Dorothy Conference: 2005
Table of Contents
2 Peter 1:1-4
Reading
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A little.
More.
00:05:16
Blessed God, our loving Father, what a hope we have and how it animates us as we go through this wilderness. So Jared, knowing that our Lord will fulfill his promise, if I go away, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there He may be also. We know that this blessed hope is quickly being given up.
Christened them. We thank thee that thou has preserved it.
As an encouragement to thy people in these last days, we think of these Western worlds where they're settling down to lukewarmness, Laodiceanism, indifference. But we're in the hearts of many of the poor that has maintained this prospect. Lord of Thy soon returned.
We asked that this morning. That was direct by Thy spirit as to the passage that should be taken up.
So it's a blessed and lead by Thy Spirit we pray to for those yet traveling that's bring them into safety. We thank You for answering prayer behalf of so many who are here, are coming over perilous highways, and for the liberty we have of being able to sit together adjointly under the sound of Thy precious Word. We also remember our dear friend and Saint Louis a meeting in a similar manner.
Our blessed God and Father, we wait upon Thee now, asking as ours a lead for Thy glory and the honor and for the good and blessing of Thy dear people, who we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Feel to consider the 1St chapter of Second Peter and not to lock the readings into that, but at least to have one reading.
Light of Peter's last words.
At the close of our Pilgrim journey to see the value of last words from God's dear servants. Would that be all right?
I think that would be very nice, brother Ron.
Second Peter, chapter one.
Second Peter, chapter one.
Simon Peter.
A servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us.
To glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.
If these things be in you and abound, they may make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things, you shall never fall.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
Yeah, I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.
00:10:23
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we were made, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but where eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard.
When we were with him in the holy mountain, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy which came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak.
As they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
I'd like to just draw on the on David as an old man, what he said in the 17th or the 71St chapter of the Psalms.
There's a little key here. Psalm 71.
And verse 17 and 18.
Oh God, thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and Gray headed, Oh God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength under this generation, and Thy power to everyone that is to come.
My wife and I had a very touchy experience in Vestal ON.
Was Wednesday we went to visit our brother Charles Little at the age of 97.
And Justice enjoyed the musings of an old brother that's been on the road for many years.
It'll be a memorable experience in our hearts.
And we told him goodbye, figuring that we probably wouldn't see him down here again.
It was a special meeting announced that night, and lo and behold, that dear brother came in, sat down and played and paid close attention to what was said. And to me it was an exhibition of him showing to us the strength and power of God when the physical is broken down.
And so here's Peter as an old man and expecting to put off his Tabernacle that he had been tabernacling here in this world and gives us those things that are going to preserve us.
In spirit, soul and body, and we're very interested in that because we just have a few more steps before us.
And we're in the day of our espousals to Christ.
And we want to be prepared for that glorious moment for which every other moment has been made.
It seems like there's some beautiful touches here in this first chapter that may help serve in that way.
Why does he start out Simon Peter and in the first epistle he starts out Peter?
00:15:07
He never forgot what he was by nature in John 21. Three times the Lord addresses him. Simon, son of Jonas.
Peter failed, didn't he? That's what he was originally signed in. The Lord changed his name to Peter, and he puts here Simon 1St and then a servant before his apostleship, as if he valued being a servant of the Lord more than his apostleship. You know, brethren, these were men who were like, had like passions this week.
Peter was restored there in John 21, but.
It doesn't mean he did not subsequently fail. He did. You see that from Galatians chapter two. He was a failing vessel, but he never forgot what he was. And we have to be reminded too, don't we brethren, that we're failing creatures at best, even though we know the Lord is our Savior.
Someone is well said that we have two natures.
Have a nature that is lower than a beast, and we have a nature that is higher than angels, and we cannot improve either nature.
But when the Lord comes, there's one nature that's going to not vex us anymore. And when we got saved, He could have taken that nature away from us immediately, but He left it to remind us of the power that we were once under.
That old nature is governed by the power of Satan, whether we want to admit it or not. And to think of an old man saying, you know that old nature hasn't improved in me one iota.
And so we carry it until the day of departure out of this world.
Do you speak of what we were born with naturally? That it is higher than angels?
Did I understand you right?
That we have a nature that is above angels? Yes, when we got saved. I don't think that's true because the Lord said he was made a little lower than the angels. As to the Lord, a human being.
As a human being is below an Angel, I'm quoting the scriptures. As to our blessed Lord, he was made a little lower than the angels, but as believers now we are in an elevated position. You know, we know God is Father. We and the family of God, you know no Angel is in the position that we as believers are in. But naturally speaking, our blessed Lord, when he became a man, he was made Lord.
Than the angels I'm quoting the scriptures.
I believe that's what he meant when he said we have two natures, one that is lower than the beasts. Of course the Lord didn't have a nature like that but and a nature is when we're saved that is higher than the angels. Now I think it's lovely here in the verse that Peter was characterized by self-confidence and putting himself higher than his brethren and he says to them that have obtained like precious faith with us.
Is that he associated himself with his brethren before He said, the others will fail, but I won't fail. And he now sees him as having obtained his precious faith with us, and then not through his own faithfulness, but through the faithfulness of God.
Same thought in the 5th chapter of the first epistle when he speaks to the elders.
In the first verse, if I'm just quoting from the French, he says I am an elder with them. So it's not they that are an elder with me, I am an elder with them. So certainly grace and humility there.
00:20:09
Well, it's beautiful to see at the end of this verse that the Spirit of God through Peter shows the basis of all of this.
Through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Not to be technical about it, but I suppose we could say, and we all understand this, that the righteousness of God brings before us the fact that God could save lost, guilty sinners and yet maintain His holy character by acting in righteousness.
How did He do that? Because his beloved Son, who was sinless, bore our sins on Calvary's cross, and because our substitute in the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins, God can come out in righteousness.
And yet in grace to a lost world, and save them in Christ. But then it says the righteousness of our Savior Jesus Christ.
I suppose that would refer to the fact that you and I are brought into that position of nearness to God in the same blessed relationship that the Lord Jesus has to him. We're made the righteousness of God.
In Him, and in that sense, every believer is in Christ.
I can still remember, if I may be permitted to say this, that when we first went to Romania we encountered, sad to say, quite a number of dear believers there who were very confused as to the eternal security of the believer.
I did my best to try and explain it but working through a translator it was difficult work and we would over vary your scriptures. Finally brother Cornell V Sean from Gresham.
Said to me, Brother Bill let me have a go at it. And I said, by all means brother. And of course he being.
Familiar with the language, didn't have to.
Talk in jerky sentences the way I did. I didn't understand all that he said, but I caught that wonderful phrase over and over and over again in Christophe, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. And he was bringing before those dear believers that they were in Christ before God. And if they were in that position of nearness, then how could there possibly be any doubt?
As to whether they could be lost again, he got through to them. He got the point across. And I believe in simplicity. That's the wonderful truth here, isn't it? The righteousness of God in acting toward us in grace, and yet in perfect righteousness. But then you and I brought before God in all the perfection of Christ Himself, and occupying that place of nearness. Well, dear Peter realizes that, and this has been brought before us.
He knew and he remembered what he had been and what he still was, even as a believer. As our brother Ron has mentioned, the old sinful self is still there to remind us of that awful pit from whence we were digged. But it's wonderful that we are in Christ.
Question. Follow up on that if God is.
Showing us His righteousness in a way like this, through His grace has given us righteousness. How do we show out righteousness?
Do you mean Bruce in a practical way in our lives? Maybe you could elaborate a little on that.
Well, we've been the recipients of God's righteousness, and it puts a smile on our face.
I wonder when people or recipients of our righteousness and put the smile on their face.
00:25:03
We're really not the recipients of God's righteousness. We're clothed in the righteousness of Christ. I have no more righteousness of my own now than before I got saved. And that's what our brother Bill was bringing before us. If any man is in Christ, there is a new creation. And so.
The righteousness, I mean, we don't need to complicate it. Righteousness is simply doing what is right and people know when they've been done right by. And it's the fruit of the work of grace in our souls. And so in the second verse, he goes on to speak about.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God. And so the fruit of righteousness is going to be the working of grace in my soul, but it's knowledge for living in days when men despise knowledge, I said, well, don't let doctrine separate us, but it's really doctrine or teaching our knowledge that really sets us to understand where God has placed us. And so he goes on in the in the third verse, he also brings this through the knowledge of him.
We have these things by knowing Christ, and so whether it's eternal security or whether it's resurrection or whether it's our brother Reuben referred to in his prayer, the truth of the Lord's coming being given up, men are ignorant of the facts of the gospel and where Christ is put, where God has placed us in Christ.
And it will show out in a practical way, in the way that we behave towards one another and towards men in the world. And that's what this chapter really brings out.
The righteousness of God is that he acts righteous.
That's the side of the righteousness of God that we often do not think of. God cannot fought, actually, when the Sinner comes by faith.
Of course, even that faith is a gift according to Ephesians. You know, God is just and the justifier of him for God is righteous. Those words are interchangeable and declares righteous the one who by faith comes to Christ, you know. So the righteousness of God is that he acts consistent with his character.
I wonder if.
Captures the thought of the righteousness of God and I'll share it with you. The perfect righteousness of the God witness and the Savior blood which is in the cross of Christ retrace in righteousness. Yet Congress race told to say God could not pass the Sinner bond. His sin demands that he must die. But in the cross of Christ we stayed how God can save your righteous name.
Then a light from Jesus head is in his blood. Since that space burned, justice can be man.
No more righteousness can discount her store. I love that last on the Sinner who believes is free and say the saviors died for me can point to the atoning blood and say this made my peace to God. You don't have to go to theological work to study what the righteousness of God is captured in that beautiful head and not be more more beautifully expressed.
But Jesus, of course, I've taken of that verse in First Corinthians 1:30 For he is made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is what is, is everything to us. It should be everything to us. That should be our main goal in this life is to let the Lord Jesus Christ live his life through us.
I wonder, Bruce, if the answer to your question may be in the verses that follow, not to go ahead of where we are, but in connection with the question it speaks of from verse five down to about verse 10 or 11 There.
Verse five Beside this giving all diligence, add to your fate virtue, and to virtue knowledge and knowledge temperance, and so on. And then it goes on to speak in verse 10, where for the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling election sure. For if you do these things, you shall never fail. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
00:30:04
The righteousness of God was established at the cross, wasn't it We know that and and Peter rests in that as we have in the first verse the result of of the of knowing this and walking with the Lord. Why God has given away that we can show it out to others in our in a practical way in our lives. And I wonder if that's what we have brought before us in these other verses adding I've enjoyed in connection with this.
That you know, in the second verse it says.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. That's what God has done to us. Now what does He tell us to do?
In verse in verse five. Beside this giving all diligence add.
God has multiplied it to us and then he says, I want you to just add to this in your life. Multiply is in a much greater dimension than it is to just add. And God has given the largeness of His heart to us in multiplying it to us. And He wants us to just display, can I say a little bit in our lives as we go through the work?
What were you going to say, Michelle? Well, just one thought in connection with showing forth that righteousness of God, the brother was asking about it. I just had a picture in my mind, a simple picture. If somebody gave you a brand new car, it was yours, was given to you. You might put it in your garage and never show it to anybody, but it's still yours. You got it as a gift, you know. And then again, you could call your friends over and you could say you come and you, I have something to show you open your garage and have to look at the car.
And that would.
Bring to be the picture of telling others about the Lord Jesus. You're just presenting him to others, a wonderful thing to do. But you know the car was given to you so you could drive around in it. So you can get in that car and drive around it and show it to people as you were using it. And I believe this is what God would have us do is receiving the Lord. Tell others about the Lord, but show the Lord to others by our lives. So when it comes to the question of knowledge, in the second verse, the brother was speaking before of knowledge when it says the knowledge of God.
It's not the knowledge that God has, because God has all knowledge. Our knowledge is partial, and we know that that kind of knowledge puffs up.
It puffs up the old man, but it's the knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the knowledge of a person and the knowledge of that person does the very opposite of pop us up. It makes us humble. So he could call himself Simon Peter because he knew the Lord Jesus and he had grown in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's what's going to make us humble, realizing the greatness of the Lord, what we were, what we still are by nature, but he's made us in crisis, all of him. And if we enjoy the Lord Jesus as our Savior, gaze on him and he says Second Corinthians 318, then he's going to be reflected in our life. We're going to manifest.
What we're reading about in this second epistle, those virtues that are found in Christ, they're going to be, we're going to be driving around in those and people are going to see that in our lives.
Would you agree, Brother Bruce, that?
While we should be righteous in our dealings with others, and that should characterize the believer, is it not true to say that grace in that sense goes even beyond righteousness? A brother made a remark in our written ministry that I've often enjoyed. He said God is holy.
And we made him a judge by our sins.
But God is also loved, and none have made him so. And at the end of Romans 5 it tells us that grace reigns through righteousness, so that my dealings with others should always be in righteousness. But.
God has gone, if we could say, beyond righteousness in His dealings with us, because righteousness would have placed everyone of us in hell, wouldn't it? But His grace went beyond that in providing a way that His righteousness could be maintained, but His grace and love shown out too. And if my dealings with my fellow man are only in righteousness, I show out the character of God. But it's one sided, isn't it?
And God wants his full character to be displayed in US, and that is he wants us to display righteousness, but also He wants us to display His grace and love. Would you agree with that, Bruce?
00:35:04
It seems like.
That righteousness shown out properly is actually a combination. It kind of all comes together. Rather than saying, well, today I'm going to act righteously, tomorrow I'm going to act graciously, He really has as believers.
And having received from from from God spend his blessings both the greatest righteousness that should be how we express our daily lives is that both of those characters at the same time and it'd be more reflection of of Christ ensure in our lives.
If we were to consider that that righteousness, that grace is righteous righteousness, is shown to us by God in His grace.
And they brought the woman to the Lord taking in adultery. She said that they caught her in the very act and by our law she ought to die. It was a perfectly righteous thing that she should die. But grace met her in that situation, not sitting in any aside the righteousness of God of meeting that. And that's really what I believe our brother was saying, is that it it's not enough to be righteous. And perhaps very often you've found yourself in a situation where you've done the right thing, but you've really lost your Christian testimony in a way in some business dealing or something.
And somebody's treated you wrongly. And we find that in the Lord constantly is that the Lord knew how to meet. And that's why it's through the knowledge of him through God that God knew how to meet the Sinner without in any way sacrificing his righteousness and yet to meet him in a way that was according to his gracious heart of love. And that is what, as our brother David said, as this chapter is really instructing us in is that how in learning of the Lord as we sing that hymn opatience spotless 1.
Our hearts and meekness train to bear thy yoke and learn of thee is that we learn grace and peace. Very often we act simply to do the right thing and afterwards we say, well, I didn't really manifest Christ in that or we act in agitation and we don't really have the peace of God in this situation. We act because we think brethren think we ought to do this or because of under pressure or something else like this. But as we consider the Lord and we say, how would the Lord act in this situation?
How did the Lord act in this? Not speculate, but how did the Lord act in this situation then? It's by becoming acquainted with the Lord through the knowledge of Him. And so we don't have to imagine how the Lord would act. As her brother Gordon often reminded us, we'll never find a situation in life to which we will not find a story in the Word of God that does not correspond to the situation that we meet. And so we even see Christ in those Old Testament Saints, as Peter said, the Spirit of Christ which was in them to testify.
And that the Spirit of Christ was in those ones. And so we read the Old Testament and we see.
The manifestation of Christ and we learn what God is like and how God meets the wicked world in which we live.
I think we might be able to ask ourselves to question how much grace and how much peace do we have?
That's really the I believe the grace and peace. It multiplies. Actually multiplication is the form of addition. Only two things you can do.
So actually there's it's not the point that you want to multiply something and reach a particular end, but it's it's the fact that it's to be added. Grace and peace be multiplied or added unto you. Otherwise, if grace and peace parish life made to what degree?
Characterizes me is going to tell tell out and my treatment and my attitude towards others but it says here through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. That's the only way of coming and the and where do we get the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord we get it in the word of God we I've listened to many Christians who say what they think the Lord would do or what the what the Lord wants and so forth and.
Point is that God will do exactly what he said. There's only one book that contains the revelation of God's mind to us. And when we study that book, when we when we through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, He should have a sanctifying effect upon us. I quoted that verse from present Corinthians 1:30. He is made unto us wisdom.
00:40:01
Of righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
We have it all in the Lord Jesus for all comes, I believe through the word of God. The word of God alone gives us the mind of God without things with so many Christians who say what they think God will do or what he should do or this or that. And you probably have run into the same thing people say, well, God wouldn't do that. I said, well, how do you know he wouldn't do that? Have you have you heard from him? Did he tell you that? We learned the mind of God from the word of God. That's why it's important to read and meditate and work. That's what Psalm one tells us doesn't bless. It is a man.
Not on accountable Daniel's their way of sinners or citizens the seat of this corner, but his delight is in the Lord and his Lord as he meditate. That's our great goal in life, to walk with Christ here on earth and to let the Word of God dwell in US. This might sound a little arrogant, but because I am righteous, I will act righteously naturally. And by naturally I mean.
Knew naturally, and I have a lot of experience with acting unrighteously.
But the answer to that, the solution to that is to deal with what causes me to act unrighteously before the Lord, so that what He has made me and who I am in Christ will be manifest. If I try to act righteously, it usually ends up being rather self-righteous.
But the righteousness of Christ is produced naturally by the new life which we have as believers, and it's just to recognize that fact and to deal with the obstacles that prevent it from manifesting itself in the way that He would have it manifest itself in my life.
The knowledge of God.
We know God different and in a fuller way.
Than people in the Old Testament knew him and even in the Old Testament they didn't all know him in the same way.
In Exodus we find when God revealed himself to Moses, he said he was known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, Jehovah.
Was I not known? He revealed himself in a fuller way to know more to Moses than he was known to the fathers in the Old Testament. But we in the New Testament have the full knowledge of God. Colossians one speaks of growing by the knowledge of God, and in Mr. Darby's rending it says the full knowledge is fully added, full knowledge of God.
And so it's wonderful to know God the way he has made himself known in Christ Jesus. Nobody ever knew him as Father. In the Old Testament. We know him as Father. The Lord Jesus has revealed the Father. So the knowledge of God that Peter speaks of is that we as Christians should enjoy. And it's wonderful to know him in a more intimate way.
And even Old Testament Saints knew him, and to know him as Father, to be in the family of God, and by the Spirit to cry ABBA Father, it's wonderful to be a Christian and to know God as he has revealed himself in Christ.
And actually with the thought of justification, I thought of a judge to which I owed money and he said I have your debt here.
And I started paying him back and paying him back until I had it paid in full. And every time I came back he said up you still owe some more. You know, this was our condition before God, a righteous judge because of His Holiness, He would have to cast us away forever and ever and ever and never be satisfied. He wouldn't say after a million years you've suffered enough, I'm satisfied. He never would have been satisfied. When that woman was brought to the Lord, the adulterous woman, she was not judged, but neither were the others that were there because if the Lord applied righteous judgment to all of them.
They all deserve death and punishment. So do you and I. So it's everyone forever, everyone lost forever before a holy God, unless he comes in and he comes in for everyone, forever by one person, the Lord Jesus on the cross for three hours, the Excellency of that person before the heart of God, He could be satisfied forever for everyone, for you and me. So when I think of the justification of God that I have, I don't think of what I have.
00:45:23
I think of who paid for me, who deserved this for me, who satisfied the heart of such a holy God that could let me suffer for.
Ever because of my sins and to save me by that sacrifice and that holy God says to you and me, you just look at the Lord Jesus, how he satisfied me and he's going to satisfy you for sure.
In fact, you know the Darby suggests in the synopsis that this word, righteousness in verse one could be the faithfulness of God, God's faithfulness to his promises made to their fathers. And if you have a margin in your Bible, notice that a new translation prefers that.
Of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. It's very much the same language as we have in Titus chapter 2, isn't it? I'll just read that. I just chapter 2 and verse 13.
Our great God.
First epistle. Get that from the third chapter, verse one. The second epistle, beloved, I am now right unto you. And so on but.
Is another contrast to through the knowledge of God and.
And of Jesus our Lord, grace and peace would be multiplied. This is entirely different from what you have in the Old Testament and Ecclesiastes chapter one. It says that he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. Well, not here, brethren. And this is not head knowledgeable of our God, is it? It's real heart knowledge. We as our brother Clyde was just dating occupy with the knowledge of God. It will bring grace and peace to our souls.
That's helpful, Reuben, and I believe because here Peter, the man of action says it's really through the power of God. And you get that at the end of the epistle too. It came not by the will of man, and it was through the faithfulness of God. And that's really what he's bringing out here. It's not through man's energy, man's righteousness, what man has done, but it really is through the activity and power of God. We have the the word of God-given to us by the inspiration of God.
Man who doesn't believe the Bible doesn't believe that there's a God because they say God has a message, but he's not capable of finding instruments that are able to communicate it. I say like a man who owned the telephone company and he phoned me and he said, well, my phone doesn't work. I can't hire a proper technician.
Well, God can find individuals to communicate at the word of God. So we have that by divine power. I was dead in my trespasses and sins. So his, his divine power, he communicated life to me so that I could even hear the message. It was all God's activity. And but now he wants us to know what we have because many Saints of God don't know where God has placed them. And there are hindrances to us knowing those things. And so Peter wants those hindrances to be removed.
Greater knowledge we have of God with greater gratitude and appreciation it produces in our hearts now the knowledge of God. Of course we know where to find you brought that before we find it in the revelation of God. But it's amazing to see the apostle Paul as he was exposed to all of the Old Testament so, so very nicely and when he brought out the truth of the church and the future of Israel.
He cried out in that great doxology and Romans. I believe it's 1100. The depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his joints and his ways past finding out for who had known the mind of the Lord, for who had been his counselor, for who had first given to him. It is to be rectified under him again.
Of him and through him.
And two hands are all things to whom be glory forever. There's what the knowledge of God produced in the apostle Paul and and this wonderful doxology, all the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
00:50:06
The more we read the word, the more we study how God did things in the Old Testament and forth in the New Testament there what we get, the revelation of God, we get what God has done. That's the important thing to look back and see and we and we grow in grace and knowledge as we as we do that.
We're introduced now to the third person of the Godhead, are we not in verse 3?
According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Think of the Lord Jesus telling his disciples that when he went back he would send the comforter.
And that comforter, His purpose is to lead us into all truth.
And.
In the Garden of Eden we see that terrible situation, the suggestion that God had held something back from Eve and she fell for it and plunged the whole human race into.
Ruin. Total ruin. But now to think that in Christ we have all things that pertain unto life and godliness, and we don't have to accuse God of holding something back from us.
That would do us good. That would be foolish, wouldn't it?
So is it true, brother Ron, that in Christ there's an answer to every question, every problem, every difficulty that may present itself in the Christian pathway? Is that what it's really saying here? Yes.
And not just in the Christian pathway, if I may put it that way, but in the pathway of life, yes, I know that you meant that. But in the pathway of life, all things that pertain to life and godliness, it'll affect the way we go to school, how we dress, how we drive our car. You know, as you speak of, we sometimes segregate those things. Absolutely. And I think it's significant here and we don't want to be misunderstood, but.
The emphasis here is on the knowledge of Him. It does not for the moment bring in the Word of God. Although as our brother has brought before us, the knowledge of Christ is through the Word. The knowledge of God is through His inspired Word, and in that sense we can't separate them. But there is a sense in which Brother Ruben has said there can be head knowledge, there can be knowledge that puffeth up, as it says in another place.
But if I have really learned Christ as.
Says to the Ephesians, but ye have not so learned Christ. If there is head knowledge, it isn't enough, but the knowledge of Christ himself and walking with him will solve every difficulty. And I appreciate Neil's correction because it's not only in things that I might view in my narrow mind as being well, these are Christian things, but these are secular things, and.
They don't come into the same category.
Know every single question.
That has to do with life and godliness is answered in the knowledge of Christ in the Old Testament. They had the written law, and many times they had to follow that law without understanding why they did certain things. It was simply this is what God said and I do it. But the dispensation in which you and I now live is different. It is characterized as we have seen here.
By the abiding presence of the Spirit of God on earth.
To bring Christ before us, to make the word good to our souls, to lead and guide in every situation, well, that's that's something the magnitude of which I suggest scarcely takes hold of our souls. And yet it's eminently true as is brought before us here, isn't it?
Brother, I remember I was going through a terrible time of suffering for a number of years.
Frustrated to the point of despair. In which end corner? But the salutation that is similar to this is most all of the epistles.
With grace and peace be unto you, through God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if there's any time that I need your grace and peace, let me tell you, it was there because I could have acted in a very ungracious way. In fact, I was tempted to.
00:55:13
And instead of peace, I could have really easily made war with trouble.
And all the problems have absorbed, but how wonderful to know that that little phrase that occurs. And I think maybe most all of the apostles, epistles and salutation, grace and peace. And I well remember laying my head down on the pillow at 11:30 at 12:00, and thank God that I had.
Relief for at least five hours, but during the day hours. I needed that grace.
I needed to act in Greece. It's not what we know, it's what we do. You know, the little verse says, you know, you're writing a gospel, the chapter each day by the deeds that you do and the words that you say. Men read what you write where the faces are true. Say what does the gospel according to you? People don't look at what we say. They look at what we do. That's what gives validity to to our our Christian faith and actions speak louder than words.
And I, I think the phrase has been bandied around quite a bit. Or we while you hear it from time to time, they say, well, he talks to talk.
But he doesn't walk the walk. And so that's what we need to do. We need to have the knowledge that we know of God to come right down into our heart and down into our feet. And we live it out day by day. Mr. Lundin used to remind us that glorious excellence in display. And so we've been called to glory and virtue. That's moral excellence. So, you know, you go into a Hamburg joint and you sit down, you look across the room and you say you poke your wife and you say they're going to bow their heads and give thanks for their food. And you say, well, how did you know that there was a little glimmer of Christ in the way those people behaved themselves? It's caused you to see Christ in them. Or you meet somebody on the highway.
And you say, I wonder if that person is a believer by the way they acted. And that's what he's called us to glory and virtue. Of course, it will only be fully displayed when Christ has us and we're changed. But that's really what Peter is bringing out to us here in this in this chapter.
Grace Unfortunately, sometimes, as the scripture says, they turn the grace of God into an excuse for sin that is unfortunately characteristic of our society. Christian so-called Christian society turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. But I like to read from Titus.
Chapter 2.
Verse 11.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation.
All men I give to correct rendering here. It hasn't appeared to all men, but it brings salvation for all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worthy lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for their blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
That is what the grace of God wants to accomplish in us to live godly and how important it is to lay hold of.
I'll be lacking in the grace of God. If we go on in a worldly way, we can well ask a person that dresses immodestly or carries on in their way of talking like the world would have you come into the good of the grace of God.
Then you would act and live godly according to Titus. So the grace of God is a wonderful thing and growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, Peter instead in the epistle, you know, grow in grace and in the knowledge. So grace is not just belittling evil.
Gives us strength to live godly and grace does this.
Like the newer translation, how's that in a having denied empire and worldly lost, you should have certainly righteous. It's not in it. And this present course of thing, I think the same thing as the world, but but having denied it, it it speaks of a state of mind, a state of soul that we have, that we have. We're on that right track having denied it.
01:00:14
Unfortunately, we sometimes.
Label our brethren as legal who want to live godly. You know, there's the danger of legality, but I believe we are more affected by looseness and indifference that characteristic of our society in the world where we live here. But let's be exercised that what we do, we do out of love for the Lord Jesus.
Based on convictions that we have gathered from the word of God and ask Him then, Lord, help me to live from what I have learned from the Scriptures. Should we say, Brother Heinz, that the real problem is that we often try to, maybe not consciously, but to separate grace from the Lord himself.
And grace without God is what leads to turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. Grace with the Lord, which is what is brought in here, will never, never lead me to a loose walk. In fact, as we've sometimes said, grace understood with the knowledge of the Lord Himself is the strongest antidote to a careless life, far stronger than if someone lays down rules.
And tries to impose them on me.
And so that is the real essence of turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. It is grace attempting to be understood without reference to the Lord. And that's what the natural man does. He takes the idea of grace apart from God and uses it and is as an excuse for sin. And that's why I suggest it's so strong here that the grace is connected with the knowledge of him. If that is the case, it will never, never lead to a loose walk or carelessness in my path.
Is it the same with legalism also, isn't it? It's a desire of the old man for holiness apart from Christ. It becomes legalism, but when it's walked with the Lord, then you'll have holiness in a path that's pleasing to the Lord.
If we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, I believe we should. We should showcase and embrace to our brother who perhaps are not on the same level that you are, perhaps instead of trying to fit them all into that.
Path that we're walking. There may be something in my brother that I'm very unhappy with, I said. I wish I could get rid of that. I wish he would get on a little higher plane if it's Christian life. But the problem is the moment that I take a higher position in a critical position.
That I've become more a Pharisee and I think that we should leave space for a person to grow. I see in the coming contact with Christians every day that they're they're involved in things that that that disheartening to me. But I'm very careful as to not to do something that would offend them. I pray for them. I try to lay them maybe a scripture before them to encourage them in that way. But they must grow. And all of us are at different levels in our Christian life.
You can't point to finger and say, well, brother, you're just not just walking away. I think you ought to walk and you're having this in your life. You shouldn't have in your life. We we have that liberty and the Lord Jesus Christ stand for therefore in the liberty of his Christ that's made us free. If you're not entangled again with the yoke of ******* flow that that that doesn't exactly fit what I'm trying to the point I'm trying to make, but I do believe that we should allow room for growth in our Christian brethren and young people.
We have been called not to glory, but by glory and virtue.
That's a marvelous calling, and in First Corinthians chapter one it helps.
Us to understand perhaps what that means First Corinthians chapter one and verses 7:00 and 8:00.
So that ye come behind.
In no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that he may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
01:05:14
That's a wonderful calling, isn't it? It's a calling to be preserved. And when I wake up in the morning.
To commune with the Lord because.
We anticipate going through a day with probably some pretty serious things confronting us.
And here is the promise of being kept blameless.
We like to say, well, that's for later. That's when I'm a little stronger Christian, as our brother mentioned, getting on a little higher plane, but no.
It's a.
Falling into each one of us now. And so we are sometimes overcome by our failures that we started out with good intent. And here comes the first rally with with the world, the spirit of the world. And we kind of cower down. But to realize that the Lord hasn't changed his mind and say, well, I guess they'll just have to walk on the lower plane. No, the Spirit of God is taking up residence.
In our very bodies that.
Divine guess dwells within, in our happiness, and our joy depends upon how we treat that divine guest that dwells within us. And if we grieve him, we're going to feel it, are we not? But in the straight positive, it's to go on looking for that blessed moment when He's going to come for us, and to be preserved for that meeting in the air.
Blameless.
If we have sinned and confessed it, he will never bring that up against us again, Willie.
He cast them into.
Removal from us as far as the East is in the West casted into the lake of forgetfulness. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, He will not bring that up again, you know, but.
There will be at the judgment seat of Christ. We will see our life, and that which was for the flesh is lost. That which was for Christ will be for his glory. And I think for the Potter related to story, I'm sure that was him, that he had a dream. He was before the judgment seat of Christ.
There was a big bonfire.
And much of what he had done, he thought for God was all caused, cast into the bonfire. And he said, Lord, is anything left? Yes, the Lord said something is left. Everyone will have praise of God. You know, there's the in the life of every believer that which is for the glory of God and will remain and will be recognized, but then crowns of gold will be given.
And what do the Saints do with the crowns of gold?
They cast them at His feet as much as to say, if there was anything in my life for your glory, Lord, it was only the grace that accomplished it in me. All glory and honor goes to you, Lord, casting it at His feet. But wouldn't it be nice to have crowns to cast at His feet? You know, not that we're laboring for reward, but labouring out of love for the Lord. And there will be rewards.
And then acknowledge all the grace that has accomplished that in us. Without that, there would have been nothing in our lives for the glory of God.
Your time has slipped by, but I'd just like to bring one touch before before we go. Is that in Ephesians just tells us that we should be holy and without blame beforehand. But the next word is very important in love because it's very possible to be holy and without blame.
And lack that spirit of law grace to our brother, but the thinking of being the blameless. I love that scripture Jude and that he's able to present us faultless before the presence of the glory with exceeding joy. We're going to be he's able to do that now to him that's able to keep him from falling and to protect you faultless before the presence of enduring with exceeding joy. That's the end of it all of course, but it's an Ephesians the 1St chapter.
01:10:11
I like that word where it says holy, that you may be holy and without blame before him, but never forget that little word that follows in love.
M184.
What number?
184.
I.
No.
I said.
Cry for a smile.
For all the rest of your.
God and our Father, be at the close of this meeting, turn to thank Thee for the happy hour and a little that we have spent together over Thy precious Word. We thank Thee, our God, for the richness of it. We thank Thee for the revelation of Thy beloved Son, our God, and who Thou art. Through Him have we vealed to us in Thy Holy Word. We thank Thee for the divine death.
That indwells us, that is here collectively in our midst to lead us out to Him. We thank Thee, our God, that Thou has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness in this world. We bless Thee and we come to Thee in prayer, that we may use the resources that Thou hast given to us to help us walk more in a path that that was pleasing to Thee that Thou hast individually marked out for each of us.
01:15:30
As we go through this world, we think of the young people among us, we think of the children, our God, we think of young parents, and we ask the our God, not just for them, but for those that are older too, that there may be the seeking of to be led by the Spirit of God according to the Word of God. As we go on through this life, so we command one another to thee, and ask thee that thou hast continued.
To take charge in these meetings and our fellowship in between the meetings, that they may be that which would savor of Christ, we look up and give thanks and ask all in His name, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 Peter 1:5-11
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Oh God.
We must.
Joy.
May only with us.
We lost.
God of the Christ.
Made for you.
Oh.
Verse 4. All right.
First floor.
Second Peter, one verse 4, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.
That by thee she might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through life. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and knowledge temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful.
In the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, he shall never fall. For sow an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior.
Jesus Christ, wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things.
Though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yeah, I think in me, as long as I am in this Tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we.
00:05:08
Made no one unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What were eyewitnesses of His Majesty?
For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with Him in the holy Mount.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Children of Israel certainly had great promises given to them in the Old Testament.
But Peter contrasts what was given now to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he says that these promises are whereby are given unto us the greatest promise, great and precious promises. Darby translates that the greatest and precious promises, the promises they had of old brethren, could be corrupted. It was defiled.
It faded away and they lost it. But none of these things are true of the promises that are made to the believer today. It's reserved in heaven for us, incorruptible, undefiled, and it will not fade away. So these certainly are far greater promises that we have today than were made to the fathers of old.
Israel will have a special place in the Millennium, but there will be no Israel in the eternal state, will there? There will be no nations. And so we've been called by glory and virtue. And so to the darkest act of man, the darkest hour of this eternities history, if we can put it that way, shone out the glory of God at the cross of Christ. And it's by this that we have these great promises.
So he's really contrasting that to lust.
Because lust is me wanting something that God has not given to me.
And wanting to have it. And So what does that lead to? Corruption. And the world is full of corruption because man wants maybe something that is even right, but was not given to him. And he craves something that's not his. And I just leave. The world is full of corruption because it's full of unsatisfied affections. But we have promises, greatest promises. And what does it lead to? We're going to be, you know, we're partakers of the divine nature.
We're going to enjoy, we're not going to be alone and in corruption.
But we're going to be fellow partakers, we're going to have a lot cast together with those that enjoy these things.
These promises were established before first foundation was laid.
And the comment was made in connection with the knowledge of God and justice to kind of enforce it a little bit. And that is to realize that God has never had to learn anything that's hard for us to grasp. And to think of his counsels that he would put man on the earth, He would come to total ruin and he would look at his counsels and said, how can this ever come about working with material like this?
00:10:04
God didn't have to learn anything. He set those promises.
And he is given to them, to us as his people. And I'm glad that he chose a rough fisherman to be the writer. I believe that when Peter was out on the Sea of Galilee and the net broke and he lost the big catch of fishes, he probably didn't say too nice a words.
In fact, he denied the Lord with those and curses which perhaps had a root back in his early life that he never judged.
Completely. And so it broke out on the night of the Lord's betrayal.
And when anything is made public in any of our lives, there's been an extended route that is we've never let it grow, get stronger, and then one day it breaks out in the open and we are all of a sudden kind of surprised we didn't know what this was all about. But if we stop and think, the point I'm getting at is him being a rough fisherman to use language like.
Precious to catch that word. Precious. That's a word that a rough fisherman wouldn't use. But now God has wrought with him. He has that divine nature.
And I begins to speak the language of heaven. We have to have that nature before we can do that. Otherwise we speak the language of the world and it's vernacular.
Some of the things that we have a promise is I think, and one of the ones I deploy your attention to is chapter 10 of Hebrews where it says in verse 18.
I'm sorry, verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over the House of God, let us draw near with her true heart and full assurance of faith. The story comes to me of George Mueller.
He was on a ship, I believe this story goes, and a thick fog has set in.
And he was apprehensive as because he had a meeting, I think in maybe Canada or someplace, they wanted to talk to the captain and they told the captain, he said I have a meeting, he said.
At such and such a date, and the captain says, well, he says it's impossible. I said we can't move. We got thick fall and George Miller said, well, let's go down. He said, well, I want to pray about it. And he went down to the captain's quarters and George Miller, well, the captain said, well, it's impossible.
I think that Georgeville was said to him. He said I have access to my father's throne. He said for 57 years he said he has listened and taken care of me and I want to bring it beforehand and he did. They got down to captains quarters and George Miller prayed that God would lift the fall. He said I have to. He told the captain he had to be there. He said I've never been late for a meeting in 57 years. He says he said my heavenly, my heavenly Father will will see to her that I'm going to make it so when he got done praying.
The captain started to pray and and George Newell ladies hand on his shoulders, he said no, don't pray.
He said, you don't think that the Lord can do it anyhow. He said, decide that the Lord has already answered my prayer. He said, let's go up on deck, Went up on deck. The fog was clear. He cleared away. But it reminds me of the precious promises that we have. We have something that the world doesn't have.
The world might have power, they might have all the resources that they're disposed, but we have something that they don't have. We have access into the very holiest through the veil, the rent veil, we can have access to our golf. That's why to me, that's one of the precious promises that are given and are given to us.
We know we are going to be like him, for we shall see him as He is. And so really this next verse should more properly be read for this very reason. Let us add to our faith, because we're going to be like Christ in that day. It is all, and that is the incentive. For this very reason, we should add to our faith.
00:15:05
Give all diligence to add to our faith virtue.
It's moral excellence.
Moral purity.
It is important to understand that.
And it's not like a step here.
To add.
Faith and the next step is virtue.
The point is that these characteristics, all at the same time, could be manifesting themselves.
That's the teaching here, I believe, and I'm quoting what I've learned from those scriptures better than you, so.
It is important to have faith but also have courage.
Courage.
And knowledge.
You know you might have the right desire, but what about spiritual intelligence? Knowledge.
And then just be careful.
Don't try to impress people with your knowledge or post in it in your own mind.
Temperance has to go along with it.
Patience. Patience. You know someone.
Quoted that word once and he says patience.
He dragged it all, you know. You know, we need that kind of characteristic. Some of us by nature are perhaps.
More patient than others. You know, some of us might have more of a problem with that and maybe with the one or the other of these characteristics, but the teaching is that we should be exercised that all of these things mentioned.
Unfold themselves and demonstrate themselves or are demonstrated in our lives at the same time.
This book that we hold in our hands is filled with promises from Genesis to Revelation.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, and all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy past. That is a promise. All the promises of God in him are Amen. Quoting it wrong. It's second Corinthians one. All the promises of God in him are yay, and in him Amen under the glory of God by us. So in the verse three that we have before us in this chapter.
That he's given unto us divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Is that not really in the word itself that we have in our hands under the direction of the Spirit of God, and he cannot deny himself. And it's a wonderful thing from the time the children are young to learn verses.
To have these to cling to in their lives. And so here it says, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.
So light and immortality are brought to light through the gospel in the Old Testament.
The truth of salvation was not fully revealed, but it is brought to us in the New Testament, isn't it? So I wonder if that isn't one of the things that perhaps Peter is referring to here.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. The light of Christianity has brought a revelation that the Saints in the Old Testament didn't have. Is that not right?
E.
I think that's a very good day because as we've had mentioned to us, Israel did have promises in the Old Testament and they counted on them. And as we know, they were extremely disappointed when the Messiah that they expected would set up a Kingdom and bring in the blessing instead was crucified and was rejected by the nation.
00:20:11
And now what? Well, we know the two on the way to Emmaus were typical, perhaps of those who were expecting deliverance, and they were totally discouraged, thought everything was lost. But what has God brought in? He's brought in the greatest promises, promises that man could never have had on this earth, and which connect with a risen Christ in glory, and then all of these other things.
Are to be in our lives as a result of that. Well, what a blessed thing that is. And it's because those promises are a present or should be a present living reality in our lives. It is because Christ is before us as the one in whom all those promises are. Yeah, and all men that you and I can have the energy and the grace to Add all these things together as we have brought before us in these next verses.
The same Brother Heinzer, things not so much unfolded in succession, but things that should be displayed in the believers life all at once. And I think that's in connection with the apostle saying we're partakers of the divine nature. Every believer is a partaker of the divine nature, and that's the very life and nature of the sun. And so every moral virtue that was displayed in that perfect life here below that eternal life.
We possess as believers now each also have the Spirit of Christ in US, and that's the Spirit of God and his power to form Christ in US and to develop those attributes of that divine nature that we possess and bring them out into display.
Is that not what we have in Galatians 5 in connection with the fruit of the Spirit?
It's interesting to me that in that chapter the fruit is singular and that it speaks of the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, all those things.
Come from the fruit of the it's the fruit of the Spirit. And they will, if we're walking in the Spirit, they will all be displayed in it.
They're adding things here.
In the list that is given, it doesn't say join to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience. It says join to your faith virtue and to your virtue knowledge and to your knowledge temperance. It. It seems to be connecting these things together for us because it's a perfect circle. We mentioned the cruise of the Spirit. It starts with love. And here's the last one mentioned. Is love the character of things that are balanced one with another and all wrapped up in love?
If someone had virtue without knowledge, he would have virtue and ignorance. And it's much better to have virtue and knowledge. And somebody might have knowledge but very be very intemperate and be excessive. He needed to have knowledge coupled with temperance, and then temperance with patience, and patience with godliness. And we just bring these things together as they interact because they're perfect in Christ. They need to be made perfect in us too. And that part of it, it's a process, isn't it, that we are conscious that all these things need to be found in US.
That's really why it's more properly translated in in virtue. In knowledge. Many Saints have virtue. They really are horrified perhaps by abortion and they go out and protest and do all kinds of things. But it's not in knowledge that they're acting. It's virtue. They're horrified by that sort of thing. And so I just use that as an example. So it is in knowledge that that that is true. Temperance is self-control and patience is going along with others that.
You know, patiently as we understand, but I can't be patient with others if I'm not self controlled myself.
And so this list of things as Brother Heinz has brought before us should all be present in the Believer all at once. But the order here, and we hesitate even to say it, the order here is not haphazard, is it? The order here is such that each quality that follows the one before brings in that which corrects.
00:25:11
Perhaps the wrong tendency of the previous one if it is used in an improper way. And so faith needs moral courage or virtue and virtue as it says here needs knowledge and knowledge needs temperance and self-control. All should be present at once. But the Spirit of God puts them down here. And I like the way you put it, Brother Michelle Piet, that they all come in a full circle, but yet the Spirit of God is bringing before.
The believer these various things in an order, in order to show us the tendencies that are all too common in our hearts of having, shall we say, a moral.
Character in US which is not balanced properly by other things, and what God is looking for in you and me is a proper living out of His character in US.
Well, we have, as our brother has mentioned, brother Steve Stewart has mentioned the capacity to do that with the new life in Christ that we have. But then there are things that have to be, you might say, remembered in view of all of these things. And so the order is important here and it is something that we need to pay attention to because, as I say, each one that follows the other is that which.
Shall we say balances and perhaps corrects and modifies the one before, in order that it might not come out in an extreme or fanatical way, but rather in keeping with the character of God as exhibited in Christ?
We also say that these precious promises that many people make promises to us, they don't keep them. But I like to think of this, the precious promises that sometimes we stumble, sometimes we fall.
Sometimes they might wander the promise to stand there. We might fail him, but he will never fail us.
I've read like the story of others in the assembly have heard me tell the story. I was going to the hospital, visiting someone who was dying and, and get in the hospital and I come in contact with this priest. I guess it was a priest, it was a clergyman and his collar, white collar, so forth. Well, we got talking and we talked about that. And if I remember correctly, I said, you know, one day I said somebody will be coming in here and visit you and help me visit me.
We'll be we'll be ready to die and then went on. I tried a witness to him and I said to him, I said, well, I'll tell you one thing. I said I'm writing and I said there's a little him that says Dane is the thought of man to marry in heaven by prayer to only Jesus. Precious blood can give admission there. None can without the blood of Jesus be forgiven, which is resting in the blood alone that fits the soul for heaven. And I enjoy what he said to me and it was startled me. It surprised me as we parted company.
He lifted up his little arm. He was a very small man, small in stature. He looked right directly at me and he said he will never fail you.
And I just took that as a wonderful saying that I remember it. The promises of God will never fail us. We might fail him, but he'll bring us back. Thank the Lord for that. We have many inches into Scripture where we see people who didn't always function in the area of virtue and the patience and temperance and so forth. But we have to have time to grow growth. And I think that's when it says here we're partakers of the divine nature.
We partake of that as we go on in life they go his little him. I guess we've probably probably heard of this on it more of Jesus would I know more of his grace to others show that's.
That we walk here.
I think we can say this, that if it's not in knowledge, it's not virtue.
If I may have a deal for something, but if it's not according to the word of God, then it's not virtue. If it's not brotherly love and godliness, if it's not brotherly love in divine love, then it's not really brotherly love. And so that's why it's not, as her brother said, not like steps, but they're together. And so we need, we need to know what the word of God teaches if there's to be virtue. Because a lot of people when they brought the Lord.
00:30:14
To the the woman, to the Lord, and said, this woman's taking an adultery.
And by our Lord, she ought to die. That sounds like they're defending virtue, but it wasn't virtue. There's a lot of wickedness connected with it. And so we find here that it's virtue in knowledge and in knowledge self-control, and in self-control patients and godliness.
Brotherly kindness and charity. Divine love.
We find some of the Saints in the Word of God that are kind of the exemplary in these each one of these things. And it's been suggested that in virtue or moral courage, we have David as an example of moral courage to go down to the valley of Elah and to be king and so on. In knowledge we have Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived in this world.
Except for the Lord Jesus.
And then in Temperance we have Paul and how he could speak about keeping.
Under his body.
Temperance is a very important thing in our life and Paul really exemplified that. And then impatience. Our minds go to job and all that job passed through.
Patience is a wonderful virtue, is it not?
And then in godliness, perhaps we have Daniel, one of an excellent spirit that feared God, that could go through deep things, so deep that he was ill from it. And then to have the Angel come and say, Oh man, greatly beloved.
And then in.
Brotherly kindness. I think of Jonathan as a real example of.
His love for David, that he could give him everything except his shoes. And he loved David.
And it's a wonderful love, a filial love, if we could put it that way. But then we come, I believe it's love in the new translation, charity love. And we think of the apostle John, that was really the theme of his ministry, was that wonderful influence and flow of divine love that has the capacity to love.
Another without expecting return. Well, these are examples that we have that are nice to consider and have.
Their life and influence come over our souls and affect us.
Yet, and everyone of those illustrations you gave Ron, I can think of a failure at each except Daniel. There's no recorded value at Daniel. The only one in whom we do find perfection is in crime state.
Between the two translations is.
Perhaps I don't know quite what to say, but if we read the King James Version, it tends to, it tends to have us read from the top to the bottom of the list because we're adding, or so it appears as we read it, adding one to the other in that sense. But if we look at it in the Darby translation that has already been mentioned, it's in one have the other. And that almost would be like the example of a little egg within an egg or doll within a doll finding one inside the other.
And that would lead us perhaps to read from the bottom of the list to the top. And if we do that, you look at the last one and that's love, and you read back up to the top. And love is what produces all of these things, and in an order that is perhaps somewhat different from reading in the other direction.
And perhaps the thought in giving all diligence is perhaps not so much trying to add these things, but the Lord's saying.
Enjoy the multifaceted nature of the faith which we've been given.
To explore the dimensions of faith as these characteristics express them.
But I don't know which is the right direction to read it in.
00:35:07
P.
It's wonderful to show brotherly love. It's also wonderful to be on the receiving end of it.
And I think that it's very important the story comes in my mind. I intended once a very important meeting and I, I've heard about this person that had my same name as I had. The man that run this meeting was a very capable, competent person that was on the habitat destruction and the various things that had to do with dredging at the Delaware River. And so when we were sitting around the round table, just we can't hear you brother, the issue.
With discussing the issue, this gentleman that was chairing the meeting come over to brought a man over to me and he and he looked, looked down, he said to the man, this is Clyde Roberts. Well, I knew who the man was because I had heard about him and he had told me before. But this man, I knew I was waiting. I knew that he wasn't going to introduce himself to me because I could look at him and tell that he was what I would call and insufferable snob. He is a highly professional man.
Of note, and so forth.
And he just wanted to see this other person look an old commercial fisherman with, with no status and, but, but that, that's not what what we're talking about. We're talking about showing law. And another incident comes in my mind that I was on a ship. We were investigating things and there was a lot of people on the ship. And the friend of mine that I know from New Jersey, the director of the fisheries was on that ship. But we had people from Maine to Florida.
And they were all professional people and scientists and so forth. But but.
This this man that the the hand of the fisheries, they treated me like I was, I was a royalty. Why he come over and we sat down and he talked. We went and and it was kind of crowded, you know, and went up and he got me a piece of cake and brought it back and we talked some more about I said how wonderful that this man would condescend.
The men of low estate and I think that's what we have to do with our brother too. It was contest sentiment of low estate and not not trying to.
Look at the other type of people and, and, and, and get up on a higher level. And I, I know of people, and not in our meeting, but I know people in the various denominations, but they got their nose up in the air so high and they would not consider, you know, fellowship.
Or showing love and kindness to somebody who was below them all. They would go through the motions. But when it says here that we should.
Brotherly love and add to that, of course, charity, but but these are some of the things that God wants to produce in US. He wants us to be real.
And can't descend the men of lower state.
These things that they have found in us, it tells us in the 8 verse.
That we shall not be idle, that barren everybody notes as idle or unfruitful. So these things be in us. We have this divine nature. We're partakers of it and it, the use of it or the living out of it will bring out activity, will be busy and will be fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that there's one aspect to it is in the increase of the growth and the knowledge of him. But if I tell someone I know the Lord Jesus my Savior.
Well, there should be activity in my life and fruit in my life that manifests the reality of the knowledge of Him, shouldn't there?
Included says in John 15, He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit, without me can do nothing. The Lords desire that we bring forth fruit. If these things abound in us, we won't be idle, we'll be busy in the Lords things.
This is intended to be very practical, isn't it? Because we know that Peter's epistles bring before us the House of God and the government of God, and ultimately the judgment of God on this world. And in the latter part of this second epistle we get the very serious side of God's judgment on this world. But for the believer, the House of God brings before us responsibility and walk, doesn't it?
00:40:27
And that is so necessary.
We all have heard the expression, and it bears repeating, that the only Bible that many people in this world read is what they see in the life of the believer. And so here in this verse it says in the.
The eighth verse that says.
For it these things be in you, and abound. They make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful.
In the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that expression knowledge there is the same as is in the third verse where it talks about full knowledge. Well if we really have known Christ.
There ought to be the display of it in our lives. There ought to be that which characterizes us, the exhibition of that divine nature, so that when the world sees you and me, they will see a reflection of Christ. Well, that's, that's a lot to ask, isn't it? And yet He has given us, as we've already heard, new life in Him that is capable of that.
So we're not told simply to try to do these things. We're told have these things because we have every capacity in Christ to be able to carry them out. Well, it's a big responsibility, isn't it? And no doubt Peter felt that very keenly in his own soul. There had been failure, as we've heard just a few moments ago in his life. There had been the perhaps going back to some of those things in deportment, in language that had characterized him before he met the Lord.
And unhappily they came out and he knew what he was talking about when he talked about the corruption that is in the world. But now he says you don't need to be barren or unfruitful. Your life can show out these things before the world if you're willing to walk with the Lord. Well, it's it's something very, very practical for each one of us and most needed, isn't it?
Line as to ourselves.
And short sighted as to God's ways and purposes. That's how that has been explained. Cannot see a far off you know.
That is so important that we are not blind as to ourselves.
But that we also are not short sighted, that we see beyond us and enter into that which God's purposes are.
And have intelligent about these things, but then all said to forget.
The sins from which we have been purged. Not that we should always.
Dwell on our past shameful life, but don't forget that the grace of God has hurt us from it. And that's why what do we do on Lords Day morning? We thank the Lord, thank the Father for sending the sun, and thank the Lord Jesus for dying for us to cleanse us from our sin. Not only did he bear our sins in his body on the tree.
He was made sin, that evil principle. And so, but we better remember the grace that has been shown to us when the grace of God perched us and cleansed us from all of our sins, all our sins so great and many in his blood are washed away. You know, wonderful to think of that statement in that hymn and.
So the Lord Jesus by his word.
Has done that, and we better remember that it will make us thankful.
The bill was perched from our scent, forgot that we've been perched from our sins. I think one of the saddest things with my my own experience, and I suppose it might be drunk all this is that we forgot that we have encouraged sometimes from our our sins. Sometimes we can look down upon other people and have too high an opinion of ourselves, but.
00:45:16
We if God put everyone of us in hell.
We could lift up our voices and say, oh God, thou art a righteous God. That's what we deserve. And many times we we look at people and say, Oh well, that person doesn't meet my expectation and look what they've done in life, you know? So what we should do is go and look in the mirror and realize that we deserve hell and judgment.
Themselves, all of the students, you can't forget that we've been purged from our own. The whole sins. Let's see what it says here.
Yeah, and they're blind. They cannot see a far off and have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins. I cannot find fault. I cannot look down upon somebody else because they have done this or they have done that. I gotta look in the mirror and I can see why somebody worse than they are. I can esteem other men better themselves because I know what I was.
I can give you the benefit of the doubt.
When he said to the other disciples in John 21, I go fishing.
Make that statement in faith, and the Lord asks him the next morning, Children, have you any meat? I suppose he was pretty embarrassed when he had the answer no.
Still bearing untruthful. They caught nothing. He wasn't walking in faith.
And it speaks about blindness here. It's a moral blindness that will come upon us if we allow the flesh to act. In fact, John and his epistle in chapter 2 and verse 11, it says if you hate your brother, you're in darkness and you walk in darkness and you don't know where you're going because that darkness has blinded your eyes. It's a moral darkness that the Lord will bring upon us if we don't judge the flesh. What happened to Samson?
When he didn't judge the flesh jealous and judges 16 at the Tolstoy's put out his eyes.
Bill Ward used to remind us that you had to pass Morally through Philadelphia to get to Laodicea.
And you find there in Philadelphia's simple desire to keep his word and not deny his name, but in laid us here there was a self satisfaction, a self complacency. I'm enriched, increased with need goods, and I have need of nothing. And what did it lead to? It led to blindness.
And we often use those verses, behold, I stand at the door and knock in connection with the gospel. But it's really he's really speaking to those that are professively the Assembly of God.
You were going to say something wrong.
But you're mentioning about the government of God. I just wonder what our impressions are of the government of God if we were asked.
Would our thoughts be that the government of God is a perfect government? If it is, that's right, it's a perfect government. But the offending of that government is what we don't want to do. For he that soweth to the flesh out of the flesh reap corruption.
I remember seeing a young man.
Coming along and I just was kind of touched by him, his happy countenance, and I said to him, what makes you happy? He says, because I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. I said, well, where did he find you? He found me down in the gutter. And there's one thing I don't want to go back. And so we might think, well, the government of God, now that we're Christians, it operates in a different way.
But no, the government of God is still the same, and the offending of that government is going to bring consequences into anyone's life. But to be established in the fact that it's a perfect government. You know, we'd like to have a perfect government. We have never seen it in our lifetime, but it's going to be set up in the coming Kingdom glory, when Christ is going to reign in righteousness over the earth and the inhabitants of earth will be happy.
They will be joyful, they will be industrious, but woe be tight. Anybody that's feigning obedience, circumstances are going to come along when they're going to expose themselves, and they'll be dead corpses the next morning.
00:50:05
So the government of God is a serious thing, but let us not have negative thoughts against it. That is a wonderful government. And so if we if we're going to have negative things against that government, we're going to be suffering from it as Christians and go back.
Don't you think for Iran that God in his mercy has not always dealt with us as He would be justified in his government to deal with us, right? He has shown mercy.
And grace. What's the difference between mercy and grace? Mercy doesn't give us what we deserve, and grace gives us what we don't deserve. You know, if God would have dealt with us strictly on a righteous basis, there would be no hope with us. But he has shown mercy. He's a God of mercy. But we better remember, whatsoever a man soweth that also he shall reap. We see that in David's life.
You know in other examples he shall restore fourfold.
He did restore, you know, he spoke his own judgment. But.
A wonderful that in his grace and mercy he doesn't always deal with us according to what we deserve, but he has dealt in the Lord with that. You know, the Lord Jesus, he bore all of our sins in his body on the tree. But I think here it's especially that which we might do after we are saved.
You know, and how sad that there are things in our lives many times.
That make it necessary for the God for God to deal with us in government and he is a righteous judge and.
In the coming day at the Millennium, he will judge sin every morning. Life has already indicated no one will get away with anything.
But this is the day of grace.
And so he would at the present time deal with grace. And he does, you know, so we don't know how everybody in this room stands towards God. Are you right with God?
Are you saved?
What about as a Christian?
Is there sin in your life? Remember you have to do with the God that is a righteous judge and he is judging things and his government might bring things upon us that we have.
Sought and He allows us to reap it, you know. But it's wonderful that He doesn't always make us reap what we have sowed.
Three things in this night verse he that lacketh these things in whom these things are not found. None of these things are found in him. He's blind. He cannot see a far off and I'd forgotten he was purged from his sin from his old sin or as it reads in the Darby Virgin it says he has forgotten the purification of his sins the apostle Paul.
Life that I now live, I live in the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and this one who's called blind. We don't find faith if also Paul had a living faith in a person that had given himself for it and he hadn't forgotten the purification of his old sins. He said according to being a Sinner he was the chief of sinners and he remembered what he was a blasphemer that he was acting in ignorance that was present to the apostles soul throughout his life I believe.
But he went on well, this one here, there's three things. He's blind, he can't see a far off, and he's forgotten about the past. But the believer who's walking with the Lord, you'll never forget. We've been reminded from week to week and what a precious time we can have in fellowship with the Father. Going back to Calvary and musing over an infinite word by an infinite person. We're never going to exhaust. And it just lifts up our hearts and praise and worship and it's going to do that for eternity when we get there, won't it?
What about the present?
Well, if we're walking with the Lord, we'll have discernment who's going to be before us and what we do is going to be Him.
His smile, the desire to please him, we're not going to be blind. We're going to have discernment from him. And as we look afar off, how far can we see? We can see eternity. We can see the Lord by faith right into heaven by now. And that's who we're going to be with. So the believer who has these things in him, he has a blessed horse. He looks back and he sees Christ on the cross, and he looks already looks at Christ in the glory coming for him. And now he looks at Christ in the face of Jesus Christ and is transformed in the same image from glory to glory.
00:55:27
Did you say this was a back slider in this purse or how would you look at that?
Most likely I would think. It seems like he's a believer. What the question comes in my mind, is it a matter of degree?
Is it ultimately, you know, a completely blinded or is it maybe partially blinded? I'm just wondering. I mean.
Well, we know the scripture says that the one who is without Christ.
Is blind the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.
Blinded them to what? Not so much to the fact that he is a lost guilty Sinner, but more a blindness to the glory of Christ. And could we suggest that when it says here being blind or short sighted, the thought, I agree with everything that's been said and how we have to go through Philadelphia morally to get to Laodicea. That is very true. But I suggest what we have here can be taken in a very basic way.
And that is, do I have a present or eternal view of things?
These virtues, if I could use that expression, that are listed earlier in verses six or five and 6:00 and 7:00.
Which one of us would want to stand up and say that they're easy to achieve? I believe we can say that everything that the new life in Christ wants to exhibit in our lives, every fresh grace that God tries to work in us, will find its corresponding antagonist in some aspect of my old sinful self.
And that's why.
If I could refer to what Brother Heinz said.
Jimmy Smith said what he said. Why? Because the old sinful self doesn't get any better, and the more you want to live for the Lord. And we say this.
I don't want to single out the young people because I didn't always appreciate it some years ago when I was in that place, but it's important to remember that it will not get easier as you want to live for Christ. It will get harder. The old sinful self energized by Satan will push harder and harder and harder in order to try and assert itself the more you try and carry out these things in your life. And it's not.
Very difficult.
To say this is too hard in that way we become short sighted because we say I'm going to take the easy way out, but then I'm looking at the temporal situation, not eternity. And God says I want you to have an eternal view of things. And so as our brother has mentioned, it is a matter of degree because.
Technically you can't be blind and short sighted at the same time. You're either blind or you're not blind. But the thought is that ultimately there are degrees of blindness in the believer's life.
That come about because the devil holds out the present advantage instead of allowing me to look at the future, which is an eternal view of things.
That command itself.
How do we make Our Calling and elections sure, Bill?
Well, I'd like to hear the thoughts of others, but we know that in Christ Our Calling an election is sure. But I believe the question is, do I live and walk in the present enjoyment of it? Is it a reality in my soul? We know that no believer, no true believer can ever be lost. But it's not that that will keep me in the past of pleasing to the Lord. It's the enjoyment of what I possess.
That makes the difference, and if my walk is careless, I'll lose the enjoyment. Is that the thought?
You demonstrate the way we live, that we are the call of God, that we are the elect of God. That was sovereign grace that choose us, and in his Son, you know that was not because of anything good in US, but we can demonstrate now that we are.
01:00:11
Called that we are elected.
And God does not just pick us up, He also has made us sane, you know, Saints by calling. And so we can live and demonstrate that we are the God of God, that God has elected us. He hasn't just picked us up, He has made us what we are in Christ.
We've all had the experience of somebody saying to us.
Well, he's a real Christian, even an ungodly man says well, he's a real Christian and they identify him as what he is another maybe you may know a brother and he said well, he's just a big hypocrite. And so I believe that's what we're bringing out here. To put it simply, is it's true that Our Calling an election are sure it was as we read in the first epistle. It was really with God before.
Time.
But we're to demonstrate it.
I just want to say this in connection with blindness because often and we've all had this experience, you're talking to somebody about something and you quote a verse of Scripture and they say, well, I don't see it that way. I see it differently than you do. I think we've all had that experience. I sometimes feel like asking the person, I don't care how you see it, how does it read? What does it say? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And people will say, well, you see it that way and I see it this way.
Forward is the word of God, say.
And you really walk away with the real realization that the person does not see what scripture plainly says.
And we're disobedient to the word of God. Then we're going to be like that. We're going to say, well, I just don't see it that way. And the word of God plainly says it.
The Word of God is not written for those that need a PhD in order to understand it. Little children can understand it. Unless you become as little children, you cannot enter the Lord says, and we don't need to be very bright intellectually to appreciate the Word of God, but we do need, what we do need is the Spirit of God. You know, he opens up the Scripture. We have that in John's Gospel, you know.
So.
But we don't have to be very bright intellectually in order to benefit from the Word of God. Even children can benefit from the Word of God. And as they grow and get older, they will appreciate more. And so it is with us, you know, but we have to be exercised about these things. We have to be in these things, you know, read the Bible every day.
Meditate on it. You know, we cannot overemphasize that two children read the Bible. Are they encouraged to read the Bible for themselves? I've told you that story. If you heard it, forgive me, but my granddaughter came to me one time when they were visiting. She said, OPA, let's read the Bible. You know, she was about 10 years old. I said, where are you reading?
She said. I'm reading in the book of Exodus.
And she sat down every day and read me a chapter of the book of Exodus while she was there. I was so pleased that she came and said, let's read the word of God. I hope all of you young people and even children get into the habit of reading the Bible for yourself every day. I'll give you a little example of what you said about a child understanding and blindness. I once asked, I don't often take the Sunday school, there's others more capable in the assembly. But I once asked the children, what's the difference between what Abraham had and you had?
Little girl put up her hand, She said Abraham sins were covered and mine are gone. Well, she saw what FW Grant didn't see, and he caused a terrible division among the gathered Saints over that very thing, the possession of eternal life. And yet it was something that that child could see, that her sins were gone and Abrahams recovered until the cross.
And so the truth is, you say it doesn't need to take a pH D to see it, but we can cause a mammoth amount of problems and be governmentally blinded if we don't accept what God's Word says.
01:05:04
That dog that walked through here reminded me of verse of Scripture that perhaps that I think is found in Philippians where it says beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the confession. But these are the things that would pull us down. These are the things that would deprive us of living that fullness with the Lord intends for us to live all these various things that he mentioned here.
Beware of dogs now dolls in scripture, basically I mean they're nice pets and all we love them, but a dog is a shameful animal and when the apostle tells us beware of this, I believe he wants would have us to understand be careful who you make friends with beware of evil workers they can only pull you down when you.
Analyze or a person and you and that person is is going to.
Dampen your spirit and the Lord or is going to potentially to lead you astray. You might come right down to what we have right here. You you might let this thing have an influence upon you to the point where you know you're blind and you cannot see it far off. There's another verse that that comes into mind and I, I was thinking in Second Thessalonians. I think it's the third chapter.
Verse two I believe.
First second set belongs I'm sorry and verse 2.
It says, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith, but the Lord is faithful who will establish you and keep you from evil. But our part is to make sure that when we walk in here below, that we don't have relationships and so forth that would bring us down if we if we give us bad habits.
Could we just?
The expression ye shall never fall. Is that a promise?
You are going to keep that promise. Is it a promise that we're interested in? I believe we are. Are we don't? Go ahead.
I was just going to finish the same thought because our time is up, but it's nice to include this.
12Th or 11Th verse here. And the apostle says, as you say, we will never fall. Well, which one of us would stand up and say that?
We've arrived there, but nevertheless it is a promise of God. If that new life is allowed to display itself, we won't fall and that abundant entrance will be given to us. Into what?
Well, the Israelite looked for an earthly Kingdom, and they were very disappointed when it seemed to be eluding their grasp. But here's.
As it says here, an everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
That's something even better. And we know that the thought of the Kingdom often connects itself with a moral state, doesn't it? That was the real problem with Israel. They weren't in a moral state to have the Kingdom. They thought they could take it in their sinful condition. Having disobeyed God, brought down His government upon them, and yet they felt that because they were His chosen people, they could take the Kingdom in that way. Now you and I have been made fit for that everlasting Kingdom.
But God wants us to have that abundant entrance into it now.
We don't see a visible Kingdom today, but there is one coming, and morally, you and I can demonstrate the character that is in keeping with those who recognize and honor the rightful king.
Mr. Lundin used to remind us that every action has present and eternal consequences, and Paul could say he'd receive mercy of the Lord to be found faithful.
278.
Save your way long.
01:10:05
Only.
Gone for my hair and be.
Oh.
No.
Father, we just do empty. There's a the shortness of our salvation and that there is entrance and that we do not need to be blind that we can see. We just do thank thee that there are things that we can have in our lives and things to add and to.
Have those traits, characteristics of Christianity seen in us? We just do praise the reading of Thy word.
Together on it that just might grow up unto thee, Lord Jesus, that we might grow grace and knowledge for our Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we pray and give thanks. Amen.
2 Peter 1:12-17
Reading
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First three, do thou, the very God of peace as holy, sanctify and grant us such a rich increase of power from on high, and so on #288.
No those mercy Boris.
Graciousness.
Where can I shall drink all mother's father and pray, Lord, no way I'd be in thy sake our goal.
Filled out some holy.
Have a.
Like my son himself, about your joy, Lord, pursue the sky.
Come.
Our God and our Father.
Heard us singing loud.
Mercy's far exceed all we can do.
Say it's really our daughter and father about.
Past stone diversity, each one of us in this room.
Who know the Lord Jesus is our Savior.
Everything our God and Father comes because my love and my mercy and my grace.
Nothing of ourselves, our thoughts, all we brought.
For our sins.
Allow her to pay the price.
That had to be paid.
The phrase that we could never pay for Jesus, but that is willingly go to the cross and.
There for our sins and thine own body.
On the street.
Oh Lord Jesus, we thank you for what thou God.
Should be just praying now that as we open my word.
We thank Day for thy mercies and thy.
I would love the freedom to come together.
Gathered by thy Spirit, for Jesus will open thy word to have thy Spirit teach us.
And bring to our attention those things that Thou has taught us here.
00:05:01
We pray thee, our God and Father, that there might be nothing of ourselves that would be in the way to withstand, in the way of us hearing.
What thou will bring before us this morning, we just pray thee again that that was God and direct in the chapter.
That we would take the cup this morning.
That would show us my mind and that we might hear what that would say to us. And we ask these things. Our God and Father, for thy glory, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in his name are in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen.
Did you say to start at verse 11?
Second Peter one verse 11.
So an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the present truth.
Yeah, I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up.
By putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. Moreover I will endeavor that He may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembering. For we have not followed cunningly device peoples, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but where eyewitnesses of His Majesty.
For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with Him in the holy mountain.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.
Until the day dawn and the D star arise in your hearts, knowing this verse, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
One of the wonderful things that characterizes the day in which you and I are living is that God gives us the present enjoyment in our souls of that which will be ours, shall we say, in full reality, in a coming day.
And so an abundant entrance can be ministered here.
Even before we see the tangible Kingdom set up, we were mentioning yesterday, of course, that there is a moral state that is in keeping with those who recognize and honor the rightful King.
There is a day coming when that Kingdom will be established and when, as we get in Ephesians one and 10, God will head up all things in Christ. But isn't it wonderful that God would have you and I, you and me, to live in the present enjoyment of all that we have in Christ even now? And I suggest that is what is meant here, particularly as we said yesterday, because.
The Israelite looked forward to an earthly Kingdom and they were grievously disappointed when it was not set up. But now Peter points out to them that God has something even better for them. They were not to look for an earthly Kingdom particularly. That wasn't their hope, but God was providing that which was heavenly.
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We don't get in that sense in Peter's ministry, the heavenly calling of the church as we get it in Paul's ministry, But nevertheless, he talks here about an abundant entrance into that everlasting Kingdom. And I suggest the thought here is that God would have you and me to live in the present enjoyment of all that He has for us, even here and now, in the midst of a world that has rejected the Lord Jesus.
And in the midst of difficult circumstances.
The Kingdom will be the place, the time of manifestation of our devotedness here below.
Happy for us here is the reward for those who go on diligently and who make their calling and election sure. Notice it doesn't say at the end of verse 10 or if you know these things he shall never fail. It says for if he do these things, he shall never fail.
It would remind you, wouldn't it, what you have in John 13. Happy are ye if you do these things. It's not a question of the intellect is a president. It's the question of practicing. We've had in these verses before us. And if so, then there's going to be reward in the Kingdom. It will be manifested by the Lord at that time.
And there will be a reward now because we'll be able to enjoy those things now I'm not having yet possessing them. Brother Michelle spoke on salvation in his three aspects. The salvation of our souls.
Salvation of our life and the salvation of our bodies. But you know, we can have a saved soul and a lost life. How it's true what Brother Heinz said yesterday. Every man shall have praise of God will be something to praise. And everyone even in lot there was something that God could praise in him. But we can waste our lives. And that was the earnest desire of Peter was that their lives not be wasted.
I believe actually in Scripture if you look at the word salvation, you'll find it more often connection spoken of in connection with the salvation of the life and the salvation of the soul in Scripture.
In the doing of these things.
If I refer to the things. If you do these things.
Something that you think about that these are the things that I could be doing this and you're doing them that you're being kept busy with those things that pertain to life and godliness and then doing that is not going to be anything wrong with your life. You're doing them. So we can talk of these things with as objects, you know, if you do these things, but in the doing of them, just do them.
And you'll have the benefit.
Peter takes up thoroughly in his first epistle.
The suffering time of the Lord's people. But here he doesn't bring it up. But we do need to be reminded it's through suffering that these things are done. And why does he bring us through suffering?
Why we need that? So that we'll have a sense of appreciation of where he's going to take us.
And how he's going to use us in that day if we suffer with him now.
We're going to reign with him in that day and I believe that found in that expression to love his appearing embraces this very clearly. I think of Jacob when he had heard of his son Joseph exalted in Egypt. The last time he had seen him, he was just in shepherd's clothes, but he the report was to go back with his brothers to tell my father of all my glory in Egypt.
And to think of that dear man mounting on those wagons that Jacob Joseph had provided, and to know that there was going to be a meeting with his Son. All you can see in Jacob's heart, he was loving the appearing when he would see his Son again, not in shepherd's dress, but arrayed in honor and glory. And so that's embraced in the thought of seeing our blessed Savior.
Exalted in glory, and then in the very world where he was despised and rejected and crucified and cast out.
Our hearts will never fully be satisfied until we see Him have His rightful place in heaven and on earth.
Versed in 116th Psalm in connection with what? Saying about suffering Psalm 116 and Paul really gives it as the ground of ministry.
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2nd Thistle, Corinthians in the Science, 4th chapter.
Psalm 116, verse 10, I believe. Therefore I've spoken.
I was greatly afflicted.
And so Paul quotes that in the second epistle of the Corinthians, as I said, as the ground of ministry, but to believe the word. But there was affliction connected with it, their suffering connection with it. We bear this treasure and earthen vessels, and so we lay hold on the truth of God, and the Kingdom suffered suffereth violence, the violent take it by force or spiritual energy required in their suffering.
Lot chose the easy path.
A path of spiritual and moral ease. By going into Sodom, it wasn't as if he wasn't vexed by what was going on there, but the practical end of his life was destruction.
His family, his wife, his everything that he owned, and really in his own heart, he said here's a little city. Even Sodom was still in his heart after God had taken him out of it.
And so there is suffering in connection with the pathway, but it's because we have an exceeding great and precious treasure, and we can often see farther than we can walk. That's certainly a good thing. And so we say something, and then maybe the reality of what we say comes home to us, and it brings a little difficulty because there's a course that's associated with or an action that's associated with it. And they're suffering because the world and the God of this world does not want us to walk in the pathway of the truth and wants to rob us of what is ours.
And the enjoyment of it, as has been said.
There's an expression that is in this chapter five times over.
2 words.
These things.
And I would like to ask what these things are, and I'd like to read the five times that we have them in this chapter because it ties in with where we started in verse 8.
If these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful. Verse 9. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off. Verse 10.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you shall never fall. Verse 12. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them. Verse 15.
Moreover, I will endeavor that you may be able after my deceased to have these things always in remembrance.
So we've had reference here to verse 10.
If you do these things, you shall never fail, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom. So my question is, what are these things?
Could we say, Brother Dave, that they are the practical side that is brought in in verses 5-6 and seven? We wouldn't want to limit it to that because we know that the exceeding great and precious promises are part of that. But they are, you might say, made good to us by our walking in a way that is in keeping with them. And it ties in with what our brother Ruben was saying that it doesn't say.
If you know these things, but rather if you do these things. And isn't that true all through the word of God?
I stand corrected on this, but I think this verse is repeated at least five times and maybe more with variations. And to get it turn to Luke chapter 8. This is one occasion where it is given to us.
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 8.
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And verse 18.
Take heed, therefore, how you hear, For whosoever hath to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
We might say that that's a universal principle in the ways of God, isn't it? Because if I have learned something of the truth of God and of the things of God, I am among those who have, but I don't really have it unless I live and walk in the good of it. And if I don't live and walk in the good of it, God will not allow me, if we could express it this way, to have the theory of the truth in my mind without the practice of it in my feet.
He will take it away from me. A very, very solemn thought.
A very, very serious thing in our Christian lives. And referring back to Second Peter here, I cannot expect to have the abundant entrance into that everlasting Kingdom if I merely think that I can hold something in my mind and not walk in the good of it. But if I walk in the good of it, then I believe that all of these things, particularly the walk that is given out in verses 5-6 and seven.
If they are part of me, then the enjoyment of all of this will be in my soul and I will indeed have that abundant entrance. Our brother Harry Hayhoe, that some of us are old enough to remember, used to say it is not what you eat that nourishes your body, but what you digest.
Some of us know what that feels like because I remember well having a bad dose of Jardiance in India about 20 plus years ago and I lost 13 lbs in one week because what I ate was not digested. And then he went on to say it is not what you know.
That helps you in your Christian life so much as what you enjoy is that. Is that right, Brother Dave? Would you agree with that? Yes, I I like it tied in. It seems to me that it ties in directly with those verses preceding 5 through 7.
But we cannot do what we don't know.
So it's very important to get to know the truth.
And not just intellectually, but.
In our own souls. So get familiar.
Addressing myself to the young people, especially with the word of God, he can't overemphasize that. And then?
Extra the exercise to do.
The will of God, you know, and how important that we enter into it by faith. It's possible that you enter into it intellectually.
And I think Clarence Ladine made the statement, all truth enters by way of the conscience. The conscience has to be affected by the truth of God and.
And then?
Become part of us form our very character, our very being.
That's what the purpose.
Of the truth is and that's why God gave it to us and.
So hopefully.
I pay to lay hold of these things and then demonstrated in our walk. That is why in the verse that brother Bill read it says take heed how you hear and seemeth to have because if I don't receive something by faith.
Have not received it in the right way. And I may sit down and wrestle somebody, for instance, to believe in creation. And he gets up quite convinced that there's an intelligent creation. I mean, a fool doesn't believe that. And but if he's not received it by faith, he may seem to believe the same thing that you and I do, but he doesn't have it and he's not in the enjoyment of it. And so how do we get faith? Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so this brings in what brother Heinz was saying is that.
The Spirit of God wants to work on our soul, but if we don't read the word of God, he's got nothing to work with, if I may put it that way.
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He takes the word of God and he brought back to the disciples. They remembered how the Lord said it is more blessed to give than to receive. They remembered the word of the Lord and the Spirit of God had something to work with. When they disciples were faced with a situation about how to fill the 12 seat, they remembered the Scriptures. He could bring back the scriptures to those of two on the way to Emmaus, but if they didn't know them, then how can the Spirit of God do that? There's another verse that's very similar to the one that Brother Bill read and that is take you what you hear.
For to him that hath somewhere be given unto him.
That hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And so that brings in moral virtue. And there has to be discipline to walk in separation from the religious and moral confusion of this world, because if I listen to that which I know is contrary to the word of God, I'm going to lose what I have.
If I don't receive it by faith, I'm going to seem to have it and I'm not going to have it. But if I listen to what I shouldn't listen to and expose myself to what I shouldn't pick up, then I'm going to lose what I actually have. And we have seen that happen.
And then the heart is the key, isn't it? By the mind we know, but the heart believeth unto righteousness, if you believe in my heart.
Trusting with the heart. So if we hear the word of God and we need to hear it, but it needs to get into our hearts. The disciples came as they said. What did they say? Did not our minds rejoice at all the things that He revealed to us? Did our hearts burn within us? The affections for the Lord are stimulated and then the feet follow the heart.
I think we might, might consider too, that it says here that we're partakers of the divine nature. If we walk in the Spirit, we should not fulfill the lust of the flesh, that we have a new nature. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. I think that that a verse in the Corinthians who says that God who had caused the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.
In the face of Jesus Christ, but we have this treasure and earthen vessels as we explain the other power may be of God and not of ourselves. We have all the resources and God wants to produce them in US. The the old saying is your actions speaks louder than your words. The world looks upon us to what we do. Our Christian brethren look upon what we do and God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness here we've been called to glory and virtue.
That precious verse that we've had before us a little earlier on.
The grace of God that carries with it salvation for all men has appeared, teaching us that, having denied impiety and worldly luck, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present course of things, awaiting that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us.
That He might produce in us a peculiar people, deliver from iniquity, full of good works. I think we have all of that resources to walk in the Spirit. We will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. We've been partakers of the divine nature and God has shown in our hearts to given us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We have everything we need.
To walk and glorify God does that passage and patience was before us the other day that it tells us that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. So we have everything that we should produce and these things here are the are the the after result of walking and and the and the spirit and allowing Christ to live out his life through us.
Connection again with what Brother Heinz said about knowledge. Thought to mind a comment that Clarence Lundin made, and it may be a simple one, but he said if you have trouble reading your Bible, just read it.
That sounds like maybe a strange statement, but if just pick it up and read it, it has an attraction to the heart and the Lord will help and then the Spirit of God will have something to work with oftentimes.
The difficulty people have in reading ministry is that they haven't read the Bible, and it's explaining what they don't know and notice in Mr. Darby's writings, he very rarely gives a reference because he makes the fatal assumption that people have read the Bible. And a lot of times the reason that people have trouble understanding ministry, we have trouble understanding ministry.
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Because we're not familiar with the Scriptures that it's Speaking of. And so we need knowledge and it has to come by faith and it needs, there needs to be virtue to be faithful to what we've learned and read. And then we need to express it in a practical way and brotherly love and, and in seeking God's object with the soul.
The Kingdom.
We already have heard that.
That's to enter into it by faith presently, but there is going to come a time when there will be a Kingdom on earth and we will come with the Lord Jesus and in the Kingdom there is going to be a difference.
Some will be over 10 cities, some will be over less.
According to the faithfulness demonstrated for the Lord, now there will be a difference in the Kingdom.
But it is the desire of the Lord that through faithfulness be my chair in more of it.
He entrusted with more in that coming Kingdom when He will come back with us. The Kingdom is not exactly the same as being blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's all based on the work of the Lord Jesus. I'm speaking now when He comes back to reign, there will be a difference depending on how faithful we have been.
In our life now there will be more entrusted to us or less and.
Hopefully there is an exercise that we lay hold of things by faith and walk faithfully, and the Lord Jesus would like to be able to in that coming day, entrust us with more reigning with Him.
And giving us a share in that range, but that is the share might be different according to the measure of faithfulness demonstrated now.
The end of verse 12 is certainly a beautiful statement and be established in the present truth. Think of Peter writing this nearly 2000 years ago and the impact of it is still with us. It's been pointed out that we never have plural.
That word in the plural truths. We're not going to fault anybody for Speaking of different truths.
But it's good to remain with the truth, and the truth has been personified in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we speak of various aspects of the truth, which is a happy statement and we understand that. But remember somebody using the expression, well, you know, that's an essential truth. And someone kindly said, well, all the truth is essential.
And so to think of Peter as an old man, not having to apologize for Speaking of these things over and over again, because this has been given to the church to be enjoyed and to be preserved till the day that we enter into glory the present truth. And if somebody introduces something that doesn't sound of the present truth, there's an alarm that goes up.
And so we know the enemy desires to grade in things and to sometimes even be as bold as to say, well, you know, the brethren haven't held is quite right. It's it's more over here. I I I'm not open to that kind of language.
And so if all truth will lead to the blessed man, who is truth, the truth personified.
What you're not agree is Christian truth yes, you know, and there's more given to us than the Saints ever had before Christianity came into existence. So it's important not that we neglect the Old Testament, you know, like McIntosh said, that illustrates a lot of New Testament truth, you know, but the present truth is that we.
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Should familiarize her with selves with and enjoy it. Know it and enjoy it.
To be no such thought with their future truth. It would be a thought of partial truth in the Old Testament. But now the full truth has been revealed in a person. I am the way that truth and the life, and we're LED into all truth by the Spirit of God. We only know it in part, but it's been given to us fully, isn't it? So it's present truth is the fullness of truth. Would that be right?
In connection with these things that all go, it ties in all the verses together, doesn't it? Going back to.
Really starting again in verse five, I was thinking of, you know, there's a there's a phrase that is used in the world called lifestyle. There are different lifestyles that people make. The phrase is coined and so that you know, this person lives this kind of a lifestyle and that person lives that kind of lifestyle. But there is a lifestyle that is associated with the believer. And isn't that what we have brought before us in these verses going back?
Verses 5 through 7, it's not that I want to go back to them so much, but to tie it into where we started here, that there is a lifestyle associated with the believer, and it's even as Christ himself walked through this world who did no sin.
Neither was guile found in his mouth when he suffered. He threatened not, but committed himself to him. The judges righteously. Is that what characterizes me when I walk through this world?
Do those that see me, both who are believers and not believers, see that kind of a lifestyle in me? I think that's what it brought before us in verses five to seven. And what did God do with the Lord Jesus when he walked that kind of a lifestyle through this world? God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. And what happens to the believer?
That walks with God through this world, with, if you like, that kind of a lifestyle. Isn't that what we have brought before us, where we started?
For so an entrance verse 11 shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Beloved brethren, there are rewards for faithfulness to God as we walk through this world.
And it's all that counts.
So I think that's what Peter is seeking to bring before the Saints of God.
And we need to be reminded of it. I'm sorry.
Go ahead, Bill. Go ahead, dear brother.
We need to be reminded of it constantly, don't we?
Pardon my Speaking of myself, but I can remember sitting in medical school.
How long ago? Almost 40 years ago.
And we were all very afraid as we saw the tremendous volume of material that had to be taken in and learned. And I remember how reassuring it was when one of our professors stood up and said, I know how frightened some of you are at all of the material that you are going to have laid before you. And you're wondering, however, you are going to hold on to it all.
He said rest assured there is much that you will not remember and you will have to go and refresh your memory from time to time.
But the things that are really important you will hear over and over and over again. And it was true, and isn't it true in the things of God? We need to be reminded of these things over and over again. Peter knew that they had heard them. He knew that they had been told these things.
But he has to admit in the last chapter of this epistle that some of the things that.
As he says, our beloved brother Paul has given our hard.
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To be understood. It was not easy for those with Jewish aspirations and hopes.
To take hold of the heavenly calling of the Church and of all of the things that God was bringing before them.
Peter says we need to be reminded of these things over and over again. And so it's necessary, isn't it, in our lives to have these things continually brought before us in order that we might live and walk in the good of them?
Sorry, Ruben, I was about to say the same thing. Bill, you know, if these things are mentioned five times, that word in remembrance is mentioned three times here. You'll notice because we tend to forget very easily, don't we? In verse 12.
Always in remembrance in verse 13, putting you in remembrance verse 15, Always in remembrance remind you pretty much of what the Apostle Paul said when he writes to the Philippians in that third chapter.
To write the same things unto you is for me. It's not grievous for you. It is safe. And we tend to forget that we have to be reminded of these things, don't we? And was he successful in his desire? Well, Brett, and we're we're going over these things this morning so that we won't forget because Paul Peter knew that shortly he would deceive or verse 15 that rather should be.
His departure?
After my departure to have these things in remembrance.
When you depart, you go from one place to another and Peter was leaving his sabernacle to go to be with the Lord. He wasn't. It wasn't just a deceased. After his departure, the Lord had showed him that when he was an old man he would be crucified. And so he wanted to remind the Brevan as to these things, how important it is Brevan, that we have our minds refreshed. We tend to forget so easily.
It's important to remember, too, how God has chosen to communicate these things to us and how he's chosen to keep them in remembrance for us as by being doing precisely what our brethren and Dorothy have done is to invite us to be over the word of God because he speaks of cunningly devised fables. You know, I heard of a man who was walking down a street in the Southeast Asian country and he looked in the gift shop and he saw Santa Claus on a crucifix and.
That was their impression of what Christianity was there. I was in a Christian School in Egypt and they had a Christmas display there, and they had little cotton white and snow and Santa Claus and so on. And I thought, what did this have to do with Egypt? But you see how man is mixed up and tried to preserve these precious truths that we have by all kinds of things. And it's not the way that God has chosen to maintain this truth and to communicate it. Everything we know about the Lord Jesus Christ we know.
By this blessed book. And the fact that we have the truth in his purity is because brethren have delivered it to us in a pure way, not mixed up with cunningly devised fables and all this sort of thing. And we see more and more and more as the heart departs from Christ and Christendom and in our own hearts that we get tangled up in these things. But Peter was not embarrassed. A year after year. I don't know how long they've been having conferences here, but I see notes from Saint Louis. They're having a conference from 1920 and maybe before.
And the brethren are faithfully repeating these truths, and there's no embarrassment in connection with it because that's how God's going to maintain it in its purity. And if we seek to pulses in Corinthians comparing spiritual or commuting communicating spiritual truths by spiritual means, you cannot communicate spiritual truth by unspiritual means.
And so that is why he is not embarrassed, if I may paraphrase, to repeat these things again and again.
One of them is order. My steps are quoting to Thy Word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. And the other scripture that comes to mind is Thy Word. Have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee? It's the word of God.
That encourage us, encourages us, that comforts us, that instructs us. The word of God is looked at in different ways. There's always a primary interpretation. Exactly. You have to know what the word of God says before you know what it means. But in many cases, there's also a prophetic anticipation. It looks forward to something else. But in addition to that, I believe we could say there is, there is a, a, a personal.
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Application and I might say that.
In our devotional reading at the kitchen table, I have learned so many things that I never learned.
And my previous life through commentary, when we read a chapter, even though it's an Old Testament chapter and it has to do with customs and conditions thousands of years ago, but the human nature doesn't change. It's the same old corrupt, wicked nature. But anyhow, what we try to do is say, what can we learn? What do we learn from this? What is God? What would God have to tell us? What could we do and pick up from this chapter?
That would help us to walk a closer walk with Christ, with God. What can we learn in this chapter that would give us instruction? But it would correct us perhaps, and some of our attitudes in our ways. So it's the Word of God. And I love that first order of my steps according to thy word. And let not any iniquity have dominion over us.
The present truth.
The problem that we have in the Christian profession is that they have introduced Pagan customs in connection with Christian profession. That's what Christmas is all about. That's what Easter is all about. The very word Easter comes from Ashtaroth cuts a hidden God, and they have associated the most blessed events that ever occurred.
The incarnation of the Son of God with Pagan customs.
That's what Christmas is all about.
I think we need to be reminded of that because some of the Saints celebrate Christmas. They have a Christmas tree even. You know, it's very troubling to me to see that it's paganism introduced into the church, corrupting the truth of God.
And hopefully we have discernment and shun this kind of thing.
And want to have the pure, true, uncorrupted, you know, and the Lord wasn't even born in December.
We don't know exactly when he was born.
But it was not in December. Why? Even today shepherds are not in the field in the Holy Land. In December the shepherds were in the field. And the Lord has not given us the day of His birth. He could have easily communicated that to us. Christianity is not based on the Incarnation.
It's all based on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That's what Christianity is connected with. Of course he couldn't have died had he not become a babe. But unless the kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, he is that Colonel of wheat and abide of the law. But he did die, and he brought much prude. Christianity is the result of his death and his resurrection.
The spirit coming down, linking us to our head in heaven and to every believer on earth.
That's Christianity. You know, we find that in Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter one, it's still on Jewish ground. You know, they're told that they would see him coming again as he ascended. You know, he will stand on the Mount of Olives when he comes to deliver his people. But Acts chapter 2 is where the Spirit comes down. That's the beginning of Christianity. I'm just.
Feel that we have to be exercised not to corrupt the truth with what even is most dishonouring to our blessed Lord. Pagan custom, that's what it is, and keep it in an uncorruptible way. The truth maintained it by God's grace with incorruption. Brother Heinz, you and I, the brethren in Egypt took us to Upper Egypt there, and we stood in front of those stones in the Valley of the Kings and Queens, and you could see it in grave great on the stones thousands of years before the birth of Christ.
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For the goddess Owen had a son at winter solstice, the end of December, and they decorated a tree and they had a drunken feast. And you know when people say to you celebrate this, you want to be careful that people don't think you're Jehovah's Witness or something. And you, you can happily respond that you believe that the most blessed birth was when the Creator entered his own creation. And the Angel saw the creator of this universe laid in a Manger. What ashamed a man that he put the creator of this universe.
In a Manger, you can say it's the most blessed thing. And I looked at somebody who asked me that at the office once and I said, but we don't have anything to do with the drunken feast. Associated with what?
The way the world celebrates it. And she said, you know, we wish we didn't have to either because it was a tiresome thing. We don't want to dwell on this. But you know, the devil starts by making things cute. He starts by making ghosts and goblins cute. And then it progresses until you get to this extent where you see people taking up with that which is more openly demonic until finally.
It just, he breaks down the barriers bit by bit. It doesn't come in. It comes in as something cute, something funny, and then it develops into something more serious until finally in professing Christendom, we see just open manifestations of, of reading of tarot cards and wickedness and spiritism. I think there's even a shop on the Main Street of Saint Thomas now that that plies this sort of thing because but it starts out as something cute and entertaining and it we have to be careful, cunningly devised fables.
Verse 14.
Knowing that shortly I must put off this my Tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me. When Peter writes his first epistle, apparently he is in Babylon, which is Iraq, and it's been suggested that when he wrote this second epistle he was in Rome. How he got there we don't know, but it's just prior to the year that he's going to.
Have be delivered out of this world in AD 67.
And so he makes reference to the fact that the Lord had shown him what His end was going to be. And we might just notice that in John 21.
What the Lord says to Peter prior to his departure into heaven. John 21 and verse 18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest. I think we all understand that when we are young we set about to do what we purpose to do.
And but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee, whither thou wouldest not this spakey signifying by what death he should glorify God.
And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. You know, I wonder what Peter, what impact this had on Peter at that time as a young man.
I wonder if the the the reality of it was pushing, should I say so that he heard more of what the Lord closed with, followed thou me than what his end would be?
To end as his master had ended on a cruel Roman cross.
And so as he speaks of it now, it's not a dread to him, it's not a terror, but it's the avenue that God has chosen that he should depart to be with Christ after a fruitful service. And so he carried this more or less 3538 years in his soul until the moment finally comes now along with this.
Secular history has it, and it's not always accurate, but when the moment came for him to be crucified, he wanted to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die as his blessed Lord was. But along with that, there was his dear wife that labored with him in Babylon. And as he closes that epistle, you have to read it in the new translation of how he spoke of his wife.
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That had been with them and shared the pathway of suffering together.
That she requested that she be crucified with him.
You know, that is what can we say to this?
What love, what devotedness, what a Master we serve. He's not unrighteous in what He passes us through, but there's a sublime beauty, is there not to a submissive heart and obedience to the will of God by whatever means He chooses for us to depart out of this world.
And so it really brings out the beauty of Christianity.
The beauty of following Christ.
Do as it says of Saul and David.
That they were Saul and Jonathan, That they were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death. They were not divided.
It's interesting to consider in the Old Testament that God didn't allow the Jewish people to have the body of Moses or his tomb because it would have been such, such a stumbling for them. And so with Peter, Paul, and we don't really know how they died, where they were buried and that kind of thing. The Lord hasn't given us to be attracted to that. He has given us by his Spirit to be remembering.
Especially one. So the apostle Peter would bring these things in remembrance to us and point us to the knowledge of him, our Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm sure every believer in the Lord who has sealed his testimony with his blood will have that reward in glory. And the Spirit of God doesn't shine at using these as an example for us. But we know what the Church of Rome has done with Peter. Peter, on this rock I will build my church. And apparently that whole system, the Vatican, is built on the tomb of Saint Peter.
Just what men do in their religious zeal with things that might be true and commend itself to our consciences, and we need to be kept from that, don't we? But just to be noticing in the Scriptures how?
The Spirit of God is at telling us of the suffering and death of those apostles, so it was not distract us from the occupation with the beauty of the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have any proof that Peter ever got to Rome. That is just what they are saying.
That he was the first Pope of Rome, he was the apostle of the circumcision, Paul was the apostle of the uncircumcision. And so as far as I know, we have no proof that Peter ever got to Rome.
But his fear of service was not amongst the Gentiles, not that he never did. You know. He opened the door.
To the Gentiles the apostle of the circumcision opened the door to the uncircumcised. And Paul the apostle of uncircumcision of the Gentiles. He is used to write the Epistle to the Hebrews. But still there is pure service. Was Peter amongst the circumcision? Paul among the Gentiles?
And we enjoy, do we not?
To read Peter's books.
Defiance he has written and but they do not have the depth that we have in pulse writings as far as Christian truth goes, you know, and our standing in Christ, the body of Christ and so on. But there's no doubt much blessing connected with reading.
Any part of the Word of God, even as we do now look into the Epistle of Peter.
Is very encouraging to read these next verses because it's been often reminded that Peter brings before us the government of God. And as you say, the truth that Peter delivered was not the highest truth. And though he was the leading apostle, you might say the spokesperson in the beginning and as a brother quoted earlier referring to his beloved brother Paul is ready to take a lower place among the the apostles. But even in this, you know, he speaks of being with the Lord and mount on the mount of transfiguration.
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But if you turn back to Luke's gospel, you see their eyes were heavy with slumber. And you know, Peter was one who knew that the Lord knew how to separate the precious from the vile. And it's just in a practical way, it's very encouraging to read this epistle that you could look back and remember that wonderful scene and it formed the moral character of his life. And perhaps there's one here. And they feel they're really not going on for the Lord the way that they should and so on.
Just go on for the Lord, be encouraged. We don't have a hard master. He picks up another instance in this epistle that I love when he praises Sarah and uses her as a recommendation, even as Sarah called Abraham Lord. And if you turn back to the Old Testament, what do you find Sarah doing? She's laughing within herself and she has to be rebuked for it. And yet thousands of years later, Peter takes up that very instance, I believe, and said, and she didn't even speak out loud. She called Abraham Lord within herself.
And so the Lord is not a hard master. We don't have a hard one to follow. And Peter was one that learned that. And so he's referring to this blessed circumstance and it formed the moral character and spiritual character of his life, even though at the time he might have been in a low state of soul. He was slumbering and sleeping, and they were heavy with slumber and.
So he speaks about this experience with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration.
And isn't it true that this is what will give us the strength as we go on, is a glimpse of that coming glory? Peter had it. In actual fact. He stood on that mount of Transfiguration. He saw that glory. You and I see it by faith. But that is what will keep us going. That's what enabled Peter, as our brother Ron has mentioned, to be able to face death by crucifixion.
That's what has enabled so many of our dear brethren down through the ages to be able to face the most awful persecution and death, and yet not merely do it, shall we say, resignedly, but rather triumphantly. That's the kind of thing that enabled, for example, men like Louis Berkin to ride down the streets of Paris in his very best robes.
To be burned at the stake in front of Notre Dame Cathedral. It's what enabled men like George Wishart and Saint Andrew Scotland to walk out there calmly and boldly before his persecutors and die not merely resignedly, but triumphantly. And you and I, in this day, we may not be called. We may, I don't say we won't, but we may not be called to give up our lives for Christ.
We don't know, but the difficulties and problems of facing the opposition of this world as it increases more and more are going to be such that if we're not careful, we say this is too difficult, this is too hard. And the devil says yes, and I can make it easy for you. All you have to do is compromise a little bit. All you have to do is give up a little of that present truth. All you have to do is go along with things and I will make the pathway.
Significantly easier for you.
But then we see a glimpse, I trust, of coming glory. We see that One who in a coming day, is going to be pleased to call you and I His own, and to own us as His. And that, I believe, is what will keep us going, won't it?
The Apostle Andrew.
I copied this down what he said as he was going to be crucified, said Andrew died on a cross with these words I have long desired.
And expected this happy hour.
The cross has been consecrated.
By the body of Christ hanging on it.
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That gives us to understand the reality of Christianity in Christ.
In connection with what our brother Bill was saying, you know, I think sometimes we say well, I'll never be called to be burned at the stake or to be crucified. But then something comes up at school and what we associate ourselves with, how I dress, what I go on with and suddenly Christianity becomes too hard to be a little bit different than the world. And there is a suffering connection with walking in this pathway of separation. And we may shun that we may wish that we were had the spiritual boldness of one to walk out in a Notre Dame cathedral and be burned to death. But then.
What we take up with in life we somehow find too hard on a daily basis and I believe that's very searching to the heart. And we may read stories about Saints that suffer and far strung lands, but we're called to a life to be a peculiar people and zealous for the Lord. And and we, I'm speaking for myself and I think we can all say Amen to this, is that there's a great deal of lack of virtue on us to just stand clearly for the truth of God.
At a cost and a bit of suffering.
Is that why Neil the Martyrs crown is mentioned twice in scripture? I was thinking of that. Show it to us. Well, we get it first of all, as we all know in Revelation chapter 2.
In connection with Smyrna.
And.
It's verse 10, Revelation 2 and verse 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation. 10 days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
But then if we turn back to the book of James, we find that it's mentioned again.
James chapter one and verse 12.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. I believe that's what our brother Neil has been bringing before us. God gives the grace we know, and he would give you and me the grace if we were called upon to give up our lives for Christ, because those that suffered in years gone by while we in no way make light of it.
Were men of like passions as we are. They were no different in their essence than you and I.
But sometimes the constant.
Ever pressing resistance to testing and temptation in our Christian lives.
Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, The Lord says, I'm going to give those who stand up to that, that same crown, the crown of life. And so you and I shouldn't be discouraged because it often takes much grace to live in these favored lands. I know I've said this before, but someone from this side of the world went over to China some time ago.
And he was horrified as he saw some of the awful persecution and the difficulties through which dear believers there were passing and not being accustomed to it, he said, oh, he said, why does the Lord allow the Church in China to suffer under this awful persecution year after year after year?
The Chinese believer was equal to the question, and he in turn said, well, he said, we have a question here in China. He said, why does God allow the church in America to be ruined by prosperity year after year after year?
How do you answer that?
They need the grace to suffer under the persecution that God is allowing, but we need the grace to resist temptation day after day, week after week, and so on.
There is. I'd like to read that one text and his fourth chapter of Revelation. The Lord gives us grace to accomplish many things for Him, even laying down our lives sometimes if we have to, but.
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This verse the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat upon the throne and worshipped him, that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou Wert worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
It's nice to know whatever victory we have, all the glory comes back to the one that has given us the strength, the grace, the motivation to overcome and to glorify Him. And whatever it might be in our lives, all praise unto Him.
Ron, you had a thought.
Just going to quote Brother Eric Smith that saying that prosperity is the Christian's worst enemy. I have no controversy with that statement.
The love of money is a root of every kind of evil.
And in this land of prosperity.
It's a great danger, but my grandfather asked me.
He said. Where does the love of money begin? With a penny or with a dollar?
Begins with a penny. You don't have to be wealthy to be afflicted with that problem. The love of money.
So the Lord said, show me a penny.
You didn't have one.
199.
No praise and glory.
All right.
24.
Luke 24, verse 50.
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Thinking of the expression we had in the.
Verses We had abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom.
Luke 245051.
And he led them out as far as to Bethany.
He lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. We pray.
But that God, our Father.
We delight to trace the pathway, Blessed God.
The Dallas marked out in the word of thy own beloved son.
And at the end of that pathway, it led blessed God into thy very presence. We think of the welcome that he received.
On the other side of the cloud when he entered.
That home above, oh our God and our Father, thou has been so satisfied with the work of thy Son.
That thou hast given him the highest place in heaven.
We think of thee looking down on us here in this world. Blessed God, thy people.
Thou has given us an example. Lord Jesus, we should follow Thy step, and we do want an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom.
And we are see for grace to go on and to follow.
That blessed One who is exalted and taking care of his own police here in this, while we're here in this world.
By faith, Lord, we trust Thee for the pathway, and we pray for one another. We ask thee for grace. Lord, help us. Precious Savior, be encouraged by the Scriptures to go on.
To please thee, We think of our dear young people. We think of young families, older ones.
The world is all against the Christian professor. God, thou does have a pathway for each of us.
And we're encouraged by these words we've had before us in Peter to go on.
And so we seek to encourage one another to to follow Lord Jesus that blessed pathway. The doubt is the doubts go through when I was here in this world. Now we look to thee for thy blessing on the balance of the day. We pray our fellowship between the meetings. Maybe that which would encourage one another.
To go on to please the Lord. So we asked these things and give thanks to my precious name, Amen.
2 Peter 1:18-21
Reading
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Our times are in thy hands, Father, we wish them there. Our light, our soul are all we leave and.
Entirely to thy care him #209.
Oh praise, no answer.
I know it's gone.
When we start the trading meeting, the second Chronicles.
Second Chronicles, Chapter 7.
At verse 12 And the Lord appeared to solve it by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a House of sacrifice.
Verse 14 If my people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins.
And will heal their land.
Alvine eyes shall be opened and my ears are tense, such as prayers that is made in this place.
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Turn over to 1St John.
First John, the 1St chapter, the seventh verse.
If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Chapter 2 and verse one.
My little children.
These things right I unto you that he said, not if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Pray.
Our God and our Father, we come into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ this afternoon as thy children, and surely we lift our voices today.
And we would seek blessing to ourselves and for our little ones, for all of God's people. We just do pray that doubts not only open up Thy word, but Thou open up our hearts. We pray that we might lay before the those things that so often hinder and come in. And yet we know that our faithful even where we are not faithful. And we thank Thee that with mercies and loving kindness.
And without his desire to encourage to build up.
And that we might be surely established, and those things that have been so beautifully brought before us by Thy Spirit for the Word of God. And we just do pray that Thou does also use these times to heal and to bring in encouragement for every direction, Lord Jesus, and that Thou hast opened our mouths to bless Thee and to praise Thee, and also to close our mouths.
As needed.
That the spirit may be heard the word of Christ and a truly a word of wisdom among us. So we just do commit ourselves to the.
In thy name we pray, give thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Second Peter One.
And verse 16.
We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
This voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the Holy mountain. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in the dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in your heart. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation, or the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
I asked a question about cunningly devised fables here.
I thought this morning I'd like to read Romans chapter 14.
And help on that.
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First one.
This week in the street received thee, but not to doubtful disputation.
For one believeth that he may eat all things another week. It occurs that not despise him that he did not, and let him that which he does not judge him that he did. For God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man's service?
To his own master he standeth or followed. Yeah, he shall be old enough, for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth one day above another. Another esteemeth every day of life, that every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
That regardless the day regarding it comes to the Lord, and either regardless not today to the Lord He does not regard it, He that eateth eat it to the Lord, for give us God thanks. And either needeth not to the Lord he is not, and give us God thanks.
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man diet to himself. Whether we live, we live under the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
And live therefore, or die. We are the Lord for this. For to this end Christ both died, and rose and revived, that He might be both lured both after dead and the living. But why themselves judge?
My brother, not my brother. He shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Just in connection with the Commons this morning, that might be more explanation on the Christmas and the Easter scene and these things were brought out.
Just to make a good brief comment from the Neil, a lot of our believers have never gone to Egypt and seen that edition Stone referred to and there are many words.
Innocently, you might say.
Going on with things possibly that others might say, well, I'm past that. So here's what they they're coming out there. Maybe a response on this make you some help.
Well, I believe that it's important that we not judge our brother because a person may really put a genuine motive to like to worship in there or celebrate the fact that the Creator entered his creation and we ought not to judge our brother in that thing. I believe we need to be careful. Somebody in town, you know, that's gathered with us. And I know he said to me, oh, I said I knew him and he said, oh, is he a Jehovah's Witness? I went to his house and I didn't see any Christmas decorations up. And I can see why there's a, let's be blunt about it. There's a tenderness as to that. People have impressions and I think we need to be very careful.
About judging our brother in a thing like that because.
Many in Christendom, they take up that celebration.
We're not judging the brother, we're judging the thing itself. And so Peter was one like this. Actually we find him in Acts. He said the Lord let down that sheet before he went to Cornelius and he said to the Lord, I've never eaten anything that is clean, uncommon or unclean. He was weak in faith, but the Lord said call not that common or unclean. What God has called clean. I'm not quoting exactly, but I think the Scripture is clear and the Lord had to deal with him and clear up his conscience.
He was a leader and so the Lord dealt with him in that and he opened the way. But perhaps these Roman Christians were going to eat many that were going to come into the assembly and they had a real struggle over eating ham or bacon, if I may put it this way, or working on the Sabbath day, which the Lord had told them not to pick up a stick and so on. And there was not to be a judgment as to the purity as the motives as a person that kept those days. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't instruct the Saints of God that if they don't know these things, the associations of these things, because we have.
In Peter cunningly devised fables and Christians are tricked into getting involved in things, and they don't know how seriously they are connected with that which it heathen. And so there's two sides. We don't judge our brother, but we do let them know that the fable is cunningly devised. Constantine came into Rome and he saw a vision in the sky. By this sign ye shall conquer. And he turned the Roman Empire of heathens into Christians. And so he turned heathen temples into basilicas and cathedrals. He turned heathen feasts into Christian feasts.
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And in a cunning way, he turned a bunch of heathens into outwardly professing Christians. Many people don't know that. And so we instruct, we don't insist, we don't violate people's conscience as to it.
That's why I believe Romans is very clear. We're not to bulldoze over somebody's conscience or to judge their conscience. That's why they may get involved in a thing like that. But we ought to instruct us to the true origin and source of these things.
We have had the experience that people, Christians, came into the meeting.
And the ladies were not used to cover their heads where they had gone before. We didn't take them aside. We didn't take her aside and say, sister, you better cover your head. We didn't say a thing.
But it didn't take long. She learned from example. She came with her head covered. You know, she saw all the other sisters doing it, and so she covered her head. And I'm just using that as an example. You have to give people time to learn. And that makes a law, of course, if she would have asked questions.
And if she would have gone on for a long period of time, not covering her head, then we might have had to try to explain things to her. But it wasn't necessary. She was a dear Christian lady, and she wanted to please the Lord. We were convinced of that. And it didn't take her long to realize that Scripture teaches that the woman should have her head covered. When she prays or prophecies, people say, well, does she prophecy in the assembly?
She doesn't speak in the assembly.
But when she says Amen.
You know, she identifies herself with the prayer that is made. You know, some people are so legal and they say a sister cannot say Amen in the assembly.
I don't believe that that is a proper use of the word of God. You know they all said Amen.
The scripture relates, but there are things that we have to give people time to learn. Well, Brother Heinz has just said, and I think Joyce Bauman, Bob Bauman's wife, had the same experience. She came in and sat down in front of Harry Hayhoe's ministry there in Toledo with her head uncovered, and it came along. And there's no doubt as to what the end of her pathways is.
In connection with those things, but as our brother pointed out in Romans receive not but the doubtful disputations. So if somebody, if that sister in Mozani had come and wanted to argue with you about whether or not we still had to cover our heads or whether that was just an old Corinthian thing, you would say we can't receive a person to argue about these things. The word of God is plain. And so there's the two sides of it. There's the there's not the not forcing the conscience. And yet at the other hand, the assembly is not to become a debating ground to debate what God has said.
Just a further point on that.
You know when for scriptures such as the head covering we have that direct scripture for that.
This portion there about the coming devised fables. Of course, the celebration of Christmas came long after this statement was written, so it doesn't apply that precisely.
So I was wondering about certain things left to the individual. It's not spelled out. For example, some say you shouldn't celebrate because the world does coming into the conference through those I spoke to. So you guys have a wonderful time. We were to the the Anglican Convention last week. You'll really enjoy it.
So these things are going on anyway. So should we not come here because the world does that too and we know the the answer is obvious. Not so at this point. There are certain things.
Another family, I'll say this here about 30 years ago when we first came into the meeting, first save first gathered a traveling brother in the Lord's work came through and.
It was Halloween time.
Because I have 4 kids.
And my wife made a mistake of saying.
It's an exercise. Every year for Halloween. My brother was Grey Adam. I would never forget it, he says. There should not be an exercise.
Be out. And that bothers us then. That still bothers me today, that kind of attitude because we weren't ready. It was too much too soon and.
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To do those things without my personal belief, you know, from the Lord, it's got to be something that I see from the Lord, if not becomes a legal thing. And that's what I'm getting at here.
But we have to realize is what is mentioned in Romans.
It's not referring to days that have their origin in paganism. In Judaism, they had certain days that were special days, and there were some Jews obviously in the church in Rome and they were not necessarily clear.
On these things, and I believe that is the proper understanding of Romans chapter 14.
And don't apply that to a Pagan holiday.
That brings dishonor upon the name of the Lord, associating the most blessed event that ever occurred with Pagan customs. You know, that is quite different from somebody who comes from Judaism and is used to considering some days more important than others. And it's not in Christian liberty as yet. That, I believe, is the point in Romans 14.
If you're up with the shepherds that were in Luke chapter 2.
And we just read there Luke chapter 2, verse 17.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the Shepherd.
And then verse 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying, praising God for all the things they had heard and seen as it was told unto them.
But here are men who were visited from heaven.
To be witnesses of the birth, the coming into the world of the Son of God.
And maybe if we would have met up with them.
The years after and got to know them and they probably would have told us about that night in Bethlehem when the Son of God became a man and they had this vision from the heavens. The angels themselves brought them to the consciousness that there was one born there with the Savior of the world.
Now, I can't say these shepherds heard the rest of the story.
When you hear the rest of the story, well, it's a wonderful thing to consider the Son of God coming into the world. And I say, brethren.
I agree with the thought of associating anything of the Lord the Pagan holiday, and that's something to really be exercising about, but if children of God.
Have chosen a day, or at peace at a day at going back to Bethlehem and wondering at the coming into the world of the Son of God, and if in their hearts they glorify God and praise God.
We should just jump on that occasion to tell them more about that one who came into the world.
And not offend them, shouldn't we?
It's so.
It could be that.
We have the opportunity with the neighbor.
Or acquaintance or fighting the unsafe family member.
And it does. It's the only occasion when we can have them in our home.
Read a Christmas story at The World Called Us and I started.
Michelle, just saying to expand on that.
A little more when the Lord Jesus came out of time, that may be the only opportunity that you might have to speak to that neighbor or that other. It was unsafe. Got the word of all of us to take whatever opportunity he gives us to do those things.
00:30:15
It's interesting that Peter even mentions anything here about.
Cunningly devised fables. We would have thought that to just rehearse his experience, having been up on the Mount of Transfiguration, that he just would have just dwelled on that. But he had to qualify something because the God of this world is filled this world with fables. And he is deliberately done that because he wants to cast a counterfeit to everything that's real.
And so Peter had to qualify it and to move forward, we might say in carefulness, because how is he going to explain to us what he saw there on the Mount of Transfiguration? We might say, well, other people have had similar circumstances, so what's yours above another and but I just appreciate the carefulness. And he says we have not followed cunning devised fables when we.
Made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we are eyewitnesses of His Majesty.
Has impressed me how the Lord said to the disciples that they would go up on the mount.
And I suppose those 3 disciples thought, what is the purpose of climbing up on that mountain to pray when we can do it just as well down here at the base? And so having made that effort to get to the top of the hill, what did they do? Why, they went to sleep. They were tired. And so the Lord has transfigured there and then they are awakened to that scene to imagine, to be able to take it in. Peter being impetuous.
He could say, Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make 3 tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses and one for Elias.
What a scene. Now to consider having been able to set aside cunningly devised fables.
What is it that they saw on that mountain?
There was one who didn't die.
One who was raised.
And the Lord of glory.
That's what is a picture of the Millennium.
You know, that's what we see on the Mount of Transfiguration and.
Wonderful that the disciples who were Jews.
And for looking for the Messiah.
They must have been disappointed that the Kingdom was not coming then and there.
But they get a preview of it on the mount of Transfiguration as much as to say don't worry about it, it's going to come and.
So it's wonderful that the blessed Lord will bring us with Himself.
You know, in that millennial scene when he comes back with us, the Scripture even says we shall reign with him and he shall be admired in all them that believe, glorified in the same, admired in all them that believe. You know, the grace of God, but it has accomplished will then be demonstrated to the world.
They might ridicule us now.
Think we're simple?
How foolish these Christians are. But in that coming day, it will be demonstrated that we weren't that foolish after all, that the grace of God gave us a vision.
That, hopefully others would have seen.
But it will be demonstrated in that day what the grace of God has accomplished for us and what it will accomplish for Israel. You know, wonderful to see that the dead race, the living glorified with him, you know, come back in glory. That's the millennial scene.
Isn't the important thing here?
That the man who wrote the book was there at the event because Peter didn't get it second hand. If we were reading something that Peter had gotten from somebody else, it might have been a cunningly devised fable, because you could accuse, you might say, or question whether it really happened that way or not. But God saw to it then that when it was to be recorded.
00:35:31
The man who was present wrote the account of the event, and so it's unquestionably.
Through even to a a natural mind, Peter was there. Peter saw it, Peter witnessed it, and Peter wrote the account of it for us to read. One more thing you might add to that brother. As he said, he was about to depart. He was soon to give his life rather than give up that truth.
It's the most powerful witness of all.
That's true of John two, because he says which our hands have handled and so on in his epistle and John warned against those that would come in and bring in variations to the truth. And it was even the sights very soon after the apostle Jonah was already at work. He said that people were denying that Jesus, he was a spirit, but he wasn't a real man or he was a man, but he wasn't really God and all of these errors.
Already came into the apostles day and So what our brother David says it's important is that we get these direct accounts of those that were there and saw that.
John was the only apostle that doesn't write about it in the gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke were not there and yet they write about the three do write about it. That's the way the Spirit of God led by inspiration.
I think it's important what it says in the 19th verse. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. We might be able to go back and base what we feel is correct on a vision that we've seen or something that we have experienced, but it becomes fables after a time. And even Constantine, we were just told to base his his work in Rome on a, on a, on a vision that he had of the cross.
What we need is a sure word of prophecy. What we need is the truth of God, and that will under score what He's given us in our vision or in our in in what we see. The truth is not what we see. It is not what we feel. The truth is in the Scripture itself, in the Bible itself.
And we must be, we must be settled on that. It's not what we see. It's not what we hear. It's what we read in the Scriptures.
Not what we imagine.
Not what we imagined. There's a lot of fanciful notions that are circulated sometimes even amongst the gathered Saints. What about the scriptures? Don't go by fanciful notions. The Word of God is the basis for faith, not pretentious mystical notions. Just be careful about that. You must always go back to what God has written in His Word.
So the force of that is that what they saw on that mount made the word of prophecy even more sure.
It confirmed the prophecies.
That's very, very good, brother Steve, because as we've just heard a moment ago.
There are fables everywhere, and a fable is really the attempt of man with his imagination.
Energized by Satan to counterfeit that which is real. There are fables out there that are false religions and Satan doesn't care what your taste is. If you want something that's militant and so on, you can go to Islam. If you want something that's more peace loving, you can have Hinduism and all kinds of variations. But there are fables in Christianity. There were fables in Judaism. Paul warns Timothy about them and I believe it had reference to things that were coming in.
Among the Jews. And so it is the attempt of the devil to counterfeit and destroy that which is real. And I think what we've had brought out is extremely important. That is, I cannot trust a vision. We don't say that God can't speak with a vision. God did appear to the apostle Paul a number of times in a vision. And it was important what the Lord said. But we have the word of God. And Peter says, not only do I have the word, but.
00:40:13
The Lord allowed me to be there and see it. The Apostle Paul could talk about being caught up to the 3rd heaven, but he doesn't dwell particularly on that aspect of things. He rather says, You forced me to have to make this kind of revelation known. What did he depend upon? He depended upon that which was given to him directly from the Lord, and that is what we have in the Word and so here.
The word of prophecy is made more sure. And what do we do well to take heed to?
The word of prophecy. That is what the Lord directs us to, doesn't He?
We had a neighbor that that had a terrific experience, almost lost his life. And in this experience the Lord seemed to reveal himself to him in such a way that he was convicted of the fact that he was a Sinner. Well, he loved to tell about the experience that he had and what the Lord used to bring him to himself. And you know, as the years went by, he kept telling that story, but you know, it got weaker and weaker, the vision of all that.
Fled because he didn't have the foundation of the word of God to move on.
So the Lord may speak to us in very precious ways, sometimes too precious to tell anybody, but we cannot live on that vision. It will not sustain us in the pathway of faith.
Question is better. Do we look into the subject of prophecy, the word of prophecy?
Very important. 60% or more of the Scriptures are prophetic. You know, when the truth of the assembly came out, Christians came together, including J&D and others, and they came together to study prophecy. That was the subject at Lady Powers Court's castle.
And.
Then they found out that there is a vast period of time.
In between.
What takes place the present time prophecy is not being fulfilled. Now as to Israel, you know that's all future yet. And then they came to realize this is the day of grace, the church period and the truth of the church.
Was rediscovered. We are thankful for what the Lord used Luther and others for to recover Justification by faith, the supremacy of the Scriptures. Those were the two things that especially came out in the Reformation.
But if the supremacy of the scripture would not have been recovered.
Could they have been more recovered? They kept on looking into the scriptures. You know, we're thankful to see that more and more truth was given back. When I look at our hymn book and sing these hymns and then find out when they were written.
You know, many of the hymns we very much enjoy were written long before the Lord raised our brethren.
In other words, the hymns indicate that they entered into more truth than the reformers have, you know, and the Lord in His grace has given more and more truth back. And I'm what I'm saying now, it's not because we should be proud, but the fact is that the Lord used brethren to recover the truth of the body of Christ, the functioning of the body of Christ.
The practical expression of that truth.
To meet simply as members of the body of Christ and have the Lord in the midst and by the Spirit to guide and direct, not that they were the only ones that were looking to the Spirit. You know this book about the Christian testimony in the ages gives you that. The fact that there were movements of the Spirit of God at different times seeking to lead God's people to a fuller understanding.
Of the truth, but unfortunately it was lost again, you know, and but that didn't end with that. The Lord again and again raised up men. And so how wonderful that then finally he raised up men that he gave to understand in his grace the truth of Christ and the church, you know, and use them to recover that and we are.
00:45:29
The heirs of that.
Truth happy laid hold of it, you know, but it all began with brethren and Christians looking into the subject of prophecy. You know, prophecy is a very important subject. He has written a very helpful book. I encourage you to get it if you haven't gotten it, but there are other books available that help us to understand.
The subject of prophecy, and it's important to get a hold of that and the word of prophecy.
Is not just foretelling future events, as I already I think pointed out earlier, it is also presenting previously revealed truth. It's also called prophecy in First Corinthians 14, but.
The prophetic scriptures.
Here, I believe that refers to what we normally call prophecy.
Connection with the thought of seeing you know.
Right now we go by faith. We haven't seen any of these things that are reported to us in the Word of God.
But those things that are reported to us in the word of God worship.
Luke says those that were eyewitnesses of these things. Apostle John says that we have seen and heard and have handled with our hands.
And here the apostle Peter recalls that time on the mountain where he saw the Lord, the physical Lord he was eating with and walking with. He was there and transformed before his eyes. I saw it in my eyes, he said.
Because the truth is a person, it's a living person, it's one who we're going to be able to touch and we're going to see with our lives. So it was a vision on the mount, but the vision that he was seeing was a real person.
And flesh and bones, when he came back down from the mountain, the Lord Jesus looked just the same as he was before he went up. When Peter saw him, he was in flesh and bone, in a glorified body. And that's who we're going to see. So we need the scriptures, and we should never get away from the scriptures. But the scriptures present to us a living person, a physical person that we're going to see. And we're going to be face to face with that blessed person. That's who He saw on the mountain.
And the voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am wealthy.
Though having not seen, we love, but we're going to see them. We're going to have that vision face to face and it's never going to be blurred.
That is the purpose of prophecy. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. And so man looks at the events going on in the world and what is happening, what is shaping up. And I appreciate what Brother Heinz has said, is that we're not seeing prophecy fulfilled now. But he scratches his head and he wonders where all this is going to end. But we really see when we consider what who Christ is and what his claims are upon this earth. He bought the whole field for the treasure that is found in this field.
We find in prophecy unfolding of God's purposes in connection with the 2nd man on this earth. And so we understand and prophecy really we, you know, you read maybe some commentator about events in the world and people have opinions about what's going on and so on. But when we open the scriptures and we have prophecy, we have God's opinions about what has gone on in the light of what he has revealed in His Word. And so we have the Scriptures and then the prophets have come along and they give God's opinion as to what He sees has happened.
Is happening is going to happen and that is and he gives those in scripture and he reveals to us because it's it's light in a confusing state of thing man doesn't know what's going on. And it's a real privilege that the youngest children here in the room that I believe that know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior have a clearer picture of what the events are going to unfold than the world's leaders do, but because they understand God's purposes in connection with his son.
00:50:15
Practical application of how understanding prophecy has a good effect on us now and gives U.S. intelligence. We would not try to make this world a better place in which to live. That is what many sincere Christians tried to do. That is not what God is doing presently.
What God is doing presently is gathering a people for His name from among the Gentiles. That is what is presently going on and reaching out to Jew and Gentile alike, the gospel of the grace of God.
But after we are gone, then he is going to deal again with Israel. Now, we already know from the writings that were written more than 100 years ago that Israel would be a nation in unbelief back in Israel. Well, that happened. What is it in 48, Right? And I met a Jew out in California.
And he noticed my German accent. We had a very happy visit, you know, nice visit. And and I tried to encourage him to read the Bible, the prophetic Scriptures. And he said to me, Adolf Hitler served a purpose. Yes, I said he served the purpose. Or he said, you're the first German that tells me Hitler served a purpose. What purpose do you think he served?
Well, I said, if you would know the prophetic scriptures, you would know there would be a nation.
In unbelief in Israel, the Holocaust made the Western powers to realize Israel needs a homeland. Oh yeah, he said. It all happened after that, you know, Yes, God allowed the Holocaust to have this influence.
That powers France, England and America gave the Jews a homeland, you know. But the sad thing is, and we don't take delight in that, we know they will go through a lot of trouble. Yet, you know, Jacob's trouble is yet coming. Many will perish, and Bruce even estimates the millions that will perish and but they will remnant be saved.
And he will deal with them again after we are gone, you know, and then he will deal with Israel, and he will come back, the Lord Jesus, and deliver them and get rid of the Antichrist and overthrow the head of the Roman Empire. Those two are in cahoots, the Trinity of iniquity in Revelation 13, you know, two of them are.
The head of the Roman Empire and.
The Antichrist. They will be in cahoots, but he will overthrow them and then set up the glorious reign.
Peace will be appreciated. The Kingdom of peace will be enjoyed.
The desire of the nations will have come. The scripture says it's coming. It hasn't come yet. But you know what People in the world don't desire Peace.
You know peace is what people desire, but they won't, they won't have it until the Prince of Peace comes. The Lord Jesus, He will establish peace and He will reign in righteousness. You know how wonderful a time that will be, and we will all be part of it. You know we will reign with Him. Grace has not only given us a portion in heaven, we will reign with Him.
The earth, you know, wonderful to see that. Of course, Revelation 5 is primarily the heavenly Saints rejoicing in what is going on on earth with the Saints who are unearthed at that time. That's Revelation 5. The heavenly Saints, the 24 elders, represent those from the Old and New Testament rejoicing in what they're seeing going on on earth when.
People are saved from every kindred tongue, people and nation.
00:55:04
Through the Gospel of the Kingdom.
Then he will reign for 1000 years. You know, Hitler thought that he would have 1000 year Millennium only lasted 12 years and three months. And how much sorrow did he 'cause, you know, and what was breaking his neck more than anything is that he persecuted the Jews. You know, anybody that touches them touches.
At which is dearest to the heart of God of nations. Speaking of the nations on earth is people. Isn't it wonderful? The word of prophecy just becomes that much more sure the closer we get to the Lords coming. Not that it's a prophecy actually being fulfilled, but how everything falls so clearly into place exactly the way the Lord said it would be.
And even though the day hasn't dawned, I don't know.
It's right to say that maybe a lot of us are feeling the day start beginning to rise in our hearts. And if we're that close, you know, if we go back to verse 14, we may be closer to the end than Peter himself was. He knew he was about to see the Lord. We may see the Lord sooner than Peter did when he wrote these words.
Other day the word of being more sure the word of prophecy is what they saw on the mount division made to sure the word of prophecy sure. I think that's the meaning here. I understand that but for us where we sit now we see it exactly unfolding as it was written and that is a reassuring thought I believe to those that are waiting for the Lord's coming not to change the meaning of the.
Primary meaning of it, but just to apply it to our hearts now.
There's a thought maybe we could just go back a little bit.
We've used the word fable and vision interchangeably, but it's really there are two very different things. A fable is a made-up story to teach a moral lesson, and that's how the world looks at the book we have in our labs as a collection of stories that's all been made-up and they teach nice moral lessons and very useful for that.
I know a young boy who was in school just recently and that they were going over the history of Judaism and Christianity and the subjects of Abraham and Sarah came up and the birth of Isaac. And the boy said to his teacher, wasn't she almost 100 years old? I think she's about 90, almost 100 years old when Isaac was born. And the teacher said, well, I think they counted years different back in those days. You know, to that mind, it's just a collection of fables.
But Peter says it's not. We were eyewitnesses and all the accounts that we have in the Word of God were true accounts. It's not a collection of fables just to teach us more lessons. It's the truth of God. And so when he saw that on the mount, now those Old Testament prophecies came by vision. God gave those prophets visions and they saw things and they wrote them down, penned by the Spirit of God.
The truth of God as well, that a vision is not the same thing as a fable. But now those visions that they saw and wrote down by the inspiration of the Spirit of God have been confirmed, because those visions all looked on to the coming power and Kingdom and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what they saw on that mount was a little sample, a little foretaste, and as our brother brought out in flesh and blood and bones.
Of that coming power and Kingdom.
And glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto which all those prophecies run.
I have a question in connection with the 11Th verse. It's just a short question, but because it's called the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we've been Speaking of that vision on the mount which will speak to us of the Millennium, which it won't last forever. Is that still what is being referred to in the 11Th verse? The Kingdom of our Lord on the earth for 1000 years?
01:00:04
Well, I believe Brother Clarence Lundeen answered that for some years ago and.
Excuse me, I've enjoyed his comments on it and I would encourage anyone that has a question about it to get the pamphlet entitled The Kingdom and the Inheritance because he points out there that while the Kingdom as to its character on earth, yes it does have a finite length of time, 1000 years.
But at the same time, the Lord Jesus in being placed in that wonderful position and given that inheritance, it's an eternal inheritance which God never takes away. And in that sense, well, the time comes, as we know from First Corinthians 15, when he delivers up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be All in all. We know that the sense of God used there, I believe, is God in Trinity.
And in that sense, the Lord Jesus never loses what the Father gives him as that inheritance. And so I would suggest that the word of God more than once refers to it as a being everlasting. Is that right, Neil? Oh, yeah. I think that's a very enjoyable thought. And especially, too, since Peter was writing in his first epistle, here were these Jews. They had Abraham for a father. They had an earthly Kingdom proposed toward them. And everything that they got in Christianity was better.
Because now we're not just associated with a millennial Kingdom that's going to last 1000 years, but.
And we get a little poor taste of this. We're here together with brethren in an orderly way and enjoying communion. We are going to enjoy that forever. And morally we're going to be in a condition that is more. There's not going to be in the sense king and rule in the eternal state, but we are going to be in a state where it's hard for us to imagine that a condition in which troubles are not going to come into spoil things and things are going to be morally conformed to God and there's going to be a state of undisturbed happiness.
Forever and ever and ever.
This statement has been made before, but it might not hurt to make it again. I've enjoyed it so much, and it isn't an original with me, but I've enjoyed it. That is, that the Millennium is necessary for the public vindication of God's holy character. Man dragged his glory in the dust through Satan, and for 6000 years, man through Satan, more or less.
Has had his way and the result was they crucified the Son of God. God is going to vindicate that blessed one on this earth as man during those thousand years. So the Millennium is necessary for the public vindication of God's holy character. But then the brother who made the remark went on to say the eternal state is for the everlasting satisfaction of God's heart. And that's that's where you're bringing out Neil.
God, God has to justify and vindicate His beloved Son, but once all evil has been dealt with and put away, then God is going to have an eternity when His heart will be satisfied where no sin can ever enter.
Sorry.
I think that's even why in the book of Esther where you find the Gentile bride would not adorn herself for the king and we find that in the revelation after the true church has been raptured. She says I am a queen and I am no widow to the public eye of God. The bride of Christ has spurned of.
To the public eye, I mean, not of God, but of man, he looks and he sees what the church has done to Christ. He's brought him into terrible shame. And so God will take up the Jewish bride, as it were, as a picture of that relationship. So there's a genuine picture of that here on this earth. So there would be a display of that. It's a temporal one. I have a picture of my wife. I wouldn't want you to rip or spit on it, but it and it I say to you, that's my wife. It's a picture of that. It's not that I have two wives.
And so God will have a display here on this earth of that relationship, but it's to vindicate him even in connection with that, I believe on this earth. But the eternal state is that satisfied condition, as you say. I'd like to also make some comments on God saying.
01:05:01
This is my beloved son.
No.
Why does he make that statement?
When Moses and Elias appeared.
The suggestion was.
Build a place for Moses, for Elias, and for the Lord Jesus. That was the suggestion. God, as much as he's saying, this is my beloved son, don't put the others on the level of my son. I believe that's the proper understanding. That's why God gives this testimony. This is my beloved son.
And don't put them on that level of Moses and Elias. And we better always remember he is the Son of God. He is worthy of all of our honor. And while we certainly appreciate the servants of the Lord, we even appreciate the writings that we have from Paul and Peter and so on, but they were just servants of God.
They were not in the same position as this pleasant one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. This is my beloved son. And in another gospel it says hear him, you know, get your directions from him. But how wonderful to see that God guards his Son. Don't put him on the level of Moses. Any liars. Perhaps we should just say this and most know this, that private interpretation in connection with prophecy.
Is not that you can't study scripture alone, but it is no prophecy to be taken out of context. And so there's a scope of prophecy. There's an outline to sound truth. And so you can't. Heresy is to choose, and it's like a buffet supper. You choose what you like and you leave what you don't. But there's a scope to truth. Paul encouraged Timothy to get an outline of sound words. And so there's a scope of prophecy and there's no prophecy that's unrelated to another one. And so.
When people look for contradictions in scripture, they don't believe the scripture. They look for contradictions. But when believers see differences or seeming contradictions, they see them as nuances, and they see that God is trying to point something out. And so if one scripture creates a difficulty for you in your mind, the Lord will bring another scripture before you to explain it and to put it into its place.
Papa See is alive. Prophecy is a life.
For us now, if we understand it, we know what our.
Conduct is to be and so it's a light and a chance in a dark place. This world is a dark place because the devil is the God and Prince of it. You know the power of darkness, but.
There is a day dawn coming.
That's when the Lord Jesus comes.
At the star, arise in your heart that is already now, right? Presently He can arise, He can be that star that arises in our hearts and but there is a time coming when he will come back in power and glory. And in the New Testament we have that Scripture, isn't it in Titus looking for the glorious, the blessed hope and the glorious appearing?
We as Christians many times concentrate quite a bit on the Rapture.
But we ought not to be just looking for the rapture. That's what that Scripture says. Not just for the Rapture, also for His glorious appearing. You know, we look forward to the day when He will have his day of glory in the very place where he was rejected and crucified and slain, and he will be honored and glorified. Recognise, God will see to it every knee has to bow to Him.
And that will be before the Great White Throne, but it will also be when he comes back to reign. And those who don't recognize him and don't come to Jerusalem, they will not be blessed during the millennial, you know, they have to recognise the one that is in control and reigning, not just over Israel, over the world, you know, and.
01:10:01
If you don't know where the United States fits in, don't find a country like that in the prophetic scriptures. Maybe like somebody has said, maybe it's part of the European Union. We don't know. But it also might be, as Mr. Kelly thinks, that it will disintegrate in small, insignificant factions that William Kelly. But he was an Englishman. But anyway, the point is the Lord Jesus.
Will have His day of glory. And we are not just looking for the rapture that is our blessed hope, but let's also look for the glorious appearing. Isn't that really the force of the day dawning and the Daystar or the Morning Star rising in your hearts? We're keenly interested in that, dear brethren, right now.
Before God can go on with his eternal counsels, He has to catch us out of this world. And so the Morning Star heralds the day.
But it's not the day. And so when we're raptured out, then the sun can rise over this world, and He'll come forth in his power and glory to take up his place in this world. What a day that will be. But for us, we're looking for the dawning of the day in the morning. The difference isn't there in the dawning of the day and the appearing of the sun. To get up at 4:00 in the morning in the summer, you can say. You can say the dawn of the day, the day's coming.
And if you watch, I know in our area you can see the morning stars, but the only star you can see as the sky gets brighter, that's the only star you can see, the morning star. So we have the word of prophecy during the night as a lamp in a dark place, but we can also see the day dawning now. And the Lord Jesus is coming. And after they start rising in our hearts, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, it's on the horizon. Brethren, today is dawning. The sun hasn't appeared yet. But before the sun appears, the Lord is going to come and ****** us out of the world.
So as wonderful as prophecy is, the present personal possession of Christ in our hearts eclipses everything else.
OK.
324.
Lord Jesus, come.
Or let us longer 324.
No.
01:15:39
We sing.
Before that, the Lord himself shall come and shout a quickening word. Thousands shall answer from the tomb forever.
I usually I like to sing this to a tune that has the fifth verse. It has the court. Let's rise.
The Lord thou shall come, thou shallow Philippines whatever, God bless you all, never shall follow the soul of the world.
22.
Revelation 22.
Last clause of verse 16.
I am the root and the offspring of David.
And the bright and morning star.
Our God and Father, we look up to Thee at the end of this meeting.
And we do thank thee for bringing Christ before us in all his beauty, in all his glory. And we thank thee, our God, that there is a day coming what thou wilt vindicate that blessed One in this world, and when as man, he shall be declared King of kings and Lord of Lords.
We trust our God that we are among those of whom the apostle could speak when he spoke of all those that love is appearing.
01:20:10
We thank the Lord Jesus that before that appearing takes place, we will see Thee as the Morning Star, and we thank Thee that the Morning Star has even now arisen in our hearts while we look for the day to dawn.
We thank the Lord Jesus for the hope of thy near return, perhaps today.
We think of what we have had before us in this chapter, in the last few meetings, of that which speaks to our hearts but also to our consciences, as we think.
Of a walk that is in keeping with those who recognize the Lord Jesus as the rightful King, and who look for Thee to come at any moment. Give us then, not merely to be hearers of Thy word, but that we might be doers as well.
We give thanks then, for what we have had before us.
Command thy word to thee, to the heart and conscience of each one of us.
And the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Reading/Gospel
Reading
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A joyful day of glory.
Also thing #130. Next we have him. The Lord has made us to rejoice #130.
With Christ, our thing begins.
Our daughter and love for heaven.
Are good.
00:05:25
I swear that's my sweat. Also Jesus.
Pray blessed God, our loving Father, we have good cause to rejoice.
For that was given to us.
The greatest promises.
Eternal promises. Promises which man can never make.
And all will be fulfilled in Virginia and in the Amen, all made possible.
On a righteous basis through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ in Calvary. Our God maintaining thy own character and bringing poor law sinners into blessing. Whoever would have imagined such a wonderful plan of salvation for transceeding man's highest thought? We thank the our gracious God and Father for this.
Will praise Eve for all eternity.
With our children, bless thee, our God, and we thank thee, Lord Jesus, with thy unspeakable gift.
And yet we look to Thee for Thy direction and help this afternoon. We pray Thou direct us to the passage that should be before us. We commend many of our dear brethren even now. Journey homeward, that Thou would see them safely on their journey. Pray to for blessing on the gospel to follow. We ask all the Thanksgiving in thy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.
We've considered these things in Second Peter chapter One might have to do with our present time and our.
Life and responsibilities.
Here and what we exhibit, and then we spoke a bit about the Millennium.
Like saying on the Lord's transfiguration, might be nice to pick up what comes between those two things. The Lord's return in the rapture. That would be an encouragement among God's people. I think that would be a nice subject take up.
Have you a scripture to suggest Brother Bruce?
But I was thinking of starting in John chapter 13 towards the end and the first few verses of chapter 14 and then reading.
Chapter that we're so familiar with First Thessalonians 4.
Are generic versions, so reverse it is.
John 13 at the beginning I was thinking beginning at verse 36.
Reading to John 14, verse 6.
And in Thessalonians.
Chapter 4.
Starting with verse 13.
I realize that there's a little shift there between verse 1415.
It all goes together 13 to the end of that.
Go ahead and read it for us, you'll make no mistake that way.
I'll be happy to.
Verse 36.
00:10:01
John 13, verse 36.
Climate leader said unto him, Lord, whither goeth S? Jesus answered him, Whether I go there cannot follow me now, but thou shall follow me hereafter, Follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lie down by life for my sake? Barely bear the extent to thee. The **** shall not crow. Shield hours denied you Christ.
Letting all your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me. My Father's House of many matches were not so I would have been. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am.
There ye may be also, and whither I go ye know, with the way you know.
Thomas says unto him, Lord, we know not whether it thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus says unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
First Thessalonians, chapter 4.
Verse 13.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep that you saw are not even as others which have no hope for.
We believe that Jesus died through His skin, even though them also make you sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we stand to you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven to the shower with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which our lives remain shall be caught up together.
With them in the clouds meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Could we say the pathway to where the Lord is now led by the cross and the grave?
And the ascension and Peter couldn't follow the Lord through that pathway.
And so it wasn't yet opened up yet, and we have it opened up to us, as you pointed out in the reading of First Thessalonians chapter 4.
But he had prepared a place.
For the people of God, the abodes were there in the eternity of God. Pass.
Prepared for us and the counsels of God, and he went to the cross to prepare a son's place for us there.
And in my father's house are many mansions who were there waiting for us, but we were not yet prepared for that place.
He had expected that he would set up the Kingdom.
And but he's telling them now.
That by going to the cross, he was preparing a place for them.
Far more blessed than the place they would have as Jews, reigning with Him on earth the Father's house.
First of all, to know God as Father and to have a place in the Father's house.
You know this word Mansions.
Conveys the idea that it is a fancy place, but that is not the thought conveyed. There are many of both, you know. It's wonderful. I'm sure it is not like these poor huts that are bred in Malawi live in.
But it is not the emphasis on how beautiful the place is, the emphasis is on the relationship that we will enjoy in that home.
The Father's house and the Lord Jesus has prepared a place for us, there for all of us, and.
So he is saying now.
Don't be troubled by my going away. I'm preparing something much better than what you were looking forward to when you first came to know me, looking at at me as the King, the Messiah. And so how wonderful. There's a place for all of us in that house, the Father's home.
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What a wonderful.
Hope it is, and this is to be a comfort not only to the disciples at that time.
It's to be a comfort for us, comfort one another with these words we read in Thessalonians. So what a comfort, you know, when we get older.
The body is deteriorating and.
What a wonderful thing that we will be with the Lord Jesus, like Him, have a new body, but especially to enjoy that relationship and nothing to hinder in any way the flesh, the world and Satan can no longer trouble us and.
Will be delivered from them all.
But above all, we will be with him and.
We will see the Lord Jesus and be with him. I'm looking forward to seeing my mother and father and many loved ones that have gone before my son.
And there will be great comfort to see them again. But.
The most wonderful thing is that for the first time you look upon that blessed One, see him face to face, the one that so loved us and gave himself for us, and then to be in the Father's house and enjoy that family relationship. See, this is what John's riding spring before us, the family of God.
You know Paul's fighting peaks of the body of Christ, the House of God.
And the bride of Christ, and so on, that is brought out in.
The Revelation.
But still.
At the father's house, the family relationship is so wonderful.
We can already enjoy that.
And in spirit, as the hymnator says, in spirit, there already we soon ourselves will be.
Hopefully.
That in our souls we often dwell on that which will be eternally our blessed portion in the Father's house.
And Windsor Castle, there are the abodes.
At the residence of the Queen and Lady Baden Powell, the founder of the Girl Scouts, was not particularly wealthy, and so she was taken in and given to live out her days in the abodes. And so that's really the thought here in my father's house are many abodes is they were there, I believe, for all eternity.
That God had that, that in my Father's house are many mansions, but the work of the Lord Jesus Christ going to the cross because he went to prepare a place for us, the sons place. Lady Diana came from one of the grandest homes in England, Althorp, and yet when she arrived in Buckingham Palace she felt like she didn't fit in. The young man that I referred to yesterday who was in this grand house, he was invited into the home, but he didn't fit in or belong there.
But because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is that we're going to belong in heaven. It's not as though when he said I go to prepare a place for you that he went with it. If I may put it this way, I saw and hammers to make extra rooms for us in heaven. It they were there already, if I may put it that way, but he went to prepare a sons place for us there and prepare us for that place so that we fit in and we belong. Young people often go up to high school and they don't feel like they fit in or they're worried if they go to this conference if they're going to fit in and so on.
But when we get home to heaven, we're going to look about and we're going to just fit in perfectly because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
And that is why a Sinner would not be happy in heaven.
He is not prepared for that place. He would be very unhappy in heaven at Sinner. He would ruin it because he doesn't have a nature that delights in what is going to be heaven is going to be all about.
My brother Lundy staying on a certain occasion, that Father's house is the inner circle of heaven.
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And it's been reserved for Christ in the church. It's not a matter of renovation. And that is being used for something now and then there will be the change. But to think of it being in preserve for the greatest council in God's heart, that his Son should have a bride for all eternity. So to think of our heavenly calling.
And we could be called up this afternoon.
Right up to that cloud where he's coming to meet us like Isaac did Rebecca.
And then to usher us with dignity and love into the Father's house, into the inner circle. And we can't begin to fathom what that will be like, but to think of all the attendance of heaven looking on to this glorious scene.
So the preparation of that house really is that there's a man there, one of our own kind.
If we were going to meet angels or going to meet God himself, we wouldn't know what to expect. But when we arrived, there will be instantly at home and at rest. We won't have to say, oh, we got to get used to where we are. No, we're at home. We're home at last, beyond the reach of sin and sorrow and temptation. And never grieve that tender heart again anymore.
When we arrived there.
I suppose we get something of it in the last verse of that hymn. I think it's number 76 in our hymn book.
They're no stranger. God shall meet thee, stranger thou in courts above. He who to his rest shall greet thee, greets thee with a well known love.
Not to put any servant of the Lord on a pedestal, but one who was on his deathbed way back in the 1800s apparently made the remark. He said, well, it will be a strange thing to be in heaven, but it will not be a strange Christ. It will be 1 whom I have known and loved for these many years. And that is really what it will be like when we get there, won't it? Because our brother was saying.
What will immediately make heaven feel like home will be the fact that our blessed Savior is there.
As a man, there's already a man there in the glory, a glorified man. But then he is going to change our bodies to make us fit for that place. And when we get there, what do we see? We see one, a man who hung on Calvary's cross, The one who loved us and died for us. The one who rose from the grave, The one who has been there all along, living to make intercession for us.
And immediately, as you say, we will feel at home because he is there.
When Peter said, why cannot I follow thee now, he didn't realize the weakness of his own heart, did he? You know, it says in Jeremiah 17 nine that the heart is deceitful and incurably wicked. He wanted to follow the Lord here.
It was a young man and John Mark's Gospel, the 14th chapter who went further than the others and to follow the Lord. He says he followed the Lord but he fled from them naked. It was probably Mark himself.
Shameful. Later on in the 21St chapter of this book, the Lord tells Peter, follow me. When the Lord tells him follow me, why he immediately starts to wonder about Peter and others. You know, what will this man do you know? But here the Lord was going to the cross, and no one was to follow the Lord. If you turn over to the third chapter of Joshua, you find that there was to be a space of 2000 cubits between.
The ark descending into the Jordan River and all the people. And so the Lord was going to go alone. In fact, when He takes Peter, James and John into the Garden of Gethsemane, He was separated from them about a stones cast. The Lord was to be alone at this time, but in glory. Why will be with Him? Many abodes of room for all the Saints. All the Saints will be there. I think that's the thought of the many abodes.
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In the father's house, Brother Reuben, do you think it's possible in Joshua 3 when it says there will be?
2000 cubits between that arc and the people that it's suggested that there's 2000 years between the death and resurrection of Christ and are going into that place.
You never thought of that?
Because there is nobody in heaven, and we're going to see that in First Thessalonians 4 with a body now.
He alone has a body in heaven. There is a real man in the glory, and it is a most blessed thing.
Would say too, that there's not either anyone in the Father's house without a body. And sometimes we speak of those. And I would never want to take that term away because it's it's, it speaks something to our hearts. But we say of those who have gone on to be with the Lord, that they've gone home. And certainly the place where they are now is the home of present, home of their soul, that they look forward to the Father's house the same way that we do.
They've exchanged their waiting place. But you know, the apostle Paul still has the same hope that we have. He has not laid down his hope. He still has the same hope. He's expecting the Lord to come just as we are. And all the believers that form the Church of God by the indwelling Spirit of God are going to be brought into the Father's house at the same time. And I think that.
Our chapter would bear that out, that the Lord said He would go and prepare a place.
I will come again and receive you unto myself. Are there some that are going to be received unto him before the others? No, not at all. We're all going to be ushered in, you know. None of us have seen that house. Not even the apostle Paul or any of those early brothers and sisters in Christ that have gone on before. None have seen it yet but the Lord Jesus alone. You know my.
Bride saw the home. She was going to that bachelor's home before she ever went in. Her sister saw it, felt bad for her, probably I saw it. But none of us have seen the Father's house yet. Not one. It's not that we're going to be caught up and knock on the door and the Lord's there and he answered it and let us in. He's going to come and receive us to himself. We're not going to knock on that door, but He's going to his work, carry his pride across that threshold.
And introduce her to every, how should I say, every wonderful delight and treasure that's in that home, and all the father's love. And I think the best description, at least for my own soul. Perhaps there's some Old Testament account that would speak to us of the father's house too. But I just enjoy that account of the prodigal son, perhaps the only language that we know as we are in these bodies of humiliation that can give us any description of the father's house.
Is when the elder son approached that house, he said he heard the music and the dancing and I think, I can't think of another scripture perhaps that conveys the as that little hymn says, it's love and light and song.
It's important, as you said, nobody is at the Father's house now but those who have departed.
The intermediate state between death and resurrection for the Saints is absent from the body.
Present with the Lord, to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. They're already with Christ. But as you say, the Father's house, nobody is there at this point, you know. But how wonderful to know of our loved ones that have gone before. They're with Christ, you know, and what a wonderful portion is theirs already in the conscious enjoyment of His presence.
You know, but the Father's house includes more, you know, and.
We all will be there, you know, and we will be brought into conformity to our blessed Lord. He liked him and with him forever. And with all the things that I'm looking forward to, that we all should look forward to that. And notice too in Thessalonians that is a present hope.
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Paul says we who are alive.
You know, in other words, that statement indicates that he was expecting and it wasn't expected hope, a present expected hope at the time when the apostle Paul was rising in, you know, and.
If that was a present hope, then.
Certainly should be on our minds and our hearts now.
You know it cannot be much longer and the Lord will come and take us home.
But will we be ashamed?
You know the judgment seat of Christ.
Will be.
That which comes first after we're taken home.
And we will view our lives. We will not be judged, but what we have done will be judged. Whatever was, of course the glory of God will be rewarded in what was not will suffer loss, not that we ourselves be lost.
But there is going to be a loss and we will see it.
And but how wonderful, as we already indicated, everyone will have reward from God. There will be something in the life of everyone that he can acknowledge and recognize. But.
We ought to live our life in view of the judgment seat of Christ as believers and please Him.
And we ought to ask him many times. Lord help me.
To live pleasing to thee. To do your will, not mine. You know we make many Boo boos. Unfortunately many times we do what we want to do but.
It is not impossible for the Christian to be governed and guided by the Lord's will and by the Spirit. The Spirit indwells us.
He can use the Spirit and desire us to use the Spirit to direct us in a path that is pleasing to the Lord.
But.
The day is coming.
When we will stand before him there and our life will.
Run before us like a movie.
Everything will be seen.
And we will not be judged, but we will judge ourselves.
We will.
Recognize that which was not for God, even that which we thought might have been for God. We'll see it with his eyes.
Not the way we see things today and but there's something in the life of every believer that.
God will recognize and reward, but we ought to be exercised that.
We will live, as I already said, in view of the judgment seat of Christ, you know, to really.
Ask the Lord, help me to please thee to do what is your will.
And he has a will and a path for all of us. It's not the same for everybody.
But there is a path for every believer.
Believer can live for the glory of God and able by the Lord through the Spirit.
What is the condition, as Brother Stephen was saying, of those that have gone on before the 16th Psalm says, Moreover, shall my flesh rest in hope? That's always the language of scripture is that those that are laid to rest. Pauls flesh is resting in hope. His body is in a grave somewhere. Thankfully we don't know where it is, but the flesh of the Saints are waiting for that resurrection morning.
When they're going to be caught up, that's where First Thessalonians comes in. I just say this in connection with sleep, that we learn in Scripture that we may be asleep as to our soul in life, but we're not asleep in our souls in death. Our flesh sleeps. And that's why in Matthew it says after that he arose the bodies of the Saints with the bodies of the Saints which slept, arose and walked about in Jerusalem because.
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It always speaks of our bodies sleeping, waiting for that resurrection mourn.
And so they are there when it says in scripture, thou wilt not leave my soul in hell.
Thine holy one to see corruption. We know that when one dies that one is in happiness and in bliss. We get that and the rich man and Lazarus like 2 doors with paper over them and you know one goes out one door and they're an eternal torment and the other one goes out into happiness. But the veil is taken further apart now and we really see what the end is of those when they're raised to be with Christ.
Today shall thou be with me in paradise. Paradise is an old Persian word which means garden of delights.
Father's house. I wonder if that may bring before us more of a permanent condition.
The Father's house is first mentioned in the Book of John.
And back in chapter 2.
It might be good to look at that.
As we'll see, immediate contrast.
In verse 16 is where the word is used. He said unto them, as soul does.
Take these things hence make not my father's house and House of merchandise and so.
There was that in this world which was called the Father's house.
And yet it's fairly obvious from this passage that was it could be used in a corrupted way, that there could be degradation brought to that, that it was had a certain element of instability about it in that man's responsibility.
Could ruin it.
But Father's house that we have brought before us.
Is quite different. In this way I go to prepare a place.
Now it doesn't actually say it's going to prepare you.
Out of this passage, but to prepare a place, so that place has not been there before.
And in what way did the Lord Jesus Christ prepare?
There's many. There's several ways that we can look at you can mention.
But he died. He gave his life.
That's not something that had ever happened before.
Very death to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Serve to prepare a place.
And was mentioned by brother Ron. The Lord Jesus Christ then ascended as a man.
And as a man.
In that place he prepared.
And what kind of preparation was really needed?
It's in contrast with what we have in chapter 2, because when the Lord prepared.
Which is related to his death and his ascension. We now have a place there for us.
Which will never be corrupted. It can never go downhill. We will be in a place where we will forever have communion with God uninterrupted.
There really could be something like that. Until Christ died.
Because apart from Christ, death everything that is outside of God.
Was corruptible.
And we see the evidence around us, don't we? It's very obvious.
But now that we're in Christ.
And that we've been saved. Not simply preserved, but, but saved.
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That place is now formed, and through that great salvation and the death of Christ.
Where there will never be a slippage of any sort forever.
Not just a place where God is, but a place where humans can be.
And that is unique. And if we rest back on our pillows, we really say that is impossible.
But because he went to prepare a place, we now know it's not impossible because he prepared me and now it's ready.
And some wonder about those who've gone into jail.
You know, in Scripture.
It's a joy to realize that's mentioned several times.
That the spirit, that the soul especially, but the soul and the spirit have attributes.
And scripture points out that those attributes that belong to soul and spirit.
Are equivalent to attributes that belong to the body.
Is it the body? No, it's not the same.
But its attributes are there.
And so, even though we may not know exactly.
What transpires when one passes from us?
We do know that there is a place prepared because we are on the other side of the cross.
And we do know that they have all the attributes.
To enjoy and to appreciate.
And to enter into what is there, it's a wonderful thing.
And it's a wonderful.
Hope that is set out to the believers.
And it's good to emphasize it and to comfort one another with those words.
Your comfort one another with those words. Theology has a few phrases what we're familiar with. Another one I wasn't very familiar with until just recently, but.
We talk about full sleep. We know that's quite wrong, but there's another one that has been given the term soul rest.
By those theologians that think people die and go to heaven and kind of the way was described to me, kind of cuddle up to Jesus and just like a little baby child not aware of its circumstances, there they cuddle up and rest and are.
Appreciating it and but I don't believe that that theological point of view is correct either. We're there in the knowledge.
Of Christ, and we're there in the appreciation of what the Father is.
As we are there in enjoyment of what has been accomplished.
Across.
It is important to realize sometimes mistakes are made, statements are made that are not correct for instance.
Heather and Eve in the garden before they fell, 1412 with them.
He came to visit them.
Dwelling of God with men is only possible because of redemption.
That is when you hear for the first time that God would be dwelling with men. You see that already in the Old Testament.
And.
But the temple?
Here in chapter 2 is spoken of as the Father's house. He dwelt among His earthly people in that place.
And but they didn't dwell there with him.
You know they were not as we are going to be in the Father's house.
But how wonderful that redemption has made it possible that God can dwell with men, and men can be in the presence of God. Of course, it's really the Lord Jesus.
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That we will see. We never need to see more than him, to see God in Him. The fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily first in the second chapter of Colossians verse 9.
So we never need to see more of God than to see the Lord Jesus. And we have seen God, and what a wonderful thing it will be. And there is a Father's house prepared.
And we will be there in that house with all that belonged to the Lord Jesus.
And redemption has made it possible.
And already.
When we think of the presence of the Lord Jesus in the midst of the two and three gathered to His name.
You know what a wonderful truth that is that He is in the midst and He is not in the midst of everybody that makes a Christian profession. You know, the Spirit gathers around Christ and He doesn't gather in division.
So many mansions or abodes, and we look forward to being there and being there with the Lord Jesus and with all the redeemed. Do we not miss our brethren in Christ? If we do not miss them, there's something radically wrong with us.
What about those that at one time walked with us and the enemy has succeeded to draw them away?
Do we not miss them?
But the time is going to come, that day is going to come when we will be all together.
And I have often said I'll be just too happy at the judgment seat of Christ to change my mind and my ideas as to anything where I had wrong ideas, you know, and accept His way of seeing.
Things and submit to that, joyfully, happily.
Well, the father's house.
And.
There's not going to be any change. We'll be there forever and ever and ever.
And what a future we have. Beloved Saints of God, we ought to.
Often in our minds, and when we pray and talk to the Lord Jesus, we should express the desire to be there.
And that he would come and take us whole.
To be delivered.
You know, salvation, I think it already has been mentioned at this conference of our souls is present then salvation, that which preserves us, and then now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. That is what we're talking about when the Lord Jesus comes and takes us home.
Salvation is seen in that way as well. Now, is our salvation nearer than when we first believe?
What a day that will be when he comes and rescues us and brings us to himself and removes anything that.
That at the present time still so often hinders us to a fuller enjoyment of the Lord Jesus, and that which we have in him even Mars our fellowship with fellow believers, well, the Lord Jesus.
Might come today, I wouldn't mind that one bit if we would. I'm sure most of us here would mind that one bit if He would come today, take us home and to be with Him and like Him and to see Him as He is. We shall see Him as He is. What a wonderful future we have, beloved Saints.
From Paul's desire was that the Saints not be ignorant. I was struck. I was at a funeral and the brother here spoke at that funeral, at the grave on resurrection on that verse. Moreover, shall my flesh rest in hope. There were quite a few believers there that I didn't know, but we're true believers in the Lord. And as I traveled about in that city.
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I was astonished at how many came up to me and said are we really going to know each other in heaven?
And I met a dear man who'd worked for me years ago, and his son had grown up and died in an accident, 18 years old, on his way to medical school. And I said, won't it be wonderful to sit down with him and see him in the glory and recount with him the ways and purposes of God? The lie that we heard about last night, these hard questions to answer? And they looked at me through their tears. And they said, do you think we'll really know them in heaven? Paul doesn't want us to be ignorant.
When we lay the body of a loved one in the grave, the flesh is resting in hope for that day that our brother spoke of a little earlier along with the apostles.
All he's waiting for, just so long as we are, he's in as has been brought before us in the conscience, intelligent enjoyment of the Lords presence now in Paradise with the Lord, absent from the body and present with the Lord, his flesh resting in hope. But now he says, I would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep. Their bodies are asleep, and as is brought before us, not their souls that we sorrow as others that have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so them also would sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. You're going to be raised together and we're going to have real bodies there and we're going to know each other. And we get a little foretaste of it is standing in the other room looking around and seeing brethren chatting at each other. And here we know difficulties and frictions come in among brethren, but it is a little foretaste of heaven.
We're going to know each other, we're going to meet each other, and we're going to be able to recount the ways of God with one another, to walk to see the Lord Jesus Christ and to walk with one another. God doesn't want us to be ignorant of that because the pathway doesn't end as people think, in some happy spirits drifting around up there and heaven. It's we're going to know each other as real men.
And no unbeliever is ever spoken of as being asleep. That is strictly a statement used for believers.
That have died and it is connected with the body. The soul doesn't sleep. There are those who teach the soul sleep. That's a wicked doctrine you know the unbelievers are already in torment as already referred to in Route 16, but.
The believer is the one that is asleep. As to the body, the soul is alive, enjoying the presence of the Lord Jesus. There is no such a thing as soul sleep. But I hope if there's anybody in this whom there isn't safe yet, if you should die today.
From that very moment on, you'll be in torment like the rich man.
He isn't really in the body.
But the sufferings that he is experiencing is explained for those who are in the body in physical terms. You know he wants to have a drop of water to cool his tongue. Even death is not granted him. You know hell is terrible. God isn't willing that any should go there. He didn't make it for man.
He made help for the devil and his angels.
But if you follow the devil, then you keep him company there. And really there is no company in hell. I heard people say, well, I'll have a lot of company in hell, a lot of friends of mine out there. Can you have company in outer darkness?
You know that's what hell is spoken of. Outer darkness. If there would be no light at all in this room and perfect darkness, could we enjoy each other's company? We wouldn't see each other.
And, well, hell is outer darkness, eternal separation from God, spiritual dead.
And when they stand before the Great White Throne in Revelation, although their race, they have a body.
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And they're cast into hell physically as well. The body will be in hell, not only the soul, but they stand there and they're spoken of as the dead.
They're raised, but they're spoken of as the dead.
Dead in sins and trespasses. Death is used as that which speaks of separation from God. Dead in sins and trespasses.
And eternal separation from God. At the present time, those who are dead in sins and trespasses can be made alive and can be reconciled to God. But once they stand before the great white throne in our church, they cast into the lake of fire. You know no change possible any longer but those who are alive in the body now and not safe.
I hope you don't.
Reject the Lord Jesus. Don't refuse to accept that you are a Sinner and that you need to repent. Acknowledge that you're a Sinner. That's what repentance is all about. And then not just repent.
Nobody was ever safe without repentance, but repentance alone didn't save anybody.
Repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus is what says and there is still an opportunity. The opportunity is still given today.
But it might end this very day for anyone who has heard the gospel and rejected or neglected to accept it.
But what a serious thing it is. And is it possible that children of Saints end up in hell, having been exposed to much of the truth? I believe that one of my father's brothers is in hell.
You know he grew up in a Christian home.
But rejected it, didn't accept faith, lived in sin.
My father was able to talk to him two weeks before he was killed in a bombing rape, trying to speak to him and make him accept the Lord and savior. He rejected it all. Two weeks later there was a bombing raid and he was killed, torn to Shrek, you know a farm explode very near to him.
Well, I'm sure he is not with the Lord Jesus, you know, in spite of the fact that he had heard from a child on the truth of the gospel.
And my father again was used to speak to him two weeks before he was killed. Isn't it sad to think that those that have heard the truth, heard the gospel over and over again, might end up in the lake of fire? I hope there's nobody in the audience that will be in that place. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, that all come to repentance and to faith in the Lord Jesus.
I should think that Peter was kind of confused. Lords answer those questions.
Mile later on.
The Lord seemed to double speak here, doesn't they? And he says.
So can't stop follow me, but thou shalt follow. So I was wondering about that myself. Speak up to going to the cross, or speak of heaven or both. I like to look at it this way.
I'll just start the This portion opens the same way our chapter in the readings open. Simon Peter. Simon, who speaks of his whole nature, will say. We'll call it that.
Caesars new together, of course, by gospel born again, but we still have the old nature.
So something in the take place.
Before.
The Lord could say yes, as it were, and that is the Simon part would not go the old nature, a change that takes place.
And so, but yes, Peter fire Peter was trusting in the Lord. He was saved. He would be in heaven.
And so it brings us, of course, in the First Thessalonians that change. So this is what I've enjoyed with this little portion here.
01:00:04
Well, he's spoken of as the first begotten from among the dead. He's not the first one who rose from the dead. As we know, even in the Old Testament, those rose from the dead, but they died again. But the Lord Jesus Christ was the first one to go into death and to rise with a body that could never die again. And Peter could not follow the Lord because.
He was the way, the truth, and the life. He had not yet died and risen and ascended into the glory.
Ascended into heaven, and so he is marked out the way for us.
Just like to comment on the little portion and 1St Thessalonians 4. You know I read this many times. Years passed and never really sunk in exactly what the Spirit of God was bringing before.
My soul 1St 15 through the end of the chapter verse 18 is a little parenthesis. If we looked at the 1St chapter First Thessalonians, we would see the manner of their salvation, and the entrance at the gospel head unto them was to set them in a position.
Of waiting for the Son of God from heaven. They earnestly looked for that Savior who had redeemed them to come back to this earth and, and have his rightful place. And they were waiting to welcome him. That's really the position that they were in. And so it was somewhat a position of ignorance, you might say. And the apostle Paul wanted to clear them up and set before them what was really their proper hope. Now they have the coming of the Lord as their hope, but they did not understand yet.
That our proper hope is waiting to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. They were really waiting for the Lord to come back and take his rightful place here and welcome Him. Well, meanwhile some had died who were believers and they were grieved and you know, in their thoughts and the ignorance of their thoughts, they said they're going to miss out here We are waiting for the Lord to come and they're going to miss out. They've died. What's going to happen?
And they were grieved. And so this first verse, verse 4, verse 14, if we believe.
That Jesus died and rose again. Even so them also which sleep in Jesus God will bring with him. And then if you skip the parentheses, it goes on to the fifth chapter. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.
That goes on to Speaking of the times and seasons in connection with the establishment of the Kingdom here on earth and the Lord having His rightful place.
And so the apostle by the Spirit of God is saying, don't grieve, brethren, when he comes back to this earth, that Son of God who you're looking for and ready to receive and welcome him, he's going to bring all those that have died in Christ with him. He's going to have them with him. Well, then the question comes up, well, how is that? How is it that they're going to be with it? And these, this parentheses then opens up.
To our understanding by the Spirit of God, how it is when the Lord returns to this earth in power and glory to set up His Kingdom, He's going to have his own with him.
So the Old Testament Saints be raised in these last two verses that we're reading of in First Thessalonians 4.
I believe 1St Thessalonians 4 refers to the hope of the church. But in First Corinthians 15 we had the statement all that our Christ that is coming that refers to all the Saints. But here I believe that refers especially through the Saints in Tesla, Nikon, comforting them as to those who have fallen asleep. But we need to have all the truth of God.
All the Scriptures that deal with that wonderful truth of coming for his own, all that are Christ that is coming. That includes the Old Testament Saints. You know He died for them.
Their sins were not truly atoned for by the blood of animals. The blood of goats and goats cannot put away sin Hebrews, but God accepted their sacrifice in view of what His Son would do.
When the Lord Jesus died and shed his blood, he made atonement not only for us who lived after the work. He made atonement for all those who died in faith previously, and they are all Christ, and they will have part with Him at His coming.
01:05:15
There's a little key to that, Brother Heinz. In First Corinthians, it's all that our Christ. But here the Apostle Paul uses a characteristic phrase.
In Christ and it's part of the apostles doctrine that those who have been saved in this present dispensation of grace joined by the Spirit of God into one body to our head in heaven our in Christ. The believers from past dispensations are not properly speaking in Christ, but they belong to him they're Christ but not in Christ in Christ is a very.
Specific.
Thought in Paul's doctrine helpful.
Can we sing #323?
The Lord himself shall.
Awaken.
Forever.
Happy thought in our hearts right now. It's not the heaven we're going to.
We're going to enter there and to think of that blaze of glory that will encompass our souls so that we'll never experience an unhappy moment in glory. And I believe it's normal.
That we should be looking forward to the judgment seat of Christ.
And we might say, well, if everything comes out in my life, I think I'm going to be embarrassed and so on.
I think that the Spirit of God would take that away from us and realize that we enter those bright courts of glory. It would be song, praise and worship forever. And realizing that now if there is any unhappiness in our hearts because maybe of our state of soul or our will is at work or we have issues with our brethren, that's the unhappy, but we're only going to have it here and so.
01:10:07
We'll be unhappy there if we're expecting some unhappy thought to possess our souls. And time has come for the gospel.
Just would like to read one stanza.
On the Gospel sheet before we pray.
The gospel of thy grace, my stubborn heart hath won. For God so loved the world He gave his only Son, That whosoever will believe, shall everlasting life receive. Shall we pray?
Our loving God and our Father.
We thank thee this afternoon for thy great love.
We thank thee, blessed Savior.
That we have had thy word open in this last meeting.
We thank thee, Lord Jesus.
The tower of the Savior, sinners.
We pray for sinners in this room this afternoon.
Those that have never received thee as their personal savior.
We pray as we open Thy word together this afternoon.
That thou will give help by thy spirit.
Be nothing said that would hinder the gospel going forward.
The spirit might be led this afternoon and soul might be saved.
With thy honor and for thy glory.
We ask these things, we give these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The gospel really has been preached already.
We've had the joy of hearing the gospel twice already.
Night before last was faithfully given forth. The last night was faithfully given forth, and we had the gospel already today in this last meeting.
I thought of this hymn.
The stubborn heart, oh, the heart of man, the heart of boys and girls is stubborn.
Willful because of sin, but God loves you and God loves me.
Oh, isn't it wonderful, the love of God.
I'm going to tell you a little story.
But before I tell you a story, I want to read one scripture, and this scripture has been read before. But when I was asked to give the gospel, I call in the name of the Lord to help me, to guide me, and to lead me and direct me. And this is the verse in Job 33 that came to my soul.
And it's the verse 14.
For God speaketh once.
Yeah, twice.
Yet man perceiveth it not, or deserve it, or understandeth.
This story is about two boys.
About the age of you boys in the front on this side.
And it happened in the Midwest in the 40s, long time ago.
On a farm.
In the Midsummer.
And they'd cut the grain with a binder and they'd put these bundles and little bundles all together, eight of them and one on top, to be waited until a threshing crew came through to thrash the green out of that that bundle.
And so when they came to this farm.
There were two boys there.
And this machine was started up. The bundles were thrown into the machine.
The straw went out the back end and a pile gilts went in a wagon on the side.
Usually the sun was shining brightly.
That day.
These boys were out there having fun, as boys like to do. They were running up and down the straw pile.
Choicing. Rejoicing. Happy.
01:15:01
Until one fell into a hole.
In that straw pile.
How do I know this story?
I was that boy.
Dad had warned me, he said. Don't go up into that straw pile. How could a disobedient boy?
And I had along with me a boy that was a couple years younger and all we were having fun.
But I went down without a hole over my head.
The straw was coming in was covering the hole up.
What do you think I did?
They cried for help.
All of a sudden I saw a hand come down through that hole. What do you think? I did said no, I don't want it. I grabbed that hand as quick as I could and I was pulled out to safety.
For the love of God.
The mercies of God. I didn't deserve it. I was disobedient. I disobeyed.
That's God's love. I deserve to die, be punished for my sin.
I could have pulled that boy in and the straw would have covered us. They would have never known where we were at, where we were at for probably quite a while.
But oh God, was watching this boy.
I heard the gospel before and that's why I'm concerned about your dear ones, your young ones, your older ones.
You've heard the gospel God speaks once.
Yeah, twice. I didn't listen.
Through going to school, we came home, we had to walk a mile and a quarter to get home one night.
I opened the door, called my parents.
There were the dishes on the table, there were some overhauls and shirts on the chairs.
What do you think? I thought the Lord has come. I knew it. I knew the gospel. I knew that the Lord could come at any moment.
But I put it off.
God warned me twice.
Oh, the love of God.
And it was shortly after, in the middle of the night, in the blackness of night, before we were in the farm. There was no lights, it was dark. I cried unto God, and I told him I was a Sinner, I needed to save him.
Do you think he heard me? Yes, he did.
And I stand here redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Are you saved tonight, this afternoon? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Has he spoken to you? I'm sure he has.
Oh, I deserve to be punished forever.
With the devil and his angels, but all God's love.
God's love was poured out to me. Oh, he wants you boys and girls. He wants to save you now.
He wants you with himself in that glorious scene that we've been speaking about.
Open your heart's door and receive him now.
Receive him now.
Just a few more verses.
What else became before me was in First Corinthians chapter 15.
The Gospel.
First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 3 For I delivered unto you, first of all, which also received Father Christ diverse sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and he rose again according the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, and then of the 12 The gospel good news.
God's good news to you and I.
Christ died. He died for you. John's Gospel, chapter 19 and verse 28.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said I thirst.
And now there was a set of vessel full of vinegar, and it filled a sponge with vinegar, put upon a histopath, and put it to his mouth.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished.
It is finished. He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. All that work of redemption was finished. Christ died.
Verse 40.
Then took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen.
01:20:00
Let's go back first to verse 32. We can't miss this. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first of the other, which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs.
But one of the soldiers with his spear pierced his side, and forth with came to our blood and water.
Anita sought for a record and said his record is true.
And he knoweth that, he says true, that she might believe all, that you might believe the good news that we have to tell you this afternoon.
Christ, Jesus came in the world save sinners. Christ died for you.
And then down in verse 40 and they took the body of Jesus and wounded living clothes, the spices of the manner of the Jews to bury.
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden a new sepulcher. Wind was never manned, yet laid there they did, there laid they Jesus. Therefore, because the Jews preparation day for the sepulchre was knight hand.
Jesus died. He was buried.
Is was that the end? No.
Let's go on. Let's go to Chapter 20.
Eight of Matthew.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 28.
And verse one. And the end of Sabbath, as it began to dawn for the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other merit to see Sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him that keeps keepers did shake, and became dead men. And the Angel asked her, and said unto the woman.
Fear not ye, for I know ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here.
Come see the place where the Lord lay. He rose from among the dead. He's living on high in the glory. He's calling for sinners to come, just as you are. Oh, he wants to save you, dear boys and girls and young people. He wants to save you now.
Another story.
Which is a touching one too. We had a neighbor that lived a wicked life. He was known to be a wicked man. The gospel had been presented to him.
He wouldn't have it, and so he got very sick and had to go to the hospital in Des Moines.
We asked our dear brother Whitaker if he would go to see this dear man.
And so he willingly went to see this man.
Sick nigh unto death.
And you know what this man told Brother Whitaker? He said if I had to live my life again, I'd live it the same way.
But you know the report came that when he died, they were screaming all up and down the hall.
As he went into a lost eternity.
Without God.
Is true.
If you don't accept the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, the precious blood that was shed there, that soldier put that spirit in.
You'll be lost forever and you'll be cast into the lake of fire. Oh, how solemn. We've heard that just a little while ago I had another neighbor.
The tractor rolled over. He was pinned under the tractor for about 3 hours.
The acid out of the boundary. He could see it flowing, flowing toward his face. He couldn't move.
He called and he hollered, and no one there he was out in the field.
And it kept flowing and flowing and it came into his eye.
His eye is blind today. He couldn't do anything about it. He was tied. He didn't didn't call upon the Lord. He didn't know the Lord, and I don't believe he knows the Lord yet today.
Oh, I've talked to him about the Lord. Others have talked and you know what he told me? He said. I have my own thoughts about God.
He had his own thoughts about God.
Oh, how solemn God tells us faithfully and truthfully.
That we're sinners, and that He came to save sinners, seeking to save that which was lost. Oh dear ones, this afternoon I urge you, if you're sitting in that chair stealing your sins.
01:25:09
Don't listen to the enemy, Satan, he'll drag you down to hell. And we had brought before us the blackness and the darkness.
Or to think you're going to have a conscience.
A conscience that will eat on you. In that lake of fire, that confinement where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched, you'll remember this very meeting.
Because you're responsible to God and it'll eat on you through all eternity.
Or don't listen to the enemy. Come. Come just as you are. Tell the Lord Jesus, yes, I know I'm a Sinner.
And I accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and it will save you this very moment that you sat in that seat.
Oh dear ones, I heard you one more time. Come to Jesus. He's willing, He's ready. He wants to save you. He wants you to be in that glorious scene with Him forever happy. Don't put it off. God speaketh once. He ate twice.
God spoke to me twice. I don't know if there would have been another third time.
But I thank God, the depths of my soul that He worked in my heart. All praise to Him, He did it all. I didn't deserve it.
I deserve to die, to be punished for my sins forever.
But oh, God loved me so much that He sent his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, down into this world.
To shed his precious blood, that I might be saved. He's done it for you too. Will you come? Come just as you are. Behold now accept the time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Shall we pray?
Our loving God and our Father.
How we thank the for this wonderful time we've had together these three days, to be over Thy word and with the Gospel given forth so many times. We pray if there be any soul in the room this afternoon.
That is never accepted as their personal Savior. All may they listen to Thy Spirit pleading with them. May they open up their hearts door and receive Thee as their personal Savior.
We count upon thee, Lord Jesus.
We bless and we thank Thee for all what I was done. We owe it all to Thee, blessed Lord Jesus. And now we pray for our dear brothers and sisters that have invited us and have been so kind to us that thou have blessed them.
Help them, Lord Jesus.
They've been so made such a blessing to us. They've been so kind to us. Reward them richly, blessed Savior, and now we thank you for the food that spring being prepared for us. Thou has seen about us, Lord, giving us all things.
We just pray the blessed to our bodies, we not forget those that are traveling or will be with them. Keep them in the palm of thy hand. May they arrive home in safety for each one of us. Here too, Lord Jesus, as we separate, but thou keep us in the hall of thy hand. We ask these things, we give thee thanks, We pray thee, Lord Jesus, in thy worthy name, Amen.
Accountability
Address—W.J. Prost
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Could we sing together the 1St 3 verses of #168?
168 The 1St 3 verses.
Several years ago I gave out this. Him and a brother afterward remarked to me. He said, Bill, you give out that hymn pretty often.
And I told him I said, brother, yes, I'm afraid I do, but I don't apologize for it.
I guess it was brought home to my own soul.
Back in the 50s when a brother gave it out at a Wheaton conference in Illinois and I remember enjoying it so much even as a teenager.
But it has sentiments in it that are just as true today. 168 and will sing just the 1St 3 verses.
The night and.
It's just.
Look to the Lord in prayer. Loving God our Father, we thank Thee for the words of this hymn this afternoon. Words that we know are taken from Thy precious word. And yet how much more true today. The night is far spent and the day is at hand. And our God, we thank Thee that this thrills our hearts, quickens our footsteps and makes us look on.
With anticipation.
To thy coming.
Perhaps today.
But then we know, Lord Jesus, that it speaks to our consciences too, as we consider our walk and our ways in view.
Of the fact that the night is far spent and the day is at hand. We pray now for thy help as we open thy word this afternoon, and pray that thou wilt speak to each one of us from it. Above all, may the Lord Jesus Christ be brought before us, but we pray that each one here, from the youngest to the eldest.
00:05:05
May be encouraged in the Christian pathway. We know our God that it is not meant to be an easy path, but we thank Thee that Thou hast given us, as we have had before us in these meetings, all things that pertain unto life and godliness in Christ. So we commend our time together to Thee and look to Thee with Thanksgiving in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
But what I have before me this afternoon?
I feel is a very down to earth subject.
Something that has been much on my heart lately, and something, I suppose, which most here have heard talked about.
And that is, I want to talk this afternoon a little about the subject of accountability.
And I want to say before all of you that in Speaking of this subject, if there are things that are brought to bear on our hearts and consciences, I want you to know.
That they apply right here.
Three times as much at least as they apply to anyone in the audience.
Bear that in mind.
And I hope that all of these things I am taking much more to heart than I am impressing them on anyone here.
Let's turn first of all, for a verse in Job chapter 33.
This verse was read to us in the Gospel meeting.
Last night.
But.
It's a verse that has a universal applicability.
And we're going to read it again, Job 33 and verse 13.
Why dost thou strive against him?
For he giveth not account of any.
Of his matters.
I suggest to your heart and mind that this is a starting point when we talk about accountability. When we talk about accountability, we have to realize that there is one.
Who is accountable to no one?
God does not have to give account to you and to me of any of His matters.
Oh, perhaps you and I say, but that's elementary. That is so obvious. Why do we have to dwell on that? We have to dwell on, beloved brethren, because way back, way back in history, in one of the oldest books of the Bible, there was a very godly man, a man whom God himself testified to as to his godly walk.
A man in whom even the devil could not.
Point out openly that which was wrong.
Imagine even the devil could not pick holes in Job's character, and yet there was a man who thought somehow, some way, that he had the right to call God to account for what he was doing. And a much younger man by the name of Elihu, through whose mouth these words were spoken, had to remind Joel very forcibly. Job, the starting point in your life.
No matter what you face has to be that God acts in his own right, if we could say it that way, on his own prerogative as God.
And does not have to account to you and to me for what he does.
That is a very, very solemn verse to read in the Gospel meeting, as our brother did last night, and I am sure it has been used many times to impress upon those who are lost their responsibility toward God.
But remember, those words were not spoken to an unbeliever. Primarily, they were spoken to a man whom the Spirit of God identifies as a righteous man, and whom God singled out in front of Satan as being one who was like no other in all the earth at that time. And yet somehow he could not understand what God was doing. And he thought that if only he could get the Lord, as it were at the negotiating table, if he could only get the Lord in front of him.
00:10:23
Then he could successfully argue his case and somehow they could come to terms on the matter.
I speak to my own heart. Do we sometimes do that with the Lord? Do we sometimes feel that what God has allowed is unjust? I can still remember a situation many years ago, and it is many years ago, so I think I'm free to speak about it because no one will recognize whom I'm talking about. But I was speaking to a sister whose daughter had a very serious medical problem.
Oh, there were Ways and Means around it, and God had provided medical science with the ability to deal with it, but it wasn't quite a problem. Well, I think, I hope I did. I hope I sympathized sufficiently. But after a while I said to her, and she was considerably older than I, so I was careful how I said it. But I said to her, you know, we have to recognize that the Lord allows all these things in His wisdom.
And we have to accept it from him.
And I'll never forget the scowl that crossed her face as she said. Well, it's mighty inconvenient right now anyway.
Oh, I cringed when I heard those words.
To talk about what the Lord had allowed in her life as being, quote, mighty inconvenient.
Oh, let's justify God first of all, and recognize that when God acts, he doesn't have to give account to you and to me.
You and I know God is a God of love. Wonderful. And we know him as the one who sent his Son to die on Calvary's cross. But may I suggest that this verse in Job in one sense transcends even to all of that?
Because had God chosen, and I hesitate even to say the words, but has he chosen not to send the Lord Jesus Christ? Had he chosen to put you and me in hell for all eternity, none of us could have called him to account for that. God acts in His own right.
Well, where do we go from there? Let's turn over now to the verse that is mainly on my heart and that is in Romans chapter 14.
Romans, chapter 14.
These are all very familiar verses to everyone here. We hardly need read them in order to refer to them. But here it is in Romans 14 verse 12.
So then every one of us shall give.
Account of himself to God.
As I said earlier, we hear a lot about accountability today, and among Christians we often hear the concept of being accountable to someone.
People form relationships with others on the understanding that one will be accountable to the other, so that one man holds another one to account and calls him up every week and says, How are you doing in your Christian life? What have you been up to this week? What did you? What sights did you go into when you surfed on the Internet?
During this past week, how did you behave at work? And so on. And sometimes if he isn't satisfied with the answer, he says.
Let me talk to your wife for a few minutes.
Let me hear what she says about how you've been acting this week and how you've been treating her. And supposedly this is a way by which one is kept from doing those wrong things in the Christian pathway that are so easy to fall into.
00:15:04
Well, I'm not going to condemn that altogether.
But may I say that in the word of God we don't find a strong emphasis on that.
Yes, we are accountable to one another, and I trust that if my brethren see that in me which they feel is a hindrance to my Christian life, that they will draw to my attention.
And I know there are many, and perhaps all in this room who would say the same thing. But in the word of God we have one much higher than our brethren to whom we are held accountable, and that is the Lord Himself.
You know, this verse has very, very long reaching implications. Again, we often hear it quoted in the Gospel, and I have used it many times myself.
Everyone of us shall give account of himself to God, and if there's anyone here that isn't saved, let me tell you.
In the middle of a meeting that is primarily for believers that God is going to hold you accountable someday for how you have lived your life and perhaps even more important, what you have done with His beloved Son.
God is going to hold you accountable for that.
But this verse is spoken not primarily to unbelievers, but to believers.
It's a rather strong word.
I am not a Greek scholar and anyone can verify this, but the word that is used here and is translated account.
Is a word that is used many, many times in the New Testament.
Look it up if you have the opportunity. It is a word that in Greek is logos, from which we get our word logical in English.
It kind of frightened me when I discovered that some time back.
Because it is the same word that is translated in John's Gospel chapter one and verse one.
In the beginning was the word.
The same word has translated here. Account is translated word there referring to the Lord Jesus.
Many other times it is translated by saying or speech or something like that, and if you look up that word in a Greek lexicon you will find that it has a very far reaching meaning that has to do not only with what I say.
But with the thought behind it.
Isn't that solemn, a very solemn thing, that God looks down at you and me, the objects of his love and grace, the ones for whom he sent his beloved Son to die as we remembered him this morning, the one who loved us enough?
That he wants us to spend all eternity with them.
And yet, he tells us in love.
So then everyone of us shall give account of himself to God. What does that mean? Oh, I suggest that on the one hand, if it is a little bit frightening, and it can be frightening, can it?
It's a frightening thing, isn't it? Young people, children, if mom and dad find some mischief has been done and they call you in and say, what about this? A little bit scary, isn't it? Or if the principle of your school finds something has been done and he calls you or others in and says, what about this?
Don't think it never happened to me. It did and a lot more than one time. It's rather sobering, isn't it? But at the same time, may I suggest that there is an implication to this that I believe speaks to our hearts because what God is essentially saying to us, I suggest in this verse, is I want to impress upon everyone of you the importance.
The wondrous privilege.
The responsibility of living before me as an individual.
00:20:01
You know, we're gathered here together, and I don't know how many people were at these meetings when the largest number was here. How many, Mark?
4 or 500 beautiful to have all those beloved Saints of God together. And when we go back home and there's a local assembly of which we are parked, it's wonderful to enjoy the fellowship together. And in the larger sense, when we meet other Christians, perhaps those who for one reason or another are not gathered to the Lord's name, there is a bond. We are part of the family of God, and that is wonderful, and God has given that to us.
But ultimately we have to live and walk before God as individuals. And I want to impress upon my own soul and perhaps impress upon each one of us here, that in these last days it is going to become more and more important and more and more necessary that there be a walk as an individual in fellowship with the Lord.
It starts at a very early level.
Let's start off with children here. Would that be all right? And with young people, and I'm not pointing the finger at you. It doesn't seem very long, not very long ago, that I sat in those seats the way some of you children are.
I had another hymn on my heart that I was thinking of giving out rather than the one we sung at the beginning. And as I was pondering that hymn.
I thought back to a day.
41 years ago today.
Right to the day.
When a brother, now with the Lord by the name of Paul Wilson, stood up at a meeting in Detroit, MI and gave out that him.
And suddenly I realized as I was thinking about it, pardon me for saying this.
I realized, Bill.
You were only four years younger now than Paul Wilson was when he gave out.
And it hits hard. I never thought we'd be here that long.
Dear brother's long since with the Lord. He's been with the Lord nearly 40 years.
You young children, you young people, if the Lord leaves us here.
You are going to have to assume.
Responsibility as individuals and when you go to school.
And when you interact with the outside world, you are going to find out very quickly that you have to stand.
As an individual.
I remember reading a few years ago about a young woman. I say young. She seemed young to me. She was about 35.
And she undertook to teach in an inner city school in one of the large cities here in the United States. I think it was probably New York, but I'm not sure.
And that school had a reputation for having some tough kids in it. They were from all kinds of different ethnic backgrounds.
And when she went there, it wasn't all easy. She had a rough time because some of those boys especially figured they'd have some fun with this young woman that they didn't think knew very much.
And she recounted. And I have no reason to think that she was a believer. She might have been, but the story?
Has the same principle. Either way, there was a situation that came up.
And the students treated her very badly.
And she didn't react the way they expected that she would.
And afterwards one of the boys came up to her and said you didn't act the way the other teachers usually act when we do something like that, what's different about you?
She said if you fellows choose to act that way, I don't have to react in the same way. I play by my own rules.
And of course, the response was typical. And all the young people here will understand that the response was, hey, that's cool.
00:25:07
Can you appreciate that expression? I think you can.
They didn't understand somebody that played by, as she said, her own rules.
Beloved St. of God, we don't play by our own rules.
But God has, if we could use the expression rules, and he has something even more than rules, even more important.
His beloved son.
You and I can be guilty of wrong actions in our lives and sad to say we all, if we look back on our lives, would have to say we have been guilty of wrong actions and there needs to be confession and repentance. But what is even more difficult in the day in which you and I are living is not only wrong actions.
But wrong reactions. And as we've often heard, two wrongs don't make a right.
And very often you and I, as believers, shall we say it, we'll use the excuses.
Relative to the failures of others.
To justify our own failure. And in that way we will turn the spotlight away from our own conscience. And it's very easy to shine that spotlight on others, either an individual or a situation or whatever it may be that supposedly has.
Forced us, caused us to act in a certain way.
No.
Let's go on a little bit. What about the workplace? It's becoming increasingly difficult to live for the Lord in this world. It is becoming increasingly difficult to honor Him and our Christian pathway.
And sometimes is it possible? And I'm speaking about things that are very basic. I hope this doesn't insult anyone. I know I need it. We're speaking about things that are very basic because it is possible. It is possible to have one line of conduct.
That I present to my brethren and another line of conduct perhaps.
At other times, a brother whose name is well known to us by the name of Charles McIntosh, Chapter Macintosh and he made a comment in his writings which I took to heart.
He said a brother may be ever so eloquent in preaching the gospel. He may be ever so faithful in ministering the truth.
And he may present.
To fellow Christians, everything that seems to be of Christ. But he said, if I want really to know what characterizes that man in his soul, let me go into his home. Let me go into his home and see how things are there.
Dear brother, and I hesitate to make this remark, but I'm going to make it because I believe it's needful. And again, right here.
We are seeing among those gathered to the Lord's name.
Maybe the word is too strong, but I'm going to use it anyway. An appalling demonstration.
Disunity in homes and marital disharmony, and you and I know very well that.
Perhaps what we are seeing is the tip of the iceberg.
And that many more things go on underneath.
But do not come out in the public eye.
And I suggest to your soul and mind that this verse needs to get a hold of us. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Again, not with the sense of, Oh my, what is the Lord going to do to me at the judgment seat of Christ? No, that is not the thought, but rather the thought is being objects of the love and grace of God as being those who've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as being those whom He has sent back into this world.
To be living witnesses of all that he has done for us.
I say to my own soul and to yours.
There is a moral character which is due to that blessed One, and of which he is so worthy.
00:30:09
Oh, you say I can't do it. Circumstances become overwhelming.
And I admit that sometimes they do.
And I know that some of you are facing circumstances that I at least have never had to face.
Most of you know.
That I had a serious automobile accident just under 2 weeks ago.
And it hit me pretty hard.
But when I heard about young Braden Clawson being taken home to be with the Lord in an ATV accident.
I said Lord, I don't know what that feels like.
When I see dear brothers and sisters who have lost.
Their help me, I say, Lord, I don't know.
A Finished Work, All Things that Pertain to Life & Godliness
Open—C. Roberts, N. Whatmough
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So so so.
Longest.
From.
The Lord Jesus, we thank you again for this time we have together. We thank you for the liberty we have a coming together this way.
Disciples of old and consistent around thee, Lord Jesus and listen to Thy words and we would be as those today to listen to Thy voice from heaven through Thy word and truth. A minister of Thy Spirit, by whom knowledge chosen those among us were thought we should put a burden on their hearts or will do during this meeting. We pray that there might be attentive to the calling by spirit and that we might call each received from Thee that which is needed, which is Thank you for the resources we have in Thee. Blessed Savior. We thank Thee Father for giving him for us and all that we have in him. We thank Thee for thy word and thy Spirit.
And we would seek to act responsibly together this afternoon in this meeting since I spare might have liberty with us and that we will be edified together in law and Rowan Grayson in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Father, we ask it with confidence in his blessed and precious name, Amen.
I'd like to read a passage and the Epistle to the Hebrews.
And I might say that can everyone hear me clearly?
I was told that someone had a difficulty in hearing me. I suppose maybe my hearing aids, but I remember I had an outdoor service for once a week for a number of years that a farmers market and the people in the farmers market, the businessmen complained that I was disruptive and too loud.
00:05:10
But of course, the people who ran the farmers market were Christian people, and they didn't run me out.
So I hope that everyone can hear me. No problem at all. OK, Well, it's all my heart this afternoon to bring us something before the finished work of Christ. And there's a passage in Hebrews that I'd like to read as we pick up with verse 26.
For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.
Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who had trodden under foot the Son of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified as an unholy thing?
And hath done despite unto the spirit of grace.
For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongeth to me.
I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Many people take this as a possibility for a Christian to lose their salvation, but before we get into that too far, I would like to read a few verses. In the first part of the chapter 10 it tells us in verse one the law having a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make.
Commerce thereunto perfect. I believe we start off here by seeing the inadequacy of the sacrificial system. Now God, you know, has actually instituted that the ironic priesthood and the animal sacrifices were all shadows and pictures of some of the substance who was to come the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we pick up in verse 2 for then would they not have ceased to be offered because.
That the worshippers once purged.
Should have no more conscience of sins, but in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Here is of the verse, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats.
Should take away sin. So we see the Apostle sums up in the 1St 4 verses here the the insufficiency of the Mosaic law and the sacrificial system. It was only put in place as a shadow for things to come.
The Apostle Paul, though he he was a staunch Pharisee, he was raised up in in the very atmosphere of animal sacrifice bleeds and it was all his heart. Now what does he say?
He must have learned something along the line because he says it is impossible that that.
Blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Now the Apostle Paul has established here for us the fact that the Judaic system has come to an end. It it could not do the job. It was only a picture, a shadow of what was going to come.
Now we pick up on that in verse 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he said sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body. Hast thou prepared me wonderful to think of this, that the Lord Jesus Christ had a literal body. We had somebody mention that in the reading meeting. The fact that he was born has a little tiny babe. But if you and I could go back in time.
To that born, to that place where the young woman, the Jewish woman was pregnant and was going to give birth to a little child. That one that she brought into this world was God manifest in the flesh. That's what it tells us. He came into this world. He became a man. This was the most wonderful thing that has ever happened. I've mentioned it maybe a few times in the past, but when you think of the fact that that.
00:10:20
This little planet on which we live.
So infinitesimally small, not even as big as a grain of sand in an ocean because of the vastness of the universe. But it's plays the most important part in the role of God's unveiling of himself. It's a platform that God has used to demonstrate to a wandering world. Angels, principalities, archangels, all of the various orders of those creations, they stood back. Angels desire to look into these things.
When God himself became a member of the human race and was born in Bethlehem's Manger. And we know the full story too.
Philippians, the second chapter.
Now let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God.
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
Took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of manner. Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself unto death. Even I became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Oh yes, this is what we have when we have this here God is sitting aside one for the other. Now in verse six he says in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, Thou has had no pleasure.
Then said I, I come in, the volume of the book is written of me to do thy will. Oh God. And we know what that garden of Gethsemane, when he came right down to that point where he was going to go to the cross and bear our sins. Not my will, but thy will be done.
Did I cop he knew couldn't pass from him. He came into the world. This is why he came and ordered that he might die. And now we have here and verse 8 above and above when he says sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin that would not neither have pleasure in them that are offered by the law, then here's what he says then said he.
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.
He taketh away the 1St, that He may establish the second. Now the passage that we read about, if we send willfully, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. Basically, I believe we have these Jewish people who had been taken in by the wonderful news that Jesus was the Messiah, that He died upon the cross. They had gone along with the crowd, but then they had gone back.
They had turned back.
And that's what I believe the significance of this. It says here that if they do that, there is no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for a fiery judgment and fiery indignation, that that shall devour the adversaries. It doesn't say that they shall devour those who are sinners. There's a means by which we sin. We, we, we can come to God if we confess our sins.
That can be restored, but the text that we read here in verse 26, I believe, has to do with those Jewish people.
That had heard the gospel and they had gone back. They had gone back to old Judaism.
And the very time that the apostle right here, right here, I bet you I was saying that you, I ventured to say that they were busy offering animal sacrifices. You could probably get near where they were were having their temple. You could probably smell the blood of death and and and and and burnt place being burned. They were busy offering animal sacrifices. But what does the apostle say?
He says that in though it isn't for it is impossible.
That the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. Well, I want to come down to verse. Let's see.
OK verse 10 by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all?
00:15:01
Once for all, there is no repetition of this. He has completed the work. We started out by saying the finished work of Christ. The all sufficiency of the atonement of Christ the Lord Jesus Christ has divided people. Men divide people in this world. Men will divide you on the basis of color or creed or culture or social status and so forth. But God divides men too.
That Jesus brought the vision amongst men in his lifetime and many want went back and walked not with him but how much more in his death. People are divided into two classes in this world.
The saved and the unsaved, the St. and the Sinner, Those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and on their way to heaven and glory, and rebels who have rejected His grace and continued on in their sins.
Yes, Jesus still divides men. And I would venture to say that in this audience right here, we have division. We have people sitting in these seats right here today. And I don't like to think of it, but in all probability they will be in hell for eternity simply because that they have not taken the side that God wants them to take and be born again and to be saved, the finished work of Christ. And then he goes on to tell us down here.
Every priest stands daily ministering and oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down.
On the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Now the next verse says, For by one offering he hath perfected forever.
Them that are sanctified one offering. I was recently mailing some packages in the post office and I told this postal clerk who was acting as a postmistress that I was going to a Bible conference. And she said something to me about, well, I hope you can get closer to heaven or something of this nature. I said, well, I said, I know that if I die, I'll go right to heaven. She said, what happened? You know that?
How can anybody know that? I said, because Jesus paid for all of my sins. He died upon the cross and all of our sins were laid upon Him. I said to her, I said not just a part of them. I said all of our sins were laid upon Him. Now I felt sorry for this woman. I'll tell you why. She was an Irish Catholic brought up in the Church and did not know the fact of salvation.
You know, the Word of God tells us, and of course the Roman Church doesn't do this, but there's two major doctrines in the Scripture that you all must be clear on.
Number one, it's the complete lostness of people in sin. You're not just partially lost. Now the Roman Church says, oh, yes, we've all sinned, but we're not completely lost. And then the second thing is the all sufficiency of the tone. That's what I started out to say, the finished work of Christ. They do not preach that they they, they have. It's a sad thing that we have to confront every day. And I know people and you know, people that all of that faith and we try to be diplomatic with them. We don't try to offend them, but we know for certain.
That the Roman Catholic Church.
Has corrupted Christianity. The priest now has the the the what they call the priest when he offers up the mass and has a little wafer thing, he said. This is a true sacrifice for the dead and the living sinners.
And then by magic word, it's supposed to transform into the very body and blood of Christ.
That's what they're saying but what does the word of God tell us that it tells us down in verse 18. Now we're a remission of these is there is no more offering for sin. The complete work of Christ that Jesus on that cross did everything that was necessary. All of our sins were laid upon him. It tells us who his own self bear in his own body are sins on the cross we being deadly.
Should live in the righteousness by whose stripes we were healed. He suffered at the tax, and Isaiah tells us that He was wounded for our transgressions. He was ruined for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by His stripes we are healed. Never forget, believe me, never forget, the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ has gone through for you and for me.
00:20:21
On that cross.
And that's a finished work. He's a finished work. He absorbed all of those things.
You know, back in Abraham's time, when Abraham had Isaac and bound him and put him upon that altar.
He took that knife up. Of course before that Isaac has said to his dad Abraham, he said where is the lamb, you know for a burnt offering? And Abraham said God will provide himself a lamb. Abraham had the life of ready to plunge into his son. But you know the story that he was stopped and he found an offering in the author. But The thing is when we come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was not spared. The sword of divine justice of God was laid upon him. He bare our sins in his own body, the finished work of Christ. The people are divided into two classes, those people who know it and receive it, and those people who are ignorant of it or reject it. That's the two classes that we have.
The whole world is divided into two religions.
Do and done.
Every false religion in this world seeks to do something to pacify God.
To make God obligated to them.
In order for God to accept them.
I say it without fear of contradiction. The word of God tells us that there's only one sacrifice, there's no more sacrifice, and that sacrifices we have read together here tonight.
And it tells us here that.
Verse 14 for by one offering.
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, and at verse 18 there is where there is remission or release of these, there is no more sacrifice. No more sacrifice.
It's not very pleasant for me or for you or anyone else to think of a big ecclesiastical system that has actually corrupted and has kept people away from the the very thing that would save them. This poor lady that was a Roman Catholic dedicated to the Church did not know the full story of redemption. Oh, she'd been brought up in a religious atmosphere. She believed that baptism took away original sin. They say that's when you're born again.
Then in confirmation they say, well, that's when you receive the Holy Spirit. Well then when you start your life on earth, then you have to confess your sins to a a priest. That takes away your continuing sense and it may give you indulgences to do. You're not ready for heaven. Now you have to call the priest when you die, he comes to there the bed and he administers to you extreme auction that takes away more of your sins. Now you're not ready for heaven yet.
Now you're going to get the priest to say, Matthew, he's going to raise that little wafer up there and says, as he says sometimes.
This is your God, a sacrifice for the living, a true sacrifice for the living and for the dead.
I submit to you that is a lie. Now I try to deal just demonic with with my gromocytic friends and I know a lot of them. I wouldn't want to offend them. I try to when I try to do with them is I try to give them assurance of what God has done for me and tell them that through the precious blood of Jesus that my sins have been washed away. I don't deserve heaven, but God loved me, Sonny's Son and that through his atoning death upon the cross.
That I have salvation.
And leave that with Him. Of course, sometimes you may be called upon a little stronger. I'm not saying that you should follow that in all cases. But there is a problem. But here's another problem that we have. The Word of God tells us there is no more offering for sin.
Jesus has done it all.
The work is done, done by God's Almighty Son. This to faith is now so clear. There is no room for torturing fear. Yes, we can rest assured that the Lord Jesus Christ, He hath begun a good work on us, will perfect it and continue it until that day when we are with Him. We have been saved from the penalty of sin, but we're being saved from the power of sin. That's what we've had in Second Peter.
00:25:17
We are being saved from the power of sin that God wants to reproduce in US that life of holiness. Without holiness, no man shall see the glory and that's what we we we were being daily. We're having to power over sin in our lives. All we may fall.
We may wander that God will bring us back. He brought me back. I thank God for that. Now we have a little further on down here.
Where he says verse 17 and their sin and iniquities will I remember no more.
Someone has said how can this be?
How can it be? I don't know.
God is omniscient.
I don't know. I don't think anybody knows their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Isn't that wonderful? I wish I could remember something, not remember some of my sins.
I remember as a young soldier.
In Nuremberg in 1945, I had a wonderful friend who was our captain of our company. I used to play ping pong with him. We played ping pong. We lived in a big mansion on Dukes of **** Strasser and I got to knowing where while we were friends, he, he helped me out on many things and I got into a confrontation with a German, a former German fighter pilot and somehow another. He got hurt.
And I could have been sent to the stockade. He spared me that. But anyhow, I was detailed to a town called Wurtsburg. And I had another problem with a big a soldier up there. It was a big, tall Jewish soldier. And he and I just went at it. I mean, we just could not get along. And Captain Raybaugh left from down Nuremberg to come up to settle this dispute. And I never will forget it. It's impressed on my mind that it'll never leave. And I've tried to forgive myself for it. And I think the Lord, I know the Lord has forgiven me. But he got there and he said, what's the trouble, He said, with you and so and so. And boy, young soldier, 18 years old, stupid, ignorant, I don't know why I said it.
I said I don't like him, he's a Jew.
Well, the Holocaust had just happened. Millions of Jews were put to death and burnt, reduced the ISIS. And here I'm standing in front of a man that was my friend, and I said because he's a Jew. That was terrible. And you know what Captain Rava? Did he turn around.
And walked away and.
Later on found out that he was Jewish and all my heart just smoked me. It has been 60 years ago.
And I still have a hard time dealing with it but.
God has forgiven me. What does it say here? Their sins and their iniquities. I will remember no more.
And I believe that that's a very good starting point for you and I with our brethren. If God has said this, I think we should say this. It's a wonderful thing to think that one day in our glorified bodies in heaven that we will not remember our failures, our sins. I think of David.
And Bathsheba and Uriah and the Glory Land. David will be there.
They'll all be there. There won't be any remembrance. God will not remember those sins. I don't know how they will do it. He will not remember and we will not remember.
We will live there in that glorified body and the perfect state that God has brought us into, and we will not remember and God will not remember.
So, and that's a wonderful precious thing to me. Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. But the verse that we read down here, basically I believe it comes to the brings us to the fact that many people take this verse and say that a Sinner can be lost, that once you can be saved today, you can be lost tomorrow. No, it doesn't happen that way.
00:30:00
In fact, we touched upon it and briefly some of our readings. When we were born again, we receive a new nature and we receive something and definition to that we receive the Holy Spirit.
So we have we're brought into a relationship that will never end. Now there's a verse of Scripture and Mark I'd like to make reference to is that the Lord says, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord.
Have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? I just boosted my free will.
Baptist brethren were here today to hear what I want to say because the Lord Jesus said depart from me. I never knew you. He didn't say I once knew you. He didn't say you were baptized and you lived a pretty good Christian life. But toward the end you went off on a tangent and then now you know you're lost. No, he didn't. That verse tells us it's very possible.
That religious people can prophecy can teach in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and yet not know him and they can do cast out devils. That's a that's a feat in itself. Now, if you look at it either two ways, they might they might be casting out devils the betterment of society, or are they feeding the poor and clothing the needy and so forth. Or you might look at it and the fact that they actually do cast out demons.
But what's the next one is that and done many wonderful works in thy name.
And Jesus says to them.
Depart from me, for I never knew you.
Didn't say I once knew you. No, no, no, for there is no other offering for sin. That one offering we're sanctified by the body of Christ once and for all the finished work of Christ. The work is done and now we we find that these people in verse 26 he says here, if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth.
There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. I believe the first one we read in verse 18 has to do with the Christian.
Efficiency of the Atonement of Christ.
It tells us here verse 18, where remission of these is there is no more offering for sin once and for all. And then in verse 26, I believe we have the atonement of Christ in reference to those who are lost. Or it tells us here in verse 27, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.
Which shall devour the adversaries? Oh, I thought was devourer centrist. No, no.
Adversaries, those who have taken opposite sides, those who have gone back to the old sacrificial system, to offering animals and sacrifices. That's why it says here, I believe that.
Fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries, there's the people that's going to devour. And that's what they did. Because in verse 25 of this chapter, it says, it tells us here not the forsaking of the assembling of yourself together.
As the manner of some is so some of these people here in this verse 25 have been the very people that have gone back going back to old Judaism, going back to the old ritualistic system of the animal sacrifice and what is Paul the Paul says there is no more sacrifice for sins. No, no, there's only one and that sacrifices all sufficient. Of course, this verse two also may have other implications to it and simply it means that we should we as Christians should not forsake ourselves.
Ourselves together.
Many people, including myself at one time thought you could wing it.
That you could listen to tapes, you could read the Bible, you could, you could study. And I, and I did that. I remember I used to study the Scriptures every night from 5:00 to 11:00. I had great delight in just reading the Word and stuff. But that doesn't take the place of being where the Lord wants us to be. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
00:35:16
I know had to start experience of leaving that place and I can tell you one thing and of course there was a big ego. Ego is a terrible thing, I'll tell you that. God has helped me, He has enabled me, He has humbled me, He has brought me to the dust and I thank God for the joy and the privilege of being back where the two or three are gathered in His name and there to remember Him.
Why? I had a friend of mine I worked with a on a on a.
A research program for Sturgeon and I worked with two biologists, and one of them was a wonderful woman. She just stopped by the other day to visit me, her and her friend.
We were talking about Scripture and about the Bible they had in the house and she said to me, she said I don't go to church. She said she gave accent to, you know, the Christianity. She wasn't a Pagan. She had been raised in the church.
She said to me and it stuck with me in my mind, I can't get it out, she said. It doesn't do anything for me.
It doesn't do anything for me. Oh, it hurt me. It hurt me so bad. But you know the answer to that is this when we go to remember the Lord Jesus Christ.
We don't go to get something.
We go to give something, and you know why He is worthy. He died on that cross and shed His precious blood for me. My sins were laid upon Him, and I can tell you one thing.
We go to remember him, to praise him, to worship him. Why he is worthy. He deserves it, the little hymn says. Worthy of homage and appraise, worthy by all to be adored. Exhaust the seam of heavenly face thou Thou art worthy, Jesus, Lord, He is worthy. That's why we go. It's wonderful to have a Christian brother around us.
We might adjust to some, we might not adjust to others, but that's not the point where we go. There's nothing special about being gathered to his precious name. There where the Lord Jesus said in a special way, there am I in the midst of them. So it's wonderful to think of that text that the Lord brought me back and I'm so grateful. So thankful He had to humble me. I tell you, I had an ego as big as the house.
I remember sitting at a meeting down in Key West, FL. I happened there was a very important fishery meeting. They had a senator, I suppose he gives a keynote address.
And I sat next to the assistant and we got talk and we had 10 minutes back and forth. We were speaking and so forth. And I could say that he was chafing under it, working for this senator, and he began to tell me about him.
He said he got an eagle. He said as big as a house.
I thought that's me.
Thank God who brought me back.
I'm very happy to be here again together. It's the Lord's name, but you know.
It's his faithfulness, not mine. I remember I just happened to mention to her brother today in the hallway. The only time I ever signed on him, Christ will hold me fast. I remember Doctor Mason, he was leading at the Chapel service that night. That's the only time I ever signed on him. But I'll tell you one thing, I've never forgotten him. I think that lyrics go, Christ will hold me fast.
For my Savior loves me.
Thank God for that. We praised his wonderful name that he will hold us last. But the finished work of Christ is what we want to emphasize tonight as we read these scriptures together. It says he that despise moves his Lord died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Now the apostle is contrasting what what we have in the old system with what we have in in on the new system. He takes away the first it tells us.
That He may establish the 2nd. And that's what we have. We have now the finished work of Christ.
00:40:03
On the cross. And it says here that the one who despised Moses law, he died without mercy, under two or three witnesses. Then he goes on to say, Of how much sore punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy?
Which trodden under foot the Son of God.
Hammered the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified as an unholy thing, and have done despite unto the spirit of grace.
Well, there's three things that he did here. They tried on the foot the Son of God. Now this has an application to everybody. The Jewish people, of course, primarily is what we're talking about here. They tried on to put the Son of God that counted it as nothing. And that precious blood is not to be tried upon. You know the story and, and, and exodus, that blood was put upon the doorpost and the lentil.
But it wasn't put upon the threshold. You know that, precious blood speaks.
Of volumes to us of the wondrous loving grace of God. As that precious hymn says, there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel veins and senator voiced in that plus flood lose all their guilty stains. This is the basis about which the finished work of Christ's rest. He has completed it all. You remember we mentioned in our our reading about the righteousness of God.
Now I would say to you today you could go in on Google, the great search engine, you could type in the righteousness of God and it was going to bring up to you so many volumes and so much literature. It would take you months to drive through it. Or you could turn to one of our hymns puts us so very simply. I think I quoted that hymn to you. But this is the basis on which God can forgive, you know.
Plato wrote some of the works of Socrates down.
And Plato records the fact that one day Socrates said to him, he says Plato, it might be that the deity can forgive sins.
But I don't see hell.
Oh, we see how now the perfect righteousness of God is witnessed in the Savior's blood tis in the cross of Christ. We Christ His righteousness, yet wondrous grace. God could not pass the Sinner by His sin demands that he must die. But in the cross of Christ we see how God can save yet righteous day.
The Sinner lights on Jesus head tis in his blood. Since that is paid stern justice can demand more and righteousness can dispenser store The Sinner who believes is free and say the savior died for me can point to the atoning blood and say this made my peace with God. There you have it.
In his simplest forms, you know, the hymns are a great vehicle to communicate to us the deep things of God. You cannot find any clearer definition of the righteousness of God in that under that hand. But there's another him too. Oh, the peace forever flowing from God's thoughts of his own Son. All the peace of simply knowing on the cross that all was done.
Peace with God the blood in heaven speaks a pardon now to me. Taste with God the Lord is risen. Righteousness now counts me free. The finished work of Christ. There cannot be any other sacrifice, for there is no other offering. Once and for all He sat down at the right hand of God. We all know and heard many times about that high priest.
As he went into the holy of Holies and once a year, not without blood, but we know that there was no chair there and he couldn't stay there. But the Lord Jesus Christ has taken all of our sins away. The veil has been rent. He has sat there at the right hand of God. There's four times in Epistle to the Hebrews that tells us that the Lord Jesus sat down.
Four times.
As a study in itself, but He is the one that has accomplished it all, the finished work of Christ.
00:45:08
And it tells us in the end, bringing this down now to verse. Well, it might just comment upon the fact that the the spirit of grace.
I believe the spirit of grace of the Holy Spirit the tugs at your heart and tells you you're not ready for heaven.
You need to accept the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your one heartbeat away from hell today. There are people in this room. I know Jesus is the great divider of man there. Thank God there's so many of us here that are safe, but I would venture to say there are some sitting in their seats right today whose heart has not turned to the Lord. You're putting it off, but they have done despite the spirit of grace. I don't know how long or how many times or opportunities that God will give you, but there is a limit to which God has sat.
For every individual, the little verse says, there is a time we know not when.
A place we know not where that marks the destiny of men to glory or despair.
He looked at me and I said yeah, play me. Jesus loves me.
You know what he did?
Replace Jesus loves me. There's a lot of people who know he just loves me, but they haven't come back to know Him. I don't ask people anymore. Do they know the Lord? You want to ask them?
Does the Lord know you? That's the important thing. But the Spirit of grace, the Holy Spirit will tug at your heart. He did mine and He made me feel my sin. And I hope tonight, if you're here without Christ, tonight, if you're in your sins, you know you should be saved and you haven't come to the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that God will make you so miserable that you will never have any peace until you bow before Him as a guilty, lost Sinner.
And come and accept Him as your Lord and your Savior.
Because the next verse down here tells us it is a fearful thing to.
All into the hands of the living God.
Terrible thing.
I tell you one thing, you must meet him.
God will have the last word.
You might rant against him, you might race against him, you might neglect him, you might reject him, you might talk all you want, but I'll tell you one thing. God will have the last word. It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this, the judgment. Oh, I just would hope and pray that this the word, what the word of God tells us that that work is finished. There is no more offering for sin. There is no more sacrifice.
For sins, it has been completed, it has been accomplished. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.
Oh my soul, that's that lovely hymn, what we can say, and I'd love it so much. My sin, all the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
I wonder if we could look for a few moments at a verse in Matthew 13.
We've been hearing about some exceedingly precious promises in the Present Truth in Peters epistle.
And the Lord asked him a question in Matthew 13 and verse 51. Jesus said unto them, Have you understood all these things? And they said unto him, Yeah, Lord. Then he said unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed under the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder that bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
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This verse brings back to mind a story of a young man who, through a gospel tract, found himself in a great home, staying in a great home full of many precious things.
And he would pick up one thing and they'd say, oh, yes, this was a brooch that Marie Antoinette wore, or this was a sword that the king carried, or this was a bedroom set that was given by the Italian royal family to this house when there was a marriage and so on. And his house was full of treasures. He was a young man, and he didn't really know very much about those things and didn't really value those things very much.
And years past, 30 years passed later and he passed by that house with his own son.
And all this situation very well, there was a sign on the door, admission $7.00. And they went into the house and took a tour of this house. And those are quite a group of people. And the house was empty. There were no treasures in it anymore. And people were kind of booing and aweing at the beautiful architectural features of this house. And this man who had been a young man, who was now an older man, was in the house looking and was quite a look on his face. And the tour guide stopped and he said, you know, he said, I never saw this house with the treasures in it. He said you obviously did by the look on your face.
And I think of you, dear young people, you know, I don't think there's one person in this room, and my wife's not here, but even my wife, that I would know if it were not for the great and precious promises and the blessing of the truth. I don't think Ron would know his wife, I don't think.
With no brigitta probably in the way that he does, or that you would have the friends that you have. And these are very, very precious things that the world doesn't know anything about. I crossed the border once and they're going to Vestal. And the border guard said to me, why would you know anybody in Vestal? And I said, Oh dear, this is going to be a hard question to answer. And we say these are precious promises and we just enjoy quiet order among people that love us. And we've had brethren that we'd have no reason to know here in Dorothy that have cared for us and gone out of their way to accommodate us.
And these are very precious things and we may not realize that at all. There was a Canadian family that once bought the House of Emily Carr and the artist, she was kind of eccentric and they didn't know the value of things. They cleaned out the attic and burned it all and they realized afterwards they had $1,000,000 bonfire in the backyard. And maybe some of you young people are like that. Well, that's why I speak of the household, because the household are the things that we collect around ourselves and that are important to us. When we're single, we can pack everything into the back of a station wagon and move and through and married a few years. You've got a household full of things.
And householder is something that has something, and we have a treasure. And you may not realize it, but every scribe that is instructed, he says under the Kingdom of heaven we have an everlasting Kingdom. We've read of that in Peter. But in the Kingdom of heaven is like a man that is a householder. Man speaks of responsibility and headship and bringeth out of his treasure things new and old. Let me just turn to a verse in Leviticus chapter 26.
I think it's going to highlight the order of the words there.
Leviticus 26, I believe.
Umm.
This.
10 Thank you, and you shall eat the old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. Thank you very much.
When they came into the land that they that the Lord had promised them, Ye shall eat the old store and bring forth out of the old because of the new. Let's just turn to one other verse in the Song of Solomon to just bear this out because it's a consistent thing. And I think that this is a difficulty sometimes to many of us as believers.
Song of Solomon, Chapter 7.
Verse Verse 12. Let us get up early to the vineyard, and let us see if the vine flourished, whether the tender grape appear in the pomegranate. Spud forth, and there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a sweet smell, and our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I've laid up for thee, O my beloved.
00:55:19
We have learned in Peter that we have all things that contribute to life and godliness.
Through the knowledge of him.
Paul wrote to Timothy. He said to him, all Scripture, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
If I was asked anybody to come up here with a pair of scissors and take a pair of scissors to this Bible and tell me which page should I cut up, cut out, that is not profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. I don't think there would be one person that would stand up in this room and say, well, yes, there's pages in the Bible that are not profitable for that.
But what we have here in Matthew is it's a scribe. That's one that diligently studied the Word of God. I understand that the scribes would copy by hand the scriptures, and if there was one mistake they found, they would destroy all their work and start over because they said if we made one, maybe we made more than one.
They were diligent and there was diligence in connection with it, but they had the old because of the new.
And unless we understand the present truth into which God has placed us, we're never going to understand this blessed book. And our brothers brought before us a little bit the warning of going back to Judaism, a Judaism system of rules and regulations. And you know, when we were younger, Heinz said it to his mother. It didn't work. Ron said it to his mother. I said it to mine. And everyone in this Reuben said it to his.
Well, just show me, why can't I do this? This so and so's down the road they do it. And they opened this book and they said it's because of what the word of God says, and they opened up a scripture.
We wanted to put ourselves under law. Just give me a rule. And they wanted to bring before us the word of God, because man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. In the Old Testament there were people under law that really had a nature that was opposed to God. And so it stood there, and it said, Thou shalt and thou shalt not. But you know, as our brother was bringing before us, he takes it away the 1St. That he might establish the 2nd. If any man is in Christ, there is a new creation.
And he said there were two groups in this room. There's actually three in the Scripture. I don't, I'm not questioning, correcting what he said, but because one of those groups is divided into two, You're either a Jew, a Gentile, or the Church of God. You're either under law or you're a Gentile without hope and without God in this world, or you're a new creature in Christ.
And you have a desire to please the Lord, and I don't care what you look like or how you're going on with, but if you really belong to the Lord, you have a nature that can only be happy by doing the will of God. And if you're an unhappy believer, if I'm an unhappy believer, it's because I'm not being obedient to the word of God. That is the new present truth into which we've been brought. He's not trying to fix up the old. He's not.
Glory & Virtue, Oversight
Open—M. Payette, H. Brinkmann
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00:05:20
Our gracious God, our loving Father, we do bow before thee this afternoon with Thanksgiving Lord, and with praise. Thank you for this happy occasion, Lord. We can come together that we might learn more of our Lord Jesus Christ. May this Dee indeed, our gracious God, be the occasion where we indeed turn our eyes upon Jesus.
To look full in his wonderful face. And Lord, let those things on this earth may grow strangely dim.
In the light of His glory in Christ, we thank Thee, blessed God our Father, for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for that finished work which He has done upon the cross as we have sung together. It is finished here. Our souls have rest. His love can never fail. Lord, we thank thee and Lord, we pray now as we wait upon Thee this afternoon, we pray that that would lead and God and direct by Thy Holy Spirit.
Lord, we pray that Thou would help us to dismiss from our mind every foreign thought, and Lord, that we might have indeed open minds, that Thy precious word may find lodgement in them and receptive hearts. Lord, that we might indeed learn more of the blessed ways of our Lord Jesus Christ, even as we have been reading this morning, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. So Lord, we pray now as we bring.
Ourselves before thee.
Once again, Lord, to wait upon thee once again to pray that Thou would lead and direct by Thy Holy Spirit, and may we indeed see Jesus this afternoon to gaze upon Him and all of His moral beauty and glory, and that Thy precious Word may find His lodgement in our hearts. Lord, whether it be for comfort, instruction for reproach, Lord, we just pray that Thou would have thine own way and that Thou would bless us, Lord.
And open up our hearts to behold the wonders of Thy loving grace. Lord, we ask these things as we commit ourselves to Thee. As for Thy blessing, now through that ever worthy and precious name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
Second Peter, the 1St chapter.
The Universe 3.
To the knowledge of Him that had called us to glory and virtue.
Or, as it reads in the French Bible, into the margin here that had called us.
By glory and virtue.
Just a few thoughts, dear ones.
And perhaps considering this verse.
And the perspective that in the end of this portion we would have been called by the glory and virtue.
Of the Lord Jesus.
If I.
Had written this concerning our life, I would have written virtue and glory, trying to manifest something of the Lord now and knowing that our path is going to end in glory in the presence of the Lord, we're going to be perfectly like him. But it says here, glory and virtue. And I would suggest to you the thought that we could consider some of the glories and virtues of the Lord Jesus that God would produce in our lives. And just a few, I know there are many, just a few that have been set before me.
It's.
First Peter, chapter 2.
First Peter, 219.
For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure his grief, suffering wrongfully.
First Peter 2019, 20 For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently, but if when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently? This is acceptable with God for even Iran to Were you called? Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps?
00:10:25
Another verse in Second Corinthians chapter 10.
Verse one.
Now I call myself beseech you.
By the meekness.
And gentleness of Christ, who in presence and base among you, but being absent and bold toward you. But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I'm present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. Although we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
Casting down imaginations in every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God.
And bring it into captivity, every thought to the obedience.
Of Christ.
Well, you consider the first portion and Peter?
Where we have the path of the Lord Jesus, one who suffered like none of us will ever suffer.
Misunderstood. Misjudged. Hated.
But he always did that which was right.
And this is worthy of glory before God.
And I believe that we've been called, as we consider the person of the Lord, to consider the beauty of His pathway down here.
And to love it, and to seek by God's grace that it would be found in some measure.
In our life.
And it's in self denial, isn't it? It's an accepting abuse and.
Being treated wrongly and spoken evil of.
How do we react? Well, I mean, this is what we've been called to to manifest something of Christ in these circumstances.
We've been called by this glory.
And virtue. Here are some of the virtues. 2 Corinthians 10. There are many more, but I just put these before you. Meekness.
The gentleness.
Of Christ, not our natural meekness or gentleness. Perhaps some of them have characters that are leaning towards that, but this is meekness and gentleness of Christ. And then to the fifth verse, the obedience.
Of Christ.
Of that one that left the glory and became a man, and as a man found in fashionable, as a man, he went down, he went down, he went down in obedience.
What glory? We think of glory as light, unimaginable, but this is moral excellence. Here's one who is the Lord of glory, accepting abuse, our spittle being mocked and going down. And what was in his heart was obedience to the Father. But that would be found in our hearts, meekness, gentleness, obedience.
Virtues that are found in perfection in the Lord Jesus, that should be seen in your life and mine.
First Peter, chapter 5.
We touched on this this morning when we talked about Simon Peter and.
I mentioned that the apostle Peter when he speaks to himself as he speaks to the elders there. We're just going to read a few verses. I'd just be a few minutes. The elders which are chapter five of first Peter, verse one, the elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Seed the flock of God which is among you.
Taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not by filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but being samples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, he shall receive a crown of glory that faded another way.
00:15:08
Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yay, all of you, be subject 1 to another, and be clothed with humility. But God resisted the proud, and give it grace to the humble.
We had before us this morning an appreciation of.
What we would think was the disposition of heart the Apostle Peter as he referred to himself as Simon Peter.
Certainly realizing himself, as he wrote in that first chapter, second epistle goes, that had forgotten.
The purification of their sins, well, Peter hadn't forgotten, I'm sure, reminded of us what he was and what he would have been in himself if the Lord hadn't come in for him, to save him, and then to restore him, and then again to forgive him as the brother singled out in Galatians there where he was at fault. And surely we could all recount in our history, the history of our lives as believers, times that we've failed and the Lord just came in for us and undertook for us, forgave us, encouraged our hearts and LED us along.
You know one of the reasons I believe we mentioned this this morning. God has left us with two natures.
He's left us, the old one, just to make sure. You'd be humble, dear one, I'd be humble. He's humbling things, I realized from the wickedness of the old nature to have these thoughts come in your mind and say what? How could I be thinking such thoughts? It's a humbling thing. And the very same person who is aboard at the thoughts that come in his own heart can contemplate the beauty and the glory of the Lord Jesus.
What a wonderful. Well, here, in connection with the leaders, I just have a little play on words, if you'll allow me. Talking with a brother just before the meeting said how English sometimes was difficult because the words mean different things. You know the word lead? Lead. I could pronounce it lead.
And it's written exactly the same thing.
But it's quite different, doesn't it? And I'd like to suggest a thought here to talk of leaders as letters.
People that carry weight, lead is a heavy metal that carries weight. And certainly those that take the lead among us carry weight. They carry moral weight, they carry moral authority, you might say, from the Lord to be a help to us. And the Apostle Peter exhorts them here because there's a danger for those who carry moral way to have a position of responsibility before the Lord that they carry out with their brethren. There's a danger that this old man in US might just get into those things that were called not to do.
And there are two things about lead that I just would like to compare. You know, lead is a heavy metal, and that is a good characteristic if you want something to be stable. And there's a virtue in this. I believe it's First Corinthians 15. It says there the word unmovable.
If I was physically in LED, you'd have a hard time moving me. I probably couldn't move around myself.
But this is a good thing to be unmovable.
And yet, once the question of the glory of the Lord, or the truth of God and fundamental things that the enemy would just like to rob us of, it's good to be just, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord.
But you know, lead, unless I'm mistaken, because one of the heaviest metals is also the softest.
Just the softest metal.
It's a wonderful thing, you know, if the Lord has given some of you to be in the position of oversight, you might call it for the people of God to be unmovable. Yet to have that virtue that James talks about easily and treated easily and treated to be soft hearted to be ready to to to listen to the difficulties of others and to be.
Unmovable, but easily untreated.
Then it goes on. A little bit later on it says, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Well, you know, it's the characteristics of youth of being full of energy and even in the things of the Lord as we understand the scriptures and perhaps we're young and we're full of zeal and perhaps we consider there's apathy and neglect and perhaps our hearts are led to to criticize. I know mine is.
And the Lord wouldn't have us do that or murmur. It speaks here of submitting.
It's a wonderful spirit to have, a submissive spirit because this was the spirit of the Lord Jesus.
And this is the ability, the power that God has given, the divine power to be mean, lowly, obedient and submissive. That takes divine power. Doesn't take divine power to get upset. I've got a lot of that natural energy to get upset. I'm sure you have too. Sometimes we get upset at each other, wives and husbands, children and parents, brethren together. We get upset at each other. Well, that's not meekness, loneliness, obedience, submission. That's not that kind of energy. That's energy, natural energy, energy of the flesh.
00:20:28
We have words here for the elders and we have words for the younger, and I have a word on my heart for those in the middle.
I want to thank my brother in the middle.
My brethren in the middle, I want to thank those that have taken the lead, and I want to thank the young ones for being zealous, but I want to thank my brethren in the middle.
Will kind of help us out become a tamper when?
Our spirits get riled up. I know in the last difficulties several brevin in the middle.
Had a talk with me.
And they really helped me, and I'm so thankful they did because I was upset. And I'm sure many of you were upset, but the Lord does come in, doesn't he? Meekness, gentleness.
Obedience, submission, glory and virtue that He's called us by in the Lord Jesus.
Turn to First Timothy, chapter 3.
Verse one.
This is a true saying if any man desire the office of a Bishop.
You know there are three words used for the office of a Bishop, overseer, elder and Bishop. That's an office in the assembly.
There's a difference between.
Office and gift.
And it is desirable that one who is in the office of an overseer that he might be apartment to teach.
He doesn't necessarily have to have the gift of a teacher.
But he has to be able to bring the truth to bear.
See, the overseer in the Assembly is responsible for the spiritual well-being of the Saints.
And when there are problems, then the overseer is responsible to try to help.
And he needs to have the scriptures to bring before not We're doing it this way. That's what we have been doing amongst us for all these decades. No? What does the scripture say?
Yes, it is even possible that we might be having certain ways of doing things that are not necessarily scriptural.
But what does the Scripture say? But there are those that are in oversight. We are not all in that position. There are those who take the lead and those who are led.
You know, the King James unfortunately gives those who take the rule in Acts 20 and also in other scriptures, but the correct rendering it says those who take the lead among you, yes, there is leadership in the assembly. There are those who lead and those who are left.
In the Apostolic days.
When there was Apostolic authority.
They would appoint elders and they would appoint deacons.
The deacons would look after the physical and material needs of the Saints.
And you have that also in First Timothy 3, and it's very interesting.
That while there is no wife mentioned with the overseer, the Bishop.
The wife is mentioned when it comes to Deaconess Service A.
Think that in itself is very helpful. Why?
00:25:00
Women are more sensitive.
They are more loving.
They're more able to recognize needs that exist and if a Deacon has a godly wife.
She can be of tremendous assistance to him, making him realize.
The needs and making him aware of the needs that she has realized.
But how important it is that we recognize that there is leadership in the assembly?
Even though there is no Apostolic authority to put anybody into that position.
In Thessalonians.
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians.
Was written only a short time after the Thessalonians were saved. There were no official elders in the church in Thessalonica.
But in chapter 5 we read in verse 12.
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them, which labor among you, and take the lead among you in the Lord, and admonish you.
While we do not have official elders.
There are still those who lead.
And.
It's wonderful that the Lord raises up such people in the assembly. And the Thessalonians, while they didn't have official elders, there were those who took the lead, and it was their responsibility to recognize them and to acknowledge them. That's the same position we are in today. But let me also emphasize.
That oversight is local. I want to very emphatically state that.
Oversight is local.
One cannot be an overseer in any assembly other than the home assembly.
That's what we learned from Scripture.
Do we want to be popes?
Does any assembly take the position that they are the Rome amongst the Gareth Saints?
Handling matters in utter assemblies.
Now you might say no, Brother Hines, isn't it possible that there might be situations in a local assembly that should be?
Taken care of, and the local brethren might not be doing it.
Yes, that's a possibility. That's where teaching comes in and shepherd care comes in.
You know there are three gifts in Ephesians chapter 4.
That are with us today and that is the Shepherd is one of them.
You know the teacher and the shepherd.
Well, there's nothing wrong.
In teaching or bringing teaching before Saints when there is a situation in a local assembly, but we have to recognize that the local brethren have to handle it.
I'm told that there was a problem in years past amongst the gathered Saints.
And they didn't know exactly how to handle it. And they asked two gifted, responsible, leading brethren amongst us to come and help them. They did go there and.
They used the scriptures and tried to tell them what their responsibility was and when they left they said this is what we feel are the scriptures that apply to your situation now, he said. If you act on them or do not act on them, whatever you do locally here, we have to bow to it.
And Mr. Darby made this statement. We bowed to an assembly action, right or wrong, and if it is wrong, trust that the Lord will come in to correct it, and that might take time.
You know, but we tend to become impatient. But how wonderful that there is still leadership in the assembly.
00:30:04
Yes, there's even leadership beyond the local assembly, those who have taught us the word of God.
And.
When I think when I came amongst the gathered Saints.
There were gifted teachers among the gathered Saints.
And what a privilege it was to be exposed to their teaching.
There were even gifted men where I grew up. I learned a lot of truth from them. I'm very thankful for what I learned from them.
And there are Saints elsewhere that don't necessarily understand.
The ground of gathering and the principle of separation from evil.
As the Lord has given us to see it. But I'm thankful that the Lord has raised up men elsewhere that can feed the flock of God.
You know there is a man in our area.
He has a church and.
He earned his key, supported himself by laying carpet. That's how we got to know him.
A dear St. of God and a true shepherd.
You know he's in the wrong position.
But we got to know him pretty good and I believe I can say he is a true shepherd. He is in a wrong position heading up a church.
But I'm thankful that there are those in so-called churches that are shepherds, that are teachers.
And that feed God's people.
Well.
And what about the deacons?
Now, when it comes to deaconess service, we find in the book of Acts that the church picked out those that would handle the material things, the apostle said. You know it isn't the right thing for us to do that. That takes time away from more important ministry for us pick out.
Those that do and the Church had a voice at at who these people were, and they picked them and they brought them to the apostles.
They laid their hands on them and put them officially in that position.
You know, it's a wonderful thing to see that we today still have the responsibility to distribute what the Lord entrusts to us, that which comes in our Lord's Day morning.
And that the Lord has enabled us to support.
The work of the Lord and the poor.
Let me ask you this.
Do we feel individually now? I have contributed on Lord's Day morning to the collection. That's all I have to do.
I don't read that in the word of God.
I believe that we have individually responsibility to try to meet needs.
That exists among God's people. We have had the privilege of traveling in poor areas in the world. Others here too have done so, and we have to feel responsible to help.
But then sometimes.
It's not a good thing for us coming from America or Canada and we start distributing things.
I personally have felt this. Find out who.
Are dependable, trustworthy people in the areas where these needs exist and trust them with the things, the material things, the money, so that they can help their own and don't tell them.
Where it comes from, say accepted from the Lord?
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In order fact, that we don't have official elders or leaders in the assembly makes it in a way a little more difficult.
To plead amongst God's people.
Because we cannot say the Apostle Paul or one of his delicate Titus was a delegate. He could put elders into the position. We cannot say that we have been officially put there, but hopefully the way we conduct ourselves in that position of oversight or distributing things will commend itself to our spiritually exercised brethren.
You know, the wonderful thing is that there are many of them that have discernment and have good judgment.
And we are willing, hopefully to listen to their judgment, listen to their suggestions. You know, we all sometimes need to be corrected or to be helped to come to a good judgement.
You know the fool despises correction. I hope we are not fools that we despise correction. You know we all at one time or another need to learn.
To improve on what we are doing.
But how wonderful.
That we still have oversight, we have still doors at.
Exercise the service of a Deacon.
And.
You know there are so many needs among God's Saints.
And not so much necessarily in our part of the world, but there are poor people even in America and in Canada.
You know older people.
You know, people who are on retirement maybe have nothing other than Social Security.
And those of us who have Social Security.
You know, we would find it difficult to just live from just Social Security.
You know, but those of us who are younger.
Let me ask you, how do you handle your finances?
Do you spend it all?
Or do you save some?
There's nothing wrong in saving things.
Of course, if we do it strictly for selfishness, selfish purposes, that's not of God.
But hopefully.
The Lord will help us and show us.
How we can handle things?
And in the assembly.
To accept leadership.
And it's very important that we re emphasize that with the Deacon, the wife is mentioned, but with the overseer, the wife is not mentioned.
Because.
The women go more by their heart than by their head.
It's a wonderful thing to have ladies in the meeting their loving creatures and they can be a tremendous help. And when a brother has a godly wife?
She can be a tremendous assistance to him.
Aquila and Priscilla were such a couple.
Aquila and Priscilla took in Apollos and they taught him the way more perfectly. Isn't that tremendous?
That Priscilla had a part in teaching Apollos the way more perfectly.
But in connection with her husband.
You know, there's a tremendous fear of service in the whole for sisters.
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Sister to sister.
Through there are many things where a brother would feel very awkward if he has to talk to a lady about a certain problem.
I'm not saying that oversight is part of the sister's position, but.
There are times when we have to leave things to assist her talking to a sister. Of course, when it is a question of a sister needing to be disciplined by the assembly, then that's strictly a matter that the brothers have to handle. But they might well have to get facts.
To another sister.
Well, hopefully we accept God's order in God's house.
See, this is what we find in First Timothy 3.
You have the House of God in order.
And it's too important that it is in verse 15 called.
Paul is telling Timothy, But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou Artest to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Well.
That's what the assembly in God's purposes is, to be the pillar and ground of the truth.
The basis is the truth and also the support is the truth. The Church is to support the truth and to be the ground.
Well, hopefully.
We demonstrate that although we are not exactly in First Timothy conditions, we are in Second Timothy, you know, Second Timothy.
Is the house in ruin?
You know ruin has come in. We see it round about us.
You know how sad are some of the things that have taken place among us.
You know how sad that there are times.
When separation is a must.
Separation from evil. And that's what we find in Two Timothy.
But in spite of.
The house presented in ruin in Second Timothy. There are things mentioned in Second Timothy.
That do not change.
What about verse one? According to the promise of life between Christ Jesus, has that been lost? No, it's still there and God is still our Father.
And what about?
Paul was imprisoned.
And in verse nine of chapter two, he says.
He suffered trouble.
As an evildoer even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
What an encouragement that is.
That's why we ought to use the Word of God.
In contact with souls?
If you want to be of any help.
Quote the scriptures.
And hopefully we know enough of the scriptures that the Spirit of God can bring a certain scripture to our mind in any situation that will fit the situation.
You better know the Scriptures. You know we're not in the day of Revelation.
You know, in the day of Revelation, before the Scriptures were all written, there were revelations given. We find that in First Corinthians 14, but we don't have that today.
But we have the word of God, and that's not bound.
But when there is failure.
Among God's people, even among ourselves.
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How comfortable to know he abideth faithful.
Verse 13. He cannot deny himself.
The Lord himself abide faithful. We know the faithful 1P might at times tend to give up.
Or write somebody off.
But the Lord Jesus abides, faithful and continues to labor, and there are times, no doubt, when we have to leave things to him.
You know we cannot continuously with a heretic, for instance, after the 1St and 2nd admonition be done with them. The scripture says there are such times when you have to leave somebody with the Lord, but how wonderful he abides faithful. But what a comfort it is in verse 19 of chapter 2.
The God standard sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
You know, conditions might become such that we are not sure is that person, is that person really the Lords?
What a comfort to know.
The Lord knoweth them that are his.
And but what is our responsibility?
That everyone.
And let everyone that name is the name of the Lord. You know in the King James it says Christ, but the correct rendering is as Lord.
Depart from iniquity.
You know he is our savior.
He is our Head and He is our Bridegroom, but He is also our Lord. But the Lordship of Christ has to do with us as individuals.
He's not the Lord of the body.
He's the head of the church.
But is a bridegroom?
But he is the Lord of our individual lives. He is to be in charge.
And if we named the name of the Lord, professed that we belong to him.
We have to depart from iniquity.
You know there are things that require separation.
In the Christian profession, the truth of separation is not popular.
There might be times when the truth of separation is sought to be undermined by those among us.
It is an absolute must.
To separate to depart from iniquity.
And then it goes on.
That this house that was presented in order in the first Epistle, now is presented as a great house.
It has become a great house.
And.
There are not only vessels of gold and of silver.
Anybody recognizes that those are good vessels, valuable vessels?
But also wood and earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
That's the condition that exists in the House of God when ruin has come in.
And what is the absolute must in view of such a condition?
If a man therefore perched himself from these, he shall be a vessel on to honor sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. If you want to be a vessel that the Lord can use, if you want to be a fit vessel that the Lord can use, you have to individually separate.
It is sometimes a very painful thing.
Let me ask you this.
If your daughter or your son would be living in sin, are you going to associate with them? Are you going to throw your arms around them?
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Because they're your son. They're your daughter.
Unfortunately, what people say is oftentimes demonstrated. But run thicker than water, you know?
Unfortunately.
Don't let natural relationships color your decisions.
Go by the word of God.
And we have to individually separate from vessels to dishonor in order to be a vessel to honor fit for the master's use.
Prepared unto every good work.
But then three also youthful lusts.
Now you might say, oh, that's only for the young people.
That's not only written for young people.
You know, we had a dear old brother, Jimmy Smith with it with us one time and he stayed with us for several weeks.
And I was at that time around 40 some years old. And I said to him, Brother Smith.
Once one gets to be your age, maybe we don't have as much trouble anymore with what the younger ones have trouble with. Oh, he said. Brother Heinz, there's no fool like an old fool.
And that is so, you know, all people had to be removed from the Lord's Table because of immorality.
The flesh does not change with age.
The flesh is the same.
And if you want to be a vessel?
Fit for the masters used prepared unto every good work we have to individually separate.
And then free youthful lusts.
And follow.
Righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them. It called on the Lord out of a pure heart.
You know this is the collective path now.
Individually we have to separate.
Then how wonderful there is a collective path.
We have those of like precious faith. We are not expected to be Robinson, Cruz or Christians.
God's purpose is that there are those of like precious faith with whom we can walk.
But they also have to individually separate.
And then we can follow.
Righteousness.
Faith, love, charity is love, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
You know we can have a pure heart.
Follow him out of a pure heart.
Our natural heart is wicked, desperately wicked. Who can know it?
You know that is the condition of man, naturally.
But he has not cleaned up.
Our dirty heart. But what has he done? He has given us a new heart.
Let me emphasize that He hasn't cleaned up the sinful bad heart that we're born with. He has given us a new heart.
And we can call on the Lord with those of light, curses, faith, out of a pure heart.
And but then we have to be careful about foolish and unlearned questions. Avoid.
You know, it doesn't take very long when you meet somebody and he comes up with questions. It becomes very evident very quickly evident whether he's just.
To an argument she wants to argue, just leave her.
Don't even go into it.
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But those who have honest questions.
You know.
Ask the Lord for grace to help answer their questions and hopefully to have a scripture to answer with the Word of God.
And bring that before them.
The servant of the Lord must not strive.
But gentle unto all men, apartment to teach.
Patient.
You know.
How wonderful that is. But the grace of God is able to do for us as Christians.
We can serve the Lord and serve Him in an acceptable way.
Gentle unto all men.
Apartment to teach.
Patient teaching is very important.
In Christianity.
And hopefully we have an open ear and are willing to accept teaching, not just things for the heart.
You know.
Something that will help us understand the truth better.
You know the teacher addresses the spiritual intelligence of the man.
And.
The shepherd addresses the heart.
The Prophet addresses the conscience.
It is probably what we naturally speaking like the least.
We also like to usually hear nice sweet things, but there are times when the conscience has to be reached and the voice of the prophet has to be heard amongst us.
And yes, we might become unpopular with some people if we do give the voice of the prophet, but nevertheless, if what was said is the truth of God and was said in the Spirit as it is described here, leave the consequences with Him.
There are those that oppose themselves. I think this suggests that even with those that we desire to walk according to what verse 22 Says.
There might be those who oppose themselves.
But hopefully.
God will give them repentance.
To the acknowledgement of the truth.
Here, it's a serious thing to take a stand against the truth on any point of the truth.
Hopefully we say we want the truth and nothing but the truth.
You know and.
Get rid of whatever else might be introduced, whatever else might spring up in our minds and thoughts.
And bow to the truth.
The truth of God, the Word of God, abides forever.
And it is definite positive sometimes.
Necessarily.
Points out things that would touch the conscience, and hopefully we will allow the Spirit of God to touch our conscience whenever necessary.
And then?
There's a snare of the devil.
You know the devil.
Does not give up after we are rescued from his power.
You know, we see that with Israel, do we not?
And why did they have to be For 40 years in the wilderness? They were delivered from the penalty of sin by the blood on the door. They were delivered from the power of sin and Satan through the Red Sea.
But then why did they have to be in the wilderness for 40 years?
Well, they had to learn what was in their heart.
And they had to learn what was in the heart of God for them, in spite of their shortcomings, in spite of their rebellious ways.
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But you know they didn't have. But you and I have as Christians.
They didn't have a new nature. Some of them did.
But many of them didn't. They were in a relationship to Jehovah because they were descendants of that.
Line of blessing.
But in our case, as Christians, we have a divine nature.
And we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. The divine nature gives us the desire to do that which is right. We see that in First Corinthians 7. That's the exercise of one that has a divine nature. He delights in the law of God. He wants to do what is right, but doesn't have the power to do what is right. And nature itself doesn't give us the power.
But we also have the Spirit of God dwelling in US, and that's the power.
That we have to do that which the divine nature delights in. You're not even a Christian if you don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. That's what makes you a Christian.
People say are you a born again Christian?
And anybody asked that question, I tell them if you don't have more than new birth, you're not even a Christian.
Yes, there were those that were born again before the Spirit of God came down.
And there might be today somebody that has new life.
But has not yet been indwelled by the Spirit. What does it take to be indwelt by the Spirit you read in Acts?
The person and work of the Lord Jesus needed to be presented to Cornelius in order for him. When he received that, the Spirit fell on him. So how wonderful to be a Christian, not only to have a divine nature that wants to do what is right, but to also have the Spirit of God dwelling in US.
Empowering us and giving us the strength to do what is pleasing to God, but it has to be the ungrieved spirit.
You know, if they are sin in our lives, the Spirit has to occupy us with that sin and lead us to repentance. And then if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And in the power of an ungrieved spirit we can live pleasing to God. Keep short accounts in your life. Don't push off things if you.
Sin.
And if you have an evil thought, even judge it, put it aside.
And and ask the Lord to help you to walk pleasing for him. Don't you think it would be a great it is a great delight for God to look down.
When he looked down, when the Lord Jesus was here, there was a man that always did his will.
Always was here for the glory of God. Now there are those who belong to the Lord Jesus, who have a new nature and have the Spirit of God. Don't you think it brings joy to the heart of God to see us living and walking for Him? Yes, that brings joy to the heart of God. It's a wonderful thing to be a worshiper, to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, but it's also bringing joy to the heart of God to see us.
Living for him.
Walking in a way that is pleasing to him. And you don't have to be 30 years old before you get exercised about that. As a child, you can be exercised about that and.
A little child of seven or even three or four may enter into heaven to Christ the open door for when the hard believers in Christ, the Son of God to stand the soul receiver salvation through his blood, you know, and even a child.
Can have the knowledge of knowing God as Father.
So may the Lord bless His word. And if any questions come up in your mind in connection with the ministry given as the Lord to show your scriptures or talk to a brother that can help you answering your questions. That's how we all learn. And there are still things that even the oldest among us still need to learn. We haven't learned at all, have you?
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No, there's still a lot of things we need to learn. More than anything we learn to need to learn to become more like the Lord Jesus.
Our souls now.
Oh, Oh my God.
So.
It's a God and Father, we do thank thee for our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank Thee for that mighty work on Calvary's cross, that we've been reconciled to thee and we were once enemies by wicked works in our minds and opposed to thee. And we thank Thee now that we've been brought into communion with Thee as we have sung, and we have common interests with thee. And we thank you for the help from thy precious word as we walk through a world that opposed as opposed to thee in every way and its thoughts and its ways, particularly religiously.
And we just pray for grace to just enjoy this blessed fact of what we sung in this hymn and to go on in a practical way. And we just thank the our blessed God and Father for Thy word and that we can be together to enjoy it. Our Savior's precious and worthy name, Amen.
Why?
Gospel—D. Hayhoe
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Herman deep in the saviors love, could we stand to sing this hill?
Will you arrange?
And I am not sure anything close you're going to work here. Let's go to the.
We pray together.
Our God and our loving Father.
We thank thee. We can begin this meeting with prayer.
Singing this hymn and then prayer to thee, our God, to commit this time to Thee.
We're here for 45 minutes, our God, if thou dost allow us that long.
To have before us thy precious word, the value of a soul before thee.
And that great work of redemption, Father to thy Son, accomplished for Thy glory in the eternal good of mankind.
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Unto all, but upon those who believe.
We commit the gospel to thee. It's thy word, Father, it's thy work.
And we ask thee to take thy word now and help us through the time together.
To speak well of thy beloved son.
For we give thanks in His most precious name, Amen.
Before I make a couple of comments, I'd like to turn to the book of Jill.
Chapter 33.
Job 33, verse 13.
Why dost thou strive against him?
For he giveth not account of any of his matters. For God speaketh once, ye twice, yet man perceiveth it not in a dream.
In the vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men in slumberings upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, a multitude of his bones with strong pain.
So that is life abhorreth bread and soul dainty meats. His flesh is consumed away, it cannot be seen as bones that were not seen stick out. Yay, his soul draweth near under the grave, and his life to the destroyers is there. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among 1000, to show under man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him himself.
Deliver him from going down to the pit.
I have found a ransom.
We started with that verse there. 13 Why dost thou strive against him?
You know I must make a confession to you every time, and I know there are so many others here that feel the same way as I do right now.
That when we get up to take the gospel, we hardly know how to present the message.
But I have before me, brethren and friends.
One word tonight.
That one word has 3 letters.
Why?
WHY?
You ever asked the question why?
This verse starts here. 13 Why does that strive against him?
Oh, I don't have many words verses to turn to with the word why in it tonight?
But I want to give you before I go on any further, I want to tell you about a man who 45 years ago said to God, Why?
This man.
Just lost a son.
He was killed in a car accident.
20 years old.
This boy grew up.
In the home that I grew up in.
He was my brother. His name was Ernie.
I was a year younger than him.
I remember the details so well.
And very quickly, one night.
Like that?
That young man, 20 years of age in the third year of medical school, was ushered into eternity.
He was one of eight children my parents had.
And I remember.
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That that body was brought to our home in Pine Grove, Ontario.
I remember the number of people that came.
One after another to our house.
And then I remember at night time when everybody left.
That my father gathered us.
Around the casket to kneel down and pray.
And my father went over by the casket.
And he always kneeled down on one knee.
Like this?
That's the position that he was in and his head was on the cask.
And I remember him saying 3 words.
Why? Why? Why?
He wasn't responsible in the accident.
There's a drunk coming the other way. There were four in the car, there was one killed.
Why have you had things you faced in your life and you've asked why?
God sends things.
And I thank God he sends things in my life.
Because as we have in these words.
Verse 14.
God speaketh once, ye twice, yet man perceiveth it not.
Has he been working in your heart?
Are you ignoring him?
Oh dear young people, I know the world is making a bid for your life.
Dear children growing up in Christian homes, I know what your parents tell you.
And I know what you hear at school. I know what your friends say, a little bit of what your friends say.
It's eternity that counts.
And Satan has divined this world in such a way to make it so attractive to men and women and boys and girls and young people. He's making the bid for your life.
He wants to drag you down to the pit and so we have in this world deliver.
In this in this chapter here verse.
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit.
Why does God send things in your life and mine, friend?
Because he loves you.
That's the bottom line. He loves you and he loves your soul.
So much he doesn't want you to go down to the pit.
And you're a traveler, and I'm a traveler. And like we had before us last night, eternity is soon to be faced.
Where are you going?
Eternity Where? Where, friend?
Are you ready to meet God?
Quite as though strife against him.
You know everyone God speaks to.
There's not a man or a woman who will be in a lost eternity who will be able to say I never had an opportunity, I don't believe.
But God says, just turn with me, please. Back to Genesis chapter 6 for a moment.
I know this is a well known verse.
Verse 3.
And the Lord said.
My spirit shall not always strive with man.
Oh, it's a wonderful thing, friends, that God has sent his Holy Spirit into this world.
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And the office of the Spirit of God is to work in the hearts of men and women around the world.
I love the pictures we have in the Word of God in connection with the servant being sent out at supper time. Go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
The compelling is done by God the Holy Spirit, and He works and He compels and He and yet God allows the circumstances in your life and the different things that happen in your life. Why?
Because he wants to get to you.
Because he wants to save your souls and point you to Christ. Because he doesn't want you to go to a lost eternity without Christ.
Forever and ever and ever.
You and I have a beginning. We'll never have an ending.
Now I want to turn to.
One of the most beautiful chapters in the whole that I consider in the whole Bible. How do we take and we say, which is better than another chapter? Psalm 22.
Want to read the whole chapter friends?
Psalm 22.
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 that thou hearest not, and in the night season, and I'm not silent. But thou art holy, Oh, thou that inhabit us, the praises of Israel. Our Father is 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. All they that see me laugh be to scorn. They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Let him deliver him, see he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb without it. Make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb. Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bowls of compass me, strong bowls of Beijing, have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I have poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd.
And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
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 park my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord, O my strength has thee to help me deliver my soul from the sword, my darling, from the power of the dog.
Save me from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee, ye that fear the Lord, Praise Him all ye the seed of Jacob. Glorify him and fear him all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hit his face from him, but when he cried unto him he heard.
My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation. I will pay my vows before them that fear Him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Your heart shall live forever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the Kingdom is the Lord's, and He is a governor among the nations.
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And they all, they that be fat upon the earth, shall eat and worship.
And they that go, all, they that go down to the dust, shall bow before him, and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him, shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation they shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he has done this.
You know, I was thinking this afternoon as we as we were taking up that chapter in second Peter, chapter one.
Connection with Peter there when he says that he.
Spoke of the excellent glory and what he saw in that mount of transfiguration and the beloved Son of God. And when God declared this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. You know friends are before this there was 4000 years of man's history through this world and God looked down from heaven and he saw the lives of every man and woman and boy and girl that was ever born in this world.
Trace them wrote down everything of all their lives.
And finally, after 4000 years, one man was was brought into the world who glorified God in every step that he did, and that was his beloved son. And after 30 years of his life here on earth, God is so pleased with his beloved Son that he breaks open the heavens and he says, this is my beloved son.
In who I am well pleased. Oh, it's beautiful to see that in the 17th chapter of of Noel, pardon me, in the third chapter of of Matthew, there at the river Jordan, I think it was. And there the Lord Jesus, as he comes out of the water, and those heavens are broken open, and God can't help himself, as it were, to declare unto all those people, this is my beloved Son, and whom I'm well pleased.
Never was there a man in those 4000 years that walked for the glory of God. And so the word says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and your conscience tells you that you are included in the all.
But God had a man in mind, his own beloved Son, and he sends them down into this world.
And he walked through those 30 years, and then another three years go by, and what's he do? He breaks the heavens.
Tells those disciples Peter, James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration again any change in the qualities of that peerless man.
With all that he that he, the ridicule and the mocking.
From all those around.
No, turn to it back please in Matthew chapter 17. Hold the place here if you would in Psalm 22.
Matthew 17 verse five. Well, he yet spake. Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them.
And behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved son.
In whom I am well pleased, old friends, to think of God.
Saying those words about that blessed man.
Spotless. Perfect.
And then we turn to this chapter.
And we hear the words of the blessed Savior as He hung on the cross.
And it starts out by saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Why was he there?
Why did God forsake his Son?
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Why did you ever ask the question? Why in your life the Savior asks the question?
It's all right to ask the question why?
As long as we ask it for the in the right spirit because God sends things into our lives.
This man hadn't done anything wrong.
But God sends things into your life and into mine because he loves us and he's trying to wake us up.
And he doesn't want boys and girls and men and women, young people, to go to a lost eternity.
It's OK to ask the question why?
But here in this chapter.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
He was still the Savior. The blessed Lord Jesus still found him as God. He called him my God. He had confidence in him. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
What about the fathers in the Old Testament? Were they ever forsaken?
Our fathers trusted in thee, they trusted in 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 despised of the people.
That is the language of the Lord Jesus Himself as he spoke to God on the cross.
I believe in those hours of darkness.
And you and I are allowed into the chamber here to hear the language of the Savior speaking to God in heaven in the hour of his deepest need.
Why was it his deepest need?
O beloved friends, it was at the cross that God gathered all the sins.
Of all the boys and girls and men and women.
Who are going to come to Christ and pile them up?
The piles and piles of seals.
And God put them on the sinless one on the cross.
All those sins that were covered up through the offerings in the Old Testament.
The rug had to be taken off, as it were, and they're all exposed before a holy.
And then God, who is holy.
And hate sin. Place them on the head of his beloved Son, who knew no sin.
And let out all the fury of his wrath.
Against the Savior.
My sins were there.
And God judged Jesus.
As if he was the one who committed those sins.
Did he die for you?
Have you ever seen Jesus there dying for you?
Nobody ever paid the price that he paid.
God could not look on sin.
And sin must be punished.
And either there be a spotless victim.
To be judged for the sins.
To pay the price in full, or its banishment for you and me forever, to a lost eternity.
The gospel is unto all.
But it's upon those of belief.
00:30:03
So no matter where you go in the whole world, oh, how precious.
Some of these stories, oh I love to hear that today about the brother was mentioning about these young brothers in India going to virgin territory like Apostolic days and giving out the gospel no matter where unto all.
And how many times have you heard it?
And like our brother said, like they never heard going to areas they never heard before about Jesus. How many times have you and I heard?
Have you said no to him?
Are you going on and you're striving against him?
All dear friends, the love that God has for you.
The love that he has for me, just think that 2000 years ago he knew we'd be in this.
Be in Time
Gospel—M. Payette
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Like to welcome everyone to the Gospel meeting.
And they like to start this season by singing #9 on the hymn sheet.
Come every soul by sin oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now #9.
For Jesus.
Christ and restore.
Closure of my heart.
You see nothing fly through the way that it is never.
To grow.
The way I'll be laying on you are always like.
Before we look together in the Bible, the word of God will have a word of prayer.
00:05:00
Our God and our Father, we, we just thanked you this evening that we can count on our health by thy spirit as we open thy word.
We just thank Thee for the glorious message that we can find in its pages concerning Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ Father, and the fact that Thou has given Him for us to save us forever from our sins and to give us a useful life and to spend eternity with the authorities in the Father's house. We thank You for this Father, and we would pray the earnestly the night Father, as we feel the days are so short that the coming of the Lord Jesus throw it in eye.
That we would be impressed tonight with the urgency of having the other Savior, Lord Jesus, and be rejoicing at the prospect of thy coming. So we pray, Father, that tonight, how would be pleased to help us as we open my word. And I would be pleased by thy Spirit to work in each heart and conscience and soul tonight to stir us up. And if there be any here, Father, we don't know of thy love, haven't received the Lord Jesus yet at tonight they would trust him and Jesus would save them now. So we pray, Father, in his most worthy and precious name, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
Well, tonight I have one verse that was set before me in the book of Romans.
In the 13th chapter.
And it's Romans chapter.
13.
Verse.
11.
And I'd like to spend a little time on this verse and speak from it. So let's read Romans chapter 13 and verse verse 11.
And at knowing the time.
That now it is high time to awake out of sleep.
For now, is our salvation near her.
Than when we believed.
And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer.
Than when we believed.
The first thing I'd like to mention.
Is to who?
This verse was written now. This is found in the Epistle to the Romans. The Romans were people that lived in the city of Rome.
But this letter wasn't sent to all the people living in the city of Rome. It was sent to a group of people that was living in the city of Rome. And if we go to the first chapter of the book of Romans, we'll find which people in the city of Rome this letter was addressed to.
Verse 7.
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be Saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you could read this verse and include everybody in the city of Rome. Nobody in the city of Rome could say God doesn't love me.
But there were those in the city of Rome that had heard of the love of God manifested through the Lord Jesus who had come as a man on the earth.
To live down here as a man and then to die on the cross and to shed his precious blood.
To save sinners. And many people in Rome had heard this wonderful news and had believed the gospel, the good news of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus. And they had received the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And the apostle Paul knew of them, and he wrote a letter to them. So that's why he calls them the beloved of God, called to be Saints, or Saints by calling. So they were Romans, but they were Romans who had heard.
About the Lord Jesus and not only that, they had believed and that's what we had in our 13th chapter. In the 11Th verse it said that our salvation is nearer than when we believed.
So these are people that had believed.
00:10:00
And I know in this room tonight there are many people who have believed exactly the same good news that the Romans that were beloved of God and Saints by calling had believed many, many years ago.
But I'm not sure that everybody in this room has believed the gospel like the ones Paul was writing to. And I'd like to be sure tonight that you understand the gospel, that you know what the good news is, and that you had the opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
Brother was mentioning before about the hospitality room and Brother Mark didn't know where the room was, what the room number was.
Do you know what room you're in? Many of us are out there Ramada, because the brethren here have used their love and hospitality to give us quite a comfortable accommodations. And I know my room number. I'm sure those that are at the Ramada, you know your room number, but I wonder if you realize the room you're in tonight.
We're in a room tonight where God Himself.
Is longing for everyone here to know Him as Father and to know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Savior.
There might be other rooms on the face of this earth tonight in the States, perhaps in this community or in this State.
That the same message being proclaimed because God is so pleading and patient and long stuff. He wants his house to be full of happy people.
And I know many in this room, we're going to be part of that celestial company that we've been singing about because we know the Lord Jesus our Savior. But as I mentioned tonight, we want to be sure that everyone here understands and will trust Him. If you haven't already, only trust Him. Only trust Him.
And that's where boys and girls, younger ones, older ones too, young people, it doesn't matter.
It says in our verse and that knowing the time.
Now, when you're really, really small, you don't know the time, but as you grow older, maybe it's mommy or daddy, maybe in school when you see the clock.
There's a point in time where you know the time.
I'm not sure what age that happens, but let's try something. Let's suppose that the small needle or handle is on the 8th and the large needle is on the 10.
So the small the our needles on the 8th and the minute needles on the 10.
What time is it? Do you know the time? A boy of nine or a girl of nine? Do you know the time?
If the small needles on the 8th and the big needles on the 10, how many nine years old would tell me what time it is?
8:40.
10:40.
How old are you?
Well, you just got rivers, but you're pretty close.
Somebody else want to try that? Yes, Sir.
Pardon me 8:40.
8:50 It's pretty close. It's 750 usually, but you're pretty close. 750 OK, we'll make it easier. We'll try somebody 8 years old. Let's suppose the small needles on the five and the big needles on the 12Th.
How about somebody 8 years old?
5:00 This young man knows the time. He knows the time.
You know, boys and girls, some of us older ones, we don't know the time.
We don't know the time because now I tell you it's a lot later than a lot of people think. It's very, very, very late. This year is not over. It started with that tsunami over there in the Indian Ocean, 300,000 people disappeared, one little wave.
God is speaking to this world, and he's speaking faster and louder. We don't have much time. Do you know the time? It says it's high time?
It won't be very long.
And under some of you boys and girls, you've perhaps been to gospel many times.
And I hope, I pray that you've Simply put your trust in the Lord Jesus, say Lord Jesus, I want you to be my Savior. I know you're the Son of God. You came to die on the cross to save Center. Save me, please. He'll save you. He will save you. He will save you. He will save you now, the moment you ask him into your heart as your Savior, he's going to save you right there.
00:15:16
But I know for a fact that a lot of people have heard about the Lord Jesus and they haven't received them yet as their own personal Savior.
And perhaps there's some in this room tonight, you know?
And it would be a real sad thing if I didn't see you in heaven, younger one or older one, that we wouldn't see you in heaven.
So it's important for us tonight to realize what time it is. The time is not the time on that clock, it's the time on God's clock.
You see, it says in our verse that our salvation is nearer than when we believe. But you know, this book to the Romans was written almost 2000 years ago.
He said that salvation is nearer than when we believed. Imagine today.
Imagine how near our salvation is today.
How much time is there left before the Lord Jesus comes from heaven to get and take unto Himself all those that He paid for with His own most precious blood?
There's not much time left. It's much, much, much high time, I might say, to awake out of sleep. You know, somebody that's sleeping is not conscious of what's going on. Things happen. Maybe somebody goes into your room and you're sleeping and mommy comes and puts your clothes away and you never notice it. You just sleep. All sorts of things are happening and you're sleeping.
What I want you to realize tonight, you're one's younger 1 and older ones. There's a lot of things happening.
And the Lord is just on the verge of coming.
Have you heard about him before?
Have you trusted him?
Are you following the crowd?
Well, perhaps some in the crowd will be left behind.
But none who know the Lord Jesus their Savior is going to be left behind.
Well, it speaks here.
Of salvation in the future tense. It's something that's going to come. And you know, if you study the Bible, you'll find that there's different aspects. The word salvation is used in different aspects, you might say. And there's three of them I'd like to consider tonight as we speak of it. There's a salvation of your soul and there's a salvation of your life and the salvation of your body.
And here in this verse, that's what he's Speaking of is something that's going to happen in the future is the salvation of our bodies, those that are believers in the Lord Jesus.
Even those that are dead have been buried are going to be raised from the dead, and those that are living, when the Lord Jesus comes, they tell us in the Scriptures, they're going to be changed and they're going to have a new body.
Everyone's going to have a body like the body of the Lord Jesus, a body of glory. And this is what they were waiting for. And it's something that's very, very, very near. But these ones who were waiting for the salvation of their body, if I could use that expression, they already had believed. They had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul, when he was speaking to the Roman sailor in the book of the Axis man says, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And Paul and Silas told him, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
These ones had already believed and they were saved. They were still waiting for salvation of their bodies, but their soul was already saved because they had been washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is my question to you tonight.
Are you washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? This is a fact of history, that there was a man on the face of the earth. His name was Jesus Christ. We call Him Lord because we recognize that He wasn't just a man. He was God manifest in flesh. And this one who came down, whose name was Jesus, he walked down here and people saw Him. They spoke with Him and they saw the miracles that he performed. They listened to the discourse that He was telling them about the revelation that he was giving.
Of God is Father. And then they decided, most of them decided we won't have this man to rule over us.
And they requested that he be crucified and done away with. And the Roman governor, who was the, you might say, the head of that state in that country at that time, he commanded that they lead him away and crucify him after they beat him and crowned them with thorns.
00:20:01
And whipped him and hit them, hit him with their fists. They nailed them on the cross and they derided him. And you know, God who gives us the Bible here, the God who wrote the epistle to the Romans, He saw that what they were doing to his Son, they saw what they were doing to the Lord Jesus. And God in heaven didn't do anything about it.
He just let it happen, the Lord Jesus himself, he says in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He could have had legions of angels to come and rescue him and help him.
He let it happen. You know why he let it happen? You know why God the Father let us men, wicked men, hurt his Son this way and reject them and mock him. Why did God let that happen? Do you know? Well, if you're in this room tonight and you're hearing my voice, you can know. We turn to John chapter 3, verse 16.
I know you boys and girls love you know it by heart, but it says in John 3 verse 16 God so loved the world.
Did God love all the people in Rome? Of course he loved all the people in Rome.
God loves all the people in the world. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. It was God the Father who gave Him our hands, showed our own wickedness and how much we could hate God and what we did to the Lord Jesus. But God Himself had given him. God the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have.
Everlasting life.
Those Romans that the Apostle Paul is speaking to in the 13th chapter, verse 11, they had believed and they had everlasting life.
And they were waiting for the Son of God from heaven, just like the other ones in Thessalonica. They believe the gospel, They believed in the Lord Jesus. God forgave them their sins, gave them eternal life, and they were waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus from heaven.
Imagine that almost 2000 years ago, boys and girls, moms and dads, young people, young women, young men, they were waiting for the Son of God from heaven.
Here we are, 2005, many of us waiting for the Son of God from heaven. He's a lot closer today than he was then. And the events that we're seeing in this world is a cry from God to say wake up.
It's time to wake up.
Everyone of us, we need to wake up. Even if you know the Lord Jesus your Savior, you need to wake up. There were believers in the Lord Jesus. It's time to wake up.
If you read the next verses, we can just read these for ourselves, but in John and Romans 13, we'll just read on a few verses before we go back to our gospel message.
Romans 13 verse 11 it says it's high time to awake out of sleep for now. Is our salvation nearer than when we believe?
The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. You see, God has a message for us tonight, each one. If you don't know the Lord Jesus your Savior tonight, it's high time.
Maybe this is the first time you hear the gospel. You never heard it before.
You'd like to know how to get safe.
Most people in this room could tell you how to get saved tonight. They could tell you how they got saved. But you can be saved tonight. Only trust them. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus. You can say this prayer in your heart. Lord Jesus, save me. I've been bad. I've been a bad boy, a bad girl, a bad young man, a bad young girl. I've done things that are wrong. I deserve punishment.
But God loved me so much, He loved the world so much, He gave his only begotten Son that you would believe in him.
That's how we get saved, one at a time. You've got to believe in Him, trust Him. I can't trust him for you. I've trusted him for myself. And I've received a gift of God through faith in the Lord Jesus. And tonight, with many in this room, I'm waiting for the Son of God from heaven.
You know, if you were going on a trip at the airport, maybe some of you would travel by by plane or if you were going to the train station to travel by train and they said the train is going to leave at such an hour, you boys that know the time the train is going to leave at 5:00.
00:25:03
And suppose that plane or that train exactly at 5:00 away goes.
And let's suppose that I still got a few minutes. I got to get my bag ready and I got to run to the station. And you run to the station and you get to the station and that teeny weeny needle there, that little thin one there, that small use on the five and the bigger ones on the 12. But that other little one there, it's going by the five, by the two, by the three. It's just a few seconds past 5:00.
But you know what? No matter how fast you run, if you're late, you're going to miss that train, You're going to miss that plane. Whether you miss it by 1 second, one day, one week, one month, one year, doesn't matter. You missed it.
Now there is only going to be 1 carrier you might say, to take people into their father's house. It's not a plane, it's not a train, it's the Lord Jesus himself.
I don't know when he's coming.
If I knew the hour, I'd be running around screaming at everybody. I don't know the hour, nobody knows the hour, but I can tell you it's not far off the hour. It might be tonight.
Maybe tomorrow.
The more you hear about things happening in the world, God is telling you, the Lord Jesus is telling you is telling me I'm coming quickly.
They won't be alone.
Are you planning to be late?
You're going on a trip. Are you planning to be late?
You're not planning to be late, you want to be on time.
Well, get ready for the hour when he's going to come and when is that going to be? It might be in the next 5 minutes. I might never get through this gospel meeting.
We might, many of us never go through the room, the doors of this room. We're just going to disappear in the heavens to be with the Lord Jesus. Maybe in the next few minutes. Are you ready?
When the meeting is over, the Lord hasn't come and say he was wrong. The Lord didn't come.
Don't think like that.
This is a serious matter.
Brother was praying in that room tonight, earnest for souls. He just brought tears to our eyes, thinking that some might be left behind.
We don't want anybody to be left behind. You know why? Because we love you. And you know why we love you? Because God loves you. He's put that love in our hearts for you. Moms and dad, they love their children. They want their children to be in heaven. Our young people, we want them to be in heaven.
Well, you know, in our verse here, it says our salvation is nearer than when we believe. And then he speaks of casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light. Because anyone tonight, you know, who accepts the Lord Jesus in their heart as their own personal Savior.
God will forgive them all their sins, give them the gift of eternal life, make them his own very his very own children. And when the Lord Jesus comes, any moment now, that person, those people that have accepted the Lord as their Savior, they're going to be taken out of the world to meet the Lord in the air and he's going to take them all into the Father's house.
And you know how fast that's going to happen. The Lord Jesus says I come quickly. But there's two aspects to that. There's not much time left before he comes, but when he comes.
It's going to happen pretty fast.
And I'd like just to I'm going to do it with a noise because you won't see me blinking my eye. But if I blink my eye, I just blink my eye. And if this was the same event taking place in a twinkling of an eye, it would be all over.
35 Now, boys and girls, this is it. That's it. This was longer than it's going to take. When the Lord Jesus comes and the Christians disappear and are taken up in heaven in the twinkling of an eye, that's how fast it's going to happen. You're not going to be changed. You're going to be changed like that in the twinkling of an eye. They're dead in Christ in a moment's time, raised from the dead.
You're not just going to Molecules appear and then there's the body, no.
God's power, you know, scientists are like that. They say, oh, maybe God made the world, but it took him billions and trillions and zillions of years. Well, it doesn't say that in the word of God. Just God just says let there be light. And you know what? There was light. And how much time is there between the fact that he said let there be light and there was light. I don't find any time in the Bible here that it took even a fraction of a second. God said that there be light and there was light.
00:30:12
And when God says this is the time, the Lord Jesus is going to come, and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead in Christ are going to be raised, the living are to be changed, and together will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. It's a wonderful thing for us to know the Lord, and we know it's close. But tonight we want to let you know. We want you to come with us.
And even more than us, the Lord just wants you to be with Him in heaven.
The Lord is your Savior. Many of us do.
We need to realize, don't we?
That the Lord's coming is so soon. Maybe some of you young people you know, you know, you know these things. Perhaps you accepted the Lord in Sunday school.
And you're satisfied knowing you're saved.
But what about your life?
What about your life? You know, when you get to glory, you're going to know what's known. You're going to realize all these things that the Spirit of God would lay before you today, today if you read God's Word and listen to what he was saying.
And I believe myself.
I would be sorry.
For every wasted moment, for every joy that I could have brought to the Lord Jesus that I would have deprived him of. And it's our privilege, those of us who know the Lord Jesus, to live for him and to give him joy. You know the Lord Jesus died.
For you and me to be reconciled to God. That's Romans chapter 5.
Verse 10.
Romans chapter 5 verse 10 for if when we were enemies.
We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
We were enemies. That's what we are by nature. We're enemies of God. We're doing the very opposite of what we should be doing. We're disobeying God, and we're his enemies. But when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, and that happened when we accepted the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
For us personally, when we trusted him and he saved us, at the moment we trusted him. But then this verse goes on to say, if we were when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
So if you allow me to use the expression, we're saved by his death, we're saved from our sins by his death, from the consequences of sin, by his death, and we're on our way to heaven, we're made children of God through faith in Him. We received a gift of eternal life.
But this verse goes on to say we are saved by his life.
And I wonder if I'd be permitted just a few thoughts on that. You know, the Lord Jesus, once you receive him as your Savior, he comes and dwells in our bodies by our Spirit. And the life that he gives us, a new life that he gives us is the very life of the Lord Jesus. He lives in us by his Spirit.
And if we let him, he's going to give us a happy life, a youthful life, not a wasteful life. We had these verses this afternoon, those of us who were here reading in the Epistle to Peter, to being idle and fruitless. Well, you can't be idle and fruitless. If this is who's living in you and you're letting that life express itself, you'll have a happy life, a useful are you having a happy life?
Are you having a useful life, dear ones?
Young men, young women.
It's a question for each one of us, but it's a pressing question because the Lord is at hand.
A few moments and we'll be there. Don't you want to live for him? Well, he wants you to live for him, and he lives in you by his spirit. And if you let him, he'll do wonderful things in your life.
He's also living, you know, in the glory. Romans chapter 8, it tells us.
Of the activity of the Lord Jesus right now.
He's looking down in this room and he sees every boy and girl, young man, young women, older ones too. He sees everyone of us. He knows what you're thinking. He knows what's in your life. There's nothing hid before him.
00:35:13
And if you don't know him tonight he's saying to you, oh, I want you to know me. Trust me. Believe in me. Receive me as your savior. I'll save you. I'll save you right now. Take you to my father's house. I'm coming soon to get those I died for. I redeemed my precious blood. I'll take you into my father's house.
And then I say I know him. I was saved when I was so and so. I was saved when I was in Sunday school. I was saved year ago.
Are you being saved by his life?
Oh, he would give you a happy life. And in Romans 8 it tells us.
Verse 34.
Romans 8 verse 34, Who is he that condemn it? It is Christ that died ye rather that is risen again. Who even is at the right hand of God? That's where He is right now. There's a man in the glory in heaven, a man in flesh and bones. That same Jesus who walked on the earth, He's gone up to heaven, disappeared from you. He's in the presence of God at the right hand of God from where He's coming again. And right now He is interceding, making intercession for us.
He was praying to his father. He is praying to his father, intercessing for those that are his.
To save you by his life.
A lot of people in America, you know, this is where advanced society, a lot of people in America and maybe others spend a lot of time, a lot of preoccupation with their body.
Making sure their body looks nice.
Getting rid of all these.
Little things that are out of place. Some people, well, just one of my younger daughters, really young, she had one or two Gray hair there and she was really upset. She pulled them out. You know, imagine what happened to me if I did that.
How people do things, you know, they fix their teeth and I mean, you got to have hygiene and everything, but you know, there's a sickness. There's a sickness of man about his body.
You know, death is a terrible thing.
And it does a terrible thing to your body, doesn't it?
Doesn't it?
That is a horrible, it's a horrible thing. It does a horrible thing to our bodies, bodies made by God. But he says no, they're just going to go to corruption.
I can't picture what it does to a soul to be separated from God forever. I can't picture it. I can't even imagine.
A soul made by God to enjoy his presence, to be happy.
To be separated from God forever and torment.
I should have listened. I should have believed. I should have trusted him. I was late. The train came and I missed it. The Lord Jesus came and I hadn't trusted, but I knew about it.
It doesn't have to be you.
It doesn't have to be. The Lord hasn't come yet. 720. We've got a few more minutes right now. You can just.
Close your eyes and say Lord Jesus.
It will. That's why he came. That's what he wants to do. It doesn't matter how you call upon. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
I worry about you young people.
I know your parents do too, you know.
Maybe mom or dad have asked you. Sometimes you know what time it is.
You got home later something. Do you know what time it is?
We're in 2005. It's not going to last another 50 years. I don't know when the Lord's going to come, but I just have this urgency in my soul.
To tell you tonight, make it quick. Why don't you do it right now? Don't take any chances.
You know the Lord as your Savior. You carry tracks around and tell people about the love of God.
Do we realize what it's going to be to be separated from God forever? We don't. God knows.
And to spare you that, and to spare me that, he sent his son, and he let him on the cross, and he first took him there as a man to save you and me.
00:40:07
There's no greater gift. There's nothing greater than the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. And God did that for you. He did that for me.
Would you trust Him tonight? Please do we beg you. Let's just close in prayer.
Our God and our Father we.
Which is far before thee, and thank thee again for.
Thai wondrous love.
For saving our souls, for giving us the knowledge of salvation, for giving us this book. And to tell us about the Lord Jesus, to send thy Spirit into the world to convict us of sin and give us saving faith. We just thank Thee, Father. We thank you for all that has given us to know and enjoy, and we pray.
That we might be stirred up in our souls and we might know the time. We might realize the time, Father. And we would pray to you tonight, my Father, earnestly for anyone in this room.
Who still is without Christ, that they wouldn't put it off. They don't have to tell anybody about it. They just need to come to Thee Lord Jesus, Say Lord Jesus, save me. We pray that I would press them and thy Spirit would strive with them and not give them any rest or peace till they do.
And we thank you, Father, for this time together. We pray that I would just.
Bless the rest of our evening together and we thank you again for that wondrous love. Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Life and Godliness
Address—N. Whatmough
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Oversight
Address—H. Brinkman
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Turn to First Timothy, chapter 3.
Verse one.
This is a true saying if any man desire the office of a Bishop.
You know there are three words used for the office of a Bishop, overseer, elder and Bishop.
That's an office in the Ascension.
There's a difference between office and tip.
And it is desirable that one who is in the office of an overseer that he might be apartment to teach. He doesn't necessarily have to have the gift of a teacher.
A Finished Work
Address—C. Roberts
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Glory and Virtue
Address—M. Payette
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So computer the 1St chapter.
The Universe 3.
To the knowledge of Him that had called us to glory and virtue.
Of course it reads in the French Bible and in the margin here that had called us by glory and virtue. Just a few thoughts, dear one.
And perhaps considering this verse and the perspective that in the end of this portion.
We would have been called by the glory and virtue of the Lord Jesus.
If I had written this concerning our life, I would have written virtue and glory.
Trying to manifest something of the Lord now, and knowing that our path is going to end in glory in the presence of the Lord, we're going to be perfectly like Him.
But it says your glory and virtue, and I would suggest to you the thought that we could consider.
Some of the glories and virtues of the Lord Jesus that God would produce in our lives. And just a few. I know there are many, just a few that have been set before me. First Peter chapter 2.
First Peter, 219.
For this is frank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endures grief.
Suffering wrongfully.
First Peter 2/19/20 For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently?
But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
Or even Iran to were you called because Christ also suffered for us?
Leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.
Another verse in Second Corinthians chapter 10.
Verse one.
Now I follow myself to seek you.
By the meekness.
And gentleness of Christ, who in presence and base among you, but being absent and bold toward you.
But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I'm present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. Although we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, For the weapons of our warfare are are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity.
Every thought to the obedience.
Of Christ.
Well, you consider the first portion and Peter, where we have the path of the Lord Jesus.
One who suffered like none of us will ever suffer. Misunderstood, misjudged, hated.
But he always did that which was right.
And this is worthy of glory before God.
And I believe that we've been called, as we consider the person of the Lord, to consider the beauty of his pathway down here and to love it and to seek by God's grace that it would be found in some measure.
In our life.
And it's in self denial isn't it? It's an accepting abuse and being treated wrongly and spoken evil of.
How do we react? Well, I mean, this is what we've been called to to manifest something of Christ.
In these circumstances, we've been called by this glory and virtue.
Here are some of the virtues. 2nd Corinthians 10. There are many more, but I just would put these before you. Meekness.
Gentleness.
Of Christ, not our natural meekness or gentleness. Perhaps some of them have characters that are leaning towards that, but this is meekness and gentleness of Christ. And then to the fifth verse, the obedience.
Of Christ, of that one that left the glory and became a man. And as a man found in fashionable as a man, he went down, he went down, he went down.
Innovations.
What glory? We think of glory as light, unimaginable, but this is moral excellence. Here's one who's the Lord of glory, accepting abuse or spittle, being mocked and going down. And what was in his heart was obedience for the Father. But that would be found in our hearts. Meekness, gentleness, obedience.
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Virtues that are found in perfection in the Lord Jesus.
That should be seen in your life and mine first Peter chapter 5.
We touched on this this morning when we talked about Simon Peter and I mentioned that the Apostle Peter when he speaks of himself.
As it speaks to the elders there, we're just going to read a few verses. I'd just be a few minutes. The elders which are chapter five of first Peter verse one, the elders which are among you, I exhort will am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
Sheed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly.
Not by filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being Lords over God's heritage, but the examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that faded, not away.
Likewise the younger submit yourselves unto the elder. Yay, all of you, be subject 1 to another, and be clothed with humility, For God resisted the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
We had before us this morning an appreciation of what we would think was the disposition of heart of the Apostle Peter as he referred to himself as Simon Peter.
Certainly realizing himself, as he wrote in that first chapter, second epistle, those that had forgotten.
The purification of their sins, well, Peter hadn't forgotten, I'm sure, reminded of his, what he was and what he would have been in himself if the Lord hadn't come in for him, to save him and then to restore him, and then again to forgive him as the brother singled out in Galatians there where he was at fault. And surely we could all recount in our history, history of our lives as believers, times that we failed and the Lord just came in for us and.
Undertook for us, forgave us, encouraged our hearts and LED us along.
You know, one of the reasons I believe we mentioned this this morning, God has left us with two natures. He's left us the old one. And just to make sure you'd be humble, dear one, I'd be humbled. Humbling thing to realize in the wickedness of the old nature to have these thoughts come in your mind. Say what? How could I be thinking such thoughts? It's a humbling thing. And the very same person who is aboard that the thoughts that come in his own heart.
Can contemplate the beauty and the glory of the Lord Jesus. What a wonderful.
Well, here in connection with the leaders, I just have a little play on words, if you allow me. Talking with a brother just before the meeting said how English sometimes was difficult because the words mean different things. You know the word lead, LEADI could pronounce it lead.
And it's written exactly the same thing, but it's quite different, doesn't it? And I'd like to suggest a thought here.
The talk of leaders as letters.
People that carry weight.
That is a heavy metal that carries weight, and certainly those that take the lead among us carry weight.
They carry moral weight, they carry moral authority, you might say, from the Lord, to be a help to us.
And the apostle Peter exhorts them here because there's a danger for those who carry moral way to have a position of responsibility before the Lord that they carry out with their brethren. There's a danger that this old man in US might just get into those things that were called not to do.
And there are two things about lead that I just would like to compare. You know, lead is a heavy metal, and that is a good characteristic if you want something to be stable and there's a virtue.
In this I believe 1St Corinthians 15 it says there the word unmovable.
If I was physically in LED, you'd have a hard time moving me. I probably couldn't move around myself.
But this is a good thing to be unmovable.
And yet, once the question of the glory of the Lord, or the truth of God and fundamental things that the enemy would just like to rob us of, it's good to be just unmovable.
Abounding in the work of the Lord.
But you know, lead, unless I'm mistaken, it was one of the heaviest metals, is also the softest.
It's the softest level. It's a wonderful thing. You know, if the Lord has given some of you to be in the position of oversight, you might call it for the people of God to be unmovable, yet to have that virtue that James talks about easily untreated, easily untreated to be soft hearted to be ready to.
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To listen to the difficulties of others and to be.
Unmovable, but easily untreated.
Then it goes on. A little bit later on it says, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Well, you know, it's the characteristics of youth of being full of energy and even in the things of the Lord as we understand the scriptures and perhaps we're young and we're full of zeal and perhaps we consider there's apathy and neglect and perhaps our hearts are led to to criticize. I know mine is and the Lord wouldn't have us do that or murmur.
It speaks here of submitting.
It's a wonderful spirit to have a submissive spirit because this was the spirit of the Lord Jesus and this is the ability to power that God has given a divine power to be mean, lowly, obedient and submissive. That takes divine power. Doesn't take divine power to get upset. I've got a lot of that natural energy to get upset. I'm sure you have to. Sometimes we get upset at each other, wives and husbands, children and parents, brethren together. We get upset at each other.
Well, that's not meekness, loneliness, obedience, submission. That's not that kind of energy. That's energy, natural energy, energy of oppression. So we have words here for the elders, and we have words for the younger, and I have a word on my heart for those in the middle.
I want to thank my brother in the middle.
My brethren in the middle, I want to thank those that take the lead. I want to thank the young ones for being zealous, but I want to thank my burden in the middle.
Will kind of help us out become a tamper when our spirits get riled up. I know in the last difficulties several brethren in the middle.
Had a talk with me and they really helped me and I'm so thankful they did because I was upset. And sure many of you were upset, but the Lord does come in, doesn't he? Meekness, gentleness.
Obedience of mission, glory and virtue that He's called us by in the Lord Jesus.
Gospel
Gospel—D. Hayhoe
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Before I make a couple of comments, I'd like to turn to the Book of Job, chapter 33.
Job 33 verse 13. Why dost thou strive against him?
For he giveth not account of any of his matters.
Where God speaketh once, yet twice, if man perceiveth it not in a dream, in the vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed, then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction.
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man, he keepeth back his soul from the pit.
His life from perishing by the sword. He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, the multitude of his bones with strong pain.