Gresham Conference: 1974

Table of Contents

1. David and Jonathan
2. Having a Right Perspective
3. The Lord's Table and Supper

David and Jonathan

Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Chapter 17 Beginning at the 55th verse. And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, and he said unto Abner, the captain of the host Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is?
And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the Saul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan.
Loved him as his own soul and Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.
And Jonathan stripped himself of the road that was upon him, and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow, and to his girdle. And Saul went out, whither David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servant. Would you also turn with me to Second Samuel? Second Samuel.
Chapter 15 and verse 19 Then said the king to Edei the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place, and abide with the king. For thou art a stranger and also an exile. For as thou camest but yesterday should I this day make thee go up and down with us.
Seeing I go, whether I may return now and take back thy brethren, Mercy and truth be with thee and Eddie. I answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my Lord the King liveth, surely in what place my Lord the King shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.
And David said to Eddie, I go and Passover, and Eddie I the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him, and all the country wept with a loud voice. And all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people passed over toward the way of the wilderness.
Then if you'll turn over also to the 19th chapter second.
Samuel 19 and verse 24. And Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore when it's not thou with me, Mephibosheth. And he answered, My Lord, O king, my.
Deceive me, for thy servant said I will saddle me and ask that I may ride thereon and go to the king, because thy servant is lame.
And he hath slandered thy servant unto my Lord the King, but as my Lord the King. But my Lord the King is as an Angel of God. Do therefore what is good in thine eyes. For all of my father's hosts were but dead men before my Lord the King. Yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eateth thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the King? And the King said unto him, Why speakest thou any more?
Thy matters I have said, Thou and Ziba divide the land. And Mephibosheth said unto the king, Yeah, let him take all, forasmuch as my Lord the King is come again in peace unto his own house fell. In these three portions that we have, there are three men brought before us, Jonathan and Brazilii and Mephibosheth. And I believe that each one of us bring before us different manner, a different manner in which there is devotedness to.
Christ. In the first instance, perhaps we could say about Jonathan, and that there was one who was drawn to David as victorious. In the second incident we find one who was drawn to David as being the rejected 1 And in the third instance, in the case of Mephibosheth, we find one who was drawn to David as the one who was the returning king.
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And so there are different ways in which our hearts too may be attracted to the Lord Jesus.
US, and I believe we can also say this.
Not in the measure in which we desire to give the Lord Jesus his rightful place. In that measure, how we find that there is misunderstanding and rejection. So we find when Jonathan wanted to give David his rightful place as the victor, as Saul didn't understand him, and he took quite a bit of rejection and hatred from Saul. And then with Idi, what a thing it was for him to identify himself with David in his rejection.
He was a stranger and an exile, and to be identified with David in his rejection was a real step of faith. And then for Mephibosheth he was misunderstood, He was slandered. But nevertheless all his hopes centered in the one who was going to return, who had returned there, and who had said everything right. And what is sometimes remarked that we face, we face a reproach in the measure.
Which the Lord Jesus has his rightful place in our lives. When we acknowledge Him as Savior, we find the world doesn't appreciate that. We find the world is against us. But when we want to make Him as our object and follow Him in His rejection, then we find that we face still more of the misunderstanding and rejection of the world because we're identified with Him.
And then if we're really looking for the Lord to come.
Why then still more do we find that the world doesn't have any place for us? Because the world is not looking for the return of our precious Savior. No, that's going to be an interference with all their plans for Him to come back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Why? It tells us in Revelation that when the announcement is made, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. It says the nations were angry.
They weren't glad that He was going to have his rightful place, nor the world would rather have its troubles. It would rather have its turmoil and its strife. It would rather have its strikes and confusion. And oil shall have the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, how blessed it is that those of us in this room this afternoon who know Him as our Savior have found in him the one who has met our need. And it's a blessed thing, brethren, when we truly make Him our all.
In all, when we're content not only to know Him, a Savior, but to follow Him in the path that He has marked out for us, surely it's the path of true happiness and blessing. Because what is it that's going to make us supremely happy in heaven? Why, It's because we'll be with Him and like Him. Yes, He is the one who is going to make us supremely happy there. And in the measure in which we give Him His place, we taste more and more of those joys.
Even here. And that's what He wants us, as we have in the 15th chapter of John, when the Lord Jesus was going away, in the very chapter where he told them about the hatred of the world, He said He spoke those things to them that their joy might be full. He wanted them to have a portion in Himself that would really fill and satisfy their hearts. Well, the reason I began to read in this 17th chapter of First Samuel is because it tells.
Here that when Saul saw David go out to fight with Goliath, he asked who this young man was. Now this is very strange because previous to this time David had played the harp in his presence. This wasn't the first acquaintance that King Saul had had with David. He had seen him, he had enjoyed the playing of his harp. And why was it that he asked on this occasion, Why, who is this young man?
Ah, dear friend.
The world is glad to know God and glad to know Christ as the one who gives rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and they're glad to turn to him when they're in sickness, that they might have their health restored. But they don't know him as a savior. They haven't been introduced to him in that way. There are many people say, Oh yes, we all believe in God. We're not Hindus, we're not Mohammedans. No, of course we believe in God and we believe in.
Jesus. And so Saul actually knew David before this, but he didn't know him as the victor over Goliath. And dear friends, you may know about God, you may have heard about the Lord Jesus from your childhood, you may have learned verses, but you know him as the one who went to Calvary's cross and died for you. Can you say I know him as my own personal Savior?
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Why even Abner here when they ever when?
Saul asked him. He said, Who is he? Abner said, Well, he said, I don't know either. Well, he said, you better inquire. And so when he inquired, it says, And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. Yes, he didn't know him, but he saw him coming back with the head of the Philistine in his hand. He saw him as a victor. And oh, I hope that.
There's anyone here that has never been brought to know the Lord Jesus as the one who has gone into death and has conquered death, the one who there on Calvary's cross took our place as the sin bearer. I hope that you will be brought to know him this afternoon and that he will no longer be a stranger to you, but that instead you'll be able to say He is my own personal Savior.
But there's something very sad about this that even when.
Saul found out who this young man was. He didn't seem to be very much interested in knowing more about him. He seemed to be quite indifferent about knowing about him. But there's one thing that's very beautiful, and that is that Jonathan, his son, who was there on this occasion, took an entirely different attitude about this young man, David.
And so perhaps your father is saved. Perhaps your mother is saved.
Perhaps someone in your family is saved, but what about yourself? There was a tremendous difference between Saul and Jonathan. As far as we know, Saul went into a lost eternity. As far as we know, he died as he lived without a savior and his own son. Here we find one who was truly devoted to David, who truly loved him as it tells us, as his own soul. And the fact that you have a father who saved, or perhaps the fact you might even.
Even have a child that's saved. Now, that doesn't mean that you don't have to have a personal dealing with the Lord yourself. You must receive Him yourself. You must be brought to him as a Sinner and find in him the one who died for you. You can then say, like that verse that was quoted in the Sunday school, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Oh yes, it becomes an exceedingly personal matter. What a grand thing.
When you can truly say he's my savior.
Well, we don't find here that that David was talking to Jonathan at all. He was talking to King Saul and he apparently spoke to Abner. But here we find that Jonathan was listening and this is nice to see. God allowed Jonathan to be present on this occasion and when Jonathan listened and heard who this young man was, when he saw that he had won this great victory for the deliverance of.
Israel. And then his heart was touched, and it says here in the first verse of this 18th chapter. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
Yes, there was something happened in Jonathan's heart that day. It says that his soul was net to the soul of David. You know, it's a real thing to be saved. As another verse says, we love him because he first loved us. You know, sometimes young people have wondered whether they really believe in their hearts because it says in Romans chapter 10.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall.
Believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. And I can remember when I was a boy hearing the preacher say do you believe in your head or do you believe in your heart? And that bothered me because I wanted to be sure that I believed in my heart and that it wasn't just in my head. Because the Bible does talk about people who believed and yet were not saved. In the 2nd chapter of John it says many believed in his name when they saw the.
Miracles that he did, but Jesus did not commit himself unto them, for he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. We read in the 8th chapter of Acts about Simon the sorcerer, and it says Simon believed, but Peter said to him, Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. We have to read in James where it says.
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Believe us that there is one God. Thou doest well. Dabbles also believe.
And tremble. So it must be in your heart. And so it is a very important thing, isn't it? Whether it's really in your heart or not is the most important matter of your whole existence. When you say how can we know whether it's in the heart, well, it tells us.
First, Peter chapter 2. It says unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious. He is precious now. That is what happened. I don't think that Saul had a single doubt that David was the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite. But that was only a matter of knowledge to him. It didn't touch his heart at all.
But when Jonathan found out who this person was and that he had won.
Victory for him than his heart went out to the person. You know, you can believe in things just in a historical way. You know, there are certain events that I learned in history. I learned about how Columbus came over in 1492 and I never doubted it from the time I learned it. But it's just a matter of history. It doesn't mean anything to me personally, but you know, when I found out that the Lord Jesus.
Died on the cross. For me that means something.
To me in my own soul, it's not just knowing about him, it's getting to know him personally. And so when you believe in him and your heart, your heart goes out to him. So it was with the till, it was with Jonathan. His heart went out to David and he loved him as he loved his own soul. And so another verse says in John's epistle, it says we know that we have passed from death unto life.
Because we love the brethren now. That is, your heart goes out to the Lord, and your heart goes out to others who love him too. And that's what happened with Jonathan. His heart went out in love to David. Now we may not love him as we should. And even Jonathan will find out in Jonathan's life that he wasn't as devoted as he should have been. He didn't follow David in his rejection like he should have been. But you know what David said about Jonathan's love.
After David was slain on the mountains of Gilboa, David, after Jonathan was slain on the mountains of Gilboa, why David made this comment about him. He said thy love to me was wonderful. Isn't that wonderful to think about? You know, that's often touched my heart because I know I don't love the Lord Jesus as much as I should. And Jonathan failed in his love, but nevertheless, he did love David.
And so isn't it blessed to know that the Lord?
Lord Jesus looks into your heart this afternoon and he knows whether your heart has responded to his love, whether you're really grateful for what he has done for you. And then you can say I love him because he first loved me. So here we find that the evidence of reality, the proof that David, that Jonathan believed in his heart was that his heart went out in love to David. And it says here.
Took him that day and would let him go no more home to his own house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. Here we find now that there was a bond between these two. And isn't it a marvelous thing to know that the Lord has made a pledge and promised to us? And that is that when we receive him as our Savior, this is what He says. He says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall.
Will never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Another passage in Romans 8 says Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And then it speaks of life, death, things present, things to come, all the things that might happen, and assures us that nothing can separate us from His love. I just like to call your attention too to something very wonderful in that passage, and that is that perhaps you turn.
In the eighth of Romans, Romans chapter 8 and verse 38, notice that it is in the singular. Here it says, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.
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Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, what I wanted to call you attention.
To is the change from the singular to the plural. Notice that in the 38th verse it begins in the singular. I am persuaded. And then when we come to the 39th verse, it's in the plural. He doesn't say shall be able to separate me, but shall be able to separate us from the love of God. Why is there this change? Well, I think this is very wonderful because every believer, everyone who has put his trust in the Lord Jesus as his Savior is.
Is perfectly secure, but everyone hasn't been persuaded of it. And sometimes you meet a person and he knows the Lord is his Savior, but he's still not quite sure that he couldn't be lost. But to make it sure to us, the apostle in the 8th chapter of Romans, he said I'm persuaded of it, but he said it's true of every believer. Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God. That is, anyone who has received the Lord as his Savior is equally secure.
But all are not persuaded of it. What a happy thing when we can join with Paul and say I am persuaded. Makes me think of a a story that's not a story because I actually talked to this young man.
And he was a helper of the chaplain in the army. One time we were preaching on the street back in Ottawa and he came up and listened while we were preaching. And then at the end he introduced himself to us and told us that he was a true believer and that he worked for the chaplain in the army. And he said, I must tell you a little experience that I had. He said, he said there was a man in one of the battles was brought in and he was very, very.
Badly wounded and we were afraid that he wasn't going to get better. And he said the chaplain wanted to know what religion he was. And he said, so he sent me over to him and he said I, I try to find out what religion he was. But he said when I asked him, he just looked up and he said I am a pulse persuasion. And he said when when I heard that and I told the chaplain, the chaplain said, well, that's a new.
I never heard of that. I've heard of a lot of different religions, but that's different. And he said, I went back to speak to the young man and he said his voice was very weak. The Lord took him home very shortly afterwards and he said he just looked up in my face and smiled. And he courted those last two verses of the 8th chapter of Romans. Oh friends, what a wonderful thing. I hope it's true of you. I hope that you have been persuaded that you can't be separated from His love.
Now, that's just exactly what happened. As I said, Jonathan failed afterwards. But this was a standing covenant. This was a covenant that could not be broken because it depended on the victory that David had won, and that dear Jonathan had appropriated that victory for himself. His father knew about the victory, but it didn't mean that much to him. But Jonathan said that victory was for me. That victory set me free.
And so they had a covenant between themselves.
And isn't it a grand thing when you're in the good of that? When you know that the Lord Jesus himself has promised he's pledged himself that he'll never let you go?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Now this was not only a love that existed between them, but this love showed itself in fruits. Because you know the Bible says faith without works is dead. Well, there's living faith, there's reality, there's the proof of it.
Works. Don't.
Save the soul. Works don't fit us for the presence of God, but works are the evidence of divine life, and when 1 is really saved, there is bound to be some evidence. Even the thief on the cross who perhaps only had a few minutes longer to live when he put his trust in the Lord Jesus and knew that he was going to be with the Lord Jesus that day in paradise.
Why? It tells us that he spoke out in front of all those people around.
There and he said this man.
Now this man hath done nothing amiss, and he turned and said, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. Yes. Isn't it lovely to see that in front of all that crowd he acknowledged him as Lord? So you may not do very much, you may not say very much, but if you're truly his, there's going to be some evidence, some fruit in the life now that will show that you have received the Lord.
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Having a Right Perspective

Address—G.H. Hayhoe
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Could we turn tonight to the 12TH chapter of Luke?
And the 13th verse.
And one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divided the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge, or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
And then the 22nd verse. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the Ravens, for they so neither sow nor reap.
Which neither have storehouse nor barn, And God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you taking thought can add to his stature? 1 Cubit. If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not. And yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothed the grass which is to day in the field, and to Morrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms. Provide yourselves.
Those bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens, that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him immediately.
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he.
Shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them, so blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the Goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Be therefore ready also for the.
Man cometh at an hour when you think not. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom is Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.
Have a truth, I say unto you, and that he will make him.
Ruler over all that he hath, but and if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men, servants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and be drunken, The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with a hypocrites.
One of the reason I read this little portion tonight is because.
Because I believe it's so important that we have things in their right perspectives in a world like this where there's so much of materialism. How easy it is for us to get taken up with the things that pass away. How easy for us to be concerned that the Lord would solve the problems of life here for us. And all those things that concern our material affairs. And yet how little we are concerned of those things that really matter, those things that really count.
And that are not just for time, but for all eternity. And so we find the Lord taking the occasion here of this man who came to him to bring before us the really important things of life. Notice it says, one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. Why didn't this seem natural? This man had a problem.
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His brother wasn't going to.
Be fair in connection with the way the estate was settled and he wanted the Lord to come in. Wasn't it a good thing to turn to the Lord, the one who knew all things and could make everything right? Well, the Lord saw where that man's heart was. And you know, sometimes there are things that the Lord doesn't allow to be straightened out because he sees that we're putting too much importance on something now that in His sight is only for time.
It's all going to pass away. And now it wasn't right for this brother to be unwilling to divide the inheritance. But the Lord was using this very unpleasant circumstance to teach this man that there was something more important than material things. And perhaps some of us have had some disappointment. Perhaps there has been some situation, a role arisen where we feel that we might not have been treated fairly where someone.
Didn't do what was right.
But isn't it a lovely thing that when we think of it, the Lord allows all these things, He allows everything for our good and blessing. You know, Job lost all the things that he had, all his earthly possessions. He lost them all in one day. He lost his health. His friends spoke against him. Was this just without a purpose? Did it just happen by chance? No, dear friends, that there was a purpose in this.
And it tells us that God blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning.
What was God seeking to teach Job? Well, Job was He made this remark. He said I thought I would die in my nest. He just thought he had everything so nice and comfortable and now he said I just like the Lord to leave it this way. I just would like it so he wouldn't disturb by Nacital and I'd just be perfectly comfortable. Everybody thinks a lot of me because I've done a lot of kindness to people. He says that he was eyes to the blind and he was feet to the lame.
Made the widow's heart to sing for joy. He was a very complacent person, a very happy person in many ways. And more than this, it was the Lord who had taken care of Job. Because it tells us that God had set a hedge about Job so that no one could touch him. Why did God remove that hedge? Perhaps something has happened like that in your life or mine, and it just seems as if God had removed a hedge and he'd let the enemy come through and it seemed.
One disappointment after another should fall, but God had a purpose, I say, and in the end we find Job really learning himself. He said, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ears, but now mine eye seeth thee. Oh, what a difference that made. He boasted and said that when the Lord tried him, he had come forth as pure gold, but in the end he didn't think that he was pure gold.
He said, I abhor myself. Why the change? Well, you know, the Lord was seeking to bring Job to the end of himself. And then when he blessed him, there was an entirely different state of soul. And we find that Job prayed for his friends. Job had learned that even those things that were difficult to understand had been allowed of the Lord for his good and for his blessing.
And it tells us about the children that Job had.
That his three daughters were the fairest in the land. Now certainly the reason God tells us that is not just to tell us how beautiful those women were. But I believe that I there the names of his three daughters mean fragrance, purity, and beauty. And it says it was affected. And there's nothing sweeter than when a soul has gone through trial, that the fragrance and the purity and the beauty of Christ is the result.
Oh friends, God does have a purpose in all these things. And so here the Lord, as it were, abruptly refuses to settle his trouble, and that had come in this man's life with his brother. Instead he says to him.
Men who made me a judge or a divider over thee? And he said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things.
That he possesseth. And then the Lord went on, and I didn't read the incident, but he tells about this unsaved man and how this man had done very well. He was very prosperous. And he said to himself, I have much goods laid up for many years. He said to himself, Take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry. Yes, he was going to enjoy what he had.
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And the Lord said, Thou fool, this night thy soul.
Shall be required of thee. Why does the Lord bring in this little story? Because He perhaps was not speaking altogether to unbelievers, but to His own. But this little story refers to an unbeliever. Well, you know, dear friends, when we live just for the passing things of time, we're acting just like unbelievers, because that's all unbelievers have to live for.
In the 16th of Luffy, it tells us of a man who did very.
Well, and it says thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things. Yes, he did very well in life, and it was all he had. For after he left this world he never had a moment's pleasure again. It says that in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. And so when we put a great value on, the things here that pass away were just acting like unbelievers.
And we who are Christians ought to know where our.
Treasure really is and says lay that up for yourselves and treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not breakthrough and steal. I'm sure this speaks to each one of our hearts.
You remember the little incident after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, and it tells us how that he appeared to Mary. And it says about Mary that she supposed him to be the gardener. But instead the Lord reveals himself to her in a different way. And he says, Mary, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God.
I believe there's something for us, a moral lesson in the fact that Mary.
Mistook the Lord for the gardener now that is perhaps you and I, after we're saved, think the Lord is going to turn this world into a fine garden for us he just going to make everything beautiful for us it's going to work out all our problems and just make this world a pleasant place about the Lord said to Mary, as it were no Mary, I'm not the gardener, but I'm going to bring you into a new place of blessing and he pointed as.
Were heavenward and he said to her, that's where your inheritance is. That's where your home is. I ascend unto my father and your father and to my God and your God and brethren. Did you ever expect the Lord to be the gardener? And then you found out that he wasn't at all. And he pointed you heavenward and said, no, I didn't intend to fix up everything for you down here, but I have something for you up there.
Yes, he said.
I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.
So in the 22nd verse the Lord turns and speaks to the disciples. And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on.
You can see here the connection. The Lord had just told this little incident about this successful farmer who had just lived for time, and now he turns to the disciples, and he says, I say unto you, because we can become very much like those of the earth.
Because it says the children of this world are in their generation. Why is there than the children of light now? That is the people of this world. They lay up for the future down here. I wonder how much trouble they go to, to prepare, as they say, for a happy retirement and to have a good time. Oh, how much expense and everything they they will take all kinds of trouble to prepare for the future down here in this world.
But he says.
They're wiser than we are because they go to this trouble and they deprive themselves to prepare for the future down here. And how often we're unwilling to deprive ourselves for the future that really lasts, for that which is eternal, that which is ours up above.
Well, then the disciples might have thought, well, we shouldn't be concerned about the things that we wear or the food. Well, he tells us that they should consider the Ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them. How much more are ye better than the fowls? And then in the 27th verse he said, Consider the.
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How they grow, they toil not, they spin not. And yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. I have often thought how gracious it was of the Lord to mention about the lilies of the field, because when He said to them not to be concerned about food or what they would put on, they might have said, Well, God doesn't consider those things important at all.
But then he tells us that he fed the Ravens.
And so it shows that he is concerned about our food and just say, is he concerned about nice clothes? Well, he said, just look at the lilies. I must be concerned about nice things when I make the the lilies look so beautiful. And isn't it a lovely thing that God our Father does care about us? He cares about the food that we eat. I've often enjoyed noticing the time that the Lord came to Abraham's tent door.
We might have said, well surely the Lord wouldn't be concerned with what kind of food they served.
That would be far beneath him to be concerned. But did you ever notice that when he talked about the food that was prepared, he said that it was tender and good. Wasn't that gracious on the part of the Lord? He took notice about the kind of food that was served and whether it was tender and whether it was nice and good. Oh, we have a father who cares. We have one who's concerned. And if we say, well, he's not concerned about clothes, then just think he says, look at the lilies. He said, you know, anything is beautiful.
Why, he said Solomon and all his glory, those beautiful clothes that were worn by those in Solomon's court, he said they weren't as beautiful as the way I clothed the lilies of the field. And he said, I'm concerned about you. Oh, what a father we have, how much we worry about things as though we didn't have a father who cared, who was interested.
But what he is telling us is that these are not the real.
Things that we live for now, but it does show that he is concerned about us and about all our needs.
And then it says in the 28th verse, if then God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? Now that is, we might say, well, we just have such a short time to live down here that it doesn't matter about these things. Well, he said.
The grass is taken the next day, is thrown into the fire, and yet God clothes it beautifully.
Oh, what an encouragement for us as we go through the world. Our time is so short here and yet to know that there's one who's interested in US and in every detail of our lives.
And so he goes on and says in the 30th verse.
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after.
Yes, the the nations of the world seek after those things. I read a little comment about food and so on, and it was headed the eternal question. Just think, man, we're so concerned about food that the eternal question to them was what are we going to eat? What are we going to eat? Friends, That's not the eternal question to us now. That's just the way the world lives.
That's what concerns them most of all. And what about?
What have we got to wear? Well, that's the thing that the nations of the world seek after. But it says your father knoweth that ye have need of these things. I've often thought if you or I had been writing this verse, we would have ended that verse entirely different and we would have written it something like this for all these things to the nations of the world seek after, but we shouldn't be concerned about them. But how different the way it's ending here.
Says your father knoweth.
He doesn't say that you can do without these things, but your father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Oh, isn't it a lovely thing to realize that we do have a father who is concerned about our every need? And so that instead of having to be like the nations of the world and the people of the world who live for these things, who fight for these things, who spend all the energy of their lives to have the things that pass away, he said you can afford to spend your.
Time and your attention on those things that are eternal. Because you have a Father who cares for you. About your food, about your clothes, about everything that concerns you. Yes, it says, casting all your care upon him. Why? Because he cares for you. You. You ask someone to look after some matter and the person just forgets about it.
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What a disappointment and you said I won't trust them again. I asked them to do something important and they just forgot about it. But not so with God our Father. Why? When we commit things to him, he says I'm concerned about you. God my Father says I know that you need those things. What a blessed encouragement to our hearts. But then is this to be what we live for brethren? Is this to be the object in our.
Lives, are we to be like men of the world? No, he says, but rather seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. It doesn't say, And you can do without all these things. No, it says, And all these things shall be added unto you. Isn't this blessed? What is the Kingdom of God? Well, we learn in Romans what it is.
In the 14th chapter of Romans it says the Kingdom of God is not made.
And drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That is what should concern the believer is that he should walk in a way that is according to the character of his Father, that he should go through this world with a peace that the world can't give. And the world can't understand why the world can't give peace about the question of sin.
And men have sin upon their conscience.
And there's no way they may go to a psychiatrist and half the trouble is because there's something that's bothering them and they don't have a person to lean upon. Or perhaps they may go to some religion and try and find relief there. Ah, it's Christ that they need. He's the one to turn to. Is there something that's that's bowing you down? Is there a Sinner here in your sins? The Lord Jesus came to heal the broken.
Hearted he came to preach deliverance to them that are bound. He's the one who knows your need and more than this he has provided for your need at great cost to himself. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son and a believer can say the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and then not only peace with God.
But it says and the peace of God.
God which passeth all understanding. Peace with God is salvation. There's anybody here that's not saved. You can have peace with God because it's already been made for you at Calvary's cross. But many of us as Christians don't have the peace of God which passes all understanding. What is the peace of God? Well, it's the very peace in which God himself dwells. I've often said, Do you think God was?
Served Bob and in this world today, oh, perhaps you say, well, no, I'm sure he knew everything beforehand. He's over. He's over everything. Well, he says you can have that same peace.
You can have that same peace, and so he tells us in everything by prayer and supplication. Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You know, I was just enjoying that verse the other day.
It says let your requests be made known unto God. Perhaps you say, well, I'm not just sure that I have the Lord's mind and the request that I make. Well, this is often true with us, but the Lord says, just tell me just the same. Tell me, tell me all that's bothering you. And then he said, I'll replace that with my peace, because if we come to him.
And it's a good thing in making our request to say if it be thy will.
You know, sometimes we make requests as though it was a demand. The Lord Jesus could do that because he was always in perfect communion with his Father. But with us, we need to remember that when we ask things, we need to ask if it's his will, because his will is best. And that's what gives that peace of God. And it passes all understanding because.
The world can have peace when war ceases.
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The world can have peace when some trouble comes to an end about the Christian can have peace while the war is still going on. The Christian can have peace while the trouble is still there. And why? Well, because we're in the company of the one who is above it all. And that's a kind of a peace that the world doesn't understand. But that's the peace of God. That's the peace in which God himself dwells. It's what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples.
My peace.
I give unto you not as the world giveth. Give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. O brethren, how little we know of this, but what is going to give it to us? Oh, a better acquaintance with that blessed Savior, a better knowledge of the heart of God our Father, is going to give us confidence in Him because.
Faith honors God, the faith recognizes.
That what He does is always best. As for God, His way is perfect. And then it says and joy in the Holy Ghost. I mentioned righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. That's what the Kingdom of God is. And So what is joy in the Holy Ghost? Well, we may not have joy in our circumstances. They may be difficult.
But we can have joy in the Holy Ghost and one of the.
Sweetest things is to see a Christian in trial who is really happy in the Lord because he is above the situation.
I believe that's the meaning. I think we were Speaking of this down in the meetings in Glendale and I've enjoyed it.
Where it tells us in the 18th Psalm, it says, As for God, his way is perfect.
And then it goes on to say he maketh my feet like Hinds feet. He maketh me to walk upon my high places. And I'm sure we've all watched a little hind or a little dull. And when it comes to the to a fence, you don't have to remove the fence. You don't have to open the gate. When we were coming here on our trip, why we saw one of those little deer and it just came to the fence and just as gracefully as.
It took a leap and it went right over the fence. The fence didn't have to be removed. A gate didn't have to be open for it because it had such a spring in its hind legs that it could just gracefully go right up over it. And that's what the Lord is telling us, that we need to have the hind's feet. Now that which lifts us above the difficulty, we think it's got to be taken away. I can't have peace unless it is. But the the Lord says no.
And that's why it goes on to say a verse that perhaps.
Is very difficult to understand. It says he makes my way perfect. What does it mean he makes my way perfect? Well, it's just this that when we're above the circumstance, why then that's that's perfect because in his presence in his company, there's peace, there's rest. And so how blessed it is that you and I can walk above the situations and that's what the Lord is saying.
Seek ye uh, the king of.
God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. And then he knew the doubts of our hearts and he says, fear not. Isn't that lovely? He says, I know even after I've told you all this, you're still going to have some doubts. You're still going to have some fears. Buddy said fear not.
Little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Yes. What is ahead of us as Christians? Why?
The Scripture tells us that we're heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Do we not seem to possess a great deal of what this world gives? We're going to have it all in association with Christ another day when he takes his place as the head of that whole scene of things in the Millennium. We're going to be with him. We're going to look down upon this earth when there are no troubles and trials, and we're going to be.
In the enjoyment of His blessed company, and share all with him, without anything to spoil it. So he says, fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Yes, what a future is ahead of us. And so he goes on and says, Sell what ye have, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old.
A treasure in the heavens, that faileth not where an old thief approacheth neither.
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Corrupteth.
Might be a little problem in the minds of some about this.
Sell that ye have and give alms.
I just like to give out this little thought about it, You know, up until the time that we're saved, we consider everything that we possess our own. But there's a change takes place when we get saved, and that's what the Lord is Speaking of. And that is that we should say from that moment onward, not that I have my own, I call, I hold it for the giver.
My heart by strength, my life, my all are His.
And his forever. And so that's, I believe what it means. It's a hard thing for us to sell out. It's a hard thing for us to come to the point where we look on everything God has given to us and say, well, it really doesn't belong to me. And but he has made me his steward and I'm just to use it for him. And you know, that's a great responsibility.
I know a girl and she had quite a sum of money. She came from a fairly.
Wealthy family, after she got saved, she thought she should take all this money and give it over to the Lord's work. And a brother said to her, and no, he said, you're the Lord's steward for all that money. And, you know, I think she had a little more difficult job being a steward for that money than if she had just handed it all over for somebody else to be the steward of it. And, you know, it's something for us to think about.
So that you have and give alms means what we have in.
In Timothy, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded and that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate. In other words, whatever we have, we should recognize it belongs to the Lord. If we were under Judaism, why we would say, well I give a tenth to the Lord, but 9/10 is mine.
But the Lord said, now there's something new in Christianity. It all belongs to the Lord and we're just stewards of what He has given to us 100%. There's not a thing that you and I have, whether it's money, food, clothes, possessions of any kind that we can properly call our own as Christians, they all belong to Him.
And the happy Christian life is to say, well, I've sold out. It's no longer mine, it's the Lord's now.
And he's the one to tell me how to use it. Oh, this is quite a responsibility, but what a joy. And brethren, isn't it wonderful? He's going to pay you for being a good steward. He's going to pay you for being a good steward. No, he is at worse, as now you gave it all to me. I'll give it all back to you as my steward, and I'll pay you for being a good steward. He says God is not unrighteous to forget.
Your work and labor of love that she has showed toward.
His name and that ye have ministered to the Saints and do minister. Yes, he's going to reward any faithfulness with what he has given to us.
And that kind of it says, when we lay up treasures in heaven, those treasures can't be lost, because that's a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. And then it says where your treasure is, and there will your heart be also.
Are you and I enjoying the fact that our treasure is really up there, but then our heart will be there too. Our heart will be there when a person's away from home. Why his treasure? All that he has is back at home and his heart often goes back to home, to loved ones, and he thinks at the time that he'll be back with them again. Well, isn't this lovely? He says.
Where your treasure is, and there will your hearts be also.
Let your lines be girded about and your lights burning this expression, your loins girded about. The loins in the Scripture speak of the the desires. And when it says they're girded, it means that they're under control. Because, you know, we might have many desires that are not pleasing to the Lord and we need to keep those things under control.
The scripture says gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober.
And hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then it says, and your lights burning. Now that is, there's a testimony now that we're to bear to this world. The world sees people concerned about the things that pass away. But the world ought to see in us that we are waiting for our Lord, that we really have our possessions outside of this world and that we're longing for.
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Time when the Lord Jesus will come again, as it says.
Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. So the Christian is not to be taken up with the things here. His loins are to be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord. Now we can tell people that we believe in the Lord's coming as a truth.
There are many people who profess to believe in the Lord's coming, but it's quite another thing.
When our lives show that we're expecting him at any moment, all I say that challenge is my own heart.
Am I living as one who is expecting the Lord to come at any moment? There are different things the Lord has specially brought before us in connection with the nearness of His return. I just think of a few of them. There's one in, in First Corinthians 11. It says as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Now that's something that we have the privilege of doing.
Until the Lord's return. Then there's another one that says, occupy till I come. Now that is, there's a little service for each one of us to do, and would we want to be found doing that little service if we were really expecting the Lord to come? And then there's another verse that says, hold fast till I come. We're living in days when the truth of God is being given up, we find on every hand.
And Christians who are giving up different parts of the truth of God, they're they're giving up this and giving up that. They say, oh, we have to all get together and work together. And so they may compromise as they give up a part of the truth. And they say, I can go along with these people because they have a great deal of truth. We can't afford to give up any part of it.
And says that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And then another exhortation I think of Be patient. Therefore, my brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. There are new trials and difficulties arising, and business life requires a great deal of patience. Family life requires a great deal of patience and understanding. Assembly life today.
Perhaps requires more patience and understanding than ever before.
And so how long are we going to need this patience? Oh, it says be patient. Therefore, my brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. I was mentioning the other day, I was thinking of this and.
Some place where the brethren had been together, and as they walked out of the meeting, one said to the other, Well, he said.
I wonder where all this is going to end. There had been some trouble in the little assembly where he was, and this brother turned to him. He said, at the coming of the Lord. Yes, we are to be patient unto the coming of the Lord, and there will always be something to do and to bear.
And then it says.
When he shall return from the wedding, and when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.
There was one thing to be waiting, that's another thing to be watching, isn't it?
We can be waiting for his coming, but perhaps we're occupied with a lot of other things because we don't expect his coming too soon. We think there's quite a few other things that we have to do first, but when we're watching for somebody, it's a different matter. Sometimes, you know when a loved one has been away and we're expecting them home, Why? We make frequent trips to the window and look out to see if they're coming. We're watching.
And it delights the Lord's heart that we should look up from time to time and say Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Yes, he wants us to be watching for Him.
And so it says, when he cometh, they may open to him immediately.
Because.
If there's anything in our life that isn't just right, I don't suppose we'd want to open to him immediately, would we? We'd say we'd like to get that straightened up first.
A dear brother in one of the meetings in the middle W had got away from the Lords table and he began to get more and more troubled because he thought the Lord has asked me to remember him until he comes. And he said I'm not doing it. And so he had had a little difficulty with one of the brothers in the meeting and he went over to his house and he said brother, he said I've come because he said I want to get this straightened up before the Lord.
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Comes, well, if God straightened up and he's happily back again with his brethren. And so if there's something that should be straightened up, isn't it a privilege, isn't it a blessed thing that we can do this? We can get it straightened up as it were, before the Lord comes so that when he knocks, we can open immediately. And if there's any little thing, any small little thing, now that we have said or done that we could straighten out, that we could help some other person.
By just speaking to them about it. Let's do it, brethren. The Lord's coming soon and He wants us to be not only waiting, but watching.
And then this 37th verse, Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them.
This is one of the most touching verses as I read it. It speaks to my own heart. Here the Lord has been exhorting us.
Encouraging us to have our loins girded, our lights burning and seeking to serve him while we wait for his return. And then he says, when I come back, he said, then your service will be ended. You won't have to serve me anymore. You won't have to be girded anymore, your light won't have to shine anymore. But he says.
I'll let you sit down and then I'll serve you forever.
He said, I'll gird myself. Perhaps we might say, oh, but it's pretty hard to refuse some of the things the world offers to you. It's pretty hard to say no. The path of service that I have is really a difficult one. Well, you do that just for a little while. But he said, when you get home to glory, he said, I'll let you sit down and I'll serve you forever.
I'll serve you forever. Has it been difficult?
For you to gird yourself so you could serve me. Then he says, when you get there, I'll be the one who will gird myself and come forth and serve you. Oh, what a marvelous thing, brethren, to think that the Lord so values our little service for him that he says that when it's over, he's going to take the place of servant and serve us forever. Doesn't that touch your heart and mind? Don't we wonder why we should ever complain that any little service?
He gives us to do.
It tells us in Galatians chapter 6.
That every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. And I believe that refers to the service of the Levites. The Levites were brought to Aaron, and Aaron appointed to everyone his service and to everyone his burden. And whatever that little service was that was appointed to the Levite, then he was to do that in the conscious knowledge that that was the service that.
Had been appointed to him for the Lord, and now he's saying to us as Christians, he's saying, why? You can look up and ask the Lord and he'll show you what he wants you to do. And that's what it means, that every man prove his own work. And why does it say he'll have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another? Well, you know, there's some Christians and they're interested in what others are doing for the Lord, but they've never discovered what the Lord wants.
Them to do. And so they'll start and tell you about what somebody else is doing and how wonderful their service is, but they've never come to the point in their own soul of finding what the Lord wants them to do and doing it. Now, that doesn't mean that the Lord wants you necessarily to give up your work and go out to the foreign field. And but there is a little service for you to do. And I don't know of anything sweeter and happier in life than to be in the knowledge.
In your soul that you have found out the little corner where the Lord wants you, and that you're filling it.
The slave was told that when he was saved that he was filling a little corner in life that God intended for him and he was going to get the same reward as if he was the Lord's servant. He says he served the Lord Christ, and ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. And that slave, as he worked for his heathen master, could say, well, I'm happy. I know I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do just as much as the apostle Paul.
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Because the Apostle Paul's doing what the Lord wants him to do.
But I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do, and that's what really matters. So one of the Levites might be carrying the ark and another one might be carrying some of the pins. And they both could be happy because they were doing the service that was appointed to them. And I want to say to each one of you here, have you proved what the Lord wants you to do? I tell you you'll be a happy Christian if you have the sense in your soul and that you're in the place that the Lord wants you to do and doing what he wants you to do. Now there's.
Peace in that, and when the service is over, then the Lord says, and I'll serve you. That's what it tells us in the 21St of Exodus, that when our period is ended, why then it says that He'll serve us forever.
And then it goes on to say, And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them, so blessed are those servants. I just suggest a little thought about this verse. Perhaps some Christian might say, Well, I certainly would enjoy serving if I had lived in the days of Mr. Darby and Mr. Kelly and Mr. McIntosh.
When a great work was going on and when there were larger assemblies.
When people were being saved and gathered, oh, I'd be happy if I was living in those days, but it's just not the same to try and be faithful to the Lord in 1974. That's a lot harder. Well, he said whether it's in the second watch or the third watch, he said be faithful. And I believe it's just as pleasing to the Lord to be faithful to him in 1974 as it was to be faithful to him in 1874.
I believe it's a blessed privilege, whether it's in the second watch or the third watch, at whatever time of the church's history our lot is cast. It's a privilege just to fill that place, as it tells us in another place in the Acts, it says David after he had served his own generation by the will of God. You know, I find some Christians and they they just live as though the only time they could have.
The Lord well was back in another generation, but I believe you can serve the Lord just as acceptably in this time as you could at any other time of the Church's history. It may be a little more difficult, but the Lord has a place for each of His own in 1974. He has a place for us to live for Him, and the danger with us is that we want great things for ourselves.
Instead of being like Nehemiah, Nehemiah said he was doing a great work.
Even though it was in Remnant days and it's doing a great work when we're doing what the Lord wants us to do. But if it's not, it's a very little work. It's a very little work. It says if a man strive for the masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully.
Well, when he goes on to say here.
In the 41St verse then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?
Well, the Lord's parable that he was speaking here no doubt directly referred to.
To Israel, and He was speaking to these disciples, and the truth of the church hadn't yet been revealed. And so the rapture is not very clearly brought before us in the verses here. It speaks of the Lord returning from the wedding, but the moral principle of it applies to us, and that was very important. And so the Lord's answer was her.
Who then is that faithful and wise servant whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? What he was really saying to Peter was, well, Peter, you're concerned about whether that refers to somebody else or whether it refers to yourself. But he said you can apply it to yourself. You can apply it to yourself. And brethren, we can apply these things to ourselves.
Isn't it easy for us to apply the scriptures to other people?
It's very easy to think that this Scripture applies to somebody else, but sometimes we're very slow to apply the Scripture to ourselves and to learn the moral lessons that the Lord would teach us. We could pass over a passage like this and say, well, I I don't think this refers to the rapture. I think it refers to the Lord's coming when he comes to set up the Kingdom. Well, be that as it may.
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The application of it is for us, and that is just as the remnant of Israel.
Well, we'll look for the Lord's return when he comes to set up the Kingdom, and we're looking for him as the bridegroom for the church. And it applies to us and would to God. We would take these things to our hearts. And so he says this. It says the faithful and wise steward and all. As someone else has said, there never was a time when we needed this so much.
Faithful and why? Faithful and wise?
In a difficult day, it tells us.
That David behaved himself wisely, then it says he behaved himself more wisely, and then it says he behaved himself wisely in all his ways. And there was ever a time when we needed wisdom about how to behave wisely. It's in this day we need faithfulness, but we surely need wisdom too. That we'd say and do the right thing. And then it says whom his Lord may appoint ruler over his house.
No, sometimes we like to be in the position of rulers, but we're not thinking of the good of the flock of God. But here it says that the ruler was giving the portion of meat in due season. We can be occupied with our position of authority and how much we can influence other people and not think of feeding the Saints of God. The Saints of God need to have their souls fed. We can get occupied with.
Knowledge instead of feeding the souls of the Saints. And when Peter was writing, he said to the elders which are among you, he said feed the flock of God, which is among you. When Joshua was told that they were going to Passover the Jordan a way that they hadn't gone heretofore, he said prepare vettels. We need food, brethren, we need to have our souls fed.
In occupation with Christ.
Have sometimes said to the to the young people at Otter Lake, what would you think if when we sat down to the table, I stood up and for 5 minutes I gave a talk about all the food that was on the table and how long it took to prepare it. While everybody was waiting to eat, I was occupying them with how many slices of bread were on the table and how many ounces of butter and how many potatoes there were and how long it took to peel them. Well all.
Maybe he had some importance, but I think everybody would be thinking more about eating and all those details. And you know, brethren, we can occupy one another with a lot of details and not feed the soul and hear the Lord Jesus said, Peter, you're trying to pass this off unto somebody else. But the important thing is the Saints need a portion of meat in due season. And he said a faithful and wise servant will recognize this.
And he'll appoint to them.
Their portion of meat in due season. Oh, there surely is a need among the Saints of God. May the Lord enable us to be a help to the Saints of God. Each one of us have our part. As I say, God has given to each their service and to each their burden.
Well, and just one more thing before we close here, we find here the Lord warning about the one who said My Lord delayeth his coming. And I just want you to notice the two things that characterize the person who said My Lord delayeth his coming. Now you might say, but wasn't this man an unbeliever? Yes, this man was an unbeliever.
His portion was appointed with a hypocrite, but I believe.
The moral principle of it can apply to us too. What were the two things that the person did who was saying, My Lord delayeth his coming? Notice it says he was eating and drinking and being drunken. That was the first thing. Now that he was just living for the satisfaction of his own desires. And even as Christians, if we are not looking for the Lord's coming, we can settle down.
To the satisfaction of our own desires here in this world, we can live for the things that pass away. And when I find myself getting overly occupied with the things here that pass away, I know that in my heart I'm saying my Lord delays His coming because if I was really expecting him to come tomorrow night, I'm sure I'd want to live tomorrow to please him. And then what's the second thing that the person did who was saying?
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My Lord delays his coming. He began to beat the men's servants and maidservants. Instead of feeding his brethren, he was beating his brethren. It's easy to do that, isn't it? Yes. And we can see a lot of things that are wrong. This man had plenty of time to try and set everything, everybody else right. He was beating the men's servants and beating the maidservants, but the one that pleased the Lord was feeding them was feeding them. Now, this doesn't mean that faithfulness is not required.
Now Lord needs faithful and wise servants now. But here we see the character of the one who delayed the Lord's coming. He got occupied with those things that did not really abide, those things that had to do with the present only. And secondly, He was beating the men, servants and maidservants. Oh, may the Lord increase.
Our realization of the fact that his coming is near.
He's soon going to come. He's going to receive us unto himself. And brethren, what a privilege to live this little time that's left to us. The rest of our time. The Scripture calls us as those who are expecting Him at any moment. And let us seek the good and blessing of one another. And if there's anything we can do to help one another, encouraging one another to be watching and waiting.
Let us do it, but let us be careful that we don't partake of the spirit of the Word.
World and get taken up with the things that pass away, get taken up with criticizing instead of feeding the Saints of God. Oh, how needful in these last days, now that we seek to live for Christ and live each moment as though we were expecting to hear that voice come up. Hit her. We may hear it tonight brethren, may keep us crying out Even so come Lord Jesus.
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The Lord's Table and Supper

Address—G.H. Hayhoe
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I'd like to turn tonight to 1St Corinthians chapter 10. It's on my heart to speak about these two chapters, 1 Corinthians 10 and 1St Corinthians 11, because I believe in one. We have the truth of the Lord's Table, and in first Corinthians 11 we have the truth of the Lord's Supper. And I believe that it's helpful for us to see what God has given to us in His Word in these two things.
So let's read first of all in First Corinthians 10 and verse 15.
I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, Is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh.
Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. He cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. He cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger?
Than he.
Now let's turn to the 11TH chapter.
And the 23rd verse. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my.
God, this do ye as OFT as ye, drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, carry one for another, and if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come.
Well, we know how important the Passover was in the Old Testament. In that remarkable night when God delivered his people out of the land of Egypt. We know that he made provision for them and the blood was put on the lentil and the two side pulse of their homes. And God said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. It was the blood that made their homes secure. It was God's word that gave them peace.
And then there was a feast.
Inside those homes they had that roast lamb, they fed on the Passover lamb. And more than this, God said too, that they were to keep that feast by an ordinance forever. So we find through their history on through the years, those who were godly were always stirred up to the remembrance of that deliverance from Egypt. And we know how important it was that even the Lord Jesus.
On the very night of his.
Trail. He gathered his disciples around himself and said with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer now. About 1500 years had passed since the night of their deliverance from the land of Egypt, but it was still fresh in the mind of God, and the Lord Jesus gathered his disciples in that upper room.
And there we find that he himself.
Kept the Passover with them. Of course, He himself was the Passover lamb. And so that was the last time that it was observed according to the mind of God. And then we find on that occasion how the Lord instituted something new. He instituted what we speak of in Christianity as the Lord's Supper. The Passover looked onward to the cross.
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The Lord's Supper looks back to the cross.
US and so just as that Passover was so important in Israel's history, and I say as godly kings arose, they call the people back and the Spirit of God delights to mention that in the rain, for instance, of of Hezekiah and again in the reign of Josiah and again when the little remnant came back from the captivity in the time of Ezra Nehemiah.
How they observed again the Passover.
And then what was also important was that there was a place where that Passover was to be observed. Now they were told that they were not to offer their sacrifices in any place, but in the place which the Lord chose and saw. Every instructed Israelite knew and that there was a proper place where the Passover was to be observed. He also knew that God had given full instructions about how the Passover was to be observed. Who was to partake?
Of it, nothing was left to their own thoughts. They didn't just do it as they wished. There's a common expression today in the world. Go to the Church of your choice. But Israel didn't choose how they would keep the Passover or where they would keep the Passover. And this was all planned and ordered of God.
Now in Christianity, is it any less important that we should know where the Lord would have us to gather and how He would have us together? Oh, I believe He has given it to us in Christianity too. I believe He has marked it out in his precious word so that we might know his mind and so that we might walk in it. And you know, it's a remarkable thing that in the Epistle to the Corinthians.
We have.
Order in God's assembly brought before us we have such as the discipline and the assembly. We have about the collection We have about the Lord's Table and the Lord's Supper. All this brought before us in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. But I'm sure you've noticed how this epistle begins. The Spirit of God devotes 2 Chapters in the beginning of this epistle to set aside human wisdom. Why does he do this? Well, we meet.
So many Christians, and when we start to speak about the Lord's Supper and the Lord's Table, and they immediately say, well, I think this and I think that, well, dear friend, your thought is as good as mine, but in the things of God my thought isn't worth anything, and neither is yours. The Scripture says, and the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
It says in that scripture the foolishness of God is wise.
Greater than man. And so if you carefully read those first two chapters of Corinthians, you'll see that before the Spirit of God begins to instruct us in connection with his assembly, he shows that we must not introduce human wisdom into the things of God. We must bow to the precious word of God. Now man may have a great deal of wisdom and natural things.
God has given man a great deal of wisdom and He knows how to farm.
He knows how to produce all kinds of machinery, but when it comes to divine things, God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And so isn't it lovely that God has given us instruction in His Word, so that when we observe the remembrance of the Lord, that we could do it in a place and in a manner that is pleasing to Him? I think we ought to value this wonderful privilege.
Because as we were saying on Lord's Day evening, the cross is the center of to eternities. What more wonderful occasion was there in the history of this world? That when God's Son became a man, walked through this world as a man, glorified God about the question of sin at Calvary, and then went back to glory and took his place at the right hand of God as the head of the body, the church?
What a blessed, what a wonderful thing.
I remember one time the manager in the office where I worked, he said to me, he said, well, I'm not very much interested in what happened 2000 years ago. He said, I'm interested in what's happening in the world today. Well, I said to him, but Sir, the creator of this world was down here in this world about 2000 years ago. And to me that's the most important part of the world's history.
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He asked the Lord Jesus, God's beloved Son.
And came down into this world and all. What a marvelous work he accomplished. And all. How blessed is the privilege of remembering Him. Could there be a heart here that belongs to Christ who is not desirous of remembering Him? How could we appreciate what He has done for us without desiring to show our appreciation in some way? Well, perhaps you say all, but there are many ways that we can show our appreciation. Yes, that's true.
And you say, well, I do remember the Lord in my heart and for what he's done for me over and over again. Why do you put such stress on that? Because of two little words in the Scripture. It says this, this do Remember Me. This do Remember Me now. That is, it didn't just ask us to remember Him, but He said this, do Remember Me now. That is, there was a way that He established that is pleasing to Him.
And that does not touch your heart and mind. When we think of the cost to Himself to redeem us, when we think of His precious bloodshed for us, oh, how there is something that stirs in our hearts. And we say, I do want to show my appreciation. I am sure if a friend did something for you, you'd want to show your appreciation. But who has done so much as He has done? Who has done so much for your soul and mine as the Lord?
Jesus, and not for time, but for all eternity.
Now as I said in this 10th chapter, what is particularly brought before us is the truth of the Lord's table. And so he says, I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. Now that is, God addresses us as those who are indwelled by the Spirit of God, because it says in the first part of this epistle he that is spiritual.
And discerneth all things now. That is, God has not only given us his word.
About the Spirit of God indwells the believer, so that the things of Christ might be made known to us, as it says that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. God has written a book that cannot be understood apart from the Spirit of God, but he has given to every believer the Holy Spirit of God to indwell us. It says after that she believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, and which is the earnest of.
Inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. So He addresses us as those who not only have His Word, but by the Spirit we have the capacity of laying hold of His mind as revealed in His Word. And if there's a hindrance, it's because there's something wrong on our part. He wants us to know His will. He wants us to know His will.
It's the hindrance I say is often because our eye is not single, we partially.
We want to do our own well. We're not fully resigned to do his will about His promises. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine. Notice it doesn't say if any man will know his well. Sometimes you'll meet people and say, well, I really want to know, but it's a little bit more when we say, Lord Jesus, I really want to do thy will.
Sometimes we want to know because it's sort of nice to be.
Intelligent and to be able to talk intelligently on different subjects. But it's more when our wills are yielded and we say, well, I not only want to know his will, but I want to do it. And the Lord has given His promise that if we do desire that He will reveal it to us. And He also goes further in Philippians 3 and says, and if in anything ye be otherwise minded.
God shall reveal even this unto you, that it shows how willing He is.
To make his mind known to us, and he has marked it out in his Word. So the apostle addressed these Corinthians as those who now, through the light of God's Word, had wisdom to know the mind of God in this important subject.
And now another thing for us to notice in the 10th chapter where we have the subject of the Lord's Table, it mentions the cup first. In First Corinthians 11, which I also read, it mentions the loaf 1St. And of course, I'm sure we're all aware that when the Lord Jesus instituted the Feast of Remembrance, He broke the bread and then afterward he passed the cuff. It says likewise also the cup after supper. Now that.
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The loaf was first and then the cup. Now there must be a reason why when Speaking of the Lord's table, the cup comes first. And I think there's a very blessed reason for it, because when we think of the Lord's table, we think of the dignity and the glory of that person whose table it is. If I was invited to the table of the queen or the table of the president.
Why? I'd want to be quite sure that my clothes were acceptable.
My appearance was acceptable or I couldn't feel at all relaxed when I sat there at his table or her table. No, I would feel a little uncomfortable unless I was perfectly sure that my appearance there was acceptable. Well, what is it that gives us title to be at the Lord's table?
Well, it says in Hebrews chapter 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. And so just as I would walk and take my place at the table of the president, conscious that I was dressed and appeared in an acceptable way, then I could sit down with confidence. What is it that gives us confidence in coming to the Lord's table?
Oh, how blessed the precious blood of Christ.
Has so perfectly cleansed us that God himself cannot see one spot upon us.
It says in first John chapter 1 and verse 7. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Now when it says there if we walk in the light, he doesn't mean that all Christians don't walk in the light. All Christians do walk in the light when he says if he's contrasting.
Believers with unbelievers. Unbelievers are not only darkness, but they walk in.
Darkness and they don't know whether they go, but it says in Ephesians ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye children of light. But it says walk as children of light. So I say again, every believer has been brought into the light. And what is it that has fitted us for the light? It's the blood. It's the blood as though God were saying something like this.
That all the light and holiness of His presence.
Cannot discover one spot upon us because the blood has so perfectly cleansed us. We couldn't be any more cleansed. Couldn't have any better title to be in His presence than we have right now. And the title is His precious blood. Oh, what a blessed thing it is to know that.
So that's the place that we have been brought into. And so the cup is mentioned first here because the subject I say is the Lord's Table and God, what as it were, have us to know that He has given us a perfect title to be there through the precious blood of Christ.
And notice too, that it's it's called a cup of blessing. You know, we deserved a cup of judgment, but the Lord Jesus drank the cup of judgment. And now it tells us that he puts into our hands a couple blessing. A little hymn expresses it nicely. The Father's face of radiant grace shines now in light on me. So the cup is a cup of blessing. And then just a little word about this communion. You know, we hear people.
Sometimes speak about taking communion. Well the word communion means common thoughts and we actually cannot take common thoughts. That's sort of a contradiction of terms to speak about taking common thoughts. You can have common thoughts, but you don't take common thoughts. And so when it says here that the cup of blessing which we bless.
Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? It just simply means this.
Now that you and I have the privilege in sitting there at the table to enter into the very thoughts of God in connection with the blood of Christ, some Christians have doubts because they don't enter into the thoughts of God about the blood of Christ. But friends, it's not what the value that you and I put upon the blood, it's the value that God puts upon it. And we have the privilege of having God's thoughts about the blood. Well, doesn't that give you peace? It's what God thinks about it.
And if there's someone here that's doubting, don't think about your own thoughts. Think about what God says about that blood, how it has cleansed us, how it's our title to the holiest, how it's our theme for endless ages when we are there in the glory and saying, thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. So it's the communion or the common thoughts of the blood of Christ.
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And then it says the bread.
Which we break? Is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread. Or the proper translation is and the meaning is 1 loaf. For we being many are one loaf and one body, for we are all partakers of that one loaf.
Now you'll notice here in the 10th chapter that we are told that the one loaf is a symbol of the one body of Christ. Now when you come to the 11TH chapter, you'll notice that the loaf is only presented to us there as a symbol or a remembrance of the physical body of Christ that is on the cross of Calvary. The Lord Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree, but that one loaf on.
On the table is a symbol of the mystical body of Christ. And for those who are younger, when I say that the mystical body of Christ, I mean what it tells us by 1 Spirit. We are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free. And again where it says Christ is the head of the body of the Church. And again we are.
Members of his body.
Of his flesh and of his bones. This is a great mystery, for I speak concerning Christ and the Church, so that when we speak of the mystical Body of Christ, we mean the body of Christ composed of all believers. Every person who has believed in the Lord Jesus and is indwelled by the Spirit of God is a member of the body of Christ.
And when that one loaf is placed there upon the table, it represents.
The one body of Christ. That's why it's so important to see this in the Scripture, because surely when we lay hold of this and then we can see that the only scriptural way that we could call it the Lord's Table is that the truth of the one body should be expressed there. And there's no such thing in the Bible as joining a church or being a member of a church.
We are members of the.
The body of Christ, but we didn't have to join that. It says the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. And when a person is received at the Lord's table to remember the Lord, it isn't by that that he becomes part of the body of Christ. We receive him because he is part of the body of Christ. He is that by having received Christ.
And by the indwelling spirit of God now that's how he became part of the Bible of.
Christ and the Lord's Supper is the expression of it, and that's what is scripturally expressed at the Lord's Table. So if I were to set up a group of Christians and gather together a real nice group of Christians, and we met together as members of an organization that I had formed, then that wouldn't be an expression of the body of Christ because they would be members of a particular company.
And they would have to join that company.
Company to become members of that church. But you see what the scripture shows us is that we are members of the body of Christ by receiving Christ as our Savior and by being indwelled by the Spirit. And that the scriptural way to express this is in the breaking of bread. And I'm bold to say that any company of Christians to be scripturally gathered must be gathered on this ground. They must be gathered as members of.
Body of Christ, the moment you set up a church and you have members to that church, then you have in practice denied that there is one body. You may say, well, I believe it. I believe that all true Christians are members of the body of Christ. But if we deny it in practice, how could it be called the Lord's Table? Because on the Lord's Table the one loaf expresses the fact that we are members of that one body.
And So what a blessed privilege it is to say that we gather as members of the body of Christ. I remember an incident back in the East where there was a dear Christian man, and he was a member of an organization which had a a certain well known name in Christendom.
Then he was a friend of a brother who was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus as a member of the body of Christ, and they often spoke together about the things of the Lord. And one day this Christian man who was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. Yesterday when we gathered to remember the Lord, Oh no, he said, not me. He said, I went to my own church.
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Oh, yes, he said. I'm sure I saw you there. No, no, he said. You made a mistake, he said.
I was at my own church, and he mentioned the name of the church. Oh, he said, I saw you there in that one loaf on the table. Oh, don't you see now that that is where the truth of the one body is expressed? And that was what was begun by the Spirit of God in the early days of Christianity. Why the departure from it? Well, we can only say that man has brought in some departure from this, but this was what God laid down.
Word. And just as he established asunder in Jerusalem, and then afterwards a Jeroboam set up another center down in Bethel. Was that what God established? No, that was something that Jeroboam did. And what God had established was a place where all the 12 tribes could go and where they could enjoy the fact that God saw them as one nation before him.
And So what a lovely thing it is that there is such a privilege.
On earth as being gathered as members of the body of Christ. And now I just like to say a little bit more too about this, and that is that it's a privilege to enter into this As for our own souls so that we enjoy the remembrance of the Lord in a fuller way.
Shall I put it like this, that we don't just break bread as forgiven sinners, but we break bread as members of the body of Christ? Perhaps you say, well, aren't we forgiven sinners? Oh yes, but we're much more. And I've sometimes used little illustration to help bring this point home. We know that there's a story recorded in the Bible.
About a poor woman who lived in the city of Jericho long ago, her name was raised.
And she lived a very loose, careless life.
But she put her her trust in the Lord and she put the scarlet line in her window. And when the judgment fell upon the city of Jericho, Rahab the harlot escaped. She didn't fall in the judgment that fell on the city of Jericho. What made her home safe was that scarlet line in the window. But the story didn't end there. No, God has told us a little more about her and his word. And tracing on in her story, we find out that this woman.
Actually married into the royal line of Israel, she actually became the wife of a man whose name is given in the lineage of the Lord Jesus in the 1St chapter of Matthew. This man's name was Salmon. Now let us just suppose that the time came when she is now married to this man and she sits down at the table. She looks across the table to him, and she says, well, it's a wonderful thing to be a forgiven harlot.
Well, I think I can hear there will be just just a silence and I think he would look across the table to her. Oh, he said, certainly you're forgiven, but you're far more than that to me. I don't think about that because I look upon you as the bride of my choice. I love you. And isn't it blessed, brethren, now that the question of sin has been so perfectly settled that it tells us that when the Lord Jesus comes again, he'll appear without.
Him unto salvation now, that is, He's so perfectly settled the question of sin that we can sit at his table in the nearest possible relationship. And it's as though he looked across the table and said.
Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. O brethren, can't you see some wonderful things that God has revealed to us about the Lord's table?
As I said before, if I was to come to the table of the President, I would first of all want to feel now that I was there in an acceptable way. But wouldn't it be more if I knew that I was in a very near relationship to me and to him rather, and that he looked upon me with favor and with affection, and that he saw me there in a place of very special love to himself?
Well.
How blessed it is that we considered His table and know how that were in the very nearest possible relationship. We're not only cleansed, but how blessed we are there as members of His body. And may I say to any Christian here that I don't believe you'll really enjoy the remembrance of the Lord as you should until you lay hold of this. And I believe that's why God gives the 10th.
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Chapter before he gives the 11TH Because we all know what it is to be invited to a meal. And when we sit down at the table and feel that we're accepted and that we're loved and we're wanted, we enjoy the meal a great deal more. And you know, when God wants to invite us to partake of his supper, he gives us a chapter to show us the place that he has brought us into and that we can sit there in this blessed and near.
Relationship as members of His body. And that's why the whole subject in this 10th chapter is the subject of fellowship and communion, because the Lord's table is the expression of this, as I say, entering into having the very common thoughts of God. And so in order to bring this home to us, He shows us that by eating of the sacrifices we become partakers with what?
The altar stands for, and so he shows that in the Judaistic worship, when a person partook of the sacrifices, he was a partaker with the altar. If a heathen went into his idol's temple and partook of the sacrifices in the idol's temple, he had fellowship with the idol's temple. He might say, well, I just ate it, but I didn't intend to have fellowship with the temple.
But he says, are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers with?
At the altar he says if you go to the idol temple, you're a partaker with what the idol stands for. And that's why it exercises me this way that wherever I break bread I have fellowship with what the table stands for. Whatever the table stands for, I have fellowship with it by being there if the if the thing stands for a certain organization in Christendom. And if I break bread I have fellowship with a man made organization.
If I go to an an idol's temple, I have fellowship with the idol, even if I say, well, I didn't intend to have fellowship, I just went there to please a friend. But he shows us here that the act of partaking was the expression of fellowship. And the reason he brings it in, brethren, is to show us that true separation is founded upon the blessed truth of knowing where the Lord wants us to be.
Being gathered around himself.
So that it's not a Pharisee occult separation, but it's a separation that is the result of us learning what it is to be partakers of at the at the Lord's table, to be there as members of his body. If I could explain it like this, what would you think of Rahab if she said, well, can I be excused? I'd like to go back to be with my friends again.
Just for one time. It isn't that I really want to live with them again, but.
I just like to go back one time. Oh, wouldn't you be surprised that she would want to have fellowship with what she had left? And so Paul says, if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. He had learned something and that was precious to him. And so I just commend it to your heart. If you have learned what it is to be gathered as a member of the body of Christ, surely that has satisfied your heart. Surely it has made you desire to.
Enjoy this precious privilege as that which is your privilege and mine until the Lord Jesus comes.
Perhaps I could just mention one other thing in passing here, that some are concerned as to whether the loaf should be leavened. They say, well, it should be an unleavened loaf, shouldn't it? Well, I just like to mention this, and at the very first time that we have the disciples gathered after the coming of the Holy Spirit for the breaking of bread was on the day of Pentecost, because it tells us there in the second of Acts.
The Spirit of God came down on the day of Pentecost, and then in the end of the chapter it says and a continued daily in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Now if you were to go back to the 23rd chapter of Leviticus, you would find out something quite remarkable that on the day of Pentecost. Now they were told that they should bring out of their habitation.
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Two wave loaves bacon with leaven.
And that these were the first fruits unto the Lord. God was showing to them in the figure in the Old Testament on the feast of Pentecost, that there was going to be something new. And those two wave loaves, Bacon with leaven represented Jew and Gentile, who were to be brought in together. For it says by 1 Spirit he hath. We are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile. And why was it bacon with leaven?
That was the only occasion where God allowed them to present something to him that had leaven in it. And why did he allow that on the day of Pentecost? And why do we have a loaf that has 11 Remember the Lord? Well, I, I believe I can tell you why, because when we gather as members of the body of Christ, we don't profess that there's no, no evil nature within us. We know that inside of us.
There is still that fallen nature. If it wasn't so, why none of us could sit at the Lord's Table? Because the old nature's still there. But when that, when that?
Loaf was bacon, and then the activity of the Easter, of the leaven within it was brought to a stop. And so you and I have the old nature within it within us, but we're to have it in the place of death. And thank God we can sit there at the Lord's table and with that old nature still in US and remember the Lord. If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be here next Lord's Day to remember the Lord, because I know I still have the old nature about the Lord.
Gives us grace to help, help us to keep that old nature in the place of death. So that one loaf on the table represents all believers. And so we find that the loaf that they had on the day of Pentecost was a loaf that was vacant with leaven. The very first time that they gathered scripturally as members of the body of Christ to remember the Lord, they must have had.
A loaf bacon with leaven. Well, I just mentioned this because sometimes this question is question is asked.
But isn't it lovely that the Word of God always gives us the answer to these things? Now let's turn over to the 11TH chapter.
And so I just like to mention here that between the 10th chapter and the 11TH chapter, we have three things brought before us.
And that is, we mentioned the first one, and that is separation. That is, when we have learned the truth of the Lord's Table, we ought to also learn with it the truth of separation. Because if we have been gathered as members of the body of Christ, then we're not part of the world or the world's systems. And then the second thing that we find out is submission. And we find this typified in the sister who has her long hair and who covers her head now.
This is a sign of submission, we're told. We know it's being given up in Christendom today, and but nevertheless it's in the Scripture. And it's so important that between the 10th and 11TH chapter, the Spirit of God devotes quite a few verses to this subject in order to show us just what is meant by these things. And so just as the church occupies the place of submission to Christ.
The sister, by her covering upon her head, recognizes that she is.
The one who is the type and the shadow of this in Christianity. And if you read Ephesians 5, you'll see this clearly brought before you too. Oh, you say that's just a small thing, but you know, we often show our desire to please the Lord in small things when our children did small things for us, but we knew they did it out of love. It pleased us a great deal. Perhaps it was only some little thing that was made out of a piece of cardboard that.
Had a few little markings on it, but some of these things were so dear to us that we still keep them because they expressed the love of their hearts. And you know, we can show our love to the Lord and our submission to His will in very little things in our lives if we really want to please Him.
And then the third thing that I mentioned here is that we have brought before us the.
Sobriety, that is. When they came, it was not to eat their own supper, it was to eat the Lord's Supper, we're told. Because I believe when we come in on Lord's Day morning that we should be conscious of this too. And we're not there just to eat a meal, but we're there to remember the Lord in his death. We're there to think of one who is.
Infinitely dear to us, and who went into death for us. And so here we find the truth of the sobriety that they were to remember the purpose for which they came together. It was to remember the Lord in his death. And let us remember this, brethren, when we come in on Lord's Day morning to remember that it's a very serious purpose that we come for a very blessed purpose. And that is to remember what our precious Savior did for us.
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Now when we come to the details in the 11TH chapter, as I mentioned before, we have the loaf 1St and then the cup. And the reason is that what is brought before us in this chapter is the actual remembrance of what the Lord Jesus passed through for us and saw that the loaf, when broken, brings before us the physical body of Christ.
Because in those hours of darkness upon the cross of Calvary, the Lord Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Now that is we think of Him.
There upon that cross, as the strokes of divine judgment rolled over his blessed head, and the suffering that he endured there during those hours of darkness when he was made sin for us, as the psalmist puts it, deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy water spouts all thy waves, and thy billows are gone over me. And so as we partake of that loaf that is broken.
And we think of the Lord Jesus.
In the suffering that he endured. And you'll notice in this chapter, it doesn't speak about the communion. It speaks about the remembrance because in the 10th chapter, it's entering into the thoughts of God in connection with those things that we spoke of and that are brought before us there. But here it's entering into what the Lord Jesus had to suffer and we can never fully enter into what he endured for us.
None of the ransomed ever knew.
How deep were the waters crossed, or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through ere he found his sheep that was lost? Or as another little hymn says.
The depth of all I suffering no heart could ere conceive. The cup of wrath or flowing for us Thou didst receive. And so we find that the Lord Jesus first bore all the wrath and judgment, and then that blood that flowed from His pierced side tells us of a finished work. And the reason I call attention to this, and the reason the Spirit of God calls attention to it, is that.
In all the sacrifices of Judahism.
The blood of the animal was shed 1St, and then the animal was afterwards offered in sacrifice. Now that is.
When you looked at the blood of the animal now, that didn't tell you of something that was finished because the blood was shed before the animal was placed upon the altar in sacrifice. But the Lord Jesus bore all the judgment of God against sin. And then the Spirit of God calls our attention to the blood that flowed from His side, because He would show us that that spoke of something that was finished and when.
John saw that blood flow from the Savior's side.
It didn't speak of something that was yet to be done. It spoke of something that had been accomplished. And oh, how blessed it is that when we partake of the loaf and drink of the cup that we are thinking, or should be thinking of what the Lord Jesus endured for us when He was made sin for us upon that cross. And then how that precious blood bore witness to the fact that He had died for us, that He had borne the judgment, because without.
Of blood there is no remission. So you can see that in the Lord's Supper there is the actual remembrance of His sufferings and death, whereas in the Lord's Table there are precious things expressed to our hearts. And I say again, the Spirit of God sets us at ease in His presence, and then tells us what it cost Him to bring us there.
Oh, how blessed to sit down at his table and know and as we sing those.
Hymns and rejoice in our place of acceptance before him. Rejoice in what that work of Christ means to the heart of God. And then after we have sat down, sung those hymns, and then we remember what it cost him to bring us there. And we partake of that bread and we drink of that cup. What a privilege. And it's only ours until He comes. And we show to the world that would like to forget about it, we show His death.
The world would like to forget what they did to God.
00:45:01
Son, they make a great celebration over his birth, but they'd like to forget that they put the Son of God upon a cross. But you and I look back to that cross as everything to us, what he suffered there. And so we delight, and God delights to have us remember him in his death.
Now I'd like to say a few words here about what follows, because sometimes these following verses have been, shall I say, difficult for some to understand. Notice this 27th verse. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation. Or if you have a margin, it says judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
Now what he is talking about here is not really unbelievers. He's talking about true believers here. And when he speaks about eating and drinking judgment to ourselves, why? If you read on, notice the 34th verse, 31St verse rather. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned of the world.
These verses make it very clear that he's not talking about an.
Unbeliever here, he's talking about the Lord having to deal with us in his governmental ways and so when it speaks about eating and drinking unworthily.
We never had and never will have any worthiness in ourselves. You know, I've often said, if I had been writing this, I might have put these verses in the 10th chapter, but the Spirit of God put them in the 11TH chapter. And why? Well, because in the 10th chapter. What more perfect title could we have to be there than the precious blood? What nearer place could we have than members of the body of Christ?
But why do they come in in the 11TH chapter? Well, perhaps I could.
Put it this way, there is a worthy way to remember the Lord, and there is an unworthy way to remember the Lord.
If I had a great debt and I was unable to pay it and you kindly paid the debt for me and you had to sell your home to pay the debt. And I thank you very, very much for your kindness.
But then I decide that I'll make a trip over to your house after a month's time and thank you again. But in the meantime, I have become just as careless about my affairs as I was before. I'm just as careless about my debts as I was before you paid them. And I come over to your house and I pretend to say how grateful I am for what you've done for me. And you look me in the face and say, Gordon, I can't understand.
You, you're just as careless as you were before. Don't you realize something of what it cost me to have to pay that debt for you? Don't you think that you're very unappreciative to be living that way still? And so if you and I are going on in our lives with the very things that caused the Lord Jesus all that suffering and all that agony, He says that when we come to.
Thank Him and we haven't judged those things that we're doing it in an unworthy way. We're doing it unworthily. And when it says he shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, it means that we're going on with the very things in our lives that caused him all that suffering that we say that we're remembering all that. Can't you see what a serious thing this is and how important it is now that ere we come to remember?
Him and his death.
That we should get before him and that we should own to him those things that have come between ourselves and him. If I was to come over to your house in that situation. And when when I came, I said, oh, I, I must say I'm very, very sorry. I've become careless again. And I know a little bit of what it costs you to pay the debt for me. And I'm very sorry I've been careless because I do appreciate.
What you've done for me, that would be different, wouldn't it? That would be different. And so it says, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. And so if you and I form the habit in our Christian life of judging the little things that come into our lives, the the little things before they grow into great things.
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Then we will be able to continue.
You know, in communion with the Lord in our souls, we'll still enjoy the remembrance of Him and His death. But sometimes I think of it this way. The Lord has given us His supper as a remembrance of what it cost him to take our place and bear our judgment. He knows how forgetful we would be. He knows how soon we would forget all His wondrous love. And so He instituted this feast for us every week.
And so that we could come and think of what he has done for us. And it's as though he were saying to us like this, If the thoughts of my suffering and death, if the thoughts of what I've done for you to put away your sins, that doesn't move your heart to self judgment, then I'll have to put my hand upon you in discipline.
Because He intends that the thoughts of His love should bring our souls to self judgment. Just as if I were coming over. I say again to thank you for the debt you paid. And as I think of going and as I think of what you've done, it stirs in me a feeling of being ashamed. And I want to say I'm sorry. And how could you and I come into the Lord's presence to remember him and have those things?
Unjudged in our hearts, if so it says.
If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord.
That we should not be condemned with the world. Let me make it very clear. A Christian can never be lost. A Christian can never have to do with God again, as a judge. The question of the judgment of our sins was settled at the cross, but God does have to deal with us as His disobedient children.
And He has given us this feast of remembrance to produce in US self judgment and a deeper desire to please Him. And if it doesn't, then he has to use discipline to bring it about.
That he should have instituted this feast for us. Isn't it gracious on his part that he should have done it? And I'd just like to say this too, that I believe, brethren, if we practice the habit of self judgment in little things, they'll not grow into great things in our lives. I've often said like this, opposing, I took you out to my garden and when we're walking out to look at the garden, I said to you.
Well, you know, I've made the habit of.
Pulling all the weeds out of my garden every week. And so you walk out and you start looking at my garden. And here you find a big weed this high, and you pull it out and say, well, Gordon, I guess you missed this one. And then you walk a little farther. Here's another big one. You pull it out and say, well, Gordon, I guess you missed that one.
I assure you did it every week. Well, I'd have to say, well, I'm afraid I was a little bit careless. And brethren, there'll never be the great sins in our lives that call for the governmental ways of God in a solemn way upon us, or the discipline of the assembly perhaps, if we learn to practice self judgment in little things.
And isn't it gracious that the Lord should have instituted the Feast of Remembrance as His gracious way of reminding us each week what He has done for us, so that we would seek to live in communion with Him, with nothing between our souls and Him? And so it doesn't say, let a man examine himself and stay away, but let a man examine himself, and so let him eat. And if we do this, then we can go on and walk in communion with the Lord and enjoy.
Precious privilege until he comes.
Well, just one more thing here that I'd like to call attention to and that's the 34th verse and the last part. It says the last sentence and the West will I said in order when I come. I think that's very gracious of the Spirit of God to have put those words at the end of the chapter. And why has he put them there? Well, because.
We're never going to find the perfect group of Christians. You know, there's some Christians and.
They're looking around to try and find the perfect group and they're disappointed. And as someone said, if you ever do find a perfect group, it wouldn't be a good idea to join it. Because if I found a perfect group, why? I knew if I go with them I would spoil it because I'm not perfect. But isn't it gracious of the Spirit of God to put in these words at the end of the chapter? And the rest will I set in order when I come and so.
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We're poor, failing.
Things, but we have this precious truth, we have what God has brought before us in his Word, but we need to learn grace and forbearance with one another. And when we get home to glory, then it says we'll see eye to eye.
Will look within and see no stain abroad, no curse to trace. Will not just see a few gathered to his precious name. But it tells us that now we have the privilege where two or three are gathered together in my name. There am I in the midst. But we're looking forward to a time when all the family of God, every member of the body of Christ, will be gathered around the Lord Jesus. That'll be a glorious time.
That's what we're looking forward to. In the meanwhile, we're gathered to a rejected Christ as members of His body. When we get there, we won't need the emblems anymore, but we'll have Himself, and we'll be just like him, and every member of the body of Christ will be there, and there'll be nothing to set in order up there. We'll be with him and like Him for all eternity. But all brethren, may we value the privilege that God has given to us.
I've been much impressed how the Lord Jesus.
Us after all, Israel's failure, after all the failure of his disciples on the very night of his betrayal, said, I have heartily desired. That's the way the margin puts it. I have heartily desired to eat this Passover with you. Wouldn't you have thought when the Lord knew all about those disciples that he would have said, Oh, there's such a failing lot, But he said, I heartily desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Are we in the last days of the Church?
History, brethren, is there a lot of failure among the Saints? Well may we enter into those thoughts of the precious Savior and heartily desire to remember Him. He heartily desires to have us there. May we value the privilege of being gathered to His name as members of His body until He comes.
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