Des Moines Conference: 1997
Table of Contents
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12
Reading
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Committed to the.
4/1.
Does 51 and 52.
For justice the thought that.
The Lord brings out to his disciples in Matthew the 13th chapter.
And the 51St verse.
Matthew 1351 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yay, Lord, then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that isn't householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
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Like unto a man that isn't householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
Our God and Father.
Our God and Father.
Mode, as we're in this morning have come to thee for guidance and our God and Father. It is not a ritual. It is not something that we merely do because we've done it before. But we recognize the.
Divine intervention of the power of Thy spirit that is necessary for poor hearts like.
To us.
If we took up.
A second Thessalonians and go as far as we can in that epistle.
Some don't know what your thoughts are. It's been on my heart.
Read the first chapter.
Chapter One.
Paul and Sylvanus and Themotheus unto the Church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Grace unto you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is me, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you all toward each other abounded, so that we are selves glory in you in the churches of God.
For your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations, that ye endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer, seeing it as a righteous thing with God, to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
In flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, when he shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day? Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness.
And the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and me and him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The old things and the new things.
Or that Christ came and that he's coming. That's old news. He came during this age that she's coming. We're living in between. We could say it's the Old Testament. It's the New Testament. What a marvelous book we have to look into. There's no limit to it.
And nothing will cheer our hearts like looking for the Lord Jesus. Perhaps today, perhaps today.
What a marvel it is, that God in the world in which we live.
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That we think fully developed in wickedness and violence and corruption, that he keeps his people down here. He keeps it kept by the power of going through faith under salvation, ready to be revealed. That's what we'll get at his coming. If we went to the first epistle to Thessalonians, we'd see that right in the first chapter, and I believe in every chapter.
Yes, he came. Yes, he is coming. Meanwhile, he has something for his people down here to enjoy, and that's Christ himself and the glory that awaits us.
And the joy of the Lord to walk with him called by his name, met together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with him in the midst.
This fellowship with God.
I wish I'd gone ahead.
That's first Peter chapter one, verse five, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. That's where we are right now. We are in the last time, and that's what Paul has to say to the Thessalonians.
The.
Wonderful hope that we have of the eminence when he was living.
He was anticipating the return of Christ. We which are remained alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the cloud to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Paul was in Thessalonica 3 Sabbaths. That's as far as the record goes. That's all we know of. And yet in the second chapter of Second Thessalonians, in the fifth verse, he says.
Remember ye not, when I was yet with you, I told you these things.
Before I got saved.
I was told that the things regarding the coming of the Lord in the future, events and so forth were not for new Christians.
Therefore the beginners.
It's the blessed hope, Peter says.
Of the soon coming, glorious appearing. Both of them soon coming for us the glorious appearing.
For all of us, including Israel, but.
This is a marvelous portion of the scripture that we have here in the of good news, and yet of extremely solemn warnings.
How far we would get in the second epistle. We only have two reading meetings. It would be nice if we would have time to spend some time in the second chapter, which is very important. Maybe if we would not repeat ourselves.
We maybe we could get into the second chapter because it contains very important truth.
That is undermined and misrepresented in our day. Maybe we can hope that we will get into the second chapter as well.
Actually more strongly than any other part of the epistle the second chapter, but I thought we would start and at least briefly scan it the first chapter anyway.
Last time in general, let's look at a verse in Ephesians 6.
To find another description of the time in which we live. The time in which we live is between the coming of the Lord the first time and the coming the second time, and that's called the Evil day in Ephesians 6.
Verse 13 where we all are exhorted to take unto us the whole armor of God.
That you may be able to withstand in the evil day. Satan has succeeded in putting Jesus out of this way.
World, we may say. At least God has taken him out and the world thinks they've gotten rid of him.
And the whole of this time is the evil day, and we need to be prepared for it.
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And having done all to stand in a position, now our assembly here in our first verse we read.
Now, Thessalonica.
Is in a very secure place, the same place the assembly is in today.
In a most secure place.
The Lord had said when he announced the church. I will build my church and the gates of hell.
Shall not prevail against it. The assembly stands. Christ does that work.
And here where Paul had gone and written the first Epistle, both in the first Epistle and then the second pistol, he begins this way. The Church of the Thessalonian in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that comforting In the evil day in which we live, who think that she is impregnable, Satan got into Eden.
He'll never defeat the church. She gets up to heaven. Christ comes and brings her there. He came to purchase her, to get her out of this scene and we're just about ready to go. But to have that security go on from day-to-day, realizing that the church is in the position of in God our Father, that relationship of Father was not known.
Much in the Old Testament, at least.
But it's there all the time. In the new when Christ comes and reveals the Father, he mentions the Father.
I think many, many times in John's Gospel.
And.
Money gives Mary a message when he's standing there in resurrection. The 20th of John the Lord says to her, Go tell my brethren I ascend into my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. There it is, brethren. God is our Father. The Church is put in God the Father.
Our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, what a position to be in. And then he says grace to us.
Well, this is good for us.
We see too that.
Say a frontal attack against the assembly. He would try to work in a subtle way. And so we see that these Thessalonikins were disturbed in connection with the Lord's coming in the first epistle. They needed correction about those that had already passed on, and it's made clear that God would bring them with him.
So, But then we see in chapter five of First Thessalonians that the Apostle gave them credit for understanding these things perfectly. But did they? You know, the point of it is he didn't have much time, as you mentioned, to be with the Saints in Thessalonica. And we may assume that they're getting truth correctly, but it is so important to keep repeating things. Is that not true?
To just keep repeating things, Paul spent a year and six months in Corinth, and you can be sure that he repeated the truth again and again and again.
And in Asia 2-3 years, so many things were rehearsed again and again. We have found that very important, to continue to repeat things and to express it perhaps in a little different way. And sometimes it just suddenly registers with the person. You know how that is. Well, when you get into the second epistle to the Thessaloniken, Satan had achieved A deception here and got them all muddled up.
About that which they should have known perfectly, Paul thought they understood it clearly, but they didn't. They thought the day of the Lord had already come.
Because of the trouble and trial that they were passing through. Clever of the enemy to use that. But Paul's style is so good here. Because he brings out the positive side of the thing. He expresses the truth of it before he brings up this correction in the second chapter. He brings a clear correction in the second chapter. But first of all, in this first chapter he lays out the facts of it so nicely, you know, and I believe it's lovely to see that.
Keep the truth of the Lord's coming before us, like you say, but not not merely as a doctrine that we hold and understand, but that it be something that it really, truly effects our hearts. Brother and I don't suppose that anyone here really holds the doctrine that the church will go through the tribulation. But, brethren, if it is true that at any moment the Lord Jesus is going to.
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Rapture its home to glory. It should have a practical effect on our lives and it should be evident. There should be unworldliness. There should be heavenly mindedness. Just to think that we're going to step at any moment onto the cloud and face to face of Jesus. It's got to affect our hearts and that's what's so important in it. And so the enemy tries to get the wedge in in any way to take away.
The present enjoyment of the Lord's coming. That's exactly what he did. Like you mentioned, Brother Don, I'd just like to read, just put the two epistles in contrast in First Thessalonians chapter one and verse 3.
It says, remembering without ceasing your work, of faith and labor, of love and patience, of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the sight of God and our Father, the three fundamentals of the of Christianity, faith, there was the work of faith, there was the labor of love, and there was the patience of hope. Now go over to 2nd Thessalonians, chapter one and verse three, he says. We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is me, because that your faith is the faith, and it grows exceedingly, that's that's precious.
To see faith growing exceedingly and the love charity is love of everyone, of you all toward each other abounded. Their love was growing too. But.
Where is the hope?
Talks about patience in verse four and faith, but where is the hope?
According to chapter two, they had been told that they had to go through tribulation.
That the day of the Lord was already upon them, and they had lost that present hope. So the enemy uses anything he can to get away from us, that present hope. And I must say, rather than I feel in my own soul the importance of when we're speaking about the Lord's coming to let it sink into our souls. Just to think, is this just a fantasy we're talking about, brethren? Is this just mere doctrine, or is this something that's actually going to take place one of these moments?
Rather, it's going to take place, and it may be in a moment when we least expect it, busy with the cares of this life and the call comes and we're going home. Ready. Or even if you're not ready, you're going home. If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus, to meet him face to face, oh, to let that sink into the soul, the practical reality of that truth, so important, brother, not to lose the hope of it.
Is it not the spirit of that precious truth front and center before the soul?
This book is a book of parallels and now thinking of what we have in Luke's gospel in connection with the Lord Jesus when he appeared the first time.
How many were really looking for him when he came? Well, we have Simeon, we have Anna, and we can we can trace it out there. That beautiful story of those who were looking. You notice how the spirit of God is mentioned in connection with Simeon, how it mentions that he was there, and the spirit of God also had him in the right place at the right time. I think it's very instructive. Maybe just turn back there for just a couple of verses. I just want to touch on that because it's so beautiful.
Luke's Gospel, the second chapter.
And we're just going to touch on this quickly, their brother and want to get through chapter one.
Verse 25.
Beholder was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Notice this, the Holy Ghost was upon him and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lords Christ. Notice verse 27, He came by the Spirit into the temple when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law and so on.
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And you can see his response. He took him up in his arms, and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thou, thy servant, depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people. Israel. He was in the right place at the right time. But we have a much greater hope even than this. You see, Simeon was looking forward to as soon as he see the child to pass on in death. We're not looking for death, brethren. We're looking for that one who's the resurrection.
And the like, of course, we notice Anna too, some, you know, some sadness in her life. She'd spent the greater part of her life in widowhood and so on. But it's lovely to see with this dear woman what she was speaking about. She was occupied with Christ in the end of revelation. Three times it's brought before the church. Behold, I come quickly. No response in the first two instances. In the last one it says, and the Spirit capital S and the bride say, come. And then she says, Amen Even so come, Lord Jesus. It's the Spirit of God.
Oh, brethren, may we value this because we're closer now than we were this time yesterday.
And we're getting closer every day.
Some more general thoughts about the Lord's coming, the difference of coming for his own and then coming with his own. Much of the epistle to the Thessalonians is connected with his coming with his own, and even the verses that our brother Don has read in chapter 5, the Times and Seasons brethren that has nothing to do with the Rapture.
Times and seasons have to do with him returning to this world, with his holy angels and with all his sayings as we have it at the end of chapter 3. You know, there's quite a company that comes out of heaven as we have it, even in Revelation, the armies and the holy angels and all the Saints. And it's interesting that they didn't need any further instructions on his coming back to earth. They had been instructed already.
In this truth, although this first epistle was written only five weeks after their conversion.
That shows that we should be interested in that aspect of his coming. Why?
Because it will be to His glory, you know, He will be glorified in the very place where He was put to shame and crucified. That's why that truth is of such interest to us, and even when what we have read in chapter one, that he shall be glorified in His sayings.
And be admired in all them that believe. Beloved, He is glorified. He is admired in his sayings. It's not so much the thought that they will be glory for us, although we will be glorified with him. But the main thought in our minds should be it will be for his glory when he comes back with us as trophies of his grace. What the grace of God has made out of sinners, that in trespasses enemies of God.
Now we come in his company back and will be for his glory. And that is a truth that should be very much of concern to us. Of course, as already said, the coming for his own How can he come with his own, with all the Saints, not only the New Testament Saints, all the Saints from the Old and New Testament, if he hasn't first taken them home to be with himself?
And he comes back with them, and they were not clear on what would happen to those that had fallen asleep. Would they miss out when he comes back? No, He will bring them with him. They will be raised 1St, and we, the living will be changed. And then we will go forever be with the Lord. But then He comes back with us, and that truth should be of great interest to us. We tend to always emphasize the Rapture.
And that is for our hearts.
And that is certainly a wonderful, most wonderful truth. And to be a comfort, to be forever with the Lord, with all the Saints, what a comfort it is. But we ought to be very much interested in that coming with his own because of the glory that will be brought to him who was so dishonored and put to shame here in this world.
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Important what you say because.
We've often heard that the coming for His Saints is a comfort, and the thought of coming with His Saints brings the thought of responsibility. But it brings comfort to our hearts too, because we've often heard it said that the Lord's Prayer. We don't say it Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, but there is something that longs in our hearts to see things set right in this world, and it's really the coming with His Saints when we by faith see that, that we have comfort as to what is going on in the world and the spirit of trying to set things right in the world is subdued in our hearts.
So many Christians getting taken up with politics and trying to set the world straight and fix things up is because they don't see that side of the truth. But he is going to come in glory not to set to make the world a fine place without the Lord, but to wait until that day of manifestation when he will be glorified. So I think that side of the truth is so important and we'll keep our hearts from trying to go about in the world and trying to set it right because it's in a certain sense it's a right spiritual instinct to long to see his will done on earth as it is in heaven.
Scientists put together in the second chapter in the 13th verse, looking for that blessed hope. That's the rapture and the glorious appearing.
The new translation reads The puring of the glory of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Both things are the proper hope of the believer. Both things. When you look into Scripture in general, you're going to find the second part is what Scripture deals so much about. An awful lot about it in the Old Testament and a lot about it in the New Testament as well. And really what deals with the rapture at the beginning of the tribulations Scripture speaks not that much about. There are quite a few places in the New Testament.
But it was something that was just revealed to the apostle Paul and.
It is something presented for our enjoyment. Just to think that we're going to be with them, but to leave it just there would be kind of selfish brethren. No, God has his interest in this world, and he is going to put the man of his counsels into power and authority, to reign supreme from sea to sea. And like you're saying, Brother Neil, it's something that our hearts should long for when we see the misery, the terrible confusion in the world around.
Is there an answer to it all? Yes, there is an answer to it all. God has the answer to it all.
And the more we get into God's counsels and think his thoughts about it, it will liberate us from popular movements to get into political movements to change things that are not right. Brethren, I think it's because they've lost the truth practically that the Lord is coming at any moment that they get into those movements. And we can't say that we're not apartment to go in that same direction if we lose the president. Enjoyment of the truth of the Lord's coming. That's why it's so important to keep it.
Vividly before our hearts.
A crown of righteousness being laid up for those that love his appearing.
There in Second Timothy. So that's the right love, isn't it? Because we see that the world is in opposition to God, and so that's the right love. But it's sad to see the other side of the picture, a wrong love where it says Dimeth hath forsaken me having love this present world or should be present age. He may not in a sense have gotten off into worldliness, but.
He hankered to have the things of this present age, as it were, that appealed to his heart. It caused him to turn away from the apostle. It's a sobering thing to consider.
That statement it might be help back to what was read in the prayer meeting this morning in Acts 7 to see the effect upon Steven.
Told out there in Acts 7.
55.
He was at his stoning.
And says in verse 55 he, Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost, there was a man full of the Holy Ghost looking up steadfastly into heaven.
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And here it says and saw the glory of God tells us that he saw that.
And Jesus the person is mentioned standing on the right hand of God. Then he begins to talk, and when he talks, he doesn't say anything about the glory.
He talks about the person. Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. We need this for our hearts. It's the person that's coming. He is coming. And there are not two comings ahead of us, just one. He gets us first, Then he begins to take possession down here. I try to understand that. I have to look at it this way.
That are his coming, you and I.
Are taken up to heaven, soon to heaven.
The new body and we enter into eternity.
We're no longer in time. People in heaven are not in time.
They are in heaven, in eternity.
So there we get into that. And then the rights of Christ are being taken by God in power and glory to change this world and bring that blessing. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That will begin to take place, and people on the earth will still be in time, but Christ will be brought back at his peering and admired in them that believe This is all in our.
Chapters here.
Now, the Lord said.
In Acts chapter seven, we know that in Hebrews he is presented as the one that has sat down.
Why is he standing here? Two thoughts have been expressed.
The one is that he was there to assist Steven in his hour of trial, which is nice, but I believe the correct thought is that he was standing had they accepted?
Stephens message he would have come. You know, like we have earlier in Acts. The statement that times of refreshing would come from on high. Of course they had not only rejected the Lord Jesus, they had rejected the testimony of the Holy Spirit in Stephen. So this concludes you might say the dealings of God.
In connection with his earthly people.
You know the Lord Jesus is standing coming to fulfill the promises had they accepted the testimony, but they rejected Him. And so from then on we see more and more the Spirit of God directing the activities of His servants to bring in the Gentiles together, a people for his name from among the Gentiles, but in the coming day.
Even for this earthly people, the blessings that are yet outstanding will be fulfilled. He will come back.
Even to bring blessing to his earthly people, the people of Israel.
Of Christ it's good that we realize now it is in two installments, That is the Rapture and the appearing. Now we had read that a scribe instructed brings out his treasury things new and old. The truth of his appearing is not a new truth. It was mentioned in the Old Testament. The Lord cometh with 10,000 of his Saints Jude speaks of and we read it in Zechariah and in other places too. So his appearing is not a new truth, But the Rapture is a brand new truth, and it was given to Paul to unfold the truth of his rapture. He brings it out in detail. And 1St Thessalonians 4.
And he introduces it as a mystery in one Corinthians 15. And so it is important to see that there are those two installments now of the second coming of Christ, the Rapture and the appearing. And I appreciated an illustration that you've heard no doubt and was given out many times before. And that is that we have an example of a rebellious city, and so this king.
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It has to deal with these rebellious subjects, and so he lays siege, as it were, upon this city. But before he goes into overpower the city, he sends his scouts in among the city and said to any faithful subjects, come out and get out of the city. And so the faithful subjects are taken out of the city and join this king, and then they come with him in the destruction of this city. It's a simple illustration.
But that's the point will be taken out of this world before the judgments fall, and when they do, we'll be with him. The the work of judgment, of course, is all his own, but we follow him, as it were, upon white horses in Revelation 19. He comes out of heaven as a warrior king first, before he sets up that sessional judgment and Kingdom. But we're with him for his own glory. That's the point, and what an honor and privilege to think of it.
In connection of.
Would you make a comment or two on Revelation 18 four as to whether it's a timely thing now or not? Seems to me it just portrays exactly what you're saying.
Well, that's probably good for all ages, is it not you? Go ahead, read it and tell us about it.
And I heard another voice come from heaven saying, come out of her, my people.
That she be not partakers of her sins, and that she received not of her plagues. Well, we see what a horrible state is described to us there in that 18th chapter of Revelation. It is what characterizes ecumenical Christianism in its most corrupted state. And so this is a voice for all, for all times, I believe. I don't know how far you could go with it, but I believe it is good for all times.
Out of this state of things.
Well, it applied to the whole age of the church.
But it seems to me that the Babylonians system of things is fully developed here, and it's a present day right here in 1997. Exhortation for anybody who's caught in the systematized error, this vast thing that that person who's living here now doesn't.
Partake of her sins.
Well, what's a simple thing? It's worse than the world seems to me like. And then receive of her plagues, and to still be here and caught for eternity in this, in that vast judgment.
Oppose this, your steward. As we look at it in connection with an ambassador, we're ambassadors and ambassadors don't vote. They don't become involved with the affairs of this life and so on. I mean, I'm a Canadian. I have no rights as an American citizen because I I wasn't born in this country. And so it is in connection with heavenly things. We're heavenly people. What's the first act of war? The ambassadors are recalled. Right. You and I are going to be called out of this world one of these days, and then God is going to be at war with this world.
So how in the world could we ever be occupied with its affairs and so on? When we think of it in that light? We're going to be taken out of here, brethren. And then the Lord is going to be at war with this world. And we know what the outcome is going to be. It's going to be, it's going to be judgment, overwhelming judgment for this world.
Two parts of the Lord's coming are mentioned in each of the chapters of Thessalonians of being interesting, perhaps for the young and for us all, just to notice them in chapter one of First Thessalonians, the last verse.
The Thessalonians turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. That's evidently the rapture. That's what we wait for at any moment in chapter 2 and verse 19. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing, or not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ?
At his coming.
In chapter 3 and verse.
13.
Last verse as well, Establish your heart's unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His Saints. That's definitely the revelation at the end of the tribulation. The manifestation or the appearing in chapter 4 is the well known portion and it really deals with both parts of the Second Coming.
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Because he says in verse 14 if we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring?
With him that's the coming of the Saint of the Lord with his Saints.
And how did they get to be with him?
Then the last verse of the chapter describe how they get to be with him so that they can come with him.
And then in the 5th chapter you have the Day of the Lord mentioned in verse 2.
The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. That's the Lord's coming as well, but this is it is appearing.
It is something that's connected as you were mentioned, Brother Heinz said. The times and seasons the Rapture has no time and season, no earthly sign, will announce his coming to take us home. We need to be alert and ready at any moment. But there are times and seasons definitely connected with his coming in judgment, with his manifestation is appearing at the end of the tribulation period.
And at that time, he's going to come as a thief in the night. Sometimes, they say to the brethren in South America.
There's two things that you can say about a thief. Do you want him to come? And of course you say no. Do you wait for him to come? No, you don't wait for him to come either. But I ask every believer, do you want him to come? And they say yes. Do you wait for him to come? Yes. Then he will not come for you as a thief. When it speaks about coming as a thief, it is Speaking of those who do not want him to come nor wait for him.
It's definitely the.
Ones that are of this world that do not want him, that he will come as a thief. Now in chapter one of Second Thessalonians we have his coming.
In flaming fire in verse 8, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is coming. It's mentions in verse seven with his mighty angels.
It's definitely the end of the tribulation period as well, when he's going to be manifested in power and glory. In chapter 2 it says we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. That's definitely the Rapture, isn't it?
All believers are going to be gathered. Isn't that nice? Sometimes we talk about gathered Saints, Brethren, all believers are going to be gathered at that moment. Tremendous to think about it.
But then he goes on to speak of things that relate to the tribulation period and the appearing of the man of sin in chapter 2, whom the Lord will destroy with the power verse 8. Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. There's this coming mentioned again. That's definitely at the end of the tribulation period.
Then in the third chapter we have In the fifth verse the Lord directs your hearts into the love of God.
Then into the patient waiting for Christ, or into the patience of the Christ. It's definitely connected with his coming as well. So every chapter of the two epistles speaks in some way of his coming, and I think it's so tremendous to let the truth of it get into our souls in a practical way, brother.
We have a further contrast of the two events in Hebrews Chapter 9.
In verse 28.
And unto them that look for him.
Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation and.
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And then in First Corinthians 15, as was alluded to earlier.
In verse 52.
Tells us that.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. So there's no grandeur about it.
It just happens and we can compare those two verses with.
Matthew 24.
Where I I believe it's Speaking of the latter stage of his return, the second coming.
The time when he becomes as it was said to make war.
Matthew 24.
Verse 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even under the West, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be there will there will be a manifestation there that that all will be able to see. Matter of fact, the Revelation chapter one, verse 7 tells us every eye shall see that second part of the the return of Christ. But I was.
I've been sitting here thinking and examining my own heart as we've been talking about the coming of the Lord and Brother Bob, what what you brought up many times about how that basically should stir our hearts. Why should it stir our hearts? And I, you know, as Brother Neil brought up about how people get discouraged and get involved in this world's matters. And that's simply because.
They're they've stopped looking for that return. But am I looking for the return of the Lord so that I can escape this world's troubles? Or am I looking for the return of the Lord? For the Lord? Does he capture my heart and make me want to be with him? Or is it that I simply want to escape? So if I'm faithless or if I'm getting discouraged, I have two options. One is to get involved in this world's politics and systems and try to change it, or two, seek for an escape. But either way, it's a sign that my heart is probably getting discouraged.
Chapter And I think we see that there's a tendency in our hearts to want to fix things in the assembly, in our hearts, in our circumstances. And we see this even in brotherly love. Brotherly love that says and Peter were to add to that divine love. Brotherly love, as my brother is its object, and divine love has God as its object. And we see that the brethren were going on happily and well here together, and yet tribulation and sorrow and trial came in.
And it was really to turn their hearts and look for the Lord. That's what the Lord does. We see that with Smyrna is that they left their first love. So persecutions and trials and difficulties came in. And so these difficulties and trials were to show that we settled down in the world. We the tendency of our hearts is to think it's not such a bad place. We'll just fix it up a bit, but it's really destined for destruction. And so the Lord allows these difficulties to see that the.
That these are just the manifest tokens, That the only way to correct this is judgment.
And so the difficulties will become so difficult and so severe that we realize that the only solution to it is that God should judge it. And even in our situations is that a person may be going on with religiously in a wrong system and so on. And they seem to get along happily with it as long as things are going on peacefully. And then God just sort of it seems as allows more and more difficult until they realize that the only separate solution to it is to separate from it and to really seek the Lord's honor and glory. And that's really what we come to in the end of the chapter. And that's really the object of what the Lord is allowing is that.
We really have our hearts set on the Lord's glory and not just simply our comfort and peace and happiness here in this world.
Matter of fact that.
Our patience and our faith. In these difficulties we have an opportunity to manifest patience and faith, and we speak in Revelation. We read of the patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself is patiently waiting for the day when he will be able to straighten out the mess in the world. And in the meantime we might be called on to suffer. And that God's judgment, righteous judgment for us He will.
00:55:04
Erect. Bring judgment upon those who cause.
Problems for his people, but not necessarily at this time. You know, we have to wait for the future day and find grace in the midst of the difficulties that God allows to come our way. We can be thankful that we are not living in Muslim countries or in China, you know. But many of God's people are dying for Christ in this world today, you know, and they patiently.
In faith.
To continue under the circumstances that God puts them under, God gets a crime.
World. Then I'm taking a Psalm 84. It gives us the two reasons why we will want the Lord to come. Very strong reasons. Psalm 84. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts? Are you thinking about the glory? Stephen got to see it. And then the second verse, Psalm 84, says my soul longer.
Yeah, even faint it for the courts of the Lord.
Two things. My heart and my flesh.
Try it out for the living yard. Our deliverer from the coming wrath is the last words of first Thessalonians, the last verse of the first chapter. Our deliverer from the coming wrath. He's going to get us out of this place. No matter whether you're lying on a bed or living in a palace, you're going to be glad to go.
And Brother Clinton enjoyed the principle that is brought forth in that 84 Psalm. That is, as you've already mentioned, the trouble brought upon them causes the longing over their hearts. And so we see that grace and glory comes before the psalmist here in verse 11. Well, that principle runs very strong in the New Testament. As an example, turn over to Romans chapter 5.
And here we see the combination of that principle.
We have.
The grace in verse two and the glory of God rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And then we see tribulation is brought into it because it works patience and experience and so forth. And the love of God shed abroad in our hearts with the Holy Ghost. Now notice also how Peter takes up that same.
Line of principle, where we have the grace that instills in us the hope of that coming glory, and in the meantime the trouble that comes upon us to brighten that prospect. So we have it in chapter five of first Peter and verse 10. But the God of all grace, who hath called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus.
After that, she have suffered a while. Make you perfect, Establish, strengthen, settle you to him. Be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So that principle holds true in all of our lives. Just keep it in mind.
Will rest with us, because Paul practically and morally displayed that in his life there he was and the jail of Philippi, and he was seeing him, and then you find him in writing to the Philippians. Everything could naturally burden it and crush his heart to look around and see Men were preaching Christ in contention and supposing to add afflictions to his bonds. And what was he doing? He rejoiced in here, and he did rejoice. He wasn't troubled by the by this. And so we can get very way down and troubled even by the condition of things in Christendom.
Around us and troubles and so on and way down by it. But he said rest because God, it's just a manifesting token of God's righteous judgment and so just a look for the glory of the Lord.
That causes patients and there's faith required for that.
So important.
Who are troubled? Rest with us. The basic word is innocent.
In the original language, well at the drugstore you can get a non prescription drug called Anesin. And so in connection with our lives we can in some cases certainly be thankful for medication. And that's not my point, but so many times if we just had the rest that came from scripture, we wouldn't need the Anisein that the drugstore.
01:00:08
Human rights are made such a point of, and it affects us in our thinking, brethren. And I don't know of anything that really delivers us so much as thinking that there will be no human rights, Properly speaking, until Christ has His rights. When He has His rights, then everything will be right. Until He has His rights, nothing can be right.
And So what he's bringing forth in these chapters is just to rest. And that till that time I think it's good to realize, like it's been brought out, that we have a nature that loves righteousness and hates iniquity right now, brethren. And it should bother us when we see the terrible moral issues that afflict the country we live in. It should bother us bad. But we need to realize that nothing can be right until Jesus is in his place.
And that's what we get. Rest with us. And when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed with his mighty angels.
O brethren, we're going to be eyewitnesses of this most glorious time in the history of this world when God is going to introduce his man into power and going to replace all the structure of government that exists in this present day in this world, he's going to replace it with his man, his government. You think of all the powerful armament that.
The technology and warfare that there is today, it is stupendous. But think of it when the Lord comes writing out of heaven on the White Horse and the armies of heaven, we with them there, the mighty angels accompanying him. They can use all their rockets they want, and and guided missiles and whatever they want to call them. It will have no effect whatsoever with the word of his mouth. One army after another is going to fall before him.
And he's going to reign supreme. Oh brethren, we're going to see it. We're going to be eyewitnesses of that time, and then things will be right. Until then, nothing can be truly right. So it's right that we should love righteousness. We should be bothered by moral issues in this world. If we're not, something's wrong with this. But we should wait for that moment when God brings his man into this world, and this is what we have in these verses.
And notice how it says in verse 10 when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints. Isn't this beautiful to think of it, that he's going to be glorified in US sometimes, Brethren, down here in this world, he doesn't get a whole lot of glory from our fleshly actions. But in that day, real will have passed by the judgment seat of Christ. The fire will have consumed all that is dross.
All that is wood, hay and stubble. Only that which is gold, silver and precious stones will remain. And when He comes, He will be glorified in His Saints. The people here in this world will look. Perhaps they will remember that used to be my neighbor. I knew him. Look at him. Come now with Jesus. Tremendous to think of that day. And that's our hope, brethren.
What did the 7th man from Adam prophecy?
The first prophecy, as far as I can get, a hold of that God has given us in the Bible, and it comes in the last epistle. It's determined from God, from way back before anything else was behold.
The Lord cometh Enoch also. The 7th from Adam prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord.
Cometh with 10 thousands of his Saints. This is God demonstrating the victory he gets in a man in the man Christ Jesus, with all this company coming in his as his attendance in glory.
A scripture, and I just can't put my finger on it that the desire of the nations will have come.
You know, many, many millions grown under unrighteous government. And so even not only for us, the world as a whole is looking for righteous government. You know, I don't think there will be any billionaires in the Millennium, you know, amassing fortunes.
01:05:13
From the unrighteous labors of their underpaid laborers, you know there will be a fair distribution of wealth. You know, I read just this country in Zir that the former ruler amassed billions of dollars and the people were starving. You know, that kind of a thing will not take place. There will be righteous government, fair distribution of wealth, no more.
Discrimination and inequities.
Wonderful time that will be for the whole world.
101St Psalm.
It's only a short chapter of Psalm of eight verses, but it's extremely significant in regard to that which we are discussing right now.
I'll read the whole Psalm. I will sing our mercy and judgment under the old Jehovah.
It is the Lord will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.
Oh, when wilt thou come unto me, I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will sit in a wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave unto me. A forward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person who so privily slandereth his neighbor. Will I cut off him that has a high look and a proud heart? Will I will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land.
That they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early May I quote Brother Glendine early in the morning. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of Jehovah. This is.
A picture of.
The coming day when we are with the Lord Jesus in heaven.
Over the earth that is ruling, the earth he is, and he's ruling in righteousness. Today you sin, tomorrow you're judged.
Mike is haggy I chapter 2 I believe. Thank you kind of interesting. Thank you. And it's better in the translation in Spanish. But Haggai chapter 2 is very very interesting. Talks about shaking.
The Heavens and the earth in verse 26 Haggai. And then 27 says, I will shake the nations and the desire of all nations shall come in Spanish. It's the desired one. It's a person. I think it's so nice to get it that it is a person who's coming. He's going to come and he will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord.
Him number 3.5.
We wait for the.
Stand Firm & Hold Fast, Growing Grace, Faith Groweth Exceedingly
Heaven
Gospel—D. Buchanan
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There is a Savior on high in the glory, the Savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A Savior is willing to save now as ever. His arm is almighty, His love great and free.
Oh come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior. Receive him this moment, and peace shall be thine hymn #10 on our hymn sheet. I'd like to ask everyone to rise and respect for the one we're singing to.
Lord.
Is there anyone in this room that's not saved?
Is there anyone in this room that wants to be saved?
That's what we're here for.
The Gospel. How to be saved.
Today we've had some wonderful ministries, some wonderful truths of God, the blessings that God has poured out.
My heart couldn't help but think of those words of the Lord Jesus.
Blessed are your ears, for they hear.
Blessed are your eyes, for they see.
Have you received that blessing?
Are you just here as a listener?
Has it only got to your ears or has it got down into your heart?
Are you really saved?
That's what the gospel is.
I'd like to begin with a couple of verses in Romans chapter 10.
To introduce our subject tonight.
The Savior on high in the Glory in Romans chapter 10.
And remember, dear children, young people and all this book that we have in our hands, that's going to be our text and we're going to speak from is God's Word. I believe it's the inspired word of God.
I have based my soul salvation on it and many here have.
My whole welfare, my all, I know it's true.
I believe you can find out. It's true too. We can believe what this book says. It's truth. It's what God has revealed to us, the revelation, what God wrote down for us to read and understand. And it's not too difficult to understand if you pay attention to it.
And we're going to read a few verses from Romans 10, beginning with the sixth verse.
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.
Say not in thy heart who shall ascend into heaven.
That is, to bring Christ down from above.
Or who shall descend into the deep?
That is to bring up Christ from the dead. But what saith it? The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the Word of Faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
00:10:07
Oh, how wonderful are these words. Thou shalt be saved. The gospel message is brought near to us, and it's introduced here about righteousness, how we obtain righteousness before God. And that reminds us that our God is a holy God, a righteous God. When God does things, he does them right.
And there's no getting around.
But God has done things, and He's done it well.
And it's good for us to listen to what it is to take it in.
The righteousness which is of faith. We've had much about faith in these days and this day.
And it's the subject is introduced by a question. Say not in thy heart, who shall ascend into heaven?
Oh beloved, we've had much about heaven today and I wanted to speak about.
Heaven.
God has sent something down from heaven.
He sent the Lord Jesus from heaven.
We don't any longer have to ask that question. God has already revealed something from heaven and He has gone back to heaven as our Savior as we were singing. There is a Savior on high in the glory.
You remember hearing once about a preacher that went down to South America, down in Bolivia.
And he needed to obtain an audience in a train station. And so at the train station, after the train had stopped, he walked out, walked out in front of everybody and reached down and grabbed his boots and started tugging on him and pulling on him and lifting himself and.
Making a scene there, as it were, to draw attention because he wanted them to listen.
And he spoke about lifting himself up to heaven. He couldn't do it. And he tried, and he pulled on his boots and he couldn't lift himself up. Now the simplest child here knows that's ridiculous.
That's not the question. How do I lift myself up to heaven? The question has already been answered for you. The same man who came down from heaven has gone back into heaven.
And He's a savior, and He wants to take you there too. He wants to wash your sins away. He wants to make you righteous.
And he wants to take you with himself and make you part of his family and to live there for all eternity.
And so the question is not to be asked, How can I ascend up there? That's already answered, dear child. Your older one, the Lord Jesus has answered it for us. He's already made the way open.
The Lord Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh under the Father, but by me. That's the way.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
That's the way to be saved. It's so simple.
Believing in your heart.
God counts as righteous when we do what He tells us to do. There are many examples of that in the Bible.
But then the Lord, then the apostle here asks another question. Who shall descend into the deep?
That is, to bring Christ again from the dead.
That reminds us of what the Lord Jesus did when he was on Calvary's cross.
When he took my sins there. When he died for you, dear friend.
And when he went, as it were, down into the deep, into the darkness of the earth, when sin was laid upon him there, and he answered to God for all those sins, and.
00:15:08
Put them all away.
Die.
We don't need to go exploring anymore to find out the answer to that question. Here it is, and it's a part of the gospel. The Lord Jesus died for you and me.
The question has been answered.
All there is left to do is to believe the Lord Jesus did it all.
There on the cross.
Say not into thy in thy heart who shall descend into the deep.
But this reminds us, dear friend, of another issue.
The two destinies for every soul here. Heaven.
And hell.
The awfulness of hell.
The lake of fire, eternal burning.
God uses descriptive language to warn us.
He has told us about these things.
I have a neighbor.
Who works in the oil field?
I don't think he was saved when this accident happened and he was working on an oil rig one day pulling pipe out.
And all of a sudden there was an explosion of gas from the well and the whole rig and Derrick and everything was on fire and he was in the middle of a fire.
And his body was burned on about 70%.
And he went through months and months of rehabilitation.
I asked him about it, what it was like.
To be, to burn, to be burned. He almost died, he says. It's awful.
Why did God tell us about that?
Because he doesn't want us to go there, dear friend.
He doesn't want you to pay for your own sins.
Say not in thy heart who shall descend into the deep, yet beyond that point right now at the beginning of this gospel, and start looking at the Savior on high in the glory, the Lord Jesus.
That's why he came.
That's why we're having this gospel meeting tonight.
And He's here for you tonight too, if by faith, if you just trust Him as your Savior.
This is the Word. The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the Word of Faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, or Jesus as Lord.
Make him as the Lord of your life.
And have you confessed him? Maybe there's been, maybe there's some boys and girls here in this room.
That thing they have believed in their heart. The Lord Jesus is their Savior. They've trusted in Him.
But maybe you haven't confessed him yet. That's a very important part of this verse confession. You know nobody around in this room will know it if you don't confess it. The Lord knows when you believe. And if there's some boy or girl right now who wants to take the more Jesus as your Savior, you can do that right now. You can believe in your heart. That's what the verse says. And I hope that after this meeting is over, or if you can't wait until the meeting is over, you can do it right now to somebody that's sitting beside you. I'll give you that permission.
And if you even wanted to come up here and share it, I would even let you do that.
Because that's exactly what I'm doing too.
The Lord Jesus saved me when I was a little boy. I trusted in Him. Oh how wonderful that He could save me.
And I want you to know about him too. I want you to be saved.
00:20:02
Now we're talking about a Savior on high in glory.
And I would like now to go back to the Gospel of John and notice a few.
Verses in that gospel about the Savior that came from heaven.
And that went back to heaven.
Because this is how the Gospel got down to where we are. That's why it's near us. That's why you don't have to go anywhere to get it. It's accessible right here. Because the Lord Jesus came from God himself, The Son of God, born here, of the Virgin Mary, lived a life here on earth, took our place there on Calvary's cross, and died. But he didn't remain in the grave. He rose again.
On the third day.
And he was seen of many witnesses that tell us about it and wrote a part of this book that we're reading, the Bible.
And then, blessed be his name, he went back to heaven.
As a man and sent down the Spirit of God to save us.
So let's go back to the first chapter of John's Gospel and look at a few cases.
Because in this gospel we have the Son of God.
The one who dwelt in all eternity in God's heart, in heaven with the Father. It's called the Word, the expression of what is in first in the first verse.
We need words to express action or things. And so when God wanted to make himself known, he sent the word, the expression of himself. And so the Lord Jesus is that he made known to us here on earth everything that God was in heaven, so that we could know it. Because if God hadn't made himself known.
What would we know about him?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. John one verse one.
The word was gone. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
This is God beginning his work, the revelation of himself. He's making himself known.
In the gospel, we don't come here to do something. We don't come here to join a church.
We come to see what God has already done and made known and presents to us to receive by faith.
Just accept God for what he has told us. Believe it except.
And it's yours.
Now we'll drop down a little bit. Verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
He dwelt among us.
God came down, dear friend.
And he's down here by the Spirit tonight to make it good to your soul, if you'll have him.
Will you have the Lord Jesus? Will you have God's Son? Will you let him take your life and make it what he wants it to be?
Or do you have another plan for your life? I speak to the young men and the young ladies.
That have grown a little and learned a little more the pleasures of life, the joys, the good things that God gave us to be able to enjoy. How are you going to use it, dear young man?
Are you going to use it selfishly for yourself?
Or are you going to turn it over and let the Lord Jesus make you what He wants you to be?
God has come down.
00:25:02
The fullness of His person has been revealed to us. There ought to be no questions now what God is like. He isn't just some unknown thing, powerful thing offered a long distance. He's near you, dear friend, and He wants to bless you.
God didn't come down to reveal salvation to other creatures, the angels or spirits.
Or other beings or animals.
He came to make.
Himself known to mankind.
The word was made flesh, human being.
For you and me to get near and to know.
Now we'll drop down a little farther in the chapter.
Verse 29.
The next day John see if Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God.
Which taketh away the sin of the world.
This also is a part of the gospel.
The sin question What about your sins, dear friend? Has it been taken care of?
What about?
Do you have peace in your heart about those sins?
Are they taken care of? Has the Lord Jesus taken those sins of yours? Have you let Him?
Be your savior.
John the Baptist spoke about him.
The one who takes away the sin of the world.
He didn't come to condemn, he came to take away the sins.
All of them. And one day he's going to do that.
And there will only be two places to be then.
With the saved where the sins are removed, or with the lost the condemned, with the sins still upon them.
How wonderful that Jesus came.
To take away our sins. He wants to do that tonight to you too. But we must pass on a little farther down.
I'd just like to notice one little more episode in the first chapter verse.
30 and verse 47.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him.
And saith to him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.
Nathaniel said unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, When thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Nathaniel answered and said unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I saw thee. But I said, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, Believe the style. Thou shalt see greater things than these.
And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open.
And the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Heaven opened, dear friend.
This is what the Lord Jesus has done. He's beginning to speak about it here to Nathaniel.
This was the first time I believe that Nathaniel had come in contact with the Lord Jesus.
And the first thing that the Lord Jesus says to Nathaniel was that he had seen what Nathaniel was doing previously.
My dear friend.
When we deal with God, we're dealing with one who knows all things.
And I must send faithfulness to your soul, tell you that God knows all about your life.
And all about mine.
But don't think that just because he knows about you that he doesn't love or care for you.
He cares for you very much.
Nathaniel accepted this word that the Lord Jesus had said about him.
00:30:03
He took him up for what he professed to know about him, and he admitted that he was the Son of God. God knows everything. God was there in the midst of those people, revealing himself to them, and the people didn't run away scared.
No, they wanted to know more about him and I hope that's the result of this meeting tonight, dear friend.
That as you get to know more about the Lord Jesus, that instead of wanting to run away from Him.
You want to get closer to him.
If you understand him properly, that will be the result.
So Nathaniel recognizes him, the all knowing God, the Son of God here.
But what blessing the Lord Jesus in the very beginning he speaks about heaven opened.
You know what? It was going to cost the Lord Jesus to open up the heavens that that blessing come down here on earth.
It was going to cost him his life on Calvary's cross to become the center bearer, to take away the sin of the world, to make a way where a holy God and sinful creatures, human beings like us, could be near God blessed here on earth.
Or better yet, as we've had during these meetings in heaven.
In heaven.
You see?
We need to be saved even to enjoy life here on Earth.
But you also need to be saved if you're going to go to heaven. That's the only way. No other way to the Father but by me.
We'll turn over to the third chip to the second chapter now.
Chapter 2 of John's Gospel and verse 23.
Now when he, Jesus, was at Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed on his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for He knew what was in man's.
There came there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, or truly, truly I say unto thee.
Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom.
Of God.
I'd like to comment on this just a little before we go on.
Probably most everybody in this room has heard the gospel many times already.
It's easy for us, those of us who have heard the gospel.
For those of us who have been raised in Christian homes to take things for granted.
And that's why I want to notice a little bit about Nicodemus. You see, Nicodemus was kind of like like that. He took a lot of things for granted and he approached the Lord. He had seen the miracles. He had an appreciation for the Lord. He called him Rabbi.
He appreciated much.
But you notice that the Lord didn't commit himself unto them, for He knew what was in man.
You see?
What this really tells us is that man can't be trusted.
Are you trusting in your own heart, or are you trusting in somebody else?
Be careful.
These same people that were professing to recognize Jesus here on earth were those who affused years later said away with them, crucify him.
00:35:03
Why the change?
Man's heart can't be trusted, dear friend.
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, the Scripture says.
God didn't send his son down here just to be received that the best people here on earth would receive him and recognize him and they would be the blessed and everybody else would be banished. That's not the gospel message. And I think that's a little bit what Nicodemus was thinking about here and his means of approaching.
And if you're here tonight in the gospel meeting with some attitude that there's some goodness in your own heart, beware.
You've got a sorry lesson to learn.
Take God for His work. He didn't trust in man's heart.
For what they would do, he knew that when the right circumstances came, they would reject him.
And they proved it later on.
No, but God isn't thwarted by man's.
Evil ways.
He still brings salvation down.
God has done it at such a cost.
And he wanted to save Nicodemus.
And so the Lord tells him Nicodemus.
You're coming to me on the wrong basis.
We can't get together as good buddies here. Just because I'm good and you associate with me won't make you good either.
That isn't how you get saved. Just mixing with the crowd here won't save your soul. Dear friend, you must be born again. You've got to start out with a new life. You've got to start out with the life that the Lord gives.
That's what he was telling Nicodemus.
It's not man making himself fit for God's Kingdom.
God's presence.
It's just as ridiculous As for that preacher of the gospel.
Who reached down and tried to pull himself up to heaven with his bootstraps.
That's how ridiculous it is.
But God has made a way.
The Lord Jesus came.
He was there visiting Nicodemus expressly to save his soul. He wanted him to be saved.
It's come down from heaven to earth.
Salvation is here.
Now let's go on in our story.
We'll drop down in John 3.
Verse 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and you receive not our witness, if I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not.
How shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven.
This seems rather difficult for an educated man.
To understand that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, that which is born of the flesh is flesh.
And Nicodemus was reasoning humanly, trying to understand that with his head, and it didn't make sense to him.
God didn't send the gospel message just to the best.
The most educated people or with the best reasoning heads.
00:40:01
I'm glad that God didn't make salvation only available to smart people.
Oh, we were singing.
That he calls the wretched and the blind.
Is there someone here, wretched, Miserable.
Can understand things. Life is complicated for you.
Or difficult come to the Savior.
He wants to save you.
It's not a question of the mind.
Question of your heart. The willingness of your heart to submit to God.
The Lord Jesus spoke of that which He knew.
It's very well substantiated, it's very true.
And he tells Nicodemus, if I have told you of earthly things.
Ye believe not. How shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly? You see, the Lord Jesus in this gospel is getting ready to unfold heavenly. Thanks.
And that's what we want for you, dear friend, tonight.
The wonders of heaven God has opened up for sinners like you and me, and He wants to share it there with us.
Will you come?
Will you accept what God is offering?
Verse 13. No man hath ascended up to heaven.
But he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man.
Which is in heaven.
It's so plain, no man ascends up to heaven.
Say not, who shall ascend up into heaven?
That is by our own means.
The means has already been made.
The Lord Jesus came down from heaven.
Do you believe that?
But he didn't stay here on Earth.
He went back to heaven.
He's gone back there and if we would read the gospel through, we would see the rest of the story.
But I want you to notice one other little clause in this verse. The Scriptures are so wonderful, says he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, which is in heaven.
There is a certain sense in which the Lord Jesus.
Never left heaven.
There is a sense in which He was always enjoying the Father in heaven, even when he was here on earth and He was making known what it's like there in heaven so that you and I could go there, enjoy it with Him.
That's so wonderful to think that the Lord Jesus would want us. You see, the Gospel isn't just a fire escape for hell from hell.
The Gospel is much more than that. Oh yes.
If you're not saved, you're on your way to a burning fire of hell.
But there is a Heather.
There is a place of bliss where Jesus wants to share with you what he has won and where He has entered in.
And this is what he wants, Nicodemus.
To participate in, to take, to make his own. Now let's go on here, verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever eternal life.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
00:45:00
Now we come to the part that tells us how we can get saved, how you can make this salvation yours.
We have seen that the Lord Jesus came down from heaven here on earth, made known to us all the things that God wanted him to make known.
He went to the cross. He died there on Calvary's cross.
For our sins, he went back to heaven afterwards.
And he tells us how we can make this.
Our own and it's he uses the illustration of the serpent in the wilderness.
And most of the boys and girls here will remember the story in Moses days of how when there were those.
Poisonous.
Serpents and they were biting the people, and people were dying all over the place.
It was a serious condition and the people said take away the serpents.
But God had a better way.
God didn't just take away the serpents, He sent a Savior. He sent a remedy and he told Moses to make a serpent of brass, which it was the picture of the Lord Jesus who was going to be the sin mare that was going to be lifted up. And everybody that looked at that serpent of brass was immediately healed.
Now, whatever doctor has ever invented a cure that good in the world today?
That's how God does things so well, dear friend.
God does something. He does it well.
All they had to do to be cured when they were bitten by those poisonous serpents was look.
At that serpent of brass, and they were healed.
Wonders. And that's all you have to do to be safe.
Look to the man that was lifted up on Calvary's cross and died there for your sins.
A look of fame.
How easy, how wonderful.
You know I'm all the time getting mail.
Get all these splendid advertisements in the mail.
You know, I think that Satan has is working in this country to destroy the gospel message in this way.
So many false claims are out there.
I suppose maybe once or twice a month I get in the mail these advertisements. You have won $10 million.
Have you ever gotten that some of the older folks may may relate to this a little better.
You see, there's all kinds of gimmicks out there, but they're false.
They are not true.
And people are becoming hardened.
To God's offer because of it, and I believe that at Satan's way.
Of making unbelievers out of us.
Why is it also that you go out on the street and offer gospel tracts?
And people refuse.
They probably had an experience with some false witness.
Or some bad experience?
With religion.
But not with Christ.
For a cup.
For he is genuine.
My dear friend, take God at His word. It's real when God says it. Don't be duped because of all these false claims with the little fine print down below. And sometimes it takes more than one page to fill all that fine print. And if you'd ever took the time to read it, you'd probably be tired by the end of it. You decide it wasn't worthwhile to try to win that so-called free gift.
Oh dear friend, God doesn't deal that way.
He's genuine, he's true, everything he says.
00:50:00
Is true and we can trust it.
Just because it's so easy, as it were, to be saved, that is, it's so accessible to salvation, is so accessible to us, so that all we have to do is look with faith to the Lord Jesus, doesn't mean that it's not real like many other things in life.
Oh, God has made it so easy to express our faith. You know, I think of another lady who wanted to be blessed and she came to the Lord and she didn't have very much faith and she was a little bit of ashamed of her life and the results of it. And so she came up behind the Lord and touched the border of His garment from behind with faith. And the Lord knew it the moment she had touched him.
A dear one.
If you put your finger on a verse of scripture and read it.
And touch it and accept it for your soul. You'll find that God will do what He says in that verse. You can do it.
As Moses was lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believe us in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Notice it doesn't even say that whosoever looks to him, if there was a blind person here in the room, they would be shut out if you had to look.
Now their God is made it successful for the blind. They can hear, and they can say with their mouth.
Or if those who don't have a mouth to speak, they can look.
Or you can touch.
In many ways, faith can express itself. Why? Because God wanted to make it so accessible.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son the.
Gospel cost God very much.
He had to give his son.
When you think about the blessed Son of God, they're giving up his life for you and me there on Calvary's cross and how God looked down upon him at that time.
His only son.
Oh, it ought to cause you to want to turn your heart over to Him.
To turn your whole life over to live and serve for him the rest of your life.
It's a wonderful thing to get saved when you're young.
Sometimes Satan, you know, will say to us, oh, salvation is for the old people. When you're getting ready to die, then yes, it's time to get saved. When you're about ready to leave this world.
That's a lie of Satan, dear friend. It's better to be able to live for Christ now.
This whole life through then wait till you're old and about to die. And besides that, not everybody gets old before they die either. Beware, don't play with God dear friend.
Heard the gospel, dear boy and girl, are you waiting?
Are you indecisive about your soul?
Are you saying no to the Lord Jesus? Are you saying wait a while?
We have no promise tomorrow.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, we could spend the whole hour on this gospel of verse, the greatest gospel verse of all the Bible. It gives it the seven greatest things here, the wonderful things that God has done at such a cost.
Now I'd like to go just between closing before we to the latter part of this chapter, the 31St verse.
He that cometh from above is above all.
He that is of the earth is earthy, and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies her telling. And no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true.
00:55:06
This is faith. God is true. God said it. You may believe it and count on it with all your heart. He that cometh from above came down here to earth to make us known, make us know of salvation.
Is reliable. You can trust in him with all your heart. He'll never disappoint you.
Shall we close in prayer?
Our God and our Father.
I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ
Children—S. Rule
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What number would you like to sing #14?
The cleansing power you washed in the blood.
Are you, boy, trusting in his grace this song? Are you washed in the blood all the way?
Are you all?
In the soul cleansing blood of the land.
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? How you washed in the blood of life?
You're walking daily by the Savior son, How you washed in my blood on the line.
You asked each moment in the crucifix, are you washed in the blood of the land?
Are you?
Lost in the blood.
In the soak one thing part of the lamb.
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
When the bright grim cometh, will heroes he was unwind in the blood of the land.
So be ready for the mansion Sprite army washed in the blood of the lamb.
You washed in the blood in the soul, cleansing blood of the lamb.
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the plot of the land?
Now that's one of my favorite hymns. I used to especially like the gospel meeting. I think it was my favorite meeting after I came to know the Lord Jesus as my Savior because before that it was kind of a scary time sometimes. How many of you remember something the man that talked last night talked about? Can you remember one thing that he said last night in gospel meeting?
OK, you probably remember a lot of things and you're either shy or you're just not sure you heard it last night. Anybody remember one thing?
OK, I'm not going to put you on the spot anymore. But one thing he mentioned that I was thinking about last night, he used the word hell. Does anybody remember that? Now you remember when he mentioned the word hell last night, I thought, you know, that's kind of a scary thing if you don't know the Lord Jesus is your savior. And he said, so that would be a kind of a scary thing if you didn't know the Lord Jesus as your savior. But you know, if you know the Lord Jesus, things should be really happy songs. Are you washed in the blood of the lamp? If you know the Lord Jesus says your personal savior, you can really enjoy singing some of these songs because it's a wonderful thing to think about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who died from me personally. And it's really fun to sing those hymns. But if you don't, then you probably aren't really thinking about what you're singing. Or you can't really enjoy that story because the blood of the Lord Jesus hasn't washed. Well, you're not going to enjoy the blood of the Lord Jesus if you don't know Him as your Savior.
So who else has a song that you'd like to sing? OK, what number would you like to sing #13.
For the Son of God who came.
Through and sinners.
To reclaim.
Hallelujah.
00:05:01
What I'll save you.
Marrying shame, I'm scoffing.
In my place.
Condom.
Disturb.
My pardon.
With this world.
Call I love.
What I'll save you.
We'll save all and helplessly.
Spotless.
Slum of God.
Was saved.
Oh, what old man?
Can it be?
All alone.
Save you.
That's another one of my favorites. Thank you for giving that one out. And I saw you singing it real nicely, so I hope that he was really enjoying it. And some more of you were singing nicely too, and I thought that was good. I want to make sure you understand what it means though, because it's one of my favorites too. And it said bearing shame and scoffing root. I thought that was one of the harder lines to understand, but maybe some of you know what that means. What's it mean? Bearing shame and scoffing rude?
Sang that one. Some of them are easier. What a savior. That's a beautiful part of it. And we sang that several times. What a savior. And it's really nice to be able to sing that together this morning. What about bearing shame and scoffing rude? That doesn't sound quite as nice.
You know what that means?
Could someone tell me what shame means?
It's kind of hard to explain. Can you tell me what it feels like to be ashamed?
You know what that is? You want to tell me or do you want to tell everybody?
OK, if you want to tell everybody, I'll let you tell everybody like this. It means to feel bad.
OK, that's pretty good. We can feel bad sometimes. Maybe when we've done something and we're thinking, oh, everybody's looking at me and they're thinking, oh, what a what a stupid person for doing that. We might feel ashamed and scoffing rude. How many of you have ever had somebody scoff at you?
How many of you have ever had somebody laugh at you? Oh, OK, laugh at you. How many of you have ever had somebody spit in your face?
That's a little harder. Do you think that feels good? How many of you would like it if somebody I wouldn't want to do this, I wouldn't want anybody else to do it. But think about it for just a minute. How many of you would like somebody to walk up from the back of the room, come right up to where you are and spit in your face? How many think that would be a good way to start the morning?
That was it happened to me once. I was walking home from school and there are two people that came along.
And one of them jumped on my back and the other one got in front of Maine and he spit in my face and it was on my glasses and, you know, I was a little bit scared. That doesn't feel very good. Do you think that person was wanting to show me how much they like me?
No. And you know what? These people did that to the Lord Jesus Christ. Did he do anything to deserve that? The two people, they didn't even know me. I don't think they knew me. They had been doing something they shouldn't have been. And they just saw somebody walking by. They'd been using some drugs and they saw me walking by and they just, they didn't even know me. But they.
Spit at me and that didn't feel very good. But you know the Lord Jesus, they knew who he was and they did it to Him anyway.
Because they hated.
But that's the person that died for your sins, I hope. And he certainly died for my sins and for the sins of a lot of people in here that have trusted him.
OK, now let's sing another one. Maybe there's another one we can enjoy. OK, what would you like to sing 44 #44?
Gypsy boy lay dying alone at the close of the day.
News of salvation, we carried that he nobody ever has told it to me.
Tell it again. Tell it again.
00:10:04
Salvation.
Story repeat. All right.
Hell, none can say of the children of men.
Nobody ever has told me before.
And it's all of me, a port little boy.
And unto me the good tidings of joy.
Need I not perish my hand? Will he hold?
Nobody, ever. The story has told.
I'll live again.
Tell it again.
Salvation.
Story repeat. All right.
Tillman can say of the children of men.
O body ever has told me before.
Just as he enters the valley of God.
God scientists on whosoever said he.
Then I am sure that he sent him for me.
Tell it again.
Tell it again.
Salvation.
Sorry, Repeat. All right.
No one can say of our children of men.
Nobody.
Ever has told me before.
Let's sing one more for now, and maybe we'll get a chance for some more later. OK Steven #46.
The I am the SIBR ING.
Do a.
Saving me.
And he calls and he calls all the TIR of us, and he wants all the voices to.
To TRU.
Of seeing him and have all their sins now washed away.
OK, before we go any farther, let's ask the Lord Jesus. Let's ask our God to help us this morning in the Sunday school.
Now there's a verse I have in mind and it was on the Sunday school paper and I'd like to talk about it in a minute or two. But before we do that, does anybody here have a verse that you've learned? Not we don't have time, I don't think to let everybody have a chance, but are one or two of you have a verse that you've learned that you'd like to say so that everybody can hear that gospel verse or maybe that verse about how to live for the Lord Jesus or whichever verse you've learned for today? Did anybody learn a verse for today? Got one person 2-3 or four?
OK.
How many, baby, about 6 of you learned a verse for this morning. And how many of those of you have your hands up would like to say it for everybody? OK, well, we'll let a couple of you anyway. Say it. We'll start with you.
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for is the power of God into salvation to everyone that believeth. Romans 116. Good, that's the one I learned too. Now let's see if somebody else has one you want to say. Want to try Matt?
00:15:01
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Romans 116. OK thank you. Do you want to say it Jessica? No okay.
Somebody else want to say it?
All right, go ahead.
OK, you can say a different one. That's fine. That's good.
Matthew 11.
Matthew 11.
28 through 30.
I think, Come unto me. Is that right?
Come unto me, I'll eat that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
For I am making lowly in heart.
And ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke, it's easy and my burden is light.
Thank you very much. And do we have maybe one more?
OK.
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ before it is power of God unto salvation to everyone that plead with humans. 2016 All right, thank you now.
I just want to start and I really want to talk this morning. I want to think together with you. So you're going to maybe help me out with the story because I want to really think about what that gospel of Christ that it talks about in that verse is. How many of you think you can help me with that story? How many have heard it before and can help me with that story this morning?
I know a lot of you weren't listening to that question. Let me try that one again. OK, Listen real carefully because I think you know the answer to that one. How many of you think you know something about the good news, the gospel of Christ that mentioned?
In the verse that some people said, how many know a little bit about the good news?
OK, let me ask it one other way. You may not want to help me this morning, so that may be why you're a little bit shy. OK, so you don't have to help me if you put up your hand right now. I just want to know how many of you know a little bit about the good tidings, the story about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for you personally. OK, that's the question. How many know a little bit about that?
Oh, good. All right, now some of you are going to help me and some of you would be a little too shot.
But first of all, let's think about the first part of that verse, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now, some of you earlier said you knew what shame meant, or maybe what a shame meant. It might be a little bit afraid of people laughing at you, or might be afraid of something that you've done now.
I want you to think about this. How many of you have thought a little bit about cars? Now, some of you might not have, but I'm some of you have thought a little bit about cars, a few of you. OK, I think maybe you could understand this illustration because about a week ago I was driving out of the parking lot where I work and the parking lot where I work and I have a car. It's about 10 years old. How many of you are younger than 10?
You're younger than 10, so this car is older than you are and it's a real small little car and it didn't cost very much to start with. And right now it it got run into a mailbox and has a big dent on the driver side. And I was pulling out of that parking lot or actually I was pulling in, I think. And I looked over and some other person that worked there, they pulled in right next to me.
And they were driving, oh, it was a little longer than mine and a nice fresh paint on all both sides. And I looked at the backside and it said Lexus on it. And that's a pretty nice kind of car. I don't have a car like that. It doesn't say that on the back of mine. So I looked over and I got out of the car and I thought, I hope they can't see the driver door in my car because maybe they were on the other side of their car and they might not see it. And I said good morning to them. Now I was just a little bit ashamed and it didn't last for very long, but I was just a little bit ashamed as they pulled in next to me and I pulled in next to them.
I thought, I hope they don't look too closely.
Now what I want you to think about in this illustration, this is the important part OK, so I want you to link this and carefully to this. Was I ashamed because I'm always an ashamed kind of person? Is that the important part? No, I was a little bit ashamed because they might see what I was driving. Now think about the verse. For I am not ashamed of, not because I'm not not ashamed kind of person, not because I'm brave and courageous all the time, but because I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ or the good news, the glad tidings. That's what we're not ashamed of. And that's what we want to talk about this morning. Because you might be a person that's a little bit timid. Some people would just walk right up and say, hi, my name is, and they're real friendly and cheerful. How many of you know somebody like that? Real friendly and cheerful.
00:20:03
And some people are shy and they don't want anybody to look at them. But that's not what this is all about. What's important here is.
There's something that we don't have to be ashamed of. I think if I'd switched cars with the other person, I would have driven up and I wouldn't have been ashamed.
OK, so let's think about that story, what it is we have that we don't need to be ashamed of. OK, the gospel of Christ if nobody minds. I think some of the people at the back won't be able to see anything if I put it on here. So I don't think anybody on behind if we borrow this table and.
Set.
That easel up on the table.
So that some of the adults can see.
Now a few of them aren't going to be able to see too well because they're on the sides.
Hopefully that will stay up.
I do too.
All right, now we're going to get to the glad tidings in a moment. But like a lot of stories, they need a setting. And so here's the setting. We need to start off with an it's an important part of the story, one that you all already know.
What do you think the story about Adam started? Adam and Eve, the first people that ever live on this earth. Where did that story start?
OK, where did that story start? The Garden of Eden, he said, started in the Garden of Eden. So this is just everything this morning. It's just to remind you, because I don't want you to think so much about what's up there. I want you to think about the story because that's the important part. And we need to get right to the most important part of the story. So there's the Garden of Eden, and I just have nice plain green. There are no marks on it. Little sun up in the sky, nice and bright.
Any big stains on that piece of poster board? No, it looks looks pretty nice. Nice and clean.
There's the Garden of Eden, there's the sun. What should I put in the garden? There are lots of things, but there's one thing I have ready to put in that garden. Probably the most important part because I think the garden was created as a setting.
For this one thing.
OK, and you probably have a pretty good answer. It might not be the one I'm thinking of, so don't feel bad if I don't take the one you give me, because it's probably a pretty good answer. But what do you think?
Adam and Eve, that's what I was thinking of. I think God created that garden and he made a beautiful place and he gave Adam and Eve eyes so that they could see what was there. He gave them a mouth so that they could taste a lot of that beautiful fruit in that garden. There are lots of trees there and they could eat the fruit out of a lot of those trees and he made a beautiful place for them to be. So let's just remind ourselves, put a little bit of, it's got a little person here, here's a person and we'll put that person in the garden real quick.
And while I'm putting it up there.
You know the story because a lot of you said you did, and some of you want to help me this morning. So there's a person, there's Adam in the garden.
Did that last a long time? Did Adams stay in the garden for 40,000 years?
Well, the Bible doesn't say exactly how long he was in the garden, but I sure don't think it was that long.
Because so. But what happened? What happened?
What do you think happened?
Found any of the good and evil? Oh, they ate of the fruit of that tree of good and evil.
Well, what's wrong with eating a piece of fruit?
I think you already said it, but I don't know that everybody heard. So I want everyone to think about that question because you already gave a good answer. But think about that question. What's wrong with eating a piece of fruit? Is there anything wrong with eating a piece of fruit? How many of you had some fruit this morning, Maybe on your cereal? Or I had some strawberries last night and they were really good. How many of you had fruit this week, in the last week? It's pretty good. I like fruit now. What's wrong with eating the piece of fruit? He already told us, but maybe somebody else was listening carefully, could tell us again.
OK, what was it?
God told them not to, and you know that's the important thing. What's that called? All of you know the answer, so I want to make sure you're listening. What's it called? The eight of the fruit. God told them not to, and that's called.
OK, that's called what? What's it called?
Disobedience. Good. And I was thinking of a shorter word that means really a lot of the same thing disobedience is.
00:25:05
OK, good. That is sent disobedience is sin. That's what was wrong with it now.
How many of you think you're going to get put in jail someday for eating a piece of fruit?
Oh, there's no laws in this country, I don't think that say we can't eat a piece of fruit. But what was important, what was serious was that what they did was what God told them not to do. Now, another important thing to think about them, we're going to put a little bit of something to remind us of that.
I just got, I've got a small black piece of construction paper and I'm going to put that right in the middle of this little person right here.
Now you think we can leave that person with that big black blotch right in the middle? Can we leave them right here in the Garden of Eden?
No, you know, this is pretty serious because this isn't just a few little pieces of construction paper up on an easel. This is a real story from God's word, the Bible. Let's read those verses real quickly. Let's read what happened because of that one seemingly simple little thing. And that's important to remember because most of you, probably, in fact, I'm sure that none of you sitting up in front has ever killed another person.
But you may have had thoughts like that in your heart sometimes when your brother or sister hasn't been too nice to you. And it comes from that same source. And it's what God calls sin. And this is very important. Let's read it from God's Word. This is a true story, and it happened.
For some of us, we'd say this was a long time ago, but for God's way of thinking of time, this is just like it was yesterday almost. It's in Genesis chapter 3 and I want to read you what happened.
Genesis chapter 3, verse 17. So if you've got your Bible and you're opened up to that, that's good. You can follow along. Otherwise, I want you to listen carefully because this is coming from God's Word.
And it says, And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake and sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of the field in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art.
And unto dust shalt thou return. What was going to happen to Adam, because he sinned.
Adam sinned. What was going to happen because of that?
He was going to die. That's absolutely right. Adam was going to die. And Adam has died. You can't go anywhere on this earth and find Adam. And I think that you probably, even if you could find where Adam had died, you wouldn't find Adam either, because he's turned back to dust. You know, the Lord knows where Adam is.
As the remains but there we're going to take Adam or the person right out of the garden. Well, that's kind of serious because.
See the ultimate end? They mentioned it last night.
Do you think Adam deserves this place for sinning?
OK, spin that just a little. Think Adam deserves that place? How about everybody else who sinned?
Right up there in big letters, for the few of you can't see it. It says hell right there on a black background. That's pretty serious thing, because sin is a very serious thing to God. Very serious thing. Did God just leave it that way and say, oh, well, that's where Adam's going to end up because he's sin?
Is that the way God left it? No, of course he didn't. God didn't leave it that way. You know what? God made it so that.
Just take this part.
God waited a long time to see if man would do anything good, but he wouldn't. And so God sent.
Why do you think this is a different color? That's probably a hard question. This one's white. OK, And I'm going to put the white one back now. We're going to think of the green as just here on the Earth.
Or maybe it would be better to think of the green or the white right here.
Let's just turn this around.
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Here's an Earth by now all full up with sin.
Now there's this white person.
OK.
OK.
Who do you think that represents?
Just to remind ourselves, because it's very important. A lot of you know good, a lot of you know the answer to that one. Can you tell me who that represents?
Pardon.
OK. You mean the black part? Well, the world is kind of like that. There's so much sin. But that's not what I was thinking of. I was thinking of the white person there. Who do you think that is? The other one was orange color. What do you think?
The Lord Jesus, you know, I was thinking about the Lord Jesus because it's the same shape as the other one. I put this underneath and then I cut this out over top. It's the same shape. You know, the Lord Jesus became of man. He became a man that had two hands, 2 feet. He had a mouth, He had eyes just like you. Do you think he could understand what it was like to eat a meal?
Do you think the Lord Jesus understands what it's like to get up in the morning and to go to sleep and to cry? The Lord Jesus was here on earth and we read about him crying. He understands all those things because the Lord Jesus became a man. But there's no black mark. And you know, the Lord Jesus was perfectly holy. He hated sin. He couldn't, he couldn't sin. The Lord Jesus was perfect and he came here to this earth. And now we've talked about the glad tidings because this is what we're not ashamed of. I'm not ashamed.
Of the gospel of Christ. The Lord Jesus was on this earth. You know there was a person there.
And they came to him. Do you remember what a lady brought to the Lord Jesus?
Think it's kind of nice just one story along the way a lady brought something to the Lord Jesus.
What do you think it was? There are lots of things, but I was thinking of just one of them. What was it?
Jesus feet. That's a beautiful thing, isn't it? A woman bought perfume to put on the Lord Jesus feet.
That's a wonderful thing and that's one I've really enjoyed a lot. It's not the one I was ready to put something up there for, but it's just as good, very important.
Here's what I have ready. Now what do you suppose this one represents?
Little small. What's that represent?
That's an easy one.
All of you know the answer to that one. What's this one represent? What do you think? Just a child? Do you think the Lord Jesus cares about little children? He sure does. Lord Jesus cares about everybody in this room. And some people as they get older and older, they still like to think of themselves as pretty young little children. But you know, the Lord Jesus loves from the smallest child in here up to the oldest person here. Lord Jesus loves everyone. And he said, suffer little children to come unto me.
He wanted those little children to come to him.
Now you told me you knew the story of the Lord Jesus and what he did. We're getting to a very important part.
This is part of the very good news.
Here's this black world. There's people in that black world.
Do you think they like to see the perfect Holy Lord Jesus Christ? Suppose I were to put something black right in front here. Would it show up?
Let me take this little piece out and let me see if somebody way at the back can tell.
Jessica, because I can see him way at the back. I'm going to ask you Daddy, OK?
Mr. Penowitz, can you see that right there? Can you make it out?
Can't see it now suppose you were covered in sin on this background.
Do you think everybody could see you there?
Now.
Mr. Hopanowitz, can you see that?
There's a white perfect Holy Lord Jesus do you think people want?
The Lord Jesus here on the earth, where there's all that sin.
How many think they wanted the Lord Jesus here?
Well, some people love the Lord Jesus and they traveled with them. But did most people want the Lord Jesus here on the earth? No, they hated him. And you know what? They had a heart in them that's just like the heart that each one of us is born with. It hates God because God is perfect and we're sinners and we've sinned. And so you know what they made? What do you suppose I have in this bag? They made something for the Lord Jesus. They gave him something.
00:35:19
What did they give him?
What did they give him?
OK, what did they give him? A crown of thorns. Good. Didn't have time to make one of those, but I was thinking of it. A crown of thorns. What else did they give him? There are several things they gave him. Gave him a crown of thorns. How many would like a crown of thorns to wear? No, that's not the kind of gift you or I would like. That's something that we give to somebody we would hate. Maybe crown of thorns, What else? I only made one thing, but there are several things they gave him a cross of one of those, but something else maybe that they gave the Lord Jesus.
They gave him a robe. Was it a nice one that they wanted everybody to see?
Because they wanted everyone to honor the Lord Jesus.
No, sometimes we would probably have sung a hymn.
A robe of derision. They circled around them. That means they were putting that robe on them because they wanted to make fun of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Lord Jesus Christ. So let's put that.
Cross up there. In fact, I have two other ones because there were two others.
Now, I'm not sure that this will stand up, but let's see. Otherwise, could I have someone help me out if it doesn't stay out, OK, maybe you can help me. Chris, if this doesn't stay up here, let's put this up.
OK, I'm going to have to get you a chair and help me out, Chris.
OK, well tell you what, maybe no one would mind.
If.
I got somebody a little bit taller because I don't have a chair that I can pull around for you. Somebody a little bit taller. Thank you.
Just reach and justice hold that for me.
Thank you.
OK, now let's put these up here quickly because this is the really important part of the story and I want to think about that together. 2 crosses.
They don't really show up because they're black. And you know what? The crosses people maybe hated those other two people too, didn't care for them. That says they were. They're both sinners. One of them even admitted it. Two crosses there.
And I made another one just so it would show up. It's white. But you know, a cross isn't a beautiful thing. It was an awful thing. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted to put him on that cross because they wanted to see him suffer.
They wanted to see him suffer, but I wanted you to be able to see it. So I made it a different color and I'm going to put it right there in the middle. And they took that perfect Lord Jesus.
It took that perfect Lord Jesus that hadn't done anything wrong. No black stains since that's the color we're using here for sin.
They took that perfect Lord Jesus. They put him on that cross.
And I laughed at him.
Had already spit on him. They had already beaten his back. How many of you have ever had your back beaten?
Maybe some of you have been spanked, but I suspect that none of you have had a big long scourge that had three parts to it. I've read about that kind. They used them.
So it probably had three long parts to it and it had little parts of a bone and little bits of metal. So that would really hurt. And they used that on the Lord Jesus. Then they put him on that cross.
But here's the important part I want you to think about. Thank you very much.
While the Lord Jesus was there.
How many of you can see that person that we have that we're using to represent the Lord Jesus?
How many can you see that now?
Why do you think that I pulled that black covering down over where we had those 3 crosses?
Why did we pull that covering down?
You all remember the story. That's good. Let's see. Put that black covering. Let's pull down. Why was that?
So they couldn't see him. Is that right? Do you know who put that black covering down?
Who did that? God put that black covering down. You know why? Because while that black covering was down that night for three hours.
What happened to the Lord Jesus there for those three hours?
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Three hours for some of you is a long time. Some people that are older don't think 3 hours is very long. But these three hours I think were the longest 3 hours for the Lord Jesus that you could ever imagine.
What happened during those three hours?
What happened?
He was punished for our sins. You know these sins.
No one that was there. Only God could see, you know?
No one in this room, not a single person in this room can see that little mark that I just put in there, and that's the way it was. Not a single person that was living could see those sins put on the Lord Jesus because God pulled that curtain of darkness down South. They couldn't watch. Do you think that hurt? Do you think that was suffering? I don't think anybody in here, the oldest person in here, somebody that really has thought about it and meditated about a lot, they might understand a little bit more than you or I up front, but they don't understand very much what that means.
And when the curtain was lifted, do you think those sins were still there?
I think when that curtain was lifted, the sins were still there. No, you know, when that curtain was lifted, they were all gone. The Lord Jesus paid for every one of them, every one of those sins that God put there, they were all gone.
Now.
What could people see instead? A soldier came along with a spear, and instead of seeing those sins, what could other people see?
What could they see?
Instead of seeing those sins, they saw something else that was so much nicer. We sang about it at the beginning, I think.
They saw something else. OK, raise your hand if you think you know the answer. And I won't call on you because some of you are shot, but raise your hand if you think you know the answer. The soldier brought that spear. And instead of seeing those sins.
Other people could see what. OK, good. Now how many of you would like to answer the question?
OK, let's see anybody I haven't called on yet gotten some help from? I think I have, but I'll let you.
They saw the blood and water come out. You know the Lord Jesus.
He truly became a man.
And so out of his side where that soldier put a spear. Do you think the soldier did it because he loved the Lord Jesus?
It didn't kill the Lord Jesus. He'd already given his spirit to God, but out of that side. Now there's that little red mark there on the side.
Out of that side came blood and water.
And then they took the Lord Jesus.
Down from the cross.
Most people didn't care at that point. They knew the Lord Jesus was dead and he was dead. The Lord Jesus died and so they took him and they put him in a tomb.
You know, this really happened in the Bible. We're running short on time. We don't have the time to look up the verses. But you've heard them before. They put them in a tomb, and then they put in front of that door, the tomb, a stone.
And nobody could see the Lord Jesus again.
But you know the story when it came time to roll away that stone.
When it came time to move that stone away.
The Lord Jesus is still there.
No, he's gone. He was gone. He's not in the tomb. He's risen, the Angel said. He's not here.
Where is the Lord Jesus?
Right then he was walking on the earth. But right now, where is the Lord Jesus right now?
Right now.
Of course, the Lord Jesus right now.
He's on God's right hand in heaven.
That's the other part.
God's right hand in heaven right now.
OK.
Blood was shed, you know, we'll still see the wounds, so I'm going to leave that there to remind us of the wounds. He's at God's right hand in heaven.
Now there's the end of the verse and we just have enough time to pause and think about it. Someone quoted that for me at the beginning. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? We had a chance to think about, just for a few minutes, why? We don't need to be ashamed of that story. It's a wonderful true story about the Lord Jesus. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? For it is the power of God. That's not how man gets to heaven. It's the power of God, God's way of bringing each person in here to heaven, whereas the power of God unto salvation.
00:45:17
Two What's the end of it?
Two, that's God's way. We know we can't get to heaven by our own works. It's through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's too What's the end of the verse? Go ahead and say it.
Everyone that believeth, it's to everyone that believeth. And you know, this morning God opens up these two choices. God's opened up really the choice you have right here, heaven. And you know at God's right hand in heaven, there's the Lord Jesus Christ right there. And that's something God has for you. But I want every child here to pause and to think and for you to adults as well. There are two of these still.
There's heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ and those wounds, and you'll get to think about the Lord Jesus and enjoy that love forever.
But there's another choice. And if you still have your sins, you haven't accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. There's this other piece here and it has that word hell on it, and that's serious. And the man last night said that was serious.
And it is because if you don't accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, He wants this One for you. He wants to have you with Himself.
But if you don't accept them as your savior, there's only one other choice. There's only one other choice.
Let's just talk to him.
Luke Precious Faith with Us That's the Faith of the Apostle
Address—C. Buchanan
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I confess it's a great joy to be here.
And as Peter commented the first verse in his second epistle.
Them of like precious.
Faith with us.
I want to stress those last two words with us.
That's the faith of the apostles. That's what we're getting in God's book.
Wonderful thing it is yet to be on the earth with a company that are following the apostles faith.
We get indirectly through the apostles.
They got from the Lord Jesus. We want to look into the scriptures about those things, but let's begin with singing #1.
I'll read the.
3rd stanza.
Owed his joy to the path to trace by thee so meekly trod.
The learning of thee to walk in grace and.
Fellowship with God Fellowship with God. Some brothers start this.
#106 please.
00:05:04
Blessed God.
I'd like to ask you to go back to Haggai.
Where we were in the reading.
Some charming thoughts brought before us out of the scriptures yesterday.
Haggai, you know, lived in a time which was quite similar to the time you and I live in, in that God had gotten a remnant of his people back to his house.
And showed himself to them there. This has been true.
Largely in the last 180 years.
In the world.
The time of recovery going back to the original ground at the time of the apostles. Some recovery.
The joy of salvation by faith coming in the.
Middle Ages 1314 hundred 1500 and then 180 years ago.
The opening up of the truth by the Spirit of God.
This book being divinely inspired and a guide.
For God's people to keep them and bring them into the place that he had prepared to have a witness that there is indeed one body, one church. Well, here in the time of Hague are we want to notice in the first chapter and in the second chapter. Just some highlights.
We find in Haggai 1.
Verse 12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Cheryl Till, and Joshua the son of Josedech. I believe that was the princely line and the priestly line.
With all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God. We heard something about obedience from this platform yesterday.
There's no substitute for it. There's no communion apart from it. We have to agree with God, get our doctrine from Him.
Well, here they had they obeyed the people, and obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet.
Middle of verse 12 as the Lord their God had sent him.
And the people did fear before the Lord what a commendable condition was found there.
In that little returned remnant at that time, and what a supply for them. Verse 13 Then spake Hagia, the Lord's messenger, in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.
I'm going to imitate what it says here we have in this book.
The Lord's message.
And he is saying to us, I am with you, saith the Lord.
We have every supply that's needed in 1997, nearly 2000 years since the cross and a time of recovery and happiness and a people.
Who Peter could say, have light, precious faith with us because it's come out of this book. But that's not all. Chapter 2.
In the 20th March, in the one and 20th day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying.
And so the word continues to come through the prophet. The Lord had said by the prophet, I am with you. Now we have the prophet with the word to go on and bring that to them. Now going down to chapter verse 5.
Over 4.
I'll start with verse three because it's precious.
00:10:02
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison as nothing yet? Now be strong, those are rebels, saith the Lord. And be strong, O Joshua, the Prince and the priest.
Son of Joseph the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land. This word is commendable for every person in this room. Be strong and in the Lord, in the power of his might. We get in in Ephesians.
Be strong all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts. There's still something to do, the Lord had said in the 19th of Luke. Occupy till I come. He hasn't come yet. He's coming. We've been enjoying that, and he must be close, but occupy till he comes.
According to the word that I covenant with you when he came out of Egypt, verse 5.
So my spirit remaineth among you. Fear ye not.
We are exhorted in the New Testament.
Not to grieve the Spirit of God.
And not to quench the Spirit of God.
Grieving the Spirit of God today is the allowance of the flesh to act.
Now we can grieve the Spirit of God, but we can't make him leave. He stays, He stays. He changes his work in your soul and mine. When we grieve him, he begins to occupy us with our failure.
Now it hinders communion that he wants and that we need.
Quenching the Spirit.
Is a like thing in that it hinders the action of the Spirit of God. Possibly in another person, might even be in myself. But we can't make the Spirit leave. So we have brethren. The Lord in the midst has gathered to his name.
And we have the Holy Spirit in dwellings.
And he stays, and we have this blessed book. We have everything we need.
Now in this second chapter, we did refer to a verse. Let's look on down to it.
We'll just go ahead reading in verse six, for thus saith the Lord of hosts yet once.
It is a little while.
And I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.
And I will shake all nations.
And the desire of all nations shall come, and I will.
Fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.
We remarked that in the Spanish.
It's El Desiado, the desired one, the person that's coming. The desire of all the earth shall come. The desire of all nations is the person.
The person, he's going to come and he's the one that's going to fill that house with glory on the earth, too.
Meanwhile, we can rejoice in everything he has given.
We've been having that. The Lord Jesus came.
And that he's coming.
Because this world cast him out, but he finished redemption's work to the glory of God. An hour eternal blessing.
And God is gathering by the Spirit of people.
Whom we were reminded in 2nd Thessalonians 2, the first verse. Now we beseech you, brethren.
By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him.
That there is a day when every St. is going to be gathered.
To the Lord Jesus. Oh how wonderful, how comforting to know that. But we don't.
00:15:03
Have to wait and we want to get into some of that, but oh, how blessed to think that the Lord shall have his place down here and He shall gather a heavenly company.
Now I want to go to one of the most well known portions of scripture to enjoy what we have right now in John 14.
For in this wonderful chapter of John 14.
We have perhaps the clearest for the first time.
About the Lord coming again.
And.
We are the ones that are expecting to see him.
But the situation here that day was very wonderful.
For the apostles.
That were gathered together to walk with him.
To work with him, to preach with him, to teach about him.
And then to have him tell him, I'm going away, I'm going away, let's read it.
Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
That's almost an axiom.
As to God, the devils believe and tremble, but here is God.
Whom Jesus was making known as his Father and ended up in the 20th chapter saying My Father and your father, my God and your God to think that he was going away.
In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. Here he says it. I go to prepare a place for you.
Man when he was created.
Was suited for this world, I think it says Ecclesiastes. Set the world in their heart.
That is, we relate to the common things in this everyday world.
God made us for this world, not yet for the next.
But he's going to bring us there and we have to be suited. And it's so simple to find out that there's no other way, no other person that can do this for us. And we believe this. We believe in God, believe in the Lord Jesus and what he's telling us. And if I go, he says just as soon as he says I'm going, he tells us the other part of it, I will come again. He doesn't leave even.
A phrase in between.
If I go, I'm coming.
This is where we are. We're just right at the coming, the literal coming of the Lord Jesus.
And what's he going to do? Receive you? Do you believe that?
Unto myself. It's a personal thing. He's going to receive you. He's going to receive me.
Unto himself.
That where I am, he takes his title.
He is the great I am where I am. There ye may be also. That's where we are going to be, brethren. Oh, this gets so bright. Then he says, Whither I no go, ye know, and the way ye know.
The children could begin to explain the gospel this morning.
They have learned that Jesus is the way as it coming up here.
Thomas says unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Aren't you glad that this man asked these questions? So he got the straightforward answers that don't need teaching, they just need faith. Just believe them.
Thomas said to him, Lord, we know not whither thou ghost, and how can we know the way?
Well, we want, we want to hear the answer to that.
Thomas gets it out of the Lord for us. Jesus saith the name I am.
The way he takes that divine title, I am. I am the great I am. That's why how he appeared to Moses.
00:20:13
I am the way.
The truth and the life Jesus is all of these things.
The way, the truth and the light. Now we're getting the truth out of this book. I say the truth.
Let's amplify what the Lord says, the truth going to chapter 18 of John.
And see what it says there.
I think this is so lovely and so important to catch a hold of in the time in which we live.
When there are those who are making a mockery out of what the word calls.
The truth.
Say true.
And they invent their own doctors.
Even their own way they think of worship, we leave it with God as to how far that worship goes. We must abide by the apostles doctrine. What God has put in this book in the 18th of John.
When the Lord is on trial.
As man put him on trial before the representative of the Roman.
Emperor Pilate himself.
Pilot.
Ask the Lord questions.
And at the end of verse 33, he says.
Art thou the King of the Jews?
Jesus answered him.
Seest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
Pilot was a little provoked at that. He was to be the judge. He was to get the answer.
And he says am IA Jew.
A derogatory term in those days.
Thine own nation, the nation of the Lord Jesus, and the chief priests, have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done?
There's something wrong, Pilate thinks.
After his interrogation, he has to pronounce three times. I find no fault in this man, though the Lord was examined by Pilate.
But the Lord goes on here and says.
My Kingdom.
As much as saying, yes, I'm a king, He is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? But now is my Kingdom not from him? He wasn't going to get it from the world. You see, Satan had offered it to him, a shortcut to get into that position of controlling the world. The Lord wouldn't take it. He couldn't take it. He didn't take it from Satan. He's going to get it from the Father.
That's the blessed titled deed to this earth that we find in the 5th chapter of Revelation. He gets it from God.
Verse 37.
Pilate therefore said her name. Art thou a king, then?
Now notice Jesus's answer.
Thou sayest that I am those two words again a king.
Wonderful what the Lord added here to this end was I born.
And for this cause came I into the world that I should there witness.
And two, the truth.
Why did Jesus come? Why did he say he came? He came to bear witness to the truth. In bearing witness to the truth, He bore witness to himself, and his witness was true.
The truth comes again in this verse. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Let's hear the truth. Let's believe the truth. Let's the truth. Let us, let the truth keep us.
00:25:01
If we keep the truth, it will keep us. So back to John 14, verse six. I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He's the one that's going to bring us there.
If you have believed, you're on the way.
We'll go on in the chapter.
If he had no man coming to the Father under the Father, but by me, verse seven, if He had known me, he should have known my Father also, and from henceforth you know Him and have seen Him. You see, Jesus was revealing the Father.
He goes on and says Philip asks questions, would rather another question. Show us the Father and it suffices us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not moan thee, Philip?
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. This is the way you and I will know more. It is in Jesus who became a man.
Lived and died and rose as a man, wept the glory as a man.
He is there and He's coming. He's telling us that here. This is the way we will know God in the person of the Son. Oh, how lovely, how sweet.
Incomprehensible, but we can't believe it. Jesus is gone. Jesus is man.
Verse 10 Believe us, thou not, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, do you?
The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father.
And the Father in me, or else believe me, for the very works sake, verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me the works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father. He goes on and tells us in these chapters that the Spirit of God is going to come down here.
And so that's the way the greater works are done. By the Spirit of God, you and I have a wonderful place and a wonderful occupation, and what we are to do is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ.
Preach Christ.
As Paul said, we preach, not ourselves.
But Jesus Christ, Lord, this is our place, this is our occupation to make him known to others.
I will go on down to verse.
15.
If he loved me, keep my commandments.
I'm glad what was said about obedience yesterday.
There is no substitute for obedience.
There's no other way of communion than to obey.
And the proof of our love is not what we say, but it's what we do. Keep his commandments.
If he loved me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father.
And he shall give you.
Another comforter.
The Lord felt for those disciples who had been with him.
And that he was going to leave them.
And he wasn't going to leave them worthless.
You see, God has worked.
The Lord says that my Father worked and I work. God has been put to work by man.
When sin was brought in through Satan and the whole God.
Went to work. He is not going to leave this world always in the horrible state it's in.
I think that's what we call the mystery of God.
In Revelation 10.
Till the mystery of God shall be complete. The mystery of God is not complete.
Until evil is put out of this world.
But what God does is gather our people out.
00:30:00
Makes them his own, provides for them, preserves them, and keeps them through the world and in fellowship with him. Fellowship with God, fellowship with God, the fellowship of the Spirit.
So it's a wonderful place to be.
In the world today.
In the presence of the Lord, Jesus was gathered to his name.
And having the Holy Spirit collectively and individually.
Dwelling in US and the complete word of God to help us and to guide us and give us, give us joy through the blackness of this scene.
If you love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another covenor.
That he may abide with you forever.
He may abide with you.
Forever.
Even the spirit of truth.
Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, and he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
These two little preparations with and in are very small, but they convey volumes to us because it's talking about God.
He shall abide with you forever.
Then the end of verse 17 He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
With us collectively, brethren, is the Spirit of God, and in US individually as Savior is the Spirit of God.
What a solid foundation and protection we have even as.
Paul in writing that first epistle to the.
Thessalonians said the church.
God, I've better read that to get that's right. It was so lovely.
The church which is in God and.
Poland, Sylvanus and Timothy as under the Church of the Thessalonians.
In God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, what a secure position.
The church is put in and that's our stability, that very thing, the Spirit of God dwelling with us and in US. Verse 18 I will not leave you comfortless.
I will come.
To you.
We're getting another coming of the Lord here.
In the first verses, it's the rapture, clearly.
He has gone away.
And He is coming again. But you see the Lord.
Loves his people.
And he doesn't want to do without our fellowship. Do you want to do without his?
All that we would walk in holiness of life.
Not to grieve him, not to quench him, but to enjoy what I believe we enjoyed correctly this morning.
In the Lord's presence at his table.
His own presence here.
As we remembered what it cost him to get us.
Into his family and at the same time.
We are, as we break bread, that one loaf, a witness that Jesus lived, and he lives in his Saints.
That's why the world and Satan hate the Lord's Table.
You tell some of your brethren that there's only one Lord's table and they don't like it.
But there is only one Lord's Table.
And he's at his table. Well, let's leave that and believe it.
But it is a witness that Jesus is alive for AS.
Paul saw at that time was proceeding toward Damascus.
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To heal men and women which were that way Christians.
Persecuting them even to death.
He was stricken down by a great light from heaven above the brightness of the noonday sun.
Here is a chosen vessel.
Struck blind by the glory of the Lord Jesus.
On his pathway to persecute people like you and I if we had been living near Damascus in that day.
Saul would have been after us.
But Saul had to learn something, and the brightness of the light convinced him that that was the Lord, that was the Lord. He said that who art thou, Lord? And here's what he had to learn, that the Saints are the Lord members of his body.
I am Jesus whom thou persecuted.
All the wonderful truth.
Of the one body.
Hold John 14 and let's read in Colossians.
A verse that we read yesterday. I think we but maybe it was a day before.
Colossians, chapter 3.
And verse 15.
Let the peace of God rule in your heart. How sweet, how straightforward is this exhortation to me and to you. Just let it rule. Let that have the rule.
In your heart He wants our heart. My son, give me thine heart.
And we had from the 84th Psalm yesterday, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Just let that happen.
And.
Through the which year cold in one body The 15th verse of Colossians 3. Again let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the witch also your cold in one body and be your thing.
Yes, there is one body, and recall in one body, and to witness that here is what pleases God and what pleases Christ, and what arouses the wrath and ire of Satan.
But brethren, greater is He depend you than He is in the world. We don't have to fear. There is one place on earth where we can have peace, brother. One place on earth where we can have peace. Get the scene twice in the 20th of John.
Where the Lord comes into the midst.
Now those who were gathered tandem, I guess the first time.
In resurrection, He appears as the door is being shut. The Lord was here this morning. The door is being shut.
That's the truth. He's known the faith.
And what does he say? Peace beyond you.
The next.
Lord's Day.
It was the very Lords Day of the Resurrection, and eight days after that of the Jews counted, and they add an extra day.
He was there again.
This is an indication that you and I.
Need the breaking of bread every Lord there is a prohibition part. We are so forgetful.
So how blessed it is and to be there to think of him and to witness that he lives and lives in his Saints and enjoy fellowship with him. Now coming on down a few more verses in our chapter.
John 14.
We will begin with the 20th verse.
At that day.
We shall know that I am in my father, and ye in me.
Well, I believe that begins with Pentecost.
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At that day ye shall know.
That I am in my Father and ye and me and I in you water. What a bound up bundled life we have here linked up with God and Christ.
Now verses 21.
#22.
Present to us another way of the Lord's coming.
That is the present time in which we live.
And it's because he wants.
And don't we want it to enjoy this communion, not to wait till the Lord comes and gets us literally out of this scene to have communion. God has different ways of making His love known. Here's the love of communion, verse 21 and 23. It's the love of communion. In John 316 we have the love of compassion.
In John 10, we have the love for obedience.
In Hebrews 12 we have the love of relationship, but here it seems like it's the most precious of all.
And it's a love of community to think that you and I who are morals can have common thoughts with your and that he wants it common thoughts with God. Verse 21 He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, there's obedience. He it is that loveth me.
And he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father. Here's the promise. I will love him and will manifest myself to him. Right now. The Lord manifested to us in that love of communion because our thoughts are so much in accord with Him, common thoughts with God.
Well, Judas asked the question now verse 22. Judas says unto him.
Not as scary as the other one. Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? How can this be done?
It's possible that somebody in this room might have learned that the first time this morning. The world can't understand it. We can, because we experience it when we agree with God wholly in obedience.
And bring him into our memory.
And so the 23rd verse says, Jesus answered and said unto him.
If a man love me, he will keep my words. There's obedience again, commandments in verse 21 words and verse 23 keep my words. Now there's a double promise of love here, and my father will love him.
And we will come unto him and make our abode with him now that his fellowship with God and fellowship with Christ enjoyed now.
As he comes to us, He's going to come and take us to be with him pretty soon. Let's sing #311 in closing.
#311.
While to several patterns of lighting.
We may have to go home.
Not anxious to.
But things change down here.
We are pilgrimage pursuit. We're still here, waiting for the Lord to come and literally take us out.
May our Shepherd safely guard still be kept in constant views.
May the bond of Blessed Communion Fellowship.
Every distant soul embrace till an everlasting union we attain a resting place #311.
Judgment Is Coming
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.
Start our meeting this evening with #23 on our hem sheets #23.
Behold, behold the Lamb of God on the cross for us. He shed his precious blood on the cross.
Oh, here the overwhelming cry. Eli, Lama Sabachthani, draw near and see the Savior die on the cross.
See. See His arms extended wide on the cross. Behold his bleeding hands inside on the cross.
The sun withholds his rays of light, the heavens are clothed in shades of night, while Jesus wins the glorious fight.
On the cross come, sinners, see him lifted up on the cross He drinks for you that bitter cup. On the cross the rocks do rend, the mountains quake, While Jesus doth atonement make.
Well, Jesus suffers for our sake on the cross.
#23.
Behold, behold the Lamb of God.
On the cross.
On the cross.
Borisation is precious blood.
On the cross.
On the cross.
Whelming cry.
Dilemma.
Sabachthani.
On the.
Cross.
I've never gone.
Oh.
My God.
No, I want to do it. What now is rain.
While they are.
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Let's pray. Great.
To Romans chapter one.
This morning, the children.
How does their memory verse verse 16? And I'd like to start there this evening.
Romans, chapter one, 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 the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, the justice 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, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them for the invisible things of him.
From the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made.
Even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are.
Without excuse.
Because that when they knew God.
They glorified him not as God, neither we're thankful.
But became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness.
Through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature? The creature?
More than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this 'cause God gave them up unto vile affections.
For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men leaving the natural use.
Of the women burned in their lust, one toward another.
Men with men working that which is unseemly.
And receiving in themselves that recompense of their error.
Which was meat, and even as they did not like to retain God.
In their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all righteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud.
Boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents without understanding covenant, Breakers without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Therefore thou art.
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Inexcusable.
Old man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.
For thou that judgest doest the same things, but we are sure.
That the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
And thinkest thou this old man that judges them, which do such things, and does the same?
That thou shalt escape the judgment of God, or despise us, thou the riches of his goodness.
And forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasure is up unto thyself, wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
Just going to read that far for the present moment. Here we have the gospel introduced, and the gospel is, as is often been mentioned, good news. But here I want to.
Focus especially on two things that are revealed. Number one, in verse 17 in the gospel is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. In other words, as we had last night in the gospel, God is right. In everything he does. He is right. Sometimes people criticize.
God, I'm amazed at how people are so audacious today.
That they even speak, even sometimes they hear Christians speaking. That they're angry with God.
And I say a person who speaks that way doesn't realize who he's dealing with. We're not dealing with another man that we can get angry with. We're dealing with the eternal infinite God of the universe.
If you want to get angry with someone, get angry with someone your own size, but don't get angry with God.
God is in heaven and you need to fear before Him.
But God is right in everything he does. And sooner or later everyone that has ever lived on the face of this earth will be convinced that God is right in everything he does. God is right. God is righteous. And if he's going to save your soul, if he's going to save my soul.
He has to have a righteous basis to do that saving on, and I say when God saves, he does it right.
But there's something else that's revealed as well. In verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth.
In unrighteousness, here we have men who hold the truth. Isn't this interesting? This afternoon we were hearing a little bit about the truth, and Scripture speaks very clearly of the truth. The Lord Jesus we heard this afternoon said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me you cannot have the truth.
Apart from Jesus, but here's someone. Scripture says it itself. They hold the truth.
In unrighteousness, is it possible that you are sitting there in your seat tonight friend, and you have this book in your hand? The Lord Jesus said in John chapter 17.
Thy word is truth.
You have the truth and yet you are living your own life. You choose to ignore God's claims on your life, not realizing that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness.
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And it says at the end of this first chapter, Knowing the judgment of God.
Chapter 2 verse two says we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.
Verse three at the end of the verse says.
Wrote to read the whole verse. Thinkest thou this old man that judges them, which do such things, and does the same?
That thou shalt escape the judgment of God.
Notice verse.
Five of chapter 2 after thy hardness and impendence and heart treasure stuff unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. What I want to point out tonight, my friend, is.
That while there is salvation being offered in the gospel, that God will bring every work into judgment.
And I say every sin that has ever been committed on this.
Globe. Planet Earth.
Will come into judgment sooner or later.
Have you sinned a sin today? Do you know that that sin you committed today?
Must meet its full judgment from the hand of God.
Not according to your idea about it, but according to God's own claims about that sin.
God sets the standards. You and I have no right to set the standards.
We have come to be seduced into a way of thinking in the United States of America that is extremely dangerous.
You know what it is?
In the democratic idea is that your idea is as good as mine.
And I have my idea and you have yours. You just stay out of my life. I'll do my own thing and you do yours.
That may be all right when we're talking about man to man.
That may be all right, but I say when we're talking about this matter of dealing with God.
I say you cannot and will not establish the grounds of judgment. God is right and He will deal with sin. Every one of those sins you have ever committed, He will deal with them according to His own righteous judgment.
How important to get that straight living in South America?
In Bolivia for a number of years, was kind of interesting to see the concept people have of earthly government and authority, and there is always a way when an earthly authority in that country says something to get around.
And if the authority says no, he doesn't really mean no, he means come at me a different way.
Or pass something underneath the table and we'll see what we can do about it. And so people get this mentality that there's some way always further on that I'll get around justice.
And it's deadly, that air. And I fear that Americans.
In general, have come to a very deadly.
Idea that they can deal with God the way they deal with their fellow man.
You cannot, my friend.
God's judgment is right.
And he's going to judge every sin that has ever been committed.
On this globe, it doesn't matter who you are, what age you are, it doesn't matter what your social status, it doesn't matter what your race is. God's judgment is just and He will do what is right in the end. There is judgment, my friend. God is going to judge sin. People sin.
And they laugh about it. And I'm scared at the way sometimes I even hear those who are professing Christians.
Lie about sin, Don't they realize?
That every sin must meet from the hand of a holy God. It's full justice and punishment.
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No two ways about it. It must be. Then how can there be salvation for my?
Sinful soul, if every sin that I have ever committed must meet, it's just penalty at the hand of a holy God. And that's what we have in verse 17. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. How is this, how can I stand before God righteous if I'm convicted of the fact that I sinned again and again and again?
Against His Holiness. How could it be? How can God Passover my sins and forgive me? I say my friend, God will not Passover one of my sins if God would Passover.
One small sin that we call small sin. There would be a question as to His righteousness that God will never do such a thing.
His character is in question in the matter of sin, and when the Lord Jesus came into this world, the glorious Son of God, he came to settle that question of sin once and forever.
Oh, this is the glorious gospel of Christ. God, knowing the condition in which we were lost in our sins, sent the Lord Jesus into this world.
To be the savior of sinners. How could I ever stand just?
Before the presence of God Almighty, thrice Holy God, how could I? If we go over to the third chapter, I'd like to read a few verses here that show how God can be righteous and at the same time justify the poor Sinner that believes in Jesus. Here is the good news of the Gospel.
Chapter 3.
Verse 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe, For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Being justified freely by His grace.
Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth the April officiation.
Through faith in his blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
To declare, I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Oh, the glorious message of how a guilty, ruined Sinner can stand before God, justified by God himself. How can God do such a thing? How can God be just?
And yet justify the guilty Sinner. Sometimes I've given this illustration. If I have been arrested in the city of Des Moines for robbery and it's evident I was taking red handed, there are many witnesses to say that I was guilty of that crime. How could anybody come and try to justify me before the Court of Justice? Could they ever be just in trying to justify me?
Absolutely not. They would only prove how wrong they were when the witnesses stand up one after another.
To testify of my guilt in robbery, why then their witnesses would be they're trying to justify me would be totally false. There is no way that any man alive on the face of this globe can justify sin.
And God does not justify sin either, but He.
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Justifies the Sinner that believes in Jesus. How can he do it?
Verse 24 says it's done freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And I want to take you back in your thoughts at this juncture to what took place nearly 2000 years ago outside the city of Jerusalem. There was a judgment that took place. I'm not talking about pilots judgment.
Pilate had Jesus before him, and you'll remember.
That.
The Lord Jesus spoke about the truth and Pilate asked what is truth and before he waited we could get an answer. He turned around and walked out. He didn't really want the answer.
He condemned the truth, and in condemning the truth.
He really condemned this whole world system.
But there was Jesus standing before him, and he condemned him to death because the people clamored for his blood. The glorious Son of God. There he stands, and he's given to the soldiers, and they take him, and they strip him, and they put on him a scarlet robe and the crown with thorns, and they beat those thorns into his head. They scourge him with a Roman scourge.
In the Old Testament, prophetically, the Lord Jesus says.
They plowed upon my back, They made long their furrows.
And then they take him out of that city of Jerusalem, the most religious city in the world, the religion that was at that time owned of God, the Jewish religion. Here were people who had the scriptures in their hands. And yet this is what they're doing with Jesus. To be religious doesn't mean anything that you're right with God here they were, and they were leading Jesus outside that city.
His face so marred more than any man's. And out that city and up the hill of Golgotha.
The hill of a skull. There they take him.
And they stretch out those hands of his, and they nail them to a cross.
They nail those feet to the cross, and they hang him between heaven and earth.
Oh, the awful, awful suffering that he suffered physically. Can you imagine?
What it must have been for him to hang hour after hour and those spikes driven through his hands. The excruciating pain that it was. That wasn't the only suffering that he suffered there on that cross from his creature man.
No, he says in the 69th Psalm. Reproach has broken my heart.
And I'm full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity. And there was none. And for comforters.
But I found none. There's something that hurts, sometimes worse than physical sufferings. It's a broken heart.
Reproach has broken my heart, those that he had done such works of mercy.
Raising the dead, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind. There they were, clamoring for his blood. Reproach has broken my heart.
But my friend, I want you to stand there a minute on that hill of Golgotha.
And we have to stand at a distance because we don't understand what I'm going to tell you about now very much.
At 12 noon.
The whole place gets dark.
And for three solid hours.
Golgotha's mount is in darkness.
Those three hours.
Was what we have in Isaiah's prophecy.
He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
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All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
It was in those awful, awful hours of darkness that God took the filthy sins that I have committed and laid them on the head of Jesus. There was going to be.
There's going to be.
Mercy for this poor Sinner. Someone had to pay the price.
She's a sport.
Not only were my sins laid on him, not only did that cost him terrible wagon.
But God's judgment fell on its fear.
Upon Jesus, God's just judgment.
Which would have sunk a world to hell. He bore it for a sinful race.
And thus became my hiding place for three solid hours as he was hanging there in the dark.
The waves of judgment passed over the head of my sinless Savior.
He was made sin for us. The one that was knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.
For it is written curse. It is everyone that hangeth on a tree. There he was hanging.
Those billows of divine judgment fell in all their fury. God cannot Passover lightly sin. Every sin, if it's going to be forgiven, must meet its full judgment. And on Jesus it fell in all its fury.
No cry comes through those awful hours of darkness.
At the end there's a cry. What is the cry? My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
It was God in all the full justice of his righteous character.
That was dealing with sin that was laid.
On Jesus, Oh, the love of God. In no other place but in the cross of Christ is the love of God. Shine out.
And no other place does the righteousness of God shine out as it does from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And those awful, awful hours of darkness. We'll never understand the terrible agony of His soul as He went into those hours of darkness.
Even before, when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Contemplating it, he prayed. Father, if thou be willing.
Remove this cup from me nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done.
And it cost him such agony that he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. It's falling down to the ground.
Sometimes people say that that's when the sins were laid on him, but the sins were not laid on him there.
It was when He was on that cross, in those three hours, that our sins were laid on Him.
And the full weight of divine judgment fell in all its fury on that sinless head.
He bore it all.
Before he gave up his life on that cross, he cried again.
It is finished.
In the Spanish it says it is consumed all the judgment that was against me, and rightly against me as a guilty Sinner.
Completely consumed in the Old Testament.
The fire consumed the sacrifices, but here the sacrifice consumed the fire.
No more judgment for the Sinner that believes in Jesus.
God has shown himself to be righteous and now at the same time he is righteous. He can justify.
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The Sinner that believes in Jesus marvelous, wonderful work of salvation. I can now by faith in Christ Jesus, not because of any righteousness of my own, but I can stand in the very presence of a thrice holy God without one qualm of conscience. Why? Because the whole question has been settled forever.
On that cross of Calvary, glory to his name.
He paid it all.
And God was satisfied with that payment. You know why?
It says in Romans chapter 4. Let's read it at the end of the fourth chapter.
Of Romans.
Verse.
24.
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.
God raised him from the dead. That is the testimony.
That God was fully satisfied with the work.
That the Lord Jesus did for my sins, for our sins. Scripture says Christ died for our sins. According to the scriptures, He was buried and he rose again the third day.
According to the scriptures, he took on him the question of our sins.
And if he had not finished the whole question according to God's own standard of righteousness, God could not have raised him from the dead. But the fact that God did raise him from the dead.
His testimony to the fact that God's righteous standard has been met, God has not only been satisfied, but God has been glorified in the work of redemption that the Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross of Calvary.
And now according to those verses we read in chapter 3 of Romans.
God is just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. Oh yes, he's just to say to you, if you repent and simply believe in Jesus, he's just insane.
I justify you. I make you righteous.
I'm righteous before God, not according to my standards. Praise be to His precious name.
According to his standards, I stand before his presence.
Fully, completely, eternally justified. Oh no wonder the apostle Paul could say in chapter 5 verse one. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace that nothing in this world can ever take away, peace that Christ himself has made.
On the cross of Calvary, through the blood of his cross, that precious blood was shed as the payment for sin. And now if you simply believe God, God points to you and says, I justify you, you stand before me as a justified Sinner.
Oh, the tremendous beauty.
Of this salvation.
But now we have a few minutes left to deal with.
The matter of those persons who may be present, and who.
Say that they do not want to receive this wonderful salvation that God has provided through the death of His Son on the cross.
God is going to bring every work into judgment.
And if you will not have the Lord Jesus and his salvation.
You must still come face to face to.
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Do with Jesus.
Not as your Savior, but as your judge, the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 5. Let's read it.
John, Chapter 5.
Verse 22.
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son on earth, not the Father which hath sent Him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me.
Have everlasting life, and shall not come into.
Condemnation or judgment, but is passed from death unto life. All judgment has been committed to the Son. The Father judgeth no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son. If you simply this night hear His word, and believe on him that sent Jesus.
And I want to stop here just to comment on what it means to hear his word.
Sometimes I see people looking in other directions during the gospel meeting.
Now wonder what they're thinking. Perhaps they're saying things.
The other day I was in out West and I went to visit somebody I hadn't seen for a while.
He came to the door and he said let me see your eyes.
Is that Robert?
I said yes, it's me. I want to see your eyes right now, friend.
I want to look you in the eye.
Want to reach down into your heart, into your conscience?
Are you hearing his word or is there a blockade put up so that his word doesn't get into your soul?
I've noticed sometimes in the preaching of the gospel, souls that are there listening.
That they are listening politely with their ears and their heads, but it's evident by their attitude that the ears of their hearts are blockaded.
And I want to ask you tonight to let down that blockade. You don't have to listen to me.
But listen to what God says. Listen, please.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, These are the words of the Lord Jesus himself, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me.
Everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed.
From death and to life, judgment is passed. For the believer in the Lord Jesus. It's as clear as that. The judgment fell on Jesus, and in believing in Jesus you occupy a place that is no more death but life.
An illustration has been given that I like very well.
Perhaps I've used it before, but.
I'll use it again.
On the Western, on the plains, here in the Midwest of the United States.
In the olden times when there was a lot of high Prairie grass, there used to be in the summer times during dry spells, a very dangerous thing that often happened. They were called Prairie fires, and when it was there was a heavy wind off times something would spark a fire in that dry grass and those Prairie fires would rage across the plains.
And sometimes the farmers would see in the distance this cloud of smoke, and they would realize that a Prairie fire was coming towards them, and they realized that there was no way to withstand the fury of that fire.
And you know what they did? They would go out in the direction from which the wind was blowing, and they would build around their house. They would build a little series of small fires that they could control and let that burn the grass around their place. And then after that was burnt, they would get their animals and their families, and they would stand where the fire had already burned.
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And when that raging fire came across the plains and reached the place that was burned, it had no more to burn, and it could do them no harm.
And that's the secret friend tonight.
The fire of God's judgment has burned in all its fury.
On Jesus.
There is a place of safety for you to stand in view of the fact that the judgment of this world is so close at hand now. God will bring every work into judgment. And if you refuse God's way of salvation, you yourself must meet God in all His holy claims about your sins. You cannot escape. Scripture asks that question.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation Scripture itself?
Answers that question in First Thessalonians chapter 5. It says they shall not escape.
There is no escape from that judgment if you refuse the salvation that God has provided in the Lord Jesus.
There is no other way. You must face the storm.
The fury of the storm of God's judgment, that is.
Going to come most certainly on this world yourself and I'd like to briefly.
Speak about those judgments, the judgment of the living and the judgment of the dead. You turn over to Revelation chapter 20, or excuse me, chapter 19. We have the beginning of the judgment.
Of the living.
Because it doesn't matter whether you're still alive or you have died, one way or another you will face the judge.
All judgment has been committed to the Son, and you must meet Jesus one way or another.
Chapter 19 of Revelation, and verse 11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a White Horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with the rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath.
Of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture, and on his thy name written King of kings and Lord of Lords. Here we have the Lord Jesus.
If we go to the city of Jerusalem.
Like we did when we were speaking about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is going to take place near that area.
Near that city of Jerusalem as well, when Jesus went up into heaven, 2 angels stood beside him.
The disciples and said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus?
Who has gone up into heaven shall so come in like manner as he's seen, and go up.
And that's when he comes back in judgment that he's going to come back to the very point he went up from the Mount of Olives to the east of the city of Jerusalem.
God has been silent as to the crime, the awful crime that this world committed against His Son for almost 2000 years. He's waiting in patience and people, instead of repenting of their sins, are becoming more and more bold in their defiance of God.
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The time will come when heaven is going to rip open and.
White Horse is going to come out.
God is going to say to men it's enough, that's enough, and he's going to send his man.
Oh, the glory.
In this moment.
When our Lord Jesus rides into this world, seeing again.
The one that was crucified.
Still within his hands and the nail marks in his hands and his feet and his sight.
Here he comes, he's coming, and they can gather their armies together as they will according to this chapter.
And they can go to war against him. How can they can fire all their super armaments against him? Will have no effect with the sword of his mouth. One army after another is annihilated before him.
He comes to judge and to make war.
And later it tells us in Matthew's Gospel that he's going to sit on the throne of his judgment.
And all nations are going to be gathered before him. This is the judgment of the living.
And he's going to divide between them as a shepherd. He separates the sheep from the goats, and the sheep are going to put on his right hand and the goats on the left.
And he's going to say to the sheep, Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you.
Those that heard the Gospel of the Kingdom during the Great Tribulation period.
Are going to.
Be ushered into a millennial or.
And then the goats. Who are these goats?
Perhaps there's someone who's sitting here in this room tonight and who thinks that they have another chance coming.
Let me tell you, if you refuse the gospel of the grace of God tonight.
You may never have another chance.
Some people teach that there will be another chance for those people in the great Tribulation. I say God's word solemnly declares, If you do not receive the love of the truth in this present period of the grace of God, God will send strong delusion that they all might be damned who had pleasure and unrighteousness, who did not receive the love of the truth. Don't wait, friend, receive Christ now.
That's those goats, ones who had a chance, and here they are now. What does he say to them?
Sees depart from me, ye wicked, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
God never prepared that everlasting fire for any man He doesn't want.
Anyone to perish. His willingness that not any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
And if you're here tonight, I want to tell you, the will of God is that you.
Would be saved tonight. God does not want you to perish. He made hell fire for the devil and his angels. But if you persistently refuse the claims of God on you.
You will have for your company for all eternity the devil and his angels.
In everlasting fire and taunt.
We're not here to try to scare you, we're here to warn you.
Of something that is real, that will happen.
It's coming, it's coming. I want to touch briefly on the.
Final judgment. No more Jerusalem, no more Earth, no more the universe that we now know. Turn over to the twenty 20th chapter of Revelation.
And the 11Th verse and I saw a great.
White throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.
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And they were judged every man according to their works, and death and hell.
Were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the final judgment, the resurrection of damnation that scripture speaks about. Heaven and earth are gone, Just a great white throne hanging in space.
And the dead raised in all their sins to stand before God in all this judgment you cannot escape. You cannot absolutely impossible to escape Him. You must do with God about the matter of your sins.
No way this.
There they are. The books opened the record of your life. Read out God's faithful hand.
Is keeping the records of every thought you've ever had, every word you've ever spoken, every deed you've ever done. It's all kept there. And in that final day, they will be judged according to their works.
And then there is one other book, the Book of Light. In that book, the names of all those who have believed have been written down.
And after the judgment of these poor souls has taken place, I often try to imagine the terror, the abject terror of a soul that stands before that throne. The last face you will ever see is the face of Jesus on that throne.
His name is it in the book.
That in book.
Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
Oh, the awfulness of it. And think of it the white. Does it use the word cast?
Soul shrieks and it's taken in, cast into the lake of land, forever his eternal torment, forever and forever without ever one ray of light.
God is light and God is love, and they're outside of God's presence in that lake of fire forever. December. I plead with you, friend, and all those who are believers in this room, join with me to plead with you to think seriously about this matter. God will bring every work into judgment. Not one little iota will escape His attention, since they perhaps you have longed forgotten.
Are going to be brought out into the light and fully judged. We have to do with God, my friend.
And I plead with you with all that is in my heart, in view of the fact that God is going to judge.
To turn to the Savior tonight, their salvation still ready for you. You'll just simply turn to Jesus and accept him as your Lord and Savior. For thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Let's just pray, gracious Father.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
Reading
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In Hebrews chapter 10.
And verse 36.
For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
That we pray our God and Father.
Reading the second chapter of Second Thessalonians.
If someone has some comments about the first chapter, feel free.
Second or first Thessalonians chapter 2, Second. Excuse me.
2nd Thessalonians, Chapter 2.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, that by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter from us, as that that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away 1St and that man a sin, be revealed, the Son of perdition.
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worship, so that he has God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in this time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.
And then that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks always for God, to God, for you, brother beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit.
And belief of the truth we're up to. He called you by our gospel to obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which he had been taught whither by word or our epistle now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us and have given us everlasting consolation and Good Hope through grace.
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Comfort your hearts and establish you in every.
Good word and work.
It's in beautifully with what we've had the last two nights in the gospel, especially last night when Brother Bob.
It's exceedingly solemn.
These verses in anticipation of the Antichrist specifically.
His work during the tribulation period he is not yet manifest. He will be afterward gone, along with the Beast, the other beast of Revelation 13.
But when you think of.
Such verses as verse 12.
The 11:00 and 12:00 For this 'cause God shall send them unbelievers, rejecters of Christ, strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, or the lie, the lie of the Antichrist, that they all might be damned, who believe not the truth, but had pleasure and unrighteousness.
It's exceedingly solemn to think on these things and realize that there are those who are hearing the gospel today, but they have pleasure and unrighteousness.
Something that already works, doesn't it? It's the mystery of a work of the iniquity that already does work. We are seeing the progress of it in the world that we live in today.
What it seems that happened here in Second Thessalonians, I'm sure it's often been explained, but it's important to understand that someone had seemingly troubled the Thessalonian believers because of all the persecution and trial they were going through.
And told them that they were already in the day of the Lord, that day of judgment. And if you read verse two, he says that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us. Perhaps they'd even send a letter forging the Apostle Paul's signature, telling them that the day, and it should be the day of the Lord, is present.
Their words They thought that perhaps they were already in the day of the Lord. And the Apostle Paul writes to them to tell them that that day could not take place until there was the falling away first the apostasy and the revelation of the man of sin, and that the man of sin could not be revealed until he who was hindering be taken out of the way.
So he's writing now to clarify this, and it's really instructive to see.
Where we are in connection with this, it's very possible that this man of sin.
The son of iniquity that it speaks of in this chapter is already alive in this world.
But he cannot be manifested as such until that which hinders is taken out of the way. And so he beseeches them here, and it's beautiful in verse. One brethren again to comment on it by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him in this day and age we gather to His precious name.
And.
Brethren, we need to hold that truth in humility of mind, realizing that.
The ruin is great and that we are part of the ruin too.
Need to hold it in real humility of mind. God sees our hearts, and He will test what He sees that is not of him. May the Lord grant that we hold it in humility of heart and mind, but at the same time, rather than to realize that all our beloved brethren in the faith, wherever they may be, are included in God's purposes.
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That everyone who is a member of the body of Christ.
Is going to be gathered together unto him at this supreme moment. What a glorious moment as our brother was praying in the in the prayer that all those differences are going to.
Remain behind When we're called in this presence, isn't it great to realize that and hold dear in our hearts the truth of the whole body of Christ?
In this world, O brethren, we're going to be gathered. Everyone of them is going to be gathered at that supreme moment when we are called into the Lord's presence. That's our gathering together unto him.
Another thing to look for? It's not the Antichrist, it's the true Christ.
What a comfort. If we just get a hold of that, it's enough we won't see the Antichrist and know him.
They'll never come under his dominion. We come under the true Christ. He's looking to get us out. He's our deliverer from the coming wrath.
When the day of the Lord comes, that'll be the day of the wrath. But Jesus is our deliverer from that day of the coming wrath. I'm referring to 1St Thessalonians chapter one and the last verses. It's so simple in the first epistle.
The order of the blessing that came to.
Thessalonians in the last two verses of First Thessalonians one for they themselves show of us what matter of entering in we had unto you use us alone in and how ye turn to God. That's the first thing they did. They turned to God, and left their idols from idols. Then they became servants to serve the living of the true God, Not a dead idol, a living in a true God.
And the next thing was to wait for his Son from heaven. And what does he do?
Whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus.
Delivered us from the coming wrath, our deliverer from the coming wrath, that's Jesus. He's going to take us out before the wrath of God falls on this world.
No, brother, it's just looking at the 5th chapter of the first Epistle. I think it'd be good to just read a couple of verses there in connection with what we're talking about in.
Yes, in verse 8 or verse 7 rather says they that sleep sleep in the night, they that be drunken or drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and foreign helmet the hope of salvation. Here's the reason for God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to be out of here, brethren, one of these days.
That's the salvation that we're looking at here. But it's lovely to see that those three beautiful attributes, faith, hope and love, and every believer possesses them. If you're here today and you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have these three things. Maybe we don't exercise them as we ought to, but it's lovely to see. Especially I was thinking of that statement there foreign helmet, the hope of salvation. It is the hope of His coming. The hymn writer could say that gladdens my heart, is what makes this poor world tolerable. To realize that we're soon.
Are soon going to be with him and like him forever.
Rapture and error often comes in installment and I worked with a man who believed in a partial rapture If you just go down in that 5th chapter you mentioned 7:30 because that's really the subject of they that sleep in the night if you get out of the.
At first it says who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him, and I puzzled over why, it mentions the waking ones first, but if you turn to Mr. Darby's translation, it says whether we watch or sleep.
I don't believe it's Speaking of the dead and the living there, but it's Speaking of those that are looking for the Lord's return and those that are not. We're all going to be caught up together. There's going to be a lot of surprise Saints at the Rapture, whether we're watching or sleeping.
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Many Saints we can fall into a slumber and sleep as you read there in that verse that.
As those that are drunken in the night going on with the world and seeking pleasure in the world and so on, but but they're watching us or or sleeping. We're going together with him.
Even if I am, even if I am watching, is that any credit to me? You know, some Christians, they might say, well, I'm watching for the Lord to come and I might be very proud about that, you know. But the fact is, is that because the Spirit of God keeps it before our souls, it it's it's he that does the work. So the credit goes to him. No credit to me.
Sure, God stays here.
As long as the Saints are here and then he leaves.
The hindrance to the falling, the apostasy, and the.
Tribulation is the presence and power of the Spirit of God down here in the Saints at the end of the book says the Spirit and the bride say come. That is the Spirit is down here in this world looking for asking for Jesus to come.
So that he can go up with us and we're taken out.
And.
When a person gets saved.
He gets the Spirit of God.
Sealed with the Spirit of God.
And always has the Spirit of God.
When the Lord Jesus comes.
And were taken up, it says, Then so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The spirit will be up there and we'll be up there. This is the next event to expect.
Would you say, Brother Clint, the Spirit of God leaves as the habitation of God, That is the habitation of God with the Spirit When the church leaves he leaves in that sense. And then would you say that he would probably work as he did in the Old Testament times? What I mean by that is in Matthew chapter.
10 as well as other places.
There's some indication of.
The Spirit of God, working as He did in the Old Testament times in verse 19.
Matthew 10 But when they deliver you up, this is during the tribulation.
Take no thought how or what she shall speak for shall be given you in the same hour what ye shall speak for. It is not she that speak, but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. I think there's a place in Luke 1212. I'm not sure.
What is characteristic of this dispensation?
Is that there's a man in the glory.
And the Spirit of God on earth dwelling in the individual believer and in the church collectively.
That was not the case ever before, and we know that the Spirit worked.
And even came upon.
And came even upon unbelievers, as we know with Balaam and with Saul. He was not a believer, King Saul. And so there is a distinct difference. And David when he sinned, remember.
He prayed, Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. You know the Spirit could come upon and also leave people in the Old Testament. But according to John 14, the Lord Jesus said when he would come, he shall be with you and in you forever, with you collectively, in you individually forever. And he is going to leave this scene.
With the church when the church is raptured, but he will work and continue to work like he did in the Old Testament.
And.
These servants, the brethren of the Lord that will preach the gospel of the Kingdom, you know the Spirit will direct them and guide them in their activities. But how wonderful to live at this time in this world's history.
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Where the work of redemption is accomplished, and that the Lord Jesus as the ascended, glorified Christ, sent forth the Spirit, you see, he received the Spirit and sent it sent the Spirit here to dwell in US individually and collectively. But what a solemn truth that is. You know the Spirit is given us so that he be in charge of us individually and in the assembly collectively collectively.
But how wonderful too. And it's important to emphasize that when the Lord Jesus comes for us to take us home, he comes in the character of him being the Son of God.
He doesn't come as the Son of Man for the Church. You know that verse already quoted in the First Epistle, chapter one. We're waiting for his Son from heaven and we have various passages in Matthew where his coming as the Son of Man is spoken of in connection with setting up the Kingdom of the Son of Man. You know at the at the present time we have the mystical form of the Kingdom of Heaven.
That it has taken because he is rejected, but that Kingdom will become the Kingdom of the Son of Man when he comes back.
In power and glory. And you know, the day of the Lord is when he comes back and cleanse the earth with judgments, preparing it for that glorious reign. And that has not taken place. The apostasy, as our brother Bob said, has to come first. Now the spirit of apostasy is already at work today, and this is, I believe, something.
That is very solemn. Do you realize? Do I realize if I give up any aspect of God's truth, it is really the spirit of apostasy? Giving up, abandoning that which God has revealed, That's a very solemn thing of where does it end? You know, if the grace of God doesn't arrest us, but that spirit of apostasy is active, you know? And isn't that what the enemy is trying to do, rob the Saints of God?
Much of the precious truth, including the truth of the Rapture, that will take place before the Tribulation.
Laboratories can never be in the class state, but he can be affected by the spirit of apostasy, and that's what we need to be exercised about. I'd just like to point out in verse 3 the words that really Mr. Mr. Darby translates in his translation, Apostasy is. And let no man deceive you by any means for that day he's talking about the day of the Lord, which is the day that is.
Introduced at the end of the tribulation period in awful judgment.
That day shall not come except there be a falling away, that those words. A falling away is apostasy. It means to go back means it someone who has made the profession of Christianity and then goes back from that profession. In times of the early church, there was a lot that did that in connection with Judaism. They made a profession of Christianity and then they went back again.
To Judaism, that's apostasy. But apostasy can be giving up Christ in any way and going back. But here is a He's. He's saying something that is different. It's the apostasy. We have apostasy in our days, but the apostasy is something that takes place after we are gone. And what is it? It is when the man of sin will be revealed. This is.
Dirt during the tribulation period.
He opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped.
So that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
In other words, the time will come and the tribulation period. The Jewish people are going to have their form of worship again, as they did in the old times. There's going to be the sacrifice.
In a holy place that speaks about in Matthew 24. And then that's going to be taken away. The Antichrist is going to say, in effect, no more worship of any God in heaven.
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I'm God, and he's going to sit down in the temple of God to be worshipped as God, and that is the apostasy. And that's what initiates the last 3 1/2 years that are properly called the Great Tribulation. And when that happens, God is not going to wait any longer. He's going to begin to pour out his wrath on this earth in increasing furor right down to the end of the tribulation period.
That is the apostasy that is when man turns away from even the outward form of a worship of a God in heaven and worships a man here in this world. But brethren, what is so tremendously searching is that the Spirit is working in the world today. And we mentioned there's been a number of references during these meetings to humanism and how it permeates the society we live in.
Basically it makes.
Man, the center of his world.
It's the old lie of Satan that he used on even the Garden of Eden.
Ye shall be as gods your God. It's interesting.
What I heard a report some time ago that when that man, David Koresh down in Texas was still alive and he had his followers and they believed that he was Christ.
What A report from one of the local radio stations said They were not so surprised at that.
But at how many phone calls they got from different parts of the United States to say he cannot be Christ because I'm Christ?
They got it from all over the states. The spirit of it is alive. And they say, brethren, even we in this country, if we're not careful as believers, can become affected by that spirit by thinking that we are the center of our world and not let Christ be supreme in our lives. He is the reference point. We are not. He is the reference point in the truth of gathering how important to set Christ forward.
That Christ be exalted not us, brethren. By grace we may be at the divine center.
And that's where we desire to be, I trust. But we are not the reference point. It's Christ that is the reference point. And we need to make a special emphasis when we talk about the truth of gathering that Christ be exalted and glorified.
So there, Dawn, you expressed.
Believe in a helpful way in connection with the presence of the Spirit of God in this present dispensation. And I'd like to pick up on that. That is that a Pentecost spirit of God came down and filled the whole house. And I think sometimes we're led into error because we hear young people and others say, well, I was in such and such a place and I saw the Spirit of God working. The Spirit of God came down and killed the whole house, and the Spirit of God will work wherever he has given liberty to work. It's true that immense systems that.
There's dispensationally sin against the Holy Ghost.
That is, they conduct their services and their order of things as if there was number Holy Ghost on earth at all. And it's important to see that because our brothers spoke yesterday and he spoke, what characterizes the gathering center is not the presence of the Spirit of God, but the Lord's authority. And that is really what characterizes the two or three gathered to the Lord's name is the Lord in the midst and his authority. The Spirit of God will act in the entire house wherever He's given liberty. But the fact is.
That systematically he is displayed.
I was visiting with a Christian friend in his home, and his pastor and the assistant pastor made an excuse to drop off a cake pan or something. And they came and he wanted to kind of put me on the spot. And he said, where do you go? Do you have a pastor where you go? And I said, yes, I've had the benefit of men who hazarded their lives and given of themselves for my good in my care. I said, I've had pastors and we have pastors. And he said, you didn't get my question. He says, is there one man to run things there?
And I said yes, and he's sitting on the throne of God.
But the Spirit of God is free to work in the house, and that ought to be characteristic of the assembly, that the Spirit of God has liberty. But it is the house that the Spirit of God filled in Pentecost. And we as an assembly gathered to the Lord's name, surely ought to give the Lord the Spirit of God liberty. But when he is withdrawn, the house will be still here, so to speak. It will be left desolate, and there will be the outward form of Christianity going on, and they'll go on as usual.
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But it will apostasize, as we've seen here. The house will be left empty and desolate because the true church, every believer, those that are watching and those that are not are going to be caught up. Every believer, every redeemed one. But there are going to be many professors going on and they're going to believe this lie that her brother was Speaking of, and they're going to give up the entire profession and foundation of Christianity, and that is Christ.
They or the hour of our Lord's return.
I remember a brother who was a great help to me in this back in. Matthew won't take the time to turn to it, but there are two instances that are mentioned about that evil day that's coming, and it is the days of Noah and the days of love. Now Christians sometimes think that those two days are on us now. They're not. They will not be until we're taken out of here. The days of Noah, what did they, what did they set before the idea of violence? The earth was filled with violence.
And the days of Locke, what do they represent? Corruption. If that's so, brethren. And we know that it's true.
We see things that are developing in the world at the present time, How close the Lord's coming must be. We're at the very doors, there's no question about it. But the full development of of violence and the full development of corruption, be it of a sexual nature or whatever, will not really fully develop until the church is taken home. It's frightening when you think about it. If it's that bad in the world at the present time, think of how more intimately worse it's going to be after the true Church of God is taken home.
Daniel speaks of the Antichrist as.
The king shall do according to his will. He's the willful king.
He will be manifested as that, but we have a warning in Hebrews 10.
That is for us in this day.
And our brethren might have used.
This 25th verse of chapter 10 on their invitation to come to the conference.
It's right to use and wonderfully use for a conference invitation. So I'll read verse 25, Hebrews 10/25. Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, ourselves together, as the manner of some is.
But exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching, the day that is seen approaching here is apostasy. Because the next verse says if we sin willfully, that's what apostasy is. Willful sin. Man doing according his will, just like the Antichrist will do, He'll do his will and there's already indications of that spirit in the world.
In many, many places. Well, if we know these things are coming up, the next thing to look for is the Lord, not the Antichrist. The next thing to look for is the Lord. He'll come ahead of the Antichrist.
I believe the Spirit of God focuses a good deal upon this personality.
Although right in this passage, he is not clearly.
Defined, but he's only spoken of as the man of sin. But this personality is the one that is so greatly in contrast to the Lord Jesus Christ in every respect. And we see that he is the one that promotes the political beast of Revelation. Chapter 13, the first part.
So this personality is really the second beast of Revelation 13 that that has two horns like a lamb, but he really speaks as a dragon and he's a religious person. We see where he is. So he has to be the leader of Israel. So if you trace this personality out, you can see a terrible, terrible description of such wickedness. And as a leader of the people, he has no regard for the people at all because in John chapter 10, he's like the wolf that flees or like the.
00:40:05
Hireling that flees when the wolf comes, and he's like the idle shepherd, he has no concern or care for the sheep. And as you've already mentioned, he's the willful king. He does according to his own will. And what is that? Well, he puts an idol right in the holy place and that which is an holy place. He's so brazen in everything that he does, and it seems like the spirit of God focuses a good deal upon this personality.
Now he works in conjunction with the first piece, the political beast, and he does that as the false prophet. So he establishes him before the eyes of the people, makes the image according to the first piece. So you can see how this we have what in effect is kind of a Trinity of evil, Satan being the wicked spirit behind it all. Terrible, isn't it?
No.
The beast, the political power of the revived Roman Empire, the woman writes. That beast, you know that the ecumenical church. But then the beast will cast off that woman, and then the Antichrist will be all you know. Isn't that a solemn thing that Christendom will recognize and go along with? It's not just the Jewish people.
It's christened up that will accept the Antichrist and the ecumenical movement that we see already, you know, pulling together.
And.
Forgetting about.
Their doctrinal differences and so on. You know Rome will head up this world church, you know, and that will be for some time.
This woman will ride the beast, control the beast, and then the beast will cast her off, destroy her, and in cahoots with the Antichrist will.
Present him as the object of worship.
I remember a year ago being at a conference that had an ecumenical conference in Sweden, and the conclusion was that it was Christ with the obstacle to union. I can't quote it exactly the way you said it, but that's really the point. And that's what we need to be on guard on, because the spirit of things in the world is, even among evangelicals, is to set aside the person and glory of Christ so that we can get together.
And we need to realize that it really is the spirit of this thing that we're reading up here.
People getting together in a stadium and singing how great thou art with Mormons and blasphemers of every kind and going on in movements like this. It's the Spirit. It's not the thing itself, but it's the spirit of it that's leading up to that.
Yes, the.
Decision they came to at that conference in Sweden years ago, these religious leaders said, well, we can't get, the only way we can get together is to get rid of Christ.
That's the end motive under the Antichrist.
To refer to this in connection with the Jew, the Jewish nation is over there. Go to Isaiah 28 because I think it's helped to see how Scripture is bound together.
At the beginning of these meetings.
A brother read from.
Matthew 13.
Where there is the treasure, that's.
Kept up from which is brought forth things new and old, and we had about the appearing of Christ and the rapture, and we've had especially the truth of prophecy, as to the Lord coming with 10,000 of his Saints to execute judgment. And it all fits together, but God has the earthly people.
And he was going to send the true Christ to them, and he did send the true Christ to them.
But there are some words in Isaiah 28 that come down to.
00:45:05
Refer to things that are about us now.
At least they are.
Seeing.
And there is a nation over there in Israel, and I believe that.
Isaiah 2814.
Seems to be almost directly written for those leaders of Israel over there today.
Call them yeast. Hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. It's the people in Jerusalem. There are scornful men ruling them.
And they are saying at that time in this prophecy because.
You have said they're thinking this in the heart. We have made a covenant with death and with hell. Are we in agreement there's going to be a covenant made with the Western powers? Evidently soon not while we're here or we won't know it, I don't believe. But there's going to be a pact made for protection.
When the overflowing skirts will pass through, it shall not come unto us. I think that's the Assyrian of the last days, perhaps, for we have made.
Lies our refuge. There's another place the Prophet says he's at the same table. When you have a Treaty of these leaders of these nations, that's what you hear coming out of that table.
Under falsehood are we? Have we hit ourselves?
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God. Now God is talking. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone.
A Cride stone.
A precious cornerstone.
A sure foundation. Can anybody doubt who God is talking about? This is the rock upon which the church is built. God has put his son there on that holy hill of Zion, and he laid that stone in his own plan. Then he says, and I believe he's saying it to any Jew that's in that area now.
To listen to.
He says he that believeth shall not make haste. That is, he's saying to any Jew over there now anyone in that area.
Don't get in a hurry and receive the Antichrist, because the next one that's coming over there now is the Antichrist.
He'll open up all this sin ordered of God for the true Christ to come later and put down the Antichrist.
So we are in very sensational times.
And it ought to turn us to look for the Lord for our deliverer from the coming wrath, And our the Jews deliver, if they will have him, the only deliver the Jews can have that are over there now to save them from the seven years of great tribulation which are going to come upon Israel especially, but upon all the world to try them as well on the earth. I say, the only thing that will save anybody is Christ.
Put your trust in him and don't go to over there and support Jews to go over there, because that's going to be the most.
Horrible center of the coming round.
Brother Neil.
We can be a little more specific. You were hinting at the movement that is going on, which is really an ecumenical movement. The Promise Keepers.
You know the enemy has used various movements.
In Christendom, to bring about union in the Christian profession, the charismatic movement was a very distinct movement in that direction. See, people were looking for the same experience. Forget about doctrine and differences, as long as you have the same experience of speaking in tongues, we are having fellowship.
Catholics and Protestants and all of these differences didn't mean anything as long as they had that.
00:50:04
Experience then. Now with the Promise Keepers, it's the same thing they link together regardless of what their doctrinal differences are. Then another thing that has taken place is that evangelicals have joined forces with Catholics and others against abortion. And then they have come to an agreement that they will not try to win Catholics away from Catholicism. You see, they have to.
Tolerate each other, so these movements by the enemy are used to try to bring about.
This One World church, it hasn't yet taken place, although the World Council of Churches certainly is all heading in that direction and.
The.
Rural church.
Will come about, but how wonderful that we have the word of God.
That shows us that we ought to walk apart from all of these things, and that we should cling with purpose of heart to the Lord Jesus and to the word of truth. You know, when Paul said farewell to the same the elders from Ephesus in Acts 20, he did commend them to God and to the word of his grace, you know, and for young people.
This scripture here.
Along with other scriptures, very plainly teaches that the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation. You know reference has been made to Revelation chapter 5 during these meetings. That's another scripture that very plainly shows that the Church will be all redeemed for a matter of fact, as a matter of fact will be with Christ worshipping him as we see it in Revelation 5.
Before he takes the book out of the hands of him that sits upon the throne.
Which is the book of judgment, or Brother Clem called it the title deed to the earth, you know. And then these judgment will prepare the earth for the glorious rain of Christ. But the redeemed are already roundabout, the throne worshipping the lamb. Then in Revelation we have that before the hour of temptation which comes upon the earth. It's another indication the hour of temptation is this time.
Of trial when the Antichrist is revealed, but we will be taken out of it, We will not be here. The word of God clearly teaches that the Church will not go through the tribulation, and then reference was made to the partial rapture. Well, for the landing called that the doctrine of pride. You know in other words, those who are spiritual and go on for the Lord, they will be raptured. The others are left behind.
Nobody is going to be in the glory because of anything that they have done.
All of us will be there with Christ because of his work.
None of us will be there because of anything that we have done, even as believers. We will all be there because of His work.
Be nice, brother, if we could get down.
At the end of the chapter, before the time runs out. It's very bright there from verse 13.
Paul by the sphere.
Says we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. That's what the Thessalonians were to him.
That's what the Saints all are to God. He has saved us and pulled us and brought us in, and feeds us and fills us and satisfies us and directs us, He goes on in the verse. Brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, where you're going to get any pride for yourself in that it's all of God. He has chosen us for salvation.
In the first, in Acts chapter 2, as many as were ordained were saved. God has done the whole thing. He did it for the Thessalonians. He has done it for everyone who is here. Yesterday, talking to a young man reminded me of another one in a simple way.
00:55:05
This man had gotten saved. And he was asked, well, how did you get saved? He said, well, God saved me. How did you get saved? That's the way it is. God saved us. And God has chosen the Thessalonians. He's chosen us. He's brought us here to this conference to hear about the Lord's coming. And he is coming, and he is coming before the Antichrist, the appalling ways around us. So we need to be worried about it. Concerned, I should say.
And be careful and seek to help the lambs and the sheep. Keep them from the clutches.
Of all of these movements of men which have men's wills at their base.
Not the will of God, nor the glory of Christ. It goes on and says here, and I mentioned that the truth is mentioned four times toward the end of the chapter. It's not always.
That they believed it. But the truth. The truth. The truth. But here is.
God has chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. We had that.
So blessedly in our prayers.
From this room this morning.
Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Believe this word because God says it.
We don't have to.
Reconcile 2 scriptures. We don't have to do that. It's a wrong thesis. We're to believe it. Believe this book whether you understand it or not. It is true belief of the truth.
Where to He called you by our gospel? To the obtaining of the glory.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, what could be more blessed? What's going to be your end?
The glory, that's where you're going to end when you belong to God, and it must be getting close. But it's so, so good to be stirred in our souls about the state of things around us. Because the apostasy is coming forward more and more. I didn't ever think I'd see so much truth given up. My brother and I love so much. I thought it would be impossible. I tell you, we can't trust our own hearts. He that trusts his own heart, His own hearts of who?
Trust your belief of the truth.
Well, these last verses are positive and nice.
We've set apart and marked out for the truth, the sanctified them through Thy truth. Thy word is truth, and the Spirit of God has written it and He teaches from it. That's our sanctification as we make progress in the truth. It might be more than that.
The Word of God sets us apart. The Spirit of God sets us apart. We don't really belong to this world.
Truth is important because you don't reconcile railroad tracks. If you try to, the train will derail. And there's many truths that go on in parallel in the word of God, God's sovereignty, and man's responsibility. And if you try to reconcile them, you get into difficulty. You're the Lord's servant, and yet you're also subject to your local assembly. And if you try to reconcile those truths, you know that you answer to the Lord, and you try to reconcile that with something else. It's only faith that, so to keep speak keeps the truth going on together.
And it's not just the activity of the mind to try to rationalize things together. And the reason we get into difficulty and stress is because we try to reconcile things that God has left apart to go on.
There are the traditions here that are nice.
Sometimes.
We rather speak against traditions, that is, the traditions of the elders. When the Lord was here, they were teaching for doctrines of commandments of men. Those traditions were wrong and bad. But you get good traditions here in this epistle.
In verse 15, therefore, brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which he had been taught, whether by word or our epistle. That's the traditions that Paul introduced in Christianity, and they are good.
Something that was handed down by word of mouth before it was all written down, and that's really what traditions are, is something that's handed down now we have them all written for us.
01:00:10
Mr. Garvey uses the word instructions and I think that's that's good. So it's not really traditions of men that it refers to, they're what is was handed down before it was all written down.
Is that what you get in Second Timothy chapter one from which all in Asia have turned away?
The the teachings of Paul himself.
Think about it. The word was not all written.
I don't even suppose Matthew was written. They had no written New Testament. It was coming. This is the first. These two books of a Thessalonians are the first appalled document written down, and they hand it down from word of mouth, from Colossa. They'd take it to Ephesus and so on. That was a handicap, I suppose. I would sure think it was. How wonderful to have the written word.
And oh, how we ought to value it and look at that and compare spiritual things with spiritual.
That we might be kept in the traditions of the Apostles.
The church fathers today, but that both versa quoted from Timothy shows that they were all an error rate from the beginning. They'd all forsaken Paul in Pauls lifetime. So it wasn't the church fathers And I think you made reference to the meaning of the word us when we get that your fellowship might be with us is really referring to the apostles. He's not referring to the Brethren. They went out from us for they were not of us. It may we may be able to apply that. That may be the reason a person leaves the assembly because they want to forsake the Apostles.
But it's really the awesome scripture is the apostles.
There are such things as traditions that or practices that we do not necessarily have from the word of God, and as long as these practices and traditions do not.
Undermine the truth of scripture. Don't try to force the change. But I'm referring to, for instance, is when I grew up.
In Europe, the custom was, and the tradition was that the women were sitting over there and the men were sitting over here.
And.
In most of the world, that's the way Christians sit when they come together. It's really only, I believe in the English speaking world that we sit together as families. Now, I myself prefer it that way, but I do believe that if we happen to be in a place where Saints have other customs, I don't think we should try to force a change that doesn't collide, I don't believe.
With Scripture, the same we used to stand up, all of us.
When somebody would pray anytime during the breaking of bread or during a ministry meeting, a brother would pray, all the Saints would stand up. Now I would personally prefer to do that that way, but am I going to force a change according to what I like and cause disturbance? So I'm using some of these examples to show that there are customs.
That are not in collision with the truth of scripture, which we go along with and but if there are customs that would set aside scriptural teaching, then that's a different thing. Then we have to set aside these customs or these traditions and bow to the word of God. What about if women?
Come from groups of believers where they're permitted to participate.
In meetings, well, they might be accustomed to doing that, but that is contrary to the word of God, and we cannot allow that kind of.
Tradition to find its way amongst the gathered things. But young people go along with whatever you find to be customary wherever the Lord puts you, as long as these traditions and customs do not clash with the word of God.
Another height you mentioned about.
You were raised where the stood up. Would it be all right if we said Amen?
01:05:05
And I believe the word of God teaches that very plainly. And I have found that that was a better custom. Over in Europe, there was always a loud Amen when somebody prayed.
In the local assembly, when someone prays and there's no amends, you wonder if you should hide yourself or or whether what you said was contrary to scripture. But when there is. I was in Fullerton recently not to bring focus on any particular assembly, except I am.
We were there for a couple months and it was beautiful. Not just my prayer, but anyone's prayer. You knew that your brethren were listening and that they were in Concord with what you said because they said it. They said Amen. And one particular brother, and I won't mention his name, but if you're ever there, you know who I'm Speaking of. He said it loudly enough that you knew that his heart was with you. And I'll tell you it does something if we don't stand. And I remember my my wife's grandfather, Ruskin Gill, saying that if we don't stand.
Shouldn't we, Brethren, and I say it almost pleadingly, can't we at least say Amen?
Now the last two versions.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God even our Father.
Which hath loved us, and has given us.
Everlasting consolation and Good Hope through grace comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work.
Word and the word how full is this?
Last part of this epistle to give us to rejoice, having been in this conference, and having the word of God before us, and have our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father.
Here to give us everlasting consolation and Good Hope through grace comfort our hearts.
And establish you we're not gone. There's still something to say. There's still something to do in every good word and work.
The progress of evil is so evident in the world sometimes, said Brother. And I really think it's something we need to meditate. If we walk in the fear of the Lord, we do not have to fear the devil, nor all the hosts of hell, nor any man we can go on. We can be established in every good word and work, and we need to be encouraged in these last days to go on, even though we live in days of small things.
We have a great God, brethren, and he's not any less great because we live in days of small things. He's not any less great because we have failed as much as we have. He's still as great as he ever was, and we can count on him. We have a God we can count on even today.
Over 270.
Pray, I'd like to read a few verses in Acts 20 and Acts 21.
In connection with departing one from another. And for the apostle Paul, it was the last time that he felt that these Saints would see one another, and it may be because of the Lord's coming that that will be so with us. And so in that spirit I would like to read Acts 20 and verse 25.
And then the first verse of the 21St chapter and verses five and six of that chapter.
And now, behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God.
Shall see my face no more. This is not on my part of prophecy, but it may well be because of the nearness of the Lords coming that we will not see one others faces again. And then the first part of the first verse of chapter 21, and I want to give what I think is the is, is a nice little meaning to two words there. And it came to pass that after we were gotten from them it's as if some of us that know about barnacles at the sea.
They have a special way of attaching themselves and to get it loose it takes a great deal. And that's the thought that after we were gotten from them And so because we've been together, it is with difficulty, no difficulty to to walk to our car and to turn the ignition. But emotionally, spiritually, it's difficult for us to to go away from one another. And now verses 5:00 and 6:00.
A little different incident and maybe not the same intensity of getting, but still the thought is there.
And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way.
01:15:00
They all.
Brought us on our way with wives and children till we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed what a scene like to have been there. And we kneel down on the shore and prayed. And when we had taken our leave one of another we took ship.
And they returned home again.
Our God and Father we are going.
Zealously Affected Galatians 4:17
Address—D. Bilisoly
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This afternoon.
By singing #309.
309 Jesus, before thy face we fall, our Lord, our life, our hope, our all, For we have nowhere else to flee no sanctuary, Lord but thee. In thee we every glory view of safety, strength, and beauty too. Tis all our rest and peace to see our sanctuary, Lord in thee.
Whatever foes or fears be tied in thy blessed presence, let us hide and while we rest our souls on thee.
Thou shalt our sanctuary be.
Through time, with all its changing scenes and all the grief that intervenes, let this support each fainting heart that thou are sanctuary art.
Jesus, before Thy face we fall.
For me, I don't know where else to play.
Alice.
And blessing upon his word.
Let's turn to Galatians.
Galatians, chapter 4.
00:05:03
And verse 17.
Galatians 417 They zealously affect you, but not well.
Yeah, they would exclude us that she might affect them.
But it is good to be zealously affected, always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.
This thought of being zealously affected.
Has been upon my mind lately.
And.
We see how clever these Judaizing teachers were that came in among the Gentiles, even a whole province here like Galatians. We're not sure how many assemblies that may have involved.
How active they were and how they had such a way to get people stirred up in zeal.
What kind of zeal?
You know, there's all kinds of zeal in this world.
And it's amazing the energy people will put into a thing.
It is a astounding how dedicated people become to a thing.
Just like for example, on a flight we met a man, a nice mannered man.
Whose whole cause was to Save the Children.
No doubt a very worthy cause in itself, and all the energies and efforts being put forth to do this.
Well, it's touching in a way, to consider the compassion in the world. We can't be hard to that, can we? If we land in a hospital somewhere, we're kind of glad for some compassion, are we not? And we're thankful that we have amiable neighbors that don't just close in on us and rob our houses when we're gone.
Some even would watch our places to a fault. We sometimes leave the house open for the brethren, and our neighbor behind us has a key. And some of the brethren came one evening and they turned the light on, turned the heat up, and they ran to town for a minute to get some groceries. When they came back, the light was turned off and the heat was turned down. Well, it's nice to have caring neighbors.
But think of the causes that people are stirred up about in this world, and what is it all coming to? They zealously affect you, but not well, this was all in connection with the law. And here these were Christians and Galatians that who never, who never had any connection at all with the Law of Moses.
But we see even with those that were originally under the law of Moses.
How sad it was that they seemed to have no desire to give that up.
And it kept them immature. It kept them like babes.
And Paul, whose heart was very much toward his people, he loved his people. He had a deep love for his people, he said. You remember, he could wish himself a curse from the Christ for Israel, no doubt before his conversion. But what a deep love he had for his people. No wonder the Lord said to Paul, don't you go back to Jerusalem again.
In fact, he told him to get out of Jerusalem. At that time they will not receive my testimony, Thy testimony concerning me. Get out of Jerusalem. He should never have gone back. The Holy Ghost forbid him to go back. The Lord well knew his tender heart and compassion toward his people, his harsh desire that all Israel might be saved. And you know the day is coming when all Israel will be saved. Isn't that a remarkable thing? But what a change will occur in that nation.
But he should not have gone back that last time to Jerusalem, because once among his beloved Jewish brethren, his heart melted.
And they listened and they rejoiced over the way the Lord was using him among the Gentiles. But they didn't lose much time before they said they'll see his brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe. And they're all zealous of the law. Oh, what a state of things dear believing Jews that really believed on the Lord Jesus. But they were all zealous of the law and.
00:10:03
Dear Paul melted under that situation.
Well.
It was really his former state, you know, He was exceeding zealous, it says of the tradition of the fathers. And he had such a zeal, it says that he even persecuted the Church of God.
And he thought he was doing God's will, but he was doing it ignorantly. He had plenty of zeal, no lack of zeal in that connection. But he was doing the work of the enemy all the time. What blindness in in that regard. And so we see that he had to realize what a blind state he was in. You remember the scales were upon his eyes for those three days.
What a sharp reminder of the state that he was in.
What we must consider the other part of the verse here passage and that is.
That it is, well, the apostle says it is good to be zealously affected, always in a good thing.
He adds. And not only when I am present with you.
Sometimes it's easy to be, shall I say, more zealous around a respected person.
Am I saying too much? I can remember when a very well respected brother many years ago came to Denver.
And it seems like we all, all of us young people, were energized more. We felt more zealous in the presence of that person.
And I have been encouraged and I have been stirred up. I believe in zeal.
By someone that is a faithful evangelist. I need that. I need to be prodded that way. And so I appreciate a faithful evangelist. It stirs me up if I'm with somebody of that sort.
But now?
Should we just be that way in the presence of someone respected or very influential?
No, that's what Paul is saying to us. You know, over in Romans chapter 12.
Where we have such practical exhortations, I think Mr. Darby words that something like this, he says as to diligent zealousness, not slothful. In other words, there ought to be a consistent zeal, a consistency to our zeal.
We shouldn't.
Get slothful, but we tend to, and I'm thankful for these meetings. The Lord is so good to use these occasions to stir us up in our hearts and give us a greater desire, I trust, to really honor him and please him the little time that remains, and to press on in faithfulness in whatever he entrusts us to. Henry, could I trouble you for a little water?
You know, when we were in Malawi?
We couldn't get water everywhere. Our friends can attest to this.
They just didn't always have it in the store. The bottled waters and you don't dare drink their water.
And there were times that we really missed having water. It became a great concern with us.
And we take things like that for granted.
Sometimes your mouth gets almost like cotton.
Without enough water, You understand that? Oh, I read a story once and I could hardly finish it.
Where a flight crew went down in the Sahara desert and they overshot their base at night and they thought that they were closer than they were, so they knew the direction to go.
And.
After about 10 years, the diary was found of this captain and they found what was left.
But those men made an effort to try and get back to their base on foot, and they had one canteen of water between them.
And it reached such an extremity they stopped and tried to protect themselves in the day.
And they would March at night.
And finally they reached such an extremity that all they could afford was to put a little water on their mouths and tongues.
00:15:01
Isn't that something? What an awful thing to consider in the gospel. That's all the rich man wanted, you know Lazarus to do. He didn't dare make any further request. Just a little water on his tongue. You know it's awful, is it not? Dear ones here this afternoon to consider in any aspects.
What a lost eternity would be like. God tries to describe it to us in a way that we can't miss the point.
We can hardly enter, as it were, into the joys of heaven. How marvelous they are, but.
As we are occupied with the person of Christ, then indeed we have more and more of the thought of what it will be like to be in the glory with Christ. And the Spirit of God delights to occupy us with him in that way. And so this afternoon, you know, I'm thinking of the Lord Jesus in his pathway here as a man, and there was indeed zeal with him.
You know, he could say my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Is that not zeal? You know, you get into Mark's Gospel and you see how it seems like there is one event after another as the Lord Jesus is so busy in his service for the glory of God. Thank you, Henry. Apologize.
No, that's all right.
But you remember.
When the Lord Jesus came into the temple for example.
And he saw all those beasts and the money changers, and it was righteous indignation. The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. He knocked over those money changers.
He whipped out the beasts, and he says, You've made my father's house a den of thieves and so forth. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Oh what a beautiful and a perfect example we have in our blessed Lord Jesus of diligent zealousness even when he was tired, even when the disciples too, I believe, were exhausted even when they didn't have so much.
As leisure time to partake of a meal, you know the Lord.
When they wanted to eat and so forth, here were all these people, and the Lord says I have compassion on the multitudes.
How would we react in such a situation as that? Well, it's humbling whenever we consider our Blessed Lord in any way.
But.
It's well always to be zealous.
As it says in a good thing.
Beloved brethren, I trust that we're leaving these meetings with renewed exercise, with a real desire to pursue faithfully whatever the Lord has given us to do for Him. And you know, you take a person like Epiphros.
Who had a great zeal for a couple of assemblies? It's very difficult I must say, when you become aware of an assembly here, assemblies there, assemblies here.
It's very difficult to keep all of them on your heart every day, as it were. But let me ask you a question. Let me ask a question. Let's see if this hits home.
Do you pray every day for the people in your assembly, the dear Saints in your assembly? Do you pray for them by name? Do you? Do we? Well, it's a good thing, is it not? That's a little bit like apropos. I believe he had a real zeal, you know, for the Colossians. He knew of the problems that were developing there. He had a real zeal for those Laodiceans who at that time perhaps were going on well. But maybe there was at work already things that were.
Undermining the Assembly That deadened state that we read out there in Revelation Chapter 3.
But he had a zeal. And how did he exercise that zeal towards those dear Saints of God? On his knees?
How much are we on our knees for the people of God? I'm humbled, I'm ashamed when I make a statement like that. I said to a brother just before the meetings here, I said whatever I may say might hit my conscience as well as anybody else's. You know, it's very true. But we can find ourselves so busy that our time is cut short. Short, cut short. We've got to allow time, of course, for the reading of the word of God, but really, how much time do we allow for intercession?
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That takes some diligence. That takes a zeal.
And.
You, I'm sure, would consider many other things we're overlooking in this respect.
But I thought perhaps we might consider an Old Testament picture too, in connection with the example of SEAL. Now one that comes before me is I've thought about it and it's.
It's the most remarkable account turnover to numbers 25.
Numbers 25.
Now to lay a little groundwork for this passage in question.
You remember that King Balak of Moab hired?
Balaam Balaam, the prophet, a false prophet. That man was remarkably intelligent, though let me say that. But he was he was not a true prophet of God, but he had powers of divination.
And King Balak hired Balaam to curse Israel.
And you know the story well enough.
You know how determined he was to do this? For what reason? For game, to make a game. He was promised great reward if he would do this and that covetous man was very anxious to get that reward. And he tried. Even when he knew he was going against, directly against the mind of God on this thing, he tried to curse Israel, and God would not let him curse.
But rather, he ended up blessing the people.
But we see that he was so anxious to get that.
Money that reward.
That he devised another way for Moab to get this.
Advantage over Israel since he could not curse them directly.
He taught King Balak how to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel by association, and that certainly holds true today. You understand what I'm talking about.
And so here we have this horrible thing that occurred at Bail Pure.
And we well know what a bane that was to the people ever after.
And how the Lord's anger was risen against the people over this.
Wicked thing that was going on here, verse four And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay every man his men that were joined unto Baal, pure.
And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianite Tish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel who were weeping. Oh, there was a few. There was a few that were greatly troubled and distressed over this thing. They didn't know what to do, but they wept. It's a little like what we have in Ezekiel.
Put a mark upon those that sigh and cry for all abominations. In Israel they wept. Sometimes there's things that there are situations we're not sure, but the Lord values the tears. Beloved brethren who were weeping before the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. And when Finna has the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest saw it. He rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand.
Well, you know, there may have been some that saw this.
And maybe, some said, what is he going to do?
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Some may have thought in their minds, is he going to do some rash thing?
You know, sometimes people do not understand the true motivation of a person.
And when after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through the man.
Of Israel, and the woman through her belly, so that the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were 20 and 4000. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Finnehas the son of Eliezer the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake, among them that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. I know what's going through your mind.
I know it's going through your mind. Finna has was a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus.
Who stood in the breach? Who met the situation?
In its crisis, you might say. And he was the one who laid down his life. That's a little bit, I think, like in Hebrews 8, perhaps, where he offered himself, in effect, you know, Finna has offered himself. He took a great risk in what he was doing. After all, who was this couple and why did he single them out? Because they were people of rank and nobility.
And their brazen act set a precedent before all the people. A Prince and a woman, Perhaps it was like a Princess.
And here they boldly went in the face of all the congregation and those weeping.
And went into that tent, and Finnehez was filled with righteous indignation and jealousy for the glory of God.
Oh dear.
Young brother.
Dear young sister.
You know God uses faithful young persons. You, dear young brothers, may in time feel important, responsible places in the assembly, and there may be an occasion for the Lord's glory.
Where the responsibility might fall upon you in assembly matters, and in regard to the Lord's glory, and in harmony with your brother. And what a difficult thing, what a risk Finna has took in order to carry this out. Was the Lord pleased He knew the motive spring of his heart. We can leave these things up to the Lord. And so he was zealous for the Lord's glory in this case.
The Lord used it and honored it. This was indeed of God, and he executed a real work of God for the glory of God. It's not surprising that when another problem occurred in Israel, it is that is raised up and is the mouthpiece. In regard to this problem, I think over in Joshua 22, I'm not sure.
And a faithful man. And even on that occasion he reminds them of this awful thing here at Vale Pior that identified all the people in the sin. This was a very collective thing, no question about it. But he also at that time reminded the people that the sin of one man, Aiken, identified all Israel with that wickedness you see one person. That shows the importance of assembly discipline.
And to keep the assembly pure.
Very important. One person can identify all the assembly with the evil. In this case it was a number of people.
These instances became a very serious thing in the of he was a champion for the glory of God. We're coming into times when it seems that the truth is being so challenged and tested in a number of ways. Oh, you dear young brothers, I trust that you will not only really lay hold of the truth, but you want to go on and walk in the fear of God.
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And He'll use you. Indeed, He will use you to His glory if you continue faithfully.
We see that this dear man of God was given the assurance of an everlasting priesthood.
Well, the Lord Jesus, of course, is the true fulfillment of that priesthood. Now we have another picture, and it is not a pleasant one, but turn over to.
Second Things, Chapter 10.
Now you know the background of this in connection with Jihu.
Jihu was anointed of God.
To be king and to overthrow the House of Ahab.
And.
Jihu knew his Bible.
That increases his responsibility.
We're responsible here for the truth that we have. He was commissioned to destroy the House of Ahab.
And he knew exactly the scriptural references in connection with what he was doing.
I think we begin to see some things about him.
That would.
Raise a question in our minds about the man's integrity.
For one thing, he goes beyond.
The Commission given to him to destroy the House of Ahab, he goes beyond.
And.
He's exceedingly energetic in doing all of these things.
Almost without compassion, shall I say.
Just carnage.
But now, in the midst of all this, and he was doing a faithful work from that standpoint, He was doing what God told him to do.
But in the midst of all that, here he comes upon a man by the name of Jahan Adab. See in verse 15.
We're not really told much about Johanna.
I take it that he must have been a very honorable.
Man at that time and known. Perhaps he was known in both Judah and Israel.
But we see that Jihu, when he comes upon him, he recognizes him to be a very honorable person.
And so, Gee, who is a little unsure, you know?
Whether or not John Adab is really with him in what he's doing. And so he says in verse 15 he saluted him and said unto him, as thine heart, right as my heart is with thy heart. And Johanna dab answered, it is.
Johanna dab, I believe, recognized that Jihu was doing the work of the Lord in what He was doing. This was absolutely necessary according to the prophecies, and so he took him up in his chariot.
But what does he say in verse 16?
And he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him write in his chariot. Scary, huh?
Oh, brethren, I hope. I hope that's not in our hearts. I hope it isn't so that brethren, see.
Is that why we're doing it? Is that the motive? Spring of the heart?
Is that brethren might see.
What we're doing for the Lord.
What did he what was he doing in his zeal?
I have the feeling with.
The presence of that honorable person there, you know, Paul says. Not only in my present, but in my absence.
But in the presence of that honorable person, he must have been a very respected person, Johanna Dad. But in the presence of that honorable person, here comes the zeal.
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Of jihu.
Seal he calls for all the worshippers of Baal, demands that they be there at the House of Baal.
He makes sure that they all get vestments on.
And he goes so far as to offer a sacrifice to bail in deception.
And when the timing was right, he says, don't let a man escape or you'll lose your life if you do to his men. And they destroyed all those people that were the worshippers of Bail.
Did he ever Commission to do that? Come see my zeal for the Lord, he said. But carnage.
And we don't read anymore of Johanna. Damn.
Where was Jahan Adab? How did he react to this whole?
Zeal for the Lord.
How did jihad have act or react to it?
Brother, I believe he was heartsick.
I believe he was absolutely heartsick to see this sort of thing happen in Israel. No opportunity for repentance, No chance to give the people a second thought like in Elijah Day when the contest went on at Carmel. No, no such thing as that. No chance for the people to say I've made a mistake. I should not have gone on with this Bay of worship. No, they were slaughtered. And I believe that Johanna Dab was absolutely heart sick.
You say. How do you know what gives you that idea?
Because he counseled his descendants, he said, don't drink wine, don't build houses.
You're you're not going to have joy down here.
This place is ruined and things are in a ruined state. Don't settle down. Don't make this the place of your joy, of heart, the place of your satisfaction. No, you just you just go on as strangers and pilgrims.
And you know what?
Those Ricobites did exactly that.
They were obedient to John, adapt their forefather, obedient, amazing, and clear off in the days of of Jeremiah. Here they are.
Still subject to this, their father, Jehanadab, God says to Israel, Look, look, those Ricobites, there's some Missy to their father and you're not to me, you won't submit to me, he says. They would never fail a man of that.
Family. Oh, it's marvelous to see these things and dear ones here this afternoon. May we search our hearts as to what our motive spring is and what we are doing. But if we're really doing it for the Lord, leave it with him, then leave the appraisal of the whole matter with him. And I really believe that when we get home to glory, we may be very surprised.
And who gets the greatest reward and the greatest recognition from him?
And I really believe that there's many, many dear godly sisters that will outshine the men.
But anyway, we'll leave it with him.
He'll review everything. Nothing escapes his eye, and he sees what is done so very quietly, only for his eye alone. Some things are more publicly, perhaps, but what is the real reason? Is it for the Lord if it is really his work? It is a marvelous thing to witness. You realize how absolutely helpless you are. You can witness it, you can marvel at it, but it is His work of grace.
O beloved brethren, may we go on in true zeal for the Lord consistently.
As to diligence, zealousness, not slothful. I appreciate meetings like this. I get stirred up in my heart. But now the test comes. How are we going to practice when we go on home? What will our attitude? Now we've got to face those hopes in the world when we go back to our jobs or back to school or in the neighborhood. Now how about it? Are we going to go on in this?
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Diligence and zeal for him, and seeking to be a witness for him. Well, brethren, may the Lord encourage us to.
The pathway of faithfulness. What a privilege has been ours these few days together, and it's hard to part, is it not? But we have to. It's easy to to be bright among the Christians. But now we've got to face the world right? And so are we going to be faithful for the Lord in all our varied circumstances? May the Lord help us? Shall we pray our God?
Church Truth
God's Encouragement in a Dark Day
A Reminder of First Principles
Faith that Grows
We would see Jesus
Haggai Like Precious Faith
Open Mtg. 1
Y.P. Sing