Des Moines Conference: 1985
Table of Contents
The Will of God
Address—P. Johnson
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I'm going to read first of all in Hebrews chapter 10.
10th chapter of Hebrews and verse one.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come.
And not the very image of the things, and never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually.
Make the comers therein too perfect.
For then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged?
Should have had no more conscience of sin.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.
Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering. Thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me in bird offerings and sacrifices for sin? Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book, it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said sacrifice and offering and bird offerings and offering for sin, that would it's not neither had pleasure therein which are offered by the law. Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, He taketh away the 1St that he may establish the second by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And we will turn to Ephesians Chapter One.
And we'll read from verse three through verse 11.
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 has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, for any hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His grace, for any of the bounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will.
According to his good pleasure, which he had 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 in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
Being predestinated according to the purpose of him to work with all things after the Council.
Of his own will, one other passage in Romans chapter 12.
Verse one.
Verse 2 verses of this chapter.
I beseech you therefore, brethren.
By the mercies of God, that you present your body as a living sacrifice.
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will have gone.
I know there are a number of portions that one might read and take up in connection with the thought of the will of God, but I have selected these three that we might consider the will of God in three ways as we read in the 5th chapter of Hebrews. We have the the will of God as setting us apart, sanctifying us, setting us apart for himself and from everything that was.
Not pleasurable to him, everything that was against us and everything that would have have ruled us out of his presence.
Then the will of God in regard to his own purposes and counsels. Here in Romans 12 we have the will of God in regard to you and me individually in our Christian path.
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Well, I know the subject of the will of God is a great subject, and I trust that we might be able to make it simple enough to for the youngest believers with what I have to say, what I trust would be helpful to the older ones as well. Not restricting our thoughts to just young Christians, but to all of the people of God.
And you'll notice I refer to those who are the people of God.
And I don't know everyone in the room, and I certainly do not know everyone's heart.
But we know that there is one who knows everyone in the room and everyone's heart.
All things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do. And I do trust that each and everyone in the room this afternoon is a true child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust that there would be none here in our midst this afternoon that would have no part in that of which we're going to speak.
And it is true that you have neither farting a lot in the matter, if your heart is not right with God.
And a heart that has not received the Lord Jesus is not right with God.
Now you remember, that's what Peter said to that man, Simon Magus, that his heart was not right with God, and the result was he had neither part nor locked in the matter. That great matter of receiving the Holy Spirit, that great matter of being brought into blessing, that man had neither parted a lot in it because his heart was not right. And as I say, the only way the heart can be right before God is by having Christ. In that heart you receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
As your savior, I believe it's good to bring that before everyone in the company.
I'm sure all of us here this afternoon know the gospel and know how to be saved.
It's another matter whether we really are the Lord.
Well now in regard to the thought of the will of God.
I think it's a wonderful subject, and I'd like to say at the outset that when we speak of the will of God, it always, to my mind, is connected with the fault of sovereignty, because his will is sovereign, the sovereign will of God, the sovereignty of God. And when we speak of the will of God, we're going to speak of that which he desires to do, that which is his own default, his own mind.
The act of his own will.
Know the act of will in man is sin the will of man.
Was has brought sin into this world. When I think of the of what the will of man has brought in, we read in Romans chapter 5 that for by one man sin entered into the world.
And he says and death by sin.
Everything that produces sorrow, everything that produces difficulty and sadness here in this world is the result of the will of man.
Man's will, when you think of what the will of man has brought him this whole world system.
Is built up on the principle of the will of man, and that's why it's the stamp of death is upon every bit of it the will of man, and I would like to say to anyone here this afternoon.
Who is going on in a willful path?
If you could only realize how dreadful and terrible the will of man is. Man's will, and we know that in the flesh each one of us has a will that is contrary to the mind of God and our own will.
Our own will.
Would take us away from the Lord.
And the things of God, the will of man, and what it has brought in, how dreadful and how terrible. The first I want to refer to in that connection turn back to Luke 23.
Helpful that we read something like this and in connection with the will of man.
This is what the will of man culminated in.
The worst expression of the will of man in verse 25 of Luke 23.
And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison. Barabbas.
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Whom they had desired.
But he delivered Jesus to their will.
What an expression. He delivered Jesus that his pilot delivered Jesus to their will, and it was the will of man to put the Lord Jesus on the cross. It was the will of man that said away with him.
Away with him. That's the way the will of man expresses itself. And you know the, as I say, the flesh in the believer is no better than the flesh in those who are still outside of Christ.
Now, I know that we all accept this in a doctrinal way. I doubt even the young believers would disagree with that. If I were to speak with the with every believer in the room, even the youngest one, they'd say, Oh yeah, the flesh.
The flesh is incorrigible, and there's no good thing in the flesh.
But yet, on the other hand, sometimes we say that with our lips. But do we really feel that there is that in us, in the flesh?
As we read in Romans 7, I know that in me that is in the flesh, in my flesh, that dwelleth no good thing. And not only that, but there is a resistance to the things of God. There is a resistance to the things of God. The will of man is it's contrary to God.
And we see it here. The greatest expression of that will of man was seen in saying the Lord to the Lord Jesus about the Lord Jesus away with him. We will not have this man to rule over us, crucify him, and he delivered Jesus to their will. But what we want to speak about is something far greater and more blessed, and that is the will of God.
And God's will brings in blessing.
What is in the heart of God is blessing and being sovereign. He can do whatever he wills to do.
Someone might say that's a rather strong statement.
He can do whatever he wills to do, and that's true. And the wonderful thing is that we know that he is. He is perfect.
And God is love, and God is light and being perfect in love and being perfect in holiness.
When he does what he wants to do, we know it always for good and blessing.
And he never does anything wrong. He is. God is, you might say.
May sound a strange expression to say he's worthy to be sovereign. If sovereignty was put into the hands of sinful man, he might abuse it.
That God being perfect, his sovereign will, is always going to bring blessing. Now turn back to the 10th chapter of Hebrews, and I'd like to consider what we have there in connection with the will of God.
First of all, we read here about the Lord Jesus.
When he came into this world.
When he came into this world, he came in, as it were, with those words upon his lips.
Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God.
He came to do the will of God.
And a body was prepared for him. At the Incarnation he became man.
To bring in the will of God, to do the will of God, as well as bring in what God's will is for man.
I believe that's involved here, the Lord Jesus.
Coming to do the will of God.
What a wonderful example he is, and we know that that this is in connection with his manhood.
Because you'll notice in the verse.
He says in the.
1St at the end of the verse a body hast thou prepared for me.
In other words, the doing of the will of God was in connection with manhood. Now I mentioned that, and I'll tell you why I mentioned that. You may say that. That's obvious. We all know that. But I want to impress upon us this.
That in his doing, the will of God here as man, he's not viewed in that light as a divine person. We know of course, that he was, and he is a divine person. He never ceased to be God when he became man.
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But when he became man, he took that place of doing the will of another. And in that way he's an example of What I mean by that is sometimes I find that believers, they say, well, yes, the Lord Jesus did the will of God, but he was he was a divine person, as if it we might say it was easy for him to do the will of God because he was a divine person. We're not a divine person.
And I think we missed the thought of Scripture when we think of the Lord Jesus doing the will of God as a divine person. He was a divine person, but he was in manhood as a man and as a real man here in this world. He cooked up the will of God and it cost him something to do the will of God. He couldn't take up the will of God without consequences.
In fact, we read in this epistle to the Hebrews that though he were Son, yet learned he obedience.
But the things that he suffered, he didn't learn how to obey, but his taking the place of obedience and doing the will of God.
Brought him into suffering.
Suffering is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we know the ultimate.
The ultimate expression of his doing, the will of God, was becoming obedient to the very point at the very point of death, and that the death of the cross.
We might say that in Philippians 2 we have brought before us the fact that the Lord Jesus would rather die.
That disobey God.
And in order to do the will of God and to be obedient to that will, he had to go into death. He was obedient to the point of death. Now in Philippians 2 it isn't the death of the Lord Jesus to put away our sin.
It's his death as the expression of supreme obedience to the will of God.
As a man, and it cost him something.
It cost him his life. Well, I think of that in regard to us. Sometimes we might shrink back.
From doing what we know is God's will, because it might cost us something, it might bring us into a conflict with those about us. It might bring us, or it might cause us to a call for us to make a sacrifice.
But it costs the Lord Jesus that too.
But not only did he come to do the will of God.
But I like to think of him bringing in the will of God. And what do I mean by that? Well, I mean that he brought in what God willed for you and me in the way of blessing.
In this these verses that we read.
We read about.
Those who?
All those sacrifices that could not take away sin.
And we read about those sacrifices in which God had no pleasure.
Well, in bringing in the will of God, we read in verse in that 10th chapter of Hebrews, in verse 10, by the which will we are sanctified. That's what I mean by bringing in the will of God. The will of God has been brought in in such a way that you and I, as believers now on the Lord Jesus Christ, are no longer connected with a system of things that could never put away sins, no longer connected with a system of things in which God found no pleasure.
Religiousness.
We know, of course, that it has reference to the law and all of the ceremonies connected with the law, but it's a system of things that could never deliver us from sin.
And he was the will of God that we should be delivered. It was the will of God that you and I should be.
Delivered from sin, and that we should be delivered from that in which he had no pleasure, mere religiousness, that we might be brought to himself, that we might be brought within the veil, that we might be able to approach Him.
We know under the old system why ones had to stand outside while a priest went in for them.
We read in the beginning of Luke's Gospel how that the priest went into.
Perform His service services. But the people had to stand outside. So God would deliver us from a system like that. We're sanctified, We're set apart because God desires that we would be delivered from our sin, that our sins and iniquities would be put away, and He desired that we might have liberty to approach Him to come into His holy presence.
That was the will of God. It was God's will. God willed it to be so, but he could only bring that will in. That is what God willed in the way of blessing for you and me in removing our sins and bringing us into His holy presence.
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The only way that that will could be brought in is through, as we read here, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. It is only through His coming into this scene.
As man and going to the cross and making that sacrifice on the cross, he has brought in the will of God. Not only did he do the will of God in his own pathway.
He did the will of God. He took up the will of God in the beginning, and he did the will of God in every in all of his pathway through this scene. But he has brought in the will of God, and how wonderful that God, God's will, God's desire was that you and I should be brought into His holy presence, that we might have liberty. Notice verse 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood.
Of these.
Well, I wonder how much we have entered into this, and even I think of the young believers too.
To know not only the forgiveness of sin.
The blood of bulls and goats could never put away those sins, but we know that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ has put them away.
But not only that, but it has opened up the way that we can come into His holy presence.
Now I suppose that we think of this very often in connection with our worship.
As a company of worshippers, but I would apply it as well to the privilege that we have as believers to come into the very presence of God himself. And I would encourage young believers.
To avail themselves avail yourself of this great privilege.
That the will of God has.
Provided for you access into His Holy Presence.
You know we are so much in contact.
With the world.
And as I said in the beginning, this world is built up on the will of man.
And everything you touch.
In this world and every place you go.
That is, of the world has the touch of man's will and man's way, man's fault associated with it.
And I believe that it is a very health, a very necessary theme that young believers.
Make a habit of being in the Lord's presence in prayer and in the presence of the Lord, listening to His word, reading the Word, listening to it.
In order that you might have that which brings you into touch and contact with God.
You're in contact with man.
But what about being in contact with God?
God made provision for us.
In the bringing in of his will, it could not be until the Lord Jesus came in.
To this scene and accomplish that work in which the will of God has brought these blessings in, as I mentioned a few moments ago.
Another had to go into the presence of God. The priest went in the presence of God for the people. But now we can draw near. It's the privilege of the youngest believer to think if you can come into the presence of God himself and speak with God as your Father, and speak to the Lord the one who is in heaven this very afternoon.
The one who is in heaven is the Lord of glory. You can come into his presence and speak to him.
And you can hear him speaking to you.
Well, this is the result, I believe, of the bringing in, of the will of God. But oh, what it called God to bring this in what it calls Christ, to bring it in through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
Well, let's turn over to the first chapter of Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter One.
I trust that none will feel that these things are too high.
Are too deep.
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For us to enter into so that I firmly believe that we need to be more.
Occupied with divine thought.
And divine things.
We're so much in contact with that which is human and of man, and the result is that we we it rubs off on us. We can put it that way. These things rub off on it and we find ourselves thinking along the lines that man in this world think. And we find ourselves picking up habits and weeds that are common to man in this world who knows nothing of the will of God and who has neither partnered a lot in these matters.
We need to have divine thought and the Divine mind brought out that we might be occupied with that which is going to be.
You might say our occupation for all eternity in Ephesians. One those verses that we read, we read three times about the will of God here.
In Ephesians 1.
In verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children are literally.
The placing as sun. Now the word here is not really children, but son.
And there's a there is a part of distinction to be made there, I believe.
The children of God would have more reference to what we are here in this world. It's what we are here in this world. We are the children of God.
Not only belonging to God's family, but we represent him.
But as sons, it speaks of our position before God. It speaks of what we are before him for his pleasure.
Sonship is for the pleasure of God.
And we know that of course the supreme example of that is the the delight and pleasure that God has in his beloved Son the Father loveth the Son.
I believe the thought of sonship brings before us what we are before God is the Father, what we are before Him.
As the object of his delight and pleasure.
Well, I maybe I can hear someone thinking, if you can hear anyone think thinking well.
We are for God's pleasure. I can understand the Lord Jesus being for the delight and pleasure of God, but I can't think of myself.
Well, now that's true in one sense. If we look at ourselves as to what we are in ourselves, in the flesh, we have to say no. God could have no delight in me.
If you know the apostle Paul speaks of a man in Christ, he said, I knew a man in Christ talking about himself, and he said if such a one he could vote when he thought of himself in Christ, when he thought of himself in sonship, as has the many sons that Christ is bringing to glory, when he thought of himself in association with Christ before God as his companions and those who are sons with him.
Now of course.
We are not in that place that he occupies alone in the Godhead as the Son, but we do share that place that he has as son, as in manhood.
We share that place with him, and as God has delight in the Lord Jesus, he has delight in you and me as sons before him. And we read here that he predestinated us under that. It's not only that he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, but he predetermined that we should be in this place as sons before him.
You know, when the Lord Jesus was born in this world, the angels proclaimed the glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.
Goodwill toward man. Literally good pleasure in man.
God could announce his good pleasure in man because there was a man here in whom he could delight. But I think it also brings out the fact that God desired to find pleasure in man whom he could delight. But I think it also brings out the fact that God desired to find pleasure in man.
God desired to find pleasure in man, and he has saved you and me, that he might have pleasure in US.
He hasn't saved you and me and young person this afternoon.
He has saved you if you're a believer on the Lord Jesus, not just to keep you out of hell.
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And from judgment, but that you might be for his pleasure.
And to that end he has placed you as a son before him.
And he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts and my heart, whereby we cry ABBA father, giving us the consciousness that we're sons. For his delight and his pleasure, He he He predetermined that place for us, and it says according to the good pleasure of his will at the end of verse five, Why did God do it? Because he wanted to. Why did God predetermine that we should be his sons before him for his pleasure?
Because he wanted to do it, not because of what he saw in you or me.
Not because he thought we might respond. It was according to the good pleasure of his will He wanted to. It was his desire, and his will is absolute and his will is sovereign.
I believe that we need to have these divine faults before us.
That we might realize the greatness of what God has done according to his own will, but now then we have another expression of his will in verse 9.
Since having made known unto us the mystery or the secret of his will.
The secret of his will.
You know, I think this is a real indication of how the Lord, you might say, how the Lord takes us into.
Nearness to himself. And you might say, in a way, he trusts us. You never tell a secret to someone you don't trust.
If you have a secret.
You wouldn't go tell it to someone that you consider to be untrustworthy.
And I thought of it this way. Here he says, I'm going to make known to you a secret, the secret of my will. He makes it known to you and me, because I believe there is the assumption that we will be delighted to know this secret.
Sometimes a friend might come to us and say, I'm going to bring you in on something that I'm going to do. I'm told everybody, but I'm going to tell you. Well, he tells us that because he the assumption is that we will be delighted to know that we'll be interested in that. Wouldn't it be sad that God would make known the mystery of his will? And we're not really that much concerned as to what his will is all about. What is this great secret of his will? What is this great secret that he's made known?
10th verse.
The 10th verse is the great secret of his will.
And that is that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be supreme.
And a world of blessing.
In a universe in which the will of man is suppressed and subdued, and the will of God is supreme.
And the Lord Jesus is going to be the center of the whole thing.
That God's great secret, he's the center. Everything is going to be headed up in him.
You know, I believe that the one of the reasons at least that the Antichrist, that name Antichrist is used.
I'm thinking of it now not so much as being against Christ. When we think of anti, sometimes we we are limited to the thought of being against, and we perhaps think of Antichrist as being against Christ. But the word anti also means in place of.
And I believe really the primary thought of the Antichrist is that he takes the place of Christ. That is, he makes himself the center of everything.
Everything is centered around him because in a sense you might say that it's a it's usurping what God has purposed for Christ. The great secret of of the will of God is that Christ everything is going to revolve around him, everything headed up in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.
And the Antichrist is the one who is going to try to be that center himself and everything revolve around him.
But we read about that man that he does according to his own will.
For the Lord Jesus did the will of God, and so he is, you might say.
Morally qualified. You know, I like to think of this. I believe that God. I believe everything that God does and ever will do is morally justified.
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That is, there is a there can be demonstrated A moral reason for the thing.
I don't believe even souls being cast into Outer darkness is going to be seen to be irrational. There'll be a moral reason for everything.
And the Lord Jesus having this place, being the center of the universe.
We might say that he is. He's morally qualified for it.
He's morally qualified.
Because in his pathway through this scene, he never did his own will. He did always the will of God, always the will of God, never did his own will, and everything that was placed into his hands he carried out perfectly.
For God, not a thing fell to the ground. He could say in John 17 that those that the Father had given him none are lost.
Everything that was placed into his hands he preserved.
So he's morally qualified to have this place of universal headship, and that's the great secret of God's will, the secret of his will. And he's made it known to you and me. Do we rejoice in that? Do we rejoice to think that there is a time coming when when the will of man and all that the will of man has brought in is going to be set aside?
And the will of God is going to bring in universal blessing, and the Lord Jesus is going to be in his rightful place.
Oh, how ugly this scene is when we when we get a glimpse of what God is going to bring in in the world to come.
And how it would cause us to turn away from that which is the expression of the will of man.
In this world, as we see more and more of what the will of God is going to bring in the secret of His will. But now notice another expression in connection with His will is in verse 11.
Now this brings us in.
Verse 10 is the place the Lord Jesus has. But here it says in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
Now how do we how did we obtain this inheritance?
Well, we obtained this inheritance, you might say, in the same way that Eve came into that place that Adam had as being head or being over this creation, she shared it with him as being his partner, and you and I.
It belongs to the Lord Jesus, but we come into it as being associated with him, being identified with him, and this is according to the council of God's will, the.
The counsel of God's will is this. The secret of God's will is that Christ would be the center.
Of a universal of bliss. The council of his will is that you and I will share it with him. We'll share that inheritance with him.
The end of this chapter, The very last verse.
Speaks of the Lord Jesus as the one who fills All in all.
That's the last word. Him that filleth. All in all, he's going to fill the universe. But it says that the church, the assembly, is the fullness of him.
It's a part of himself is the one who fills the universe, the one who is going to be in that place of universal headship. He's going to have a partner, and it's the will of God that has purpose that it isn't because we have been more faithful.
Than Saints of other dispensations.
It isn't because of anything that we have done. It's according to the council of his own will.
It's what the will of God has purposed and the will of God has been brought in by the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I believe these are our thoughts that we need to have before us that would enlarge our thoughts. Sometimes we sing a hymn, Lord, enlarge our scanty fault, because too often our thoughts center around ourselves and we get occupied with ourselves. We get occupied with our difficulties, we get occupied with our trials. We get occupied with our weaknesses.
With our feebleness now all of these things are there, that God would have us to enter into the the great thoughts that he has in connection with his will, But now turn to Romans 12.
Here we have a very practical side, you might say, in regard to the will of God.
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The will of God in regard to you and me.
We have the will of God in regard to Christ.
You have the will of God in regard to his own purposes and counsels. Now we have the will of God.
In regard to the believer, in regard to us.
And in that respect he would have us to know to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will have gone.
I don't believe here it's necessarily the thought sometimes we say about knowing the will of God as to whether we should go here or go there or do this and do that. But here it's a more general thought, I believe, of the will of God.
It's the thought of what God wants for his people, and we've been talking about the will of God.
In regard to his purposes and counsels and the blessings that he's brought to us. But here I believe in Romans, because Romans views the the people of God as those who are justified.
Forgiven and brought to God, but living in this world.
Now what is God's will for you and me as being in this world?
What is his will?
Believe that Romans 12 and two, he would have us to prove that will, that is, that we might know what it is to prove it by walking according to it. That's how I believe we prove it.
And the first step that we have here is something that each one of us can do.
In verse one I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Now this is something that every believer can do.
Now I know sometimes we think of things that maybe we say we just can't do that.
It isn't everyone of us who can go out and preach the gospel with power.
And it isn't everyone of us who have a great deal of talent to present to the Lord. It isn't every one of us who have, you might say, material funds that we could give to the Lord. But every one of us has a body. Every believer has a body. And the youngest believer. If you've only been saved a week, here is something you can give to the Lord.
Maybe you don't even have a job. Maybe you have no income. You'd say, I would like to give something to the Lord, but I don't have anything to give.
Maybe a young believer says I'd like to serve the Lord, but I just don't have any ability.
I don't know how to go about it. Well, here is something we can give to the Lord.
And here is a service to the Lord, because you'll notice it says at the end of the verse, which is your reasonable service.
The presenting of our bodies to the Lord.
Is not only something we can give the Lord, but it is a service to the Lord.
And everyone has a body, every believer to present to the Lord.
That means that when you present it to the Lord, you turn it over to the Lord so that the Lord has control.
You know, I fear that's really our problem. Deep down in our hearts, we don't like to lose control of our lives.
We want to control them ourselves. We want to control where we go, what we do, what we are associated with. We want to control things ourselves. And there is instinctively the feeling that if we present our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord, then we've lost control. And that's true.
And that's the only way we'll ever prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God is to present our bodies a living sacrifice.
When I was first saved, I wasn't gathered. I was saved in a in a fundamentalist church and it was a very missionary minded church. In fact, the man who formed the church also was the originator of the Central American.
Mission.
And of course, there was quite an emphasis on missions.
And I remember shortly after I was saved, this was presented and was sort of pressed.
And the way this way this was presented, of presenting your bodies, meant that you were to go off to the mission field, and there would be young persons who who were zealous and energetic and.
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So they would quote this verse and this was the indication now that they were willing and ready to to leave their employment or whatever they were and go out into the mission field.
But I don't believe that's what this is talking about. Of course, if God puts his hand on one and says go, you go.
That's why Paul says woe is me if I preach not the gospel, because God had put his hand on him.
And told him to go, but the presenting of our bodies a living sacrifice.
May mean that that body goes right on in the in the, where it is, in your home and your school, in your work, in your business. But it's presented to the Lord, and the Lord has control. The Lord has control. And so that that body goes where the Lord wants it to go, that body acts.
And that body is associated and identified with that which is according to his will.
Presenting of the bodies.
Now notice verse 2, because there are two things really here in connection with the.
Proving the good and acceptable and perfect will of God the One is of the presenting of your body.
And I might just say a further word in that. I think that's a very simple thing, isn't it? I think we all can understand what it is just to present it.
Just to give the Lord control.
Now in the second verse it says be not conformed to this world. That's a negative side, but be ye transformed or transfigured.
By the renewing of your mind.
Well, there's not only the presenting of our bodies.
But there is the renewing of the mind not being conformed to this world.
That means that we do not take up.
The Mohit's.
And the pursuits.
I'm not speaking now in a way of livelihood and things like that, but those things that that the world goes after as an expression of its own will.
For instance, let me read a verse in Titus that I believe would be.
What really speaks of how the world?
Operate.
I'm thinking of Titus chapter 3 and verse 3.
He's talking about the believer. It's what they were in the past for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers, lusts and pleasures, living in malice, envy, hateful and hating one another.
Was thinking especially of that expression serving divers lusts or divers pleasures, In other words, just doing what one wants to do.
When we think about being not conformed to the world.
Perhaps it has been emphasized mostly on the side of maybe dress or something of the sort.
I think primarily it has reference to the spirit that characterizes this world.
And that is of justice, doing what you want to do.
Now, what you want to do may not be necessarily injurious to your neighbor.
But it's just doing your own will, just doing what you want to do.
The renewing of the mind.
Another verse comes to mind, who will turn over to Ephesians chapter 4?
And verse 17.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye walk, that ye henceforth walk not, as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart.
Well, we're not to walk, according to other Gentiles.
The vanity of their minds would have the renewed mind, and our minds are renewed, of course.
Through the Word of God, the washing of water, by the Word, as the Spirit of God makes the Word of God good to us.
And heart and conscience so that our whole outlook in this world.
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Now, the word mind here, I don't believe it means just the thinking capacity. That is, it's not just intelligence.
But he would have her reference, I believe, to everything that involves intelligent action.
What moves a man in this world to do what he does?
Well, it's his mind.
And our minds need to be renewed because we know that by nature born into this world, even as others we would like to those Gentiles that we were reading about in Ephesians there, that that the vanity of their minds and having their understandings darkened. But oh here, to have that mind renewed. It's a process and I would encourage young people.
You know, you don't come into everything all at once. In fact, the learning process continues and should continue. As long as we're here in this world, we should never get too old to learn.
We never get to a place where we can say well I'm I've been completely as it were renewed. We have to go through this renewing process constantly and young person should begin while you're young. The reading of the word of God. Sometimes I've had young people say to me, you know I read but I don't really get anything out of it.
Well, now, you might not get anything out of it in an intellectual way. You may not be able to get anything out of it just reading sometimes, so that you can go and tell someone what thought you had on the Scriptures. But I do believe that if you read the word of God, as in the presence of the Lord, reading it as the word of God, and not just reading it as a book or just reading it, you might say as a as a duty or saying, oh, I haven't read my Bible today. I've got to sit down and read a few verses if you really read it as the word of God.
It will have an effect. It will have an effect, and you may not even recognize it. But you'll find as time goes on that your your attitudes change about certain things and you look at things in a different way, that renewing of the mind takes place, that renewing of the mind takes place. It isn't something that's done by effort, but it's the effect, I believe, of being in the presence of God and the word of God and being in touch with with him.
And then we learn as it says here, we prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will have gone.
The Lord Jesus is a man in this world founded that, he said. The lines are falling unto me in pleasant places.
He put everything in the hands of God his Father. And he said everything is just good and perfect and acceptable. And I believe that's what this means here. If we really present our bodies of living sacrifice and we're not conformed to this world, but we're transformed by the renewing of our minds, we will prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will have gone well, I trust that we might be.
Impressed with what the will of God has brought in and what the will of God has, is going to bring us into.
As he has purposed that coming day of glory, and our being conformed to the image of his beloved Son and sharing the glory with him, and then to know the will of God in a practical way, and our walk and our passage through this scene.
Guilty Everyone
Without the Shedding of the Blood
Gospel—R. Thonney
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.
Like to turn first of all to a verse in.
Hebrews, Chapter 9.
Hebrews Chapter 9 and verse 22.
And almost all things are, by the law, purged with blood.
And without shedding of blood is.
No remission. Want to repeat the last half of that verse?
Without.
Shedding of blood is.
No remission.
Maybe that verse contains a few words that some don't understand.
What does remission mean? Think we can say that it corresponds closely to the word forgiveness of sins?
And so we might read it without shedding up blood. There is no forgiveness of sins.
My friend, if you want to stand right before God tonight, it has to be on the groundwork that God has set up.
And God's state in no uncertain terms here.
That the only groundwork on which you can have forgiveness for your sins.
Is by the shedding of blood.
We live in a democratic society here in the United States. Thank God for the liberty that we enjoy.
But sometimes it seems that people have the idea that they can set up their own terms to God.
That I idea is just as about as good as yours on what God demands of us.
Friend, I want to say here right from the start tonight, my idea isn't worth 2 cents and neither is yours. No, we must come to God on the terms that God sets up in His own word. If you want to have peace in your heart, you must recognize the terms of God's holiness and God's justice.
And the way of salvation that he has set up, there is no other grounds of blessing.
Then through the shedding of blood.
That word is not really popular in the religious world today.
But it is extremely important, friend, if you are going to know what it means to have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, it has to be on the groundwork of the shedding of blood.
Remember a number of years ago working in a hospital and one of the fellow employees?
We were chatting together at the lunch hour and he said I've changed religions. I've changed my religion from Christianity to Judaism and I find it's very interesting. I said yes, that is interesting. If you have adopted Judaism, you will certainly know that God can only accept a person on the groundwork of the shedding of blood.
And of the blood of a sacrifice that God has designated.
I say where is that groundwork in your case?
He looked pretty puzzled. He had no blood on which to ground.
Is standing before God. Oh, how important it is to realize the solemn truth that we have in these words and this verse. Without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin. No friend.
It's not a question of how good you esteem yourself to be, not how a question of how bad you may think you are. It's a question of the blood and the blood of God's land, the blood of Jesus.
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The only groundwork friend upon which you can have peace in your soul with a holy God tonight.
Why is it necessary there be blood? Because friend.
When there's shedding of blood, necessarily there comes death, and death according to the word of God is the wages of sin. And when God looks down on the human race, he looks down on this room tonight, from one corner to the other, including the speaker, the sentence of God is that all have sinned. There is no difference for all have sinned.
Come short to the glory of God.
And we look around the room tonight, there may be some who we would consider better.
Than others that we know, but I say God is.
For as much as you may make a difference.
There is no difference. Sinner is written across each one of us by nature. We're sinners by nature and sinners by practice.
I don't know why it is sometimes that people don't seem to get the idea.
That they're sinners, that their soul is stained with the marks of sin before God, before men. Sometimes we live our lives and we think that we measure up on that yardstick pretty well. But we're not talking about man's yardstick tonight. We're talking about God's measure. And God's measure is this. There is no difference for all.
Have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Member in the city of Chicago a number of years ago, we were giving out tracks on the street and I approached a well dressed man on the street and offered him a gospel tract. And he looked at me very annoyed and said, what's that? I said it's the gospel track Sir. And he got more annoyed and he said.
Please go away from here. Take that to the part of the city where the sinners live. I said, Didn't you know, Sir, that God says there is no difference?
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
He stamped his foot angrily and walked off down the street.
He did not want to receive God's testimony as to what he was and I challenge you tonight, Fran, have you received God's testimony as to how hello, you stand naturally before God. I'm talking about everyone sitting in this room by nature has that word written across their souls thinner.
Dinner and the wages of sin is death.
Like it or not.
Death is an awful reality in the world that we live in, you know?
Live in Latin America and you see death and it's not quite so covered up as it is up here. It really impresses me as to the successfulness of the society here in the United States to cover up the reality of death. Someone gets badly sick.
And he's in a hospital. The pain is drugged up so he doesn't feel it.
He often isn't told that he's going to die within a certain length of time.
And they put a TV screen in front of them so he can't think too much on those serious line of things till he's dead. And then they put him in a beautiful coffin and they put beautiful flowers around them and they speak beautiful words over them. They carry them out to beautiful cemetery and lure them into the grave, the whole stark.
Unlikable reality of death is sheath.
In a cover, in an unreal cover, though, friends. Latin America. Remember times when it really impressed me, the shark reality of death. Remember going through a city, a town in the Dominican Republic. We were on foot walking through and there was a little house over there. And of course, because of the heat in those countries, all the windows are open.
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There is a terrific sound of screaming and hollering coming out of that house and I said to one of the brothers, what is going on over there in that house?
He said, well, somebody died over there. When somebody dies, the relatives get together.
In a huddle in the middle of the room. And they cry, and they holler and they scream until they.
Don't have any voice left and they go out and they pay their neighbors to come in and keep on doing it.
That it is a reality.
Brand a terrible reality.
Death is in this world, and it touches everyone of us that are sinners.
Yes, the wages of sin is death. This is the reason.
Why God says without shedding of blood there is no remission?
God cannot lightly Passover my sins. Absolutely not.
His holy righteous character demands that every sin I have ever committed meet. It's just judgment, full judgment.
Without shedding up, blood is no remission.
In the Old Testament times thousands and thousands and thousands and hundreds thousands of animals.
Died over the years.
It's not too pleasant a thing to watch an animal die, even.
God accepted on a temporary basis animal sacrifices in the Old Testament.
But it really only foreshadowed what God had in his own mind and purposes. God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus was there in the bosom of the Father, and in time he came into this world, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Lamb of God. But in the Old Testament times.
Animal sacrifices were practiced and thousands and hundreds of thousands of animals died.
You look in First Kings Chapter 8. We're not going to look at it tonight.
But if the dedication of Solomon's temple, he had one offering a peace offering that consisted of 22,000 bullocks and 120,000 sheep. I've seen large flocks of animals out in the country sometimes, but I don't think I've ever seen much more than 1000. But think this one sacrifice that Solomon offered one.
120,000 sheep and 22,000 bullets.
Think of the rivers of blood that flowed that day saw them to think of the blood.
That flawed Never forget in the Dominican Republic, in time we were visiting there and they killed an animal, killed a bull.
Young bull for me.
And they don't do it exactly the way it's done up here.
Never forget it. I stood there and watched. They had a long night and the animal was tied to a tree.
They walked up and they plunged that knife through his rib cage into his heart.
And that bull stood there for a minute and let out a terrible bellow that echoed down the valley.
He kept bellowing, the blood gushing out of his breast until his legs went down and he fell over dead.
It wasn't too pleasant of a site, friend. Maybe you don't appreciate my telling you that tonight about it.
But I just want to impress upon you the awful, tremendous importance of this statement that we've read. Without shedding up blood is no remission. If you are going to stand accepted by God in that coming day, there is only one grounds upon which you can stand accepted. Remember, you and I have no right to set the standards to God. You have no right to put conditions to God.
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We come unconditionally as hell bound ruin.
Lost sinners.
The only way we can come to God.
Sometimes given the illustration.
In Bolivia.
Supposing.
As I'm in Bolivia, I'm arrested. I'm still a United States citizen, but I'm arrested and taken to the Court of Justice to be judged, and I stand there before the judge.
And I'm found guilty.
And I say to the judge, But Sir, let me explain myself.
United States, we can do that. It's all right to do that in the United States. What would he say to me? He would say, Sir, you are in Bolivian territory and you are going to be judged by Bolivian law. You have no right to set any other standard here. The standards are already set. And when God and when we treat up the subject of our relationship with God, friend, I want to impress upon you that tremendous importance.
Of accepting God's standard. There is no other way to have peace in your soul before God. There is no other way to be right with that holy God who is your Creator and to whom you must bow and give an account one day.
Like to go to the Old Testament now the book of Exodus?
To show.
Now this was illustrated. Remember we have spoken briefly.
That God had in his mind.
One sacrifice that was going to satisfy him forever.
The sacrifice of his own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ was.
Islam.
That one that was going to satisfy.
Is just and His holy demands against me as a poor lost Sinner.
And when he gave instructions in the Old Testament.
The making of animal sacrifices. It was all figurative.
Of God's land, I'd like to go to Exodus chapter 12.
Verse one.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying.
This month shall be unto you. The beginning of month shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speaking unto all the congregation of Israel, saying In the 10th day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb.
According to the House of their fathers, a lamb foreign house.
And if the house will be too little for the Lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls.
Every man, according to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish.
A male of the first year, he shall take it out from the sheep or from the goat.
And he shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. The whole assembly of the Congregation of Israel shall kill it.
In the evening they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two sideposts.
None the upper door post to the houses wherein they shall eat it, and they shall eat the flesh in that night. Roast with fire, and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs shall they eat it, Eat not of it, run or sudden at all with water, but roast with fire his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And he shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. And that which remaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.
And thus shall ye eat it, your loins girded in, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand.
Ye shall eat it in haste. It is the Lorde Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born of the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgment. I am the Lord.
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And.
That shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are.
And when I see the blood, I will Passover you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.
To get the connection of our chapter here, just like to say that the children of Israel, the nation of Israel, was in the land.
Fully afflicted by the Egyptians and God wanted to take his people out. Pharaoh the ruler did not want to release those people. And so God began to pour judgments, plagues out on the land of one after another after another after.
Their flags God made a difference between his people, Israel and the Egyptians.
But since the plague of death is the result of sin.
Now wage is as sin as death. He could not make a difference in the houses of the Egyptians and the houses of the.
Israelites here, but he made a provision by which there could be salvation.
And it was through the blood of the lamb. And so here we find that they were instructed to take a lamb.
Each household own responsibility for those of us who are fathers.
To take a lamb for an household.
And they were to keep it up for four days, from the 10th day to the 14th day.
To see if there was any blemish, any defect in that lamb that was taken.
And you know, like I said, God, in giving these instructions, had in mind His own beloved Son.
From Adam to the time that the Lord Jesus was born into this world is about 4000 years.
With the Lord, a day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as a day.
Those four days represent the 4000 years of man's history when God was looking down on the human race.
To see if there is one.
There was one that could meet his standards of justice, that one that did not sin, one that did not go astray. He couldn't find one. But God had a lamb. And God's lamb came into this world, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to make redemption, to shed his precious blood, to make a way into the very presence of God for your soul and for mine.
Oh, what a wonderful story.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That they were to keep up this lamb for four days, and then they were to slay it, kill it, cut its throat, take the blood. And with the hyssop, which was a little plant, they gathered and they used it as a kind of a paintbrush. They put the blood on the upper doorpost of the door, the two side posts of the door outside.
For the eye of God.
It's not so important for their eyes, but for the eye of God. They're going to be protected.
From the judgment, remember it was not enough.
To kill the lamb only it was important.
Awfully important that the blood be applied. Now. I want to speak very specially and very directly to souls here tonight. I don't think there's anyone in the room tonight that hasn't heard before the gospel of the grace of God and that Jesus has died and shed his precious blood that I want to seriously and solemnly question you tonight.
Have you applied the blood of Christ?
Need of your sinful soul. Are you under the shelter?
Of the precious blood of Christ.
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And so the destroying Angel came through the land of Egypt that night.
And as he went house by house, there was number consideration.
As he came to one house, let's see, is this a good person who lives here, or is he kind of a bad person?
No consideration of how good or how bad they've been. Only one consideration. Has the destroying Angel passed through that The land of Egypt that night? Is there blood?
There is blood passed over to the next house. Is there blood?
On the door there wasn't blood. He went in and slew the first born in that house.
And so there was that only one condition of mercy in the land of Egypt.
Under the shelter of the blood of Christ there is mercy, friend.
Are you under that shelter tonight? There is no consideration as God looks into your soul.
Tonight, as to how good you've been or how bad you've been, yes, you're going to be judged for your works in the coming day. God will consider that.
But I say salvation does not depend on how good you've been, no.
Not dear life. It depends on that precious blood of Jesus.
You stand under the shelter, that precious blood. There is mercy.
God's justice has been satisfied and God will not judge you. There is no other grounds of safety in a world that is fast going towards the Judgment Day. It isn't far off, friend, and if you are not under the shelter of the blood of Christ, you are in terrible danger tonight. It's not a question of being baptized.
Not a question of being a church member. Not a question of breaking bread, the Lord's Table.
Not a question on any of those things. It's a question of being under the shelter, the precious blood of Jesus. Where are you tonight, friend? I ask you, where are you? God knows where you are. You too know where you are. Don't hide under a false profession. Tonight they will land you in a lake of fire. I really and truly believe that Satan, the enemy of your soul and mine.
Is luring.
Hundreds of thousands of people into the lost eternity by persuading them.
That they're saved, that they're good Christians when there's no reality of faith in their heart towards God. Oh friend, I want you to search your heart tonight.
I really, really fear.
For some who have been raised in Christian homes and who are kind of just slipping, sliding along on the coattails of their parents, thinking that they're all right. Kind of just slipping, sliding along on the coattails of their parents, thinking that they're all right. Dad and mom's a Christian.
And sure, it must be all right with me. I've really never gotten out in the world, never lived too dirty a life.
I want to tell you if that's all you've got to say for yourself.
You are in terrible danger right now.
And I hope you don't go out of this room tonight without getting the matter settled before God. There is one place of safety that God recognizes none other. It is under the precious blood of Christ.
I'd like to say another word about this chapter before we go back to the New Testament.
That lamb after it had been killed.
And after its blood had been painted on the door close in the little of the houses where they lived, they went inside with that lamb, and they roasted it with fire, and they ate it and made it their own, their very own.
But it couldn't be boiled in water. Nothing could come between the flames.
And that lamb, and it's figurative of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When he hung on the cross of Calvary.
The judgment of God that I deserved as a poor lost Sinner.
00:30:03
Fell in all its fury on my blessed Savior.
And they were going to crucify him. They offered him vinegar. It was a cheap type of wine that they used for those who were there going to crucify.
To dull the pain as they pounded the nails through the hands and the feet. The Lord Jesus did not recede it. He refused it. Nothing was going to come in between the Lamb and the fire. He went directly into the fire of the judgment of God wasn't only what he suffered from the hands of sinful men when he hung on that cross within those three hours of darkness when God.
Shut out men's curious eyes. God laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And God punished him for our sins.
He was bruised for our iniquities. He was wounded for our transgressions.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him with his stripes.
We are healed. He, the holy, spotless, innocent Son of God, hung there as a sacrifice for sin. For my sins he was punished. Friend, this is the basis, the groundwork upon which God can offer mercy now through the blood of Jesus.
Let's go to the New Testament, to the Gospel of John, chapter one.
As we were mentioning through the Old Testament.
Hundreds of thousands of animals.
Their blood was shed and yet God could not be satisfied.
With the mere blood of bulls and goats, he could not.
It only reminded him of a sacrifice that yes was going to satisfy.
The holy claims of God against us as sinners.
But finally the Lord Jesus came into this world.
And when God sent his only son in this world to be the savior of the world?
He sent a Forerunner and I'd like to read the words of the Forerunner. His name was John the Baptist.
John one verse 29. The next day, John.
It's John the Baptist.
Seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
Which taketh away the sin of the world.
Finally, finally, after so many centuries of the history of man and his guiltiness.
Finally.
Here is God's land. What a moment as the Lord Jesus, that blessed Son of God, made flesh.
Is walking along in this world. John the Baptist sees him.
Says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Finally, here is God's lamb, the lamb that's going to satisfy.
Completely forever. All the just claims of God against me as a Sinner.
Chapter 19.
This chapter we have the story of the crucifixion victory. Read a few verses.
Verse 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement. But in the Hebrew, Gabbatha was the preparation of the Passover in about the 6th hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king, they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him, Pilate said unto them.
Shall I crucify your king? Chief Priest answered, We have no king But Caesar then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and LED him away. And he bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other, with him on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. Pilot wrote a title, and put it on the cross.
00:35:03
The writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
This title then read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city.
It was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin then said the chief priest of the Jews to pilot rate not.
The king of the Jews, but that he said, I am the King of the Jews. Pilate answered. What I have written, I have written. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier apart, and also his quote. Now the coat was woven without seeing, woven from the top throughout.
They said, therefore among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Which saith.
They pardoned my raiment among them, and for my vesture did they cast lots. These things, therefore the soldiers did.
Verse 28 After this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished.
The scripture might be fulfilled, said I thirst. In other words, set a vessel full of vinegar.
They put a sponge with sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth.
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said. It is finished.
And he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost and the Jews therefore, because it was the preparation.
The bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath was in high day.
Beside pilot that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the 1St and the other which was crucified with him. When they came to Jesus saw that he was dead already. They weren't break not his legs. The one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side forth with came there out blood and water. And he that thought bare record and his record is true, and he knows that he set true.
That ye might believe we have the story of the crucifixion.
Friend, we read it often, sometimes in the reality of what happened there that day.
On that hill of Calvary doesn't get home to our hearts like it should. But I want to take you there this afternoon, this this evening, take you to that hill of Calvary. In your mind's eye, there's one hanging on a center cross.
Suffering.
Suffering terribly from the hands of his creature man.
Oh, friend, who was that one hanging on the center cross? It was God's beloved Son. What were those men doing to him? They were giving him the worst treatment they could think of. They beat him in the face. They crowned him with thorns. They beat those thorns into his brow. Scripture says his form was so marred more than any man and his four, more than the sons of men.
Seen accidents where people's face gets really badly marked, but his form was so marred more than any man.
Then those three hours of darkness we were speaking about, and God clothed the world with darkness.
And the Lord Jesus hung there for those three hours under the judgment of a holy God.
Against the sins of a creature, a rebellious, guilty person.
Like myself, the Lord Jesus suffered untold agony in those three hours. The end of those three hours? God for a second.
And I cry, according to other gospels, rends the dark my God, my God.
Why hast thou forsaken me, the only one who did perfectly the will of God?
Forsaken of God, friend, there's no need for you to be forsaken of God forever.
No, because he was forsaken in those three hours, the end of those three hours of darkness. That was his cry. And then just as he expires, as he gives up his light, he cries. It is finished. Oh, what a triumph shout. It's finished, friend. The work of redemption.
That work to satisfy the holy claims of God. It's finished tonight.
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We offer a finished work, no need for you to do anything else now.
Except that work that is completely and eternally finished to God's own glory. God has accepted it, and he's shown so in raising the Lord Jesus from the dead, setting him at his own right hand. There's a real living man in the glory of God tonight, the symbol that God has accepted what the Lord Jesus did.
Have you accepted it, friend? It's the only groundwork upon which God can accept you.
A lost, guilty Sinner.
The only way. There is no other way, friend.
And so the Lord Jesus as he was hanging there on that cross of Calvary.
Dead. Think of it, Son of God, dead.
Death the soldier climbs up that mountain breaks.
The legs of one of those thieves, and of the other.
Comes to Jesus.
He gave his life, friend. No man could take it from him to show how much he loved you. He gave his life.
But that soldier took his spear, pointed spear, and plunged it into the side of the Savior. From his side, John, a chosen witness, saw blood and water flow. That terrible, terrible, terrible price.
Was paid to God's own glory, to his complete satisfaction. Oh friend, God is satisfied with the work of Jesus.
He's accepted it. Have you accepted it tonight? Before it close? I'd like to read just.
Do more verses one in Ephesians chapter one.
Ephesians chapter one, verse 7.
Notice the last word in verse six Speaking of the beloved, the Lord Jesus, and it says in verse seven, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Oh, I like that.
We have present possession, not something that I have to keep asking for every day of my life.
Something we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
Remember going to preach the gospel in a penitentiary out West?
And not a lot of men came in, but a few did. There's a lot of seats out there.
There's a man, an older man, that's clear in the back.
And you spoke a little bit from this verse we have.
Redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.
And we explain if you have something, you can say you have it.
You don't ask for it any longer, and souls ask.
Day after day after day for the forgiveness of sins.
Sometimes through not understanding the word of God, but sometimes because they don't have it yet.
Friends, the price has been paid. You don't even have to ask for it. God is extending His arms and mercy and offering you full forgiveness on the ground of that shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and Calvary.
You don't have to ask for it, all you have to do is receive it and thank God for it.
That man came up to the front after the meeting, was sitting in the back there in the penitentiary.
And he said, all these years I've been asking for the forgiveness of sins.
Now I understand it, thank God I take it.
And he thanked God for it. Friend, that's all there is that's necessary for you to do right where you're sitting, right there, just as you are. Open that heart of yours. Accept God's forgiveness, His pardon, on the ground of that shed blood of Jesus. There is no other way. We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.
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I love that word.
Can God measure God? Can anyone measure God's richest?
No, you can't, friend. Sometimes I forgive somebody that you know, when I forgive them, they kind of got it in the back of my mind yet. And my forgiveness is not very great, I tell you that. But when God Forgives, it's according to the riches of his grace. Oh friend, wherever you are sitting here in the audience tonight listening to the word of God, I ask you, I played with you the name of the Lord Jesus to open that guilty heart of yours.
To accept God's forgiveness through the Lord Jesus.
Tonight.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
Reading
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For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
For in this we grown earnestly, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be the being clothed, we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this Tabernacle do groan being burdened not for that way would be unfold, but clothes upon.
That mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath brought us for the self, same thing as God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.
For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather, to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body.
According to that he has done whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest under God.
And I trust also have made manifest in your consciences.
For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf.
That you may have somewhat to answer them with glory and appearance and not in heart.
For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be sober.
It is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all that they which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him has died for them, and rose again.
Wherefore, henceforth knowing no man after the flesh.
Ye though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away.
Behold, all things have become you, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world under himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ and be reconciled to God, for it made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Thinking of this portion that came before me, especially in regard to.
What has been before us in our prayers and in the hymns that were given out just now as to?
It seems that the Lord is stirring up our hearts in regard to.
Being in the glory with the Lord Jesus.
Being home with him and at the same time being a feeling, the pressures of the wilderness and the being in a place of testing and trial.
And also that there might be an exercise to enter in to even now.
In measure, as we have the earnest of the Spirit to enter in to that which.
We're going to be in and all of its fullness when we're taken home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was thinking in the 4th chapter where we have the expression.
The Gospel of the glory in verse 4.
And the King James it says to the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. But it's literally the gospel of the glory of Christ.
And that opens up to us.
The one who is in the glory, the Lord Jesus.
And that great scene of glory and bliss.
And new creation which we're going to enter into in all of its fullness, but that which we can enter into now in spirit, that is, by the Spirit we can enter into these precious things at the present time and toward the end of the fourth chapter, the apostle.
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Speaks of the inward man and the outward man in verse 16.
The outward man is perishing.
And the inward Man is renewed day by day. And that was my exercise that we might in the reading of this chapter and taking it up, that there might be in some measure that renewing of the inward Man.
The outward man is perishing, but the inward man is is being renewed day by day and in verse 18 while we look known at the things which are seen.
Of course we we can't help but see what's about us and our circumstances too. But they're not to be an object.
But the things which are not seen and I believe in this 5th chapter we have.
Some of these things brought before us that this the how, that we're going to be in that glory in glorified bodies.
And we're going to be there like Christ, and we're going to have everything brought out at the judgment seat. And while on the way, we would be exercised to be agreeable to him, pleasurable to him, and to live for him, and to be in the understanding and enjoyment and power of the new creation. Because if any man be in Christ, it's a new creation. And that's even now.
We know that it's going to be in full display in the coming days, but even now we are in new creation in Christ, and even now we are reconciled. So perhaps the Lord might be able to use this chapter to to.
Bring before us more and more the things that are eternal and divine. My own exercise is that I feel that the enemy is seeking to discourage and wear out. The Saints and circumstances get before us and we get occupied with and how we need to have the things that are eternal.
And divine before us, because the things that.
In connection with our circumstances are only temporary. It's only for a little while. And the Apostle speaks that in the end of chapter 4. And this 5th chapter really is a continuation, I believe, of that which he's Speaking of in the end of the fourth chapter.
To have the word eternal in this first verse and in the 2 verses preceding it.
One thinks of that verse we often quote. I think we heard it today in prayer. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms comfort there.
What we have by faith here is that which is eternal in this 18th verse of chapter 4.
My brother Harry Hale used to say to us that everything that we have that is sure and certain and lasting, we have by faith, many would say. You might tell me that Tokyo is the largest city in the world. And I could say to you, how do you know it, earthquake might have caused the city to crash down 10 minutes ago. That is things down here.
Can be shaken and will be shaken.
And do not endure, but what we have by faith does.
And we have a mathematical ratio expressed in that 17th verse that our brother was referring to.
It starts with our light affliction.
We don't always agree with that little word light there when it comes to affliction, when it gets the burning kind of hot in our own lives and.
That's normal and natural in these bodies that we are living in now.
And the Lord feels with it. Yesterday in the prayer meeting we read in Isaiah 63 that.
The verse that says in all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence bear them and carried them all the days of old. Then also in the 48th chapter of Isaiah says, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
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We are feeling these things so much nowadays, brethren, and it stirs us. Doesn't these afflictions. They're hard, they're difficult. But who is feeding them with us?
Oh, to think of the one who was their savior in that old dispensation, and bear those children of Israel the multitudes of them. He bear them, and He carried them all the days of old, and He brought them into the desired haven, that is, into the promised Land. In spite of all their failures and weakness, He bore with them, and He carried them, and He brought them in. He brought them out of Egypt, and He brought them in, And his ways were made known in the wilderness.
So it is with us, these afflictions, Who do they come from, and who is feeling them With us? Well, we don't always think they're light, but the ratio is expressed worketh for us. Well, I should read on our light affliction, which is but for a moment that's part of the the mathematical ratio. We're trying to bring out light and momentarily.
Then it worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, language that really is as grand as we can think of to put before us those things that are ahead, the glory, the eternal God.
And.
Those eternal things that are.
Ours in Christ even now, and lie ahead, and then in our chapter it begins with.
This body.
Changed and.
A house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven is these bodies that we live in. They're very temporary, what we are living in now as to the life sustained by this blood pump that we've got. But we're going to have a body like unto his own body of glory. That's part of the gospel of the glory and.
It will be an eternal body suited as we were singing in that first hymn. We shall behold thee as thou art, and thy full image bear. You and I are going to have that new body, like under that body of of glory that Christ has now in the glory.
There is another world. There is a world above, and I think we need to.
To consider that more and more beloved brethren, that world above where the Lord Jesus is now.
God has already.
Inaugurated.
Might say a new world.
We know when the in the beginning we read in Genesis one God created the heavens and the earth, this world in which we are living now, this, this universe. God began with the physical creation and then he made man and put him in it. But in the new creation, the world above, he begins with a man, the man Christ Jesus, and he's there and he's there in a glorified body.
And he's there as our forerunner, and this is the anchor that we have for our souls is passing through here. We know he's there as our forerunner because we're going to be there.
In the glory and in a glorified body. And so in our first verse it says we know that's certain. Now what we don't know is if our this earthly house is to be dissolved.
What is certain is that we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
That's the body that God is going to give us. It's a spiritual body, financial, like unto his body of glory. It is this body, of course, but it's made.
It's be adapted to that glory, and in a spiritual way.
But is thinking of how it's presented here that the certainty is that we have?
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This building of God and the uncertainty is if our earthly house.
Of this Tabernacle be dissolved, we know that man looks upon death as a certainty.
But with the child of God, we know it is, and so is it. It's only if it be dissolved, if it should be, because we're looking not to be unclothed when we're looking to be clothed upon to that house from on high. And so here the certainty is that we're going to be, we're going to have bodies conformed like into His body of glory. And the thing that we do not know is whether or not we will.
Pass through death here, but we know we're going to be in that glory with him and that body.
But you'll please explain to us.
What it means when it says we have a building, what does that mean? We have a building?
I believe it refers to the.
Body.
That we are going to be clothed upon, as he says in the verse 2, desiring to be clothable with our house which is from heaven. That's I suppose, he uses the word house as the thought of a of habitation. It's what we're going to abide in the body in which we're going to be found in. And it's it's we have it, I believe, in the sense that it's going to be fashioned like unto his body of glory as Stephen looked up.
Into heaven and Saul.
Jesus.
He's there in a glorified body, and that's the body we're going to have. I don't mean by that, that we're going to lose our identities.
But it says in the Philippians that will be fashioned like unto his body of glory.
Feeder in second epistle. Along that line, the first chapter feeder, second epistle, first chapter, first 13 and 414 sort of clarifies that he says, yeah, I think it me, as long as I'm in this Tabernacle, that's his earthly house, that's his body to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. Knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle.
His body. He's going to put this lap. So will we. In death, of course we'll exchange it. If the shout comes, it'll be immediate. Wonderful, isn't that thought? But put off this house, this body, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me, Well, he's talking about death there. But as you say, not all of us will go through that.
It says it's appointed under Men once to die.
But the perfection of Scripture has kept the word all out of that verse. It isn't appointed unto all men once to die.
And it said that it wouldn't apply to us today, would it? Because I would say most of us don't expect that at all. We expect him. But we'll put off this Tabernacle, our house, our earthly house. It's a building, it's our lodging place, but we have a new one.
That will be put on immediate with the shelf on it.
Yes, you remind me of what was said about visiting.
Saint Who is really?
Apparently on their deathbed, or nearing it, or feeling pain and affliction and sorrow and longing to be home.
And sometimes we pray for them, and sometimes they ask the Lord to take them home. But that's not the best prayer. The best prayer is come, Lord Jesus, so that we don't pass through that article of death. We really shouldn't expect it, even though the doctor might say three months or three weeks or a year. No, we ought to be looking.
For the Lord to come for us, that's the very best. So the if is very encouraging in this verse.
We don't expect to have to do that. Of course, when he sends for us, it will be lovely too. But the very best is for him to come for us. Then, in connection with these bodies, it's it's in a brother was referring to Philippians 221. Who shall our Lord Jesus Christ? Who shall change our body of humiliation? It's these bodies that we live in that are going to be changed.
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Even though they might be dissolved, even as Moses who was buried by God.
No man knew where God buried him, and then the Lord when he gave the.
Disciples A preview of the coming Kingdom, and especially in Luke, where.
We also have a glimpse of the Father's house, that home to the which we are going on that occasion.
He brought forth Moses and Elias and.
One of them, of course, was buried by God, and no man knew where and centuries before.
Time doesn't enter into the thought of God or affect him in any way. He brings Moses out, and he brings Elias out, who did not pass through death. So this is a preview of what is lying ahead of us. So we don't expect to die. But if we do, we have this building of God, this house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven. Meanwhile some of U.S. drone.
Isn't this another one of the grand truths of eternal security? It's throughout the word of God.
And how solemn it is when there are some who do not believe it, some who profess to be Christians and do not believe it. The KNOW. You know, there's no doubt about it. We have that these eternal things that the 18th verse speaks of. And we're joined heirs with Christ and everything is ours in Christ. But the wonderful part about it is you might look at that first Peter, this time, first Peter. The wonderful thing about it is.
That inheritance is eternal.
And notice how it works in verse 4. This is what we're begotten for.
To an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, But fadeth not away, and it's preserved in heaven for you. Well, isn't that precious? These eternal things are there. We know we're going to enjoy them. But notice the step further in verse five. You who are kept, You who are kept by the power of God through faith under salvation. Do we not have salvation? Of course we do. Of our souls. It's eternal.
But this is the salvation of our bodies. It's coming. That's what we're talking about, isn't it? The salvation of these bodies will be changed, rather like unto Him, so to be revealed. Wasn't it wonderful that not only is everything ours in Christ, because we're joint heirs, God has committed everything to Son, but it's kept for us. We're kept for it. That's eternal security. That's assurance.
We know.
We know when death takes one of our loved ones.
This is a very painful thing.
Thing for anybody?
But what a comfort it is that the body that is put in the grave.
It's really only the house, the shell.
That person, when that person was alive.
Every human being is a tripart human being, spirit, soul and body and when death takes place.
The Spirit leads that house, and Scripture does identify also the person with that house. Like a brother already indicated that Moses was buried. That was only his body that was buried there or an act. We find that.
Stephen was buried and he's identified with the body there. But we know that this scripture, especially in others, identify the person with the Spirit, and what a comfort it is to know that their loved one is not there in the grave.
We know from this Scripture absence from the body present with the Lord, or to depart, and to be with Christ in Philippians is so much better.
These scriptures in Philippians and here deal with the intermediate state between.
Death and resurrection. So the comfort is that we know that person to be in the presence of the Savior.
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And naturally we love not only the spirit of that loved one that is departed, we also love the whole being, and we miss them very much. But what a comfort to know them to be with Christ, but now the groaning and the desire to.
Be closed upon.
You know, especially as people get older, we feel more aches and pains and.
People who are haltingly the eyesight gets poorer, memory gets poor, and all of this and then campaign. And it is not wrong, beloved, that even in those circumstances we longed for the clothing upon that is not death that is to be changed, to be brought into his glorious likeness. That is certainly true, as a brother already pointed out.
We ought to always look for the Lord Jesus to come in order that we see Him personally above everything else. That ought to be the predominant thought in our hearts and in our minds, to see Him as He is. But it is not wrong, according to this verse, that we long to be delivered from this body that gives us so much trouble at times, and suffering and pain, and to know that the.
The work of the Lord Jesus also is going to accomplish that. We will get a new body like unto the body of glory, and then we will be like him in everything. Already we have our soul salvation. We already are a new creature in Christ. Inwardly we have a new life.
But then we will be in every way like him. What a glorious prospect that is.
His desire here, isn't it that he might be clothed upon?
That is that he might have that body we've been speaking about that we will.
Have when the Lord Jesus comes, it wasn't his desire to be unclothed as he read as we read in verse 4. The unclothed state would be if the body is dissolved. Isn't it one if we if one is absent in the body present with the Lord is spoken of as being unclothed here, that is their body is asleep.
Sleep in Jesus is referred to the body. You certainly know that the soul is not asleep.
Very much in the in the presence of the Lord be, it's far better. And they're in the presence of the Lord, but they're unclothed. That is, the body is separated and the body is is laid away. And it wasn't his longing that that he'd be uncooled but clothed upon. Now to me that suggests that he wasn't just thinking of getting out of all of the difficulties.
That one has in this pathway in this life, it wasn't just to get free from trials or testings and labor and that, but he actually desired what we would be brought into or what we're going to be brought into when the Lord comes. It's more the positive side, isn't it? It wasn't just saying I want to get out of all of the difficulties of the pathway. You can get out of them by being unclothed.
If one is taken home, called to be with the Lord by, he is at rest.
At the time, he's no longer in a place of testing and trial and difficulties, but that would be unclothed, and he's not looking for that, he said. That isn't what I desire to be unclothed. Oh, if the Lord wills it that way, it is far better. But that isn't what he was looking for. What he was looking for is to be brought into that for which God has laid hold upon us, that we might be those many brethren conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in every way.
Even as to our bodies, and I might say too that we have here, you might say 3 conditions, we have the.
Closed condition, closed upon.
And as we've been saying, that refers to our bodies being changed.
At the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the unclothed, as we were saying, would refer to a believer departing the body and being with Christ, absent the body, present with the Lord. But in verse three he speaks about those who will be found naked, and that's not exactly the same as unclothed.
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Naked, I believe, refers to one who is in an entirely unsuitable condition before God. Just as Adam felt when he sinned in the garden, he felt that he was not fit for the presence of God and he wasn't. Sin had come in, and God had the clothing to make him suitable to be with with the Lord. So the naked state would refer to those that are left behind, I believe when the Lord comes, when all of the Saints of God are clothed upon with those bodies of glory.
Those left behind are in a state of nakedness.
Wholly unsuitable for God's presence. And of course, they're lost.
And so and the apostle says in verse three, I believe that there's going to be two classes.
When the Lord comes, those are going to be clothed upon with glorified bodies, and those who are going to be exposed to the judgment of God is unsuitable for His presence, the naked. And as we speak of these things, we know that that we do not have in Scripture a definite time, day in or hour, and a year of the Lord's coming. And certainly it would it would behoove each and everyone in the audience today to know that they would be among the company.
Who are clothed upon with that body from heaven and not be found naked. Being found naked would be as a lost Sinner still in your sins and exposed to the judgment of God.
That's what he pleased to say. Like Isaiah on 61 and 10, he says, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful my God, for he hath closed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom, deck of himself with ornaments, as a bride of north or South of their jewels. So every true believer is close to that bond of salvation and.
How wonderful it is and curious to bring from our left praise and worship Thanksgiving to him. And receiving that body is, is you might say, in a sense, the culmination of our salvation, isn't it? As our brother ballman was reading in Peter, it's that salvation ready to be revealed. And if you'd gone on in Peter, you would see there that we have received the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls that we have now, that we await that salvation. It's ready.
Everything has been accomplished.
It isn't that something has to be done. It's all a result of the work of Christ. It's a part of our salvation, the receiving of these glorified bodies. So our verse is our brother ready and Isaiah, I believe, fits in very well, and in that sense we are already clothed with salvation. But we're waiting that that final element, so to speak, of our salvation when we have the glorified bodies. Sort of like the prodigal he was given the best robe, but in a sense, I believe that would include the glorified body too.
We have the we have salvation as to our souls now, and we are reconciled and brought to God. But here, here it's the the culmination of it all, the salvation.
Well, we who are down here in this scene.
Are looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus.
And I would understand too from here.
That those who have been taken out of the scene.
To the Lord are also expecting the coming of our Lord Jesus.
The being fought upon will be for each one at the same time.
Now there's a warning in these thoughts for any who are not in Christ, for any who are still in their sins, because should they die in such a state, it's naked eternally. There are there's nothing to cover them at all, and that's why they cast as the blackness of darkness forever out of the presence of the Holy God. I was thinking of the last plea in the Revelation the Lord makes Revelations, chapter 3, verse 18.
He's making a plea in our day. It's really today. And notice what he says. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. That's the righteousness of God. Of course the fire speaks of judgment and that's how you receive it. The Lord Jesus Christ went through that judgment for us. We have the righteousness of God through him in him that thou mayest be rich. We were talking about our eternal inheritance.
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And white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed. And that's what our brother read from from Isaiah, the robe of righteousness. And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. That's the plea, Of course, anoint thy eyes have that would bring in the spirit of God that thou mayest see. You can have your eyes open, but, oh, how solemn it is, if any do not hear this last plea of counseling of the Lord to all, because he's speaking to those who are religious.
Who are religious but lost And they think they're all right.
How solemn to awake in a lost eternity. Negative. That's the way they'll appear before the judgment seat. Before the Great White Throne. Pardon me? The Great White Throne. They'll be speechless. It's all exposed that there's nothing there. But there's sins. Well, it's a solemn warning. We're enjoying the better part of it.
But I trust there isn't any in their sins here today. If they are the Lord constantly to be closed, the best Grove of righteousness, then you'll have that body waiting, waiting you a new body where it's going to have it.
Now the unbeliever is also going to be raised in the second resurrection, or the resurrection unto judgment.
The first resurrection is the resurrection of the life. But it won't make any difference whether you look at a Sinner in his body here on earth, or when the Sinner is raised to appear before judgment. He's naked in either condition.
He is unfit for the presence of God. That's a very solemn thing, isn't it? We know that only the believer will get a body like unto his glorified body. But it's also a very solemnizing thought that that body that the unbeliever will have is not going to deteriorate or pass away ever for all eternity. And and in this body they'll be cast into hell. Very solemn thing, isn't it?
In the new translation of first verse one, it says this earthly Tabernacle house and I was thinking how that his brother Clem was pointing out to us. The last verses of chapter four are all a contrast between what is temporal, what is for a time and what is eternal. To live our lives for time would be the height of folly for a Christian.
The very body in which we live is a Tabernacle house. It's not called a building of God, a house not made with hands, that speaks of permanency, that speaks of something which will abide forever eternal in the heavens. But what we're in now is just a tent. A tent which can suffer and feel all the afflictions and the sorrows and the trials and difficulties of the pathway and every one of us is going to go through.
This kind of thing.
If none of us is exempt from it, we're all going to feel these things. We're all going to know what death means when our loved ones may be taken away. And all the all the kind of treatment that is received down here as the part of the Saints will be ours to feel. He felt it in all their affliction. He was afflicted. He felt it perfectly. But here we have that which is permanent and abiding.
And, O beloved Saints of God, to live our lives as though to set up our houses.
To ornate them and decorate them and all these things as though this is our home down here. It's all false. This is all passing. We're just passing through. It's just a tent, which you can set up in a moment and take down in a moment. That's what this we're living in just a tent, a Tabernacle house. But we have what is eternal ahead. That's our portion. And young people, we plead with you to consider your ways.
If you make this scene.
The object before your souls. You're making a tremendous mistake. What is the great emphasis today in the world?
You can hardly see an advertisement in that. It's feeling good. It's being healthy, it's building up your body, it's an exercise program and and all this kind of thing. They're living for time. They're living for temporal things.
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And for us to fall into that kind of current of things, and not be living in the sense of that which is eternal and which is ours, and which is ours, and can never be taken away from us. Oh, what folly for a Christian to do that the Lord is rustling up our nests. He is sending trials and difficulties to make us aware that this is not our home. This very tent in which I'm living is soon to pass away.
And there's something on the head which is eternal. That's what he sets before us here.
To just live by faith, we have that I believe four times in the Bible, once in the Old Testament, and three times in the New. The just shall live by faith and the just. So you can put the emphasis on adjust and you can put the emphasis on live and you can put it on faith. The faith is what comes in here. So much, I believe.
Because of what we have had in the end of chapter 2, the things which are not seen.
Those are the things that we have by faith and through this whole of what we'll call the Christian age or the church period, the day of grace.
Faith is being tested.
Very, very much tested by God who gives the faith, He gives the faith, he tests the faith and he rewards for the faith.
Perhaps some have had these kinds of thoughts. It's rather common to us as we read the Bible and look back in the Old Testament and see how God blessed his people in baskets and store and kept them from many of the diseases which came upon the Egyptians if they walked well and went on with Him.
And now in this dispensation.
It seems, and I believe it's so.
That very often it's those who walk well and our devoted souls that suffer affliction and are not delivered out of those trials.
And then if we look on and read further in the Bible, we come to the millennial day, when miracles will be performed and those who go on on the earth obediently will be blessed very, very abundantly blessed for those thousand years, and if they're faithful, go on to the eternal day.
But today is the day of affliction. Today is the day of trials.
You look at Paul and you see it. Oh, how many things the writer of this epistle went.
Through the very first thing that was showed to him.
When he went to Ananias was how great things he must suffer for my namesake. Why is it?
Well, it's because we are blessed so richly.
And eternally through what we have by faith, and if we can see and enjoy what we have in the Newman in Christ, and that is eternal and secure.
Then we'll be happy even though.
Like Stephen Martyred could say, Lord Jesus receive my spirit and you read church history? How could those martyrs go through the fire and the flames? Well, they were looking on.
Like the Lord Jesus said to Thomas, blessed are they who have not seen me and yet have believed. That's the test today. We have not physically seen the Lord Jesus, but morally.
Oh, we look at this book and we see that blessed Savior who is the man in the glory, and we look onward and upwards there.
And down here in the bodies we grow, but we're going to get new ones, and it's the Lord's coming that will bring them to us.
So he puts before us all these wonderful things that we have by faith, and contrast them to the things that are down here with your physical and temporary. And which would you rather have? Well, to have the Lord and to have all that He has given us by faith will help us and encourage us. And it's not wrong to grow because we belong to the old creation as well as the new. We're kind of a peculiar people in that way, too, we have parted to creations.
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But we don't have the new body. These old bodies are very much subject to the things that come upon us, come upon mankind in general, because of sin, even death itself. But even should the body be dissolved, that's nothing for God to bring that forth and to display it in glory. So we as we take to those who have gone before, mentioning Paul or Stephen or Moses or any of them.
They're going to have that body of glory.
And we're going to have our bodies of glory. We are living changed. And the sleeping Saints, the little stern child that was taken recently thinking of one of the most recent. And this is comforting too, when we think of those who have been put to sleep in Jesus, that in the three cases where we find that he raised the debt, they were in various stages.
That is.
The little girl, JIS daughter, had just gone to sleep, just passed away, and he went in and raised her up. Then he comes to follow on in this history to the young man, the son of the widow of Maine, who is in the coffin on the way to the cemetery, not buried yet. And he touches that fear and pulls him forward. Then we come on to.
The grief of Lazarus and Martha says he'd been dead 4 days by this time. He stink of dissolution had already set in. He raises each of them. And so it will be, I believe.
With the Saints, when the Lord comes, some will just have died, some will be on the way to the cemetery, some will have been buried for hundreds and even thousands of years.
But this one who has this power, will call them forth, and will be changed then the glory.
We have these things by face. That wasn't in God departable Lord Jesus Christ. It was passed past time. Blessed is involved, cursed and blessed and condemned the placement, and that by second we simply experienced what we already have. I separate them by realizing my habits, not by thinking I do to the end of it.
That one in Ephesians is the eternal purposes of God, so it looks back and half blessed in his purposes. Always been so as to our enjoyment of it. We can say according to this chapter, we know and we have these things, but that's faith.
I suppose it's Paul here the the he was drawn toward this.
That he desired. As you'll notice the wording is that 20 feet of groaning is groaning is in connection with desiring to be clothed upon. And again, in verse four, in this Tabernacle we've grown being burdened.
And he's burdened that his burden was that he might be closed in both cases. In other words, he was. He was so.
In the realization of what God had for him and all of his people.
He was in the enjoyment and realization of that gospel of the glory.
To such an extent that he wanted to be in it. He wanted that to come to pass. That's what he was. That's what he was anxious for. He was anxious for that time when when God's purposes were fulfilled. We see it, as I've already said in this in its might say, initiation in Christ being foreboding to the glory, but the fulfillment of all of God's purposes in regard to his people are still future. And that's what he was looking for. That was what he was anxious about.
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Well, I suppose that's the way God would desire it. But we have to confess that we are more or less too often. Rather than being attracted, we're driven toward the glory, so to speak. That is, it's because of the difficulties of the past. And so in order to to escape the trials and so forth, we long for the Lord's coming. And I wonder sometimes if perhaps that is not why the Lord allows many afflictions so that we might.
Earnestly long for His coming. And because we don't really enter into his coming from the standpoint so much of being, of desiring to have all of the what he had purpose for his people to be fulfilled. If we were very comfortable and everything, we're quite well with us at all times and at ease. We might not be so attractive to that fulfillment of being taken up and being with the Lord Jesus and the glory.
So these afflictions are serviceable in that way, I'm sure that God allows it. And as our brother Clem said, it's the IT is not always tied in with those who are not going on well with the Lord. Those who suffer most severely might be those who are more for the Lord even than their brethren. But it is a word to all of us that that Edward, as it were, give us to be more taken up with what God has purpose for us.
In blessing and the glory and not down here.
That's born out first five. Let's put the sense brother, because it says now we that have run us in the self same thing as thought. So this suits the purposes of thought that he is bringing us through the circle path, that he might show forth his glory and his purpose of it. And so the desire for the believer that he might be clothed with light, that mortality might be swallowed up with life.
This is all in the purposes of God. This is desire that all of us should spend eternity with him in a place of blessings through sin, which came in and estranged us from God to lose that blessing. And so He brings us back, and He works the work in us, because it is modern will, nothing of which we can post, nothing of which we can say of ourselves. But He not only brings us to himself with faith in Christ, but He forms us and shakes us.
And gives us that desire.
Or immortality that we might be clothed upon with life. And I was thinking about the wonder of that word life at the end of verse 4.
Because we've been Speaking of death, of those who may die young or die in the middle-aged, or those who maybe have been in the grave for many years. And we've also hit the term asleep in Jesus. So on God's sight life is to be able to be with Him throughout all eternity.
And that is the eternal estrangement from him. And so this clothing which we're thinking about might be swallowed up with life means that we have that eternal life to be ready for the presence of God to be made since by his presence. And if man refuses to salvation, which God has to all for whosoever will, then God has no alternative. And then that's death. And that's eternal death, and so life and death.
In the sense of Scripture is not what we often think of in this scene, which is the life and death of our bodies.
The life that is suited for the presence of God through forgiveness in Christ, for its eternal, is training.
That fifth verse brings in two things that you've brought one of them so nicely that all this we're talking about weeping, wrought as we are now. For glory is the work of God, and it brings in a sense of the thought Paul has in Romans 8. If God before us, who could be against us, remember this is the work of God. Faith itself is the gift of God. But then he brings in that second thing the Spirit of God.
It's not wonderful. That's another gift. And the spirit of God here is brought in for the earnest enjoyment that we have. Isn't it true that it's the Spirit of God now that occupies us with the heavenly things in Christ? And so it's wonderful to see the two things brought in now in this fifth verse. God did it. It's all in the consoles and purposes of God before the foundation of this world, and it was by sun, no other way.
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All in Christ, and by Christ. But God did it, and then He's given us the earnest of the Spirit of God. How wonderful it is, brethren, We have that one in us who will occupy us with Christ, and with heavenly the things we enjoy and well enjoyed fully soon.
Enjoy the 1St.
Chapter of this name, The Fiscal Second Epistle.
The first chapter in the 21St and 22nd verse.
Now He will establish us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us is gone. The anointing, I believe, is where power, who hath also sealed us, and that for security. And there's no one can separate us from His love, and give him the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. And so I believe that's for intelligence and enjoyment. Until this morning we can sit here and enjoy these precious truths.
And I was thinking of that verse in First Corinthians 10 and 13. It connects with the trials that we go through while waiting for the Lord to come, that says, but God is faithful, and how wonderful it is to be reminded that God is the.
And so we have His Spirit involvement to comfort us and to encourage our hearts, as well as to teach us to God's ways.
It was mentioned that God sends the trials to his people these especially in these days, perhaps in a more.
Felt way among us.
As a wonderful verse in the second Song of Solomon, I'd like to read in connection with that what is God's purpose in the trial?
Song of Solomon, the 4th chapter.
And the last verse, verse 16 awake.
Or north wind, and comes our S blow upon my garden at the spices there of me blow out.
We know what the north wind is for the gardener or the farmer. It just smells cold and prejudice.
The South wind can bring on really heat and drought, but here the spirit of God mentioning a week or north wind.
What does God expect from me when He sends me a trial?
That like the garden of spices, and it is said that spices have the peculiar character when they form their blossoms and their fruits. There must have come a time of the north wind or the hot summer wind blown over those spices in order to release the fragrance thereof.
That God wants from you and I in our trials, that we should send forth the fragrance of Christ in our lives in it and prevent the purpose of God is reached. Why he sends the trial. It's not just allowing it to come, but actually sending it as a current to this country. He calls for that north wind.
What is the Saint of God going to do?
You know there's a vast difference. You enter a hospital and visit them and here are groaning people.
Complaining people and they would just have your ear to have them pour out all their troubles for you and complete. When you go by a bit of the sin of God, a smile on the face, you know he's in pain.
But how? How he loves to talk about his Savior. We'll hear about him. The North Wind or the South has done its work and that's the purpose of God and beloved. Maybe our prayer be that God may not in vain apply. Wasn't that North Wind and salvage, But it bring out the fragrance of Christ in our lives.
Doesn't always work that way. A Christian has the flesh too, that can turn sour, bitter and discouraged with his heart. That's not what God leads us down for to suffer.
In tight the garden you're Speaking of, as long as Solomon would be the assemblies today. This says Bethany in the Lords time, would be the assembly today where those of his own are gathered and he could be in their midst and take up the fruit and enjoy it. But I was thinking, you know, the word Bethany has two meanings necessarily. So it's the House of affliction and it's the House of response. And both meanings are necessary.
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Without the reflection of the affliction, you don't have that blessed response. Isn't it the afflictions that really put us on our knees and turn us to him? And then the response comes when he undertakes. So Bethany has that double meaning, and I believe it's necessary fiction. North wind response from the South breezes flow. He comes in and undertake.
You know, in Egypt we have often reminded ourselves the children of Israel were in the land of Goshen, which was very suitable for the occupation. And if the Lord would not have allowed the circumstances to change by raising up a king who knew who did not know Joseph, they would probably have been perfectly content to remain in Egypt.
But through these difficulties they remembered the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and they longed to be out of that place, to be in the land of promise. So we see there an example in the life of the people, the history of the people of God, how God uses these things. And there's also another side, and that is that.
That we have to like.
Hendricks already indicated be careful not to put too much emphasis on the body and.
We have to remember that in the things of the Lord we must not lean on the arm of the flesh on our natural.
Gifts and abilities, even physical strength and so on. And how often has the Lord like with Jacob, behold?
To touch the seed of his strength.
So that he would not continuously, as he had throughout his life, tried to secure what the Lord had promised him in his own strength and energy, by his own manipulation. And so we have to be mindful of that, that we do not lean.
Our own intellect.
And our physical strength or on our own emotions in the things of the law that we recognize, we are a new creation, that there are new things that govern our spiritual beings.
John says in his epistle he does not yet appear what we shall be.
That it is not manifest at the present time, and when we when we think of ourselves and the Saints of God, all of the Saints in this scene.
It isn't. We're not manifested now as to in the way in which God has purposed us to be when we're with Christ. I was thinking of that in this fifth verse. He that hath wrought us for this self. Same thing. We can't. We can't determine what we've been wrote for by looking round about down here. We have to look up into the glory and we see Christ in the glory and we can say God has wrought us with the self. Same thing.
That what he wrought us for to be there in the glory conformed to his image.
And not only that, but he's given us the earnest of the Spirit, that we might have some enjoyment of it.
Even at the present time that we might have, might be able by the Spirit of God.
To look into an open heaven and to see what God has purposed for us in Christ, and to know that this is what he has wrote us for what a grand purpose God has. And I I believe as we look round about, we looking round about, we are impressed with the weakness.
We're impressed with Feebleness.
And many things that would even dishearten us. But when we think of what God is wrought as far this South St. He hasn't taken us up just for a little while here, But He has taken us up for this and this to be eternally with Christ, and informed to His image in the glory and in every way suitable to Him, and for his pleasure and for his delight. That's what God has wrought as far. And He's given us the Spirit now that we might enter into these things in some measure. Because I suppose that's the fault of the earnings of the Spirit, is it not?
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We don't enter into them in all of their fullness, but it's it's the same thing, but just on a lesser scale. I think of the little words, words of that hymn of Mr. Darby, when he says there are no stranger, God shall meet thee stranger thou in courts above.
But he's not meeting a stranger God. That is, he's meeting one that he has known and enjoyed. I believe that's the earnest of the Spirit. We can enter into these things now, even though we're not yet in the glory. We're even now, a new creation. And now we have the Spirit of God indwelling us at the earnest to give us to look on these things. You know, in the 4th chapter. I repeat that again while we look not on the things that are the scene, but the things that are not seen.
You know, we find that.
Some have the habit of window shopping. We just go around and look at things.
Well, I wonder if we could apply that to to the eternal and divine things. How much are we looking at those things?
We that's what Paul was looking at. He was looking at the things that are eternal and divine, and he became so.
Occupied and so attracted by them, he says. I wanted the end of them. I want to be there, where all of these things are. That's what his great desire. And he says God has wrought us for this very same thing.
Now it's only by the Spirit that we enjoy anything of God at all. It's every thought we have. That word and of God is the Spirit of God, and that's what makes us different from all others in this world. And it's a wonderful thought. Not only well the Spirit give us these thoughts today, we're doing something that most of this world wouldn't ever think of doing, of sitting here with the word of God, open the Bible, and feeding.
But it's the Spirit of God that does it. We can enjoy things, and we can discover things that this world can't know only by the Spirit of God. So we should make much of this wonderful gift, the Spirit of God who has indwelled us. And I was thinking in in First Corinthians the second chapter, it tells us that in verse 9.
That I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit no other way. For the Spirit searches all things, yeah, the deep things that God. And now notice the 14th verse. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them.
They're spiritually discerned. And so, brethren, it's wonderful, the earnest of the spirit, because the spirits working here today in each one of us, and collectively to let us enjoy the things of God, the deep things of God that those in this world, the wisest of this world, can't know.
Mt 12.
212.
Call from.
The bottom.
2 Corinthians 5:11-17
Reading
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Since chapter 5, verse 12.
For we command not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in appearance and not in heart.
For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all that they which live shall not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Wherefore, henceforth knowing no man after the flesh.
We have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things ever come you, and all things are of God with reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation to it. That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing the trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ and be reconciled in God. For He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Actually, we didn't have anything on the last part of verse 11, did we?
Could somebody help us there?
But have been manifested to God, and I hope also that we have been manifested in your consciousness.
Isn't he talking about the fact that when he thinks of the judgment seat and everything being manifested there?
I take it that Paul is Speaking of his own experience here. We would, we would desire to say the same thing, but he's Speaking of his own experience. I believe that that he was adjusting everything in his life at the present time in the light of that judgment seat, so that things that are manifested there would be, he would have them adjusted in his life down here rather than.
Having them.
Put off until the time of being before Christ, he, I believe he is not conscious of anything that would have to be adjusted there. Because in a sense, the judgment seat of Christ is a time of adjustment, isn't it? That is, if we've had wrong thoughts or we've had wrong motions and wrong actions, it's when we're going to be brought into the mind of Christ as to all of these things. And I think he's saying here that.
He was in his own conscience. He was manifest even now.
And he was adjusting things, and he trusted that he was. It was true as to his brethren, that there was nothing.
Hidden from his brother too, that he was transparent with them.
The way I take it.
So that if at the judgment seat of Christ, everything is going to be manifested.
And if at this present time God is knows all, it's all manifested to Him anyway, then as being believers belonging to the Lord, we ought to live openly as before the Lord at all times. It's all known to Him anyway.
An exhortation comes to us whatsoever you do.
Do it hardly as unto the Lord.
Not unto men.
That is, the Lord ought to be the one who is before us at all times. He's seeing and knowing every aspect of our lives. And Paul was living as manifest to God and not greatly concerned about appearance before men, whereas we are so often ourselves thinking, well, what will this person think, and what will that person think, considering?
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That we're living before men.
Well, if we're living openly before God, it will be all right before men, and we don't have to be concerned about that. So that if he was living as he says, he is manifesting to God and I trust are made manifest in your consciences, Is life open before God ought to have reached their consciences about anything that was wrong in their own lives to change, to be conformed to what was the major that God puts in before man and not before.
What man puts before man?
So that the motive comes out in this 12Th verse, we command not ourselves again unto you.
But give a new occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in appearance and not in heart. Those that glory in appearance are linking at the outside. Paul was thinking of the heart which is always manifested to God, and so if we're living as manifested to God openly before him.
Then the motive is really what pleases God, not what appears good to man, but what pleases God.
We were speaking on Saturday about the judgment seat of Christ, and we might go back perhaps somewhere here in First Corinthians 4 where you get that where the motive is manifest there and there will be a reward for a right motive, even if it doesn't produce what we expect it to produce. And this is a great comfort in First Corinthians 4 and verse 5.
Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come. Well, this is the judgment seat of Christ, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the councils of the heart. See, the heart comes in here, the Lord who knows the hearts and knows the thought of our hearts, the motive of what will happen. Then it says, And then shall every man have praise of God. This is a judgment seat of Christ for the believer, and when the motive is opened up there, and it's a right motive.
It'll it'll bring praise and there will be reward for it. That's a great comfort. So I judge that in our 12Th verse the motive is, is before us. Here we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory in appearance, that's man's thoughts. But Paul's thought was in heart.
I believe these there is the thought of transparency in regard to his.
Walking among the Saints, that sometimes there is the fault that things are going to have to be settled, or can only be settled if the judge received of Christ. But if we fall wanted to walk with his brethren in such a way that there was, there was nothing that would have to be put off to the judgment seat. Everything it should be manifest now.
I believe it is God's thought that things should be.
There should be transparency among the Saints, then our and in our local gatherings and in our going on together. That if there are things that need to be subtle, they should be settled here and not say, well, it'll be settled at the judgment seat of Christ. I don't believe that's the Lord's mind, that we put off everything to the judgment seat of Christ. He wants, He says I manifest now before God and in your conscience.
He wasn't aware of anything that had to be settled with his brethren.
This verse also eliminates all possible envying, which is a problem sometimes when we see a brother or sister going on so well spiritually and blessings coming as a result, Spiritually speaking. Because the word glory there does have the effect really of of going, isn't it? Of finding our settled satisfaction in a brother who's going on or a sister who's going on for the Lord? Well, and I was thinking.
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The thought comes through in a little different way though, but it's the same idea.
In First Corinthians 12, the last of verse 25 and verse 26, that word care there could be concerned. They both have the same thought, but that the members should have the same concern or care one for another. Where one body, whether one member suffer, all members suffer with it. It ought to be so for one member be honored or there's something to the honour of the Lord, to the glory of the Lord spiritually in the life. All members should rejoice with it. In a sense, Paul was saying that wasn't he that.
Were manifest.
Paul could say it's manifest that my desire and all my motives are toward the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he does, and we ought to rejoice when we see that in a brother or a sister not to ever be envious.
I believe too you should see here that Paul is is indicating that it's not only that he is his heart and his motives are right before God, but he wants he wants it to be seen and be known that his motives and his heart is right.
In regard to his brethren. And it goes on in the thought of verse 13, Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God, and or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. That is, he not only was thinking of his own enjoyment personally of the Lord's presence, what he could enjoy in the presence of God, I take it that's the thought of being beside himself when when in the Lord's presence.
Whether in prayer or meditation of the Word, why he was it was entirely himself and the Lord, and what he could enjoy himself. But when he was thinking of his, when he was in regard to his brethren, he would have consideration with him, and he would use sobriety, and he would He would think in terms of what would be for the good of his brethren, not just his own enjoyment of everything of Christ.
With the Corinthians, it was actually close to coming with the rod for their benefit, but he didn't wish to do that. He held that off. But it was the ministry we had in First Corinthians that they needed, and it was for their benefit and their blessing, wasn't it? In that sense, sobriety had to come in.
This card this is Mark.
In the next chapter, the 11Th verse, Holy Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, Our heart is enlarged, your straightened in US.
You're not straightened enough, but you're straightening your own bowels. He had a large part toward them, and.
So our verse here 12 not in heart. He wanted to get at their heart so that their heart would be enlarged. He had largesse heart, and God always has that largeness of heart toward us, and he wants us to have large hearts toward others too.
If they have a large park, they won't wear out a brother either.
I was thinking in chapter 4, verse 2, the apostle says, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And again in chapter 10, the apostle says in verse 12.
But in verse 11 This blood that was.
Especially opposing him there at Corinth, he says, Let such in one think this, that such as we are in Word by letters, when we are absent, such will we be also indeed, when we are present. But we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves.
Are not wise or do not understand. In Chapter 11 verse 13 he says for such.
00:15:00
Are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ? And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light, and therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also being transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.
Notice it says the ministers of Satan. He calls them the ministers of righteousness. He doesn't speak of them as the ministers of grace, but the ministers of righteousness. Well, it strikes me that this commanding himself before the conscience of all at current had a special force, because it was especially a current that Paul was being so opposed and discredited and there was such opposition to his ministry and if they could discredit the vessel.
Then they could discredit the message which the vessel brought, and this was the effort of the enemy.
To come in and discredit what was of God. Well, Paul says I manifest before God and before all could his opposers say that could they say that in truth they were false, they were not real. So it's it's it's it's the the setting where this verse, these passages are found that give them their peculiar force. He lived before God in his pathway.
And these others that were seeking to set aside the word that were setting themselves forward, that were comparing themselves among themselves, making something to themselves. This is what Paul hated and abhorred, and he wasn't a part of that in any way. Well, there's a day of manifestation coming. He was one that lived so completely transparently before God and before others that he had a good conscience.
And the secret of that power in the apostles is the love of Christ. In this next verse, there's there's the motive in the heart. Oh, how's heart was so one for Christ, so attracted to Christ that he would do anything for his brethren or even lost sinners too. So again, you get down to the motive. It's the heart. What's in the heart? Doesn't that speak to us? What's what's in our hearts? Is it Christ? Does his love constrain us? And then?
I believe that if there is that deep love for Christ, there will be a deep love for our brethren too, who belong to Christ.
That's really what's needed, isn't it? Most of all, especially in these last days in assembly, we need that love to be shown and manifested one to another. I was thinking, of course in First Corinthians 13, he brings in the more excellent way and what is it? Divine love. The more excellent way is divine love. But if you look over at Colossians.
313 and 14.
It's giving us the way to go on together in Christ.
Colossians 3, Chapter 13 Forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel, or there'd be strife against any, what's the basis for it? Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye think of that Well and above all, these things put on divine love. Love what's needed. What is it?
Which is the bond of perfectness. Oh, I believe, brother, that's what's needed.
When we have anything to do with our brethren, if it's in the sense of forgiveness or forbearing, what's the basis? Even as Christ has forgiven you, so awful to ye, you could just think about the mouth of sins when he forgave us at the cross and then sent. Think of it day by day. He is righteous to forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Wonderful, isn't it?
We'll have that thought ahead of you, and it'll be a lot easier to bring in this bond of perfectness amongst us. It's love, isn't it? It's the love of Christ that constrains us.
Here the love of Christ constraining it seems to be connected with this judgment that He comes to because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all.
We know, of course, that he did die for all. That's what God tells us, doesn't it? And he comes to this judgment that if he died for all, then we're all dead. Well, that would do, I suppose, would indicate that that he would find.
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Nothing good in in the man in the flesh, but he would find everything in Christ. It's Christ displacing man because every other man is all or dead. There's nothing there.
There's no fruit for God. There's no life for God. There's no pleasure for God. It's all found in Christ. All of God's pleasure is found in Christ. And Christ is the one who is fruitful to God. And how much more in the in the giving of Himself and love on the cross of Calvary, giving himself a ransom for all. Because this brings before us His giving himself a ransom for all that he died for all because all were in that condition.
And so he he thus judges that there is nothing for God in the first man. There's nothing for God in man in the flesh, everything. There is death, that it's all found in Christ.
And that's why those that live, they live to him. That is, he is not only the source of their life, but he's the object of their life. We can say Christ is our life as the source of it, but he's also the object, the object of our life. And that closes out a man in his world. Man in the flesh in his world is seen as being nothing. For God, there all is death.
Now.
Those that live all were dead. But those that live believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, they have life, they have his life, but here it's that he is the object of that life they live unto him.
And we live in him That life is Christ, isn't it? He in us and we in Him. It's a wonderful thing. Henceforth in verse 15 should not henceforth live unto themselves.
Times path was enough for that, but unto him which died and rose the gate the wonderful thought I was thinking at first Peter of that four he brings it out with even more emphasis.
Verse one I'll have to start, but I'm thinking of two and three. But for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that has suffered in the place has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God.
Well, Peter tells us what was in the past in verse three. We don't have to read it, but that's all there was. There was nothing else but that we wrought the will of the Gentile of the Lord of the flesh. But oh, how wonderful the rest of our time. Well, in in in Ephesians 5, verse six, we don't turn to it. It speaks of redeeming the time.
Well, you know, that part was a little puzzling for a while because you can only redeem and buy back what's gone. I used to wonder how that we can redeem what's gone. But it's speaking about the time ahead, the rest of our time, because Satan is the Prince of the power of the air here. This world is his domain at this time, and so all the time is used up.
You know, you figure how much you use.
In working and sleeping, in eating and justice, resting, getting things done chores. A little time for yourself is gone. And if you want any time for the Lord, you're going to have to pay. By giving up something you feel you should be doing, you're going to buy it. But oh, how profitable it is. That's redeeming the type. It's all gone. Satan will make sure of it. They'll give you things to do if you don't think they have enough pleasure.
Of this world. But we buy it back. And that's the thought of redeeming the time in Ephesians. I believe we buy it back for the Lord. It takes a little effort, but all what we have, well, we've redeemed it for three days. We can't take any credit. We're here by grace. But three days with things we should be doing. Perhaps at all. Things we should be doing with the with ourselves and our grasp. Mainly cutting. But we're redeeming the China we bought. You could call that good business practice, couldn't you?
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In Spiritual Things, Good business practice, let's tie it up. Eyes ahead.
That track is just felt by our brother violence and I think henceforth, I think this is the first. I don't remember or it wasn't. It was on Peter, probably the rest of your time, What is the rest of your time, brethren? It isn't very much.
Doesn't very much today, is probably it. He's coming. And you know, this is the only time we have. There is no time in eternity. And this is the only time we have to live in this scene of His rejection and be identified with that blessed one. This is it. Forever. Never again will you have that privilege.
The Son of man, the Lord Jesus spoke that wonderful verse, Even the Son of man.
Came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. He gave everything in his love for us. So now is really that time of buying up those opportunities and the service and.
Performing those good practices, business practices spiritually, which will be profitable as you were saying at that judgment seat of Christ.
Isn't it a possible brethren, that even in spiritual things we might live to ourselves, or that we are in danger of seeking ourselves in the things that belong to the Lord?
We find in the history of the children of God a man by the name of Joanne, who seemed to do much.
For the people of God, but when we investigate carefully.
We come to see his character as one who was looking for out for self and was trying to gain a position for himself.
With David and in the midst of the people of God, and that went so far as to committing murder, eliminating those who were in his way. So I believe self is such a.
Terrible thing. And when we seek self into things that are.
Fully things.
That belongs to the Lord and have to do with His people. That's the most terrible way how self can manifest itself. And we are made-up in such a way that we are in danger of doing just that, seeking ourselves. Well, I believe the Lord will make manifest what is of himself and any of us, and He will also manifest what is of the flesh in any of us, that will all be manifested.
At the judgment feet of Christ, many times that is even manifested here, that was manifested in boys in joy of life, and the Lord cutman fell upon him.
So that's not important too to know. It is not only that we might live According to him what died for us and but he rose again. It's an entirely new condition.
Of life.
Entirely beyond this scene.
And so I think it's important to notice that it is here in this 15th verse, the one who died for them and rose again.
Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the flag.
I think that's very important, brother, because the the IT brings in the fact that our what we have before us is not a Christ in the days of his flesh on earth. Of course we never forget and we can never.
We will never cease marveling at his ways in his pathway through this scene. The the what? How he walked to the glory of God. But the one that we have before us is an object, is the one who is in new creation and raised from the dead. And he's no longer in the the condition in which he was here in the scene in flesh and blood. But He's in that glorified state, isn't he?
Yes, he is glorified state and this is in connection with the new creation that he brings out is what follows. Though we have known Christ after the flesh.
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Of course the the there were those, the Jews who were in relationship to him as a earthly style. But now that's all fast. We know, of course, that that's what's involved, isn't it? In John 20, when he speaks to Mary, when he says to her, touch me not, or detain me not, or I'm not yet ascended, I'm to my father, your Father, my God, and your God. They were to know him in a new way.
No longer as a man on earth, but one in ascending and is the right hand of God. I think it's important to to see that.
How many God's dear people seek to live according to what the Lord Jesus was down here as a man, even though they may be saved, knowingly saved, yet to know him as the one who is risen again?
And we ourselves have that resurrection light within us to live in the good of that.
Mariette Grey or.
Two, and the Lord coming and revealing himself to her, had to learn that lesson, that she could not have the Lord visas back in the same way as he had him before he went to the cause. And this what was on her mind. She wanted to have him back in the same way.
There was genuine love and affection for the Savior there, and Lord recognizes that there was lack of intelligence about. It's remarkable that the Lord comes to her first because he realized that there was genuine love and affection for the Savior, and He is to her that revelation of the new relationship that was not only hers but everyone's now as a result.
Of redemption accomplished.
That His God was our God, His Father, our Father. They were in relationship to the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the King of Israel.
But that all ended in the rejection, at least for the time being.
On the cross and there is a new relationship now. That kernel of weed had fallen into the ground and died. And if it died?
It would bring forth much fruit.
So that when he would be lifted up, he says in John 12, he would draw all many to himself, so that even the disciples would now have a new relationship, much more blessed and intimate than they ever had with him before. They were not one with him.
Before the death and resurrection, but one redemption accomplished they are.
One with him now, and that spirit links them to him.
And to one another, what a wonderful truth that is. And you know, beloved, when we refer to the Lord Jesus as our king.
This is really falling short of what we have here. He is not our king. He is the king. But our relationship to the Blessed Lord is not that way. Then we're trying to recognize the Lord Jesus or knowing him according to the flesh, we have a much more blessed relationship. We are His body and His bride. What a wonderful position that is. That is Christianity.
When he appeared under Thomas and John, 20 the disciples said, We have seen the Lord. He was thinking too of seeing him as he had seen him before. And so he said.
Except I can put my finger into the print of the nails and touch my hands into his side. I will not believe so. The Lord appeared to then again, and Thomas was there, but He didn't do it.
He said, my Lord and my God. He saw him then, but differently, didn't he? Already I was speaking in Luke 24 when he appeared to the disciples the third time.
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They had been told that he had prison, and they expected to see him back as he was, and in verse 36 as they thus fake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them.
And says unto them, Peace be unto you. And they were terrified and afraid. Suppose they'd seen a spirit, because they expected to see him as he was. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled? Why the thoughts arise in your heart, Hold my hands and my feet, that it is my I myself. Handle me, and see, For a spirit has thought flesh and bones, as you see me, have with no blood.
This wasn't the same is risen now. Wonderful to see this, isn't it? And of course he showed them his hands to his feet, Went on to open their understanding then. But they didn't. They didn't expect that they expected to see him as they had him before.
Not the same thou.
What does it mean in Philippians 3 when Paul says in the 11Th verse of that chapter?
Of the 10th, 1St that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.
What is this that we may know the power of His resurrection?
I wondered and enjoyed from my own soul. After all, we get in kings, is it?
Or thought by Elijah Gibbs to Shulamite a son and the son grows up to a certain age and then he falls sick and died.
The question comes then, why did God give me that son if he means to take them away again? What is the purpose of it all? She doesn't use faith and she sends for the man of God. She goes in fact after him herself. And when Elisha asked, you know is it well, all is well. He likes to know if something had happened. Well the story ends that he comes and the child is raised up again.
Now she has a son. It's the same son, but she does have him back in resurrection. Now she owns what God has given to her in this newness of life of which you're Speaking of, isn't it? Is that the power of resurrection that we so may know, and as it says in one hymn, the power of his life, the power of his resurrection in our lives, Because as we have died with Christ.
And the more we realized that that his death was our death with him on the cross there we have seen are seen in God's side as did though we are also like Him in the likeness of his resurrection. Isn't the Christians real life that in resurrection we all stop at the cross only and perhaps learn at the end of ourselves is there sealed in that cross of Christ too, But we don't go on the power of His resurrection.
Perhaps someone else can enlarge a little bit more on it, but it's a tremendous thought for us when we lay hold of that brother John.
Thought that I have had, and I think others have had it too, that the apostle Paul.
Had his heart so filled with the glory of our Lord Jesus?
And as the Lord Jesus himself went into death and was raised again by the glory of the Father, it was Paul's desire that he too might experience that raising power, the resurrection power of God, that it might be felt in his own body.
I don't know whether that is the thought in the concept, but at least I've enjoyed that thought. The Apostle Paul wanted to be so like Christ that he would have the experience of that resurrection power, and that day is coming when he will find it for himself just to some of us may yet to the Lord tarry that long.
For some of us it might not be very long, but there are those who are going to experience the power of God in their their bodies, which have gone to decay and are yet going to be raised by the glory of God.
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There's a verse or two that we might read to find that power of resurrection and Ephesians one brother.
Disney for interruptions. But before we leave chapter three, I think the answer is even right, verse 14 of that third chapter.
All means in verse 10 I pressed toward the mark for the prize of the nativity is calling on high on the Christ Jesus. So that's possible, for I think the answer is given, right? For example, yes. I was only going to read about the power of the resurrection that seemed to be on John's heart, the power of that resurrection in in Ephesians 3.
Verse.
Verse 17 to start.
Let the God of our Lord keep us. Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.
In the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and what is the now. Notice this, the exceeding greatness of His power to us Word. Notice that to us word which believe we walk by faith.
In Tarant again, who asked for to believe according to the working of his mighty power, mighty power which he wrote in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. I believe in a Philippians 3/4 was enjoying all of this by faith, even before the actual experience which Paul Rita hasn't got yet.
As to the resurrection of his body, so this is the in principle what we have in our chapter, Resurrection and the judgment seat of Christ and the glory and ourselves associated as being firstfruits also Christ the first fruits. Afterwards they better Christ at his coming. So this is Christ the head of a new creation that's before us in our chapter now.
In connection with that expression, his resurrection too, he point out that his resurrection was a resurrection out from among the dead, that is, the others were left behind in in the state of death that we have that expression.
In in Philippians, the out resurrection from the dead. Not just the resurrection of the dead, but coming out and leaving those behind. And that's really the principle of the new creation, isn't it? He's the He's the beginning.
Of this new creation as being raised out from among the dead, as we have in our chapter that all are dead and the Lord Jesus died for all but He's been raised again and is raised again out from the dead. He's the beginning of the new creation and those of us who live now as believers are in that new creation. And that's verse 17, isn't it? Because in the King James the expression new creature.
Is in a way perhaps misleading. It should be more, more or less in this way. If any man be in Christ, it is a new creation. That is, we're in Christ, in new creation. It's not so much the fault here of the of one being made a new creature, as it is that we are in new creation in Christ. Christ is the beginning of the new creation and.
Everything else is in death. Christ raised out of death, and we are in him in new creation. God has has begun a new a new creation, an entirely new thing has begun, a new a new creation, an entirely new thing. Because the old thing, man in the flesh, the first man and his whole world, everything built up by him, was not forgotten.
You know, I believe it's good for us to enter into the fact that God desired to have man for his pleasure. We read in the 4th chapter of Revelation that everything was not only created by God, but for his pleasure. God desired man for his pleasure that was announced when the Lord Jesus was born into the world. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, good pleasure in man. God desired good pleasure in man, but.
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The first man did not afford him that pleasure and all that that man had built up in this world is not for the pleasure and delight of God and really had separated God and man. The first man brought in separation, alienation because of sin. And so now in new creation, God has that which is in which he can delight. There's nothing in the new creation that is not acceptable to God.
And delightful to God and the Lord Jesus and resurrection is the beginning of that. You and I, as believers now have part in it. We're in new creation now. God has begun anew.
In Revelation chapter three in Laodicea, the Lord Jesus is presented as the head of that new creation, and that is very important and it's for us good to recognize because.
I believe most of us would agree that we're living in Lao, DC in days, and the way we have to understand this is that not only, as we already have pointed out, do we not know the Lord Jesus any longer.
The way the disciples knew him when he was here on earth, we do not recognize and know each other in the old order of things. In our relationship with one another, we have to recognize that we are new creatures in Christ.
And when somebody comes into our midst, who in this world has a position of wealth and education?
That doesn't mean a thing in the things of God.
We do not like.
James rebukes the Saints. That is, somebody in rich clothing comes in, we give him a more important place than the poor brother, and so on. We're looking.
At each other in the old creation really, and not in the new creation. And there are some beautiful stories that have been passed on to us. How this has wonderfully been demonstrated amongst the people of God, the story.
Goes about of a nobleman in England who was a Christian.
And in those days they didn't have cars, you know, they had horse and buggy, and he had a servant, and that servant would hitch up the horse and get his master to meeting. But when they were at meetings, that master said under the ministry of that servant, because that position of master and servant didn't play any role in the assembly. That servant had a gift of the Lord and that servant.
Would minister spiritually to the needs of his master and.
The daughter, I understand of this man.
Had written down some of the sermons and the things that their servant had given, and published them.
Another example in Europe, in Germany there was a general.
In World War 1.
Among the brethren Pontiban was his name, and they had a publication in the newspaper.
I read a made fun of this man who was known to be a godly man, and they presented him as sitting at the feet of a Shoemaker, being instructed by a Shoemaker. And it came to the attention of the king, you know, and he called this man to answer for this.
And he requested it that in any way embarrassed His Majesty he would resign his position. But the answer was he should consider this as not having taken place. But the point I'm making is that even the world recognized that this man who had a high position in the world, was not recognized in this position among the brethren, that he had to sit and submit.
To another one who was considered according to worldly standards way below him. But he was hit at the feet of that man and he instructed in a spiritual way by him. Beloved, we live in loudly sea and days. We have to watch out that we don't make anything out of man in the flesh.
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And that we recognize what there is in each other of Christ, and esteem each other accordingly, and not according to wealth and influence and position that a person might have in this world. We do not know each other according to the flesh. We know each other in new creation, and there are new relationships, new order of things that control our relationship with one another.
Are you present? Allow me to make a little remark here as what our brother says. It's a revelation to me, but for the glory of the Lord. This general Van Phibon.
Preached in the barracks in Hanover, in Germany, and was the means of my Father's salvation. My father is along with the Lord. But this general who commanded the soldiers in the in time of duty, when, as a gospel preacher in the barracks of the soldiers to preach Christ, my Father was one that got saved.
I hadn't heard your story before, Brother Heinz of all about.
What you say about Christian position, the Lord?
About verse 16, then a few more remarks.
Wherefore, henceforth know we no man after the Flash. Yeah, though we have known Christ after the flash, yet now henceforth know we him no more. We go back to John Chapter 7, and see how his brethren, the Lord's brethren spoke to him in the 4th 1St.
And then we'll go to another bird.
In John's gospel, really the Lord Jesus is looked at as rejected by his own people, to whom he had come and been presented as Messiah from the very first chapter. But he was performing wonderful works, and so his brethren come to him and say in verse four of John seven there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself.
Seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. Now turn to the 12Th chapter, and the Lord.
Ending up his public ministry, here we see what he does. It's very instructive in the 36th verse of John 12.
What do you have? Like believe in the light? That he may be the children of light?
These things fake Jesus, and departed and did hide himself from them. He had been rejected as the Messiah on earth. He had all that power of performing those miracles, of feeding the multitudes, of bringing blessing to the world, and he demonstrated as the power of God against sin and its effect. But he had more to do. He must go right down into death and.
Rob the enemy of the power of death.
And deliver them who through fear of death for all their lifetime septic to *******. So the Lord went on. He did not set up his Kingdom on earth in this ruin that was there. He had the redemptions work to finish. And so he went on to the cross and died, and rose again. And he's never coming back to go on with his work that he did before the cross, not to come down and be a Messiah on earth, which we might say.
Much of Christian would like to kind of have that sort of a thing of Christ who can come here and bring blessing and make things happy and good on the earth.
Christian has departed down to that level in lots of their teaching, and it's not so and never will be. So. He's finished that work. He's arisen Christ. He's the Christ and the glory. He's going to come and set up his Kingdom, but now he's pointing us to the resurrection state, the new creation and all the blessing that we have in heaven.
And helping us to get through a world that's still rejecting Christ. To reach this Christ in glorious false homesick. To get there, but to enjoy the power of that resurrection now and to walk by faith as we're having in our capture, Have all this knowledge of things, by faith that it brings to us. And now to enjoy the one who is the head of the new creation, we can see that God has worked twice in creation. There is the old creation.
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And Christ is the Creator in both instances. And now there is the new creation. And oh, how wonderful to have part in that creation. And that's what we're brought to here. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. So we have all this that's better and all the wonders of it and.
Straight.
Is so emphatic that his son will never come and suffer again. He he perfected that work. It's all complete, and now we must rest in it and never drop down to the level of things as they were before the cross.
Because this really means he gave us a new life, doesn't it? He never, He never repairs the old and the new creation doesn't mean that we are created anew ourselves. We have the life of Christ now. That's the thought. It's completely new because it's that life that Christ has. The life I have now never had a beginning.
And will never have an ending. It's the life of Christ and it can only do one thing and that's please God, can't do anything else, can only please God. And that's completely new. That's why it's all things to become new. So we should really realize what we have received is the life of Christ. We're one with him. I'm in Christ and he's in me. And each one of you can say that. And that's lovely, isn't it?
The Colossians one were three verse one. If he then be risen with Christ, that's a state in which we are now. That's not looking forward to that resurrection of the body which will be a body resurrection, but now in our original with Christ.
There is a difference between quickening that's giving of life and resurrection. The resurrection takes us beyond the myriad partation of life, and that is, it associates us with Christ as the risen man and in the glory. And so we are quickened together with him and we are raised with him and then finally seated in the heavenlies. So it's a new position in resurrection that we're brought into by the power of the Spirit of God and in association with Christ in the new position that he has. The Old Testament Saints had life.
But they didn't have the power of the resurrection. They weren't brought into association with the risen and glorified man. And we're united to that man by the Spirit of God. Now that's Christianity. So we Resurrection goes beyond just life. It's life in the power of the resurrection of Christ. And it's a new position to be enjoyed. And it's it's a new creation as we have it here all together, apart from the old. Something altogether new of which Christ risen has become the head and the expression.
And we have this life as you've been bringing out, but it's it's in the power of resurrection. Remember in John 20 and when the Lord Jesus appeared as the risen man, he breathed into the disciples the breath of his resurrection life and said receive he the Holy Spirit. So we have the Spirit of God is the power of life in association with the new risen position that he's now in as the risen man.
The nice point, Chuck, and it's distinguished in two verses in Ephesians.
To just to read it to see the difference between quickening and raised up.
Verse five gives us quickening and verse six gives us raised up. I'll just read it Ephesians 25 and six, even when we were dead in 10.
Well, it's God, read verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great lover with he loved us even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with race. Like race are you saved? And hath raised us up together, made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Quickening and resurrection are two different things. They're very nice here.
01:00:09
Thesaurus is correct.
The power.
Well, it's wonderful to see the expression in verse 18 that in this new creation, all things are of God. We know that since all things are of God, there there's nothing in the new creation that is not.
For God's pleasure in which God can delight in.
I'm more and more impressed rather than how that that God should be the center.
Of all of our lives and our thoughts. You see one of the things that that sin brought in was making man the center of everything. Everything revolved around man. But I believe the Christianity and the new creation, We see that God is the center of everything and Christ and not man. If we make man the center and the object we are, we're going to miss the true character of Christianity and the blessing that God has and what is for his pleasure.
Everything is for God's pleasure, and everything centers and revolves around him. But we find that this, this first creation in which we find ourselves in our circumstances, man has put everything in such a disorder that.
It's not for God's pleasure, and so it's entirely set aside. And he has now an order of things in which everything is of himself. All things are of God.
And that's what's going to be brought into power in the coming day. I believe the Millennium is a little preview of it, but of course the eternal day is the coolness of it when God is All in all. But even in the Millennium, we're going to have a world where God is supreme, and where Christ is supreme, and where the will of God rules, and where a man is a ways and false and habits and practices and pursuits are set aside.
And I think it's wonderful to think of that. And if we already belong to that order of things, we already belong to it. It's not something that we we have to say. Well, we think God is going to do this one of these days. He's already inaugurated the world to come. He's already instituted that new creation. Now it's only known in a spiritual way, in a moral way. We as to our bodies, we still belong to the old order.
That's why we've grown in these bodies in Romans 8. Even we who have the first fruits of the Spirit be grown in these bodies, because our bodies belong to the old order, but not as to the inner man belongs to the new order. And the the life that we live should be characterized by new creation. That is it. We should derive our desires and our interests and our motives and our pursuit from what belongs to this new order of things that God is instituting.
And not what comes from has its source of man's life in this world. I believe that's what our brother was trying to bring out yesterday in regard to the the sources of supply in Egypt being turned to blood. We're to see that everything that emanates from man's world has the touch of death, opponent. And it's only that which comes from God's world, the new order of things that has life.
But he goes on in the thought of reconciliation.
He says, who hath reconciled us to himself? I'd like to just compare that with what we have in the first chapter of Colossians.
And verse 20.
Having made peace through the blood of the cross, this piece here is not the peace that we have with God, or the peace of God. But it means that all of the holy and righteous claims of God have been met, so that God's nature is, as it were, satisfied by the work of the cross, the blood of the cross, and by him to reconcile all things unto himself.
01:05:24
I read this verse because here we see that there's a time coming when all things are going to be reconciled and as God looks down upon this world now, he does not find it a scene of delight. It's a very ugly scene I'm sure, and but there's a time coming when he's going to have pleasure and delight even in the created scene about us, as I referred in Revelation 4.
All things were created by him and for his pleasure. But even the created scene, even this creation is.
Is not pleasurable to God now because it's not in the state that God would desire that it be in, We know that the curse was pronounced.
Even upon this physical creation, when sin came in. And so the whole creation is suffering under that. And as I say, it isn't really the way God would have it to be for His delight and pleasure, but it's going to be in the coming day, and that is a result of the work of the cross, the blood of the cross.
But in verse 21.
We see that while the reconciliation of all things are future, those of us who were alienated in our minds and enemies by wicked works, yet now, now hath he reconciled. We are before him now in.
Cleared of every sin and guilt and all uncleanness, we're we're before Him in such purity as we have at the end of verse 22.
Holy, unblameable, and unruh, provable in his sight, that he can find delight and pleasure in his people. He does not have that delight and pleasure in the world that is the created scene, because the effects of sin has not been removed from it.
But the effects of sin have been removed from the believer. There is not a trace of it.
In his sight, as we are in Christ before Him, not one trace all of the ugliness of sin and all of the ugly results of sin, not one trace of it is seen in the believer as he is in Christ before God. So complete is the work of Christ, and we are holy, unreprovable, and.
Unblameable in his sight.
Well, God can take pleasure in one who is like that and.
We have to write. We have to distinguish between what we are and reconciliation in Christ before God and in new creation, and what we are in our responsible path down here. We have to own that there are things in our responsible path as believers here in this scene that God does not find pleasure in. But here I believe in. Reconciliation is what is what we are as a result of the work of Christ through that blood of the cross.
And through through death he now has brought us to God in such.
Perfection in himself that God can have delight in his people.
That says the groom speaks of the bride in the Song of Solomon.
Even when she gets away, he says my undefiled my love and my love and so on. He always sees her in the perfection of what he has made her in himself, and he he sees that always and pronounces it even when there's failure.
That's the lovely thing, isn't it? In Christ, I like to think of the prodigal in connection with reconciliation. When he returned to the Father, when he repented and returned and the Father fell upon his neck, I'm sure the son was conscious of being forgiven. He knew forgiveness but and he was willing and would have been content to be as well hired server because he thought of his of his.
Just desserts and how he had dishonored his father.
And it would have been enough for him to have been forgiven and yet be just as a hired servant. And I suppose when we think of things from our side, we think mostly of our being forgiven.
01:10:04
Justified all of our sins put away, and how undeserving we were, and yet we've been forgiven for Christ's sake, and it's wonderful to know that. But the Father did not bring the Son in to the table to eat of the fatted calf in his rags.
He put on him the best rule. Well, he put the best robe upon the prodigal, not because the prodigal asked for it, or even thought about it, or even necessarily wanted it. That was there. It was for the father. The father did not want to look over at his son at the table and see him with the effects, see him with that which attached to him in his wanderings. He didn't want to see the rags. The rags was attached to his, to what he was when he had left the father.
And gone away. But he wanted to see him there in a way that that the Father could delight in him and be look upon him with pleasure. And that's why he had the best robe in the shoes on his feet and the ring. Not because the particle desired. He would have been content to be a hired servant and even in his rags as long as he was back and forgiven. But it was for the Father. And I I think that's the side of reconciliation or God's side of reconciliation from our side.
We know that the enmity has been removed, no longer enemies in our minds and alienated from him, but from his side. We're brought to him in such a way that he can have pleasure and delight in US, and more so than what he had in us before we fell. Right Adam, when he fell.
Or before he fell, he was for the pleasure of God, and reconciliation does not restore what was lost in Eden.
I think that's so important. It's far more blessed.
Than the relationship we have now, than what it was before Adam ever fell. There is this teaching, as if the cross and the work of Christ merely restores what was lost in Eden. God never does that. God never restores what man in his unfaithfulness, the ruins, But he brings something far more blessed in, and that's what we have today.
We know him as Father and we dwell with him and he dwelt with us. The prodigal son never could sit down with the Father and feast on a roast lamb before he left into that far country. You know, he didn't really know the Father until he came back and they could sit down and it was a mutual joy. I used to think more in the past of our side of things and I certainly enjoy.
God side in reconciliation that he has that son back.
It's precious, isn't it?
Is it not remarkable that it is God who does the reconciling?
Here in this world, is the offended who needs to be reconciled.
Man has offended God, but as God who turns to the.
That demand here in this world away from him, who reconciles the offender to himself.
Contrary to whatever man can think or do.
But God's ways are always that way and we find as has been spoken before and thinking of what the what it would be in the new scene.
That all things are of God. There God himself should be with them and be their God. They should be his people.
But you turn to Romans 5 and you find there that he is the one in whom we may joy, and will have joy.
And he is the one who is a workout.
Has given us the reconciliation, not the atonement, but the reconciliation.
Then all the change really has to be on our card. We had to impress so much on in these meetings that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever to Israel. God said I am.
I change not. He is the Changeless God, absolute perfection and holiness.
01:15:01
So what he does come down with this ministry of reconciliation and change us and suit us to him. But we need to get this change of heart to realize that we are sinners and to receive the gospel. And then he does a brand new work that's suited to him.
What a wonderful thing it is to have this Ministry of reconciliation given to us.
On a day it is that we can preach this gospel and beseech and in God's stead that sinners be reconciled to God. All the change must be on the sinners part and to walk together, except they be agreed of the Father would have Son there in the glory to walk in communion with Him. So we've got to get the change down here through the gospel.
Are you finished, Brother? If you can and I didn't want to interrupt you.
But a number of persons have requested.
That the scriptures which were mentioned yesterday afternoon in the Bible reading.
Be brought before us as to the position of the unresponsible children. So perhaps those of you who inquired would like to get your pencil out and.
Make a record of the scriptures which were referred to yesterday afternoon in our Bible reading.
We found that there were a number of discussions resulting from our Bible reading yesterday. In fact, in our own home we talked about it into the night and the subject that we talked about yesterday afternoon was the subject of many conversations during the day. And so I have been asked by a number of people to just give us a few thoughts and the scriptures which were referred to.
For our comfort and encouragement in relation to the position of the unresponsible children.
Now the question was asked yesterday afternoon as to the rapture.
What will happen to babies and children?
Who have not reached the age of accountability, what will happen to them at the Rapture?
The answer which we enjoyed in the meeting was this.
That where there is a believing parent.
The unresponsible children will go up to glory with their parent.
And the scripture referred to is First Corinthians Chapter 7, verse 14.
Another scripture that was mentioned was Genesis Chapter 7 verse one.
And also Exodus chapter 10 and verse 9.
It was also mentioned yesterday that since a baby.
Or an unresponsible person was not indwelt by the Spirit of God. They could not be part of the Church.
First Corinthians chapter 12, verse 13 tells us that by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.
So an unresponsible person could not be a part of the Church that is of the Bride of Christ.
Because they would not be indwelt by the Spirit of God.
Now another thing the question was brought up, what happens to the children in homes where there is neither parent? Who is a believer?
These unresponsible children will not go up at the rapture. They will stay with their parents.
They can be blessed in a future dispensation.
But of course.
Their Christ rejecting parents will be without hope.
Now that's what we enjoyed yesterday as to the rapture or the coming of the Lord, and I thought it was helpful for the parents of OF who are bringing their little children here. You do not have to be afraid of the rapture, that when the Lord Jesus comes, you do not have to be afraid that you will leave your little baby crying in the chair. Your little baby will go up to be with Christ forever in a sphere of blessedness.
And you have every right and joy from the Holy Word of God to look forward to the rapture on behalf of your little baby.
01:20:00
Now another subject that was mentioned. Now remember, this is another subject. This is not the subject of the rapture. This other subject was the question of death.
What happens to the unresponsible infants who die?
And the answer that was given to us is that those little babies and unresponsible persons.
Who die.
They are also blessed with Christ because of the propitiatory, propitiatory work of Christ.
And the scriptures given to us were Matthew 1810 to 14 and Matthew 19 and verse 14.
Now another scripture that was brought before us is very important.
And you'll want to make a note of it, and that's Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 15.
Where it says of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, and the better translation of the word whole family is every family.
So unresponsible persons.
Taken to glory either at the rapture or in death, will be blessed forever in one of God's families for his glory, because of the value of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, which these unresponsible persons have never rejected.
Dear brethren, these are the things which are most surely believed among us, and I would like to encourage every parent who has a little baby or a child which has not reached the age of accountability. And that age, as was mentioned yesterday, is known only to God. It is known only to God, and we're off base if we try to fix an exact time.
But for the comfort of those of us who are parents and grandparents, let us comfort our hearts to know that the little babies will not be left crying in their chairs and in their cribs, that when the Lord Jesus comes, they'll go home with us there, be forever with him in a sphere of unspeakable blessedness.
Could we sing number one in the appendix?
The Gospel
Gospel—D. Rule
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Let's read and Mark's Gospel chapter one.
The Gospel of Mark, chapter one.
And verse one.
Mark chapter one and verse one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Well, we've had some words here this weekend that we've gone over in the reading meetings and I expect most everybody here this evening has been with us the last several days. And even this afternoon we had one word in particular that a lot of us have struggled with reconciliation. And by the time the afternoon was over, we should have all known what that word reconciliation means.
It is to be made agreeable with God to have a change in your heart, and it takes sides with God to think like God. You know, isn't it true that we often go through life, all of us, and we come into a group of people and we take up a language and we get certain terms that we begin to use with our lips, and yet we never think about what those words mean?
There's so many people today that go around and they say saved and born again and gospel and reconciliation and sanctification, and a lot of them don't even know what the words mean.
Well, I'm glad for this afternoon's meeting because I was helped very much in learning what the word reconciliation means.
But there's a couple words. There's one word in particular in this first verse that we read gospel.
I wonder how many people here don't know what the word gospel means.
Well, if you were to look it up in a dictionary, you might find out that it means good news or glad tidings.
And that's just what it is. That's just what this meeting is. It's a good news meeting.
But sometimes people will ask me, well what is sanctified mean or born again mean or save mean? And I found the best way to define your terms is to go right to the word of God.
I trust we've all this evening believe here, we all here believe that the Bible is the word of God. If you don't, it's going to be difficult, but nevertheless, read it anyway. But what does the word gospel mean? We need to define our terms from the Bible.
But with that in mind, let's turn briefly to Romans chapter one and see what gospel means.
There are several places in Scripture which make it easy for us to define the term gospel in Romans. Chapter one is one of those places.
Romans one and verse 16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
To everyone that believeth, to the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek, for therein is a righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, that just shall live by faith, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. So somebody were to ask me, well, Mr. what does the gospel mean? Here's a good place to turn in the Word of God. So I don't have any of my own ideas. You know it. It's not the words of men that will save your soul this evening. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the word of God that saves souls. So here we have a definition of what the gospel is. We've heard the gospel preached at least twice this weekend.
The last two nights has been preached in no uncertain terms.
No uncertain terms, so we ought to know, but here are some scriptures that we can read. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation.
So there's many people in the world tonight going about in some way to save themselves.
You know religion is the power of men under condemnation. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now which have you got?
Which have you got? Are you trying to save yourself?
You'll never save yourself. You work all your life and try to be a religious person and wind up in the dungeons of the damned. You need God's power to be saved. You know God wants to save you, just like he wanted to save me. I remember the struggle, the religious struggle for so many years, trying to save myself or make myself right with God. It won't work.
But religion is a hard thing to get rid of, isn't it? You drink the old wine and new wines.
Just not nearly as good as the old wine. We want to do it our way. I want to do it my way.
But the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The good news is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and He did the work at the cross of Calvary. He died for sinners on the cross, and from that same cross his precious blood was shed. You believe in the death of Christ, and His precious blood will cleanse you from all your sins for eternity. They're very simple. That's good news.
00:05:19
That's the gospel.
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried and he was raised again the third day according to the scriptures.
You know, I beg of everybody here this evening, I know it's entertaining sometimes and interesting to come and hear different speakers.
I tell you, the only thing that's going to save your soul is whether you believe the word of God.
You can hear 1000 creatures.
Some of them great and some of them not so great.
And I tell you, what's going to save your soul is the word of God. You have faith in the Word of God. That's what brings you salvation.
If you're not saved by the Word of God, I don't know how you can believe that you are saved.
That's the power of God unto salvation. To everyone that believes. Jesus had only believed according to your faith, be it unto you, not according to your works. Remember, religion will lead you to hell. You can work all your life in a religious sense. You may be ever so upright before men that you've never believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will never have anything to do with God except in judgment.
There are millions of people that are deceived tonight by religion.
Again, I believe that religion is the power of men and the condemnation, but what we have this evening is the power of God under salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. To everyone that believeth. You don't work. You work your way to hell. You don't work your way to heaven. You work your way to hell. You believe to be saved. You believe to get into heaven. That's all. The work's been done at Calvary. You can't add to it. You can't take away from it. It's been done once. It's been done forever. You need to believe it.
To be saved. I remember the struggle for so many months as reading the scriptures, you know, and I had my doubts. Is this really the Bible or some of it seems to be very right and very true. I remember the sleepless nights and the struggle. It was, why don't I have peace? I'm just struggling. It's a religious flesh. It's a man that wants to justify himself before God instead of allowing God to justify him through faith in Christ. You know, God is a justifier, not man.
Man tries to justify himself. He only condemns himself. There's nothing just in you or me.
I need somebody else. I needed Christ. Well, that's the power of God. The gospel is don't trust in yourself.
I beg of you, don't trust in anything yourself. If you're adding one iota to the cross of Christ or to the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, you're making a terrible mistake.
Whatsoever God does, he does forever, and he did the work, the redemption at the cross.
And the gospel is simply this. Believe it and be saved.
For therein is a righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, that just shall live by faith. Would you like to be right with God? Would you like even to have the character of God just believe the gospel?
Men going about to establishing their own, establishing their own righteousness and not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God are just foolish people. That's what religion does. It tries to make much of men. The gospel makes much of Jesus Christ, makes very little of men. The gospel puts us in our right place. We're lost and we're sinners, you and I, we were conceived in iniquity. We were born in sin. And most, if not all of us here this evening that understand these words have produced the fruit of that root sin.
We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The gun. But now God through the gospel, makes this wonderful offer His righteousness.
Not your own righteousness, not a filthy rag, not a pile of filthy rags, But the righteousness of God, which is by faith in Jesus Christ, simply means the quality of being right, perfectly right. God wants to make me perfectly righteous. Not halfway, not religiously right, but right in Christ.
Well, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
There's some verse to look at now.
You know, be very careful how you read this. The wrath of God here is not revealed against man.
00:10:03
It's revealed against the unrighteousness of men. You know what's revealed to men tonight in this meeting?
Has been all weekend the love of God, that God so loved the world.
That He gave his only begotten Son here in his love. Not that we love God, but that He loved us.
And he sent his son to be a propitiation, a sacrifice, a mercy seat for our sins.
So the love of God is revealed toward men, but the wrath of God is revealed toward their sin. That's right. But there is a distinction in this verse. Notice that the wrath of God is revealed not against men, but against their ungodliness, against their sins. Now God wants to take care of your sins.
And he'll do it right now if you just put your trust in Christ. Christ died for your sins.
Will you believe it?
That's what makes you righteous. But if you don't believe it, you're going to have to face that wrath of God if you're not separated from your sins tonight by the blood of Christ. If you're not cleansed.
By the blood of Jesus, God is going to have to deal with you connected with your sins. You see, God wants to take away sin. God has taken away my sins and many in this room that I know there's many of you I don't know, but that's why we preach the gospel tonight. We don't know all of you. The God has taken away my sins by his, by the precious blood of Christ. He's put them all behind his back. I don't know where that is, but that's what the Scriptures teach. He's taking away my sins into an unknown land as far as the east is from the West. God has removed my sins from me.
And everyone in this room that's believed on the Lord Jesus.
So what do we want tonight in the gospel? The gospel has a warning in it. You know, it's grace first. Now the truth comes out. God reaches down in love, but with the admonition of His love comes the admonition of the warning of judgment to come. Notice, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now it was always the ministry of the Lord, and it's the ministry of the gospel. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God.
So it's the goodness of God that we minister first. But as in this portion we get to the end of the definition of the gospel, we find out there's a warning about the wrath, about the wrath.
So we have to tell people there's judgment if your sins are not removed.
You know, the Lord Jesus is the only one that really taught us anything about hell.
It was the Lord Jesus that revealed to us about the weeping, the wailing, the gnashing of teeth in hell. It was the Lord Jesus that said, take him, bind him hand and foot, cast him into outer darkness.
Where the worm never died and the fire is never quenched.
You know, I've heard people say to me, and I'm sure some of you have to. Well, my friends are in hell. I heard that just on my way to Des Moines. Person wasn't speaking to me, but they were joking. In a restaurant. It'll be fun there, but you're bound hand and foot in hell. How can you go anywhere or do anything? It's perfectly dark in hell. Can't do anything when it's perfectly dark. The worm never dies.
The conscience is never eased, you know, I remember when I first heard the gospel.
Our servant of the Lord brought these scriptures before me and how it used to prick my conscience in the night. And I want peace, but I don't have it. And there's the gospel. You have to believe on the Lord Jesus. Don't want to do it that way. I want to do it my way. There must be an easier way. Must be a better way. Got to believe on the Lord Jesus. And that little worm turning in my mind, convicting me of my sins, showing me my needs. That worm turning inside, outside, around and around. You know that worm is going to be in your conscience forever.
Son, remember, remember. Oh, people are going to remember and hell, they're going to remember the gospel meetings in hell.
You remember the tracks that were handed to them. They're going to remember that quiet neighbor it came over to sweep their pork chop or shovel the snow off and just try to speak a kind word to him about Christ. People are going to remember. They're going to remember the rebuke of a servant of the Lord that came and warned that soul. If he believed not that I am, he shall die in your sins. The worm will never die. People will know some scriptures in hell, but it'll be to their eternal torment.
I can't imagine.
That worm, that's something to think about. That's part of the wrath of God.
Fires never quenched in hell. Fire never quenched in hell. The fire of my passions and your passions. You know, we all here have natural desires and there's a wide range of things in nature that we go after and like to do.
00:15:02
And in hell, just think of that. One person may like to climb a mountain. I visited somebody that is obsessed with rock climbing, has climbed many of the mountains in this country, bare handed and barefooted, is an expert in hell. They'd love to do that. Never will be able to see a single mountain in hell. People like to fish, no water in hell. People like to drink. There's no water in hell either. Nothing, absolutely nothing. The fire is never quenched. There's a man that woke up in hell and he wanted one drop of water for his finger to put on his tongue.
Not one drop of water. Now this is real, you know, This is the wrath of God that's revealed.
Against somebody that hasn't got the blood of Christ to take away their sin. This is what the Scriptures teach. This is what the gospel teaches. And this is serious business. We just can't pawn this off and say, well, that's that's nice preaching you're doing, you know, it's the word of God.
It's the word of God. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Now we plead with sinners tonight, be reconciled to God. It's not in God's heart to judge you. God is not willing that anybody here should perish in Des Moines, in this meeting room, in this country, in this whole world.
It's just contrary to God's will tonight that somebody perish and go to hell. You have to resist the will of God to perish in hell. Nobody is going to be in hell accidentally, not one.
As we had the other night, you have to go right around the cross of Christ. You have to go right around a crucified Jesus.
To get into hell, there's Christ dying for sinners, died for sinners, buried, risen again the third day.
The work's all done. You've got to go right around that.
To get into hell.
Well, one Corinthians 15.
Christians want to know sometimes, well, where could I turn somebody to?
Show them what the gospel is. Romans one is a good place. Romans 3 is another place. Romans pens another place. First Corinthians 15 is a short but very plain portion. First Corinthians 15.
And verse one Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. How? That Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now there's a very simple definition of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If somebody asked you as a Christian, where could I look in the Bible to find out what the gospel is? Now here's some place you could turn them.
And you have the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus brought out all according to scriptures.
That's a blessed thing, blessed place to turn them to. But what about the death of Jesus?
Well, I tell you in my own soul, it's difficult to talk about, but there's been ministry on it, the sufferings of Christ, the death of Christ this past weekend.
And I tell you, if the sufferings of the Lord Jesus don't touch your heart, there's something wrong. There's something wrong to look up at that cross and see that man that went about doing such good. To see those hands nailed to that tree. Those hands that reached out and touched lepers. Those blessed hands that reached out and took up the little children and blessed them. Those hands that broke the lows and passed out the fish to the multitudes, fed the multitudes, those hands.
Those blessed hands they nailed to that cross.
You know, there's a people that Jesus made that put him on the cross.
And those feet that were so weary, those feet that trod those desert paths to reach out to the poor, to go out into the regions roundabout, Galilee Tire and Siding, and preach the gospel.
Those feet, they nailed it across to nobody. Nobody, ever.
Suffered by Jesus.
It's a good thing to contemplate. Read Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Psalm 88, Isaiah 53, and contemplate. Please contemplate the sufferings and the death of Jesus. If those things don't reach your conscience, I say there may be something very wrong.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
He's not suffering now, but he has suffered.
And entered into his glory and the resurrection was all according to Scripture. Two. You know, that's what saved my soul. I was encouraged to meet a young man here this weekend that told me how he was saved and and very naturally, he just explained it to me that he was reading in the book of Romans. He came to Romans 10/9. He said, you know, Tom, that's that's the verse that gave me peace. That just made my heart leap because that's the very same verse that gave me peace to that verse saved my soul. A verse in the Bible.
00:20:23
Sitting at home reading the word of God, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Can it be that's all I have to do is believe? That's what the word of God says. Now, religion will tell you something else. We're not here to give you religion. You need to believe the scriptures and that's how you give the gospel to the lost. Believe the word of God. So do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead? I had another person tell me many years ago, well, yes, I believe. And with tears in her eyes, she was telling me, I believe all that. I know I'm a Sinner. I believe it. I said, hey, look.
Get this book in your hand. What's it say in Romans chapter 10 and verse 9? Read it.
And she read it.
And I said, what's the last statement of that verse says thou shalt be saved. Do you get it? Oh, I see, I see, I'm saved. You've got to believe the word of God. That's all there is to it. That's the goodness of God. You don't have to work. You can believe right in your chair. The better you believe before this meeting's over if you haven't. It's a goodness of God that's reaching out tonight, the Pierce at hands of Christ, reaching down to this gospel message.
To save your soul well, the gospel. Now we can turn to a lot of other scriptures that define it, but.
We need to move on. Let's go back to Mark chapter one.
We need to know what we're talking about. I've been guilty myself of talking just about the gospel in a general way, but the Scriptures have a lot more power than our reasoning about them.
The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We talked about what the gospel is and what Christ has done on the cross to save our souls. But who is Jesus? Who is Jesus Christ?
And this is pressing more on my own heart lately, even in the gospel.
We need to have the right price because some of you here, you know, maybe you've never been in a meeting like this, but you may go to other places and you may hear something preached about the gospel. But I want to warn you.
You have to have the gospel according to the scriptures, and not only that, you have to have the person of Christ according to the scripture.
You have to have the right Jesus, because there's many Jesus preached tonight because people have all kinds of abstract ideas about Christ.
In the Christ we preach is a Christ out of this book anything I'd like to make clear from this verse that Jesus Christ is the.
Son of God, and he's the eternal Son of God, and we don't have that right. Then we haven't got the gospel right. If the person of Christ isn't right, all our preaching about the gospel is utterly in vain.
Well, Sir, how do you know Jesus is God? You're disdain that says he's the Son of God here, but we're in the Scriptures to say that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
I don't know the scripture that says that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
But I do know scriptures that says that he is God.
Turn to the book of Romans, Chapter 9.
The book of Romans, Chapter 9.
In the middle of verse 5, Romans Chapter 9 and verse 5.
Christ, who is overall God, blessed forever. Amen.
Christ is God. That's a simple verse.
There's no need to get into explanation of the context or anything like that. This is a simple meeting. This verse have been a help to me. Jesus Christ is God. Now turn to Hebrews chapter one.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses is every word established. We need the scriptures for what we believe.
Hebrews chapter one.
Non Romans Chapter 9. That was Paul's testimony about Christ. We know that Paul wrote the epistle to the Romans. We know that Paul, or believe that Paul wrote the official to the Hebrews. But here we have a little different testimony as to the person of Jesus Christ. Verse one God, who at sundry times and diverse manners spake in time passed under the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir over all, of all things, by whom also He made the world.
Will be in the brightness of His glory and the expressed image or the exact expression of His person.
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Now go on down to verse 8.
Under the sun he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever.
And ever. And I believe that's God the Father speaking about God the Son. Now God the Father calls his son God.
And if I had no other witness out of the Bible than this, that should be sufficient that Jesus is God.
Well, I believe he's God had no beginning. And if Jesus is the Son of God, he must be the eternal Son of God. Now in Isaiah Chapter 9, there's a third verse that you can use. It's very helpful to establish the person of Christ. Unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given. Jesus had a beginning as the Son of man. He was born into this world, God manifest in the flesh. She had a beginning at Bethlehem. But as the Son of God, he had no beginning. He was given.
Well, these things are pressing on my soul.
I want to be sure that I have the right Christ, the Christ in the Bible. I want you to be sure to maybe some of you heard a gospel and nobody's ever bothered to define for you who Jesus Christ is.
He is the Son of God from all eternity. And I want to say this too before we go on to another verse.
That Jesus Christ could not sin. Jesus could say of Satan. Satan has come and has found nothing in me.
And another scripture says in him is no sin, no nature that could sin.
I've had people who are speaking to them about the gospel. How do you know Christ is perfect? You know, you said he's a perfect Savior. How do you know he's perfect? Well, he couldn't sin. He had no sin in him. They say. Well, the reasoning is this. Well, I suppose I've heard it said that Christ never did sin, and so maybe it's true that he couldn't sin. But I believe that's a little tack of Satan that's going out of backwards. The Scriptures teach he could not sin, therefore he didn't sin. Let's keep it right. That's to the glory of Christ, I believe.
Well, I hope this isn't a digression.
But in the Gospel, we need to have the right Jesus because there are many Jesus preached today.
Well, Mark chapter one, what did the Lord Jesus preach? Mark chapter one and verse 14.
Now after that John was put in prison. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
And saying that time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, Repent ye and believe the gospel, the time is fulfilled. A little verse that proves to me the Bible is the word of God.
Jesus Christ was born was the fulfillment of the Scripture. The scriptures tell exactly.
Where Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, the scriptures tell exactly to the day.
When he would be born, you can get that in Daniel Chapter 9 and other scriptures and the scriptures tell exactly how he would be born. A virgin shall conceive. The scriptures also revealed to us how he would die and you get that in the Psalms Isaiah 53. The whole birth and the life and the death of the Lord Jesus is according to scripture.
Proof the Bible is the word of God. The time is fulfilled. Christ came at exactly the right time. He was Son of God. He's God's anointed to be the Savior of the world. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Although the unsearchable riches of Christ are preached in the gospel. You know what man or what all the men together in the world can't begin to expound on the unsearchable riches of Christ. You know the Kingdom of God has offered to you tonight to come and believe on the Lord Jesus and receive his unsearchable riches. It's more than the forgiveness of sins. Yes, you are forgiven. You will be forgiven if you come to Christ tonight.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. His precious blood will cleanse you from all your sins for eternity. But there's more. There's more. Nice to be forgiven. Wonderful to be saved. The scripture says that God loved us. The scripture teaches that God quickened us. The Scriptures teach us that God raised us. The scriptures teach us that God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? Why has God done that for me, wretched Sinner like me, That in the eternity God has seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus? Why?
Why has God done that?
For me, wretched Sinner like me, that in the eternity, eternities to come, the ages to come.
He might show the exceeding riches of his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's why I've been saved, not just to be forgiven, but to spend eternity after eternity after eternity in heaven in God's presence, that he might show me his exceeding riches. Ephesians chapter 2 verses one through 8. We'll bring that out.
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Oh, set your affection on things above where Christ is. There's so much that we don't enter into down here, yet the Scriptures reveal these things to us. The Spirit shows these things to us. And I plead with you, you know, there's more than just the forgiveness of your sins Tonight. The prodigal came back to the Father. That's right. And all he wanted to do was just be forgiven. But look at the place he was brought into. And look at the place you can be brought into tonight if you believe the gospel taken to heaven where Christ is for all eternity. God wants to spend eternity.
Revealing to you His kindness, His grace, His love, His glory, His Majesty. Heaven is a place of absolutely unspeakable bliss and joy and peace and happiness, the Kingdom of God. All you got to do is believe the gospel.
All you have to do tonight if you're not saved is believe one verse you've heard. Just believe a verse about the death and resurrection of Christ. Believe it and be saved.
A Kingdom of God is at hand, The Lord. They've not all believed. Our report is something, isn't it? Our words fail when we begin to talk about the sufferings of Christ. Our words fail when we talk about the glories of Christ. Our words words fail when we talk about heaven. Well, they have to, because only the Spirit can reveal some of these things to us. But the Scriptures teach us this. The Kingdom of God is at hand. All the riches that God can possibly give mankind.
Is available tonight if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
God can't do anything more for mankind tonight than He can do for that poor soul.
That will come and believe.
Repent, ye believe the Gospel.
Well, we've had some pretty positive things that have been said.
Time is fulfilled, the power of God save us, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, Kingdom of God.
All these blessings, but now there's a little item about repentance. Repentance. You know what repentance means?
Well, now, when I was growing up, I heard a little bit about repentance. My dad, as we had mentioned today, is sometimes take us out in the yard and try to make us repent, try to make us feel sorry for what we've done. And there's many of you in this room tonight perhaps are very sorry for what you've done in your past life. You're sorry for what it did to you. You're sorry for what it did to your family. You're sorry for what it did to your friends. And that's all well and good, but you can be sorry all your life like that and go straight to hell.
You know, the Bible is full of all kinds of people that repented. Judas repented himself, but where is he tonight?
Herod was exceeding sorry that he had to cut off the head of John, but whereas Herod the night and Pilate was sorry too that he had to scourge Jesus. The worst pilot tonight.
Saul was very sorry in the Old Testament, but where Saul tonight?
So my friend doesn't do any good to be sorry for yourself.
Repentance toward yourself. The scripture definition of repentance is repentance toward God.
If you don't have repentance toward God, it's all for nothing. Repentance toward God.
And faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, what God wants you to do tonight in repentance and the way of repentance.
Is look to him. I used to think repentance was just being sorry and turning away from that which I knew was wrong. I know it's.
Wrong to do this and wrong to go there. And it's wrong to say that and wrong to say this. And I spent my life being sorry for these things. I never realized that the scriptural definition of repentance is not to turn away from things, is to turn toward God, repentance toward God. God loves me and he wants to draw me to himself. And Jesus says, come unto me, I'll give you rest.
Boy, I tell you, the heart of God is a lot bigger in our hearts, isn't it?
Our imagination, our thoughts about things like repentance and salvation, it's just not like God. God's ways aren't our ways.
But repentance is a reality in the Word of God. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. You know God commands now every man everywhere to repent, because he's a point of the day in which he's going to judge this world by that man whom he hath ordained. That man is Jesus Christ, and he has given witness to this whole world, and that he's raised Jesus from the dead, and now he commands men everywhere to repent.
And accept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Turn toward God. You know when I'm turning toward God, that's when you turn your back on. What's wrong?
There's a delusion in my own heart, has been for many years, and I trust the Scriptures are delivering me from that, that simply I have to to look at everything that's wrong in this world and just shy away from it. I spend my whole life just fighting off this and that and trying to get rid of this and that. And I just have a perverted view of repentance. No repentance is turned right toward God. The prodigal really repented when he took that first step toward the father. Then he turned his back on the pigsties.
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You want to get out of the situation you're in, I say, come to Christ.
Turn toward God. God loves you.
You're going to struggle all the days of your life. You try to clean up your act, turn over a new leaf. It's an endless religious struggle.
I know it took me 15 years to get out from underneath the lie. It's tough. Those old things aren't undone easy, but this book will undo it. If you define your turn by this book, you'll be saved and believe the gospel. We've made that clear already. Verse 32, Mark chapter one and verse 32. And that even when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils, and all the city was gathered together.
At the door. Oh, that would be great if the whole city of Des Moines tried to come in here tonight to hear the gospel, or last night, or the night before. Wouldn't that be something? I'd be shocked.
I'd be shocked, but here's the scripture. All the city was gathered together at the door.
Well I want to say this.
One thing to be gathered together at the door, hear the gospel, and it is entirely another thing for you, my friend, to come through the door and believe in Christ Jesus Christ, that I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved.
You have to enter in, you have to enter in, you have to believe on Christ to be saved.
Doesn't do any good to go to church to come to gospel meeting unless you believe on the Lord Jesus.
We're glad you're here, you're here, but please don't make the mistake like many have in the scriptures.
Of justice, acquainting yourself with Christianity, acquainting yourself with the gospel, making friends with Christians, and thinking you're all right.
That's a terrible mistake, Jesus said again. There are no words more powerful and sharp than these.
If he believed not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. It's a person you need, you have to do with Jesus. You see that the gospel according to Saint Mark is a revelation of the gospel of Christ. We preach a person. All the details and facts of this are wonderful. There is a doctrine of Christ, but until you believe on Christ himself, until you have a personal relationship with Jesus.
You're not saved.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation, a new creature. The old things are passed away. If you don't have the spirit of Christ, you're none of his.
You're none of his.
Well, we have to speak plainly. You know the time short. We can't mince our words about the gospel. Have you just come to the door? Are you sticking your head in hearing all about the glorious gospel of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, His marvelous death on the cross, His suffering and death for you for sinners, His marvelous resurrection in the glory where He's seated now, and He has all power in heaven and earth? Are you hearing about those things? And yet you won't enter into it. You just simply won't bow the knee.
And confess that Jesus is Lord and believe on him. You can come so close. Jesus says thou art not far from the Kingdom of God. And there may be Sunday night just that far. They're just off the fingertips of that pierced hand. You got to reach out. Take that hand.
Well, there's a man.
Down on the 39th verse they came through the door.
Mark chapter one and verse 40. Verse 39. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
And there came a leopard to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean? And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. Here's a man, my friend, that came through the door.
He came through the door, and this is how you have to come to Christ. It's so simple, but you've got to come, just as you are a leper. Leprosy, of course, speaks of sin. It's an incurable disease. Nobody on earth wants to have anything to do with it. It's a terrible, terrible disease. But here's a leopard.
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It came to Jesus to be healed. Picture of a Sinner coming to Jesus to be forgiven. How did he come?
A leper came to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him. He.
Do you believe, do you own yourself, that Jesus Christ is Lord, the one who has all power and authority? And you may know this in your mind, you may say Lord, Lord. But my friend, there's two people here in this little story, a leper in Jesus. And that's the way it is in the Gospel. Jesus meets the Sinner and either you take the offer, you don't. What are you going to do? Are you going to come like this leper kneeling down beseeching Jesus Lord, if thou wilt?
Thou canst make me clean. Do you believe? Do you know from the scriptures we read that Christ died for your sins? Thou canst, He can. He's done the work. All you have to do is come. Oh, and the compassion of Christ, him that cometh to me, I will in no way cast out. Jesus has never refused someone that came like this. Never, never, never. Well, there's lots of people that came to Christ in the gospels. We may get to one a little later on the next chapter.
But they came to Christ, and their pride and their arrogancy and trying to tell the Lord how to.
Run the House of God and tell the Lord what he should believe. And those people are not saved. Those are called scribes and hypocrites, Pharisees. But a leper, a poor man like you and me. Do we come like this leper, the compassion of Christ, to reach out and touch that leper? Ponder the words of Jesus. I will be thou clean. God is not willing that anybody here should perish tonight, but that all should come to repentance. What a spirit of repentance this man showed, what confidence he had in the power of Christ to save him and all you've got to do.
Is believed to be saved. Well, faith comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. I've had people tell me even recently in the past week, Well, Tom, I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God.
How do you handle that argument? It's a tough one. When I fall back on that verse that I just quoted. Read it, read it. Are you struggling? Maybe there's somebody here tonight that's struggling with the Bible. I did, you know, I just didn't pick it up one night and get saved. There was a period of months where I read and was confused and confounded, but I kept reading. And faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. You keep reading, you'll believe. It's a perfect book. Make no mistake about it. But to be saved, you have to read it and believe it.
You know I people say that all the time. I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God, but it is if you read it.
And to give a little illustration of this, this past week I visited a friend and down in Kansas City, Fort Leavenworth, it's a military base. And I've been to college some 15 years ago with this man, and I often thought about him since I've been saved if I ever get to see John again. Well, it turns out that he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, and the Lord opened the door to visit with him at Fort Leavenworth. And I went to see John one night and.
He told me that he's an F16 pilot and apparently one of the best in the world. He's a man that's trained the Israelis to fly their jets, so he knows what he's talking about. I was really impressed. This is a little fellow I used to play around with when I was in college, and now he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force and one of the best pilots in the world, flying one of the best jets in the world. So I had to listen, and I want to know something about a jet or an F16. I listened to John Craig and so I asked him, well, John, what do I have to do if I was going to learn how to fly an F16?
And he reached up on the shelf and he pulled down this big, thick book. It must have weighed 4 lbs.
And he stuck it right in my lap, he says. Here's the book, Here's the book on the front of it. It had General Dynamics F16.
Flight Manual You want to fly an F16? Better read this book. You want to be saved.
Better read this book.
Well, what would you think if I had looked at that book, the front of that book, and I looked at John and I handed it back to him and said, John, I don't believe this book has anything to do with flying an F16.
What kind of insult do you think that would have been to Lieutenant Colonel Craig?
Well, what kind of insult would it have been to General Dynamics?
Well, that's the kind of insult it is to God when people who haven't read the Bible say, I just don't believe it's the word of God. What a shame. So you got to read it. Faith will come if you read it. The people are trying to believe all kinds of things in their own mind instead of submitting themselves to the word of God. Let's go a step further. Let's suppose I, I glanced through that, that flight manual, the F16, and I looked at some of the pictures and some of the text and I said, John, I said, now how Can you believe this book? I mean, there's just a bunch of.
00:45:17
Typists and stenographers that type this up, and a bunch of.
The blue collar draftsman that drew all these pictures. How Can you believe this is a flight manual by an F16? I mean it's just a bunch of regular old people in some office that put this together.
How Can you believe it?
That's just like people that say, well the Bible is just written by a bunch of men.
General Dynamics is bigger than this dental pool, and God is bigger than his servants that wrote his word. And General Dynamics has seen to it that that book is right, and God has seen to it that this book is right.
So do you believe the Bible? Let's go a step further.
I just don't believe the Bible is the word of God. John closes up the manual, puts it back on the shelf and he says, Tom, he said, you may not believe that this is a flight manual for that jet, but I've flown that jet hundreds hours and I know that jet inside and out and I don't care what you believe. I know that book works. So if there's somebody here tonight still doesn't believe the Bible is the word of God, that doesn't change a thing. I believe it is. And there's many others here that believe it's the word of God because it works. This book saved my soul. I put my trust in one verse in this book.
And I'm saved for eternity.
It's a serious thing, you know, to refuse the word of God. Don't refuse the word of God.
Same way with the women. There's many of you here that like to cook and there's some here that are excellent cooks. And what an insult it is for a young woman to come to an older woman that's a real good cook and say, how do you cook? And the older lady hands the younger 1A cookbook and say here, read this. This will get you started. I don't believe this has anything to do with cooking. What an insult. So it's very serious business, my friend, to refuse the word of God. Don't mock it.
Don't mock it.
Well, Chapter 2.
Mark chapter 2, verse one. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days, and it was noised about that he was in the house.
In a straight way many were gathered together in so much that there was number room to receive them. No, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them, and they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where He was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?
Well, they didn't know what a truth they just uttered, and immediately when Jesus perceived in His Spirit that they had so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether it's easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, take up thy bed and walk. But they ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thy house.
And immediately he arose and took up the bed, and went forth before the mall in so much that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, we never saw it on this fashion.
Little word of encouragement for the Christians here. Maybe you can't preach, maybe you can't teach, maybe you barely know how to explain the gospel. Bring somebody to the gospel meeting. You know, there's such a thing in Scriptures, a wood offering. You get it in Haggai, chapter one. Go up to the mountains, bring the wood, build the house, and I'll take pleasure in it, saith the Lord. Just bring somebody. The gospel meeting. These, that's what these four did. They just brought somebody. Maybe they couldn't tell him a thing about Jesus.
But they brought him to the meeting and the man got his sins forgiven when he saw their faith.
Well we it's good we have a prayer meeting before the gospel to pray for those that are lost and God blesses the gospel because of those prayers.
We've already talked in the previous chapter about the sinner's responsibility. We don't have that in this portion.
But nevertheless, the man had to have the faith to come to the meeting. Maybe there's somebody here tonight that's just been brought.
Jesus wants to forgive your sins if you just believe. And maybe there's some here tonight that are struggling with the dilemma of trying to lead a new life. Oh, I'd like to live a righteous life. I'd like to have power to do right in this world, to do good. Well, you know the secrets in this portion we just read. Not only can Christ take away your sins.
We can give you power to walk a new life. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Would you like to take up your bed, rise up, take up your bed, and walk in a new light? You can only do that if you're saved. You can only do that if you have the Lord Jesus. You know, the very same things that used to keep me chained down in the bed, now the very things I have power over. For the Christian sin shall not have dominion over you. We're not under the power of sin anymore.
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God has given us a new nature, He's given us new ways. He's given us a whole new life.
And so we have power over that bed. We haven't got rid of our old nature. We have to carry that bed around sometimes or all the time until we go home.
But we have power over it. The bed kept that man paralyzed down, that paralyzed man down. Now the man has stood up and he has a bed under control. Would you like to walk in new life? You need to believe the gospel to start with. Jesus will give you that power. He'll give you the power to walk a new light. Here's a man that didn't come through the door, but was brought through the door, but he had the same thing that the leper had in the last chapter. And last of all, we have in this chapter, verse 16.
When the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eat with Republicans and sinners.
They said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician.
That they that are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now here are some people that.
Have come in through the door and think they're OK, but they're not. First a man that just came through the door himself.
Than a man that was brought through the door. The last of all we have a class of people that have weaseled their way in and think they're OK and they're not.
They're not.
Jesus didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and another scripture. The Lord Jesus says go and learn what that means. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. Here are these poor scribes and Pharisees trying to offer their ties of mint and rue and all manner of herbs, trying to make themselves right with God to that class of people that spoken of in Job. Do I wash myself with snow water and make myself never so clean, yet thou shalt plunge me into the ditch.
And my clothes shall abhor me.
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Not one. Nobody here can cleanse themselves, those poor scribes and Pharisees.
Like a class of people, I suppose in a church meeting or meeting like this, there's those that sit in the back seat and they rebel.
Against the gospel, there's those that come out and sit in the front seat and they profess.
But both of them alike are going to meet in hell.
Maybe in the back row, rebelling against the gospel. You may be in the front row professing to know all this stuff.
But if you don't believe in Jesus.
If you don't believe in Jesus, if you haven't believed that, call and come to Christ.
The rebellious one and the professor are going to meet in hell for eternity. Well, my friend, we're sinners and Jesus has come to call us to repentance. Not to just to be sorry for what I've done, but to turn toward God. God be merciful to me, a Sinner. Well, believe it. It's good news. God's not willing tonight that one person should perish. I hope everybody and pray everybody in this room will go home tonight saved. And if nothing else, you know what the gospel is this evening.
On the Lord Jesus, put your trust in the Scripture, not a meeting or a preacher or anything like that. If something is struggling in your soul, there is a tumult in your soul, believe a scripture, trust the word of God. And if you have a question about anything that's been said, be sure you ask somebody before you leave. But be like that. Be like that leopard Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole.
2 Corinthians 5:6-11
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Are at home in the body. We are absent from the Lord, where we walk by faith, not by sight.
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body than to be present with the Lord.
Wherefore we labor there, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the of the things done in his body according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.
Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest.
Under God and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to answer them with glory and appearance, and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
Love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one dine for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all that they which lived shall not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.
Wherefore, henceforth knowing no man after the flesh.
Ye though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new, and all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit.
That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses under them. And that's committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ that be reconciled to God, For He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God.
In him.
It was said this morning in regard to those who have departed and are with Christ, that they are waiting for the same event that we are. And I I believe it's.
Good to repeat that, that the the hope of the believer is not to be absent in the body and presence of the Lord. That's not the hope, the great comfort, and we take comfort in it. But the hope of the believer is the the realization of the purposes of God in having us conform to Christ and glory with himself And I've noticed in regard to.
Those who depart.
The Lord takes home. There's really very little said in regard to.
What should we say? What they, what they are, feel?
In other words, we have expressions like this, he said to the to the thief on the cross. Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.
And we have in Philippians to depart me with Christ, which is far better, and to hear answers for the body and present with the Lord. But he doesn't tell anything about doesn't. We don't have anything brought out as to you might say what they are enjoying or anything of the sort. It's it's just being with Christ, isn't it? And with the Lord and with him. That seems to be the emphasis. And I think that if we.
Speculate beyond that, that we lose the mind of God. We God would not have us to speculate beyond that. We know that they are with Christ.
United man, and here it's present with the Lord, and he is the Lord of glory, and as he says to the thief with me.
That's him personally, isn't he with him, and as Lord and as Christ, the anointed man.
I think that's right. What extent, if any, does this include the Old Testament faith?
00:05:04
There are some presents that cannot hear during this talk. So raise the voice or raise the Father. The question, the question. The question was asked to what extent does this include the Old Testament? St. I was just going to remark on, let's look at it, Hebrews 11, the last two verses, because I think that answers in a way.
Although we're not going to get very much said on this because we cannot get it yet what the glory is, it's called unspeakable or the one who saw it. So it's the person that we're left with. And that's enough. Christ the Lord. And as Jesus said to the believing thief, with me, it's the person that we're left with.
To view and to consider not the glory itself, because we cannot get it. But he'll hear those in the faith chapter who died in faith, the last two verses of Hebrews 11. And these, all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Now made perfect is the full resurrection state those.
Our faith in the Old Testament and of this dispensation are not as yet made perfect in that they have their new bodies as we had this morning, so that they're going to get that at the same time that we do. In connection with that, let's look at First Thessalonians.
Chapter 2, where Paul addresses.
The Thessalonians, those he loved so much and.
Find out what's going to happen.
When the Lord comes.
1St Thessalonians 2 verse 19 What is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, all three names given here Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. The wonderful thing, I think, for us to enjoy is that.
We're all going to arrive there at the same time.
Whether it be Abel or Paul or any of our loved ones that we have known in the flesh that are called away.
They wait for that perfect state and we will all get it when the Lord comes, and we will be there when.
Paul enjoys seeing those Thessalonians Saints that he loves so much labored for.
But it does say the Lord says through the bleeding thief paradise. Well, that's the word we can get just a little bit of, but the fullness of the glory, we cannot get it yet.
We have in Luke chapter 16.
Some inside that it might help in connection with our brother's question we have there poor Lazarus.
In Abraham's Bosom.
Now that's the place of supreme bliss and happiness for a Jew. And we have there for the first time that the Lord himself pulled back the whale and let us take a look into the beyond that is, after death. In the Old Testament we do not have any.
Explanation and do not have any revelation that there is a difference.
Those who have died in faith and those who have died in unbelief, like for instance with the Saul when he consulted the witch of Endor, and Samuel was permitted to come up, and he told Saul that tomorrow at this time he would be with Samuel.
00:10:00
We know that Saul was not a child of God and there was no revelation in the Old Testament.
That there was a division between.
The condition of those who have died in faith and those who have died.
In unbelief. But the Lord Jesus in Luke 16 does give us an insight into this so we can be based on that scripture. Rest assured that every St. who has died isn't a place of happiness and bliss and this adds to the agony of the unbelievers who can see the portion of bliss and happiness of those who have died in faith yet.
That is impossible for them to have part in it or in any way be comforted in their agony.
And Hades.
You mentioned about the the Lazarus king and Abraham Bosom.
Well, I think that that's in contrast with what the Lord says to the to the thief and what we have here. Because at that time you might say, well, we know the Lord had not come and into the scene had not gone back into the glory of men. Once he goes back into the glory as man, he could speak of being with me. That's why he was saying to the thief he was going back into the glorious man.
And with the Lord and with Christ, I believe refers to that. It's not, it's not. Being with him, you might say, as as in the Godhead. They we know of course, that God exists 3 persons, the Godhead. But the Lord Jesus as man has gone back into the glory as a man, and those who depart there with him with Christ.
It's not just being in a place, is it?
In just where they are, it's being with Christ, and that's what I believe in our chapter, which brings out the absence of the body is present with the Lord. It's not just being in heaven. In the case of Lazarus, it was where he was in Abraham's bosom of places of bliss and joy. But here it's now that the Lord has gone back into the glory of the glorified man, is being with him.
Well, nor is our hope any different than that from those that have already gone, because our hope is to be with him. That is heaven. That is paradise, isn't it? And that's what he says in John 17, the verse 24. His will. We had the will of God expressed so nicely and brought up for us in the last meeting, but here we have the Lord's will itself.
And he says, Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me without, loveth me before the foundation of the world. Well as it was in John 14 and here.
Heaven, to a believer is to be with Christ forever and to see Him as He is. All the rest will fall in place because he's perfection. He's joy, the source of it and everything. He was the good wine of John chapter 2. He's the source of joy, will have fullness of joy when we're there. So it's himself for us too. It's all the same, isn't it?
But isn't there different brethren between?
What the departed Saints now enjoy who are with Christ, and what they and us will enjoy when we will be glorified. Brother Johnson, could you give us some difference there? Well, I believe the prayer of the Lord, of course, is not entered in one departing to be with Christ, is it?
That they might be with me and behold his glory. I think that is really when the Lord comes for his own and we're all with him and he is the first born among many brethren. But that's why I met a few moments ago when I said about.
There's very little said as to the condition, you might say, of those who are departed and be with Christ, That is, they are with him, with the Lord, and with Christ, and at rest.
00:15:06
And that's really about as much as Scripture has to say, because they are awaiting with us the fulfillment of all that God has purposed for us in the glory. They're not entering into that now. They're waiting with us to enter into that glory.
I would like to ask another question.
About the blessed hope of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we often refer to as the rapture or the snatching away.
Of believers.
I would like to ask my brethren to.
Give us the doctrine that will encourage parents of young children.
Now in the Des Moines meeting, we have lots of small children and we're so happy to have them come to the meetings. We're so happy to see the parents bring their kids to the prayer meeting.
And the Bible readings and the Gospel meeting. We look upon these kids as the life.
Of the gathering in the future if the Lord carries.
Now, brethren, I'd just like to ask that we have a little word on the doctrine.
But what happens at the Rapture to the babies?
The little kid, the little children.
I personally believe that when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven to take the church away, that the little unresponsible ones will go with their parents. And that has been a comfort to me as a Father. And I thought that this question might be profitable as an encouragement to the parents of small children, so that they would have no reason to dread the Rapture.
Or have any fear about it that when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven.
And gives the shout. The little kids are going to go to. The babies are going also with the parents.
I believe that with all my heart.
But I would like to ask my brethren to give us the doctrine from the scriptures, that it might be a comfort to the parents of young children. I think that would be helpful that we might get the doctrine from the precious word on this subject.
Would you read Ronald Matthew 18 verses 10 and 11, please?
Matthew 18, verses 10 and 11.
Take heed that you despise not.
One of these little ones.
For I say unto you, that in heaven.
There are angels who always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven.
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
These two verses answer at least for me.
Better than any that I know of. And I would add to it those dear little ones who have been called away by death, put to sleep by Jesus. Our brothers use the word the the words age of responsibility or accountability, for lack of better. I think that's what we use, and we have to leave that with God, the judge of all.
Who does right and perfect but the Lord Jesus here Speaking of those little ones, and they were little ones that he had there then.
But it includes all little ones. They are precious to him. And he says in heaven. Now this is literal truth in heaven.
Their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. And then he says, the Son of Man has come to say that which was lost. Those little ones are born with a nature like their parents.
00:20:06
That's really the only trouble with the next generation. They're like their parents, they have the fallen nature, but the Blessed Lord came to take care of that for them. And he says to say they have that nature, but they're not accountable for themselves personally because of the age they're they are. Well, I think it'll be the very same thing when the Lord comes.
All those little ones.
Will certainly be called away and caught up to heaven, along with the intelligent ones of faith who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I just round that off with two more verses in the same place.
Their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. Well, that's so. They'll be doing his will, of course, after these little ones. And the verse 14 tells us what that will is.
Even though it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should, Perry isn't that blessed. And so they got their eyes on the face of the Father, who isn't willing that one of these little ones perish. They're not only watching over them, but they're doing His will toward them. And then there's one other in the next chapter, also, verse 14, I believe. Chapter 19, verse 14.
What Jesus said, Suffer, little children, forbid them not to come unto me.
Who have thought is the Kingdom of heaven? Oh, it's lovely. Just sort of rounds that portion off. I believe that the Lord has a special place in His heart for these little ones before they reach that age of responsibility. That love doesn't cease, but it doesn't His love as a seeking savior then, which is a little different. He wants them to come to repentance, but how wonderful it is. They're secure and safe.
We'll see them, They'll be with us and next with those who are older.
And Luke's Gospel, the Lord Jesus there in chapter 19, speaking to Zacchaeus, tells them in verse 10. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And so those here in this company who have reached the age of responsibility, they are responsible to accept Christ. And if they reject them, they're lost.
But the Lord Jesus still seeking them.
And he wants them to be saved. And how lovely it is to know that.
It's not God's will to anything perish that all my country fence, so the Lord is still seeking.
I want to stage up before that. We do not fight with the little ones, the seeking.
A child that dies in the age of inaccursability.
Is not responsible for the position of being born as a Sinner and comes into the good of the work of the Lord Jesus.
Beautiful to see, but we have to realize too that the word of God clearly shows that the position of the parents.
Towards God. There's an effect on the family, and we see that several times in scripture when God executes judgment. I mentioned this because some people have advocated that all the little ones, whether they are children or Hussein's or children of unbelievers, will have part in the rapture. I don't believe we have any scripture.
To support that lordship. But the children of the Saints, because their parents have faith, go with their parents when the Lord Jesus comes because they're in the age of inaccountability and the Lord Jesus doesn't have to seek them first as he does those who are responsible. The gospel goes out to them and they have a responsibility to personally accept.
It and come to the Lord Jesus.
As their savior, First Corinthians 7 and verse 14 fair set out, doesn't it?
00:25:32
I'd like to share some other scriptures on to help answer this question in Genesis 7.
Verse one.
Genesis 7 One and the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house, into the ark. For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
It was all that, all of Noah's house, that came into the Arbor, the ark of safety, to be saved from the judgment that was coming on the earth.
And so when the Lord comes, he'll take the head of the house and all his house with him if he has faith again. You get the same principle in Exodus 10.
When the question is asked by Pharaoh Exodus 10 verse 8.
And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks, and with our herds, where we go.
For we must hold a feast unto the Lord. I'm just citing these passages to give the principle that we have found in Acts 16, which I'd like to read next. It's all throughout the Bible.
The Principle of Val and thy House so Acts, 1631.
Verse 30 He brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. So when we're saved as to our bodies at the coming of the Lord, and we're raptured into his presence, our house will go with us. That is our our children.
Who have not reached the age of accountability. And then that verse our brother just gave us, but we didn't read it. First Corinthians 714 I think is a very good one, it says.
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Elsewhere your children unclean, but now are they holy? Now that's a verse which is in contrast with what you get in Ezra chapters 9 and 10. Where if a Jew had married a a heathen wife.
The child was unclean.
And the wife was to be put away, and the children from that union were to be put away. In Christianity, it's the other way around. If there's faith in either the husband or the wife, the child is sanctified. That is, in a position of holiness.
Positionally doesn't mean that the child is saved, Doesn't mean there's been a work of God in his soul, but he's positionally.
In that position of blessing and what even if the parents are not both saved, I believe the scripture would teach us that if one is saved that the rapture, the child with children of that union will go with the same one to to the glory.
What reign does this be seen? One versus 4.
5 errors without security.
00:30:28
Citizens work first corner according to Jesus through lesson Him and wore the foundation of the world that we need the old again with that flame before him in the world.
According to the adoption of juror by Jesus collapsed in yourself according to the good plagiarism of goodwill.
Why do we agree that we need to or?
We need to take up the scriptures as they are presented and apply them to those to whom they are applicable, for instance in Ephesians.
Here it's not a question of persons being in in heaven, it's a question of persons occupying a certain position, and would apply only, I'm sure, to those who are Christians, those who are believers in Christ.
But we know that there are going to be.
A number. There's going to be a great.
Vast number of souls who will be blessed for eternity.
But not all in the same.
In the same position, so to speak, we read into the prayer in Ephesians 3.
When he bowed his knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named, indicating, I believe, that there are various categories. And the the assembly of the church is an esteemed family, a distinct group, and we can't we can't speak of other groups in the same light in which we speak of the assembly.
And God has not necessarily given us all of the details as to the the blessing and the position of each one of the families.
I remember one of the remarks Brother Mary Hale used to used to make is that God does not answer our curious questions.
But he gives us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and I take that too in this life, that that God revealed in His Word what he wants us to enter into and to know, and what he has not.
Detailed in the word. I really believe it's safer to leave that alone with the Lord. We do not know the exact position, I would say, of infants.
Who have the Lord has taken in infancy? And others knew as we were saying it, we believe, and I think the scriptures we've had before us does show that the little ones of the believers, the Saints, will go with them the whole house, those who have not reached the age of accountability and have not rejected Christ.
Of course we know it does not apply to 1, even though He is reared in a Christian family, if he has rejected the Gospel having come to an accountable age. But under that age, no doubt they will go. And to my mind God has not been pleased to tell us exactly the position of these Infants. But we do know that that they're all blessed, of whom every family is named. He He bowed his knee under the Father.
Well, that speaks of grace and of blessing, He doesn't say. I bow my knees under God, but under the Father of whom every family. So we can be sure that every family is going to be supremely blessed, even though all are not going to be a part of the Church. So I would say that we we don't want to take up scriptures that that apply to the Saints.
00:35:14
Simply and.
Try to workout something in regard to those who are not a part of the assembly.
Through all words of physical.
And we take care of our product. We feel for us. We'll have our company, good travel.
For the comfort of parents, I like you to speak just the word on the age of accountability.
As God has spoken just a little about it in Numbers, Chapter 14.
I don't want to put this out as a.
Definite number.
But it does come out here that way. But rather to read these verses, who shall?
God is.
Compassionate.
And.
The judge of all years will do right, of course, and leave the age of accountability fully with him. As to Grace and the Gospel of Yearbook 14 Terror Numbers the.
Lord is speaking.
In verse 27, Hello Philadelphia with this evil congregation that murmur against me knows that says Murmur against me. I have heard the memories of the children of Israel, which they murmured girls means.
Sitting under them, as true as I live with the Lord, as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you Your practices shuffle in the wilderness, and all that were numbered of you according to the whole number. From 20 years old and upward. I noticed that number. It's under the wall.
It's a graphing of feeling which her, her, her grass made. The age of accountability was 20 years old enough for.
That lest ye shall run into the water, concerning which I swear to make you well, we're insane. Can you look the son of Jefuna and Joshua, the son of Nun? I don't know what's what he said about your little ones.
The little ones are from 20 years old.
But your little ones, which he said should be a Prairie them will I bring in, and they shall know the Lord in which he described. I think there's a principle here to comfort us and to encourage us.
We do reach an age of credibility, and it is likely in my own thought, when we begin to murmur against God and despise the gospel which we have heard, then we are fully accountable. But these little ones that have heard those things, and they're running in person in the world, and Christians who have not heard the whole gospel.
Let's leave it with God. These things aren't revealed, and we're not under law. We're not under definite years as to anything today. But all the grace of God and His compassionate heart, these dear little ones, they're going to be brought in.
00:40:09
India. Well, I think, Robert, you say you're still out there. In the end, there'll be more people in heaven. They're in hell, and I would believe it. That brings it into.
I fully believe it includes all.
So.
We have to take one more. You know what you don't want? You don't live in the rainbow. It's already possible.
I I.
Believe in the new life.
Well, we were not talking about rules with their chronicles. When we're talking about children, we're talking about God, who is gracious and merciful, or who has provided the way.
For sin.
To breathe eliminated from a soul. That's the law of Jesus Christ. And I was thinking him blow up the answer to what? You're sorry?
In verse 2.
Or poor elders, they fall on the Tarshish, warring new.
Of gracious Lords, merciful so, that render or Greek kindle and repentacy of the evil.
There were 120,000 babies left.
Other than 20,000 graveyards in the middle of the world, we're talking about the brains these years. Or like wolves from the question of slavery in God's mind, He's gracious towards our dreams and thank God for the Lord. Don't think the question convinced her of the sins of those brains they got wrong. Yes Sir. And the just afterwards were saying, fully agreed.
00:45:15
What restaurant? Between the soon of Adam, which Paul and Steve entirely race of Adam into a state of condemnation. And we all deserve judgment and death because of that is the work of Christ. And the work of Christ has sought infinitely glorified God as to the whole question of sin, that every human being on the face of the earth will go to heaven.
Least upon that work, and the only reason they won't end up Lauren is because they've set their willows against God and refused to bow to God's authority and to the atoning efficacy of the world.
Rights certainly haven't done that. Slow them down you with the purchase. Blood of grace is their title to the glory. They have not said or will not have them. But Rozzle brothers. And yet who might be in this room that have will steal against God. I won't have them. You go to Hell's Provision hasn't been made for you. Provision hasn't been made.
In the Precious Blood of Grace, and that Working from such infinite Ground.
And color.
Take the water white you saw available. Appreciation for it is for the.
The whole world.
Will be spirit we all hope you may accept.
He doesn't believe you, right?
Close.
What would that look?
Are absent, are present in the body and absent whichever, whichever it was.
Why his exercise was to be agreeable, I believe is the way Mr. Darby translates the word here. It says to be accepted of him. Actually, that's not an exercise on our part, to be accepted. We are accepted in the beloved, taken into God's favor. Our acceptance is in another and.
It's a measure of it is Christ. But here it is that he might be agreeable, that is, that his life, his walk, and his ways might be that which is pleasing to the Lord. Because I believe there is a sense in which we can bring delight to the Lord, just as a Father. He might love all of his sons equally, but he takes special delight.
00:50:09
In those who?
Would be walking in a way that is, that is in keeping with their training and everything their position. And there is the bringing of delight and pleasure to the heart of God. And what he wanted to do, whether absolute or present, He wanted to be pleasurable to God, agreeable to God, and because.
In verse 10, we see that it's all going to be brought out of the judgment seat. Everything.
And he would desire that that it would be that which is gives God delight and pleasure.
As I say too in regard to the judgment seat of Christ.
The expression we must all.
Is an expression that is very broad and includes every human being.
The all everyone will appear before Christ, not at the same time.
Not at the same time.
We know that the Saints, the believers, will appear before Christ before the Millennium, before he comes out in in power and glory, and those who are destined for the lake of fire will appear before Christ at the great White throne judgment after the Millennium. But the expression here includes all everyone. No one is exempt.
Everyone is going to appear before Christ.
But as I say, not at the same time. And the Leavers will appear there not to have their sins judged, not to be judged as their persons, or judged for their sins like those at the great White Throne. But everyone will appear to be more Christ. And that's why he says in verse 11. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, because the fault of appearing before Christ.
Do not strike terror in his heart. He did. He knew he had perfect peace in regard to that for himself and for believers, but he knew what a terrible thing it was for the unbelievers, the price projector to appear before Christ.
Would you explain the expression at the end of verse 10 where it says everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad?
Is that in what sense do we understand the? Well, I need the. We need the explanation for that, good or bad?
I believe that even with believers as well as young believers, everyone that appears before Christ, they're going to get a perfect assessment of everything done in the body. That is, they're going to have.
They're going to see his permanent judgment in the thing. I mean judgment in the sense of his assessment of it, not condemnation. And I think it is receiving the things done in the body.
Means that you're going to, we're going to.
See everything.
In in the right light, he's going to bring everything out. If it's if it's been bad, then it's going to be seen as that. If it was good, it's going to be seen as good.
But we want to remember rather that when we appear before Christ, that the judgment seat that we will be in our.
Glorified bodies and we will be like Christ. We will not have the flesh within, and we will, we will know even as we are known. We will see ourselves then.
As we really are in Christ.
I think as we think of ourselves now, we might say, well, I know I'm in Christ, and in Christ I am acceptable to God. In Christ I am one in whom God can delight. But yet there's always within us the feeling that we know what's in our hearts and we know the things that we have done and all of that. So it detracts when we're there at the judgment. See, all of that is forever gone.
00:55:10
There is no Flex, there is no. There is no sense of having a being or being a Wanderers will be there as to like Christ, conform to his image. So I believe even though we will see the things that were bad and they will be seen as Barrett the good and the bad, that we will see it in the light, a different light than what we might look at it now.
Now I know there are some that have taken this good and bad as being but believers receiving the good and the unbelievers receiving the bread. But I don't think it refers to reward and punishment myself. I think it refers to seeing the things. We will then see what was good and what was bad. We'll have our we'll have the right judgment assessment of everything. Well, how will the unbelievers see what was good? He didn't. He didn't do anything that was good, did he?
Well, I believe that.
In a sense, I think that possible. In other words, like the the rich young ruler that came to the Lord when he looked on him, he loved him. I think that there are things that even an unbeliever does that in themselves are good.
I would say that I think that even the Lord recognizes there that there are things that are humanly good, not necessarily evil in themselves.
But of course, it's not done for the glory of God and it doesn't receive any any reward.
But I I don't think we could say that an unbeliever never does anything good.
I can say that I see a 52. Eight would have some bearing upon this. I was only 52. Seven speaks of the time when the Lord will have returned and established his Kingdom. And the eighth verse is by the worksman shall lift up the voice with the voice together shall they sing.
For they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again the limit, A voice thought of that as a principal after the judgment seat, of course, when everything has been evaluated in the life of the.
Well, the Lord's assessment of it is we've had before. Then we will see I die before. We'll see everything as the Lord sees it. That'll serve in a controversy.
That's right in the in the 19th of Revelation they say true and righteous are thy judgments.
They we will see everything in its proper life. I don't think it's so much here as to who will receive the good or bad, but the fact that everything done in the body is going to have a true assessment and we will, we will see what is good and what is bad, which we may not always have that that righteous discernment now.
Of Jesus Christ. Now if every man's bill wants this authority. Gold stroke, precious gold, food and double everyone's worst salvage. He made manufacturing for the day of Larry the.
Revealed by heart on the fire every man's worth of one story. It is if any man's work, that's why she has built their fault, he shall receive a reward. If any time shall be burdened, he shall suffer law while he himself.
Violence.
Well, under the first Pentium there the 4th chapter two, we have a verse that fits in with this. In verse five therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then till every man have praise of God. In the third chapter it's the it's the judgment of the works. But here we see even the motives are going to be judged.
01:00:18
Even the modis hidden things of the heart. Everything is going to be brought out, and I suppose that that there is a in a sense of moral necessity for the judgment seat.
We read in Revelation 19 that the wife had made herself ready.
We wouldn't want to. We couldn't really, you might say, enter into that scene of glory with the Lord Jesus until every question has been settled. There's so many things that we we might have a wrong thought about down here.
And do not understand. But there everything will be brought out, everything done in the body. And I take it it means from the moment that one is born into this world, everything done in the body, they will not be looked at as sins, they will not be dealt with as sins. But we will see whether it was good or bad. That's where I take it.
Reconciled across by the 7th son, once more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
For we must all appear before the charge, and see the price, and through the never man.
I I'm not taking issue with you, but I must say that I'm having a little trouble with that because the context I think of the chapter is every time the word we is used is used in reference to.
Fall the dressing the Corinthians and I believe addressing them as believers referring things we had this morning in the reading meeting. So to suddenly say in this verse that the weed applies to all men, I think troubles me and connects with an occupation that was made that how could it unserved person have anything that is the glory of God in the sense of good of all our righteousnesses are in filthy rags.
We renewed for our scripture, so I have to confess it. At this point I'm a little confused with the thought that we must all appear would speak of all mankind rather than just the believers.
I hesitate to reply because I don't like to refer to the Greek, but I believe, if you'll check with Mr. Darby's translations and others, the expression the all here is a little different in the Greek than the other that is used in this chapter, and it's a more inclusive word. We the all. You might, you might, it might be written like that. The all of us, not just believers.
But we the all of men, all of us.
I don't know whether Mr. Darby, I can't recall how he translates that especially, but I do know that in the original, the word the, the Greek, it's it's a little different from.
The others there when it says we the all is anyway the all.
You know, like I said, all the cars and the car lines are winning every car in the whole world. I've been using every car in the car ride and they all hear is modified blue. So we're always in the spirit shortness of grocery instance here to get a point across.
That all within the sphere of greed, whenever we decide that is, it has to be.
Literally referred to when Revelation 20.
And verse 11.
01:05:03
When I saw a great white throne and him that sat on us from a roof police the earth and the heaven flutter world, there's found no place for them.
And I saw the blood, small and great, stand before God, and the books were open. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were just out of those things which were written in the books according to their work. And I see the worth of dead Witcher in it, and dug on hell delivered up the temperature. And there were just every brand according to their work.
Through even those who.
They're relaxed.
They're worthless, will be judged.
And their judgment will be according to their work.
The Lord, the judge was.
They're in chapter 4.
There will be the day of the Lord and He will be the judge of all men, but clearly there are two different aspects and timings for that director.
Which ought to comfort and really bring enjoyment to the heart of the believer.
And the revelation was referred to whose wife hath made herself lovely. And that chapter we believe the order is for us that when we're called in.
Thinking of the glory in.
Remember the way that we can bring it now. We will be there with Christ in the glory and the glorified body.
And prepared for the marriage. We will go, We'll say goodbye. The judgment seat of groove will Everything will be made for the believer. We are the only ones who will be there in that sense to have.
What has been done in the body made manifest from there in First Corinthians 4. Whenever Canada says and every man shall have praise of God, there's not a single one that appears there at that time who does not get a reward. Every man shall have praise of God. All to enjoy. This is most wonderful. He's going to reward us for everything that he can.
That will be the wife made ready, and it speaks for me, I mean linen, which is the ruthless NASA's world of Saints. What we have done in the world that can shine over to the glory of the bride will be manifested and brought out and displayed in glory. There there will be the loss of many things that we thought were good.
Doubtless. But what a comfort and joy it is to swing that he is going to take out breath and manifest even the motives of the heart, things that we don't even know now. Often we can't even recognize the molding for some of the things that we do. And sometimes our motives are very what we set out to do just turns into a complete flop. But.
I believe then we're going to get a wonderful reward for the Modi.
All the largeness of heart of Christ to do that.
Then there is this scene in Revelation, probably.
Bringing to light of everything.
The wicked dead have gone on, a tremendous difference. It is going on in the work chapter I noticed.
That the.
In that's first year, 11 knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.
01:10:01
It seems to me that we have a thing we've seen bring here in this verse between the word we and men.
Always writing to those Corinthians as believers. The next chapter in the first verse, he says we have workers together.
He is writing to those.
That is a very different thing in a very different time for believers to appear before the judgment seat of Christ.
So Paul and Spark drawn in the 11Th verse here.
To the judgment seat of Christ in a second aspect of Revelation, when the wicked live, oh what a thing that will be when they stand before running, the same Lord the judge ends.
Oh, make it true. There they are, probably believing second aspect from him here in the beloved first, the terror of the Lord. Whereas it's drastically elastic. It's an old enough it's going to be more like a birthday party where he's going to be rewarded and give us every pleasure of us joy that he can be on display for his glory too.
Might be nice just doing the judgment.
A little first gone, Chapter 4, where all of those who are his, because we should look to the judgment seat of boys with fond anticipation. Really. And the thought here is inverse on 18.
There is No Fear in love. Perfect love cast fear.
And the certainly it should. Read this way. Here is love with us. Perfect. It's the love of God with us that we may have bolded us with judge, because else we lose. So are we, the squirrel.
It's more for tropical flowers as the holy rood things we've done leave no body including and everything and how wonderful it is. It's all praise.
The things that have been done in the Spirit that are for Christ, through the appeal, we're going to have a reward. We don't deserve it, but that's the graciousness of our God and the Lord Himself. And we will, we will be anxious.
Not hesitant, very anxious with old truth to cast anything at his feet. Because it's all of him.
Well, thank God all that they will lose, daughter. All that was of the flight was going to be burned up. Go on forever. And would you dare to think of one sad or foolish thought not being eliminated forever? When you go in with glory, why don't you be drunk for women? So there should be No Fear at all, as he is. So are we right now.
In this world, one with the joy.
Were one with the joy, so fear.
Whatever that's good that is refers to threaten. When was his judgement passed? First fear. That's where my judgment was. As he is. As to gentlemen, so are we. In this world. We'll never come into judgment for these. Thank you bore it.
Primarily, I'm sure that the the moment here is not the powerful is not bringing out the judgment seat in order to bring out the judgment of the law in connection with his own exercise. Business that weren't war with the 1St 10 shows that it's in it's in connection with his own exercise to be agreeable to the Lord, for we must all appear but when they thought of appearing before Christ.
01:15:11
Comes before him.
And he thinks of the lawless appearing before Christ as we held in Revelation. They're going to be there for judgment.
We're not going to appear before Christ for judgment.
It's going to be a manifestation and an assessment of everything, but when the unbeliever appears before Christ, it's for judgment.
Random the believer. It is a manifestation. We will never appear before Christ for judgment, but only to have everything properly assessed so that we have every question settled. But when he, when he thinks it appeared before Christ and I think it's not addicted, Verse 11 would indicate that it all here would be including all men because.
As a predictor, all appearing before Christ.
What's going to happen to him? Because the persuading of men he would never speak of that in that that matter, is to believers not persuading Saints, but through some persuading men, those who are not the Lord.
And the corresponding passage enrollments 14 I'll read it in verse 10 with with verify what you just said. It says in the end of verse 2 But we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, or is written as I live. Stand for more. Every beast shall bounce me and become to confess to God.
When everyone of us should give accounting himself and go on, clearly that's everyone in the world goes to the city.
I know the translation reads that the judge will see to God, but it's basically the same truth, isn't it? And so the terror of the Lord to the lost caused him to persuade men of the brain's manifestation of a believer. To think of the manifestation of what I was a person is terrible.
And so it means their internal room. In fact, that's what he talks about in verse three of our church 5. If so be that being clothed by shall not be followed. Thank you those in Revelation 20. The dead that stand before God will be close to 1 resurrection bodies, and they will be naked before glory, even though they have a new body. We don't know what you're wrong with that body.
But there's no.
And there will be.
The manifestation will find the baby before God without the righteousness to close them and you.
That would be there.
But the classical reputation of the dress and speed of.
Is so important that we should be actually.
Live a lorry.
Lord would approach the feet of Christ, be my forever long discussion as to the law before which is truly not tumultuous for all things before the Saints year.
Dusty fell out.
Or stand for the inner suit. But how do we benefit ourselves personally on the track? All will appear before the jacket fleet that we would be exercising to live a life in the life of the church and sleep of Christ.
You pull it, the size will far grow.
Blind and.
And we will find their own.
01:20:02
It wasn't for me and we were so happy to change our mind and relative to Europe or to believe that is what you should be exercised the ball with a bright bullet in the world.
Alarms.
Close I'd like to tell the story that our Brother Pottery.
You certainly have a dream.
You're planning before you. George wants to do railing.
More immediately.
Yes, what will be strong with morality?
It is.
Like a boring.
One floor of the road.
Belinda.
Flung.
Three or four years.
How did you get along at school?
There are winds on glow.
Well, I didn't recall.
Following the Path of Faith
Address—E. Pilkington
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Yesterday afternoon.
About the will of God.
And beloved God's will for you and I.
Is the very best for us.
You know each one of us.
We have that within us that just seems to rebel.
Against doing the will of others.
But always we think of our Lord Jesus.
One thinks of how he could say.
Not my will, but thy be done.
His will was always obedient to the Father's will.
And oh, he could say, I do always those things that please my father.
My desire to be loved by them this afternoon, young and old, alight.
If you and I might be found doing those things, that please the one who loved us and died for us.
Our time for doing this is drawn close to an end.
I believe the coming of the Lord is surely drawn near.
At all? How happy would be if you and I would be found always doing those things that please him. How are we going to know what pleases the Lord Jesus? Well, God has given us His word.
To show us He has given us His Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to teach us His will.
But you know, we have to be willing to do his will.
And I believe that's the path of happiness. To be willing, I'd like to read a verse.
To begin with, in the 13th chapter of Hebrews.
And.
Verse 7.
The last part of the verse.
Whose faith follow?
Considering the end of their conversation.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today.
And forever.
You know.
Beloved Saints of God, and there are young people here this afternoon.
God wants you and I to follow His word.
You know, there's something within us that likes to follow the failures of others, but it tells us who's faithful.
But I like to remind you and myself too, that the God of this world.
Whom the Lord he is to call a deceiver.
A liar?
The accuser of the brethren.
I want to say he's very clear he's still going about seeking to deceive.
And he is a robber. He is a thief.
There is one thing he cannot do.
And that rob a Christian of their salvation, one who is entwelp by the Spirit of God.
A war against Christian if you like, one who belongs to Christ. He cannot rob us of our salvation, but he can rob us of our joy, of our salvation. He can hinder us from following the Lord Jesus. And so it says here.
Whose faith follow? And then it says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.
This blessed book does not change.
You know when we came to Des Moines on Friday.
I found a lot of changes in the highway around Chicago.
And you know, you have to be alert and you have to follow the signs.
And I found out that some of those signs weren't there.
And then the next thing I saw was a sign 294.
And there was no way I could get off to get on 80. To get here, I had to continue on that wrong road to the next exit, which was a good few miles.
00:05:07
All how we need to be alert today and I want to say this.
The enemy of our souls.
Is seeking to change the word of God.
And there are many new Bibles on the market today.
And some of them are not complete.
And there are some things that are false.
I don't want to warn each one of us.
We need to be careful who we follow.
Oh, this translation I hold in my hands the King James.
And I have another one in my libel case. The J&D has proven itself and is reliable and I just like to warn each one here, especially young people.
I heard a young brother say, well, I like to read this out of translation because.
I can understand it better.
Well, I like to say this.
I've never had a high school education.
But I don't have any problem reading the word of God. No problem at all.
The language is very easy to read and understand.
So I just mentioned that or just let's be careful.
I didn't sing to that brother, but he had a university education.
All they love.
If you and I are going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
We must keep our eye upon him.
And there are that are taken away from the Lord Jesus, that which is his title, the glory that belongs together. But I just mentioned that, by the way.
Whose faith followed?
Who you and I follow them today?
Are we following, brethren?
Who are we following?
It says here whose faith follow. And then that brings before us the perfect example, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'd like to turn to some other scriptures.
Some things that would hinder us from following the path of faith.
And then some other scriptures that would encourage us.
Can be turned first of all to the first Psalm.
Psalm One.
Blessed or happy as a man.
That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Nor standeth in the way of sinners.
Nor citizen the seed of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law that he meditates day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not whither.
And whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so.
But are like the top with the wind drivers away, Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall pair.
And so here we have a little word of warning in this chapter.
And we have this encouragement happy.
Blessed are happy is the one who walks not in the council of the ungodly. So there are two classes of people around us today, those who are ungodly and those who are godly.
00:10:06
May I ask each one of us?
Which of those two companies?
Are you? And I found.
Or we might say, well, I I'm found in the company of the ungodly.
But I want to say this, We are living in an ungodly world.
And we need to be on our guard.
Satan is a deceiver.
And he knows how to deceive us. He knows how to paint a rosy picture of a certain path.
But you know.
The book of Proverbs reminds us there is a way that seemeth right unto a man.
But oh, it warns us the end thereof are the ways of death.
Well, we know that the path of the ungodly.
Will not help us to please the Lord will.
And so whose company are we found in?
Are we found in the past? Are the ungodly?
I want to just give a little warning.
There will be no truth, joy and happiness in that path.
And in that path, be the love you're going to find.
That the God of this world is not only a deceiver, but he's a thief. He's a thief.
And you know what? Thief is very, very clever. Most of them.
As I found out once, to my sorrow.
I didn't know it, but I went to a bank and pulled out my wallet.
It wasn't there.
It wasn't there.
It is gone. A thief had got it.
Well, I just mentioned that we need to be careful. We're living in an ungodly world.
But I want to say this. You and I have the truth of God.
Satan is a thief, and he is.
Going to seek to rob us of the truth.
He will seek to cause us to compromise.
And I want to say, you cannot compromise with evil.
And have God's blessing and approval. And so we find the path here of the ungodly, and the path of those who are godly. And it says here his delight is in the law of the Lord.
Oh yes, the one who's not walking in the constantly ungodly.
Why his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law that they meditate day and night, Well, that's something good for us. We all like that, I think for myself.
How there needs to be that meditating. How there needs to be that making the word of God our own so that it becomes a part of our whole life.
And then there's that blessing. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.
Now Bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he do it shall prosper.
Who is this Speaking of?
They're speaking about the one who is not walking in the counsel of the ungodly.
Yes, he will have fruit, you know, in the 15th chapter of John's Gospel.
The Lord could say, you haven't chosen me.
But I have chosen you.
And ordained you that you might bring forth fruit.
Wouldn't it be nice? Be loved?
That there would be more fruit in our lives as a result of being here during these three days.
With me, lovely, there would be that fruit that even those who don't love the Lord Jesus can discern.
A different can see that there is fruit in our lives.
Oh, we want to bring forth fruit. There must be that keeping close to the Lord Jesus, having him as our optic.
00:15:06
I want to digress a little.
Last night.
I was following the brother.
To his home.
But I didn't get 2 bucks before I lost him.
What happened?
Another car got in between.
And LeBron made a right turn. And then he made a left turn.
A car in front of me had stopped because he wanted to make a left.
And so by allowing that of the car to get in between us.
I missed the brother who had laid me.
And so when I was able to make the turn, he was gone.
Now what am I going to do? Well, I stepped on the gas to try to catch up.
That didn't seem that he was ahead at all and she really didn't turn, go the other way, and I turned around, went the other way.
What? You see, when I went the other way then I noticed a sign that I was going West instead of east, so I knew that wasn't the right.
And so then I turned around and came back again.
And then I saw 30th St. that I could have gone on, but as it was dark, I couldn't see 30th St. and so I thought, well, I can go to 29th St. and just get around. It'll be it'd be the same direction.
That I found out I made a mistake.
And I wandered around last night for an hour, I guess.
Not knowing which way to go, oh, I got almost near my destination, but oh, it was so dark.
Couldn't see the sun.
Couldn't see the sign.
And I'll tell you one thing I did.
I did stop my car and got a flashlight out out of the trunk and we used it.
And you know, we got to a street, we had to shine that light right there to make sure.
That we were going the right way.
Well, we got going the right way and it was so dark. Oh, it was so difficult to see the sign.
And so we wander to rock.
And I saw a good part of Des Moines last night that I didn't know existed.
Well.
What are we going to do?
Well, I tell you what we did and my wife says, why don't we pray about it? And we did.
And then?
I noticed in my mirror car behind me.
And I just thought that just stopped and I stopped and I stopped.
And.
He was very polite. I tried to tell him where I wanted to go and I gave him the street and the address.
He started to explain the way to me and then he said.
Oh, he says. Never mind. Just follow me. I'll take it well.
Off he went and I followed him and in two minutes why? We are where we wanted to go.
Well.
If you got there where we wanted to go.
I thank the man very much for his kindness, he says. Don't thank me, thank the Lord.
And we said, are you a Christian? He said, yes, I am. And he says I knew you were too by your text on the back of your car. Well, I just mentioned this, how nice it is. Just look at the Lord and ask this help. And there may be those times in our life, dear young people, when we don't know which way to turn. We seem to be going here and going there, but we not making any progress. We're not getting where we want to go.
Well, isn't nice. We can ask the Lord to show us.
I think of that verse and Genesis 24.
00:20:04
I be in the way. The Lord led me to house my master's brain. It's nice to be in the way, but if we get out of the way, don't keep on going like I did. Just stop. If I'd only stop sooner, I'd have done less wandering. Oh, tonight my heart sacked.
Because there are some missing here in this company.
That we're here the last time I was in the morning.
I'm back home in our country.
There are some missing at the Lords table. They're not there. What has happened?
Well, I can only feel.
That they're following failure instead of faith. Oh, our book of Hebrews says, Whose faith follow?
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn't change and His word does not change.
And there is a path of faith.
And it's a path of blessing.
But if we find ourselves getting on a path, another path where the ungodly are prevailing.
We're going to be LED astray.
I'm not going to be the loop well, I just want to read one more verse in connection with what the psalmist says here. Just turn over to the 26th Psalm for one verse.
And it's the fifth verse.
I have hated the congregation of evildoers and will not sit with the wicket.
That is what our first Psalm says.
Blessed are happy as a man.
That standeth not.
That walk of not in the constantly ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seed of the scornful.
You know, if you don't walk with the ungodly, you're not going to be found standing and sitting with them.
They ask each one Whose company are you in when you leave these meetings, Go home. Whose company are you going to be in? Are you going to speak to your own company?
Well, I just mentioned that with the psalmist, there was that terrorism heart that he would not.
Sit with the ungodly. Now you turn over to the 16 song.
John 16.
I'm going to read the whole.
Chapter.
Preserve the O gone, for in thee do I put my trust.
O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, My goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight.
Their sorrow shall be modified that hasten after another God.
Their drink offering of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names unto my lips. The Lord is a portion of mine inheritance. Out of my cup thou maintain us my life.
The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places. Yeah, I have a goodly heritage.
I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel my reigns. Also instruct me in the ninth seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices.
Thou wilt show me the path of life, In thy presence is fullness of joy.
At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
This time is a lovely prayer.
That each one of us can pray every day knowing that would be God's desire for us to pray.
00:25:04
Praise, serve me, O God.
For indeed do I put my trust.
All we can keep ourselves young people.
We need the Lord to keep us. We can't walk through life without the help of our Lord Jesus.
And may this be the prayer of our hearts. Oh, if we are praying, this prayer is going to preserve us from walking in that path of the ungodly. It's going to stop us from sitting, standing with the ungodly and sitting in their company.
I sometimes mentioned Peter.
And dear Peter, what a faithful man of God he was.
But again, the Word of God reveals to us that there was failure in Peter's life.
And where did it begin?
I believe it began with self-confidence. We can't keep ourselves.
The Lord had said to Peter, Watch and pray, lest she enter into temptation.
That word watch suggests the thought that we have to be on our guard.
Because the enemy of our souls is seeking to rob us of the truth.
He's seeking to rob us of our testimony and if he can, cause us to stand in the way of the ungodly.
It's not going to be long before you'll have a sitting in their company and one step.
Leads to another. And so how We need the Lord to preserve us, and how nice it is that we can look to the Lord. And that psalmist could say here. And verse 11 Thou will show me the path of life in thy presences, fullness of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.
You know, young people and older ones too.
Sometimes you hear them say, I want to see light.
There's only one true life.
This path here the path of life.
The word of God tells us.
Where Texas?
It takes us into his presence.
It tells us what's there.
And I'm sure we all have to confess. We all like to be happy.
All the path of faith.
Path of life here takes us into the presence of God, where there is pleasures forevermore.
Now we just turn over to the New Testament.
But perhaps we might read one verse in the book of Hosea.
6th chapter.
And the third verse.
Sometimes I am asked the question.
How are you going to know what the will of God is for us?
Well.
This verse says Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord?
And if you want to know.
God's will for your life, beloved this afternoon.
You and I must follow the Lord.
And if we follow any human leader, we're going to be LED astray.
Oh then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.
Now the New Testament.
Let's remember that God reveals His will to us through His Word.
We turn to the Ephesians Chapter 5.
We turn to the Ephesians Chapter 5.
That chapter of Ephesians.
And read from verse 6.
00:30:05
Let no man deceive you with vain words.
Or because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
For ye were sometimes darkness.
That now are ye light in the Lord walk as children of light.
For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
Prove what is acceptable to the Lord and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
But rather reprove them, for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.
For whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Wherefore, he says, The weak thou the sleepeth.
And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Now we mentioned Peter, I just like to mention this.
For our encouragement and for our warning.
Peter was told to watch and pray.
Lest he would enter into temptation.
But instead of watching, he went to sleep. Well, the Lord prayed.
Again the Lord came to whom? And said the same words to His disciples, but they went to sleep again.
They did not pray.
May I pass this comment on to you that my dear mother?
Told us boys when we were young.
It remained with me.
For 60 years.
The prayer meaning is a powerhouse for the assembly.
It's a powerhouse.
And I want to say it's a powerhouse for each one of us as individual believers.
Prayer.
Independence on the Lord.
Is going to give us the power to walk in the path of obedience.
The path of obedience, the word of God.
Four Peter.
When the Lord allowed those soldiers to take him.
He followed a far off.
And now he is in a wrong position.
Dear young people, older ones.
Are you in a wrong position this afternoon?
I would like to warn anyone.
I was Lord myself as a young man.
If you are in a wrong position, it is going to take you into wrong company.
Peter fall afar off and then?
He went into pilots judgment hall.
Rather Cave was there, the High Priest.
And the soldiers.
And there's a religious rulers.
Seeking his life, the life of the Lord Jesus.
All he submitted.
To them.
And Peter he entered.
And then he began to warm himself.
That's a fire for those ungodly people.
He is in wrong company.
And being in wrong company will bring a wrong testimony from our lips.
They said you're one of his disciples. No, I'm not.
Without thinking, he said. No, I am not.
Three times he was asked that and three times he denied the Lord.
Being in the wrong company is going to bring a wrong testimony from your lips.
And my lips.
00:35:00
And the end of such a course is this.
A wrong testimony is going to bring tears and sorrow and trial and the life of God's children.
Who are found in the wrong company?
01 heart aches this afternoon.
As I think of some who are dear to me.
As a role of being in the wrong company.
You ever that wrong testimony from their lips?
And their testimony is gone.
They have made shipwreck of their life.
All God doesn't want you and I to make shipwreck of our life. He wants us to be happy.
He wants us to bring forth fruit for heaven, and if we're going to bring forth fruit, be love.
We must take heed to the warnings of God's Word.
You know in 119 Psalm. Let's turn back just briefly a moment. Hold in this.
Seasons 5 in 119 Psalm.
There is a blessing or happiness success in verse one.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way he'll walk in the law of the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep His testimony, that seek him with the whole heart.
And then we'll just go down a little further.
And the Psalmist says verse 5. All that my ways were to record to keep thy statues.
And then he goes on in verse 8, verse seven, I will praise thee with the brightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments, I will keep my statues forsake me, not utterly. And then he goes on wherewithal, see all the young men cleanse his way by taking heed thereto, according to thy word with my whole heart I have sought Thee will let me not wander from my commandments. Thy word have I hid in my heart.
Thou might not sin against thee.
And one more verse verse 18.
Open thou mine eyes.
That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law for the nights that we have.
These blessed words in this Psalm.
The answer is that happiness for the undefiled who walk in the law of the Lord.
But the Psalms could say all of my ways were directed to keep thy statues.
I want to say this every two Christian here this afternoon.
Has the Spirit of Christ indwelling their hearts, and that's the work of the Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth.
And he would never lead us in a wrong path that is contrary to the truth.
Never.
All the psalmist could say, oh, that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.
What are his statues, beloved?
I say this for those who are young.
You know, statues, an old brother used to tell us many years ago.
He used a big word and he says statues are decreed limitations.
And then he would illustrate what that meant.
To our children.
In our yard we had a big fence all around the yard and there were two gates, one gate in the saw on one side and two gates on the other side for the driveway to drive the car in, and those gates were shut.
When our children were young, we were careful to keep those gates shut.
And this, dear brother, said, Children, you see that fence around there, You can go outside and play, can't you? You can go outside and play. There's that fence and there's a gate, but you know you can't go out the gate.
If you go at that gate, you're not going to have liberty because you know you're disobedient.
Daddy says you're not to go out outside the gate, and so there's perfect liberty inside the fence, but to go outside.
Then there would be to break commandments.
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So God has that sphere beloved for you and I to walk in.
And it's the path of righteousness.
And may the desire of our heart always be.
To be found where the Word of God would direct us.
And so how nice it is to have the word of God. And again I say.
The 16th Psalm preserved me, O God, for indeed I put my trust is a good prayer to begin the day with. But then you know you need to read the word. And I think the 18th verse is another prayer we can all pray over now mine eyes.
That I may behold wondrous thing utter Lila and beloved, there is many wonderful, many wonderful promises in his word. Well, our time has gone down. I want to just go on briefly in Ephesians 5. We have the warning here, and it tells us here.
Verse 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are you light on the Lord walk as children of light.
And so we have a responsibility this afternoon. It is a wonderful privilege to be born again and to be brought into God's family. But with this privilege comes responsibility.
And you and I are responsible to read God's Word and to obey it.
And how nice it is to have it as a light for our pathway.
119 Psalm again, verse 105. You don't need to turn to it.
But there it speaks about the word of God as a lamp to our feet.
And a light to our past lady.
I'm thankful for a light when it's dark.
Very thankful.
And if you and I try to walk in the dark.
If you and I try to walk.
Outside the path of liberty that the Word of God gives us.
We're going to be found walking in darkness.
And if you walk in darkness?
You're going to have a fall.
You know what happens when you have a fall?
I'm going to repeat a little story.
A true one.
My dear brother was in a certain assembly visiting the Saints.
And he walked around this house where he was staying.
And it was dark.
And he fell down a steep hole.
It was an old cellar where a house would be.
And had never been filled in.
And as he walked around down he walked.
He was hurt badly.
He had wounds, scars.
And had to return home.
After seeing the duck.
Two years later.
There's my praise to be in that same assembly, and I was in that same house. As I sat on the Chesterfield, I wondered whether that hole was still there around the house, and I decided to find out. And I walked around. Only I walked on the daylight. There it was. That old excavation was still there, and as I looked down, I couldn't help but shudder to think of falling down headlong.
On a dark night.
In that hole.
I mentioned to one there that's dangerous to have that.
Big old cellar there, that big hole. Why don't you cover it up or put a barricade around it?
And I mentioned this brother who had that fall.
And they said this without any concern.
He had a flashlight in his hand and he didn't have it turned on.
He was walking in the dark.
He had the flashlight, but he didn't have it turned on.
You and I say. How foolish. They'll walk in a strange place in the dark, having a flashlight to not turn it on. How foolish.
May I ask you this? Is there any difference?
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For you and I to have the word of God with all the warnings.
That God warns us from.
All those temptations, those pitfalls.
We have the word of God, and the family could say Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light on my pathway.
It's not enough to have the word.
You must walk in the light of the word of God.
And if you and I walk in the light of this precious book.
We're not going to have that kind of a fall that would bring scars to our life and dishonor to the Lord's name.
And so here, going down in our chapter.
We have a verse 11 have no fellowship with the unfruit worked of darkness, but rather reprove them.
And then verse 13. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light.
For whatsoever doth make manifest is life.
Wherefore, he said. Awake thou, let's leave us.
And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
I believe brethren.
We need to be warned to awake.
Who is it that has this warning? Those that sleep?
As I look around here, I don't see any eyes shut. I don't see anyone sleeping.
But it may be that there might be some here whose minds are closed.
To the precious word of God.
Your mind may be occupied with the pleasure of this life, of what you're going to do tomorrow or the next day.
Or when you get out of this building.
Jeremiah may be so occupied with that that you are blinded as to the truth of the warnings of God's Word.
Oh, there needs to be that awakened to be conscious of our danger.
We are living in an evil world, but oh how wonderful this is to be conscious of the Lord's presence this afternoon. And so we have this warning. Awake, God asleep. Our time is just about up. But I just like to read one more verse in the book of Proverbs and then a verse in the Romans.
The book of Proverbs. I believe it's the 16th chapter.
On the 16th verse.
I'm not very.
It's the 21St chapter in the 16th verse.
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
The man that wandereth or the way of understanding.
O beloved ones.
That's what Satan would like to do to lead you out of the way of understanding.
The word of God warns the end of such a path.
The man that wanders the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
I don't want to say you can't have any fellowship with dead people.
An old folly for a Christian to try to have fellowship.
With one who is still dead and trespassing and sin.
And all the folly and the danger.
Of those who are contemplating marriage with another.
Who is still dead in trespass and sin? I just mentioned I was a warning without comment. Turn to Romans.
Chapter 13.
Verse 11.
And I know the time that now it is high time to wake out of sleep.
But now as our salvation nearer than when we believe.
The night is far spent.
The day is ahead. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk on, as he is in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chamber and wantonness, not in strife and envy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.
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Knowing the time.
Oh, brethren, this high time do we go to sleep?
It's high time to realize this. We're not going to be left here much longer.
The coming of the Lord has drawn nigh.
It is high time to wake up to sleep.
And again the sleeps of that unconscious state of which the mind can be in.
While still awake as far as the body is concerned.
And so it's high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearly when we believe the night is far spent.
Oh, I love this.
These few verses.
How good it is to know the night is far spent. The coming of the Lord is drawn near half.
And you know what happens when the night is far spent.
The Morning Star appears.
Before the break of day.
Oh, the Lord Jesus as a morning star. He's coming. The love for his own. And what a day that will be when he comes for us. Oh, as we think of that blessed event, does it not mean anything to us?
Does it not encourage us to hold fast?
The precious truth of God.
Does it not encourage us to allow this blessed book to control our hearts?
And although I say if this book, the Word of God, controls our hearts, it'll control our feet too.
Well, there's a responsibility. The night is far spent.
Let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
And I say the precious word of God, there is where we are going to find the armor.
And I would say read Ephesians 6, you'll get the armor.
And when does the armor need to be put on?
If the armor is going to do you any good.
Preserve you from a fall.
Preserve you from a fiery dart of the enemy. You must put that armor on before the battle.
Yes, we must have it on at all times. And so here the Apostle closes, put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the less thereof. Although we still have that old nature of the flesh in here, and Paul could say in Romans chapter 8 they that are in the flesh.
Cannot. Please God.
God's desire is that you and I might please him.
And so may the Lord help us to lay aside those things that are really.
Feeding this old nature of ours.
I remember a favorite verse of an old brother. He used to come to these meetings.
And as John 6 and verse 63, I'm going to quote it.
It is a spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing.
Are you and I making provision for the flesh? Is there something we allow in our lives that is helping us make provision for the flesh? May we seek grace from the Lord to lay it aside for Him?
We sing.
2 Corinthians 5:18
2 Corinthians 5
Psalm 108