Address—J. Kemp
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Shall we open our meeting by singing 238?
Our shepherd is the Lord, the living Lord, who died in all his fullness can afford. We are supplied. He richly feeds our souls, 238.
Shall we pray?
Our loving God and our Father, we thank thee this evening for that unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, the one who loved us when we were so far from the in nature's darkness and distance.
And Thy grace reached down to where we were in all our misery, and lifted us up and.
Put a song in our hearts and the hope of glory before us, and we thank Thee for that precious blood which is the foundation of all our blessing for time and eternity. And we have been left here a little while, and we pray that our time together may be profitable this evening.
Each one of our hearts may be encouraged to press on in that path of faith and faithfulness.
Until we hear the shout, we are in days of weakness and ruin, but we thank the our God for the provision that Thou hast made for us every step of the pathway. We do look up and seek Thy guidance and direction and blessing tonight and ask it all in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Look at a verse in Deuteronomy chapter.
8.
Familiar passage, I know.
But it's good to be reminded of that.
These truths.
That sometimes we're forgetful hearers.
Deuteronomy 8 and the commandments, all the commandments which I command thee this day.
Shall we observe?
To do.
If you may live and multiply.
And go in and possess the land which the Lord swear unto your fathers.
And therefore remember all the way which the Lord thy God.
LED these 40 years in the wilderness.
To humble thee and to prove thee.
To know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger.
And fed thee with men which thou knowest knewest not, neither did thy fathers know. And he might make thee know that man does not live by bread only.
But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord of Manly.
My Raymond waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these 40 years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that as a man chasten of his son.
So the Lord thy God chasing of thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways and to fear him. For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks, of water.
Of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills. Land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates. A land of oil, olive, and honey. A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness. I shall not lack anything in it. A land whose stones are iron.
And out of whose hills Dalmaus dig brass?
Thou hast eaten and artful.
Then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God.
For the good land which he hath given thee, beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God.
In not keeping his commandments.
And his judgments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, lest when thou hast eaten in our port, and has built goodly houses and dwelt therein, when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, all that the hash is multiplied, that thine heart be lifted up. And thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought the other, brought the fourth out of the land of Egypt from the House of ******* which led thee through that great and terrible wilderness.
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We're in work, wiry serpents and scorpions, and growth where there was no water. Who brought the 4th water out of the rock of Flint? Who fed the in the wilderness with manner which lie Fathers knew not That he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee to do the good of thy latter end. Thou shalt say, And thine heart my power, and the might of mine hand.
Have gotten me this well, but thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he swear unto thy fathers as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them and worship them. I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish as the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face.
So shall ye perish.
Because he would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.
What we sang in our hymn tonight Our shepherd is the Lord, the living Lord who died.
And we can look up and know that there is a man in the glory tonight.
One who is the captain of our salvation.
Bringing.
Many sons to glory and in this chapter.
We have an account of the.
History, we might say, of the children of Israel in all their wilderness wanderings.
The wilderness was not in the purpose of God, and God could have taken them directly from the Red Sea into the land of Canaan. It was because of their unbelief that they were turned aside to the wilderness, but it was part of God's ways with them.
And.
God provided for them abundantly, but God's purpose for us is to bring us into eternal blessing.
Heaven is just as sure as if we were already there. Our title to glory we read in the blood of Christ.
We are accepted in the beloved and clean every wit, so our title couldn't be any more secure and perfect than it is at this present moment. Are standing before God.
Is without fault wholly and without blame before him in love. That's our position.
Before God at this time. But sometimes our state does not correspond with that glorious position into which grace has brought us.
We learn as we have the details in this chapter here we learn two things in the wilderness journey. It's brought out here in verse two. We remember all the way which the Lord led us, but we learned the hatefulness of the of the old nature. We learned the wretchedness of self.
Think of the history of the children of Israel in their 14 years of wandering, the complaining, the murmuring they displayed what was in their wretched heart, which was only a sample of human nature.
And God bore with them in infinite patience and grace and goodness.
Multiplied in so many ways. He tested them in the wilderness, and he tests us too.
We're in a scene where.
There are tests, sometimes there is shifting, sometimes there is winnowing of our power because there's a host of things in our lives.
That need self judgment.
I'm sure that we all are aware of that and.
That chastening which is brought out in this chapter 2, verse five, that chastening, whatever form it might take, is necessary in each one of our lives. The Lord has an individual tuition for every child of God here. He is perfect in wisdom. I'm not a father, but we have many here who are, and I'm sure that none of them would.
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Would admit to always having perfect wisdom in the way in which they disciplined their children. But we have a Father of infinite wisdom of the Father of Spirit, and he never makes a mistake. He knows what is best for each one of us, and there's a need to be on our part and the purpose of love on his part.
In all the discipline through which he may pass us as believers.
Now the word Jesus never needed discipline in his life. He was perfect. He never needed chasing. He didn't allow anything to hinder him in the pathway of faith as we have in Hebrews chapter 12. Who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
The joy was.
The.
Presentation of to God, of the work that was finished. The joy of presenting to God a work that was completed. Of course, the blessing of His own is brought in there too.
The Lord that passed through many trials and difficulties. It wasn't an easy path for the Lord and it's not an easy path for us.
But we need chastening, we need child training, we need education in our pathway because we sometimes, perhaps oftentimes, we allow that old nature to manifest itself in different ways which hinder our growth, hinder our progress, hinder our communion. And so the Lord brings into our lives those things which lead us to judge that old nature.
You know it says in Second Corinthians chapter 4 now we are to always bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. I believe that means we need to apply the death of Christ to our walking ways every day. We need to.
Be careful in our walk. Watchful, dependent. The defendant man will never have a fall.
And I believe that we must learn the need of dependence.
Not only every day, every hour. You should start the day in dependence upon the ward.
Preserve the O God, for in thee do I put my trust. There's difficulties we're going to meet, and we don't have the strength in our in ourselves to meet those difficulties. Brother Jim and I were just noticing at supper there about Amalek. You remember that Amalek came against the children of Israel There in the wilderness he magnified his forces.
After the water had come out from the smitten rock, which is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
Which has now been imparted through the finished work of Christ.
That Rockwood Smith and wants and the waters gushed out. The Lord was only smitten once on the cross. The judgment fell upon him. It was exhausted, but as a result.
Blessing has flowed out, the Holy Spirit has been given. That's brought out very clearly and.
In John's Gospel Chapter 7.
Now the believer can enter into the things of God, and he can enjoy them in his own soul.
And then it says in John 7, as we commented last night, that there it is, ministry.
It is testimony in this world. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
We're only the channel, the sources in the Lord.
But there in the in the wilderness, when they had, when the rock had been smitten and the waters had gushed out in response, a picture of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the living water that that woman was told about in John chapter 4. Amalek came out to oppose that. Who is Amalek? Well, he's a picture of the enemy. It's a picture of Satan who will use the flesh that you and I have.
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To hinder us in the pathway, there's a conflict.
Continually in the Christians life, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh. Which one am I going to yield to every day of my life? Am I going to allow the flesh to have a place? At one time we lived in those things that was our life, didn't know anything else, pleased ourselves.
Live for the pleasures of sin and the to indulge the old nature. That's the way Satan keeps the unsaved in his control. He presents to them that which will appeal to their old nature.
And he'll do that with a believer too. But the believer has the divine nature. He has a new nature.
I know I'm going over truth that is probably well known, but you know, God doesn't see us in the flesh anymore. He sees us in the Spirit.
The flesh is in us, but we're not in the flesh as to our standing before God.
Now the question comes, who am I going to yield to? You know the man in Romans 7. The reason why he has such a problem is he thinks that both natures have the same rights. But now the old nature has no right in my body. I'm redeemed. My body is not redeemed, but I've been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Now which nature am I going to feed?
Which one am I going to obey? To whose dictates am I going to yield?
And so it comes out very clearly in Romans chapter 6. At one time we yielded our members as instruments of unrighteousness.
From transgression and sin unto sin. But now we are to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness.
Before self controlled and motivated us in everything. Now we have a divine nature, we have a new master, we have a new power, we have the Holy Spirit of God and now we can live to please the one who died for us. And our instruments, our hands, our feet can be used for the Lord, can bring glory to Him in our pathway.
But the conflict will go on Amalek. You notice in that chapter, I'm referring to Exodus chapter 17, that conflict continues on. There would be war with Amalek from generation to generation. And notice how that chapter ends. It's the Lord, our banner. Not now. We have Joshua, a great captain, to lead us in the conflict. It's the Lord who is our banner. We can't rest on past experiences.
Not experience that we need. We need the Lord in every fresh trial that might come into our lives. And we need guidance. You know that, David.
You will remember when he went out against the Philistines, he was given directions to come head on, encounter them directly in conflict, but when he asked the Lord the second time.
The Lord.
Told him to form an ambush and to come around in a different way and when they heard a sound of going in the puffs of the Mulberry trees, they were to go out to battle against the Philistines. Well, the point is, every circumstance is different and we need fresh guidance. We need direction from the Lord in every situation of life and we have the word of God to direct us.
And to guide us, we have a we have a principle of scripture for every situation in our lives, do we not? And that's why I encourage the young people to don't neglect the Old Testament scriptures. And not only does God teach by precept and but he instructs us by example too. We can read those Old Testament scriptures and we can see how a king acted if he sought the Lord through the urine in the summit.
He had victory, but if he depended upon his own strength and his own wisdom, he was defeated. Well, it's the same with us. I.
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I didn't finish the thought that I started off with. I said we learn our own old nature and I'm sure as we go on in the pathway we learn more of it.
It's wretchedness and untrustworthiness that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. But what does it say now? So remember all the way which the Lord thy God LED thee these 40 years in the wilderness to humble thee and to prove thee. It was a testing time. They were certainly humbled. You know our failures should humble us.
Have you ever noticed that God doesn't really tell us to forget our sins? Sometimes we hear that.
Mistake it, but really our our failures should humble us. We shouldn't get under them. But.
Hezekiah, When he was restored, he said that he would walk softly the rest of his days. He was humbled. And our failures should humble us, should make us walk more dependently upon the Lord.
And make us realize.
The weakness of the flesh. But on the other hand.
God says we can forget about anything we do for Him. I think it's beautiful to make that connection because the Lord will not forget. He will forget our sins. We're not exactly told to forget them. We are to remember. It says in Ephesians chapter 2, and we were Gentiles of the uncircumcision. We should remember the pit from which we have been digged. But on the other hand, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love.
He's righteous to forgive us our sins.
And to forget them to for all eternity. But he's not. He wouldn't be righteous of Him to forget any little service there was in our lives for Him. He will not forget it. The Book of Remembrance is being written in heaven today. What you have done for the Lord today is not lost. It's recorded in the annals of eternity in that Book of Remembrance. Maybe it's only a thought. Maybe it's a little service.
To a needy St. of Goddard.
A word is seasoned to him that is weary in the gospel.
But the Lord has recorded it and I believe in that coming day that we will be surprised that the reward the Lord will give.
To those who.
Have served him in any liberal measure and also I would say that.
I believe that he will reward, We'll be surprised that the reward that he will give for those who by grace have remained on the ground of the truth. Because you know, brethren, we don't need to leave the Lord's table in order to serve him in the gospel. There are opportunities everywhere. We should be energetic.
Sometimes we fail. We're holy priests and we're royal priests.
Christian should be like a compass. One foot in the assembly and the other foot in the world is far as possible.
As the Doctor Rolston says it that we should give the Lord the 1St place. There's an order in scripture. It's worship and then it's service. Then he says go forth after souls with all the energy possible. Perhaps Doctor Wolsten was a an example of what he said. He preached the gospel someplace every day.
Well, everyone of us have that opportunity. We're left down here for a purpose. The purpose is that we might be a testimony for the Lord. You'll notice in in in Philippians chapter 2 That it speaks of being.
We shine as lights in the world. You know the scripture holding forth the word of life. You notice that we shine as light in the world.
I think the real meaning there is illuminators. You know, the moon doesn't have any light of its own. Men have landed on the moon, but it is a reflection of the sun. And the Christian is to be of that character. He is to be an illuminator in this Dark World. He is to be a testimony. Often has been said that the world is not reading their Bibles, but they surely are watching those who make a profession.
They know our Christians should walk and we're illuminated. We're shining. We should be as lights in this world. But if we're not in communion with the Lord, if we're not in self judgment, we're not going to be an illuminator. We're not going to have any desire to speak for the Lord if we don't have the breastplate of righteousness on.
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Our conscience will condemn us and we can't stand in the battle. We need the whole armour of God.
Could you notice that there's another side in Philippians 2? Illuminator shine his lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. I suppose that would be our public vocal testimony. You know, I I know some believers, true Christians. I met many of them today in Seattle.
Nice Christians. We had happy fellowship on the street, and I think they're alight. But you know, I had the feeling that some of them probably didn't open their mouths very much for the Lord.
It's only the grace of God that enables any of us to do that. But you know, it's holding forth the word of life, not only.
I'm shining, but it's holding forth the word of life. Remember, on the hem of the garment of the high priest there were pomegranates and there were bells.
The pomegranates didn't make any noise, but the bells did. So there was an equal number of both of them. Pomegranates and a bell. Pomegranate and a bell.
So there should be those two things in our life, the the walk and the talk, and they should be consistent. That is, no one should be able to point the finger and say, well, he does a lot of talking, but there's certain things in his life that are not consistent. They don't agree. That's not the way it should be. Brethren, we should be very careful at our talk.
Or respond with our walk.
And that.
When we speak.
Others can look at our lives and say, yes, his life is consistent with what he says. Well, this was so with the Lord Jesus so perfectly. But you know, and I'm sure that we all have experienced it. When you witness for the Lord, they'll bring up some case that they have been acquainted with of a person who made a profession of the Christianity.
But didn't walk in uprightness.
Didn't have the breastplate of righteousness. On the breastplate of righteousness there is not divine righteousness. It is practical righteousness there. And if you look in Revelation 19, there it is the the bride is arrayed in fine linen, pure and white, and the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the Saints.
That is not divine righteousness there either. It is practical righteousness. And in that coming day, every little service that you have done for the Lord will be rewarded, will be manifest. A bride is is seen in in her garments which she may have worked on for some months and now it is displayed. Well, we are preparing our wedding garment now it's going to be displayed. That's when all the work we have done.
Will be showing and you'll never have a true appraisal of your life or mine until the judgment seat of Christ, when everything will come out and we will know as no one will have God's thoughts about the way in which we walk today.
We'll have God's thoughts about it. We the question is sometimes asked well, is everything going to be exposed in my life that the judgment seat of Christ. Well, the things that were done in the body are all going to come out. I don't know whether it is a public exposure or not, but we're going to know how God thought about our lives. But on the positive side.
There's going to be a reward for every little act of service, in fact, as we have often been reminded, for even our thoughts sisters don't take part in the meeting on Lords Day morning. But their spiritual state has a large bearing upon the meeting and every thought that they have about the Lord is recorded there in the glory.
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The Malachi was a very.
A very low point in the history of the nation as we know they were quite indifferent to the Lords claims in Malachi. We won't open the doors of the temple unless you pay us.
We will offer to the Lord the lame and the blind, and the halt.
They just didn't have any sense of what was due to the Lord and that they were indifferent and questioning whether the Lord loved them even after all His mercy for 4000 years. But it's in that epistle that we have as a result, I believe, Malachi's prophecy, that little remnant that is.
Separated there, a remnant within, a remnant who loved the Lord, who thought about him, feared him. They got together not to talk about the politics. They got together to speak about the war. What? What is our occupation when we get together? Well, I wouldn't be legal on these matters. We should inquire. It's nice to inquire about one another's needs and and work and so on, But may our conversation be more of the one with whom we shall spend eternity.
And the Scriptures which speak of him. Well, the other thing that I was going to mention is the fact that we learned the the goodness of the heart of God. You know, you can never learn that the Lord is patient in heaven because you won't need it. You'll never learn that God is a God of comfort in heaven because you'll never need it. Where do you learn that? You learn it in the wilderness, in this scene down here.
You learn the evil of your own heart, but you learn the infinite resources that are in the heart of God for you in every difficulty that may arise in every circumstance.
And remember that the Lord himself has passed through this wilderness before us. You know what Captain might send his army into battle, but he's never been through it. He doesn't know how severe the fire will be. They have to go. But the Lord is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him. I thought you were saved already, says there. Save unto the uttermost.
Well, that salvation day by day that is being delivered from those difficulties. Don't say that every difficulty will be removed in your life and it'll be smooth all the way, but the Lord is able to give you grace in those times of difficulty.
And.
Trial, whether it be sickness or loss, you know, I've enjoyed this is not original with me, but I've enjoyed in Revelation, it speaks of the crown of life. We know in the case of Smyrna, it was the result of severe persecution and many wore the markers crowned in that in that church, which was the terrible.
Ordeal that many of the Saints have to go through in the early history of the church during the Roman persecutions, the crown of life was promised to be overcomer in Smyrna. Have you ever noticed that in James chapter one the same crown of life is is promised for those that endure temptation? Beautiful to see that. Not likely that we're going to have to suffer martyrdom in these lands.
And you thank God for the liberty, but you may be a loser. If you are faithful to the Lord, you may not get a promotion. And in other ways you may, you may be a loser down here. But look, the Lord has promised in this passage, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation. That's that's trial, that's difficulty. For when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.
That's not for one who loses their lives down here, but whatever you suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus down here.
Your promise, the crown of life and this world is still unfriendly to God and to grace. We know that every day of our lives. But may we hoist our colors, young people, and I don't want to talk down to you. May you hoist your colours. Don't be ashamed.
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To confess the name of the Lord boldly.
But be much in prayer, because prayer is an expression of dependence and confidence. Don't start the day without prayer. You start strutting on the wrong foot. We find the Lord seven times in prayer in the Gospel of Luke.
You know, in seven different instances and each one has a special significance.
But we find the Lord in prayer there in different occasions when He chose his disciples.
At the time when the Spirit of God came down upon him, find him in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Of course, each one has a special significant, but the Lord lived in a spirit of prayer, and so should we. Prayer is presented in three different ways. It can be public prayer in the assembly.
I just note that that is important. You know, the prayer meeting is the pulse of the assembly.
We live in a day of Christian convenience when we come to the meeting when we want.
But your presence at the prayer meeting is encouraging fact, I think, in the context of Matthew 18, where two or three are gathered together in my name.
There am I in the midst of them. It's a prayer meeting. Don't miss the prayer meeting. The Lord is there in the midst. We need collective prayer. Look at Acts chapter 12.
Well, you say they didn't have very much space and there doesn't seem to be much.
Energy and in prayer that doesn't matter. The Lord is there. And remember, young brothers, that there's no such a thing as a gift of prayer. That is not scriptural. You can express yourself and it doesn't need to be an eloquent term, just the the outflow of the heart and the expression of your need.
In delights the heart of your brethren and the heart of God. But collective prayer is important, and we should not neglect the assembly prayer meeting.
And then there is prayer in the closet, the greatest victories of your life.
Will be.
One in your closet.
That's when you can close your door and pour out your heart to the Lord. Not many people you can pour out your heart to, you know, they might take it up wrongly and.
Don't seem to enter into really what you're passing through, but there's one that you can pour out your heart too.
And explain everything to him and he understands.
And he can give you wisdom and strength to go on. Then there's the continuing in prayer.
It says continuing instant in prayer. You can walk down the streets of Seattle and be in a spirit of prayer. Difficulty arises like in the life of Nehemiah.
He prayed to the Lord and then he answered the king. And so just under spur of the moment, shall we say, you can look up, you can lift the heart in prayer if you're in communion, and you can seek the wisdom of God in that particular situation that may have suddenly arisen in your life.
We need courage to witness for the war.
We need to look up for that courage. You don't have courage to give out a track. Well, you have a high priest that God's right hand interceding for you.
Why don't you avail yourself of that provision that the Lord has made?
In the time of need. Now the priesthood of Christ is for our weakness and for our infirmity. It is not for our sin. That is another subject. That is the advocacy of Christ, which comes out in first John chapter 2. It's not a question of weakness there, it's a question of sin.
But if we would use the priesthood of Christ in the time of temptation and look up and say, Lord, keep me, that I may not dishonor thee in this situation that I'm faced with, I don't have the strength to solve this difficulty. Then you'll be kept from falling unto him that is able to keep you from falling, to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. So the priesthood of Christ is that provision for us.
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And then the advocacy of Christ, which we also need, is to restore us when we have failed. So the prayer meeting is important.
And also we need to build up ourselves on our most holy faith, so the reading meeting is important.
Where we learn more of the One who saved us. We have an immense treasure in this book.
And I speak for myself, I sometimes feel I've only.
Scratch the surface, you take men like Mr. Darby who had such a profound understanding of the Word of God. They were still seeing wonderful things in the Bible when they were elderly men near the end of the journey, they were still bringing out wonderful thoughts and and enjoying the Word. The water was turned into wine. I think that's the way it will be in the glory, All that we know of the Word of God, it will be turned into joy. And that day we'll perhaps understand all those Scriptures.
That we only enter into feebly now.
Because we're not always diligent enough. You have time for the things of the world, but usually the odd moments to read the word of God. So we should be diligent in searching the scriptures like the Bereans and.
In teaching, teaching it to our families.
The Manor was collected by the father in the family.
I'm not a father, but we have many years who are, so the father had the.
The responsibility to go out and collect the manner in the morning.
And to put it into the OR.
And he that had gathered much and nothing over.
That is, you can't get too much of the Word of God. If you have opportunities and time at your disposal to study the scriptures, you'll never have too much. Not everyone has that, so you might only gather a little manner. Don't start off the day without gathering some manner. It's fitting the scriptures into the needs of the day. You may only have to be able to read 1/2 a chapter a few verses, but that can be enough for the whole day if you.
Take it with you and meditate upon it.
But it had to be gathered in the morning when the sun was hot, it melted away. So may this be the first?
Desire of our heart. I met a lady in Los Angeles when I was visiting the hospital County Hospital there wasn't sure if she was a believer or not but as I was speaking to her she said the first thing I do in the morning is I reach for the word of God. When I said I know lady you have divine life. Well may we not neglect the precious word of God in our lives morning by morning he opened his mind ears to hear as the learn.
And obey it, which is brought out so clearly in our chapter here. Well, we can feed upon Christ in three ways. We can feed upon him as the Paschal lamb. That was in our deep, neatest sinners in the land of Egypt. They fed up on the Paschal lamb. They were sheltered by the blood.
And we feed it upon the Lord and that way throughout our lives. We remembered Him in his death yesterday.
We remembered the foundation of all our blessings.
The blood of Christ.
That Pascal Lamb there which suffered The Who, which fell to all the intensity of the fire.
It wasn't softened in water.
It was rolled with fire and we look back to the work of Christ.
And we're going to look back for all eternity to the work of the Lord, fresh in the memory of God, fresh in the memory of the Lord Jesus to his sufferings. He remembers.
What he suffered in order to redeem us, They celebrated the Passover when they got over.
The Jordan, which is our death with Christ. At Gilgal they celebrated the Passover.
I think the only celebrated it once in the wilderness. I'm not sure of that, but they celebrated it in the land and we're going to remember how much Christ suffered for us. But then there's the manna. Well, it's often been said the manna is.
Christ humbled down here, that is presented to us in the Gospels and we need that food for the trials of the wilderness.
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We need it throughout our lives.
We feed upon the manna Christ as a man down here in all the circumstances of life, the same circumstances that we meet. He was hungry, he was tired, He was.
Misunderstood he was.
Persecuted he suffered for righteousness sake and we see him as the manna in the gospels. And then the 3rd way we see define Christ is as the old corn of the land.
And you remember that in Joshua 5.
I think you have five things in that chapter that are very significant that take place at Gilgal.
There was 12 Stones that were erected on the shores of the Jordan. That is a picture of our death with Christ and our resurrection with Him, walking in newness of life. There was also circumcision.
Which speaks of cutting off of the flesh, keeping the flesh in the place of death.
Where God has put it.
And.
Mortifying, therefore our members which are upon the earth. Circumcision is looked at in two ways in Colossians chapter 2. We are already circumcised with that circumcision made without hands and putting off the body of the flesh. God looks upon us as having done that. That's positional. That is characteristic. Every Christian is circumcised with that circumcision spoken of in Colossians 2.
But in Colossians 3 the practical side is brought before us of circumcision.
And that is embodied in those words.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, and it goes on to list those.
Manifestations of the old nature.
The fact that we have the flesh doesn't hinder communion with the Lord unless it is allowed to act. That's what circumcision.
It brings before us there before they went forth in conflict with sharp swords against the enemies of the land.
They have to use sharp knives on themselves.
There at Gilgal and remember they have to return to Gilgal after every victory and if they did not, they had defeat.
They didn't return to Gilgal after AI and then Sin came in unjust and they had defeat.
Are after Jericho. I guess they didn't always return to Gilgal. That is, keep the old nature, keep the knife on the old nature. If we've had a a victory in our Christian life, let us get back to Gilgal and judge the old nature. Acknowledge that it's all the good grace of God that has given us strength to do anything for him or the old nature will get mixed up in it. You're never more vulnerable than after you have had a victory.
That is illustrated in the nation of Israel.
At Jericho and AI.
So we have the 12 Stones on the shores of the.
Of the river Jordan, there were 12 Stones also that were directed by Joshua in the midst of the Jordan. The 12 Stones that were put on the shores of Jordan.
Brother Gordon Hayhole pointed out to me they were taken out of the bed of the Jordan and they were taken into their lodging places. You notice that in Joshua 5 or what? Joshua four. And then they were gathered from the lodging places. I hadn't noticed that. And they were brought and erected into a monument. Well, it brings before us my thinking in picture the the gathering together.
According to the Lord's mind.
And that is a most precious privilege. You can break bread at the Lord's Table.
You can celebrate the Lord's Supper at the Lord's Table, but not in more than one place in in Seattle.
Otherwise, the Spirit of God would be the author of confusion as He marked out a path for you and I to walk.
In accordance with His word and according to the pattern that is given to us in the New Testament scriptures.
We haven't started a new denomination.
We we haven't started some new sect. We have returned to what God set up at the beginning. That's all. We've returned to that which was from the beginning. I'm going over truth that I perhaps most of us know, but they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers.
00:50:26
We don't have the Apostolic power. We certainly don't have Pentecostal power today. We don't have the apostles with us. They laid the foundation. We don't have prophets in the sense that is given to us in Ephesians 2. They laid the foundation. You don't lay a foundation twice.
But we have their writings, we have the truth that the apostles.
Reveal to us especially the apostle Paul, giving us our Christian.
Position so marvelously.
And there is a lot of confusion in Christendom today.
But there's never a ruin too great. The Lord is sufficient. We have all things that pertain unto life and godliness. And so those stones were gathered. They were erected there.
As a testimony on the shores of the Jordan.
And how many of them had enough interest to ask, What are these? What does this monument mean? Those stones were before down in the bed of the Jordan, and now they're brought up and erected. That's just like you and me. We're dead with Christ, and we're risen with Him. No, He should walk in newness of life.
That's testimony in the world.
Those stones in the bottom of the river, they remind us of the death of Christ.
So if you're intelligent yesterday morning you look down into the Jordan and you contemplate it, the sufferings of the Lord Jesus there, the waves and bills passing over him.
The depth of his suffering, no heart could air conceive. That's the stones that were in the depth of the river. Of course, you we also remember the Lord as members of his body. So we had those stones, we had circumcision. We have the we have the old corn of the land that Gilgal the man has ceased, and the eight of the old corn of the land. So what does that mean?
Well, I believe the old corn of the land is Christ in resurrection. He's a glorified man. We don't know Him now, after the flesh, we know Him as a glorified man. But how much are we enjoying those heavenly things in our souls? How much are we entering into them?
Perhaps we don't we don't apprehend and enjoy those that heavenly portion Christ in resurrection, Christ glorified. But I may know him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, Paul could say.
Remember a rather humorous story about a man who was visiting an elderly thank God, being a rest home or a nursing home, and he said that.
Lady, he said, Are you ready? Are you ready to go to heaven? And she replied.
I was there this morning.
Oh, he said there. She mustn't have understood what I said, so he said it again. Lady, Are you ready to go to heaven? She quietly replied. I was there this morning.
So he repeated it again. Oh, she said. I heard you the first time, but I was just laying here and.
Meditating upon my portion in Christ, enjoying him.
In my soul and his love and the future inheritance that is before me. She was already in the land of Canaan. She was eating the old corn in the land. So the old corn of the land is.
Not so much Christ coming down to help us in our difficulties. That's the manner. But it's Christ in the glory as the.
As the object for our souls now and.
Perhaps we don't eat the old corn of the land as much as we should. I think many of those in the systems around don't have much apprehension of the Lord in the glory and the inheritance that they have through His finished work and the enjoyment of that inheritance even now before we get there.
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Remember reading George Cutting?
Some of his inimitable illustration here we have a group of sheep that have been purchased. The money has been paid for 100 sheep. And now he says to his servant. The farmer says you go out and you put your brand on those sheets, put my brand on the sheet so that everyone knows they belong to me. Now that didn't make the sheep his.
The money that was purchased.
Gave that security, but the brand, the mark, it shows who they belong to and that's like the Holy Spirit as the seal for security. We are marked out as belonging to the Lord when we have the Spirit of God. A person is not saved really until they possess the Holy Spirit of God indwelling as a divine person. The man in Romans 7 didn't have the Spirit of God in that way, but then he says to his servant, go out.
There's a beautiful field of alfalfa over there.
Take a few handfuls armfuls of that Delicious.
Water and bring it in and put it down by the sheep so they can eat it over here by the barn. I'm going to put them into that field later.
But not yet. That's the way it is with the believer. The earnest of the Spirit is a is a foretaste of what we're going to enjoy for all eternity. It says we have the first fruits of the Spirit now.
We don't actually have our inheritance and yet because the Lord hasn't got his inheritance yet. But we can enjoy.
Those things now that's the old corner of the land before we actually are in the place of the.
Eternal blessing. Well, may the Lord bless these few thoughts through our hearts tonight.
Perhaps feebly presented, but may the Lord give us a fresh desire to go on the little while that may remain to us in this scene.
Shall we send?
#316.
Brother would start it please.
Shall we pray I break this? God and our Father, we thank thee this evening for that unspeakable gift of my beloved Son.
And the work of Calvary upon which we rest our souls for time and eternity. A perfect work done by a perfect person, giving us a perfect standing before God. And thank you for Thy care over us, Thy faithfulness to us in all the circumstances of our pathway, amidst weakness and failure, both collectively and individually. We are part of the ruins we see around us in Christendom.
Thank thee, Lord, for Thy faithfulness to us.
In keeping anyone of us at Thy table, in the path marked out in Thy word, we pray for the young people and they value the truth that has been committed to them, to each one of us.
That we might avail ourselves of this wondrous privilege, this legacy.
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That Christ may be the object in all our study.
And our ministry.
Thank you for the provision made for us. I word, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. And as we have spoken tonight of the high priestly work of our Lord there on high die to make us clean and live to keep us clean, to maintain us in all the integrity of that perfect work that he accomplished.
We do pray that as we step forth again into a world unfriendly disease, help us to be a faithful ambassador.
Holding forth the word of life and to reflect something of the loveliness of Christ wherever we go.
And to be bold in our testimony, for the enemy is active.
In our own lives and in.
Deceiving so many who are on the road to a lost eternity and may we be a channel of blessing to others the little while that may remain to us. So bless each one present here this evening. We also remember those who are in trial and sickness. My brother Don Villa Sally, we do especially bear up before me and thank you for bringing him through the operation. Pray likewise for our brother Build War in Brazil and others who are.
Have passed through times of.
Bodily affliction and we just thank Thee now for all Thy mercies to us, and we would commit ourselves, body, soul and spirit into thine care. Thank You for the love and kindness of our brethren in Seattle over many years. May Thy blessing be with each one. We ask if you can give thanks in the worthy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. I don't want to prolong meaning, it's gone too long already, but some of you might like to have just a very brief outline of the work in some of the lands the Lord has.
Led me to.
Labor in, but I won't be long.
He has a book rooms in.
In I2 book rooms there one very active book room in Nigeria.
And also a small one in the country of Malawi and then one in the Philippines.
These book rooms are certainly lighthouses in these dark lands and much of the word is going forth Bibles over 100,000 calendars a year through the book rooms.
In India 54,000, In Nigeria 50,000 calendars.
In about 9 languages.
In Malawi there are about 10 assemblies now. I think perhaps you have heard about the work in Malawi already, but I had the privilege of being there in November last year, had a very happy visit, visited most of the assemblies from the South near Blantyre, the largest city right up to the north, right up to Chitifa, which is close to the Tanzania border. There's been quite a few gatherings up there.
In the extreme north of the country and the book room in Malawi is now in the the town of Karanga.
Looked after by brother Timothy, who is managing as well.
You know, and when I moved around among the assemblies there, what struck me forcibly?
Was the scarcity of Bibles now? I was at different meetings.
When you speak in Malawi, you have to have translation into the language of the area that you're you're working in. Could be tombuca, could be Chichiwa. But I asked those brethren sometimes in the homes we had 3035 brothers and sisters and lots of children, and I asked how many Bibles they had.
Two or three.
They are desperately poor. They cannot afford a Bible.
Not necessarily an English Bible, more likely.
One in kombucha or Negandi. Well, we are trying hard to supply Bibles for the different assemblies up there in the north and in the South too, if possible. So our book room is quite functional and we hope to stock that book room with ample Bibles for the brethren, at least one to a family.
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In the language required.
Now quite a few in Malawi can read English. You can speak in the schools. If you spoke in the high schools in Malawi, you would speak in English.
He spoke in the high schools in Nigeria. He would speak in English and they would understand you.
Umm Nevertheless, in the assemblies very few of the sisters speak English. In Malawi you would have to have translation for a number of the brethren. But schools are open, hospitals are open. Permission to visit the hospitals and not only visit but speak in all the wards. If you have the time and energy and distribute material, however, chichiwa is needed.
It's the national language and if you visit it all around Blantyre or the Long Week, you have to have Chichiwa. And I was able to make arrangements with the printer in the Longview, which is the capital of the country, to do printing for us. I think our brother Gordon has already had printing done at the same place and although not a Christian, they seem to be very cooperative in printing. We've already printed tracks in both languages, but we hope to do more of the Lord. Terry.
I was able to get older.
Many thousands of English tracks, 4 color English tracks, and perhaps one or 2000 laminated texts. Laminated texts should be in the native languages of the country.
My brother Daniel, in the north of the country, He's a headmaster. I spoke to about a third of his school.
500 pupils, that was the 3rd and you know how fast 100 models or 500 models would go if you gave every child one. So prisons and schools are certainly open in that country as well as in Nigeria. So coming to Nigeria briefly.
Our brother Eudothia who lives in Fuyo, Uyo, that's in this the east of Nigeria, Nigeria is close to 100 million, probably over 100 million.
There are four major.
Tribes in Nigeria, if it's in the South, it's Yoruba or Iqbal or Epic. If it's in the north among the Muslims, it's House A, it's a USA.
The northern part of Nigeria is strongly Islamic, but we produce a lot of material in houses. Calendars are published in all those languages I mentioned as well as English and are sent all over the country. We sent to over 1300 distributors calendars for this year as well as that through the the help of our brother Walters and Holstein from Grand Rapids.
Messages of love are currently publicly printed in Nigeria and the number of contacts is growing all the time. It must be maybe 2000 that received them. Now it's well over 1000. I would judge as well as many bibles either given as rewards for doing the the lessons or else sold from the depot. Thousands of Bibles only King James of course go out from the.
Depot there in Uyo.
Fear is a man of a boat. Or maybe 45.
Very devoted.