YP Address—B. Ansty
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By.
The way.
I have many friends.
And great for the rain.
Let's turn to Matthew Chapter 11, the 11Th chapter of Matthews Gospel.
And verse 28.
Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Now in Matthew chapter 16.
Verse 24.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me?
Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
I've read 2 verses here this afternoon. You're young people, and these two verses bring before us two calls of our Lord Jesus. A call first of all to come unto him for salvation, and then secondly, in this 16th chapter of Matthew, a call to come after him in the pathway. And it is my purpose here this afternoon to speak on the subject of.
Of following Christ in the pathway, perhaps we could say the path of discipleship.
00:05:00
And more particularly, the terms or conditions of discipleship. But it's nice to see just at the opening of this meeting here, these two verses put side by side a call, first of all, to come unto the Lord Jesus Christ, to know him as Savior, to have our burden of our sins taken away. And we hope that that's the case for each one of us here, both young and old, that we know of the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We've received that joy of forgiveness, and we know what it is to have our sins put away, and we're putting our faith and trust in the finished work of our Lord Jesus.
But the second call is the burden of the address this afternoon, and we want to speak more specifically of it. And that is the call that the Lord Jesus gave to his disciples, that they would come after him, not unto him now, but after him, that is, after him in the pathway. And this is where the joy of the Christian life can be experienced. And following Christ in the pathway. There's an initial joy in knowing the Lord is our savior, to know your sins are gone, that you're not going to end in a lost eternity. Of course there's a great joy.
But to have lasting, constant joy in our pathway, we need to be following the Lord Jesus in a daily way to come after Him as these words are given to us.
And so let's turn over to the 14th chapter of Luke's Gospel.
And look at some of the conditions of discipleship and see how they apply.
To our lives.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 14.
And let's begin reading at verse 25.
There went great multitudes with him. That's the Lord Jesus.
And he turned and said unto them, If any man come after me, or come to me?
And hate not his father and his mother and his wife and children and brethren and sisters. Yeah, his own life also.
He cannot be my disciple. Whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple, For which of you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down 1St, and count of the cost whether he has sufficient to finish it. Less happily, after he had laid the foundation, he is not able to finish it, and all but behold, it begin to mock him saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Well, what king going to make war against another king sitteth not down 1St and consult us whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000 or else, while in the other well, the other is yet in a great way off he sends an ambassador.
And desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Salt is good. But if the salt is lost, his savior, wherewith shall he be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill. But then cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear Later We have some conditions that the Lord Jesus laid down for the disciples.
There was a great multitude that were following him that day and listening to his teachings, and he turned to them, and he gave these words that we've just read, if any man come to me and hate not his father, and so on. And what we have here are the conditions of discipleship, and it's our desire here this afternoon, dear young people, that your life would have the commitment of wanting to have Christ in the first place in your life. And that involves, of course, discipleship, as we have here in this chapter.
There are four conditions particularly that I'd like to bring out here that are necessary if we're going to take the path. I've said this before and I've got it from older brethren, but it bears repeating here this afternoon. And that is that all Christians will have a happy ending because all Christians are going to end in the glory someday. But while all Christians have an happy ending, not all Christians have a happy life, and that is because they are not willing to take up with the following Christ in the pathway.
They are content, shall we say, to know that their sins are forgiven and that they are on the road to heaven.
But to take up with following Christ, and to applying the principles of Scripture in their life, and to live that life, that would be the happy, flowing, fruitful Christian life they know nothing of, and they of course lose the joy. Now we don't want anyone to want to make a beginning and then not carry on the Lord here in the same chapter where he lays out the subject of the Great Supper, which is a picture of the Gospel going out both to the Jew and to the Gentile.
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He also brings up the conditions of discipleship because it's connected. It's in the mind of God that he should have not only those who are saved for glory, but he might have them happy and fruitful in their lives. And this is what we want to see in each one of us, beginning with the speaker and applied to all of us here. Well, the Lord Jesus first of all brings out the first principle, and that is that there needs to be supreme love and devotion to the master.
Above all other loves or interests in this world.
In fact, all other interests or loves are looked at in contrast to the love that we should have for the Lord Jesus as being hatred. Now he's not speaking literally that we should hate one another, because the teachings of our Lord Jesus are very clear elsewhere that we're not to hate our fellow man, much less our brother or sister than the Lord. But yet he uses that word here, but more in the way of contrast and in comparison to the love and devotion that we should have to the Lord Jesus.
There is to be for all other loves or relationships that we may have or interests in this world. It should be looked upon as hatred. So he says, and hate not his father and his mother and his wife and children and brothers and sisters and so on. In his own life. He cannot be my disciple. Now the subject here is not salvation. The subject is discipleship. He's not saying you cannot be saved, but he's saying you cannot be my disciple, that is a disciple, indeed one in heart and in practice.
And as I've already said, the joy in the Christian pathway is in the discipleship.
And so we need to have supreme love for our Lord Jesus and devotion to Him.
That would come above in priority over all other connections that we may have in life, whether it's the parents, brothers or sisters or ever any interest that we may have in our life. Now let me ask this question, young people here Is this something that characterizes your life.
Is your life characterized by having one sole object that is Christ and his interest in this world? You know, if you're going to come after him in the past, that's what is required. These things were laid out to the multitude at the very beginning, and we need to understand this right at the beginning of our Christian life. That is going to require Christ being first in everything, and it says here also His own life also.
His own life also.
It's not so much here, the hating the old sins of the life before we're saved. Well, it might take that in, but it's more of a thought of our own life. Our life in this world is going to be sacrificed if we're going to have Christ in that first place. And nothing could illustrate this more clearly than what we see in the athletes that are getting ready for the Olympic Games that are supposed to be coming on shortly. You see these athletes that have devoted their lives to.
Attaining some glory in this world, and it's something that they have really, in a sense, as it says in Matthew's Gospel, that he must lose his life.
That is, all other interests that he may have have to be set aside if he's going to get this goal, and it may take years of sacrifice. What they eat, what they do, they're not allowed to play in the other sports because they might get injured or muscles may be turned in a different way and that could be very careful to go to bed so early. Some of them are incredible what sacrifices they have to make in order to reach this earthly goal that is only to do with the glory that this world can offer.
Is incredible.
But it it does illustrate to us, and I think the Apostle Paul uses the Olympic Games in a verse in Timothy as an illustration of the sacrifice that is really needed to lose our lives. The interest that we may have naturally speaking, are going to have to be set aside if Christ is going to have that first place. We're going to have to lose our life in that sense.
I'm not saying that we cannot enjoy the things of life. We're not saying that young people have to.
Give up that some recreation you may enjoy. Whatever. But if the point is in comparison to these things that may be an interest to us, They have to be looked at and on the level and on the plane of hatred in comparison to the love and the devotion that there needs to be to the Lord Jesus. Now are we up to this? Are we prepared to not allow any pursuit or interest that we may have in our life to come in the way of Christ and his claims? Oh dear young people, it's the only way.
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To have a happy, fruitful Christian life. And so it's not just the connections that we have in life naturally, but even our own life also. We cannot be a disciple. Let's look at another.
In verse 27, And whatsoever or whatsoever does not bear his cross, and come after me cannot be my disciple. Here we have another condition, and that is the acceptance of the cross and the bearing of the cross, which means in my mind.
The necessity of identifying ourselves with Christ, the one who is rejected.
You see, this world gave Christ a cross, didn't want him, and the cross stands for the rejection of this world. And so the person that takes up with a path, a following Christ must at the outset understand that it's a rejected Savior that we're following, and we must accept the fact that we are identifying ourselves with one who is rejected. The verse is not saying that we are to bear His cross, that sometimes we hear hymns being put that way, that we we bear His cross.
No.
We're not called to bear the cross of Christ, but here it says bear his cross is referring to the disciples cross.
Each one of us have a cross to bear because if we identify ourselves with Christ, we are too are going to get the rejection.
And the treatment that this world.
Would put upon Christ, and in that sense we are going to have a cross too. And what he's saying here is that we need to understand that that is normal to following Christ in the pathway. We cannot sidestep rejection.
It is part of following Christ in the pathway and we need to be prepared at the outset to accept the path of rejection. So it's not popular to be a Christian. I'm trying to say, if you think that you can maintain connections with the worldly people that you may go to school with or have a job with or whatever, and to be looked upon and well thought of, and we all like to be well thought of, don't we? With people like that, you better get it in your mind very clearly here that you cannot be on good terms, so to speak, or to be well thought of or to be accepted.
With persons that have no love for the Lord Jesus and still.
Be a disciple indeed. The two just don't go together, and so we need to be careful that this is preached in the Gospel too. Wayne and I have been speaking about this recently that sometimes the Gospel meetings are presented like a fire escape from a burning building, and so a person's glad to take the fire escape to get out of the burning building. But the conditions of receiving Christ.
That is repentance and conversion.
Are not emphasized as they once were, and consequently there are many Christians that take up with Christ, receive Him as Savior. And really repentance with regard to the old wife has not been worked out, and by and by creates difficulty and problems in the pathway later. And so it needs to be emphasized in the gospel. We need to realize right at the beginning that repentance which means to have a changed mind.
And a passing of judgment upon all that we have done and what we are is necessary in the path. And it's an exercise that carries on through the Christian life. You know, it says there in the 15th chapter that there's joy in the presence of the angels over 1 Sinner. That is, repenting should be translated repenting as an ongoing exercise because repentance. We should always have a changed mind towards sin and a life that was once lived.
If a person stops repenting, he's going to go back into that.
And so it's often been said that confession is an act, but repentance is a process that goes on through the life, and we should never cease to repent.
Getting away from my subject here a little bit, but repentance is different than from conversion. To conversion is to have the heart turned around to God, but repentance is to have the life turned away from sin. They go together. We can't separate them. And it's necessary that these things are laid down in the gospel. That people understand that to receive Christ does not mean that we're going to be popular in this world, and so we need to realize that we're going to have a cross to bear.
Are we ready for it, Young people? You're not going to be popular. If you thought that you were going to be popular and still go with Christ and be popular, I'm speaking with the world.
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The two just don't go together and if you can in some way maintain popularity with the world as a Christian, you've compromised somewhere along the line because it is normal to Christianity to have a cross to bear. And again it's to do with discipleship, not salvation, the next condition. In verse 28 he speaks about building a tower and that the importance of sitting down 1St and counting the cost.
That we'd be able to finish the tower. And so here he brings in an illustration and speaks about the Christian testimony in life. Life is likened unto building a tower in this world. And when we get saved, it's like laying the foundation. And when we finish our Christian life, the whole course is like completing the tower. And the importance that is emphasized here in this condition that the Lord lays down is that there needs to be commitment that's going to go the distance.
Of our life. There are many people that take up with following Christ, but fall by the way, so to speak.
Because they did not sit down 1St and count the cost. Commitment was there, perhaps, but it wasn't commitment that was ready to go the distance, so to speak.
And we need to sit down and count the cost, because it's going to cost us everything to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. That is a disciple indeed.
And so you and I are building a testimony in this world, just like the building of a tower here, so to speak.
But what happens if we have not counted the cost and we leave off building it? We turn aside, shall we say in some way or another? And I'm not saying that every Christian that ceases to walk on the path of being gathered to the Lord's name and so on, goes off into debauchery or something. But still the idea is that if we leave off with the fallen Christ in the pathway.
We are going to receive, we're going to have a poor testimony rendered to the world. And so that next verse goes on and speaks about those that begin to they behold him. And believe me, the world is watching. You may not think that you're so important that the world would want you, but they watch, at least out of the corner of their eye.
And but it says they that all that behold it begin to mock. Then they begin to say, yeah, he started but he cannot finish. He was carrying a Bible, but I don't see that anymore.
So we need to be careful that when we begin the Christian pathway that there is commitment.
That will go all the distance of our life, and for that we need to cast ourselves wholly on the Lord Jesus.
For without him we cannot go. There's a hymn that we sing like that.
And so we need to count the cost.
Count the cost.
So if we could just look at this now in summary of the first three that we've looked at so far, there needs to be supreme love.
For the master beyond all other loves. And then the acceptance of the path of rejection, and then thirdly.
The.
Need to.
Have commitment that is not just for a beginning but to carry on through the life. You know, there are many people I've already mentioned this, that begin well in the Bible. I'm speaking now. They begin well but don't end very well. And there are some that didn't begin very well, but they ended quite well.
Well, in one sense I suppose we could say we don't want to be either. We want to begin well and end well, don't we? But nevertheless.
It's the continuance in the pathway and I think there was a verse that was quoted here in the the Bible. Reading this morning, I think it went like this impatient continuance of well doing that is part of the terms of discipleship that we might continue in the path. There was a young brother that was gathered recently, not too long ago anyway, in the assembly where I came from and I was so excited I was ready to set off.
Fireworks, so to speak. You know, he's going on very well. He's taking up with written ministry and really doing well. And so I said that to one of my older brothers there that I've been around so much longer than I have and far more experienced in the past. I said to the brother, isn't it nice that brother so and so is going on so well? It just makes me rejoice.
And he said wisely.
Yes, he's made a good beginning. He's made a good start.
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I went away thinking about that. It wasn't that he was not happy about that, but he knew that the path is not a Sprint race, but it's an endurance race. We learn from Hebrews 12 That we need to continue in the pathway, Paul told Timothy continues. All and the things which thou hast learned, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And so let me emphasize this, young people, you may have made a good start. We thank God for it. Thank the Lord for that, but cast yourself upon him.
That you may finish well.
That you might finish what you set out to build because you don't want to bring any.
Bad testimony upon the Lord Jesus in this world. It says in Romans chapter 2 That the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.
And so we don't want to bring any dishonor upon the Lord Jesus if we have a life that only goes part way.
Now let's look at another condition. Here in verses 31 and 32, the Lord brings up another illustration and he says it's like a king going to make war with another king. He sits down 1St and he consults with, I guess his generals or whatever, and he consults and realizes that he has 10,000 and the other king has 20,000. I believe it is. The point here is that we need to have a true estimate of the power of the enemy to which we.
Are going against.
In conflict, the Christian needs to, at the very outset of the pathway, have a true estimate of the enemy's power and to realize and conclude that we are no match for the enemy if we can, if we think that we are able for the enemy and self-confidence, we're going to fight the Christian fight and so on. We're going to find out, like many have found out, that you can't do it on your own. The enemy is more powerful than we are and we need to realize this at the very beginning.
Christian life that we're in an enemy's land and the conflict is greater than we can handle.
And the enemy is stronger than we can handle.
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We have the Lord who is stronger than the enemy, and we need to cast ourselves upon him that he would keep us and give us to be able to be victorious in the Christian life. And so we need to really understand this. You know, there are many Christians that just don't get a hold of this as they are, and I suppose perhaps maybe all of us don't just realize how powerful the enemy is.
How subtle he is, and particularly young people who may not just realize that the enemy is so much more wiser than we are. And so to realize this at the beginning of the pathway is of utmost importance, that we're going against an enemy that is more powerful than we are, but we are ready and we are able, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Now notice what happens here in verse 32. If we haven't really sat down and realized this, what happens? Well, it says, while the other is yet great way off, he sends us an ambassador. Desiring conditions of peace, in other words, gets into the conflict and realize this is a little bit stronger than I thought.
And what happens is it begins to compromise to the enemy.
You might say he sells out to the enemy. And how many Christians?
Having one way or another compromised with the enemy have sold out, so to speak, to the enemy and their lives are lived under the power of the enemy as it says here to make peace with the enemy. Oh what a sad thing that a Christian would want to make peace with the enemy of their soul.
But there are many that have done this very thing. We need to have this set out before us. At the beginning, we're in an enemy's land and it is not easy. And there are so many Christians that have compromised with the enemy, with the world and live their lives in compromise. And it would be a sorrow to our hearts here as any of the young people would turn that way. But, you know, statistically speaking.
Many go that way. This is a very sorrowful thing to build for me to report if we were to wind the clock back maybe 10 or 20 years, let's say.
Many of the young people that made a good start, we wonder where they are today.
Could it be that some of these conditions were not?
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Not considered in the presence of God. You know, there's a question that was raised this morning in the Bible reading, well, what's wrong with conformity with the world? Remember that comment, I think, Brother Ron, what's wrong with conformity to the world? I jotted down a few things. First of all, you can't enjoy fellowship with the world and with the Father at the same time. That's what's wrong with the world. You cannot. First, John 215 tells us that you cannot enjoy a fellowship with the Father and at the same time have fellowship with the world. The two don't get together. You're either going to have fellowship with the world or with the Father and the Son.
But you can't have them go on at the same time. That's one reason. Here's another one.
Your heart's affection for Christ is going to be become restricted. Second Corinthians 611 to 14. You know he speaks about the Corinthians who had a difficulty with separation from the world, conforming to the world, and he speaks about how that their hearts were being restricted.
And he speaks about the hearts needing to be enlarged. Then he goes on to say, but be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, because it's connected, you see. It's going to restrict our affections for Christ.
Thirdly, the world and fellowship with the world are enjoying its entertainments and pleasures and so on. Withers are appetite for the word of God. That's numbers 11, verse six. You can look them up at some other time. We don't have the time to look at each of these. Fourthly, the world and fellowship with the world has an effect of desensitizing our morals. That was touched on this morning a bit I believe Genesis 19, verse 8.
Simply, the Spirit of God is hindered in our lives. Ephesians 5 and 18.
And then 6th we lose our discernment.
Hosea 7 verses 8 through 10.
And then last the 7th. There's probably more, but we lose our power and testimony with the world like Genesis 19 and verse 14 two.
So there's at least seven different reasons why we don't want to be conformed to this world.
Do you want to lose fellowship with the Father and the Son? Do you want to lose discernment or affection for Christ? We have our appetite for the Word of God become dried up.
Or many of these other things I have mentioned. Of course we don't. But yet many there are whose lives are ending up in compromise with the world. Young people. It's going to take all of your commitment and energy and seeking grace from the help of the Lord. If you're going to come through to the other side, you know there's a verse there and that second Peter chapter one that we might make an abundant entrance into the Kingdom.
Everlasting Kingdom.
You've probably heard the story of the illustration of that it's like 2 battleships that have been out at sea for a long time and they're they come back in they've been beaten a little bit in the battle but they've won the war and they're coming back into the port and one of the captains is just glad to get in he flies he comes in half limping so to speak and but the other captain because he knows that there's many of the people in the town that are waiting and.
Flying flags and all of that.
He tells the men to patch up the ship as best you can, and to paint up the ship. So they'd get out a bucket of paint and they'd paint up the ship. They'd get the deck as best as they can and make it look somewhat presentable as they came into port. And here we have these two ships in a contrast, and it's been likened unto the Christian making an abundant entrance, coming in under full sail as ones who have fought and have won. Now some have looked at the abundant entrances, the idea of being.
Having an abundant entrance into heaven. That's not the thought. That's a misunderstanding of the verse. It's not an abundant entrance into the heaven, but rather the abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom. That's when Christ comes back.
And all the Saints with him and glory, he's going to make it. We're going to make an abundant entrance into the Kingdom.
As he comes to display his people before this world and will be admired and all them that believe, we want to have an abundant entrance into that Kingdom. But our entrance into the Kingdom in that day is reflected on how we're going to go on today here in this world.
And so that begins with discipleship.
Well, there's a number of people in the Bible who don't have time to look at them. Now we only have about 5 minutes, but there's a number of people that came to the Lord Jesus in the past and he called them to follow him in the past. But in each one of them, you'll notice that they were tested one way or the other and would be very nice for us to be able to take them up here. But I'll just kind of go over them very quickly here, a few of them anyway. And this tells us something, and that is that.
00:35:25
Every person that takes the path of faith is going to be tested. Underline that every one of us that takes the path of faith are going to be tested on that very thing because God wants and will have reality. Psalm 51 and verse six says that he desires truth on the inward part. He wants a life that is real, not outwardly only, but inwardly as well. And so we find for instance, if you turn back to Luke chapter 5.
You'll see there, Peters called, I think, and James.
And so on too. But they're called in the pathway and the Lord turns to them and says, follow me. But you know the context of the story in First and the shift of Luke. It's when Peter was out to sailing and they were fishing. They toiled all night. They couldn't get any fish. When they came to shore in the morning, the Lord Jesus was there. He asked Lone of the boat. He preached from the boat that day. And after the preaching was over, he told Peter to go for the launch force into the deep. And you know what happened? He caught a great multitude of fish.
You know he lacked faith there. You probably noticed that the Lord said, Let down your Nets, plural. Let down your neck. Peter let down his net, singular. And he he got the net, but it broke, you know, the fish were everywhere. Killed their boats. The boat was sinking with so many fish and they got to land. They had the biggest day in business they ever had.
And the Lord right at that time says, follow me, follow me. There's the test. The test is on.
He had an opportunity to make a lot of money, and that's exactly when the Lord called him.
You know, I've often thought of this story.
If the Lord had called him after the night where he had toiled and taken nothing, they would have been glad to let go of their Nets and go. They hadn't got any fish. They had a bad day at business, shall we say. They probably saying to one another a better profession than this. If there's something else I could get into, I'd be glad to take it. And so if the Lord had come, then it would have been easy to get a side, set aside the fishing. But that would have been a what do we speak of as a dead sacrifice? And I think it's in the Old Testament there.
A sacrifice has really died of itself.
But the Lord waited until Peter had the best day of business that he ever had. And then he says, follow me. It's a test.
The test was on and thankfully there rose above the situation forsook all as it says and they followed him. And so the the point here is, am I willing to put the Lord Jesus?
Before making money and my job in this world.
You're going to be tested on it, young people. You're going to be tested on it because this world and the enemy of your soul is interested, of course, and not making a fall of Christ. And he might just allow you to be so absorbed in in business and in money and and your job and so on, that you may be distracted from hearing the claims and following and surrendering your life to the claims of our Lord Jesus.
And so here's one that was tested.
We have a couple more minutes. There's Matthew later in the 5th chapter, the Lord Jesus sees him taking money at the at the seat of custom there, and he had a very high position and he says to him, follow me. And now the test was on, was he ready to give up a high position in this world where people looked at him and he was something that's true, that the Pharisees didn't like this, but he had a position. Was he willing to give that up?
For Christ, and again he rises above the test, and passes it, so to speak, and follows him.
And you can go through your Bible. I think there's seven or ten different ones that were called to follow him. And in each one of them you'll see this is a little study for you to look at afterwards. You'll see that there was a test connected with each one. And you know, as I've already said, that each one of us to take the path of faith are going to be tested. The Lord is going to see whether there's reality to our confession of our faith. And all I can say is May God give us the grace.
To come through and to give him that rightful place, you know, the 18th chapter. Give you another one Here. We've got one more minute.
00:40:03
The 18th chapter there. Remember that young man? He was wealthy. He had lots of possessions.
And you'll find there that he comes. What much did I do to inherit eternal life? He wasn't thinking of eternal life in the sense that John puts it or Paul puts it. He was thinking of living forever in this world because he had all this possessions, he had money and everything. He figured I could just live forever in this. This would be great. So that's kind of like the thoughts of many young believers. They just think would be just great if my life could just carry on the way it is. I'm healthy. I'm strong. I'm not sick and.
And the Lord Jesus quoted the commandments to him, but he didn't quote the mall. You've probably noticed that Luke 18, There's two.
Stones, shall we say there were certain commandments that were to do with man's responsibility to God. I think it's the first four of the 10 commandments, and then the last six are to do with man's responsibility toward his fellow man. So the Lord didn't quote those ones toward God. He quoted his responsibilities toward his fellow man. And you'll notice he goes down the list quoting five of the six. Five of the six commandments are quoted, and he leaves off.
A certain one, which every Jew, of course, would have committed to memory the the commandments. And the one he left off was, Thou shalt not covet.
And so the young man says, well, all these things are kept from my youth up. And so the Lord says well.
Go and sell all that you have, take up the cross and follow me. But the point is the Lord did not say to him you haven't kept the commandments.
Because his difficulty, you know, was that he coveted what he had and when the test was on with him, the poor man failed and he said he went away sorrowful because he had a lot of possession.
And so we don't let our possessions get in the way of pleasing the Lord Jesus, do we? Now that's not difficult when you're a young believer because you don't have many possessions, But the older you get work for a while, you've got you can able to acquire things. It becomes more of a danger. But the point I'm trying to get at least one of the points here is it is interesting the way in which the Lord ministered to that dear soul. He didn't say Thou shalt not covet.
He left the young man to conclude that on his own, because everyone, every Jew would have those things committed to memory, just like we know our ABC's. But I said you ABCD, you know what comes after that. And so as the Lord quoted each of the commandments and then he stopped, he left. For the young man to bring the conclusion home that covers this was his problem.
And so we need to be careful, don't we?
May the Lord give us His grace to do so, if I could just stand closing young people.
Give him the blossom of your life, not the fallen leaf. I said that before I know, given the blossom of your life, not the fallen leaves. Don't wait until you get older and then say, well, then I'll turn my life over to him.
No, the time is now. And may I put it this way, the test is on. The test is on for all of us. Are we going to put Christ 1St? And our life is going to show when I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and He shows me His plan for me.
The plan of my life as it has been, as it might have been had he had his way. And I see how I blocked him here and checked him there, and I would not yield my will. Will there be grief in my saviors eyes? Grief, though he loves me still. He would have me rich, but I stand there poor, robbed of all but his grace, while my memory runs like a haunted thing down the path. I cannot retrace Lord of the years that are left to me.
I give them to thy hand, take me, break me, mold me to the pattern that Dallas plant.
Let's pray.