Denver Conference: 2015
Table of Contents
Romans 11:33 to 12:3
Psalm 23
Address—Jim Hyland
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Our shepherd is the Lord. The living Lord who died with all His fullness can afford. We are supplied 238 if someone will please start it.
And what?
Did they are so proud of joy from an order from day-to-day.
Uh, create your life.
Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father.
How thankful we are this afternoon for the Lord Jesus. We thank Thee. We have come to know that one not only as our Savior, but as our shepherd, our guide, our friend. We thank Thee for that full resource we have in him for every step of the journey here. We thank Thee too, to know where it's all going to end. When we're safe home in the Father's house with and like that blessed one, to sing His praises for all eternity. But now we thank Thee for this time together.
We thank thee for thy living word that thou hast given us as light and instruction, refreshment and encouragement, even for these dark, difficult days. And as we take up some portions this afternoon, our God, we pray that Thou open our ears, speak to our conscience, touch our hearts, that there might be that which would be from myself to spur us on in the path of faith and service. So we ask Thy help. We ask for thy blessing. We ask it with confidence.
With Thanksgiving and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
Before we turn to the portion that is particularly before my soul this afternoon, I'd like to, by way of introduction, read a couple of portions. First of all, in First Samuel Chapter 16.
First Samuel, Chapter 16.
And verse 11.
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest. And behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down, till he come, hit her. And he sent, and brought him in. And he was Ruddy, and with all of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he.
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And then a verse in the 100th Psalm.
Psalm 100.
And verse 3.
Know ye that the Lord He is God. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. And now to the portion that's particularly before my soul suggested by our Him, the 23rd Psalm.
Psalm 23. You'll notice it's a Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yeah, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Well, we're going to speak very simply and I trust for our hearts from this 23rd Psalm. But I thought before we did that by way of introduction, we would look at these two further scriptures that we read because first of all, we have David introduced to us in First Samuel 16 as a keeper of sheep. You know, it's very interesting that.
The two most beautiful and complete types of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament.
Are perhaps Joseph and David, and they are both introduced to us as keepers of sheep, bringing before us immediately that aspect of the person and work of the Lord Jesus, so beautifully portrayed in the New Testament as the shepherd. As has been often pointed out, we know the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd in John 10. There the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep. We find that the Lord Jesus too.
As the great shepherd in the end of Hebrews, the one who cares for the sheep.
And in a future day of glory, he's presented to us in First Peter as the chief shepherd. But both Joseph and David are introduced to us as those who are keeping sheep in their in their youth. And we find that when Samuel went to anoint the future king over Israel, King Saul, who had been the People's Choice, was now rejected by the Lord, and there was God's man going to sit on the throne eventually.
And David is eventually brought before Samuel, and he's anointed. And David was the one who was Ruddy goodly to look upon. He had a beautiful countenance speaking to us in type of the Lord Jesus, the one who was the beloved of the Father, the one of whom from whom he could declare from heaven. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And it's very remarkable, as we go on in the Psalms to notice.
How often the sheep are brought before us, the thought of the shepherd, and particularly in the 23rd Psalm. And what better person to write of the shepherd and the sheep than one who knew the care of sheep in a practical way?
And I would just say at the beginning of this meeting that, practically speaking, I know nothing of the care of sheep. I'm a city boy. I'm not a farmer in any sense of the word. But I do understand one thing, the care of my shepherd for me as his sheep. And so we read in the 100th Psalm that we are the sheep of his pasture, because every one of us here who know the Lord Jesus is our Savior.
We are one of the sheep of the good, the great, and the chief shepherd. Now again it's often been pointed out, but in the 23rd Psalm, if we were to back up to the 22nd Psalm, we find there brought before us in very precious and real language, the sufferings of Christ connected with those sufferings of the cross, because he begins with that which denotes the atoning sufferings of Christ.
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That which he suffered in those hours of darkness, and at the end of it he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But when you read on in that 22nd Psalm, you find he covers just every aspect.
Of the circumstances and the work concerning the cross, the physical sufferings that which he suffered from the dogs, that no doubt denotes the Gentiles, because it was actual Gentile Roman soldiers that eventually laid hands on the Lord Jesus, took him outside the walls of Jerusalem and had him nailed to a Roman cross. There are the bulls of Asian. I think it's in Amos. Perhaps we find that there.
It speaks to us of the Jewish leaders, those who cried away with him crucify him, those who said we have no king but Caesar. We find that there's the lion, that which no doubt speaks of the power of Satan arrayed against him. There's the sword that would speak of death, and so on, and at the end of the Psalm, lest there be any doubt in our minds as to who the psalmist is Speaking of, he says.
He hath done this, Who completed the work? Who fulfilled the work that his Father gave him to do.
Oh, it was none other than the Lord Jesus if we were to jump ahead to the 24th Psalm. So if I can just sum up again in the 22nd Psalm, it's the Good Shepherd giving his life for the sheep. In the 24th Psalm, it's the chief shepherd, because there we find he speaks of a future day of glory when the King of glory is going to come in and for Israel there's going to be the shout of a king amongst them. And then two, he's not only going to reign as the king of the Jews.
But King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he's going to have his rightful place here on planet Earth, where they spit in his face and rejected him and cast him out. But in between that which is passed and that which is future, we have something for the present, and that is the great shepherd who cares for the sheep. Now these psalms, of course, are taken up in different ways, as we've already alluded to.
We find that many of these Psalms, like the 22nd Psalm and the 40th Psalm, the 69th Psalm, the 102nd Psalm, they speak to us prophetically of the feelings of Christ as he passed through the circumstances of life as a man and as he took up the work of the cross. You have the facts in the Gospels, but in the Psalms you have the feelings and expressions that you don't have.
In the Gospels. And there's nothing we'll tug at our heartstrings like going back and reading those Psalms.
In that regard, I suppose that's why so often on Lordsteel Morning, when we're together to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread, we read many of those precious psalms and expressions. We find, too, that the Psalms, being prophetic and Jewish in their character, are the expressions of God's earthly people in a coming day when they are finally brought into blessing, and there's been such a work of grace with them that they recognize.
That it is only the Lord Jesus who can put down their enemies.
And bring them into blessing and establish them in their earthly inheritance. And I have no doubt this Psalm itself will be the very expression of the godly remnant in a future day. But they're also the expressions can be applied at least as the expressions of the Saints of God in every age. As I say, these psalms particularly tug at our heartstrings, and I've been impressed in going in to visit sometimes those who are sick, sometimes those who are elderly and shut in.
Those who are on chronic beds of illness, and I will often ask them what portion of the word of God they would like us to share together. I would say that more often than not, they want you to read a Psalm.
Because these psalms take us through the ups and downs of the believer's life.
And that's the way, for a few moments, I'd like to look at this little Psalm, because you'll notice it's titled as the Psalm of David.
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Now I want to repeat something that I've often said in taking up these Psalms and that is that many of these Psalms have titles and 74 of these Psalms were written by David. You know, when we think of the Psalms, we think of David as the author, but David did not write all of the Psalms. There are 74 that are attributed to David. There are 12 That are attributed to Asaph, 12 to the sons of Korah.
Two to Solomon.
One to uh Moses, one to human and one to Ethan. And you'll notice that from the titles of the Psalms. And then there are 34 Psalms that do not have a title. And these titles are not added by the translators. They are part of the ancient manuscripts and as such they are part of the inspired word of God. And as David's son Solomon said in Proverbs, every word of God is is pure.
And so we need to take heed when there is a title to the Psalm, because it has something to say. Now, these psalms were written as individual psalms. They are some of them are given a title.
And if there is a title, it is important to note the title. It has something to say to us.
Some of the titles are a little longer than others, but there are a number of Psalms that are the Psalm of David. In other words, if we can think of it in this way for our practical purposes today, they are the the experiences of David going through the ups and downs of life as a man. And when you go back and read the life of David, you find that David did not have an easy life.
Just like you and me in the Christian pathway, there's all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns. There's joys as well as sorrows. And as David went through the circumstances of life, you find.
That he developed a real confidence and a joy in his God. Think of David being called by UH Jesse to be anointed the future king of Israel. From that point on he had one all kinds of problems and difficulties. He was misunderstood by his own brothers when he came down to the camp of Israel, when they were facing the Philistines and their champion Goliath. Why his oldest brother Eliab even questioned the motive of his heart for coming down.
He spoke unkindly to him. The next thing you read, David goes down into the valley with just some stones in his shepherds bag and a sling in his hand to meet the champion of the Philistine. And from that point on he runs from his for his life. He fears from King Saul. He has problems in his own family, He has when he gets his Kingdom, he has domestic problems, He has wars from his enemies around.
His wives didn't always appreciate him. His own son Absalom turned against him and he had to flee for his life. He knew what it was to lose a young child in death. All those things. But when you read the Psalms of David.
You'll find that no matter how discouraged he becomes, no matter how down he gets.
He always seems like the cork. He bobs back to the top and finds his joy and his resource in his God. And that's the way I want to encourage our hearts this afternoon. I know I look into the faces of those who don't find life easy. I know there are those here who are experiencing trials, difficulties in your personal life, in the family, maybe even in the local assembly that I've never been called on to pass through.
In the path of faith and service, but I want to encourage you that no matter what happens.
The resources that we have in our Shepherd are the same, and the Psalm opens with the Lord is my shepherd.
How personal this is? Have you developed a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus? I'm not asking you this afternoon. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior? I'm asking you more than that.
Do you know him as your shepherd, The one who is your guide, the one who provides for you? You know the Apostle Paul as Saul of Tarsus. He came to know the Lord Jesus as his savior on the Damascus Rd.
But later on, when he wrote to the Philippians, he summed up his whole exercise in life by these words.
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That I may know him, you say? Didn't he get to know the Lord on the Damascus Rd. Yes, but his whole life was exercised by a better acquaintance with the one that had become his savior on the Damascus Rd. I covet that for my own soul, brethren, to get to know Him in a better acquaintance. And you'll never be, never know Him better if you don't walk close to him, if you don't follow him.
You know, in the book of Hosea it says that we might follow on to know the Lord.
You never know someone if you don't follow on with them. And I suppose that's why so often too, the Lord Jesus is brought before us as the shepherd and we the sheep, because sheep are one of the few animals that follow. I have seen them drive cattle when we are in the Caribbean, goats are raised and you see the little goat herder come down the street in the morning in the villages.
And the goats go out, and they're taken out to the hillside for pasture, and they're brought back at night. But, you know, you don't see goat herders leading goats. No. You see the little goat herder behind the goats, and he's got a little switch, and he's talking to them, and he's driving them up the road and up the side of the mountain. But you don't see the shepherd doing that. No. The shepherd goes before it says he goes before, and he calleth his own sheep by name.
And the other great truth we learned from this is that the shepherd deals with each sheep.
As an individual, my father kept sheep in his younger day, and he told us that he used to impress upon us how that when you had sheep you had to treat them as individuals. Yes, together they were a flock, but individually they were sheep with specific needs. And so David says here the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Now, brethren, that doesn't mean in this dispensation in the Christian era, that there aren't sheep of the Lord Jesus who don't suffer physical privation and hunger.
There are many of our brethren in many parts of the world who go to bed hungry at night.
There are many who have to lie down on a cold, damp prison floor because of their testimony. There are many who are facing martyrdom this very day and who are physically tortured because of their testimony for Christ.
But what we what we find is that spiritually, the shepherd is able to meet every need.
It doesn't mean that we won't suffer physically in some way, but, you know, I have been with those who have very little of this world's goods, but they're rich in faith, and it really does your heart good when you visit countries. And I've come along dirt roads and visited a little clot board, Hut square. The sister swept her dirt floor before you got there, arranged a few crates so they'd be somewhere for you to sit.
And you sat down and enjoyed the person of Christ. I'm not saying we despise the mercies we have in a country like this. We're glad for the comforts we have this weekend provided by the Lord through our brethren. We don't want to despise that. But they're not The bottom line, brethren. If we're going to have our souls satisfied, it's not going to be with things. It's going to be with Christ our soul satisfaction depends on.
What Christ means to our souls, our occupation with Him.
And he makes us to lie down in green pastures. I think this is very significant because, you know, we're gonna find he leads us in various ways. And again, that's one of the characteristics of a shepherd. He leads the sheep, but he makes us to lie down in green pastures. I thought of this in connection with the busyness of society in which we find ourselves today, you know, to enjoy the green pastures, which I believe in Scripture.
Fields or pastures often speak of personal communion, but to enjoy that sometimes the Lord has to put his hand upon us and make us to lie down. We like to be LED, but to be made, to stop, to lie down in those green pastures. I remember a brother one time had had some hip surgery, and this was a brother who liked to be very active. Active in a natural sense, but thank the Lord, active in the work of God.
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Two. And I called him one day and I could just hear the frustration in his voice as he had been laid aside and was not able to be as active for some weeks as he once had been. And I quoted him this verse. I said, sometimes the Lord has to make us through circumstances to lie down in green pastures so that we enjoy those quiet times. And so it says I will go in and out and find pastures.
And I say, you'll often find pastures or fields speak of personal quiet and communion with the Lord. The reason I say that is because you remember with Isaac. It says in the 24th of Genesis he went out into the field at Eventide to meditate. There we get the thrust of what a field or pasture really brings before us. Do we take those times? And, brethren, I have to speak to my own soul.
Do we really take that time? I like to be busy. I like to multitask. But we need those times set aside when he we lie down in the green pastures and then he leads us beside the still waters. The pastures would speak of food for our souls in application. The water would speak of refreshment. There's nothing to refresh our souls in this world. Naturally speaking, you know? Just come back from my 10th visit to the Sinai Peninsula.
And when Scripture calls it a wilderness, that is exactly what it is. Maybe 1/10 of an inch of rain a year, a little well in spring and Oasis here and there. But I've driven for two or three hours sometimes on the Sinai Peninsula before you see something green or a spring of of water. And so you realize how valuable the water from the rock, for instance, was as they traveled through the wilderness, those little Oasis and those springs.
And so it speaks of refreshment. We're in a spiritual wilderness where there's nothing to refresh the new man. Oh, there's plenty to feed our lusts. There's plenty to seek to satisfy the, uh, the flesh, but nothing to feed and refresh the old man, the new man. We need to have the green pastures and the still waters. Then it says in verse three, he restoreth my soul. You know we don't have time this afternoon.
But I would just encourage you to go through this little Psalm, take up each expression and go back and in conjunction with it, read The life of David. Because you can usually find something in the life of David that corresponds with these expressions. And we can see very quickly that this expression he restoreth my soul, corresponds with David's experience when there was sin in his life.
A sin was allowed in his life, a moral evil. It was a grievous sin.
But you know, when Nathan the Prophet brought it before him, he got into the presence of God, Read the 1St, 51St Psalm, his confession, his prayer at that time, and the joy of salvation was restored to him.
At that time, when there was confession and real repentance, and when David penned these words, he restoreth my soul. He knew exactly what he was talking about. Because, again, the restoring grace of God is as limitless as the saving and preserving grace of God. And maybe there's someone here and you come to these meetings and you say, well, I haven't followed the shepherd like I should. I've got away. I've been like Peter who followed afar off. Peter followed the Lord.
But it says he followed afar off and we know the detriment and the problem it led to.
In his life, he denied the Lord three times with oaths and curses. Maybe there's been someone, there's someone here like that. But David was restored, Peter was restored. And you know, sometimes meetings like this can be a real turn around in our lives. I remember as a young man coming to meetings, not very different from this and hearing something that the spirit of God took and turned my life around. It was sitting in chairs just like this in the back row, albeit, but thank God I was brought there.
By the Lord, by the shepherd. I knew the Lord as my savior, but I got away.
And as I sat in the back row at a Montreal conference, the spirit of God got a hold of me and there was restoration all. There's been many times I've needed it since, and there's many times we need it in our lives. But conferences like this, maybe there's a young person here, or someone not so young and you've got away. You're cold in your soul. This can be a real time of turning around for you. And remember, he does restore souls.
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And he delights to do it. And it's a blessed and happy thing, not only in our lives personally, but for those that, that, uh, we're close to. I have no doubt there's parents and grandparents here who are praying for you. For someone who's gotten away and they're praying for restoration, wouldn't it be a joy if they went from these meetings knowing that their prayers had been answered by the grace of God? And when he restores our soul, what does he do? He leads us in the paths of righteousness.
For his name's sake. That's why it says in first John, in connection with sin in our lives as believers, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us ours sins. And then I want you to notice this next expression and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that is to keep us from going any further in that path and to turn us back to the right way, because he wants to lead us in the paths of righteousness.
That is, he wants to lead us in the right way. There is a way that seems right unto a man.
But the end thereof are the ways of death, and I know we often apply that in the gospel, and it's certainly true.
But you know, there's a way sometimes that seems right in our eyes as believers, but there's a detriment at the end not to end up in a lost eternity. No, thank God the sheep are secure in the hand of the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Father, but it can lead to much sorrow and reaping. But he wants to put us back in the right way to restore our soul and then to lead us in the paths of righteousness, not just for our blessing.
But for his joy, for his testimony, for his name's sake. And then we come to the fourth verse and he says, yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Now this expression is going to change the whole tone of the Psalm. Now I realize that often we read this Psalm and quote this expression at a funeral and in connection with someone passing.
From this life to the next, and certainly it has its application, but in its context here, I don't believe that's really what we have here. The valley of the shadow of death is this world that you and I are passing through, following the shepherd as his sheep. This world is stamped with death on every hand. Someone has said, and I rather enjoyed it, The valley of the shadow of Death.
Is this world with the shadow of the cross hanging over it. And we sometimes think we're pilgrims in a wilderness. Our dwelling is a camp created. Things so pleasant now bear to us. Death Stamp and I don't have to tell you about this. We're passing every day through the valley of the shadow of death. But we can safely pass through the valley of the shadow of death, this world and its woes and sorrows.
If we're following close to the sheep and I want to notice how it changes the whole tone of the Psalm.
Because up until The Valley of the Shadow of Death, the Psalmist David has been talking about the Shepherd.
He does this and he does that, and he leads us and so on for the whole rest of the Psalm. He's not gonna talk about the Shepherd anymore. He's gonna talk to the Shepherd. And it seems to take the Valley of the shadow of death to do it.
And I believe God allows us to pass through those dark experiences in our lives to draw us closer to himself. So we not just talk about him, but we talk to him. This is personal communion that David is enjoying now as he goes through the valley of the shadow of death. And brethren, that's what he wants from you and for me. He's going to have our fellowship and communion in the Father's house for all eternity, but he wants to us to enjoy it, to draw closer to him now.
That we might speak to him and enjoy that fellowship. And so he says, I will fear.
No evil for thou art with me. How can he walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear? Thou art with me. Notice he's now talking to the shepherd, because if we're afraid this afternoon, we don't get that from the Lord. We get that somewhere else because it tells us in Timothy he's not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.
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And so often as we go through Scripture, we have that little expression. Fear not, or be not afraid.
I think of the Lord Jesus as he walked on the water in Matthew 14. And as the disciples looked out over the stormy water, they saw what they thought was a spirit. They didn't realize who it was and what was the result. They were afraid. They cried out for fear. But I love what the Lord Jesus said. What was it that drove away their fear? It is I. Thou art with me. It is I, brethren, is anything complicated about that?
Is this hard to understand or get a hold of in our souls? It is I.
I'm with you. I'm go walking with you through the valley of the shadow of death.
I'm here on the waves. I'm above the storm, no matter what the circumstances. And if you feel afraid this afternoon in some circumstance, just stop and hear the Lord say it is I. Thou art with me. He'll never leave us nor forsake us. It doesn't matter how dark the night. It doesn't matter how contrary the wind. It doesn't matter how deep the waves or how high they are.
It doesn't matter how deep the valley or the gorge of life that we're passing through. He's there. Do you walk in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence with you? Well, he says, Thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. There was that given for support. The rod in scripture often speaks of correction and whom the Lord loves. He chastens. The staff would speak of support. We go out for a hike, go mountain climbing. You take a stout stick, a staff in your hand to help you over those difficult spots. We have his rod and his staff.
And they both comfort us. Even in his chastening, it says he chastens us for our profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Jacob tried to get the blessing all his life by scheming in his own strength and devices, but thank God, at the end of his life he worshiped. Leaning on his staff, he learned to trust, and he learned that there was only one that he could look to for support.
And so they were a comfort to the Psalmist. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. A table would speak to us of several things in scripture. It would speak to us again of his provision of sustenance. How often we're invited to someone's table. And they say, don't bring a thing, just bring your appetite. We can come to the table of the Lord. In that way He's provided food for our souls. Later on in the 78th Psalm, when they He sums up Israel's history in the wilderness.
They raised the question, can God re can God provide a table in the wilderness? Oh yes, He did provide a table. He fed them with the manna, food convenient for them every step of of the journey. A table would also speak of authority. When we sit down at someone's table, when we're invited to a home, we don't have authority at that table. It's the authority of the the host who invited us, and we need to realize.
That were under His authority at all times. It's a little different, but that's why it's referred to in the New Testament. When we come to remember the Lord partake of the Lord's Supper, it's at the Lord's table. It's not the table of Jesus or the table of Christ. It's the Lord's table. It's where His authority is to be owned and maintained at at all, at all times. It speaks of fellowship as well. We sit down at someone's table, we enjoy fellowship, communion with them. And this again.
Is what he desires, and it's in the presence of his enemies. Because David realized he was never going to be rid of the enemies this side of heaven, and will never be rid of the enemy Satan and his hosts this side of heaven. But we can be fed and encouraged and enjoy sweet communion with our shepherd, even in an enemy's land. And then he says, Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. We alluded to this this morning in connection.
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With our thoughts, it's every thought being brought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. Oil speaks invariably in Scripture of the Spirit of God, and it's having our thoughts governed by the word of God in the power of the of the Spirit. It's setting our mind on things above, as we were reminded this morning. It's the helmet of salvation that we speak so often about. And what's the result? Oh, our cup runs over. There's joy.
As a result, this world offers its fun and its so-called pleasure. But it's only for a season. There's nothing lasting in it. And then he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
We spoke of the shepherd going before, but now we have something that follows. I remember one time my wife and I were traveling through the country of Wales and as you you travel through Wales you find it's dotted with sheep farms just as far as the eye could see. Very unique and very beautiful. But one day we came over a hill and we had to slam on the brakes because there was a large flock of sheep crossing the road.
From one pasture to the other, and out in front of that large flock of sheep, my wife and I could see the shepherd.
And there was nothing that we could do but to sit there until that flock had passed over that road. And as the end of that flock passed over the road, we saw two sheepdogs bringing up the rear. And there they were, keeping the stragglers together. So well trained. I said to my wife, there's goodness and mercy, there's that which brings up the rear. And so our shepherd goes before, but goodness and mercy follows us to keep the stragglers, to keep all of us so that we don't follow afar off.
Remember what it says when Israel went out to fight with Amalek? It says Amalek smoked behind her, most of them, those that were out on the fringes, those that were farthest from the captain. And uh, we're go. The enemy is going to get an advantage in our lives too, if we seek to follow afar off. But he has goodness and mercy to follow us all the days of our life. It's sufficient, brethren. I know there's brethren here this afternoon who've been in following the shepherd far longer than I have.
But I'm sure if you talk to the oldest Saints of God here this afternoon, they would attest that goodness and mercy follow all the days of our life. And then the psalmist says, And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Brethren, that's what's at the end. We know it in a far more intimate way than just the House of the Lord. We know it as the Father's house. That's where we're on our way to, brethren, and it can't be long. Another few moments, perhaps.
Another few steps, another day to follow the Shepherd, and we're going to be safe home.
With all his sheep gathered In what a day it's going to be. But until that time, as the sheep of his pasture brethren, may we take courage from this little Psalm to follow him. Knowing that He's provided everything that's needed all the days of our life. Let's pray our God and Father again we thank thee for that shepherd, that great shepherd of the sheep. Lord Jesus, we're thankful that you have provided everything that's needed for us for our walk through this world. May we seek by grace to follow a little closer to the.
So we ask blessing on my word, in the name of thy name, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Romans 12:3-5
Reading
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Everything in your heart.
Is being hard to do.
I am very sick.
Have a better way of life.
And you close all day.
All together and bring it on.
Your.
OK.
Good Shepherd now has drawn us after thee and all. How we long to, uh, follow, and to follow faithfully.
Even even as Caleb of the old could say that he wholly followed the Lord. And so we pray that thou is blessed by word, as we open it together here in my presence, and that thy spirit might have liberty.
To use, uh, various ones to expound the passage and to draw from these, uh, few verses of Scripture that we read together.
Those little bits of instruction and teaching that are so necessary for us in this day and age and that our hearts might be knit with thyself like its savior and knit to one another. Two, that we might walk together and, uh.
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In the, uh, fellowship of, in love of the Saints. And so we pray for thy blessing and preservation and, uh, for thy, uh, guidance as we open up my precious word, our God and our Father, we ask it for the glory and for the blessing of our brethren here and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Amen.
In the mind of the brethren to, uh, continue with this chapter or.
I think there's lots here for our enjoyment and learning.
Continuing some bursts.
3/3.
Romans chapter 12, continuing from verse 3.
For I say, through the grace given unto me.
Every man that is among you.
Not to think of himself more highly than the autism, but to think soberly according as God has helped every man the nature of faith.
For us, we have many members in one body.
And all members have not the same office. So we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another.
Having been gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith our ministry, Let us wait on our ministry for heated peace. If on teaching or He's exhorted on exportation, He that give us, let Him do it with simplicity. Be that rule is with diligence be the truth, mercy with cheerfulness, Let love be without dissimulation aboured that which is evil pleased to that which is good be kindly affection 1 to another.
With brotherly love and honor preferring one another.
Not slaughtering the business of urban hysterics serving the Lord.
Rejoicing and hope, patient and tribulation continuing instant and prayer distributing to the necessity of things given to hospitality.
Bless them which perfectly choose less than cursed, not rejoice with them that you rejoice, and weep with them that weep. He is the same. Mind one toward another Mind not hyphen, but condescend. And then of low estates be not wise in your own conceit. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men, if it be possible, as much as Lieutenant peaceably with all men.
Nearly beloved events not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath where it is written. Vengeance his mind I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him. If he thirst, give him dream. We are in so doing. Thou shalt keep coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Before we go on, just to tie in a little bit what we said this morning with what follows here. We didn't really comment on it, but at the end of the second verse, he speaks about the will of God. And I want to say something very practical because.
I have many people come to me and say how can we know the will of God in our lives? It seems to be a question that's on many minds today and it's perhaps it's always been, but it seems more than ever in the world of confusion in the world when there's so many voices. Even in the so-called Christian world, there's many voices. How can we know the voice of the shepherd and the will of God? But I think it ties in with those things we took up in a practical way this morning.
If we're going to discern the will of God, first of all we have to give ourselves.
He begins the chapter by presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice. And this is not a question of ability or inability. It's a question of of availability. It's presenting ourselves. You know, so often we might say, well, can I really do this or that for the Lord? It's not a question of ability. It's making ourselves available and then realizing that whatever he has for us to do.
Whatever the path, whatever his will, he's going to provide everything that's needed. I've sometimes said to my wife, it's not a question of can we do this? It's a question of is it the Lord's will? And if it's the Lord's will, then all the resources.
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Both physically and spiritually are going to be placed at our disposal. So we give ourselves as a living sacrifice. Then he has this service, this intelligence service. Then there needs to be separation. There needs to be nonconformity to the world and separation from the world. We'll never know the will of God, brethren, if we think like the world will never know the will of God if we don't walk in separation, practical sanctification.
From this world. And as Brother Bill pointed out this morning, it's not the physical planet that we live on, but it's that system of things of which Satan is the God and Prince. And as we said this morning, the natural thought of the man is of man.
Is to place himself as the center of his world and do everything for himself. So there needs to be the renewing of the mind. And how are we going to do that? Well, we've spoken of it because it's pouring in the word of God. It's not to think like the world. It's to think as God would have us to, to think, bringing every thought into obedience under the every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ And those scriptures that we've already gone over. We need to read the word of God. His word is what shows us his will.
My word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light under my path. There has to be practical moral purity.
In our lives, we need to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We need to, uh, seek to walk in, uh, practical righteousness and holiness. And then as a result of that, we can rather prove what is.
That, uh, as he says at the end of the second verse, prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God because he wants to show us and if we don't know the will of God in our lives.
There's no hindrance on God's part. The hindrance is always on our part because it says in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He might direct our paths. Us not what the verse said, it says and he shall direct thy paths. If any man desire to do his will, and again it goes back to what we've been saying, there's that desire. If any man desire to do as well, he shall know. And so if we're going to know the will of God in our lives, these things must be in place.
Practically. And then he does want to show it. And he has a path, brethren. He has a will for us. And it's perfect. It's good, it's perfect, it's acceptable, and it's a path of faith, even through the tangles of this Dark World in which we live.
Exodus chapter 4. What is that in my hand?
Probably the.
Problem in many cases is our own wills are active.
Umm and uh, we failed to, uh, reserve the Lord's mind because you cannot divorce.
Guidance from Communion.
It's not like a computer you can put in information and get, uh, an answer from it, not showing the things of the Lord. There has to be communion with the Lord to, uh, discern his mind and will. Then there needs to be obedience and, uh, self judgment. That's very important, brother. I think we all.
And acknowledge that we need self judgment in our lives. It speaks here of holy acceptable unto God which is your.
Intelligent service. I'm going along with something in my life that is contrary to the word of God. Are unclean or some habits.
Spoke about thoughts this morning quite a bit. So a thought reap an action. So an action reap a habit. So a habit reap a character. So a character reap a destiny. So what we think about and pursue after as an object.
Is going to control our lives without doubt. I was thinking this morning too of.
Just gonna make that comment that won't be long here, but uh, second Corinthians?
Chapter 5.
Umm, well, we have umm.
Umm first umm.
14 With a love of Christ.
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Constrained us.
Because we must judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead.
And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves. That's what we did.
In our unconverted days we lived unto ourselves. Our object was to please self. That should not be our object now. But notice it says that unto him which died for them, and rose again. Now it does not say the love of Christ.
Should constrain us.
It says the love of Christ can strain a time.
The boys and girls know what a magnet is and when you were you'd like to play with a magnet and, uh.
Draw the nails up and so on. But you know the magnet is of no use if it is, uh, at A at a distance from the object.
Bring the magnet down and immediately there is a response.
Why is it that we are not more devoted to the Lord in service for Him? It's because we're living at a distance from Him. I speak for myself.
Peter followed far off.
Who? He denied the law, so it doesn't say the love of Christ should constrain us. But if we're in His company, in the enjoyment of His love, don't try to love the Lord any more than you do.
Sit down and and contemplate his love for you. There's going to be a response. It's going to be.
Uh, I don't like the word automatic, but there's going to be a, an immediate, A spontaneous result in our lives if we, if we.
Realize what he has done for us. Dedication is.
Giving something to the Lord. You have it in the Old Testament dedication where their hands were filled with certain things. In the case of the priest to do that in Exodus 29, their hands were filled.
They were giving something, offering something. Consecration. Is the Lord giving us something to use for him? Is that right, Jim? I got that right, yes, and Bill mentioned it too. Whatever is in our hand, we're to to use for this floor. And it's consecration means both hands full if you have both hands full.
You're not going to be doing anything else. They're full. And what are we to go through life with both hands full of Christ.
We might say if both of our hands are full in the service for the Lord, in consecration for him, umm, it's gonna be because of the grace of God that's worked in our souls. You know, I, I thought as we've been talking, uh, we've taken this passage up that we really started, we opened the letter and returned to the third, the third chapter, the third page and started reading.
And, uh, that was what the Spirit of God had in mind here. But we have, we have the teaching set before us in the 1St 11 Chapters of Romans. And it's extremely important for us to have the teaching of Romans, uh, to, uh, establish our souls and set us free just to, to help us to understand, uh, a life that's risen and, uh, in Christ and, uh.
If, if we, if we're establishing the trues of that, that that Roman said before us, what what will happen is we'll be established in the grace of God.
We'll realize that we've gotten to this point of having our hands full of the service of God.
Because of who God is and not because of what we've accomplished, not because of what we have have, uh, have, umm.
Set out to do it is the grace of God and Paul was established in this he realized that all of this had been committed to him he was on the road to Damascus he was about ready to.
Uh, take the lives of the Lord's children. And the Lord stopped him dead. In his tracks shone a light.
Gave him a revelation of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And turned him around and began to work in his soul, and he became extremely useful servant of God.
But never lost.
Cited the fact that it was God's work, it was God that had done it in his soul. And so he says here in verse 3 for I say through the grace given unto me. You know if any of us are if we if if we by the grace of God, if we presented our bodies a living sacrifice if we have.
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Umm sought to not be conformed to the to the world around us. If our hearts have been drawn away, we realize there's something better for our souls, something better for our life, a better object, a better focus. And umm if if this work has been done in our souls.
Because of God's grace and if if we do find ourselves about we're about ready to get into the the the function of the gifts that God has administered to the church. He's given each each member a a very special function to perform in the within the body of Christ.
Umm, and he's saying if this work has been done in your soul, if you are to this point where?
You are.
You have full hands, your gift is going to be exercised.
Just realize what a work of God has been done in your soul to bring you to that point.
And if if.
If these truths, the the truths that have been set before us earlier in the book of Romans are really found a a home in our souls and we enjoy them, the result will be that we'll be aware of what God's grace is. We'll be aware of what God is doing in bringing us into this blessing and.
And it goes on to say, umm, uh, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.
You know the opposite of grace is the law.
In in in the 7th chapter of Romans, we we we find deliverance from the law. The law has a tendency.
To make a man proud because.
If he feels like he's fulfilling the law, then automatically it's the work of the flesh, and the flesh begins to be proud.
But Paul is exhorting here. He's admonishing.
That we don't take up our gifts in service for the Lord and exercise it in pride.
Umm, because if we do, we don't really understand the grace that has been given to us.
We just think, Jim, that the, uh, will of God is connected with the Word of God.
You know, uh, we have here, uh, you were saying, how do we know the will of God? And we know that it's on the principle of grace that we're brought into the knowledge and intelligence of what we should do, but it's the word of God that we need. And Jonah had the word of God. He said, go to Nineveh.
Jonah didn't want to go and he just happened to find a shift going down in in the opposite direction. And so the will is set against God even in the Christian if he allows the flesh to act as will, as set against God. But in the mercy of the Lord, we have the word of God give us knowledge and the will of God connected with his word then brings in this spot of humility.
There's really only one man. There's room only for the exaltation and Christianity of one man is Christ.
Can anyone that seeks to exalt himself or his name above the name of Christ or alongside the name of Christ?
It never ever brings glory to Christ. It really robs Christ of some glory and soul. Here he speaks and very candidly says that, uh, through the grace that we've given unto him to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than the office bank, but to think soberly according as God has dealt with every man.
The measure of faith and soul, we're not to go beyond the gift that God has given us. And it's to be according to the, uh, humility of that perfect service in North Jesus.
Find.
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And I believe that our privilege is to, as you say.
But.
After it was all over, they saw Naomi say Jesus.
And I believe that's what God could tell us to see.
And in connection with doing his will, you know, the Lord said.
If thine eye be single.
Thy whole body 74 o'clock.
What does that mean? They have a single line. Does that not mean to have the Lord's interest at heart and to desire to glorify Him, to put the Lord first?
As far as the service is concerned.
Happy because you know you feel that fast.
This study group today is very wonderful he and the same reason and to find out that.
That seemed to be a little bit, uh.
And balanced on one scores. Somebody else brings up something.
Balances things out. It's very wonderful.
So just like a follow up with uh, the common umm with regards to the will of God.
There's not a one of us here.
That we found ourselves in a situation.
Where we're just not exactly sure what the Lord would have us do.
I think every one of us here have been maximizing the situation.
And I I've so appreciated the previous meeting and what's been brought out now in connection with these early 2 verses.
Here.
There are times in our life.
For there's absolutely no question in our mind as to what the will of God is, and we know absolutely what the will of God is. And what if you thought that is because it fell because specifically in the word, I'll just use an example, uh, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
There's not a question there as to whether or not we should know what the will of God is. We know exactly what the will of God is.
He says, proving what is that good and acceptable will of God, because there is a difference.
You remember the time the apostle Paul was seeking the Lord's mind and he decided to go to one place and the Spirit suffered enough.
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And there are those times in our life.
When we don't have it spelled out in black and white as to act actually what what the will of God is.
I would just make this uh, statement, particularly to those here who are younger.
F.
But if there are those things I know to be true.
You know, we, we would, we would really benefit by, by, uh, having an appreciation for, for each other's gifts.
And if we if we're doing those things that are definitely the will of God.
Then when those things come along and we're not sure just what direction we're supposed to take, it's gonna far better put us in a position where we'll be able to make a choice and feel the Lord closing along behind us and blessing us because we've been put in a position where we're going the direction that the Lord would have us to go. I just think that differentiates that that difference between knowing the will of God and proving the will of God within our lives.
Can illustrate it in a different way.
Turn to verse.
It's not another matter, but we'll start with verse 9.
Let love be without dissimulation.
Is that the will of God?
The only way you will know.
As if you prove it, and the only way you can prove it is if you do it.
And if you do it, you will find that it is a perfect will.
The It's been said this way, the only truth we truly know is the truth we walk in.
And uh, there are many things that we may be unsure of as to the thought of God, but if you take these exhortations of this chapter.
Take the very next one. Umm.
Uh, for that which is evil.
You prove it by walking in it, and if you walk in it, you will see that it is good.
And it is.
A perfect will of God.
The to back up to the little more generic sense of it, uh, to go back to the verses that John.
Uh, quoted in Second Corinthians chapter 5. The love of Christ constraineth us. He said he didn't want to quite go there to be automatic. I'll say yes, it is automatic in the sense that it's given in that chapter.
What it's saying to us is this.
The flesh of the natural man.
Is never constrained.
By the will of God.
There's nothing in our flesh that is constrained by the love of Christ.
If it comes to an issue between what I want and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, if my flesh is what's active, I'm going to do that.
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Whether I'm a believer or not, if the flesh is in action, it's not going to be constrained by the love of Christ.
On the other side of it, and it's what that chapter is bringing out, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.
And the new man is automatically, completely, 100% constrained by the love of Christ.
The Lord Jesus, the perfect man.
Never had anything before his soul than 100% desire to do the will of God.
I delight to do thy will, O my God was his very nature.
As a man among men.
And God, to enable us to be like Him and for many other reasons, has given us that same nature.
The divine nature, and having imparted to us that nature in the life that He's given to us, it is fully, perfectly always constrained by the love of Christ.
The hindrance to us is that the flesh is allowed to act and it's never constrained in that way. But the only way that these things are made real and good in US is that they're lived out. And so these exhortations, if you look at them, each one of them, I don't think anybody here would say, well, I don't think that's the will of God.
When, when we're told, uh, be kindly affection 1 to another, uh, is that man's will or is, uh, no, no, that's God's will, He says. So right here, we don't have under difficulty to understand those words. It's not a difficult thing to us, but we'll only prove them if we live them.
And if we do not live them out, uh, we will not have the experience of what that means truly as to proving the will of God and uh, so even the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his own personal life instead of him.
Umm, he learned obedience.
How did he learn obedience?
Wasn't he a perfect man? Yes, he was, but he learned what obedience cost.
By the experience of what it costs.
And that way he experienced it in the sense of what it truly cost to be obedient. With him, there was never any question as to why he was going to be obedient or not, but he proved the cost of obedience.
By actually.
Going through the experience that it costs them everything as to this life and.
Our eternity.
Will be richer to our souls.
If we prove by action these things and.
Come to enjoy the result with God of having done His will. The Lord Jesus could look back and it speaks of him prophetically. He.
Learn the cost of obedience by what he went through. And when it was all done, would he look back on it and say it was a perfect will, a goodwill God, that you made me do this, and that I in obedience went all the way to death?
It says in Psalm 850, Isaiah 53, He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied he has the eternal joy in his own soul.
Of what he proved.
Being a good and perfect will of God and will have the eternal satisfaction of the result of it, even though it cost everything to install. And brethren, may we be in our little ways enabled when it's all said and done and over with that we will look back on.
Life of having proved the will of God, and see that it was good and acceptable and perfect.
So here where you have in this scene, when we have the word of God that tells us a particular thing, we can say that, uh, we love without the simulation or without pretense. We know that we've done the will of God.
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And if we, umm, if someone offers us a business partnership and they're an unbeliever and we say no because it says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
We know that it's not. It's it's the will of God that we don't go ahead and we sign those documents and become unequally yoked together.
But there are other occasions and I think Brother Dave, uh, alluded to it and I'd just like to refer to that, uh, 32nd Psalm there because it speaks of one walking in communion.
Verse eight of the 32nd song. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eyes. And so we need to walk closely with the Lord to be able to discern some of these other matters.
And often times we don't have an A distinct word from the Lord as to which piece of clothing to wear for the day, but we can say that we trust that we have the mind of the Lord and we go ahead in the path of faith one step at a time if it's not in directed for the Word of God.
Wheels are at work and so it's wonderful to be able to, uh, live in this way, humility walking with the Lord and to prove that perfect will of God.
Sometimes we when a situation arises, we don't aren't able to discern the will of God.
And very often, it's what's come before.
Umm, let me try to illustrate it this way.
There's lots of husbands and wives sitting in this room.
And if a certain situation came up?
We'll just take the husband's side of it for the moment. If a certain situation came up, who would we expect of everybody in the room to know the will of the life?
In that matter, it would be the husband.
Because there has been, uh, or should have been, a whole lifetime of communion.
And very often, knowing the will is more knowing the heart of the person and how that person will react in a certain situation.
Uh, why the?
Prior knowledge gained of that person.
And very often, brethren, if we want to know the will in specific circumstances of life, it doesn't work like Google.
You you don't Google up the moment you have a situation and say, oh let me find which chapter and verse that I can apply to this exactly.
Many times we get frustrated when we try to do it that way because sometimes the Lord is saying I've been trying to teach you my will for years.
And if you had been entering into me and who I am in my heart of love and life, when that situation came up, knowing my heart, you would know my will.
But then you're asking me to tell you my will.
Without bothering if I can speak this way, without bothering to know what's in my heart and in my nature as holy.
And so the Lord Jesus or the Jehovah in Deuteronomy chapter 8, uh, said to the children of Israel, when he put him 40 years through the wilderness, what did he say? His purpose in it was to humble thee, to prove thee, to know what's in my heart and sometimes.
Our inability at a moment on a specific situation to know the will of God.
Can stem from God is proving to us what's in our heart.
And he is making known to us that we have not, perhaps.
Submitted to him in our tenor of life in and so on, because he already says to us.
If any man the will has been talked about multiple times, if any man will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. Take it the other way. God is saying if you're not willing to do my will.
I may not choose to tell you my doctrine or my thoughts or my will.
In other words, submission of the will to God is a.
Something that God expects of us before he illuminates us as to His mind, so that we can then prove it by doing it.
But sometimes we seem to struggle.
00:45:00
Because we wanna have.
The Duet.
But to do it, what we're supposed to do without really coming to know the heart of God. And if we can't do it in harmony with the word of will of God as expressed in his word, uh, and according to his own heart, it's, we can't prove the perfect will of God.
To say it another way.
This is just repeating what's been said many, many times.
If you did everything right.
I always say, well, I did the will of God, I did it right.
Uh, but, Scott said. Or the word has been taught to us. If you did everything right, nothing is right unless the motive is right.
And to do the will of God involves the motive of the heart, and we will not have necessarily a correct motive of heart unless we're in fellowship with the heart of God, and that isn't an instantaneous thing.
That's a walk.
You come here into the, uh, get on with the chapter. We're coming into a, a section here.
That has to do with, uh, servant, uh.
A very important aspect to me.
The, uh, importance of service for the Lord.
I know there's often, uh.
Presented worship and service together.
And they do go together.
I see umm, sometimes, uh, worship and service are are put together and uh, on occasion.
Worship is put above service.
Uh, uh, I don't feel that the scripture presents it that way.
Uh, through there is an order definite its first worship and then service flowing from it.
But I wouldn't put one above the other. And we're, we're, we're left here to be, uh, a testimony. We are a holy priest, uh, first Peter chapter 2, but we are also royal priests.
Now in Hebrews chapter 13, let us therefore offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto His name. That is definitely worship, and that should have the first place in our lives undoubtedly.
Uh, whether it's more today morning or at any other time, although Lord's Day morning is not properly at work of meaning, but uh, it brings forth worship from our hearts.
But the point that I'm trying to make is that service should flow out of communion and worship they closed out of.
Our fellowship with the Lord.
Our our Thanksgiving and our praise. And then we have a new motive. You might say we have a renovation of mine and we have a motive now to to energize us. But in our verse here in the third chapter, third verse.
Uh, through 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 has dealt to every man the measure of faith. All right, we all have.
A place in the body of Christ. We all have a work to do. We have a burden to bear to every man his work. When you were saved you had a natural ability, but God put into you a gift that you did not have before, a spiritual gift.
Uh, we read there in first Peter chapter 4. Umm.
The manifestation of the Spirit. You better look at that verse first. Peter chapter 4.
As every man has received the gift, now God has given to everyone in this room, sisters as well as brothers.
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A gift and ability.
It's not only those who are on the platform who are servants of the Lord. Uh, we each have a place in the body of Christ.
A work to do for him it may look very insignificant in the eyes of others, but the.
Others are not to judge of our, of our servants. So whatever that is, that ability that gives, we are to, uh, we are stewards of, uh, of, uh, talent OR a pound. And how are we using what God has given to us?
That is the point. Don't try to emulate someone else.
Don't get inflated thoughts about your own abilities. So God will have to.
To bring you down, uh, but remember that you have been given a place and a work to do, and you can be happy in that work the Lord has given you to do.
Especially for you, not for someone else. Don't envy someone else who's on the platform.
Uh, and you may not have that ability. It's, it seems that sometimes we connect gift with someone speaking publicly.
That's, that's not right. Uh, a gift, uh, can be, uh, it need not be public at all. In fact, some of these, uh, gifts that are mentioned in our chapter are not public, but we each have that service to do for the Lord. We can be happy in it. There will definitely be a reward for it, but let's not get to high thoughts of ourselves because God has given you all that he can trust you with if it's money.
He's given all that he can trust you with, uh, if it's ability.
Let's not complain. God there has given us. It all comes from Him. One Corinthians 4. It's nothing of ourselves, but we do have that wonderful privilege, brethren, of using what the Lord has given to us. We're stewards. We're stewards of our time, of our energy, of the gift that the Lord has given. Are we exercised to use that for the glory of God, not to pop up ourselves? That's what the Corinthians were doing.
They were using their gifts to assault themselves.
All had to rebuke it that we can do that as well. But may we seek the glory of the Lord and as to the will of God, yes, we, we do have those, uh, those difficulties. I think all of us. But I was thinking the will of God that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. So if you get out with the gospel and preach it and, and, and read souls, I think we can be sure that's the will of God. Don't you think that Phil.
I mean, we not may not be all called to do that work of an evangelist in the same way, but uh, the will of God that the gospel should go forth.
We've already had the love of Christ constrains us, and that's the correct order. Altova flows from that affection, but we like to reverse it and we want to show out our affection by our service. As soon as we do that, we put ourselves first. As soon as we put ourselves first, we run into the problems that we have here in the university. We start to think more highly about cells than the abort. And we in the book of James touches on some of the things we've spoken of that touches on.
Stock will touches on Pride. But we're ending and, uh, how's it going? We're ending.
And strike is there is confusion in every evil word.
You know, like I said, it's not us showing out affection for Christ and service, but it's our service flowing from that blood which constrains us.
And the tendency of the heart is to measure our service by man's standard of what we see on the outlet. And that's what the Corinthians, as John was saying, we're doing. And it's that's why he says to the Corinthians, men measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. That's what they were doing. The better they could express themselves in prayer or ministry or whatever it was, they were measuring things in that way.
But here in this chapter, and I know our time has gone, but we'll take it up another day, Lord willing. We find that he first of all uses in verse fi for the illustration of a natural body, and then he goes on to speak of it in application and connection with the body of Christ in the in the fifth verse. But we understand this in a natural body, every one of our members has a function. And if I lose a hand and if I lose a hand or a foot, I can get along through life, but not as well as with two.
00:55:35
And so every member has a function and there are func members that function.
In our body, brethren, that we don't even realize they're there they they handle some little function that keeps us healthy and happy naturally speaking. But if they broke down, if that function broke down, we'd miss that function. But and he takes it up at length in connection with the body of Christ in first Corinthians chapter 12 and so on. Every member has a a function and it may be a very.
What seems like a very mundane or small function.
But it's all important in keeping the body of Christ functioning healthily, healthily and happily for the good and blessing of souls. But it takes humility. If we're gonna exercise our gift. I don't. Just before we close, notice what he says, the measure of faith at the end of verse 3. Now in Ephesians 4, he gives the measure, a measure of grace in connection with gift visions. 47 You can look it up again. Let's remember.
Whatever.
He gives us to do whatever position He puts us in, whatever member of the body we are, so to speak. There's the faith to carry it out, and there's the grace to carry it out in the proper spirit. You see, it's not on our own. We don't do it on our own, brethren. And if we do it in humility.
With drawing on the faith and the grace that's given us, then we are going to function properly.
And we're not going to have high thoughts of ourselves. We're not going to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
One little thought after the measure of faith.
It matters not how much faith you have, the Lord said. If you have faith like the dream of mustard seed and you use mustard seed instead of a grain of sand, because it's a lie.
But the thought of the measure of faith.
Is not so much how much faith we have, but what it's attached to at the other end.
#17.
May the grace of Christ our favor.
And.
Problem.
No, I like when I get started on Earth. I haven't met her all over.
Nearness of Our Lord's Coming
Address—Robert 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.
Let's open our meeting this afternoon with #5 in the appendix #5 in the appendix, and maybe someone will start it for us.
Every blessing.
In my heart.
To sing thy grace.
Dreams of mercy.
Never.
Ceasing.
Hope for sin.
Do you know God's name? But it was dead.
All day from.
All of God.
You may run danger.
In her home and pressure blood.
O2 rain, I'll pray about that.
I come straight to him. What a great one.
My daughter.
Find my one great heart building.
The word I did.
May I walk from earthquake?
Turn.
And.
Ask her off the phone.
I'm sure we ask the Lord's blessing on our meeting. Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the sentiments of this little hymn sung as a prayer. And, uh, how we feel the need of grace this afternoon, the need of strength, and how prone our hearts are to wander in this scene. And uh, our God, we just, uh, would ask thee for Thy blessing as we open up the pages of Thy precious word that Thou hast lead by Thy Spirit.
As to the passages that are opened up and read, and that too that thou art guide, as to the words that are spoken, the comments that are made, and that, uh, Christ would be exalted, and that we might uh.
Just be encouraged and strengthened in our most holy faith that each one of us might, uh, cleave under the Lord with purpose of heart. And so we pray and ask thee for encouraging words from thyself and, uh.
Just, uh, those thoughts that would be consistent with what's had before us in these meetings. It's at the tenor of things for a holy life and a life consistent with the place that we're at. So we asked thee for this blessing, and we commend ourselves to thee and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to turn to Romans chapter 13 just to read a couple of verses. Some of the verses that I'm going to read this afternoon have already been referred to.
00:05:07
During these meetings, so it gives me a little bit of courage to take up a little bit of the subject that I have before my heart here. Romans chapter 13.
And verse 11.
And that knowing the time.
That now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation near than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. And then let's just turn on to another verse of Scripture in the Proverbs, the last well. Chapter 29 of the book of Proverbs.
Verse 11 uh 18. Proverbs chapter 29. Verse 18.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
So it says in the new translation. I'll I'll read it that way.
Where there is no vision that people cast off restraint in that solemn, where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint. And we read here in Romans knowing the time. And I just want to speak a little bit about the time that we live in. And we have the little expression that we often use. And sometimes I'm asked, and perhaps you're asked, is the Lord's coming? How soon is he coming? How soon do you think he's coming?
Do you ever get asked that question?
Maybe you have an answer. Have you searched the Scriptures to see why we think the Lord is coming so very near? That coming of the Lord is so near. I've been looking at some of the passages of Scripture in the Word of God that just give us to comfort because we know that the prophetic clock has not started yet. We're in a little interval of time. The day of grace, the dispensation of the day of grace, that was not told out in the Old Testament. It wasn't given to the Old Testament prophets. They didn't know about it.
They knew about it, perhaps obliquely, they could say, I think in the Hosea chapter one or chapter six, he says, umm, after two days he will revive us, and the third day he will take us up again. Oh, they're going to live in a sight it speaks of really two days in Scripture. We'll go over some of that. But umm, they didn't have a clearview of the church at all. It's not written in the Old Testament. But the church is just about to be removed from this scene. And I want to look at some of the passages of Scripture that might give us comfort in the day that we live in.
As we face the sorrow and the moral breakdown and the collapse of every, umm, institution that man has, uh, enjoyed in the Western free world, we might say, and as it becomes corrupt and as the violence increases and so on, why we ought to take courage as we recognize that we're living at the time here that we know the time that now it is high time to wake out of sleep. We've been put to sleep by.
Uh, prosperity, we've been put to sleep by, uh, pleasant circumstances. And generally speaking, in the places that we live, things haven't been too hard. But now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. What's he Speaking of is our salvation. Aren't you saved? You might say, yes, I'm saved. I know Christ is savior while he's Speaking of the saved, He wants to save your body. You're not perfectly saved, if I could put it that way. Mr. Brown used to say that Mister Chapter Brown, He said you're only partly saved.
You're going to be completely saved when your body is changed, the very same body that you have.
And you could read that in First Corinthians chapter 15. We're not going to go into that tonight or this afternoon, but, umm, your body is gonna be changed. You're gonna be found in the presence of the Lord Jesus, just like the Lord. Not a mark of sin. He's gonna bring you there and umm, he's gonna shower his love upon you while you're there in that, in his presence. And you're gonna be perfectly saved. Perfectly. Your body will be saved, redeemed. Well, I wanted to look at, say, first reason why we might think.
That the coming of the Lord is so near. And I want to just, uh, read in the last chapter of the book of the Bible because I want to focus a little bit on the love of the Lord Jesus because we believe that just like a bride and a bridegroom, there's umm, an affection between the bride and bridegroom. And I know that the bridegroom has a love for his bride. Christ has a love for his bride. We've already had some verses before us.
00:10:03
In that connection you know John 17, verse 24 was quoted. Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, For Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
You know the Lord loves this church. Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that he should present it to himself wholly without blemish. Oh, what a Savior we have. He's going to present to himself a perfect church without spot, without blemish, but in love He gave himself. But as we read in the last chapter of the word of God, I just read in verse 7.
Three times he says, here I come quickly. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And then a little further on in verse 12, behold, I come quickly.
And my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be, and then a little bit later on.
He says in verse 17, the Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that heareth say come and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. And then a little further on verse 20, he which testifieth these things sayeth, surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, Amen. Well, we have this prophetic book. The book of the Revelation is the only prophetic book that's given to the church.
All of the other prophetic books in the Old Testament were given to the Jews and for the Jews. Now we read them and we can enjoy them.
And we understand some of what God was giving us, speaking to His people and desiring to bring them into the knowledge of the future blessing of Israel.
And the heavenly scene in some sense is given to us in some of the Old Testament passages as well in the book of Daniel and so on, but really here in the book of Revelations to the church and the last thing in Word of God.
That the Lord Jesus says to the church his I'm coming, I'm coming quickly, I'm coming quickly. And we can look and we can read these words and we can say He is coming quickly.
And we know we have a sense that the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh. But it's because he loves his people. You know, he says in Isaiah chapter 53 was quoted verse 11, Mr. Darby's translation. He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul that should be satisfied. Oh dear brethren.
Every single one of us, he's going to see you in the glory. He's going to look upon your face and he's going to not remember the travail and the sorrow of what it cost really to re redeem you. He'll they'll always those things will always be before him. But what it'll be particularly before him is as he sees you there in that glorious scene, he'll say it was worth it all was worth it all to have gone to the cross to bore the bear the judgment for the sins.
Of each one of us, and he will be satisfied. His heart will be perfectly satisfied, because he loves us. Oh, are we reciprocating in that love. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of the compassions of God, that you present your bodies.
A living sacrifice, O the Lord has desired us to respond in our love to him. Well, we find in Exodus chapter 21 as well. Maybe might just, uh, read that, umm, just a little portion there. I'm reading these and connect just introductory little comments because what we want to read in some of the other passages perhaps is a little drier.
Exodus chapter 21.
And let's just for time's sake of time, read, uh, verse four. If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, and the wife and her children shall be your masters, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, my children, I will not go out free.
Then a little bit further earlier on in the in Genesis.
I'd like to read just that little comment that Jacob makes in Or is it made of Jacob in chapter 29?
Genesis chapter 29, verse 20. Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love that he had to her. Well, you know, brethren, the Lord has been in in the glory now in heaven. He's on high in the Father's house. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, and he's been interceding for his own. His heart is attached to his people in this team, and he cannot be divided from his people.
00:15:20
Though what he finds in this scene that is most precious are each one of his people. He's intimately connected with everyone that belongs to him, and he longs for the blessing of each one of you, each one of us. He longed for our blessing. He longs for communion with us. Why? It's because He loves us. He loves us. He gave himself for us. There's nothing he wants out of this world more than this bride, and he's going to get his way very shortly. We could read it, but we know that passage in First Thessalonians chapter 4 and the Lord himself.
Shall descend from heaven with a shout, and he's going to come, and he's going to in the language of John's Gospel, chapter 14, it says, if I come again, I will, I will. If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that there ye may be also own that the loveliness of Christ, to think of him coming for us himself. And the time is just about here. We know that the time is just about up.
The Lord's love is going to have his own way. He's going to have his way. He's going to get his bride. Now let's look at a couple of passages of Scripture.
In connection with why we might say the coming of the Lord is near and if we turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter 24.
We would read there about the parable of the fig tree.
Chapter 24 of Matthew, verse 32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves. Know ye that summer is nigh, so ye so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that is near even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away. Shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not.
Passed away? Well, this little passage of scripture is Speaking of the Jewish national resurrection, the resurrection of the nation of Israel.
And.
You know, I was very interested in reading and came across some more writings of the older writers. I love to read. You know what? These dear men of God, Mr. Dennett and Hamilton Smith and others, Mr. Darby, and how they had a debate. Perhaps you might say it that way at the time that they lived.
In the 1800s, late 1800s, and then into the beginning of the 1900s and the question was asked, would the church see?
Israel formed them back into their land as a nation before the church was called home, before the Lord came to take his bride home. And umm, the question went round and round and you can read it in some of the writings. I just ran upon it again and Mr. Hamilton Smith, some of his writings, and they really didn't expect that the church would still be here and Israel a nation. Isn't that something Mr. Dennett said?
He didn't think that the church would be here because it would be too clear of a signal to the church that the rapture was imminent.
Your brother. And that was 1948 that the nation of Israel was formed. I was just doing a little bit of math. I'm not a real mathematician, but it's going to be 70 years, 70 years since the nation of Israel was formed and has existed as an entity and a legal entity in this world in 2018. Seventy years.
The coming of the Lord is not near. It is not far off. It's very near. I don't want to put dates on things or anything like that, but I say it ought to be an encouragement to us as we see things developing in the Middle East and we think of what has taken place. Some of us that are a little bit older, we remember the Six Days War in 1967 when the Arab world rose up against, and I believe Egypt rose up against, the nation of Israel and sought to annihilate them. They had only been a nation.
On the re re established for 19 years and those six days, the Western Christian world, the world entirely stopped to listen to the news every day of what was taken place. And you know, Moshe Diane, the general of that time that was leading the armies of of Israel, he said at the time looking back on it and he was interviewed, he said, you know, it was just like we couldn't miss.
00:20:11
When we were firing our guns and our cannons were going off on on the aircraft air, we couldn't miss. And it was like they couldn't hit anything. They couldn't hit anything. It didn't matter what they aimed at, they couldn't hit anything. God has preserved that little nation. But you know, this passage of Scripture says learn the parable. Learn it of the parable of the fig tree. And the fig tree in Scripture speaks of Israel, but it has a leaf. It shows a leaf and it's a profession of being God's people. It's a profession that they have. They've gone back in unbelief.
And apparently there are something like 8.3 million people living in the land of Israel now.
In 1900, there were a few nomads. There were a few. There were almost nobody living in the land of Israel. Now there's 8.3 million.
And approximately 6.2 or 8.2 million and then maybe 6.3 million that are Jews. They're going back in unbelief.
Brethren, it should be an encouragement to us.
The time of the coming of the Lord is not very far off and as we see the nations gathered against that little country, we should just take courage and the Lord said, you know, so that we wouldn't be surprised there was going to be a putting forth of leaves. It's really a profession and we're not speaking here of prophetic scriptures being.
Fulfilled. It's really in a future day, very shortly that they're going to.
Rise up and they're going to profess knowledge of God and they're going to profess that they have, uh, the Lord, the Messiah and so on. And so we're seeing the evidence of the beginnings of that movement. It ought to be an encouragement to us. We live in difficult times and we ought to take a little bit of a, an interest in the land of Israel. What's going on there? And recognize, I like this little language of Scripture here in verse 33. Know that it is near.
Isn't that nice?
No, that is near. You don't want things that characterizes Christianity that didn't characterize the nation of Israel was that we have intelligence as to what is God is doing. Well, that's just one little passage that we could turn to. Let's turn to another little passage of scripture that would tell us, umm, that things are near. Uh, Luke's or let's John's gospel Chapter 11.
John's Gospel Chapter 11 and UH.
Let's well, let's read chapter 10, verse 40.
Verse 39. Therefore they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand, and went away again beyond Jordan, into the place where John first baptized. And there he abode. And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle. But all things that John speak of this man were true, and many believed on him there. Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, in the town of Mary and Martha, Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Then verse six, when he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode 2 days still in the same place where he was. Well, we don't have a lot of time here, but you can study on your own. The two days in Scripture, all throughout the Scriptures I quoted, Hosea maybe didn't quote it quite right. Let's just turn to it, umm, because that's another one that they had in the Old Testament times. They didn't quite understand what it meant.
But we do.
Hosea chapter 6 verse one. Come and let us return unto the Lord, for ye hath torn, and he hath. He will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After 2 days He will revive us. In the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. Well brethren, you know the Lord Jesus was crucified.
He was buried.
Rose again from among the dead, and 40 days later, after having showed himself to many witnesses, 500 brethren at one time, he rose. He ascended into the glory. There's a man seated at the right hand of the glory, the majesty on high.
00:25:08
And that was approximately 8029, maybe 8030. And so it's not quite perhaps 2000 years, but umm, those 2000 years are almost up.
Those 2000 years are almost up and, uh, I don't wanna be seeking to be running a calculator and that sort of thing. But as a word of encouragement, I don't think the Lord will shorten the Millennium, his thousand year reign by allowing the, uh, tribulation to be a part of that period of time of the, of, of the Millennium. He's going to reign for 1000 years and glory and great honor and he's going to have subdued all.
Of the nations, he's going to have the honor and the dignity, the glory that is due to him.
For those thousand years, so that seven years, I wonder, is really a part of the church period. And God is going to judge the Lord. Jesus is going to judge the Western Christian world. And we have the details, some of those details given to us in the Book of Revelation.
Well, if we just subtract that out a little bit, we don't have very much time left.
If it was 802029 and back out seven years, well, we know that the time the, the, uh, calendar is all mixed up and so we're not quite sure what year it is. I just say, brethren, the two days are almost up. It should be an encouragement to your heart. And uh, I just say this to you young people, You don't have much time left in this scene. Use every day for the Lord. You only get something like 70,000 days.
In your life, is it 70,000? I can't remember what the exact figure is, but umm, you don't have very many days. Every day that goes by, never ever to be retrieved. But the Lord Jesus loves his people and he's not going to wait one more second beyond the time that the Lord has given him and he's going to come and to receive us unto himself. For those two days are almost up. Another one of those two days that I really enjoy my own soul and you can search out.
Different ones. Luke's gospel chapter 10, and he speaks there figuratively of the assembly of the Good Samaritan in uh chapter 10, verse 33.
But a Samaritan, a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him and went to him or up to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, set him on his own beast and brought him to it should say, the inn.
And took care of him. And on the Morrow when he departed, he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee, O brethren.
You know the Samaritan, The Good Samaritan is a picture of the Lord Jesus. He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
He came right to where we were, in the ditch of sin. He came and picked us up as those who were Gentiles.
And he picked us up and set us on his own beast. And there he brings us to the end, brings us to the assembly. Do you thank God for being brought by His grace into the assembly, being gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus? Oh, it was the work of the Lord to bring you here.
And what a privilege to be gathered by the Spirit of God to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. And so provision is made. 2 Pence, 2 Pennies. That's enough for 2000 years. One day is with the Lord is 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. The two pence are spent. If I could put it that way, that's almost up. But you know, it's lovely to see in this little passage of Scripture and I enjoy it in connection with what we've had in Romans chapter 12, he says whatsoever thou spend us more.
When I come again, I will repay thee. Now that's like having a blank check or somebody giving you the credit card and saying.
Here's my credit card, and you take care of the people of God. I don't care what you spend. They're worth every dime you spend it whatsoever. They'll spend us more. I will repay thee. Oh, and that lovely the Lord loves his people. And you can't expand the Lord. And if he gives you just a little something to do for himself and an affection for him that you seek to do it, oh, He'll reward you. He'll delight to tell you how much it meant to his heart of love. And as you cared for his people, those he redeemed with his own precious blood.
Well, those two days, as I say, are almost up. Let's turn to Hebrews chapter 10.
Another line of things.
00:30:01
In this verse of scripture was quoted as well.
A little earlier.
Let's read from verse 22 to get a good in connection, a good connection here. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of some is but exhorting one another.
For encouraging one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Well, brethren, it's no surprise. We come to this little conference and we see some faces that we haven't seen before. I'm so thankful. But we also see some that we, we wish that we saw here and, umm, some that haven't continued on in the things of God, some that haven't continued on, perhaps in the assembly, but some that haven't continued on even in the things of God. And we live in this whole characteristic of things in the day that we live in is a day of apostasy.
And you know what that means apostasy. It means the giving up of the knowledge of God. Do we live at a time when there's a giving up of the knowledge of God?
We we live in a day in an age where there is a giving up, a releasing and a turning away from the word of God in the government was mentioned earlier in the political system in the education system in all of the systems of men, but also really sadly the same in the Christian profession. There's a turning away from the truth and it says in I think it's second Peter gonna turn to it so that I don't misquote it here.
Chapter 2 and uh, verse one, there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privilege shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.
And bring upon themselves swift destruction. Many shall follow their pernicious ways. By reason of whom the way of truth.
Shall be evil spoken of. Well, you know, there are unbelievers that creep in and perhaps mostly into the Christian profession and they gain a, a following, they gain a church and so on. And, uh, there are those doctrines that are not pure in connection with the doctrines, the connection with the Lord Jesus and even the coming of the Lord Jesus is denied. Haven't you run into somebody if you've perhaps in the habit of giving out a little gospel track here or there or of speaking to those that are believers?
Maybe you have a little gospel sticker on the back of your vehicle or something and somebody says something to you and then they say something and you say, well, the Lord is coming. Are you looking for the Lord is coming. Well, not quite. Umm, I think he's coming post tribulation and so on. And they, they're all mixed up. They don't know when he's coming. It's because you know, there's a giving up of the knowledge of the truth of God. There's a giving up of Paul's doctrine. And also here the evidence of it is.
That there is a forsaking of our approach, of our assembling to ourselves together. There's not the attendance at the assembly meetings as there once was. Am I speaking the truth?
I don't want to raise any.
Umm.
Well, I don't want to say anything out of line, but you know, I come from an assembly.
That everyone comes to the assembly meetings except for one person on a regular basis, the whole place, everyone's there. And it's not, I feel perhaps umm, because it's a, an assembly that's, uh, going on in the right way or anything like that. That's not the case. It's the, the case is that there's so few of us that there's a desire to labor together and there's a desire of the heart of different ones just to be in the presence of the Lord. And we live far from town. We don't, we live in the middle of nowhere and, uh, some don't even have really good Internet access and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, to come to the assembly meetings.
Is a precious privilege and the assembly meetings are well attended. I just say this to you young people perhaps, perhaps, and those that are older here and some of you that come to the conference, if you don't go to all of the assembly meetings, there's not going to be the growth in your soul that there ought to be. You know, chapter Brown used to quote and used to speak on Acts 242 very frequently. Maybe some of you heard them in person, but I'm not one of those people. But I listen to some of his recordings, they continued.
00:35:06
Steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And he would emphasize, they continued.
They were there.
Are you missed at the local assembly meetings? Well, I just say this as evidence that there's a giving up and there's an apostasy. There's Mr. Lundeen used to say that this, uh, this day that it's approaching in Hebrews 10/25 is a day of apostasy. Yes, it can be applied to the coming of the Lord Jesus, the rapture. It can be applied even to the appearing. But really he said in the context here, and I believe it's right as you see the day approaching, the day of apostasy, the day of the nation giving up the whole of the knowledge of God. Are we close to that in America?
Is it close that the American government can say, could say we don't want in God we trust on our money?
It's close, isn't it? Oh, let's take courage, brethren. The coming of the Lord is very, very near. The government is giving up the knowledge of God, throwing it aside. And, uh, we see all kinds of error creeping into the church and the dignity and the glories of Christ being assailed on every, on every part. But let's hold fast as it says in verse 23 here. Hold fast the profession of faith without wavering. Now let's look, umm.
I don't want to.
Look at too many things that are.
The filing, if you could put it that way, but I just want let's look at Matthew 24, one more portion there.
Our time is almost up.
Matthew 24. Let's just read uh.
Verse 36 Now this is Speaking of the appearing of the Lord Jesus, not the rapture. There's the appearing is coming with us Saints, but then his coming for his Saints is Matthew chapter 25. And so from verse one and Matthew 25 down to verse 13 is the the rapture. He's Speaking of the rapture. And if you have a pencil there, I just put brackets behind verse 13. It says watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour.
And it shouldn't be there. We're in the Son of Man cometh the translators. Put that in there. It's not accurate. Watch therefore, for you know, neither the day nor the hour that's in connection with the rapture. We don't know the day of the hour nor the hour. But you know, the Old Testament Saints or the the Saints that are coming.
The, uh, masculine, those that are godly remnant in the land of Israel after the rapture, they're not gonna know when the appearing is going to take place. They'll have a pretty good idea. They'll read the scriptures and they'll say, you know, they just signed this agreement in Israel.
With Israel for seven years, the prophetic clock will start and they'll measure back. They'll read the scriptures, those masculine, they'll say, oh, he's going to come and it's be about right around here. They won't know the precisely the hour or the day specifically, but they'll know they're very close, just like we can do and read the scriptures. But here it says in chapter 24 and verse 36 in connection with the appearing but of that day, an hour of no man, no, not in angels of heaven.
But my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. See his title as a judge, the Son of Man for God's committed judgment into the hands of man, and the Lord Jesus as His man, His Judge.
For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered in the ark.
And knew not until the flood came and took them all away. So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be well. We know that this is going to take place after the Rapture. Mr.
Umm.
Mr. John Burton.
Some of you met him. It was in my home assembly in Pine Grove.
I thank God for having spent some time in his presence in his home had a real influence on my life. And umm, John Barton used to say, used to give a little illustration. You know, he say, you know, when we go up to Gordon's Cottage on Hwy. 69, there's no signs where really Gordon's Cottage and turn, you know, 20 miles or whatever. But we had signs to go to, to Parry Sound and we knew how long it was to go to Parry Sound.
And when you came to Hammer Bay, there's a sign now that says 30 kilometers, but back then it was 20 miles to Parry Sound on Hwy. 69, and you just subtracted about 5 miles. And you said I got 15 miles to go before I get to Gordon's cottage.
00:40:15
And that's how we measured things in those days. And so we said it would be about 15 minutes before I'd be at Gordon's cottage.
And so, you know, the characteristics morally of this world, the corruption and the wickedness that's going on, similar to the days of NOAA, similar to days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Precede judgment. And so we know that the coming of the Lord is very near because the corruption has increased and it's bold in the face corruption and wickedness. We don't have a lot of time. But I'll just say this that Mister Lundeen used to say, and I believe it's true, that umm, when a society became morally corrupt, there was oftentimes most times an overthrow of the government.
You know, Mr. Eisenhower, President Eisenhower, when he was in office, he was, he was saved part way through his second term. He took Christ as a savior and, umm, he, uh, his party, the Republican Party lost the election to the Democrats. And so Mr. John F Kennedy was.
Inaugurated to be the president of the United States and Mr. Eisenhower, President Eisenhower, former President Eisenhower, he wept. He wept and he wept not because he lost the election. He wept because he saw, he knew the moral character of President Kennedy.
He said to himself, and he said to those that were his nearest advisers, he said it's going to be the ruin of the country.
And he was right. And what happened during the 1960s, all the riots and so on that we went through and, uh, the race riots and the anti government, umm, Vietnam era protests and so on, There was almost an overthrow of government. It was serious business. But you know, we live in a day and a time when the Western governments are coming to a point of collapse and umm, I don't want to be an alarmist, but we're really been right at the end.
Of the day of grace, We are living right at the end of the time of prosperity and the time of the, umm, prominence of the time of the Gentiles. We're just about to hear the shout of the Lord to call us out of this scene. And then there's going to be 7 years of judgment and the Lord is going to destroy this place. He's going to say as it were. I will just mimic the language of love to the Lord. Do you ever think I wonder what the voice of the Lord will sound like and what he'll say when he comes?
When he gives the shout himself, arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. How do the corruption and the filth will be called away out of this scene? And what's going to be left is going to be dealt with in judgment. He'll cleanse by judgment. Well, you know, we're not, umm, very far off this. I'll just give you another example. In Daniel chapter 5, there was a wild feast, a wild party.
It was a last night.
That the Babylonish empire, God tells us in detail. He gives us a whole chapter, chapter 5, Daniel, you can read it. He gives us the detail of the collapse of the Babylonian empire and the moral corruption and the wickedness of that place. And there was a change of government. But do you know that in the Western world, the Western Christian world, there's going to be a dictator that arises up 3 1/2 years after the agreement is signed with Israel?
3 1/2 years later, there's going to be a dictator that seizes control of the Western Empire, the United States of Europe, and whoever is connected with it and sees Israel as a part of his conquest. And he'll rule as an absolute dictator. He'll demand worship and he'll impose idolatry upon the Western world. O beloved brethren, it's not far off. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and I just want to encourage you to read prophecy.
And if you don't have a little copy of Bruce Anstey's book on prophetic events or Walter Scott's future events, some of those books, get those books and read those books. Read the Book of Revelation. And those things are just about to take place. That should cheer our hearts. And so we have the love of the Lord Jesus as evidence that we're not here for very long. He wants his bride with him. He wants you to be where he is. He wants you to be in that clean place, never to be defiled ever again.
00:45:07
And He wants you by his side forever. He's going to get his way, brethren. And so we have the encouragement of the Scriptures in connection with these things. Let's commend ourselves.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee for the certainty of the coming of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom. And we would this afternoon say Even so come Lord Jesus, and so encourage our hearts. We pray these that none of us might be cast down and that we might have our eye upon the mark, the prize for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and that we might look and act as those that are the sons of God, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
As we await thine imminent coming, blessed Savior, so we ask Thee for Thy blessing. Commend ourselves to Thee for the remainder this evening, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Person and Work of Christ
Gospel—Bruce Conrad
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Well, it's my privilege to welcome you to the gospel meeting tonight. Gospel means good news, and we have good news for you tonight. It's a great privilege and really an honor, uh, to, to be here and to speak about what we're gonna speak about tonight. I'd like to welcome everyone who, who came in on behalf of the Christians that meet here in Englewood. We'd like to start tonight by singing the hymn in this little hymn sheet #17.
If someone could start that for us, please hymn #17.
You.
Let's pray.
Our God and our Father we.
Thank Thee for the revelation given to us through Thy precious word of who Thou art and who Thy Son.
We thank thee that we have been brought to know him, so many of us in this room.
And yet we I suspect there will be some, whether old or young, that are still.
Strangers to thy love and thy grace, who do not have the assurance.
That they have been reconciled to the.
And so we ask tonight, as we would open thy word and read from it.
Bring before us.
Great glory and the great and wondrous work of my beloved Son.
We ask these things, our God and Father, praying for blessing on each soul, in the worthy and precious name of thy beloved Son, our God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
00:05:06
Well, I've been filled with instructions today.
Brother just came up and said don't be fancy right down the middle.
I told him I thought that was good advice and he said that's what you told me some years ago.
And then I got an instruction here. Please do not fiddle with a microphone. You must know I tend to do that. I'll try not to fiddle with the microphone.
You know, umm.
You're gonna think this is a funny way to start a meeting.
But I had this professor in college.
Umm, named Doctor Poguzelski.
He was from Europe. He was a calculus professor.
And uh.
We used to call him Doctor Pogo.
And, umm, he really appreciated the message the the pristine beauty of higher mathematics.
And one day when I came to class.
It was to him, a crowning lecture.
That that's what he said. It's a crowning lecture.
And I can't remember whether it was Stokes theorem or Greene's theorem.
Uh, it was like third calculus for those of you who have been through that stuff like the third calculus course, and it was a, that's the point where I begin begun to lose track of what any of it meant in the real world.
But he looked around at us and we were a bunch of engineering students and umm, kids were lounging around in jeans, probably in work boots and flip flops and T-shirts. And he looked around as he's about to present the crowning lecture and he was just so indignant.
That we were not really appreciating the message.
Because, he said in Europe for the crowning message, the students show up in a tuxedo.
And they come in in a tuxedo, and the professor is in a tuxedo, and they present the crowning lecture.
And I can remember that little classroom in Bo boardroom boredom hall. And he looked around us with, with almost contempt and he said, well, uh, what do I expect of a bunch of plumbers? Because to a scientist, that's what an engineer is, is a plumber, right? You make things flow and you make things stand up. And I knew I, so I, I acknowledge to Doctor Pogo that I indeed was learning to be a plumber and I was.
Good with it and and we developed a relationship. But I've thought of that comment that he made and his expectation that this lecture was so important that we should sit up straight, that we should have dressed better, that we should have arranged the chairs better than slouching around in our blue jeans and works work boots.
And as I considered the message.
That I have the responsibility to present tonight.
Tuxedo wouldn't do it any justice for you or for me.
May I ask the Lord when they ask me to speak here?
What should I talk about?
Kind of a dumb question really.
He said the person and work of Christ.
I've been sitting in the mountains for a couple of days just looking out every morning.
Reading. Staring.
When I consider the majesty.
Of the gospel message.
So this huge, I'm like an Ant. At the base of the Rocky Mountains. I'm like an Ant. That's not even a good enough analogy.
But Doctor Pogozelski was qualified to speak about Greene's theorem because he knew it and he loved it.
00:10:01
And I can say, like others can in this room, that my qualification to speak about what we're gonna speak about tonight as I believed, I believed, and therefore have I spoken.
And so for about 1/2 an hour, maybe less.
With God's help, I'd like to turn to a few scriptures and speak about the wonder of the very Son of God who's coming to this world and about what he accomplished for God's glory on Calvary's cross.
You know the the teenagers like to say to each other and kind of Jess, they say, well.
It's not all about you.
Well, the gospel isn't all about you or me. It's God's good news. It's the gospel of God concerning his Son. But the wonderful thing is that.
That good news?
Includes your and my eternal blessing, if we will receive it.
So let's turn to.
John's Gospel chapter one.
John's Gospel chapter one, verse one in the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not. Anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
If you hold your finger there, then turn back to the book of Proverbs well known passage Proverbs chapter 8.
Proverbs Age. In verse 23. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning. Wherever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, was I brought forth. While as Yeti had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment.
When He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by him as one brought up with him.
And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth. And my delights were with the sons of men.
One other scripture, Second Corinthians chapter 4.
2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and verse four. The God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, or the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Peter tells us that.
The profits prophesied and they searched.
Their own prophecies.
To understand.
What they were about, as they prophesied of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they ministered the things that were being prophesied.
From the beginning of God's Word.
God laid the foundation.
In.
A general way.
That he was going to send his son into this world.
Gone.
Has a son.
We read in Proverbs 8 that the Father and the Son we're together for all eternity.
And we read, we read in the Gospel of John in the New Testament, that in the beginning was the Word.
00:15:08
And the word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
He's the one by whom everything was made.
And not only did he make it.
He sustains it.
Moment by moment, right now.
If he should withdraw.
His spirit and breath for men this very moment, all flesh together.
Would dissipate into death.
Your heart is pounding away and mine is too, and He's sustaining your life and mine.
This is God's beloved Son.
He came into the world as man.
His manhood had a beginning.
Who he is?
Has no beginning. He's the eternal Son of God. I can't understand eternity, but I'm as Doctor Pogba used to tell me, just a plumber. Maybe you can understand it better.
You go out in your backyard and you look up at night.
And if you had the power to go out into the out into the darkness, into the sky, you could go and go and go and go and never, ever stop.
It's Infinity.
God made it that way. He made the stars also gave them all names.
Why did God make the mountains? Why didn't he make the earth?
6001 years ago.
Why did he make it so long ago? So that you can see the mountains and how they weather and the ice and the rocks and the erosion and all that happens in the fossils in the when they make a rock cut, you can see a slice through the earth and you see all the stuff that happened long ago through heat and pressure. I I think that God is making a point.
It's infinite.
In time we can't process it. In space we can't process it. And God made man with a capacity and innate capacity. He programmed us, so to speak, that we could sit like I did out and look at these mountains and realize that there is a divine power.
And someone or some person or something.
Did all this.
And man is responsible to acknowledge that.
And then we look at ourselves and our bodies and the way they work.
And the perfection of being fearfully and wonderfully made.
And we see that there's a divine power, a majesty.
But that's not enough. It was not enough for God.
You didn't choose how you were made. You didn't choose how you looked. You didn't choose your attributes.
You were dealt them.
If I could say it this way, God was free to be whatever he wanted to be, because he's God, and he chose to be all those things, all powerful wisdom, full of majesty beyond and bigger than eternity.
But he also chose to be light and to be loved.
I looked at the mountains for every As soon as I woke up, I grabbed my Bible in a blanket and went out there. It was cold.
I could have stayed there for 50 years and I wouldn't have just all of a sudden said I got it now God is love by looking at Whetstone Mountain.
As majestic as it is.
But having received this precious book, the word of God.
And having from its pages presented to me the person of God's Son.
00:20:06
I now begin to learn what I couldn't learn from the mountains and from from power and majesty and wisdom and eternity, that God is love and God is light.
It says in John One that the life, his life was the light of men. He came into this world and he displayed in fullness what had never been seen before.
And he displayed it completely and perfectly.
Things in this life are rarely perfect or complete.
Brother was saying, you know, when I get up and I brother was saying, yeah, I, I wrote down my thoughts and then I presented them to the young people. But then I sit down and say, oh, I forgot this. I forgot that I wanted to mention this.
We we're not you could write a love letter to your.
Dream.
Girl that you want to marry, pour out your heart, but it wouldn't have everything in it. You could try to explain yourself to somebody the best way you could wouldn't have anything in it. But when God decided that the fullness of the fullness of time came that He would display himself, He did so in His Son and He was able and did communicate everything He wanted to communicate of himself.
In the person of his son.
And so the apostle Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, could say in him to welleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
And men came up to the Lord Jesus when he was here, and he could say, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
God manifests in flesh.
He was in his life the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness.
And the darkness comprehended it not.
How do you not see a light?
In Second Corinthians we read that the God of this world, which is Satan, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ should shine unto them. I don't know how I managed.
As a little boy like that little boy back there.
Or a teenager. I sat in pews week after week. I've mentioned this before. I had my attendance. Little attendance things year to year. Just rolling down my little blazer.
In the light of the Lord Jesus, life in this world lit up, the world and me included, and I had no clue.
No clue.
Because my mind was blind.
And maybe that's your condition.
Maybe you were like me and and you thought I can vaguely remember hearing John 316 that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
And so now everything's fine. Live a good life.
Young people, boys, girls, older ones here, if you're not saved, everything is not fine. It's not fine at all. We have a a serious and profound problem. The Son of God could have come and displayed himself for God's glory and gone back into the glory from whence he came and left you and me here in our sins.
Sins, her brother referred to Daniel chapter 5.
Where the king?
Was spoken to by God.
And God said to him.
The God in.
Whose life?
The God in whose hand thy life is.
Hast thou not glorified?
Glorified.
Is it my responsibility to glorify God?
I grew up in a fairly responsible home.
00:25:01
And I don't remember ever being told.
Bruce.
As you grow up, you need to glorify God. Never. I doubt it was ever said inside our little home.
But this book says that all have sinned and come short of what? Of the glory of God.
God is light and God is holy.
And when you tell people that, they get a little uncomfortable at first, as if they don't want God to be holy and pure.
But I say to them, would you stop and think about it? What kind of a God? If it was up to you, what kind of a God would you want?
And we were noticing, I think here a week ago.
The verse in the Psalms, when men do that. And the Lord spoke and said to men, Thou fought us, that I was altogether such a one as thou art, but I will reprove thee.
No, that's not the kind of God that you would want.
God is perfectly holy. God is light.
And delights in and exudes perfect purity.
But you and me were born in sin.
And as soon as we began to get up on our twos and crawl around, and even before, we showed that we are sinners.
And so we have a problem.
I marvelled after I came to know the Lord Jesus that there were verses in the Word of God that would have set me straight. So straight and so right, it seemed to me in retrospect.
I I'm I was old enough when I read the Bible for the first time to have remembered most of the most of the experience of it. And when I came to Ecclesiastes and I read God requireth that which is past.
I mean I was already knew the Lord as my savior, but I just.
I I almost took my breath away. That just throws a hand grenade into about every religion man has ever created or thought up.
What are you gonna do? You could turn over a new leaf. You could meditate or yoga eyes or eat the right food or do all this stuff. Great. Even if you could, great.
But God requires that which is past and you have a problem. And what are you going to do about that?
God chose to be light, but He chose to be love.
And so God we read in John 316 now that we understand a little bit that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish for his or her sins, but have everlasting life.
Another verse I read in John chapter 32 verses later after that.
Which stopped me in my tracks as well. Verse 18 of John 3.
He that believeth on him is not condemned.
But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God condemned already.
So many people feel like they are in neutral.
They feel like they're in neutral. I just haven't made my decision yet. Like on voting day, you know, people bug you about that.
For myself, I voted.
Quite a number of years ago, in 1976, I voted.
But they buggy about that.
And people say, well, I haven't made my decision yet. If you are not saved right now, right this moment, if you haven't put your trust in Christ, you are condemned.
You are a condemned man.
You're a condemned little boy or little girl or an old person.
You're condemned already. You have an issue. You have a problem.
00:30:03
But God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
And we read in John's epistle that he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world.
The Lamb of God has come.
To take away the sin of the world.
We haven't even talked about your sins or mine yet.
Except in a general way, for all the sins of everybody.
And the Lord Jesus came into this world.
In agreement and concert with his father, the father sent the son, but the son also, in the dignity and majesty of his person, came.
It was his choice to come. Lo here am I send me.
And he came into this world and he went to Calvary's cross as an offering for sin, and he put away sin from the the stench of sin from the presence of God.
And it will be effective forever.
Not yet.
The fruit of that work is not yet effective, if I could say it that way. Effective because they're still sinning the world.
But the accomplish accomplishment of that work laid the foundation.
That sin will be taken away from before God forever.
Propitiation is the side of the cross.
That is for God.
God has made man in a natural sense that there are certain things he is repelled by.
Certain odors.
And probably the most repugnant smell that a person in any culture could smell is the smell of death.
It's just an awful smell.
And if you've been around, I'm sure everyone has been around carcasses of animals or.
And you smell that horrible smell of death.
And of human waste. And God has put it into just naturally, He's a fitted man to be repelled by that for a very good reason.
That doesn't begin, I suspect, to describe how repugnant sin is to a holy God.
And it magnifies his delight in the fact that his son was willing to come and take manhood to himself, to take the servants form, and among other things, to proceed through his life to Calvary's cross.
And the Scripture says God hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And so that his work on Calvary's cross has glorified God, he could say prophetically. Then I restored that which I took, not away.
The only sinless one. Whoever put feet upon this earth was willing to be made sin on Calvary's cross. He was qualified to be a sin bearer. He was qualified to take sin on himself because of who he was.
As the perfect, pure Lamb of God.
And when he died on Calvary's cross with the victors cry at his finish.
He laid the foundation in that work on Calvary's cross.
That now God can justify the vilest Sinner and still be just in doing it.
Mycins have been taken away judicially before God. I have been justified. And if you've put your trust in Christ, so have you.
But even the person who rejects the savior his whole life.
His sins are not gonna be a stench before God forever either. They're gonna be put away.
And Scripture is careful to distinguish between propitiation, which Christ accomplished for God's glory.
He bought the whole field.
And he offered himself. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, John says, but for the whole world.
00:35:04
And it's on this basis and on this foundation that God can now come forth.
In perfect consistency with his own holiness and purity. And come up to a center like me or like you and say come.
All things are ready.
Come unto me.
Mm-hmm.
On Calvary's cross.
The Lord Jesus.
Gave us an example of the man right next to him.
When those two thieves were put up on crosses, as if Satan was trying to camouflage the whole thing.
With as if there were three manufacturers there.
And they were both cursing the Lord, and while they were.
Dying.
And then one of the thieves that we know of, we don't know for sure what happened with the other one. Someone pointed out to me recently, but one of the themes that we know of came to himself.
And he displayed what the word of God calls repentance towards God.
And he rebuked his the other guy and he said.
We received the due reward for our sins. We deserve this.
That's just when God hears that from a Sinner. You could almost say that.
The light is starting to come through.
I deserve this and I know I came to a point in my life where I said I deserve. I am worthy of death.
And you are worthy of death, because the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sinneth it shall die.
And if you say you haven't sinned, you're a liar and therefore a Sinner.
With the thief turned to the Lord, as you've read the story, I'm sure, or had it read to you. And he said, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
Repentance towards God seen in that man.
And faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Nobody puts their trust in somebody that's gonna die.
Unless they have an indication that something is else is going to happen.
Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.
I don't know who told them about a Kingdom.
But the Lord abounded to him.
If the Lord had given him his wish, he'd still be waiting.
But the Lord said to him.
Push back the veil to that individual.
And said, Verily I say unto thee.
This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.
A lot in that one one expression.
Today.
With me.
In Paradise. I'm sure the thief probably didn't know where Paradise was, but it sure sounded like a wonderful place to be, especially if that is where the Lord of Glory was going.
And he went there, and he's been there ever since. And so someone could say, well, how do we know that wasn't just for that thief? It was a special blessing he got because he was on a similar cross or something like that, or he happened to be right there.
No, after the Lord Jesus was raised by God his Father from among all the rest of the dead, and after he ascended up into glory as man.
He sent forth the Holy Ghost. He sent forth his word.
And to this present hour.
Men and women and boys and girls who have put their trust in Him are telling others the wonderful news that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, that He was raised on the third day.
And I think it's this first right behind me. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
00:40:08
The thief had no chance to do anything. His hands were were done. They were nailed there. He was never gonna get a chance to do a thing with those hands. He couldn't go anywhere. He couldn't walk this way. We were talking about walking in a spiritual sense today. He couldn't walk anywhere.
But his heart was still there.
With his mouth he confessed Jesus as Lord. Have you done that?
Or are you worried about being a Christian?
God is not asking you tonight and nor am I on His behalf in treating you to be a Christian.
Neither am I asking you or imploring you to love the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not asking you to worry about anything like that.
What I am asking you on God's behalf?
Is that you confess that Jesus is Lord?
And that you believe on him.
I don't think anything else.
Should be before your mind if you are not saved tonight.
God has pronounced him the man of his counsels, the Son that was with him and for all eternity, and his delight.
And God is going to bring him back into this world soon, and he will be acknowledged in this world amongst all nations, from the river to the ends of the world.
As Lord.
But tonight?
God would entreat you and beg you in advance of all that to confess him as Lord.
And if thou shalt confess with thy mouth like that priesthood, like that thief did, Jesus is Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Not asking you to believe that you're saved.
Asking you to believe on Him. He knows what He did, He knows the value of it, and He will apply it all for your present and eternal blessing.
As we mentioned before, I think in this room.
Of all the times in the Word of God where we're told to believe, almost every time we're directed to believe on the person of the Son of God Christ Jesus, the Man Christ Jesus. Very few times are we told to believe on His work. When we believe on Him, all the value of His work is made good to us, and it's a lifelong source of enjoyment and wonder. To read and to learn more and more.
Of what he has accomplished on Calvary's cross and everything that flows from that.
Elisha in the end of job. He said to job.
Speak I desire to justify the.
God wants to justify you tonight.
He wants you to come to him in such a way.
That you can have all your sins put away so that you are no longer guilty like you were when you came in this room tonight, but you are now justified that you are no longer unclean.
And your existence of sin is a stench before a holy God, but you can be clean.
No longer estranged, but reconciled.
No longer a stranger, but fellow citizens were the Saints and of the household of God.
All the work is done.
And he holds out his hands tonight.
And entreats you to come.
Come on to me, all ye that labor are heavy laden. I will keep you rest.
Let's sing in closing.
#23 someone could start.
Hymn #23.
00:45:00
Behold, behold, I must.
Come.
All the time.
Crawl.
Oh my God, it's sad to get my head just gone.
All the crown.
On the ground.
Just the last person.
And.
Let alone.
All the problems on the ground and brown.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, It's raining all right. You know about 735.
Oh my God, crawl.
Uh.
I arrived to branches. I'm now demonstrating.
Why don't you come down? I'll come back to my bed for one hour to meet some stop stop furniture's for ourselves.
Call Thomas. Dunno.
Oh, no problems.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for reaching out to us when we were in our sins.
And bringing before us.
The work of thy beloved Son that has satisfied thee with respect to sin.
And for that wonderful good news, our God and Father, that thou hast found a way to return we that were banished ones to thyself and righteousness. We give thee thanks, Lord Jesus, for being willing to come into this world and take our place on Calvary's cross.
To bear the judgment we deserved and set us free. We thank Thee that Thou hast redeemed us through Thy precious blood, and we ask Thy blessing upon Thy word. And if there is any person here tonight that is still unsure, we pray that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts to bring them from darkness to light. From the power of Satan. Their eyes might be opened that they may see our God and Father, Thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
We give you thanks again, precious Savior, for the privilege to speak well of Thee, and on Thy behalf we trust tonight, and we ask Thy blessing and Thy worthy and precious name. Amen.
His Name is Wonderful
Children—Josh Costron
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Good morning.
How are you guys? Good.
Good all right, so we're gonna start this morning by singing a few hymns so uh First off, I would uh just ask that umm, if somebody could start the hymns for me I'm, I'm not that great at that, so I'd appreciate it umm and so does any young boy or girl umm is there anybody else out here who maybe wants to sit up front? I don't see anybody, but if you're uh hiding, uh be brave and come up. We'd love to have you up, up front here so.
Does any young child have a have a song to sing this morning, Jude?
What number?
Jesus name Jesus loves me OK.
40 #40.
He is strong, yeah. He's a lot of things. Yeah. I love me by 5 million. You have no messages, plot vibes. Love me so.
Love me, it is really nice and I have been saved to them all that you are in the middle of a whole bunch of Gray Pines. And that's not a very cold time of coming to him. Yeah, that's a big problem, philosophy.
Yeah, you didn't have one, maybe.
Yeah, let's see. But lovely, lovely love life and all of our help me so I don't know.
She had loved me, so I'm glad that I didn't get right through the 81 way to hold me And and thyme Thye's snake from and Reagan Horn. Yeah. I haven't seen you, but, well, yeah, let's see. I love me. You know, I don't know. Maybe it's like it's like a city.
Life like a hotel to be so I'm going to be able to do.
She does love me love me and I love all the way like everything that you know from his shining on some time he knew about a while to be treasurer arrived at my Yeah it makes his life Well, it's amazing. Yeah, it's a lot of meaning. Yeah, that's maybe well that's well that's really lovely motel help me so.
Geez, like loved me. He will stay close to me all the way.
If I trust him to arrive by, he will take thee O1 Time. You are not messaging. Yeah.
Lungs make me, Yeah. Let's see if he did something like.
I'm fine and will help me so.
OK. Anybody else have us on?
26.
Yeah, we'll, uh, we'll sing. How about let's sing the first and last verse of 26?
Find 0 307963 10-4 70 10-4 2 10-4 00123 Movement Beginning.
00:05:25
OK.
Let's take away sing fronting these plus at 1000 alike ever like begin.
And I do not focus on your grandstands and and and die and then and shake and shake, And thus by the sun, by right, Chester must live in the sledge of the flesh and the flesh and the flesh and the flesh. Lord love, love, love, love.
It's a good hymn. Who are we to look to? Who is this Speaking of? The Lord Jesus? That's right. You know the Bible says look unto me and be saved.
That's important. We need to look to the Lord and I like what one person said once he says one look to Jesus saves the soul. Every after look is the power of Christian living. So once we look to the Lord once and we ask him to save our souls, we can continue to look to him.
For our life. And he will help us, won't he? OK. Does anybody else have another him that we can see?
Eva, would you like to offer him?
Or anybody else. Doesn't have to be a a kid 4747.
Umm, like the stars of the morning.
Is right around the corner, they shall shine in his good day right down for his crowns and look under he look after the gems for his Kingdom.
Umm.
Right and forehead and brown.
Like the stars of the morning.
Is right around the morning they shall shine.
It right down for him and Crown.
Do you guys have, uh, him that you want to sing?
Why doesn't be OK? Which one? Why doesn't be OK? Why does the ocean is that one on here? We can sing it.
00:10:03
Well, I have a day of.
I have done that in the past.
Friendly first thing, it is my credit card.
I thought no one were digging in the landlord's child without getting together.
Alarming. It's like it's just me because I have to get it. Well, I'm pretty just.
All right, let's sing one more and then we'll see if anybody has a verse they'd like to share this morning.
The Bible. We can sing that, sure.
Cheesecake Factory.
His life he gave my soul to take the help of being.
OK, does anybody have a verse, a memory verse this morning? Oh, look at this.
She like to save for us.
1910 the fellow man came on. Lucy going to say that which is June 1910. Well done.
1910 the Son of God has come to seek him to say that which is after 1910. All right, thank you Jack, you have a verse. The Son of man that has to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19 and 10.
All done.
The Son of Man has come to seek and to say that which is life with 19 and 10. Do you, do you have a verse for us? No, that's OK, Jude.
You want her to go 1St and she doesn't want to say hers.
But do you do you want to say yours? You want to try it? No, that's OK. All right. Well done. All right.
So.
We're going to pray, OK, So let's close our eyes and then, uh, we'll talk about a few things here this morning. All right, the God and Father, we, uh, thank you this morning for, uh, this little time, uh, with the kids and, uh, we look to the E and I'll see that they'll help, uh, the speaker and, uh, pray that that which is spoken is clear and, and easy for the kids to understand. We pray for blessing on thy word.
We thank the UH most of all for the gift of thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, as we've been reminded here this morning. And we thank thee for thy heart of love, for sending my Son into this world to die on the cross so that sinners could be saved. So we ask for blessing this morning. We do so in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks, Amen.
OK.
I'm going to need, uh, your help this morning, OK? I might ask you guys a few questions and if you don't know them, that's OK. Umm.
And I might even, I might need your help because, uh, I, I need you to write out a few things for me, OK. And, uh, I'd like to, uh, maybe introduce what I want to talk about by one verse here this morning. So I'm just gonna open my Bible here.
OK.
So it's in Judges chapter 13.
Judges 13.
And, uh, we'll read from verse 17.
Judges 13, verse 17.
And Manoa said unto the Angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass, we may do the honor? And the Angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? I'd like to read that last word. The the margin says wonderful. And I checked, uh, another translation and and it says wonderful there so.
00:15:15
It should read Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is wonderful. It is wonderful.
You know.
Uh, number of years ago, I was, uh, listening to a meeting, uh, on tape, which pretty much don't exist anymore. Uh, and, uh, everything's done on CD's now, right? MP threes and so on. But nevertheless, I was listening to this meeting and it was, uh, Clarence lending. Now, you young kids wouldn't know who Mr. Lundeen was. You're too young. And he's with the Lord now. But there's some here that I'm sure.
I know, uh, remember Brother Landine and, uh, I never met him, but I listened to a lot of his ministry and I found it very helpful. And I remember he was, uh, uh, before he, umm, uh, went into his address and talked to the Christians there in that room, He, uh, called out, uh, I believe it was his nephew. I can't really remember. And uh, I'd be interested to know if there's anybody here that actually sat in that meeting.
Umm, but he called up this young man and he brought him up to the front and, uh, and he says, I, I have something and I think he pulled it out of his Bible or his Bible case. And he opened up a big piece of paper and he asked this young man to read what was on this paper. And you know what he did?
He listed off name after name, title after title of the God of the Bible.
His name is wonderful.
Sorry for me to uh.
Stand up here and, uh, speak about the Lord without.
Getting a little emotion when I consider.
How wonderful our God is.
And you know the God that we want to talk to you about this morning.
This is the God of the universe, the one who created all things.
There's none like him.
He is wonderful, his name is wonderful, and so as this young man.
Began to list off all these names and titles.
Mr. Lundin had to stop him, so that's enough.
And he said that this was something that was given to him by this young man when he was, I think, a child.
You know, I would encourage you, young children and all of us to go through your Bible.
And write down all the names of God.
And I believe we will get a fresh.
Perspective and appreciation for who our God really is. Well.
There is a a verse in Proverbs that says a good name.
It's better to be chosen than great riches.
There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
And So what I'd like to do this morning, maybe with your help, before I kind of go into what I want to talk about, the verse that is particularly on my heart is I'd like to maybe ask you young children and I, I realize this is a children's meeting, but I'm going to ask the help of the older ones too. If if you could just.
Give me some of the names that the Bible speaks of about the Lord, that speak of the Lord. And so, Eva, would you like to come up and write a few of them down for me? Would that be all right?
00:20:16
OK, so why don't you write the first one down? Let's make a list of our own this morning. Wonderful, Can you write down? Wonderful. Let's. You can make it nice and big. Here's an eraser if you need one.
Right. Wonderful.
And does anybody else can anybody else think of?
The names of God? Anybody else, Jack?
No. Well, Peter is in the Bible, but that's not a name of God.
Names. Titles.
The rock. That's a good one. Let's write the rock down. Eva, can you write rock? The rock? Anybody else?
That's right.
Anybody else? How about lights?
Is he called light? I think he's called light. And you put light up there, Eva. Yeah.
Lights everybody else.
Jesus, the name we know and love so much. Jesus.
The word Savior, the word and I'll help you. Here they come.
Jesus Savior.
The word.
Can you write down father? Anybody else? Counselor. Counselor. Very good.
Counselor.
There's many more. We don't have to exhaust the lid. We won't exhaust them.
Prince of Peace, Prince of Peace, maybe let's get a couple more and then we'll, uh.
We'll be here all day, but, uh.
How should I?
Would you, would you like to come and spell that for me?
Uh boy.
The Almighty.
I am. I am.
SPE A/C E.
The Almighty, all right.
Well, those are just a few names.
Of our God.
And, uh, so this young boy who spent the time and invested the energy to write out a big sheet of paper and you know what? He filled it with all the names of our God. And I would again encourage you guys that if you go through your Bible to make a list and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. Well, I think, uh, many of you probably know what versus kind of on my heart.
Uh, and uh, this one in Judges 13 leads right into it. I'm just gonna put this up here.
Isaiah Chapter 9.
Isaiah 9.
Isaiah 9, verse 6.
This is a verse we all know very well.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called. Wonderful Counselor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
You notice we've, uh, got some of those names up here, don't we?
Prince of Peace, Father.
And I was thinking a little bit about this, you know?
People know us by our name and.
Once they get to know you a little bit when you say Ava.
Or Landon? Is your name Landon? Is that right?
Once they get to know you a little bit, they form an impression in their mind. That means that they get an idea as to what type of of a person you are.
Right. And, uh, you know, when you go through the Bible, I believe that's why there are so many names and titles given to God because it magnifies the glory and the character of his person and.
00:25:16
You know, he is indeed wonderful. I've already spoken about that when you think of the infinite person of God.
The glories of this person who we know and who children we trust, you know, And if you don't know, it's our desire this morning that you come to know this God, this one whom, uh, we speak of this morning. So his name is wonderful. And we could write his name on ten of these boards and probably not, uh, not fit them all. His name is wonderful.
But it also says his name is counselor. What's a counselor? Anybody know what it's a big word I think for a for a young child. But what is a counselor? What does a counselor do anybody know?
Any idea what? What do you think?
Not too sure. Well, counselor is one that gives direction. They give you advice, they guide you, they help you out.
You know, you kids who are growing up, you'll, if you go to public school, sometimes they have a guidance counselor. So what they're, they're called and you can go and see them and they can help you out perhaps with some of your issues or you need to kind of figure out how to, uh, what you need to do or what you want to do. Umm, maybe after school, umm, when you graduate, while they might be there to give you some advice.
Well.
Is there anybody better than the Lord? Is there anybody who knows more than the Lord? Where is the best advice, who knows all about our lives and who knows everything about us and has a path for us and wants us to walk in that path? Who is this? Is it the Lord? It's the Lord. He's the one that can give perfect advice.
He's the one that can counsel us and guide us and direct us in life. You know, he wants to. He wants to.
And even as a young child, God cares about what is on your heart. Did you know that this person that is so wonderful and huge and infinite, He cares about you?
Cares about all of us.
Indeed is our counselor and you know, a lot of times we tend to want to go to other people and I realize that I value the council that I get from my older brother and I really do. You know, the Bible says that in the multitude of counselors, there's safety. So God has given us each other and and we ought to be thankful for that, but the ultimate person that we need to go to.
And the first person we should go to is the Lord.
He cares about you. I want you to understand this this morning and he wants to guide and direct you in your life.
He wants you to know him.
So he is wonderful, He is our counselor, but He is the mighty God. What do you think of when you think of the mighty God?
Jack, what do you think, Bud, when you think of somebody as mighty, what is that? What is your first impression? What do you think of when you think of something mighty? Strong?
You know, it says in the Bible that the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead. So when you look out of this window, these windows, or you go outside today and you see the sun and you see the birds, and you see the grass and the trees.
And you see one another. We are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Does that not tell us of the power of our God?
What do you think?
I think it does. Hey, you think so, Landon? Yeah.
00:30:03
God, who made the world and all things therein, seeing He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with with men's hands, as though he needed anything.
Our God is huge and powerful and he is the one that created all things by the word of his power. For by Him we're all things created in heaven and in earth, where the whether they be Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things and by Him all things subsist.
I think our brother Bruce here read a verse last night that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
And he is the one that created all things by him were all things made without him was not anything made that was made and in him his life. So you're right Jack, when we think of God, he is all powerful.
Think about it for a minute kids, This is the God that wants to know you.
And we trust that you want to know Him this morning. There is nobody that is more powerful and more great and supreme than God.
But you know, I think of that verse also in Romans, it says when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Did you know that we don't have any strength? And if we don't have any strength, wouldn't it make sense that we go to somebody who has strength?
Who is that?
So Lord, the Lord is mighty to save, you know, in our sins.
When we're lost and guilty in our sins, we have no power to deal with our sins. We need somebody else to deal with our sins. That person is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that is powerful enough and able enough to take away our sins because of what He has done on the cross. He went there and He died for our sins. He shed His precious blood, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
So he is wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. Now let's keep this simple here. You know another translation says the Father of eternity or the Father of ages.
All I want to say on this is that God is eternal. You know what that means?
Everybody know what the eternal means. Might be your heart, the hard word for kids. I I understand, you know.
Think of this if you can think of something as far back as your mind can go. He was. Do you know that?
In the beginning.
God before anything was, He was.
In the beginning was the Word. So if I if my mind can go back as far as my mind can go, God always was. He doesn't have a beginning and he doesn't have an end. This is the everlasting Father, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is eternal. Our God is an eternal being.
And then, finally, the Prince of Peace.
Why do you suppose he is the Prince of Peace?
He is the Lord. That's right. Do we need peace in our life? We do. Why do we need peace? Why do you think, Landon? Why do you think we need peace?
Does anybody know?
Did You Know?
That in the Old Testament, I forget which prophet exactly, but he says there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
You know the wicked are those who are lost in their sins. And you know what? We were born in sin and shaping in iniquity. We came into this world and we were lost.
And the Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace, because we need peace with God. And you know, you know what? You and I can't make peace with God.
00:35:03
Because peace has been made, and God offers that peace. The Lord Jesus says, My peace, give I unto you. He wants to give us His peace, not only for eternity, but for life. And you know what I think of that verse It says, And having made peace by what? By what? The blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself.
The Lord Jesus has made peace. He went to the cross, He shed his precious blood, and that blood is good enough to wash your sins away if you come to the Lord Jesus this morning. If you don't know him, I want to read another verse.
So we might say we've already alluded to it and touched on it, but I want to emphasize this.
Who is so wonderful?
Who is the counselor of our life? God.
Who is the mighty God and the everlasting Father? Who is strong and powerful, who made all things, Who was before any time ever began? Who is the one that can make peace in our life, for kids, for boys and girls, for older ones too, because we all need peace. Who is this person?
Jesus, thank you. Let's read a verse in Matthew chapter one.
Matthews Gospel, chapter one, verse 21.
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
You know, this is the name that we probably know the best.
Rightfully so, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know that verse that we read in Isaiah 9 says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.
Who is this? It's Jesus, you know, that's the name he took when he came into this world. A child was born. God came in flesh and dwelt among us.
The apostle could say, And we beheld his glory.
But who gave his son?
Who gave his son?
Says the Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world. Does anybody know John 316?
I'm sure your kids do.
Welcome to images only begun them.
Whosoever does, whosoever believe of him, him should not perish, but have, but have everlasting life. John 316.
Probably one of the most famous verses in all of the Bible. John 316.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and kids. This is the person that we've been speaking about this morning.
Think about it for a moment, and I know it seems like a silly question, but have you ever just stopped as a kid or even me as an adult and thought about who God is? You know, we talked about a lot about the Lord. Well, you say, well, Uncle Josh, yeah. I, I mean, what do you mean? We, you know, we come to meeting and, and we hear about the Lord and we, uh, we're going to remember the Lord Jesus this morning and his death and, umm, and umm, you know, I, I go to Sunday school and I hear about the Lord and mom and dad speak about the Lord. So yeah, of course. I mean, I.
I thought about the Lord, but have you really stopped? Have we just stopped?
And pondered God.
It'll take your breath away.
And this is the God.
That wants to know you and the Lord Jesus loves you.
And he says, Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of God.
00:40:06
The Lord Jesus cares about your young hearts and He thinks about you every day, every moment, and He wants you to get saved. And if you're not saved this morning, it's easy. All you need to do is tell the Lord Jesus that you're a Sinner and that you want to be saved and that you want to go to heaven and He'll save you. You need to have repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
All right, let's close by singing one more hymn. Does anybody have a hymn?
#5.
He called me how to watch and pray.
And give him every day.
I can be happy. I can be happy.
When she comes upon my extensions of the expenses of the way he searched for.
All right, let's just close our eyes and, uh, let's pray. Do you have a question first? What's that?
Jesus bids us shine. OK, would it be OK to sing one verse of Jesus bids of shine? Let's do that.
Why does it go?
Early in the night and to swallow of God and so on being much time.
You and your small father.
And God and mind, all right.
Let's close our eyes and let's just pray. Our God and Father, we thank Thee for a little time over Thy word. Think of Thy glory, how infinite Thou art, how great Thou art. And Lord, we just marvel at Thy beauty and the person of Thyself. And we thank Thee that Thou has revealed Thyself and the person of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus, that we might know Thee, the only true God.
And we just would pray that they'll reach into the Lil little hearts here this morning and we pray that they'll capture their hearts, cause them to look to the Lord Jesus and faith and receive salvation, the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we ask thee that they'll help us now as we would continue on throughout the day we committed into thy care. And we ask this for Thanksgiving, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for his glory, Amen.
In the Presence of God's Glory
Address—Don Rule
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.
#18 in the back of the book.
We need a starter.
And is this so? I shall deny.
The greatest place.
Before the last one.
Oh.
No one else dreaming of life until you dream.
Room off the client's orders and weighing in the newspapers and do the station.
And glory.
And the blanket is done and grow.
10-4, 59 drive gram alone.
Yes, it's on the beach.
Night, the Lord of Hand gods are very.
No.
Thoroughly that I've ever cleared. Joy shall help me.
3 miles.
Ago.
Doctor God, our God, we.
Give thanks for this time given to be together in this way, and we look to thee to speak to us, each one to our hearts.
Of thy son.
In a way that each one of us will benefit.
And so we ask our God to bless thy word to our souls this afternoon for thine own namesake, for the honor of the Lord Jesus, and for our good and blessing, we ask Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
For taking up what's before me, I would like to add a postscript.
To the morning meeting.
So please turn with me back to what we averse a chapter we were in this morning as we remember the Lord in his death, and that's Genesis chapter 45.
Genesis chapter 45 and verse three. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph.
00:05:04
Doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his, brethren, Come near unto me, I pray you. And they came near.
The next last hymn that we sang in the Breaking of Bread.
Began the second stanza with these words. You don't need to turn to it.
Oh God, we acknowledge thy greatness, thy glory.
Wish to make a few remarks about the importance of recognizing the glory even in connection with the breaking of bread.
When Joseph's brethren here saw Joseph.
We know they were troubled.
Because of their consciences feeling their guilt over what they had done to him when he made himself known to them.
But at the same time, they were seeing Joseph.
In his glory.
And throughout the Word of God, especially in the Old Testament.
The thought of coming into the presence of God's glory was frightening even to believers.
They had the recognition of the glory and majesty of God was great in a way that they were afraid to come near to it. In fact, the thought of seeing God was connected with the thought. If they did, they would die.
And even after the Tabernacle was set up.
And Aaron, the only one except Moses, who was ever in the most holy place.
Was afraid.
In the presence of the glory of God.
And justly so.
And here in this little picture of Joseph, there was fear this morning in the breaking of bread. We read two other places that have a similar thought connected with them.
When the disciples were on the Mount of Transfiguration.
And they saw the glory. These are believers too. They were afraid.
They were not in a state of understanding.
At that point in time in which to have be in the presence of God's glory. In that case, His millennial glory was foreseen by them to be in it brought fear.
In Revelation chapter one, when John came in to the presence of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As one who was robed to act in holiness and righteousness, he says, I fell at his feet as dead.
He was afraid.
We came into the presence of the Lord this morning.
Did we have any of those thoughts when we came? I would guess not.
We didn't need to have such thoughts, but on the other side, and I suggest that sometimes when we live in a culture that doesn't have much respect for anything of authority or dignity, as we should to even honor those that are in authority over us in a proper way, that our souls may get dull to the sense of that glory which is due to the presence.
Of God and the Lord Jesus.
And consequently, and we won't take time to turn to it, but in First Corinthians chapter 10, the communion that we have to come into the presence of the Lord to remember him in His death, in the present sense of His honor, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. But to have a true sense of it, brethren, we need to recognize the greatness of that glory.
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If you had said this morning, and in a certain way, Aaron, would you like to come to the breaking of bread, we're gonna be in the presence of the glory of the Lord. I think Aaron would have said no thanks.
With what he understood, he would not have wanted to come.
Into the presence of the Lord's honor and glory in that way.
And so that in first Corinthians 10, it was the communion, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ, and the fellowship of his body? And in chapter 10, where it says, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, before it says that it very carefully establishes.
The reason why we can do it is His body and His blood have been there in His presence, shed before God and when we came into His presence this morning. And that blood in that body representatively we're seeing to us on the table is the only basis on which we should ever have been in the room in that sense.
I just say it, brethren, because I feel we get dull.
To the significance of being in the presence of the Lord's glory.
Mm-hmm.
We're going to look the little time that we have.
At a few things.
Before anything was.
And a few things after everything is, and a little bit in between. I'll say that a different way. We're going to look at a few things that God tells us about before time began, a little bit that God tells us about after time ends, and a little bit in between.
Or I'm going to say it one more way. We're going to look.
At the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, from God's perspective.
Uh, with before we look at that, just to introduce a further turn to Revelation for just one verse Revelation chapter.
Umm 4 and verse one. Revelation chapter 4 and verse one.
After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was, as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up, hit her, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.
John, Beloved John and all his.
Joy of the Lord Jesus for 3 1/2 years and his certainty of his salvation and the truth of the New Testament, as much of it as he had at that point.
God wanted to tell him something, but in order to say something to him, he had to say, John, you come up here as it were. You come up here where I am, and then you can look at this matter from my perspective and you'll see it better. And so I encourage you as we look at the verses that we're going to look at, to seek to see them and enjoy them.
From God's side of it, as he sees it, and I'm going to, I believe with liberty of my God to speak.
At times in the first person of the Father and the Son. You'll see what I mean later.
So now let's turn with that to another verse that was in the Gospel last night, Proverbs chapter 8.
MMM.
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Proverbs. It was read last night in the Gospel. We're not gonna read more than a couple of verses, but Proverbs chapter 8 and verse.
22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. Verse 30. Then I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and my delights were with the sons of men.
This is talking about before anything was as far as creation.
There's a surprisingly nice number of verses that God has given to us to tell us about things that were before time began, and here we learned something wonderful. I think that or we can we already know it, but can enjoy it together. This afternoon a fresh.
Here's the Son of God.
In past eternity and we're told what he's thinking about.
He's thinking about us.
He's thinking, he's expressing what he finds pleasure in.
People.
And those people include you.
And they include me.
We find that part of it too, is every day he enjoyed.
Being the delight of his father.
And, uh, he enjoyed that, but also he had thoughts about us.
He was thinking about us.
That is stopped there.
Turn over to John's Gospel.
Chapter 17.
MMM.
John 17 verse two is thou hast given him powers over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal, that they might know the the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.
I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with thine own Self, with the glory which I had with Thee.
Before the world was.
Father.
Sometimes I'm going to be father and son as a way of communicating something, and I believe it's all right with the father and the son that I do so.
But here's the sun, and he says Father.
I have some thoughts about those that you've given me.
Not only did he think about us a long time ago and can't hardly talk without time before there was any long time ago, before time existed, he says here.
You know those you've given me.
It's a joy to me, brethren, to look at you.
And be honest. Look at myself too. And as I look at you, I look at a room full of people.
That God gave to his Son before this world was ever formed.
Does that tell you something about your God? Does that tell you something about the sun and their thoughts towards you?
To think that you are being thought about and in fact here more than thought about.
God could say everything that we create is mine as Creator, but I'm going to give to you some of those that you find your delight in.
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So he says.
I'll give eternal life. You've given them to me and I wanna give them something.
And we'll look at that something a little more later. But here he says, I want you to give them and I or I should say I'm going to give them eternal life.
You know, when somebody gives you something that you value, you may turn around and.
Give to that person or to something that's been given to you. And so here it takes it a step further.
Let's turn it over to.
2nd.
Timothy, Chapter One.
Second Timothy. Chapter One.
And verse 9.
Who has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus? When?
Before the world began.
Goes back quite a ways, doesn't it?
Here we are told.
That God formed a purpose didn't just think about something. We sometimes have thoughts, we think about them, but we don't end up doing anything about them. They're just nice thoughts to us. Wouldn't it be nice if we say, but here God formed a purpose.
Before this world began concerning us.
And that purpose included grace.
Hmm.
It was necessary if the purpose was going to come to accomplishment. Let there be grace.
But it's a wonderful thing to also see that the heart of God was involved in the activity of grace before anything was ever created.
And that he formed a plan, a purpose.
To carry it out.
MMM.
It says.
Which was given us in Christ Jesus.
It's a very important little phrase and we will talk more about it shortly, but just kind of keep it in mind here.
This purpose that be carried out was to be done and given in Christ Jesus.
Now let's turn over to Titus.
Titus chapter one and verse 2.
In hope of eternal life.
Which God, which cannot lie, promised.
Before the world began.
Pretty interesting, isn't it, to think that promises were made before the world ever existed.
If there's promises made, there has to be more than one involved and a promise.
At least normally it's that way. So who's promising who, what?
The sun has its delight.
In US.
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The Father.
Says to the Sun Sun, I promise you that we will give to those that you find their delight in eternal life.
Let's talk about it, what that means for a few minutes.
If I put up here.
An Ant on this tabletop.
I suggest there's nobody in this room.
That can say what that aunt's thinking about.
And I also suggest, and you'll agree with me, that that aunt can't tell any of us what we're thinking about either.
It has no capacity, and in fact nor do we have the capacity to fully understand and enter in to.
That in.
We read in John 17 This is eternal life, that they might know thee.
The only true God in Jesus Christ whom now is sent. How is it possible that we could ever be said to know God?
Think of the end.
We don't know the Ant, We can see its behavior and all that, but we don't enter into his thoughts or his feelings. And in that way we have a limited understanding of it and it likewise of us.
But the sun's delight in us is so intense, it's so great, it's so wonderful that it's not satisfying to him.
To have us without being able to know Him and to know God.
Why do we know each other?
Because we share a common nature.
Why do you understand your children if you have them, when the kid disobeys?
You look at it and you say that's me.
I was like that when I was a little kid. Scripture says his face answers to face and water. So the heart of man to man when I look at a fellow human being.
Immediately comes to mind. Tomorrow I expect to spend 6 hours in a prison.
And I'm gonna look somebody in the face that's spending their life in prison for multiple murder.
And by previous experience, and I can say with all honesty and sincerity, when I do, I'm looking at myself in the mirror.
Face answers to face and water. That face is the water is a mirror. And when we look at a fellow human being and we see what they do and can do and are capable of, we're looking at our fellow nature.
Perhaps expressed in a wrong way, yes, but the nature is the same. The capacity to do it is the same.
God says.
Son.
I promise you.
We'll give them eternal life.
Peter expresses it.
We have become partakers of the divine nature.
Why do we understand the love of God as a person of the world can't?
Because they don't have at that point the divine nature, and we do.
And having received that life, that nature, I can love as God loves, and so enter into His heart and his feelings.
00:30:00
I can have thoughts about holiness consistent with his own thoughts, and abhor evil as he abhors it. We had in the reading meeting the love of Christ constrains us because we have the same nature as a new creature in Christ Jesus, and you don't have the love of Christ constraining us until you get expressed in that chapter. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.
The race of Adam.
As a relatively little comprehension of God.
As Bruce said last night, he could contemplate for 50 years the awesomeness of creation.
And have no clue after 50 years of the heart of God.
Could see God's power, his greatness, that much?
The law that was given as a perfect standard of life couldn't even then teach man the heart of God.
And tell him what he was supposed to be telling me. He was supposed to love God with all his heart and so on. Give him the measure of it, but not the capacity to enter into it.
It goes farther.
It goes farther.
Umm, let's turn over to Ephesians chapter one.
Chapter one. Verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath. God repeats himself so we can get it, if you will. Chosen us in Him in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
Having predestinated us onto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, according to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Where any hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth even in Him.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children.
Sun I'm going to give.
To you.
Those that you'll find someday in the room in Englewood, and a whole lot more.
But also.
Son, I love him too.
And so my purpose is is to make them my children.
So I'm going to adopt them.
Those that I give you.
Likewise, I'm going to adopt them and they're gonna become my children and my family.
And giving them eternal life will give them the life and nature of the family.
I'm light and I'm love and so they are going to be as members of my part of my family, they're going to be those who are of light and love.
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And they'll be in that near relationship to me.
For eternity.
But also.
Those who are going to be.
And we choose.
To be part of.
Those that become mine and yours together.
Some of them.
We're going to make.
Form of them an assembly.
A church.
To be your body.
And you will be the head and they will be the members. And that will further bring us together in a unity of heart and thought.
And what I give you as an inheritance, you can share it with them, and what you come to inherit, they can inherit with you.
They're yours. They're your body.
OK, and so let's do it.
At this point.
I'll call it in the planning process.
There's something that.
I think is in some measure beyond words.
But we'll have eternity.
To enter into it in our feelings, and maybe there'll be words to properly express it fully someday.
It says in Adam, I'll die.
When we get to the future, that is when time is no more.
There won't be a single member of Adam's race.
That race has no future.
That race has no relationship.
On a permanent basis with God.
It's a a race that God can't use.
And in order for God to carry out.
His purposes?
It becomes necessary to have a work of redemption which involves death.
And the forming of a new race.
So it says in Adamaldai, in Christ shall all be made alive.
So the plan requires a Lam.
And we won't turn to it, but first Peter chapter one, it says the lamb for ordained.
Before the foundation of the world.
And so the plan includes the lamb.
And.
The plan includes.
That God.
The Sun.
Come down.
To the creatures he delights in.
And participate with them in flesh and blood.
In order that.
The heart of God, the nature of God, is holy and light, as we have here in Ephesians. One that they might be.
Holy and without blame before Him in love could be realized. Otherwise God couldn't bring us into this relationship.
In Adam.
And so.
The sun in the plan becomes a man.
Becomes the lamb.
But in order to fully realize it.
00:40:01
We participate in that which is eternal by the divine nature.
But he participating in humanity and becoming a real man. I say participating because he didn't participate. He participates in flesh and blood, but not in the sinful condition of man.
So I put it that way, but he.
Says if the Father's heart is to be realized and my heart is to be realized, I am going to be that man for eternity.
And for eternity I will display the Father's heart.
As a man, I love my master.
God's heart displayed to us in the sun. I love my wife. His heart displayed to us in the church.
I love my children, which I believe from Isaiah 8 or Israel and his earthly people, but he brings us.
Into this oneness that we have in John 17, where God and man are brought together into a unity that I think is, for me at least, beyond describing really.
That.
Here's people in a room that.
Scripture says.
I look at you and I can't see it outwardly, but I look at you and Bible tells me that God, the Spirit's living in you, dwelling in you. I look at you and I can't.
I can see manifestation of it, but it says Christ in you as your life.
That eternal life is the life of Christ in you.
I read the word of God and it says.
Son, from now on, when this work is done, when I look at you, I look at them in you.
So if any man be in Christ, and so my plot their place before me, I will see them as I see you.
And further than that, I by my nature, love them just as much as I love you.
That's incomprehensible to me.
It's obviously incomprehensible to me that God loves me as he loves his own Son.
But if I say that can't be, I'm denying what God says, says it very simply, very expressly, without any UN misunderstandings about it. He's saying this is how close.
Son, we are going to bring the ones that you find your delight in into relationship with ourselves.
The one true God.
We'll all think alike, feel alike, see things alike.
Enjoy the same.
You know some people.
Non believers typically kind of say what do we do in heaven?
Is a kind of a do I? Well I'm really interested or not?
Will be filled with a joy that's incomprehensible.
As it says in the high point of the book of Romans is in chapter 5, it says we joy in God.
We will find our absolute eternal joy.
In God himself.
And then the person, God and the Person of the Son. And we won't have any difficulty filling up the eternity with infinite joy and pleasure.
Think we're better in view of the time pass on to just a a note or two about.
What's after times done? So let's turn over to second Peter chapter.
Three.
00:45:01
Generally thought that there are only three or four scriptures in the New Testament that take us to the what we call the eternal state that's ahead of us, but we'll look at two of them.
Here in second Peter chapter 3.
And uh, verse 11, it says, seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking and hastening? For under the coming of the day of God we're in the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved in the elements, shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
This looks on and we see that God tells us I'm going to get it done. All that I purpose will be realized, and when it is, the conditional things will be a new heaven and a new earth. The present heaven and earth is forever spoiled by the effect of sin upon it, both on earth ruined, the heavens with the fallen angels in them ruined, and so on. But he said, I'll remove all that, I'll replace it.
And, umm.
There won't my nature.
Of righteousness will dwell.
Won't need to have any government to make it happen.
Government means control, and generally control. It came into existence when Adam, I'm sorry, Noah, came out of the ark to control.
But God will no longer need any governmental control over earth or heaven or anything, because all will be in perfect harmony and consistency with what God is. And so he can, as it says in the Old Testament prophet, He will rest in his love, and that's part of the future. Let's turn over to Revelation chapter 21 for a verse or two.
Describes the same future.
Revelation 21 and verse three And I heard a voice, great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the Tabernacle or dwelling place of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things that passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
I will dwell with them, he says.
Back up in our thoughts.
The sun has delight.
In US, we were chosen to have the special.
Part.
In our eternal life of being members of His body, of His Church.
And so when he was leaving this world, after having accomplished the work of redemption, he says to his Father, Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me.
And that fixed the location of your eternal destiny. Where is He?
In the Father's house.
This delights in you. So where are you gonna be? If he wants you with him, you can't be anywhere else but with him in the Father's house.
And so it is.
There will be those who are not part of His Bride, who have a different but perfectly satisfactory place to them on earth. Although the distinction between heaven and earth will be largely gone, but still there will always be the Bride.
And uh, so we see a little bit, if you will, of the future.
Let's turn back.
To uh, Romans chapter 8.
00:50:07
Romans chapter 8 and verse 28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did for know.
Before time began, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son.
It's incredible.
That's absolutely incredible.
That the eternal purpose of God.
Is to make you in the very image of God's Son.
No, you will never be deity.
But you will forever bear.
The image.
Of his son.
Turn over to 2nd Corinthians connection with this Second Corinthians chapter 3.
2nd Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 17. Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, but we all with open or unveiled face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord.
Are changed into the same image.
From glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
That being the purpose of God, that you be the perfect proper expression.
To be in the image of God for eternity. God isn't waiting. He's working on that process now.
And, uh, the desire of God's heart, God's perspective. We all have a perspective about this conference, and we'll all leave it with certain things that left impressions on us of the weekend.
I can't.
With the certainty of the word of God, say things for on God's behalf in this respect, but I'll say what's in my heart for God anyways, and that is.
I trust.
That God has put your eye on the Lord in glory this weekend.
To the intent that when you go home, you'll be a little more in the image of his son.
And that next week, that process will keep going, and by the end of next week, you'll be a little more like his son.
John puts it this way, and 1St John chapter 3 says He that hath this hope in him. What's the hope? We know that we shall be like Him when we see him as he is. That's what we expect. We will be like him. We'll bear His image when we see Him as he is. And so he says he that hath this hope in him. It's a sure hope. It's a sure hope. It's your salvation that you will be.
Conformed to the image of his son. And so he says with that he that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Is he this Is image a holy one?
If you bear the image, you'll have a holy one.
Are you gonna say, well, I'll just live the way I want to now and then you know, when heaven comes, I'll get transformed and everything will be good? No, that's not the way the Scripture presents it. He that hath this hope in him purifies himself. That is, I will say, no, I don't want to go down that road. I don't want to be occupied with that. I want to be occupied with this and that that contribute in one way to being like him and put aside or judge anything that hinders.
That work of God to make me practically like his Son.
I'll add one last perhaps thought to the present activity of that work, and also a little footnote perhaps to yesterday afternoon address.
00:55:10
Turn with me to Acts chapter.
Umm, 20.
24.
Acts Chapter 24.
Sorry, try again. Acts chapter 20, verse 24. Acts 2024.
But none of these things move me, neither can I in my life dear unto myself, so that I might have finished my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
I refer to this first because we say we're in the dispensation of the gospel of the grace of God, and this is the only place in Scripture where that expression is used. Turn over now to the end of Acts in the last verses of Acts.
And we'll add one more two days references to the ones that were given yesterday.
Acts Chapter 28.
Verse 28. Be it known, therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
Just add this word, which I trust is from God's perspective about what's going on in the world today and when the day of grace will end.
Before this world ever began, God purposed certain things that we've had before us, and now He is accomplishing them.
And to accomplish them, he's calling out a people to fulfill the places that were purpose for them before the world began. And he's doing it as a work of his own grace, because there's no other way to do it. He's doing it on the basis of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And so God is working in the world, and this period of time in which we live will come to an end.
When God finishes that work of grace.
It's true on the other side that the iniquity of the amorite will be full and God will have to bring the many judgments that come upon the world. But the primary, at least to my own soul, the primary end point, and what determines it, of this day of grace in which we live, is that.
God is working to accomplish his purposes and I likewise, and I when in meditating on that, I think we're right.
Perhaps right at the end of that period in this respect, when I was a little boy.
I can remember.
Question asked many times when you said about the gospel and will everybody have a chance to be saved and so on, the question was often asked, what about the heathen in Africa?
Because at that point in time, Africa was a pretty dark country with respect to the gospel. That's in my lifetime.
If you think about it and you observe it, you will see that the gospel of the grace of God has worked its way all around the world.
And that gods began in one part of the world, and he worked in grace, particularly in that part of the world. He revived his work in the Reformation and so on the countries of South America.
Received that message later in more recent times and they're in a different phase of their spiritual development and so on. But in our lifetime, God has finished.
If you will, getting to the whole of the world and now the gospel is generally available in the dark. What was once the darkest places where grace had not come to work in activity. And now it has worked in the, in, uh, Africa to, and is continuing to work. And when that is all finished, which to my eyes I think is soon, uh, but it's important. It's what's the God?
01:00:11
Fine, then the work will be done.
And he will have gathered all that he intends to accomplish in this period of time. And then we'll have the judgments that usher the Millennium. Let's pray.
Our daughter, Father.
We acknowledge that.
Thou alone can make thy word good in our souls that what we think about becomes a living reality in our hearts and in our consciences and in our manner of life, that we might prove these things and lay hold of what's really life and, uh, let loose with the things that.
Our material and passing to lay hold of that which is eternal and permanent, we.
Bless Thee, our God, for the incredible purposes of Thy love and grace and the manner in which Thou art accomplishing them to the glory of Thy Son. And so we would desire Lord Jesus and to live in practical appreciation.
Of myself.
In thy name, Amen.
Romans 12:5-21
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117.
Maybe someone can start it?
Lord Jesus heard this little prayer that we have just sung together. Come.
And it is indeed the desire of our hearts, we would say Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus, we long to be home safe in the Father's house with all the redeemed. But now, in the meantime, we thank Thee for this wonderful time we've had together and the privileges of this weekend and this day. And now, as we have the living word before us once again, we pray that they'll continue to instruct us, to edify us, build us up.
Thou knowest what the needs are of each one in this room.
We pray that we might have Christ much before us, and we might be encouraged and strengthened to press on the few moments that are left to us in the path of faith and service. So we look to Thee for help and blessing in the power of the Spirit. Take Thy word and make it good to our souls. Minister to us according to the need. We pray in thy blessed name, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So will you continue with Romans? Well or?
Another exercise.
You have a suggestion as to where to start today, John?
Yeah.
Number is 5.
Sisters, yes.
Romans, chapter 12.
Starting with verse 5.
So we being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone one of another, having them gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. Whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith. For ministry legislate on our ministry. For he that teacheth on teaching, or he that exhorteth on exhortation, He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity. Either rules with diligence.
He that showed mercy with turf.
That love he without dissimulation have poor that which his evil cleave to that which is good.
The kindly affections 1 to another with incredibly loved not preferring one another, not sloth from the business urban and spirit serving the Lord.
Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of Thanksgiving to hospitality.
Bless them which person is less than cursed not.
Rejoice with them to rejoice.
Be of the same mind one toward another. Might not I things who condescend to men of lowest statement? Be not wise in your own conceit.
Recompense to so many equal for evil, provide things honest, and the sight of all men, if it be possible, as much as lives in you. This feasibly with all men. Dearly beloved, events not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
For, it is written, vengeance to Spana will be faced afterwards.
Therefore sign enemy hunger people.
If he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing I shall he colt a fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil.
But overcome evil with good.
There's a lot of instruction here for us as to the ministry in the body of Christ.
As we mentioned that we all have a place to fulfill.
In the body of Christ we are all in the ministry.
It's not confined to quotation marks, laboring brethren.
It's not, uh, a position that man can give us.
That gives the Lord has imparted to you.
He's given you a capacity in the body of Christ. You don't need man's.
Authority to exercise that gift.
00:05:03
Uh, and you don't need a training in a seminary or some sort of human ordination before you can.
Participate in the ministry.
Which is.
Outline for us in the rest of this chapter.
And it's important to note also that all the ministry.
Is not of a public nature. Some of these gifts here are of a private character.
But their importance?
So we are all in the ministry, sisters as well as brothers.
And we are all servants of the Lord.
We all have a gift to exercise in the body and as we have mentioned already, if one member of the body is not functioning in its place and capacity, the whole body will suffer.
If the whole body will feel it.
A ministry to fulfill, and we refer to that verse.
Umm, as everyone has received the ministry even.
Uh, received a gift or the ability?
Even so, minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. So in the verse that we started with here it says gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.
Ephesians chapter 4. The Moment.
Verse seven of Ephesians 4. But unto everyone of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
When the Lord ascended on high, he received the Holy Spirit for the second time.
And he showered down the divine guest to indwell the believer. What a inestimable privilege.
But he also sent down gifts that brought out clearly in Ephesians 4 the quotation from the Old Testament. He has given gifts for the the ministry in the body of Christ. This is the way.
The ministry is fulfilled, it's through the gifts which an ascended Christ.
Has imparted to his body. This is particularly in connection with the church period that we are in now. It's not something that was.
Uh, active during the Lord's, uh, pathway down there. This is in connection with the Lord's resurrection and his, uh.
His position in glory as the exalted man. These gifts have been given to the church, not given to one man, and as I said, not requiring the authority of man for their exercise and so for their exercise. And so the apostle goes on to detail a number of these gifts and these are exhortation regions. 7 exhortations here for believers. Then he goes on to.
Describe our the practical righteousness.
In our activity, one to the other and then at the end of the chapter.
Uh, our relationship in the world, our activity for those that are without. So we have a responsibility for those that are within. We also have a responsibility toward those that are without. And that's what the apostle mentions that at the end of the chapter here.
So there are perhaps two things to be exercised about in connection with what Brother John has just said. The 1St is that every one of us then needs to be before the Lord as to what that little gift and ministry is.
Because we are to carry it out before the Lord for the good and blessing, the edification and building up of the body of Christ. And when Paul wrote to the Saints at Colossae, I think he was concerned that there was a brother named Archipus there who wasn't carrying out the little ministry that God had given him in the the assembly in Colossae. And that's why the second last verse of the epistle says and say to our tipis, take heed to the ministry that thou has received of the Lord, that thou fulfill it.
00:10:10
We don't know what that ministry was.
It may have been some little hidden, quiet ministry, but Paul felt that the Saints at Colossae were suffering because he wasn't carrying it out. We find that the apostle Paul then exhorted Timothy to stir up the gift that was in him. Timothy was reticent and shy, I think by nature perhaps, and he needed a little encouragement to use what God had given him for the blessing of the people of God and so on.
But I think there's something else to consider too, and that is that we don't go beyond the ministry and the gift and ability that God has given us because there can be just as much detriment to the to the body of Christ and to the testimony for the Lord by going beyond. There's a detriment when we don't carry out our little ministry and function, but there's also a problem when we go beyond. I'll tell you a little story about a brother.
Who was exercised to go out and to serve the Lord full time and in his home assembly his brethren had some brothers meetings with him and they said to him, when you go out to serve the Lord, as long as you you are yourself, you will be fine. When you try to be something you're not, when you try to go beyond the ministry and the gift and ability the Lord has given you, you're in trouble. I thought that was good advice to a young brother who had.
An exercise to serve the Lord in that way.
But that applies to everyone of us, whether it's serving the Lord in the little assembly we come from, whether it's in the family circle, extended family, whether whatever little gospel testimony he gives us. Because, brethren, we're not all called to give up our secular employment and go out to the mission field or some far off country, but we are all called on to stir up an exercise, the gift and ministry that God has given us.
And we are to be exercised, not to go beyond that, but to use what He has given us for His glory and the blessing of souls.
That's important again, because, umm, rivalry can easily arise there, Yeah. And, uh.
Damage can be done. Umm.
By trying to, uh, emulate, uh, another person's, uh, position.
God has given each one of us a place to fulfill. We can be happy in that ministry. Uh, that, uh, fear that, uh, the Lord has, uh, as we might say, appointed to us. You remember, uh.
At the very instructive study to look at the Book of Numbers and to see how Aaron appointed the various members of the tribe of Levi, the different families.
To specific services.
It's a very interesting study. Uh, Mr. McIntosh has an excellent article on it. Everyone had an appointed place in the Tabernacle. Some were right out in the forefront carrying the Ark. Everyone could see them. Others were just in the background carrying a few pins. It would appear they were very insignificant, but each one had their appointed work to do, given by Aaron.
There a picture of the Lord. Now there's no brother that we can go to and say, now what is the ministry that I have to do in the assembly or in the body of Christ? We cannot do that. We have to be exercised before the Lord, what He would have us do now, you young brethren.
Often have that problem.
What is? What does the Lord want me to do in the assembly? Well, do what comes to your hand. Uh, uh.
Our brother mentioned, I think, that line of truth the other day, Mr. Darby said. If there was more devotedness among us, there would be more gift.
That's a rather strange expression, you might think. Does gift come from devotedness? No, that's not the thought. But he said if there was more devotedness to Christ, then the gifts would be manifested. Some of them are buried. And we need to do what the Lord has given us to do the best of our ability, as it says here.
00:15:06
Down further in our chapter, not slothful in business.
Shouldn't be there. It's it's not the thought of secular work there at all. It's the thought of being.
Zealous in the Lord's service, Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
Umm, that's an expectation that for every one of us. And so if we fulfill that little service, the Lord gives us. Now, you young brethren.
Uh, there's ample opportunities in the gospel. We are living in a perishing world and uh, do what comes to your hand. It may be, may not be in a public way, but those little services in the assembly for the Lord's people, visiting elderly people seeking to encourage one another, a word spoken in season, how voting is, you know, I can remember in my experience in Ottawa.
Some brethren who were not public speakers in any sense of the word, but they were faithful in the meeting, and with those they had a warm handshake and a word of encouragement.
It had a great effect upon me and uh, so it may not be any great service that is uh.
Last, uh, you might say, uh, in our, in our report or anything, but if you do it for the Lord, you will make manifest what your gift is as you go on in the path of faith and faithfulness. Is that right, brother?
Yes, I was thinking too. It's, uh, here in our chapters really in connection with our attitudes as well. It's not only the service and that's really what it means when it speaks of ministry in verse seven. It's our service. There ought to be a service of love for the Saints and love for not only for the Saints, but in service to Christ. And the attitude has a lot to do with how it's acceptable before the Lord and how effective it will be. And so.
As Jim has mentioned, it's the we're if we're to teach, if that's our gift, well, let's teach and not to desire to be have some other gift. It's interesting if you just turn to Acts Chapter 11, you have a little bit of an indication of tests these different gifts that were given. Now I know that we have other little works that are given that are mentioned here in Romans chapter 12, but we get a principle in Acts Chapter 11.
There were some evangelists that went in, uh, verse 19.
And it says they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution, that Roosevelt even traveled as far as unites me, and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none, but under the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Sirene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus and the hand of the Lord with them. And a great number believed and turned to the Lord. So there is the work of the Evangelist. The Evangelist says, you know, I need some help.
And umm, those that were in Jerusalem, they saw that there was work going on. And it says in verse 22 They sent forth Barnabas.
That you should go as far as barn as umm, Antioch, who when he came had seen the grace of God, was glad and absorbed them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave under the Lord. Now here is a true shepherd, a pastor, as it were, uh, among the people of God. And he comes, he does his work of pastoring, interpreting, and he knows that there's a teacher that's needed to bring him into the knowledge of the truth. And he says that says, uh, in verse 25, he departed, then departed Barnabas to Parsons for the seek Saul. And then it says in verse 26.
That they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people and the disciples were called Christians first and Antioch. So they're called and he's teaching, they're all working together. And then we have the prophet Agatha brought there, uh, brought before us. So isn't it nice that these gifts, if you have a little gift that God has given you in the assembly, even if it's a hidden gift, it's a wonderful thing to exercise that gift and in harmony with the right attitude.
To use it and there's going to be blessings and that's really what we have in Acts Chapter 11. And that's what the Spirit of God is really teaching us in connection with Romans chapter 12 here. It's not just the service, but the attitude. And when the Lord has something for you to do, he won't let your brethren stand in the way. He will work in their hearts so that they have fellowship with you and recognize that this is something raised up with the Lord. Brother Dave mentioned about proving.
00:20:07
The will of God yesterday. And I'd like to go to a verse in Galatians where we're to prove something else in regard to what we're saying, what we're Speaking of.
In Galatians chapter 6.
He says in verse 4, but let every man notice this, prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. Interesting We're not only to prove the will of God as Brother Dave brought before us, but were to prove our own work. Again, it's not another's work, it's the work the Lord gives us to do. How do we prove that work? We carry it out. We seek by grace then to carry out what God has done, given us that little ministry He's given us.
And others will recognize if it's truly of God, others are going to recognize because it says a man's gift makes room for him. And if you just quietly carry on the little service that the Lord has given to you.
I believe you'll find that your brethren will recognize, and they'll make room for that gift to operate. I say that because if we go beyond what the Lord gives us, our brethren may recognize this too, and have something to say to us. And whatever little ministry the Lord gives to us, it we are not to carry it out independently. We're members of the body of Christ as is brought out here in our chapter in Romans. And the body, as he says in the previous verse, it's like the natural body. It works together.
And when it carries out the function that it has been given, God-given in a natural sense, the body works properly. If I tried to walk in here today on my hands, it wouldn't be very good. I wouldn't make much progress and it wouldn't look very well. No, it's my feet. I walk in in on my hands are for other functions and and so on. And so when we, when we seek to carry out according to what God has given us in heart, it ha, it needs to be in harmony with the rest of the body. That is, I'm not saying there won't be criticism.
Sometimes there's there's always gonna be criticism. We try to do something for the Lord. So probably gonna be some that don't understand, some that criticize. But in a general sense, and I say this to encourage the young people, you feel before the Lord, He's giving you some little thing to do. Carry it out quietly. You may get a little criticism, but you'll find if it's really a ministry of the Lord, that eventually your brethren will recognize this and you will be given that room to carry it out.
And that it will be for the blessed blessing of soul. Remember too, that gift needs development. I think it was, Charles Spurgeon said. Nobody jumps into the pulpit full grown.
It's an interesting comment, isn't it? Nobody jumps into the pulpit full grown and maybe there's a young brother here and, umm, you're encouraged to take the gospel or to take some little part in, uh, the assembly meetings for ministry. You know, the first time you stand up to preach the golf ball or to give a little word of exhortation, it's not gonna be perfect. You may stutter and, and stammer. I remember Don's father-in-law telling us the first time he took the gospel.
He was shaking, his palms were sweaty, and I remember he didn't speak very long, and another older brother got up and took the rest of the meeting. Gift needs to be developed, and whether it's public gift or hidden ministry, you're not gonna perform it. You know, a person who bakes a cake doesn't bake a perfect cake the first time they bake the cake. No, it takes, uh, development in any aspect, practically or spiritually.
In our Christian life, so don't be discouraged if you've kind of floundered the first time you said something in the assembly or the first time you were asked to give a little word in the gospel. Don't be discouraged if the first time you handed a tract to somebody and they re, uh, rebuked your, reproached you and you didn't know how to answer, keep on. If that's the little work the Lord's given for you to do, He'll give you the grace and the faith to develop that gift and ministry.
Your life, you didn't really have a choice. No, you were in a certain family and your family was assigned a responsibility. If you were in the tribe of Levi, uh, then, uh, according to which, uh, family, in Levi, you had a certain role. You had to carry this or you had to carry that. But it's not that way in Christianity. Uh, we're all Levites, We all have Levitical service. And I think that's the point in Galatians 6, Let every man prove his own work.
00:25:12
Then shall he have rejoicing and himself alone, and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden.
They're, they're the, the, the word burden is really your work. It's not the, the heat and burden of the day is earlier on in the chapter. Let every man bear, uh, bear ye one another's burdens And so fulfill the law of Christ. That's the word for the burden and heat of the day that you, that, that you bear. But in, in the verse six, it's Levitical. It's like John was saying, you guys, you carry the sockets and, and you carry, uh, this, these ropes over here and, and that kind of thing. So we don't have that direction and no one's gonna come up to you necessarily.
In your Christian life and tapped you on the shoulder and say, you know, I really think that you should be going with John Kemp over to, uh, wherever. But how does the Lord work as we had yesterday?
Discerning the Lord's will for my life can't happen if I just want to send a note in in in to, into God, into the Father, and wait for some distant response. I have to get into His presence and learn about Him, to learn what His mind is. And I believe it's the same with service.
That how does one serve? How does he direct us? He directs us by a burden. And so, as you say, getting after it. And we know there are certain fundamentals of the Christian life that are common to all of us. We get about them. We read the scriptures, we pray, we meditate, we, uh, we don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together. And the Lord begins to work in our, in our unique, uh, as a unique member of the body of Christ.
To give us a burden. And lo and behold, if we act upon that burden, we find that we have a certain facility that we perhaps didn't know we had, which is really a spiritual gift. The spiritual gift is not somebody says, oh, I can run, AI can run the 4:40 and X number of seconds. Well, that's a natural ability. But a spiritual gift is not a natural ability, but it's given in concert with the natural ability and the human vessel. And it's an inscrutable way, the way.
God is creator and Christ is head of the head of the Church.
And God our Father fits those things together so that a person can can respond to the burden and weakness, but respond to the burden and have the joy of peace in the Lord. It says that the at the feast of Cana that no one knew where that good wine came from, laid in the feast. And the governor says, wow, this is the best line we've had. Usually men put that out first and then when people notice less, we'll put out the inferior wine. It says no menu, but the servants who drew the water new and they had a special privilege because they were part of it.
And God doesn't intend for us just to sit and once a year or once every five years to get our pleasure and enjoyment out of the work of the Lord that maybe John Kemp does, or or or Don or Jim or someone like that. He intends for us to learn the lessons we learn through service and to have the joy and fellowship with Him in that unique way. Then shall every man have rejoicing in himself alone. It's not to be proud of what you do, but it's to have an insight into the Lord's ways and thoughts.
Uh, that we gained that way, and perhaps in no other real no other way.
In 3rd festival John, I was wondering what these others yeah, I will just read up the.
Who loved to have the preeminence among them received the snot.
And last reading meeting, I read a verse from James that said, we're jealous we're ending and strife is. There's confusion in every evil work. You might say, well, of course we're strife if there's confusion. But I think that kind of misses the point of the word. The word strike has the connotation of striving and free. And we're always trying to strive and free to show forth our gift. We're just gonna cause, uh, chaos in the assembly and problems for our brethren. And you're constantly going to feel, well, why my brethren keep shutting me down.
No, and I'm just repeating what's already being said. Don't be occupied with your gift. So many young people say, well, I don't know what my gift is. Don't be occupied with that. Be occupied with Christ and the burden will come and you'll have has already been said. Just repeating. You'll be given the the measure of faith, the grace to carry out that gift. But don't be occupied with your gift. Don't be occupied with your place in the assembly because it just causes chaos and confusion.
I think here's an illustration of a sister many years ago that.
I found very helpful sister.
00:30:01
But she said this about it.
She said I had asked the Lord, what's my gift?
He didn't seem to get me an answer. I said, Lord, what's my gift?
So I can do it.
And then she said, well, the Lord said, Catherine, children, children. That's not a gift, Lord, what's my gift? Said The only answer the Lord would give me was children.
So then she thought about it.
And, uh, the Lord put on her heart a burden for children.
And she started to work with children.
And she was, I would say, the most gifted child evangelist I've ever known in my life.
The Lord gave her, she went to the Lord and was occupied with him first. And the Lord gave her a desire in her soul or told her Lord, he said to Catherine children. And she started to work with children and, uh, she was incredibly, uh, gifted in communicating the truth of God and the gospel to children and yeah.
The Lord gave.
The work to do and then the enablement to do it, which was the gift itself and uh, also the spirit of doing it. Uh, she, she did it with great diligence.
Did you do it with great joy?
She was a happy woman.
It says here in Galatians chapter six we read it. It says, let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoiced in himself alone, and not another.
I think I've met an evangelist that's in this room in the hospital giving out gospel tracts and a big smile on his face as he goes from 1 bed to another and so on. And, uh, you know what? If we do exercise the gift that we have, there's joy in our souls. And the Lord, if we seek to desire to, to do it in humility and, uh, for his glory, for the blessing of his people and in the work of evangelism for the salvation of lost souls, there's joy in our souls.
And so maybe there's that question in connection with the some that are young, what is my gift? The Lord will fit you for what is suitable for you, and he will give you joy in your soul if you do it. But if you seek to have another line of things that isn't yours, you'll never be good at it. I'll give you a little illustration. You'll forgive me. I've said I've given it before, but my wife, when she was, uh, when we were first married, she worked at a hospital. She was a medical record person and.
There is a small hospital. They had nine doctors.
And there were three doctors that were excellent doctors. They were gifted. They knew how to give a good diagnosis. They worked hard, they whistled, they just had a wonderful time. The other six doctors were generally not very gifted and they had a struggle every day. Their charts weren't filled out. They had misdiagnosis, they had lawsuits. It was just the sad situation. But there were three of those doctors that were gifted. They were happy men. Well, it's the same thing in the things of God. There's if we.
Will abide in what the Lord has given us. Then there's going to be joy and there'll be fruit. Well, then it gives, uh, from verse 9 down, he gives some, umm, expectations that each one of us can bear.
And that, uh, we ought to read and take Part 2 Let love be without dissimulation or without pretense. Abhor that which is evil, plead to that which is good, be kindly affection. 1 To another with brother, brotherly love. All those things are very, very practical. And, uh, it kind of reminds me a little bit of first print in chapter 13, The oil.
That makes the machinery run smoothly.
And so each one of us needs to recognize that we need to use the oil and to recognize the need to do it with the genuineness. I, I believe that's really what he's bringing before us, genuine care, genuine love, genuine, genuine affection for our brethren.
Markovco.
00:35:04
Appreciated looking at the UMM.
The subject of, uh, gifts and working one with another.
In connection with the disciples.
What's in Matthew? What's in Mark? Once in Luke?
And once in patent.
In Matthew and Luke.
They're listed in pairs.
In Mark's Gospel.
In the book of the Acts.
They're listed in groups, some two, some 3, some 4.
N you know some people.
UH are good team players.
Some people are not.
Some people, they need to run the show themselves.
It's hard to work with a person like that.
All right, it's very easy to work with a team player and I, you know, I haven't worked here in this room over the last couple of days.
And those here who have been working with each other, you know, there's a lot has to be accomplished against, have to be placed. Uh, the meals have to be done. Uh, there has to be refreshments in between the meals. There has to be, uh, there has to be drinks provided. Uh, there has to be those that go to the airport. And I'm also smart enough to realize that it, it probably doesn't happen within some snacks.
Now the the disciple.
As you go through the gospel.
Uh, this is maybe just a little bit beyond me. I wonder who's really good at bringing people to Giva?
Mark chapter 3.
And the 1St 14 and it says he ordained 12. That's what he did.
Well, we get the reason.
That he ordained the 12Th and it's the same reason why he has chosen us.
And what is it?
That they should be with him.
You know, if that characterized us.
Characterize every one of us.
There wouldn't be a situation where we'd be occupying each other's gifts, we wouldn't be occupied with our own gifts, we would just be occupied with being with him.
And if that's the case.
Then the service flows from that. We had that yesterday.
But what a, what a?
What a what a good instruction we can get from looking at the disciples and how the more chosen, Sometime in pairs, sometime in groups, sometimes individuals, sometimes Lord has something forced to do just by ourselves.
Should be with him might.
Effective service really flows from the enjoyment of Christ.
00:40:07
Yeah, this is the simplest, yeah, and I think it would be possibly, Paul said.
And that second drinking is 4.
He quoted from the Old Testament, I believe, and therefore to write speak.
We believe also and therefore do we speak. Hmm.
And you mentioned Action 11. You know those believers, they went out there from Jerusalem.
Results. The Lord worked with them.
And so I, I feel that it's pretty important that, uh.
Your heart filled up with pricing the speaks of my own soul.
It's truly out of depth. Abundance of the heart from our feet.
And it will have an effect on you.
And you see that joy is working.
And would you agree with me, Wally, that that's why rewards are never to be the motive for service?
Reward is a nice little incentive that God gives us. The Lord gives us even on the last page of the Bible. His reward is with Him to give.
Every man according as his work shall be. But that's not the motive for our service. The motive is for our service has been pressed upon us in these meetings. The love of Christ constraineth us. Is Christ. When Paul was running the race and carrying out his service, what was it that was before him? That was the prize. And what is the prize really in the Christian life? The prize is Christ. And if it's Christ and his love?
Then the motive is going to be right. And when the motive is engaged, then there's real purpose of heart to carry out the little ministry that the Lord has given us. But I just say this too, in connection with what Robert said about rejoicing in our own work. There's something else that we should rejoice in too, and that is when we see the work of others. Not to covet what God has given you to do, but to rejoice when I see another member of the body of Christ carrying out something that.
May be very different than for what I have been given and I really think that's the thrust of the verse at the end of first Corinthians 12 where it says let every man or where to covet or desire the best gift.
It's not that we're to covet it for ourselves. It's not for me to say, well, I wish I was doing this and I wish I had that and I wish the Lord had given me that work to do.
No, it's to covet those gifts in the body of Christ for the blessing and edification of souls and to look at you and to see how the Lord is using you and the gift and ability. If there's the proper spirit, then I am going to rejoice that you have been given that. That's what desiring the best gifts in the body of Christ is. You see, again, as we've been saying in these meetings.
Christianity is not for self, it's not self-centered, it isn't all about me, it's all about Christ and his interests.
And what Christ has ordained, what Christ is doing, and whether he's doing it in me or doing it in you, there ought to be rejoicing now there. That's not to say, brethren, there won't be sorrows and tears along the way. The apostle Paul rejoiced in his ministry, but he said at the end of it, serving the Lord with many tears and temptations that befell me. By the way, he had lots of tears, lots of.
Exercises.
As he carried out his service, but he also said, sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
There was a rejoicing in his work and he was the one. He was one who could say that he fulfilled his ministry. He finished his course, He fulfilled his ministry. He could say that all Christians don't.
All Christians don't, and all Christians don't finish their course with joy. We all finish our course and we're all going to end up in the Father's house and in the joy of the Lord's presence and so on. But Paul said he finished his course in his ministry with joy. You want to finish your course with joy? Keep in the path and the abil. Use the ability and gift that God has given you. Fulfill the little work that he's given you.
00:45:08
Rejoice when you see what he's given others.
And you too can fill your minute, fulfill your ministry and finish your course with joy.
If I might add, don't be uh, uh, Chase at the bit during the training period. Now, Brother Dave mentioned the gospel of Mark and these dear ones here, he ordained to reappointed 12. Uh, just, uh, noticed in the past that there was really a divine choice. It was the Lord's choice to send them out. He appointed them.
And then it says that they should be with him and they were divine companions. They were those that were suited to his companionship. We know that there was 1 pretender there. But uh, he had a purpose that he might send them forth to preach that the divine Commission. And then you have the and to give power to heal sicknesses. They had divine power. And then he gave them the ability really to fulfill their ministry and then to cast out devils, really to have to give.
Liberty to those that were, they were being sent to.
But you'll notice that in Mark's Gospel chapter 6.
And verse seven, it says he called unto him the 12 and began to send them forth 2:00 and 2:00. So it took all that time for the training of the, the Saints of of those disciples. And, uh, so we don't often think of that little period. So as those that are younger, perhaps, uh, that don't get, uh.
Damascus, in the wilderness of, uh, Arabia. He had to spend two years in demand in, uh, Tarsus, and then he labored with Barnabas for a year. And it wasn't another maybe four or five years. And umm, he was sent forth, umm, by the Spirit of God from that assembly in Antioch, and he and Barnabas went forth. So, you know, you might say that Paul had a training period of 10 years.
And so the Lord knows what each one of us needs inviting, have to spend.
29 chapters in jokes, three friends.
You know, and I'm not gonna take up our time because I really wanna get through the chapter with you all. But on your own. Read, uh, Jokes 32 and see what lit a fire under your life.
I was just going to say that Jim mentioned the development of GIFT.
According to the proportion of gift or to the amount of gift.
It's one thing to have a gift.
It's another thing to be able to use it in a morally, uh, excellent way with the benefit of Saints.
And so we discover as we go along that.
That the limiting factor in our desire and ability to edify others is not how much gift we have, because we can have gift and really get away from the Lord and out of community. And then we're like can be like a power line that's just cut loose and or a high pressure hose. I've worked in tunnels in my life and when one of those big airlines gets loose, it's just, it's just a, it's power that is not controlled.
It says in First Corinthians that the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet.
And so let a man prophecy according to your proportion, not a gift, but a faith.
And so if God has given me grace.
To take something in and as one of my brothers said yesterday, to actually stand in as we'll walk in and make my own practically, I can say that I have that and I can usually and I will almost always enjoy that.
And if I am led to put it work to others for their benefit and enjoyment, it'll have a a solid ring to it. And that's how I'm to be governed. If I am LED as different ones are, and we read First Corinthians, we may all prophesied one by one that others make profit, that all might be edified. And so it's it's it's very exercising the proportion of faith. So Caleb was one of the men that went up to look at the land.
00:50:03
And Caleb was stopped.
That we can do this, the Lord delights enough.
We can everybody. No, no, no, and he maintained.
A spirit to avoid. It seems like a bitterness. 40 years he went with everyone else. At the end he did have that faith and he prophesied again. He hadn't changed his mind.
He had that, he had the faith in the beginning and maintained it and sustained in him. And he gave the same message 40 years later and he got a wonderful reward. But that was something proper to Kayla. It wasn't just, well, I've read about this and this is what we should do. That's a little hollow. It's the truth is always the truth.
And we ought to to receive it as such. But how wonderful if if someone who's made it their own and can put it forth according to the proportion of faith.
I'd like to also mention that.
The best person's life to study, to learn how to carry out one's service and gift is the life of the Lord Jesus.
That's part of why Mark's gospel being the servant gospel, it was so important for the disciples to be with him because they were learning by experience how he served.
And they needed equally the fellowship and communion with himself. But we can learn tremendous lessons in service from OPS, from meditating on the way the Lord Jesus as the man served in his personal life. And not only do we learn how he personally served well, we learn how he served with others when the disciples were in service with him.
Sometimes there were occasions when he would rebuke.
There were occasions when he would say nothing at that moment and then later put them into an experience with that gift.
Or their lack of service with himself. There were times when they had a mixed faith and yet he made use of it in umm, the way that they served him. When you see how he fed the 5000 and how he worked with them in it and what he did immediately afterwards to teach him some lessons than their failure in serving with him.
It's it's wonderful to meditate upon the life of the Lord Jesus and I will say that the central and my own soul point of his own service was every morning he got up in the morning and he said in his heart, I delight to do thy will, O my God. And that was the root principle of his own service and umm.
We would do well to, if you will, learn from him.
I was going to mention in regards to that chapter again in the 11Th of Acts. Bruce made a comment there in regards to.
Qualifier, for instance, to those who would go out.
Face fondness. Umm, I would ask this question.
In verse 22 of the 11Th after her back.
It says today the assembly there sent forth Barnabas. You should do as far as any off. Why do they send barns?
This is the 24th verse of this chapter. Answer that.
He had qualified patients there and be so gives me a Goodman.
All the Holy Ghost and of faith.
I think that's what Bruce was trying was expressing and that.
Elaborate a little bit more, not to take away from our chapter, as I can see in the short, but it just obstructs me that there was something about this individual that those there, uh, on, on that church and through some, uh, saw that qualified him.
He was a real, uh, Barnabas, uh, he was a real pastor. He had a, a real shepherd. He had a, a heart for the Lord's people. It's interesting to follow the life of Barnabas through the book of the Acts. There were, there were mistakes in his life, undoubtedly, and that his mistakes in our lives too. I remember our brother Gordon Hayle.
You'll remember under whose ministry I was brought up for many years, staying on one occasion. We are all unprofitable servants.
00:55:09
He was the last person in the world that I thought that would apply to, but, uh, he took that humble position and that I think brother, that, uh, the brethren realized that here is the man that really has a love and care for the people of God.
And, uh, we're going to encourage them. They didn't. Uh, I don't think they, uh.
The ascension marks, you might say they uh, insisted that you go, but they presented the, uh, the opportunity to him and uh, he was of much help to the brethren. But what I was going to say in connection with our chapter.
About crop is being because sometimes, uh, there is umm, some understanding here Prophecy as mentioned here in our chapter.
Is not more, is not, uh, foretelling. It is foretelling.
Prophecy Here in this sense, is a brother who can give the mind of God in a situation in the assembly.
He can bring the word of God.
And apply it to a a situation that has arisen it's.
It's reaching the need of the assembly. In fact, it says in First Corinthians 14 that, uh, prophecy is divided into three groups, uh, edification that's building up, uh.
Exhortation that is stirring up. I like a brother that stirs me up because I can become very negligent in my service. I like a brother that stirs me up to get into the word of God, to get out with the gospel.
Umm, that's exportation, Uh.
Comfort is winding up, and so it mentions that in our chapter, doesn't it? Uh, either show us, uh, mercy with cheerfulness.
There's some that have the gift of visiting in the hospital and they can bring cheer and comfort.
And so we each have that, uh, that place, your Bill, maybe I haven't answered your question. No, I think it just seems that, uh, that's one of the threats that just of anyone throughout any kind of currency.
Their own conduct, their own, uh, awareness and realization of to whom they're serving and uh, and those 3 aspects in that verse 24, just trying to answer it.
You noticed with Barnabas too, when you trace his service through the book of the Act, it didn't start with great things either. If you go back to the 4th chapter, it started with something very practical. When they sold their possessions, they brought them. And Barnabas was one who was entrusted to divide those possessions and use them for the service of God and His people in a proper way. And I just wanna say this to the young people and to all our hearts.
It doesn't start with great things.
I have noticed that those who God uses in a greater way later on in their life are those who stayed behind after the fellowship lunch and helped pick up the silverware, turn the chairs for the afternoon meeting, maybe slipped over to the meeting room when nobody was looking, and, uh, vacuumed the carpet and and so on. It starts with those little things. Brother Robert was in business for years. I was in business for years.
And when you hired someone in business, you didn't start them at the top, you started them, as we said, at the ground level. You proved them. There was often a probationary period. And if they proved themselves, then you worked them up and you gave them more responsibility and a promotion. Now, if I can put it this way, does God run something more careless than we who are human? No, He starts us at the bottom, so to speak. And if we're content to do those little things.
In the everyday sphere of life, it says not to do I service as men pleasers.
But in singleness of heart is unto the Lord, knowing that of the Lord, ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. Just a word about prophecy too. Prophecy in its simplest form, or a profit in its simplest form, is someone raised up for a time with a message to a certain people at a specific time concerning a specific situation.
01:00:18
You know, I have seen prophets in the assembly who in some situation or difficulty arose. They might not have been teachers, they might not have been brothers that took an active part in ministry or publicly, but all of a sudden they speak up and they had a word from the Lord. Uh, they were raised up for a specific situation with a specific message to a specific people. And it can be sisters too, in their proper sphere. You know, Philip had some daughters and they prophesied too, but they prophesied in the home.
And I have had sisters.
Who have been very faithful with me.
I could sit here and name them, but sisters who have known me all my life and who have had a message for me. Well, I'll I'll give you a little example. I remember as a young brother, I had a Sunday school class.
And I had been away for some time and I came back and I was apologizing in front of the sister for being away from my Sunday school class for two or three weeks.
This sister who I've known all my life, in fact, she taught me in grade school, she said to me, Jim, remember something, nobody's indispensable. That was a prophetess. You know, I have never forgotten that. That was a word from a prophet test for my situation to me at the time, and the Lord used that and I never forgot it. So, sisters.
If the Lord gives you a word in your proper sphere.
Speak for the Lord as a prophetess. We can all exercise that little ministry as God gives us the opportunity.
If I might add to your question or try to help, uh, in connection with it and with Barnabas, you find that there wasn't a selfish, uh, selfishness in his heart. And uh, I believe that brethren knew that if they sent Barnabas, they would send one that had a care for the Saints above his own reputation.
And so he loved the faith of God. He was a true shepherd, and he knew they needed more than what he could give them. And he went out and he sought Saul and he brought him, and there was fruit for God. So isn't it wonderful that we don't own a piece of service? You might say we don't own. God doesn't give us our territory, if we could put it that way. And by the grace of God, umm, when there's a need, often times others are brought in and there's.
Fruit for God as a result. I believe this is a part of what the assembly in Jerusalem saw in that man.
Like, uh, I guess continue on since we're on that man's life a little bit in chapter 13.
Umm, we have a pattern that's connected with this matter of service.
The use of gift first.
Umm 4 verses of the chapter. Now there was in the church that was in Antioch certain prophets and teachers as Barnabas and Simon that was called Niger and Lucius of Cyrene and McNair, which have been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and Saul. And they ministered to the Lord and fasted the Holy Spirit said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work.
We're with unto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed from Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. If you read these words carefully, you see the pattern umm, very often that the Lord uses in connection with choosing.
Servant for service or choosing servants to serve together in a service or in self. There was, you might say, a collection of people here that could.
And perhaps more than one of them had a gift that might be suited to a particular need.
And so their first place is we've already had in pattern in verse two was administered under the Lord and so they found their first place in the presence of the Lord.
And uh, we're fasting. That is, they put aside self-interest and so that they might more clearly enter into the mind of the Lord for them.
01:05:02
As fasting can do. And then it says.
The Holy Ghost said, oh, now there's a choice to be made. Who's making it? The Spirit of God. It says separate me, Barnabas and Saul. And I think there's significance at this point that Barnabas name is first in this matter. Saul is still under the name Saul and hasn't become Paul by name yet.
Umm, Barnabas is gonna take the lead here for the work we're unto. I, the Holy Spirit have called them.
And then it says when they had fasted and prayed, they didn't just jump, they further were in the presence of the Lord about it. And then it says they laid their hands on them. That is, the assembly gave expression to their also realizing that the Spirit of God was sending Barnabas and Saul for work. And as such, uh, they expressed their fellowship with them and their understanding too, that it was the Lord that it called them to the work they were going to do.
And, uh, so then it says they sent them away. They didn't make the choice and send them away. They weren't appointing them. But we see that expression. That's where they said, OK, brothers, now go. And uh, so they went.
But also, just a word of warning in connection with these things is found a couple of chapters later in connection with Paul and Barnabas, if you turn over to the 6th, the 15th chapter.
Uh, it's ready to start another trip.
Is it going to be just as happy and just as spirit filled as the previous one? Well, sadly no.
In chapter 15, verse 36, some days after notice, the orders changed. Paul said under Barnabas, he's now got the name Paul. In contrast to Saul. He's grown in the place that the Lord is giving him in work. And so he says separate. Uh, let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do.
And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was marked. I didn't notice it in the previous chapter, but it it in the 13th. But it said they took Mark with them in that first service and he ministered to them, uh, as a helper. But here it says Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought it not good to take him with them and departed from them.
John Mark was a relative of our assistance and the Apostle Paul perhaps discerned that this brother isn't ready for this. And the first trip had manifested that he wasn't one that would be suited to, uh, a second. But Barnabas is an affectionate man and he's turned aside by his family affection and, uh, he insists. So they separate and, uh, it says.
Verse 39, the contention was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from the other. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. And that's the end. We never hear a Barnabas service for the Lord again. It's not mentioned again. We at in the book of the Acts, what's mentioned is Mark grows and later on Paul uses Mark and he is seen, uh, as serviceable in the ministry. In contrast, Paul chose Silas and departed.
And the brethren seemed to see it without hindering Barnabas from what he was going to do. He did it. But the brethren I think we see in verse 40.
Departed being recommended by the brethren under the grace of God. And it's a solemn thing if our brethren can't, uh, express their fellowship with us in service to the Lord. But we also need to recognize that one trip is not a lifetime and we need help to.
Be in the mind of the Lord every time.
The last part of our chapter, we're not going to have time. I know the time is. I just received a note that BBQ is about 15 minutes late, so if we want to go, maybe.
5-7 minutes longer I would say that's feel free to.
It's really good, brother.
Uh, we didn't uh, get into the latter part of the chapter here. It's more in relationship to, uh.
Or, umm.
Our activity, uh, toward those that are without.
01:10:00
But I think it also applies to, uh, our relationship with our brethren.
The apostle says here, uh, well, in relation to, uh, the world, we are to provide things honest in the sake of all men.
Those that are without.
Uh, our testimony.
In business, or whatever capacity we are called to fulfill is important because the world is looking on and they will very quickly pick up an inconsistency in the life of the believer.
Some people say it doesn't matter what the world thinks about you. It does matter very much how we conduct ourselves in the world, in our interactions. Our behavior before those that are unsaved is very important. It brings dishonor on the name of the Lord if we do not act in an honest and upright way in our dealings and business matters or whatever it is the world is watching. They're not reading their Bible.
But they're reading you and I.
But the latter part of the chapter UMM brings out the thought of UMM.
Retaliation.
You know the Lord there was no one who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself as the Blessed One. He never defended himself.
He left the world without being cleared of the charges that were laid against him, but he never retaliated. He prayed for his enemies on the cross, you know that.
I think that's who affected the speed from the cross very much, as he heard the Lord, with all the ignominy and shame, praying for his enemy. Well, this is the line of truth the apostle is thinking up here. We're gonna have this situation rather than rise in our lives where there's going to be danger of bitterness towards someone who has.
Offended us.
This is going to arrive and Satan will capitalize upon it, and we have to be very careful.
How are we to treat that situation? Retaliate. Are we going to say, well, I'll avoid that brother behind his back or I'll get even with it? That is not the spirit of Christ. You know, we're all we have an old nature.
He likes to act in that way, every one of us. What if God acted toward us in that way, brethren? Where would we be?
The way we have acted toward the Lord and the grace and the mercy and the compassion that he has shown to it. So the apostle said, if thine enemy hunger. Now I'm looking at this in a broad sense. I know our brethren are not our enemies, but they may act in a way that.
Offends us and hurts us.
How are we going to act? Well, we should be in prayer. But if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drinks. For so doing thou shalt keep coals of fire on his head.
Showing kindness.
Brother has done an unkind act towards you.
Look for the first opportunity to do a kindness to that brother. Don't hold feelings. They'll they'll escalate into bitterness.
And beware, many can be defiled. Uh.
That root of bitterness, not judge, will spring up sooner or later, and many can be defiled. This has happened amongst the gathered things many times, you know. But the point that I'm trying to make here, keep all the fire upon his head. So kindness to him.
And that that kindness will lead him to self judgment. The fire here speaks of judgment.
Umm, you'll be ashamed of the way that he has acted and uh, it will lead him to to self judgment and to restoration. Be not overcome of evil with my bad temper.
Alas, I have too often, I'm afraid. Uh, if my bad temper puts you into the into a bad temper, you'd mean overcome of evil. But, uh, we.
BRT overcome this evil with growth. That's the spirit of Christ. Well, I think we have to acknowledge rather than how we fail in these things. But when we see the blessed Lord in the way we act.
01:15:05
Redid us just turned to that person closing that another brother has something to add here. Ephesians chapter uh.
At your board.
32 / 31 at all different and raw and anger and clamor and evil speaking, we put away from you with all malice.
Notice in verse 32.
Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted.
Member layer hearings on her late brother April.
Uh, when there was conflict in the family area, when the, uh, children, uh.
Some uh, situation would arise further like.
Upheaval, you might say. Used to have them write out this verse.
Be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven youth.
What a wonderful life example you have there.
How do you explain verse 18?
Implies we have a limitation and then we can explode.
Well, first.
Don't you love?
Umm, as we are to uh.
Pray that we might be quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. We shouldn't stir up problems.
I think that we in regard to our relationship outside the assembly.
Did you think that certainly would apply within the assembly too? Not to compromise the truth, no. But, uh.
Let's not be a cause of, uh, of strength in the assembly, but we don't, we don't go looking for trouble, you know, whether it's in amongst the people of God or whether it's in the world. We don't go looking for trouble. We seek to be a faithful testimony in the measure in which God gives us and have.
A sensitivity to the to the situation. I I'll just give you a little example.
When I'm in Egypt, I do not give out gospel tracts in Egypt.
Because the first time I ever went there, the brethren said to me, Jim, if you give out a gospel tract on the streets of Cairo.
And you're brought up to the authorities because you're Canadian, you will be given a warning or perhaps sent home. But they said we will be the ones that are left behind to pick up the pieces because we have there are two of our names on your visa form and we are associated with you. Well, I don't do anything, well, I mean Egypt that would stir up strife either in the, the connection with the government, the authority.
Or that would cause a problem amongst my brethren after I'm gone. We need to use wisdom in our testimony for Christ, in our service for Christ. You know, some of us can have more zeal and wisdom when it comes to our service for Christ. And if we have more zeal than wisdom, then we may not be living peaceably with all men. Would that be right, John? There's the other side, of course, that, uh, we can expect persecution if we're facing.
What what Jim says is very true. I've been arrested in Egypt for giving out drugs.
Flew over and it didn't uh, develop into anything but uh, I have to get to the police station and then.
I was delivered over the mouth of the line.
Probably closed, but I think we should close the meeting, let's say 33 in the appendix.
Thought of this hymn at the beginning of the meeting as well, and particularly the last couple of verses.
Come my soul, take up the cross, count the game, despise the loss. Labor for and with the Lord brings exceeding great reward. Hymn #33 in the appendix.
Sheep and the Shepherd
Gospel—Wally Dear
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Interesting, uh, instructions.
Please do not fiddle with the microphone. Speak to the audience, not the mic.
That's what I would like to do tonight, and certainly we welcome each and everyone through the Gospel meeting.
As our brother Bruce said last night, we got good news to proclaim and I really enjoyed what was, uh, put on the invitation distributed around the neighborhood. For those that didn't see the invitation, let me just read what it says. You are cordially invited to the Gospel meeting tonight, 7:00 PM. Please come and hear the wonderful message of God's love.
And the salvation that is offered.
In Jesus Christ.
There will never be a better opportunity than today.
And today is in capital letters to address the question of your soul salvation with God. We look forward to seeing you and your family.
The whole knowledge, the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation. 2nd Corinthians 6 and two beautiful invitation, foremost word in an invitation.
Come, COME, come. And we want to thank each one for coming here tonight. Somebody said C stands for children, which I see here tonight. O stands for older people.
And I see some of those and.
N stands for middle-aged people and I see some of those, and E of course stands for everyone now.
I'd like to sing a hymn #9 starts with the word Come. What a beautiful.
Word come.
#9.
Come every so I said. A president, mercy, and our Lord.
And he must trust me in your breath, by trusting in his worker.
Oh, today's problem. Yeah, although it's hard to get it now.
You will stay here to begin the rest of the day in the future in your ground. Staying there for $2000.
00:05:08
2811 straight there was 1900 and 1900 and 1900 thousand 959.
Get all the time right after the whole day is good.
Oh great.
And all who made crowds there, I don't know who made it up and down.
Yeah, you're well said.
Today's painting and the rest of the day can you do is well, I'll say you're doing to my house.
Could we look to the Lord in prayer to seek His help and blessing here tonight?
Our God and Father, we thank thee.
That the gospel of Thy grace is still being sounded out in this world.
Be set by the sin of man. We thank Thee for the good news, the glad tidings of great joy that a Savior has been born, a Savior who is able to meet us in our desperate need as sinners. And Father, we do pray very specially here tonight.
That if there be one who is still outside of Christ.
That by Thy grace Thou will work in their heart and their conscience in convicting power, that they might recognize the peril that they are in as they put off this all important matter of salvation, where we know that now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Father, we thank Thee for Thy wondrous love sending thy Son.
And we ask you that we might speak well of Christ tonight.
That hearts might be one for Christ, our desire might be to honor the Son. And so we thank Thee for this. Another opportunity to open Thy word and to present the way of salvation. May it be in simplicity.
And in the power that Holy Spirit, we ask this as we give thanks and the precious worthy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. I'd like to sing another hymn #14 Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
#14.
Are you watching the Blood on the Land?
In my soul, planting blood on the land.
All right, good garden. What's what's the name of our name? And so are you watching the blah, blah, blah, blah blah.
Are you walking daily by the Savior's life? Are you washed in the blood of the blood?
Are you washed in the blood of the land?
00:10:07
I didn't watch.
The land.
A bright grown calculus will be a rugged spin in your mind in a red light against the blood.
Whenever you're so ready for the questions, right? And be watched in the blood of the land.
Are you one in the world? In the soul? When I think of the land, I want to join someone. I'm in heaven on this side. And then you want me to add snow? I see you lost in the wallahs of the land.
This summer we've had the privilege of working with children as well as older ones in the Gospel. We visited about 5 areas in Maine, New Brunswick.
And it was very encouraging to see the interest on the part of some who attended the meetings. And there were those who came to Jesus for the cleansing power.
They were saved by the grace of God and it was a joy to hear these mostly children confess the name of Jesus that they had called upon him for salvation.
And.
Year ones tonight.
Have you ever?
Called upon Jesus for salvation.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Is there some anybody here tonight still in your scene?
Because the profit could save, your iniquities have separated you between you and your God.
Iniquities are sins, and they separate from God.
But it's a wonderful truth of the gospel is this there is a remedy for sin, and God has provided it and God.
Always.
Does to perfection what he does, and when it comes to a remedy for sin.
It works because it's of God's providing, and we sang about it in this hymn. What is the remedy? It's the blood of Jesus. That's what cleanses from all sin. Well, tonight I would like to look.
In this book.
At more references to sheep and to the shepherd. And that was a subject that we took up this summer.
Somebody has referred to this as a sheet book.
Because there are hundreds and hundreds of references to sheep in this book.
It's the Bible. It's the word of God.
And the first reference that comes to mind is in the book of Isaiah.
Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 53.
Mm-hmm. Isaiah, chapter 53.
And verse 6.
All we like sheep.
Have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Did you know that you are like a sheep?
And what characterizes a sheep is that when a sheep wanders away and is lost.
00:15:08
No way.
Can't it find its way back? That sheep is helpless.
That sheep needs someone to search for it.
And this first tells us that all we, like sheep, have gone astray. There's no exception.
Is there anybody in this audience here tonight? That would be.
Uh.
To raise their hand and say that they are an exception to what we read here.
Any hands?
Well, I want to thank you because if you are honest with yourself, if I'm honest with myself.
We must admit we have all done bad.
And it's very easy to point the finger, but when we do, you'll notice I got three fingers pointing back to myself.
And that's the way it works.
It tells us in.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 For there is no difference for all.
Three letter words, a little small word, but it takes in the largest company. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
That's what Cind does.
I don't think anybody here.
Could jump.
From the floor.
And touch the ceiling.
Now there would be those that could.
Jump perhaps a little higher than someone else and somebody might be able to jump halfway up, because I know we have some athletes here in this room tonight. But the fact is everyone would come short of reaching the ceiling. And, you know, every one of us have come short of attaining God's standard of holiness. And what is that? It's perfection.
Holiness of God.
Is the absence of sin and God is holy. He's a thrice holy God. Well.
You know it says later in Romans, there is no difference for the same Lord overall is rich unto all that call upon Him, and that's beautiful to consider too. The little word all shows up there, no exception. Any who call upon the Lord are going to be inundated with God's riches.
It's the grace of God.
That I can only begin in a feverless way to describe the riches of God's grace. It's so wonderful. The hymn writer put it this way. Lord, it's enough. Thy grace around us pours.
It's rich and unexhausted store in all its joy is ours all the exceeding riches of his grace Kindness.
Well.
Here all we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone. Now that word every coupled with one everyone.
Looks like it's 2 words in my Bible. It means the same thing as the three letter word. All you know scripture is written.
In such a way that it leaves you beyond a question of a doubt as to what it means.
And that's good.
How wonderful to stand on the Word of God. And you are on solid ground when you stand on the Word of God.
We were thinking about this. I stand alone on the word of God.
And we looked over and here was a little boy and he was standing.
Honest Bible.
00:20:01
Well.
The question is.
Are you on a firm foundation?
You know we have a brother here.
That's.
Keenly interested in foundations.
Any engineers foundations and he makes sure that they are safe and secure. If you don't have a firm foundation, forget the building. We need to start with the foundation. And today I want to tell you something. Christ is the rock of our salvation. He is the firm foundation. And if you're on Christ, you're on solid ground. Well, it tells us here we have turned everyone.
To his own way.
And the Lord hath laid on him.
The iniquity of a soul.
And that brings me to the next, uh, reference. But I, I would just like to say this.
If we read verse 7.
We find.
That the Lord Jesus.
Is referred to.
As a lamb, because I believe this is prophetic.
Of Jesus Christ, what we read here in verse #7.
Now, when it comes to sheep.
It can be a very humbling study, although fascinating 1.
And the reason is that sheep, they do very foolish things. They do dumb things.
I read one time about a farmer. He had a flock of sheep and one of the sheep found a hole in the fence.
And, uh, the sheep thought, well, that looks very interesting, I think, uh.
A good team to jump through the hole. So just leap right through the hole, not realizing that on the other side of the fence was a dry well that the farmer was using to throw rubbish into it.
And so that sheet ended up down in the well in the pit.
There was a sheep who saw what the first one did.
And he did the same thing, jump right through the hole and now he's down in the well.
And a third sheet.
Did the same thing. You know, these animals, they're called flocking animals, and they tend to like to, you know, do the same thing.
Well, it's OK to do the same thing as the other person as long as they're doing the right thing.
But in this case it was bad and the sheep continued to jump through this hole and the farmers see what's happening. He tried to stop the sheep but apparently they just kept jumping in.
And the hole was filling up and the best thing that the farmer could do after it was all over was to get over there and start pulling out the sheep.
And he pulled them out 1 by 1.
And thankfully they all survived, though of course the ones at the bottom were almost suffocated.
But I read about another account.
There was a flock of sheep that was being transported across.
A body of water.
And a storm blew up, and the waves began to mount up, and it was a a fierce storm that developed.
And this ship apparently was bouncing around and one of the trap doors flew open.
And the same thing.
A sheep jumped out.
And then another one. And then another one and they all jumped out and I understand.
They drowned. This time they couldn't be rescued.
Well, you know these sheep.
They uh.
We're on the wrong track. They thought they're going the right direction, just like a lot of people today.
You know, the scripture says there's a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
And I trust that here tonight.
00:25:04
You might realize.
That there's only one way.
To heaven, and that is through Jesus. So Lord Jesus said, I am the way.
The truth and the life, no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
But I wanted to refer to verse seven and when it speaks about the Lord Jesus as a lamb or as a sheep.
No way. Do you wanna suggest?
That there was any foolishness or folly with him.
No, He was indeed the the Son of God. He was God revealed in flesh. I believe we could rearrange those words Son of God and say God the Son. He was here and in verse seven it says he was oppressed, He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep before shears is dumb.
So he opened it, not his mouth.
Some years ago.
In our area there was a man whose wife and they had the flock of sheep.
And the wife taught in the school.
In Vanceboro, but she invited us to come and observe the shearing of the sheep.
So we went and it was very interesting.
And you know, they would bring in these sheep and they were loaded with wool and they bring them and they begin to shear off.
The world and it just seemed like it was peeling off and then they roll them over and shear them some more and then roll them the other way and so on and so forth. And I was very much interested. Are these sheep going to say or utter a sound? And you know, I never heard a sound out of any one of those sheep. And that really, of course supported what we.
Read here that he was.
He didn't open his mouth. Lord Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shears is done. He opened not as much. He could have resisted his arrest. He could have resisted. But you know, the Lord Jesus came into this world to save sinners. That's what it tells us in First Timothy one.
I believe it's 15 This is faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus is coming to the world to save sinners and if he had saved himself.
I wouldn't be here tonight and neither would you, because there would be no gospel to preach, be no salvation but the Lord Jesus, he loves you.
And he went to the cross of Calvary and I want to turn to that, but I will say this before turning the next portion.
There was one sheep.
And it was the final sheep.
And they brought that sheep, and he was making a big commotion and thrashing about and.
Just bleeding. I thought, well what makes the difference here? Every other one of these sheep was dumb in the sense didn't say a word.
You know what that particular sheet that was bleeding its head off was? A pet sheep apparently had been spoiled and didn't appreciate that kind of treatment. That's what made the difference.
But that didn't change my confidence in the Word of God.
You know, here once tonight.
The best book to read is the Bible.
There's no other book like it.
We sang this morning. Jesus loves me. This I know.
For the Bible tells me so. Now that's 5 words that we try to stress this summer too. The fiber tells me so. And if the Bible tells me so, it's the truth. You can stand on it. You're on solid ground. You don't have to question because it's the Word of God.
00:30:19
And I understand.
I read this now. I saw it on a poster about the Bible. It said 2500 times. There's reference in this book to the fact that this is the word of God.
We got the best book in our hands here tonight and.
Nan has opposed it and tried to obliterate it. You take a man like Voltaire, you know Voltaire, he was an infidel, He didn't believe in God. At least that's what he said and he said in one century.
There will not be.
A Bible on the face of the earth. That's what he said he lived back in the 18th century.
You know what Wikipedia says today about the Bible? It's the best selling book in the world.
So much for Voltaire.
Or you're gonna listen to dear Ones.
We got men today.
Opposing.
The word of God, they say. How do you know it's the word of God?
How do you know it wasn't just written by man? How do you know it's not the Fables? How do you know it's not fiction?
This man would only take time to consider.
God has preserved it down through the centuries.
And I believe our brother Nick spoke about this at the camp.
And.
It has withstood the test of time. It's been said that the hammers of unbelief have been worn out on the anvil of Holy Scripture. Now the Bible has been translated into about 500 languages. That is the complete Bible. Parts of the Bible have been translated into about 2400 languages now. Is there any other book?
That's received this kind of treatment.
Of course not.
This is God at work, dear ones, spreading His word, and if we're not going to accept it, there will be those who do.
But I trust here tonight nobody is turning a deaf ear to the Word of God.
Because to do so is fatal.
And unique Christ and unique salvation, and Christ is salvation. And you need him now.
Don't wait.
I used to think the last place.
That I would want to be.
Is on a tightrope.
Stretched between a couple of buildings.
120 feet high.
Or perhaps between a couple of mountains, Or perhaps across the Niagara Falls.
You wouldn't catch me on a tightrope.
No way.
But I do believe here tonight.
That if you're in your sins, sitting here without Christ, you do not have salvation.
You're on a tightrope.
You say. What do I mean?
David said that there is but a step between him and death. One step.
That is a precarious position to be in.
And here tonight.
You need salvation.
Now for more reasons than one.
Number one.
Before this meeting ends.
The Lord Jesus.
May descend.
From heaven with a shout. I believe with all my heart the Lord Jesus is about to step out of heaven. He's coming in the air, He's coming in the clouds, and he's going to give a shout.
00:35:16
And there will be the voice of the Archangel, the trump of God. The dead in Christ is gonna rise, and those who are alive and remain are gonna be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And if you're left sitting here in your seat.
It's all over for you, dear one.
You know, I'm not trying to stand up here and scare you, but you really should be scared.
You really should. What would happen if that were to happen tonight? That Jesus give the shout? Where would you be?
Would you be on the cloud or would you still be here on Earth, sitting in this hall, in this seat?
It's a serious matter, isn't it?
In a sense, it's like being on tightrope.
Now there's something else.
Who knows what's gonna happen when we leave the building? You know, we see accidents all the time.
We had an accident in Vanceboro the other day, 4:00 in the morning I hear a shout and that's very unusual because it's a small community.
I thought, well, what is happening? I thought maybe somebody was getting into the building or something and uh, I looked out and I saw the flashers.
Fire engine. Rescue truck.
Hey, Ambulance.
Right out on the road. So I got dressed, I went out.
And they were waiting for the helicopter because we got a helipad right across from where we live.
They were gonna airlift a young fellow.
From Vanceboro to Bangor.
It's about two hours driving time, about, uh, 26 minutes in the helicopter.
There's been a bad accident. I found out that they had already gone with life uh, line 2, uh, the site of the accident and they airlifted the driver. It was critically injured.
And now another helicopter is on its way. But these things happen, you say? I don't think it would happen to me. How could you be so sure? None of us know how long our time is. I'm happy to report that, uh.
The driver who was critically injured has made a remarkable comeback. And he used to come to the Bible hour. His name is Ryan Dyer. You might pray for him. We visited Ryan. He seemed to really appreciate the visit in the hospital.
19 years old.
The other three boys in the car with him, they survived and they're doing quite well. But you know, dear ones, life is fragile. None of us know how long our time is. That's why it's important to take God's offer of salvation now. Don't trifle. It's foolish.
And the other thing is.
The longer we reject the gospel of the grace of God, the harder our heart becomes. And that's why it's hard to reach older people.
We noticed in the gospel work, children are far more receptive, more.
Submissive and.
It's just that the older we get.
The harder the heart.
As the truth of God is rejected, so I wanna turn over to uh.
John's gospel chapter.
10.
Now here in John chapter 10, we have reference to the shepherd as well as the sheep, and you'll notice what it says in verse 11. And this is the Lord Jesus speaking. He says I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Now we heard.
From our brother Jim.
A lovely commentary on Psalm 23 and that was written by.
00:40:00
A Good Shepherd.
About.
And what is it that makes a shepherd a good one? I believe it is that the shepherd places more importance on the life of his sheep than he does on his own life.
And you know David, as he kept his father's sheep, one day he sees.
Coming to the flock.
A lion, an enemy.
And you know that lion, it tells us, took a lamb. Notice it says a lamb.
The lamb would be easy to get and, I don't know, perhaps more tender.
And I do believe that Satan, who is represented by a lion in the word of God, tells us that Satan goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, but he's after the children.
He is.
But you know David, he saw.
It tells us.
The Lion.
He had a decision to make.
Will he let the lion take the sheep back to its den?
And destroy the sheep.
Save his own life.
Or we go after the line.
Deliver the lamb at the risk of his own life now. It doesn't tell us how long it took him to make the decision.
But he did decide he wants to save the land.
There once tonight, he went after that line.
He destroyed the lion, he delivered the sheep, But then when the lion, it tells us, rose up against him.
I suppose the lion just lunged toward him. It says he took him by the the beard and he smote him. Suppose maybe he had a a stick. He smoked a lie, he killed it.
And then it tells us a Behr team and a Behr too took a land.
And David, at the risk of his own life, saved the land and killed the bear. Now we come to this portion here.
Who are we speaking about? We're.
Speaking about the Son of God.
We had today in the children's meeting, the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
And I believe that when the Lord Jesus came, he is the Son of man.
He knew.
That it would be at the cost of his life, but he came anyway. Why? Because he loves you. They're one tonight. Jesus loves you, He wants you. He wants to save you from the power of sin and Satan. And here it tells us that the Good Shepherd gives his life.
For the sheep.
How wonderful.
The shepherd is I'd like to turn over to Luke chapter.
15 Now we're familiar with these portions.
But I trust with that tire of the truth, because I believe these portions bring before us what's in the heart of God. And here in Luke 15 we find that beside a lost sheep we have a lost coin, and then we have a lost son.
And in every case.
Where the lost is found, we find rejoicing.
Here it tells us about the shepherd. He counted sheep. He only had 99, supposed to have 101 of them wandered away. He goes after the sheep that was lost, and it tells us that when he finds it.
He brings it back on his shoulders, a place of security, and he calls together the neighbors. Rejoice with me. I have found my sheep, which was lost, You know. I believe the shepherd here speaks of the Son of God. We come to the coin, and the woman is seeking the coin. She finds it. She rejoices. I think the woman is a picture of the Spirit of God. But then we come to the final story.
00:45:07
And we've got a son. He's rebellious. He wants to run away from home. He takes his father's goods into a far country, and he squanders what his father gave to him.
In parting, he wasted his money. That's really what a prodigal does. He's not a good steward of money he just wasted. It ends up with nothing.
Joins himself with a citizen of that country and ends up feeding pigs.
And then?
He begins to think about his father.
And there is a change in this young man. He's thinking about his father's servants and how good his father is to the servants. You know, they have bread enough into spirit. He's out there perishing with hunger, smelling like the pigs and rags, and in ruin.
And so you know.
Makes its way toward the father's house and when the father sees him great way off, it tells us the father ran and fell on his neck and just covered him with kisses.
And then the father takes over. You know, it's so beautiful to read that story and see that the son of Simply Passive and the father brings him home and he's going to make him fit to be in the house. And so he calls for the best. Rd. puts it upon him, puts a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet. He calls for the fatted calf. There's been a calf.
Being fed, fattened for special occasions, time of celebration, Get the fatted calf, kill it. My son was lost, now he's found. He was dead, now he's alive again. And it tells us they began to be married. And you know, I think that's truly a picture of God the Father. And what?
Rejoices my heart is to realize that God.
Finds his joy and delight.
In blessing the Sinner.
Now, in connection with the sheep, it tells us that there is joy in the presence of the angels with God over one Sinner that repents.
Repentance. God looks for it. Repentance is a change of attitude.
It's a willingness to admit that God is right and I'm wrong.
And it's truly humiliating.
You. You cannot.
Be proud and repent. You cannot do that.
But I believe that when that prodigal, you know, he said, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight that prodigal was repentant.
Repentance.
Is so important. That's what the apostle Paul preached, Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus. Well, there's many more scriptures that we could turn to in connection with sheep.
But we find that this sheep has been found, and as I think about it, what could the sheep do? Could not find its way back.
But the shepherd went.
Would not give up until he found it.
Many years ago.
There was a very famous.
Italian leader. His name was Garibaldi.
And in fact, I think some perhaps refer to him as the father of Italy. He had a great to do with the establishment or founding of that country of Italy, Geribaldi. But he had.
Troops at his disposal and one day he was going down the road.
With his troops, and he saw Shepherd and the shepherd.
Was.
Offset.
Jared Baldy asked him what the problem was. He said I'm missing a sheep.
And I cannot find it.
And Jared Waldi, he felt sorry for him, Shafi said. Oh, I'll help you so.
00:50:03
He told his men to start searching and they searched and searched.
And to begin coming back 1 by 1.
It was getting dark, couldn't find a sheep.
No sheep is lost.
Well, start to set in.
The night passed.
Gerald Baldy had never showed up.
The next morning, his men went to find.
Where he was and they found that he was still in bed and you know, that's a very.
Uh, this is not typical of that particular general to be sleeping in.
They woke him up.
And he get up out of bed and there.
Something else was in the bed. You know what it was.
Who is the lamb? The sheep?
Geribaldi He continued to search until he had found.
The sheep that was lost, all his men gave up.
But that kind of tells you something about the heart of the man.
But you know a sheep cannot find its way back.
And I believe that, uh.
What the sheep can do, if I could put it this way.
Is to bleat.
If it's in trouble, it can do that.
And.
I believe, dear ones tonight, that if you realize that before God that you are in your sins.
And that you are helpless and hopeless in your own ability to do anything about your situation. Look outside of yourself and call upon the Lord you know more than once, perhaps 3-4 times in the Word of God we read about whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and God appreciates when we call upon Him for salvation.
Well, there once tonight.
The Lord Jesus on the cross shed his blood and tonight.
It is the remedy for.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleans us from all sin, and you can have salvation tonight by simply asking Him to save your soul. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, but he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The Bible tells me so. And today Jesus is a living, glorified Savior, waiting to hear your cry. Call upon Him.
You'll save your soul. Cleanse your heart.
Make you whole and you can have the assurance that all is well for time and eternity. You could be able to say the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want, whereas another little girl put it. She kind of misquoted the verse, but.
I think the thought is good. The Lord is my shepherd. That's all I want.
It's true he will provide for every need now.
I must apologize because I this was supposed to be over a quarter 'til.
I do apologize.
I was thinking an hour but.
Let's pray. Father, we thank thee tonight for the message of the gospel, and we thank Thee that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And dear Father, tonight we do ask that each one in this company might have the assurance of salvation, that each one might realize that they are lost, that they are perishing. And we ask that they might.
Look outside themselves.
And call upon D for salvation while there is still time, because we know that one of these days indeed, the door of mercy will be shut.
And the Father's house will be full, and we earnestly pray.
00:55:03
That the eternal address of each one here tonight might be heaven.
In that hill we ask thy mercies. Thank you, nee for thy love, dear Father, sending thy Son to be the Savior. Thank you that he's on all the way home, Shepherd, and we thank Thee to know that no one can pluck us out of his hand. So we ask thy blessing, giving you our thanks and thy precious and worthy name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Romans 11:33-12:3