Address—P.B. Geveden
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Will open to the first book of the Bible.
Genesis.
Chapter 10.
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah.
Jim.
Him and Jason.
And Chapter 9, God bless Noah verse one.
And the sons?
And said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
We have here.
The mention of the three heads of the human family that would overspread the renewed Earth.
Chin and.
And Japheth.
At a much later time.
Descendants of these three.
Come to our attention in the book of Acts.
If you'll notice.
X8.
X9.
And Acts 10.
The time of the gospel had come.
And the message of God's grace was being spread abroad.
And it reaches out in its blessing to Samaria.
And next to an individual who was on the journey.
Verse 26 of chapter 8.
The Angel of the Lord speak unto Philip, saying.
Arise and go toward the South.
Under the way that goeth down from Jerusalem under Gaza, which is desert.
Dear Rose and went.
Now this could have somewhat of a gospel flavor because.
That is my more accustomed responsibility.
But it is.
A privilege to address you young people here this afternoon.
At 10 years of age, I could have been dead.
But God in his grace was pleased to raise me up so.
There is the consciousness of being here.
Sent.
Lord.
And we would indeed.
Have you to hear this word as a message from him?
We have that wonderful verse in Galatians chapter one, the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins.
That he might redeem us from this present evil world.
And this by the will of God.
Now there are just two wheels in this world. Yours.
And gods.
For my will is the same as your will, apart from God's grace.
For God's will is to bring you into blessing through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for your sins.
That He might deliver you from this present evil world.
Now you're a man. We see a man here on a journey.
Philip asked with.
Certain responsive obedience to the direction of the Angel of the Lord and leaves a very fruitful ministry in the city of Samaria and goes down into a desert where a man was traveling on a long journey.
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He had been to Jerusalem and was returning.
He had come to Jerusalem for the worship.
And he'd been disappointed there.
Where there was nothing left in Jerusalem but religion.
And religion can never bring happiness into that soul of yours.
But Christ can, and He alone.
And he only.
So we read about this incident here.
This is a descendant of Ham.
And he's on this journey, 1000 mile journey perhaps was returning and sitting in his chair at verse 28 in red Isaiah the prophet.
Isn't that?
Very important information.
That this man.
In that distant time from our day.
Was concerned.
About his need.
He wanted to find the right way for his soul.
And he'd been on this journey, perhaps in business matters, because he was the treasurer.
Of the Queen of Ethiopia.
Candace.
And he was reading this book.
What is the book that you are reading?
In this passage my desire is to bring before you the all importance of the.
Precious Word of God.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this, Jarrett.
Philip run thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah.
And he raises the question, Understand us thou what thou readest.
And he said.
How can I accept some man should guide me?
We need to be guided.
And God had arranged this interview.
And right away he desires Philip to come up and sit with him. And the place of the scripture which he read was this.
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before her, his cherub.
So opened he not his mouth.
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation?
Where his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this of himself, or of some other man?
Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture.
And preached unto him Jesus.
And in that connection, shortly he is admitted as a disciple of the Lord.
And the report that we have as he returns.
Is that he went on his way rejoicing.
We do need the scriptures and he had only the prophet Isaiah.
But he was pondering the subject that he saw before him.
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And it's so good to see that Philip could begin at that same scripture and preach unto him Jesus.
There's blessing by the word of God.
In no other way does blessing come into your life except through the precious Word of God.
This was the written word that he was considering.
And we need to consider that written word too, that we might know it, be acquainted with it.
And the furnished and every good work for all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
And suitable for our use.
Now in the next chapter we have a descendant of Shem.
The proud.
Man, that was promoting Judaism.
And bent on a deadly effort to destroy Christianity.
Before he got off the ground, so to speak.
So yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.
Where's one?
Goes to the high priests and the religious authorities, that he might clothe himself.
With the proper credentials to go down to Damascus and hail men and women and bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
A journey.
The unit journey.
Paul was on the short journey.
And we are on a journey.
And our blessed Lord took a longer journey than any of us.
We read of him in the word, having walked overnight in order to arrive in the city of Maine, just as the opportune moment when as often was being taken out to the cemetery.
He said to that widow, to mother.
Of an only son.
Weep not. And he touched the beer, the coughing. And young men, I say unto thee, Arise And thee arose. And he gave that young man to his mother.
Oh, what loveliness we discover in the pathway of that blessed perfect man of God down here on this earth where man's will works its havoc.
He was obedient under the will of God and ever did those things that pleased the Father.
He's nearing the completion of his mission. For all our soul of Tarsus in this journey.
He came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round him alight from heaven.
He fell to the earth.
Her divorce saying unto him.
Saul saw why persecutors saw me.
Oh, he is a man stricken down.
At the height of his career.
When his will was strong.
And he falls to the earth.
He finds a low position, a low level.
And he is compelled to say to own, to acknowledge the Lord.
For he says, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I'm Jesus, whom thou persecute us.
It is hard for thee to kick against the ******. No doubt he had a conscience at work.
Possibly dating from the time that he held the clothes of those that threw stones against Stephen.
And put him to death.
Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
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And I had been reported by some of our reporters of this day and time. You would have read, you know, in the news article that a man was mobbed.
But that was the viewpoint on this earth. What was heaven's viewpoint? Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints. The child of God was coming home to be with his Savior.
All is stricken down, and he realizes that his course was in direct opposition to the will of God.
The acknowledges Jesus as Lord.
And inquires, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
And he's instructed about going into the city where he would learn what he should do.
So he goes on his way. Not the same as before.
All was changed.
And God's disciple in that city.
Mennonites is instructed about what had taken place on the journey.
What had happened to this man on the road to Damascus?
The chief instrument of religion against the Lord's people.
And he's informed.
Not according to the pattern that existed before, while he was breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.
He said behold a prayer.
Have you realized that?
The necessity of prayer.
The need of a dependent spirit because you're not able to steer your course through this wicked world.
You need a guide. You need a pilot. You need the instructions of the precious Word of God.
And you need communion with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, as this vessel of mercy found communion with that blessed Savior as he went along the journey in faithfulness to the Lord and in usefulness to God's people.
Now we come to Chapter 10.
And here we have.
A special work.
That came by an unusual assignment to the Apostle Peter.
White was not his custom to go to the Gentiles.
He had never eaten anything that was common or unclean.
But he was.
Given an object lesson, while he was in the trance on the housetop waiting for the preparation of the dinner down below, we fell into a trance and he saw a sheet knitted at the four corners. Let down from heaven full of all manner 4 footed beasts.
Creeping things.
And the word to him was to rise, Peter, kill and eat. And he said, Not so, Lord.
I've never eaten anything as common or unclean. He was under the regulation of the Mosaic economy.
He knew something about the 11Th of Leviticus.
So you wouldn't dare do that, but the Lord was teaching him that God is no respecter of persons. And here we have in this man the centurion.
Of.
God had a message for him.
He was to hear words whereby he would be saved.
Although he was a devout man from the beginning of the chapter or from the beginning of his life in an earlier date at least.
We read about him in that way as it opens, and about man, one that feared God with all this house, which gave much arms to the people and prayed to God. Alway those are commendable things, aren't they?
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And in them we see that which is the right attitude toward God.
But he needed the words of salvation, the full story of the work of Christ on the cross, His death, His burial, His resurrection and ascension.
And that he's there in the glory above.
This man saw him there in the 9th chapter.
And here we have Cornelius coming into blessing.
The apostle must go.
Everything was arranged in such a detailed way, so dovetailed so to speak, that he couldn't refuse to go. When the men arrived, he would go with them. And he comes to the House of Cornelius. And in verse 34, Peter opened his mouth and said.
And oh, what a statement comes out where he says, I perceive that God is no respecter of person.
But in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
And so on.
And the facts are stated in verse 43 to him give all the prophets a witness.
That through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them which heard the word.
They have the circumcision about 6IN number which believed there were astonished.
As many as came with Peter, because on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And in verse 47 we come to the exercise of baptism, so that these at Corinth were admitted.
Into the place of blessing on the earth that is marked out by baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Then we find here that they prayed, then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
All this was a wonderful time of blessing. It was so good that they didn't want to see it stop. And they ask her and this company of men who were the servants of the Lord, to stay there days longer.
And the nature of things to a meeting like this couldn't continue day by day indefinitely.
And neither could that. Very likely that's true. But this brings before us the fact of the sweetness of the fellowship that prevails among God's people.
And although these were Jews and they were Gentiles, and that was a division, you know that.
Existed in those days.
The Jews, the Gentile, and the Church of God.
And we're glad to go back to the beginning of things because all the confusion that we see in this religious world had not come in at that time.
Men had not yet arisen speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.
And everyone in that day was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we read in First Corinthians those that had a responsibility when they were gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in connection with the exercise of discipline.
But you have an exercise today. You could be confused, but oh, it's so wonderful to know the sweetness of the fellowship of the children of God, where the unity of the Spirit is unbroken and the ministry of the Word is free from our glorified head up there.
We have the springing well within, but still the pools come down, the rain comes down to fill the pools.
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And this is so true.
That.
It's a privilege to be.
In that place of nearness to the Lord, where the ministry of His world is still unchecked, is unshackled by the arrangements of men.
You know the well known.
Verse of Matthew 1824, where two or three are gathered together under my name. They're mine in the midst of them.
And there's another verse that comes to mind. He that gathereth not with me scattered through abroad.
And that's a solemn responsibility. If you're not gathering to the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of his own, then you're working destruction among God's people. He that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad. That comes in an earlier chapter.
Join a day of division that has come in.
You have an exercise you should be concerned about what is suitable.
What is according to the word?
And what will please the Lord?
That eunuch needed the direction of the word.
He lacked in the understanding of it.
But he came to know the good of it because he got blessing in his soul and went on his way rejoicing.
And Saul of Tarsus, although hateful, insolent, overbearing men, breathing out slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.
They came a gentleman.
So that he looked after God's children just the same way that a nurse would cherish her own children.
Behold, he prayeth.
Prayer.
Is an essential thing. You need these two things, young people, the reading of the Word and the expression of your dependence upon the Lord in prayer.
And you also need the true fellowship of the people of God.
And you need not expect perfection among God's people, because we will never arrive at perfection until we are safely home in the glory.
But remember that we are on that journey.
And there can be much failure in it.
And as the sheep sometimes falls into the mud, it's uncomfortable. We are and we don't like to stay in that position.
And it's a delight to be recovered and restored and found in the way that leads onward.
In that way that is well pleasing to the Lord.
So you might need something like this in John 14 for instance.
John's Gospel chapter 14. Our Lord was going away, and he was making a provision for his disciples, those followers of his that were so grieved because they felt how it would be when he was gone from them.
In verse 18 he says, I will come to you.
Usually we read in verse three, I will come again and this we know that's a promise and it will be fulfilled and we are approaching that moment when our Lord will return in power.
And claim his redeemed people from this earth.
But in verse 18, I will come to you.
Is that future?
No, that's present. That's now.
You can have the privilege of the Lord's presence with you.
Right now, in the journey on the way, He will never leave thee nor forsake thee, but then you can come into this enjoyment of himself.
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The sense of the Father's love and affection, you can have that in your soul, and also the sweetness of the companionship of our blessed Lord and Savior.
I will come to you, verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, He it is that loveth me. This is the response of the soul to the blessed Lord, who has done so much for us.
He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.
And even more, in verse 23, Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loved me, he will keep my word.
And my father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
Oh, it's possible for you to have the consciousness of the indwelling presence of the Father and of the Son while you're in the journey on the way.
We need that communion.
And perhaps there was none that so enjoyed it as our apostle.
Saul of Tarsus converted, changed, completely different, and gave unto us that fullness of the ministry of Christ in glory, so that we are on the journey there. And oh, he was so delighted and in communion with that blessed Savior on the way. So it was very personal and real and close.
And this can be realized by you on this journey also.
But as to the confusion that has come in because of man's will at work in this world and his will at work particularly in the religious order of things, you may need a verse like this in Second Timothy. No doubt it was put here purposely for you. Second Timothy, chapter 2.
And the verse 22.
We ought to read from 19. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure.
There is something dependable.
Having the seal of the Lord knoweth them that are his.
And let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
That's your responsibility.
And iniquity is not just what you see down in this street.
Of a wicked city.
Iniquity can be an addressed up form, religious in its aspects, and there's nothing so bad in the eyes of God as a collegiate.
If it's wrong, it's wrong. It professes to be right, but it is wrong and wrong. It doesn't like that. He can have no pleasure in it. And your responsibility as a young man or as a young lady is to depart from iniquity. Let everyone that name it the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.
Then we see that the Christian profession has taken the character of a great house.
And their vessels under honor, and vessels under dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these rest 21, he shall be a vessel under honour sanctified meet for the masters use prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts. There's a danger.
And these are not necessarily crude things.
Gutter like.
We also use the lusts.
Turn away from that, but follow righteousness.
There is a right way through it all.
You can please the Lord amidst all the errors that have come in.
You can be found with the exercise of faith and the development of love, where there's blessing by the knowledge of the Lord's presence and the action of His love spread to God by the Holy Ghost among His people.
So that you find the peace.
And this is with them.
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They call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
You will be able to discern if you have taken the precious word of God in your hand and have been anxious to understand it as that unique was anxious to know what.
And if you take the direction that comes from the Lord, Lord, what will thou have me to do as Paul did?
Taking up that place of dependence, you know, Jonah prayed, Daniel prayed, others prayed, and Paul prayed. Our Lord Himself prayed, as we have it seven times in Luke's Gospel.
We even have some of the prayers of the Apostle Paul recorded for our instruction. Those are wonderful prayers.
In Ephesians chapter one and chapter 3.
We don't have on record, you know, that he was saying the Lord's Prayer, so-called.
If you pray that prayer, you're really asking for our judgment to come.
So this is the word that we need.
And it's so sad when we come to the address to Thyatira in the end of the third chapter of Revelation, where our Lord is outside knocking on the door and saying, standing there and saying, If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and suffer with him, and he with me.
The Lord wants His place in your heart.
That never happened to Paul.
And we trusted. Not so in your case.
All the words and that taking that place of dependence will bring you into the realization of the blessing that you need in your soul on the journey that you're pursuing.
As we move about, we see people, those that have followed after the Lord and have gone according to His word. And sometimes they contrast is very sharp. Here's a family under their descendants and they've sought to follow the Lord and they stand out as a marked contrast to another family perhaps.
Haven't followed the Lord, they turned to this world.
It shows up.
The memory of the justice blessed.
The name of the wicked Charlotte.
Which is the better Rd.
The narrow way.
Other Broadway.
Now perhaps we ought to notice something in.
Acts 15 as connected with Acts 10, not that it's necessarily linked together in a close way.
But a question come up came up in the history of the early church.
With regard to the Gentiles and the preaching of the gospel to them.
That was necessary to have a very.
Certain decision about this.
And there was a gathering together of the elders and the apostles and the people, the Saints in Jerusalem.
And there was much discussion or much disputing about the import of this great matter, that the Gentiles ought to be circumcised and keep the law.
But they arrived at the right decision and coming down to verse 29.
And without going into the details of the beginning of the chapter.
There are necessary things in the end of the other verse.
And no greater burden was to be imposed upon the Gentiles.
Then these necessary things.
Which were true before the law of Moses was never given.
Unsuitable for them?
That you abstain from meats.
And reading that again that you abstain from meats offered to idols.
And from blood, and from things strangled.
And from fornication.
From which, if you keep yourselves, you shall do well.
Very well.
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All these are very important things.
A regulation that was suitable.
And it was not the imposition of a yoke of ******* during which they had.
Been under, and which the fathers nor we have been able to bear, as Peter describes it.
But this was for their good.
Idolatry is an outrage against God.
He's the one that he worshipped.
And he alone is to have the supreme place.
And this madman on the way to Damascus, said Lord.
Have you submitted?
Won't you surrender to Jesus as your Lord in order that you might pursue that pathway of happiness through this world that ends in eternal glory?
The blood of Abel that was shed on the ground called her vengeance God's judgment.
The blood of Jesus Christ shed at Calvary's cross calls for your blessing.
The blessing of all the descendants of Noah.
They only got blessings. Saul of Tarsus was blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, and Cornelius received blessing. And so we have received blessing too. And how did it come to us? The precious word of God has presented the blood of Christ as the only remedy for sin.
We've been washed and cleansed in the precious flow that came from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Their calories cross.
And they were to abstain from things strangled as another way of taking life.
Slowing down the process.
And though sometimes, you know, we come to the responsibility of speaking when someone has been called away to be with his Lord and the glory.
And there are those that tell us of that assignment that is allotted to all men that we'll have to pay this debt.
Two things sure, taxes and deaths.
That's the general appointment of man.
But the servant of God should not be under the ******* of death.
Because our Lord has broken the bars of death, and when he comes.
Will be translated.
Will not pass through the article of death.
Things strangled. And that's what happens in the religious machinery of this world.
You get into something where there's a majority that rules or some other system of church order prevails.
And you lose your voice, you're overwhelmed, and you have to go along with that, which is wrong.
All the safe places with Christ in the midst, our Lord Jesus Christ gathered to his name alone.
It's better, you know, to go forth.
Locusts in Proverbs 30 without a king.
No visible head. The head of the church is Christ where his members down here.
And though it's a privilege to act according to that membership and in that testimony that the people of God are one people here in this world.
As they were in the beginning and shall be in the end, despite the fact of the visions that exist now.
So we read here these things.
That you abstain from meat suffered idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication.
Now we've had something on that order already.
The sorrow and danger of breaking through the hedges.
Man is to no woman only in the sanctity of marriage.
There is a great break in that kind of thing nowadays, so that sometimes they want to have a Daisy waiting.
And they require that no mention be made of God.
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Trying to throw off all restraint. These things are for the blessing of men, and God has ordained that these things should be.
Regulatory among his people and when we adhere to the word, if we take this precious word and seek an understanding of it and walk in that way of dependence.
Fellowship of God's people, we will find ourselves on that journey you know, that ends in a abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom, so that our path is like the just man that shineth more and more in the light of it, until that perfect day.
That's a proverb from the third chapter. So that's the entrance that we should wish.
An abundant entrance into the Everlasting Kingdom.
That Kingdom that shall never be moved.
And into the presence of our blessed Lord, who loved us and gave himself for us.
That He might deliver us from this present evil world.
And that we might to go through it. You can't correct it.
It is not possible for you to correct this world. The Lord didn't try to correct it. He didn't want his disciples to pull out the tears. Or there's a new world, there's a new order of blessing, there's a new creation, and our risen Savior is the head of that new creation and glory, and we belong to that. And only that is worthwhile, which is according to that blessed pattern of divine things.