights and all the irritations in others, and the way I irritate others too, and all the things that happen among us will take over, and I venture to say they have caused.
More difficulty among believers than bad doctrine and things like that. Not that bad doctrine isn't serious, and I'm not making light of it, but far more trouble has come about because of perceived slights.
And ways of doing things. I know I talked to a dear brother not too long ago who had left the assembly, and when it came right down to it, he didn't disagree with what was done and what was said. He finally was forced to admit it was.
Was the attitude and there was a spirit in which it was done. That's what got to me.
Well, God commands us to love, doesn't he? Because that new life will.
Will love, but we need to be exhorted to let that new life display itself. Is that, is that right?
Yes, and I remember, uh brother AC Brown talking about the difference between the commandments of the Old Testament and the commandments of the New Testament.
I really have enjoyed it. He put it this way. The commandments of the Old Testament were do this and you will live.
The commandments of the New Testament are.
Live and you will do this.
And he first gives us the light that wants to do it, and then the commandments are the divine directives for that new life.
I remember a sister in South America where there was a problem.
Saying there was a problem on some sisters. I don't know what it is, what it was about, but.
She said. I hate that sister.
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And a brother that heard it made a good comment I thought.
He said if you really do hate that sister, it may be that you've never been born again into God's family. And that's true, you do hate that sister.
But I wanna tell you, he said. If you have been born into God's family, you have a nature that is able to love that system.
But that was a very good answer.
We need to be challenged about that brother. And Bill says they're just sometimes those little things we allow to wrangle in US. Let them loose, brethren. Don't hold on to them because they will hinder you, not anybody else. You hold on to them because you think you're going to make that other person suffer. That's not the case. You are going to suffer. Let it loose. That's what's called roots of bitterness in Hebrews chapter 12.
#2.
Watch carefully that those roots of bitterness don't spring up and trouble us. There's another verse I'd like to read in first John chapter 2. In connection with that, she mentioned I'll and I have found such a blessing.
First John chapter 2 and verse.
Then he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling.
In in isn't that beautiful?
You really love your brothers. There won't be any occasion of stumbling.
Another verse in this song. I'm 119, it says.
Great peace, as they which love thy law and do nothing, thou offend them.
Do I get a pen then?
Because there's something in here, my old flesh, that gets offended.
Rather than it's not the spirit that's been offended, it's a flesh.
Lord help us brother, and this is really important.
Question of our law at the bottom of every division, every divorce, every rec friendship are held offensive. How can those of us who've been forgiven for so much hold some minor insignificant thing against our president? It's true this admonition would solve a lot of things because all of these things you said, it harms you first. It does. But though that verse you quoted about a root of bitterness, it says it will trouble many.
It grows there and it destroys the person and the Lord has to bring that person under judgment. In that parable about the unjust servant that was turned over to the tormentors, I believe the Lord does that. If we hold on to something and we will not forgive our brother, our sister, He will turn us over to the tormentors. He will allow the enemy to come in and tear at the flesh because we won't listen to his, his quiet pleadings. He will allow things to come in our life that will turn us.
In the in a government, a way of government into into our lives. This admonition. I once did a study on that word charity why the King James translators chose that word at its time and the what it meant at that time.
In the English language, it's closely associated with the word cherish and if you cherish something.
You prize it. If you prize it. There's an idea of protection in that. It's it's prize. We only get that if we're gonna prize our brethren. Sometimes people say love is blind and you may look at somebody and boy, that sister loves that brother. Love is surely blind, or vice versa. What do they see in that person? Well, somewhere along the line they chose to love that person. And even when the age brings wrinkles and they don't look so pretty anymore, and there's even love that was greater than the beginning, it's because a choice has been made and they prize them.
They prize them. You mentioned how that we can't really love until we are first loved by Christ. He says we have his love shed abroad in us. There's the pool, there's the resource from which love can go and flow out. It's there already. So when he tells us to, well, I can't love that person. They did this, they did that. They're like that. Oh yes, you can. You can love it out of the new creature that you are in Christ and he can do that. And if we see them, I remember Ron Reeves doing the thing with the the lettuce, the head of lettuce, peeling away the outside and saying that we need to find Christ in our brethren. Peel away the outside, look for it in there.
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If we see someone in Christ being prized by our Savior that he prizes them, He's chosen to set His love upon them and it has nothing to do with their behavior. I can choose then to love them and prize them and cherish them because God values them and I can learn to value them as well as them as well. And if I look with my new eyes and I look that way, I will find in them Christ. And if I can't prize that, then maybe I'm not born again.
Like the brother warned the sister, I need to look at myself and find out where my heart is. But if I do.
I will find in them the same thing that Christ does, that He prizes them. He set his love upon them, not because they're special or there's something about them that comes out of them, but because He chose to.
It is possible to be, even as believers, injustice collectors.
Sign of a poor state of soul. A poor Christian if he's a injustice collection.
I believe. I believe he is.
The problem with the Corinthians was that they were taken up with knowledge and the display of gift and so on, and so Paul tells them all about gifts and how it was to be regulated and so on.
But then he points out that which was supreme over at all, and that all the gifts and all the knowledge that there might be, even in a right sense, was no good if love were not practically explained. And as we've already heard, every believer has the capacity to.
Display divine love. But if we're not careful, we can get away from it. And I say again, the Corinthians were taken up with things like knowledge and gifts and a public show of things, all of which really ministered to the flesh and wasn't love at all. And So what love does is what we have in First Corinthians 13, isn't it? And Paul brings before them the practical display of love.
That if they really were walking in the good of all that Christ had given them, then that is the way that the knowledge would be used, that is the way that the guest would be exercised, rather than to, shall we say, accredited, distinguished themselves.
Another word that's used in the New Testament that is translated love, and it's bileo. It's, uh, brotherly love, and it is something that is encouraged as well in Scripture. It's interesting to see that it is often connected with this agape love, but it is more the thought of the mutual cultivation of appreciation of one another.
Bill, I've known you for quite a while. I think I really appreciate you.
I don't know if you do the same to me, but if there is then that means that that brotherly love and scripture tells us in Hebrews chapter 13 verse one, it says let brotherly love continue.
It's to be cultivated, isn't it, that mutual appreciation?
00:45:02
But sometimes we need to go beyond that even that. You notice how it puts it in, uh, First Thessalonians chapter 4. And I'll read you a few verses that puts the tube together.
And it's interesting to think about it and I think it's profitable to meditate on. I don't know that I understand it that fully.
But not as that through Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 9.
As touching brotherly love, as filial.
Ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God, the love that's agape one another.
Notice then.
Second Peter chapter.
1.
When we are exhorted to add to our faith.
Different qualities.
Verse five starts the list.
But the last two things on the list.
The end of verse 7.
Add to godliness, brotherly kindness, that that beloved and the bride.
Charity or luck? Agape luck?
So if I would do something deliberately, Bill?
To offend you.
There might be a suspension of the brotherly law.
Could you still love me?
I believe I could, brother Bob. And I want to say for the record that in the other category the feeling is very mutual.
But that's a good point though, isn't it? We don't want to belabor it too long, but even if there has sometimes occasion arisen when that brotherly love.
Can't be shown out if a brother is offended with me and I pretend that there's nothing wrong.
That's not gonna solve the problem.
But Divine Love ought to be operative in spite of anything that happens like that.
And they say that because I often heard.
In different places where I've gone the complaint, there's no love in this assembly.
When I hear that, I say the person that's complaining is the first one guilty.
Because of coffee. Love in its own character. Love that loves when there's nothing lovable. So if there's no love in this assembly, you start. You start loving. And love provokes love.
Brother Bob, when you were talking about being wounded and how the scripture talks, the faithful are the wounds of the friend.
When somebody has already shown that they really care about you, they really love you, and they come and correct you and there may it may hurt, is it a lot easier to swallow? Is it a lot easier to take when you've already had it proven to you they really care for you?
Our brother was talking about an older 1 putting the hands on a younger one and like shooting the arrow and so on. There it is again. If somebody who really has already shown they love me, they care about me and they come alongside to do that. Boy, it's a lot easier to take when they're, I have a sense that they really love me and there's a sense of grace in this love towards me. Well, I, I then I can take that. And it's, it's much, it's applied much more readily when there has to be some wounded.
Which you said Sam, is Romans chapter 15 and verse 14 and I think that is a very good point to think about.
Laying the groundwork so that we can be helpful in correction when there's necessary, when it's necessary.
One of the ways Roman. Let me go ahead. Excuse me, just read this verse. Romans 15, verse 14.
I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye are #1.
Full of goodness.
#2 filled with all knowledge and then #3.
Abel also to admonish one another.
00:50:03
Go ahead Bruce, I was just going to say one of the ways in which we can manifest love, show love to one another is what we have in the next verse and that is in using hospitality. And this means to open our homes to one another and to bring them in. Have you ever, am I the only person here that has that feeling or experience? But have you ever?
It's a little bit of coldness between you and another brother or sister, a couple. Bruce, can you speak up a little? And then what happens is you.
You get the notion to invite them to your home for a meal and you spend an evening with them and after they go home, you see them. I really enjoyed that. And you feel closer to them. You feel like, uh, whatever there could have been developing between you, they seem to have, have, uh, been just just anticipated. So I think that, uh, there's a reason why the, the expectations flow on here. And he talks about using hospitality.
In fact, you'll see it elsewhere in the Hebrews 13.
Just turn to Hebrews 13 real quick right here. That says let brotherly love continue verse one. Then what's verse 2?
Be not forgetful to entertain or strangers.
So the same idea of using hospitality flows on after an exhortation to love. There's a reason why the Spirit of God puts these two things together. And so let's open our homes to one another in a regular way. I think it will build those bonds, strengthen the bonds that we so desperately need to have strength in among us.
Please Bruce uh, comment on the last, uh, words that verse 9.
Without murmuring, it should be translated.
I suppose that would come up when couple so and so has invited me and my wife to their house and we had a nice time and a month or two go by and we kind of feel like we all them to have them over too. But I don't like them. I'm too busy. I don't wanna that would be doing it with murmuring or grudging. It should be because I we have an open heart toward one another and not because we feel we have to repay the kind of that's not the kind of Christian love that should be seen amongst them.
My father taught me a good thing in this regard, and I'll be here forever grateful for it. He's home with the Lord now, and I remember seeing him.
In situations where maybe it was pointed out to him that a certain person was upset with him.
My dad, when that happened, he would make a special effort to go and be more friendly, more kind and spend more time with that person. And it worked every time. It just all the stuff went away. And I learned from that that it didn't give Satan an inroad there. It didn't give him a foothold.
At all. It was gone. And I, I watched him do that over the years. Just go after that and uh, you know, that's a good lesson to see.
Number 84 in the appendix.
Number 84 in Atlanta.
The Love of Christ Constraineth Us
Address—B. Prost
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Brother told me it was alright to speak. A personal incident again.
This hymn came alive for me.
Detroit Conference in November of 1966.
Year or two ago.
When our late brother Eric Smith gave it out.
And it still chokes me up when I think of the meeting that he had because it changed my life.
And I found out afterward, in speaking to other young people, that it changed their lives, too.
And this hymn took on a meaning that it never had before.
283.
When we survey.
All artists.
More.
That hymn was written.
As most of you know, by Isaac Watts.
One of the fathers of English hymnary.
On the slightly amusing sigh when he was a young man in his teens, he complained to his father about the quality of hymns that they sung when they went to church.
And his father's terse reply was All right, young man, if that's the case.
And you don't like them? Give us something better.
Little did his father know what he was starting.
And Isaac Watts did proceed to give them better things, but he paid a price in his life for walking with the Lord. On the human side, he was in love with a very nice girl who finally jilted him, not because she didn't like him, but as she said, she admired the jewel very much.
But all the casket, that was too much. What was wrong? Oh, he'd suffered from smallpox when he was young, and it had done, as we would say today, a number on his face, and she couldn't handle that.
And that really hurt.
And because he was what they called a dissenter, he was an outcast in the society in which he lived because he could no longer go on with the things that the Church of England went on with. And he took his place outside of all of that.
As a result, he was buried in.
The cemetery for the dissenters, because in those days you had to belong to the Church of England to be buried in public cemeteries. And so he's buried on the outskirts of London there in what is known as Bun Hill Field Cemetery.
Lot of good English hymn writers there, well well known, but they were most of them outcasts because they didn't go along with things that were contrary to the word of God.
Well, let's pray.
Our God and Father, we look up to Thee this afternoon.
We read this morning. At least someone referred to the scripture and I'd like to read it again in Second Corinthians chapter 5.
2nd Corinthians 5.
Beautiful verse.
One that I'd like you to memorize if you haven't. 2nd Corinthians 5 and 14.
For the love of Christ constraineth us.
Notice that it doesn't say should constrain or ought to constrain. It simply makes a statement because it is true. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of Christ has a pull, a tug on your heart.
00:05:15
Because we thus judge that if one died for all or.
It could read since one died for all.
Then we're all dead, or all had died.
And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves.
But unto him which died for them.
And rose again.
Oh, the love of Christ has a tug on your heart and mine. The question is, do I feel?
That tug.
Because we have talked in the meetings about appealing to the conscience and the Lord does appeal to our consciences, but ultimately the only real motive that Scripture shows that Scripture brings before us for following Christ.
Is the response of your heart and mind to his heart.
And as a brother long since with the Lord used to remind us, he said, never try to love the Lord any more than you do.
Can't try to love someone, can you? No, he said. Just think of how much he loves you.
And that's the secret of feeling the love of Christ. You know, Scripture speaks very often of things that are of God and of Christ. You have the word of God and the word of Christ, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, the love of God and the love of Christ. What is the difference? In one sense it's the same love, but I just suggest the thought that when something concerns God.
It's the nature and power of what it is.
When it brings in the name of Christ, it is the practical effect of it in your life and mine.
In order to illustrate this verse and what I have before me this afternoon, I'd like to turn back to some verses in the Old Testament.
And we aren't going to jump around a lot in the Word of God, but we will stick to this passage.
Because I believe it illustrates for us what we have in these two verses.
I very much enjoyed whether Brother Robert brought before us this afternoon.
It is a wonderful thing to be fellow heirs, fellow citizens, fellow laborers, fellow sufferers, with Christ and with one another. And I would like, if we could, to add to that by bringing before us something that we have very special and very, very heartwarming in Second Samuel chapter 23.
If some of you have heard me speak on this passage before, forgive us if we turn to it again.
Because the very book in which we are reading, the very ministry of Peter.
Peter tells us that it is well worthwhile to be reminded of things even though we already know them. And here in Second Samuel 23, beginning with verse eight, we have a catalog of David's mighty men.
David is at the end of his life and he is giving his estimate of those men who had been faithful to him, particular during the time, particularly during the time of his rejection.
There are some surprises in this chapter. There are some things that you would not expect.
And I believe that if we speak of the New Testament counterpart at what Scripture calls the judgment seat of Christ, I suggest that there will be some surprises. Scripture gives us a little hint when it tells us that there are first which shall be last, and last which shall be first. And here, in David's estimate of His mighty men, we find some things that perhaps we would not have thought.
David would estimate in this way.
00:10:01
But let's read particularly about the first three men in the list.
Second Samuel 23 and verse 8.
These be the names of the mighty men whom David had.
The tachmanite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains.
The same was Adino the Esnite. He lift up his spear against 800, whom he slew at one time.
And after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, whom, when they defied the Philistines that were there, gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone. Away he arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave under the sword. And the Lord wrought a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil.
And after him was Sham of the son of Agay the Hereaite and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.
But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory.
I say there is something unusual about these three men, and I would be very happy to be corrected, but to my knowledge they are not mentioned elsewhere in the Word of God, except perhaps in the very similar account of David's mighty men given in First Chronicles.
But in all the accounts of David's rejection, his time running away from Saul, his time in The Cave of a dullum, in all the exploits and wars that occurred during the time of David's reign, I am not aware that any of these three name surfaces. There are other names that are very prominent, but these three are not mentioned.
And yet, when David is pleased to record those that he placed a high value on, he names these three men.
That is at once a humbling and an encouraging thing, because very often those that are perhaps more prominent in more prominent in Christian circles today.
Whether among those that you and I are familiar with, or whether among Christendom at large, I say, they may not necessarily be the names that are first when the Lord puts His estimate on what He really valued.
Because Christianity is characterized not by trying to take a high place in this world, but by taking the lowest place and when there were those among the Lord's disciples that wanted to have places.
At his right hand and on his left in the Kingdom, when there was a strife among them about who would be the greatest.
We find the Lord Jesus quietly taking them aside and saying He.
He that will be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all.
Oh, I covet that for myself.
Permit another reminiscence.
Some here will remember our late brother Armstead Barry, who has been with the Lord over 30 years now, but some will remember him well. And he had a memory like an elephant. And it was fun to get Armstead very reminiscing because he could go back, way, way back and tell stories about things that had happened in the past, in the distant past, and he could tell you details and so on.
And some of us young people used to pump him for stories about the past.
And he told us stories. The one he told me particularly impressed me. He said I remember going to the death bed of a man whose name is well known, too, to us here, although probably none of us remember him. Walter Potter of Chicago.
And he said, I remember going to his deathbed, he'd had a stroke, I guess.
00:15:02
And he knew that he was not going to recover.
And he said, I remember there sitting at his death bed and the last thing he said to me was Armstead.
And he said it with tears running down his face. He said keep humble.
And be content to be nothing.
The reward will come in a coming day.
But what God is looking for today is those of their brother Robert was bringing before us who aren't afraid to pick up a pick and shovel. Morally speaking. I don't mean you have to do it literally, although occasionally it it may come to that.
He's looking for those that are willing to do The Dirty work, the work behind the scenes, the work that no one notices.
These three men did it.
No, it's true. They were brave men. Notice what the first one did. Adino, the Esnite chief among the captains, lift up his spear against 800, whom he slew at one time. How would you like to fight against odds like that? How would you like to go out single handed against 800 people and have to deal with the situation? How could he do it? Say it's impossible while he was fighting at one side? Somebody sure be.
We're able to get them from the back.
What was the secret? The Lord was with him. And I say to you, and again perhaps, perhaps, if it's not being too.
Shall I say pointed, We speak to the young people here because people like me, oh, we're thankful for good health, but we're on the down sweep in our lives and we can't do the things that we used to do.
And God looks to you with the energy of youth and the ability to go forward for him. I say to you, it's a difficult day, but the Lord is just the same. And the love of Christ still constrains us. And the Lord is just as strong for you as he ever was.
Slew 800 at one time a wonderful victory. We'd love to, shall we say, be.
A bit able to do that in the natural sense. I was impressed when my wife and I got on the plane in Portland, OR to fly here to Denver and as the captain was reviewing a few things, as they often do, welcomed us aboard the flight.
And he said, and I understand we also have some with us on this flight who are in this US, in the US military, and we welcome you on board this flight and we pay tribute to you for all that you are doing in the defense of our country and in the courage that you have to go out. And there was immediately a spontaneous round of applause that rippled throughout the whole plane.
Those men were honored.
And men love to honor those today and if there were someone who were able to carry this out today.
Oh yes, we have more sophisticated fighting methods today, but men delight to place the Distinguished Service Cross and other certain awards for those who are brave in the natural sense.
These men didn't get the Distinguished Service Cross during the actual time that these things happen, but David noticed. David noticed.
Notice what happened with Eliezer, the son of Dodo the Ahohite.
Says in the end of verse 9 the men of Israel were gone away.
Robert was talking about fellowship.
It's not nice to stand alone, but there may be times when the Lord will test you and say, will you do it?
Will you do it if it comes to being faithful to the Lord, whether in preaching the gospel or whether in going on in the truth? Will you stand alone if necessary? What happened here? What did his hand hold on to?
The sword.
And for you and me, it's the sword of the Spirit.
He held on morally speaking to the word of God, even if others.
Had gone away. Others were saying this is too tough, this is too difficult, we can't handle it. And I say, and I don't throw stones at them. My heart goes out to them. There are some today who are going away.
00:20:09
And it shames me that perhaps there hasn't been enough.
In my heart, enough energy, enough spiritual warmth.
To draw them so that they do go away.
Not to remember that. Let's not throw stones at those that go away. Before we take to heart what again a brother used to say, and I agree with it 100%, he said, remember that there ought to be enough power.
In every local assembly to draw every true Christian in the neighborhood.
Oh, I put the responsibility back on me, but when it comes to standing alone, here was a man that stood alone.
What does it say the Lord wrought a great victory? Oh, you're never alone. I think about Him that we often sing together at him Sings. No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.
And the Lord may test you once in a while by saying, Will you stand alone?
This man did. And what happened? Oh, the people came after him. What?
Only to spoil.
I don't want to be humorous, but doesn't it remind you of the story of the Little Red Hen?
Same kind of principle, wasn't it? Who will help me eat the bread? I will, I will, I will. Everybody wanted to share in the spoils.
And do we find this man Eliezer? Oh, no, no, no, no. Get out of here. Where were you when I needed you? Where were you when I had to fight these Philistines all alone? No, he let them have it.
Beloved brethren.
If you have to stand alone for Christ and others, come and reap the benefits.
Remember.
It wasn't you, but the Lord that won the great victory. Let's be willing to stand up for Christ.
And let others have the benefit of it.
Here's this man, Shama.
He could have been excused for running away, after all. A field of lentils, A field of beans.
Not worth it, let them have it.
But you know what was valuable to him?
It was God's inheritance. It's what the Lord had given.
And.
Even though other people fled, he said, I will stand here because it's precious to the Lord.
The going is getting rough today for believers.
It's rough in foreign countries where the persecution is a very real thing.
Some of us have just come home from some time in Romania and we were enjoying the freedom that they have had, Therefore, almost 20 years now since the communist regime was toppled. But many there cannot forget the terrible persecution and the suffering that was part of the life of believers over there for many years under communism and under that awful dictator, Ceausescu.
But you and I have a different kind of persecution in this country because, sad to say, it often occurs. Yes, it comes from without, but it comes more from within the House of God. And we find that the pressures are very, very great. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. Let it go. The devil will say compromise. You'll have an easier path, a wider fellowship.
And what the devil is really seeking to do is to get you to avoid what Scripture calls the cross of Christ.
Paul knew about that and we were talking about it a little in Gresham the other day.
Paul could say to the Galatians, if I yet preach circumcision, he could say then is the offence of the cross ceased? What did he mean? He meant that if he was willing to water down the heavenly calling of the church, if he were willing to bring Christianity down to the level of an earthly religion, then things would be much easier. It would be much more popular. It would have a degree of respectability that it didn't have. And the devil is seeking to do that today.
Especially with young people to say it's not worth it.
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To contend for the whole truth of God in principle, he's saying that field of lentils, let it go.
Shamma says I won't let it go.
And once again it says the Lord wrought a great victory.
The Lord will be with you, and nothing can compensate for the lack of a sense of His presence. And nothing is a greater joy than the sense in your soul and mine of having sought to please Him and sought to follow. Follow His word with a full heart.
This precious book is being attacked today as never before and thank God for everyone who stands up and who is willing to say by God's grace I will not let it go. But.
We are being, shall we say, attacked in every possible way as to what this precious book says, and what we are seeing around this is a gradual and tangential turn away from the Word of God.
What you and I need is to make this precious book our only authority, but more than that, as we had in our hymn and as we had in 2nd Corinthians 5, to make Christ, who is the Word, who is the Way, who is the truth, to have that blessed One before us. And that brings us to the second part of what concerns these men. Let's read on here Second Samuel 23.
And verse 13.
And three of the 30 chief.
Now you notice here it doesn't name those that were responsible.
I don't think there's any doubt about who they were.
Three of the 30 chief went down and came to David in the harvest time under The Cave of a Dullum.
And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Raphael, And David was then in an hold in the Garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And to David longed and said, Oh, that one would give me drink.
Of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.
And the three mighty men breakthrough the host of the Philistines, and drew water over the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out under the Lord.
And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this.
Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did, these three mighty men.
Again, it's noteworthy, isn't it, that the men are not named here.
And yet, I believe that this story is ultimately the reason why these three men had the 1St place.
When David spoke.
Of those that meant the most to him.
There were others in David's army who were very courageous. We could read on, for example, about a man by the name of Abishai who was related to David. He was actually David's first cousin, and he was a very, very valiant man, a man who was ready at the drop of a hat, we would say, to go out and fight for David's honor and glory. And more than once he was right up there when there was anything dangerous to be done or anything that required real courage.
He was right there.
But there's something very, very special about this story that I want to speak to my heart as well as yours about.
Because here we find these men.
Who had taken to heart that David was the rightful king?
Here was the man who ought to have been sitting on the throne, rejected, cast out.
Compelled to run here and there and everywhere while he was pursued by Saul.
And not only that, but even those of his own nation who ought to have been on his side, sometimes betrayed him. You will remember a place by the name of Keela. And when the Philistines were robbing the threshing floors in Quila, David went down there and delivered them, and defeated the Philistines, and saved them from having their harvest stolen away.
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But then when Saul found out that David was there, and David inquired of the Lord.
If I stay here, Lord, will the What will the men of Kila do? Well, they delivered me up to me, up to Saul, and the Lord said yes, they will.
And David very wisely get out of there. But you can imagine how it must have hurt when he had risked his own life and the lives of his men to deliver them.
Only to find out that when the situation was changed, they would have betrayed him and given him over to Saul. And in more than one instance, David found that those who should have been his friends and shown allegiance to him.
Were rather ready to act, as we would say, with situational ethics. They would do what suited them under the circumstances. Rather than recognizing the rightful king, these men felt all that.
The Cave of a dullum was about the last word in rejection.
And David gives vent.
To a wish.
Just a wish, just a thought.
I know a little bit how he felt.
When I was a boy, we lived on a farm and we had water in our house that came from a cistern.
But my mother didn't like that water and she used to send my brother and me up to the well up by the House of the boss. And it wasn't that far away looking back on it. But we were small boys and we couldn't carry a bucket of water ourselves. So we had to put a broom handle through under the handle of the bucket and carry it between US. And many were the complaints, I'm sorry to say that you're slapping it down my leg, etcetera, etcetera.
Why? Because it was good water from that well.
It was good water and you and I know how people like to have good water and when people travel if they don't get.
Water that they're accustomed to, Sometimes it causes them problems.
And David, no doubt, going from here and there and everywhere. Oh, there was that. Well, and you know, the Scripture doesn't put in details for no reason. It was by the gate of Bethlehem, David's hometown. The gate speaks in scripture of administration and justice. But who was in charge there? Who was there right in David's hometown?
A Garrison of the Philistines.
Oh, and morally speaking, I say to your heart and mind, that is the condition in this world.
The Lord Jesus is the rightful King, but he has been driven out. He has been displaced.
He has been rejected, He has been crucified, He's never been vindicated.
And here, as it were, the Lord Jesus longs for what?
Those who will give him his rightful place.
No command.
If there had been a command, that would have been another thing, but here there was only an expressed wish.
And notice this How did these men hear it? David didn't shout it out through a megaphone or something, did he? These men were close enough to David that they heard what he said.
And as far as I can tell, they didn't tell anybody else and they didn't ask David's permission either because probably if they had been asked or if David had been asked, if they'd asked permission, David, can we go and get you some of that water? David would have said no way, no way. You're not going to do that.
But they didn't ask. They said we'll get it, we'll get it.
And I have tried to picture in my mind's eye, if that's not going too far beyond Scripture, how it was for these men.
I would probably have gone at night and kind of skirted around and gone on my stomach under the bushes or something like that, see if I could get the water without the Philistines noticing me or something. But it doesn't say that these men did that.
No, it says they breakthrough the host of the Philistine. Can you imagine three men breakthrough the host?
And then coming back.
Well, if we can be practical about it, somebody had to carry the water, so that would have made it doubly difficult.
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But they got back with that water.
Oh, what does that bring before your heart and mind? That brings before us a devotedness?
A devotedness to Christ that goes beyond a command. We were talking about commands in the reading this afternoon.
And there are commandments connected with the new life, but there are things that are beyond commandments.
Because they only are known to those who are close enough to the Lord.
To be sensitive to an expressed wish, to be sensitive to what would please him in the world where he is rejected and cast out. And they bring that water to David. Oh, I say to you and to me, the Lord looks for those who will go out and win glorious victories for him. And David valued that very highly. But there was something here that he valued perhaps even more. And in that sense he doesn't even name these men. But I don't doubt that who they were.
He valued that these men thought so much of him that they risked their lives in order to do something.
Who for? Only for him, because of who he was, and because of his rejection.
We might well ask David, why don't you? Why didn't you drink it? After all of that effort and risking of their lives, pour it out as it says unto the Lord. Why did he do that?
Well, I don't know whether I can give you the whole thought. Maybe others have different thoughts, but I offer one suggestion.
You know, if the David had taken a drink of that water, he would have enjoyed it, but humanly speaking, no one else would have gotten any, would they? It wasn't enough in that bucket to pass it around everybody.
David pours it out under the Lord, and to me I connect that with what the Lord Jesus said when he instituted the remembrance of himself, he says.
I will not henceforth drink of this fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom. Now there are different thoughts depending on which gospel we refer to there. I believe it's the heavenly side of things brought before us, and the Lord is saying, I believe I won't enjoy all of that to the full until I have my own with me.
There's a day coming when he will appear, but when he appears?
When he appears.
He doesn't appear until you and I are with them.
The last the world saw the Lord Jesus was his hanging on a cross.
And they won't see him again until he comes with you and me with him. And so in that sense, if someone has remarked Christ is hidden from the world today and you and I as far as taking a public, uh.
Shall we say place in the affairs of this world? We too are to be hidden when he appears.
When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory, And in that day the Lord will enjoy that fullness of joy. And I believe that's why the apostle Paul could say in Second Timothy chapter four, he could say, Speaking of that crown of glory, he could say, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love is, is it a crown of glory?
Maybe I'm getting it wrong here. Pardon me, righteousness. Thank you, crown of righteousness, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing, we love His coming.
But are his coming? Perhaps I can think of that more in connection with what I get out of it. But if I love his appearing, it's not only because I will be manifested with Him, but it's because He will have His rightful place.
And so May God give you and me to embrace both characters that we have in these men.
Yes, there is a place, a wonderful place for public service for the Lord today, for those who are willing to go out to give their time, their energy, whatever they have for the Lord. And we have that pictured.
In the tremendous exploits of these three men.
But there is also a place to give the Lord what is his, if we could say it, to give the Lord a drink.
In the world that has rejected him.
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To give him a drink of that which is rightfully his. To honor him for who he is and what he is.
In the place where he is still cast out and where the Philistines are still occupying the place that belongs to him. The Lord values that very highly. But again, to recapitulate.
It's only for those that are near enough to the Lord to hear an expressed wish.
Without an express command, it's for those who are willing to go without involving others, without making a big fanfare about it, without going out. You don't hear those men going out and say, do you hear that David wants a drink of that water in the well of Bethlehem? Hey, you fellows over here, Come on, You hear that? Listen, let's go. Let's go and get it.
No, they said, we will act on our own faith before the Lord, because others did not hear that wish, and the Lord gave them the ability, the strength, the courage, the wherewithal to breakthrough the host of the Philistines.
And to give that to David, which meant so much to him, not the water, although that was most blessed, that they brought it for him, but the devotedness of those who said David is worthy of that.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of all that we can give.
I know our time is gone, but let's sing part of another hymn.
173.
And we won't sing at all for the sake of time.
173.
Especially verses 3:00 and 4:00.
I'll read verse two a little while. He'll come again. Let us the precious hours redeem our only grief, to give him pain our joy to serve and follow him.
Watching and ready may we be.
As those that wait their Lord to see, let's sing verses 3:00 and 4:00.
Oh le.
Gospel 5
Gospel—R. Thonney
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His living.
And powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest before Him, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Let's pray.
Like to go to the first verse of the Bible?
Genesis.
One verse one.
In the beginning.
God.
You know, I feel that a real responsibility here this evening.
I find it quite a bit harder to give the gospel to a group that is sitting before me than I do to some audiences that I speak to.
Southern Illinois we go to.
A prison, A state prison that is one less than maximum security.
And.
We get out a nice group of men.
But it is not too difficult to speak directly.
The gospel to those men. But everyone here, as I look around the room, I think I recognize almost everybody. Maybe not quite everybody.
That I recognize that most of you make a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus.
But what concerns me is that making a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus.
Is not sufficient.
You must be real with God.
You can fool around with me.
You can deceive me. Other people have and other people stop. Probably stillwell, But you cannot fool around with God, and tonight we are dealing with a question of God.
You have to start with God, not the God that people imagine in their minds.
But the God that is revealed?
In the Bible.
And here in this verse, this first verse of the Bible, it says in the beginning, God.
That's where we have to start if you don't start there.
You'll be totally disoriented, and that's what concerns me, is that there have been young people in audiences like this.
Who profess to be believers? They're baptized. Some have even broken bread.
And a number today say they are atheists. They don't believe in that there's even a God in existence.
What's going on?
You know, when I go in to speak at the prison, I kind of make it a habit. When the prisoners are filing in, they have to leave their identification tag on the table so the guard can keep track of who's there.
But I make it a point to meet them, to shake their hands, and I like to try to look him in the face. And it's interesting to me to see how people respond sometimes.
Hello. And they won't look me in the eye.
I don't know why. Maybe they're just timid. Who knows? I can't know why.
Maybe something's wrong?
Maybe they haven't gotten it straight yet.
And I look at a audience like this evening, I just want to say to you, you don't have to deal with me tonight. You have to do with God. And we want to bring you right into the presence of God. And I notice sometimes when people are sitting in audiences like this, they're trying to talk to somebody else while they're sitting there. Let me tell you, if you're talking to somebody else, you can't listen properly.
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And when God speaks from his word, we need to listen. Sometimes I say to those men, you know, there is some reason why God gave us two years but only one mouth.
What do you take from that?
That is kind of important to listen.
You know, the country in which we live was founded by men who truly feared the God of the Bible.
Box.
Over the course of time, philosophies of life have come in that have totally, and I think to a certain extent unconsciously undermined the truth of the true God of the Bible. People today seem to be at liberty to decide what God they like to believe in, and they make up their own God, just like idolaters.
You know what impresses me as I look at the idols that are made as how ugly some of them are? That's their concept of God. Isn't that interesting? You like an Ugly God?
Let me tell you, we don't have the liberty to decide how God is. He has revealed Himself in the precious word of God to how He really is.
Today we've been talking about the question of love and that God is love.
But there is another short statement in the word of God. God is light.
The light is that which manifests everything. You can hide in the dark.
But you can't hide in the light and what you are is completely manifest.
In his presence if I'd stand up here tonight and try to hide a paper bag behind my back.
And you'd hear that thing crinkling back there. You'd say, What in the world is he trying to hide?
I only make myself more conspicuous if I try to hide things in the light.
Don't try to hide things, young people. That happens more than we like to recognize sometimes. Sometimes not only young people, sometimes older people too.
Where are you with God? You know gospel preaching is priestly work.
In the Old Testament, when there was a leprous person that needed to be brought to the priest, the priest had to go outside the camp to where that person was and bring him into the presence of God.
And that's what we want to do tonight, let you know you have to do with God how solemn that is and how real it is when we think that we are getting close to the moment when God is going to directly intervene in the affairs of this planet and he is going to bring back His own Son to reign in righteousness in this world.
God takes sin seriously. People like to decide too. They think they're at liberty to decide what sin is and what sin isn't. Let me make it clear, you and I are not at liberty to decide those issues. God has told us what it is sometimes speaking to people in South America.
I give this illustration, I say, supposing I'm arrested in Bolivia, where we spend a lot of time.
And I'm taken before the courts of justice and I say before the judge.
When the accusation is laid out against me, I say, hey, in the United States we can do that. What would that judge say to me? He would say, you are standing at the bar of the authority of the country of Bolivia. You will be judged by Bolivian law. You have no right to decide how you're going to be judged.
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And when we deal with God, my friend, we have to deal with God on the grounds that he has laid down. You and I are not at liberty. The idea of human rights has given people the false sense that they can decide what they like to believe and they don't, and that nobody else should judge them.
You will be judged, and by one who has set the standards in his own precious word.
And we ask you to take.
Attention to what He has to say to you. God takes sin seriously. One little white lie in the sight of God is far more serious than 10,000 gross sins in our eyes.
Yes, God takes sin serious and I want to say something every.
Single sin that has ever been committed on planet earth by any man, woman or child is going to receive from the hand of God. It's just punishment.
God is light and nothing will escape his attention.
Maybe your dad and mom don't know what's happened.
Maybe nobody else, maybe only you know what's happened, but there's somebody else that knows and you will give an account to him in that day. There is no escaping from that bar of judgment.
Every single sin will receive its just penalty from the hand of God, but at the same time that God is light and He knows everything. The wonderful news of the gospel is that God is love.
And all this is what is so tremendously wonderful, so tremendously precious.
Like we were singing, God in mercy sent his Son.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Son of God, came into this world who was born into this world by a virgin, a woman who had never had relations with man. That's important because he was completely sinless. He was the holy Son of God. You know, everyone of us.
When we are born, we are born sinful flesh.
We inherited from our parents a sin nature, but when the Angel announced to the Virgin Mary.
That she was going to be the mother of him that was the Son of God.
The Angel said, That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. He was holy, completely without sin before God and he he grew up in this world and through all his life he never once sinned. Could not be he was.
Not only because he was God, but because he was holy.
Humanity, he could not sin. And I want to read some verses.
In first Peter chapter.
Two and chapter 3 to show something that to me is very important when we are talking about the question of the Gospel. Let's read these verses first of all.
Verse 21.
Second phrase says Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.
Who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled?
Reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously who his own self.
Bear our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed. Chapter 3 and verse 18.
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For Christ.
Also have once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Principle I'd like to show here is that God in his judgment of sin.
Accepts substitutes, or I should say he accepts a substitute.
One that he can accept.
In the Old Testament it was prefigured in the fact that when there was.
A person who had sinned they could bring as a sin offering an animal, and that animal, they placed their hands on its head, and that animal was killed and that was accepted at that time for the sin of that person.
Of course, we know that it only prefigured the one we were talking about in these verses, but the Lord Jesus became our substitute.
He went to that cross to die for us.
Again, I say God does not Passover sin.
He cannot, He is too holy. If God would Passover 1 little light, uh, white line, it would call in question his holy character. Absolutely impossible. Every sin you've ever committed has to receive from the hand of God. It's just penalty.
And the Lord Jesus at the end of his 33 1/2 years was led as a lamb to the slaughter. You know the story, but I want to tell it again. I'm not going to apologize for telling it again. It's the most wonderful story. Can't get my mind around it yet, but it just enraptures my heart. The glorious Son of God, the creator of the universe.
The one that's going to reign supreme from sea to sea in this world came into this world.
Todai for me and for U.
The end of those 33 1/2 years they took him before Pilate and they accused him falsely and Pilate, recognizing there was no substance in their charges, finally gave way to their insistence and condemned him to the most awful death possible, the death of the Cross.
Delivered him to.
Those Roman soldiers who were practiced in cruelty.
And those soldiers?
They whipped him.
It says in the Old Testament, they plowed upon my back, they made long their furrows, they took a crown of thorns and put it on his head.
I don't know if there's those kind of thorns very much here in the United States, in Bolivia, when we lived there, there was thorns that you had to watch.
Number one time people who didn't appreciate me knew that I was coming at a certain time down a certain Rd. of my Jeep.
And they sold thorns along the way. Next day, all four of my tires were flat on the ground.
They went straight in. You know most thorns will break when they're run over by a tire. Those thorns were like nails, and I consider how they put that on the head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, they took sticks to beat it into His head.
Oh, what a sight, the glorious Son of God. And then they led him outside that city of Jerusalem.
He, bearing his cross, went forth and.
When they got to that's place called Golgotha, there they stretched out those wonderful hands that had done such acts of mercy, and they nailed them to a cross. And his feet. There they hung him between heaven and earth, to be a spectacle to men and angels. Oh, what a sight. I wonder what the angels thought.
00:20:12
Wonder what they said when they saw men treating their creator in that way.
There he hung from 9:00 in the morning till he died till at 3:00 in the afternoon. For six hours, first three hours he suffered for righteousness sake from the hand of man.
Yes, He was not there for any sin of His own, because there was no sin of His own. It was for righteousness He suffered. But from 12 noon to three in the afternoon, God veiled the whole earth with darkness. And in those three hours of darkness, Jesus suffered not only for righteousness sake, but on top of that, He suffered.
For sin from the hand of God.
If God is going to forgive you your sins.
Somebody had to pay for him and it was the Lord Jesus that paid that price in full. Sometimes say to make it clear to people where I'm speaking, it was just as if God said, Bob, Tony can't go to heaven. He's got too many sins.
And it was as if Jesus said, Father, I'll die for him.
In those three hours, God took that filthy load of sin. I wouldn't want you people to know all that's in that record that was written on the back wall here for you to read. I wouldn't stick around very long.
Would be too shameful. All those things were laid on him.
And the full storm of divine judgment broke on the head.
My Lord Jesus.
For three hours he went down under a storm of judgment. Because God can't Passover sin lightly, He can't do it.
It was going to be forgiven. Somebody had to pay the price in full. And in those three hours Jesus went down under that storm of judgment.
And if you look carefully at the divine record, you'll find.
That there was never one complaint during those three hours.
Silence from that centre cross, for that holy sin bearer was suffering the punishment for our sins.
Oh, how awful sin is in the sight of God.
But then at the end of those three hours.
There's an awful cry from that center cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
You know the Lord Jesus, his meat, His drink was to do the will of him that sent him.
And to finish his work.
It was his constant pleasure to do the will of God.
The end of those three hours, the God that was his strength and his stay.
Turned and abandoned him.
Can't get my mind around that.
My heart.
That man has what my heart.
And then he cried.
It is finished.
Oh, that storm of judgment that was against me as a guilty Sinner.
It's done. There's no more.
Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Thank God he bowed his head and died.
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A soldier came up a little later to make sure those three that were crucified that day were dispatched because there was orders that there should be no.
Bodies hanging on those crosses on the feast day, which was the next day.
Soldier dispatched the one-on-one side, he dispatched the other on the other side, and he came to Jesus.
Saw that he was dead already.
Takes his spear and plunges it into his sight.
Outflows blood and water.
It's the last time this world saw Jesus.
A mangled body hanging dead.
On a cross.
They took him down.
They buried him.
That was what we generally understand to be Friday afternoon.
On Lord's Day morning.
An Angel came to push back the stone that covered the tomb where he was laid.
Only so that those that were there could see there was nobody there any longer. He had risen from the dead. The Lord Jesus is risen, and after 40 days of showing himself with infallible proofs that he was alive, he ascended to the right end of God. He's a real living man today, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Powerful to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him.
All you have to do is repent of those sins of yours.
And come in saving faith to the Lord Jesus.
You know, I sometimes ask people.
Freshly young people in the youth village where we go to preach the gospel, I say what do you have to do to get saved? And they always say all you have to do is ask for forgiveness.
You know what I say to him? You don't even have to ask for forgiveness.
You know why?
Because Jesus paid the price in full and now God is offering you forgiveness of sins.
I would offer you $100 bill.
Tim, come right up to you and offer it to you. Would you keep asking for it?
What would you do exactly? God is offering you forgiveness of sins. You don't have to ask for it. All you have to do is take it and thank God for it. That's all you have to do.
But I want to get around to something further.
That's salvation, I just want to say.
To young people here and older ones too, because I've been surprised that sometimes some that are older that don't have it clear in their own souls about their soul salvation.
And I want it to be exceedingly clear tonight. I don't want there to be any doubts in your mind about it.
One thing that God says is very important is repentance.
Except ye repent, Jesus said, ye shall all likewise perish. Repentance is important.
You know, there's a lot of people who say I'm a Christian, I believe.
But it is evident by their manner of life that there has been no repentance. They just keep on living the wildlife. They always do.
You know what repentance means? It comes from that word. It's really from the Latin pant in Spanish. It's pensar to think.
Repent means to change your thinking.
If your life has been partying, drinking, drugs.
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Illicit sex. Whatever way it is, I want to ask you to repent tonight. In fact, God says He commands you to repent.
Why? Because He has appointed a day in the which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained.
God takes sin seriously and you can't get away with it if you are still being.
Light about sin in your life.
That shows you haven't repented.
Again, I say God commands you. He doesn't say repent if you like. He commands you to repent. But he knows the awfulness of the judgment. That's just ahead for this world.
And when there's true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.
Is when there is real salvation and it shows in a person's life.
You're not saved by works, no, saved by faith, but the faith that saves is the faith that works, and it will be evident in your life if you truly have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't think that you can just say I believe and then you'll go on living your old wildlife like you always have.
Had somebody say that to me the other day. Oh God will be for merciful to me. He'll forgive me.
That person showed to me by what he said that he hadn't repented yet.
That's important.
But you know what?
If your decision is not to get it straight with God, God is still going to have to take care of those sins of yours.
And if you refuse to accept what Jesus did on that cross?
For you and for me. Then you yourself will have to answer for your sins. You cannot get away from the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single human being will meet up with Jesus sooner or later. You can know Him. You can receive Him by faith as your Savior tonight. But if you don't, if you decide to go another route, God won't force you.
He pleads with you. He commands you.
You will have to deal with the question of your sins yourself.
Go on to the 4th chapter just to re read a verse that was read today.
Verse 5.
Speaking of the Lord Jesus, it says of those that run to excess of riot, who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead? He's ready.
And it's so solemn to me to think of what's just ahead.
You know, what's really solemn to me is to see what's happening on the world scene and to realize that we are getting close to the time of the end.
Sometimes then, put this way, it's interesting to me to think about it when the Lord Jesus came the first time.
It was the Roman Empire.
In the person of Herod the king that tried to put him to death as a little child.
It was another agent of the Roman Empire, Talius Pilate, who gave the command to have him crucified.
It's getting close to the time when Jesus will come again.
And you know what's rising up over in Europe?
The revived Roman Empire is called the European Union. Why is that so significant? It's because Jesus is going to come again, and when he comes again, Satan is going to use that instrument to go into war against Jesus.
It's interesting that Europe is apostate, majorly Dean Rule, who goes over to Europe quite frequently.
00:35:02
Sad that he goes to Holland quite a bit and his flower business said to me. 100 years ago in Holland 97% of people went to church on Sunday, today 3% go.
That's been the change over the last 100 years.
In Spain, where I visited a number of times, they say that 50% of the people are atheists.
The majority of the others are nominal Roman Catholic, but so terribly fed up with the immorality of those who represent that system that they're willing to give it up.
Europe is apostate.
It only lacks a man to rise up, and that could happen at any time. Are we aware of these things, brethren? Are we realizing that we are stepping them towards the edge of this present age of grace?
Jesus is coming again.
He's coming, of course, to take all his people out. That should happen before the end of this meeting. In three more minutes. Wait a moment's notice. Every person who is a real believer will disappear from this room.
How many will be still sitting there in your seats? You know who you are.
And if you haven't gotten it straight, there's anything that we can help clarify for you. We'd like to talk to you if you wanna talk. If there's questions in your mind, we'd be glad to help you to clarify things for you after the meeting.
But be real. These things are way too solemn. It's way too important.
For you to be messing around with eternal destiny of your soul.
Get real.
Get real tonight. Don't wait on this matter so important. And then after a time of terrible judgment in this world, the Lord Jesus said of those 3 1/2 years at the end of those seven years of tribulation, that there was never a time so terrible in the history of this world before, nor will there be afterwards.
So terrible a time.
Yes, there have been terrible times in the history of this world. Nothing in comparison with what's just ahead.
And at the end of those 3 1/2 years or at the end of those seven years, the last week of Daniel's prophetic week, Jesus is going to come back in person with his Saints, millions upon millions of those who are believers. I'm going to be one of the company saw as many that are here. I hope we can say all. I'm not totally sure about that.
And that's why we're here in this meeting tonight.
But he's coming back to Judge and the Beast and of his armies.
Are going to go against the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus will come out of heaven on a White Horse.
And with the sword of his mouth, he's going to level one army after another after another.
And he's going to establish his Kingdom.
Throughout this world and he's going to reign in righteousness for 1000 years. Yes, things are getting ready to change dramatically in this world.
If there's somebody who hasn't gotten the question of their sins straight yet, we plead with you, along with all those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus yet. It's straight tonight. Don't wait one moment longer.
Let's try.
Father, bless thy precious word.
I.
A Lost Sheep
Children—G. Carey
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Well, it is a happy thing to be able to gather here this morning. I trust all of our hearts and thoughts this morning are directed toward the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. Maybe we should start with a verse that for those who have their Bibles, young and old, might like to look to, uh, Luke chapter 15.
Luke 15.
Now what the children are looking at up here on the.
On the table is a little sheep.
It's a precious looking little thing here. Has a little tag on it too and.
We're going to need to, uh, keep an eye on that little sheep there, OK? Because what, uh, we have before us this morning to talk about and the most simple terms is a lost sheep. Could it be that there is a lost sheep here in the room?
There could be a younger one, it could be a child, it might be someone older someone, a lost sheep would be someone who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. So it is our, uh, burden and desire this morning that you might come to know the love of the Lord Jesus as we would rehearse it afresh, and that anyone might be saved that hasn't come through the door of salvation. So let's read these few verses in Luke 15 about a lost sheep.
OK, now you, uh, children that live here in, uh, uh, Denver area have probably, uh, seen some sheep around a little more readily than those of us that live in the city. Umm, I'm going to contrast the children here from Denver and those over here from Los Angeles. And. But we have seen Brock, have you ever seen a sheep somewhere, maybe even just at the zoo, huh? Yeah, somewhere. OK, so let's read about a sheep here. And again, it's a lost sheep.
And we would that if anyone here doesn't know the Lord Jesus and they're a lost sheep, that they might realize His great love this morning, come through that door of salvation. OK, so we'll read a few verses here. Luke 15.
Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners, for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man, that is Jesus receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
OK, so who do we have here? We have a number of different people here. We have some Pharisees and scribes. And there were some people that when the Lord Jesus was here on this earth, he, they did not like the Lord Jesus. They felt that he was taking something that they didn't feel was his to take. And so the other group here is these publicans and sinners. And you know, they were the ones that maybe had a need and they were going to draw an eye.
This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them, and he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you having an 100 sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the 90 and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost?
Until he finds it.
You know, I'm reminded immediately of the story of.
A man by the name of Mr. Darby, and you know he was called.
To the bedside of a shepherd boy who was dying.
A shepherd boy who was dying. He was a boy who had known much of sheep. He grew up on his father's sheep farm there in Ireland. And he was dying. And when Mr. Darby came into see him, he'd been called to give him something of Christ. And he came in and this boy was laying there on the bed and there was just hardly any life left in him and.
Mr. Darby thought, oh, he prayed to the Lord. He said, how can I ever reach this poor boy who has probably never heard anything of the name of the Lord Jesus, and here he's about to die.
How could I ever reach him? Remember, we're talking about a lost sheep. And here was this boy. He was a shepherd boy, but he was a lost sheep himself. He didn't know the Lord Jesus so.
Mr. Darby, he turned to this boy and he said, boy, how is it that you got to be this sick?
00:05:03
He said, well, my father and I were tending our sheep and one night when we brought the mall back into the fold, that's a place where they where they sleep for the night, they brought them all back in. And his father looks up at him, at the boy and he says there's one sheep missing.
I need you to go out after that sheep.
The father told this boy who is now laying there dying.
And so he did. He went out after that sheep. Now this is the boy lying there dead, telling this story to the man who's wondering how he could ever save this boy, how he could ever lead him to salvation.
And this boy goes on to tell him I went out after the sheep and you know, he says I found it, it was a lost sheep. And we're talking about 1 lost sheep. We got this little sheep here and.
He went out this boy, and you know what he said he did with that sheep?
He put it up on his shoulders.
And you can imagine Mr. Darby there was wondering how he's going to tell him the way of salvation. And he's immediately thinking of this story that we've begun to read. And so the boy says, I carried him back. And he says, you know, from that night forward, I've never gotten better. I was S so sick from having been out in the weather and exposed that night that I've never, uh, recovered and had been about a year. There he was lying dead.
Well, Mr. Darby had the privilege to open up to read from him from this very story, so we'll continue to read a little bit more here. Let's see. We left off perhaps verse five. It was. And when he found it, that is the sheep, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner that repenteth more than over 90, and nine just persons that need no repentance, or wouldn't have him. So here was a lost sheep.
And that's a picture it would be of anyone here this morning who doesn't know the Lord Jesus. You know, sometimes we think we know a little bit about various people. I've met various ones here even this weekend, and we've enjoyed happy fellowship together. And, uh, you kids might have noticed over here that we had some, uh, names up here. Brock, did you recognize anything up here?
Do you recognize anything? What do you see?
You see your name, you wanna go up and come up and get it.
OK, now what Brock didn't realize. Here, go ahead and pick the one that's yours. Good.
What Brock didn't realize was that he was singled out. You can go ahead and sit down. He was singled out and you know, that's just what the shepherd has for a lost sheep. He has an individual care in this picture that we've had here, he left all those others. And in that case, they weren't very interested, but he had a care for each one. And as you children grow up in in families, umm.
What we'd like to impress before you this morning is do you realize how special, how single you are? Like 1 sheep? I trust that there isn't anyone here that's lost, but like one that the Lord would be going out after you have a special care for.
Do you realize you're special to the heart of God this morning? So special that He was, uh, not willing that any should perish, and he sent his Son the Lord Jesus into this world to die on Calvary's cross.
So as we look at the sheep, perhaps the, uh, older ones, and you, uh, could turn over to the book of Nehemiah to continue this thought.
Lost sheep in Nehemiah chapter four. We have a little scene here and I suppose in regards to the lost sheep.
Our burden, particularly this morning, is that perhaps the young children here don't see themselves before God. There's two aspects, you know, we read in first John that God is light and God is love. And those are two aspects as he looks for a lost sheep that he has in mind for us. The one is that his love is absolute. His arms are open to accept anyone who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as Savior.
00:10:08
However, He's also light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And so he can't have a Sinner in his presence. But the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. And that's the wonder of the gospel. But we mentioned about families and the fact, as we have here in particular, a couple of families and different settings. You know, in fact, that's Nehemiah 4 and verse 19. You know, this is a great work going out on the wall there at Jerusalem.
And what we're going to read about in verse 13 is the families that were sat out along the wall. We'll just use that to illustrate this morning.
We think of, we mentioned we got some children here from the Denver area and you know, do you know how many miles it is from from Denver to Los Angeles, Kevin?
I had to check so I don't feel bad if you don't know.
What do you think about 1000 miles? You know it's 1000 miles, but over there and you think about that. That was verse 19. If we didn't say the work is great and large. We are separated upon the wall one far from another. And so it is that God has placed various families in various places and but our burden comes in the 13th verse. Therefore, set eye in the lower places behind the wall and on the higher places. I even set the people after their families.
With their swords, their Spears and their bows. You know, I picture that scene of those families that have been set out there for that great work that was to be done. And Nehemiah had carefully set them. And some of them were near their own, uh, places. And we even read of some who had a man who had some daughters and they were out there, read of them specifically. And there was these families. But I just wonder.
Was there a lost sheep?
Where was the, was there an individual reality? I just applied that at least to us here this morning and then so we would say to each of the children in particular here this morning.
When we have that God is light and God is love, do you realize how great His love is for you individually?
You know, if we were to take under here Speaking of families and this.
You see that one sheet there in the room? I have something else here.
We have a whole bunch more sheep, you know, I think we got a few more in here.
Three more sheep.
Now you remember there was one sheep and there was a lost sheep.
But does anybody?
Does anybody know where that lost sheep is now?
That's our particular, uh, burden this morning.
Is that moving among all these others? Perhaps you think of these families out on the wall there and just as we, uh, enjoy our family settings from day-to-day, could it be that there would be one who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as Savior, but most of all just hasn't, hasn't come to enjoy that love, you know?
We read this the love of Christ that constraineth us.
We know that among brethren, those of our friends and brethren that we enjoy. You know we have passed from death unto life, because you love the brethren.
But you know, there's a love that God has that is so great that He was willing to send his only begotten Son into this world.
You know, we just heard last night, our brother gave the expression, he said. I just can't wrap myself around that thought. So that's of a consideration that God would be willing to give his only begotten Son.
And so one lost sheep. We trust that each one of you knows the Lord Jesus as Savior.
And we'd like to encourage you this morning that as you move along and in your families and in a setting like this where we have a lot of sheep, we just trust that there wouldn't be a lost one. We trust that each would be saved. You might think of a family over here and one over here like this, and we trust that there wouldn't be a lost sheep in that number.
00:15:14
Let's look over in, uh, Luke's gospel.
Make that Mark's Gospel, chapter 10.
Mark's Gospel, chapter 10.
Now, before we read something there, I'd like to break because I know sometimes we get a little bit anxious. I know some of you have, uh, worked hard to, uh, memorize a memory verse. And I would like to ask you if anyone would like to, uh, to, uh, say that right now. We'll take, we'll break here for a moment to do that. Umm, the verse that was on the Sunday school paper, uh, was Psalm 119.
Is that right? What was it, 100 and 7:19?
Psalm 100 and 7:19.
You know the Lord Jesus looking down and he be happy to hear you say your verse.
You know, the angels are looking on and we perhaps, uh, already quoted some scriptures here this morning. I suppose that every single one that we have quoted so far, or nearly so, was memorized by a Sunday school verse because when we get a little bit older, we just, uh, don't seem to have that capacity anymore. So I'd like to encourage your children before the Lord this morning. I will read that, uh, Psalm 107.
19.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Psalm 100 and 7:19.
Eliani, would you like to go first?
Should we have Kevin go first?
Would you be willing, Kevin? OK.
In the current civil war in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses.
From 1:07 nineteenth. Wonderful. Thank you.
Thank you.
Great. Thank you.
It has a lot of information.
On 1785. Very good, huh?
Great, thank you. And again, you know the Lord Jesus looking down here, think of this Lord's Day morning.
And he's so happy to hear those verses said. It's pleasing to him. So we had turned over to UMM Mark chapter 10.
We'll read just a little bit more here about.
In verse 14.
How about some children? And about the possibility of a lost sheep?
You know, let's suppose for a moment that I could find a lost sheep out there and maybe he's still out there and that's how he's seen before the eye of God. You know, that lost sheep might blend right into the family just fine like this. But he's out here and he sees him. God sees him. But you know, while God is a, a God of righteousness and you can't have any sin in his presence, he's a God of love.
And his eye is right there on that lost sheet. Think about that. And that would be like anyone here in the room who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as Savior. So let's read a little bit about the Lord Jesus here on this, uh, earth, about some little children. So Mark 10/13 And they brought young children to him that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
And when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God.
00:20:04
The Lord Jesus, when he was here on earth, He came all the way, that distance from heaven's highest height to come down and to draw children right unto Him. You think of that?
It's a wonderful thought, he says, Suffer the little children, He says, to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom of God, His great heart of love for a lost sheep. He wasn't willing that any should perish.
But this morning the question is, have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior? You know, sometimes we get a little bit worried about if we really know the Savior and we think back on some event maybe where we prayed at one point and that's that's fine and that's good. But if you ever wondering if you're really saved, it sometimes happens. We start to doubt.
Just turn your thoughts from yourself. Look right to Jesus.
And realize what you are in the good of right now. And you know in Acts we read of repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Rock. You know what it means to repent.
Anyone else, Kevin?
And go the other way. Good. That's a little bit of a quiz from the gospel last night, isn't it?
Turn around, have a change of mind. And you know, I like to think of that in terms of taking sides with God, against ourselves, to take sides with him. That's what any lost sheep can do is turn to the shepherd. He's the Good Shepherd that giveth his life for the sheep.
You know.
This uh.
It would have been a week ago today. It was the Lord's Day evening and we were in the living room and it was getting dark.
And this is back where we live, and we live at about 2000 feet, and up behind us goes a mountain up to 5000 feet.
And as I looked out the window, we could see flames coming over the top.
Working their way in, they were coming from every direction right over the top. They were coming from the east and from the West as well. And these flames and, you know, they reminded me of God's judgment. And you know, the greater the more that I saw them, the more we became impressed by them. It's amazing how quickly your thoughts turn to fear if we're, if we're real with ourselves. But you know, these flames were coming over.
And we were waiting for a call. Here's the point. We were waiting for a call because we were concerned that we might need to be evacuated. Do you know what it means to be evacuated, Eliana? That means when they call and they can make one phone call and it calls a whole bunch of people block by block, and there's a great care. We might add that in our illustration. They have a care that everyone would be able to flee. Can we add the scripture? Flee from the wrath to come. That's the word of the gospel.
And the good news of salvation, of God's love.
And so as we were there by the window and we waited for that call, and every time the phone would ring, it seemed to ring a lot. We wondered if it was going to be that call. Everybody would turn and look to the person that answered it. Was it the call that we were going to need to be evacuated? But you know, what was so interesting to me was that the phone rang and it was a certain brother and he was from.
He was from Denver and, you know, he was concerned about a much greater distress. He had a much greater exercise about some kind of, uh, of a problem, some kind of a, something that might be of a, of a concern. And you know what that was. He had a concern that there might be a, a children's meeting here this morning. And that phone call came and, you know, all I could think of was here I was looking at it what seemed like the most.
Dramatic thing, but my thoughts were turned over to the gospel.
And how wonderful it is that God is love, but also that God is light, and that God is seeking that one little lost sheep. He has a heart for any lost soul. Here this is.
00:25:13
You know.
Each one of you here got up and got dressed this morning, and there's been quite a bit going on, hasn't there? Brock? Have you found that there's been quite a bit going on the last couple of days here? Yeah. And we got up and we got dressed and we were headed out. And, you know, there are certain things that we see on the outward appearance and certain things that we know about each other. Umm, Eliana, how old are you?
Eight. OK, Kevin, did you know that? OK, Eliana, how many how many fingers do you have on your left hand?
5 Kevin, did you know that?
OK, yeah, that's, that's good. Umm, Now Eliana, how many, uh, hairs do you have on your head?
Don't know? How about you, Kevin?
No, but you know, there's one this morning that knows how many hairs are on your head. And you know that's the kind of care. He's the creator and sustainer of all things. The Lord Jesus Christ has a tremendous care for each little one in each family. As we talked about in Nehemiah out along the wall, He has a care for each and everyone that might be a lost sheep and.
His care is so great that He sent the Lord Jesus Christ into this world to be the Savior of sinners.
Now, with that thought, let's turn over. We'll read a couple more scriptures, and we'll sing a few more songs, perhaps in closing.
But we want to be very clear. Turn with me to Philippians 2.
We want to be very clear as to this one, the Lord Jesus.
And so we'll use Philippians 2 as a.
A little bit of a backdrop for this.
This one, who knew and knows everything about us, has a great care for us. We'll read this little outline and make a few comments to fill in some of the.
Story of the Lord Jesus Christ let's read philippians 2 and verse five we read of.
Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery.
To be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
Made himself of no reputation.
You know, there is one that we read of, I'm just going to refer to it. In Romans chapter 5, we've been talking about 1 lost sheep and you know there's a great answer to that one. Lost sheep.
And that comes in Romans chapter 5 and verse 18 it says.
Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Rock. Do you know who that one was?
Give you a little clue, Let's back up in verse 14. Who's the one man by which sin came into this world?
Emma, do you know?
Adam good therefore, as by the offence of one, Remember you have one lost sheep, as it were, Adam, and that fallen creation, and we say 1 lost sheep. There therefore has been the offense of one. Judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
So if there's one who's a lost sheep?
For that one who is a lost sheep, there is a savior, There is a Good Shepherd this morning and we can read that and we can take a hold of that in a world that we travel through full of lost sheep, and we can.
Take and know him as Savior. Let's keep reading In Philippians 2 made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord Jesus who was willing to go and to die even that death of the cross, He was hung up there on Calvary's cross by man's cruel, wicked hands. And you know our brother was speaking last night about those thorns, and I thought that I would bring this.
00:30:23
This morning.
Can you see some little thorns in there? Yeah, you see the little thorns in there?
Right along there.
There's little barns in there. Those are little ones.
You know the Lord Jesus there, when He had that crown of thorns platted upon His head, and it was upon His head He was answering to what had come right out of the fall, right out of the garden. One of those six curses that came upon man that the Lord Jesus answered at the cross, was regarding those thorns, the thorns and thistles that would spring up. And then we have as it were the answer to that in that crown of thorns He was there despised of men.
We read of him. He was acquainted with grief. You know how many of you have had a friend here this weekend?
Maybe someone that you could play with and they might have been a little bit older, a little bit younger. You've enjoyed some, uh, happy times together. An acquaintance. Well, here's a man who was acquainted with grief. That was what his life was here on this earth. We read that in Isaiah. He had nowhere to lay his head. And so when he was taken out and hung up there for us, that we, if we would believe in him. And we think of him in those three hours of darkness.
Where, you know, there was a number of utterances that he made on the cross.
But you know the most distinct one, perhaps the most distinct thing is that he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do before the three hours of darkness. And at the end of the three hours of darkness, he said, Father, into thy hands do I commend my spirit. But what was it in the middle that he said?
That's good. That's one of them. And what I'm thinking of in particular is my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He goes from referring to as Father to God in those three hours. That's the very depths that he went to for you and I, that we might live at the hand of a righteous God. And then Father again, He says in that, in that next prayer. But you know, that soldier came along and pierced his side.
After he'd committed his spirit, he came along and pierced his side, and forthwith flowed there out blood and water.
And that's what can save the soul. That's what can cover those sins this morning. And he was buried, taken down from that cross by loving hands, put in a borrowed tomb, and he arose the third day, the evidence that God was satisfied.
Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow with things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth.
That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well, that finished work was wonderful, and I'd like to give you perhaps three more examples out of that fire that was up against the back of our home.
While waiting for that call to be evacuated, we received different instructions, received a different message.
And it was quite an encouragement. It was this that they were going to come along at the base of that hill where that fire was burning down toward us, and they were gonna light backfires.
There, we're going to light backfires. You know that reminds me of the verse the Father sent the Son.
To be the savior of the world, there was going to be something that was going to intercede on our behalf. And they came in and there was a cost. It was dangerous work, but they let those backfires and they burned up while the fire burned down. You know, that reminded me of the work of Calvary's cross. One being standing in the way for us that we might because we were all once lost sheep like this.
And being brought nigh.
But you know, there is another thing that is very dangerous this morning and that is indifferent.
To this word, maybe heard it so many times. Maybe there's a young person here who's heard the word so many times to be indifferent. You know, when those fires were burning, we, we were there for about a week just before we left. And, you know, if things got to be pretty routine, do you know what indifference means? It means you just become, well, just kind of lazy about it. And you're, you hardly even notice what the danger is anymore and, you know, come home from, from work and uh, yeah, the **** out the window. The fire's burning.
00:35:28
It was very slow moving fire for a number of days.
And we'd sit down to dinner and, you know, and there's a verse that says all read that all things continue.
Where's the promise of his coming of all things that continue? Manager says, oh, everything's continuing on and, uh, there's no need to be concerned. But you know, there was a great need. That fire was still burning. So there's the danger of indifference this morning.
You know, one more thing we heard a little story about in, uh, some people that have decided they've been told to evacuate and, you know, as it were, they were lost sheep in need.
Of the Savior and you know what those people did? They didn't evacuate. And you know what they counted on? They counted on a a little hot tub in their house at their house and they were gonna get under the water there. And you know what those people got very seriously injured. I understand. And they had to be rescued. So we might think of that as umm, thinking of the verse. Neither is there salvation in any other or there is none other name. There's no other way this hot tub could never save them.
They thought they'd get under the water and get away from the fire. But neither is there salvation in any other. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And you know, the last thing that was so impressive to me was, yeah, regarding that fire was one day coming home from work and you come over a little pass and looked up at the mountain to see how things were doing. You know, those backfires had been lit. And just as our Savior, his love has been shown out to us.
And those backfires had been lit.
And came over the top and looked up at the mountain. Much of the smoke had cleared.
Every bit of that brush was gone off that hill.
And we couldn't help but rejoice in our hearts to think and.
And in those three hours of darkness, when the Lord Jesus was on Calvary's cross, the wrath of a righteous God was consumed. There was nothing left.
Judgment was complete there upon the Lord Jesus for any who would believe here this morning. Any lost sheep can come to the Savior this morning. That's the good news of the salvation of salvation. And we looked at that hill and even a day later you still see a little smoke here and a little smoke here just from our little local area. And you, do we not have continual reminders? We see sin in the world. We see evidence, and we enjoy from day-to-day, week by week, we enjoy.
But that work is finished and, you know, we can go home and look at that hill and we'll see that it's barren. Everything was consumed just as the wrath of a righteous.
Well, let's close with a couple of verses and then we'll sing a song.
In John 10.
Read these verses really without comment. John 10.
And.
Verse 27 I trust each one here knows the Lord Jesus as Savior, and we can enjoy these wonderful verses. Verse 27 through 30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all.
And no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand.
Let's sing in closing #43.
#43 And here we have a door of salvation that anyone can come through. Any lost sheep could come right through that door of salvation. So let's sing. Brock, do you know number? Do you know one door song? You know that? Maybe know some hand motions to that? Eliana, do you know that song? Yeah, one door and only one. OK, so let's sing #43.
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One door and only one. Yes, I.
Questions Young People Ask
Address—B. Anstey
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Let's ask God's blessing on His word. Our God and our Father we look. Amen.
I'd like to take up some questions.
That young people ask, and have asked for many years with regard to the Assembly.
I've heard them over and over again and I've written some of them down and I would like to use this meeting this afternoon and sort of AQ and a question and answers. Well, I'm not gonna turn it open to the audience to for you to ask your questions. I've heard them before and I'm gonna write, I've written them down and I'm gonna read them off.
And see if we can see what the Word of God says with regard to answering these questions.
In respect to the assembly.
I understand the picture clearly for those of you who have been raised among the gathered Saints. Your parents are passionate about the truth of gathering. I know they are, and they want you to buy the truth with regard to the truth of gathering, the assembly, the truth of the Church of God. And they value it so dearly that they want you to take up with it and value it as well. In fact, even in their the way they speak, you can tell.
How many times have you heard older ones say?
I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm gathered to His precious name. They put the truth of gather right up there next to salvation because it's so precious.
And it's the same grace that saves as gathers. And so I'd like to just speak a little bit about that.
And try to answer some of these questions that are sort of a conundrum in the minds of many who are seeking the path.
And I realized that as you look into the word of God and you look at Christendom at large.
You naturally have questions, Lots of them. And some of them are difficult questions, maybe perplexing to you, but I believe that good questions demand good answers.
And this afternoon I am not going to try to answer them from myself, but from the word of God.
I think this whole occasion that brings us together for this afternoon meeting would be a flop if you went away from the meeting saying Bruce thinks such and such and such about the assembly. No, I want to try to answer these questions from the word of God. So I want to ask them by reading them off here and let the word of God answer them for our souls so that we might go away and say.
God says in His words, such and such and such.
I think that's important because I'm not here to give you personal opinions, but rather what the Word of God says. Furthermore, I'm not interested in trying to bash any church group that's out there. It says in Lamentations Chapter 3 to subvert a man and his cause. The Lord approveth not, and so we're not here this afternoon to subvert anyone who has a cause in his Christian life to be where He is as far as gathering is concerned with a certain group of Christians, and so on.
We do not coerce anybody into the path of faith that we see in the word of God, but leave the individual with the Lord.
And so it's not my intention here to denigrate any other Christian group that may be out there. Please do not get that idea.
This afternoon. Furthermore, his brother Pross told me if you make a mistake this afternoon, just tell them that it's due to the altitude.
OK.
Number one, listen carefully.
John 1232 Says that if we lift up the Lord in our meetings, all men would be drawn to Him. If we profess to have the truth, and we are giving the Lord His rightful place in our midst, why do we see so little blessing in our meetings? It's a good question.
Let's turn to John 12. Have a look at that.
John 12.
I'll read verse 31 and 32 together. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out? And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. I would say first of all that this verse is not speaking about gospel testimony in the day of Grace. The context of the whole chapter is to do with the Kingdom and the Millennium. If you go back in the chapter, you'll see in verse 13.
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And so on that the Lord Jesus is looked at as the king and they're singing hosanna to the highest and so on.
And as the king of Israel, he's going to reign one day in the Kingdom and the Millennium.
And then the next series of verses talk to us to speak to us of how that the Greeks were coming up to the feast.
And that Gentiles will have a place in the millennial Kingdom. Then the Lord speaks of his death upon the cross as being the groundwork by which blessing could come to the millennial earth. And so I would say at the outset that this verse really is not talking about gospel testimony in the day of grace. It's really speaking about the Lord Jesus when he is lifted up in the millennial scene that he will draw all nations to himself. And I think that's important to see. The context is really not.
Gospel work.
In the day of grace, he says, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
I think this is important to see that it's not talking about Christians living him up in the testimony of the gospel. Lovingly. This is the Lord Jesus being lifted up in derision on the cross, in rejection by men who hate him, not love him. And he's saying here that there's going to be a day if he goes to the cross and is rejected. There's going to be a day when he is going to be the object of the adoration of all men when in the Millennium he'll have his rightful place.
And all the nations will be gathered under him, and he'll reign King of Kings and Lord of Lords in that day. So I would have to say that first of all, the premise of this question is really not.
At least this verse is really not Speaking of that. But I understand that I have not answered the question, and it's a good question, and that is simply that you know for meeting in the right way.
And the various church denominations are not some more, some less. How is it that those places of blessing, those places have so much blessing and we don't seem to have that kind of thing going on? I understand the question. It's a good question. And I believe there's two answers. So let's turn to that in second Timothy.
Second Timothy chapter 2, Second Timothy, chapter 2.
And verse 9.
But the word of God is not bound.
And then also in Isaiah 55.
Isaiah 55.
And verse 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where unto I send it. I think my answer would be to this question is simply this, that God blesses his word wherever it goes out, whether it be amongst the Saints that are gathered to his precious name, or whether it be in some denominational order, or whether it be on the street corner or 1000 other places.
God blesses His word, it is not bound, and whosoever lifts it up and presents the Savior in the way of salvation, there's going to be blessing according to Isaiah 55 because His word will not return unto Him void. But we must not connect that or equate that with ecclesiastical correctness. With regard to the assembly, we simply are mixing 2 principles and so we must say that that it is not a sign of God's approval necessarily.
And denominational Evangelical Christendom, which is seeing so-called blessing in the way of the Gospel.
Now the reason why I say that is because God's word can be used even by those who have ill will. We learn from Philippians chapter one that ones were preaching out of ill will and wrong motives. But it's the word of God and the word of God. The Spirit of God will take and use it for the blessing of souls wherever in fact.
We could take the word of God into a Tavern or a bar and preach the gospel, and some may even get saved.
But that surely doesn't justify the existence of Taverns, and no more does it justify the existence of man made denominational order that can Christendom today.
Just because there is blessing there, I think we are equating two things that are.
To be kept separate in the word of God in our minds too. Another reason why I believe that there is blessing wherever the word of God goes forth is in. I'll just read a verse here in Psalm 68. You may not want to turn to it, but Psalm 68, verse 11. The Lord gave the word and great was the company of those that published it. The word I'm focusing on now here is the word great. That is a great number of the of those who published it. The second reason why we see.
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Blessing in the way of the Gospel and Evangelical Christendom, and relatively little amongst ourselves, is simply this. They are diligent in gospel work and they need to be commended for it. There are many that are engaged in that work, and God is using His word for blessing.
And they put us oftentimes to shame.
But again, I say, let's not equate that with ecclesiastical correctness with regard to the way in which Christians should meet together for worship and for ministry. I have a friend, He's a piano tuner known for many years, and, uh, the jersey he goes to, He says there isn't one week that goes by that we don't have someone to get saved in our midst. When you hear that, it's a little intimidating, he said, God, boy, what's happening amongst us? We had somebody come in last week. You know, he's looking for directions in the city. He had no interest in being there.
But you know, we see so little that people that come in and we wonder what's going on and this might shake the faith of some of the young people who are honestly searching. So I want to address this question first and foremost this afternoon.
But I asked them how many people are in your church and he said I think he said 35135 hundred people.
And so I got to thinking about that after he left and I just for easy uh, mathematics here.
For the for illustrations sake here, let's suppose that being a church, there was 5000 and there are 50 weeks in a year, 52 weeks in a year. So there's fifty persons that get US1 Per week, 50 people a year. But suppose we take that 5000 and we drop off at zero. We bring it down to 500. How many people would be saved per year then? At the same rate that which they are going forth in their gospel testimony, We have to drop one out zero off of the 50. So be 5. Wouldn't it?
Well, suppose we drop another zero off that 500 and bring it down to 50, around the size of gathered Saints in little meetings.
Well then, how many would it be? Would be half a person per year or one every two years? Well, for crying out loud, that's about the rate of the gathered Saints.
So, you know, ratios and statistics can sometimes give you a different, uh, sense of things. I mean, think of it if there's 5000 people there and they're all, uh, at least somewhat exercise, they're bringing their friends and neighbors from work and school and so on, there's going to have to be some more, uh, results that would come from their work. So next time I come across someone from one of these mega churches and they say that somebody gets saved every week at our church, I say really only.
Only that. Shame on you.
OK, these questions get harder as they go.
#2 If we profess to meet on the ground of the one body, why do we take a position of separation from the other members of the body and will not break bread with them? It seems totally inconsistent with New Testament truth, which presents the Christian community as being one happy family dwelling together in love.
The Bible plainly teaches that we should endeavor to walk together in happy unity, not separate from each other.
What are you doing?
Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tapped the table.
Hello, testing. That's a good question. That was a good question. If we profess to meet on the ground of the one body, why do we take a position of separation from the other members of the body and will not break bread with them? It seems totally inconsistent with the New Testament truth which presents the Christian community as being one happy family dwelling together in love.
The Bible plainly teaches that we should endeavor to walk together in happy unity, not separate from one another.
It's a good question. The problem here, I believe, is that we have not considered the fact that there is an irreminable ruin that has come into the Christian testimony.
We need to understand where we are in the Church's history. We need to have an understanding of the times.
In which we live, it's true that God would have us as a company, a Christian company, as all the Christians in the face of the earth walking together in happy unity. That is true.
But we also need to realize that where we come to live our lives is at the very end of church history, what we call the last days. And in the last days. There is a irremitable ruin in the Christian testimony, and it is no longer possible for us to walk with all the members of the body because of the disordered confusion that is out there doctrinally, morally, spiritually, and every other way.
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And so we need to understand that we're not in Pentecostal times. We're not even in times of great revival. We live at the end of the times, the end days, when there is a great ruin in the Christian testimony and the viewpoint of the second epistles in your Bible. Give us direction for our feet in a day when ruin has come into the Christian testimony. I think that's very important. And the questioner, the person who devised this question.
Has this question is reading his Bible sends 2 epistles.
He's left out the 2nd Epistles and each one of the second Epistles.
It's very interesting view, that room that would come into the Christian the breakdown. It would come into the Christian testimony from some standpoint or another and gives us wisdom as to how to behave in such times. Second Thessalonians. There we have the letting go of the blessed hope, Second John, the letting go of the doctrine of Christ. Second Peter, the letting go of the practical God, life of practical godliness. Second Timothy letting go of the order in the House of God.
2nd Corinthians is letting go of Apostolic authority. Each one of them you see a letting go of something and we have special instructions in the second epistles as to how we're to behave in such days. It's very important that we understand that we must consider the truths that are given in the New Testament from the perspective that there is a ruin. In other words, what I'm saying is that we need to look. Let's say we have the truth of First Timothy here, and we had the truth of Second Timothy here. We must look at the truth of.
First Timothy.
Through the viewpoint of two Timothy and understand that we need to carry out those things.
In view of the fact of what has taken place in the Christian testimony. So let's look at Second Timothy for a second. I think we can answer it by.
By looking at a few verses here two Timothy, chapter 3, verse one this, know also that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, intercontinental fears, despisers of those that are good traitors, heady highminded lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
From such turn away chapter 4, verse three and four, For the time will come when they will not endure song doctrine, but after their own lust heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.
And so in view of that, we have second chapter. Let's read the second chapter now verse 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God's standard sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity, or withdraw from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also wooden earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these by separating himself Darby's translation, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them.
That call on the Lord out of a pure heart. So we find here that second Timothy.
And no uncertain terms lays out the fact that there's going to be a great departure from the truth and little who would adhere to it. And then we find that there's a call for those who have an exercise that we are to separate from that everything in the House of God that would be mixed up in that order and to flee, uh, rather to follow with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. And so we have the idea here of separation being insisted upon.
Because there is ruin and to walk with those who have similar exercises with regard to the confusion that's coming to the House of God. And so I would say that first of all, God has never told us to stay in fellowship with the confusion that's in the house. It's a noble thought. We have a person that comes into our place of business and she's just, oh, she's so upset. She belongs to a great denomination in the city and the church is in a turmoil because of the fact.
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That the man that took the head of the church does not believe that the 1St 10 chapters of the Bible are inspired.
He does not believe in the virgin birth of Christ. He does not believe in the resurrection. He says that there are many ways to heaven, not just through the Christian way of self. They are presented in the Gospels in salvation.
He believes in the gay marriage thing, and he also has left his wife and we don't know what he's doing. And so she doesn't know what to do. And we tried to tell her. Well, scripture would indicate that you should separate from that.
Oh, she said I couldn't do that. I would be unfaithful to the Lord. And so I understand where people are coming from when they see a position that we take in separation from all that's out there as being what they might think is inconsistent with New Testament truth. Yes, God does give us His mind that we, the church, should be all together. Like for instance in Ephesians 4, we see that Ephesians 4 does not contemplate that there is a ruin. He's just presenting God's ideal. But we have to look at Ephesians 4 and practice which is to do with the truth of practicing the one body.
From the porthole of Second Timothy. From that viewpoint, and it's very important to see that because the 2nd epistles will bring out certain modifications with regard to our walk, it doesn't mean that God would.
Change his principles, but his ways change in the day. A day of of of ruin. And we were called to a position of separation, and everyone of the second Epistles, all five of them.
Insist upon separation in one way or another. Did you know that? Think of Two Corinthians, the first one.
Chapter 6 What to talk about You know it says being on unequally yoked together with unbelievers and it goes on talking about various.
Links that one may have with unholy associations. Then it says, Therefore come out from among you, my people, and be separate.
And what's the next one? Second Thessalonians. It insists on a separation too. It says that us withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly and gives you a whole, pretty much a whole chapter on the need to separate from that kind of disorder. How about Second Timothy? Well, I've just read it to you to insist upon separation again. How about Second Peter? Yes, in chapter 3 it says don't go get swept along with the current of apostasy that's working in that day, but to keep yourself separate and whereby you will grow and grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 3, Second Timothy. What about Second John? Same thing. The elect lady is told to not greet or give Godspeed to anyone that is holding error with regard to the doctrine of Christ against separation is insisted upon.
And so, well, it may be well meaning to try to stay with.
And try to stay in fellowship with everything that he professes. The name of Christ. We're going to become dirty Christians.
And it's not according to what God has given to us in the second epistles where we are to withdraw.
To a clean place in the house, and call on the Lord out of a pure heart with those.
That have taken that position and so we take a position of separation because Scripture enjoins us to do that.
It's not because we don't love our brethren. We ought to love every Christian in the face of the earth. In fact, we should love even unbelievers, not just Christians. But we cannot walk with them if they are mixed up in the associations that have and the error and the evil that has come into the Christian profession. Whether it's doctrinal, ecclesiastical, or moral, there is a position that God has given to us to take, and that is one of separation.
Matthew 18 is the third question. Matthew 18 verse 20 and Luke 22 verse 7 to 10. You don't need to turn to it indicate that the Spirit of God is the divine gatherer. He leads Christians to the place of God's appointment. If the position of the so-called gathered Saints is it, why are there so few there? Either there's a problem with the Spirit's power to gather.
Well, this is not the place to which he's leading people. Good question. These have come out of the mouths of young people that are concerned. They're seeking to search the scriptures to find out, is this right or is what my mom and dad have told me is right. And they look out and they can't figure out these things. And there's question marks, a conundrum in their minds. I understand. But again, it's not my opinion that is going to help you. Only the word of God, and you need to see it from the word of God.
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So Matthew 18 and Luke 22 indicate that there is a divine gatherer, the Spirit of God. He's leading souls to that divine center where the Lord is in the midst.
But the question is, well, why is there nobody there? Then there's thousands, maybe millions, of Christians in the face of the earth. Why are there so few gathered to the Lord's name? I understand the question. It's a good question.
Well, first of all, before I answer that question, I would have to say that.
The standard of measure here is not right.
Because what you're saying is lots of people equals the right place.
And that's not what Scripture teaches. Big is never a sign of God's approval. In fact, that's a worldly principle. Really, you know, in business and sports or whatever it is, is to get the business bigger and bigger and grow 10% per year or whatever it is. And God is not occupied with numbers as we sometimes are. In fact, you see in the New Testament, whatever numbers are mentioned, it's always says about, if you notice that about 3000 souls were saved about 5000.
When it gets down to a little number of 12, it says on about 12 disciples.
Why is this? Because the Spirit of God is.
Trying to teach us that God is not occupied with numbers. He's occupied with what pertains to the glory of the sun. It's us that get occupied with numbers. And so the main difference between First Timothy and Second Timothy, you can see that in First Timothy you find that the church is looked at as in a relatively good order, and the masses are going on in the path that they ought to go on in, but they're individuals that are corrupting. You find one here, one there. That's in the first epistle, But in the second epistle it's exactly the reverse.
The second epistle you'll find that the masses have gone sour or gone bad, turned out of the way and only a few individuals here and there that are remaining faithful. And the 2nd epistle is in regards to the last days, our days. And so we must not get mixed up with size, being in equating that with with the Lord's approval. You know, in fact, growth in scripture you always talk about our church is growing. I understand what they're saying. They're getting more people in all the time.
I understand, and I have no problem with that per SE, but the way in which growth is used in the Bible is never the way in which we speak about churches growing.
Growth in the Bible is always looked at as spiritual development.
And maturity in a soul, not just how many people you can get. Headcount. And what I mean by that is, suppose I was to go to a group of Christians, gather to the Lord's name and I would see fifty of them there and they they come out to meeting, but in visiting with various ones they got a lot of different interests. Some are more interested in sports than they are the Lord's things really, but they are coming out and others are just interested in their boat and they're this and they're that.
And all these various things.
I thank God for what I see.
Then I go away and I come back a year later.
And I see the same group, same 50 persons. But there's a change here. These people are keen into the things of God. They're full of questions. They want to know more. They hang around after the meetings and asking questions and comparing notes, and there seem to be more vibrant and interested in things. And their intelligence is growing as well. When I speak to them about things, I can go away from that group who hasn't added a head and say they've really grown because that's the way Bible, the Bible speaks of growth.
Now we all like to see a few people being added from time to time, of course.
But it's important for us to see that growth is not what God is occupied with.
Now, having said all that, I don't believe I've even answered your question, the question, so let me go to that straight way. The question is this.
Why are there so few?
That are at the place of the Lord's appointment that we believe among those who are gathered to his precious name. I think the answer is found in Zechariah. So let's turn there to Chapter 4, Zechariah, Chapter 4.
Zechariah 4 verses 9 and 10.
The hands is the rubble have laid the foundation of this house.
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His hands shall also finish it. Thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts.
Have sent me unto you, For who hath despised a day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, with who those seven they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro throughout the whole earth.
In a nutshell, in a word, I believe that the reason why the numbers among those who are gathered to the Lord's name in the last days is relatively few compared to the denominational evangelical churches is simply this. We live in remnant testimony days. We live in remnant testimony days. What does that mean, you say? Another good question.
Well, as I said earlier, the Church has fallen into a ruin and it's becoming a remedable run. And when there, the Church has reached that point of no recovery, the great principle upon which God works in such times.
Is that he?
Takes the testimony when it's that is, when that which he has committed into the hands of men fail. He takes that, and he reduces its numbers, its size, its strength, and its glory, and so on, and carries it on thereafter in a remnant form, with a few, a relative few. The reason why he does this is because he can no longer associate himself in power and glory.
With the public testimony at large, because it has corrupted himself, it has corrupted itself.
And it would mean to condone what is going on there. And So what he does is that he separates A Remnant and he identifies with that, and he falls back on his sovereignty to maintain a remnant testimony in such days. And so the very nature of the call today and being part of a remnant testimony is that it naturally is not going to be anything big or something significant to which we can take pride in.
The whole principle of it is is that which is, uh, a remnant and the idea of a remnant. The meaning of the word remnant is just a small part of the whole.
And I believe that that is what God is doing today is working with a remnant testimony. Now to illustrate that, I'd like to turn to the first place where you get a remnant in God's ways with his people, and that would be with Israel. So first of all, let me turn you to a verse in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
We'll see God's desire, and then we'll see his ways with regard to that being.
Different because of ruin in the testimony in Israel. Now Deuteronomy 12, you know, has to do with, uh, seeking the place of the Lord's appointment in the land of Israel. We're looking at this now to get the principle of it. This is Judaism and Jewish worship, but we're going to look at it from the principal standpoint and apply it to ourselves as the Lord may lead.
Verse five He talks about all the other kinds of ways in which a person could worship an idolatry in the first verses. But at verse five he says, But under the place which the Lord thought, your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shall you come.
OK, and so we find here that the Lord has a place of an appoint his appointment. We know later that it became Jerusalem.
And it was a place for which they were to seek, and they were to come. This was his desire.
He wanted his people to be there at his divine center, but now because.
We read something else in First Kings Chapter 11. Now read very carefully with me here. This is very interesting.
First Kings, Chapter 11.
This is after Solomon had deteriorated in His Holiness, and brought in all kinds of error and evil into the Kingdom, we read these words. Wherefore the Lord hath said unto Solomon, For as much as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the Kingdom from thee, and give it to thy servant, notwithstanding in thy days. I will not do it for David thy father's sake, but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son, albeit I will not rend it all.
Rendall of the Kingdom.
But I will give one tribe to thy son, for David, thy servant's sake, my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem sake which I have chosen.
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Then verse 32 to cut corners here.
And he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Asharoth, the goddess of Zidonians, and Chimash, the God of Moabites.
Malcolm, the God of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do what is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments I did David his father. Howbeit I will not take the whole Kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him Prince all the days of his life. For David, my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes. But I will take the Kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee even 10 tribes. And unto a son will I give one tribe.
That David, my servant, may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city.
Which I have chosen me to put my name and then in chapter 12.
And verse 23 and 20.
22 and 23 And the word of the Lord came unto Shamaya the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon king of Judah, unto all the House of Judah, and Benjamin to the remnant, to the remnant of the people, saying, This thing is from me, the next verse.
Here we have the principle of remnant testimony. It's the first time that it comes up in Scripture. I know the word is used elsewhere, like for instance the remnant of the meat offering and so on.
But in regards to testimony amongst God's peoples, the first time that we get the idea of a remnant testimony.
And it's always important for us to remember that in scripture, first time rule is important. You know what I mean by that? That is the first time it comes up in Scripture. There will be a rule that's probably the way in which God is going to use that thereafter as it appears on the pages. And so pay attention to when it first comes up. You'll get it taught again in more detail actually in the Ezra Nehemiah and the prophets that go with them, which is the last three prophets in your Old Testament. But having said that, the principal reman testimony is very interesting, but it is, it unlocks the key as to what is going on today as far as God's movements and gatherings. So you need to get a hold of this.
We'll see it here now in God's ways, in history, in Israel. But I want to look at it in a minute in the church's history as well. So first of all, we find there in Deuteronomy 12 That God's will and desire was all his people would be there at the divine center. But now because ruin has come in by the hand of Solomon, but also we find all the people, uh, joined with it in all of this corruption and worshipping idols and the Zidonians had and all the rest of it, that he was going to reduce the size of that testimony. He was no longer going to identify himself.
With the testimony in Israel, with the power and glory that he once did, and he was going to reduce it down to one tribe.
And what was he going to do with the other tribes? He's going to allow them to be scattered and to be taken away from that place.
What she really desired for them to be. So we see here that when ruin comes in.
The great principle upon which God acts is that he reduces the size of the testimony and carries it on in a remnant, and there's such a thing as sifting and scattering from that place. His ways change even though his principles do not. And so what's happening today, I believe in Christendom, is that God has separating A remnant and identifying himself with a testimony of the truth, where all the truth of God is upheld and practiced, albeit in weakness.
I believe that's what scripture would teach us. Now you say, Well, I think I can see that here in these verses and kings, but.
Are we sure we can apply this to the church?
Unequivocally, yes. The principle of it is large enough to do that, and I think if we turn over to Revelation chapter two and three, we'll see that.
Before I read any verses in Revelation 2 and three, I would say that the ones we read already in one Timothy 2 Timothy chapter 2 where the great house was mentioned and the the taking and separating to a position, uh, where those are calling on the Lord of the pure heart, is the principle of Rama testimony right there. So you have it in epistles, but I want to show it to you from church history in Revelation 2 and three.
I hope you all understand that in the AT Lord's addresses to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and three, we have a composite picture of church history from the days of the apostles, right on to when the Lord will come. The whole history of the church is seen there in seven successive phases, and it's very interesting to see that the church corrupts itself bit by bit until it gets to a point where it becomes irremitable that there's no recovery, and then the Lord separates a remnant.
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And works with a Remnant Testimony.
Until the end. Now let me show you that.
Revelation 2 and verse 24. Now this is when he is addressing the church to Thyatira, which represents the church in the dark ages, when Rome and Roman church had the rule over all of the Christian profession at large. But now he speaks here in verse 24. There's something very interesting, he says. But unto you I say to the rest. Now that word rest should be translated. Remnant many translations.
Translated that way, choice unto you, I say, that is, to the remnant in Thyatira. As many as have not this doctrine, which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak. I will not put on you none other burden, but that ye.
That that would she have already hold fast till I come.
And so here we have the idea of a remnant being being set apart, separated from the Mass and encouraged to carry on with what they have and what little light that they did have in that day. And I believe that God has had a remnant testimony from that day forward and will until until the Lord comes. In those days it was just a few individuals, but as we find in the next couple of churches in Philadelphia, that there becomes a corporate testimony.
Of those remnant individuals, and they meet together on the principles of the word of God.
But I think it's very interesting to see in the way in which he addresses the overcomer. Because here's where you get the change. There is a marked change in how he addresses each one of these seven churches when it comes to he that hath an ear what the Spirit saith to the churches. So in chapter 2 and verse 7 you'll notice a pattern. OK, he that here hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Then it says to him that overcometh such and such a reward is given.
Notice the order. It's he that hath an ears. Put first what the Spirit is saying and then there is a reward to the overcomer. In the next church it's exactly the same. You'll find that in verse 11.
What the Spirit is saying. And then there's an address to the overcomer. Then in the next church that is uh Pergamus, you have the same order again verse 17. He that hath and here with the Spirit saith to the churches, and then the address to him that overcomes follows the encouragement.
But at this point here, when the Remnant is separated, there's a marked change. The order of these things is now flipped, and we find that he that over is over. The overcomer is addressed first, and then at verse 29 of chapter 2, you find that he that hath an ear that I'm here with, the Spirit saith to the churches, and it follows that order thereafter until the end, right through Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. There's a marked change here. Now what is this supposed to indicate?
It simply is this. Up until this point where the Lord separates A remnant, he is expecting at least attempting to reach the whole church as a Mass. But it comes a point when that church is no longer got an ear for it. As Paul said to Timothy, there's a time coming when they will no longer hear, listen to sound doctrine and so on. And So what happens is, is that from this point forward it's no longer expected.
That the masses will hear. In fact, he lets the masses go of their own way.
And he addresses what the Spirit has to say to the overcomer. And there you have the principle of a remnant being addressed, And each of the succeeding churches follows that order. This is exceedingly helpful to show us that there is such a thing as God working in the church period, in regard to remnant testimony. And so the very nature of a remnant is that a part of the the what is of the whole? We cannot look today that God is going to gather great multitudes to his.
The to the name of the Lord Jesus and expect that there's going to be massive numbers.
As you might hear of in certain mega churches, it's just the whole principle is not in keeping with his remnant testimony.
And and these remnant testimony days. And so that would be my answer as to why the gathered Saints have never really and relatively speaking, been of any significant size.
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And especially so in these last days. Now, that's the first reason why I want to say why the Saints gathered to the Lord's name are not going to have great numbers. The second reason I'll just give you very quickly, and that's in Zephaniah 3.
Zephaniah 3.
Verse 11 and 12 In the day that thou shalt not, be ashamed of all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me, For then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, talking to Jerusalem. Hear the divine center, if you get the context of the chapter.
And thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain that would be the divine center of Jerusalem. I will also leave in the midst of the unafflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The second reason why I would believe that those gathered to the Lords name in remnant testimony days would be small, is because.
Those connected with Remnant Testimony.
Have failed.
And God is even reducing that number.
We have failed and our responsibility to uphold all the truth and to walk in it. And it's a shame. We need to bow our heads and own that. We have failed in that. And the Lord has had to put His hand on us and deal with us and reduce our numbers. And why? Just the same reason why it happened in Israel. And that was because there are those who were rejoicing in their pride.
We can get very proud about who we are and that we see all this wonderful truth and the Scriptures and those Christians and the denominational Christianity don't, and get lifted up in pride and the God.
That is gathered us may have to deal with us, and he may sift the Saints gathered to his precious name, and has done in reduction of numbers. So let us lay our hand upon our own hearts. Now some have tried to answer this question.
As to why there are so few, relatively speaking, where the Lord has got, we believe is put His name in gathering in the sense that while the Spirit of God is trying, he's trying to gather every Christian in the face of the earth. But they won't come and He has to just leave them where they are because they just won't submit to His leading and.
They are where they are because.
They won't listen to the Spirit of God as he tugs at their hearts and their coat sleeves, but you ever factor that thought out?
What does that make the gathered Saints then, if that's the case?
Well, we're the only leadable ones. He couldn't lead them, but he led me. You know what it says here? I will take away out of the midst of thee them, them that rejoice in thy pride and so on. And I believe that we can get pretty, pretty proud that we think we were the only leadable ones. And I don't believe this is a sufficient answer.
To why there is a fewness of numbers, relatively speaking.
It only ministers to the pride of those that are there to say that we were the only leadable ones. No, I'd rather believe that God, in his ways and remnant testimony times, is not necessarily looking to gather every last Christian in the face of the earth. He is rather just lifting up one here and taking one there, bringing them together to the place of his appointment.
And maintaining A testimony to his own name by his own goodness and grace, and has got nothing to do with those that are there.
Nothing. The same grace that saved us gathered us, and he has been pleased to gather us. It's not because we were brighter or more spiritual or more in communion with it than other Christians, and we saw the way and they didn't. No, it was the grace of God that opened our eyes, and we gave Him all the credit.
So let us be careful with regard to how we carry ourselves with regard to the truth of gathering.
God may have to humble us yet once again.
Let me read one more question.
What is so terribly wrong?
With some of the gathered Saints going with a group of Christians to their church. After all, they love the Lord too.
This is a question that's often asked among young.
And I understand why you may ask that question. Simply because the numbers are few. You think we need fellowship After all, It's hard to go on alone, and I know it is, and the Lord understands that too. But is the answer for us to go and link up with church denominational order and go to church with them when the Lord has gathered us to His precious name? It's a good question and it demands a good answer. First of all, I would turn you to Galatians chapter 2.
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Galatians, chapter 2.
And verse 18.
For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I will make myself, I make myself a transgressor.
Here's a principle that Paul is talking about, how he had separated himself from the whole legal order, taken a Christian position, he says. If I go back to that, I make myself a transgression. And so my answer to someone who asked this question, what would be wrong with going to church with other Christians, would be this.
You would be a hypocrite. That's my answer. You'd be a hypocrite. More than that, you'd be telling me that you really don't understand why you were gathered to the Lord's name or in the first place.
Whether you understand or realize it or not, the position that we take in Christendom today in separation from the disorder that's out there is a practical scriptural protest to all the unscripturalness that is increasing them. And by taking that position, how can we then go along with what we just separated from?
We're being a hypocrite.
And maybe you never thought of it that way.
But that's what that's what's at the bottom of it. And I understand if you're not, if you never really considered it that way, God has patience with us, But may the light of Scripture here teach us what God would have us to do. So let me just say that again. You know the very position that we take. And you've asked your place if you're gathered to the Lord's name, and you were willing to put your hand in with that which was taking a position of separation.
In the Great House, why would you then want to return and fellowship and practice to?
The disorder, the confusion and whatever else that it may be existing there, when you've taken that position, it it doesn't make sense, It's inconsistent. It's hypocritical. Now let me turn to 1St Kings, Chapter 13, where we were. We go back to that chapter with regard to the the first time that a remnant was separated and let me read some verses here. We'll let the scriptures themselves answer it for us First Kings 13. This is after the division is now coming in in Israel. There's the 10 tribes, the Northern Kingdom. There's the two tribes, the Southern Kingdom.
The two tribes were at Jerusalem. They were still at the divine center, but it was a just a remnant.
The 10 tribes had another place and they had different altars there.
Bethel was one, the other was in down. I just say that to bring you up to speed, as we read a few verses here. Now in first Kings 13 And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah. That would be where the remnant testimony was now in Jerusalem by the word of the Lord, unto Bethel, unto Jeroboam. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the House of David.
Josiah by name, and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places.
They uh, that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken. Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are thereupon shall be poured out. And it came to pass, that when the king reborn Jeroboam, rather heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him.
And his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it again to him. And the altar was rent, And the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.
And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God.
And pray for me that my hand be restored again, and the man of God besought the Lord.
And the King's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
And the man of God said unto them, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee.
Neither will I eat bread or drink water in this place, for so it was charged me by the word of the Lord saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou cameest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel. And his sons came to him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel, and the words which he had spoken unto the king. Then they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, what way he went. He and his sons had seen which way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his son, saddled beneath the ***. So they saddled him the *** and he rode thereupon, and he went after the man of God, and found him sitting under the oak.
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And he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that came us from Judah? And he said, I am Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee, neither will I eat bread or drink water with thee in this place. For I was it was said to me by the word of the Lord, that thou shalt eat no bread, nor drink water, there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. And he said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art. And an Angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord saying, Bring him back.
With thee unto thine house into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.
But he lied unto him, So he went back with him, and he'd eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet that had brought him back. And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judas, saying, Thus saith the Lord, For as much as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and has not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commandeth thee.
But came us back, Thou hast eaten and drunk water in the place which the Lord did say to thee, eat no bread, nor drink water. Thy carcass shall not come into the sepulchre of thy fathers. Well, that happens is I'll just tell you that he goes back home, and a lion meets him in the way, and he gets slain. What can we learn from this? First of all, you find that the the call to the profit from the man of Judah here was to cry against the altar.
He was not to cry against the people that worshipped at the altar.
And similarly, we take a position of scriptural protest to all the unscripturalness that there is in Christendom today. We do not cry against the people who worship there. We cry against the altar. That is the structure, the system, the disorder that's there. In fact, you'll find here that in verse 6, the man of God prayed for the king who's there? We pray for the people, but we cry against the system. That's scriptural order. But now we find here that we learned some very important lessons with regard to fellowship.
In that place where the Lord had not put his name.
And so we learned something here too, with regard to the old prophet of Bethel that I just want to leave with you as we close this meeting this afternoon.
That is by going back and eating and drinking, which is a symbol, a figure used all through the Bible of fellowship. So he's having fellowship.
By going back and eating and drinking in that place which he was to cry against, he put his sanction.
On that place of worship which had not the sanction of the Lord, that was the first thing.
Secondly, he put his sanction on the unfaithfulness of the old prophet who was there.
Thirdly, he nullified his own testimony by sanctioning that which he was called to witness against.
And thereby ended his history as a witness for the Lord. And that's what's going to happen to us.
If we transgress in this principle that I now bring before you of seeking to.
Have fellowship with the order of things that we have positionally separated from, and believe the Lord has LED us to do that. I leave that for each one of us here to consider, and for the young especially because I know it's difficult in this day in which we live. I'm now going to give you one last question, and this was apparently given at.
Wyoming.
And I'm indebted to my brother-in-law, David Graham, for the answer. What's the point of being gathered? That was one of the questions that I asked. That would be a hard one answer on the spot.
What's the point of being gathered?
Well, he gave me 3 answers, three fold answers. He said #1 because God desires that there should be a testimony to the name of his Son in this world, and it pleases him that there should be 1.
You know, secondly, it is the Lord's delight to have his own gather around himself in his presence. Amen.
#3 It should be our delight to be there in his company, where he can teach us and we can have liberty to worship him. No man forbid him. Three good reasons for the point of being gathered. Is it worth it?
Yes, it is indeed worth it. Is it going to pay or are we going to pay a price? As far as persecution is concerned and being, uh, misunderstood by other Christians who think that we think we're more better than them and all this kind of thing, yes, that's going to happen.
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Birchwood.
Repeat those again. Three fold. Answer. God desires that there should be a testimony to the name of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in this world, because it pleases him.
That there should be such #2. It is the Lord's delight himself that there should be gathered around himself his own people.
He could have in his own company. And #3 it should be our delight to be there where we can enjoy his fellowship and be taught of him at his divine center. Let's pray, Father, we thank thee for the word of God, give us to be humbled.
By what thou hast given to us. For we do not deserve one thing. It is thy great.
1 Peter 4:7
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Let me continue.
If any other brother has something for us or a suggestion.
You don't have to stay in First Peter 4.
With every man hath received again, Even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Any man speak, let him speak as the Oracle to broad.
In man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God-given it. The God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whom He praised, and dominion forever and ever men.
I love it thinketh not strange, and turning the part of the child which is the Bayou, as though some strange thing happened unto you. Look at joy as much as you are for takers of Christ suffering.
And when this glory shall be revealed, he may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Did he be reposed for the name of Christ? Happy are you, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part He is even spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief.
Then if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, and let him glorify God on this behalf.
And the time is calm that judgment must begin at the House of God, and it first began at us, until the envy of them that obey not the gospel or God. And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where?
The ungodly and the Sinner appear.
Wherefore let them suffer according to the will of God, amidst the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing.
Creators.
Beginning at verse seven of this chapter, we have this expression. The end of all things is at hand.
And then falling, falling from that, we have a number of exhortations that we are to, uh, take heed to in view of the fact that we are in end times and that the end of all things is at hand. We've already spoken of the need to be sober and then the need to be in prayer for dependence upon the Lord.
And to love one another fervently.
And to use hospitality.
And now when we began reading today verses 10 and 11, we have another thing, and that is the need to use our gift to minister to others that God would be glorified in their souls.
And then in verses 12/13/14 we have another thing, and that is the need to rejoice in trial.
In the trial of suffering, for Christ's sake.
And then last but not least, the last four or five verses of the chapter to be on guard against misconduct, because there is a Father's hand dealing with us in government if that be the case.
So verses 10 and 11.
Bring out an important thing, and that is the need for ministry in these times. There's never more time than now to be found together and getting our souls built up on the most holy faith. And here he tells us that every man has a gift, says the gift that should be translated, a gift. Every one of us have a gift and we are to use that gift for the profit of our brethren and for their good and for their blessing.
And that's an important point to get ahold of.
Every Christian had a gift. There's three verses in the Bible, at least that I know of the New Testament, that indicate this.
One I think is in Matthew 25.
Let me just turn to that Matthew 25.
By way of the parable that the Lord gave.
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Matthew 25, verses 14 and 15.
But the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man traveling into a far country, who had called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods, and he gave unto 1.
UH-5 talons into another, two into another, and every man according to his several ability. The word I've been focusing on now is every man.
Seasons 4 gives you another place.
Ephesians 4/7.
But unto everyone, notice everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Each one of us has been given a gift and grace to carry out the service of that gift for the blessing of God's people. Then we have it again in our chapter verse 10. Every man has received a gift and isn't interesting.
Yeah, when it speaks about receiving a gift, there's no mention anywhere in the New Testament, not here, not in Ephesians, not in Matthew, nowhere that you get the idea that if you discern that you have a gift, that you should go to a Bible school or seminary to be ordained before you can use it. They'll learn to have a gift, or the possession of a gift is the warrant to use it, rather the very fact that one has a gift.
This is warrant to use it so it goes on and says.
If any man minister, let a minister according to the ability which God-given.
No mention.
That we need to be trained in some school or something like this.
So we all have a gift, but I would like to also say that this does not mean that we all have a gift to minister the Word. That's only one area where gift is used. We do not believe in every man ministry of the Word. We do believe that every man has a ministry, but not every man has a ministry necessarily and publicly giving the Word to the Saints of God.
Many gifts are not for that purpose, but some are.
Perhaps you could tell us the difference between ability and gift. I recall at a conference you made the distinction. I found it very helpful.
OK, well you have it in two places here in verse 10 and 11. You have gifts mentioned first in verse 10 and then in verse 11 you have the word ability used. And then back in that passage in Matthew 25 again it says the same thing. He gave a talent according to their several abilities. You have the giving of the gift and the talent and the ability.
There are two different things, uh, ability is to do with what we have, uh, received from God naturally from birth.
Our natural powers to, uh, our capabilities that we have naturally, but then, uh, we have, when we're saved, the Spirit of God gives us a spiritual gift when we receive the indwelling spirit and we are to exercise that gift. And God is wise in the way he gives it, that he gives it according to the ability that we have. And so he, since he gets spiritually that we've been given to what we are naturally, what he's been forming in our personality.
In other words, he would not necessarily give the gift of an evangelist to someone who is very, very reticent and is frightened of talking to people. It's more rather a person that is more outgoing and rather, uh, interested in souls in that way. So he matches the spiritual gift with what he's already been doing in the soul, even before the person is saying, informing his natural powers.
That would be an example, and I remember you brought out the converse. Just because you have a natural ability to say a very strong right arm, it doesn't mean to say you should become a quarterback and uh, uh, think you're going to use a spiritual gift in that in doing that case.
MMM. And so we get all three things, I believe, brought out in the word of God. Begat thee.
Vessel fitted for the gift. That's the natural ability we get. The gift given of God, which is Bruce's brought out suits the natural ability of the individual. And then there's the development of the gift and the exercise of it. And I I like that comment. It's not by going to a seminary or a Bible school. Again, I'm not saying that God doesn't use them. He does.
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But God would have you and me to develop that gift within the framework of the assembly and with our own exercise, meditation, reading of the Scriptures before Him. And I suggest if we are really before the Lord, there won't be a difficulty in discerning first of all, what our gift is, secondly, in what direction He would have us to move in developing it. And so all three are brought before us in Scripture.
I enjoy the old thinking, Uh, I've had sometimes young people.
Uh, ask how do you know what gift you may have? I'm not sure that we need to.
Think about that and try to determine that I enjoyed what one brother said. He, uh, used what the Mary said to the servants at the wedding face.
She sat.
Whatsoever he says unto you, do it.
In other words, my right hand does not say, Do I have the gifts of feeding this man?
No, it just simply obeys the head, picks up the board and starts to feed me. And I think that's what we need to be exercised about. Be responsive to the directions that the Lord gives you and I think in time.
You say the Lord may show us what our sin may be, but specially since gift is something that is developed, you do not get gift. But I can say by studying you get gifts because it's given.
But I'd like to point out something else that you mentioned Bruce and Ephesians chapter 4 where it says unto everyone is given.
Umm, they read it here.
Ephesians 4 and verse 7 Unto everyone of us that's given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Not everyone has the same measure of gift.
God knows what major he may have given you.
And it says is given grace and even though he may have a gift, we should always use it in the sense of looking up to the head who has given that? Yet if you don't get a continual supply of grace, sometimes very gifted people have been a great stumbling block and the people of God. And so we need grace.
To use that yet, there's another verse that I'd like to mention in Romans 12 where you get the body of Christ mentioned and also the gifts.
Yeah, verse 3.
He said, I saved through the grace that is, the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.
But to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith, there it is connection with the gifts that follow every man. But it's here it's in connection with the measure of faith. And the faith is not always the same in every individual, so it needs to be exercised.
In faith, with a sense in the soul.
That the Lord has given something to me that he means for the prophet of his people. And look at you young people here. I know the Lord has given you a gift when we get to the glory did the judgment seat of Christ.
And the Lord says I gave you something, how did you use it? What are you going to respond and say, I didn't even realize I had a gift? Scripture is pretty clear that everyone has a gift and so you need to be exercised before the Lord. It's not always the same gift for everyone, but being the presence of the Lord, seek to seek His face as to what you might do for Him.
Don't be occupied too much with what your gift is, but be responsive to the Lord Jesus has had as He guides you. In whatever way He may guide you, He lays something on your heart.
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Do it hardly for him.
Well, that's very good, Bob. I just, uh, following on with that, it's very instructive to see in verse 10 that we are stewards of what of the truth of God.
No.
Call grace of God. Why does it say that? Because everything that I have is on the ground of grace. Whether it's the truth that God has given to me, the gift to receive it, the gift to give it out, whatever measure He may give to any of us, whether in a public way or a private way, whether it be an evangelism or it be in the truth or in pastoral work or anything that the Lord may give me.
It's all the grace of God, and I'm only a steward. And to me, verses 9 and 10 go together here because I'm a steward of everything I have. If God has given me the ability for you to show hospitality.
Then I am only a steward of what God has given me. How do I use it? If He has given us a measure of gift and an appreciation of the things concerning Himself, I'm a steward of it.
How do I handle it? As someone has said, I can use what I have from the Lord in two ways. I can use it to seek to accredit and distinguish myself, or in a collective sense, ourselves. Or I can seek to use it wherever the Lord opens the door, whether it's for the gospel in terms of unbelievers, or whether it's the truth of God in terms of the whole body of Christ.
As Bruce brought before us in the address, there's a right way and a wrong way to do that. I don't compromise. I don't.
Build again the things that once I destroyed, But I recognize that I'm only a steward of what God has given me. But I agree 100% with that, Bob, that even though we don't have a sufficient sense in our souls of what our gift is, the Lord put something in front of you. Go ahead and do it.
I think verses uh, 10 and 11 go together too, and I think it's.
Very, uh, important to if we're going to speak.
To speak as the oracles of God or as the mouthpiece of God.
Your kids a message to be delivered. We need to be faithful in seeking to deliver that message.
As the Lord gives it to us.
But you know, sometimes, brethren, I think.
And I.
I have to point it myself as being guilty here, brother. We are good talkers and we talk on beyond the message that the Lord has given us, and that is.
Not good.
Remember a brother who got up and gave a message one time and a brother who was close to him.
And in confidence said to him, Brother you really had a good message the 1St 20 minutes.
For the next 10 minutes, you're just shoveling coal.
And I think you know what I mean. It's just that sometimes we have something from the Lord. We're so controlled by the clock in our country that we think we have to fill out the hour.
Maybe the Lord has somebody else that wants to say something too.
Are we sensitive as to the direction of His Spirit to leave it open so that the Lord can use somebody else?
Tell a story and myself that happened to me in Bolivia that really wasn't rebuilt to me.
And Oaxaca, Mexico, and they say it's not in Bolivia, it's in Mexico. I wish Brother Eller Cohn and and Doug Buchanan. And after the conference we would usually go around to the different assemblies and we would have a reading meeting in the afternoon and in the evening we'd have a gospel meeting in. Ramon was a senior brother. He usually took the lead in preaching the gospel.
00:20:13
And then we too would follow on.
That particular evening, because I followed on and when it was about 10 minutes left, I thought, ma'am.
They're expecting me to stand up and say something that I really don't have anything.
Since since they're expecting, I'm going to get up and say something.
And it was not the Spirit of God.
And while I was speaking.
My brother I saw got up and walked over and talked to in brother Ramon's ear and then went back and stepped down.
Brother Ramon is very functional in the end of the hour arcade, he always closed the meeting, and after he closed the meeting, he said too bad. Uh, Brother on Hill had something to say, but there was no time for him.
What do we do to me, brother?
We don't have anything to say. Let's keep our mouth shut. And I say that because, brother, I feel I'm guilty of that, of quenching the Spirit and other. My brethren. Lord, give us sensitivity.
If we're going to speak, speak as the oracles of God. Say what the Lord has given you.
Leave it there.
Some of us know our brother John Wilhelm Senior, and he used to exhort us younger brothers when we would preach the gospel or stand up for ministry.
And he would tell us, he said. You, younger brother, should be like electric motors. When the power is turned off, you quit.
This probably works both ways though, and sometimes the person has something to say and doesn't say it.
And sit there. And then everybody is sitting there and nothing is set. This happens especially in the breaking of bread, especially in small meetings.
And it's discouraging.
It says here in verse 10 that, uh, this gift, uh, as every man has received the gift, Even so administer the same one to another. And so we oftentimes get the idea that this, uh, is really for a crowd, an individual. Uh, but that's not so often times the gift of shepherding is an individual and working with another individual, uh, teaching is sometimes one-on-one. And, uh, there's a need to see individuals as God sees them and to recognize the need at the time in the field that need.
I would just, uh, point out something else that, uh, my wife, uh, told me of, uh, how she was in the hospital and perhaps you've heard me give this illustration, but I think it's helpful. She worked in the hospital with nine doctors and, umm, she said that they were, umm, in that hospital. They come in, they do their medical records and she worked in medical records department and they were, there were, umm, three or four doctors that were very gifted doctors. They had a good diagnosis.
Uh, The cases that came before them, they made their proper diagnosis, they were happy, they got their charts done. They just work that was just smooth. And then there were five of them or six of them that were in it for the, for the money. And she said, you never saw such miserable people that didn't like to go to work, didn't like to fill out their charts, had wrong diagnosis, lawsuits on their hands, all those sorts of things. And so I just point this out as an encouragement to us to exercise our gifts.
Post was exhorted by the apostle Paul to umm pick up that ministry, pick up that Commission that he'd received with the Lord could use it to use that gift for the prophet of God's people. No one else had been given the gifts that Arpanthus had. He was the only one that was called a fellow soldier. He was the only one that perhaps God had fitted in that day to be able to properly defend the hill of assembly there in Colossi and umm, he needed to be stirred up. So it just say that that if you exercise your gift.
00:25:14
Then, uh, when I add it, it's actually a breaking of bread there we're not referring to yet. It doesn't take yet to stand up and say thank you.
Or to praise his name. I just got it there. We sometimes think, Robert, that the gift is to be used in assembly meeting, but that is only one place for use of gift. It's to be used at all times in whatever circumstance the Lord may, uh, give you to, uh, circulate it. I was thinking, uh, first and second Timothy.
When Paul has addressed him to Timothy, what he says, and I think it's helpful. Timothy was a young man raised the apostle Paul speaks of his you and I like to read what he says to Timothy in First Timothy 4IN connection with the gifts. I don't know that we know what Timothy's gift might have been.
But it says in First Timothy 414.
It was not the gift that is indeed which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on in the hands of the Presbytery or the Elderhood.
In other words, each one has a gift and Timothy had a gift, but he was Tim, he was timid and he had to be encouraged. We need to be sensitive, brethren, as to our younger brother that are coming along.
To encourage them also to use that gift, Don't neglect it. God has given that to you for the good of all, and if you neglect it, not only you will suffer, but all the people of God are going to lack in something that He wants to give through that means.
But it's interesting, I said it was given to him by prophecy, and I suggest a thought here I'd like to hear.
Some brother has some other thoughts. Bust up perhaps?
The Apostle Paul or perhaps someone other?
Sense that God has given Timothy a particular gift and holy Timothy the Lord has given you something that is very helpful for the people of God use it. That's prophecy and then with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood. In other words, he was had the full fellowship of his local brethren when Paul.
Uh, it says in chapter 16 of Acts one is Timothy to go with him. He was one who had a good testimony of the brethren in his locality. Oh how?
Helpful. That is when that is the case. But like Chris was mentioning, First Timothy is when things were in order. But now notice Second Timothy chapter one when there was ruin in the public testimony.
And Hurst.
Six Therefore I put the in remembrance, that thou stirred up the gift of God, which is in thee, by the putting on of my hand.
Not here of the elderhood any longer. We're in days when we don't name elders. We don't have a process to do that. But the apostles, but umm, also Paul had laid on his hands, he had given Timothy his full fellowship to go forward and to be a help amongst the people of God. And he says, uh, to, not uh, to stir up the gift of God.
Spanish translation, it says wake up the gift of God. It was dormant in him. And I fear brother, that there is a lot of dormant gifts amongst us. May the Lord help us. You dear young people, older ones too. Yeah, that God has given for the good of his people. That is not being used. May the Lord help us.
Are there gifts that come from exercise? Is there a I remember a bird saying earnestly desire the best gift? Is that related?
00:30:13
This Corinthians 13 that is.
Stop.
31St verse of chapter 12. Excuse me?
It says, but covet earnestly the best gift.
Yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
That's referring to the assembly, uh, being in prayer to God that there would be a good plentiful supply of ministerial gifts so that his assembly would be, uh, blessed. Not referring to individuals desiring to have a certain gift. And I look at my brother Bill, the gift of teaching. I like to be like that. We don't, uh, covet one another's gift in that way. It's more the thought of being in prayer before God and desiring.
Him.
That he would supply the assembly with a good uh.
Number of ministerial gifts such as that would be prophecy and build up the Saints in the most holy faith. So it's a collective desiring here. Did you agree with that 100%? Yes. I think we would all agree to that in the sense in which Bruce is mentioning that Timothy was also told in Second Timothy 4 to do the work of an evangelist. Now we don't need to argue about whether he had the gift of an evangelist or not. Some would feel that he did.
And that it simply ended stirring up, uh, personally, I prefer to think that perhaps he was having to do something that maybe he wasn't altogether gifted or qualified for. And we may find that.
To me, it's significant that that remark is in Second Timothy because in the days of ruin in which we are, we may find that the needed gift because of the confusion and ruin that has come in is not immediately available to us. And we all know the old story about the wife that was sick in the hospital. And what does the husband do? He does his best in the kitchen, not because he's trying to compete with his wife.
Our husbands can be good cooks. I don't mean that, but if it were me, I wouldn't compete with my wife. But the point is, if the children are hungry, the husband does his best and he may improve with time, as Bruce says, simply because.
He is working at it. And so there is that sense, I believe, in these last days where I do something because the Lord, as Bob says, puts it in front of me.
And maybe I say, well, I'm not. I'm not that gifted, I must confess.
To use Bruce's analogy, more than once in our local assembly I've said, Oh, if only we had so and so here, or if only we had so and so, and I'll throw the ball back at Bruce. I've said more than once when?
Brethren were pitching difficult questions about prophecy around. I've said I wish we had brother Bruce here, but he's 2500 miles away in Richmond, BC. So what do we do? We do the best we can.
And is there a sense of that in these last days? I believe there is. And so it's not that we're trying to pretend to be something, but it's that we do what the Lord puts in front of us to the best of our ability.
And we will improve with time.
So was that the case possibly with Moses?
The 5th chapter of Exodus when God gave me the permission to make the children of Israel out of Egypt and he puts up his protest, even saying that I'm not elegant, I can't talk and God even gets angry with him as to his excuses and his.
Defer this Commission, perhaps. And then I wonder, what was Moses, you know?
Did Moses have again or did God just say you're going to do what I meant to do?
00:35:01
His ability to do it really. Read later that he was Tamika of all men.
An interesting answer must be the use of God for what he accomplished there in Egypt brings that people out. And then there's the Apostle Paul. He says there in Prince. His second Prince is, I believe, something about.
When God has a purpose to accomplish, he uses such creatures as we as a marble. We need to begin with, but then he would take pictures, Moses and friends, the apostles fall to him, perhaps others.
Purposes and so, uh, there may be in the beginning for each of them in a way that apparently shows no gift but.
I think it has to do with the when a person receives a gift by the Spirit of God when he's saved, God gives it an embryo, so to speak, and it leaves it for the individual to exercise that and to develop it so that it becomes.
Uh, E efficient with it and where I would, uh, turn you to, to show you that in the life of, uh, the ministry of the Lord Jesus would be in math. No, it's in Mark 4.
When he speaks about the, uh, the growth of seeds and it's, uh, 60643060 and then 100 showing that because that lessons with regard to service in Mark's gospel. And he's showing there that as the serpent goes forth in the early use of his gift, he may produce 30 fold, but as he goes on and develops that gift is 60 fold until 100 fold. And that's the normal order of things, whereas he and Matthew, it takes it. Then the numbers go in reverse because he's not talking about the exercise of gifts and service. He's talking about dispensational things.
And in dispensational truth with regard to God's ways, everything diminishes as the dispensation comes to the close of its, uh, time. And so it's completely different than Matthew. And so God gives us a gift in embryo. We are responsible to exercise it and to, uh, use it in dependence upon the Lord. And we will be more and more, uh, effective with it. A number of you older brethren will remember Armistead Barry.
Mr. Clark told Wayne and I that, uh.
Mr. Hayhoe Senior Hayhoe Mr. Harry Hayhoe used to sit in his front room and say when he first started ministry we thought I have a gift and he said we had a proof it was painful.
But he says, you know, after he got going, he would he would got better and better. Now it's so good. I just love it. Well, what happened? Did he acquire a gift along the way? No, he didn't. He had it all alone, but it needed to be developed.
And those of us who know of Mr. Barry's ministry, it was good ministry.
Very sound and and full of the grace of God. So I would just say for the younger ones that are here that God has given you a gift. If you're saved, you may not know what it is, but as you do those things that are before you, it will become evident as you go along in your Christian pathway. And the reason why I say this is because that's the reason why we don't take, let's say, let's say there's a 15 year old boy that's here. He's been saved. He's got to get and it's a gift of teaching. Well, why don't we get him to sit here on this chair here and teach it. He's got a gift of teaching.
Well, there's more to it than that. It needs to be developed. He needs to learn the truth, take it in and then be exercised about how to give it out. And in time he will be useful. But at 15 it, it's not effective yet. And I would be out of place for him to to be teaching in in that state. And so there is, as we were saying, there's ability, there's gift, then there's the development of the gift. And then there's also that the exercising it independence upon the Lord. Maybe some brother and I know there are, but here in this room this afternoon.
To have a gift that could explain these things as good as any person here.
But they, there's the Spirit of God that leads and they carry it out in dependence upon the Lord. And maybe the Spirit of God is not leading at this time with regards to certain ones. So we need to realize and take into consideration that, uh, it is, it has to be carried out independence upon the Lord. Would you agree with it that way?
00:40:12
I remember, uh, your father-in-law kind of Bill who was encouraging his younger brothers one time Albert Hagel and.
So the first time he got up to give the gospel, I guess it must have been in Toronto, and there were quite a few senior brothers and.
Said he was trembling so bad that his mouth went dry and to pick up the glass of water and his hand was trimmed and so that he had to hold it with both hands get it up to his mouth.
That didn't have us to remember hearing Albert Hale preach the gospel. What a tremendous gift he had in that particular area. It shows that gift has to be developed so.
Don't get discouraged young brother, if you make your mistakes.
Get more dependent on the Lord and continue on in our military, in the Special Forces, it's interesting to notice, I forget how many there are in their teams, but let's say there's ten. They train everybody to do all the jobs of everybody else. But there's one guy who's very good at each job. There's a sniper, there's a medic, but they all are trained how to do triage. They're all trained and do how to do sniper work. They're all trained in the individual talent. Somebody is an explosive expert and so on. But there's one guy who's really gifted at it, but they train everybody to do it. And I thought about this, that.
If you look at all the gifts that are in the Bible, to some extent those things should show up in every Christian's life. Like let's say the gift of health, which shouldn't all Christians be helpful?
The gift of faith.
Should all Christians manifest faith?
The gift of teaching sent all Christians bell to explain, even if it's to one person, the truth. If all the gifted teachers are away in an assembly, they're all sick or something and you, you come together. Should they sit in silence and no one say anything? I think the Lord can lead if, uh, one of those guys in special forces is wounded and falls by the way, or killed, someone picks up part of that job because there's a need to. I like the, some of the thoughts that were expressed about the times that we're in. And it is not that somebody that has the, a lesser ability would step up and say, well, I can do that too. I'll just take over here and, and take care of it.
No, maybe they stepped into that fight. Then I had another thought in this regard about the mentoring. When we look in the New Testament, no, we don't see clergy and we don't see seminaries, but we do see mentors. We do see older brethren mentoring the younger ones. Timothy and Titus would be examples of that, wouldn't it? Well, when you went, if those who went to public school and went to gym class, gym class, you played volleyball, you ran, you did all kinds of things. Well, often the gym classes.
Uh, were run by coach and they will notice things. They'll notice the kid that can really run and they may come to him and say, you ought to cry for track and I'll notice the kid that can really kick the soccer ball in gym class. You know, maybe we need you as a place kicker on the football team. That something is seen as they watch them go about exercising what they do and somebody who has an eye for the talent is watching and saying, you know, maybe you should try out for that because you seem to have an ability.
Well, you may see some kid may throw the football and be pretty good with these little buddies and he's a short little guy. You may not tell that guy to try out for the quarterback position, but the guy that's big and tall and can throw it half the length of the football team, uh, the football, uh, field, You may, the coach will say, you know what, you ought to come try out for the football team. I've thought about it in that way that when somebody comes alongside and says, you know, brother.
Uh, I've noticed something about you. You seem to be, whenever there's a need, you seem to be there to be helping somebody. When I was in the assembly in, in Des Moines, there were, there was a couple there that if anybody ever asked me who has the gift of health, I named them right away because they're always there. And that was the subtle it, Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, I said, man, they're always there. Whenever there's a need, they're there. They're always doing it and just quietly and behind the scenes.
That may be somebody's main gift. There may be somebody that has several, but older brethren can come alongside and say, you know, I've noticed something. Perhaps you ought to look to the Lord about it. Maybe you should pray in regard to this. I've seen this in you.
00:45:06
I like what is at the end of the 1St 11 is about to get. We've been speaking up for a while. It gives the end of it or the purpose.
That it's not to exult ourselves. It's one that I've often heard said Christensen, is a vast arena where men are striving to put themselves forward. Well, this is the contrast of that and the purpose of gift, the end of it that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praised and dominion forever and ever, though be A and in that way, brother Steve, I think that partly explains the.
Bodily presence of Paul being weak and his speech contemptible.
Sometimes when God gives a gift, yes, He does prepare the vessel for it gives the ability. But sometimes, especially with a prominent gift, the Lord may deliberately make the vessel.
Less appealing in the natural sense. In order that Christ may be exalted and in order that God may be glorified, man must be more in the background, I believe. And so if that happens sometimes.
Well, the Corinthians were right there. They they wanted someone that looked very good and so on. Remember someone remarked to me, you said, have you all, have you noticed how that it's usually tall men, good looking men that get to be president of the United States? There's a reason for that.
Sure, that doesn't mean that they've got everything between the ears, but people like that kind of a person. And I don't say that to pick on the United States. It was just a statement that was made. But sometimes God deliberately makes the vessel less attractive in the natural sense in order that Christ might be more honored and glorified. And so we should seek to attract to Christ, not to ourselves. When God gives the gift, you don't thank the gift, you thank the giver of the gift.
Yeah, and I think we need to be, umm, careful in how we encourage not to puff up rather, but that's the Lord would be glorified.
Let's say that I feel Lord has had to deal with me very strongly at times to make me feel when I.
Terrible dependence on Him at all times. There's going to be any blessing from your life to your young people or older ones to it's because of the Lord using you and if you get clocked with your own importance.
You won't be a vessel that the Lord can use. I feel that happens sometimes.
Look to the Lord at all times. He is the one that gives the blessing, uses human instruments, but if we think we are important then he may not be able to use this like he wants to.
Lord help us that's in verse 7 Bob at the end of verse seven is the safeguard, isn't it be ye therefore sober it is we want their thoughts. What are we about and it's by watching undue prayer. That's twice of defense. That's what that's where we're found in that place. It's a tenants. It's been fair.
Well, we probably should go on a bit if we're going to finish the chapter.
Well, we have two more things here that are brought before us.
In verses 1213 and 14.
We have the reproach for the name of Christ.
And that is a very real thing in this world.
It's a very direct thing in many parts of the world today. Perhaps we're not so much aware of it, but they tell me on good authority that.
Probably it's a conservative figure that close to 200,000 people as believers give up their lives for the name of Christ every year. In the world of today, you don't hear much about it. You may hear about the odd one, but it goes on. The name of Curtis is not wanted and you and I live in lands where we don't have to experience that for the moment.
But there is a reproach for the name of Christ, And if we can.
Play a little emphasis on what was said in the address this afternoon if we're going to be faithful to Christ in the true sense of the Word and walk according to His precious Word.
00:50:06
There is a cross to be born that will not be popular, even in some cases among fellow believers and in the House of God.
Scripture now calls it a great house in Second Timothy 2 and in the Great house, sad to say. And we're not here, as Bruce said, to throw rocks at other believers or speak I'll of any particular group.
But merely to say that the devil has done a good job of bringing Christianity down to the level of the world, mixing it with the world so that it has an air of respectability, an air of tolerance that was never intended in the first place.
And if you and I seek to follow a rejected Christ with a full heart, we will find that these verses will apply even in these favored lands.
But I say to you, and I trust that I say it to my own soul, remember the truth at verse 14.
Never fear the reproach of Christ that someone has said. It will make your face shine like an Angel.
And it will, because you will realize that the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
And so if we're spoken I'll of in the pathway of faithfulness, it's a wonderful thing. The next few verses, and we'll get to them in a few minutes, speak of our speak, someone speaking I'll of us because of wrongdoing. That's a serious thing for a believer and we have to be careful not to mix the two. I've seen believers pretend that it was the reproach of Christ when they were being reproached for letting the flesh show itself in their lives.
But if we're truly reproached for the name of Christ, there's a special glory, isn't they're connected with it that nothing can match?
Virus. In what way do the liver partake of Christ's sufferings?
You know well we could never partake of the atoning sufferings in that way, can we? That was only in the three hours of darkness on the cross. But I believe in the sense that we suffer in this world for following one who is rejected.
We partake of his sufferings, but we don't have time to develop it. But there's a difference between suffering for Christ and suffering with Christ. Suffering for Christ, perhaps, is what we might.
Mention as active persecution against the name of Christ that we bear.
Suffering with Christ is what we experience perhaps more inwardly in suffering from within all that he felt in the pathway of faithfulness to God his Father in this world. And that in one sense is sometimes a much deeper thing because it's not outward in the way that suffering for Christ is. But I believe both are in view here. And in that sense I would suggest.
We're partakers of Christ's sufferings in the sense that we not only share.
That place of rejection that he shared, but we feel everything according to how he felt. You get a little bit of a bit of in First Corinthians 11 There where Paul would say or Second Corinthians 11, sorry.
Where he would say who is well, better read it.
Someone else could quote it right off and I'm going to stumble over it, but.
2nd Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 29 he says who is weak?
And I am not weak who is offended and I burn not.
Paul could have said them O Come on, get off it. Don't be offended.
His only retort was, well, don't bark your shins on the way down. He didn't have any sympathy for her at all.
Hall felt that even though it was wrong to be offended, but he felt for the individual who was offended.
Because they were one of Christ's sheep. I don't know. Does that, does that commend itself, Bruce, or is there something else there that we're missing?
Romans 8, I think speaks of, uh, suffering with Christ. And perhaps it's an additional thought to what you mentioned, Bill, but uh, I've enjoyed it. He says in verse 17 of Romans 8, if children then heirs, heirs of God and joined heirs with Christ, If so, they that we suffer.
00:55:13
With him that we may be also glorified together and in that chapter it takes a lot of the groaning of this present creation. When you follow the pathway of the Lord Jesus through this world, you find that oftentimes he groans. Why did he groan? Because he found everything here in such disorder and.
Out of the current of what God's purpose for this creation was, that there was nothing else you could do but wrong. And we grown too, it says in Scriptures.
And I think when we look around and see such disorder in the world around and even in Christian circles, we can groan and in a certain way is suffering with him.
I have a question.
Is there any thoughts when you stay with him? Well, we have. He's touched with the feelings of our infirmities that when we suffer, we don't suffer alone. Is there any thought in that, that he feels it?
And with.
Hi, Kurt. I think so. I think so. I believe so, yes. I believe that's the same thought. The Lord suffers in that sense with us. There isn't one bit of suffering that you and I go through, but what the Lord doesn't feel it with us.
Because we are His own. But then He calls on you and me to have that same spirit so that we suffer, as we said a moment ago. Because we ought to feel what others are going through, even though we are not going through it. But we ought to feel the fact that our blessed Lord and Master doesn't have His rightful place, and that all the unrighteousness that is present in this world.
Is an affront to the one who is the rightful king, and he doesn't have his rightful place.
Maybe I could just add that, uh, we, we all suffer with Christ because we have a life in nature and because of the Spirit of God is with us. We have the Spirit of Christ that we've seen what he feels as we see the groaning creation and persons suffering because of what sin has brought in the creation. And so we all more or less suffer with him.
But suffering for Christ is a definitely an elective thing. We can, we can get, we can get rid of that one by just being unfaithful. Suffering for Christ comes because we put ourselves in the, in the path of testimony, suffer as a result of rejection, reproach and that sort of thing.
Well, I have a Christian friend that was blind and he asked me the question and he was born that way.
So sometimes I wonder about the suffering that I that comes from it.
N.
When you see him in that state and you try to sympathize with what he must be feeling, you are suffering with Christ because Christ himself feels it when he sees his own creatures suffering as a result of what sin has wrought and we suffer with him because we have the spirit of Christ. That's what Romans 8 about. Well, that's, that's me. But he was asking me about him himself, the suffering that he feels prominent how he can relate to Christ in his suffering. Now I, I, you know, I feel for him. I'm amazed at him. I, I walk with him. I walk with him outside his house and nailed a sign to the to a fence out without any help from anybody. I mean, it's amazing.
What he's able to do. But he asked me about how he sometimes suffered because of his disability, how he could relate that with suffering with Christ and those thoughts. And uh, I, I don't think I gave him a good answer.
Well, I just suggest the thought that as our great High Priest, we know that according to Hebrews 4, we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
We are yet without sin, and some might say, and I say it with all reverence.
01:00:04
Using your man as an example of the believer you're talking about, he might say, but the Lord was never blind.
So how could he identify with me?
Let me use an illustration.
We won't name any particular country, but I visit and others here do, two countries in the world where conditions are very different to what they are here in North America. And in some places things are downright, shall we say, filthy and downright in disorder and confusion. And I've asked myself sometimes as I watch people in those countries, I feel for them the misery, the sorrow, the heartache, the things they have to go through.
And in one sense I can say, yes, I'm here, but in a matter of a few weeks I can get on the plane and go home again.
But who notices it the most? The person who lives there and who gets accustomed to it? Or the person who comes from something that is far different?
You know the answer to that. The one who visits feels it, sees it, is affected by it much, much more, even though in himself he doesn't have to be part of it. Now, we do sometimes partake of it in a practical way in the Lord Jesus did too. But I don't believe, to put it straightforwardly, that the Lord was ever sick. I don't believe he ever had the flu. I don't believe he ever had a migraine headache or some of the things that we have.
He wasn't subject to all those effects of sin because he never did sin.
But from without, he felt it all, and in seeing it all, and in walking through this world.
I believed he felt it in a way that makes him a merciful and faithful high priest, and so I believe he can and does enter into all those things.
Even though we could say practically the Lord never had cancer, the Lord never had a heart attack, the Lord never was blind or something like that. But in coming down from those heights of glory to walk and live in all of the things that sin had wrought, he could weep at the grave of Lazarus and feel it as none other could.
What I told him was that don't despise it.
He called you as a blind man. He saved you as a blind man. God has purposed in you being a blind man for him.
In something in there, whether you understand it or not, God has good from that, in that you're blind. And I've watched how he can help other people, how he teaches other blind people and so on. I said there's redemption in that and identifying it with it. God has a purpose in you being a blind servant for him. And that that was the thought that I had suggested to him, that there's something in that if you see it that way, that I'm a blind man for Christ and if I suffer in some way.
Then it's for him.
I wonder if the 9th of John would bring go ahead.
I I wondered if the 19th verse wouldn't be an answer to your question and I puzzled over that verse many a time in the sense it doesn't say as unto a faithful Redeemer or anything else like that, but as unto a faithful Creator.
And I think the last verse of the book of Jonah gives you an example of that, the care that God has over his creation. I'll read it.
You should not ice bare Nineveh, that great city wherein are more than 64000 persons that cannot discern between their right hands and their left hand and also much catalyst. God is concerned about that. Hmm, it's interesting Ernie, because her 17.
Speaking of the judgment that's beginning at the House of God, even these persecutions God can use in his own dealings with us in his house for his own purposes.
I remember brother Speaking of that last verse of our chapter one time and he made this comment. He said I believe that there were many martyrs burnt at the stake that never felt the force of the flames.
He is a faithful creator and he knows what it means to be burned, and He puts the sensibilities into our bodies and He will sustain this in whatever situation he may call it to pass through. I thought that was very helpful.
Before we leave the passage, could we have a bit of a word on verse 18, just so that we.
01:05:03
Have it clear, because it could be understood if the righteous, scarcely or with difficulty, perhaps it could read, be saved. Where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear? What is the sense of that, so that we don't cast aspersions on what the work of Christ has done for us? What does that verse mean?
Jewish folks and that he writes to a remnant saved and they had it hard.
That's the thought, Bruce.
There are many difficulties in the pathway. That's why you quoted Janjardi's translation. If the righteous, uh, was difficult, is saved. And so there are many difficulties in the pathway and we need, uh, practical salvation in those things. And if we are going to make it through without being overcome and taken by the various, uh, things that we have to face as Christians, how much more the ungodly understanding.
Because they are going to.
Isn't this encompassing salvation in its total Not not just about being saved from hell. It's a saved life that has saved everything. That's right. I've seen faith in the powers and.
And so we shouldn't, shall I say, be dismayed. Sometimes we are by God's judgment in his house. Sometimes believers can think and we have a song that brings it out while there are others living so wicked, it says year after year, and the Lord doesn't seem to interfere. God isn't dealing with the world at this moment, is he?
Yes, he's looking after the whole situation and accomplishing his purposes, but his time to judge this world has not come yet. Not that he doesn't on occasion as we have. For example, in Luke's Gospel chapter 13, where he allowed the Lord, Jesus remarked on the tower of Siloam that fell on some, and they told him about those that pilot had mingled their blood with their sacrifices.
The Lord may use some as examples of judgment that is coming, but for the most part, the Lord isn't there now publicly to judge this world.
But he's intervening in his house because we belong to him, and he's going to have the last word with everyone of us. And if we could make this practical comment, sometimes we see a dear brother or a dear sister who is used in real blessing to others. And perhaps others under the hand of God have found that dear brother or dear sister a tremendous help and a tremendous encouragement.
But if you and I have ever been used in that way, there's a danger of our getting to think, well, I don't need correction. I don't need straightening out. I help others when the Lord's dealing with them. I help others when the Lord's straightening out things in their lives. But I don't need it. And then if the Lord puts his hand on me, Ouch. I may resist it, I may pretend I don't need it, and I may make real shipwreck.
Of the faith in my life. And so let's not be unwilling to listen to the Lord's hand, whether it's directly his hand or whether it's through the instruments of others, because God intends it for our good. He intends it for our blessing.
And there is government in the House of God. In one sense, thank God that there is, because it would not be God's house if he just allowed everything to go on the way we would like it. But he intervenes for our good and our blessing, and not an order that he may cause us pain, but in order that we might be more useful to him after having passed through the trial.
01:10:05
#168.
A Certain Rich Man; a Certain Beggar
Gospel—R. Waddle
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With the solemn song that we sang tonight.
The wondrous love of God.
That love is so great.
He came to die for you and I.
We had sinned against a righteous, holy God.
We were sinners by nature and by practice.
We didn't love God.
We hated him.
There was no love in our hearts for him. We turned our backs against him.
We bustled up our neck.
And the love of God has come out.
God loves us.
John 316 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You know, dear ones, tonight you're going to live forever.
You know that you're going to live forever. You have a never dying soul, you have a spirit and you're going to live forever. Where will you spend eternity?
Where will you be? One second, One minute?
Now if the Lord would come, the shout would be given.
Would this room be empty?
Or would you be sitting in that seat for judgment? No other chance, no other second chance. It's gone, gone forever and you'd be doomed. You'd be doomed in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels. One brother prayed to. Not tonight in the prayer meeting, not knowing the Scripture that was Lord laid upon the heart. Luke 16.
About the rich man, the and the Lazarus and Lazarus and this has been a solemn.
Speaking to my heart of late.
You know when I was growing up.
The gospel was given forth.
In power, and I know it is today too, but it seemed like.
Hell was brought before us. The lake of fire, the judgment of God was brought before us.
And then the love of Christ.
Oh, what a difference. You know the devil longs to drag you into hell. He wants company.
He doesn't care about your soul, He doesn't care about you, but he just wants to drag you down so that you won't go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. And so as I, the Lord brought before me this chapter.
Partly I thought of the love of Christ. I thought it compels us, constrained us. He compels us to come with open arms. He said, Whosoever will may come.
Have you come, or are you sitting in that seat still a lost, guilty Sinner? Oh, God wants to save you tonight. He wants to save you. The Lord Jesus wants to come into your heart and wash your sins away in His own precious blood.
And so it's a solemn thing to reject the gospel. You know, I can say nothing to working that hard and conscious of yours. Only God by his precious word can speak to your heart. But you know, I'm going to have to give answer to God what I say tonight. You're going to have to get answer to God for what you do with God's Word. And I would urge you to come to the Savior. Oh, he loves you, He loves you.
There's no one else that can love you as much as God, and He proved that love to you. As I said before, He sent His only begotten Son into the world.
He died for you. And we had something about that last night in the Gospel so faithfully preached. We had that what the Lord Jesus went through first from the hands of man, but all in those dark hours will never enter into it. We'll never enter into what He went through.
Think of God. He called upon God. He said, My God, my God, who asked, thou forsaken me.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
It must have been I speak reverently when God looked down, punished his beloved Son, that ever was his delight and he looked down and he heard that cry. He heard that cry, but he couldn't do anything about it because salvation.
00:05:07
He came to seek and to save that which was law, salvation for you and for me, and it was a cost. And so He turned his back upon that beloved One when he poured out all my sins and your sins upon that blessed holy Lamb of God, that One that was perfect in every way. Do you know him? Is he your Savior tonight? You know and I know, dear brother Bob was exercised last night, and I've been exercised too.
About Are you truly saved?
Is there coming on a time in your life when you really did accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Or are you just a professor? It's a solemn thing. It's wonderful to be raised in a Christian home.
And to be raised in the meeting, it's wonderful, but you know, it's a solemn responsibility.
It's a solemn responsibility.
What are you doing with it? Are you turning it aside? Are you going on as if you're saved a professor and not a possessor? God looks down in that heart.
I can't see it. God does so and you know it. Oh, the love of God. The love of God as we sing together. What wondrous love at such a cost. Well, let's go to Luke's Gospel chapter 16 for a few thoughts.
We'll just read a portion of that in the in verse 19.
A few comments.
That I trust.
As we read this, that you'll your heart will be touched.
There was a certain man, rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and paired sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at the gate full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and left his sores full stop there for a moment.
Here there's two men. One is given a name, Lazarus.
The other is not named.
And so here we read of the rich man, first clothed in purple and fine linen. Royalty. He had everything that this world could give him. He had it all.
He says he fared sumptuously every day. Everything was wonderful.
He had everything.
But we find out that a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate full of sores.
In reading this over again, I see that he was laid there at the gate. The rich man's gate we don't read. That he ever went in that gate we don't read he was ever let in there, do we?
He says he desired verse 20. He desired to be fed with the crumbs. All he wanted was a few crumbs.
Did he get them? It doesn't sound like it.
Moreover, the dogs came and like to sword. What a what a pitiful condition he was in.
Sad condition.
Well, you know, if you're still in your sins, you're in a sad condition.
Without God, without hope, there's no hope for you in this world.
Center friend, there's no hope.
In this world, the world can't do anything for you without God and without hope. But oh, Jesus came.
God's beloved Son came.
Down here to where you and I were.
And met our need. We had a great need.
We were sinners.
We were had putrefying sores. There was nothing good in US. And there, there we were open book to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In all of our wretched condition.
He came to seeking to save that which was lost.
And so here, this there man named Lazarus, had nothing of this world, not one thing of this world.
But he had the most important thing. He had Christ.
00:10:02
He knew where he was going.
The rich man didn't know. He never thought about it. He went on in his own way, not thinking about what was ahead of him. And perhaps that's the way you are tonight. Maybe you're just going on day after day.
Lulled to sleep by Satan's ways.
And you just go on knowing about the gospel, hearing the gospel, but you're letting it.
Run off your back, as it were, like a water off of a deck. It's not entering into your heart and conscience.
How solemn it is.
And so I was thinking too, you might just look at Revelation 20 for one verse at this time.
You know, I want to speak about Satan.
The God of this world, Small G, who's blinded the minds. And that's what he'll do, dear.
Friend tonight.
He'll blind you.
He comes as an Angel of light.
Part of the word of God. Maybe he'll say something, whisper something in your ear, but it won't be the truth.
And so it's a solemn thing here in chapter 20 and verse 10.
And the devil that deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and should be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
There's what happens to the devil and his angels.
And then, dear friend, as we look in Matthew 25.
Matthew, Chapter 25.
And verse 30.
And cast either on profitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of tea.
Weeping and gnash of teeth.
What a solemn thing.
And then we go on.
Down a little farther.
Verse 46.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.
Or if you only knew what was ahead of you, if you're still in your sins. And that's what, with the Lord's help, I want to bring before you the solemn truth. There is a hell. There is a hell. People will make light of it today.
That they all have plenty of company in hell.
There's going to be plenty there, but they'll not be your company.
As we read later on.
Down in in Mark Chapter 9.
There's a word therefore.
For you if you're still in your sins.
You know God brings these things before us because he doesn't want to have to cast you into hell.
Where the devil and the angels are.
He wants you to have life, eternal life. And so as we read here in Mark 9.
Verse 44.
Where the worm died not and the fire is not quenched.
46 where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.
And 48.
Where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, you're going to have a conscience.
And you know you're going to be reminded of this very meeting tonight if you go out of this room without Christ, if you find yourself in that eternal lake of fire.
But you won't be there on love because God loves you. He doesn't want you to go there. You've chosen. You have to make a choice. I can't choose from you.
The one sitting next to you. Your loved ones cannot choose it for you. You have to come.
Before the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're responsible.
And you have to own that you're a Sinner and receive Him as your Savior and Lord. This is what's going to happen. You're going to have a conscience for all eternity. I remember a neighbor, man.
Many, many years ago.
He had lived a life of sin and sorrow. He was a wicked man.
He got sick, very sick, and he went to the hospital.
00:15:04
And I believe I've told this story to some before, but even in Des Moines. And we asked her brother Whitaker to go to see him.
And he went to see him.
And he said I've, I've lived a life that I wanted to live and if I had to do it again, I'd, I'd live it the same way.
Sought to bring before him the love of Christ and the gospel. And you know that man rejected the gospel.
The love of God and they said when he died.
It was a terrible death, the horrors of hell before him. He was crying and screaming.
Too late, he had waited. Too late.
He went to a lost eternity.
He's going to spend the eternity with the devil and his angels. How solemn. We don't want you to be there, dear ones. God doesn't want you to be there.
God wants to have you in heaven with and like Himself.
But it's up to you to make the decision. As I said, we can't make it for you or we'd love to. We can't make it for our children.
But oh, it's wonderful to leave them in the hands of God to pray, pray every day.
And you know, there was a prayer meeting tonight and last night down there in that room crying to God for you. And if you didn't accept the Lord Jesus Christ last night, you have one more opportunity.
No, we read that God speaketh once, he ate twice, and man perceiveth it not. How many times has he spoken to you? Can you remember?
Has it been once? Has it been twice? You know, two times it says, doesn't say about anymore, but there's two times that God speaks to you.
And maybe the third time will be too late. Too late. It's a solemn thing to trifle with God.
Especially when we think the love of God, oh how he loves, we sing that Him, oh how he loves. He loves us so much He doesn't want to send us to the lake of fire. But you know there's no other other thing that God can do if you reject his his gospel and to send you to a lost eternity.
Well, there's going to be in Matthew 13. There's also going to be a thought there.
So what's going to take place in hell?
Matthew 13.
In verse 42.
And and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
House Solemn.
Wailing and gnashing of teeth.
That's your portion. If you reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ at your portion, oh, don't reject him. We plead for you tonight.
Receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. He wants to save you tonight. He's willing and ready to save you, and He's warning you about what's to come if you reject the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
I want to tell you a little story and bear with me for those that already know it, but I feel the Lord wants me to tell it.
In the Midwest, many years ago, we would thrash the grain of oats.
In a thrashing machine we would take these bundles, shocks and make shocks out of them, 8 little bundles with a cap over top for the rain. And then the crew would come from 1 farm to the other and they bring a big long machine that would thrash this grain and the oats would come out one spigot and the straw would go out the other and.
And so it was time nearing time for him to come in our area. And so when it did come in our area.
There was a warning given out.
My father told me, he said don't claim that straw pile. That straw stack, well, we're threshing. There's holes in there. There's places where you can fall in. Don't do it, son.
And so.
This beautiful sunshiny day, the sun was shining brightly and my neighbor friend and I.
We thought it would be fun to climb this straw pile, forgetting all about what my father had said.
00:20:04
And so we were having great fun. The straw was blowing out all over.
And all of a sudden I fell into a hole.
Above my head I could see just this straw coming in.
Covering me up. Sunshine was going away and I cried. I tried to my friend.
I cried from the top of my voice. I was way down there. I couldn't grab myself and get out.
This boy, young boy, was skinny, thin little fellow.
And all of a sudden, I saw the hand reaching down through the hole. And so I said, would I say, oh wait, I don't want you? No, I was in need. I needed help. And so I called. When that hand came down, I grabbed it immediately.
And by the strength of God, he pulled me out. I wasn't saved. I knew about salvation.
I knew all about the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing from all sin. I knew about hell. I knew about the devil. I had heard it, but I had let it go. I had rejected it. He spoke once.
So he pulled me out and there I was. And so a few days later, came home from country school, walking about a mile and a quarter, came into the house, came into the kitchen, and we always liked to have a peanut butter sandwich or something after we got home. Nobody home, My dad's overhauls was laying over the chair. Mom's sweater was there.
And you know, I thought the Lord's come. I'm not saying.
It's too late.
That was the second time God speak as much. He ate twice, and man perceive at the top God's love.
And so.
Not long after after that, in the middle of the night, in the blackness of night.
I cried unto the Lord for salvation.
I told the Lord I was a Sinner.
I told him I need to be saved.
I opened my heart's door and received the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart.
It was wonderful.
01 How many times has the Lord spoken to you?
If I would have died, I had been lost forever.
Oh, God's wonderful love. I believe that there's someone in the room tonight.
God is speaking to your soul tonight.
Don't turn them off Accept them. Receive them. This may be the last time that you can be saved tonight. Oh, don't reject that wondrous love of the Lord Jesus. Don't reject it. Receive Him into your heart tonight.
His arms are loving, outstretched to come unto me. All your labor, heavy lane. I'll give you rest. Come, come. Behold, now is accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. It's real. They're ones that's real.
If I would have pulled that man and that young boy in had been two of us into eternity.
You know, that that man lives down in in near Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ. And so when we were down to Cottonwood, I was trusting that I could go see him. I called him on the telephone and he said, you know, I don't even remember that time when it happened.
But I I asked him if he knew the Lord Jesus. He said I do. Oh, how wondrous, how wondrous, how gracious of God in his love. I deserve to die. I deserve to die because I had sinned. I have spun the love, spurned the love of God. I turned away my back from him. I knew I was raised in a Christian home. I knew the Gospel.
And I had rejected it, put it off. That's the same as rejected neglect, salvation. How about you tonight? It's a solemn thing tonight if you're sitting in that seat tonight.
Lost without Christ, it's solemn.
The Word of God is open.
God is speaking to you through His Word.
And so we have this story here.
This this story here that has touched my heart and conscience back in Luke.
00:25:02
Luke chapter 16. Let's go on.
Verse 22.
And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. What a difference with these two men.
The beggar Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom.
Yes, he was carried right in the presence of God.
But we find out the rich man he died was buried.
But that wasn't the end of him.
And if you die tonight, that's not going to be end of you either, because remember I said you have a living soul, never dying soul. You're going to live forever.
And so here we find.
We find what happens to the rich man in hell, Hades.
Grave, but he was in torments. Think of it.
He had such a good life, you might say. We had everything that he could have that he desired. He wouldn't even give the crumbs to this poor beggar Lazarus.
Oh, he was all for himself.
And now we find him in torment. Oh, how solemn tonight.
How solemn to be in a condition that way.
That you'll find yourself.
In torments forever.
And we find out what he wanted to do. And this is what one brother prayed about.
Going to the House of the Five Brethren, and warning them.
But before that he cries, and he said, verse 24, Father Abraham, have mercy on me.
And send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for an torment in this flame.
Just take the tip of his finger and dip it in water. Put it on his tongue.
That's all he wanted. How long would that last?
Wouldn't even last, would it? It wouldn't even help anything to put one drop of water on that burning tongue.
Tormented.
Forever and ever, you know. Have you thought of that?
That's a solemn thing to think of, being tormented forever and ever. You had an opportunity to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, and you rejected it. You neglected so great a salvation.
And you let the opportunity go.
And now you're going to have to pay for it for one day, for one month, for one year, forever and ever.
Tormented day and night.
Think of it, you know, when we break a bone or we have some injury that just, it just hurts. Terrible pain, pain, pain.
And it seems like it's not going to go away.
But think of this forever. Forever tormented day and night.
In the flame apart and not being burned up. Not being burned up. Think of it.
You know our minds can't take it in.
But it's real. It's true. It's the Word of God, not my word. It's the word of God. Listen to the word of God. Take heed.
Well, how solemn it is. And then he says there's a great golf fix 26.
But the the word in verse 25, we want to read that, but Abraham said son remember.
Remember in thy lifetime.
What to remember? I'll receive a good things.
And likewise Lazarus evil thing. But now he's comforted and thou art tormented. What a what a contrast, what a switch around.
How solemn it is. And then there's a great gall fixed that they which would pass from hands to you cannot, neither can they pass to us. That would come from then. But oh, then he's just concerned about his brethren.
00:30:02
Is concerned about them not coming to that place of torment.
And you know, we're concerned about you tonight, everyone of you in this room tonight, young and old.
Were concerned about you tonight.
Where will you spend eternity? Where will you? It's real, it's true, it's going to happen.
Yes.
It's going to hit true. And so he was concerned but said no, even if one rose for the dead, we won't they won't believe and that's true. They wouldn't, you know, even if they said come down from the cross when Satan had gotten the Lord Jesus on the cross.
He wanted, he told him to tell him to come down from the cross. She wanted to have him come down from the cross because he knew.
That if the Lord Jesus gave his life and died on that cross, it would be over for Satan.
Because the Lord Jesus would gain the victory. And He did on that cross at Calvary when he cried out in a loud voice. It is finished. The work of redemption is finished.
Yes.
It was finished.
But even though one would come fries from the dead, they wouldn't believe. That's the heart of man, that's the heart of woman. It's so hardened, so gospel hardened will not believe. Well, that's a solemn side.
Of the devil. But let's go to the bright side.
Let's go to John first. John 511 and 13.
First John 511 And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this is life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
These things have been written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know.
That you have eternal life and that she may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Oh, he wants you to believe. He wants you to believe. He wants you to be saved tonight so he can bless you.
In this life and bless you for all eternity. That's God's love.
First John 4 back up next chapter verse eight God is love. Yes, God is love. We read about that we read that this morning and then we also have.
In John 10 Gospel of John back.
John 10th.
From God's God himself. Oh, there's so many scriptures that give us joy and happiness. The Gospel of John verse chapter 10 and verse 28, I give unto them about the sheep we heard this morning. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand or and my father are one.
Oh, we have a double security.
The Father and the Son. There's no way that once we accept the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior will ever be lost again.
Oh, isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't that give you a piece that does me?
Yes.
I'm his forever and ever all because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And so it's so marvelous to lay hold of these blessed truths that are ours. You know the one thief that well, they both did. They both railed on the Lord Jesus Christ. But the one realized that he was a Sinner and he said we just we justly let's let's turn to it. I don't wanna to quote it wrong.
Let's see. It's in John 23, I believe. Maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to pardon me. Luke 23. Thank you, brother. Yeah. Luke 23.
Luke 23 and down.
And verse 40 Well, let's, let's, let's do 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanging on railed on him, saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself on us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly before we receive the due reward of our deeds.
00:35:03
But this man hath done nothing amiss. Oh, how wonderful. How it must have thrilled the heart of the Lord Jesus to hear that, that one that has rejected him. And now he turned and said, we just, we, we, we just, we, they deserve what we're getting. But the house done nothing amiss. Oh, isn't it wonderful? Jesus says he asked, Lord, remember when thou cometh to thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Oh, what a joy that was.
He got saved. He had railed before. We read in the other gospels that he railed too. But here we get the, the uh, in this word in Luke that he owned that he was getting just what he deserved. Oh, you and I deserve to be banished from God forever. We deserved it. We had sinned. We didn't deserve any grace or mercy, but that's the love of God, the love of God. Oh, he loves you. How can we express this anymore?
Than what we already have from the word of God.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
But have everlasting life. He loves you. He paid a price for you. He gave his life that you might live. He shed his precious blood. He suffered in all those three hours of darkness from the hands of a righteous, holy God, that you and I sitting here might be eternally saved. Oh, what love, what grace, what mercy Have you accepted Him, dear one, tonight has your heart been touched as we've read these scriptures from the Word of God?
Or are you just casting it off? Are you letting it slip one more time? You know, dear friend, if the Lord Jesus would come tonight, he would come in a moment and then twinkle of an eye. It'd be too late to get saved then, and you'd be lost forever. Remember, you have a conscience, and in hell you would remember as this rich man. You would remember forever and ever you would. It would be hard.
Every day to think I had an opportunity to be saved, tormented Dana and I rejected it.
Oh, why not get saved tonight? Why not yield? Don't listen to the enemy. Listen to God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and open your heart's door and receive Him. It's that simple. Even a child can get saved if you're a young 1:00 tonight.
Can understand what has been said. You can get saved tonight too. He's willing and able to save you.
Just confess the Lord Jesus, tell him you all about you've sinned, you've rejected him, but now I want to be saved tonight. And so just open your heart's door, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you'll be on the road at that eternal glory. Oh, how wonderful it's going to be to be with him like Christ. You know, we can't even enter into it. That's all because of Calvary.
That finished work on Calvary's cross. He did it all for you and me. He showed his love. It cost him everything.
To show forth his love. But that's the God of love that we read about.
He loves us, He's given his son to die for us. And now?
And now he's offering salvation, full and free, without money and without cost. Isn't it wonderful? Why not accept him now? Don't reject him any longer. Open your heart's door and receive him, dear. Well, this might be the last opportunity. We don't know.
And it's a solemn warning to you, if you don't accept Christ tonight, you could be in hell. You could be lost forever. And you will be If you don't accept Him as your Savior, Do it now. Receive him as your personal Savior. So we pray.