Address—D. Hayhoe
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Look this afternoon, with God's help.
At a number of passages in the Word of God.
Where we have final instructions.
Final instructions.
The last words of those who have left this earth.
And they're gone. We'll never hear their voice on this earth again.
Those words are recorded for us in this precious book, the Word of God.
And they're written there for our instruction. Those things that happened before time were written for our learning.
Our learning. And so we're going to look at the lives of several of the Lord's people, Old and New Testament.
And we're going to see what their last words were, their final instructions, surely. Surely in a family, if a loved one passes away.
We will go through our minds, we will go through letters, perhaps recorded things that they have written down to find out what their final instructions were.
So that we can do what that loved one wanted us to do. Surely that's so in our natural lives. Even an unbeliever can understand that. Even one who has never known Christ has no new nature and no Holy Spirit indwelling him. Even he or she understands that concept and seeks in their own strength to abide by that and to follow the last final instructions of those who have left the scene.
Surely those of us who know Christ should desire to do the same thing.
As we look into the pages of the inspired word of God and find the.
Final instructions of those who have gone before. The final instructions of men like Joseph, the type of Christ.
The last words of men like the Apostle Paul, who lifted us up into the heavenly places in Christ in his ministry.
And the final instructions of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. If our hearts cannot be moved by that today, we're hard.
We're cold. We've dropped further than we thought.
May we not only listen, but may we hear. May we hear in the African sense of the word, which means to understand, to take it to heart.
To fully comprehend what is being said and then to act upon it, let's look back at the life of Joseph to begin with.
And in each of these men that we're going to look at.
By number means will we attempt to speak of their entire life, but simply of a few closing words, either at the end of their pathway or at the end of a particular phase in their life, will look first at Genesis chapter 3341.
Genesis 41.
We'll just read 3 verses to begin with Genesis 41 verses 5051 and 52.
And unto Joseph were born two sons, before the years of famine came.
Verse 51 and Joseph called the name of the first born Manasseh.
Which means forgetting, for God said, he hath made me to forget all my toil.
And all my father's house.
And the name of the 2nd called he Ephraim, that is fruitful for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Look down at verse.
54 The seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said.
And the dearth was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said Unto all the Egyptians, go.
Unto Joseph.
What he says to you do, go unto Joseph. What he says to you do.
Well, here's Joseph, the type of Christ and a beautiful type to us, I believe, of progress in the Christian pathway. As I mentioned, we cannot possibly trace through his life, but let's just pick up on this one little incident, the naming of his children, and let's take it to heart as a basis for what we're going to find then at the end of the life of Joseph.
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The end of his life in Egypt, but by faith he looked on to the Promised land.
And the glory that was before.
Let's look at this one incident now with respect to the naming of his two sons, Manasseh.
And Ephraim Manasseh meaning forgetting and Ephraim fruitful. And I know this has been commented on before.
But he says at the end of verse 51, not only did he forget all his toil, but all his father's house, all his father's house. There had been misunderstandings, there had been false accusations, there had been mistreatment. There had been false judgment. There had been callousness. There had been wickedness on the part of his brethren. There had been a complete division within the family and the selling of Joseph into Egypt. And Joseph says, I'm willing to forget all that. I'm willing to leave all that behind. I'm willing to leave that with God.
Leave that entirely to the judge of all the earth. And as a result of that, he's able to call his next son, Ephraim. Fruitfulness And young people, I want to tell you, and I know this is true in my own life as well, there will never be fruitfulness in my life until I am able to forget those things that I perceive rightly or wrongly, rightly or wrongly, as being the injustices or the misjudgment or the mistreatment of my brethren, either in my natural family or in the family of God.
There cannot be fruitfulness until I set aside any thought of bitterness or malice or revenge or standing for my own rights.
God cannot and will not bless me as far as the outward evidence in my life.
Until I'm willing to set that aside. And so Joseph is able to do that with his first born, Manasseh. And so there's blessing in Ephraim. We read in verse 54 and 55 that we've already mentioned that there was bread where Joseph was. There was bread there. That's what it was that brought the prodigal son back to the father's house in Luke chapter 15. When he's there among the swine, he fain would have filled his belly with the host of the swine, did he?
And what was it that brought him back to the Father's house? The thought that came before him, that there in the Father's host, that was bread enough and despair.
And young people, I know this has been mentioned before, but I must dress it again at the beginning of this meeting.
There is bread, there is refreshment, there is strength, there is food.
Where the Lord Jesus Christ is, there is bread in God's house here on earth.
They're certainly bread in the Father's house, but there is bread here in the Father's house on earth, God's house, his testimony on earth, and that bread is the Lord Jesus Christ. We read about that in John's Gospel, chapter 6. Will we read not only of the imparting of life through Christ, but the sustenance and the strength for the daily pathway. He that eateth me shall live by me, the strength for the daily pathway that we get from feeding on Christ. That's the bread where Joseph was. These are his instructions now as he goes on to his life.
And as we approach in a few chapters, the end of his life, this is the pattern that we have before us. Let's go over to Chapter 40.
5.
Genesis 45, verse 2.
He wept aloud. Verse 3. Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph.
Verse 4 Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me.
I pray you. And they came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom he sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that she sold me. Hit her, for God did send me before you to preserve life.
The key here to Joseph accepting his brethren and dealing with them is the fact that he saw the hand of God.
He recognized that God's hand was in all his circumstances. He recognized that in all the dealings of his brethren with him.
That was the hand of God in his life, right or wrong though his brethren may have been, and indeed they were wrong. In this case they were wrong and Joseph has a type of Christ had to deal with them according to that. They had to be brought to a state of repentance and recognition of their sin. And yet now Joseph can weep and reveal himself and say I am Joseph and what's the next step? Come near unto me, I pray you. The final words, the final instructions of Joseph to his brethren is that he wanted them close to himself and young people. That's God's instruction to you.
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This is the voice of Jesus Christ speaking to you this afternoon and saying, Come near unto me, I pray you. It goes beyond Matthew 1128 where the call is to the Sinner. All ye that we are weary and are heavy laden, come unto me and I will give you rest. It goes on to verse 29 where we find the rest of the believers in linking in yoking with Christ and walking together with the Lord Jesus Christ in nearness and fellowship. That's what Joseph wanted for his brethren and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ wants for you young people.
He doesn't want you just to come and sit in a conference and absorb some of the meetings and then go on with your life as though nothing had happened.
That's happened for too many years. It's been on too long amongst us. It's going on too long in my own life.
It's gone on for decades, we said in these meetings, and we hear the truth of the word of God ministered faithfully to our souls from meeting to meeting, and we go home and nothing changes. Young people, it must change. It must. We're almost finished in this life.
Our time is almost gone. Everything, everything points to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon.
Tells us in James chapter 5 verse eight and Mr. Darby's translation. The coming of the Lord is drawn nigh. It has drawn close already. That was written 2000 years ago. The Lord Jesus Christ may come today. We've heard that often we've heard it many times and yet I want young people for you to listen to that, to hear it, to believe it and to act on it. The final instructions of Joseph, the type of Christ come close to me, draw near to me. He wants to have fellowship with you and what's the result? Let's go down in the chapter to verse 9 Hasty go up to my father and say unto him, thus saith thy son Joseph. God hath made me Lord of all Egypt. Verse 10.
And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast. And there will I nourish thee. For yet there are five years of famine, lest thou and thy household and all that thou hast come to poverty. For 13YE shall tell of all my glory. Verse 18. End of the verse. Ye shall eat the fact of the land. Verse 19. The end of the verse.
Your little ones, your wives bring your father and come Verse 20 also regard not your stuff.
For the good of all, the land of Egypt is yours.
Verse 24. End of the verse.
See that you fall not out, by the way.
Young people, we have failed.
You look at me, You look at my generation, we have failed. You look at my father's generation.
Failure. You look anywhere you wish to look in the body of Christ, and you'll see failure in these very principles.
But I want you to hear the voice of Christ speaking through Joseph by the Holy Spirit of God to your soul.
And I want you to realize that there is blessing where Christ is, and by God's grace there is a gathering center.
Yes there is, and that center is Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ does have his table.
On this earth, and there is a privilege still today of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at his table.
The Lord's table, there is blessing, there is refreshment, there is fruitfulness, there is power in connection with that, both individually in your life and corporately in the body of Christ. And we have failed so terribly in that. It's so obvious to us. It's so evident. And yet here are the instructions of Joseph as he pours out his heart. He says the good of all the land is yours. Regard, not your stuff. Young people, that's where we have failed. Don't repeat our mistake. We have regarded our stuff.
We have looked at the things of this earth that should have grown dim in the in the view of the glory.
And we have regarded them as being too worthwhile, and so we have missed much of the spiritual blessing.
That should have been manifest in our lives.
Young people, do not repeat that mistake. Let's go back to verse 10. Thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, still in Egypt. We know that Egypt is a type of the world not yet gone through the wilderness into the promised land. But here we find Joseph and his brother in Egypt. That's your position still in this world, though not of it. What is the blessing to be? Thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. Goshen has three meanings. That means a code of mail.
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It means drawing near and it means rain. And you say how could there be such 3 diverse?
Meanings to one word. It means a coat of mail. What does that speak to us all? It speaks to us of the protection that the Lord Jesus Christ offers to his people here in this earth. A coat of mail that would protect us and insulate us and keep us from the harm, the evil, the wickedness, the sin of the world around us. It also means drawing near. That's just what we've been speaking about, isn't it? The privilege of being near to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And thirdly, it means rain.
That is blessing that which comes down from heaven to bring refreshment and growth.
And fruitfulness, that's the position that we can and should occupy, even though we're still in Egypt, the world. And yet in Goshen, within Egypt, that is the place of protection, a place of nearness and a place of blessing. All three of those things incorporated in the thought of the land of Goshen. The end of verse 10. Thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, thy children's children, and thy flocks and thy herds.
And all that thou hast.
You know there's a contrast here.
With what we have in the book of Numbers, These words are repeated in a very similar fashion in the book of Exodus where Moses is speaking to Pharaoh.
With respect to the leaving of the children of Israel from Egypt to go into the wilderness to worship the Lord.
And Moses says to Pharaoh, We will go with our wives and with our children, with our flocks and our herds, with all that we have not on who shall be left behind. And one brother mentioned in his prayer this morning that there is a path. There is a path of plainness, a path of faithfulness, a path of blessing for us and for our families and for all that we have in this earth. But when we come over to the Book of Numbers, what do we find there? We find that the 2 1/2 tribes who refuse to cross the river Jordan.
And would not enter the land. What did they say? The language is strikingly similar. Strikingly similar, except that they say we will not go in, we will not enter the land, we will remain here. It says our wives and our children will remain on this side of the Jordan.
And it is because of the cattle, because we have seen good pasture land for our cattle, we will not go in to the promised land. Young people, those of you perhaps who are a little bit older, those of you who are contemplating marriage, those of you perhaps who are just recently married, those of you who perhaps have little ones, go in and possess the inheritance that is truly yours. It is yours. You have it. You have been blessed already in spiritual.
In all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Christ lay hold of that. What was it that caused the fighting and the struggling and the armed struggle of the land? It was when they crossed Jordan and entered into that land that the fighting began. Let's think of that in connection with Ephesians chapter 6, where it tells us they're very clearly we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places or in the heavenlies.
How is it? How is it that there is so little of that spiritual struggle?
That wrestling in our lives, how is it that we see so little of that struggle to possess that which is really ours because we have not entered into the land?
That's where the struggle begins. Many believers, many of you, dear young people, many of us are content to be delivered from Egypt, the world, sheltered under the blood of Christ, in the wilderness with Christ, but with no desire, no desire to enter in to all the glories and the blessings of our heavenly position in Christ. Young people, what does that mean? Is that just empty theology? Is that just something that we see in the Word of God? But it has no practical bearing in our lives. It has every practical bearing.
Because as we realize that we are a heavenly people, when we realize that we walk on earth in conscious association with arisen, glorified Christ in heaven, it changes everything. It changes our attitude towards work, towards family, towards politics, towards associations in this world, towards the thought of changing this world, towards the thought of involvement in this world. It changes thoughts with respect to outreach in the gospel. It changes everything when we realize that we are a heavenly people.
And that's where the struggle begins.
Let's just meditate for a moment on verse 24.
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See that she fall not out, by the way.
See that ye fall not out by the way. Final instructions. The last words of Joseph to his brethren before they left Egypt to go and collect their father and return. Final instructions. Not only did he lay out for them their possession of nearness and blessing, not only did he lay out for them all his desire to feed them and nourish them, and bless them, and give them a possession, but he says, See that ye fall not out by the way, brethren, we have failed.
In that we have failed. In that I'm not Speaking of action which is necessary for the Lord's honor and glory in dealing with moral evil or doctrinal evil amongst the Lord's people. That's clearly laid out in the Word of God. There is no question about that whatsoever. Brethren, young people, I'm talking about falling out, by the way, I'm talking about difficulties in families, and I'm talking about difficulties between husbands and wives, and I'm talking about difficulties between brethren and the assembly.
What should have been dealt with years, if not decades ago. And they have been allowed to go on and on and on. And young people, I'm going to speak very plainly.
If any of those things are true in your life.
They must be dealt with, They must be judged in the eyes of God. They must be eliminated from your life.
Or it will bring a cancer among the people of God. It tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 of any man fail of the grace of God, any root of bitterness.
Springing up trouble him and thereby many be defiled young people as a defiling influence in God's house, in God's people, in God's church.
Whereby many are defiled. Bitterness of falling out.
Brethren in the body of Christ, who will not speak to one another, Who will not shake hands with one another?
Husbands and wives who go on with all outward appearances of being in happy relationship one with another, when the absolute opposite is true in private.
And that's true of many in the body of Christ.
And if we deny it?
Then we are not being honest and truthful with ourselves. It is so. It is so, It is so between brethren and sisters in the body of Christ. See that ye fall, not out, by the way. It's the instruction of the Word of God. Be at peace among yourselves. Let all anger and wrath and mountain malice, bitterness be put away from among you young people. I'm stressing to you because you are the ones that I look to for encouragement.
In the very last days before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to take us home.
That these things not be true of you, that you deal with them in the eyes of God. Let's turn over to Genesis chapter.
50.
The very end of Joseph's life now.
Genesis chapter 50.
The last words, final instructions of Joseph.
Genesis chapter 50 verse 25 and Joseph took an oath as the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you.
And you shall carry my bones from hence.
Ye shall carry my bones from hence.
So Joseph died being in 110 years old, and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
The last final instructions of Joseph, if we turned over to Hebrews 11, we won't take the time to do that, but we'll see it by faith. Joseph, when he was dying, gave instruction concerning his bones. It was by faith how he looked beyond Egypt, he looked beyond this present world, and he saw the hope before him. He saw the promised land, and he said, I want my bones, I want my body to be carried into that promised land.
And if you turned over to the book of Exodus, you would find there, and I believe it's about Exodus chapter 15.
That or maybe even in chapter 13 that Moses.
Took the bones of Joseph and took them with him. You turn over to the book of Joshua that you will find there that.
For all of those 40 years, for 40 years, the bones of Joseph were carried through the wilderness.
And finally laid to rest in Shechem in the promised land. What does that tell us? The final instructions of Joseph were that he recognized, if we're going to make the application, his heavenly calling. He looked ahead not to the present world, but he looked on to the glory that lay before. And he appropriated for himself. Again, if we draw the parallel, he appropriated for himself all the service of Christ.
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And carrying him through that wilderness pathway again, I know we've mentioned this before.
But this is really the 4th arc in the Word of God. If you have Mr. Darby's translation and you look at the word coffin at the very end of verse 26 of Genesis 50, you'll find there that it is an arc. It's the exact same word that is used for the Ark of the Covenant. And so we have 4 arcs in the Word of God. We have the Ark of the Covenant that we read about in the book of Exodus and elsewhere, speaking to us of the Lord Jesus Christ in all His divine glory overlaid with gold that would correlate to John's Gospel, Christ in his deity. Then we have Moses, Arthur, that little ark of bulrushes.
In which Moses was placed by his parents, by his mother. The ark of bulrushes among the bulrushes.
That's Christ in his humanity, as we would find brought before us in Luke's gospel.
And then we have Noah's ark carrying in type the children of Israel through the tribulation. And what's that? That's Christ in his character as Messiah King to Israel, carrying him through the tribulation. That's what we have in Matthew's Gospel. But in Mark's Gospel, we have Christ as the perfect servant. And that's this ark, Genesis 50, verse 26, the ark that carried Joseph's bones through the wilderness. That is Christ's service, his high priestly work, his advocacy, which carries us through the wilderness.
Journey, the last instructions of Joseph and young people lay them to heart.
Lay them to heart, appropriating the value of the Person of Christ for Himself.
Realizing the service of Christ for him in its high priestly and advocacy character. No young people. What does that mean?
What does that mean? You've heard all of this before and you say, what effect does it have on my life? When you realize all that the Lord Jesus Christ is for you, and what He has done for you, and what He is doing now in the glory for you, it will bring you into a path of dependence on Him, dependence on Him, and with the path of obedience and dependence comes happiness, and only in a path of obedience and dependence.
Will there be happiness? Never outside of it.
Those are the final instructions of Joseph.
Think on them His instructions with respect to Manasseh and Ephraim, His instructions with respect to his brethren.
All the blessing in the nearness, but then the seeing that they fall not out by the way, and finally the instruction with respect to his own body, his own self, if you will, dependence on Christ through the wilderness pathway. Let's turn over now to the end of first Samuel.
The last chapter of First Samuel, and we'll find here the final instructions.
Of another First Samuel 31. The final instructions of Saul.
Saw now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in Mount Gilboa. In the Philistines followed heart upon Saul and upon his sons. In the Philistines slew Jonathan and a Benedeb and Malcolm Schewe sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and The Archers hit him, and he was sore wounded of The Archers. Then said Saul unto his armor bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith.
Lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me, or mock me. But his armor bearer would not, for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it.
Verse 10 They put his armor in the House of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body.
To the wall of Basha.
The end of the life of Saul, a leader of God's people, a leader of God's people, and yet his life characterized by self will, disobedience, deceit, anger, all of those things which should not characterize the Lord's people, and yet he was a leader of them. And if we were to trace through his life, young people listen well to this.
Find there a decline from beginning to the end of his life.
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He begins his life in First Samuel Chapter 9, with himself being head and shoulders above all the rest, perhaps lifted up in intelligence, perhaps lifted up in leadership ability. And yet he ends his life this way. We turned over to Chronicles. We'd find his head ended up in the Temple of Dagen, the Fishguard. That's where that head finished its course, which began its course lifted up above everyone else. But that's not what we're going to speak about today. We're going to speak about his final words, his final instructions. How does he end his life?
He ends his life with the people of God scattered, it says the children, the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines.
And fell down, slain or wounded in Mount Gilboa. He loses his family. The Philistines followed her upon Saul and upon his sons. And the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abinadab, and Malcolm Shuwa, Saul's sons.
Here's a man who leads God's people.
And yet his own life is out of line with his public testimony. And young people. I stand here, and I know that in the eyes of God He searches my heart. As I say these things, I know it. He is greater than our hearts. He knoweth all things. I look at my own heart. I think I have judged some of these things. And then as I get into the presence of God and He shows me, He reveals to me my own heart. I realize the depravity and the awfulness of my own old nature, which is still the same as it was before I was saved, and never will be any better.
The seeds of every sin ever committed by mankind upon the face of this earth.
Still exist in the nature, the old nature of every believer sitting in this room.
I don't know my own heart.
I don't know the depth to which my own old nature can take me. God is greater than my heart. He knows all things. And there's a day coming when I will stand and I will give an account of myself for every word that I've spoken here this afternoon. But young people, young people, I want to challenge you not to be like so.
Not to aspire to a place of leadership among the young people when your own life is going in the opposite direction. Not to aspire to a position of prominence among the Lord's people when your own life gives a lie to that. And where God eventually will have to deal with you and with me, if it's so in my life. Here we find the people of God scattered his own family, lost his own family, lost young people. Please listen to me. We have failed in these things.
We have failed in maintaining our own holiness in our lives and in our families privately, in accordance with what we stand to be publicly. If we say we have not failed. And that's one further sin of lying in the eyes of God, because we have failed. Let it not be so in your life. Let it not be so in your life.
Let there be no difference between what you are publicly before the eyes of your brethren.
And what you are in your own soul when you're alone with God. He lost his family. Young men, I want to talk to you for a minute and I want you to listen. We spoke a while ago of those 2 1/2 tribes who because of their cattle, refused to go into the promised land. The cattle would speak of business. It would speak of your effort in this life, perhaps even to support your family. And yet if that gets out of proportion to the point where that becomes more to you than your wife and your family.
And even worse when it becomes more important.
More time consuming to you than your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you. Then your life is badly, badly, badly out of line.
You know it's been.
Shown in medical circles that men.
Suffer.
Far deeper and longer periods of depression when they lose their job than when they lose a child.
That's a fact.
That's a fact. That's not something that I dreamed up myself. That's a medical fact.
That that is the case amongst men and why am I saying such a thing in a young people's address this afternoon? Because we have been infected by that.
That has become a major difficulty among us in the body of Christ. Where your job?
And the number of hours you spend at it, and the amount of time and energy and intelligence and the passion of your soul that you pour into that far exceeds what you spend over the Word of God in the presence of Christ and nourishing and cherishing your wife and your family.
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Saul saw the dispersion of God's people before his eyes. He saw the loss of his own sons, murdered before his eyes.
And what's his response? What's his final request? Is he concerned for God's people? No. Is he concerned for his family? No. He says, kill me lest the Philistines mock me. He was concerned about his own reputation.
Young people, I hope I'm hitting hard because this is an area where we have failed. We are so concerned about my reputation.
What my brethren think of Maine, what those in the local assembly think of Maine. And yes, young people, I'm concerned about what you think about me. I like you to like me. I like to think that I'm your friend. I like to pass among you and joke a little bit and think that I'm kind of like one of you. Yes, I admit that, and I admit that that's a problem for me. It's very, very difficult for me to speak a word of faithfulness to you when you need it, and often you do, because I love you so much and I feel that maybe you love me.
And my wife and we want to help you and we want to be one of you, and we want to live with you and what we want to work with you and what we want to spend time with you.
But I know that my own reputation comes into it. I know that.
I know that.
And it's a problem, it's something I should judge, it's something I need to get before God about. Because Saul's reputation became so much in his own eyes that he wasn't concerned with God's people. He wasn't concerned with the loss of his own family. How could it be? But young people, I see that in the body of Christ and I see that among those gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's evident to me, it's very evident. Men, I'm talking to you in particular, that you put your own reputation and your own job and your own career.
Ahead of those other things.
And it shows. It shows.
He didn't want to lose his reputation, his final command.
Final instructions were draw thy sword and thrust me through, and when his servant failed to do it, he committed suicide.
He committed suicide. The final instructions of soul. What a contrast to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who, though he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. He made himself of no reputation, Not only taking on the form of a servant, not only made in the likeness of men, not only being found in fashion as a man, but making himself of no reputation. Not just allowing his reputation to be stripped from him, but making himself of no reputation. That's John 13. That's where he lays aside his garments.
Takes a toll and girds himself and kneels down at the feet of his brethren to Washington.
Those feet.
And young people, we need that. We need that.
Attitude, that mind in our lives that Christ had.
Let's go over to Second Samuel.
We'll find the final instructions.
Of David.
We've seen Joseph's final instructions.
We've seen souls final instructions in selfishness and self will.
Considering his own reputation more than the good of the people of God.
Now let's see, David.
Second Samuel 23, verse one. Now these be the last words.
Of David.
Second Samuel 23 verse one. Now these be the last words of David, David the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob.
And the sweets almost of Israel said, the spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said the rock of Israel spoke to me.
He that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be as the light of the morning.
When the sun rises up even in morning without clouds, as the tender grass spring us out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
Although my house be not so with God.
Although my house be not so with God, yet He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although He maketh not to grow.
00:40:10
What a contrast to the last words of soul.
David recognized the failure in his own house, he says. Although my house be not so with God.
He recognized this failure and young people, we need to do that. You need to identify the sin, the weakness, the failure in your life.
Not only identify it, but own it, confess it. That's what David here did. He open his mouth and he confessed it. That's the source. That's the beginning of blessing, not only to identify the failure, but to recognize it and confess it before God. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire. Everything in the final words of David, wrapped up and summarized in the person.
Of Jehovah and Jehovah's faithfulness, Jehovah's loving kindness. It's like Lamentation chapter 3, verses 22 and 23, where it tells us that thy compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Let's turn over the page to chapter 24.
And verse 17.
The very close of his life. David, you might say, makes another mistake. He numbers the people.
But in verse 17 of the last chapter of Two Samuel.
It says, David spake unto the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned.
And I have done wickedly. But these sheep.
What have they done? The exact opposite of Saul, Young people. I would love to see this attitude in your life.
I have sinned, but spare God's people.
Not the other way around. We so often see the other way around. I haven't done anything wrong. But those amongst the Lord's people, we need to see judgment there. We need to see judgment there. The Lord will deal with that. I mentioned before in the assembly where we gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is the necessity for care. The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable. There is the necessity for purity. There is the necessity for putting away that which is evil. But that's not what we're Speaking of today.
We're Speaking of your own personal life before God, David.
At the end of his life, his final words recognizing the failure in his own house, saying I have sinned. But these sheep, what have they done and interceding for God's people. All those millions of the children of Israel who are coming under the judgment of God says, let thine hand, I pray thee be against me and against my father's house.
And the plague was.
David interceded for the people of God.
The only sin recorded in the New Testament is when Elijah interceded against the people of God. David interceded for them.
And took the sin upon himself. We've spoken of Joseph. We've spoken of Saul. We've spoken of David. Let's look very briefly at the apostle Paul.
The final instructions of the apostle Paul, we'll look at them in Two Timothy, the last epistle he wrote. But before we do that, turn to Two Corinthians.
His final instructions, his last words to the believers.
At Corinth.
Two Corinthians 13, verse 11.
Finally, brethren, farewell.
Be perfect.
Finally, brethren, farewell be perfect the last.
Instructions The final instructions of the Apostle Paul to the Saints at Corinth.
He had to write 2 epistles to them, correcting so much evil doctrine.
A failure to lay hold of the truth of the resurrection. Bad practice at the Lord's table. Misuse and abuse of gifts. Failure to judge moral evil in the assembly division amongst them. I am a Paul, I am of Apollo, I'm of Cephas, I am of Christ. A failure to restore when restoration was needed. Chapter after chapter after chapter. He brings before them things that he needed to correct. With many tears. It says in this second epistle. He wrote to them, and now his last.
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Final instruction is be perfect, and this word really is be perfectly.
Joined together, it's not Speaking of perfection. It's not speaking as in some other places of a state of maturity, even in the Christian life.
Speaking of being perfectly joined together, it's the same word that's used in the first chapter of the First Epistle and the 10th verse.
You don't need to turn to it, I'll just read that verse to you.
First Corinthians chapter one and verse 10, he says be perfectly joined together. Be perfectly joined together, exactly, exactly the same expression. I like to think of First and 2nd Corinthians like a set of books on your bookshelf and the two bookends that hold up. That set of books, book on your bookshelves, on your bookshelf. Those two bookends, Our First Corinthians 110 and 2nd Corinthians 13, verse 11, the opening.
And the closing instructions of the apostle by the Spirit be perfectly joined together. That's the desire of the Holy Spirit of God for the assembly at Corinth. Did they need to correct the disorder amongst them? Yes. Did they need to be careful as to doctrine and practice? Indeed they did, and the Spirit of God brought it forcefully and plainly before them. But the opening and closing instructions have to do with being perfectly joined together without turning to it.
I'll mention that in Galatians chapter 6 and verse one, for it says that brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. That word restore is exactly the same word.
Be perfectly joined together. If you turn to Matthew chapter 4, verse 21, where it says they were mending their Nets, it's exactly the same word again. The mending of the Nets, the taking of a small tear, a rent in that net and mending it with patience and skill and understanding and time and gentleness and mending it back together again. Matthew 421. That's Galatians 6 and one. Restore section one in the spirit of meekness.
The evangelist who cast the net into the sea and perhaps draws in 153 fish.
All we say there's a man of God doing the work of God, and it may well be so, but what about the pastor who sits on the shore and mends the neck so that the evangelist can do the work of God?
Young people, these are the final instructions of the apostle Paul de Corinth. Be perfectly joined together, be mended, be restored. The same word. Trace it through. That's the desire for God's people to overlook evil. Never. But the final instruction is that we be perfectly joined together. And if the result of our attitudes is that we are driven apart rather than being mended together, then it's not according to the mind of God.
Let's turn over to Second Timothy, the last epistle that Paul.
Wrote.
In the last chapter and the last verse.
Paul's writing the 2nd Epistle to Timothy from prison.
Very shortly after he closed this epistle.
He died, he went to be with Christ, which is far better.
But here is his last words.
And this is written to a young man. Young people, take these as the last words of the apostle Paul to you. Hear him speaking to you. By the power of the Holy Spirit of God, take these words to your soul as a young person, the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. That's what Paul wanted for Timothy, that the Lord Jesus Christ would be with his Spirit.
Grace, be with you.
Let your speech be always with grace or filled up with grace. Is the thought season with salt. Do we need the salt? Yes. Do we need this preserving power of the Holy Spirit of God? Yes. Do we need that which cleanses from evil and sin? Yes, that's the salt. But let your speech be filled up with grace, with a sprinkling of salt to preserve and purify the wound faithful of the wounds of a friend. But let it be done with grace. Young people, let's deal with one another in grace.
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And if I can't even deal with my wife and family in grace, how can I ever behave in the body of Christ?
How can I ever function effectively in the local assembly if my family?
Is not based on the principle of grace. We have failed, brethren.
We have failed in our families. We have failed as those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And young people, I want you to see these things. Not that we wish to raise criticisms, but rather that we want to focus.
On the final instruction of Paul, the beloved apostle to this young man Timothy, whom he loved as a son in the faith.
He opens his epistle by saying stir up, rekindle fan into flame. The gift that's in you young people. I'd like to get hold of you sometime and just stir you right up, put you in the fire and just shake you together and poke you around until you burst into flames. That's what I'd like to do. I've had brethren that did that to me, and then a while later they had to come back and poke me around a little more until I flared up again, flamed up. Hope I didn't flare up.
But that's how he opens his epistle now at the end of the epistle.
He says grace, grace, grace. Young people, what is it that's going to preserve you until you're home with Christ? It's grace. We sing Amazing Grace, and then we sing tis grace that brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home. Let's deal with one another in grace.
I've left myself one minute.
To speak of the final words of the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm ashamed of myself.
I know I always do the same thing, but I'm particularly the same today because it's Christ.
That I've left so short.
As is often the case in my life, his final words to us volumes have been written on it. We traced through from John 13 to 17 the mystery that he gave there. Get Hamilton Smith's book in the book room and read it. Young people, all of you. Go and buy it today.
Hamilton Smith. They probably won't have enough putting in order.
Put in an order the last words of Jesus Christ by that book today and read it. The final instructions. Let's go back.
To John 13.
And I'm just going to have to mention these things briefly and let you go through them yourself.
John 13 We have brought before us the foot washing, the foot washing, young people practice. It says in John 13 verse 14 he also ought to wash one another's feet. Do you do that? You should be doing that.
In its spiritual application, John 14 verse one the second of the Lord Jesus last words.
I'm not going to mention all of them, but the ones that really highlight themselves to me. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. Connect that with the 27th verse of the same chapter.
An instruction, a final instruction. Let's not your herpes troubled neither. Let it be afraid. The word here is the word for cowardice. It's the word for timidity. It's the same root word that we would find if we turned over to Revelation chapter 21 where at least those that are cast into the lake of fire. It says the fearful and the unbelieving, that cowardice, that timidity, that shrinking back from following a wholeheartedly after Christ in the shrinking back from service for Christ.
That we so often see in our own lives. It's the same word that's used to Timothy.
When Paul wrote to Timothy and said I don't want you to have the spirit of fear, that's not the spirit that I want you to have. It's cowardice, it's timidity. Young people, this is the final instruction of Christ. Let not your heart be troubled and don't be a coward. Don't be timid. Don't draw back because of fear. Wholeheartedly follow after the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to chapter 18 and verse 11.
For the third one that I want to mention of the last instructions of Christ.
Peter has just drawn his sword and smitten off the High Priest servant's ear.
The servant's name was Melchizedek, which means a king by the way, the King's hardest in the hand of the Lord.
But his ear is in our hand, let's be sure we don't cut it off. Verse 11 Says. Then said Jesus unto Peter.
Put up thy sword into thy sheep, young people. There's a practical instruction for you.
There's a lot of young people around today that like to draw their swords, and so do I, and I have to continually remind myself to put my sword back into my sheath. Prior to this, the disciples had come to the Lord and say, Lord, here are two swords. And the Lord says it's enough. It's enough. Somebody else had a sword that day and they didn't draw it. There were two. Only Peter drew his. And the Lord had to say to Peter, put thy sword back up into thy sheep.
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We can't fight the flesh with the flesh, even though there may need something that needs to be corrected, even though we may believe we're acting in defense of Christ for the Lord's honor and glory. I'm sure Peter did. He was defending his Lord. He was defending his master, the one whom he loved, and yet he did it in the flesh and it was a wrong action and he cut off a man's ear. I believe that's the same thought in a way that we have in First Corinthians chapter one where it says, I am appalled. I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and I of Christ, Those of us that might include myself in this, who would say we are a party to Christ. We defend Christ's honor and glory at all costs. And so we draw our swords and we begin to cut off ears because we're defending what we think is Christ's honor and glory. And really it is a party to Christ.
And the Lord has to say, Put up thy sword into thy sheep. The flesh will only bring out the flesh in others, and it will never act for the Lord's honor and glory. Chapter 19.
Verse 26 and 27.
Another of the final instructions of Christ. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother.
Woman, behold thy son.
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. Now we often read John 19 on Lord's Day morning with our family the whole chapter. But when we come to this particular portion with respect to remembering the Lord on Lord's Day morning, sometimes it almost jars. I'm speaking honestly, perhaps I'm wrong, but it almost jars that this would come in. At this point we're occupied with the suffering of Christ. We're occupied with His death, we're occupying with what He is for us and what He has done for us. And then this little two verse section comes in that seems to be such a digression.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe my thoughts are totally wrong. I'm wondering if other brethren ever feel that. It almost jars me that here's a here's a completely what seems to be a natural thought that comes in in the middle.
That's why I've selected it today to speak about.
Because it shows the importance that the Lord Jesus Christ placed on the family, on the family.
Family relations today among the Lord's people are badly out of order. Marriages are badly out of order, and the Lord Jesus Christ, in one of his final instructions, took care that his mother after his death was taken care of. He wanted that family to continue on in a way which was for the honor and the glory of God. Does it come as a jar, that it comes right in the middle of John 19?
Let it jar you, then let it jar you into realizing the importance that Christ placed on the family. The final instruction in John 21.
And verse.
17.
Feed my sheep.
Feed my sheep.
Now the word that's used here for seep in this verse and in the preceding verse where it says feed my sheep at the end of verse 16 is a diminutive form. I have a little note in my margin that says it's a term of tenderness and endearment. Not just a small that has nothing to do with size, but a term of affection and tenderness and endearment. And the Greek word is PROBATIONI just looked it up before this meeting.
And I suppose in Greek that's pronounced probation or probation or something like that. But if you wrote it down and looked at it, you'd say what? That's probation. That's probation.
And so these people are on probation and the Lord is saying to John, John, these people are on probation, keep an eye on them so that they don't make any mistakes, because when someone is on probation, they have to report into the probation officer. And the Lord was sorry, Peter, I think I said John, Peter here, his probation officer, a probation officer today is a legal man, a man with legal authority that if you make a step out of line, Wham, you have contravened the orders for your probation. You have not.
Stayed by the letter of the law, and consequently you're going to have to put you back in jail again. That's probation.