Hamer Bay Conference: 2022
Table of Contents
Revelation 2:1-11
Reading
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.
225 with scenes of confusion reach this complaint.
Of speech to the soul, the Communion with.
Three bonds that we met, all the children of peace.
225.
So.
We say.
And straight by Sunday.
Still free from my flesh.
Of God.
It would be the mind of the brethren to pick up Philippians Chapter 2.
And wonderful examples of devotedness there.
I love her.
Your brother have any other?
Passage.
Suggested.
I wonder about the possibility of taking up the addresses to the southern churches.
To addresses one reading meeting to another, and then perhaps the last one.
Connection with latest field.
Thank.
00:05:10
Revelation chapter 2, yes. Perhaps we could just read the whole chapter and then we'll comment particularly on those first two.
Revelation chapter 2, verse one.
Unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, right?
These things, saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand.
Who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks? I know thy works.
And my labor and my patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil now has tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars, and has borne and has patience, and for my name's sake as labor, and has not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the 1St works.
Or else I will come unto thee quickly.
And will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except our pen.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
Which I also hate.
Eat at half an year, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And unto the Angel of the Church in Smyrna, right these things say at the 1St and the last which was dead and is alive. I know thy works and tribulation and poverty without rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews.
And are not that are the synagogue of Satan?
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and.
And you shall have tribulation 10 days without faithful unto death. And I will give thee a crown of life.
Even half a year let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death.
And to the Angel of the church in Bergamo's right.
These things say, If he which hath the sharp sword with two edges, I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seed is. And I'll hold this fast my name, and it's not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr. Who is slain among you where Satan dwelleth?
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans?
Which thing I hate.
Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
He that happened here, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man know of, saving he that receiveth it.
And unto the Angel of the church in Thyatira right these things say at the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and my patience, and thy works, And the last to be more from the 1St.
Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee.
Because thou suffereth sufferers that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
00:10:08
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts.
And I will give unto everyone of you, according to your works, but unto you I say, and unto the rest. And Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burdens but that would she have already pulled fast till I come. And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father, And I will give him the morning star.
Eat at half an year, Let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches.
This Book of Revelation is the only prophetic book that is given to the church. All the other prophetic books in our Bibles were written to Israel and for Israel. And so in the Old Testament passages we have that which pertains to Christ glory in connection with Israel and Israel's hopes as they're bound up with their Messiah. But in connection with the Book of Revelation, it's the last book of our Bibles and it is a book that.
Largely as a book of judgment, but it also presents the blessedness of the Church and her.
Union to Christ at the end in chapter 19 and so on it just gives us a a wonderful picture of the blessing that God has in store for those that are part of the church and so in chapter one God writes his word in a very orderly fashion it's.
It's incumbent upon us to recognize that there are divisions in Scripture and that there's order in how God writes things. So the first chapter that the book of judgment, you would want to know who the judge is.
And so we have the judicial glories of Christ and pulled forth in chapter one he's presented as the ancient of Davis. In verse 13, he says in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like under the Son of Man. That's his title as the judge clothed with a garment down to the foot and heard about perhaps with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool.
As white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire. Well, each one of these.
The attributes of the judge are very, very significant, and the book is written in a symbolic language. It's not literal. Some of the facts are literal, but it's written in symbolic language. The same symbols that are used in the Old Testament are used to portray thoughts in connection with what the Spirit of God wants to communicate in the New Testament. And so on the second and third chapter, we have the Lord Jesus.
Walking in the midst of the churches, walking in the midst of the assemblies and his judgment. Well, if we turn back to.
I think it's second Peter. No, it's I think it's first Peter chapter 4 verse 17.
It tells us what he's doing.
Chapter first Peter Chapter 4, verse 17. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the House of God.
And if it begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? And so chapters two and three give us what he is doing in the present day. He's discerning and he's judging in connection with our conduct. And we have the history of the church given in these seven different assemblies that are mentioned. And then in chapter 4 and chapter 5, we have the credentials of the judge. So he is the judge and he's he has the.
00:15:02
Rights to be the judge in chapter 4 because he is the creator and he's created all things in verse 11 for thy pleasure, for thy will. They are and were created and then in chapter five he has the right as the Redeemer, the purchaser of all things as the Lamb of God and in chapter six he begins his judgment and so really we have.
In a very orderly fashion.
God introduces the Judge in all his judicial glories.
And then he presents the one who has loved the church and given himself for it and how interested he is in every assembly and what's going on. And he takes up in connection with the oversight, the responsibility that is theirs during their watch. And then he presented the credentials of the judge before he begins his judgments in the world.
So each one of these assemblies represent a period of time that the Church existed in, and they're sequential in time. And so this is really in chapter 2, verse one begins with just after the Apostolic age. John the Apostle was an aged apostle at this time, but he was the apostle of the affection.
Paul of the apostle of knowledge, and you might say Peter, is it possible of action? He was always acting. He was a leader among these disciples, but John was the apostle in the affection.
And it takes us back to the affections of Christ for His Church, and for each one of us individually as we read these little letters. Just somewhat said is the 2nd letter Second Epistle to the Ephesians, and it was written by Christ himself. And so he has some correction here, and he springs before the Saints, that they might be exercised.
I think it's important to see the.
General aspect of the book going back to verse chapter one, verse 19.
Right between which thou have seen and that would be the presentation of the Lord and His judicial character outlined in the first chapter.
Different in aspect than that we see in the gospels where John the author laid on his bosom, here we have the Lord into his judicial character going to deal with.
The House of God, the corruption that has come into the.
The profession of Christianity I'm going to deal with the nation of Israel and the apostasy that has that will occur in that nation and then the blessings of the Millennium. So the things which are which thou has seen would refer to.
The first chapter and the description of the Lord in that character of judge the same switch are is what we have before us in the second and third chapters. These were actual assemblies in Asia Minor and we have really.
An overview of the history of the Church from the earliest days.
Shortly after the Apostles ministry right through to the.
Conviction of that.
But not exactly apostasy and later deceit. But.
Unfaithfulness and very low spiritual condition. We have an overview, we might say from the earliest years until.
The Lord gives us help and those who are.
Real will be taken from this world. And then the third, the third.
The third section.
It says and the things which are. That's the second and third chapter. He's referring to the assembly's existing at that time and.
00:20:13
And then we have.
The things which shall be asked hereafter which would refer to the judgments from chapter 6 on to the end of Chapter 1819.
The dealing with the.
The outward profession of Christendom, the apostasy of Israel, the establishment of the Kingdom, and so on. That is taken up from chapters 6.
On to Chapter 18 or to Chapter 19, and then we have the church in that.
In the millennial character, so that's a simple, we might say division of the bull strike where if we are looking at.
Another question if in the seven churches they have a history of the course of the church through this world, how is it that we would find any application to ourselves today?
Particularly in these first two churches we read that we're taking up.
Well, we find, don't we, the instruction that the Lord gives, the correction that He gives in the first His letter to the Ephesians.
He gives the instruction to them and we learn by those things which he spoke. These things were written for our learning. And so we find what hurt him the most, if I could put it that way, was just the heart was not right with him. The affection had cooled. They were an outward relationship. Everything looked promising now. Everything looked good, but really he didn't have what he wanted most was the affections of his people.
And so we learned by that.
What really means something to the Lord and how he spoke to them. And then in the second epistle they write to Smyrna, we find that he didn't find anything that was particularly.
Needed correction, you might say, and his heart's compassion, his affection were with the church, and he was allowing trials. 10 * 10 periods of trial.
Then he might extend the failure that he might.
Call, recall the hearts affections of His people and have His people cast upon Him.
And so we can learn and how we speak to these assemblies and why and what he says. And so that's why it's so important for us to read these things and to understand that they were written for our learning as well.
In addition to historical overview, they're also they also address a moral state, don't they?
And so we know there's some churches that are suffering. We've heard about that last night.
And so there may be all seven. In a moral sense at least, there may be all seven at the same time.
Some of the perhaps we're doing well at some point, like in the Ephesians, but they left their first love. I think sometimes we can identify with that.
You see an assembly that's healthy, and then a few years later there seems to be a coldness that comes in and kind of a mechanical. So there's a moral side to this too, isn't there? But there's also an historical side, as we mentioned. And this is extremely important because what we see here is it's actually only one, one of seven times in the New Testament that we have figures of the prophetic history of the church.
I could just summarize those very quickly and put them in a little chart here, but we have the three women.
Three women mentioned in Scripture, Matthew 13. There's a woman that laughs. Well, that's what happened in the early days of the church, didn't it? We might say with Ephesus, there was 11 Coming in a compromising. And then later on there was Jezebel that we read about later on in chapter 2.
Corrupting the church, not just leavening a little bit, bringing in error, but thorough corruption. We might say that's the ruin of the general testimony. And from that point, as we noticed the first three churches, there's the possibility of repentance back to the original condition. But beginning with the 4th church is what we call the ruin, not of the church per SE, but of the general testimony and as a result.
00:25:27
A remnant is separated at that point.
Because you can't be identified with the general testimony.
And then finally the third woman that's mentioned will read about and of course in Revelation 17 and 18 that's the anti church that's judged during the tribulation isn't it? So there's three of you may mention the seven mysteries of Matthew 13 is also a prophetic outline of the church.
And Matthew 14, we have the 5000 pen and the ship on its way to Paseo.
And that's also been mentioned versus 15 through 36 been mentioned as an outline of church history. The Lord goes up to pray after feeding the multitudes picture of the 1St century. The disciples are left to go by themselves, so to speak. They meet storms, but then remember the Lord Jesus appears at the end. And then Peter walks on the water, which is perhaps a picture of Philadelphia. But then we start to look around. He gets he starts to save perhaps later to see it. The Lord picks him up.
And immediately their to their desired place, the 10 virgins of Samila 210 there 10 similitudes in Matthew, but Matthew 25 verses 1 to 13 the the 10 virgins is another brief outline of of church history. And then in Acts 20 versus 7 to 12. Remember when Paul preached and the young man Utica fell down out of the window. That's also a beautiful picture of.
Church history and then of course Paul's voyage and Acts 27 and 28. So there are seven times.
That we have the same pattern and it's interesting that we it follows the pattern of prophecy. That is, not every detail is given every time, but the order is always the same of that those details that are given. For instance, the three women, they only give 3 distinct.
Time periods in the church history, they don't give all of them in between we get more detail in the seven churches of of Asia.
But each one gives the same order, exactly what we see in prophecy. And one very important principle here is this is the same order that we find in every dispensation and trusted demand. There's first the call of those that have the particular call. They're called out of the world. Then there's the establishment of those who have that call, and then there's a fall. And that's what we're beginning with, with emphasis.
It's not fatal yet. There's a possibility of return to the original condition, but there is that fall, that's the woman leavening, for instance, and then there's a gradual decline, and then ultimately there is that ruin of the general testimony which we're going to see in Thyatira.
You can't be identified with the Catholic Church and her daughter because there's thorough corruption there. They misrepresent the head, the Lord Jesus, and then after the ruin again, there's always a remnant separated.
And then finally, ultimately, there's failure. There's always a remnant. That's what we see in the stars, don't we, that are mentioned in Scripture. Stars are faithful individuals.
There's always room for faithful individuals, and that's what the Lord calls us to. But there's even a collective testimony to the end.
That that which, though has keep till the end, the apostle says to the Philadelphians. And then finally there's judgment.
And then the Lord brings in a new dispensation. So the point there is again that every.
Every dispensation follows a similar pattern and the fact is the Church follows the same pattern and this is extremely critical. It will end in corruption though. There will be faithful individuals and there will be a collective testimony at the end however.
00:30:00
Mr. Lundin used to tell us the surest sign of the Lord's coming is the low condition of the Church that often said that a dispensation ends with those who have the.
Particular calling of that dispensation are no longer distinguishable from what they've been called out of. And that's what we're facing at least in North America and Western Europe today, aren't we that same sort of thing. So I just mentioned that this is one of seven, this is the most complete outline of the history, but it's not exclusive. And in fact, it follows the same pattern that all the other dispensation, dispensation under law, dispensation under the Millennium, believe it or not, there's a decline during the Millennium.
Dispensation under the Patriarchs.
That follows the same pattern ultimately of failure. And This is why what we call covenantalism is an error, because they say that the Church is coming to prepare the world for the Lord's appearing, make it a better place. That's clearly contrary to all the evidence of Scripture. Whatever's entrusted the man's responsibility, man fails in ultimately, but there are always those who are stars.
Who are faithful individuals and as we mentioned there will be a collective testimony even to the end when the Lord comes and he asked us to be belong to that testimony.
The source of all true ministry is in the hand of the Lord, and so has the stars referred to that provision that the Lord has made through the gifts that have been imparted to.
Individuals.
As a result of the death, resurrection, ascension of the Lord into the glory, He gave gifts unto men and He is the source of the outdoors. Yes.
It's not man's authority or ordination. It comes from an ascended Christ within the glory and.
For the edification and.
Building up of the Church of God.
It's interesting that while the.
Subject is the assembly itself and the Lord speaks here to the Angel of the church. Really an Angel is one who is a messenger and he has a message from God and he is faithfulness delivers his message to whom he sent to An Angel gives a message, delivers a message. A star is used for guidance for navigation in those old days and so he speaks to those that are in oversight in the assembly in Ephesus.
And he says, this is what I see. And they, he held them responsible. So in a sense that's like, put it this way, he wasn't speaking to the young people, to the middle-aged crowd and to the children, so on. He holds those that are in oversight more responsible than the assembly, than those who are otherwise not in oversight. And so it's in faithless. And I just find these.
Things.
It's hard to read some of these expressions that the Lord uses, but I think it's utmost kindness on the heart of Lord himself to envy and to write a letter to this assembly, and He speaks himself. He knew their work, He knew their labor, He knew their patience, and He knew how they desired to go on in a holy way. Cannot bear them which are evil.
Try them and say they are apostles that are not.
Has found them liars there was all kinds of wickedness that began the denial of the deity of Christ and all those things in John's day we have not we could turn to some passages in the epistles to John to see how dark today had begun. But this is just after the other apostles that passed off the scene and it represents a time period. Maybe somebody knows exactly what that time period is, but.
Just after the apostles claimed he knew these things, he knew what was going on. And I was born and has patience for my namesake has long has labored and has not painted, nevertheless I have and somewhat shouldn't be in there. You see, it's an italics. Nevertheless I have agency because I have left my first love and the term there really is.
00:35:20
The best?
It's in Luke's gospel. Maybe we could turn to it just to get the point.
Chapter 15.
Verse 22 The father said to his servants bring forth best role.
And put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.
And so the best love is really what the sense is. And there was no at the beginning of the church period, there was affection for Christ and they nothing was mixed with it. And the Saints oftentimes had to suffer the loss of all things. And some of them gave up their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus. But here they had left that freshness of love. And that's what he was addressing.
And so it's instructive to it, but I think it's very helpful for us to realize that what the Lord said to these assemblies is that in utmost love and affect, but with firmness, judgment must begin at the House of God. His purpose was love. His motive was love. And to recall His Saints to Himself, to recall their hearts, affections, and to have them judge those things, it's like a salesman, you know a salesman.
When you're trained to be a salesman, you have to present the goods, the features and the benefits of the product, the features and the benefits, and then you have to close the sale. You have to say now this is what you need to do, buy my product, whatever. But the Lord calls to his people, he says.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the 1St works, or else I will come unto thee.
Shouldn't be in the text There I will come unto the and we'll remove thy hand. We'll stick out of this place except our pen.
So he presents the truth that to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus is a tremendous privilege to bear a light and testimony before this world, and to express the love of Christ for others and to express the love of Christ from one another, and so on.
But as that girl's been the affections for Christ himself and it's just a facade.
Hurts, but it grieves him at his heart. And sowing love. He called them and it brought this to their attention and called them to close the gap as it were. To repent, to consider it in the presence of the Lord, to exercise self judgment, and to say I'm at fault for allowing something to come in to distract my affections for Christ and I need to judge it and to remove it that I might be acceptable under Him.
I'm part of the Wiles of the enemy, you know, he presents.
Something that appears.
Morally acceptable.
It may it.
There's something the enemy would introduce into the life of the believer that detracts him from occupation with the interests of Christ. And so there was much commendable in the Church of episode we see here.
Faithfulness. So many serious doctrines came into the testimony. Gnosticism and so on. Arianism after the the apostles.
Passing there were serious doctrinal issues that.
Confronted the church and it was dealt with, but that motive spring.
In the assembly the love of Christ had declined in their souls, and the Lord felt it.
Maybe someone can give us a definition of Arianism and Gnosticism. We have some young people here and we just used a couple of words that perhaps they're not familiar with.
00:40:00
Eric could do this better than I could, but Gnosticism was that that's one of the things that the fossil warned about in the official to the collections, that there was further truth.
Beyond what we have revealed in the apostles, the ministry, there's something further, deeper truth, a deeper knowledge of things than what is revealed.
Arianism was really an attack upon the person of Christ, was it not? Was it not?
Denial of his of the eternal sonship. Eric.
And his deity and his deity itself. Common example hearing is today is Jehovah Witness or Mormonism. Isn't it Mormonism Mormons tell us that as he was that's Christ was so we can become.
They teach that we can become a God like Jesus. That's completely false, isn't it? There's a great gulf between deity and humanity.
Unitarianism is another.
Would see sometimes assign a Unitarian church and so they'll say that God is God, but they deny the three persons of the Godhead. And what Christianity, what God has revealed in Christianity is that there is a father son. And Gold Coast was unknown in the Old Testament. They knew that Godhead was plural, but they didn't know the details. And so it has been revealed that Jesus is God.
And the Father is in heaven and.
That have seen me, have seen the Father, and so the Lord Jesus is God the Son. So the Scriptures, the New Testament Scriptures present that. But as we say, at the beginning of the church period, the enemy was seeking to attack the person of Christ and his being and setting aside of the revealed Word of God by the apostles, the inspired Word of God and seeking to add to the Word of God.
To erase and to.
To use the black magic, Parker, if we could put it that way, and to try to alter the word of God. And so he addresses that at the end of the book. Let's look at it in chapter 22.
Chapter 22 and verse 18.
Notice who writes this? It's the Lord Jesus himself.
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of this prophecy, of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add under these things, God shall add unto him the plagues and the written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away out of his part, out of the book.
Of life and other the holy Stadium. From the things which are written in this book. Well, he reveals that those that do not have divine light.
Will deny that Jesus is the Son of God. Those that do not have divine life will attack. The truth of God is revealed in the New Testament. And so it's a solemn, solemn, serious thing too, for a believer perhaps to alter something with the truth of God. I'll just use this as an example. There are some, you know, famous individuals who have said, well, Christ could have sinned, but he didn't sin.
It's absolute denial of the fact that the Lord Jesus is God because God cannot sin. It's not possible for God to sin. And so the Lord Jesus had a life that was unique and his life, he was the head of a new creation race of men. And so he was conceived of the Spirit and he was not a part of the fallen race of men.
And so.
The Scriptures are clear, but we have, even in Christian circles, doctrines that are not appropriate, not correct, and that deny some aspects of the truth of God. And so that's why it's important, it's vital for us to learn the truth and to hear the truth, to be taught the truth from those that walk in the truth. I don't want to.
00:45:05
Be the drum here, but.
To go to an ecumenical Bible study and so on is not the purpose of God. It's not what God has ordained in Scripture. And you read the New Testament, we're going to learn the truth of God.
From those who are walking in the truth of God. It's a principle in Scripture.
John, you mentioned the secret spring is missing here. That is the affection for Christ. What does that mean?
Because one, we might say that this church we might say.
Here come anything, Steve. It's the backside of church, isn't it?
Oftentimes we back select what we are interested. What is missing when we backslide? What's the? How do we maintain that secret spring?
Well, it's communion with the Lord, isn't it? And walking in the self judgment which is.
So important in our lives.
The independence on the Lord and to.
Deal with those things which.
Is freezing to him in our lives.
Or it may be that some other object is coming in and will be coming.
Occupied with. With something that is.
You know, as I have said, perhaps is not immoral, but.
It diverts our eyes from the Lord and.
It robs us of that.
Communion.
Personal communion with the Lord.
And enjoyment of his love. So another has said there's no substitute for communion. But it's a very it's a very delicate.
Thread there, and we know only too well how easily.
There can be a rupture in our communion with the Lord and we have to be watchful and.
Careful, we need the whole armor of God, don't we?
Song of Solomon.
Chapter 5.
Really enjoy the connection with.
Ephesians, Ephesus, and and that question.
And.
No, it's, it's primarily Speaking of Israel, but I think the lessons are for us.
And then Song of Solomon, chapter 5, the Lord.
Comes into his garden he's expecting my God in Genesis that came into the garden in the cool of the day looking for communion with Adam but of course Senate spoiled it will he comes here looking for communion with his beloved her responses in verse two I sleep.
So nicely and the Lord has through the apostles.
Said to Ephesians.
In chapter 5. Wherefore he saith, The weight of that sleep is, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. And so he comes, and she's sleeping.
But she says my heart waketh.
Because she hears his voice. My heart waketh.
It is the voice of my beloved, that knock is saying, open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. Blessing. That's a picture of blessing that he desires for us, and I think not just future but presently present enjoyment of himself. Her response is, I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on?
I have washed my feet. How shall I defile them?
Think of the picture. She's not walking in ways of defilement.
00:50:02
She's at rest.
I have peace with God for our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm at rest. I know where I'm going. If I die, I'll go to heaven. I'm not going on in worldly ways when she was asleep.
And it's the picture I think we have in in our chapter. There was much to comment, but there was a problem.
They were asleep and still affection for Christ.
I just can't get out of bed, you know? It's really her response.
My beloved put his hand by the hole of the door. I assume that's an opening in the door and she could see his hand.
And my bottles were moved for him. Her heart moved. What did she see? All of him know. She saw one part. She saw his hand.
You know, they're in the upper room. When the Lord showed his hands and his feet to the disciples that says, then were they flat? When they saw the Lord, they saw those hands pierced for them. And his hands speak of service and a service of love, and in His service of love his hands were pierced for us.
If there's anything that's going to wake us up.
And move our hearts.
It's going to be what he did for us.
And occupation with himself and what he's done for us and his love for us occupation with his love for us that here's and then there's a response violent from her and she gets out of that that bad that she wakes up. And I think that's that's really what we've been saying. It's a hearts occupation with the love love of Christ for us and what it cost him seeing that Pierce pan.
And his desire to have.
Fellowship with us.
All the rest without it, no matter how nice, how great the works, it's empty for him unless we open that door, which we're going to get finally glad to see it once we open that door where we saw his hand by the whole door and let him in.
You know, Brandon had an expression correctly, John, if I don't get it quite right, but I believe it was that everything were right. Nothing were right. Say the motive were right is the spirit that's true.
And so speaking to young people, especially if you can listen up a second, I think it begins with the spiritual discipline, doesn't it? Spending time ourselves with the Lord, taking every opportunity we can to be in his presence, going to meetings and, and online and watch what we occupied with online. It's so dangerous today.
And some people say we'll have to go to school or I have to work. Is there a secret there? I believe there is that is the real secret is that will keep him in perfect peace. His mind is stayed on day. How can we do that when we have to go to work and go to school? Because if we do it for the Lord, it brings that peace and community doesn't our our occupations or our school ought to be a testimony that we belong to Christ.
And we're using our time and energy for his glory. And that's.
Privilege but again I say that it begins with reading and prayer on our own with Christian disciplines. Hebrews 5 with Apostle Paul was speaking to the Hebrews and it says strong meat belongs to those who by reason of use or habit have their ex their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. We need to develop this habit. We need to control our minds for things that are.
Going to conflict.
With that, we know it's true. And so that's really the secret. I think we've known people. I think of somebody that is well known to some of us here no longer with us. But he was a, he was a giant intellectually, but the spirit was all wrong.
And it didn't end well. And it begins with this, doesn't it? And so that's the fall. Sometimes it's been said, this is the fallen church. Ephesus literally means desirable. She's the one that Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. She's so desirable. Or as we often quote Galatians 220, the Son of God who brought faith and has given himself for me to present faith, not just past. And to the extent that we're taking up with what belongs to Christ and we belong to Christ.
00:55:24
And walking, as her brother John was saying, in communion with the Lord and judging those things that are contrary to his will and his way, that's the path of peace and happiness. And that's will keep us from being fallen. Or if we backslide, which we all tend to do, it gets us back into into fellowship with the Lord.
2 verses and songs come to mind. One is song 2514.
Psalm 2514 This is the secret of the Lord is within that feed him and He will show them His covenant and reveal Himself to my community, wouldn't it? That's one and then the other is Psalm 91 and verse one.
Since you Psalm 91.1.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of Almighty and mention how do we keep? How do we, how can we be kept while we're here? While the warranty says the shadow of the Almighty, What better hand could be in to be kept than that hand?
Pierced for us.
We have all things that pertain in the life. There's nothing that God hasn't given us to preserve us in that pathway yet. Dwelling spirit, a new life, eternal life, a new standing before God. God is our Father, a new object, the indwelling spirit. These are all things God has given to us as believers so that we can walk in that pathway.
Forget who.
Told the story, it was one of the old brothers at the hospital, head of the up in New Brunswick. They ever forgot it. He he mentioned how somebody was giving the gospel to another person and the person said, you know, I'd like to be saved, but I just don't think I can live the Christian life.
And so the man that had a pencil in his hand is not sure. Many have heard the story, but perhaps some of the younger ones haven't. But he gave the person a pencil and he said, I'll make that pencil stand on the pen. The man put the pencil there and it kept falling over, of course. And finally he said, I'll show you how to make the stand. You put it there. He kept his finger on it. And that's what the word fends for is, doesn't it? He wants to keep us, and He's provided us all things that pertain on the life of godliness so that we can walk in that pathway in the midst of.
The darkest days.
And that's what we have here. So it was a fallen church, but not a ruined church. That word fallen is there in verse five. Remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the 1St work that begin in with Christ Is it? And then the Nicolae. What is the Nicolae? What are some different thoughts on that? It's very.
From the word itself, it means the comfort the people conquer lay the people. So some of suggested that perhaps it was yearly intrusion of the clergy of separate class of people that were not only brethren of in Christianity there could be an equal class of brethren. Sure, we have different responsibilities and so on, but we're all equal. In a large site there's not a distinction between clergy and laity. So that's one thought. Another thought that the writers like Mr. Darby and Kelly feel more strongly about.
Is it that they were anti no meanness?
And Tyson we means against and no Ian means law. In other words, what they did was these men pretended to be Christians, claimed to be Christians, but their lives were not Christian at all.
So that's what the Early read themselves about Nicolae. I don't know what others say about that. Perhaps they could accept both but Nicole has appeared to have been anti millionaire. They were pretending to be spiritual.
Claiming to be spiritual, that their lives were anything but spiritual.
You know you're not stagnant. We're not.
Staying at one place in our Christian experience, either we're progressing and the understanding and the knowledge of the Lord or we're retrograding. We're going back. This is the case. We haven't been there church and.
01:00:13
The apostle will go back to his remarks in Acts.
In chapter 20.
One and 20 chapter 20, where he's arresting the elders of this very church. 282028 They keep therefore unto yourselves, into all the flock over which the Holy Ghost.
May do overseers lead the Church of God, which he'll purchase with his own blood, for I know this.
That after my departing shall breathe wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock also of your own selves, and then arise speaking perverse things to go away disciples, after that, therefore watch, Remember that by the space of three years I see snow to warn every one of you night and day. Now here's the resource that we are left with at night and day with tears.
Now, brethren, my commenders involved.
Through the word of his grace, which is able.
Build you up and give you an inheritance among them all them which are sanctity.
And then we have the provisions of the war that do not change.
The God and the Word of His grace.
Which we?
Which we have the privilege of that.
Of the reading today, the word of His grace and.
Obedience to that word is a time that is marked out for us and.
The Word of God, two great resources, not only the word of God, but prayer as well. So he commended them to God and so we can pray for one another. We can pray for the assembly. It's God's assembly, it belongs to the Lord Jesus. It's not ours. Let's praise for the Lord to preserve those that are in the assembly, to preserve the assembly itself. I was just going to comment on chapter 20 as well in verse connection with Utica's. You might say, well, how do you get sleepy?
Our brother Steve read about this woman who wouldn't get up because she was sleeping and she wanted to get her feet dirty and so on. But how do you get sleepy near Utica's? It didn't happen all at once. And then it's the same terminology, the same illustration is giving. You might say in Matthew 25 that our brother Eric, they all slumbered and slept. What does it mean to slumber and sneak? It means to get sleepy.
It means that we become insensitive to the responsibility that we have, the support board and the testimony that we have and the actual fact that we are here to their testimony to live for His glory and be taken up with His interest. We become sleepy and unconscious to the fact that that is our responsibility. That's why we're here. And then so it's a gradual thing. We become sleepy and then we fall asleep. We're totally unconscious to our desire or.
Responsibility to bear a testimony. And So what makes us sleepy?
The world Satan has all kinds of tricks.
And I'm not a good example. I don't want to say that I'm a good example of anything at all.
But I have just one little trick that helped me at night. I shut myself phone off. I don't put it on airplane mode or anything like that. I shut the thing off and then I do not turn it on again until I read a few verses of scriptures and a little time in the presence of the Lord.
We need to take exercise self judgment, we're allowing ourselves to become sleepy and then we're unconscious as to the responsibility of have before the Lord during the day and it's a dangerous thing. Brother London used to say to us when we were young, He say young people, you have three parts to the day, three eight hour sections. You have to spend 8 hours roughly resting and refreshing, recovering and sleep.
01:05:01
You have 8 hours of responsibility at work, perhaps at school and so on, and then you have 8 hours of discretionary time. What are you doing with those eight hours of discretionary time? Are you frittering them away?
And that's how he would speak to us. And so we have 8 hours you could say that we could really spend.
Keeping ourselves awake.
Well, we haven't commented here on Smyrna very much, but he does in this little assembly present the that there were a couple of things that distressed him, and that he knew that there was those that were blasphemous, and they spoke impiously, you might say, a divine things, because they said they were Jews and are not.
Letter the synagogue of state and it really refers to a Judaizing element within the church. They wanted to mix Judaism and Christianity, but God is wisdom has made a clear break. The church was not revealed in the Old Testament. It was unknown and it was in the secrets of God. He had a secret, a great secret, the greatest secret that he had in any call to the mystery.
Of Christ in the Church.
The greatest mystery.
And he revealed it after the Lord Jesus was crucified and ascended into heaven. 10 days later, the church was formed. And he reveals by the apostle Paul and other writers that this church is going to be the bride of Christ, and she's going to have a special place in his heart. Well, these Judaizers, they wanted to mix Judaism, the principles of Judaism and the principles of Christianity and make something that was.
A little bit of a smorgasbord.
And everyone would have a slightly different flavor. And so that's why the Spirit of God insists on.
Those things that are Christian being distinct and that there would not be a separate class of priesthood and a separate lazy and all those things that had begun to creep into the church early on.
And so he speaks very forthrightly, but he had allowed, as we said earlier.
Trials and tests.
And he was going to test as to whether there was going to be faithfulness or not.
Faithfulness to the name of Christ, faithfulness to the cause of Christ and the Lord deals with us as individuals. He would test individuals. That's the faithfulness. Yes, the whole assembly was responsible and those that were an oversight, he's speaking to and they're responsible, doubly responsible, you might say, but he was going to test them all. That's just faithfulness. And I believe the Lord Jesus was tested you and I today in the day that we live in as to whether or not we will be faithful.
For the truth that we know.
There's a word on the overcomer here. What is the significance I will give to each of the three of life which is in the midst of the paradise of.
Well, paradise means the garden of delight, doesn't it?
And man, Adam never ate of the tree of life. We're not told that he did. And otherwise he would have lived forever in that state of innocence. But you and I in the fallen statement, pardon me, in the in his fallen state, in his fallen state. But he didn't even need it in his innocence, I don't believe.
But here he he speaks at the paradise of God, at the light, the garden of the light. And we know that in Luke's Gospel chapter 24, the Lord spoke to the thief on the crossing, says today shalt thou be with me in paradise garden of delight. And so the Lord delighted to present that future hope to those that would be overcomers, that they would be with him and enjoy.
The provision that he would have for them, that garden of the light, those that would be overcomers.
I like what it says in Colossians 2 we mentioned the mystery of God, the end of verse two and the rest of the verse. It shouldn't really be there and then it's properly translated in which are hit all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
01:10:11
Well, this is the broad panorama of God's blessing for mankind. Isn't that what it speaks about? The the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God?
Tremendous blessings that God wants to bring us into.
And we'll see that as we see that in the Tabernacle. It's interesting, the door of the Tabernacle, not the outer gate, but the door into the sanctuary.
Have beautiful colors on it.
Purple and scarlet, and of course the white background in blue heaven. It speaks of that which is pure, that which is heavenly, that which is.
Imperial side of things, the purple and the earthly side of things, God understanding and and how he teaches us what's going to happen on the earth. These are all part of the treasures that God wants to introduce the Christian into.
Like he said to Abraham of old on the way to Sodom and Gomorrah when they visited the Abraham, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I am about to do? That's why Abraham was called God's friend. We taught him things that were unknown to the world otherwise. And let's remember, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Satan is far greater than we are, but he's not nearly a mess to the Lord.
So the overcomer. Each one of these churches has an overcomer.
And that's what the Lord calls us to. To be faithful doesn't mean we're necessarily gifted. Does it mean we necessarily have a prominent place among brother? But it's faithfulness. It's seeking to honor the Lord and walking in the Lords and the secret of his presence.
So this is the suffering or the persecuted church, isn't it?
Smyrna comes from the words myrrh, which we know. The bird comes from a tree, a shrub, and they use the SAP. It's like teardrops from the SAP that they use, and it often speaks of sorrow.
And in fact, remember when the the Oriental kings came to the infant Jesus, they offered a gift so of of of a gold myrrh and frankincense.
Remember, Gold of course, speaks of his divinity. The murder speaks with the sufferings he would bear. But Frankenstein speaks of the beauty, the moral beauty of his past.
You might turn to the Song of Solomon again, Chapter 4 at the end of chapter 4.
Maybe we could read a little earlier than that. Verse 13. Chapter 4. Verse 13. The plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, campfire with spikes, here spiky and saffron. Calamus and all the treatment, frank consensus, murder and arrows with all the cheap spices. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, the streams from Lebanon.
A wait until north wind come blow upon my garden, but the spices are of me flow out that my beloved come into his garden or eat his pleasant fruits. So in this passage we have the north wind perhaps blowing over the garden. And you know here in Hammer Bay we have a Grapevine right by the model tea shed and I think Jonathan is pruned it a little bit and so on and maybe grapes on it. But at this time of year.
Walk by the Grapevine and you had a night just below a frost. The smell of those grapes, those Concord grapes, is a wonderful, wonderful smell. And So what he did here, the Lord himself allowed suffering.
His heart of love that that fragrance that he desired low forth and the fragrance of the craters of the Saints, they're dependent upon him, their expression of their love for him and their dependence upon his care. Preservation through those trials would walk heavenward and he would have the scent of all those prayers. And I believe this is a little bit of a picture given to us. It's.
01:15:09
Murder. Suffering.
And but it was for 10 days, it was measured. It's a wonderful thing for a believer to recognize that when we go through a trial, it's measured.
Is not indefinite. The unbeliever, he has no hope. He has no thought of when this could possibly end. Why he's going through these situations but you and I independence upon the Lord and depending upon his faithfulness and upon his love.
We can even thank Him for the trial, giving thanks always for all things under God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can thank him for allowing the trial, that we might learn something from it. And so.
It's measured, and so God does not do things indiscriminately. There's a purpose.
Here I think it was sometimes in our own lives, a preventative measure.
There was mentioned already evil doctrine said raise their head. You get them more fully developed in in Pergamus where it's right within the assembly.
But he stemmed that downward slide towards those things and using sufferings and the poverty that they had in in so many ways.
Had no influence in this world. They could change anything in the government or do anything in that way. They just were battered and bruised. But God preserved them through that time from sliding any further. And when that persecution and that poverty changed, well then the slide picked up again. And so He may come in in our own lives and introduce those things to keep us from drifting further away from Himself rather than draw us close to himself.
Those are all practical thoughts to reach one of us to keep in mind. You know the assemblies that were in and.
Go back, it's going back quite a ways, but it's been mentioned the individual and in connection with the collectiveness too in the assembly. But all of us that started as an individual, didn't it? We had to come to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. I think Robert mentioned that verse in Luke 15. Put on the best robe. And I think of those verses in Zechariah 3, You know, take those filthy garments off and I'll put in them a new raiment. Remember what He has done for us. What does He mean to us? Mary could say in the garden for Beaumont. That was a term of true affection and love, wasn't there?
And that blind man and Mark 10, he said, what would you have me do? Lord said, what would you have me to do for you? He said, Lord, that I might receive my sight. It was affection. There was reverence there. And so to hold that and keep that our whole life. Sure. You mentioned the one in Song of Solomon there and what she heard his voice. Mary assumed that it was the gardener, but she heard his voice and said, Mary, and so he keeps us with him.
As we had before us and and mentioned the waking and you know that we wouldn't make provision for the flesh in our lives. We see that in Romans 13 with awake out of sleep. You know our salvation is nearer than it ever was before. And so he would have us to be walking close to him. But if we're in an assembly.
And we're going through difficult times in that assembly and there's hardship.
Think that you can't help. Don't think that He's left you there and that you're alone. Remember that He does give us provision to overcome these things. We're going through it for a particular purpose. Maybe there's something that you don't like in the assembly. Well, maybe that's for you to pay attention to. Who knows what it might be. But we do need to pay attention to these things because, you know, as an individual, it's my responsibility to walk in the path that He has laid before me to show Christ when you put on that garment.
You're putting on Christ. That tells you that again in Romans 13, I believe. And so if you and I put on Christ and walk in those ways, then others are going to see it. As much as it is contagious to fall asleep and have others fall asleep around you, it's contagious when you show Christ and others can follow that example too. Paul said follow me. He didn't mean follow him because he was some special individual, which I'm sure he really was.
01:20:05
But he said follow me because I'm walking in the path. I'm walking in the example that Jesus Christ left for me to walk in.
Follow that path. Follow that example.
I think that Practically speaking sums these up a little bit.
We have the crown of life mentioned here, and it brings before us that though there were martyrs at this time, there were two things particularly that Satan did I believe. One was that the burning of the Scriptures, the eradication of the word of God, trying to persecute the Saints and eradicate the Word and.
Because they all had to be handcuffed.
Books of the Bible at that time.
No printing presses. And the other was martyrdom to take the light. And so he said, be faithful under that, and I will give thee a crown of life. And so it reminds us that what God gives, He may take something away. The life may have been taken away from some of those dear ones and it looks like they lost everything. It looks like they lost those days on earth. That could be truthful for the Lord.
But he always gives something better.
In return, he always gives a reward that's better.
And so it's a principle in God's ways with men that he blessed the latter days of Job rather than his beginning.
And so a brother sister has lost their house to a storm and basically we have a homeless family in our midst.
They don't have a home.
But he gives the best, he always gives the best. And so here Speaking of loyalty to Christ, be thou faithful unto death. And I maybe just to turn to UN quote it. Galatians 5/22. The fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy peace.
Long boy.
The fruit of spirit, Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
That's loyalty.
Loyalty to Christ.
That's the expression that's meant there. And so loyalty, they were to be loyal to the person of Christ and to the faithful to what they do to be the truth of God, even if it costs in their life this night for us to live in the day that we live in and to take this instruction to be faithful, loyal to the word of God, loyal to Christ, to person even in the day that we live in.
The crowd like.
One of seven crowns that mentioned the Scripture week.
You say #51 from the start #51.
Jesus our Lord, we.
Are.
Souls to shame.
No more like our whole.
Four Stages of Our Christian Journey
Address—Eric James
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.
Good to be together again, isn't it?
And spend all eternity together.
Good to be together while we're on Earth.
Let's start with number 13 in the back of the book.
Child of God by Christ, salvation, rise or sin, and fear and care. Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear. Think what Spirit dwells within thee. Think what Father smiles are thine. Think that Jesus died to win thee. Child of God, wilt thou repine #13 in the back of the book?
Child of God by grace.
Shall change the.
Life.
They can start a prayer to praise.
You know, when we first start reading the Bible, I suppose that a lot of times, if you're like a lot of us anyway, we just kind of get little text here and there. God so loved the world and so on, and we get little text. A lot of people when they read the Old Testament, it's a pretty dark book, but they enjoy certain texts taken out of context usually. But nonetheless, that's often how we start on our Christian journey, learning about the.
Truth of God, but as we go on, I know one thing we had an exercise about with our children and I hope you parents do with your children too, and that is to teach them the stories of the Bible. And so we went over and over and over. We actually used Egger Myers Bible story book and you still have it. It's pretty well worn, thankfully, but we still have it and that way they got the stories in their mind so that sometime in the future.
They could start to make the connection between what the stories are, not simply historically, but also typically. That would take a little longer, of course, but that's one thing I'd like to talk about today. Let's look at a verse in the second Timothy, chapter one, first of all.
So as we get a little further along in our Christian pathway, we start to see the outlines in Scripture.
And that's how we learn.
More about God, more about his counsels, more about our standing and our state and our pathway through this world. I want to read just a couple verses here, second Timothy chapter one and verse 12 for this, for which 'cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed. This is Paul, his last epistle that he wrote, his last words, if you will.
00:05:03
For I know whom I have believed.
It's a person, as we are speaking about this morning and am persuaded.
That He is able to keep read the new translation, keep the good deposit, or that deposit which I have committed unto him against that day.
Paul had deposited all of his life, committed it to Christ, and he knew that he would not be ashamed of that when he stood before Christ. And now verse 13, hold fast the form again. We're going to look at the new translation. Hold fast the outline of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love.
Which is in Christ Jesus. Want to look at an outline today?
Let me read a couple a little bit. The introduction to the Schofield Bible. We don't go along with everything that the Scofield Bible says, but there's many helpful hints there. But here's a part of the introduction I think is very helpful. It says this, the Bible.
Incomparably the most widely circulated of books that once provokes and baffles study, even the non believer in its authority rightly feels that it is unintelligent to remain in almost total ignorance.
The most famous and ancient of books, and yet most even of sincere believers, soon retire from any serious effort to master the content of the sacred writings. The reason is not far to seek.
It is found in the fact that no particular portion of Scripture is to be intelligently comprehended.
Apart from some conception of its place in the whole, that's, I think, what we mean by an outline.
Where the Bible story and message is like a picture wrought out in mosaics. Each book, chapter, verse.
And even word forms a necessary part, and has its own appointed place. It is therefore indispensable to any interesting and fruitful study of the Bible that a general knowledge of it be gained. Well, he goes on to speak mainly of dispensational outlines. And that's a little different subject, but from what I wanted to take up today.
But there's also typical outlines that we can turn over to Acts 20. It was referred to this morning.
And we get a very helpful outline there, what I call the four stages.
Of our Christian journey.
I put a little chart together. I'll kind of use it as a CHEAT SHEET and some people want copies of it later on. I'll I have some copies. But first of all, I want to, I want to speak about that without you having the sheet. There's basically 4 stages. I believe the two great typical types in the Old Testament of the Christian journey are found in the Tabernacle and found in the journey from Egypt to Canaan. Now, like Steve said.
You know, what does that have to do with us today? Well, it has everything to do with us today because it speaks to us of the outline of our Christian journey. In fact, it actually says that regarding the Tabernacle in Hebrews Chapter 9. It says it's a shadow of things to come. It's a picture of heaven, just a shadow. It doesn't give all the detail, but it's a shadow of Christianity. And this is no surprise. Is it Because we know.
That the Scriptures have one author, and that one author is the Spirit of God, and it's knit together, like Mr. Schofield says, like in Mosaic, I sometimes think of a quilt. You look at a beautiful quilt, you see there's a common pattern, but it has distinctive differences throughout it. But there is a common pattern throughout the whole. That's the way the Scriptures are. So I want to go over briefly.
The four stages of our Christian journey, referencing the Tabernacle and referencing the journey from Egypt to Canaan.
And what I want to particularly speak of not only those types, but how they correlate with the New Testament epistles. You know, the New Testament epistles are given to us in the Bible, but there's nothing divinely inspired about the order, what we're going to speak about.
The four stages of a Christian journey and I know in our Bible study at home and also in our little meeting, we try to follow the pattern of that gives us.
The stages of our Christian journey. So rather than just going rotely from 1 epistle to the next, as they are chronologically in the Bible, which is not inspired, rather we follow an order that I might call a moral or spiritual order that shows a true progression. And what's the secret to that progression? Well, it's found in the Old Testament, both in the Tabernacle and also in the.
00:10:22
In the journey from Egypt to Canaan.
So I promised David, some of the others that I was going to get some help from him today. So.
The first stage of the Christian journey.
Is found when the Israelites had to leave Egypt. I call that salvation that's pretty straightforward, isn't it we're not a Christian until we're saved and so.
They also in the Tabernacle. What is it that correlates to our salvation?
One of your young people. Help me remember the Tabernacle. Got this from Robert. Remember, there's a Tabernacle Picture here. If you haven't studied the Tabernacle, I hope you will because it's one of the great outlines in Scripture. Here we have the Tabernacle, and when you first walk through this gate, there's something very large there. What do we call that?
Young person and young person help me.
An altar? What kind of altar?
Getting a little hint there.
Raisin altar, right? Brazen altar. It's a brass, really. It's a copper altar, but it's often called the brazen altar. This is a picture of salvation. Where in the New Testament are we taught how to be saved?
What's the book in the New Testament that corresponds with our deliverance from Egypt and the grazing altar?
You know, people, help me out. OK, we'll be right next to me here. Where would you look in the New Testament to find the doctrine of salvation that were lost in guilty sinners? There's no difference. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We need a Savior and we have the remedy.
Well, the Gospels are a help, but what? Where do we learn the teaching of salvation in the New Testament? What epistle teaches us how to be saved?
George, you with us?
Well, I would go to Ephesians yet.
David Roman. Yeah, Romans. I went. We go to Romans. You know Romans, actually the 1St 8 chapters of Romans, you have salvation in three tenses. Did you know salvation is in three tenses in the Bible?
Their salvation from the penalty of sins, salvation from the power of sins, and salvation from the presence of sins, Right? You get all three of those things in the first eight chapters of Romans. That's salvation. The one is future still, isn't it? We're not saved from the presence of sin yet. We're still here. But we're saved from the penalty of sins and saved from the power of sin by the work of the Lord Jesus did on the cross.
And so romance is sometimes called the great epistle of justification. There's a verse that's quoted from the Old Testament, and in each each in that Old Testament, there's a different emphasis on the word. And in Romans it says the just shall live by faith. The emphasis is on the word just because justification has to do with having all charges against us removed before God.
And to be brought into a wonderful position.
A blessing which is called in Christ. That's salvation, OK.
That's the first stage of our Christian journey. There's no Christianity apart from that, is there? The second stage of Christianity is when they left Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea and there's a lot of symbolism there. We won't go into it now, but now we go into the wilderness and there's another vessel in the Tabernacle and you see what that next vessel is.
You young people.
Who could help me?
Not yet.
The second vessel here.
Pardon.
Oh, and yeah, no, we'll get to that. But for right now, study the Tabernacle. What is that?
Vessels.
The Labor, right? What did they do at the Labor?
They wash their hands.
Wash their hands and their feet, right? And who wash their hands in their feet? You remember who it was.
00:15:02
Was a special class of people in Israel, the priest? Exactly. They had to be clean before they could go into the sanctuary here, that little tent building behind it, they had to be clean. First of all, they had to be washed all over. That's true. They had to be what we call consecrated. But then they had to wash their hands and their feet every time they went into the sanctuary. That's a picture of what we call.
Sanctification. Kind of a big word, isn't it? But sanctification is the second stage.
Of our Christian journey, it's how we become more Christ like, more like the Lord Jesus. That's the wilderness journey. You know, there's four stages in the wilderness. Let's talk about that a little bit. The first stage is the stage of grace. They came out of the land of Egypt and when they were hungry or when they were thirsty, what happened?
The Lord provided it to him, Yeah, when they were hungry and they were thirsty, He provided to him. Later on, that's not what happened, was it? But initially, this is the stage of grace. And what that means is the Lord wanted us to know and wanted them to know that He's sufficient to meet all of our needs.
So there's a epistle in the New Testament.
You know in the book of Romans is justification before God.
It's how I can stand before God and know my sins are forgiven and that I have a new standing before God where God will accept me as a son. That's a wonderful thing. But when we get to.
Get into the wilderness. There's something else that's required.
There's a book in the New Testament, an epistle called. We sometimes call it the Show Me Book.
And this writer who wrote it is actually 1/2 brother of the Lord. Maybe that'll give you a little hint about it. And he said, can faith save you? And he said, you've got to be saved by works. That's kind of strange. Martin Luther looked at that. And so I didn't even think that's inspired. I don't think God wrote that, but he did.
What book are we talking about?
It's not good enough to be only to be saved. What's the next step we have to David James, we have to act like Christians, right? So if Romans is justification before God, James's justification before men, what are our neighbors and our friends say about us is that, you know, that guy says he's a Christian. He goes to church, he maybe reads his Bible. Somebody doesn't act like a Christian.
So James's justification before men.
That's the explanation of James. Now there's another book. Now there are two books really in the New Testament. And this is, again, we're looking at a moral progression. And these people were newly saved. And so the apostle Paul, it's the first epistle he wrote, and he's saying, I want to lay out the foundations of Christianity, how you can be, how you were saved. First of all, how you turn to God from idols to worship.
The the true God.
And wait for his Son from heaven.
And he talks about how we can be sanctified as Christians. In fact, it says there that we would walk worthy of God. These people used to be heathen men. They worshipped idols, and they were immoral people. And now he says, I want you to walk worthy of God. You're saved. I want you to act like Christians. What books are we talking about? They're brand new Christians.
They hadn't been saved very long. This is the Apostle Paul's first two books that he wrote. Brand new Christians. What book are we talking about?
George, are you raising your hand?
Pardon.
Not, not, not yet, I don't think.
What book is the first book that Paul wrote?
Thessalonians. First and 2nd Thessalonians. Yep, he it's amazing how much he taught them in the few weeks he was with them. It had only been saved a very short time.
And it gives them a brief outline, doesn't speak of the assembly truths, yet gives a little bit of prophetic truth. It's an introduction to prophetic truth, which is quite interesting. And it gives some foundations as to how we can walk before the Lord. So I think that's the next book in progression. It's still the grace of God. He's teaching them how to walk worthy of God. That's actually a quotation from First Thessalonians.
OK, now they get from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai and they had to learn something else.
00:20:00
What happened at Mount Sinai?
What happened in Mount Sinai?
Is it Samuel or no? What's your name? Sam.
God.
Yeah, that was what the law was given to Moses, right?
Was that a happy thing?
Well, not entirely, is it? But you know, it's one thing to know that we're Christians, to have it laid out how we should walk as Christians. But I often use the illustration.
You know, when a little children, we have some little children here when they're one years old and probably a lot of you've done this, you have a birthday for the little child. Our grandson had a birthday not too long ago and we said, you know, he waited his whole life for this day. Well, he's only one that was his one number one birthday. But you know, a lot of times when it's there one, one year birthday, we let the children play in the cake, right?
We think it's funny and everybody laughs and they take pictures and we think it's it's fine.
But what about the child that's 10 years old? How old are you?
Would you, would you think your mom would like it if you played in your cake on your birthday? No, I don't think so. So there's responsibility, isn't there? It's one thing to know how to act as a Christian, but now we're responsible to act as Christians. And that's what we call stage two of the wilderness. It's the government of God. And so there are certain epistles that deal primarily with the government of God.
There's an epistle that says who shall molest you if you.
Do that, which is right?
You know what epistle I'm talking about? We're supposed to act as Christians now, and we reap what we sow. That's not an exact quotation from that book, but there's two epistles that were written by a man who heard today was a doer.
And he knew that that he was responsible to act like God. He couldn't act like that one year old anymore. He had to act more.
More responsible. Some people think when you're Christian, now that you're Christian, you can live any way you want. I had somebody say that to me not too long ago. Well, if you have your sins forgiven, then you'll act in an awful way. But that's not what we learned from God, is it? When we realize how much God loves us and cares for us, we want to act in a way that honors Him, and we know that we are responsible to God.
To act in a way that's responsible to him. And that's the second stage of the wilderness. We call it government.
A little harder to figure out that those two epistles.
Corinthians. Not quite. We'll get to that pretty quick.
Pardon. Can we give a hint? His name means a little stole, a little stone. He was a doer. He liked to do things with his hands.
First and second Peter. First and second Peter. First Peter. If you read it some, you'll see that it's the government of God in regard to Christians. If we do what's right, then people won't normally molest us. I know there's exceptions or suffering. Why would we want to live like a Christian? What's the keyword that's used seven times in the first and second Peter starts with AP.
Starts with AP.
Why would somebody suffer? What Peter talks about suffering? He says now you're strangers and pilgrims. You used to belong to this world, used to go along with people and do the things they did. Now you're different. Why would you suffer in this world and be different? What is it that's so special about Christianity? There's a word that used seven times in first and second Peter.
Dirt to the P.
Who could help us?
Unto you therefore, which believes pardon.
Not quite. What was it? Precious, right? 7 * 7 times. You can search it out. It's used in first and second, Peter. That's why we go out in this world as Christians. We're talking about that this morning, weren't we? What's the secret to Christianity? It's walking in the Lord's presence and realizing how wonderful He is and what a plan He has for us and what blessings He has for us both now.
And for all eternity. And so unto you, therefore which believe He is precious. But what if we turn our back on the Lord?
Well, that second Peter, second Peter, the second two chapters talk about the awful future that awaits those who do not bow to God. We heard that today, that Revelation four and five speaks of God's two claims on man. One is that he's the Creator. Second is that he's the Redeemer, but he's not the Redeemer of all men. The better translation is purchased a purchaser. He bought all men.
00:25:26
By with his precious blood, men have a responsibility to God, but not only is he the Creator, he's also the one who paid for them with his own blood. That doesn't save him though. We still have to be redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, but we have those two responsibilities towards man. And if we reject that.
There's an awful future ahead. And we read about the people in Second Peter who reject the gospel of the grace of God, and they know better. They professed it at one time, said they were Christians at one time, but they've turned their back on it and there's an awful future ahead for them. That's Second Peter. So the government of God.
Now what happened after the Children of Israel went from Sinai to the border of Israel? They came to a place called Kadesh.
Anybody know what Kadesh means? Young people?
What Kadesh mean? Important. Important meaning?
How about Steven or Samuel over there?
I said no, but I can't. Always talking about the Stevens behind you there.
You're supposed to pretend you know.
Anybody know what Kadesh means?
It means consecration.
It means consecration. They got to Kadesh and what happened?
What happened when the children of Israel went from Sinai to Kadesh? Did they enter the land of Canaan?
You remember.
What did they do?
What other young people can help us?
No, they could have gone, they could have crossed. Remember the 12 spies that went into the land? Remember there was 10 spies, 2 good spies, Joshua and Caleb. And they went into the land and Joshua and Caleb said the 10 spies said, you know, it's, there's giants in this land and they have tall walls in this. It's going to be hard to, to, to conquer this land. But what did Joshua and Caleb say?
We can do it.
With the Lord's help, right? Yeah, we can't do it by themselves, but with their Lord's help. But what did all the people do that? Did they then go into the land of His Canaan?
What did they do?
Yeah, another 38 years, didn't they? They wandered, and that's the third stage. They wandered for 38 years. Why? It tells us in Psalms that they despise the pleasant land.
They didn't value their true portion. Why did the Lord bring him out of Egypt to leave him in the desert?
He brought him out of Egypt to bring him into Canaan, right? That was the that was the land of blessing. And you know, many Christians are like that. They say, well, I get certain things. You know, I'm happy with certain things and Christianity, but that's all I want. I don't want to learn all the riches and blessings that God has in store for me. I'm not willing to be consecrated.
And so these people had to wander for 38 years. And what happened during those 38 years?
Remember what happened?
Why did the Lord have him wander for 38 years? There was a particular reason for it.
David, by the end of 38 years, everybody who had turned back and then would be dead except Joshua and Caleb and Moses.
OK, exactly right. They wandered, They died in the wilderness because they refused to enter into the promised land. As a result, they lost the blessing. Now that's the third stage, wandering. There's some books in the New Testament, we call them corrective epistles.
Who can think of some corrective epistles? There's one epistle in the New Testament that has 10 corrections, 10 questions that had to be answered, that they were writing to the apostle Paul and they said we need answers for these 10 things. We don't know what's going on. And they had some problems there. There was a lot of disorder there in their assembly. What what epistle was that?
They thought they were advanced, but they were really children. And Paul says, you know, you're just acting like children. You're not growing spiritually. What's the problem? There was a problem there. What was it, David?
00:30:12
Well, Galatians is also one. It's not the one I had in mind, it's not the 10 issues. But Galatians is also the 2nd corrective epistle. They were also like children. You know, there's three epistles in the New Testament where their their spiritual growth was stunted.
The other is Galatians and actually in Hebrews and there was different reasons. The main reason it was stunted in First Corinthians was because they were worldly. They were acting like worldly people and.
Paul says, you know, you think you're mature Christians, but you're really just like babes. They weren't. They weren't very happy to hear that, were they? So First Corinthians has 10 issues that had to be addressed. You can look it up. And the other one is Galatians.
Those are the corrective epistles that are kind of like.
Kind of like those 38 years of wandering, they didn't make any progress. They were satisfied with what they were doing and they needed correction.
In the book of Galatians we have the second time in the New Testament that quotation the just shall live by faith and the book of Galatians, what was the hindrance? It wasn't worldliness, So what so much, but what was the problem in the book of Galatians? What was the hindrance to their growth in the book of Galatians?
You know, the Galatians were not Greeks. They were not Jews. They were what we call Barbarians. They were kind of like, what would we say, hill people or mountain people? They came from from the central part of Europe, and they were looked down upon by the Greeks and by the Jews. They thought they weren't very cultured at all. And they got saved, some of them through the apostle Paul and others, and then some people from Israel.
Christian Jews came up and said, you know, we're going to Polish up your Christianity.
We're going to make you a little more cultured. How did they how did they suggest doing it?
By following legal things, what we call spiritual pride, sometimes we do things to limit us look spiritual. And that was the problem with Galatians and that hindered their spiritual growth. And Paul says again, you're acting like children again, you're not growing like you should. Okay, that's the wandering stage. So there we have First Corinthians and there we have Galatians, 2 Corrective epistles, the third.
Stage of the wilderness, the wandering stage, The fourth stage I call preparation.
Because those 38 years, that first generation that died off and now the new generation is going to be prepared to go into the land of Canaan.
So I call it preparation.
There's a.
We have First Corinthians.
And that was a corrective epistle. Did they accept the correction?
Which is the young people could tell me how about Steven? Did they accept the correction?
In One Corinthians.
Well, the 2nd Epistle was written. Was that a happy occasion or not a happy occasion? The 2nd Epistle of Corinthians.
How about your brother? Help him.
You know, it actually was. They listened to what the Apostle Paul said. They judged themselves. We heard Mr. Kemp today talk about the necessity of self judgment when we're doing something wrong, let's admit it, confess it, get over it and get right before the Lord. And they did. Some people say that all the 2nd epistles in, in the in the New Testament.
Are have to do with ruin? That's not quite correct.
There's one epistle that's not that way, and that's Second Corinthians. It's restorative. They were restored, and now the apostle Paul could talk to them in a more kindly and intimate way because they had bowed to the discipline and they were restored. And so in Second Corinthians then, it's a restorative epistle, another epistle that's prepared. It shows that even when things are very dark.
We can be joyful.
There's Apostle Paul wrote this epistle when he was in a dungeon in a Roman prison.
And you would never hardly know it from reading the epistle, because some people have actually called that epistle. There's a man named Mr. Willis who wrote a book on this epistle. He called it Sacrifices of Joy. A Christian can be joyful even in awful circumstances.
00:35:10
What epistle is that? This is an epistle that was suited for the new generation so that they could enter with joy into the land of Canaan. What's that little epistle without getting too much coaching here?
You can tell me what that epistle is.
You girls can speak up too is more of a Sunday school lesson here.
What epistle is the Epistle of Joy?
The assembly was formed when the two brothers were in prison. Yeah, good one. Paul and Silas were in prison. We read about it in Act 16. There was an earthquake in the middle of the night.
Philippians, right? We don't know who it was at Philippi that asked the Apostle Paul to come. Maybe it was a jailer. We don't know, do we? We're not told. But somebody asked him to come to Philippi and teach him the gospel. And there was a happy little assembly there. They were getting along pretty well. They were learning that happiness is one. Older brother used to tell us it's not a question of circumstances, it's a question of a state of our soul. The 1St.
Didn't know that, did they? But this new generation is preparing to go into the land of Canaan now, and they're learning that happiness is a question of state of soul. Are you walking with the Lord? That's what brings happiness. It's not a question of circumstances. Philippians. There's one other epistle, I think, that goes along here. It's a wilderness epistle. We often read that in the writings.
It's the great book of what I call typology.
It's the third book where there was some hindrances to their growth and these people were being hindered in their spiritual growth because of certain ordinances and a culture they wanted to follow. And the apostle, we believe it's the apostle Paul, shows one after another that the Lord Jesus is superior to angels, to prophets.
To Moses, to Joshua, to Aaron, to the Old Testament sacrifices. What epistle is that?
Better who? Yep. Hebrews, the great book of typology. Again, this shows how the Bible is integrated together. Tied together. Yeah, tied together. There's a If we talked about these things I'm talking about some people might say, you know, you're crazy. Where are you making up all this stuff? We were going over the Tabernacle in our meeting not too long ago, and there's a young person that's been gathered recently and I kind of thought we were seeing kind of a jaundice eye from you coming up with all.
Stuff reading in Exodus 25 and 26 and 22nd. You make it this stuff up. No, the book of Hebrews tells us that these are pictures of New Testament teaching. They illustrate the New Testament of brother Norman Berry that those of us with Gray hair remember was a man who used to say that the Bible is like a like a textbook. The New Testament is like the text in the book and the Old Testament like.
Pictures that illustrate the text. And so we're looking at some of those pictures. So Hebrews is the great book of typology. It's also the third time that that verse is quoted from the Old Testament. But in this case, it's the just shall live by faith because it's the great epistle of what we call sanctification, how these Christian Jews could live a life.
According to God's present truth.
Which they, they remember Christianity was only about 30 years old at the time. Judy was about 1000 years old. And there was a tug. They thought, why would I leave some something that's 1000 years old culture to go to something that's brand new? Well, because it was the fulfillment of those ancient types and shadows that the Old Testament people did not understand. They went through the motions, but they didn't understand them. One of the key.
In the book of Hebrews is better eternal. Those are some of the keywords in the book of Hebrews. OK, now we're leaving the wilderness going into the land of Canaan. Let's turn in our Bibles to well, I should have read an Acts. Let's turn to Acts 21St because that's where you get the outline that I'm talking about here, the four stages of our Christian journey and then we'll go.
00:40:00
And look at some verses here.
Acts chapter 20. I think it was referred to this morning. There's four stages in our Christian journey. The first one is found in the end of verse 24. Acts 20, verse 24.
I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. That's the first stage, isn't it? Salvation. The second stage we said is sanctification. Verse 25 And now behold, I know that I I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God shall see my face no more. What's the Kingdom of God now? Well.
The main emphasis of the Kingdom of God today is it's not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's a moral Kingdom, we say.
It's that which is spiritual and that which is moral. It's not an outward Kingdom. It's acting as a Christian. That's sanctification we've been speaking about in the wilderness, and that's the great lesson of the wilderness is how we can be sanctified. What am I sanctified? I think I said it before. It's to become more like the Lord Jesus. That's true spirituality is to become more Christ like.
That's a wonderful, wonderful thing, isn't it? Are we really growing and becoming more like the Lord? That's the standard of spiritual growth.
OK, third stage. Now we're going to go into what I call satisfaction. It's really discipleship. Now you'll see here in X20 again, we get that in verse 27.
For I have not in Acts 20 verse 27 for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. This is all the treasures we spoke about this morning in Colossians verse 2, the mystery of God, it says there in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Those are the great blessings God has for Christianity. It's not just to live a good life here in this world. As important as a Christian character is absolutely.
But God has special blessings for the Christians the people of the world know nothing about. And that's the secrets of Canaan, typically speaking, if I can put it that way. Well, where do we get that?
And let's look at the fourth stage, and we'll get to that in just a second. But in verse 29 of Acts 20, I think we have the fourth stage, and we'll talk about that. It was read this morning where I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock also of your own selves. So men arrive speaking perverse things that draw away disciples after them. And then he gives them the two things, God and the word of his grace. That's the fourth stage. But right now let's turn.
To Luke.
Chapter 14.
What does it mean to enter into the land of Canaan?
Well, it's discipleship.
Luke chapter 14 tells us a little bit about discipleship.
The Lord never intended that we would just use Him as a fire escape from hell. He intended that we would be people that are sanctified, people that are living for His honor and glory. And that requires discipleship, what we really sometimes call consecration. Let's read about it a little bit. The Lord was very plain about this. Luke 14 and verse 26. If any man come to me and hate, not his father and mother.
And wife and children and brother and sisters. Yeah. In his own life also. He cannot be my disciple.
Doesn't mean actual hate, but it means that the Lord must have the 1St place. That's what the Lord Jesus is saying. And whosoever does not hear, bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
So, first of all, the master must be supreme. Secondly, we must bear His cross, willing to accept some reproach. We're not going to be popular in the world. We have to count the cost. Verse 28 For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down? First counteth the cost, whether you have sufficient to build it less happily after you have laid the foundation. He's not able to finish it all that behold, it began to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.
Or what king going to make war against another king sitteth not down 1St and consult us whether he'd be able.
With 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000 or else while the others yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassador desirous conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
00:45:00
Salt is good, but at the salt have lost his savour. Wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill. But men cast it out. He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Turn over to chapter 17 of Luke. You remember the story here. Remember when the Lord Jesus was near Jericho, there were ten men that had a sickness. Remember what that sickness was.
George, Blanche.
Well, not, not this time. That was another time. They're lepers. Remember they had leprosy. We skipped over some chapters, but in chapter 17, it's that they were lepers.
Ten men that were lepers. What happened?
The Lord heal them.
And then what happened?
They went away to show themselves to the spot. One came back.
One came back. Was he? Was he a nobleman or some sort? What was he?
Was he a rich man?
General David.
Samaritan. They were despised people. People looked down on them.
And what does it say? Let me just read you something I read from somebody else that says this is the key to entering into Canaan.
Only the grateful 10% inherit Christ's true riches.
William MacDonald said that and I read it recently and I jotted it down on my margin. I thought that's pretty good. How many Christians? I don't know. If it's only 10%, maybe it is only the only the grateful 10% inherit Christ's true riches. That's what Canaan is. It takes consecration.
That's it takes discipleship to become a true disciple of the Lord Jesus. That's what Christianity is. But there's blessings, tremendous blessings that come as a result. Let's look at some of those the epistles, Romans 12 talks about that. I beseech you. Therefore, after he gave the gospel, he says now the next step is to is to offer up your bodies as living sacrifices.
And be not transformed to this world. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed.
That's what the Lord asked us to do. You know, when I was teaching biology, I taught biology for some 10 years at junior college level. And I love that word because that word transformed, they say, is metamorphosis when you have an insect. I've had a little girl here where we were in Mosinee a few days ago. She had a little Willy worm. And that Willy worm is going to turn into a beautiful butterfly someday.
That's metamorphosis. That word is used.
In the insect world, it's a complete transformation. There's no direct relationship between the two in Physiology and in in any any way at all. They don't have a similar appearance, don't have the same Physiology or the biochemistry. All they have is the same genes, but in time they metamorphosize into something entirely different. That's what the Lord wants for us. That's our reasonable or intelligent service.
Once we become Christians.
OK, that's Romans 12.
That's crossing the Jordan River.
That's the way we get the real blessings of Christianity. What are some of the real blessings of Christianity? Well, in the book of Colossians, it talks about the mystery.
It speaks about the fact that Christ is in us, the hope of glory that was hid in the Old Testament, But the Lord Jesus dwells in us by the Spirit of God to transform us into His own image. It speaks about the one body. We're also members of His body. That's something we would never dare to dream of, except that the Word of God tells us it's true, that we're members of the body of Christ.
It speaks about the House of God. You know, the Spirit of God dwells in this sphere here, and we need to behave ourselves appropriately to His presence.
That's the House of God. Now where are we going to learn some of these things? What book do I read about here about the mystery of Christ?
The Christ in me, and then also that we're in Christ. Which books do I read in the New Testament speak about the mystery of Christ? That there's one body. This was a mystery that was hidden in the Old Testament.
00:50:04
Two books particularly, it's actually mentioned in Romans, just briefly but not explained, but the two main books that speak about privileges, the Christian privileges we have the book of.
Two shirt books that Paul wrote.
The highest truths of Christianity are found here.
No, Paul wrote them OK.
We'll get to John a little later, but Paul wrote these two books.
We read the 2nd epistle this morning.
OK.
No, that's a little later too, but we're.
Who can help us Ephesians and Colossians, right? Colossians has to do with what Christ is to the church. Ephesians has to do with what the church is to Christ. You know the keyword. I, I found this, I think it was a Mr. Gable line's writing recently and I so appreciate I'd heard it before, but he says, you know, there's a keyword. Many epistles have keywords that describe that they characterize what the epistle is about. The keyword in the book of Ephesians.
Is it says ye are his workmanship. That word in Greek is poema. It's where we get our word for poetry. God has or it's also been translated masterpiece the Christian and all the Christian blessings were brought into our God's masterpiece and a wonderful thing he's brought us into.
Mr. old Mr. Hale used to say that, and Christianity. We have a mountain peak of blessing beyond which even God Himself could not go. We just touch on that, don't we? We get that in Ephesians and Colossians.
We also get the House of God. It's mentioned briefly in Ephesians, but.
Where did we learn how to behave ourselves in the House of God? How do we learn how young men are supposed to behave? And young young sisters and older sisters? What book is it that teaches us how to behave ourselves in the House of God?
David, Titus. Well, Titus does too. Yep, Titus is a good one. There's also another book. Pardon, First Timothy. Good, very good. First Timothy and Titus teach us how to behave ourselves in the House of God when it's orderly, what's appropriate? What again? When we say the House of God, we're talking about God's presence, because the Spirit of God dwells in the assembly.
And Christendom, how are we going to behave ourselves in God's presence?
And then there's another little epistle I think goes along with that. This is all Canaan, I believe, how to Act in God's Presence talks about. I call it Christian courtesy. How are we to treat one another when there's some wrong been done? How are we to treat one another? We have a little epistle that speaks about that.
What epistle is that?
A little pistol of.
Somebody had been wronged. He had a slave that ran away. The slave had been saved.
Pardon, Philemon. Exactly. Beautiful little epistle, isn't it? Also could been used as a picture of the gospel, because we're all unprofitable servants, aren't we? Okay, there we get to I we don't have time to get to the I'll just mention this about the Tabernacle. I think we have these things in the Tabernacle. Inside the Tabernacle itself, there was three pieces of furniture.
There was the.
Golden Candlestick really a lamp stand. It had lamps that had bowls of oil and that's a picture of the Spirit of God. It was pure gold. So it's divine. I like to think of the those three pieces of furniture, the golden Candlestick, the table of showbread where there was bread on top of it with the priest ate and then the golden altar were only incense was offered.
As what we have in Acts 242, they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine.
That's the Candlestick. The apostles doctrine hasn't changed. We've got it in our hands. And in the apostles fellowship we talk about breaking bread together and that's the divine way to break together. Acting keeps acting towards one another as Christians and in breaking of bread and prayers, the golden altar, that's where the incense is offered up, where intercession and supplication and prayer and praise.
Made in worship, well, we don't have time to go into detail on that, but I believe we get that as a real blessing. We have the family of God. What epistles tell us about the family of God?
00:55:07
We talked about the House of God. We talked about the body of Christ.
I didn't mention the bride of Christ. We also get that in Ephesians, don't we?
What about the family of God? We're members of God's. We're children. This apostle never uses the word sons where it appears in the King James. It's incorrect. It should be children because we're born into God's family.
What? What?
Pistols. Are those the family of God?
How about first, second, third job?
The family of God.
And more here. I want to skip on very briefly to the last stage. I don't know exactly what to call this last stage. We're still missing some epistles.
What I call it, it speaks about the 4th, the 4th.
Stage I spoke about in Acts 20 was where people were coming in and corrupting things. It's prophetic in a sense.
And we have that in Scripture. We know that everything entrusted demands responsibility, ends in failure, although there are overcomers. And that's what the Lord asks us to be. I call it in what we have in Second Timothy chapter 2, which is one of the epistles actually, where we have.
Speaks about the latter times, the last time, the last days of Christianity. It speaks about three things. It says in the great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, some to honor and some to dishonor. Well, a vessel to earth and wood cannot be. To honor could be to dishonor. It no doubt is the plowing of the wicked is sin, but even a true believer can be a.
To dishonor if we dishonor the Lord can it but he also can be a vessel to honor But then if we read on there I think there's a further secret. It says if a man therefore purge himself from these, that mixture, the filing mixture, he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified. That's the third class. That's what the Lord calls us to do. It's a difficult thing to do in a day of weakness and corruption. And yet that's.
The Lord asked us to do. That's the fourth stage. So many people we know appreciate a lot of the things we talked about. They're saved. They walk as a Christian in this world. They enter into a certain extent, into special Christian blessings, but they stumble when it comes to.
Being a vessel to honor Sanctified.
Meet for the Master's use, and that's what the Lord had prepared unto every good work.
That's a special privilege and we got that in in Luke in verse in Luke 18. Just in closing here we have in verse verse eight of Luke 18. It says the Lord Jesus speaking, I tell you speedily.
He will that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? What's that mean? I have a note here in my Bible. The reference is not to personal faith, but to belief in the whole body of revealed truth. The Lord Jesus wants us to be a vessel to honor sanctified, not only going on in the right way morally, but also in the right position and the.
We have there, we're out of time, so I'll just briefly mention them. Second Thessalonians speaks of that time. Second Timothy speaks of the last days, the last time. Second Peter speaks of a time of corruption, and Jude speaks of apostasy, people that profess to be a Christians. It's often looked at as the preview to Revelation and even first, second, and Third John speaks of the last hour.
We can go on in those last days. Well, time is gone. I believe we have that vessels to honor sanctified or salt. You know, in Matthew chapter 5, the Lord Jesus was speaking and he spoke of both the light of the world that's evangelization to the whole world, but then he also speaks of.
The salt of the earth and Mr. Kelly points out in his.
His commentary on Matthew, he says the earth is profession. The salt of the earth is the preserving principle within Christian, in this case Christian profession. The Lord asked us to be the salt of the earth, vessel to honor, sanctified.
Revelation 2:12-29
Reading
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.
#166 four dollars drawing us out.
Let us run and never time 26/6.
For our.
Sake.
Worship.
Our shame.
Well, perhaps we could read in chapter 2 of Revelation, verse 12 down to the end. We could read the 1St about Sardis as well, Chapter 3. I don't know if we'll have time to cover all three. That's.
Thank you help.
Revelation chapter 2, verse 12.
To the Angel of the church and bergamot, right? These things say a few which have the sharp, sharp sword with two edges.
I know thy work.
And where that dwellest, even where Satan seed is now, hold us fast my name, and it's not denied my faith. Even in those days where an antithesis was my faithful martyr who was slain among you were Satan dwelling.
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed on bridles, and to commit ornication.
00:05:11
So hostile also then that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I.
Repent, or else I will comment to be quickly and we'll fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
He that half a year let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth, saving he that receive it that.
And unto the Angel of the Church, and by a Tyra right these things say at the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and my patience, and my works.
And last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest the woman Jezebel.
Which Carlos, herself a prophet, has to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent and her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent their needs.
And I will kill her children with death.
And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto everyone of you according to your works.
But unto you, I say, and unto the rest, and find a Tyra, as many as have not this doctrine.
And which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden.
That which you have already, hold fast till I come.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to Him will I give power over the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received my father, And I will give him the morning star.
That happen here, plug in here. What the Spirit say it unto the churches.
And unto the Angel of the Church in Sardis right these things, saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast to mean that thou live us and aren't dead.
Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not found my words perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast.
And who attacked? If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a key.
And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon me.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments.
And they shall walk with me in life, for they are worthy.
Leave it over, cometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess His name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit say it unto the churches.
Well, this assembly that's addressed next Pergamus really means I believe, is it twice married?
Yeah, corrupt marriage or twice married. It's really when the church left her position of separation from the world, enjoying hands, so to speak, with the world. And it was at the time, I believe it covers the period of time approximately 313 to about 680. So it's roughly that time period during which the Roman Empire was still active and it's Constantine's time when they.
00:10:03
Christianity was made the.
Religion of the empire, the Roman Empire. And so there was a breakdown of separation between the world and the church. And so we have here this expression that the Spirit of God uses the Lord himself. These things say that he would have a sharp sword with two edges. It really speaks of the whole of the Word of God and the setting aside these ones that set aside the word of God.
And had set aside the principles that had been laid out in the New Testament scriptures and have joined forces with the world for personal advantage, and perhaps that with the thought of avoiding.
Persecution, avoiding the reproach of Christ.
That really that brought ruin in the Lord Jesus gives his pronouncement of what he felt this union with the world was.
There was a corruption and he speaks faithfully about it. I'll just say this too, in connection with this church, this assembly.
There was one man that was faithful and in all these different letters, the seven letters, no name of any other individual is mentioned, but just one man, and his name means against all.
And anticipates, it says in those days we're in Antifa with my faithful martyr. Or perhaps another translation.
Better translation is my faithful witness who was slain among you.
For a state as well as so it appears that there was one man who was faithful in speaking against what was a corruption of the truth in connection with the Church of God. That was not to be joined with this world, that was not to accept through the advantages that the world would.
Bestow upon it. And it cost him his life to be faithful. So there's encouragement here.
In the time of weakness, a time of ruined, yet there was with the Lord. He valued that one individual who was faithful. And so he values faithfulness and he rewards faithfulness and he rewarded antithesis. If I could put it this way, he rewarded antithesis by including his name in the Word of God. And it looked like he had lost 'cause there was a lost cause. There was going to be no fruit from antithesis life and standing against what he knew was wrong.
Wickedness from the sight of the Lord.
But the Lord saw to it that he was rewarded.
You find in that Smyrna that Satan is acting as the roaring lion.
That.
The promise to the overcomer and the.
Of life that also mentioned in the books of James.
We are rejected by the world and we use some of the.
Recompenses from the world because of our faithfulness to the Lord.
The same crown is mentioned there that we can.
Partake of.
By the grace of God.
We are.
Rejected by the world?
And passed out because of the name of Christ.
But now we find Satan is not so much of the roaring lion.
But rather as this serpent.
And.
We will open the the book of the history of Israel.
The way that Balaam he could not curse the children of Israel, but he did.
Umm, orchestrate.
An alignment association.
The Moabites so that.
Fornication was was practiced with the Moabites.
And that was a snare to the nation of Israel and brought down the government of God.
And the same thing happened in Pergamus. Satan comes in as a as a subtle serpent.
00:15:04
He's not attacking the.
The testimony for the name of Christ, as he did in Samurai.
The constant time.
Brings the brings Christianity into the foreground in his empire and he says this is an advantage. Christianity is a peaceful religion and.
The advocates are faithful and they're loyal and so on. I'm going to make Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. And that's what he did, in fact, on pain of being martyred.
Thousands of pagans were baptized at the point of the sword rather and and they took they were brought into the Christian profession without any real work of God in their souls. The Constantine now.
A Christianity, A national religion.
But it was just the world intruding into the Church and.
The the leaders they just submitted to.
Constantine's edx and a.
They adopted some of the Pagan customs. They all the, the churches that the pagans had now were consecrated to Christianity. So yes, this is a beautiful temple. No longer are we going to have the idols in here. We're going to transform this building into a Christian Church. And that was done.
However.
Along with it came some Hagen customs and so on. Constantine didn't care much about that as long as there was.
An outward.
Nominal profession of Christianity.
And that continued for several 100 years, but as as you mentioned, it's corrupted the Church of God.
Seriously.
So then it became evident that there were those that were believers, true believers.
That has accepted Christ as Savior and that knew that they were believers and those that were unbelievers. There was a great mixture and God hates the mixture.
And he desires purity. And so instead of going along with this, why we had those that were faithful like Antifa's or just say this in Revelation, there's the Spirit of God gives us 4 characters of Satan. And as you mentioned, there's different ways that he works. But in chapter 20 verse two, we find that he's named in four different ways. We have an enemy. He's a real enemy. And it says he lays bold on the dragon.
And when it speaks of his driving character, he's a destroyer. Satan is a destroyer who doesn't give life, doesn't create life, doesn't bring a blessing.
And he said he's called that old surface. So he's a very experienced deceiver. You and I are no match for the enemy. He was experienced deceiver. That's what he did in the in the Garden of Eden, which is the devil. And so his character is a devil, is a tempter. He tempts you and I to sin against God and to destroy our testimony. And it was a temptation of his brethren had the temptation to join up with the world and to compromise a little bit, so to speak.
To deflect the reproach of Christ that they felt. And then it says Satan, Satan, his character of Satan is the adversary and outright adversary and enemy. Those four things. And if we remember those things that the principles of those four characteristics of Satan, those four names all throughout the Scriptures. It's a little bit we'll find them as brother Eric would bring out in the previous meeting.
In some of the outlines in scripture.
Characters.
We didn't mention the dragon, I don't think it doesn't mention it. Yes, I did OK.
What are those four games? That's chapter 20 and verse 2.
00:20:04
Says he laid hold on the dragon. That's his these characters, a destroyer, that old serpent.
An experience deceiver, which is the devil, a tempter. And remember, he tempted the Lord. It says the devil taketh him into the wilderness, and so on.
He is a tempter and then Satan. He's the adversary. Remember read Job chapter one. He's an adversary to Job. He's an adversary to God and man and so.
We find this character is going to be totally down for 1000 years during that millennial reign of the Lord Jesus in this world, and men will be released from that.
Influence Satanic influence in this world. But here is Satanic influence was felt Satan was very interested in the church.
Very interested. It names the name of Christ.
Glorifies Christ ought to glorify Christ. He's interested in the assembly today.
And he's interested in destroying it. He's interested in corrupting it. He's interested in deceiving the Saints. You're accepting that which is dishonoring for the name of Christ into the glory of Christ. He's very interested in destroying and he is acting even today. So we have this picture given to us, this letter given an actual assembly and what the Lord wrote to it. And it's instructive for us today as well.
It says where Satan see is. Well, that's that's the world.
God of this world religiously.
He is a Prince of the world politically and he's working behind the scenes.
The whole world lies in the lack of the wicked one, the whole.
Principles of society and so on.
Is really controlled by the enemy to.
To deceive man in his sins.
And to prevent him from being awakened to his need of the savior. So Satan has is not not everything is not immoral. He has a lot of culture and education and.
Music and art and what have you.
He could use all of these means to occupy that, as long as he is not awakened to his knee of salvation. Is that right?
History speaks of the lust of the flesh, which you're all familiar with, but also speaks of the lust of the world.
And that's just what you're speaking about is there's all these things that are not bad in themselves, but we.
We turn to.
Luke's Gospel 17 was in it where it talks about what they were doing just before the Lord appeared. They were not bad things. They were eating and drinking and marrying and giving a marriage. It didn't sound bad, but they left thought out.
And that's the danger, isn't it? So it's been said that in Pergamos the world rules the church.
Entire tires. The church rules the world.
So there's a flip, is it there? And there's a degradation from the deeds of the Nicolaitans in verse six under Ephesus to the doctrine of Balaam in verse 14. It's the doctrine of worldliness, isn't it? It's a worldliness being accepted by Christianity. And you might mention about balaam, and I appreciated what John said. There's the doctrine of balaam, there's a way of balaam, and there's the error of balaam.
The and it's good to distinguish.
Commentators are always super clear on it, but I think Mr. Grant and some of those I think is helpful the.
The doctrine of Balaam is, I believe this letter. Brother John brought out it. Remember Bailey, Just to repeat it, summarize it a little bit. Baba could get Balaam to curse the children of Israel because they were blessed with God. But he said that, you know, get their young people to get together.
Get through young people to get together the Moabitess young people with the Israelites, young people who won't be belong. Won't be long until there's problems and imperiality of any time.
00:25:09
And that was the doctor debate. It's a, it's a subtle thing, isn't it? They just get their young people to mix and then they'll be around and come in and then you come.
But the way of Bala we read about in second Peter is simply he was a hiring prophet. He was using his prophetic gift. He was really a he was really a demonic medium, wasn't it? But he covered it over with the Lords name. But he was really a demonic medium and he used this to make a good income and he wanted the wages of unrighteousness that Baylor could offer. He really wanted that to pretend that he didn't. But he was a liar. And that was the way of taking there's people like that today.
That are religiously followed away available.
But then finally, the error of Balaam that we have in June and June, as I understand, simply that he could not understand that the grace of God. And that's a great error that Satan makes, doesn't it? He doesn't understand how Balaam, for instance, had to bless Israel rather than person. Why was that? Because God had determined in His sovereign and His sovereignty that He was going to bless Israel.
They could not understand how we could bless the corrupt people, but God is sovereign and He saved.
Even lost in so that, I believe is the error abatement. Satan made the same error at the cross, didn't he? He thought it was all over. He led the world against Christ. He thought God's counsels would fall to the earth would be nothing. That was the error.
It was his greatest mistake. He couldn't count on the grace of God in his sovereignty of less mankind.
Thank you.
There's a progression as well in connection with the needs of the Nicolasians that says in verse six, so there was a tolerance of something that was dishonoring to Christ, a doctrine that was not according to the proof of God. There was a tolerance of it in Ephesus, but now in Pergamus it comes out as a doctrine. It comes out of the outbreak of the teaching in that particular assembly that.
Nicolaitans which thing I hate.
Now, you and I, sometimes in this politically correct world, we kind of try to soften our words, soften what we're saying and so on. But the Lord makes no attempt whatsoever to soften how he feels about this kind of things. He says, I hate it. I don't almost not like it. I hate it. And so perhaps Speaking of the clergy system, perhaps Speaking of the other aspect of things that you mentioned, I forgot exactly. Yeah, so.
You know, he hates those things and we ought to, if we have a desire to walk a community with the Lord, we ought to hate those things that he hates. And that is that will require self judgment and it will require walking in community with the Lord.
To dislike those things, I think it was brother Harry Hagel. We mentioned some of his that expressions in these meetings, but used to say that holiness is an authoritarian hatred of evil and a delight in that particular for that particular.
A delight in that, particularly a hatred of that which is evil, not which is human. So that's what often characterizes. As we might mention, we've been using the word sanctification.
Especially, but the word sanctification and holiness are really virtually identical in the original state.
They mean the same thing, but the thought was sanctification is to be set apart for a holy purpose. I know there's some exceptions, but that's a general rule that God has set us apart for a whole.
That's what sanctification they're holding, this is.
And even if we look at it, as you say, maybe 30, we can certainly understand that or we can say antinomianism rather than I heard that preached in the assemblies in our day. They, they call it Christian liberty and they close their eyes, Especially if if it's somebody that has deep family roots, it's OK Push it under the rug. It's not OK. That's that's Nicolette, isn't it?
00:30:10
To call to combine Christianity with that which is evil and pretend that's not evil.
Well, the Lord always gives us space for repentance suddenly, and it says in the next assembly here that I gave her space to repent, but she repented on. And so He's giving us space to repent when we discover these things.
And that stirs our consciences. And there's the exercise of soul. He says, Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them, but with the sword of my mouth. He's going to ultimately use his word.
And power to defend his own glory, and to defend his assembly. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says under the churches to him.
That overcome it I will I give and you should to eat is not really in the text there will I give.
Of the hidden manner, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth.
You know, it's there's that sweet communion with the Lord. If there is repentance, then there is an overcoming in this matter of the liberal liberal liberality or.
I don't know what a good word is for it, but license. License.
License to allow the flesh to act in the presence of God is wickedness.
It's wickedness. And so he says, repent.
And.
He says here it's a wonderful thing to be able to have a hidden man that a relationship with the Lord Jesus, communion with the Lord Jesus, to feed upon him and to be nourished in the words of life and truth and to have a sense of his approval and then in a future day a new name.
A stone new name written which no man knoweth, say that he. So the Lord in the future day will reward those who are faithful and those that are overcomers in this kind of a situation.
Whose approval are we looking for?
Are we looking for the approval of our brother? Are we looking for the approval of the world? The lesson here in third of us, are we looking for the approval of a board?
Actually the.
The man that refers to the pathway of the Lord down here. It's often been explained upon the Lord in those three ways. First is your possible land redemption, then as the mana.
Meditating upon.
Is pathway down here in the world. The Lord was really a solitary man. No one understood him. It relates to pervasive the world was getting into the church and corrupting it with its ways and its philosophy and so on. The Lord walked through this world.
In complete separation from all the evil around him.
He suffered.
In that way because.
In a scene that was contrary to the nature of God.
And.
Yet he glorified his Father and every step of his earthly conflict. That's why we need the gospel. We need to meditate on the gospel. There we have.
The exhibition of.
The nature of God, the full revelation of the nature of God and manhood. We trace the Lords pathway through the world. It's marvelous, the full of grace and truth. You reproved evil, of course and.
We came under the.
Persecution of man, but he was faithful to his Father. So we see it upon the Lord as the hidden manna. And I'm not sure if what the thought is here exactly the hidden manner. But if we share the rejection of Christ down here and we will, if we are faithful, we will have that memory in the in the coming days.
00:35:20
But we have.
By His grace walked the path of separation from His presence in the world.
Hidden man at the memorial. John was placed in New York.
As a memorial, so we never get beyond that doing.
We never, even though we talked about a progression, it builds one upon the other. We never get beyond Christ. Is it as a man here with God and man? It's a wonderful, wonderful thing, isn't it? Mr. Darby says.
Paraphrasing, but he says you look at Christ and you can say that's the life I have.
John's Gospel. That's what we get, isn't it? That eternal life which was with the Father manifest in this world. But in the epistles of John for second and third John, we get that life in the family.
And I've often had to stop and wonder, why was it that John, who was the affectionate, this apostle that leaned on Jesus bosom? Why did he give us the Book of Revelation, which is full of judgment and then read it? And we're not going to read about it, but it's full of judgment, particularly during the tribulation period. And I believe the answer is simply this.
We have grapes.
In the eternal life that came from the Father, the Lord Jesus is the eternal Son, taking man out into His person.
We have grace and as children of God, as members of the family, we have the life of Christ, not he and he don't, but we have eternal life, which is a Christian thing. That's great. If that's rejected, there's nothing left with justice.
It's interesting to notice that manna was part of the wilderness journey, wasn't it? They were provided as God and says in the Psalms that called it angels food, many angels food. And so you and I in this world, we're walking through the wilderness scene that has no use for Christ. Man has rejected Christ, crucified the Son of God, and isn't repenting at all. But you and I as we walk through this scene.
Can bear the approach of Christ and we can meet angels.
We can have essentially more approval, we can have a sense of that which would nourish our souls.
As we contemplate Christ Himself and his faithfulness even under death.
Probably we need to move on here, perhaps to Thyatira. And what about the white stone here? Does anyone have a?
Steve, do you have a son?
I think it's the Lord's personal approval. You know, the white and black stones were used as in a way of, you might say, voting disapproval was black and white was approval. And so it's the Lord's personal approval of the path of one who's been faithful to him and a new name associated with that.
It was refused in the Roman court system as well, wasn't it? And so when one was tried and there was a trial, the evidence was prevent presented. And then there was a a judgment given as a jury would present a Blackstone or a white stone. And if it was a white stone, there was life and liberty. If there was a Blackstone, why it was the man or woman was guilty and there was judgment for it. But.
Let us speak of private individual acknowledgment. Just think of it.
God, the Lord Jesus who loved you, gave himself for you. We'll have the delight for this heart. Just think of the delight of his heart to give that light stone. And you say I accrued of what you did and how you bore the testimony to my name in this scene. I approve of what you did and how you did. It's remarkable that it said to this assembly.
It's a dire circumstances.
00:40:03
Well, we see a.
We see the Church now is controlled in large nature by the world and the principles of the world.
And the whole system of christened on there really corrupted.
With all sorts of error and.
Departure from the truth of God and if that's accepted.
So Satan has been successful.
You might say polluting the whole the.
The meal there, Matthew 13, the three guys are Neil and 11 working there.
Underneath, and that permeating through the whole mass of the.
A meal there is what has happened.
Interesting about Satan has brought in through.
Through men, through men that had a profession of Christ all sorts of error and.
And evil doctrines even concerning the person of the Lord Jesus.
Has been successful in that. Is that right?
Just one inversion note.
Before we leave.
It says and hold us fast my name and that's not denied my faith.
There was a contention for and we are the heirs.
Of those who.
I'll pass the faith.
The truth of the person of Christ not denied his name in those days. And there were great councils and they were difficult times and some lost their lives to forecast those truths and we're thankful because they have them today.
And a new name written which no man, no, I'll say neither received. The Lord cares about us individually.
We are special to the Lord, each one.
Not just a new group over there, you group over there, but the Lord has a special interest in each one of us. What fire tires you mentioned, as you mentioned, these continual sacrifice. This is Catholicism at its high point, isn't it? From roughly 500 or 600 to just before the Reformation, about 1500 and another, another meeting of firefighters burning incense. It's really the combination of paganism.
Christianity and Judaism into a corrupt system, isn't it? As we mentioned in Pergamos, the world rules the church. In Thyatir, the church rules the world. And that's been the purpose of the popes ever since.
That's interesting to notice that the first judgment that's given in connection with the Christian profession, Chapter 6, is that the Roman Church will rule Western Europe, will rule the United States of Europe or whatever it's called at that time.
But it seems the judgment of God.
And so here she sees control of the powers there, and the governments of Europe came under the influence of Roman Catholicism and she ruled that a brutal.
Domination of those kingdoms that she had influence over. But it's interesting here that it's piece of these things say it's the Son of God.
So the Lord Jesus is presented as the Son of God, and so largely his deity even is maintained in Roman Catholicism. They believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. There are other systems in Christianity that deny the Trinity, but in the Romans Catholicism there is an acceptance of the end. Perhaps I might even say a defensive the Trinity and the deity of the Lord Jesus. He is God the Son.
But it's mixed, as our brother has mentioned.
Matthew's Gospel chapter 13. I'm going to read it because I can't quote it.
00:45:01
Chapter 13 of Matthew, one of the women that Brother Eric mentioned earlier.
Verse 33. Matthew 1333 Another parable. Spake me unto them, The Kingdom of heaven is light. Unto 1111 always is a character, a picture of sin.
Which a woman took and hid in three measures of needle till the whole was 11. So the Lord Jesus gave these 10 little pictures, 10 little 10 little stories that give us different features of what Christianity would be like in the time of his absence. And this is one of them is that a woman would seize control and a woman you know is.
In in the Christian.
Time is to be in a hidden place, in a place of submission, and it's those that are brothers, those that are men that are to take a prominent place, and the man is to come into the presence of the Lord with his head uncovered. The sister who represents Christ, the bride of Christ, in some sense she hasn't had covered because she represents the glory of the natural man and her head needs to be covered.
And so there's this order, but it was reversed here. And the woman Jezebel was suffered, she called herself a prophetess to teach for the seduced my servants to commit fornication of ethane, sacrificed unto idols. And so there was a progression of evil under Roman Catholicism until the whole of it was corrupt, the whole of the Church at that time, and God had to come in and intervene.
And so that's what we have in Sardis, the intervention of God.
It's almost in the object of the Rome to rule.
In a secular way, you read the history, you see that the folks really had control of the governments of Europe. That's what they wanted. They they wanted submission to the Roman sea.
That was the object of the whole system, was to control the world, whole political system, and it came to pass in large measure.
And.
Although they have a.
They have a very moral wound in the.
Formation the woman is going to ride the beast in that coming day for the first half of the tribulation of the seven-year period, the last week of Daniel, the woman's going to ride the beast The woman is Catholicism is going to be revived. She's going to gain control the the secular domination of the of the western world will be.
Will be completely dislodged and it should be destroyed in the center of the week.
But.
Of that system, I mean, but it goes beyond that though, doesn't it, John? The woman in Matthew 13 is the beginning of corruption. Jezebel here is the is the.
Is the established corruption, but the heart of it is ecumenicalism, isn't it really? So it's not just Catholicism, but it's Catholicism having brought all our children back. It speaks about that in Revelation 17.
So it's the ecumenical movement.
They called it the one church. Well, that's what Kapoor, that's what the word Catholic means, doesn't it? The one church. But it's beyond. The following is a really incident. The harlot includes all of her children, all of her wayward reformed children coming back under her seat again. And they call it the great Church. God calls it a harvest.
Those speakers that in verse 23 here I will kill her children with death.
And all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the range of hearts. So what is it referring to? Her children? Well, they went out in the Reformation and broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. And there was a degree of life. And the truth of salvation by faith alone in the finished work of Christ was restored in some measure and justification by state. I know that they use some of these terms and they didn't understand the full import of it.
00:50:08
But those church systems, they, what we might call the Protestant churches, put this stuff, they were in pro, established in protest to the Catholics system, but they borrowed a lot of those things that she already possessed. They mimicked her order. They still had.
A clergy system. They still had some of those features that the Catholic system had. They still had covenant theology.
And so their children, they're not too far away from the mother, and so in the future day they'll join up with her again.
Just a word from the last church that we were looking at it, this one. It's easy to look at some of these things as we see their historic, historical significance and rightly solved and we can learn and we can profit, but there is that which is distinctly applicable.
To to the angels of the different churches in the day that we're living in right now. And so there's an Angel of the church in, in Hammer Bay. You would say there's those in, in other assemblies, those responsible ones and how they're to conduct themselves.
So just one point that I'd like to draw out. In the previous church, as we were reading about, you haven't commented verse 14. I have a few things against these so that those are the ones in responsibility in the assembly.
Thou hast there then that hold the doctrine of Balaam verse 15. Thou ask them that pull the doctrine of Nicolaitans.
Those in the responsibility in the Assembly.
Were called out and pointedly called out because there was that which was simply held in the assembly that was wrong. And so those that are in oversight, those that are the teachers are not just responsible that the outward is is good.
But as far as what is being held and they're responsible to know the state of the flock and to to have a care and to make sure that those things may be appearing to be going on well.
To be close enough to the sheet, to be close enough to those that are in that assembly that they can deserve these things. These ones were not in Pergamos and they were called out sharply. But it gets even worse. And so you could, you can see this, but it gets worse in in thy Attire. We're reading about verse 20. I have a few things against the end. So this is, this is speaking to those, to that, to that Angel, to that one in responsibility I have.
A few things against you, because thou suffers that woman Jezebel, which call it, calleth yourself a prophetess to teach.
And so now we see the responsibility for those in oversight as far as what is taught. So as was mentioned as much we hear much of tolerance and acceptance and all these other ridiculous terms that are floated around in this world, perhaps a kernel of of good in them, but misapplied. That's not to be what is to characterize the the assembly of those who are in responsibility held responsible before the Lord.
There's a real.
Care that they're exercising if not, they will be get called to give account so we.
We need to take these words of the prophet. You need to take them to heart because the words of prophet are intended to distinguish they they hurt when they reply to each one of our hearts. They need to. We need to let that word sting.
I was wondering verse 23 there where it says it will kill her children or death, is that referring to the second death?
I would have to say yes. I believe it's referring to the tribulation period where he will judge all that is false and.
There will be a separation, eternal separation from those that are false. They claim to be the Church of God. The Pope claims to be a direct defendant for Peter. He claims to have an inside track with the Lord Jesus and.
It's a false claim. And so all of these ones, these false systems that are dead, they have what they think is life, what they present is life, but they're dead.
00:55:01
Let's just read it. I know chapter 3, verse one. I know that I worked about names about it. It's in our bed.
So they profess to have light, but really it's that separation from God, His principles.
I think it's an encouraging word here in verse 19. It's the most profuse commendation of an assembly in connection with their works. It says I know thy works and charity and servant and state like patient by work that allows to be more than the 1St. I believe there are real believers in the Roman Catholic system and the Lord.
I believe this is a word to them specifically, that there are those that are in that system and are afraid to leave it, whatever it might be. But he sees that there is real life and that there's real service, there's real faith. And so it's in connection with that system and perhaps their services in connection with that system publicly. But there are real believers and the Lord sees it. And so we can rejoice and what is done for Christ.
And while we may not be able to approve of the system, why we can rejoice, but there's something that the Lord sees that meet with His approval and the lives individually of these different ones.
Now there's an important transition beginning with verse 24, isn't there? Maybe we should even go all the way back to.
Verse 21 and verse with the Ephesians. Notice in verse five. Remember therefore, for once our fallen and repent. They fell, but there was room to repentance. Severna, there was no need to repent. There was nothing, no Lord reproaches them about. But in Pergamus, again there was a need in verse.
60 Is it 16 Yeah. Repent. So there's possibility of repentance back to the original, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against you with the sword of my mouth. But now in verse 21, I gave her space to repent of her fornication.
And she repented not. This is what we call the ruin of the general testimony.
The fall allows for repentance.
But the ruin, Now with the ruin there's a separation of a remnant. Verse 24 But unto you I say, now I'm getting the county translation, the remnant in Thyatira. That's clearly the beginning of the Reformation.
Sardis is really not the Reformation poster information, but this is really the beginning of the Reformation. They were still in the Catholic system, but they were starting to realize they needed to come out of it. People like John Huss and and Wickliffe and so on, the forerunners of the full Reformation and even Luther and so on. But unto you I say the remnant, and by a tyrant many as if not this doctrine, which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak. I will put on no other version but that would she have.
But that would she have already hold fast till I come, doesn't speak of repentance. That speaks of the Lord's coming. So they look forward rather than backwards. And so this is a transition. There's a lack of repentance, there's the ruin of the general testimony. A separation is necessary and the remnant is the one that affects that separation and they are to look forward.
To the Lord's coming rather than to look backward to to repentance. And then we have really three things here. The Lord's coming is mentioned in the last four churches.
The remittance distinguished in each in the last four churches and we noticed 2IN verse 29 just to get a little bit ahead, but.
For time's sake, notice the difference now in the final formula.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches. It's now said to the remnant, not to the whole. Whereas before it was he that had the ear, let him hear what the Spirit said under the churches, Now it's he that had been here. Let him hear with the Spirit says to the churches. A call to hear the Spirit comes after the promise to the overcomer. I guess I should have read that.
01:00:14
Of verse 26 is to the overcomer, so the call to he that had to hear after the overcomer is mentioned now verse 27 and 28.
The whole church is not is not addressed now.
Has been the first three churches. Now it's only to the overcomer that becomes.
Notable.
The other thing is that these four churches continue on to the end and so you can see today the Roman Catholic Church is still in existence. You can see Sardis or what the Reformation degraded into, the Protestant churches, the national churches.
They're still in existence in Philadelphia. There are still those that are gathered by the Lord's name to the Lord's name, gathered by the Spirit of God through his grace, and then lay to see us what really is.
To perhaps know the truth, know some of Philadelphia and take a Philadelphian position, you might say, and have the knowledge of some of the truth, but not the heart for it at all.
We go on in the form of having Philadelphia power and strength, but really is obnoxious to the Lord.
So this is the pattern we spoke about. We see in every dispensation at every.
Type of the church history, we see the hall and the establishment, we see the fall, we see the decline, and ultimately we see the ruin of the general testimony, and then we see a remnant separated, and then ultimately there will be judgment.
But that's a pattern that repeats over and over and over again. And yet, I might say, as far as dispensations go, every principle that man is tested upon is something that will be perfected in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he will have his church, won't he? There's a false church, there's an anti church. Whatever you want to call the apostate church is kind of a misdoer because to say you're a Christian, you mean you haven't given it up yet in a certain sense. But anti church is probably a better term. But nonetheless.
There is a true church, and Christ will come and claim his own. But again, the end of this dispensation will come when that which has the particular calling of this dispensation Christianity.
Is a little distinguished from that which was called out, but there are overcomers. There is a remnant now. There's always a moral remnant in every dispensation, those who act according to the truth they have. But we're talking about a positional remnant as well. It's important to be both. We can be in the right position, like they were in Malachi Day or in the Lord's Day, and yet still be morally all wrong.
Yeah, yeah.
In verse 28 mentions the morning stars that the Lord himself.
That comes before the day dawn there, Robert, doesn't it?
The morning star three, the planet Venus, but.
I've been reading a biography of the work in Angola and the brother missionary who was traveling.
Many, many days by foot through Angola.
For the first time early in the morning, he saw this bright heavenly body which he had never seen before.
Beaming down upon him, he actually made us what it was. They had a name for it. It was really the Morning Star. There it was, he said. It was magnificent.
And shortly after.
The Dom came, so I think the morning star refers to the rapture.
What we are looking for but.
01:05:00
The dawn will be the establishment of the Kingdom, and the Lord comes through judgment, puts down all opposition, and establishes this Kingdom that will be the the dawn of the of the Lord's 7.
Return. He's appearing to.
To set up the millennial Kingdom.
When we shall ring within.
But it seems that they had a sense of that heavenly hope of being with Christ, and that was the Morning Star. I believe they realized that their home was not here.
Above they could sacrifice everything and.
So encourage young people especially to read church history. I understand when The Pioneers came out West that they would bring as many as three books. They couldn't carry much. You read histories of the Oregon Trail and so on. And then the often it said that people started out with organs and, and all these kinds of things all along the trail. They were thrown away. They just couldn't the, the, the horses or the oxen or whatever. They had the *****.
Would die. They would lose their strength.
They had to get rid of anything that was non essential. But they had their Bibles, that was essential. They had over progress, that was essential. They had Foxes, Book of Martyrs, that was essential.
Read boxes both of barters, you'll see what the Catholic Church really is.
There's a book on the shelf, There's the story of William Farrell. And I believe that if there's any young person here, older one too. But if there's a young person that has not read the story of William Farrell, it's a must read. It's shows the darkness of this time that we were Speaking of Pergamus and Thyatira. Thyatira in its power, in the grip that it had on Europe.
And how the Lord worked to deliver a small company from the collections of the Roman Church. This beloved brother, William Farrell has a tremendous story. And so I would concur. Read Church history and that is one of the books that must read.
The Miller's Church History is a series, I believe, of lectures that Brother Andrew Miller gave years ago.
It's a thick cook, maybe infantry quarters or so, but if you read one section at a time, it's very helpful and it helps you to focus on what is really what life is real and what is it that that Paul says to Timothy lay hold of?
What it's really like.
It helps you to focus and to recognize that we live in a wicked world of Christ rejecting and in history of those brothers that we're reading about here. That's our character, which isn't it? Some people like to look into their DNA and find out what what their background is, but it's Christians. That's a real heritage. Some people like to look into their, their, their history of their family. Often it's not very pretty, but as Christian, that's a real heritage, isn't it?
Church History.
Close #258.
258.
01:10:11
Their sins.
And being gone with the Lord.
Where we shall be.
Servant of the Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball.
We are on our way to God, waking up our Lord to God.
Oh, sweetheart.
We are on our way to the door.
We will hold our own your way to God.
I Know
Gospel—Kevin House
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.
Like to welcome everybody to the Gospel meeting this evening.
Often start with a hymn, and I'd like to do that this evening. One of my favorites #10 so let's sing it together. There is a Savior on high in the glory, A savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A Savior is willing to save now as ever, His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Perhaps someone could help me by raising the tune.
1 stranger.
I'd like to actually turn back to where we were in the reading meetings together.
To read a little expression that I've enjoyed there.
Revelation chapter 2.
Verse 2.
Just the 1St 2 words.
Of that verse I know.
And then verse 9.
I know.
Verse 13.
I know.
Verse 19.
I know.
Chapter 3, verse one.
I know.
Verse eight of chapter 3.
I know.
In verse 15 I know.
These words could be said in very different ways.
I know.
Perhaps you've done something naughty?
And you have a guilty conscience.
And your parent confronts you.
And they say these words I know.
Perhaps we know there might be consequences.
And indeed, in Revelation we get.
That God is going to have to carry out judgment.
By his heart.
Doesn't desire.
To carry out judgment towards you.
He says I know.
He knows everything about us. Everything. He knows more about me than I know about myself.
And about you too.
And the amazing thing is, is that he loves me.
He knows everything.
But he still loves me.
And he loves you too. You know, in this Book of Revelation, there's tremendous judgments that are going to come upon this world, particularly upon those who had the opportunity, the knowledge of the Word of God, and who turned away from it.
That's everybody here.
And those little words to me are such a comfort I.
00:10:02
He knows everything about me.
He knew every sin that I would commit before I committed it, and the Lord Jesus gave Himself on the cross for me so that I'm never going to have to come under His judgment. I'm not going to face that great tribulation, and there's a way of escape for you tonight so that you don't have to either.
There is no other name given under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, except the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, we've have opportunity here to be together.
To have a Bible conference the last few years.
We've been hindered in that.
And there's many ideas that people have had to try to save us from COVID. There's this, there's that. We'll try this. Maybe that will work. Maybe this will work.
But tonight we're presenting.
The way to be saved that is 100% successful. You know, there's different success rates that are given for different products, but tonight in the Gospel, there's 100% success in the work that the Lord Jesus did on the cross available for you.
That's amazing. There's not too many things that you can give them 100% guarantee on.
Usually it's pretty high.
On a product that somebody's trying to sell, but 100%.
You know, everyone of us, I think here has two needs.
Those knees are going to bow before the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have opportunity now to bow before the one who says, I know, I know thy works. He knows everything.
Or we can choose to say no.
And those knees will have to bow.
Later on before him.
You know we have that opportunity, he says. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest.
You know, sometimes people think that if they become a Christian, they're not going to be able to have fun anymore.
How about rest for your soul?
How about a relationship with one who loves you so much, who gave himself?
Not too many people are willing to give their life for somebody else.
The Lord Jesus gave himself for you and for me.
What's the love that is available that we can know that we can be connected with?
You know, I'd like to turn to Luke chapter 10, where?
I've enjoyed listening to the thoughts of some others in a Bible study that goes on Lord's Day evenings.
On Zoom that I've benefited from.
Talking about this, I don't know if it was last week or the week before, but Luke chapter 10.
We get the story of the Good Samaritan. I'd like to just read it together here.
Luke chapter 10, verse 25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How readest thou any answering? Said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right this do, and thou shalt live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
And Jesus answering, said a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him.
And passed by on the other side but a certain Samaritan as he journeyed.
Came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And he went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the Morrow when he departed, he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host, and said unto him.
00:15:15
Take care of him whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again.
I will repay thee.
Which now of these three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among thieves?
And he said he that showed mercy on him.
And said Jesus unto him, Go and do thou likewise.
Just like to stop there.
You know each one of us.
In this story.
By nature are the man who was on the trip from Jerusalem to Jericho. You were on a journey through this life.
And this fellow had plans, what he thought he would accomplish in life. Perhaps you have plans in your life too, of what you think you'd like to do.
I don't know if he was going there to the city of palm trees to rest, to have a vacation, doesn't tell us.
But his purpose certainly was not to get robbed and beaten up and left half dead.
That much I'm sure of.
Nobody would pick that.
But it's really a picture of us in our sins. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I think. Any of you kids know?
You don't have to be very old.
Before dad and mom say something like no and you disobey.
To disobey makes you a Sinner.
Before God.
And God is holy, he can't have sins with him.
And you and I know that if we have sinned, we feel guilty and we can't be happy with that or mom when we're feeling guilty.
It's an awful thing to feel guilty.
And this fellow here was in a bad spot.
He had no clothes.
That would be pretty difficult in and of itself.
But then he got beat up as well.
And left there on the side of the road.
In Ephesians it tells us we're dead and trespasses and sins. We need a Savior.
You know there's many.
In this world that seek to provide answers of how to get help.
And perhaps we see two here who passed by, who represent different things, and you can put in there whatever you'd like.
They came and they looked on this fellow and they passed by on the other side. There was nothing there to help him.
Whether it was the law, all it could do was to condemn him, the Levite. Perhaps he was curious and he passed by. He just left him there.
But this certain Samaritan, you know.
I enjoyed the thought here that.
This one comes and he is looking to inherit eternal life.
I think 1 brought out on the call that we inherit things based on who we are generally.
He was looking to try to do and inherit at the same time.
And the Lord Jesus uses the one that's going to help.
As a Samaritan, one who was outside of the blessing.
The promises to Israel.
And he accepts that low place.
He humbled himself to come into this world.
To show His love to you and me.
Incredibly.
And it says a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, he came where he was.
This is the care that the Lord Jesus has for me. He came here. He came to where I was, to my need, to your need.
00:20:04
You know when he says those precious words, come unto me.
Come.
I don't know how bad off this fellow was.
Whether he could have resisted the help of the Good Samaritan, I don't know.
But for each one of us tonight.
If we are in our sins.
The Lord Jesus is as the Good Samaritan, reaching out to you.
To take you from being dead in trespasses and sins.
To have life to be his.
You have the opportunity to accept His mercy. I'm to pick you up.
You know he went to him.
He poured in the oil and the wine. He set him on his own beast. He brought him to the inn, enjoyed a picture of the assembly, and he took care of him, You know, speaking with a brother today and he was just sharing how in the assembly that he had been in that he was able to receive that care.
That's wonderful if in the assembly.
There can be that care.
To those that need that care.
We have that opportunity to have that love one for another. You know, it wasn't that this guy was walking perfectly.
He needed a lot of help.
And that Good Samaritan went to where he was.
And he brought him to the end.
To trust each one of us has that heart and care towards others.
We can be pretty comfortable with what we have.
With our routines, what we're used to.
Samaritan could have passed by on the other side too.
This is messy work.
Dealing with somebody who's all bloody is not enjoyable.
Having this fellow ride on his own beast.
Instead of him being able to.
But he cared.
And the care that the Lord Jesus has shown in coming to this world and dying on the cross.
In suffering so much.
You know, when he looked into that cup in the Garden of Gethsemane, he would say, Oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Oh, my father.
The answer was no.
The answer was number, because if it was yes, there wouldn't be salvation that we could present tonight.
We all would have been on our way to hell righteously.
That's what we deserve.
But instead.
The Lord Jesus went to that cross and he paid the price.
So that we can be looked after.
There's much in this passage.
That we can learn in terms of shepherding care as well.
I'd like to look at another passage in Luke a little further on.
Another well known story, Luke 16.
Perhaps we could read it together and then.
To contrast a couple of men from the Old Testament with this story.
Luke 16 and verse 19 there was a certain rich man which was closed in purple.
And fine lemon, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain bagger named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of source, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell.
From the rich man's table, moreover, the dogs came and licked his source, and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abrahams bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and see if Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip.
His finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.
00:25:00
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between US and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot.
Neither can they pass us that would come from thence. And he said, I pray thee therefore, Father, that thou would send him to my Father's house, for I have 5 brethren, that he may testify unto them, that they also.
Lest they also come into this place of torment.
Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham. But if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto them, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded.
Though 1 rose from the dead.
Well, I think we all know this story.
Two men, one rich, 1 poor, one with faith, and one without.
You know, I don't know which one of these two each one of us are tonight.
But we're either like the rich man or we're like Lazarus.
And.
If the Lord Jesus doesn't return, all of us also are going to die.
Perhaps I'll just pause for a moment and tell a story of a young man that I witnessed.
Die.
He was 17 years old.
His parents had just bought a cottage near us.
He had friends.
And he had a good time with those friends on this particular day.
And me and my siblings got home from young peoples of course, trying to be on time for our 11:00 curfew.
Got in a minute or so before.
And we heard a crash.
A very loud crash.
And we?
Realized we should probably go figure out what it was and we went over to the meeting room.
And this young man had gone to the meeting room.
In his car.
And he had crashed into the meeting here.
There was dust and all billowing around.
And I went over to the car.
And his music was playing. The fan was still running.
The engine had died in the crash.
His Dairy Queen was on the floor.
And his head was slumped over.
He was 17 years old. I'm not sure who's 17 here tonight.
I quoted a couple gospel verses to that young man.
I don't know if he heard them or not.
Because he died.
He never responded.
He didn't plan on dying.
Most people don't.
I don't know if he had opportunity to hear the gospel or not.
But you do.
You and I do.
Went to the funeral of that young man and I don't know.
There was any indication that he had faith, he had plans.
He was planning to go to university. He was just about finished high school.
But he died.
I don't know.
Nice if he will be in heaven.
But if not, he's with this rich man in torment.
And so will you be if you turn away from the Lord's outstretched arms.
You know, sometimes we say that you're going to either go to heaven or hell.
Which is true.
But really, we're going to go to be with the Lord Jesus or we're going to be separated from him forever.
00:30:06
Those are the only options.
As a result of what you have done with Jesus, who is called Christ.
You know, I've done this before, but perhaps it's helpful to get a visual.
This rich man in his torments.
He asked only for a little drop of water.
And see this little drop water.
You know, if I'm at work, I usually drink about a gallon of water.
And if all I had all day was this, I wouldn't really think it was that great.
But that's all he wanted.
Could I just have?
A drip of water only what?
Drip.
We don't think too much about a raindrop that falls on us, just one.
It was not available to this man in his torments.
It seems as if.
Those in torment could see over to the other side, to those in Abraham's busa.
They could see the blessing and I'd like to take up a story relative to two men.
One who?
Didn't get the blessing and one who did.
Each one of us is going to be one of those two.
We're either going to be in Abrahams bosom, as it were to be with the Lord Jesus in heaven, or we're going to be in torment.
And it has to do with.
Believing in him.
You know, somebody prayed tonight about.
How wonderful it is that the gospel message is so simple.
You know, we don't have to be incredibly intellectual to believe that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
To recognize that He died for me, that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. It's so simple and yet we have to believe it.
And when we do, it's so wonderful.
I think he wrote that verse in Colossians one and having made peace through the blood of his cross.
You know, do you enjoy that piece? I was just noticing here behind me, this book, the Eternal security of the believer. Do you enjoy the peace that has been made for you by the blood of his cross? And I remember as a little boy being in gospel meeting and wondering, did I really get saved? Or maybe I didn't. Maybe maybe I didn't do it quite right.
Maybe I better get saved again just in case.
So it asks the Lord to save me again.
How do we know that we're saved?
It's by believing what God has said. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Is it how I feel about it? No.
It's believing what he has done.
God knows what he did. He knows what the Lord Jesus suffered for us. And so if you were like me as a little boy and had some doubts and weren't sure sometimes.
Go back to what God has said, quote the scriptures. That's where you have peace.
It's through the blood of his cross.
Maybe just before we leave this passage, just.
Mention the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The wonder that a man could be alive and that he could say I'm going to die and then I'm going to rise again in three days.
You know, most of us don't know the day we're going to die and.
Furthermore.
Certainly can't make the claim we're going to rise again after three days, but the Lord Jesus did. He said I will rise again and he did. And is everyone in the world believe now? Because like this rich fellow suggested, somebody came back from the dead. It would be nice.
00:35:11
But it's not the case. We have to take God at His Word.
There's no number of signs that we could see that will give us the faith to believe. We have to believe what God has said.
So important.
And we all have that opportunity tonight to believe what God has said.
Let's look at an illustration back in Kings. Second Kings.
Look at the -1 first, and then we'll end on the +1.
Second Kings chapter 6.
The people of God had been unfaithful.
Seems to be the pattern we've talked about in these meetings.
But the Lord was going to show out his heart in grace to them again.
In reaching to them, just like he's reaching to us again tonight.
In Grace.
And so if we read in Two Kings 6, verse 24 came to pass after this, that Ben Haddad, king of Syria, gathered all his hosts and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold, they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for four score 80 pieces of silver, and the 4th part of a cab of Doves dung for five pieces of silver.
And the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, and there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help my Lord, O King. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, when shall I help thee?
The barn floor out of the winepress, the king said unto her, What aileth thee? She answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and did eat him. And I said unto her, On the next day, give thy son that we may eat him, and she hath hit her son came to pass when the king heard the words of the woman that he rent his clothes.
And he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
Then he said, God, do so and more also to me, if the head of Elijah, the son of Shaphat, shall stand on him this day. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elder sat with him, and the king sent a man from before him. But ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer has sent to take mine head away. Look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door and hold him fast at the door is not the sound of his master's feet behind him.
While he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him, and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord.
What should I wait for the Lord any longer? Then Elisha said, Hear ye now the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
And this is the one I wanted to focus in on here. Then a Lord on whose hand the king leaned answered, And the man of God and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said.
Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes.
But thou shalt not eat thereof.
We won't take time to read the story here. These four lepers go out and they recognize that the Lord allowed the Syrians to flee thinking that.
Other armies had come and there was all this food prosperity sitting right outside the gate for them to take, and they didn't know. And these four lepers, they realized it's a day of good tidings and we're holding our peace. And so they come and they share the message, and at first they don't believe it, but then they.
After searching it out, they recognize that it's true. The Syrians have fled.
Silver 17 And the king appointed the Lord on whose hand he leaned, to have the charge of the gate.
And the people throw it upon him in the gate, And he died, as the man of God had said, who spake, when the king came down to him. And it came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, 2 measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria. And that Lord answered the man of God, and said, Now behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might this thing be?
00:40:15
And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him, For the people throwed upon him in the gate, and he died.
This is just such a solemn story to me.
This man.
Hears the word of God.
And he marks it.
He makes fun of the fact that God could carry out His word.
I don't know the response of your heart tonight to the gospel.
Do you believe it?
Or do you mock it?
You know this fellow.
He could have had the blessing that the others got. He could have.
It was available to him just like it was to everyone else.
But instead of getting the blessing, he got the judgment, the judgment of God for mocking.
Always offered to him.
I hope nobody here.
Is going to be like this man that's going to look over like that rich man to see all the others here that got the blessing of God, that believed and you will be in torment like this one who heard, who could have believed, but instead of getting the blessing, he's going to look at all the others from torment.
What a tragedy you'll remember tonight.
That you could have taken Jesus invitation to you to come unto me.
The only way you get to go to hell is by rejecting the Lord Jesus by walking past those outstretched arms.
Saying no.
No, I will not.
Accept your mercy.
That's how this guy was.
He did not get the blessing of God.
I think his believers sometimes.
We can have unbelief too.
And we can miss out on the blessing of God that He offers to us.
By not taking God at His word.
Let's not.
Be like this man.
The one I'd wanted to look at that did get the blessing is Elijah. Perhaps we know this story well too, but I'd like to read it back a few chapters in Second Kings.
2 Kings, Chapter 2.
Read a few verses here as well came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elijah, Terry, here I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha.
And said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thee today?
And he said, yeah, I know it holds ye your peace.
And Elijah said unto him.
Elisha Terry here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.
He said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho, and the sons of the prophets that were a Jericho came to Elijah and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yeah, I know it. Hold ye your peace.
And Elijah said unto him, Terry, I pray thee here, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
And they too went on.
And 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off, and they too stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters. And they were divided Heather and thither, so that they too went on on dry ground.
00:45:15
It came to pass when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And Elisha saw it.
And he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and stood by the Bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smoked the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
And when he also had spent in the waters, they parted, hit her, and thither and Elisha went over.
And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elijah, and they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
Well, I just.
Enjoy the contrast here between Elijah and this one who he spoke to later on whose hand the king leaned. Elisha wanted the blessing.
You know Esau wanted the blessing, too.
But he wanted it his own way.
And Elisha wanted the blessing.
But he went about it God's way.
He was diligent. He wasn't gonna leave the prophet.
Elijah, the one that God had used to speak to Israel, and even though he's given the opportunity to.
He sticks with Elijah.
Through all these different places.
And he's given this opportunity to get the blessing of the Lord.
If he'll just keep his eye on Elijah.
Do you expect he was?
Focused on all the scenery around and counting how many animals he could see.
I don't think so.
He had a focus to get the blessing.
To get.
What God was going to give him?
He valued it.
He had left.
It would seem the inheritance of his family.
He had sacrificed those oxen.
To follow the man of God, to pour water on his hands.
He wanted the blessing. He had heard the call of God.
You know, in the gospel.
We talked about the call of God to come to repent.
To accept the Lord Jesus.
But that call is not just that fire escaped from hell. It's to know.
The Lord Jesus, the only true God.
To have eternal life, to walk with him through this world.
And Elisha didn't have near as much as we have.
He didn't have the whole revealed word of God.
That we have access to in English.
That many, if you read through the church history mentioned today, gave their lives because they valued it and they cared about the next generation. They didn't say, like Hezekiah, as long as there's peace and truth in my days, that's okay.
They cared about those that would come after.
And Elijah wanted the blessing of the people of God.
And he got it.
00:50:01
Are you and I going to get that blessing?
Where are we going to miss it?
It's so easy.
To feed on this world.
It's not difficult, it's readily available.
We have that opportunity to choose instead.
To feed on Christ.
To take what he has available for us.
He doesn't force it.
It just says come.
Come to me.
I will give you rest.
That's what I'd like to share tonight.
Trust, each one of us will be with Lazarus around the Lord Jesus.
Be able to praise him, to exalt him.
It says in Corinthians, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither is entered into the heart of man. The things that God has prepared for those that love him. You know we have so much available to us.
And so much to lay hold of my faith.
Just trust that each one of you will.
Hymnsing and Talk 1
The Lord Jesus as a Perfect Boy
Children—Aaron Stewart
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.
OK. Maybe we could start here. I see you guys are all down there, so I will stand in the middle, so I could be a little closer to you guys.
So I do have some candy for participation. So if I ask questions and you answer, you can get some candies. If your parents are OK, if you have the candy, maybe you can sing some songs first. I don't know if you guys noticed that.
This hymn sheet we have, the front says Echoes of Grace Gospel in Sheep, but the back says children's hymns. You guys notice that? I don't know if you've seen that before. So maybe we could pick some from the back. If you pick one from the front too, it's OK, But maybe we could pick some from the back because those are more for children and I, I think that would be nice to sing from there. But does anyone have a song we could start with?
Sure #4141.
Around the.
Many children say children.
Sins are all forgiven will happen without the spring and standing glory.
Glory, Glory. Glory, glory, glory.
To God.
What brings them to the world?
That's all right.
Where all this peace and joy and love.
In the children.
Never singing glory.
The shyness.
Precious life being the slug. Behold, behold.
Before we say another one, that's really nice song that's talking about being in heaven in the coming day, right? And.
You know, how did they get there? Says how did those children get there? And that's because of the Savior shed blood. So I'm not planning on talking about the gospel this morning. But if you're not saved, you heard last night you need to be saved. So we're going to talk about today is a little bit past that after you're saved and maybe something that will help you.
So I'm going to tell a story this morning first, not from the Bible, and I'm going to tell a similar story from the Bible and we'll talk about it. And it's about someone who is missing. Okay, Maybe we could send one more song and then we'll get into the story.
47.
#47 when he comes.
To make sure.
That it's all.
Like the stars of the morning.
OK, so I'm going to sit down to tell the story. OK, so.
When I was a kid, I have, I have a big family, lots of brothers and sisters. And so we would go on trips and we go to conferences like here and it would be like a 7 hour drive long drive. And so one of the problems with going on trips with lots of people is making sure everyone's there, right.
So one time, and I don't know if I have all the details of this story right, but one time we were on a trip. So we were on a trip and we were driving and we stopped at a rest area. Anyone stopped at a rest area before on the way somewhere? Yeah.
All right, nodding head gets a piece of candy.
Up Ezra 2. All right, everyone gets around with candy, They all nodded.
Did you guys not? All right, so, so we stopped at a rest area. It was like a gas station to gas up and everyone used the bathroom. And when we stopped, one of my brothers and probably most of you know Uncle Caleb, maybe a few of you don't, but a lot of you know, because you're related, you know Uncle Caleb. So how I remember it was that.
We stopped at the rest area, we got gas.
And then as we were driving, we left. We're driving. My dad decided to count the heads because that's the fastest way to figure out if everyone's there. Count the heads. So you go 12345678. So there are eight kids. So you count. Oh, there was eight. He would look at the rearview mirror, but this time he counted and there was 7.
And then we said, who's missing the names? And Caleb, where's Caleb? And Caleb was not in the van, so Caleb was not there. And he was there before we stopped. So we had to turn around. We were on the highway, I think it was. So we had to turn around and go back to the rest area. And there was Uncle Caleb and little Caleb. And he was young and he was crying because he got left behind. He was missing.
And we found him so.
That was that was scary for him, but it was also scary for his mom and dad, right? Where is he? So I want to tell a story about a person who was missing who's also young. Does anyone have any ideas?
What that could be?
No, but that is, that's a good. That is, that is a person who was lost and then found.
Yeah, you got it. All right. So the story I want to tell is about was in the book of Luke. Does anyone know if there's four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Does anyone know why Luke is very special? What's what's special about Luke? Does anyone know? There's something special maybe. Maybe you're a little young to know this. It's OK anyway.
00:10:19
So in Matthew we get the Lord Jesus as the king and the Messiah. But in Luke what we get is the Lord Jesus as a person, right as a man. So what's special about that is we see a lot of his feelings and how he felt he was hungry, things like that. But we also see him as a boy, which is very interesting because sometimes when we say.
When we say, you know, we need to follow the Lord Jesus, right and do what he did and he said, well, he was a man, I'm a boy or a girl.
Right. But we have an example of him as a boy. And I think one of the reasons that this example was put in the Bible is for us when we're younger. So we can't understand.
How he was as a boy and even as we're children, we can, we can be like him. We can be like him with his help, of course. So like I said, this is for those of us who are saved. If we're not saved, we can't be like them, right? We know that that we need to have.
New life and we have to have the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to be like him. But I want to read the story because I think it's a very interesting story.
We've read it home not too long ago, but maybe girls forgot. So it'll be, it'll be fresh again. But it's a really good story. So this is in Luke chapter 2 and you don't don't worry. You don't have to be worried about having to read some of it. I'll just read it. We'll go through it step by step and I can ask some questions.
So Luke chapter 2.
And this is maybe we'll start.
With verse 41, maybe we'll start with verse 40. OK, and it's talking about a child. OK, It says a child and the child grew is how verse 40 of of Luke chapter two starts and that child is Jesus. OK, just so you know, I'm not going to read the rest of the chapter, but that's who's talking about And it says and he wax strong in in spirit filled with wisdom.
And the grace of God was a was upon him. So he grew. He grew just like you boys and girls are growing and getting older and you remember when you were. Maybe you don't remember when you were tiny little And then as you grow older and maybe when you're younger, you wish you were older like some of the older boys and you look up to them. But the Lords Jesus grew just like anyone else.
But it says that he's filled with wisdom and we're going to see that he was pretty wise, more wise as a boy than some grown-ups. And so let's continue on. It says now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover. So every year they would go to the feast of Passover like Jews would do. They go to the Passover in Jerusalem every year. That kind of reminds me of going to conferences, right? Maybe there's some conferences that every year mom and dad take us there. And that's good that we get taken to conferences. And this was.
That the that that the Lord's parents would take him to Jerusalem every year. That was good. And so there he was being taken every year.
And it says when he was 12 years old. Who, who is 12 years old here or who is older than 12 here in the front, You are all right, just facing Candy, who is 11, Sam. Oh, both of you guys, all right.
OK, and who is 10? All right, we got a 10. So we're a lot of us are close to the age the Lord was here. All right, who is 7?
Besides Evelyn, All right, who's 6?
I think we have two sixes. Two sixes. Are you 6? Are you 5?
You guys have that one. Oh, you know who is five? Who is five? Oh, you're 8, and I miss 80. Sorry about that. Who's eight? Sorry, sorry, Ezra. All right, let me just hand these. All right, so you're 8. Okay, you can have another one, and you are.
Five. OK, you're five. OK. Yeah, you're the same age. And Natalie, you're 5. Are you 6? So forget your five, OK. And OK, any four? No one. Four. OK, four is a little bit younger than the Lord was here. You can keep as many. Yeah, as any on the floor. You can grab those. So we have quite a few people and a lot of us are close to the age Lord Jesus was right. And I. That's still considered a boy. It calls, it calls the Lord Jesus when he's 12. It calls him a boy. So he's still a boy, but he was getting close to being.
Wasn't he was getting older? But we could still take this lesson for all of us, so it says.
00:15:04
It says when he was 12 They went to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. So there they were going to Jerusalem again and when they had fulfilled the day, so they stayed there for the feast. Now it says as they returned the child Jesus, or really it's the boy Jesus.
Remain, Terry, to remain behind in Jerusalem.
So he stayed there. So they went to leave and he stayed and it says and Joseph and his mother knew not of it, so they didn't know. So this is the same thing. Someone got left behind, someone was missing. So let's see how long it takes for them to notice. How long do you think it took? Anyone know how long it took for them to notice?
All right, we'll read it, it says.
It says and they supposing him to have been in the company. So there's a big group of them to travel and they probably walk the road. I'm not sure what they rode. Any ideas what they might have rode?
Possibly a horse. I'm not sure if they had or surround that time, but it's possible.
Possibly a donkey, One other animal. I'm thinking of Ezra Camel. Yeah, Sorry.
So it's possible they're riding one of those, but they're probably walking too. And we know that the Lords parents were poor, so maybe they didn't even have maybe they just walked. But it looks like a group of them and we see that it was their relations. So they went with their cousins. So they may have gone or, or or brothers, whoever was they may have all gone in a big group together. So.
Says that they were going but they assumed oh OK, he's with the rest of them, he's somewhere in there and they didn't do a head count maybe, but it says.
They went a day's journey, they traveled for all day. So let's just say only 12 hours even that that was a long time to go without noticing he was gone. But you know what? He was a perfect boy, wasn't it? So they may have thought, well, he's just coming along. He's doing, you know, he's doing whatever we expect him to do because we never have any problems with him.
But you know, Uncle Caleb, I think they were a little bit, we were, my parents were worried a little bit sooner because he was a perfect boy. So they would notice something's missing, right? But the Lord Jesus, maybe they didn't notice for a day. So it says that. So it says that they went a day's journey. And it says they sought and they looked for him among their relations and acquaintances. So the people they went with, they looked around. You know, where, you know, is he here? And then you know, he's not here.
They've gone a day's journey.
And it says and when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him. So now they got to go another days during all the way back. So now it's two days that they haven't found them.
And it says it came to pass that after three days. So I think that counts. The 1St 2:00. So it was a little three days he was missing. Now, what would you think, what you could say if you were left at a rest area or left at a conference and it was a day or three days before you got found? What do you think? And would you be sad or scared without your mom and dad for three days? I think even if you were 12, after three days you might start getting a little concerned.
Right. Well, we see something different with the Lord Jesus, and we're talking about why that is.
Well, it says that they went back to Jerusalem, like we said, and after three days they found him in the temple, right? They found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, doctors or teachers hearing them and asking them questions. So this is interesting. He was in the temple.
He must have somehow got food. We don't know how anyone think of a way he could have gotten food.
Anyone. So if you were alone, what would you do to find food?
Ezra.
Eat grass. Possible. I don't think it would be very tasty. I don't think it would digest very well. Sam. Yeah, you just ask for it. So maybe he was begging for food. We don't know. Maybe he was. But you know what we've seen and we've seen in in other scriptures where the Lord's people, they have been fed by the Lord. So in some way, God took care of his son, right. So God looked down, He saw his son and he took care of him.
So but there he was in the temple. It wasn't saying he was doing it says he was.
Want to find again hearing them, that's a good thing. So when she was 12, he was listening. And you know, maybe when you're younger it's a little harder to stay listening. You know, we can listen for a while, but then I would just see something shiny or something and we look at that or someone comes in the door and we think about the person and we stop thinking about what we're listening to So that happens sometimes and that's why we have candy so that everyone wants to pay attention but.
00:20:15
But you know, when you get older, it's a little easier to listen. Sometimes you you can think a little bit calmer.
And you can understand a little bit more, but here's the Lord Jesus 12. It's still pretty young and he was there hearing. So there were teachers. These teachers would have been probably looking at the Old Testament Scriptures and saying, you know, this is what this means. Let me hear in reading meetings here and addresses their brothers who have the ability to teach and there they work there. They are here teaching about the Bible. And that's the same thing with what the Lord Jesus was listening to. That was obviously the Old Testament and I'm not sure what these teachers were.
Was was right, they didn't have the Holy Spirit necessarily. They didn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling them to necessarily teach right, but they were teaching and the Lord Jesus was listening. And then it's also says that he was asking them questions. So I think that's important for you Kids understand too that we should ask questions when there is when, when, when there's teaching going on and someone says this is what this means. It's good to ask questions. And a lot of times you get your teaching at home from your parents and they tell you.
But it's good to ask questions and to really understand it. Don't you say, OK, I believe it because my parents said it. Now you should listen to your parents, but you should ask questions. So that's what the Lord Jesus was doing. Now here's something really interesting.
Verse 47 it says that all who heard him are all that hurt him, were astonished at his understanding and answers. Does anyone know what astonishing?
Sam Yeah. Really surprised. So everyone was really surprised at what does it say, his understanding that means they say he understands what we're saying. Wow. And you know what? I've learned just I only have the oldest of seven here, but I understand that you kids actually understand more than a lot of people think.
I learned that kids actually can understand a lot.
Right. And sometimes that you guys know that kids know that, but adults don't realize that that you can understand a lot, right? Well, it says they were astonished. They were surprised that he understood all this, and they're also surprised at his answers. Well, I thought he was asking questions.
Well, it didn't say he was asking questions, Sam.
I think that's right. I think either he was answering his own questions or the questions he was asking, or answering other people's questions that they had in their hearts. So how wise was he? How wise is he? So this is where I think he's different than a lot of young boys and girls because he had that special wisdom, right? Don't forget that though he's a boy, he's also God.
Right. We can't forget that part. And his mom in this story forgets that. We're going to see that as she forgets that. So it says that they were surprised hearing him answer questions. He was answering questions that these wise teachers who have been alive way longer than him.
Didn't have the answers to so there's a verse I want a quick read.
In Psalm 119, I can just read it, you can just listen, but this is a pretty interesting verse. Psalm 119 verse 99 and says I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation so.
This is a little lesson for us that the Lord Jesus had more understanding all of them because in his heart was God's will right and.
He's the son of God, so he had more wisdom. But you know what, this can apply to you. You know what? There's a another story that I'm going to try to repeat from something that happened in our family that one of my brothers, Uncle Josh was in school. And this is like third hand that I'm repeating this, but one of his teachers tried to tell him that people were animals.
And it was they were saying that because they were going to say that you're just the same as an animal, which we know or not from the Bible. But you know what he did? He went home and he laughed about it and he knew it wasn't true. He chuckled and he told his mom, my mom, that this is what they said at school. But why did he know it wasn't true? Because he knew from the Bible it wasn't true. So if art, if the Lord, if God's testimonies, it says in the Psalm.
Are our meditation and we're reading the Bible.
00:25:00
When someone says something that even if it's our teacher. Now some, I know some of you here are homeschooled, so maybe this doesn't apply, but you will have someone try to teach you something at some point who's not a believer. And if you hear something that's wrong, guess what? You can say that's not what the Bible says. And you know, you don't even have to tell them necessarily, but you know that what they're saying is wrong. So this is an example from the Lord Jesus as a boy, but this applies to our life and if we are reading the word of God and it doesn't have to be a whole chapter every day.
But if we're always reading the word of God, we will have answers for questions that people in the world are maybe our teachers at school don't really have answers for them. They're they're, they're saying things that are not true. So that doesn't mean we shouldn't respect them. Remember, the Lord Jesus was asking questions. He wasn't preaching and telling them here's what should be done. He was a boy. So he was listening but and asking questions, but he was actually wiser than that. OK, so let's move on.
So it says that.
We'll go to verse 48 and when they saw Jose, that's his parents.
When they saw him, they were amazed. Why do you think they were amazed when they saw him?
That's, that's exactly right. They didn't expect him to be there and they didn't realize what was really in him, that he's the son of God. They didn't realize, oh, that he would be in the temple in this in this spot. They thought maybe they maybe they thought he'd be looking for food somewhere, but he had what was most important to him on his heart, and that's where he was.
OK, so now it says, it says They're amazed and this is the part that I find very interesting. So it says and his mother said unto him, So what is she going to say? So maybe you can't imagine being a grown up, but imagine if you were looking for someone for three days, you finally found them and they weren't upset that you were gone. They were just there in the temple talking or listening and asking questions.
Well, how would you feel?
Ezra.
You feel good that you found them? Yeah. Would you be maybe a little upset that?
Trying to tell you, would you be maybe a little upset that that this person was missing for three days? You think you would, Evelyn?
You be a little upset. Yeah, well, guess what?
The Lord's mother was upset, and when she was upset she forgot. I think maybe she didn't fully understand much or didn't always understand, but she forgot that what she had been told when the Lord Jesus was going to be born, that He was the Son of God. And this is what she said, Son, or really it's child. Why hast thou thus dealt with us? Why are you doing this to us?
She she says.
Behold, thy father and I have sought thee, Siren. Your dad and I have been looking everywhere. We're sad about this. And here he was in the temple, and he didn't seem sad, I'm guessing.
And so she was pretty upset. Now if you if one of you kids hid or or were not coming when you got called and you had a conference and your parents left and your parents were upset with you, would that be right for them to be upset with you?
Yeah, if you were hiding or you weren't obeying them when they called you and you, you knew you were supposed to leave. That would be right if they were set. But was it right for her to be upset here? No, it was not. She had kind of forgotten that he was the Son of God.
So what does it say? She said. Behold, thy Father and I have sought thee sorrowing. There's something wrong there. Does anyone know what's wrong with what she said there?
It's going to be a little harder.
No, no, I mean they maybe they shouldn't have been, but that's not really what's wrong. She she said something wrong and the Lord actually he doesn't really correct her, but he went in his response without outright correcting him. He shows that what she was saying wasn't really right.
She said OK, I'll give you a participation. Sorry. So she said thy father and I.
Who is the Lord Jesus Father?
God, God, That's right. So she forgot this was the Son of God and she thought this was the son of Joseph. And she said, thy father and I.
And that was not right. That was not right that he was not the son of Joseph. And it if you look at this chapter, it says his parents, his parents. It never says his father and mother here because it's not his father. God was his father. And what's important about that, What we, the Lord Jesus shows what's important about that? He said unto them, how is it or why is it that you have sought me? Why are you looking for me? So that's not he wasn't saying.
00:30:23
In a bad.
Bad kid way. He wasn't saying this, he was saying this in a nice way. Why were you looking for me?
And the reason why I was asking is because they should have known that you'd be at the temple. And he says why they why says he says, wish ye not. Now wist is kind of an older English word. It means did you not know? Didn't you know that I must be about or occupied with my father's business? And he says my father.
He didn't say his business because he just mentioned his father. He says my father, what does he say? He say my father is God and my first job is to obey him and do what he wants. And if his father wanted him to be at the temple, that's where he was going to be, right? So that's a lesson for us that we should obey God, right? But what does God say? Children, obey your parents, right? So we need to obey our parents. But in this case here was.
Telling him, being upset with him, but yet he was obeying God's will, his Father's will. So how perfect was he? And his answer was not being bad at all, right? You know, he's perfect. He had a perfect answer to show that what you're saying isn't really right. And this is what I'm doing. But we see some more about what what happens after because I think it's important we don't just stop there.
That the rest of the story is important, so it says.
It says.
In verse 50 and they understood not the saying which you speak into them, they didn't understand what he was saying. So when he said I have to be about my father's business, well what? Who was Mary thinking? His father was Joseph. What was Joseph's business? Anyone else?
Inside Sam, what was Joseph's business? Does anyone know?
Carpenter. Exactly.
Sorry, so he was a Carpenter and you know, in the in the scriptures we see that people say, isn't this the carpenter's son? They expected Jesus was going to just be a Carpenter like his dad. And I don't say justice and that's not very important because I think your dad, Sam was sort of a Carpenter. So I'm not saying just, but the point is that he was far more than the carpenter's son wasn't and his his father was God and he was doing.
His father's business. Well, they didn't understand. Now, this is one of the important lesson I think you kids should understand. You know, sometimes you might feel like this. You might feel like nobody understands what you're saying. Do you ever feel that way?
Yeah.
Both of you nodded. Sorry. So sometimes you might feel like you're misunderstood. You say something and you know, people, just adults, maybe your parents go. I'm not sure what you're saying. They just don't know. Well, think of how often the Lord Jesus had that happen in maybe every time. Maybe every time he said something they were like, what is he saying?
And he was saying the words of God, but they didn't understand.
You know, so how that might be hard, wouldn't it? Wouldn't you feel kind of lonely if every time you said something your parents said, I don't know what you're saying, you could feel a little bit lonely. So imagine how the Lord Jesus felt when he would say something like this. I'm doing my father's will. And they said, we don't know what he's saying, so what's he talking about? But they knew he was special, but they didn't know what he was saying, so.
The next verse I think is very important. So even if you know more than your teachers or maybe even your parents are get something wrong, which I found when I get older that my parents were almost always right when they told me I was doing something wrong. I learned that later on in life. But even if they were wrong, like the Lord's parents here, and even if they didn't understand what he was saying, the next verse is very important. It says and he went down.
With them and came to Nazareth where they live, and was subject unto them in subjection. What does that mean? He obeyed them, He listened to them. And that's very important, that even the Son of God listened to his parents and obeyed them.
That's very important. So that's how important it is to listen to our parents, no matter how we feel, if we feel that they're wrong. And yes, as a parent, I know sometimes we are wrong and but we still need to listen. We still need to be subject to them. And the Lord Jesus shows that perfectly. The one who is the Son of God was subject to his parents who didn't know what he was saying. So I think that's what the one more, one more important lesson. But here's a little lesson for parents, it says.
00:35:26
But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart, so she thought about these things.
She remembered my son is special. He's very special and I'm going to keep these sayings. And so that was good that she she listened. So it says then that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor of God. Man, it's so interesting. Jesus grew, he kept growing just like us. It's so hard to think about the fact that though he's the Son of God.
He's growing like you or I, and that's what I think.
Makes the fact that the Lord Jesus became a person, became a a baby and grew to a boy and then to a man is that he became like us. There's a verse in Hebrews that says I'll just sit and find it quickly about him, it says.
Hebrews.
It is chapter 2.
It says.
Find Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14.
For as much then as or since, therefore the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same. Because you and I will be saved. Our children, our people have flesh and blood. He took part of the same. He became a person so.
That makes it very special to us. So the reason why I bring out the story is because.
Sometimes we might feel like, well, Lord Jesus was a man, right? And I'm just a kid. But here we have an example of the Lord Jesus as a kid. So he was a kid too. He went to the same things that you didn't probably worse because they didn't understand him at all compared to your parents mostly understanding you. So I just bring this out as a good example. And This is why we need to read the word of God and the Gospels are very important because we read the gospels, we see the Lord Jesus as an example for how we can.
Be OK, so that's yeah, sure. What did the Lord do when he was a boy?
I don't know.
Do you have a thought? Well, let's see what what the word of God says. What can Mark's Gospel?
Got.
Yeah.
Chapter 6.
Someone can read verses two and three. Sure, I'll read that. Mark 6, verse two and three. And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach at the synagogue. And many hearing him, were astonished, saying, for once half this man these things. And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Is not this the Carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph?
Judah and Simon and are not his sisters here with us, and they were offended at him.
So you have siblings?
But it says that.
We did the work of the Carpenter.
Oh yeah.
Is not this the Carpenter? So he must have done that. That's interesting.
Very good, very good.
There's some candy for you.
OK, so maybe just a couple quick questions because we're getting short on time, but we can give out a little bit more of this candy. I could use it all, but I don't want to. So maybe we could ask a couple more questions and then we could sing one. I'm sorry we don't have time for the verse. Does anyone really want to say the verse?
Because if so, we could do, but OK, we'll just ask a couple questions. So first question is.
How many days did it take?
Did they look for the Lord Jesus? Did his parents look for him until they found it 33?
OK, when they found him. I'm looking at you, Abby, if you want to answer this one. When they found him.
What? How did they act toward him? Were they upset or were they glad to see him?
00:40:07
Both of you got it. There you go. OK, sorry. OK. So yes, they were, they were upset. They were a little bit.
Across within you might say, okay.
What did Mary say when when she said when she addressed him? What does she say that wasn't quite right?
Sam, your father and I? Yep.
OK. And one more question.
What did the Lord Jesus do once they found Him and once they talked with each other? What did he do?
Back with them to Nazareth. Yep. And one final thing, most important part of that When he got back to Nazareth, what did he do then?
This is the one of the most important points. He was subject unto them, right? He still listened to them even though his parents had been wrong.
OK, they think that's it. Does anyone have maybe one?
What are two songs we could sing?
What's that 45 again? Yep, from the back.
OK, 40.
That's it's not in here. This one it got removed. Is there another one?
Do you have a? Do you have a? Oh, it's on some of them. It's not on this one either. What is it?
I'll bring it to all the kids, wings two and two and more in love.
One place, so time to speak. It's true.
1.
For him, now in fire.
Take them, Lord Jesus and life that big, always and true.
One more Sam, 46.
Jesus.
Come to save me.
And he calls and he calls and he calls all the cheap heartbreak elements and take a walk.
Last year.
Since I washed away.
Our Spiritual Blessings
Open—Krupa Sagar
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.
Shall we sing 100 and 68168?
Tonight is far stand.
Ard now it's time to.
Look for the stars and blood.
Brings Iceland, he said. You're my son, brother. Great choice for the God.
Or suffering and laws.
What's in this world compared to my day through the glory?
Of him.
Not to save your lives from.
It's been always sad.
For our side.
I will pass my family.
And Christian.
So much in love.
So they told me.
Just like to read a couple of verses of scripture Acts chapter 20.
Verse 35 Act 20 verse 35 I have showed you all things how that so laboring the ought to support the weak and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus.
He said.
It is more blessed to give.
Than to receive.
I just want to thank our brother.
Expenses You are met for this little conference abundantly. We're very thankful for your unselfish.
Presentation and gives my letter and personally in the question this morning. We're very thankful for your kindness.
Like to read one other verse in First Corinthians 14?
00:05:03
Verse three, you'll see on your little card they schedule a meeting. This is scheduled as an open meeting that the Lord may leave.
By the Spirit of God.
And verse.
1St Corinthians 14 verse three says but he that prophecy it.
Speakers of the men. The Amplification.
And expectation.
And comfort.
It also says another place, but two or three speak.
And let the other judge so the trust, the trust the Lord for.
An orderly presentation of the different passages according to his mind.
Good afternoon to everyone of you, brothers and sisters and friends too.
Let us read.
Efficiency Chapter one.
Third verse.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who had blessed all spiritual blessings.
In heavenly places in Christ.
In the morning we read these verses from the Ephesians, which struck.
My heart.
I pray that the Lord will lead.
As to learn the privileges that the Lord has given to us through his Son, which may be an encouragement.
Edification and to some maybe exhortation also.
We see.
Our meetings began.
With David's prayer in 2nd Psalm 718.
It's a prayer of David which he recollects the loving kindness of God. Who am I in my Father's house to be selected by you? It's a very striking and loving expression from Not only.
King David, but also to us also, who am I?
To be selected.
To be.
Father's son.
Who am I if I think there is nothing good in me but.
His Grace, Sovereignty.
Lead us to have this.
Blessed situation, blessed position. It is a happy note to us as a believers.
To know our blessings. Our blessings are spiritual blessings.
Our blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal blessings.
They are forever and forever and forever. Never change those blessings according to their situations.
It's everlasting blessings the Lord the God has poured on us through his loving Son Jesus Christ, who shed his precious blood on the cross for the Richard sinners like me and we and gave.
An excellent position.
That's the blessings which the Old Testament people do not have. If we see in Matthew 2534 was we see that.
His people, nations, Israel, nations. Blessings are from the foundation of the world.
00:10:10
But if we go back to second Timothy.
19 We see our blessings.
Are before the foundation of the world. So we have a better privilege than the people that are selected by God himself, who are called the people of Israel. We are blessed among all the nations, all the generations.
Because their blessings are from the creation, from the earth. But our blessings were hid in the mind of the God before the foundation of the world. And it strikes us very much to edify ourselves, to encourage ourselves, and to grow.
Day by day in him that makes us to see how we are blessed in.
Ephesians chapter one we see here in efficiency 3 aspects one is we have sonship with the Father, the second one we have hair ship with the Lord Jesus Christ and the third one in the chapter we see we have.
Membership with his body, which is called the Church.
Through the Spirit, so wonderful blessings were laid down for us in those Chandos Chandos chapter, Ephesians chapter one. It's a privilege for us to remember, to think and enjoy and to exhort itself for when the meetings are coming on, we start.
With the choice of the God.
And next onwards in the revelation yesterday we meditate something about repent and repent in the last chapter. Then the last aspect we see is space is given for repentance. I believe here we have three kinds of people may be here some.
Are enjoying.
The blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ sometimes.
There may be a chance.
Yesterday in the Young People's Conference, Brothers said that there may be a chance for us to be a backslider, there may be a chance in our lives, like the position of a lot. What did he do? He wanted to have a prominent place in the place, which was not suitable to the God, not acceptable, good to the God.
Sodom or Gomorrah, he wants to be a leader, a lawyer, a judge to them. But if we see and examine the heart of Lord, he was not happy with the situation they arises raised. So his heart was humiliated about the situations there sometimes.
We, the born again believers.
As we are living in this world may be in a position to enjoy the pleasures of the world, but.
It is not what they think to us. We cannot enjoy the pleasures of the world as we are relieved by the people who tested the sufferings of the Lord on the cross for our sins.
So sometimes certain blinds us to lead us for the attraction of the world, but the bottom of the heart it ****** us to realize the things. Maybe such situation we can see in our lives too. Sometimes we may be like.
Naomi, who left Bethlehem to Moab and lost everything but returned back and also there may be some people as brother calling in the Gospel meeting, said the door is open.
00:15:16
And so these things may encourage us and examine us and also exhort us to know our position.
First of all, I would like to read verse 4.
In Ephesians chapter one we see the 1St 4th one. According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish. So here we see.
As yesterday in the address meeting, Brother X said.
New Testament? Is the text Old Testament or the pictures?
If we see the evidence, romance brings us back to Egypt and Red Sea, which speaks of.
Our redemption by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and our salvation because of His mighty strength.
If we go back to Galatians, it brings us to the banks of Jordan. We have reason with Christ, with a hope of going to the promised land. Kanan.
Whereas in the other epidural like.
Brothers said in Peter as well as in collations or in the Philippians, we see our we the believers are passing through wilderness. So we may have ups and downs in the journey, we may be failures, but.
We see His everlasting grace towards us in taking us to the Promised Land.
In the aboriginal to the efficient we see that we are placed in the promised land, Canaan though we are here, here we have the assurances that we have the place in him. That's why Lord Jesus Christ before going to the cross.
He told to his disciples.
Be not to worry.
It is better for you to me to go to my father's house. I will go and prepare Mansions awards for thee.
So that's a wonderful thing, the Lord Jesus Christ going to the cross result from the dead by the mighty power of the God made our blessings eternal, and He is preparing a place for us to be forever and forever.
So here, that's why we are thankful to the God.
For selecting us here in the fourth verse, we say we are chosen before the foundation of the world, so before we do either good or bad, like Joseph, Jacob.
The Lord in His perfect grace selected you and me. Thus we are very thankful to Thee. Today. Our hearts ports before the Lord. How much gracious towards us, to select us, to elect us, to choose us that makes us.
That makes us so grateful to the Lord.
For his kindness, for his loving kindness. So we are chosen, We are elected, not because of our works, not because of our goodness or because of our status, but only purely His grace, Though here he says we are chosen. It was His sovereign grace.
00:20:19
A sovereign grace that he has selected as that is one of the.
Happiest privileges that the God has given dear friends, I would like to point here God has selected us before the foundation of the world, but.
It is our responsibility to accept the invitation of the God or not.
Five and two, a conference. Outside the conference there was a note. Welcome.
So when I entered into the conference on the screen, on the screen I saw enjoy. So that is the position. God has selected us before the foundation of the world, but it's our duty. The Lord says come unto me, come unto me. And if we go there, the Lord says, I have selected you before the foundation of the world.
So so far here, if anyone has not accepted Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, I would like to remind you that God calls you, invites you, His door is open. He wants you to be there. If we get in step in to be, we are secure to receive his blessings. It indicates you, He selected it. So the love of God is.
Spread extended to everyone. His wish is nobody to perish but.
The fattened blinds the minds of the people and not to recognize the love. Dear friends, I once again say God with his loving hands, inviting you to come.
If we come to this House, we are very much privileged, the chosen people. We are elected people by His sovereign grace and this election one way gives us an enjoyment for us to make us the sons of the Father. If we see the next verse, we will see.
That having.
OK brother, having understood as into the adoption of the children, so this is selection has made us to the position of.
Electing or adopting the son in Jain Debbie, we can see it as a sonship. So we have the position of the Sun through Lord Jesus Christ.
In the morning.
Sunday school, our brother said.
To his mother, earthly mother and father we are searching for youth means who is my father? I came here to do my father's will. So Lord Jesus Christ says that God is my father. But if we go back to.
John 20th chapter we see speaking with Mary saying I am going to my God, your God, my Father, your Father, so by the death of Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Lord's power, God's power, made him to rose from the dead.
That made the position to us also as.
The children of God.
But a wonderful position. He selected us because of His sovereign grace, not because of our words. And by selecting us through His Son's deed on the cross, He met a relationship. That is, He made us as His children.
00:25:04
That's why we call it Father in our prayers.
And are buying for prayers. This privilege was not given to the Old Testament Saints. Old Testament peers they called him. They knew the God as only Jehovah.
Who is the living one? Forever one but.
They have never approached the God as the Father. Through Christ's deed on the cross, it allowed us to call him a Father.
So the second privilege that we had is the privilege to be the son of the God we have, the sonship.
And next onwards in Peter we say it is an important to us what sonship should we have, what type of children we ought to be there, he says.
Be obedient unto the Father you are should be an obedient child, so we should be. The Lord wants us to be a forbidden child to be found.
It is a pleasure to give what that he possessed to enjoy for self, but.
But man's disobedience.
Lost that?
He kept Adam in the Garden of Eden. Joy.
But is the disobedience led him to be driven out of the.
Idiot.
God created new earth and the new earth and everything that was given to know, but what happened? He too lost it.
And his children were scattered.
They are chosen a generation people of Israel. He wanted them to enjoy in the promised land of Canaan. But what happened? They disobeyed, they disobeyed the Lord. They were sent away out of the country, promised the land and be driven to the other nations so.
Disobedience made them not to enjoy the privileges what the Lord intended as to.
HR but.
Because of one man's obedience, that is our Lord Jesus Christ forbidden. See we are not only redeemed from the forefathers sin, but we are enjoying the privileges in the fourth verse we see here Paul exerts as be holy.
And Peter also says, as you are obedient children.
You remember, be holy. As He is holy, so we are. We actually, by our nature, by our deeds, cannot be holy in the presence of the God. But it is His grace that made us to be holy. He sanctified us.
Redeemed us, understood us, holy people.
Before the presence of the holy God. So now the Lord never remembers our sins.
Here in the if we go back to the dawn, he says we are redeemed people by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. That's the privilege for us. That is the thing that we have in child. We have a sonship.
And that obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross pleased the God.
And He showed his mercy, and rose him. What we see it in the Ephesians, which is the mighty strength, what that it indicates, It indicates He annulled the power of the Saturn.
Hold him from the depths of from dawn parts to the highest part. That's why we say that the grace of the grace of the Lord, the grace of the Lord towards me and he is as is that the Lord Jesus Christ went to the depth of the world.
00:30:19
He was crucified.
Diet, but eat. But it was the power of the God who rose him from the depths, and his intention is to give everything power to his beloved Son.
Whatever the things in may be in heaven.
In the earth or under the earth, everything to be subjective to Him. That is the will and the wish of the Father towards His Son. And that will and wish enabled us to enjoy the privileges. That is why here we see in 7th verse, I think so that we are called.
The beloved of.
The sun we are beloved we are beloved means previously when we come into the the into the salvation in Christ. But the acceptance of God towards his son made us not only children but also the beloved ones. That's a great privilege that we had at.
Time so it's a thing for us how much we enjoy these privileges, how much we we ourselves strengthening these depends upon our position, how much we are near to the God.
Near to his mind, near to his activities. So this is an encouraging thing to us. The Lord has given us a position of children, sons to him, not only that one, when the Lord rose the Lord Jesus Christ from his death.
His intention is to give all powers to him.
And to make him as the inheritance of all his prominences, all his property, say that it may be in the heaven or in the yet, and we have to share it. That is called we have the hail ship of the court. So in Ephesians first chapter we see the individual blessings. These are the individual.
He has chosen us, and another individual person is his pure grace, his that means his everlasting pleasure to make us his children to his to to him, and to be called as a beloved. But above all these things he has from the the mystery, the mysteries from the bottom of his mind is to make a suitable.
Companion to his friend, so that made as to the members of his body.
So we had the membership also with the which is the pure intention of the Lord to be have that position. So we are enjoying these days have that membership for Lord Jesus Christ as our head and we are the members here working together and praising together.
So in Ephesians 2 we see, whatever the things it may be, everything was subject, not only subjected to him.
Everything should bow and knee and praise him. That's a great privilege for us that the Lord has given to us as a children and our security, as I said, is the eternal. That means if we see it by accepting our Lord Jesus Christ and in the that means we are in verse #13 we can see to we.
Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. So by the gospel, by the good seed acceptance, we are seed sealed with the Spirit, Holy Spirit. So it indicates as we are secured in the hands of the Lord God forever and forever.
00:35:17
But exhortation is there. Let us not.
Grieve the heart, grieve the Spirit that lives in our heart, and quench not the Spirit while we gather to remember Him on the Lords day as the people. So it's an exhortation to us. Let us give freeness to the Lord's will and desires, and may I think that the Lord may strengthen us to go.
In these days, to be truthful.
Towards him, waiting as.
Strangers in this world waiting to be have a steering ship, heavenly sailing ship for this one. The thing that we need is not to stand on our strength like Peter, but to depend upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Only dependence upon Him makes us to continue steady, fast in His love going forward.
To see him. So let us be obedient to the word, to the Lord and hear his voice and we follow and his grace be with us. Thank you. And so far we have not accepted so far the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Once again, I humbly request you, these are the provisions that are given for you to waiting for you to enjoy.
Please come, the door is open to come to that one. Let us examine ourselves. How Richard, we are. How?
Sinful we are in the sight of the Lord, we need not to pay anything but.
We must have to re examine, confess our sins, come to Him and accept God's sons deed on the cross. How much he suffered, how much he was suffered by the men, not only men, by God himself for the.
Punishment of the sin in three hours of darkness. God punished him. And if we remember those things automatically, let us not harden our hearts. Come except Lord Jesus Christ and be the Son of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let the grace be with us forever and forever. Amen.
Mary
Open—Steve Stewart
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.
Mark's Gospel.
So I'm trying to put my.
Finger on the passage.
Chapter 14.
Mark's Gospel chapter 14, verse three and being in Bethany.
In the House of Simon the Leper, as he sat at meet, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and she break the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said why was this waste of the ointment made, for it might have been sold for more than 300 pence.
And have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
Said let her alone.
Why trouble ye her? For she hath wrought a good work on me. For you have the poor with you always, and whatsoever you will, you may do them good, but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. She has come a forehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached.
Throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done.
Shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
My brother yesterday.
Took us through the wilderness path and the development in our souls and the apprehension.
Of the truth of God.
Our brother Krupa just took us through.
Those blessings that have been secured to us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But he began with the gospel.
And you know the gospel.
We know has an immediate result in our soul.
The first working of the Spirit of God is to convict us of sin and our deep need.
And we become aware that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Against all unrighteousness.
And we find.
And the sovereign grace of God, that he turns us to that one who he hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we find refuge there. And finding refuge there, going on through Romans, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And we have.
Joy in God and we look forward in hope to the glory of God.
And with all of that shining on us, even in trials and tribulations, we can joy because we know.
That they work together for good things to work good things in our souls.
And as our brothers laid out, and I don't want to go through that again in detail, I enjoyed it so much. He brings us into liberty, into the place of sons, the Spirit of God indwelling our hearts, having believed the gospel of our salvation, sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
And as we go on, it's been brought before us the truths developed of other blessings that we have been brought into in the sovereign grace of God.
United to Christ in heaven by the indwelling Spirit of God, brought into a circle of fellowship, we find in John's ministry the family of God. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
A circle of fellowship that was from a past eternity to know the only true God, Eternal life, eternal life and his Son Jesus Christ whom he sent.
And to have that wonderful hope of the father's house above, and to be brought into that wonderful sphere of light and love, like the prodigal who was brought into the father's house and what filled that house, light and love and song.
00:05:01
And God is bringing us to all of those things that are yet future. He has those things that are ours now for our enjoyment.
But there's one grand object that he's bringing us all to.
And we have that in the Book of Revelation in chapter 5.
With those four and 20 seats around the throne of God.
Occupied by those elders in heaven, though, representing that heavenly company.
And they cast their crowns at his feet.
This is my beloved son.
This is my beloved son.
He's bringing us to a place and He wants it for a present enjoyment now in our souls of confiding to us His own delight and His joy and His beloved Son. He is purpose for his Son glory, and He has purpose for His Son joy because that.
Man glorified him, the hours of darkness and Calvary's cross.
And He is straightway glorified Him now, the glory which He had with Him before the world began. And He wants to tell us of all of that. He wants to bring us in. And He has given us a life, eternal life, capable of knowing and enjoying His own thoughts as to His beloved Son.
Why is it that the Lord says, wherever this gospel is preached, it will be spoken of this woman what she hath done?
Because in her we see the ultimate end.
Of the gospel message.
That we would be in His presence, we find she anointed him in another gospel on His feet, here in his head. She valued all of the person of Christ.
More than words could express.
Oh, how it stung when they made little of her, but how much more it stung the Savior.
And so he responds.
Her defense, she rests there. He understands me.
And wherever this gospel is preached, it will be told of this One who depend the most beautiful display of where He desires to bring each one of us to, not only in the coming day, but right now, valuing all of His person, pouring out our best upon Him, enjoying the Father's thoughts of His own Son.
This is my beloved son.
And whom I have found my delight. Mary entered into that in some measure.
She saw the storm of judgment that was approaching. She anointed his body to the bearing. She had done what she could.
I'll do, brethren, as brothers we bear the responsibility to be the mouthpiece of the assembly, the remembrance of the Lord. Other meetings I've often thought how the sisters hearts may swell far beyond ours and their adoration and their pouring out all over their heart.
Upon that one, who is the object of the Father's heart.
That's all I had. I just wanted to follow up what our brothers had said and bring before our souls the ultimate end.
That God is bringing us all to.
For all eternity we will be Mary's at his feet.
Four Things that Bring God Joy
Open—Robert Boulard
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.
Just like to read a passage very briefly in Acts Chapter 9.
Won't read the whole passage because we know it.
Acts Chapter 9.
And let's read from verse 15 in connection with Saul's salvation.
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me.
To bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
And Ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him, said brother Saul.
The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou Camus hath sent me.
That thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes, as it had been scales. And he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized. And when he had received meat he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus, And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues that He is the Son of.
God.
Well, our brethren have reminded us of the joy of the Lord.
And how heaven is, you know, is going to be filled. It's going to be a place of joy, and it's going to be Christ's joy. You and I often think in our terms, and we're going to be happy. Yes, we'll have a joy. But the Epistle to the Ephesians is written to us in such a way to present to us the fact.
The facts as to what God has done for His own pleasure.
According to his own will, for his own pleasure.
And so we oftentimes don't think of it in that term in those terms, we think of how.
You know, the Lord has done all kinds of things for us. He's blessed us richly, given us these blessings that we're blessed with, all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. But really, why did He do that? Why did He choose you?
You might say, well brother.
Krupa said it was because of the sovereignty of God, and this is true. He chose us because He was made a sovereign choice. None of us would have come, but He chose us individually, but He did it for his own pleasure.
He forgave us our sins.
Why did he do it? He did it for his own pleasure.
We needed it, but he did it for his own pleasure.
He's going to rejoice over each one that is in that scene above. You'll have his hearts satisfaction says in Isaiah 53. He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Well, I just wanted to read this little passage because there are four things that are really.
Practically visible, perhaps, you might say, in connection with Christianity, in which we can please the Lord and we can give him joy now.
And I'll just mention what they are. One of them is that it's the ordinance of baptism. It speaks of it here in verse 18. We can be baptized and then we have the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. We remember that Lord Jesus and His death this morning.
And then we have the word of God physically, and we can be found reading the word of God ourselves.
In.
The scriptures and.
We also have the sister in display before this world.
With her head covered as she.
Is in the presence of the Lord exercising her priesthood, you might say, or where the priesthood is being exercised, covering her head, covering the natural glory of the natural man.
And allowing the glory of Christ to shine forth.
00:05:04
And all four of those things give joy to the heart of God. Why do we, why are we baptized? Let's just, I'm not going to take these things up in detail, but I just wanted to point out the fact is this.
We have very limited time in this world.
To give joy to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
We can please him with our lives and brother. Last night the hymn Singh brought out some aspects of failure and how we perhaps fail to give joy to the Lord in certain circumstances that we put ourselves into, but you and I.
Are born into this world, We're associated with a fallen creation and we're born into this world, Brother Chapter Brown used to say. We're born into this world with our backs towards God.
And what baptism does is associate us with Christ. And let's just read it in Romans chapter 6 and verse 3.
Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized should say unto Jesus Christ, were baptized unto his death?
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, Even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Well, there are various passages of Scripture that are given to us in the New Testament. You'll notice that it's Paul's doctrine.
And Paul tells us how we can please the Lord in this way.
And you might say, well, I'm not baptized.
Well, you know, it's normal thing, if I could put it that way, for a Christian to be baptized.
And suppose you don't baptize, you'd like to be baptized. Well, how do I do this? Well, you know, if you're a little bit older, you could just ask the older brother and one of your older brethren. You could ask your father if he's in fellowship, ask one of your older brother and say, listen, I'm a Christian. I know the Lord Jesus is my Savior.
And I want to be identified with him.
And so you know what it does is baptism. It says in Galatians chapter 3, it puts the name of Christ upon us where we go down under the water. And it says in Matthew chapter 28 that we ought to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
And now?
Before I was baptized there was associated with the heathen world, with all that went on that was opposed to Christ.
But when I was baptized, I was put under the water, and in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and brought out on the other side, and the name of Christ was placed upon me, as it were.
And I was identified with Christ publicly.
Now that's really how we are brought into the Kingdom, practically.
But you might say, well, I'm a little afraid of being baptized. I'm a little bit older, and I don't like this idea of a big ceremony and so on and so forth. Let me just read. Let's read in Acts chapter 8.
It says here.
In Acts chapter 8.
Verse 35.
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What does hinder me to be baptized? Verse 38.
Verse 37 really isn't in the text.
He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they went down, both of them, into the water, and Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. Well, I think that's so nice. Here is a man, he was an Ethiopian. He was a part of the heathen world, and he didn't want to be associated with that heathen world anymore. And he went under the water and came up on the other side.
You know, it says there's rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one Sinner that repents.
But I believe there's rejoicing in heaven, there's joy in heaven when this.
Ordinance of baptism.
Is gone through Indiana connection with one that has faith and there's association now with the Lord Jesus, but you'll notice in Acts chapter 8 that it was just Philip and the eunuch and you'll notice too and other passages scripture.
00:10:13
Like Saul or Paul the apostle Paul and Barnabas or Silas the Philippian jailer in his house. It was midnight and there wasn't a big ceremony or anything. It's not a ceremony.
It's not a big public event and it can be done in a quiet way, but it should be done. It's normal for someone who is a believer to have.
To be baptized now we have the remembrance of the Lord, and we'll just read in First Corinthians Chapter 11.
Verse.
23 I have received of the Lord that which I also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. When He had given thanks, he break it and said, Take, eat. This is my body, which is, it should say, given for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when he had stopped, saying that this cup is the New Testament in my blood.
This do ye is OFT as ye drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death until he come or announce it till he come. Well, this is the another thing that's physically that we can go through and that we can do in a public way. It says that when we do this on the Lord's Day morning, we're announcing to this world that Christ died and they don't want to remember this what took place at Calvary. They want to forget about it, don't want to think of it as.
Significant event in this world's history.
But what a joy it must give to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
To have his own.
Set everything aside and to come.
With honor, with respect.
With reverence into His holy presence.
To sing hymns to him to read.
Verses some passages of Scripture that tell of the great price that was paid at the cross of Calvary.
The love behind that work?
To have us in his presence.
In a sober, orderly way.
To sing and to.
Give him that reverence and that respect that this world does not treat him with.
Men in this world will rise and give honor to a judge in a courtroom.
Men will give all kinds of honor to dignities in this world, but they still use the name of the Lord Jesus as a.
Swear word.
But you and I can give joy to the Lord Jesus as we come into the presence of the Lord and give him that honor, that reverence that is due to him, that glory.
And so you say, well, I don't remember the Lord in his death. I've never remembered the Lord in his death. Well, how do I do this? I just want to encourage you if you haven't ever done it.
Just to go to one of your older brethren, perhaps?
If your, your father, you could, if you really don't have the courage to go see an older brother and just say, listen, I know the Lord Jesus is my savior. I would love to remember the Lord Jesus in his death. I want to give him this pleasure in this world that crucified him. I want to give him this pleasure while I'm here. And I want to say something, you know, I came up here in Hammer Bay 42 years ago or so.
And a couple of weeks later, the brethren asked me to take the gospel. And I said, oh, boy, I was a young brother. And I said, you know, that's you're asking a lot here. And brother put his hand on me, on my shoulder. He would be my father-in-law. Later on, he said, listen, I want to tell you something. The brethren are on your side.
And he said you just go and preach the gospel of the grace of God. They're on your side.
And they'll be praying with you that they'll be blessing. Just read the word of God and speak. And so you know the brethren are on your side. Those if you want to remember the Lord Jesus and his death.
Oh, don't be afraid to do it. Now we have the word of God-given to us. We've more or less run out of time here, but you know, it's necessary for us to read the word. And I'm not a very good example at all. But let's just look at Romans chapter or Acts chapter 8 again.
00:15:19
This man was physically reading the word of God.
Acts Chapter 7.
Or it's at chapter 8. I'm sorry.
Went back one chapter two man.
Verse 30. Philip ran thither.
To him, and heard him read the prophet Isaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I accept some man should guide me? And he desired Philip, that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the Scripture which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before a shear, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away.
And who shall declare his generation, for his life is taken?
From the Earth.
Well, you know this man was reading the word of God.
And perhaps the first book that he'd ever acquired that was of the word of God was the prophet Isaiah.
And there was fruit for the Lord. We could read other passages, but if you read the word of God, I want to tell you this.
It'll give you joy to the heart of God Himself as He communicates by His Spirit to you. And His longing is to bring you into blessing and to have you understand the magnitude of the work of Christ and the magnitude of the blessing that He has bestowed, made available to you. And He has desired to write those things that He's written in Ephesians and in Colossians, those things.
Primarily that he has done for his own pleasure, but you know, he has written in the book of Romans and he has told us what he has done for our blessing, the fundamental principles of Christianity. He's written a whole book, Romans, to tell us what he has done for our blessing.
And for his glory as well. So that's one of the things that we can do to give joy to the heart of God, to it'll give joy to us. But I want to say this, it'll change your life if you read the word of God.
I know more than one person brought up in heathen circumstances, sometimes religious circumstances, but I can tell you I've seen people that have taken the Bible and read it from cover to cover in a matter of weeks.
That changed their life forever. Change the way they think, change the way that they dress, change the way that they speak.
It changed them for the good.
Then the last thing, this head coverings and I just maybe we could just read the passage very briefly, First Corinthians Chapter 11. Well, let's read.
Yeah, let's read Chapter 11.
In.
It says there that verse 5, verse four, every man praying or prophesying having his head covered, dishonour his head, but every woman that prayeth her prophecy with her head uncovered dishonest her head, for that is even all, as if she were shaved. For if a woman be not covered, let her be shorn also be shorn for.
This If it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered.
For indeed, a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. You know, dear sisters, you have a privilege that I don't have, and that is that.
We don't have time to read another passage, but you represent the church in submission to Christ. You can read Ephesians chapter 5 verse 24.
And you as brother, I have my wife beside me, her head is covered. The angels are looking and they see a picture of Christ in the church in submission. And the Lord is going to have a church in glory. She'll be in perfect submission for all eternity. She'll never raise.
His ire at all, she'll always submit to Him and always reflect His glory. And so those four things are things that we can give pleasure to the Lord.
00:20:08
Even in this scene, we can be baptized. If we're not baptized, we can remember the Lord Jesus in his death while we're waiting for him to come. And we can read His word, have a sense of his presence while we read it. And we can have that public testimony of being in submission to the will and Word of God and present that picture of Christ in the church.
Revelation 3
Reading
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.
291 two nine one will savior who action.
For not having.
My name is exalted above all glory.
291.
Savior.
When we finish the Church of Sardis or.
Well, we commented a little bit service, but we might read Chapter 3 entirely and then maybe make a few comments on Charles and probably concentrate on Philadelphia latest here.
Congratulations.
Revelation chapter 3.
Revelation chapter 3, verse one.
So read the whole of it, I think so unto the Angel of the Church in Sardis, right?
These things saith he that hath 7 spirits of God, and seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast the name that thou littest and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, or I have not found my works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on me as a thief.
And thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon me.
Thou has a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.
And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment.
And I will not blot out his name.
Out of the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
Even half an year, 11 year, what the Spirit said unto the churches.
And to the Angel of the church in Philadelphia, right these things saith he that is holy, he that is true.
00:05:03
Hath the key of David he that openeth, and no man shot and shut up, and no man open up? I know thy works. Behold, I have sat before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, For thou hast a little strength, and has kept my word, and it's not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not.
But you lie, behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee because.
As thou was kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon your.
Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out.
And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. And I will write upon him my new name.
Be that half a year, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches.
And unto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans, right these things say at the faithful, they say at the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou art cold or hot.
So then, because our Luke warm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest I'm rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And no, it's not without wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
I counsel be to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich and white, Raymond, that thou mayst be clothed, and that the shame by nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with thyself, that thou may see as many as I love. I believe and chase him. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door.
I will come into him and we'll stop with him and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.
Even as I also overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his throne.
He that half an ear, let him hear what was here, and say it unto the churches.
Maybe a little recapitulation might be in order.
We're looking at the chapter two and three of Revelation.
There were seven churches.
That the Lord speaks to the also John who wrote this book.
These were actual churches in Asia Minor. They were in different spiritual conditions. So we have emphasis. Then we have Smyrna, we have Thyatira.
And what we read this evening, this afternoon.
Philadelphia and later we see it. So we covered yesterday.
The first two or four churches.
Emphasis. They had left their first law. They were declining.
In true devotedness to the war there was outward propriety. Then they were doing everything according to the order of God. But there was a lack of spiritual.
00:10:01
Devotedness to the law. And he felt it.
Very deeply we come to Smyrna in the second chapter. This was a suffering church. This was the time of the 10 awful.
Persecutions of the Roman Empire you read it in history there were 10 distinct persecutions against the Christian Church and there were many markers in this period the Lord has only commendation for the church in summer they have been faithful. He promised them the overcomer, to have a crown of light because many of them were marked they were giving up their their.
Earthly lives were the were their testimony, and the Lord promises them a crown of life in that coming day that nothing will be able to grow, will take be able to remove from them. Now we come to the Church of Siatara. This is a picture of the.
Christened them, but mainly.
The Roman Catholic Church is brought before us in Thaiatira and her power and her domination.
And the error of her doctrine, the wickedness of her teachings, and.
Her her desire to have a secular power and to control the governments of Western Europe, that was her aim and her Object. But there were remnants inside Tyler. There were those that were faithful.
To the war and think of the Albany, Jensen, the Wall, Dengues, Waldensians and so on. There were remnants in that awful period of the Dark Ages.
And about 600 to maybe 1400, just at the time of the Wickliffe, the dawn of the Reformation, there were many faithful witnesses who gave their lives in those dark times. Then we come now to.
Through the Church of Sardis, which is.
It's a picture of a movement of God in the.
Reformation period fourteen, 15th century. There was a real movement of dog to return to the supremacy of the Word of God.
And and.
It was a movement of God justification by faith, not through the ordinances of the church. There were many grave witnesses for the Lord in in that period that caucus and reclamation.
As it is solved but afterwards.
When the.
The early.
Devotedness of the reformers declined and the the system of Protestantism became associated with the national churches. That's that's what we have in Sardis, not so much the Reformation, but the outcome of looking to the temporal power, looking to then the the the governments of the lands.
To protect.
Christian testimony that that's contrary to the heavenly calling of the Church, but that's the Reformers adopted that line, that line of.
Teaching which is not according to the word of God, so.
From Sardis were going on to Philadelphia, but someone, someone will have a further comment on service. Yeah, it may be good to distinguish between the terms of reformation and constantism. They're really different.
The Reformation of the work that probably historically begin 1519, didn't it, when the Luther nailed his theses to the the door there in Wittenberg Chapel door in Wittenberg. There were others that were the morning stars of the reclamation. John Huss a little earlier, about over 100 years earlier.
00:15:06
Wickliffe even earlier than that, in the 1300s.
And so the seats have been laid, and then the movement really gained strength beginning with about 1519, didn't it? And that's the Reformation. And that was clearly a work of the Spirit of God, wasn't it? And that came along the lines of the remnant we spoke about at the end of Thyatira. Remember, there are three things that characterize that remnant. First, as we mentioned.
Earlier the Lord's coming is mentioned rather than repentance. It looks forward to the Lord's coming. These last four churches are continued trying to continue to the Lord's coming. There's no possibility now of a return to the original condition of by repentance. And so that's why we speak of the ruling that the general testimony no longer a question now going along with the church at large, but God has separated out a remnant.
Because the general testimony is not faithful to him. And so that began with the Reformation. Let's be clear about that. And there were five solids at the beginning of the Reformation of I got him down in my Bible, faith, only faith rather than work, only the Scriptures. And Martin Luther became a doctor of divinity. He swore enough to hold the Scriptures and he often referred to that. And it's not the not the church that has final authority.
It's the Scriptures, and that was one of the foundations of the Reformation solo Christos.
Which means that Christ is the alone mediator. The Catholics at all these intermediators, they marry, they they they pray to Mary and they pray to all these Saints. Lucas said no, there's one mediator according to Scripture, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so gratia are grace. I don't know my Latin, but that is that God's sovereignty is the alone basis for man's new birth and salvation, not works.
But God's sovereignty, Gods, is our brother, fruitful with exhorting us today. We didn't deserve to be saved, any of us. It was God's grace that chose us.
And then the fifth one, God's glory, they understood something we sometimes forget, but they understood that the great end of salvation was God's glory. That was a great thing. Not the glory of the Catholic Church, but God's glory. So those five things. And that again is what we call reformation. And that clearly was a work of the Spirit of God.
But it wasn't long as as her brother Kent was shuffled was telling us that we had Protestantism. Now Protestantism was not a work of God, the spirit of God. That was a work of the politicians. Now they meant well because the Western Europe was controlled by by emperor.
And the Emperor was Catholic Charles the 5th.
And he was a died in wolf Catholic and he was Spanish. He came into power and his great end was to defeat the Reformation every time he tried to the Spirit of God.
Made it impossible for him. He would have liked to have seen Luther killed on a number of occasions. And of course the Catholics you can imagine will live it and they tried on a number of occasions to to kill Martin Luther, but they were unsuccessful every time.
They thought they could get the upper hand, the Spirit of God that whisk away. And so for a number of years then then the politicians came in and they began to protect the reformers. So they had a great council, This is what I'm getting to. And in that council there were a number of Princess that supported the amber. But rather than forcing their dominions to become Catholic, they protested at one of these great councils.
That's where Protestantism comes in. It was a political protest, and they meant well.
Some of those were coffee men, many were not particularly godly for various reasons. They supported the Reformation. They weren't happy with the, with the Pope and so on, and then even with the emperor to a certain extent. And they, they, they protested, they walked out from that council and protested against the demand that they bring their dominions back under the Roman sea under the influence of the Pope. So that's Protestantism. And that's really what we haven't started, isn't it? So the, we really don't get much in the Reformation, but we always repeal to it.
00:20:24
Mr. Darby quoted Isaac Newton by saying that he stood on the shoulders of giants. And so there's some important things that happened. First, there was absolute deadness. These people and reformed lands had a great deal of truth, but it had become now a form. There was a terrible time. Remember, the Reformation began about 1519, at least historically. It was strengthened for the next 30 years or so.
And then it began a gradual decline and in the early 1600s there was a horrible 30 Days war.
A 30 years war, I should say. And during those 3030 years, what happened? This this was the time that men like Gerhardt or Stegan were prominent. And Henry Suso and Paul Gerhart, you read some of their writings, some of their poems are beautiful.
Men of tremendous devotion. And what happened then was the Catholics got the upper hand and they decided to butcher the Protestants.
And it's important to try to get a hold of history because the 30 Years War was a horrible, horrible time. Cities of Protestant lands were laid waste. The Protestants had to flee to the caves in the fields as they were butchered by these unprincipled Catholic soldiers under the power of the emperor. And that lasted for 30 years at the beginning of the of the 1600s, what we call the 17th century.
And then there was some real butchery for that time.
Then there was a partial restoration of some of Protestantism, although Germany, it was said, was laid waste because much of Germany had become Protestant, became a wasteland, literally field were not plowed, the cities were destroyed, and my mother-in-law spoken about some of that historical period. But then things began to recover a little bit.
And in the early 18th century, which would be the 1700s, we have what's called the Great Evangelical Awakening. And that's all in service, isn't it?
Grady Evangelical awakenings of the prominent names, of course, were John Wesley and Charles Wesley, Englishman and also Whitfield, who came to United States as well, and they began the great Evangelical awakening.
Where many, many people were saved and that was the foundation then.
Of what we call the Philadelphia movement.
You know.
Might be helpful for young people why is it called the Reformation it means it's a term that scholars have given that time they these men have good intentions they tried to reform the Catholic Church so that's why it's called the Reformation but it didn't work at all you can't reform something that's corrupt even in the eyes of dogs even in the eyes of men that's clear Erica's brought out and so the.
They received a lot of opposition and they were told by the Roman Catholic Church that if they didn't come back, they would be terminally damned. And so he says in verse five, I will not flood out His name out of the Book of life, but I will confess His name before my Father and before his angels. Those are the overcomers. They would not lose their salvation. And so this was a word of encouragement to them at that time.
Now we need to remember that the Lord Jesus is not surprised with the whole history of the church.
He's told it all out before time and I think his brother Harry Hail used to say.
Prophecy is history written ahead of time. And so the Lord spoke of this and he this, these passages, this particular passage of Scripture might have been an encouragement to men like Martin Luther and perhaps even some of those older ones that the John Wesley and others, they might have read these things and received encouragement. But he says here.
00:25:09
That in verse three, that this whole condition of things, this Protestant church system, this whole Protestantism would continue until the appearance of the Lord Jesus, and it would be judged that the appearing, because it was dead, it was going on in a form of Christianity. And so he says in verse three, Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent.
They were supposed to be an exercising of self judgment because of their departure from the original freshness of the work of the Spirit of God at that time. If therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. So every time in scripture where it's mentioned the coming of the Lord as a thief, it's referring to the appearing of the Lord Jesus.
At the end of the Tribulation period, and he's going to come and he's going to judge the false church and everything that's false. And he'll judge those that are have seized upon this world and taken it for themselves. Men of the earth, that they're called earth dwellers in the Book of Revelation. And so he speaks a word of warning to them, and then he speaks very faithfully to those.
Very lovingly, if I could put it this way to those that are real they have not to file their garments in verse four. They shall walk with me in white for they are worthy in that lovely there were those like you think of William Farrell and some of those beloved Saints of God. They were worthy they.
Live for Christ. They have to leave their homes and they have to go to live in other countries.
And they fled for their lives. Some of them were poisoned, some of them were martyred in other ways.
And the Lord valued that testimony. They live for Christ. And so this is really the message in connection with the Sardis is there are those, there's a little remnant there that was preserved with God himself, and he owned that little remnant.
My speech of blocking out the name I might say.
Make a comment that it's impossible for a true believer to have their name blotted out of the book of life. That is the eternally inscribed that. But there are some that take the profession of Christianity against artists. They have the outward form. They are nominally Christian. We have many in in India that character too, and other countries.
And.
They would say they are Christian, but they do not have a divine life. They've never been born again, they've never been. Their names have never been put by God in the book of life. And so.
Their profession will come to nothing. They will.
They will no longer be connected with the Christian profession. But now we're coming on. We're coming here into another church. And it is a picture of.
A special movement of the Spirit of God.
In the 1800s.
Perhaps around 1827 thirty, there was an awakening among.
True believers as to the ground of their gathering, they were connected with the national churches, Mr. Darby, Mr. Kelly and others they were.
Had positions in the clerical system, but been looking at the word of God. They saw that this was not a scriptural.
Order to the To be ordained by man to minister the word of God.
There was no acknowledgement of the one body of Christ even among the Reformers.
Wonderful truths that they brought forward as the justification by faith they did not understand the truth of separation from the.
00:30:07
The whole order of Christendom.
And a heavenly calling. This is what the Lord brought before believers in the.
In that period that we're looking at here, Philadelphia and.
There was a return to the.
The apostles doctrine and fellowship, not the power of the Apostolic period, not the gift through no such thing as apostles now. But we do have the doctrines and the teachings of the apostles. And this was a return to that which was from the beginning. It wasn't the setting up of a new church or a new denomination, anything of that sort. It was a return.
To the original.
Principles of gathering not to a denomination, not taking a sectarian name, but being gathered simply as members of the body of Christ to the name of the Lord Jesus, acknowledging him as the center of gathering and the Spirit of God to have liberty to guide and to use the gifts that have been imparted by an ascended Christ.
In Glory.
And this is the period that we are looking at now in the Church of Philadelphia. Is that right? Yeah, That's very important to understand, isn't it? We use the word reform again. And it's so important because the early reformers wanted to do just that. They wanted to reform the church. They didn't look at a new beginning, but they wanted to reform the church. And even in Protestantism, the different groups wanted to reform the system of Protestantism.
They didn't realize that a whole new system, I should put it that way, they didn't realize that the true church was not a reform of the corrupt church, but it was a whole new beginning. And the reason why a whole new beginning was required was because what men called churches, either Protestant or are Catholic, were not the scriptural church. Because again, the ruin of the general testimony had come in. And with ruin you don't just reform it. You have to come back to the very beginning.
The Protestants and the Catholics would go back to the Fathers and some Scriptures. The Protestants are the reformers, understood some of the individual truths of Christianity. They did not understand what we call dispensational truth, the clear distinction between Jew, Gentile and Church of God. He did not understand that. And so with the ruin of the church, these men in the early 1800s said we can't just reform a ruined church.
We have to go back to the Scriptures, not just to the Fathers. That's where the corruption began. They were told to events.
About that in Ephesus and and in Pergamus, we have to go back to the original. Where is that? Well, thankfully there were quite a number weren't there wasn't just one group. There were a number of of of individuals exercised about the same truth scattered throughout Christendom. And then it began to form into a troubleshoot and we can be so thankful for that. And they said they looked around. This is not the scripture or this is not the Church of the Bible.
The Church of the Bible is what we have. Again, let's look at that. I mentioned it yesterday briefly in Second Timothy, but it's so important to understand the separation that's required.
In Second Timothy chapter 2 and again the whole chapter is so critical, but reading in verse 20, I just briefly referred to it for time sake yesterday afternoon meeting. But verse twenty of Second Timothy 2 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, those are real believers.
It also avoided a birth. Those are not real believers, only professors.
Some to honor and some to dishonor. Well, of course an unbeliever can't be a vessel to honor, but he can be a vessel to dishonor. And as we know many professors, our vessels to dishonor. But even a believer can be a vessel to dishonor or a vessel to honor. And we're thankful for many believers in the what we call the camp today who are best. Let's honor. They act according to the light they have.
00:35:12
They seek to honor the Lord, but notice there's a third class.
Verse 21 And this was what we have with Philadelphia. If a man therefore purge or purify himself from these, that's this great mixture, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the masters, use and prepared unto every good work. That's all the council of God. They're not just a reform, but all the counsel of God. And that's what we have the penalty.
Might be helpful to read Hebrews chapter 13. This is really what they did is they went forth in the interview of faith outside the camp. It says in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 11.
Three verse 10 we have an altar or a means of approach to God.
Whereof they have no right to each which serve the Tabernacle. So a means of approach to God that the Jew didn't have Christianity is distinct and so we don't mix Jewish principles with Christian principles and those that were exercised by the Spirit of God.
To leave that kind of mixture of Judaism and Christianity and to leave it and to come out.
They did this they it says verse 12, wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify and our brother mentioned this yesterday. To be sanctified in this way is to be set apart by God for a holy purpose and so the Lord Jesus himself.
Wanted to sanctify the people with His own blood. Suffered without the gate, the gate of Jerusalem. He was covered out of all that spoke of religion, earthly religion. Let us go forth therefore unto Him.
Without the king. And so the camp speaks of the religious organization of this world bearing his reproach.
So there are some things I think we mentioned, you may have mentioned them in these meetings, but there are some things that are unique to Christianity and one is His own blood.
That's in verse 12 and then his reproach we just read in verse 13 and then we have his name by him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God, continue. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Three things that are unique to Christianity. So these dear brother.
Separated from the church system and came out and began to remember the Lord in his death in simplicity as we could read in First Corinthians Chapter 11 and they began to they didn't take a name, They didn't say, well, we're the Church of the brethren, we're the Church of whatever national church and so on. They took the name of Christ. And here it says in our chapter 3. The Lord really valued that he says.
In.
Verse 8, just at the end of verse 8, thou hast a little strength or a little power. Wasn't Pentecostal power like on the Day of Pentecost, just a little power?
And has kept my word and not denied my name. Oh, how the Lord values that. And So what these brethren did was go back to the original way that the apostles met and the disciples met at the beginning of the church period. So they began to practice Christianity in a normal way. Let me just reinforce this when you come to the assembly meeting.
And when we remember the Lord Jesus in his death this morning, the way we did, gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus, we were practicing normal Christianity. This is normal. It's not normal to have a pastor. It's not normal to have the name of another person or the Church of Scotland or whatever it might be. That's not normal Christianity. So this is really what Philadelphia.
The what the Lord had to say to come in the.
00:40:00
Philadelphia customers, they left all that was a mixture.
And they came out, and they were gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a privilege it was, what joy it gave to the heart of the Savior.
Also.
In regard to.
The Prophetic.
Side of things or?
What we mean by prophecy, of course.
The Old Testament is filled with prophetic.
For announcements.
Blessing to the nation of Israel.
In the coming day, but Christendom before Philadelphia, they really.
They looked upon the Church as a moral force to build a better world, that by the promulgation, the proclamation of the gospel, the world would be prepared for the coming of Christ.
That was entirely wrong.
The reformers and those that were connected with Protestantism, they really didn't understand the true calling of the church, that the church is a heavenly company with heavenly hopes and.
Coming of the Lord to remove us out of this world into His presence at any moment.
You might say the prophetic clock was not was not ticking during the church period. Now to clarify things. When did the church begin?
Was it in the Old Testament? Some people say, Oh yeah, the church was in the Old Testament. And the promises to Israel. Now we take up those promises for the church. No, that's that's wrong completely.
The prophecies of the Old Testament will be fulfilled to the letter. Israel will be restored to their land. They will be at the head, not the tail. They all blessing will fall through.
The nation of Israel in the millennial day, that is an earthly blessing.
But many of the reformers and many believers, they didn't understand that. They didn't realize that God has two distinct purposes. And you can't understand Scripture unless you understand these these two points, that God has an earthly people who will have an earthly blessing and inheritance down here.
And he has a heavenly people. The church began at Pentecost, and the Spirit of God descended, united those 120 in the upper room into one body. That was the beginning, the birthday of the church. And it has gone on and others, many thousands have been added into the body.
Not not correctly baptized.
Only one baptism of the Holy Spirit, but when a person is saved, they're added into the body. They become part of the body. But now the church period. It is a parenthesis in the ways of God.
It was not.
Foretold in the Old Testament. There's no scriptures in the Old Testament that refer to the Church of God. It was a rebel. It was a revelation, particularly to the apostle Paul. It's part of Paul's teaching. We don't get it in the ministry of John, but Paul brings out the heavenly character and calling of the church.
Which has not to do with an earthly.
Center and an earthly inheritance. No, we are our hope is to be with Christ and reign with him over the earthly inheritance. But the hope of the believer is the coming of the Lord to lift us out of this world into the presence of the Lord at any moment could take place tonight. I hope it does, but while we are waiting we are not part of.
This.
All corrupts were part of Christendom. We can't get out of. We can't get out of the great house, but we are called upon as another Eric has brought before us, to separate from what is contrary to the word of God in Christendom. We are in the great house, but we are called to separate from.
00:45:20
The error and the unstructural human organization.
That is all over Christendom, the will of man, not the word of God, that right to honor.
Yeah, if you might just say that one of the great recoveries, there was a great recovery of the truth of God and the truth of the church and what the epistles really meant, what they were teaching, the heavenly calling of the Church, that would all recover during these, the early 1800s. And by the way, I'll say this.
The period of time is very brief, Mr. Darby said in his writing. He says the.
Yeah, golden time of the Philadelphia period was for 20 years, from 18271828 to 1848, when the open gathering division took place, he says. Those 1St 20 years were the golden years of this movement, but it was the coming of the Lord that was recovered that significantly changed the character of what was viewed as a Christian testimony in this world and it affected the whole.
Of the Christian testimony, and you have Brother Eric referred to it in the chapter 25 of Matthew in that little picture of the going out of the midnight cry, verse 6, Matthew 25, verse six at midnight. There it is in the darkest part of the night.
The truth that the implied out and God had shown the light and at midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bridegroom.
Not cometh, but it says, Behold, the bridegroom go get out to meet him, and all those virgins arose will turn their laps. So the cry went out, the Lords coming, and the distinction between the appearing of the Lord Jesus at the end of the tribulation, and the distinction between this coming for his Saints.
Before the Tribulation period, He comes for his Saints at the rapture, and he'll come with his Saints at the appearance. That distinction was brought up fully, and so there was a recovery about truth, and it created the heavenly character to the Church for you to say.
Now, the real key to the Philadelphia recovery is what we call dispensational truth.
That includes the rapture, of course, but it's the distinction as it says in First Corinthians 10, the end of 1St Corinthians 10.
Because no offense to Jew, Gentile or Church of God to understand it's clear distinction of those three people groups.
Of Jews and Gentiles. Of course, everybody that wasn't a Jew in the Old Testament was a Gentile, and it's still true, naturally speaking, unless you're a Christian and then the Christian. Of course, Christianity is made-up of both Jews and Gentiles formerly, but now we're believers. So we need to keep that distinction in mind, don't we? Between Jews, Gentile and Church of God, Each one has distinct origins, distinct calling and distinct hope.
And so I really believe the key of David that we have mentioned in verse seven, it's speaking about the sovereignty of of administration. I really believe it's an indication of dispensational truth, the clear distinction between especially Israel and the and the church that John was bringing out. Now Mr. Kelly says, for instance, again, on most, most of Christendom today is what we call covenantal. They say, well, there's really no, no real distinction. It's just a progression.
From Israel to the church, it's not a clear distinction, Mr. Kelly will say, well, for one thing, notice the Old Testament in the New Testament are written in different languages. Doesn't that give us some clue that there might be a, a distinction between what's taught in the Old Testament, what's taught in the New Testament, of course. And then that truth was brought out that the church is entirely distinct. As John said, return back to the great 70 weeks of Daniel and Daniel 9.
The church is a parenthesis between the 69th and the 70th weeks never anticipated in the Old Testament. It's the mystery.
00:50:08
Of Christ in the church that we've been speaking about. And so I believe that he of David really has to do with that. Now, what's the advantage of that? All of a sudden, the Christian blessings are brought out entirely distinct from Israel. The Trinity, God is our Father, the one body, the household of God, the family of God were children of God. All those things are brought out now in Christianity.
Never anticipated in the Old Testament. Furthermore, the Old Testament became alive with the understanding of Christianity as it properly was.
The types that came into focus as we've been speaking about, they were, they were. They're buried in the Old Testament, if we could put it that way. They're only forms before. Now they're seeing this types and prophecy came alive.
All of a sudden the distinction came out and we understand what relates to Israel and what relates to the church. Now we have an interest in what's happening to Israel and what's happening to the worldwide. Well, First Corinthians, Corinthians 110 and 11 That in the dispensation of the fullness of time, you might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. So although the Jews will be the foremost people on the earth.
The Christian will reign from heaven because we are the bride of Christ, one of the the highest privileges. The Christian has the highest privileges of all gods creatures. Mr. Faraday put it this way. I love the I love the expression, he said. As Israel is the aristocracy of the earth, the Christian is the aristocracy of the universe. We're heirs of God and coheres of Christ. That's not true of Israel.
Heirs, both of we have spirit, a spiritual inheritance, and we have an earthly, a material inheritance. We're going to reign with Christ over both earth and heaven during the millennial period. So these distinctions were brought out and all of a sudden, as they said, not only did you rest of the camel life, but the Old Testament came alive because as we mentioned, the illustrations in the Old Testament illustrate the truth of the New Testament.
Now there's going to be a danger of this truth being lost.
And so in verse 11, he says, I come quickly.
Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. So it is possible for men, even believers, to do the enemy's work, and to in a deceitful way.
'Cause that the people of God does not walk in the truth.
And then the crown would be lost.
And so the fear of God gives us warning, because, as we've said before, the Thyatira.
And Sardis, Philadelphia and Legacy it continue on right to the end.
And so we have all four examples of those conditions in the church.
Even today. And so we need to hold fast what we have.
But perhaps we could begin and comment a little bit on Latency. We have 15 minutes here, but I just mentioned Robert in connection with, excuse me, the verse 10.
Well, because I was getting the word of my patients.
I also will keep thee. It should read out of the hour of temptation, which is the Tribulation period. The hour of temptation is that awful judicial dealing of God with Christendom, with the apostate Israel. It's the seven-year period.
Of beginning.
Shortly after the rapture, so the rapture takes place, and all true believers the body of Christ.
Are taken into the glory.
In a moment, the twinkling of an eye, we receive our glorified bodies.
And we enter the father's house, and the government see the price and thought, but.
Now the tribulation is the hour of temptation or trial that God is going to bring upon this world. He's going to deal with with this world for their rejection of His Son in revelation.
00:55:12
Covers that whole period in detail the rest of the book. But the church is not going to go through that awful time.
Of judgment worse than the Lord spoke of it in Matthew 24, That with the days were not shortened, No, no flesh would be saved. It would be such a terrible time of persecution.
Of the believers, the church will not be here as we have in this verse. We're going to be kept out of that hour, but it's going to come upon all the world to try them that flow upon the earth.
One of the keys to the distinction between Philadelphia and later the sea is found in the pronouns.
Notice in verse 12 him that overcometh. This is the Lord speaking. Even verse 11. Behold, I come quickly.
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out and eyes is Christ speaking, will write upon him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God.
And I will write upon him my new name. I'll notice the difference in later this year in verse.
17 Because thou sayeth I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, knoweth not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and so on.
Philadelphia's Christ Center, Laodicea is self-centered. It's indifference to the claims of Christ, isn't it? It's intelligence in some respect, but it's indifference to the claims in the recovered truth that was recovered in Philadelphia.
Yes, the name laid Asia means the rights of the people, And so it was evident to the Spirit of God and it's written for our learning that the Christian testimony in the day that we live in would be great to the point where the believers would think they had rights.
In the presence of God, you know I enjoy. I think Brother Dave Burns probably heard this when we were young, brother.
Norman Barry used to say the day that you got saved, you gave up your rights to choose.
You took Jesus as your savior. You took the Lord Jesus as your savior. You own him as your Savior now, but you also call him Lord.
You addressed in the floor.
And you surrendered your rights to choose. You gave your rights to him. He has now the authority in your life. You address him as Lord. And so this is forgotten and late to see if Philadelphia means brotherly love. And so there was evidence of brotherly love and sacrificing for one another and the 24th of the gospel of the grace of God and the truth. But in Laodicea it is really different. It's love itself.
And it's not considering the rights of Christ and the feelings of Christ.
The joys of Christ is the individual feeling that he has personal rights and it's really perhaps we might say the spirit of democracy and we'll say this that Mister Darby and his writing several times and he's not the only one of those little writers says that land is SIA began in 1848 at the beginning of the open driver of the business. He said Philadelphia was really the only in its power.
And golden years, you might say, to those 20 years and then later see it again.
I might mention that Matthew 1820 is so often quoted. I think it's awful, misunderstood. It's just where we're two or three are gathered together. You know it should say uncombining. There am I miss? Why does it say unto my name? I think often it's quoted as we gather to Christ. That's true, but I believe it's more when it says unto his name.
Because it respects and vows not only to the person of Christ, many believers do that. To the work of Christ, many believers do that. But the name implies authority. We bow to the authority of Christ. I believe that's again the difference between.
01:00:19
Sanctified vessels to honor Sanctified. We bow to the authority of Christ.
There's many vessels to honor in the camp, thankful for the Lord for that, but vessels daughter sanctified and they want to make this comment too. There's two types of remnants in the scripture. Very plainly there's a moral remnant, people who act and have a good conscience according to the truth they have. That's just the honor. We can be thankful for those men and women, but there's a positional remnant as well. There's a danger even in the positional render.
Of of not being a moral remnant. Look at those in the days of Malachi. There were many that were in the right position, but they were not in the right condition of soul, were they? Or in the Lord's day, look at how many there were just a small little remnant, that some piece of powder remnant within a remnant. Mr. Patterson uses that expression and under some Object to it, but I believe the thought is that within the positional remnant there was a moral remnant, not everybody in the right position.
Was in the right condition what the Lord calls us to is to be bold having the right condition, moral condition before God and being in the right position. Is that right Steve Yeah, I appreciate that that distinction so important because really you might say the remnant is all true believers as to you know that football how many are.
You know, in the other as well.
Dave, can you help us?
Well, I'm enjoying this.
This might be a little different flavor. Is that all right?
I we go back in the chapter of what we were first speaking about. I just want to make one comment with regard to having the main blotted area, because often that Scripture is used.
For justification.
Per person's name, People out of date.
But I believe the thought there is in Sardis.
There were those that all of a sudden had real life.
And what they promoted was not appreciated, and so their names were blotted out of the Protestant churches. And the Lord says to them, but your name is not going to be blotted out from the book.
And that leads into.
What we have in these these next two churches, I've enjoyed this. I was enjoying this just meditating on a not knowing what you've taken up here, but.
Thinking a little bit of the the.
The recovery books that we have in the in the Old Testament, so we have.
We have Ezra, we have Nehemiah at Esther, and they've all got a little different character.
The thought of Ezra.
Was the there was a recovery there? The the temple is is built and then there's the there's the.
The arc is recovered. There's all the golden vessels that are recovered, there's the silver vessels that are recovered, there's the brass vessels. They're all brought back. They're not destroyed. They were there. It was like they weren't there, but they're all brought back.
And now what do you do at a in a situation like that? How do you maintain that will that moves in moves from then into the next book, which is Nehemiah. These are just pictures really of what we have here. So, so how do you maintain, how do you maintain what we have there in in in Philadelphia? Well, in Nehemiah State, there was a character, personal character that was a character of weeping. There was a wall that had to be built. It took the six chapters. There you have the wall walls built in six chapters. Then you have the 7th chapter, the 13th chapter, which is really the, the civil.
01:05:01
Behavior.
Of those that are within those walls and we see that I believe here even before the overcomer in Laodicea. You have beautiful place here you have a council be to buy any gold try in the fire. I can't see the with the white raiment and then there's there's to have our eyes annoyed with ice Isaac there's there's all these things that actually happened before the overcomer but they're characteristics of being able to maintain.
That which was recovered, it's wonderful to have it recovered, but oh, there needs to be a maintenance of those things themselves and there and of course we find that.
In this next course that we have and it's beautiful to carry that on through to the overcomer that we have in. I see we already got 5 minutes but.
The the overcoming thing, we have to see it. I'm sorry, it's a little different flavor, but it's a picture, I think, of what we have. I think properly speaking, we looked at the moral parables, of which there are many in the Old Testament.
That Ezra Nehemiah properly corresponds with the Philadelphia recovery.
But lay and see at the day in which we live, by and large we really have the first two chapters of.
There did 400 silent years worth there from the time that Valentine laid down in 10400 silent years when there was no written prophecy. And then of course we know the Lord Jesus appears and there was that small remnant, the Simmons in the **** of Joseph's and Mary's. They were the the true remnant. You ended away to seeing data, if I could call it that. And so I think that we need to keep that in mind. I've often said too, I believe it's true.
That the overcover and legacy is really took them.
What is really a Philadelphia?
Because Philadelphia goes on to the end.
Well, there was individual fellowship with those that would go on.
In faithfulness to the Lord, he says, Behold, I stand at the door and talk, if any man hear my voice.
And open the door, I will come into him and will suck with him to be with me. So there was individual fellowship, individual communion with the Lord, with those that would go on faithfully. It's we often use it in the gospel of grace of God. But I believe that the real interpretation is communion with the Lord in the time of failure. And so we have this church they had a.
And basically a gross over appreciation of their own wealth and their own standing and so on, but really is a true faith of God that was felt the weight of the situation in the way to see it would walk individually in communion with the Lord and gives the highest commendation of any church at all. It's astonishing in verse 21 to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me.
In my probe.
Now you see it sitting on his father's home at the moment, but he will arrive from his father's throne and he will come and set up his Kingdom, and he will sit upon his throne, and he will reward those that went on in a day of weakness and a day of unfaithfulness. And we're faithful in watching community with him. You know, if you follow this little expression in the Word of God in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus uses this little extractor with me.
He uses it many times. The last time I used it, I think he knows Revelation chapter 22. He says in verse 12, behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me really referring to the judgment seat of Christ. I believe so shortly after the rapture there's going to be the judgment seat of Christ and feel delight to reward. But in the day that we live in a day of weakness when the rights of Christ are being trampled.
When the there's indifference to his glory, we have honor to his dignity.
Why we can walk in community with him all he delights in that we can give joy to his heart.
And second Timothy two, you really should read the next verse of where we stop verse 22 because if you say it's an individual exercise, but.
There's a collective position there flee also a youthful lust. This is after the vessels honor sanctified but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call in the Lord out of a pure or is the same word of cursed or purified art. So even though it's individual responsibility, there's a collective position and it's good to remember that there's two dangers in the collective position and we've seen it in division. Some divisions are too narrow.
01:10:30
Mr. Derby speaks about a man named Clark. You can read about it in his letters. He wanted to gather faithful men around himself and be kind of the center of, of a of a of a highly spiritual group. But that's not the Assembly of God. There's some of us that are weak and needy as well as those that are spiritual. And there's others that want to move towards the camp and give up much of the truth that was recovered. I believe that was what we often call it.
1St Division, for instance, was more along those lines. It was a compromise in a wider place than what we read out in Scripture, a movement back to the camp. And that's typically what happened with people that go in that movement. They want to become more like the camp, like Israel wanted a king, like all the other nations. And it's a giving up of those truths that have been recovered. So there's two errors, isn't there? One is narrower than the path of faith, than the other is broader than the path of faith.
But God is faithful, and there's a with them that call on the Lord out of a purifying heart.
One more little contrast with Philadelphia.
Promise to the overcomers to set within this throne.
As he sat with the Father in his throne. And that Kingdom is going to be set up and it's going to be wonderful display before mountain angels, but there's going to come to an end and it's going to all be folded up.
But the Philadelphia is going to go into the temple of never to go out again.
Eternally a worshiper and the presence of God, enjoying those divine affections and lavishing them upon Christ. Eternal portion, far more than the Kingdom, as wonderful as its display is before men and angels. Eternal portion as presented to the Philadelphia.
The first date verses of Revelation 21 dispensation of distinctions disappeared, don't they? He's called God is All in all, no more June, no more Gentile, but the Church of God, according to the last two verses of Ephesians 3.
Both on is the bride of Christ.
#25 #25.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Steve Stewart
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.
The same #16.
#16.
Whosoever hears.
Send my blessing time in all the program.
Spread the joyfulness.
Will make.
Her win?
Survive and well they come.
Jesus is the truth.
The only way to survive the world will Make Love.
And then breed a portion we had in the towards the beginning of the our meetings this weekend.
Ephesians chapter 2.
Verse four. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us.
Even when we were dead, and sins hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace you are saved.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works.
Lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope.
And without God in this world.
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for the making himself obtain, 1 Newman. And that he might reconcile both unto God and one body by the cross.
Having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them which were nigh. For through Him we both have access by 1 Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, the fellow citizens, with the Saints and of the household.
Of God like to look back at the Old Testament.
An account there. Wonderful story there. That's an illustration of what we have in these verses from Ephesians 2, and perhaps tonight it's an illustration of you.
00:05:07
And your own life.
And I can say it certainly is of me and mine.
But I don't know where you are tonight on which end of the story.
I'm on the end that's in the enjoyment, I trust, of what we just read. Maybe you are not.
And God is reaching out to you tonight as He reached out and sovereign grace.
To a citizen.
Of a city of destruction.
Let's turn to the book of Joshua.
Joshua, chapter 2.
Verse one.
And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly saying go view the land even.
Jericho.
I know when I was a boy.
I like to spy.
I.
Well, that was quite a.
Entertaining pastime with the fellows that ran around in the neighborhood and our little gangs and we'd spy on each other and, you know, have our hide and go seek and different things. And it was always fun to be the spy, you know, to find out what the other guys were doing to sneak up and spy. And I always was attracted to these Old Testament spies. I thought they had a great job.
And Joshua sends 2 spies.
And what are they going to do? They're going to go and look at the land that God was going to give to the children of Israel.
To understand what the lay of the land was, what they were up against. But I think Joshua sent them in faith, knowing that God was going to give that land into their hands. Now, before we keep going, I'm going to just refer back to an account.
In Genesis, and it's in the 14th chapter.
And it tells us a little something about this land.
Genesis chapter 14 God had spoken to Abraham about. Abraham lived in that land at that time, but it was many, many years earlier.
And God gave Abraham a vision.
And he told him that his descendants were going to become a great nation, but they would go down into the land of Egypt.
And they would be there.
For quite a few years, 400 years.
And then God would bring them out of the land of Egypt and back into that land where Abraham lived, the land of Canaan. Let's read what God says.
Verse 16 of Genesis 15 But in the 4th generation they shall come hit her again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not.
Yet.
For the iniquity of the Amorites, and if we turn over to 1St Kings 21.
I'm still holding my place there, I hope, in Joshua first Kings 21.
And.
This is about wicked King Ahab, verse 25. But there was none like Hunter Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. They give you the right Chapter 2125 And he did very abominably, and following idols according to all the things, as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel, so God told Abraham.
That his seed would come as many years later out of Egypt and come into the land of the Amorites.
And one of the reasons God was going to allow that great delay before they came into the land that He had promised them, as the people who lived there were wicked people. And when their iniquity got to a full height to where it called for the judgment of God, then he would bring his people up out of Egypt and He would use them to execute judgment the armies of Israel.
00:10:20
On this wicked people called the Amorites.
They lived in the land of Canaan. Now there are many different Canaanite tribes we'd find in the Scriptures, but sometimes the Scripture lumps them all under one term, the Amorites, whether they were Jebusites or Hivites or whatever they might be, he calls them all one name, Amorites.
And when their iniquity was full, he would bring judgment on them.
And that time had come.
That time had come.
And the iniquity of the Amorites was full.
And God is going to bring the armies of Israel into that land and judge the Amorites. And in that way they would be driven out, and the children of Israel would possess the inheritance that God had given them.
And as they cross the River Jordan and prepared for the conquest of that land, there was a tremendous fortress.
Just across Jordan.
In the land of the Amorites.
And that fortress was called Jericho.
Now, when earlier in their history Moses had sent spies into the land, and 40 years earlier, 38 years earlier, and they had gone in and they came back and they said bad things about the land that God was going to give the children of Israel, and it discouraged the children of Israel.
And they disobeyed the Lord and wouldn't go in the land, and they wandered 40 years in the wilderness.
Let's read in Deuteronomy chapter one.
I think it's Deuteronomy 1.
And.
Here's what the spies said when they came back the first time.
They said in the middle of verse 28 of Deuteronomy one, the people is greater and taller than we. The cities are great and walled up to heaven.
The cities are great and they're walled up to heaven.
Now before we continue in our chapter 2 of Joshua, I just want to read one other verse a little later in Joshua chapter 6 and verse one.
Says now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went in, none went out and none came in. That was one of those great cities that they said was walled up to heaven. Well, I don't think the walls aren't right up to heaven. They were exaggerating. But they were great cities in those days and they had tremendous stone walls. And if you were to go over there today, you would find most of those cities sat on.
Little bit of a rise, like a small hill, and if you were going to attack them, you would have to climb up that hill first and then you would meet a wall and have to get up even further and they were very formidable.
And Jericho was right there in the way, and that was the 1St place that the Israelites were going to meet in conquest.
What was going to happen to Jericho? Jericho was a city of the Amorites under the judgment of God.
And you know, that's like this world that we're in today.
This world is like Jericho. It's under the judgment of God.
And every man and woman and child, every boy and girl that's born into this world is a city of a is a citizen of this world city under the judgment of God. And the moment is coming when the iniquity of this world will be full and the judgment of God will be poured out upon it.
And so Joshua sends these many years later, two more spies, but not like the first ones that went that didn't have faith. I believe these two did. And they come and they spy the land, they view it. And they went and came to Jericho and it says they came into a harlot's house named Rahab and lodge there.
00:15:18
All think of this wicked people, no better place to stay.
In that city, then in a sinful woman's house.
Best place you could find to stay in the city of Jericho?
Speaks a little of the character of that city, and it's just like this world.
But you know Joshua may, and no doubt had before him when he sent those spies, the fact that God was about to execute judgment on that city of Jericho.
And sent the spies in preparation for that judgment. But you know, God had some other thoughts. God had thoughts of mercy. God had his eye on a stranger from the covenants of promise. God had his eye on one who wasn't part of the household of Israel.
Wasn't part of that favored nation? Wasn't part of that people He had his eye on a sinful woman, a harlot.
In the city of Destruction.
And tonight he has his eye on you. If you haven't come to the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and you're still in your sins, He has his eye on you.
You're living in the City of Destruction.
In a world that's under the judgment of God, but he has his eye on you for mercy.
And for blessing.
And he picks not some fine upstanding citizen of Jericho, I don't know that there were any, but he picks this woman that would have even been looked down on by the citizens of that city of destruction.
And so these spies come, and they lodge in her house. And it was told the king of Jericho saying, Behold, there come men hit her to night of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house, for they become to search out all the country.
Oh, Jericho has a king.
He's the one who keeps it straightly shut up its walls up to heaven. And this world has a Prince, one who is the Prince and power of the air Satan, and he wants to keep all his citizens in this city of destruction nice and closed off from.
Any any opportunity for their salvation.
Jericho was watching the gates carefully, and he heard the report that the spies had come. And he said, you go get them all. Satan will try every measure that he can to prevent you from hearing the gospel of the grace of God. And so he sends. And what does she do? She hides them.
In verse four, she took the two men and hid them and said.
Thus there came men unto me, but I wish not whence they were. And it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whether the man went, I want not. Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. Well, we find something else about this lady. She's a liar.
She's a harlot and she's a liar.
Now very good character you see.
And neither are you.
Neither was I.
God doesn't pick good characters to set his love upon.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Well, she had brought them, it says.
To the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.
There they were, and they escaped detection, and the king of Jericho sent his men on out to pursue them outside the gate of Jericho and shut those gates.
00:20:05
Just in case they were still inside, you know, to keep them trapped in there.
Before they were laid down, she came up to them upon the roof, and she said unto the men I know.
That the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side, Jordan, Scion, and Ogg, whom he utterly destroyed.
And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt. Neither.
Did there remain anymore courage in any man because of you, for the Lord your God?
He is God in heaven above.
And in the earth beneath.
Oh, what are we hearing from this sinful woman?
We're hearing words of faith.
God was working in her heart in spite of what she was.
And she's afraid.
She's afraid.
She knows that she's in a city of destruction. She knows that they're under the judgment of God. Do you know that's where you are tonight? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you know that you are under the judgment of God tonight, a citizen of this sinful world?
Because you're a Sinner, just like the rest of the citizens of this world.
You know, tonight the iniquity of this world is almost full.
The moment is almost here.
When the judgments of God will begin to fall upon this world.
I want to.
This kind of comes to me if I can put my finger on it in the book of Isaiah.
Anybody can help me? I'm looking where it says the day of the Lord cometh.
It's in the early chapters.
13/9.
Thank you.
That is it.
Isaiah 13.
And verse 9, the day of the Lord is the day when the Lord Jesus will appear in judgment upon this world.
But it's going to be introduced with judgments even before he comes.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh.
Cruel.
Both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall give their light. The sun shall be darkened and is going forth. The moon shall not 'cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogance of the proud.
Cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible, and I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden.
Wedge of Oprah. When that judgment falls, there will be almost no one left when it's finished.
And it hangs over this world tonight.
Just as it hungover Jericho those many, many years ago.
She knew it and she's afraid, and she had heard the report of how the Lord God had brought them up out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand. And then she owns that. The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath.
That's faith, beautiful words of faith. But you know, her faith grows and it rises even higher. And she says that now, therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you also show kindness unto my Father's house, and give me a true token, and that you will save alive my Father.
00:25:16
And my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have.
And deliver our lives from death.
Oh, her faith goes out more than just herself.
To her father's house. And then she gives it in detail. Father, mother, brother, sisters.
And all that they have.
Her faith lays claim on the kindness of God.
Oh, didn't we have that in Ephesians 2?
That in the ages to come He might show display the riches of His grace and His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.
And she lays hold. I don't know how. I only know it was the work of God on the kindness of the God of Israel. How could she see that there could be possibly kindness with the armies of Israel there ready to come down on that city of destruction?
But all tonight the kindness of God is towards you and His love to you and desire to deliver you from the certain destruction that this world is under and on beyond that to a lost eternity.
Well, the man answered.
Our life for yours, if you utter not this our business, And it shall be when the Lord hath given us the land.
That we will deal kindly and truly with thee. How much more faith these two spies had than than the 10 that rebelled earlier in the beginning of the Exodus out of Egypt.
Oh, they knew God was going to give them that land.
And so.
Then she let them down by a cord through the window, for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. You know, on those days when they would build those walls of protection, they would build them very thick, and part of the walls would be dwellings built right into the wall. You know, you couldn't ask for a more secure spot in Jericho.
Then right in the stronghold of the wall itself. But she didn't feel.
Safe at all?
In fact, when she said all those things to the spies about knowing the judgment of God and that they would be delivered up and all of those things, she was saying it when Jericho was standing there and all its strength and pride and arrogance and defiance.
Of the people of God.
And its king.
And she said.
Them oh, we might look around at the world tonight and say no, no way, no way is this going to all come crashing down.
But faith says God said it is and it will.
She had said all that when Jericho was still in its strength, and so she lets them down through this window by a cord.
And her house was on that wall, town wall, and she.
Has this cord, and we find that it has a color. Well, let's keep reading. Verse 16. She said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there. Three days until the pursuers be returned, and afterward may ye go your way. And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear, Behold, when we come into the land.
Thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy father and thy mother and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home.
Unto thee, and it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head.
And we will be guiltless, and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.
Whosoever, oh, her faith, had risen up to ask for Father, for Mother, for Sister, for brother, and all that they had. But the spies say, Whosoever, whosoever, whosoever will may come. For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have life eternal.
00:30:18
And so she was to bind it says a scarlet Threadbird earlier calls it a cord. And you know you don't let grown men down.
Via wall with just a thread. No, it was a rope. It was a scarlet rope.
And.
She lets them down and then she tells them to get to the mountain. So I don't think.
It was way up high because I don't think Rahab would be shouting out a window when she's trying to keep things quiet. But I think it was high enough they needed to be let down by that rope. And then she tells them, now you need to go hide for three days. And they tell her behind that line, Scarlet Threader, that rope in the window, which thou didst let us down by.
I want to stop here for a minute and just turn over.
The Gospel of John.
Gospel of John in chapter 19.
Where we have the story.
Of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and this crucifixion and Calvary's cross.
Chapter 19 and verse 16 We read Then delivered to him, therefore unto them, that is, Jesus was delivered unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. And he bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him, and two other with him on either side, one in Jesus.
In the midst.
Well, let's go down to verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things are now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head.
And gave up the ghost. The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath was a high day.
Besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, they might be taken away. Verse 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water, and he that saw it bear record.
And his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
I'm going to read some other verses.
Romans 3.
Verse 23 For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption.
That is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood.
Now in Ephesians, where we were reading earlier.
We read, and we've read earlier today of that wonderful redemption that God offers through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in chapter 2, where we had read before, but now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
God sent His well beloved Son into this world to become a man that He might go to Calvary's cross. Your sins and my sins were an insult against God and His all that He is in His nature and holiness.
And justice, like the Tower of Babel.
That was built brick upon brick, higher and higher and higher, to reach right up into heaven.
The sins of this world, piled one upon another, have reached, as it were, right into heaven to offer an insult to God.
00:35:05
But the Lord Jesus Christ came, and he went to Calvary's cross, and there there on that cross he offered himself without spot to God, a sacrifice to God to render a satisfaction to God because of.
The awful sin of this world, that is under the judgment of God.
And that has become the only escape.
For anyone in this world from that certain judgment.
He is set forth to all who believe the Lord Jesus as that satisfaction through faith in His precious blood shed on that cross in those hours that God closed clothed the cross, and that scene in darkness in those hours the Son of God suffered on that cross for sin.
And when that time was done?
And he said, it is finished, and he bowed his head and dismissed his spirit. We read how that soldier pierced his side with that spear, and out of that his side flowed blood and water, and that blood represented and was his life.
And all the value of his sufferings in those three hours of darkness.
Inestimable on our part, God alone can give it its true value. Was shut out before the eye of God, and that satisfaction to God was rendered.
And the floodgates of his life opened, and he says, whosoever will may come, my beloved son gave himself an offering that I am satisfied with. And on the ground of his finished work, you can come and have the forgiveness of sin. Oh, think of that spear in his side.
And out from his side flowed blood and water. Down his side, down that cross.
Down to this earth.
Where the citizens of this city of destruction lived, who had put him on that cross.
There in the wall of Jericho was a little window, and out of that window was a scarlet line down the wall, down the wall of Jericho, down to the earth. It was the only way of escape for those two spies. It was the only lifeline they had, the only lifeline you have tonight.
To escape the judgment, certain judgment of God for your sins is that scarlet flow. The precious blood of Christ reaches you where you are tonight.
Like that scarlet line down the wall, Jericho.
Oh, she took that line as soon as the spies left. And what did she do? She bounded in that window immediately.
Or have you bound the scarlet line in the window of your heart tonight?
Is it firmly bound there? The blood of Christ has you. Have you been washed in the blood of the Lamb? The blood of Christ cover you. Do you know your sins forgiven through His precious shed blood? Is that scarlet line firmly bound in the window of your soul?
Oh, she bound it there.
And waited.
And what happened?
Let's turn back to Joshua.
Chapter 6.
I already read this verse. We'll read it again.
Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in.
All the spies had escaped.
The King of Jericho was going to make sure nothing like that happened again, nor was he going to allow the escape of anyone of the citizens of that Doom City. Satan would bring down every man and woman and boy and girl in this world with him to a lost eternity if he could.
00:40:02
And out of that window.
I have no doubt as Rahab looked, and there were no doubt other windows in that city, but only one had the scarlet cord bound in it. Only one.
And what do they see?
They see.
7 priests.
Bearing the Ark.
And verse 4, all that ark, you know, as they traveled, they were to take that ark.
Upon which was the mercy seat and the sprinkled blood covered with a cloth of blue.
And the priests were to bear it, and they would. And as the Lord commanded Joshua, they come marching to the city of Jericho.
Ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus thou shalt do six days. 7 priests shall bear before the ark 7 trumpets of ram's horns, and the 7th day shall compass the city 7 times, and the priest shall blow with the trumpets. And so they went around the city.
Blowing the trumpets.
Around each day.
With that ark, with the mercy seat upon it.
You know what spoke of mercy?
His folk of mercy. Oh, you see the men of war, says judgment. Oh, there's a token of mercy. And the horns blow and it goes around and Rahab says, Dad, you've got to come in.
Mother, you've got to come in.
It's hard to convince unbelieving mother and father, isn't it?
God can do it.
The next day they March around. There they are again.
Brother, you've got to come in.
Bring your wife, bring your children.
And each day, one more opportunity as the trumpets blew, to go into that house where the scarlet line was bound in the window, the House of faith.
One more opportunity.
To believe and respond.
Whosoever all think how large, I think if there had been faith in every citizen of Jericho, God would have made it so they could have fit in that harlot's house.
God is not willing that any should perish.
But that all should come to repentance.
And no doubt each day as they went around that city, perhaps the citizens of that city mocked, but she had already exposed that they were hearts were melting. That's what she said. And it was true, no matter what bravado they might have put on outwardly. And then this world we live, men's hearts are failing them for fear for those things that are coming upon this earth.
No matter what they proclaim publicly.
So verse 11, the ark of the Lord compassed the city going about once, and they came to the camp and lodge and so on, and they go around those six days.
They came to pass.
Now on the 7th day verse 15 that they rose early about the dawning of the day encompassed the city after the same manner 7 times.
Only on that day they compassed the city 7 times, and it came to pass at the 7th time, when the priest blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout for the Lord hath given you the city, and the city shall be accursed even in all that are there into the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all.
That are with her in the house because she hid the messengers.
We sent.
The messengers.
He sent spies.
Yes, and messengers did he.
Yeah, he did.
They were both, you know, in Hebrews it says by faith. Let's just turn to it and read Hebrews 11.
00:45:06
Sorry, you probably turn there faster than I can.
Hebrews 11.
Verse 31 By faith the harlot Rahab perish not with them that believed not.
When she had received the spies in peace, she didn't perish with those that believed not.
She received the Spies in Peace now James book of James.
Chapter 2.
Verse 25.
Likewise also, was not Rahab the Harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and sent them out another way? Yes, they were both spies and they were messengers. Let's turn to the Gospel of John for a moment.
Gospel of John in the 7th chapter.
Gospel of John, Chapter 7.
Verse 7.
The world cannot hate you.
May it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.
You know the Lord was here, if I can put it that way, as a spy.
He came and he passed through this world, and he rendered a testimony to what he saw in this world. Like Joseph of old, who brought back the evil report of his brethren to his Father, the Lord Jesus testified of what was in this world, and the world hated him for it. Yes, he passed through this world, He observed it, and he gave.
A true report of this world.
Just like those spies. Now let's turn to John chapter 12.
John, Chapter 12.
Verse 49 For I have not spoken of myself, or from myself, but the Father.
Which sent me. He gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting.
Where whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. Yes, he was a messenger too, and he spoke the words that the Father gave him to speak. And those words were life eternal for all who would receive them. And Peter says to the Lord in the 6th of John.
Lord, thou hast the words of eternal life. Oh, it's remarkable to me that these spies were messengers too. They bore a message that the citizens of Jericho refused, blinded by their own king. And if our gospel is hid, the apostle Paul says it's hid to those who the God of this world had blinded their minds.
But all there was a lying harlot that God had his eye on, and his love and grace, and he worked in her heart, and she received those spies and she heard the message and she believed.
She believed.
And she was saved. That scarlet line was bound in the window. And not only that her she became a messenger. Whosoever will may come.
And as those that arc went around and those trumpets blew, she was busy bringing them in. Bringing them in well.
It says.
A little further in our Chapter 6 of Joshua.
But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, go into the harlots house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as you swear unto her. And the young men that were spies went in and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brother, and all that she had. And they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.
00:50:10
Verse 25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had, and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day, because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
He brought her up.
That he might bring her in.
To that wonderful household of faith, that we might say He brought her in like we had in Ephesians 2. She who was a stranger outside of all the promises of God, having no claim upon them anyway upon God, but pray throws up and made its claim, and she was brought into greatest blessing.
And we would find her later on that she married a man named Salman.
Son of a Prince of Israel, of Judah, and she came in into the line.
That would produce the Messiah, the Savior of Israel.
Honored place. What more I'm it went beyond all our thoughts.
And so we find in Ephesians, he is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think. Our thoughts could have never risen up to the heights of what we've had laid before us. And some of the meetings that we have had this weekend as to the place and blessing and privilege that we have been brought into, we could have never asked for it. We've never thought of it.
Never. Oh, some lone place outside of Jericho to escape the judgment. All she wanted. She's brought into the royal family, the line of Judah.
And her name will be forever in the Word of God.
As a wonderful token and trophy of the grace of God, what about you tonight?
Have you received the Lord Jesus as your Savior?
All again is that scarlet line bound in the window of your soul. Are you under the shelter, the precious blood of Christ? He gave all for you.
That you might be saved.
Hymnsing and Talk 2
Little Flock Hymns