Detroit Conference: 1967
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Ephesians 1:1-6
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210.
One spirit with the Lord.
All blessed one this word, what heavenly light with our Divine and that sweet version.
One spirit of the Lord Jesus, glorify.
Steve, The Church of Richard Glenn, His Body and His Bride, 210.
Oh my God.
One would be subject for arts.
I believe so.
The Beans Chapter one.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God to the Saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him and love.
Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Where any hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made note unto us the mystery of His will, according to his good pleasure, which he half purposed in himself.
But in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him, and whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who work with all things after the council of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, and whom he also trusted, after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
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And whom also after that you believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise?
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you. And my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of him that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
He may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who believe according to the working of this mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and sent him in his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and mighty dominion, every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet.
And gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth All in all.
Statement of our brother Potter when he was with us. He said that in the first chapter of his seasons, God is for himself.
You notice that we're just brought in by the way doesn't take up our our so much our condition dead entrepreneurs and sins that you get in the second chapter. But it's more what God has purpose that.
There is thought of what God has in view for himself, for his glory, and for the glory of his beloved Son.
This would be why there are no ifs in efficiency.
It brings the forest responsibility, but in these early chapters, as you say, it's God's work for his own glory. So there's nothing no ifs about it.
In Romans chapter 8, God is for Us.
Here in this chapter, he's for himself.
And this is where the blessing comes to us, because God is doing something for himself. He has done something for himself, for his glory. And if God had not done this for himself, there wouldn't be any blessing for us. The source of our blessing is in him and what he has done.
Blessing that comes to us, though, is the satisfaction of his own heart in doing it, isn't it? And that is beautifully brought in. That is, although God is acting for Himself, our blessing is part of the joy that he finds. Because God is love, and he has made objects for that love, and so he has brought into association with himself, those who are spoken of here as his body.
The Church.
In connection with what was said about.
God acting for himself too, I suppose. Up to the end of the sixth verse we get this especially because all His purposes are brought before us before redemption is even mentioned, so that God had these things in His eternal purposes before sin entered. When sin entered, He found the remedy, saw that these purposes could be carried out. It has been said that medical science goes to work when some new trouble occurs.
To find the remedy, God had the purposes before, and when the difficulty came in, He had the remedy. When sin came in, the remedy had already been in His purposes too, because the Lamb was foreordained before the foundation of the world, and nothing could hinder or will hinder the grand fulfillment of all these purposes that are outlined in the 1St 6 verses of our chapter.
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CHM says that the cross was no afterthoughts of God.
As soon as Adam and Eve had sinned that very day to get in what the Lord God says to the serpent, the woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head. That was God's remedy. The woman's seed of Christ isn't the seed of the man.
And there was another man born into this scene who could be spoken of in that way as the woman's seeds, because his origin was divine.
He was born of a virgin, but there God had his purpose, his remedy, as you say, right from the beginning of man's sad history, when he had listened to the tempter. And all through the history of man, we see God quietly, consistently working with that.
Purpose before him that the woman's feed his son.
Should defeat the enemy. I think your father used to say Brother Hale, that.
It says he shall bruise his heel, That is the the serpent. No, that is the the seed of the woman, that he shall bruise his head. That's the surface. That is the the Blessed Lord in his pathway down here.
Was bruised in connection with all the hatred and malice and enmity of man. But when it speaks of his head being bruised, that is the serpent's head. The head is where all our thoughts and slams and designs come from. And he was to smite all those plans of Satan forever defeat them. So go, just allow Satan to remain here until his purposes and the youths he asked for. Satan is accomplished.
Then he puts him in the bottomless pit for 1000 years and then went in. God allows the leader to bring about the final state of man, what's in his heart. After the 1000 years, Satan is released out of his prison for a short time. Then he cast him into the lake of fire forever.
The solemn thing that God allows Satan.
To remain in this world, but he is accomplishing his purposes through it.
How's you going to say, brother? He said, blessed to that not only.
Was the Lord Jesus the one who was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but his bride was chosen. That bride which would accompany him and be with him in the glory, was also chosen there before the foundation of the world.
God would have a right for His beloved Son, and He has thus chosen, and now He has told us, and soon He's about to bring us into that home that we might share there His love and His joy.
The marvelous picture that the deep sleep into which Adam fell was a very beginning that brought to him Eve. This was before sin had come in, where we find God's purposes displayed before from doing that.
Things which are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
I do not think that the faithful as more devoted class, but it takes in all the children of God. You could put it those who have faith.
You have the same thought in the opening of the book of Colossians.
So if we have faith in the Lord Jesus, we are entitled to receive for our souls.
All that's taught in this blessed epistle, although it was primarily addressed to the to the Saints, which are at Ephesus, who doubtless were in a very spiritual state as an assembly, so that the apostles could bring out these purposes and counsels of God.
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And give them the very highest truth that's taught in the whole range of the word of God. Because within the Ephesians that we get where we're raised up together and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus you couldn't go higher than in connection with.
With our privileges and blessings down here, but we mustn't get on to the second chapter while we're on the 1St chapter. But I just mentioned that in passing.
Thank you.
We might wonder why these Ephesians believers were so privileged to get this high truth that we have in this book.
But we find that there was a a very real work of God that went on at Ephesus. We got the record of it in Acts chapter 19.
In the 10th verse it says by the space of two years.
So that all which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus.
Both Jews and Greeks. So the gospel was going out there and there were many that heard it and we go on down in the chapter.
Says in verse 18, and many that believe came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious art, brought their books together and burned them before all men, and they come to the price of them and founded 50,000 pieces of silver.
So lightly grew the word of God, and prevailed.
These who had believed.
Made a clean break with what they've been going on with before.
They judged it and it wasn't 1/2 and half thing with them, but they really were convicted by the spirit of God. God did a real work in them and.
They acted in such a way that God could vouchsafe to them these blessed truths. I believe very often we're hindered in learning of God.
And entering into the good of what God has given us, because we're sort of half and half.
Where Lukewarm. Of course. This is what characterizes us today in the Legacyan period of the Church's history. Lukewarm. And we're not out and out for God, and we like to go on with the things of the world as well as going on with the Lord. But I believe it's a great hindrance to us, and we're hindered from entering into these blessed things.
That have already been revealed. Well, perhaps the Lord might exercise our hearts about this.
One thing we tell us in the opening of all the Epistles versus Hebrews, and it begins with grace and peace.
So whatever the state of the assembly might be.
The Spirit of God could always speak of grace and peace as the portion of God's children.
For without grace.
There's no salvation.
And there's no peace with God or peace in our souls apart from the work of Christ on the cross.
So this is a very, very foundation of everything. But the Apostle would have the children of God whenever he addressed them to be enjoying more of his grace and going on.
The precious peace that passes all understanding, as he tells us in another place.
Keeping your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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We're thinking of that expression, too. In the first verse, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. We have this again in the fifth verse, says in the end of the fifth verse, according to the good pleasure of his will. And in the ninth verse, having made known unto us the mystery of his will. And then again in the 11Th verse, he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
How beautiful this is, because the will of God is the source of all the blessing that flows to us.
And so it tells us that not only is that will toward us to bless us, but God finds his own good pleasure in doing it. You know, a person might show a kindness to a person out of compassion, but it's an entirely different thing to find pleasure in doing that act. And oh, how wonderful, Brethren 4 Failing things that we are, God finds his own pleasure in our blessing. Isn't this a lovely thing for us to get hold of?
And then the next one, he's made known unto us the mystery of his will.
Now, that is, God wants us to know all that is in his will, all His purposes in regard to the glory of Christ and to the blessing of those in association with him. How many dear Christians do stop at the wondrous fact that they are saved, that their sins are forgiven? Well, it's just like laying hold of one truth when God has so many precious things for us to know and He's unfolded them.
His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
And this precious book that we hold in our hands is a full revelation.
Of all that God would have us to know and to enjoy, Sometimes we bother ourselves about things that God hasn't told us, but all if we would just enjoy more what He has told us, these precious things and then the last one that he works all things after the council of his own will. Is God going to fulfill all these things that he has purpose? Is any failure on the part of the church? Is any power of Satan going to hinder? No, there's not one thing that God has purpose that is not going to be fulfilled.
How often? We have some plan, and it's a very nice plan, but it doesn't always workout. We're not able to carry it through, but when God purposes anything, he's able to carry it through. So how wonderful to think of this will of God. And we can say to everyone in the company this morning who is saved, that God's will is your blessing to the fullest possible extent, and not only is his will to bless you, but he's not going to be satisfied.
Until that will has been fully accomplished, thank God it will be in the glory, and by the Spirit He would have us to enjoy this beforehand. For in this epistle we are seeing as already seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
Being carried out of that will then, I mean in our lives. If we should fail, would that come in?
To counteract the purposes and the Willow cloud that you're bringing up, Well, it can hinder our enjoyment of it, but not the blessing itself. The blessing itself is secured in and through Christ, and we're not accepted in what we are in ourselves, but we are accepted in the beloved, in the beloved. God sees us in Christ, and so these things are all going to be accomplished in Him and as we have had before us for His glory.
But we may not be in the enjoyment of it. We can live like coppers when we own a beautiful mansion, yet the mansion is ours, whether we're enjoying it or not. And we see this so beautifully in the end of the 8th of Romans. Paul was enjoying the love of God in Christ, and he said, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, and our height and our depth, nor any other creature.
Shall be able to separate and notice the change the plural word separate us.
From the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So when he speaks of the love that's in Christ Jesus our Lord, he says it's for us, it's for all the redeemed family. But Paul is enjoying it. And he could say in the singular I am persuaded. And how often it's not true of us that we're persuaded of that we're enjoying these things, but they're true of us, whether we're enjoying them or not. But as to our loss and the work of the Spirit is to lead our souls.
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Into the enjoyment of our portion. We have the example of this in the children of Israel. Going into the land of Canaan. The whole land was there, It was all for them. But how much of it did they really possess in a practical way? They were not in the enjoyment of all of the land of Canaan. It was a fruitful land, it was a good land, and there were all kinds of earthly blessings there for them.
But they never really entered into the enjoyment of it all. And why?
All there were things that they went on with lack of faith, first of all.
They didn't put their foot on every part of that land and then they went on with things that finally.
Have caused God to remove them from that land, and they were taken right away from all of these blessings. But as far as the nation of Israel is concerned, it still belongs to them, and they're going to possess it someday. This is according to the the purposes of God in connection with these earthly people. Well, so it is with his heavenly people. We're not entering into the enjoyment of all the land that God has provided for us in the heavenlies.
In Christ Jesus, and what our brother Heyho has been telling us about the security of it, and sure must be in those expressions in the heavenlies in Christ. They're in a place where they cannot be touched, but they're also in a place by virtue of which we must be in communion with the Lord in order to be in the good of them. That is, we must be in touch with that heavenly one in order to be in the enjoyment of them.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
You notice there are two sources for our blessings.
The God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that takes us back to the 20th of John, where Mary Magdalene saw the Lord after he rose from the dead.
And she was so overjoyed. Doubtless she was going to the embrace it.
But the Lord says, touch me not wasn't the time for association with him, as Israel will be associated with him in the coming days.
Have for the what the Lord had in view for his people, since he had gone to the cross and risen again.
With a heavenly portion and blessing. So he says that for I have not ascended.
So to my Father. But go tell my brother that I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and the my God, and your God. The Lord never was able to say that in all His ministry before the cross He could talk to his disciples about the Father and tell them much of the.
Father's grace and so on.
But as soon as redemptions work is accomplished, and now has a risen man, he can lead them into the very blessings that he himself enjoyed in all his perfect life. Down here they were to be in the blessings of the Father. No God is their Father, and to receive blessings as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We should be familiar with the fact that when those two names, Father and God, are used, they are not used in the indifference, careless way. Fact. Nothing in Scripture has found that thousands of definite meaning, but they're used in the very instructive way. Well, I understand that when it's God, it has more of a thought of authority.
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Power. When you read of judgment and justice and so on, you'll find the name of God is connected with those thoughts. But when it's nearness, when it's intimacy as children enjoying the parents love, then the name Father is brought before us and you'll find if you follow the subject of Ephesians.
That that pattern is followed right through the epistles.
First he speaks of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, and then the Father. And if you follow on in the.
Through the 4th verse he says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. They're the thought of authority and power is the theme of what he's writing.
But now read on in the next verse, the fifth verse, having predestinated us under the adoption of children.
There's the blessing that comes from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, showing how consistently the Apostle is sitting a line of truth before our souls.
Well, it's lovely to notice those words blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. For this is in contrast with what was given to Israel when they entered the land. They were not spiritual blessings, but they were material blessings, and God spoke of these in the Book of Deuteronomy. And those things, as our brother Anderson remarked, will be enjoyed in a wonderful way in the millennial age when God blesses his earthly people.
There will be a grandeur and a material blessing bestowed upon them in the in the Jerusalem and in the land such as has never been seen in this world before. God will show what was in His plan for man, and a material way down here upon the earth, and even in family blessing.
But now, in Christianity, we're introduced into a new sphere, and our blessings now are not here. They're in the heavens. We're blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, so God doesn't promise us material blessings. He cares for us, just as a country cares for its ambassador. When He's in another land, they care for him. They provide a lodging for him, but it's not his own. It's just a place where He dwells while He represents that country.
And in that sense, as Christians, God cares for us, He provides for us. But in a similar way, we're like ambassadors here, and we really don't look upon the things that we have here as our own, but our blessings really belong to another sphere. In fact, so carefully does the Spirit of God to speak of this in the New Testament, and that the material things are always spoken of as mercies, the spiritual things as blessings in connection with Christians.
And so we're blessed with all spiritual blessings, and it's helpful for us to realize, brethren, that this is not a matter of progress.
It's not something that we gain as we go on. We gain the enjoyment of it. But all, all in the heart of God for us is given to us as a gift. When we receive Christ as our Savior is not one single thing that belongs to a Christian who has been saved for 50 or 60 years.
Any more than belongs to one who has been saved for 50 or 60 minutes. It's the very same. But certainly if that one who has been saved 50 or 60 years has been walking with God, he's enjoying his portion much more. But this is true of every believer. And everything that God has in His purposes for us through the work of Christ is ours from the moment of our salvation. But their heavenly blessings, their spiritual blessings, and the great work of the enemy.
Was to hinder Israel from enjoying the material things in the land. And the great work of the enemy is to keep us from enjoying what we have in Christ. And all the power of Satan has arranged against the believer and against the Church of God to keep us from entering into the fullness of blessing that has come to us through the work of Christ.
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It's the most blessed.
Thought in connection with our blessing. Spiritual blessings, that's higher and more wonderful than just temporal blessings. Getting a few good things down here in this world Have spiritual blessings, and then think of where those blessings are found. You couldn't think of anything more glorious than heavenly blessings. The very theme and the very glory of which our Blessed Lord has entered and where He's waiting for us and where He's soon to take us.
And then?
The most touching thought of all that they're in Christ. Nothing touches our hearts as the mention of his name. To think that we actually possess those blessings in that one who has loved us and given himself for us. Well, beloved, we surely are blessed. Just as our brother Hale is saying, though the enjoyment of it is what is needed.
For our instruction at this time. And may the Spirit of God really lead our hearts into the enjoyment that which he so wonderfully is setting before our soul.
Can we see the Apostle himself enjoying it in the way in which he writes this verse? Of course, it's written by inspiration, but he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. He not only tells us about the blessing, but the very way in which he does, and those that his own soul and enjoy it. Peter used to the same language, and I believe that in Speaking of these blessings, our souls ought to enjoy them through.
Well, that's the power of ministry, isn't it, brother? Hell, when John the Baptist was looking upon Jesus as he walked, he just exclaims in the delight of his soul. Behold the Lamb of God and John and Douglas. John and Andrew left Jesus, left John and followed Jesus. That's the power of ministry and without the enjoyment of the truth.
That we're seeking to set before others are.
Precious to our own souls just become the sounding brass and the tinkling symbol, just the noise and the sound and display. So may the Lord give us one and all to really be in the enjoyment of these precious things, what we have in Christ and taking us completely out of this poor world to which we're passing just to the hymn that was sung at the beginning of the meeting would bring.
This thought before us all, bright and blessed, seems where sin can never come.
And that stirred our hearts this morning, beloved.
2 words that are used in these verses which are very helpful and perhaps for those that are younger.
The word half and the word in If we stop and think as we read these first verses in the this chapter of Ephesians and throughout the Epistle to the Ephesians. If we stop and think of these words half and in.
He already has blessed us, hasn't He, this blessing. And what He has accomplished for us is already ours. And so He hath blessed us. And there in Christ Jesus, and as we follow it down through the verses, we find these words in most of the first verses of the chapter.
And we find in the next verse that we were chosen in him.
Before the foundation of the world.
And Brother Aho is mentioning whether we've been saved 60 years or forget whether it's 60 minutes or 60 seconds. That either would be true. But all that we get here still is something that would we can enjoy and know is true for every believer in connection with the word hath. I've enjoyed seeing how many times you get the word half and the and the.
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The first chapter and the few verses of the second notice, I believe it's seven times. In verse three, he hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Verse four he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Verse six he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Verse eight he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence or intelligence. Verse nine, he hath purpose of the good pleasure says, which he hath purposed in himself.
Without reading the 10th verse it goes on and connects with the word half and verse 11 it says in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. And then in verse 22 he has put all things under his feet. But then we're brought in at the end of that verse, gave him to be head over all things to the church, and then in the second chapter and the sixth verse.
Hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
Seven times you have that word half connected with ourselves through grace.
I believe the reason Satan is called in this epistle, the Prince of the power of the air is because the air is that which comes between US and the heavenlies. We know that after the church has been taken away, then Satan is cast down to the earth, and his great malice is against the seed that will be brought into the earthly blessing.
But now His work is to try and keep us occupied with this earth and with material things, just as later he will try to hinder Israel.
From enjoying it, he's trying to keep us occupied with us and come between us and our portion up there. And so there's a real spiritual conflict because the enemy's power is between us and the enjoyment of those heavenly things. Well, there is an energy of the Spirit of God that is stronger than all this. Just as Israel were able to overcome their enemies when counting upon God when they entered the land saw, there can be that spiritual energy that arises above things here.
Which tend to press us down and give us a glimpse and an enjoyment of what is ours up there.
You know, it's been said that.
Ephesians is the Joshua of the New Testament. We might just look at the first chapter of Joshua and see how the two books correspond.
First chapter of Joshua.
The first verse every place that the soul of your foot shall spread upon that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even under the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and under the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
Well, you have those two things brought before us.
To serve every place that the soul of your foot shall credible, that have I given you their responsibility to take position.
Of the virus.
Position that God had for his people.
Rather remarkable the boundaries there too. It stretches out to a wilderness, to a great river.
And to the great sea.
So beyond the land spiritually, that God has given to his people what is there, Beyond it nothing but a vast howling wilderness is there, and a river, the commerce of this world, and the great sea of which it says it cannot rest, which cast us up in mire and dirt.
We're bound by all around us. That would distract us, that would turn us away from our blessings. But here we are, brought together in marvelous grace to enjoy what the world knows nothing about, all its last wilderness and with all its commerce.
And with all this vast sea, here we are, a little company enjoying the spiritual blessings.
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Rather remarkable too, that when you come to the second chapter of Galoshes of Joshua, you get rehab brought in. That corresponds with the second chapter of Ephesians, where you get those who are the subjects of this blessing. And who are they? Those who were dead in practices and in sins. Just poor, miserable loss.
Guilty sinners that had no claim on God any more than Rehab had claimed upon the promises and blessings of God to Israel.
Still looking at this first chapter of Joshua, Notice 3 words in verse 15.
Down toward the end of the verse and.
Enjoy it.
Now it's Speaking of the land of their possession there in that verse. Also, it's in connection with those on the other side, Jordan, but it applies to.
What was given to the other tribes?
On the West side of the Jordan.
But it's one thing to have the land for possession.
It's another thing.
To enjoy this is emphasized here. It seems to me, even in connection with the earthly blessings, the material things that were promised to the children of Israel, they should be exercised about enjoying it. And we noticed in connection with that that they had to go out armed. There were battles to be fought. The enemy would contest every step they took.
Every piece that they would try to enjoy.
The enemy would contest it, and they never did overcome all of the enemies.
And so we have in this book, in Ephesians, at the end of it, in the 6th chapter as has already been mentioned, an enemy that's contesting every step that we want to take in the enjoyment of these good things that the Lord has provided for us all. This is what should exercise our hearts. We should remember that we're in an enemy's land and the enemy is busy and he wants to hinder us, keep us from enjoying all these blessings that God has provided for us in Christ Jesus.
We should notice too, all the purpose that God had in his choice back in eternity. Look at the sixth verse, courting as He had chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. What for? That we should be wholly and without blame before Him in love. Is that true of us now? I believe it is.
It's not our state that is considered here, it's our standing. And you'll find in Isaiah that God has put all our sins behind his back. And where is he? Put those whom His grace has redeemed before him in love? That is, he put our sins behind his back. He has his redeemed ones before him where he can look upon him with complacency.
The light there before him in love, where he can find his joy and delight in the blessings of those that are before him.
I was thinking of how nicely this is typified in the 23rd chapter of Leviticus.
Where on the.
Chief of first fruits which typifies to us the Lord Jesus in resurrection.
It was way before the Lord, and it says to be accepted for you. And so the great secret here is the end of the sixth verse. He has made us accept it not in ourselves, but accepted in the beloved. In the new translation, the beloved is in the capital because it's the Lord, and just as that chief of first fruits was accepted for them, that is, it was waived with all the value of the sacrifice, and it was accepted for them.
So that's the only way that it can be said of us that we're holy and without blame before him in love because we're accepted in Christ. I believe we could say too that holy is as to the nature and without blame is as to our character, well we have a divine nature, but also as to Christ we are made the righteousness of God in him.
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It is not merely the righteousness of God being put to our account, because if that were Saul, then there were a lot of other things that we have done, and we might be occupied with them. But how wonderful Christ himself is our righteousness before God. Not his actions and not his perfect life, but he himself. The one who has accomplished redemption, who's glorified God about the whole question of sin, is now there at God's right hand, and we can say like the psalmist.
Prophetically looked upon the face of thine anointed, and if he looks at us there's failure. But if he looks upon the face of his anointed, now the blessing can come, so he can go on. In that beautiful 84 Psalm, the Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly and so holy as as to our nature and without blame as to our character. This is our present standing before God.
Because we are accepted in the Beloved. 1 The Apostle John would say everyone that hath this hope in him purifies himself.
Even as he is pure, that's the way God works in the lives of His Saints. He shows us what we are in Christ and then exercises us that we might measure up to the perfect standard, which is Christ himself, now glorified. So we look at his blessed life down here, and then we look at him up there after he has finished his course and run the race.
There we see. There's where God sees me.
There in his own presence, just like his beloved Son. Now how much am I manifesting that in my walking ways down here? Well, you see that he isn't putting us under law at all. Soon as you go to putting Saints under law, it occupies them with themselves to see how faithful they are. And then they begin to think they are maybe better than they really are as to their ways. But if you're occupied with the perfect pattern, Christ and glory.
Your little side of self, you're occupied with him, and it's just as you get in First Corinthians 3. The last part, we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. That's the way the Spirit of God works in the hearts of his people.
I read in Genesis.
Chapter One In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Well, this verse goes back beyond that. Before that this goes back into eternity. We speak of the eternal counsels of God.
Well, this is what this verse is Speaking of. The eternal counsels of God chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. We were in the counsels of God.
That is, we who are saved can say that we were in the counsels of God before there was any word.
Before the foundation of the earth was laid.
Way in ages past. Now this is not taking us simply back to the creation of Adam. It takes us back beyond that way, into the ages past and before those ages began, before the earth was formed, we were chosen in Christ.
So our history really begins before there was any earth. And I suppose this is 1 great reason why we should be exercised about being separate from it, not being connected with it in any way, becoming defiled by being occupied with it. We don't belong to this scene at all. We were in the counsels of God before there was any scene like this.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children.
Oh, here we get the blessings that flow from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that tag takes us back into eternity again, predestinated.
Us unto the adoption of children.
Predestination I understand is marking out beforehand.
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I've heard it like into a man who is about to build a.
Own building. He goes to the quarry and looks over the different layers of stone and selects the stone that he thinks is suited for the building he's going to erect. The owner of the quarry is with him and when he makes his choice he puts his mark on these stones. Those stones are predestinated, marked out beforehand.
For a very special and definite purpose. Now I'm sure we all understand the love of death, the line of things we're talking about.
Is not what we would preach on the street or tell they are lost about. These are family secrets, very blessed secrets for the family of God, for those who are brought into the adoption of children. Is not addressing lost sinners.
I'm sure we've heard most of us, the illustration of the man that comes to an arch. And over this arch is written whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. Well, he looks through the arts, and he sees the fountain of the water of life springing up. He goes in and drinks refresh, And then someone says, Have you read the inscription on the inside of the arch?
And he looks around and hear the words that he sees.
Chosen in him before the foundation of the world. But he had to go through the arts and drink of the water of life before he was privileged to read the inscription on the inside. So these are tools for the family of God, most blessed and most encouraging for our hearts.
Well, for us to remember that the Bible never speaks of anyone being predestinated for judgment.
They fit themselves for judgment. Predestination only has to do with the.
Family of God only with blessing, but as far as the will of God is concerned, it says he's not willing that any should perish.
And when the unsaved stand before God, they will be dealt with by according to their works, so that.
As responsible people, they are judged, but those who are blessed must recognize that we would never have come if it hadn't been for the grace of God.
So that responsibility has a very definite place with the unsaved, and we preach to them as responsible people. And all through the Bible, God addresses the unsaved as responsible people.
But after we're saved, as you say, we find out that God had purposes and connected with His people, things that we could never enter into or understand until after we are saved.
We might call attention to these.
Scriptures that our brother is calling attention to in Romans Chapter 9.
Verses 22 and 23 you get the contrast between the two classes.
In verse 22, they're fitted to destruction. That is, they fit themselves for destruction. But in verse 23 it speaks of the best vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory. He's the one that prepares the vessels of mercy for glory.
That in the thought of this to produce a sense of worship in our hearts, the thought that we were predestined to this wonderful place of blessing Fact, in Speaking of that love that was set upon us before the foundation of the world, I thought, sometimes it's rather humbling to us to find how the scripture exhorts us concerning such flowers. It says, Keep yourself in the love of God, it says.
Continue ye in my life.
It is a little humbling, is it not, to think that when this wonderful love is made known to us, we should actually need a word of exhortation like that? Especially do I think of it in reading this epistle where it's made known to us as having existed before the foundation of the world, and where we're brought into such a wonderful place of blessing, To be reminded that what I personally sometimes speak of as the second Epistle to the Ephesians.
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Speaks of the very same people.
And having lost their first lot, or left their first lot, or if we wish to put it that way, the Ephesians did receive a second epistle before the scripture was closed. Revelation 2. It's the same company to whom this wonderful revelation is made known and this wonderful love is revealed before the scripture is closed. They received this second letter, and in it they reminded I was left by first love. So as we sit here enjoying it this morning.
I believe our hearts can well be certain that we might walk in it too. Lord, use that very way to restore Peter fully and completely in the presence of his brethren, didn't he? The Lord didn't reproach Peter for denying him, But he said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?
Or how deep that went and when Peter is brought to the confession that only the Lord could see that?
Love that was truly there for his blessed Lord and master. And the Lord says he's my lambs shepherd, my sheep, feed my sheep. And that is really again, the power of ministry, its love for Christ and its love for Christ that really breaks down the barriers that exist between US and that blessed one. That's what the Lord laid before Peter. Whether.
He loved the Lord more than the other disciples, for that was Peter's boast. The law shall forsake thee, yet will not die. There was a boasted self-confidence, but the Lord just pulled him three times. Love us, thou me, oh brethren, may that speak to each one of us here. Love us, thou me out exercises our souls to think of the infinite love of Christ.
There's such worthless things as ourselves.
We're just thinking too how in this fifth verse it says unto the adoption of children. We notice the accuracy of the word of God in John's ministry were looked upon as children by birth. Aren't we born into the family of God for taking of the life and nature of the family we can enjoy as children all that is in the heart of God as our father. But in Ephesians here we're brought in by adoption because the thought is rather choice.
When a person adopts a child, its choice, and this is very lovely to me.
It's impossible for a person to adopt A child and have the two things. The one who has a child born might have a child born and perhaps the child has some physical disability. That child carries it through life. We love the child. It's part of ourselves. It partakes of our very life and nature, but it isn't exactly what we would have chosen. But in adoption you have the thought of choice and in the family of God's both.
Oh, isn't this lovely?
To think that we're just exactly the very ones he chose, but lacked nothing, because we partake of the very life the nature of the family, and so that we can enjoy possessing that nature all that's in the heart of God. And so it tells us this in John 17. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God. And Jesus Christ comes our sins, that is eternal. Life is not merely the length of time that the life will exist.
Because even the unsayed will exist eternally. But it's a character. It's the very life of Christ himself, and a life by which we can, as I say, enter into and enjoy.
All that's in his heart, and with a life too that is perfectly suited to him.
To enjoy it, well, what a portion is ours and as we have in this portion here.
It's rather the thought of adoption. It's choice. It's just what he wants. Isn't it lovely, brethren, to think that we can sit here? The Lord might be grieved in us, but never disappointed, because we're the very ones He chose. And when he looks upon his own in the coming day, he shall see of the travel of his soul and shall be satisfied. I heard a story once, of a couple that adopted the boy.
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And then afterwards.
They had some children of their own born into the family well.
After a while, the boy got to realize that he was different from these other children.
That threes had been born into the family, but he hadn't been born into the family. And he got worried and concerned about it and he he got to feeling unhappy. Well, the parents, his foster parents, had to do something about it. And so they they explained it on that same basis that these other children, they had to take them when they came because they were born into the family. They had no, actually no choice about it.
But when they wanted him.
They were looking around for a boy and they saw him and they desired him. They wanted him and they said to him, well, you're wanted. We chose you because we wanted you. And all that made him feel so much better. That made him really happy to know that he had a special place in the hearts of his parents.
Doesn't forget, though, that it's by Jesus Christ.
Everything depends on that blessed one. His work, His love, His grace.
That fought and found us as well as redeemed us at such a cost God could not possess apart from the person and the work of his beloved Son.
That's him #141.
Ephesians 1:6-12
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220 8.
3/28.
All of my.
Pleasure. Please stay on the line and hear me. What do you think? I can't stand what you do. I don't. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Christian. I.
Can we go on with occasion? Motherberry. I'd be very happy too. Think about the six first.
Ephesians One verse 6.
To the praise of the glory of his grace.
Wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace, where any half abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will according to his good pleasure, But she had purposed in himself.
But in the dispensation, the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Even in Him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him, will work with all things after the council of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, and whom he also trusted after he heard the word of truth.
The gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that he believed he were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus.
And love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. And the knowledge of Him that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that he may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe.
According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the death, and sent him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality.
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And power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
And half put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fill us All in all.
You notice when.
He's speaking about being predestinated. The adoption of children is.
Speaks there, that is, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
Because it's the glory of his grace.
The power in the seventh verse, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, not according to the glory of His grace, but according to the riches of His grace.
Well, that takes up the subject of the infinite value of the blood of Christ.
We consider racist. There's nothing that can compare to the richest by which we have been redeemed, not with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ, as Peter was. Remind us of his writings.
It has been said that when it's the glory of His grace, it's the place to which He has lifted us. But when it's where He lifted us from, it's the riches of His grace. We're going to be brought into such a wonderful place that we have been Speaking of in association with God's Beloved Son. And indeed we're already accepted in the Beloved One. But it was the riches of His grace that displayed itself towards such unworthy things as ourselves.
And as our brother Barry just remarked, A tremendous cost by which we're brought into this place a blessing. So how wonderful the riches of his grace. Well, we'll never be able to measure either. We'll never be able to measure the glory of His grace, because it says in Ephesians 2 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us. Through Christ Jesus will not be able to measure.
The fullness of blessing.
Cost that has brought us into such blessing.
I've heard that Mister displays compared to that when it was presented to the Lord on the mountain at the time of the temptation, where all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them were shown to him in the moment of time, all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.
And he saw it all in a moment of time, and the source turned from it. But for those of us who know him in the ages to come, he will show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us, and that will never come to the neck.
Yes, we're traveling to Expo eternity. Expo 67 is passed. It just took a few months to show all that man in the world had been able to accumulate of their accomplishments, but all how wonderful. We're going on to a scene where man and his world will be the center, but not this man that talked about here. I mean in man's world in Montreal. But God's man, the man of God's counsels, That's who is right before us here.
So there is a man who is going to be the center of this scene, and we know that Blessed One is our Savior. And it's not going to last just for a few months and be superseded by something. If left here in a few years, which will be perhaps a little better of man's accomplishment, but here is something that can never be superseded and will be enjoyed as the object of our gaze for all eternity.
Where India made us accepted in the beloved.
That's our standing before God in Christ accepted not as to what we are in ourselves.
Or what poor feeling things we are. And it's it depended our on our being accepted in view of our faithfulness or our walk. But a dismal story it would be that we are accepted in all the perfection of God's dear Son, but their special emphasis put here upon being accepted.
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In the beloved could have just said in Christ or in the sun. But when it says accepted in the beloved, it's not only tells us that our places in Christ before God, but in all this preciousness of Christ is to the heart of God's Father.
Accepted in the beloved well, all we can say when they reach a clinical like that.
It's just a worship fills the heart, doesn't it? Because we can't go beyond that. We can't understand it, we can't measure it. But we can worship and adore with wondrous grace that has brought us into such a place of nearness and nearness to the heart of God the Father. Indeed, he says in addressing his Father in the 17th of John. For thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me.
Can we understand that that one that always gives the Father's will, that you have the same love toward you and me? We can not no use to try. But if it was a heart with praise, that's what Doug wants. He wants our hearts filled with praise and adoration that blessed one.
It's this truth.
Known in the soul that causes us to worship acceptance, we read in the Old Testament that when the fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, then the people praised God.
Well, the work offering was the acceptance offering, and when they saw that God had received that offering, they knew that they were accepted, the ones who had brought it, and it caused them to thank and praise God.
It's interesting too that the word translated accepted here is only found twice in the scripture. The other occasion is when the Angel is addressing Mary and he says to her Hail vowed apart, highly favored, exactly the same word. I believe the thought is very, very lovely because it's more than what we might think of as involved in the word accepted. It's really highly favored or brought into high favors.
I heard an illustration of it, which to me was quite helpful. Suppose I'm one of the workmen, we'll say a gardener, at Buckingham Palace in England. I suppose it would be necessary for me to carry some kind of fast, so that when I approach the grounds, the guards there would examine my task and accept me and allow me to enter the gate. But we'll see the next person to approach his His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the son of Her Majesty's Queen.
He too would be accepted, but a very, very different manner. I think we have a past that accepts me, but he injured in all the dignity and welcome of the son of Her Majesty the Queen, so acts services in the beloved is a moral fun. When we see that it is brought into a place of favor in the beloved, in our position now before him is in all that favor.
In connection with what you have said.
Interacting to see that, another translation reads, wherein he has taken us into favor in the beloved.
That's where the thought of God being glorified in the work of his Son is much greater than the fact that God has been satisfied. If I ought a certain amount to a creditor, and I some, I'm unable to pay and someone kindly pays it.
And gives me the receipt. Why my creditor is satisfied, There's no question about him charging me again. He's satisfied, but I'm not in favor before him, nor am I brought to know anything about his heart. But if he himself provided his own son to pay the debt for me, and then when he gives me the receipt, he marks on it, paid in full through the kindness of my own son, oh, this means much more to me now.
I I'm not only know that he's satisfied, but his heart is told out. I know the feelings that he has toward me and that I stand now in favor before him. Well, if we only think of the debt being paid, we'll never really lay hold of the heart of God. It'll remove fear and knowing that we'll not be charged with our sins. But God wants us to enjoy more than that. He wants us to enjoy this wonderful fact that it was He himself who provided for the payment of our debts, and he himself did it at such cost because he wanted to have us before him in perfect favor and acceptance.
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Defend that Beloved that we have redemption. The subject is connected there to beloved and the one that's so dear to the heart of God. The Father is the one who accomplished redemption through His love. Even the forgiveness of sins that comes in here because there might be some fear that if at last there would be something that would mark our happiness and glory.
But no, it's all forgiven. Forgiven forever. Not only the thoughts of having everything forgiven in view of its coming glory when we're with him, but even down here we have a sweet sense in our souls that though we're poor failing things, we have made so many mistakes and we look back over our lives how much there is to the grievous. But it's all forgiven. Of course, this was judicial forgiveness. I would take it. There is a need of restoring forgiveness too, as you go on in our Christian life and testimony.
When the prodigal son came home, he was going to make a confession to his father that he'd sinned against heaven and against him in his sight.
I don't believe there's any record of the father saying I forgive you, but he put on the best robe with the best robe on him and brought him into the house. Well, that speaks of acceptance right there and the very fact that he was standing there in the best robe and in the father's house.
That just presumed that everything was forgiven. So we see how acceptance goes beyond forgiveness. And of course this is according to the heart of the Father, and it's just a picture of the heart of God our Father, who not only forgives us but goes on to accept us in the Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I like to think of how many times in the Scripture we're spoken of as beloved and ye Beloved.
Especially what we have in huge epistles, beloved. Well, even in a day like this, in the day of apostasy, great failure and ruin, God our Father still thinks of us as His beloved.
Taking us on to the eighth verse, it says wherein he hath abounded.
Toward us in our wisdom and prudence.
Wisdom and prudence are brought in, and God abounds, doesn't he?
In the heart of how he has accomplished it, because he's perfect in every way and in all things, and so he did it in perfect wisdom as well.
This will be to his glory.
Doesn't say wisdom and mercy here.
Now this is the subject. It's wisdom and prudence is really intelligence. That is, God not only wants us in all the favor and blessing of the beloved, but He wants you and me and the intelligence of his mind and purposes and counsels that are further developed as we go on in the chapter. God doesn't want a lot of children that are ignorant of his mind and.
His thoughts?
What? He has purpose back in eternity. He wants us to do these things. And as the Lord says, if he knows these things, it brings happiness into our souls.
I believe the reason it says here wherein he has abounded toward us was because.
All that was in the heart of God could not be revealed until the work of redemption had been accomplished. The Lord said, when he was talking to the disciples, that he had many things to tell them.
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But they they couldn't bear them. Then he also said, I have a baptism to be baptized with. And how am I straightened until it be accomplished So none of the Old Testament Saints were in the intelligence of all the ways and counsels of God that awaited the work of redemption, being complete, a glorified man of God's right hand. And we accepted in him. And now the Spirit has come down to bring our souls.
Into all that was in his heart, there is nothing that God cannot make known to us now of his counsels and purposes.
Because every barrier has been removed, there will not be anything new.
Of the councils and purposes of God, any new part of his character to be made known. It has all come out now, and as we have in Colossians, it was given to the Apostle Paul to complete the word of God, the Canon of Divine Revelation. All that was in God's heart has been made known.
And he would have us to enjoy this, but it awaited the work of redemption. And that blessed man glorified at God's right hand how the Lord Jesus waited for that time. And now he is telling us all this through his servant that we might enjoy it.
In Christendom, generally, if there is any reading of the scripture in the home or anywhere else, perhaps, it's usually in the sun or in the gospel. Well, just think of what they're missing. They're missing what this eighth verse is Speaking of the wisdom and in prudence or intelligence that God has made known in connection with his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. All these counsels and purposes.
They're missing them.
And justice. Think of what they're missing. Well, let us not be guilty of the same thing, confining ourselves to reading just certain parts of the Scripture. But I believe in a day like this, we should especially read the epistles of the Apostle Paul, because how are we going to know and understand these truths if we don't read and meditate upon them? And we need to give these scriptures a place.
Not disregarding other scriptures because all scripture is profitable and we need to read it all.
In fact, that all scripture is for us.
That all Scripture is not written about us, nor is all Scripture written to us or directed definitely to us. But as you say, when we read the epistles, we're reading instruction for the assembly.
The Church of God, well, we're members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church. And so the instruction is such as we are considering is instruction that's given definitely to a people living and the time that we're living.
It's directed to us, and then it's written about us, so we get how we ought to behave ourselves in the House of God.
As Paul says to Timothy, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, now we get principles in the Old Testament that are very important to even take the law. Well, we're not under the law yet. They're principles that always will abide. And then how much comfort?
Your child of God has from the Psalms. But if we get definitely and clearly.
The special portion that God has given to His people at this present dispensation in which we're living. Why then we can turn with intelligence and see that there is much blessing, although not addressed directly to us.
Yes, the comfort that Israel had and the comforts. That is how comfort for our souls at the present time.
Yes, it tells us in Hebrews chapter 12, if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth. Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. It appears from the 6th chapter of Hebrews now that the Hebrew believers accepted what the Lord said on earth.
For he said all and that the Pharisees bid you observe that observe and do. They were content to go that far but that truth which led them to the enjoyment of heavenly blessing, that which is truly the Christians portion. Now they didn't enter into and christened them as largely doing the same thing. They have the teachings of Christ, but that which is given from a glorified Christ in heaven.
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Is not known and is not enjoyed, and that's the whole burden of the apostles heart. I believe, especially in Ephesians and in Colossians, that the Saints might go on and lay hold of the portion, the towers now, and the full revelation that has been made.
And so in the verses that follow here he goes into this and shows how that God has now made gone this secret that was in his heart from all eternity, that Christ should have a bride. And how this fits in perfectly with the revelation of the Old Testament. Because this one who will occupy this place of headship will be the center of the heavenly scene. And the earthly the 10th verse bringing this out when the children of Israel crossed the Jordan into the land.
The Lord made himself known as the God of all the earth, but now He's leading us to see that this blessed one is the center not only of an earthly scene, and not only of a heavenly, but of both a heavenly people in association with Christ up there and unearthly people in association with Christ here. And unless we understand this, we'll never be able to have that what is called here, wisdom and intelligence in connection with the councils and purposes of God.
Having made known unto us the mystery, how we understand that word better if we read it the the secret of His will?
You were saying God had ever before him that his son was to have a bride. But that was a secret to the Old Testament prophets. They knew nothing about that. But now God can come out and tell us about a secret that he has.
You see the apostles.
Made them up to the time the Lord was risen. They said, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? That's as far as they could see the setting up of the earthly Kingdom. But after the nation of Israel have rejected the offer for Christ to come back as their king, well then God threw the apostle Paul, and in a very special way in this epistle.
Brings out the secret purpose that he had now that Israel is set aside because of their unbelief that before the Kingdom can be set up here on earth, and Christ reigned and fill the throne of David, that he must have a bride associated with him in thy Kingdom glory. And now marvel of marvels, is this that the Spirit of God is here gathering out.
The members of that body, which is the Church, which is to be his bride in the coming glory that's before us. For he will reign in his glory. Above his throne will be there, but on that throne will be seated the bride that he has won during this time when he has been rejected and cast out by this world.
In 1St 10 reading from the corrected version.
We have to head up all things.
In the the Christ.
We began our meetings this morning with.
One Spirit with the Lord, and that Christ esteems the Church for which we bled, His body and his pride.
Do we not have here in the Christ, Christ and his?
Members.
It is in that full character that.
In the dispensation of the Polish times he will gather together all things in one is enough. What is your half brother, dear? The same thought in the 5th chapter of Genesis.
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The first class of Genesis 5. This is the book of the generations of Adam in the day that God created him and the likeness of God made him male and female, created he them and blessed them and call their name Adam and Eve. Did I read that right?
No.
And call their name Adam. That's the thought of this. See, Christ really includes the church as well, Garrett. He has seen an Adam, isn't she?
I want a testimony to the grace of God. It will be to the wondering worlds that were gone, and they see the likes of us glorified with Christ in that position.
Is this dispensation of the fullness of times typified in what we have also mentioned concerning Adam and Eve in Genesis one verse 26? And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them not just Adam, but let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and so on.
Well, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Having his bride associated with him will have dominion over the whole sea, heaven and earth. And what a scene of glory that will be. And aren't you thankful that you have the prospect of being there?
A better rendering of the 10th verse. Is that in the administration?
Of the fullness of times you might gather together in one all things in Christ.
We see a little picture of this in the Old Testament. I think all of us are aware Joseph presented himself to his brethren, but they rejected him and sold him for 20 pieces of silver. And then he was set at not and carried down into Egypt. And there, during the time of his rejection, why he took a gentile to be his bride. But then afterward his brethren came down, and he delivered them.
And brought them into blessing. But when they saw this one whom they had sold here, he was in a place of exaltation in Egypt, with a Gentile bride. Well, this will be the experience of Israel, because when the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven, he'll come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired in all unlead believed. But he also come for the deliverance of his earthly people Israel, and when they see this one, this marvelous deliverer.
Why they find that he has with him this bride the Church whom he has taken during the period of their rejection?
Now this wonderful secret is not revealed in the Old Testament. There are intimations of it, as I say, in type and shadow. But for instance in Zechariah, when it speaks of Israel seeing him, they it merely says they ask what are these wounds in my hands? We have to come to the New Testament to find this secret unfolded. And if you just turn over the page to the third chapter, we'll see that this is mentioned here.
Ephesians 3 and verse 3. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery or secret as I wrote a four in few words. That's what we're reading in the first chapter, whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of man, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs.
And of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel. And so he goes on and speaks more of this in the third chapter, but distinctly tells us this was something not revealed before, but now made known. And seeing we are to occupy this wonderful place as being His bride, he unfolds it to us, just as a man would bring his wife into his secret councils and plans.
So here Christ as the exalted one now leads us into the enjoyment of these things and our brethren. I do feel that it's the only thing that truly separates us from the world. Why should we give off the things of this world unless we have something better? God always acts upon that principle of setting before us something better, something far better. And then what we part way of, as Paul spoke of it, is dumb and dross. What is it in comparison to the place?
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That we are having, we are to have. But man's work today is to try by his own efforts, and get the blessing on earth which can only be had when the second man, the last Adam, has his rightful place.
If we suffer, we shall reign with him.
These two things are connected together.
And there may be a lot of reasons why they're connected together, but this is one thing that I see in that.
That if we take that.
Outside place, place of rejection with the Lord Jesus Christ here and really enter into that here. I believe we will enter into a fuller enjoyment of being associated with the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory. Well, certainly as our brother can say, having this before us should separate us, should separate us more to himself and from the things here.
And gladly suffer for his sake to think that we are going to be associated with him in that glory.
What way do you think we'll suffer, Brother Anderson?
In the present time, well, we'll be misunderstood, I'm sure, if we want to be satisfied just with the Lord Jesus Christ not going along with those things that appeal to man, to the flesh of mind, to the to the eyes of man, to the pride of man, if we say no to those things and we just want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and we don't want to be known.
By.
Organizational names are names of men, but simply be known as belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ, and only just the one name. And being outside the camp, we're going to bear his reproach, his reproach. Just think of the reproach that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered when he was here in this world. He was misunderstood. He was accused of some awful things.
Well.
That's his reproach and we will bear that, I believe, if we take that place with him.
So we couldn't try to improve the world, make the world a better place to live and suffer reproach quickly. That would be quite acceptable, quite gratifying to the men of the world if the gods talking about cleaning up things, making things a better place, getting into politics, helping on with the government.
Some people say, you know, well the Christians should be the ones that should vote to take part in the government because they can have more to do with helping things than others. Why not? Why come along and help out and and clean up the affairs in this world? You'll find no reproach if you join in with that kind of a thing. But if you take a stand outside of that and say no, I'm a heavenly citizen.
But then immediately you feel the sting of the reproach. As you were sitting outside the camp, they asked you what church you belong to. If you have some well known name in christening, there's no reproach in that. But if you say it, I belong to Christ.
I'm just gathered to the Lord's name alone. Well, that brings reproach. They look at you, the very odd and peculiar person.
Believe that reproach is proportionate to the measure in which the truth of God is given forth. I believe everyone who confesses Christ, even if he's mixed with the world. There's some reproach, but the more we bring out the truth of God, the more we will barely approach. That's why the Lord Jesus when he was here, because he was so perfect in everything, because they couldn't see in him anything last but a full manifestation of the heart of God.
Therefore he bore the full brunt and hatred of the world. Because the world cannot stand a full revelation of God, the world turns its back upon him. Well, I believe with us it's in the measure rather than which we take the place of standing for the whole truth of God. In that measure we suffer reproach. Every Christian stands some You can't confess the Lord as your Savior without bearing some, but as we tell, out more.
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Not only Christ for salvation, but Christ as the gathering center. Christ is our life. Christ is our object. In the measure in which this is solved, the reproach increases, because the world has no heart for Him. But they'll accept us if we'll accept us up to the point in which we're willing to hide our light. Well may the Lord give us never to be satisfied with anything less than standing for the whole truth of God.
The beloved Apostle Paul could say, I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole council of God. And nothing less than the whole truth of God was the burden of his heart. And it ought to be precious to us, brethren, because the measure in which we lay hold of these things, why it fills our hearts. And there is the enjoyment of himself that enables us to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
The world is seeking some solution to come together.
To have a subtle amount of peace on the earth and some way to unite people so we wouldn't have live under the dreads and fear of the atomic war. So they want to make one world and one church.
And land is working without in view, but it always has been a failure and it always will be a failure. So here we get.
Why God has purpose?
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ.
Both that are in heaven and which are on earth even in him.
All the time that will be and it's hastening on isn't very far ahead and we're caught up to meet the Lord in the early events that will take place.
Immediately is to find ourselves with the Lamb in the midst of the throne. All mind in heaven is 1 praising that blessed One who has taken affair. Then there'll be a work following on the earth. There'll be the cleansing of the earth through judgments, but the outcome of those judgments will be to give Christ His rightful place where He has been dishonored.
Then you will see all earth united under the authority of Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God has left us this. That's the purpose. That's on his heart.
That is what is known as the Millennial reign of Christ, 1000 years raised. I say this because there might be some that are wondering what period of time is being referred to here, but her brother Barry pointed out that the better rendering of that word dispensation should be administration. It will be the time when the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is administrating ruling over this world. He will reign for 1000 years, having us associated with him as the heavenly people, the heavenly Jerusalem.
And quite a time of of glory that will be especially for the Lord Jesus Christ as her brother was bringing out. He'll have his rightful place in this scene where he was rejected. Certainly he's looking forward to that.
We should be looking forward to it too. A wonderful thing Till and you'll talk. We're speaking the condition in the world and the purpose of God is future that even a little company can gather.
Have with Christ as their center, two or three gathered together under my name, Where am I in the midst of them, To think of the very privilege that will be the.
Gloria, all heaven and earth is now a privilege of the few that will act on what the Lord keeps us gathered to His name all alone, and we have him in the midst of our center before that day of glory burst on this scene.
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Now we're gathered around a rejected Christ. Then we'll be gathered around the glorified Christ. I was thinking of the 10th chapter of Revelation. Here you were speaking about the time following the moment when the Lord takes His church away. Revelation chapter 10 and verse 7.
But in the days of the voice of the 7th Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. Now the 11Th chapter and the 15th verse, and the 7th Angel sounded.
And there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and 20 elders which sat before God in their faces on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped, God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and lost, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Well, and the Lord Jesus gives the shout that there will be the heavenly company gathered that is in the church. All those who have died in faith will all be caught up, and they are represented in the four and 20 elders around the Lord in the heavenly scene. But at this point nothing has yet been set right in the earth. But as soon as the church is taken there and the redeemed are there, now the Lord, as the Lamb was slain, takes that book sealed with 7 seals.
That is, God's purposes in connection with this world are like a sealed book. Today men act as though the world belonged to themselves. But when we're taking up them, the Lord will open those seals and He will declare his rights to the earth. And in the sounding of this last trumpet, the 7th 1:00, then it says the mystery of God shall be finished. We've just been reading of this. What is God's secret? Well.
Is it that some Newman is going to arise and be the wonderful man who will set things right in this earth? All such hopes are doomed to disappointment, no matter what man. We may look to the finest and best that have ever taken a place in the political field. They've all broken down and failed. But God has a man, and the secret that he has made known to his servants was that that man was the Lord Jesus Christ, the man of God's counsels, the male in a sure place.
And soul and the 7th Angel sound, the triumphant voice in heaven says.
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. Now the heavenly scene, the heavenly company fall on their faces and rejoice. Well, we're just reading in this verse here that before this time comes, God has made known this secret to us. He's told us how this blessed one is going to be the center. Yes, yet it's a mystery. It's a secret. It's a sealed book. But here we find the time when it's openly.
Manifested.
And how the Redeemer in heaven, Christ, takes his rightful place here as the center of the earthly Kingdom and reigns. Well, it's for 1000 years. But in another sense, there's no end to the fact that what is set right under Christ remains then for all eternity. If we want the subject of the present gathering center of God's people, if we turn to the 12Th chapter, John's Gospel.
Before this time that they've been referring to, currently the 12Th chapter of John's Dirty.
In the 31St verse, John 12.
Either fails now with the judgment of this world, and now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me, this fake heat signifying what step he should die.
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A better translation reads, I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all men unto me.
You see, the Blessed Lord was lifted up from the earth as though he wasn't worthy either of earth or heaven. Now the coming day that we've been speaking about, Christ will be the center of the heavenly company, and by and by He'll be the center of a nursery company. But at the present time, neither has been the center down here or the center up there. That is in the dispensation.
Administrative thought of God's time, but now it's lifted up Christ out of the earth. And he says, if you lift me up, I'll roll man unto me that is as lifted up rejected one, lifted up on the cross. Now that's the Center for God's people during this time of his rejection.
You see, before the Lord speaks in this way.
You know the 20th verse, and there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore to Philip, which was of the seed of gallivant desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come, that the Son of Man should be glorified to see all the material, so to speak, that will compose the coming Kingdom. With their the Gentiles coming up and inquiring, we would see Jesus.
And the Pharisees saying, See how ye prevail nothing. Behold, the world is gone after him, just as though everything was ready. All that was necessary was for him to step in and take his Kingdom. But what does he say? For solemnize with our hearts to read it. Verily, verily, I fell to you, Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, and abide us alone. But if it dies, bringeth forth much fruit.
There was no fruit at all Art from his death on the cross. He would be alone in that glory. He could enter that glory rightfully would be alone in it. So rather than to be alone, he goes into death. And then he tells his disciples that he that loveth his life to lose it, He that at his life in this world shall keep it unto life each time. It's as much as telling his disciples that this is not the time that you're at the reign.
You've got to lose your life. What the world calls life a good time down here, that's to be lost because the one that you're following and trusting has been rejected. Then he shows that he must be lifted up and he becomes a gathering center. Now as the rejected lifted up one for his people over an object beloved, to draw our hearts together, the person that one, who was lifted up on the cross.
That will not only draw us together, it will hold us together if there is the enjoyment of the entering into what it cost him to bring us into such a place of blessing.
Speaking of being held together.
We think of a wheel with a hub, the rim, and the folks going out from the hub to the rim. We have a picture before us that might help us. We might imagine a big wheel like this laid down in this room, covering the whole floor and all of us sitting on the spokes of that weed.
The closer we draw toward the hub of the wheel.
Closer we'll be together.
Let's not forget the attractive center, the center of attraction, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to have Him before us more and be drawn to Him. And if we're drawn to Him, we'll simply, automatically be closer together. The closer we get to Him, the closer we are together. Because if you move down on those folks of the wheel guard, the hub, we'd all be closer together.
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But what happened? Well, we get out toward the end of the spokes. We get out on the rim and sad to see some of us dropping off and getting away, so far away from the blessed Lord. And it means when we're far away from the Lord, we're far away from one another.
Don't let us seek grace from him to be near himself, that we might be near to one another.
Other than the 11Th words that says in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, you'll notice they're powerful. Makes a distinction between we and ye. You read the history of the work of ethos to find the oil, went into the synagogue and preach until they use blasphemes, And then he went out into the school of 1 Tyrannos and.
Ministered there, so a great company.
Both from the Jews and the Gentiles were saved and brought into the Assembly of God. Now he is addressing both the Jews and the Gentiles. There are certain things he has to say to the Jews and certain things he has to say to the Gentiles. So he identifies himself with his own people, the Jews, and in this 11Th verse he says, in whom also we have obtained an appearance.
Being predestinated according to the.
Purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory.
Now read that who pre trusted in Christ? That is, the Jews were trusting in the coming Messiah before the Lord came into this world. The Gentiles to whom he is writing had never heard of such a promise as a coming king in the Messiah. For Israel it was all new to them. So Speaking of the people in a general way, they had pre trusted.
In the coming Messiah. And he can encourage these Jewish believers by reminding them that they have a special inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the council of his own will. Again his own will, his own purpose.
Is again brought before us.
This in connection with free trusting in Christ. Could we also connect that with First Corinthians 15 and verse 8 where he says first Corinthians 15 and verse eight? And last of all he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time for the margin says an abortive. Well, we know that when God brings the nation of Israel into blessing in a coming day, it tells us there will be a nation born in a day.
But here it was one who was born before that time into a different circle of blessing. And so I I believe here we can see something of that thought too. And that is those who put their trust in Christ, now from the nation of Israel, will not be in the earthly scene. Instead, they'll be in the heavenly they are. They put their trust in Christ before the time of Israel's national blessing. And in that sense, their abortives, they're born out of due time.
And so how wonderful. When a Jew gets saved today he has something better than if he was brought into the hope of Israel, something that they said to the Lord, as it was remarked, Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? Oh, the Lord had something better for them than that. Indeed, this was the whole force of what he was saying to them in John 14. They were looking for the Lord to establish the earthly Kingdom.
And he said, in my father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. I believe the Lord was saying like this when you were following me with the hope of entering into the temple that was to be built upon the earth described in the book of Ezekiel, and having a wonderful time of blessing in the earthly scene. Well, he said, I if if I didn't have something better for you.
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I wouldn't have kept this from you, but he said. Now I'm going to go away and you would hope for the earthly thing.
But I have something better for you. I'm going to prepare something for you in the father's house. Isn't that better than Ezekiel's temple? And he said, I'm going to come again and take you there to be with myself. And so this thought is brought out quite often in connection with the Jews who believe now.
Paul rejoiced in this because his nation accused him of robbing the nation of its hope. Oh, he says something better than your hope. It's a heavenly portion instead of an earthly. God has not forgotten those promises to Israel and what he's making known all his secret councils. He shows us how they're all going to be fulfilled, but that, whether it's the Gentile or even the Jew today who believes both, are made one and form part of that one body.
I enjoy what you say and it's nice to notice too that what you've been saying is according to the praise of his glory, it's going to fill heaven with trees when all those who had looked for just the earthly side of things and they see the wonders of God, glorious plan, purpose. Think of the Abraham and all those to see how much greater dogs purpose really was.
Than anything they anticipated.
And there the pathway down here all the trees will rise in that day when there is that display of the of his glory.
And you notice the same word is used in the 14th verse of this chapter until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. We'll get to that as we go along.
But we might just mention that it's the thought of.
The.
Redemption of the body.
Redemption of the purchased position of the bodies of the faith and glory. And that'll be another occasion, an opportunity for heaven to be filled with praise when they see after all the ravages, that death is brought into this sad world.
To see the victory of the one who has triumphed over death, and all that company is glorified on high, Oh, what trees will rise there in that sea?
You think the verse carries us even beyond that to the fact that the Lord has bought the field, the world is His, and he is not only going to have us there with glorified bodies like himself, but His victory was so complete that he is going to remove every trace of sin and its results. And so not only is he going to have a redeem people, but he tasted death for everything.
And the marvelous fact is that heaven and earth will be a scene where through the work of Christ, there will be none of the results of sin in either sphere, either heaven or earth. Now we're redeemed people, We still have bodies that associate us with this world, but we also see all about us the results of it. But all how wonderful. He's bought the field, The victory is complete, Satan has been overcome, and it's just waiting God's time.
Until that victory is fully displayed in the blessing of a heavenly and earthly company. And the spirit of God, as we have here in the intervening verse, is the witness of this blessed fact.
I was also thinking too, that how wonderful it is that God gives us this new revelation of the secret that was in his heart, but it doesn't in any way clash with that which had been given before.
It fits in perfectly with it. It's something that's added, but it's it's nothing that clashes. We know that sometimes men have attempted to add to God's Word. In doing so, they have always clashed with what was already written. It's impossible for man to try and make an addition to God's Word without bringing in something that crashes with it. But when?
The Apostle Paul was given this wonderful truth.
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Christ in glory. He sees why it fits in perfectly with all that has gone before and completes the whole circle of God's councils, and he just rejoices about it because he sees that this was the fulfillment of it all. Peter also speaks of this when he says no scripture is of any private interpretation. That is, in order to understand even the Old Testament Scriptures, we have to take it in regard and in association with the whole picture, the whole Canon of Divine Revelation.
For it all fits together perfectly. I didn't intend to jump over it. So we'll go back to the 13th 1St, in whom ye also trusted. Now notice in whom ye now he is addressing the Gentile believers there at Ephesus, in whom ye also trusted. After that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that he believed you were sealed.
With that Holy Spirit of promise, so on.
That is, the gospel was carried as something entirely new to the Gentiles. They've never heard anything like it before.
They had a certain amount of gospel in the Old Testament of the coming Messiah. Indeed it was knowing that God had the woman seed, and the one who has promised to Moses the prophet. Tell the Lord your God, raise up unto you of your brethren. Like unto me him shall you hear. They had those promises, and they trusted in those promises. But the Gentiles had nothing like that. And so.
It's entirely a new thing.
After that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And having heard the gospel, and we know the gospel, that all priests was how that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day.
Believing that the gospel of God's wondrous grace for sinners, well then the Holy Spirit comes in.
And feel the work by indwelling the believers, just as in the case of Peter preaching in the House of Cornelius. When Peter says to him, Give all prophets witness that whosoever believeth in His Word shall receive remission of sins. Immediately the Holy Ghost fell on all through the Word that was the gospel. He was bringing Christ and His work and His resurrection before them, And then He felt.
Something they had never heard before.
Or thought of before that this gospel was for the poor Gentiles. I can just picture that company in Cornelius house, because it says that when and Peter went in that Cornelia said, Now, therefore are we all here before God to hear all things that God has commanded thee how we must have sat there and most?
Supreme attention.
And there was one thing that would raise a question in their minds was this wonderful story of Christ and his death and resurrection for Gentiles. But when Peter says to him, give all prophets witness that whole soul ever, all that takes in the Gentiles.
And they instantly accept it. And the whole company gets saved that very moment. And then the Holy Ghost comes down and seals that company and unites them to the body of Christ, that it already be done on the day of Pentecost.
And the third chapter of John's Gospel.
We read.
In verse 33, he that not received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true. Now this is what Cornelius did. He received the testimony. He said to his seal that God is true. He put his seal upon this that was preached to him. He said it's the truth. He believed it. Well then what happened?
He is sealed by the Spirit of God, as we have here. After that he believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. If anyone sends to his seal that God is true, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, that one is sealed by God, sealed by the Spirit of God and.
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There's perhaps a lot of confusion on this matter of believing and being sealed.
Her husband in the past.
But I think it's put very simply here in the word of God having believed you were sealed. And what is it they believed? Well, they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. And the soul that leaves in the Lord Jesus Christ, he gets the sense of forgiveness, of sin, the cleansing from sin, salvation.
From sin, from judgment.
And as soon as he rests upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, well the Holy Spirit comes to dwell. When the blood has cleansed the soul, there's a clean place for the Spirit of God to come. It's like in the Old Testament, where you have first of all the blood applied, and then on top of the blood you have the oil well. The blood speaks of Redemption's work, and the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit.
And when redemption work is completed, the Holy Spirit comes to take up His abode in the heart.
Ephesians 1:13-16
Reading
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Together in #207.
Shall we see thy face, and hear thy heavenly voice well known to us in present grace? Well may our hearts rejoice. 274.
Group 9 verse 30.
And behold their talk within two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory, and spake of his disease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
We ask the Lord.
Without diverting a call from the scriptures that have been before us, the one was thinking of the hymn that we just sung and the one that commenced almost the commencement of our meeting 1064, O bright and blessed scene, may return for a moment to Revelation 21.
Just a few versions of this chapter.
Rather.
This chapter and the first part of 22.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more seed. And Revelation 21 and one. And I I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he was dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
For the former, things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Right, for these words are true and faithful. And he says unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life.
Freely in chapter 22.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystals, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the land in the midst of the street of it. And on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which had 12 manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing work, for the healing of the nation.
And there shall be no more curse but the throne of God, and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him. And this is the verse that our hymn reminds us of just now. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in there forehead, and there shall be no night there. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun.
00:10:12
For the Lord God give us him light.
And they shall reign forever and ever. And he said unto me, These things are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, when I come quickly.
But your thought, Brother Smith to.
Rather, connect the subject with what we were considering as to the Councils of God in the first of Ephesians.
That was partially my thought, that the hymns brought it more vividly before me.
Your thought wasn't to take this up rather than Ephesians. No, it wasn't.
On the 13th.
13 first one.
Just to the end of the capture.
How far should we Read What you think? The End of the Chapter Brother Rule Seasons 113.
In whom ye also trusted after that she heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
And whom also after that he believed, he were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption.
Of the purchased possession, under the praise of the glory, under the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the Saints, cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you and my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father glory may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of him with the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power?
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and sent him in his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might and dominion. And every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and half put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fill us All in all.
Some felt that we dropped the subject of the ceiling of the Spirit without.
Further consideration that would be helpful.
It would be instructive for us to understand the difference between being born of the Spirit and being sealed by the Spirit if you turn to the first chapter of John.
And the third chapter you get being born of the Spirit.
Lord says to Nicodemus in the third verse of John three, he must be born again, or except a man, be born again. He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
00:15:09
Then in the fifth verse you read, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I stand to thee.
Except the man be born of water and of the Spirit, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
There's two things that.
Are brought before us in connection with you. Birth the water and the Spirit. The water is the word of God, because the Lord says in the 15th chapter, Now ye are clean not to the water. I wash your feet with showing that was just the sign, but through the Word which I have spoken unto you, showing that the word of God is the vehicle or the instrument.
That the Spirit of God uses in connection.
With a new birth, well, that's another subject. We do not want to confuse these two subjects. And you'll notice that in the first chapter of Ephesians, the 13th verse, where we started reading, he says in whom ye also trusted. After that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Notice that, The gospel of your salvation.
And whom also after that she believed it was believing the gospel of their salvation. You were sealed without Holy Spirit of promise.
So one could be born of the Spirit before they're sealed with the spirit.
The the being sealed with the Spirit is definitely the result of believing the gospel, the gospel of your salvation.
I just mentioned that so we might have clear thoughts about this subject.
For the first work of the Spirit of God is to produce light. It's been likened to a dead corpse. Say a man was lying there on the floor in death, and you pile a lot of weights on his chest. He wasn't feeling. He wouldn't be any word from him. But suppose it was possible for you to impart late to that body. What is the first thing you would hear?
You'd hear a thief grow. Oh, get these weights off of me. Well, that's the way. The spirit of God.
Often works with the souls of sinners. He convicts them, he makes them feel that.
That they're, you know, they lost sinners, but they have peace with God, yet they may never have heard the full gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ.
Well, the Sinner is there, convicted of sin.
Before that, he was in a state of death of Ephesians, one tells.
For in our own converted state, we're looked at as dead in trespasses and sins, and the dead man has no sense of his lost condition. Conscience might trouble him about his sins at times, but to realize that he's lost on the way to a lost eternity, he hasn't realized that in his soul.
But as soon as the word of God reaches his conscience, he feels then so that he's lost and he's trouble about his sins. I think of a dear man that said that there was just one word that convicted him, That word was held. He said he was a policeman in Scotland on his beach one night and there was a street meeting going on down the street.
Then all he could hear was just a voice. And finally the preacher raised his voice and he got that one word. Hell, he says, That's where I'm going. I'm going to hell. And he said he had no peace slot ever. He was tormented and the thought that he was going to hell.
Until a brother came to him and presented the gospel to him one night and he accepted the gospel. And then he said he was in his room at the barracks of the police station and he went down to the mist hall where where they got their meals. It was in the night and he said two men, two soils, I mean two policemen had just come in from their beach.
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And he thought to himself, well, now I have accepted the Lord, I shall give thanks for the meal. So he bowed his head. And as soon as he did that, while these policemen spoke up, they said, Max converted. Max converted Jonathan walking. But he said just the instant that he made that confession. In that way, he said he had the assurance in his soul that he was saved. Because it says, you know, in Romans 10 and 9.
Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart.
That God has raised him from the dead, Thou shalt be saved. The confession gives the assurance to the soul of the work that has been wrought in the soul. So you can see how many a scripture has awakened the center. There's life there, but he hasn't heard the gospel. He hasn't entered into peace. Your old brother Will Car and Don used to say this, that believing in the person of Christ.
Will give life. Believing in the work of Christ gives peace.
Because those verses stated in this way who was raised, who was delivered for our offenses.
Was raised again for our justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the peace with God is the result of believing.
In the truth of the death and resurrection of Christ, then the soul enters into peace.
I just state this because I believe it's important to see that distinction between the new birth and the ceiling of the spirit.
The stealing of the spirit.
God's mark upon the believer.
If my brother Gill, expressing it this way, says you draw up a legal document, it's all written up and signed and then the government comes in and puts their seal upon it, then that is the finding of the government whose seal is a funny. So when we think of God's seal and the seal is the coming and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Yes, binding an eternal God himself.
Indwelling the Spirit of God is true with those who believe the gospel, and it's the presence of the Holy Spirit which dwells in the body of the believer that makes us unhappy if we're not walking in the truth. Because God has revealed to us and the indwelling of the Spirit is the earnest as well as.
You find there and you get to the 4th of these seasons. The Apostle there says read not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed under the day of redemption. Here we get the truth of the Spirit of the seal that is his taking his place and dwelling in the believer now that he has come and he is dwelling in US. Let's be careful how we treat the divine guests, as old brother Haley is to say.
We have the divine gift dwelling in us. How do we treat him?
How would we treat the most honored guests that we ever had in our home? Would we just deliberately do things that would displease him, that would hurt his feelings and grieve him? Well, let's think of God's Holy Spirit. What a guess we have dwelling in us now as believers. Let's be careful we don't. We do nothing that will grieve that Holy Spirit, but you can't grieve him away.
Like many speak about grieving him away, but that very verse that tells us not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God is the very verse that tells us that he remains in it.
As it says there, whereby we are sealed onto the day of redemption, that's when our bodies are redeemed, so we'll never cease to have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us.
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It's a solemn thing for us to think about it if we're careless.
In our Christian walk, because the Holy Spirit, that divine person, is in our heart wherever we go. And if we go places that will grieve him, let us remember that we're taking him there.
And he's in our hearts, no matter what we look at, what we're occupied with.
No matter what we're doing, what we're saying, let's remember that he is there.
And he is there to occupy us with Christ.
If we walk in, the Spirit will not fulfill the lust of the flesh and what is walking in the Spirit, but being occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit would not occupy us with anything but Him and the things connected with him. And that's why it's good for us to be in meetings like this, because God by his Spirit.
Wants to occupy us with the Lord Jesus Christ, and what better is there than to be occupied with him to go along with the Holy Spirit that he's spoken of as a Comforter or an Advocate, one who goes alongside of us and he wants to draws along and occupies with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, let's let's think about that. We have this in the scripture. We might sound a warning.
It christened them today in many quarters.
Gotten occupied with the Holy Spirit and they signed gifts, speaking in tongues and all that.
Well, perhaps.
There's a feeling of a lack in Christendom.
And because of wrong instruction.
The enemy comes in and gets God's people occupied with the spirit of God in the wrong way.
And instead of being occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ, they're getting occupied with the Holy Spirit.
And I'm sure, according to what we have in the words, that this is grievous to God.
To see people getting occupied with a third person instead of the second person, the Lord Jesus Christ, because why is the Holy Spirit come to occupies with Christ?
And not to occupy us with himself. And so dear souls are being LED into error in wrong ways.
And they're missing something when they're not occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to remember that the word of God and the Spirit of God cannot be separated, and anything that is pretended to be according to the leading of the Spirit will at the same time stand the test of the word if it's really by the Spirit. And so even in new birth which was read to us after man be born of water and of the Spirit, the 2GO together.
And so in our whole pathway, the Word of God has been indicted by the Spirit, holy men of God, fake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And so let us never think the Spirit of God would ever lead us contrary to the Word of God. So when you hear of something that pretends to be something of the Spirit, tested by the Word, and this is how we'll find out in the 13th chapter of Deuteronomy, it tells us that there might be among the people.
Person who would arise and show a sign or a wonder, Well, how are the people to know whether this sign or wonder was from God?
Whether it came to pass, Oh no, it said it might come to pass. Even the Lord was not according to God. They were to know it by whether it was drawing them after some other than the Lord and teaching them disobedience to His Word. And whenever I see a talk about the spirits leading which is building up something that is contrary to the Word of God, I reject it, because the Spirit of God will lead by the Word.
Man bearing a pitcher of water, was leading those disciples to the place where the Lord would have them, and I believe it's a figure of how the Spirit of God always uses the Word. And we'll be kept from many things that are false if we remember this and test things not by whether there seems to be power or even whether The thing is true is it according to the word of God. This is the test by the Word of thy lips.
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Have I kept me from the powers of the Destroyer? I remember having a few meetings in one place one time.
And some outsiders came to the meeting, and there was a couple that came, and they belonged to a particular group, where much emphasis was put upon the Spirit and speaking in tongues and women, women speaking too.
In the church.
And I have said nothing about this line of things. I was just preaching the gospel.
But after the meeting I got to talking with this couple and I don't know how we got on the subject of.
Of women speaking. But perhaps the ladies said something about that she she did some preaching sometimes because I believe both of them were ordained.
And so I just tried to point out from the Scripture that the woman was out of place to take a place like that and to speak in the church as she as she said, and that this was God's mind. God had given us this word through the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, and the Spirit was saying that the women should keep silence in the assembly. All but she said, when the Spirit comes upon me, I have to speak.
Well, I tried to point out that the Spirit of God would not contradict what he had said. The Word was given by the Spirit, and he would not act contrary to the word that he had given. Well, I don't know if they gave me to it, I don't suppose, but it's a trap that the enemy gets people into, and he can trap every one of us in this way too.
You'll notice in these verses that you get two ways the Spirit of God is brought before us.
You get the ceiling of the Spirit, and then in the 14th verse you get the Earnest of the Spirit.
And in the.
First chapter, Second Corinthians. You also get the anointing of the spirit also in the and the second chapter, the first episode of John. Other passages. So we do have these three ways that the Spirit of God is brought before us.
And each house with distinct meaning how we've already.
Had brought before us that when it's the ceiling of the spirit, it has to do with security.
And you go on in this.
In the 13th verse there is more enjoyment.
So I believe we could state it this way. If the ceiling is for security, the anointing is for power, and the earnest is for enjoyment. Remember that passage where Peter is speaking in the 10th chapter of Acts where he says Jesus he was anointed with a Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good. And so on so.
You get that in the first epistle of John connection with a believer, he have that power that even the Blessed Lord zest in connection with his ministry, because the Lord never went out in his ministry until after his baptism, when the Holy Spirit came down in dove like form and lighted upon him. That was the anointing of the Spirit, and we might just by the way call attention.
Into this that he came in a dove like form from the Blessed Lord. But he didn't come in a dove like form from those in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. He came in tongues of fire. Redemption had cleansed the vessel so that the Spirit of God could dwell in them, now that the work of the cross was over. But.
There's still that old nature within the believer that constantly.
Needs judgment. So fire is judgment, and there is the constant need of the judgment of everything that pertains to that old nature. Still we have the Spirit of God dwelling in US. But to get back to our subject here in the 14th verse, Speaking of the Holy Spirit of promise, he said, which is the earnest of our inheritance.
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Until the redemption of the purchased possession of the praise of His glory.
To make it clear while an earnest means.
It's like the first payment. Say there's a house put up for sale.
And you say, well, there's a bargain. I want to buy that house, but I haven't all the money to pay for it. So you you pay a certain amount down on that for that property. Well, that's the earnest money. That's the security that all will someday be paid. Well, beloved, we have not yet entered into all that God has, indeed.
For the enjoyment and blessing of our souls.
Just like the portion Brother Smith was reading that takes us up into the coming scene of glory when we're with and like our Blessed Lord in those scenes of delight where we shall be with him forever. But we have already the earnest. The very fact that we see the faces of God's people and the enjoyment of these ministers, of these meetings and of these precious hymns, shows that that the earnest of the Spirit is at work, giving us the enjoyment of coming glory. That's before us. So when it's the earnest.
You see it has to do with the.
Coming blessings of God's people. Marvelous that we have the very same Holy Spirit dwelling in us now that we'll have when we're in glory with Him. Know when the Lord rose from the dead, He spake by the Holy Ghost as you read in the first chapter of Acts, and He is a pattern of all God's people, so it shows the same Holy Spirit will be dwelling in us when the Lord has taken us.
To the glory at home within the Father's house.
Perhaps he could just add, in connection with being filled with the spirit, that this is an exhortation, isn't it?
When one is sealed with a spirit, the earnest and the anointing take place simultaneously.
So all that the indwelling of the Spirit is the ceiling, the earnest and the anointing. But being filled with the Spirit is an exhortation. It says be not drunk with wine, we're in a success, but be filled with the Spirit. It says of those in the day of Pentecost that they were all filled with the Spirit.
Now this is not the thought that God does not, at the moment of one being sealed, give the Holy Spirit as a person. It tells us in John three God giveth not his Spirit by measure. Now I might mention that in our translation it says unto him, but in the new translation it's God giveth not his Spirit by measure. And each one of us have as much of the indwelling Spirit of God as the other, but each one is not fully yielded to the leading of the Spirit.
And so in the early church, they were yielded to the leading of the Spirit, and we're exhorted that we might do this.
How often it's true that instead of allowing the Spirit of God to lead us in all our actions.
Why? We hinder the work of the Spirit within our souls by something aloud that is contrary to him. The person is there and he is that blessed person. It's not a continual infilling, it's one person, the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, who indwells the believer. But we need to yield to his leading, and one who is filled with the Spirit will be yielded to the leading of the Spirit in all things.
So he could never make such a boast that God could say such a thing.
Of an individual or of his people in the early days. But for a man to say is filled with a spirit would be a boast. We never find such a thing for the individual. It's an exhortation to be filled with the Spirit. Are we allowing this blessed person who indwells us to lead us in all things? Or is there something where we want our own wills? And so in connection with the work of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit is to occupy us with Christ.
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But there are occasions where he must occupy us with soul now not to see if we're making progress, because this would lead to pride or discouragement. The Spirit would only occupy us with self to judge self. Because that's why, as our brother just remarked, when the Spirit came upon the believers, he came in cloven tongues as a fire, not upon the Lord, for there was nothing in him that required self judgment. But in us the Spirit is there, and so coming in glowing tongues as a fire is a continual exercise.
In our hearts. But if we're going to walk in communion, we must also walk in self judgment. And if there isn't that self judgment in our lives, communion will be broken. And one has sometimes said, the Christian can be the happiest person on earth or the most miserable because he is given to enjoy the most marvelous, wonderful portion, That it's possible for a human to enjoy what he has in Christ and for all eternity to enjoy it by the Spirit.
But he can also be the most miserable, because that divine guest who dwells within us will remind us of those things not pleasing and that are a hindrance and all. How miserable we can be. If the Spirit has to do that work that he doesn't like to do, but must do for God's glory and for our blessing, well, thank God. When we get home to glory, the Spirit will be unhindered and will be able to fill every heart to the fullest possible extent with the glory and loveliness of Christ.
And all that we have in him.
There's a beautiful illustration in the 4th chapter of Second Kings of his giving, not giving, his spirit by measure. You remember how the poor widow cried to Elijah the prophet while her son was being sold into captivity and his word was?
Go borrow vessels. Borrow not a few, for she had only one cruise of oil in in the house.
And then he told her to pour out. And so they poured out. And the more vessels, the more oil there was to fill those vessels.
At last she asked her son for another and he had to tell there was number more vessels.
And then it says the oil stayed. But it doesn't say the oil was exhausted, did it? There was all enough there to fill as many more vessels. But the limitations of receiving the oil depended on the faith of those that went out and borrowed those vessels. So the more obedience and faith we have to go on with grace, the more we have of the blessing and enjoyment.
Of the of the Spirit of God, because there's no limit to the blessing the Spirit of God can bring to our souls.
Perhaps we can just add a little comment on another thing that is much misunderstood. The baptism of the Spirit, I believe, have rather than that the enemy is making a great attempt to falsify the truth of the activities of the Spirit of God. In these days we're living in the last days. The power of Satan is increasing and will increase. We we know that after the Church is gone, there will be such a marvelous display of the power of Satan in this world.
And it tells us that when deceive it were possible of very election, there will be such an invitation of power displayed in the earth, that the world will be carried away with it, and Christians are liable to mistake the activity in this world of that which is false.
For that which is true, and the word of God is our only safeguard in these things.
If we go by the word of God, then we have positive and sure direction. Well, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is never spoken of in Scripture as an individual thing. It's a collective thing, and it's associated in Scripture with two different occasions. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came down and there were 120 in the upper room, or about 120, and it tells us that they were there and the Spirit came and sat upon each of them and filled the house where they were sitting. And those 120 were then baptized by 1 spirit into one body.
And the second occasion is the bringing in of the Gentiles in the House of Cornelius. And when this was related by Peter, he mentions that this again was a fulfillment of that promise that was made, and he shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. And that what took place in the day of Pentecost was of Jews only Then, when it was the bringing of the Gentiles, the same word is again used, and they were baptized with the Holy Ghost.
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That is the those are the only two occasions, and it is the bringing of the Jew and Gentile. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not spoken of as an individual thing. It is that collective thing that unites us to every other believer.
On earth, unto Christ the head of glory. And now, just like adding to a group that already exists, we're added as individuals by the indwelling of the Spirit to what now exists the Church of God on earth. And as you remarked in this little incident in the Old Testament, I believe that's when the oil will stay, that is, when the last vessel, when the work of gathering out the bride is completed, then the work of the Spirit of God is gouging out. This bride will be completed, and he'll quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in US. And just as the servant brought the bride's back and didn't rest until he had presented the bride to Isaac.
So the work of the spirit is even associated.
Where the changing of these bodies and then will be presented to Christ, there in the glory as as His bride. Sometimes they swell to have a scripture to establish statements that are made. So I would suggest 1St Corinthians 1212 to corroborate what you have been saying, Brother Hill.
Or it's really a First Corinthians 12/13.
Or by 1 Spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been made to drink into one Spirit?
You see, he makes a positive state by 1 spirit are and he doesn't say anywhere being baptized continuously, but he speaks out as a has a fact we are. That is, it's just like any organization, say the Mason Lodge. They're organized, but when they bring in another member, they don't break up the old organization and reorganize their lives. It's already established.
And they another individual is just brought in.
Unless the view of the Apostle is giving us there of the Church of God as the body of Christ by 1 Spirit.
Or are we all baptized into one body? Well, now just read on a little farther in the chapter.
And the.
18th verse But now have God set the members, everyone of them, in the body as it has pleased Him. The body was formed on the day of Pentecost. We get the compliment of whether he or shown us in the tents where the Gentiles were brought in and the baptism was complete. And now God is adding members to that which has already been formed by.
Coming of the Holy Spirit.
So that now the baptism of the Spirit is a complete thing. You'll never be another baptism of the Spirit of God, because the body is formed and just new members are being brought into that which the Spirit of God himself has formed. And we might just say this as a word.
To the conscience of any who.
Mike the entice on times to go and join some denomination or organization. Suppose I go and join some organization in Christendom. Sound as it might be, what have I done? I've simply gone and joined something. The Spirit of God has nothing to do with it because he has already formed the body and I didn't have to join it. When I accepted the gospel. The Spirit sealed me.
And put me into that body.
Just as Paul says, God has set the members everyone in the body. Not as that pleased me or someone else, but it has pleased him. He set each one in the body and the Lord. That's the only.
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That's only the only church relationship that I own is membership of the Body of Christ.
Could we also just mention something else and that is the Spirit of God here on earth as a divine person? That is, not only does the Spirit of God indwell the bodies of believers, but on the day of Pentecost it tells us that he filled the house where they were sitting. It also says an Ephesians 2 That we are builded together for an habitation of God by the Spirit. Then it tells us in First Corinthians 3.
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall. God is destroyed, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. And in that passage he also says that the Holy Spirit of God dwelleth in you, but that is not in us as individuals. In First Corinthians 6 it says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, but in First Corinthians 3 it's collectively the Spirit of God dwells in the house. Now brethren, this is what characterizes this present dispensation.
It never was true before. There were souls quickened in the Old Testament, but never indwelled by the Spirit. Led by the Spirit, Inspired by the Spirit, yes, but not indwelled by the Spirit. Nor does the Spirit dwell upon earth as a divine person in the Old Testament. But what was what specially characterizes this day is those two things, the indwelling of the Spirit in the believer and the Spirit of God on earth in the professing House of Christendom and when it says in First Corinthians 3.
If any man befile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. He is looking upon it as the professing house. And so if a man brings in wicked evil doctrine into the professing House of Christendom, he defiles the temple of God, where the Spirit of God dwells.
And this is a very solemn thing, because right into the place where the Spirit has come to lead us.
Into all truth of what's in the heart of God. What has man done? Well, through the workings of Satan he has introduced into it that which denies the person of Christ, the work of Christ, the leading of the Spirit. All this has been introduced, not into a Mohammedan country, but right into the place where the Spirit of God dwells. And this is solemn. And that's why it says about the different workmen in First Corinthians 3, if you read the chapter carefully.
It speaks about being workers together with God, and there we find.
Men At Work. There are three classes of workmen in that chapter. There is a saved Workman with good work.
And it says, if any man's work abide which he has built, thereupon he shall receive a reward. There is a save Workman, and his work is good, and it abides. Then it speaks of another class, a saved Workman with poor work. It says that if any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss.
Yet he himself shall be saved, yet closed by fire. A true Christian can go to work and build up something that's not of God, and it will not abide the day of testing. It will be manifested that the work that he did was not according to the mind of God, even though he himself was the same man. And this will come out in the day when all is manifested. Then the third one is the one who defiles the temple of God, the man who is an unbeliever, who brings in wicked doctrines that attacks the very foundations of the faith, and this man.
Has brought in that which defiles, and it says, if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. And in the time when all this is brought out for the unbeliever, this will be a tremendously solemn thing. And we find this in Hebrews 10, where it says of how much sore punishment. Suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who have trodden under foot the Son of God.
And account of the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace there is one who defiled the temple of God, and the judgment is of a very solemn character. Well at the Lord's coming then the Spirit of God will no longer dwell in the professing House of Christendom. The spirit of God will leave. And although he'll be active in this world after, as he was even before the day of Pentecost, there is that which especially.
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Characterizes the present day in which we live, and I believe if we see this, why I might say in a simple way. That's why when we gather together as an assembly, we recognize the presence of the Spirit of God and His leading. Not only leading me individually, but among His people leading whether it's in worship or in ministry.
In John's Gospel, we have two things brought together in the 7th chapter, verse 39.
It was on the last.
Today the great day of the feast that Jesus Christ, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that leaveth on me is the Scripture. Sent out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, and it explains it. But this fakie of the Spirit, which they that live on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given well, this was before the day of Pentecost, But on the day of Pentecost he was given, because the Jesus was not yet glorified.
Well, the Lord ascended up to glory 10 days before the Holy Spirit came. But these two things are connected here.
The giving of the Holy Spirit and Jesus being glorified. Well, this brings together the two things no doubt that we have in our chapter. Because we're pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies. And we're made to know that when the Holy Spirit came down to indwell us, we're connected with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, baptized into one body, but remembering that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the body.
And we're the members down here, and we're all joined together to one another and to the Lord Jesus Christ up there in the glory. And this is what constitutes us a heavenly people. We were joined to him, connected with him up there in the glory, and by the Holy Spirit who's been given, who indwells our hearts.
I mentioned need of the grieving of the Spirit of God.
The filling of the Spirit. Perhaps we could have some thought on the quenching of the Spirit.
We could quench the Spirit in another, couldn't we?
That's exercise for any of God's people that are conduct, something that we might say, or even our our action in a meeting might close the mouth of another that the Spirit of God could use if we hadn't failed in some way. So that there is a loss in the assembly. We grieve more of the Spirit of God in ourselves. We quench the Spirit of God.
More in connection with others.
That's an exercise for us, each one or anything in my ways that is quenching the spirit of God in the assembly. Would you gather this from what we have the scripture that gives that is First Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 19. And I was just asking would we gather what you're saying Brother Barry from?
Verses 19 and 20 it says in verse 19 whence not the Spirit. And then right after that it says despise not prophesying. Well, this sort of gives us the context, doesn't it? And what you were saying that we could hinder the Spirit in others while despising the prophesying would be along that line, wouldn't it?
Very good, Brother Anderson. One man ministry. The the quenching of the spirits as well. I'm sure that's right.
My brother just takes over Why? He's really quenching the spirit. You have to be careful.
Of course in the system. Why you see it there?
In a very sad way, because we have to be careful with those things will not creep in among us now that we're gathered to the Lord's name.
So there are many ways you might look at quenching of the Spirit.
But also in the verse of Brother Anderson has called our attention to despise, not prophesying. Read the next verse, prove all things hold fast after she's good. Because Brother ministers in the meeting is no guarantee that everything he said is is true and correct. We have to prove it.
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We prove it by testing it with the Word of God. Is it right? Is it according to the Word?
And what is good, what we're to hold fast. But sometimes, you know, a humble brother or a simple brother may make remarks in the meeting or give a little word of exhortation. And you might say, well, that brother has no gift, isn't a good speaker, and my despise his efforts. In that way you'd be quenching the spirit.
Because in those days, as you get in the 14th of First Corinthians, that the prophet spoke to men to edification, exhortation, and comfort.
We have redemption mentioned in our chapter in verse 7.
Well, I take it that's the redemption of the soul there. It's redemption through the blood. That's what we have now. But redemption is spoken of also in verse 14. But that's a future thing, isn't it? That's the future part of redemption.
This is what we're looking forward to. At least we ought to be looking forward to that, that time when we'll be associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, when he'll have us with himself.
That's the completion of the transaction, isn't it?
The body is already purchased.
The Apostle says in the 6th chapter, First Corinthians, you are not your own. You're bought with a price. What was the price redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot?
That while they are purchased these bodies in the sense in which they are spoken of here, they're not yet redeemed.
The very fact we're wearing glasses and some hearing aids so that we're still in mortal bodies getting old and some feeble and many infirmities showing that we're only here for a time about a glorious, marvelous thing. The redemption of the body really is when these bodies are changed. What as we look at Philippians 3 for a moment.
Plenty of verse.
For our conversation is really citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall change our wild body? Read that body of humiliation, that it may be faken like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
My glorious, marvelous remarks, Oh surely are chains.
These poor bodies of humiliation. And what kind of a change is it? It's merely that we get a body that's suited for heaven, true as that surely is, but like aren't his glorious body our brother Clifford Brown?
Has an answer to those who raise all kinds of questions. How can the dust of?
There's millions that have died from Adam on that be brought together again. Those that have been drowned at sea and so on may be eaten of sharks. How can those bodies be recovered? He says. There are three words that answers the whole thing.
He is able. That's all we need. We don't need to reason on it and think of a marvelous power of God. He is able.
Faith asked no questions.
The work of the Spirit now is not manifested in taking us out of the sufferings that we have as part of this groaning creation, but in helping our infirmities. So we read in Romans 8. It says likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, and saw how wonderful it is that this person who is yet going to quicken these mortal bodies by the Spirit dwelling in US, that now the work of the Spirit is to help our infirmities.
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And here is a dear St. with some weakness of body, and this great power that is now on our behalf, not openly displayed in taking us out of it, but in a more wonderful way, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. And I think we all can say that it takes much more energy of the Spirit of God to be patient in the midst of suffering.
And physical weaknesses than the display of that power that will even deliver us from it. If one was sick and the Lord raised him up to hell. But wouldn't be such a display of the power of God before the world, as here's one with that body of suffering, a living, shining testimony for the Lord Jesus? Well, what a privilege that we have. And if we would only allow the Spirit of God to help us, we cry out and ask Him to take us out of it. Perhaps His answer is sometimes to help us in it, to be faithful, to be patient, to be a testimony for him in it.
Wonderful, important part of the work of the Spirit.
Fishing to his blessed will in connection with the trial that He has permitted is one of the outstanding fruits of the Spirit. Isn't it submission to the will of the Lord?
No, that verse in the 17th of John where the Lord says, and I am glorified in them, God might be far more glorified and blessed Lord.
And a bedridden St. who is submitting to the Lord's will in the trial than in one who is out preaching the gospel, because one out preaching the gospel who is in active service, gets more or less of a prominent place among the Saints.
The one that's submitting to the will of God and the deep and sore trial. There's nothing to exhaust self in that at all, but just quietly, day by day as time goes on, submitting to the Lords blessed will in connection with the affliction that is precious in the sight of the Lord. And he says I am glorified in them, but he doesn't tell the ones that he is speaking to that he is glorified in them.
Lord, tell the Father about that.
Well, it's nothing. Burst, begins the apostles Prayer now for the Saints, doesn't it, That the Saints might know these things, they might lay hold of them not merely in their minds, but that they might lay hold of it in their hearts.
I suppose while we are sitting here and talking about these things.
We feel how feeble we are, how weak we are in the matter of entering into these things. Well, that's why we need a prayer like this.
We need to look at this prayer and and make it a pattern for our prayers because certainly we need the ability.
To enter into these things, we need grace and strength. We need to be enlightened. We need to have our eyes and our hearts opened up to take it in.
A verse where that tells of the apostles prayers. The 16th verse ceased not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, well that's the apostles prayer for the Saints.
You find 2 prayers. The second prayer is in the third chapter. The first prayer is that they might know. The second prayer is that they might take it in these marvelous councils of God that have been set before us in this first part of the first chapter.
Notice in this 15 verse two it ought to be the faith and love go together. It says in the end of Galatians faith which worketh by love we.
01:10:00
Here of people who brought fast faith, but if there isn't love for the Lord Jesus.
It's not living faith.
We know that there were those when the Lord was here who saw the miracles that he wrought, And it tells us many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them. But where there is real living faith, there is always love, both for the Lord and for his people. It says in first Peter 2 unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious.
And in John's epistle, first John chapter 3, it says we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. So where there is faith, living faith, there's always love. One is taught of God to love one another, and if one professed to be truly saved, how would we know whether the faith was in his head or in his heart? Well, the way I believe we know is whether that affection is there.
And if there is really faith that has been believed, has believed in Christ, there will be love to the Lord and love to His people.
So when Paul saw this in the believers now he prayed that they might go on and learn more of the truth. But this was the grand starting point. And it's true and everyone there is repentance and faith, but there is faith and love too. Because where faith is real, there is that love.
And the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 17 The Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. I believe its intelligence. Isn't it in the full knowledge of God.
You'll find when you count to the second prayer, that there is addressed to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, carrying out the thought we had before us yesterday morning, that the source of our blessings are the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Father has more. The thought of glory and power, as you'll see, developed.
The mighty power which brought in Christ, and so on that Moore suggests the thought of God. But we'll find in the second prayer that it's more the Father the Deep entering into his his love and his affections.
When it comes and it expresses the father of glory, it has the thought of the source of glory.
While there is sometimes used as the source that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that is the source of all glory, comes from the heart of God our Father.
When it's God, it's his nature. And here we are brought face to face with what is suited to God, in His nature, in His Holiness, and what he is essentially in himself. And how are we going to be able to rise up to that, to that which suits him? Well, it's only as we have.
This wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
My brother garden will be a few minutes ago. I want to bring this up before we close. Something very important as far as I think and I'm not like we're but from First Corinthians 3, I want to know definitely.
What's the capital of style is?
And.
When there's one destroyed, how is that accomplished?
Now perhaps we should read it First Corinthians 3 and.
Read the ninth verse also First Corinthians 3 verse 9, for we are laborers together with God. We are God's husbandry.
We are God's building according to the grace of God, which is given unto us. Me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon.
But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. How the 16th verse know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are well. Now In Matthew 16, where the Lord speaks of his church, he said, upon this rock I will build my church.
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Whatever is built in by the Lord Himself will not be anything but what is good, so that it tells us in that passage the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But the Scripture takes 2 views. It takes the view where God is the builder, in which case there is all good material.
And against which Satan and all the powers of darkness cannot prevail. But then here in this passage we find that man is the builder, the same or a similar view as that taken in Second Timothy chapter 2, where we have the great house with vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. When man undertakes to be a worker with God, then if he doesn't build according to the divine instructions, he will bring in that which is not acceptable.
And he brings it into that which is the temple of God on earth, looked upon not here as what is real and vital only, but as including that which man has built in. And so when is this going to be manifested? Well, in a similar way, in the similitude that was the good seed sown in the field that the enemy sowed tares, they both grew together until the harvest. And so in the processing House of Christendom there has been that which is good and that which is bad.
Now of course, in Second Timothy 2, it speaks of our individual conduct and how we're to act when the house has become a great professing house that we must separate from the vessels to dishonor. But we're not told to go out of the house, nor are we told to, nor are we told to make the final decision about who is real and is not. The Lord knows them that are His. We're in the great house, we can't leave it. But in the house there are clean dishes and dirty dishes, but they're all in the house.
Well here that isn't a view that's taken its rather when God makes the manifestation. And for the believer of course, that will be the judgment seat of Christ. When our lives pass into review and what we have done in the vineyard, in God's building will there be manifested what is of himself will abide and be rewarded. But as regards the unbeliever, it would not be until the Great White Throne where His work would be manifested.
But he has brought into the professing house that which is, shall I say, had a dishonouring to God. Dishonoring to Christ. He has defiled the temple of God, and defiling the temple of God is false doctrine attacking the person and work of Christ. But perhaps to answer the question more precisely, I would say again, for the believer this manifestation will take place at the judgment seat of Christ.
For the unbeliever it will not be until the Great White Throne, where it will be a very solemn thing to be manifested. As the Lord Himself said, many will come in that day, saying, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name done many wonderful works, But he'll have to say I never knew you. They they worked in His name. They took that place in profession. So for them it will be judgment where the meeting closes. I'd like to just correct one thing.
I said that the spirit of wisdom and intelligence is correct as it is here in King James Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation. It is right, as we saw on the eighth verse, wisdom and intelligence there. So I just want to correct that one thing. I guess our time is up.
Oh no, no. That's quite clear when it says in the.
14th verse.
15th verse If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss there It shows a man whose work was not acceptable to God, but he himself was saved, because saved through the work of Christ, say, through his precious blood. But what he had done was destroyed. But when the man himself was not saved, his work was unacceptable, but he himself was unacceptable, and so he must come under judgment.
01:20:13
Hundred 69169.
Lord, we can see by faith in thee a prospect right unfailing, where God shall shine, enlighten divine, in glory, never fading.
Oh Lord, we come through.
Life.
Ephesians 1:17-23
Reading
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Shall we continue with Ephesians?
Getting verse 17, would you say? Yes, I think so.
Ephesians One, verse 17.
That's the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. They give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of him, but the eyes of your understanding, being enlightened, if you may know what is the hope of his calling?
And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints? And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to Usford, who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion. And every name that is named not only in this world, but also an average, is to come.
And half put all things under his feet.
And gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that fill us All in all.
To agreed of the full knowledge of him.
That is the knowledge of the subject. Divorce is all found in Christ.
And there's a fullness there for our souls. And if we're to enter into the prayer of the apartment.
It's getting hold of what we possess in Christ, what he means to our souls. Then the Spirit of God can bring before us these wonderful things.
This full knowledge or fullness of knowledge is like the ocean, isn't it?
Have a cup and start dipping out the water in the ocean. Can you ever hope to empty it? No. And you can't hope to exhaust this fullness that we're reading of here. But we can keep on dipping in.
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Then the next verse should read the eyes of your heart being enlightened, as he may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.
Our hearts are right. Then the Spirit of God can reveal these precious things to our souls.
That is, it's the affections, being, and the enjoyment of Christ's love.
Then the spirit of God reveals these things to our souls. That's a wonderful expression. The eyes of your heart, that is, they can penetrate into the marvelous things of God's counsel and purposes. All that we have been before us that we might just read this as pick it up as an intellectual study.
And that way we soon lose it. We might get it in our heads, but it if it wasn't in our hearts, it wouldn't last very long with us, but if the eyes of our hearts are enlightened.
Then there's something that is, as it were, a part of our very selves.
Makes me think I heard a story of a young lady and she had a hold of a book which she read and enjoyed very much.
Then after some time, she fell in love with the man who wrote this book. Oh, she said, I must get that book and read it again. It'll have a new meaning to me now. Well, what a difference when she read it, when she was in love with the writer. Well, this is the difference. We can read the Bible, as you have said, just as an intellectual thing. But all this that is being opened up to us. We're going to share in it, brethren, and we're going to share it in the same way that that young lady was going to be in association with that man.
All that's here we're going to share as part of the Bride of Christ.
There were heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
And this too, in this 17th verse, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
When Adam was placed in headship over the creation, he was, it says, be fruitful and subdue the earth. That is, he was in headship. He was to enjoy all that had been given. It was all put under him. Now God has put everything under the second man, and he would have us to know this. It was of interest to Adam. All those animals were brought to him. He called them by name.
He could enter into all that God had provided in that vast creation. Well, how much more wonderful? How are we taking in these things? Things that could never be discovered by research. The Bible is unlike any other book. It is a revelation. It's a revelation from God, things that we could never find out if God didn't tell us.
When the Apostle Paul.
Got the revelations that the Lord gave him. I'm sure it wasn't just an intellectual thing with him. The revelation meant that it got hold of his soul. It really entered into his being, into his heart, got hold of him. And this is the reason we see him acting as he does, especially when we watch him and follow him in the book of Acts.
Oh, it speaks not only of laying hold of Jesus Christ as being laid hold of by him.
He lay full of the soul.
On a vast difference there is.
In Ephesians 4/2 it speaks about growing up unto him in all things. For truth learned in communion always draws us to Christ, even prophecy, which perhaps is tends to be an intellectual subject. Nevertheless, we're told that the testimony of Jesus.
Is the spirit of prophecy and the interest that the believer has or should have in prophecy.
Is that it shows to us how the Lord Jesus is going to have his rightful place. And if our hearts are true to him. It hurts us that his blessed name and his rights are trampled in the dust in this world on every hand. And anything that shows us how he is going to take that place, how he is going to have his rights, is a joy to us. And that's why, brethren, that God doesn't give us all the details of prophecy that we might like to know.
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It's a mistake to think that God intended to fill in every detail. He only gives us the outline because he counts upon our hearts, not being so interested in detail as his Son, the one who is to be the grand center of all these councils and purposes of God. And prophecy tells us how this is all going to be brought about. And you'll notice also that the spirit of prophecy always comes in when there is a breakdown where there's human failure.
Because in the hands of the first man, it looks darker and darker. So the the light of prophecy shines in a dark place to show that when everything breaks down under the first man, that God has the man of his counsels and all is going to be fulfilled in him. And this is very interesting to trace all through the Old Testament and even in the New Testament. Now when it's brought before us, it's always at this time take even Revelation. There we have the Church's history ending in Laodicea and then the book opens and shows us.
How God is going to accomplish all His purposes, How that the false bride will be judged, but he's going to have His bride and she is going to be presented there and all her beauty and this heavenly city is seen there as the bride of Christ. In spite of all the failure of the church as a Candlestick in the earth, there is the light of prophecy telling us all that she's going to be seen in all her beauty at the end. And we have that position and association with Christ.
That he may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints.
The hope of his calling.
See the inheritance that is brought before us, We have it mentioned in the fourth verse.
According as he has chosen to seen him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blink before him in love, now he would have us enter into.
What this inheritance refers to means to me. It's something like Abraham's no Lord chose the well watered plains of Georgia. Abraham lit Lot have the first choice when they separated.
He chose the best in nature. Abraham waits. And then God says to Abraham, lift up thine eyes, look northward and southward, and eastward, and westward. And then he says, all this I will give to thee and to thy seed forever. And then he tells him to walk through the breadth and the length of it. Although he possessed nothing, yet it was all his, and he could walk in the midst of it all.
Communion was gone and the enjoyment of his promise.
Well, that's something like the inheritance, the way the inheritance is brought before us in this chapter. In Ephesians we have this inheritance, but he wants us to know and enjoy this inheritance, although in reality.
Its future, Yet we can, like Abraham, walk in the enjoyment of it, even while waiting for the day of manifestation.
On this one it answers two to the book of Joshua, because Joshua was one of the spies who had gone over in that scene. The good Lamb had. Ten of the spies came back, and although they had seen the good land, what seemed to impress them more was the height of walls in the cities, the size of their enemies. They were giants, the Chariots of iron that they had. That is, they were greatly impressed by all the difficulties that sit in the way, so much that they almost seemed to lose sight of all the good of the lamb.
But with Joshua, he didn't seem to pay much attention to these giants and these Chariots of iron and everything. He said. If the Lord delights in US, He'll give us the land. What we need to think about is what a good land it is. So all through the wilderness, with all its problems and difficulties and the failure of God's people, What gleamed before him was that good land, that land flowing with milk and honey and.
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When they finally did go over, why that was, the last thing he thought about was the giants. He wanted the the good land. God would enable him to overcome the giants. And so this is the view that's held out to us. Brethren had the hope of his calling is all the portion that we have in Christ. The matter of fighting the giants comes in at the end because this is always the way God works. He says all this is yours. I have delight in you. I have found you. I picked you up when you were dead and trespasses and sins.
Now, he says, if I have all this delight in you, and this land is yours, I I'll provide so you can fight the enemy and possess it. And there we have in the last chapter, the the armor.
We'd like to ask a question on this verse.
And if I read it right, with a new translation in the French anyway, it reads that his heritage in the Saints. I've all thought isn't it this the Lord? For as we have a scripture that the Lord's portion is his people, isn't the question of what our inheritance is or what he inherits? And you think the question there is, don't you think, Brother Ruth thanks the way the Lord inherits what he's speaking about?
You might ask the same question, How does the Queen of Great Britain inherit?
The the empire that she is the queen over is it through the rocks and the hills and the rivers and the mountains. Oh no, it's she inherited through her people. So they wildly inheritance is brought before us with all its wonders and majesty. Yet he inherited in the Saints.
Would that?
Me association the Saints associated with him when he takes the inheritance or you could say in the midst of his Saints that is he's in the midst of his Saints when he takes the inheritance. We're actually we're not part of the inheritance because we're associated with him in in the inheritance. Well his brother Anderson the inheritance really the portion of the heavenly faith that he is speaking about here.
Yeah, we are the inheritors, not the inheritance. That is, we're heirs of God and joy, heirs with Christ. But I believe the thought that he takes the inheritance and his Saints. The Lord has already bought the field. Faith already sees him as we have in the second of Hebrews. We see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.
Crown with glory and honor. Why hasn't he yet taken possession of it? It's all his. But he's waiting till he has his Saints with him, and not until the Ark leading the people across the Jordan Anderson did the Lord, so to speak, take possession of that land which he calls My land. And he took it in and threw his people. And to my own soul. This is exceedingly precious, that this whole scene is the purchased inheritance. It all belongs to him.
And in God's purposes, Christ in manhood is to be the center of it. What is the delay? Well, he's going to have His Saints with Him first. And when we turn over to revelation, we don't see him asserting His rights to it until He has his Saints there. And then in the 4th chapter we have His right as Creator. There thou has created all things, and the redeemed are around there giving him honor. But then in the 5th chapter they redeemed their rejoicing at the cost of their personal redemption.
It says all slain has redeemed us to God by thy blood, and all this now has the preliminary, shall I say to the opening of the seven sealed book. That is what is rightfully his. Perhaps if you turn to Jeremiah chapter 32, I think there is something that helps to.
Jeremiah 32.
And verse 6.
And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Behold, had a meal. The son of Shalom by an uncle shall come unto thee, saying by thee my field, that is an antithought, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hannah, me Oh my and uncle son, came to me in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me by my field, I pray thee, that is an anathoth which is in the country of Benjamin. For the right of inheritance is dying, and the redemption is lined by it for thyself.
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Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord, and I bought the field of had a meal my uncle son that was an anathoth, and weighed unto him the money even 17 shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was opened. And I gave the evidence of the purchase under barrack, the son of Narayana, the son of Messiah, the son of Hanumi al mine uncle's son.
In the presence of the witnesses that described the book of the purchase before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison, and I charged barrack before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
Well, here was Jeremiah in prison telling about judgment that was to fall, and now he's asked to buy a field. Well, what use would this field be if the country was going to be in the hands of the enemy for many years? Well, it was going to be possessed later and saw the evidence of the purchase was put in an earthen vessel for many days. It was all but the evidence that was sealed and the evidence was all that was open, were all taken.
Well, I believe rather than it's a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus. The evidence of the purchase is in that earthen vessel. There's one up there of God's right hand, a real living man, and he's bought the field and to faith, just like to Barrick, it was a very real thing. That alone the enemy took possession of the land and everything looked as if the land was under babbling and would not be theirs. Again, faith believed in what, and faith looked on to that time.
And now the Lord in the 5th of Revelation of this book, He's the one that takes it. The sealed book, and it was written within and on the backside, sealed with 7 seals well the faith it's open evidence to. To the man of the world it's sealed, it's not apparent, but the time is coming when he'll take it. And so when God gave him back the land, Jeremiah, Jeremiah would have this. Well, brethren, in what measure do you and I value these things? Are we willing to give up something down here?
To be in the enjoyment of a thing, for that in reality is ours in the coming day.
But now we just have, as it were, the evidence, the enjoyment in our souls that it belongs to us.
Well, I believe that's what is being brought here and it doesn't work. Brought to us now in the prison in this world where everything is against us. Here we are sitting and talking about this inheritance and Pauls prayer was that the Ephesian Saints might have their eyes, the eyes of their heart open to look beyond all this, to see that Christ was going to take this and they would be associated with him when he took it.
Do read in First Peter one to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and which paid us not away, preserved in heaven, for you who are kept by the power of God. So inheritance in one way is looked at as our heavenly portion.
And it's ready to be revealed. So the Spirit of God surely would bring us into the enjoyment.
Of that heavenly inheritance that we are soon to share with Christ in his glory.
In the sixth verse of that same chapter, you're referring to Brother Barry. First Peter one, he says, Where is ye? Greatly rejoice. I believe this is in the inheritance, thinking of this inheritance, that we're going to have this inheritance incorruptible.
Undefined in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God.
The inheritance is kept for us, and we're kept for the inheritance kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And Peter speaks of the glory that should follow the sufferings of Christ and the glory. And so he brings in the sufferings here that we may go through. And so he says, wherein ye greatly rejoice though now for seasons if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptation.
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So if we have testings in trials, let's remember the inheritance is ahead, the glory is ahead. But this is suffering time. Glory time is coming. This is training time for raining time. And if we seek a place in this scene now, as it were, wanting to rain, now, we're raining too soon. Let us seek grace from the Lord to take the place that He's given us here and suffer with him and for him and for his sake.
I thought I would like to ask, is this that we've been speaking about part of the hope of his calling?
And also in the third, this is the third chapter speaks of the vocation where which we are called. This is the practical effect it should have on us.
I had looked upon that, and the vocation of the calling wherewith we are called, especially the truth that he's brought out of the Church as the body of of the body of Christ in the House of God, that we're to walk worthy. Now that's the calling there. It would seem to me that the calling in the first chapter is more of the subject of the inheritance.
That he is setting the forest. That the important point is this, That if the hope of his calling and one of the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints is what belongs to Christ.
And whatever it is, whatever view we take of it is what we're going to share someday with that blessed one who is so worthy of.
All that will be given to him.
Helps us also to notice the difference between Ephesians and Colossians. In Ephesians it's what the Church is to Christ or as in Colossians it's what Christ is to the Church.
And so as the one who has brought into association with himself his Church, it is his joy to let her know all that belongs to her, and to share it all now by the Spirit and salt. And the great emphasis, I think is in His Saints, and even at the end of the chapter it's anticipating. But it's head over all things to the Church how you notice in.
Colossians. It's head of the body of the Church. It's the glory, the personal glory of Christ as the one who is the head of the body of the Church.
But head over all things is that which he is to the church, Just as a man thinks of the pleasure he is going to have in sharing what he possesses with the bride of his choice, this is another aspect than his importance and what he is. And I think this is a very precious and wonderful line of truth that he's brought before us something like the Hebrew servant. He had served his time and he could have gone out free. He had a choice now to make.
He had. He had honorably served his master for the six years, and now he decides something. Is he going to have his liberty and enjoy it all himself, or is he going to enjoy the company of the one whom he has chosen? Well, he makes this decision, he says. He plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go free. I think we have those whole three things brought before us.
I love my master. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he. I love my wife. That's the church and my children. We have been predestinated to the adoption of children, he said. I won't go out free. I'm going to share it with my wife all I have. And what is? What does it cost him? Well, he must be brought to the judges. He must be a servant forever. And this blessed one was brought to the judges for us. This one's going to be a servant forever.
In spite of his greatness, he is going to become the servant of our happiness for all eternity. And so I think it's beautiful to see the inheritance in his Saints. He says I won't enjoy this until I have companions and he's waiting for this. Does it mean anything to your heart and mind that he's waiting? We are noticing about Isaac. He went out to meditate while he lifted up his eyes. What was he thinking about?
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Well, he all the riches of Abraham's house were his.
Was that what he was thinking about? Always said I want somebody to share it with me. And so I lifted up his eyes and he saw the camels were coming. And at the very same moment, apparently she lifted up her eyes and she said she saw this man. And the servant said, that's Isaac. Well, that's the Lords coming. The Lord is, so to speak, lifting up his eyes. And he wants us to lift up our eyes. And someday our eyes will meet and he'll come and we'll respond and we'll be with him.
While the spirit is seeking to lead our souls to enjoy this now beforehand, isn't it?
And it's interesting sometimes when you have leisure to look up to different riches in the Ephesians you won't go into it. But in this place it's the riches of the glory of his inheritance. In the Saints then said that glory is revealed excellence. Well when we think of being in with Christ in his glory and he the head of this whole scene.
Sharing it all with him.
Oh, how the glory of this world fades into insignificance. Single men who have have risen to a high position, like Hitler and Napoleon, has seen the dismal end of those men. And then think of the glory of the inheritance, the riches of it. Well, sometimes it's well to think of how rich we really are. And so he goes on rich in mercy. But seems to me, when you look into the subject of the riches, you reach the climax of the whole subject.
In the third chapter, in the eighth verse, unto me who I am less than the least of All Saints, as this grace giveth.
That I should preach among the Gentiles. They are searchable riches of Christ.
Well, seeing that is when we think of Christ.
There are riches there and him We can never fail. We can never.
Ever took enter into the fullness of it? Well, he just sort of lost. When he reaches that point, the unsearchable riches of Christ rather than we will realize how rich we are and yet the one who brought us into all this riches.
Humble himself and emptied himself of all his glory and went to the cross and there died of manufacturers death. Though he were rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. Oh, that's the rest. That way through his poverty might be rich. They would never forget, as we consider these riches that are ours as redeemed ones, what it costs that blessed one that we might possess these riches. And when we figure that blessed one, who is the subject?
They had over all things.
Well, you could explore into some of the riches when you think of here as kingship and then even for the present time.
His being our Advocate, and we have failed our High Priest to keep us from falling that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, And the bridegroom of our souls, is coming soon to take claim His bride and take her home.
They're just a little inkling of all the immense riches that we have possessed in him and all the glory of what it means to be associated with him when he is honored not only in this scene but also in that which is to come on a subject we are brought into.
Lord, never, Lord, never gave up.
The United States not all glory, but he never gave up, so he was in the Garden of Gethsemane or on the Cross.
Referring to back to Ephesians, to Philippians, 2 I judged that I was quoting from how he emptied himself. He emptied himself without glory, but he never ceased to be the eternal Son.
00:40:07
Thou humbled, and despised and rejected.
Nail to the cross. The very fact that on the cross he was there atoning for our sins necessitated that he was the mighty eternal God.
I'll build a wave, Hebrews. One brings that before us, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power. Now notice the next, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on heart. God has spoken by His Son. The one who upholds all things is the One.
That was on that cross making Ferguson.
For our sins, then he carries him on up into the glory, and tells us that he seated himself at the right hand of the majesty on high.
Locals are reversing the.
15 chapter First Corinthians.
28 verse.
Is that the first brother, Baylor, When he when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him. That God may be All in all, doesn't lose anything.
Me. That's one of the most marvelous verses in scripture. Some verses carry you as far as the eternal state. I believe there's only three passages that take us as far as the eternal state. We have the one that was read this morning, the 1St 8 verses of Revelation 21.
New heaven and a new earth, and so on. Then Peter speaks of it in his second epistle in the third chapter, where he says the day of God.
After the day of the Lord is over, and then this verse that we have before us, when all things shall be subdued unto Him, you see that about the end of the Millennium, for he reigns during the 1000 years, till he is put down all ruling authority.
And then it says, Shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that is in the eternal state although.
They'll no longer be a Kingdom, such as the Millennium will be.
For the photo of nations to be ruled over, as there will be in the Kingdom E that's the thing of the past, but we find the son himself.
Becomes subject unto him that put all things under it. That is, the Blessed Lord Jesus is still a subject man when we get into eternity, associated with those that he has redeemed in that blessed time of unparalleled blessing, when everything is subject to the mind of God, when all beloved that.
Our self will have.
In the cause of all our mistakes and failures.
We can trace it to that.
Some form of disobedience. But when the Lord was here, he was the perfect obedient man.
And that was his. That was his joy and happiness down here. Well in the eternal state. Well, indeed, when we reached the eternal shores of glory, we'll be in a state where we'll never exercise our own wills again. We'll be perfectly subject to the will of God. But this one is marvelous, to see the sun identifying himself with his own in that blessedness of full subjection to the will of God.
That carries us right into the regions of eternity, so we can look no farther beyond it.
State or Hebrews?
00:45:04
Rest that remaineth for the people of God. It's really a Sabbath keeping. I had looked at that. Brother Brimley was referring to the Millennium, the the.
The rest the Sabbath keeping when this dispensation is over. Of course there are verses that carry us into eternity, I suppose many. But verses that describe the eternal state, I suppose would be.
A little more. And so this one, no doubt in First Corinthians 15 is one of those instances.
That actually describes the condition of things in the eternal state, and the Lord Jesus remains a man forever.
To have the company of his redeemed, he never left his place in the godhead.
But he doesn't give up his place of manhood for all eternity and like the type that we mentioned, the Hebrew servant that says he shall serve forever. And so for all eternity the Lord Jesus will be there to minister to our happiness in that way is subject that God may be All in all is really not the thought of God the Father, but it's it's really the God in Trinity because the first man, Adam, he was the head of.
The first creation he failed. Everything broke down under him. Now how could everything be set right? Well, the one who could do it must be both God and man. If God's purposes are going to be fulfilled that a man is going to occupy the place of headship, where was the man that could do it? Not any of Adam's race, while the Lord Jesus as man takes that place. And Saul, God of the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
All in all in the eternal state. But that one who is in that place of headship, yet who occupies the place of being? The servant to his people's happiness is God the Son, and the Spirit is the power, as the little hymn puts it nicely by the Spirit, all pervading, wholesome, numbered round the lamb, how lovely it is. And Speaking of the Spirit to look back in creation, it says, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Here was a ruin that was there.
Out of all that ruin now God was about to begin this purpose that he had in his heart from all eternity. The Spirit of God mused upon them well last. When a man is created and placed in that position, he falls well. And the spirit of God then has been going to work so, and through this scene, and the Spirit's work will not be complete until he can in full liberty, shall I say.
Give to the Son that blessed one his worthy place, and lead the hearts of his people in praise to Him for all eternity.
Just to make it very simple, it's this that our Blessed Lord is a man for all eternity, a real man, and we're to share His glories and be with him and enjoy His company for all the eternal ages. What a destiny, we may well say as we consider it.
Perhaps we better get on to the next verse now. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to Westward, who believe according to the working of his mighty power?
He's still talking about.
Entering into the blessing and enjoyment of this truth of the inheritance.
So if it was the riches of his glory, of his glory, and so on, here is what is the exceeding greatness of his power. We're just left out, so to speak, as far as any action or anything in ourselves. It's all a mighty glorious work of God on our behalf.
And this is connected with his resurrection and His being seated, that God's right hand being glorified. And so we find also that in association with Him we're we're risen too, quickened and risen and seated in the heavenlies. And this is in connection with His mighty power. And we can certainly rejoice.
In the power that's been manifested and shown toward us as it says His power to us. Words because we're included in this, this thing that took place when the Lord was raised from the dead and seated at God's right hand.
00:50:11
So the power of that has taken us from a state of spiritual death will someday raise us up and bring us into the full result of Redemption's work.
But even now, before that day comes, when we are raised up by His mighty power, when he comes with a shout of victory and our bodies are changed and we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the Spirit of God is working.
In our behalf, lifting us and the state of our souls and the enjoyment of these things out of the state of things around us.
Condition around us a world full of itself and its importance and its progress and so on, and we're apartment to get into the spirit of this age. But here this mighty power is working towards us to lift us up into the enjoyment of this inheritance and the glory of it and what lies before us.
There was a mighty power manifested in Creation.
Man sees that power. Just think of the wonders of God's creation as we see it. But this has all been ruined by sin. Well now into this seed of misery comes the blessed Son of God, and he has taken them put to death. But as the little hymn says, by weakness and defeat he won the median crown, and so he went into death. He went into Satan's stronghold, but he rose triumphant. And that Blessed One glorified now at God's right hand.
Is the proof that God is going to bring in this new scene just as when the Israelites harvested harvested the sheep of first fruits and waved it before the Lord. Now this was the beginning. There was going to be a whole harvest gathered in as a result of this. Well, when a power God manifested, Satan had brought him death. And now to add to this, he had taken the Prince of life and LED men on to put him to death.
But all there was a power greater than that, the power that raised Christ up and brought him, and seated him at the highest place. And that power is to iceward, because taking that place he could have had the place of headship without having any with him. But all he wanted to have his people with him, so he's going into death, was to have us associated with him in that place. And so it's the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe according to the working of his mighty power.
Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him in his own right hand in the heavenly places. The victory has already been won, brethren. It's not something that's future that we hope will be won. The victory has been won. The one who is the head of new creation is there a glorified man, and he's the head of the body, the Church. It seems to me that the 1St 2 words in the second chapter bring before us this very thing.
Our association with him that the powers to us were because it says and you and you. It's not only that it was Christ that was raised by the mighty power of God, but and you were included too in that.
In verse. And raising the Lord Jesus from the dead is in exercise on our behalf, isn't it?
In verse 3.
The Apostle blesses the God and fathers of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ and now in.
Verse 19 As we have had, He speaks of the exceeding greatness of his power as not which has put us there. For in verse 20 again we have which he he wrought in the Christ.
Christ and His members, when He raised Him from the dead, and sent him at His own life, stand in the heavens and purpose. When He raised Christ, He raised us to in Him from that place of death into which He had gone down to save us, and it carries right arm through in the chapter 2 does not.
00:55:11
Very helpful. What you said brother dear.
We literally realize the greatness of that power. You notice how?
The Spirit of God uses adjectives here in this 19th verse. And you know, a scripture never uses unnecessary words, and when things are described as they are here, it has a very great importance.
The exceeding.
Greatness of his power. Can you think of any more marvelous way of describing the power of God than that according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ, when you think of the Lord's death on the cross?
Follow a triumph. Seemingly it was for Satan and for man. Satan had succeeded at last, and putting the one he hated on that shameful cross.
He'd seen him die, bow his *** and death seen him taken down and laid in that grave. And you know the question of our sins came up at that cross, too. We're doing those three hours of darkness tells us that Jehovah laid on him the iniquity of us all. They're the one who became the substitute for the Sinner.
She's lame and death. A great stone rolled to the to the door of the sepulchre.
A guard put around it, and the feel of the greatest emperor that ever lived in this world put upon it the seal of the Roman Empire, that no one was to disturb that grave.
But though on the third day an Angel came down from heaven, his face was like lightning and his reign of the white as snow. He broke that seal. He rolled that stone away. And those guards who were there to protect the rights of their emperor trembled and became as dead men. He told the women that came there that morning. He is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where the Lord laid. I believe that's what is meant in the.
Second chapter of Colossians.
In the 15th verse.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it. To what we were. The principalities and powers made ashore to see Satan and all his hosts were there to see that Christ was put on that cross. Satan had become the Prince of this world as the Lord, as the Lord had told his disciples, and leading the whole world against the Son of God.
Seemingly they had crime, but their victory became a defeat. There was the one that lay on the tomb. There is risen. Not only that, the very realm of Satan, for Satan is the Prince of the power of the air. He goes right through Satan's realm and takes his feet at the right hand of God, exalted far above all principalities in power and might.
And beloved, when the Lord comes for you and me with a shout in the air, we're going right up through the realm of Satan, too. Another marvelous triumphal victory for the one who has undertaken our cause. So you can see why the spirit of God uses so many adjectives here to let us into a little what that victory really means. And then in the practical way, the Apostle is setting the forest, how that power is working in our souls at the present time.
So what he would have for us is to have our our minds on things above be lifted above this present passing scene and and have that glory before our souls.
Thinking going to the 15th chapter of First Corinthians as you're speaking about that power.
01:00:00
Resurrection. And now it should have its practical side. The last two verses of the chapter are very nice, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
But a force is for us and a blessing in the hours, and what an encouragement.
He was incorrect teachers who were saying there was number resurrection. And the apostle says if there be no resurrection then Christ is not raised. And if Christ be not raised our preaching is vain and we're yet in our sins. For though he comes out with those grand words but now is Christ risen, become the first fruits of endless flip. That is, he's like the sample sheep that represents all the harvest and resurrection.
And then having shown the mighty victory of the one who went into death and won the victory.
For he says, thanks be that God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then he can come forth with this encouraging words, my beloved brother. He is steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, while the apostle had said.
Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. That is, if there's no resurrection. Well, we just, well, get all we can out of this world, so that's all there is before us.
We're all having settled this matter. There is this glorious resurrection. Then he can encourage the Spain, Sir. We can encourage our hearts, too beloved with these words, to be steadfast, unmovable, because we're going to be in our glorified bodies soon, in the scene where we can fully enjoy all the blessings that are before us, and where there's positive gain and reward for faithfulness for the one who has gone before.
The truth of resurrection is something that is peculiar to the Bible. We know that the heathen had some thoughts about a spirit existence after this life. They had some thoughts about the transmigration of souls coming out in another being.
But the truth of resurrection was something that the mind of man could never discover. It was something that must be and is the subject of revelation.
And when Paul talked before the philosophers on Mars Hill, when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, they mocked. This was something they couldn't discover. But this is something that God has made known. And when Paul was preaching to those philosophers, you'll notice he brings before them two things that their wisdom could not discover, creation and resurrection. He speaks about how God created everything, and then he speaks of the resurrection of the dead.
And this is the thing that is specially made known through the Bible and that which specially characterizes Christianity. Even our brother Yamanaki over in over in Japan, he was telling me on his last visit how it came and he was in prison. He taught the truth of the Lord's return and they brought him up before the authorities. And they said, now we want to know, do you believe in the spiritual return of Christ or the bodily return of Christ?
All he said, he's coming back as a real man with a body of flesh and bones. He's coming as a resurrected man. All they said, that's that's contrary to our idea that the that the Emperor is gone Incarnate. We'll have to put you in prison for that.
If you teach that there's a spiritual return of Christ, that wow, that's all right, we don't mind that because.
They would allow for the philosophy, philosophizing of the mind of man, but to teach the personal resurrection and return of the Lord Jesus Christ was something that conflicted with all their ideas, and which laid a death sentence, as it were, to all their national hopes. Well, brethren, how wonderful. And this is so important for us. There's a real man in the glory, and we're united to him. He's there for us. He's far above all principalities and powers. There isn't an authority on this earth.
And all the power of Satan is above them all, and we're associated with him. And this is the thing that we need to have in our souls. And this is what keeps us from getting taken up with things down here, even from the thoughts of man. This is a power that is only made known to us by the word of God.
01:05:17
And the Spirit of God wants us to be in the enjoyment of this.
Another very word you commit to make a little remark as to the truth of the resurrection and Matthew. So for the sake of the young. We've been often told this before, but there are younger ones perhaps that should be told. Enjoyed what you said of the Angel coming down with a mighty hope whose looks was like lightning. His Raymond White and he removed the stone and sat on it.
Unless we might give ourselves to the thought that he opened the grave for the Lord to come forth, the Lord Jesus wasn't there anymore when he did this. Did God not send his angels to demolish everything that man had done to seal that way, and then to let his own when they came to let them in to see that the Lord wasn't there? But this action of the Angel was not the opening of the door for the Lord Jesus to come forth. He was already written. What? Yeah.
That's very helpful. What you have brought out. The angels didn't roll back the stone to release the body of the Blessed Lord.
He opened it for the sake of you and me. So we might, through these women, look in and see an empty sepulchre in all of the difference in connection with the resurrection of Lazarus. The Lord says, take you away. The stone before the stone was removed from the grave of Lazarus. That body couldn't come out because Lazarus came forth in a mortal body. He wasn't raised in the way we'll be raised.
By Christ, with our resurrection, glorified bodies.
Parrot hath not placed, and bones as you see me hath. And then he told him to handle him, and see, and then to further satisfy them. Why, He said, Have you hear any meat? They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and a honeycomb, and he ate it, showing he had just as truly a human body in resurrection as he did before he went to the Cross. And that's very important.
Because as we were reading there in First Corinthians 15 that he is the first.
Fruits of them. The sweat that is when the old days when the binder went into the field to reap the harvest, the first bundle that was kicked off, you could take that bundle and say there's a sample of the harvest. That's the 1St 2:00.
Christ And as the risen man is, this is the sample sheep, as it were, of all the glorious harvest and resurrection when the Lord returns.
01:10:06
Here in the 20th verse, it says and set him at his own right hand. We have the verse set at my right hand until I make thine enemies, thy footstool. So the Lord Jesus is now sitting at his father's right hand, but in the millennial time he's going to sit upon his own throne, isn't he? But that he is waiting the time until the church is complete. And then he'll rise up and he'll take his own throne and there'll be those associated with him.
Through grace as we have. But now he's seated at the Father's right hand, the Father's declaration of his not only of His acceptance of the work, but that he has been fully glorified in it all, and that now blessing Unlimited can flow out.
Nice to attach.
Teaching to a definite Scripture. As far as we turn to the third chapter of Revelation, here's the promise to Laodicea.
To the overcomer in the 21St verse. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me, not on my father's phone notice, but on my throne, even as I also overcame and am sat down with my father in Israel. So there are two Thrones definitely mentioned.
There. So where? Who are to be with him, or to be seated on his throat?
We see that in the 4th chapter from the next chapter gives us a view of the of the redeemed ones, the whole redeemed family seated down the throne viewed in the 24 elders.
Very often when we're thinking of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being with him, we're thinking of our side of it, our enjoyment of it, what we're going to get out of it. But I think it's well for us to think about the Lord's side of it. What's he going to get out of it?
When it comes that time that he'll have us with himself and he takes the Kingdom and sits on his own throne, all this is the moment he's looking for. He was denied his rightful place when he came the first time, but the next time he will have his rightful place and he will be sitting on his throne and he will be the Exalted one and as man. And what a joy that will be for him. Let us think of it in that way too.
And then his joy will become our joy.
And then we can say the joy of the Lord is our strength, the last two verses of our chapter.
Illustrator Give us the truth of what you've been speaking our brother Anderson, and it put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, that Philip All in all.
I was just thinking, Brother Barry, how nicely that in the 4th chapter as the one who has glad captivity captive and has now ascended up on high, then it says he gave gifts unto men. And what are these gifts responsible to do? Well are responsible to announce the victory that he has won. And what a privilege it is in ministry in this world to announce this great victory that Christ has won that one who is up there.
As we remarked before, not merely head of the body. You know, a woman might acknowledge her husband as the head, but for to say head over all things is his care for the church. And so in the 4th chapter the gifts have been given. And what are these four all he wants us to know?
The full victory that he has won and to share the enjoyment of it. Now how often we meet Saints of God, the victory has been won for them. They're going to share that place of headship with Christ. They're going to be associated with him, but they're not in the enjoyment of it. Now it'll be just like for the verse is quoted from the Book of Judges in the 4th chapter when it speaks about leading captivity captive of the time when Barack and Deborah are returned to tell of the victory that they had won over Cicero.
Well, they went out and sang before the people of this great victory saw that all the people in Israel might enjoy the fact that the man who held him in captivity was now himself put to death, and they could share in all the spoils of the victory. Well, if they only told part of it. If they said, well, the man is taken captive, but he might someday get free again, Why, the people would have a measure of relief, but they wouldn't be in the full enjoyment of the victory. But when they can say that he's dead.
01:15:16
And the spoil is all yours now. Why, you can divide the spoil of victories. One well. This is what the gifts in the Church are responsible to do. To proclaim the sinners and Saints of this mighty victory. Saw that all those who are saved might share in the full victory. And what is the full place into which we're brought? Oh, how wonderful. The nearest possible place to Christ in glory who shares an association with a man like his own wife, who can share his thoughts.
His position, his wealth, everything. And how wonderful to think that this Blessed One who's up there.
As head over all things so we have some little care. Are we concerned? Oh, he's head over over all things. He's concerned about that where members of his body and he's just waiting the day when he's going to share it all with us. And it when it says the fullness, it means that he will not be complete until he has his bride with him. Just as Adam in his place of headship was not complete until a bride was made for him.
Now he could say, this is born of my bone and flesh of my flesh. He could enter into and enjoy the relationship with one who shared it with him.
When when Adam got his companion Eve, when she was made out of what came out of his side and brought to him, don't we get Creation brought to a high point there? That's the peak of that first creation.
Well, there was failure there. But when the bride of Christ is brought to him to be associated with him, we'll come to the high point in that coming day when we'll be in the millennial time and we'll be reigning with Christ over this sea. Oh, that will be the high point of creation. Are we longing for that time when the Lord will have his rightful place?
And we in association with him there, well, certainly the things of time and sense material things were occupied with now. They'd be become very dim and and worthless in view and in the light of that coming scene of glory. And this is what we need to have before.
You see, #4 independence is B, the victor's name who fought the fight alone.
Triumphant Saints, though utterly his conquest was their own. By weakness and the deep, he won the need and ground, got all our foes beneath his feet by being trodden down.
Less less conqueror slain, slain his victory, who lived, who died, who lives again for thee, his church for thee.
#4 in the appendix.
1 79.
56274.
Same 1/7 mile Rd.
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Yeah.
Works needed for Salvation
Gospel—A. Barry
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.
The thing #10.
There is a savior on high in the glory.
A savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A savior as willing to save now as ever.
His arm is almighty, his love great and free. That dear loving Savior who lives in the glory this world once rejected and nailed to the tree a robe of derision. They circled around him. And all this he suffered from sinners like thee. All come now to Jesus, that dear loving Savior receiving this moment.
And peace shall be long hymn #10.
There is.
A server.
A savior?
Oh well.
We.
Say.
Oh my God.
Reagan.
Yeah.
The third verse.
Here.
Horses.
00:05:36
Our God and Father, how it thrills us. They are two works.
That are necessary for the salvation.
Of every center that's saved, one is the work of Christ foreign.
And the other is the work of God in him. And I have two psalms in view that bring before us.
With the two works of which we speak, written by the same writer David.
In the Psalms, and we'll find that the first the work of Christ for us is in the 22nd Psalm. We'll speak on that.
As the Lord may guide.
Then we'll turn to the 51St Psalm.
And consider the work of God in us. So we will turn 1St to the 22nd song.
My God. My God.
Why hast thou forsaken me?
Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not and in the ninth season. And I'm not silent.
But thou art holy, oh thou that inhabiteth the praises of Israel.
We know that these are the very words that Christ spoke on the cross.
During those hours of darkness we were singing about.
When he was forsaken of God.
I was just looking at the reference.
Over the reference to the time when David was living and it's 1000 years.
Before Christ came into this world.
Who can doubt that this is the word of God when you read the very words the Blessed Lord spoke on the cross?
Recorded 1000 years before his birth and as we go on through this description of his suffering.
On the cross, we'll find that every detail fits into what the Lord experienced when He was there crucified, hung up between 2 malefactors.
Beloved friends, have we ever really considered in our souls?
Wise God forsook his beloved son. Remember years ago meeting a young man who had allowed learning to?
Turn him away from.
The belief of the Scripture, and he told me this, He said he believed that when the Lord uttered those words that he had at last found out.
That his life mission was a mistake.
So he says. Why hast thou forsaken me?
Oh, I said to that young man. Did you never know why he uttered those words? He confessed he did not. Then I had the wonderful privilege of telling him the reason why that Blessed One was forsaken there alone in that darkness.
On Calvary's cross, you know what hell is, beloved friends?
00:10:01
Its eternal separation from God.
Word June the 25th of Matthew is depart, ye cursed.
Into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. No fire is a symbol of judgment, and the lake of fire speaks of confinement. And the one who is who goes on in his sins, that Christ reject you.
Is put in that place of eternal separation from God.
Where there is no return, just as it was told to the.
The rich man that opened his eyes in hell, that there was a great gulf fix, No one could go to him, and no one could go from him, to where Abraham and the and the beggar were in the enjoyment of heavenly bliss.
Confined under the judgment of God, oh friends, may none. I'm looking whose faces I'm looking into have to experience eternal separation.
From a God who loves you, you know even the natural blessings that we enjoy this lovely weather.
The devil didn't give this beautiful weather. He doesn't provide the food you have been partaking of. He doesn't provide the the air that you breathe, the beautiful skies that delight your eye.
Devil takes everything from you. All these things are the blessings of God to his creatures.
To stop and think that if you reject Christ as your Savior, you will be separated even from those.
Present blessing, oh the solemnity of it, beloved friends.
May it solemnize the heart of everyone here to think of what it would be to end in a lost eternity.
You will be confined among those that will have their their place.
With the devils, the demons, and that darkness that will pervade forever.
Friends, in order that you might not go there.
God's blessed, Holy, eternal Son was forsaken.
And those solemn hours when the very sun refused to shine.
When there was darkness over all the land.
I read a very interesting little story years ago.
A lady who took deaf and dumb boy. He was known as Jack the dumb Boy to raise me.
An ignorant Irish boy and she taught him the deaf and dumb language.
And then began to communicate with him and give him.
The Gospel.
And she brought before him how the Lord Jesus died on the cross for sinners.
Jack was a very intelligent, thoughtful lad.
He went off toward the day, and he came back at night, and he made this motion. He stuck out his tongue and then made.
A motion like that.
That this lady should have her tongue cut out because she'd lied to him and then he went on with his hands to explain that the Lord Jesus could die for one Sinner.
But he that's all he could do.
It was absolutely impossible that he could die for hundreds and thousands and millions of sinners.
Dear Lady wondered how she could explain the gospel to the.
Simple, boy. Well, they were sitting by an open fire, and there was a bouquet, and there by the side of the hearth. And she took the stems of the flowers of the bouquet, and began to break them up in little pieces until she had quite a pile before. And then she took her diamond ring and laid it by the side of the broken.
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Flower stems. She pointed to one and then the other.
Do a half Jack in that way. Which he'd rather have. Well, of course. He reached for the diamond ring and then Jack saw what she meant for Could this boy she pile the whole room with broken flower stems? It couldn't be worth in the diamond ring before she filled the whole house, before she raised a mountain of broken flour stands. Still, the diamond ring would be worth far more.
On a mountain of diamonds, broken flower stems.
Well, friends, when you think of who that Blessed One actually was.
There alone forsaken on that cross that he was the one that inhabited eternity, the one who is being. None can know of whom we read in Hebrews, one who being the brightness of God's glory.
And the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power.
Message comes before us, then, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on time.
Well, trans, that's the savior that's offered to you.
For your salvation here tonight, Well, we'll read on a little farther in this.
You see, the question is asked by the Blessed Lord.
Why hast thou forsaken thee? And then you have the answer. He answers the question himself in the third verse. But thou art holy, oh thou that inhabiteth the praises of Israel, That's why.
I very much enjoyed.
Brother John Curry's remarks this afternoon about the thrice holy God, and, I believe beloved friends, it's the subject that should often be before our soul, that God is a holy God, a sin hating God.
And that's why God had to forsake him. Because of His Holiness, God could not have sinned in his presence.
And either the whole world of.
Mankind was doomed to eternal darkness, for His Son must take their place and enter into that awful darkness and experience what it means to be forsaken of a holy God and dear friends in infinite love to your poor soul, He.
He chose to be forsaken to enter into that awful experience.
Of being there forsaken alone with that load of sin upon him, so that in the 53rd of Isaiah we read this, He was wounded. For our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with His rights we're healed.
You read on in the next verse. Our fathers trusted. In thee they trusted.
And thou didst deliver them, They cried unto thee, and were delivered. They trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man a reproach of men.
And despise of the people.
I read a herd of two girls during who were sisters during the terrible persecutions.
When they burned Christians at the stake, there were two girls that were being tried.
How to ask whether they would give up Christ or go to the state?
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They decided between them that one would go first.
And she would see if.
It will be the sufferings.
Where the fire and all that they were to endure was worth the price that they would have to pay.
For their testimony for Christ, one girl went forward with chained to the stake, and as the flame rolled around her, she said to her sister. Come on, sister, it's worth it. Why did she say that? Well, she had the Lord wither. He doesn't forsake her in the joy of the Lord gave her.
At that moment, when she was enduring such sufferings, she could invite another her own sister to come and share the sufferings with her. Let beloved friends, when our blessed Lord was suffering the untold agony of the cross, he had to say, I'm a worm and no man the reproach of men. He didn't have that experience.
Brother, Hale said this afternoon.
That there was one time.
When the Lord wasn't in that blessed communion that He enjoyed all through his pathway down here unbroken community.
There was only one time the Lord addressed His Father's God and it's quoted here. It's a foretold here. It's given in the 27th of Matthew's Gospel and.
Hand the 15th of March.
The very words, you know that the language that he spoke or recorded, therefore it's he, said Elohim.
Lamas, back then I You know, the Spirit of God has been pleased to preserve the very words, the very language. See, the Bible or the New Testament is written in Greek, but there are a few places.
I only think of three at the moment where you get the colloquial language of the time.
The desire America believed that was spoken during those days, and there is one example, so that if you were to actually been there to cross of Calvary and heard the Lords words, you'd have heard those very words.
Eli Illa Y Lamothe So back from my.
Think of the degradation to which the Lord was brought. You can't think of anything more lowly, something you you're as repulsive to your word and no man.
So he goes on all day that see me laugh me to scorn. They shoot out the lip, They shake the head, saying he trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. He delighted in him.
Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
You know, the Lord Jesus was a real man.
Just as much a man as anyone here in this company.
Although he was also divine, yet he was a real man and he had the feelings of a man. You know how we feel reports and people insult us. Oh, the Lord had those tender feelings and feelings that were not marred or hardened.
By the sins that so often take away the refinement and general notes that belongs to even creatures. Oh, how the Lord felt the insults that were heaped upon him there as he was hanging on that shameful cross. They've taken his clothes off of him, stripped him, and then nailed him to that shameful cross of Calvary.
And isn't it remarkable? If you read in the 27th of Matthew, you'll find that those Jews, the high priests and the elders were coating right from this Psalm. They heard the psalms read in the synagogues every Sabbath. They'd heard these words, and so they just used them. What an awful thing it is, friends, to hear the word of God until you're familiar with it. And then?
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Have that word has no power over your soul. Oh, what an awful condition. May God preserve us from ever getting into that state where we're hardened so that God's word doesn't affect our consciences anymore.
That's the state that these high priests and elders were in at this time.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb, thou didst make me.
To hope when I was upon my mother's breast. Isn't that touching? The Lord's dependence? From his infancy, from a little babe he was trusting in his father. All through the pathway down here. Now he's reminding his father and those solemn hours.
Of what he had meant to him and all the experiences he's had as man.
Through in this seed. So he says in verse 11, Be not far from me.
Where trouble is near, for there is none to help me, many bulls have compassed me. Strong bulls of basin have beset me. They gapped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I'm poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax that is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potchard, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.
And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
They say that this is one of the most graphic descriptions.
That could be written of the crucifixion.
The crucifixion was one of the cruelest inventions that man ever contrived to put a victim to death, to think of being hung up.
And just die of weakness and exhaustion, tortured by those those wounds, those wounds in the hands and the feet.
He speaks of his bones being out of joint. Course, you know, if you were hung by your hands, how soon your arm sockets would release and your arms would be out of joint. Oh, that's what the Lord endured. Stop and think how much He loves you, dear friends.
You dear young people, think how much he loves you, that he would suffer all that for your sake.
In order that he might have your company, that he might have you in his blessed presence.
Then he speaks of my strength is dried up like a potured. My tongue cleathers to my jaws. They say that the torture of crucifixion.
The first is one of the most severe.
Experiences. The crucified have his tongue cleaving to his jaws. What did they give him?
Lord refuse the.
The wine mingled with Gall. That was a stupefying draft. You wouldn't have that, but to fulfill the scripture at the end, he said. I first.
What did they give him? He took a sponge and filled it with vinegar. You know how vinegar hurts? A poor sore mouth.
All the cruelty, all the human heart, beloved friends, man showed his enmity as he has never shown it at any time or in any way against the blessed Son of God. And following it is to think there's a description of your heart and mind apart from the grace of God.
For the time was when we would have said away with him to be anything away with him tonight.
As he looks into your face with love and tenderness, are you saying no to the blessed Lord Jesus?
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Or are they any here that are still in their sins without Christ? Are there any here that have just been?
Making a false profession that you yourself know is not real.
May God awaken you to all your real condition.
As lost in his presence.
So, he says, for dogs have compassed me.
The assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones. They look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord.
All my strength hastily delivered me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling, from the power of the dogs, Save me from the lion's mouth.
There is where the Psalm reaches the very climax of the description.
Of the Lord's suffering there across, for then the next thing we have.
For thou hast heard me from the horns of the Unicorn.
Thus, resurrection.
You know the Lord Jesus.
Ere he bowed his head in death he uttered these 3 words.
It is finished.
Oh, how wonderful, how important to lay hold of the truth, that the whole atoning work that will save your soul and fit you for glory was all accomplished.
During those three hours of darkness, every sin was born with full judgment of God was endured. During those hours the work was all accomplished there. That puts your sins forever out of the present of God. The trends he came to down. And so in order that the work might be complete, he must go into.
The varied death that healed man in its chains, only to break up his power, and to rise triumphant beyond it and.
Friends, that one who died, as it tells us for our sins and was buried, was raised again by the glory of the Father.
So we get in the end of the fourth woman that he was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. You see, you could never be justified apart from the resurrection.
Of the Lord Jesus.
Suppose he was still in the grave.
Would we have any assurance that our sins were put away? None at all.
Or if God had left his son in that tomb, it would have been as it were to as much as to say I'm not satisfied with that work.
It wasn't complete.
But when he raised him from the dead, it was a full guarantee that God was infinitely satisfied with the work of his beloved Son and beloved friends. That one who was there suffering for your sins on the crawl is now seated, crowned with glory and honor at God's right hand, a Prince and a savior, as Peter tells those to whom he was preaching.
And the second chapter of Acts.
And when you have time, look into that chapter and see how wonderfully Peter brings the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Before those Jews.
We'll just read perhaps one verse.
In that chapter.
Peter's address on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit had come down.
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And we read this in the 32nd verse, this Jesus.
If God raised up, whereof where all our witnesses, therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost.
He has shed forth this which he now see and hear.
A lot of the Holy Spirit of God has come down from that glorified man to tell that God is offering salvation to any Sinner of Adam's race who will accept him.
Oh, how wonderful that we have the Spirit of God witnessing to the worth, to the work, and to the exaltation.
Of the Savior. Now we might just look a little farther in the book of Acts.
And the 4th chapter where?
The apostles are brought up before the Sanhedrin.
And here's what Peter says. And Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost on this occasion.
He says, Be it known unto you, all, unto all the people of Israel.
That by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you hold This is the stone which was set at north of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation than any other, or there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Oh, wonderful, that there is a living favor.
Oh, it isn't trusting in a dead Christ. It's trusting in that man and the glory of beloved friends. He has accomplished the work, he's finished the work, and he's there on high now as a Prince and a savior to all who will receive him by faith and if you have never received him.
As your savior, as we were just singing in our little hymn.
Receiving this moment, and peace shall be thine.
So in our 22nd verse, 22nd Psalm.
As soon as the Lord is heard and there is His resurrection.
We get I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Well, we see that fulfilled. And the Lord appearing in the little group in the upper room there in Jerusalem, standing in their midst, showing them his pierced hands and his pierced inside, and saying, peace be unto you, Oh, how wonderful that we had the very same experience this morning together.
Wasn't it lovely, That table with that white cloth and that two bread, that loaf, that cup, all Speaking of the death, that blessed one. Beloved friends, as we gather together, there was a divine person came into our midst. Just as he came into the midst of that company, though, he came into the midst.
Of that company, and had there been only two or three, he would have been there just the same. Beloved Prince. He doesn't require several 100 as we saw this morning.
For he says, Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I.
In the midst of them now I want to take up the other subject in the 51St Psalm and remember they're bowls written by by David.
You'll notice that there is some.
Something in fine print above the song and we might understand that when you see this fine print above the Psalm, it's it's inspired, you know it's it's to be as much depended on as what's is in the Psalm itself. It says to the chief musician, the son of David when Nathan the Prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bathsheba.
00:40:28
That tells the occasion of the writing of this song.
It was after Nathan came to David, you know, and told him of the touching story of the little you lamb.
And when David was angry with the man said he should be put to death.
Prophet singled him out, and he says, And thou art the man.
Friend, God is singling any Sinner that's still out of Christ here, and this message is coming, and just with fame, solemn way today.
While art commands, they are not ascend the same way. David Sin. But you're a Sinner and God singles you out from all the mass of this world.
He says. You're the man.
And I have to say too.
I read a story of.
Servant of Christ.
Who was giving away tracks one day and he walked into a saloon.
And was handing out tracks.
Oh, men that were drinking at the bar.
One man in the company took advantage of his presence to make fun of of the Christian faith and of the Bible.
And he began to tell, in a very offensive way, about David's sin.
This serves of the Lord, listen, he said. You seem to have read.
About David's sin, he said. Did you ever read of David's repentance?
He had to confess. He never had, he says. Now you go home and read the.
51St Psalm. And so he did. He went home and read the 51St song.
It brought him under such conviction of sin that he a poor, miserable Sinner like David.
Needed repentance and getting right with God that this man got saved.
So he begins this Psalm. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sins.
For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me a friend of theirs, repentance.
And I might say this, that in view of the fact that it was a child of God.
Who was expressing his?
Deep repentance for his sins.
That the repentance of a lost Sinner and the repentance of a child of God out of communion who has sinned against the Lord is very similar.
Of course we know that the thief by the Savior's side. It was the beginning of a work in his soul that had never been wrought before, because only a short time before his his conviction.
He had joined in with the other thief and mocked the Lord.
But when he said, we indeed.
We indeed justly, for we receive a due reward of our sins.
There was true repentance, and, as has often been said, that repentance is taking sides with God against yourself.
00:45:00
And if you're a child of God and you've failed, dishonored the Lord.
Allowed the old nature to lead you into some sinful thing. If you're covering it up and think that you can hide it, you'll never be right in your soul until The thing is thoroughly judged and confessed in his presence.
I believe this is a true statement that repentance is not just a work that is accomplished in the soul once and forever. It's a state of soul that continues from the time of Sinner, like the thief judges himself in the presence of God as long as he has the old nature and is in this scene.
Is spoken of in this way, repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is, the longer we go on with the Lord in our souls, the more we're going to discover what poor, unworthy, helpless things we are in ourselves. And as we discover that, that we can't trust ourselves on any occasion.
The more we're going to learn of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, for they both work harmoniously together, learning of what we earn ourselves and our beloved of our dear brother, Eric Smith, so often says, keep short of counsel. God, when you have failed, get right before the Lord and own and confess the whole thing in His presence.
And get restored in your soul for heal, soul wailing and soul ready to forgive and to restore.
Those that are out of the way.
Now notice what you read next.
He says, against thee, and thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
When thou that thou mightest, be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judges.
Now there he is.
Not getting merely right with man, I've done something wrong to a neighbor and go to him and confess my mistake, but this is getting right with God.
You find the same language in the mouth of the prodigal. When he came back from the far country, what did he say? First to his father? He says, I have sinned against heaven, not against thee first and in thy sight. Now there's the way the Spirit of God works, conviction in the soul to realize what is the fact that one has sinned against God.
That's just where David is brought in this.
Against thee and thee only have I sinned.
And done this evil. Then he says that thou mightest be justified.
That's the only thing we God can be justified. The only way we can be right with God is when The thing is thoroughly judged in His presence, and that thou mightest be clear when thou judge.
Isn't it wonderful, the lovers, that we can pay all so often and so badly? And yet when we are thoroughly humbled ourselves and the Lord's presence, we can be happy in the enjoyment of His love again.
Let's enjoy that communion. Let's be careful that nothing breaks that communion or it's the most precious.
Position that we have in this life.
Then he says, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity.
And in sin did my mother concede me.
You see, he just owns what he is.
As a fallen creature.
And that's true of us all. We were born with a sinful nature.
All that corruption is within. There's no exception. For all of sinned and come short of the glory of God, we all are born with that sinful nature and beloved. It's only the grace of God that keeps us from judging it and keeping it from taking its full and awful course.
00:50:25
Oh, what a nature we have as sinners in this world.
With all we have the grace of God.
Along with all that which is corrupt, as he speaks of here, we have the grace of God to keep us from falling, and as Jude tells us, to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
Then he goes on without desires, truth in the inward parts and in the hidden parts.
Thou shalt make me no wisdom. God must have reality.
If anything is hidden in our lives, God can't be satisfied until The thing is fairly out and judged.
Things cannot be right. And David realized that as he penned these words.
Then he says, purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. David couldn't tell you what I can tell.
These dear ones present here tonight, that is the blood of Jesus Christ.
His son that cleanses us from all sins. Remember a poor man down in Kentucky named Cal Blackburn?
And for years I had spoken to that man about his soul, and he told me he knew he was the lost Sinner.
One night he heard the gospel. He went home very much disturbed.
Another brother and I went to see him the next day. He told us he couldn't sleep that night.
Thinking of what he'd heard the night before.
I've had.
We called him Uncle Carol. I said, Uncle Carol, what is it the reason why you haven't accepted the Lord? Well, he says, I'll tell you.
He says I'm a terrible man to swear and he says I've been trying for years to break myself with a habit. But he says when anything goes wrong, swear I will.
He says. I've decided that there's no use, that I'm going to hell and I can't help it.
Well, I said. Uncle Carol, you've been trying all these years to do something in your own strength.
For you, just stop trying and see what the Lord can do for you. You never thought of that. We didn't know what effect it had on him until we went to the 10th meeting that night and we saw him outside the tent with a bunch of his old cronies around him. He's pointing his old crooked finger in the air and he said, men, it's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sins. The next time I talk to him, I ask him, oh, what about the swearing?
Well, he says we'll never think of that. And his wife said he was going around quoting scripture.
As he went about at his work.
For friends, when you just yield yourself to the loving words and the precious desire of that blessed thing, what can he not do for your soul?
So, he says.
I'll have to pass over.
Some of this in the farm, beautiful as it is, he says, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Notice he doesn't say restore.
Thy salvation.
He says, Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
And if you're a child of God out of communion, you don't have to get saved over again.
But you have lost the joy of that in your soul, and what you need is to have the joy restored again.
Then he says in the 13th verse, Then will I teach transgressors, Thy ways and sinners shall be converted to thee.
00:55:05
Isn't it wonderful that God can use a man like David? And he's using him here tonight, isn't he? He's speaking right to your souls here tonight. How many have been converted through David's words that he has written? There'll be many in heaven, Friends. What a testimony it'll be. But why will it be a testimony? Because he humbled himself and fully owned his guilt and got right with God. And then sinners could be converted to God.
And if we're covering anything up in our lives, God will have to deal with us.
Until that thing is judged, God cannot go on with one who is going on.
Were things that have not been judged.
So he says in the 16th verse, For thou desirous not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifice of God are a broken spirit, a broken, and a contrite heart, O God.
Will thou not Will thou not despise?
You know, there are some people that think if they if they give God a big gift of some kind that that will satisfy them. I was talking to a man in Chatham one day and he owes the Lord's name almost every word he said. He took the Lord's name in thee.
Finally, I said to Mr. Humphries, did you ever read that God will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain? Oh, he says, I know that. And he says I oughtn't to talk this way. But he says you needn't be worried about me. He said. When the Park Street church had a mortgage against it, he said I helped to lift that mortgage. He says I'm all right.
Haven't had an awful deception.
Think of a Sinner thinking that he's going to buy his way to heaven.
The sacrifice of God are broken in a contrite spirit.
Or we can't humble ourselves enough in His presence. What happiness and blessing there is. And there is that breaking down instead of resisting, instead of letting our own wills control, just breaking down and holding and getting in His presence and getting fully restored in the soul. Now here's something rather remarkable at the end of the song.
From the 19 verse, then shall thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings? Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar, you might say. Well, I thought he said that God wasn't pleased with burnt offerings, and here he tells us.
That God is pleased with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings, then shalt thou be pleased? Looks like.
The Scripture contradicted itself, doesn't it?
Why is that?
Poor friends. It's just this, if you're presenting anything to God and covering up something in your life.
God doesn't want that. But if it's thoroughly judged, if you got to the very root of things.
Or then you can come with the very thing that he would reject and refuse before you can come with whole burnt offerings. And the marvelous beautiful thing here is that the very largest sacrifices that are mentioned are the forest. Whole burnt offerings they shall offer bullocks. You see, the Bullock was the largest of all the offerings.
For beloved, what a privilege to be among those.
Who offer the sacrifice of praises, Hebrews 13 tells us, giving thanks to his name. There's no higher service than that. And if we want to give God the highest service that he has for man, both now and for eternity, yet right with the Lord and your soul, and if one is here out of Christ.
01:00:04
Friend, the Lord is inviting you to come to this loving Savior whose death we have had brought before us.
There'll certainly sing #15 all blessed gospel sound, yet there is room it tells to all around. Yet there is room The guilt they may draw near, though, while they need not fear.
With joy they now may hear, and yet there is room.
Oh, Blessed said, lost full soul.
Yes.
Yeah.
I would not be.
Able to.
Yeah, I remember.
Right, everything I've done.
Yeah.
Oh.
Now I'm going.
To let mercy.
John 20, 21
Address—E. Wakefield
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.
Detroit, November 1967. Address by Amy Wakefield.
And string together #317.
317 How pleasant is the sound of praise? Well become some of the sense of God we refuse our songs to raise the stones might tell our shame abroad. For him who watched us in his blood. Let us our sweetest songs prepare. He saw us wandering far from God.
And now preserves us by his care 317.
In blood.
On our laundry.
Far from?
God and now.
Go and go to.
The landing virtual.
Of this flood.
Nature.
On the throne.
Lord, we are the Lord.
They are here to play down.
To may we need.
And have enough.
Above to sing like praises.
00:05:00
And the sky.
The 20th chapter of the Gospel by John.
The 19th verse.
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and sit in the midst, and step onto them, Peace be unto you. When he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord.
Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you.
As my Father has sent me, Even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them. And seven of them, received ye the Holy Ghost, Whosoever sins, you remit their remittance unto them, and whosoever sins you retain, they are retained.
The promise one of the 12 Thousandths was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord, but he said to them, except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails. Put my finger into the print of the nails, and front of my hand into the side I will not believe. And after eight days again.
And after eight days again as disciples were within, and Thomas with them, then came Jesus, The door has been shut, and sit in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you, Then said he to Thomas, Reach, Hit her thy finger, And behold, my hands, and reach hit her thy hand, and thrust into the might side, and be not faceless but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him.
My Lord and my God.
Jesus said unto him, Thomas, Because I have seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus and the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that's believing. You might have life through his name.
So we read at the present time we like to bring before us and these and this chapter, and in the next chapter we believe that the present day and the future, as as we have found other scriptures in the word of God. Now it's nice to notice in this wonderful 19th verse, I'm sure that each one of us here who are gathered to the Lord's name can quote this verse up by heart. Read in the Lord's Day Morning many times and I believe.
First of all, we have at least seven things said in this verse. First of all, we have the first day of the week.
Then we have the doors were shut, and third were the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.
Then the 4th and the 5th came. Jesus the 6th stood in the midst, and the 7th and seven of them, peace be until at least seven things I believe we can find in that wonderful verse, the 19th verse. So let us grant the Lord will bless us as we meditate on these scriptures. First of all, he knows it was evening. It was the first day of the week says here the same day at evening being the first day of the week.
That is to say, with a resurrection day. It was the first day of the week, the resurrection day, the day that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. Now this is one of the great fundamental truths of the Word of God, a truth of the devil hates and the devil is attacking. Today we know the modernist preachers say that Jesus Christ, they use that name and that without the Lord on us, they say that Jesus Christ.
Only Rose in his spirit.
Is in the brave. Well, thank God that in the 20th century that you and I, by the grace of God, believe that Jesus came out of the grave as a man, and his body, His body did not see corruption.
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The death could not hold the Blessed Lord, and He came forth in resurrection power over the 1St. And then it says the first day of the week. Now we know something else about this. It says when the doors were shut.
Well, this is very important. This is today that the doors be shut. That tells us why. Here the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. Well, isn't it nice that tonight and today by the grace of God, and I say this again, when the truth is being attacked all around us, the doors can be kept shut for fear of the Jews. Well, might be a fear those who would bring in a different thing was in Christ.
Some people, we speak respectfully. There's some people that Christ doesn't satisfy. They must have something else if they can get something else, maybe an organ or a piano or a band or something to attract the flesh, something to bring the crowds in. All of this, I believe, would remind us of the Jews so that they they fear the the fear of the Jews. We know that the reason they feared them was because of the hatred against Christ.
But I believe there is a principle in this verse for fear of the Jews and well made we of fear the Jews and fear those he will bring in innovation to try to make the truth attractive to get in the crowd. It's very easy to get crowds and if you have something to attract the flesh, but when it's only the Lord Jesus that then you'll find that those who belong to Christ will gather around his blessed person.
And so here it says the doors were shut for fear that you is now. I'm sure that the older brother in here who gone on and the truth longer than I have to look back 35 years or 45 years ago, and I can see a a declension coming in among those who are gathered to the Lord's mind. Things are slipping behind. The doors are gradually being left open, and things are being brought in. Things are being brought in their juice into our assemblies. I remember our brother Harry Hale.
I said at a care meeting, my brother sit around the room and discuss things and sometimes some young person who is very enthusiastic will say, if only we could do this, if we can introduce this into the meeting, it would give us more life and more prep. Our singing would be happier. We have more life in our singing and I remember our brother, Hale said to me. If you watch every brother in the room, but when that statement is made, go get the state of soil of every brother present.
You'll find exactly how these brothers stand and their attitude toward this new thing.
Being under juice. Well, isn't it nice that we can keep the door shut where the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. Once there's these two wonderful words came Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? Jesus came there, there he was. And he didn't come into the doors into I speak reverently. He didn't have to have the door open. Doors were shut. But Jesus came in his resurrection body doors didn't stop that body emptying renting into that room came Jesus.
Where did he stand?
He said wherever, where, where Jesus always stands when his people are together, He sit in the midst. That's where he was in the midst He was in the midst of Calvary, there were the three crosses, and Jesus was in the midst. And here again He's in the midst. In a Revelation chapter 5, He's in the midst whatever the Lord people are and including with the cross. When Jesus hung on the cross, he had the middle place. And we know that these two thieves represent the whole world.
We know that on the one side representing those who are lost and the other side representing those that are saved. But Jesus was in the midst, and here he is came Jesus and stood in the midst. I think this must have been a wonderful moment. I would love to have been there and seeing the faith of Peter as his beloved Lord came and stood in the midst, and John, the one who wrote this gospel of who we know.
Presents to us through the Spirit of God. He presents the one whoever dwells in the bosom of his Father. This is wonderful because on the 13th chapter of John we find the writer of this gospel himself. Where is he dwelling? He's dwelling in the bosom of the sun. His head is laid on the bosom of Jesus. He was the only one of all the disciples and all the apostles. He was the only one we read of.
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Who lay his head on Jesus Buddhism. It isn't remarkable that he's the only one who apparently referred to himself as the disciples whom Jesus loved. Now he rested in the Lords bosom and there in the Lords bosom he recognized and realized the love that Christ had formed and saw. The beloved old apostle says every time he writes about himself he says the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now I'm glad.
We've heard that, I'm sure many times before. Ever the birds repeating. I'm glad he doesn't say the apostle whom Jesus loves. Because I would leave you and me out. We've enjoyed the thought. If you want to see the disciple whom Jesus loves tonight, would you like to be able to see the recycling? Jesus Lord, while we can, We can look at the looking glass now as you look in the mirror tonight before we go to our beds, we can say there is a disciple whom Jesus loves. I'm one of the disciples whom Jesus loves, and you are too.
Isn't it wonderful to see the beloved old apostle later on in his life? His game brings before us who Jesus was, the true God, and everything else, he says at the end of the epistles. Everything else was an idol. Little children, keep yourself, he says from idols. Isn't that wonderful? This beloved disciple was here among this crowd. This little number were in this who were together in this room when Jesus came and sit in the midst.
And he said to them, Peace be unto you, what a wonderful thing it is, that as believers in the Lord Jesus and this poor, troubled, broken, sin, cursed earth.
We can have peace tonight, all we were to go through this great country and other countries.
And really ask people, have you got peace? They say to us, how could we have peace? How is it possible to have peace in this world? Everything is upside down. The whole thing is flaps in all around us. How could we have peace? I think the wonderful we can hear the blessed day of your say peace be unto you. Well on the next verse he gives them the ground of the peace affairs. In the 20th, 1St, when he had so sad he showed them his hands.
And his side, How can we have peace? All of those hands, those hands bear the marks.
As a males there were pierced into the cross that show he was first of all.
A rejected Christ. Now, beloved, there are young people here tonight. I wonder if you realize that you and I belong to tonight, not to a popular Christ. The Christ of the Bible is not popular. He's a rejected Christ. His hands with a male friend show he was rejected. Well, here's something else. Instead, He showed them his side.
All from there, from that side flow that precious blood a six of the of Atonement. The Lord Jesus not only showed his hands, he was rejected.
The shortest side that he had made-up an atonement for it by that precious blood that he shed on the cross.
Now in the gospel loop, the Lord also showed His disciples his feet. I like to think that the reason He showed his feet in the gospel of Roof was because there is a perfect man, the sinless man, the only seat that ever walked this world by, a man who was sinless. Everybody else whose feet are touched this earth were sinners. Every one of us, every one of them. Adam's day. But here was 1 exception.
And the Lord Jesus had so those feet, those feet that walk to the glory of God from the Manger exactly under the cross of Calvary.
He showed his disciples His blessed feet well again, he says in the 21St verse.
Peace be unto you. Here is a message of peace as my father has sent me. Even so, Sendai, you and I have got the knowledge of a living Christ. Peace behind you we can proclaim. Peace. Peace to men and women. Peace in the United States. Peace in Canada. We can stand this glorious message. Peace as my father has sent me.
All when his father sent him, he came willingly into this world to proclaim the wonderful message that God so loved the world.
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But he gave his only the God and Son. So here he says to the strikeful, peace be unto you as my Father has sent me. Even so Sendai, you this refers every one of us. I believe each one of us can say the Lord has sent me. We're sent into the world. You and I are sent into this world to proclaim the wonderful message of peace. Peace be unto you.
Well, I like to skip down now to the 24th verse.
No, I like to think of the disciples. And they went home that day.
I wanted to tell that the promise wasn't there, and I know this is a picture of dispensational truth, but I'd like to apply it to ourselves. I'm like in connection with this verse when these disciples went home in verse 24 that they said 5 words. Isn't it wonderful? The apostle says I'd rather speak 5 words in a known tongue and 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. Just 5 words.
We have seen the Lord. This is this is instruction. God I speak reverently, didn't put it in his word this way just to fill the space. I speak reverently. He had a He had some reason why he says these 5 words. We have seen the Lord.
Oh, how many Saints of God would be restored? How many Saints of God would be brought back to us if we talk to them like that? We scroll people, we put them under law. We say you should be at the meeting. Well, they can say I didn't want to go, but these disciples didn't go home and say, Thomas, why did you stay home? Why did you miss this occasion? Why the Lord Jesus? Is this risen from the bed? You should have been there. I think that would have got Thomas angry.
But they said we have seen the Lord or the Lord is a morning. Can we go home and say to some brother or sister who maybe slept in and missed some meetings and we go home with our faces rating and say we have seen the Lord. Why the next week Thomas was there. There was nothing to keep him away. Why? Because he had a heart for Christ. I read recently where this man I believe like Peter of all he when he came to die he was crucified upside down. This is Peter asked to be crucified, This man Thomas.
I read someplace where he too has been crucified why he loved the Lord and this message we have seen the Lord brought him, brought him to the meeting. When we come on the Lords day morning, do we realize we're not coming to meet each other? We're not coming just to hold a service. We're not coming just because the Lords day. We're going to meet a person. We're going to meet the Lord. We have seen the Lord well.
Next, first Thomas says rather in the 25th verse, except I shall see in his hand I hear the picture, we believe of Israel at the present time, he said. Except I shall see in his hands a friend of the nail, to put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe, the Jew will never believe until he sees. He must see.
The Christianity is faith.
But here are these, this man says. I won't believe it unless I can actually see.
Well, the Lord doesn't disappoint them. A Lord never disappoints us people. When they come he reveals himself to them. So again it says in the 26th, 1St after 8 days.
Again the disciples who were then and Thomas with them then came Jesus. Notice now the doors were shut. Doesn't say for fear of the Jews. Well, I believe this is a picture visitor of the little picture, a little piles of Israel.
Leaves out the words of the 19th verse for a fear of the Jews and he says, Then came Jesus.
The same blessed person, the door has been shut and sit in the midst and said, peace be unto you that isn't this wonderful how the Lord treated this man. Here's a wonderful sight. And the Apostle Thomas singled out.
All these men in this little group there he singled him out and he says Thomas he knew all about. He had heard what Thomas said. And he takes Thomas up on that very ground. He says, Thomas reach, hit her. So I finger and behold my hands. I reach, hit her thy hand, thrust it into my side, and be not faithless of believing, believing. I know this is the next first. Thomas didn't do that, on the other hand, he said, My Lord.
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And my God, well, it's very beautiful, the picture of Israel receiving the blessed Lord Jesus on a future day if it looks back in Zachary Ryan.
Chapter 13.
Zechariah, chapter 13. Let's read the last verse of the chapter.
And I will bring the third part through the fire and refine them, the servers refined, And we'll try them as gold as tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say it is my people, and they shall say the Lord is my God. A future day. Here, Thomas and Titus, there's a very sad thing, he says. My Lord and my God.
And this is a wonderful verse again for today because.
We meet people who say the Lord Jesus was not God. They say he was only the Son of God. It's a creature that that God created. The first, the creation, They tell. They come to the ground, the doors, you know, if they're awake, papers.
Well, in notice the Lord didn't rebuke Thomas for saying that my Lord and my God, he accepted that he was God. There he was my Lord and my God. He didn't say, Thomas, I'm not sure God true on your Lord, but don't call me God.
No, if you took that position, he was the one on human form. The man, the risen man. He was a great Jehovah of the Old Testament, my Lord and my God. Now the Lord says it when the 29th 1St Thomas. It caused our esteem, made our house believe. That's Israel.
Now here's the rest of the verse which I believe refers to you and to me tonight, Black that are they that have not seen and yet a boy is not wonderful. Happier those happy are they will not see you and I have never seen the Lord. If we believe in them, we we trust them. We know he's our Savior. We know he's our Lord. We know he's our God. And so we're blessed that we're happy we should be happy. Blessed are they that have not seen.
And yet I believe now in the next verse, I believe in the first part. We have Israel again. Many other signs truly that Jesus and the presence of his disciples are not written in this book. Israel must have signs. There's no sign for the Christian. So the last verse of our chapter says these are written.
That she might believe that Jesus is the Christ, you and I.
Gentiles and this day of grace are saved by faith. We believe in a person we've never seen.
What do we believe? We believe that which is written. We believe the word of God, but these are written that he might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that's believing you might have life to his name. I'm on the 21St chapter. If you didn't take time to read, let's go by the verses to save time. We have a Millennium scene of future glory, and the chapter goes on.
And pauses After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples of the sea of Tiberias. And this wise he showed he himself. They were together. Simon Peter and Thomas called Didamus and Nathaniel of Cana and Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples, Simon Peter said, With them I go efficient, they say, and we also go with thee. Now Thomas was a leader.
All those young men here tonight, I suppose some of these young men are leaders.
But there will be in a future day, if the Lord doesn't come, there will be leaders among the assembly of dry water. Responsible position. Thomas was, I mean, Peter was a leader, no doubt of these disciples. None of what happens, he says I grow a fish in the Lord had told him to tarry at Jerusalem. But he says I go official knows what happened. When he said that, the others said we also were whiskey.
Over there, a young brother at night in this room, that's a leader.
Among the Saints of God, well, how are you going to influence the younger people, the younger?
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Man, you know, young brothers, these younger people look up with us, look up to us. We do that. I'm I'm sure we do a certain man that we we love and respect and we see them. We even see the way they dress, the way they talk and some maybe it's not wise. All of the sometimes we do imitate these men. I've heard of an older brother and admit they have found those imitating.
And God's outstanding servants, well, these younger brothers look at you and they they they say, where is this brother in the firm making night. He doesn't go. Why should I go? He doesn't go to the Bible reading. Why should I go? He doesn't. He's an older man. He's a leader among us. He doesn't go. So I'm not going to go either. Oh, we have to set an example. And so Peter said I go a fishing and the other said we also go with the.
Well, notice what happened.
They went forth and entered into a ship. Immediately there was number. Prayer was there. He didn't say. Now look, look, brethren, we're going to go fishing. Let's get down on our knees and we'll pray. We'll ask the Lord to go with us. We're not going to take care of us through the night. Maybe there'll be a storm come up and we'll be. We'll be erected sea.
No, they went immediately, immediately. You know, it says there to believe shall not make haste. I'm sure that each one of us must confess we made mistakes because we've acted immediately without singing A-frame, maybe some little small thing in our life and we stay in. At least if we don't say it openly, we say it in our hearts. I don't need the Lord in this. This is only a small detail in my life. I can do it. Look after this myself.
But they went forth immediately and God says, and that's might they cost nothing all night long, they have fish and they caught nothing. And anybody that's been a fisherman in his life will know how disappointing that is, the growth and spend hours trying to fish and come home with nothing.
Humiliating. It is, and it makes you hang your head when people say to catch any fish, No.
I got up at 4:00 this morning. I'm back here at 10:00. I thought nothing. All these men caught nothing. And this little lesson for each one of us and this. And if we don't go before the Lord and pray about these details in our lives, why we'll have we'll be barren. We'll catch nothing.
Well, the Lord is faithful and fitting the force that when the morning was now come, Jesus stood.
On the shore, Oh, I think that's a wonderful word. Jesus stood on the shore. He was separate from all the water.
He stood on the shore. He was on the place and on a solid foundation. He was set on the ground. There he was. While these men were in this tough water and have been tossed to and fro by the waters, Jesus stood on the shore in perfect peace. Jesus sit on the shore and he calls out. And the fifth verse, children.
Have you any meat? They answered him. No, no, no, the second chapter of this gospel.
There's no wine. There's no wine. They have no wine. Here in the end of the end of the book of John Gospel, they have no meat, no meat, no wine. Christ was able to supply the wine, and now Christ is able to fly the meat and all sufficient Savior the beginning, He was able to supply the wine. At the end of the gospel of the risen Christ, he was able to supply the meat. But notice they didn't even have the courtesy to say no Sir.
They just set up a cold. No. Isn't that true of us? When we get away from the Lord, we get cold, cold towards each other. Cold awards the Lord hold towards our brethren. And maybe we we don't speak respectfully. We don't even speak politely. We just have a cold. No people ask us. Won't you come to supper? We don't want to go, so we just say no. Maybe we don't even say thank you, These men.
That said, a coal, No, but the Lord is gracious, isn't he? And the sixth verse he says cast the met on the right side of the ship and ye shall find all. Now they have a Commission from the Christ of God. Now the Lord get into their fishing, cast the net on the right side of the ship. Why didn't they pray before they left and got the message from the Lord passing that on the right side of the ship? Are you and I catching souls? Maybe we're friction on the wrong side of the ship. Maybe we haven't prayed.
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Maybe we've missed the Lord's mind. Maybe we've been talking more than praying more. You know, I like to think there's an old book I I read on the life of Billy Sunday, the old evangelist now with the Lord. And this is what he said among one of his good statements that I like. He said what? I'm going to preach a sermon for 30 minutes. I always make sure I pray for 30 minutes before I speak for 30 minutes.
Well, talk with his wife and I believe it's a very important thing if we just talk.
And they'll pray why our words will have no power and no weight.
And four of these men now they obey this person who sit on the shore, that says in the end of the sixth verse they cast there for him. Now they were not able to draw for the motor chute of fishes. What a remarkable humorate, an experience for men who are professional fishermen. Why they had fixed all night and caught nothing. And now they put their nuts on the other side of the ship, and they can't even they get they got a great catch of fish.
What a remarkable thing. Oh, the Lord of the sea was on the shore. The maker of the fish sit on the the maker of these fish and sell stood on the shore. And he commanded these fish. This is Peter went down and went into the water that day with the hook, and pulled up a fish and took a piece of money out of its mouth. Now the Lord of the sea speaks, and the fish come together.
They all come together into the net. Well, what happens?
At first they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that defightful whom Jesus loved hit on the theater. It is the Lord. I don't know if it was John who said this. Why did John say that? Because I believe that John was the one who was living the closest of the Lord. The one who would lay was laying in the Lord's Buddhism near his great heart. He was the one who said it is the Lord.
I just imagine I'm saying the Peter Peters Lord it is the Lord now on fire. Peter heard that is the Lord. He gird his fissures coat under him. He was nagging to cast himself into the street. Well you know we read it. I think it's a marked off for Luke. I I think it's Mark. We'll find the Jesus that met Peter. The Lord has met Peter and I love to think I would have loved to have been there.
Seeing the blessed Savior as he met Peter, Peter denied him was Olson curses three times. There he meets his risen Lord. All about the transpired in those few moments as the Blessed Lord Jesus mess is beloved Peter. All what touch and seems it must have been as as a Lord stood face to face with Simon Peter. All Peter loved the Lord, people say sometimes. Poor Peter.
But all I would to God, I had Peter's heart.
Peter loves the Lord Jesus with a real deep true love. He doesn't realize his own heart. He didn't realize his own weakness. But all he can never can take anything away from Peter when it comes to love and devotion for Christ, well, isn't a nice hair. Peter cast himself into the sea. He said this bull can't go fast enough. I'll get to shore myself. I thought it was a powerful swimmer. And there he went.
He headed for the shore. Why? Why is it head for the shore? Because on the shore stood the dearest objects of his heart, the dearest object of his heart's affection sit on the shore. And Peter couldn't get to him fast enough. Oh, beloved brother and I speak for myself, for each one of us tonight. Is it true that as Jesus stands on the shore, the shore on the other side of life, the other side of eternity, as it were?
Do you and I look with gays, and eyes, with adoration, with hearts full of joy and praise the better shore, and see Jesus waiting there? Well, this is wonderful and blessed to see this well. The 8th, 1St and the other disciples came a little ship, so they were not far from the land, dragging the net with fishes. As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there.
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And fish laid their own and bred.
Well, I like to think of Peter as he got near the shore and his eyes saw the fire of coals. Oh, surely his mind went back to the pirate judgment hall, where he stood by the fire foals and warm themselves. There was Peter again, face to face with a fire of cold, But here there was fish laid there on and bread.
Why? They had their own fish, but the Lord had everything ready for them. He had reserved everything. Everything was ready.
And beloved brethren, when we get to glory, everything is going to be ready. The Lord can have everything ready when we get there. Everything was ready. The fish was there. The coal of fire was there. I suppose they were cold, these men from the water and from the winds. But there was a Lord. He had this fire of coals there. Oh, how Christ warms our hearts. How the Lord Jesus would warm your heart. And warm my heart.
And there he has this fish and this bread ready for these men.
And it's nice in the pen for us, Jesus said to them, bringing the fish which ye have now caught.
I think this is beautiful because in all these men should have said. But we didn't catch these fish. We had fished all night and caught nothing. You were the one who led the fish to the next. We didn't catch them. You were the one who caught these fish again. All when we get home to glory.
And these precious souls of God has allowed you and me, maybe with a gospel tractor, maybe preaching the gospel in private conversations.
Some Ford center is some of the Lord Jesus. Through our weak ministry, our weak testimony, the Lord has touched their hearts. The Lord has called that poor Sinner out of darkness into his marvelous light. The Lord has saved that song. But he's going to say to you and I bring out the fish with ye have now caught. It gives credit. He's going to give a reward for everything we've done for him. Bring out the fish which he have now caught. Doesn't this show us what kind of a gracious Lord you and I belong to? How gracious.
Help crying how loving even though he was slated, even though they just said. When he said any meat, they just said a cold no and seeded them with courtesy and kindness and love and affection. Everything was ready when they got to the shore well.
It says that 11. The first Simon Peter went up and he will let the land full of great fishes and 153.
My God had all the fishes, counters 153 and I understand at this time.
There were 153 languages or dialects on the Earth 153.
Well, it reminds us of a lot of adverse in Revelation Chapter 7.
Connection with the Gentiles and brought him to bless him in the future day.
Revelation Chapter 7, verse 9. After this I beheld and loyal Great Mother. She was no mansive number of all nations and kindred and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb throws a white robes and palms in their hands. Well, isn't this a triumph for the grace of God under the heavens, every land the grace of God reaches down and takes out.
Poor sinners.
Every single nation on earth, God is going to have those not only in a future day when the Gentiles who have never heard the gospel of the grace of God, who will receive the gospel of the Kingdom, but today. And this grace of the day of the day of grace, I believe under heaven will be somebody in glory who will sing in Revelation 5. The song of the redeemed God is going to have His people.
All over this world, even though the devil is a God and Prince of this world.
Even though he rages and ramps and brings into this honor on the Lord's name, why the grace of God is going to bring in poor souls worldwide.
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Soul of God, graceful triumph. Isn't it wonderful to see this beloved?
Well, the net didn't break. It did break in Luke chapter 5, and that's full. But here it didn't break. Why? The Lord Jesus had finished the work of redemption on the cross. After the cross, the net didn't break.
Isn't it wonderful all these fish that were caught and were brought safely in and all? Isn't it nice to think that the grace of God, you know on the and the feeding of the 12,000, the 5000 rather after the everybody had an upbeat, they had so much to eat that there were 12 ******** leftover.
Well, it seems to me it's a little picture of the grace of God. God's grace is never exhausted.
Everybody had enough to eat.
Even a little boy who gave his lunch, he was he was stuffed. He had so much speech, but still there were twelve boxes leftover, God's grace going out to the 12 tribes of Israel, and all were abounds into the gentile nations. The grace of God never is exhausted when the last Sinner is brought in the blessing. It doesn't mean the grace of God's exhaust of null It means there's no more left. There's none left. But they'll still be God's great grace.
His grace can never be exhausted. The oil stay when there are no vessels.
And second, Kings chapter four were no more vessels. That says the oil stayed. There was still oil, but there were no more vessels.
Well, and if they could go on for a few moments, and the 12 words Jesus, seven of them, come and dine this wonderful gospel verse, this word come all. How often the Lord used that come now, he says, Come and dine. And none of the disciples are asking who art thou?
But it was the Lord Jesus then cometh and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. Just imagine the Lord of glory. Who is this person? Oh, what a what majesty, what a wonderful person. The Lord of Glory. What do we find him doing while he served in these old rough fishermen? Just imagine what the Queen do that. No.
For the President of the United States, do that. No.
It will be far below their dignity. But here's the Son of God, the Lord Jesus himself, and here he is with the bread and the fish going around the little circle. Give them these old rough fishermen. Something to eat, you know?
You know, isn't it nice in connection with the following horses, if you won't go into the night? But the Lord asked Peter three times. Loveth from me. Have you got affection for me?
Well, isn't it nice that before he did that he fed them, He made them warm and made them comfortable. This is the Lord that you and I belong to the same. Yesterday and forever. He would make them comfortable, make them warm. He'd make sure that Peter was warm. I think, I think that Joseph you know, as he looked after Benjamin, why he was so careful of Benjamin. And I believe the Lord Jesus looked upon fear.
You know the special affection I believe the Lord looks to Moses. Get away from them.
Those who get hold, those who get away from the Lord, those amidst the meetings that really belong, I think now to those who really belong to Him. I believe the Lord looks to them with a special affection. Why they're away from them, they've lost their joy, they lost their happiness. And I believe that Jesus looked upon his beloved Peter and all he was going to get right to the bottom of this thing. And when he finally, the third time, said Simon, Peter loveth thumb me more than these.
Peter, as much as said, Lord, I don't blame you.
I don't blame your eye. Then I get three times. I don't blame you. Question me and ask them over my love. But now I just fall back into your wondrous grace. I don't know. It's all things thou knowest that I love it, he said to the Lord. Look at my heart, as it were. Look at me. Look at my heart. I don't blame you. Don't trust me. I don't blame you. I don't blame you for not trusting me. I denied you at all some purses. But look at my heart. Lord, you know I love you.
You you're God. You can see everything. You know everything about me. You know I love you. Oh dear St. of God, are you cold tonight in your soul? Are you getting away from the Lord? Why don't you come into his presence tonight and say, Lord, you know all things You know I love you.
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You know I love, you know, in spite of my failures and my coldness. Lord, I don't blame you for wondering if it were if I love you or not. I don't blame my brethren for saying I wonder if after all he saved the tomb. But you know, Lord, you know, look at my heart. You know I love you. Lord don't know us all things down N but I love thee and the Lord Jesus restore this dear man.
To a wonderful extent that on the day of Pentecost they could stand up boldly and say to those people even nigh the Holy One on the just why they could have said Peter, You're all hypocrites, you did the same thing yourself. But Peter was bold. He had been in the Lords presence. And you know in the Lords presence doesn't give us boldness. Why, when we come into his presence as 1000 Hebrews and the ball is drawn near to the throne of grace, the common knew his immediate presence. The Lord will give us the strength and the courage and the bonus, young boys.
And girls in school that confessed Christ the Lord will give us this boldness.
To speak wall of him while Peter was restored, and to go on now to the end of the chapter.
My time is passing well.
The 18 First Verily, verily, I stand to the one, though with young Now Bertus, thyself, and walketh whether thy would have but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, another shall gird being carry, they wither about what it's not.
While Peter had this word from the Lord, he knew he was going to live to be an old man. He knew he was going to live on. He knew what was going to happen to him, the Lord told him, and he was going to be carried where he would not and.
The 19 First this bakey Cigna flying by what death he should glorify God, when he had spoken, as he said under him, Follow me, follow me. Then Peter turned above theatre to the stifle, whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast to supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? I like this. Nice to know this here that God tells us this is the man that leaned on his breast that suffered.
All this suffer we we finally recorded.
You know in the Gospel this supper. I suppose it was a Passover supper. Nevertheless, it's I believe we could refer to it in connection with the remembrance of the Lord, or only come to remember the Lord at this at His supper. Are we the disciple whom Jesus loved? Are we the ones that rest our head on His blessed breast? Are we close to the Lord? Well, it says, Which is He that betrayeth a Peter has seen him said to Jesus, Lord.
What shall this man do while here period? The same fear, he said. What does this man do? He wanted to know what John was going to do, knows what the Lord says. And the 22nd verse. Jesus said on the hand if I will, that he carried till I come. What is that to thee? Follow thou me. Well, I believe that John did carry to the Lord came he he carried on the Isle of Patmos. He had the whole complete revelation given to him.
And he saw the Lord and his glory. He saw the whole picture right back to the 22nd of Revelation. But also something else. He also gave us, I believe, the last ministry, as it were. We know the Apostle Paul completed the word of God, but this dear old servant of God.
He gave us his wonderful ministry, I believe was written among the last of the New Testament scriptures and was given to us by John. He tarried, he tarried, and I believe, beloved brother in the Jones ministry is so precious for us to bang and his ministry and he might carry with us. The John's ministry may go on to the very end, but we see the Lord's faith that John may carry with us how wonderful it is and how his epistles he brings before us.
The very true.
So the devil is attacking with all his power today the person of Christ, the deity of Christ.
How wonderful it is to read that a first epistle, especially when the beloved apostle. I remember reading a little story about John. Tradition tells us when he was an old, old man, he was carried into the assembly on a bed, and as he was being carried in by his brother and down through among the fence of God.
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He kept on repeating these words. Brethren loved one another. Brethren love one another. Wasn't that good? Make John carry with us. May we hear his voice again and again saying, brethren love one another. Boy, Rachel, all men know that he are my disciples. Indeed, if he have love one for another, this is the thing. And the Lord Jesus said to his disciple, these things I command you.
That we love one another, so to blow it all Apostle he carries with us, and May God grant He may carry with us until the Lord comes.
The 23rd was then went this saying abroad among the brethren. But that disciple should not die. But Jesus said on not on the hand he shall not die. But if I will that he tired and light come, what is that for thee? This is the recycle was testified of these things, and wrote these things. And we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did that which they should be written everyone.
I suppose even the world itself cannot contain the books that should be written.
No record of here of his ascension, beloved, and no record of his Transfiguration.
In the Gospel of John. Why is that? Because Jesus is transfigured before us, and the very first chapter of the very end is the Son of God the Christ and all His glory. The Deity of our Lord Jesus, the one who made the world. The Christ transfigured before us for 21 Chapters and somebody is beautifully said. The Lord walks off the scene in the end of the Gospel of John walks into the presence of God.
Isn't it wonderful to see this blessed, glorious person?
I said, Dan, He walks, as it were, into the very glory of God. Well, may the Lord bless his word, may warm our hearts. Let me in this room when I speak for myself. Our hearts get cold, brethren, we have to confess it, every one of us. I've asked sometimes, old brethren, some of God's dear old servants who have real hearts for the Lord, if you would be so happy. And I said, brother, do you ever get unhappy?
Or they say, yes, I sure do. But when I do, I know exactly where to go Down on my knees. May the Lord warm our hearts tonight, and may the Lord Jesus be real and precious to us until we see His lovely face #318.
All Lamb of God, still keep us close to Thy fears of side.
Is only there in safety and peace. We cannot buy 318.
Oh, I'm a God still keeper.
Blessed by Pearson.
Is only.
There in safety.
And this weekend.
We can abide.
Falls and snares.
Around us and laughs and fears with him.
Raise the thought and from the.
Keep us clean.
There's only.
In the hiding we feel ourselves secure and only.
In the abiding the complex.
Challenge.
The arm loving.
Regain us for every 844.
I love our hearts sustain us.
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In all their cares and woe.
Good job, our eyes.
Behold me with rapture.
Face to face.
And rest in there and glory.
Well, thanks by power and grace.
Life. Beauty, Lord.
And glory.
The wonders of our love.
Shall be the Endless.
Story.
Of all by saying the bomb.
Name of the Lord
Christ's Church Formed and Endowed
Gospel
The Church in Responsibility
A Great Gulf Fixed
"Similitudes, 1 Peter 2:1"