Address—R. Rule
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Meeting by singing together.
Hymn #42 in the Appendix 42 in the back of the book.
Savior, lead us by Thy.
Could we turn together?
To the second epistle to Timothy.
Epistle to Timothy in the second chapter.
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that thou hast heard of Maine, among many witnesses the same, commit thou to faithful man who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that warth entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
And if a man also strives for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. The husbandmen, the laborers, must first be partakers of the fruits. Consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding in all things. Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David, raised from the dead, according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds. But the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also.
Now that they may also obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
It is a faithful saying. For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we believe not yet he abide, as faithful he cannot deny himself.
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no prophet.
But to the subverting of the hearers, study to show thyself approved unto God.
A Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but shun profane, vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
And their word will eat as death a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth of aired saying that the resurrection is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God stand ashore. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
And let everyone, the name of the name of the Lord, depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth.
Some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel on to honor, sanctified, and meet for the masters use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace within the call on the Lord. Out of a pure heart, but foolish and unlearned questions, avoid knowing that they do gender strife, and the servant of the Lord must not strive.
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But be gentle unto all men have to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if peradventure God will give them.
Repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.
Who were taken captive by him at his will.
It isn't my fault at all to give an exposition on this chapter.
Aware that this has been announced as young people's meeting and I would just like to use from this chapter certain verses.
But I feel that I trust will be a hope and encouragement to some of the young people to be found going on in the path of faith and faithfulness. You know, in this chapter we have.
The Apostle Timothy, the he's referred to in a number of different ways, I think at least seven. In the first verse, Paul writes to him as his son in the seventh verse, Pardon me. In the third verse you have a reference to a soldier, soldier of Jesus Christ in the. In the fifth verse we have an athlete brought before us.
In the sixth verse, the husbandmunder, we might say today the farmer.
In the.
15th verse a Workman.
And in the 20th and 21St verses a vessel and in the 24th verse a servant. And I'd like to refer to some of these different ways in which.
A Christian is brought before us when it speaks of a soldier that gives a certain idea, a certain aspect in connection with our lives. We're to be soldiers of Jesus Christ.
But before commenting in detail on this chapter, I'd like to speak generally of the character of the book. If we had read the first verse of the third chapter, and we can do it now, we would see this says this Know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Another translation says difficult times shall come, brethren, we're in those last days.
These are the last days that you and I are living in.
And we're living in difficult times.
But there's one thing about the difficult day. We have a resource.
In the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is sufficient for every circumstance, regardless of what the difficulty may be.
The first verse of the second chapter, the apostle writing to Timothy, speaks of him as my says my son be strong.
And the grace that is in Christ Jesus was he to be strong in himself.
Not at all.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. His strength was to come from another.
I remember enjoying the thought someone passed on years ago.
When he spoke of the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he said, you know, we'd all like to have a Father who had a bank account of several $1,000,000 and he made US1, made it a joint account to where we could draw on it at will, wouldn't we?
Well, he said. You know, we have something better than that.
The resources of Jesus Christ are unlimited.
And he says here, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Something that we see. Something when it speaks of grace, it's something that you don't buy.
It's a resource that's available and so we have resources available.
For every circumstance down here and that's why.
In a day of ruin, in a day of weakness, in a day of declension, we can still say be strong, not in our own strength. But you and I, we have a resource that nothing can take away. Now Timothy was living in a in a difficult time. The Apostle Paul knew what it was to be in bonds in Timothy's day, but he had a resource.
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The one that he spoke to Timothy about. And dear young Christian. We're aware that the days are difficult, but there's a resource that you and I have, and we're encouraged to draw on that resource. We spoke of the Father giving a son, making him one of those who could draw on his own bank account. You have resources that you can draw on. They're found in Christ, and if you have the desire, he can help you and help me.
Through this scene, even though we're in the last days and they're difficult days.
Now, before commenting in detail on this chapter, I would like to just go back. I didn't want to limit myself to the one chapter, but more in a general way. Some of the apostles exercised in connection with Timothy, and I think Speaking of Timothy is quite consistent when talking to young people. If we were to turn, I won't take the time we were to turn to the first Epistle of Timothy, We'd find there that the Apostle Paul, in writing to him, speaks of his youth.
He was in an old one that had gone on for years, and the truth he wasn't, and one that would be spoken of as an elder in any sense. The Apostle Paul speaks of them as I youth, of his youth rather. And so it's very fitting that we seek to learn from Timothy and we will find in it that which should be helpful for us in our youth and in our younger days, now in the first chapter.
And the 12Th verse.
He speaks of suffering.
The Lord hasn't marked out a path of roses, as the world would say for us down here. If you and I are going to be faithful to the Lord, it may involve a little suffering. But he said to Timothy, verse 12, chapter one for the witch, 'cause I also suffer this thing, these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed.
For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Oh dear young Christian.
Have you committed to him your life, your joy, your all? Have you put your life into his hands?
You'll never make a mistake if you put your life into his hands, as it were, the apostle Paul says. I know whom I have believed, Oh, that blessed person whom I have believed, the man in the glory. And he says I am persuaded he wasn't dubious about it. No doubt in his mind I am persuaded.
He's able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. What day?
I believe this refers to the day of Christ, all the day of Christ. That's when we'll find the answer to all the problems down here. We'll be with him up there and have our place with him in glory. Well, he says in verse 13, hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.
You know, dear young Christian, in this book we often have words such as hold fast and stand fast, and it would be a very helpful occupation if you were to take an hour and you use your concordance. Use the crutch if you wish. Look up the scriptures that say hold fast and stand fast. There's stand fast in the Lord, for example, but here it's hold fast, the former outline of sound words which thou hast heard.
Of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Yes, by the grace of God, you and I, the Lord has brought us into association with those that seek to hold the truth of God, as we saw this morning. It isn't tradition that we have to guide us. We have this book, and here we have the outline of sound words. Now he's being encouraged, Timothy is to hold fast the outline of sound words.
He says it says in verse 14 that good thing that was committed unto thee. Keep, I believe the good thing. It's the deposit of truth that's been put into our hands. The deposit of truth, he says. Keep it, hold it fast.
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Has the Lord laid in your heart any desire to carry this out, to hold fast? That's what she's given us.
That which he's given you, I was Christ struck several years ago when our brother Eric Smith gave an illness, something that illustrated this very touchingly to me. And I'm going to pass on to you the story because I'm sure there are many here that didn't hear it at that time with several years ago he told of an incident down in Bolivia down in South America among the Indians.
As I understand that the Indians, the chief of the tribe was to collect rent and turn it into periodically to the governor of the particular province involved and the the chief of this tribe, the red belt Indian tribe he was.
Chief of this particular province by the name of.
Nor teach us this Governor had collected the rents, and when the time came for these to be sent into the.
Governor of the state of the province of Norchiches. This chief selected a trustworthy assistant and he turned over to him and he put in a little bag.
The funds they had been converted from coins into bills.
And he took them. He took this bag, and he started toward the capital of that province. It happened that a brother in the Lord, a brother. Now he wasn't a brother then, but one by the name of villages, was the governor at that time. And by the grace of God later on he was converted and has since been gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this trusted young man, he started.
With this pouch, with this bag of bills to take to the governor, it rained on the way they didn't have, everybody didn't travel automobile there and it rained on the way and the floods came up and they don't have bridges over the rivers down in Bolivia in most places And he came to where the waters were quite high and but he thought by being careful and hurrying across that he could get across the river. It was deeper, however, than he realized.
This was the To Musla River. It was deeper than he thought.
And he got out in the center, and all of a sudden the waters were coming fast. And they were over his head apparently, And he got swept by the current of that river off his feet. And he was found sometime later 2 miles downstream. Most of his clothes had been torn off him by the rocks and so forth, and he was quite bruised. They found that he was quite bruised, but finally it was to the point where it took his life and he was thrown out on the side of the stream.
When they came along and they found his bruised body, he had something holding in his hand that he'd held tightly all that time. And when they looked in, they found these funds that had been entrusted to him. He gave his life holding on to human wealth, to a human treasure. You and I are told to hold on to something more valuable than anything could be measured by silver and gold.
This word says that good thing that was committed unto thee, keep.
Have you asked the Lord to help you to keep that good thing that's been committed to you? We've mentioned here is a deposit that dollars can't measure. It's a deposit of truth that we have in our hands and we're encouraged to keep it.
By the power of the Holy Spirit that dwelleth in US. Well, dear young Christian, have you ever realized?
The value of what has been entrusted to you if you're a believer in Christ.
Oh, I trust you are a believer in Christ.
Timothy we know was he was spoken of as a son in the first verse of the second chapter. It was the Son in the faith. I don't think it was by flesh and blood, the Son and the faith. I trust you're one of God's children by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well now the apostle told him verse one, be strong.
In the grace that's in Christ Jesus, oh, you know how thankful we can be that we have in the Lord strength even though we don't have it in ourselves. You know when David came down at the time that Goliath had challenged that the people of God, I think for 40 days and there wasn't one to stand up and meet him.
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David came along and they laughed at him because he was just a lad. They laughed because of his youth.
And they made deriding remarks. But David's answer to them was he told about how earlier he had been delivered from a lion and from a bear. And he said, the God that delivered me, the Lord that delivered me from the paw of the lion and of the bear, he will deliver me from this uncircumcised Philistine. He might have been a youth, he might have only been nothing as compared to Goliath the giants.
But he says, he That is Jehovah, the Lord will deliver me. There is no circumstance in your life but what the Lord can deliver you, if you have the purpose of heart to draw upon the resources that are available in Jesus Christ. And so let's be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. Now I mentioned in the third verse, we have a soldier. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier.
Of Jesus Christ no man that warth entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him that hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Have you ever stopped to think of yourself as a soldier of Jesus Christ?
You say? Just what do you mean? Well, when we speak of soldiers?
It immediately brings the thought of warfare of an enemy.
And you have a warfare to fight in the 6th chapter of Ephesians.
We learn who our enemy is or who heads up the one that we have to contend with. There. It says put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand the Wiles of the devil. Now Satan is a defeated foe, thank God. The Lord Jesus triumphed at the cross and he annulled his power, but he's still the foe of a Christian, and now it's his Wiles that he would use against you.
And so it says, put on the whole armor of God, that he may be able to withstand the Wiles.
The devil. You have an enemy, dear young Christian. He's more wily than you are.
If you try to meet him on his own ground, you'll go down to defeat shore.
But God has provided for the Christian in armor. You have that armor brought before us in Ephesians 6. I couldn't take the time to go into it in detail now, but.
Just very briefly, I might just read a verse or two. It says.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God. This is Ephesians 613, that he may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all the stand I mentioned a little earlier.
That we need to be reminded that we're encouraged to hold fast and to stand fast.
Here we have the word stand used. Having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth.
Here it speaks of truth, the word of God. In Peter it says, Gird up the loins of your mind. Are you filling your mind from day-to-day with the truth of God? Do you seek not only, perhaps with the family, but privately to read this blessed book for yourself? Meditate on it, that you might receive that which would help you from day-to-day. If so, then you're girding up the loins of your mind.
And it says having on the breastplate of righteousness.
Are you one who seeks, by the grace of God, to be upright in your relationships in every respect?
Righteousness, seeking to do that which is just and upright before God in all the various aspects of life.
Says having the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Thank God. The gospel tells us of a peace that God has made through our Lord Jesus Christ. But you know our walk, when it speaks to the feet, it has to do with our walk. Is your testimony before your friend at school or at work, or wherever it may be such that will commend itself to the sounding forth of that gospel?
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And then we could go on, it says, taking the shield of faith.
David had the shield of faith. He had confidence in God, trust in God. The first verse of the 16 Psalm says preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. Oh, do you have that confidence in God. You know, to have that confidence in him, we have to seek to please him. Who are you seeking to please? Are you honestly seeking to please the Lord? Is that your main desire?
Well, then you can have on the breastplate of faith. Then you can trust God, and then you will have a sense of the need of being preserved. It says, preserve me, oh God, for indeed do I put my trust. Dear young Christian, you can't keep yourself. You can't preserve yourself. Only the Lord can do it.
But you have to lean on him. Do you honestly get down on your knees every morning?
Before going to school, Oregon, to work and ask the Lord to keep you that day, you need that. I need that. We all need that. Well, then there would be that which speaks of the breast, the shield of faith, faith and trust in God and so forth.
And well, I won't take time to go over the whole armor there. But coming back to our chapter in Timothy, we have a Warfare.
We have an enemy to meet, and the Lord of the Apostle encouraged Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Well, what kind of a soldier are you as far as Jesus Christ is concerned? You know, to be a soldier, one thing is necessary is to endure hardship. We just can't go along lackadaisically as one of the world might do. There are times if we're going to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ and something is presented to us, the easy thing might be to go along with the crowd, but you can't go along with a crowd and be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
It says here no man that warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him, that hath chosen him to be a soldier. Dear young Christian, I ask you, is it honestly your desire to please him that has chosen you to be a soldier? Oh, if you've never thought of it in that way, May God put into your heart the desire to please him that has chosen you to be a soldier.
Now, one of the things that are necessary for a soldier, you know as well as I do if we're talking of.
A soldier in a material sense, such as the one that goes to do battle for his country. Not that I'm recommending that at this and that I'm using this as an illustration, but one that does. He has to say goodbye to certain loved ones. He has to give up certain connections that he has at home, and that's used here is a little illustration, but for example, Speaking of connections, one goes to the army has to quit work.
At home altogether, he has to break certain ties in order to be free to be a good soldier of him that's chosen them well. Now, here, you and I, if we're not careful.
Might make ties with others down here that would hinder us being a good soldier of Jesus Christ and one is seen to their sorrow. Dear young people are getting entangled with the things of this life that are truly hindrances to being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
It says here no man that Warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life. I know when you get into school and into college.
There are various things that the enemy would seek to use to get you entangled, trying to get you involved in certain associations, whether it's socially or maybe what seems to be for a good cause, or in sports, or various things that form entanglements for the Christian.
Oh, if you and I want to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, we have to ask God grace to keep us from being entangled with the affairs things in this life. That would be a hindrance to our being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
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Now in the fifth verse, if a man also strive according to the masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. That word lawfully, probably, if it were translated today would be translated strive according to the rules. Now some of you may not realize that speaking here of an athlete.
If a man strive for the masteries, most of us here, I suppose, I'm sure.
That this has to do with. In fact, another translation puts it this way. If one's driving the games, yes, man makes a lot of in connection with various sports.
Ones are encouraged to strive to be the master, to come out on top. But if one in a contest such as the and they had them in these days, such as the Olympics that we speak of in our day, there were those that wanted to win the prize to be #1.
But they had to strive according to the rules. And if someone broke a rule, if it was a race and one started before the word goal was said, that one might be the first one down to the end of the line, but he'd be ruled out. He broke a rule. He left before the word go. Well, here it says if a man strive for masteries, he's not crowned except he strive according to the rules. Here's where we get the rules.
In connection with the crown that you and I should be seeking.
Yes, the Lord has given us a different crown to seek.
We've been Speaking of the fact that Timothy was faced.
With and encouraged by the Apostle to suffer some things for the name of Jesus Christ sake in First Peter I think it is. You don't need to turn to it, but I'm going to.
Read a verse. I believe it's in Peter.
Says there the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory after the jihad suffered.
A while make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you here it speaks of God of all grace, who has called us under his eternal glory.
The crowns that you have that are encouragements to the believer. All crowns that are going to be dispensed when we get home to glory.
In the.
Another portion.
It speaks to us. We have, we have these words.
And James I won't. We won't take the time to turn to it. But it says, Blessed is the man that endureth trial or temptation, For when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them that love him.
Oh, if it's a question of being crowned, we have various crowns in the word of God here. It's the crown of life.
Is that the kind of a crown that you and I are seeking? One that the Lord will dispense as a reward to faithfulness? And that day when he's called us unto his eternal glory? That's what you and I should be striving for. And so it says here, we have brought before us here, A1 being crowned, be thou faithful unto death.
We read in the second of chapter of Revelation, and I will give thee the crown of life.
Oh yes, the Lord wants you and me. He encourages us to be faithful to His precious name. There's a day coming when God is going to recognize every little thing or big thing, whichever it may be, that has been done for him. Well, may the Lord help you and me. The point brought forward here is in connection with the crowning that it be striving according to the rules. Let us stand by this blessed book. Here's where you get the rules.
He's not crowned except they strive according to the rules. Now the next thing you have here is the husbandman verse 6.
The husbandmen that laboureth.
Now the rendering is poor. This should read, the other translation says.
Another translation puts it this way.
A husbandman must labor.
Before partaking of the fruits. That is, the thought here in the original is first there has to be labor.
One, sometimes a farmer works hard to get the ground ready and then to sold his crop and then to cultivate that ground, perhaps after the crop has started to grow to keep the weeds from crowding it out. And finally he gets the fruits of his labor into the crop, whatever it is. But he has to put a lot of Labor in first. This is the day for labor. It's your privilege and mind to labor in some little measure for the master.
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All will enjoy the fruits of those laborers in the coming day. Are you seeking by the grace of God to be found laboring for the master?
Using your energies in whatever little may you can, and whatever little way you can for him.
A little while that the Lord leaves you here, you will never regret. When you get home to glory, you'll never regret.
One little bit of Labor for the master. You'll be thankful, then, that the Lord encouraged you in that measure to seek to work in some little measure for him that died for you.
Well, in the eighth verse we have a nice word. Now here again, I'm going to read it in another translation. You see, when we read it this way, it seems as though we're encouraged to remember historical fact. It says remember that Jesus Christ was raised in the dead according to my gospel.
That's a historical fact, and it's a fact that's taught in this book, too. But the point isn't the fact that I believe one has encouraged to remember but the person. And so I'm going to read that in another rendering. Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead according to my gospel? Oh, we're encouraged to remember the man and the glory. You know, that man that died for you and me.
He's in the glory now. And if I remember him, if I have my thoughts on him, if he is the one before me, a risen, triumphant Lord, it will be an encouragement and a stay to me As I journey through this scene, Dear young Christian, remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead. You have arisen, exalted Savior. And what's on his heart, what he's waiting for.
Is the moment when he's going to have you with himself. He hasn't forgotten you in 2nd Thessalonians 3 it says, Keep yourselves in the love of God and in the patience of Jesus Christ. What does it mean when it says keep yourself in the patience of Jesus Christ? Why, Jesus Christ, the blessed Savior, is waiting for that time when He shall have you and me to be with himself in the glory then?
He shall see of the travel of his soul, and shall be satisfied.
So he's waiting in patience for that moment. Are you looking forward with joy and impatience to that moment too, when you shall be with and like him? Oh, let us remember Jesus Christ.
Raised from the dead according to this gospel.
The Apostle Paul says when I suffer trouble that is connected with the gospel, he suffered trouble even under bonds. He says, oh but he goes on to say in the 10th verse I endure all things for the elects sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Oh he has the glory before him. He's thinking of those that the elect, those that are to be those that are Christ or to be his.
And that the ultimate deliverance from everything down here, that salvation in a complete sense of being with and like him up there, as it says here with eternal glory.
Does the glory shine before you, dear young Christian? I'm afraid it does. We don't keep it before us as much as we should, the hymn writer says. The glory shines before me. I cannot linger here. Oh yes, Is the glory shining before you?
You may have some things. You may be faced with some decisions in school, Oregon at work, and it's a question of whether to compromise and go along with the crowd or seek by the grace of God to be separate and to go along with the Lord's people, those seeking to go on in separation. If we keep the glory before us, then it'll be easy to know which decision to make, and the Lord then will encourage us to be separate from things down here that would tend to defile.
Well, here he said that I believe so. We're encouraged then to remember Jesus Christ, the one that's raised from the dead, the man and the glory.
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It says here in verse 12, I'm just hurrying through because my time is getting away. Verse 12, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. Don't be surprised if it costs a little something to be a Christian down here. You know, down in Peru, we had the privilege, some of us down in South America.
For our little season, visiting our brethren down there and I remember a dear family there, there was one girl.
A sweet looking Christian girl.
And we were told a little bit about the problems in school.
I could. I'd like to rehearse a number of them. I'll just mention one.
One of them was.
They expected everybody to have their hair cut rather short in that school, and every soul in that school had their hair cut short. In this book, I know that. You know, it speaks of long hair being a woman's glory. And this girl, I believe about 11 years old, she had read that.
And she said she didn't feel she couldn't. She couldn't agree to that because of what this book the Bible said, which meant something to her.
95% down there belong to A, as I understand, I'm told 95% of professing Christians to a certain large.
Group and to really, in any measure, stand for the Lord, you more or less have to stand alone. Well, anyway, this girl just said no, she couldn't do it. And finally they had to decide whether to throw her out of school or not. And they finally said, well, we'll just if if if she really feels that she's doing that to please God, why they'd let her?
Keep her long here. Well, I only mention that as just one little illustration that it may cost something. She suffered a lot of reproach for something that she felt this book encouraged.
Well, if we suffer.
Dear young Christian, if you stand true to Christ.
You'll have to suffer in some little ways. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
Oh, you know that's God's answer to suffering down here. It's raining there. If we were to turn to First Peter 1:00, we'd find it speaks there of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that you'll follow. Don't forget, suffering may be the order down here, but the glory is what follows.
And I believe the measure of that glory. I believe in a measure. It will answer to the measure.
Of suffering for his name's sake down here. If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.
Oh dear young Christian, don't forget there's a day of raining coming.
A day of when crowns will be handed out. Are you seeking to suffer for his namesake in some little measure that you might have that place the Lord would like to give you in glory in that coming day?
Verse 15.
Study to show thyself approved unto God.
A Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Oh, here, we're encouraged to study, to diligently read this blessed book.
You know, I was just telling a brother at lunch today.
How it bothers me that my memory isn't what it used to be. I wish now I did seek for the grace of God in my younger years to spend some time in this blessed book, but I wish now that there had been the purpose of heart to have spent more time then.
Every time spent in my late teens or early 20s.
Probably would have. I probably would have retained three to five times as much.
As now on the same amount of time spent in this book, dear young Christian.
Study to show yourselves approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Now in your youth, is the time to diligently meditate on what we have in this book, and to seek help from writings that are those that have ministered the Word, Ministered the truth faithfully. Now is the time to enjoy it and take it in, and you'll never regret it.
In a coming day.
And so we would encourage you to find the time daily to read and meditate in this blessed book. And then you'll be among those spoken of as workmen that don't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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Well, in the.
Verse 19.
We find another line of things brought before us.
We find in the verses 16/17/18 about some who had got involved in error. Oh, we find error all about us. It's rampant. It's on the increase.
But thank God the foundation of God standeth, sure as we read in this.
The 19th verse the Lord knows them that are his.
There is great profession in Christianity. Some are mere professors without reality.
Some are true possessors. Sometimes it's hard to tell when talking to 1.
In Christendom it's hard to tell whether they're a true possessor of life or not, but the Lord knows. Sometimes we may not be sure, but it says the Lord knows them that are His. But for you and me it says let everyone that nameth the name of Christ. I believe in other translation I believe it's considered that that's more accurately translated the Lord, but it says let everyone the name of the name of Christ to the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
As we saw this morning, we can't go on with all that who make a profession of faith in Christ.
There has to be separation from evil. There has to be a seeking to go on with those that are seeking to walk in separation from evil. I won't take the time to go over what we had, but here it says here, here it says in a great house. Now in First Timothy, it's the House of God, Speaking of those that are his, but here it's a great house. And when you get the great house, it's profession, including the real and the unreal, the false and the true believers.
And so it says, there are both kinds of vessels, vessels of gold and silver, vessels of wood on earth, some to honor, some to dishonor. What are we to do go on with that mixture? No. If a man therefore purged himself from these, the way we purge ourselves is to by separating from the mixture. And it says, if a man purge himself from these, he should be a vessel unto honor. Now I mentioned there are seven ways that the Christian is spoken of. Here's the 6th way of vessel.
Dear young Christian, may the Lord put in your heart the desire to be a vessel unto honor, and going on in separation from that which is evil.
A vessel underwater. We don't have reference made here to an empty vessel, but other scriptures bring before us the fact that the Lord would also have us as empty vessels, emptied himself, so that there's much room for Christ.
The man therefore purged himself, that is from that mixture. From these he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, that means set apart, set apart to God, sanctified, and meet for the masters use prepared unto every good work. And then we have an exhortation. Flee also youthful lusts. Oh, our poor hearts, youthful lusts, we have different kind of lusts spoken of in the scriptures. And 1St John and John's epistle.
Speaks the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. And here we have reference to youthful lusts. I don't say they're synonymous, but anything that's a lust we should seek to be separated from that which the natural heart would seek after. And then it says follow, righteousness, faith, charity or love, peace within the call on the Lord. Out of a pure heart, you know.
A pure heart. There will be separation from evil, and here it's with them that call on the Lord. Oh, let us seek our companionship amongst those where we we see a desire. You know, you young people come to a conference. You may even find the wrong type of companions right here at a general meeting if you find that some young person you're thrown in company with.
Is ready to tell the wrong kind of stories.
And occupy you with the lusts of the flesh. Find someone else to be your companion here at the meeting.
Seek those by the grace of God, even when you're with.
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No matter in all we send your company. Seek those where you find a desire to please the Lord.
Those that are calling on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Well, the last reference I mentioned is as a servant of the Lord. By the grace of God, even young people and the small little measure are able to be a servant of the Lord. Oh, what a privilege it is to be left here to labor in some little measure for the master. May the Lord encourage your heart and mind to seek to live unto him, to have the man in the glory before us. But he might be the object, bright and fair.
Before our hearts.
I see our time is practically up. We might sing a verse or two at the end of 256.
Where we?
Show.
What we shall be?
So shall be.
A.