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Shall we sing #6?
How much sun is?
It.
In November.
3000.
Umm.
We pray Lord Jesus we thank thee so much what I love love is so great proved at such a cost and Lord Jesus as we think of it, how can we help it love thee we love thee because out its first love us and Lord Jesus this afternoon.
As we are here together, we just pray that that would help us in the meeting before us. We pray that that would show us more of thyself.
I love and if I waste and help us to continue in that love.
We pray that Thy Spirit would be free in this meeting before us too, to bring whatsoever He will before each one of our hearts. We commit this time to Thee. In Thy name we pray. Amen.
Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 13.
During the third meeting and verse 13.
00:05:02
Let us go therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come by Him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they that must give account.
That they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly, but I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, and every good work to do His will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Christ, through Jesus Christ.
To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation.
I've written a letter unto you in few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty With whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. Salute all them that have the rule over you and all the Saints they have Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen.
Yesterday we mentioned at some length some thoughts concerning the camp and what it is. And it might be good to just reiterate very briefly that the camp for those that he was writing to here was, was Judaism. But it there's an exhortation for us, let us go forth. Well, we don't have to separate from Judaism. I don't, I think probably most, if not all of us born in the in this room were not born Jews. We were born gentiles.
And so there's an exhortation for us, and we might well ask ourselves then, what is the camp in connection with us today? Well, I know we mentioned it, but we'll just repeat it. So we understand clearly the camp is Judaism and anything in Christendom that takes on the characteristics or the trappings of Judaism. It is a system of things that men have set up under the banner of Christianity.
Where they have borrowed those physical things from the Old Testament, those things that were connected with the natural senses, the built in the Old Testament there was a fine building. There was that which appealed to the smell, that the incense, that which appealed to the eye, the music, that which appealed to the ear, and all those things. And I don't think we have to think very far, brethren, to realize that there is a vast system of things.
Called Christendom and Christian fellowships that would represent or bring before us that which we are to separate.
And would in application for us today, be the camp Be careful when you read a writer, especially a writer.
Who is connected with us with some of those fellowships? I'll just give you one example. Harry Ironside in his book on Hebrews, which was one of his later commentaries, he says on his comment on this very verse, he says it is presumptuous to consider that the camp is anything beyond Judaism. Why did he say that? Because by the time he wrote the book of the commentary on the book of Hebrews, he was the pastor.
Of the Moody Bible Church and he had to say it to justify.
His position but as I say, I and and I think it's important to understand there's an application for us. It can't be Judaism for us. That's not what we are exhorted to separated. That's not the need, but we are to separate from that which has taken on the characteristic of Judaism in Christendom and notice what it says in this verse. Let us go forth therefore unto him. Separation in Scripture is always to a person.
Or to something that God has set up and established and ordained, and it says, let us go forth unto him. It's not just to separate from that which is not according to the word of God, but it's to the person of Christ. And brethren has gathered to the Lord's name. If we lose sight of this, we're not going to be preserved at the Lord's table because it's a person to whom we are gathered when it says where two or three are gathered together in my name or under my name.
00:10:23
It's the person. You can't divorce the name from the person. If I say the name of Queen Elizabeth or Donald Trump or Justin Trudeau or any other famous dignitary today, you immediately have come to mind everything you know and have seen of that person. The name is the person. And so it's a person to whom we are gathered. You know, I'm going to speak very frankly for a moment.
I have seen individuals come and be exercised to be gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God, and they have seen by faith the Lord in the midst and they said we want to be where the Lord is. But sad to say, sometimes time has gone on, things have come in and I have never yet when someone leaves the Lord's table, heard them say I'm leaving the Lord.
Never.
They'll say I'm leaving the meeting, or I'm leaving that group of Christians, or I'm leaving those people that meet up at such and such an address, but they never say I'm leaving the Lord. Why? Because what's happened is they have lost sight of the one who is in the midst. And brethren, if we lose sight of Him, we're not going to be preserved because problems are going to come in, difficulties are going to come in. We're going to start looking at dear brethren and thank God they are dear brethren and we're thankful for them.
But if we're just looking at dear brethren, we're going to get discouraged. We're going to see an end of all perfection. As we mentioned yesterday, things are going to come up, personality conflicts are going to come in and and so on. And so it's let us go forth, but not just go forth, not just to separate, but unto him. That's why when we noticed in Exodus 33 yesterday, this the incident of the camp, it says everyone that.
Thought the Lord went out from the camp. It wasn't everyone that sought Moses, everyone, anyone that sought Joshua. It wasn't anyone that sought to be with their family or other brethren that they they loved and were close to. That's not what it says. What caused people to separate from the camp and what had taken place in the camp. It was everyone that sought the Lord and so it's him.
Brethren, we need to have Him before our souls. Maybe you'll bear with me. I'll give you one more little example that really touched my heart.
In a country far from here, there was a sister, and I knew this sister very well.
And she was discouraged. She got her eyes on brethren and circumstances. And she told another, an older brother who related the story to me. Later she told an older brother, I am never coming back to meeting. And this older brother quoted her one verse, said, sister, remember he hath done nothing amiss.
The older brother told me Lord's Day morning came and 5:00 to 11:00 came and it was just about time for the breaking of bread. And he thought she's not going to come a minute to 11, she's not going to come 11:00 And the door opened, not sister walked in and took her seat where she'd always sat. And that sister was there till the day the Lord took her. And I had the privilege of going down and taking her funeral, but what was it that drew her back and preserved her there till the Lord took her home?
Not brother, not, not anything else but him, he hath done nothing amiss.
And brethren, he hath done nothing amiss. Maybe you say I'm discouraged because somebody said this, or somebody did that, or they don't do this, or they do that. In the little meeting where I come from. Look to the Lord Jesus and remember we are gathered by the Spirit of God unto Him.
Might be good to look in the Old Testament just to get a little sense of this little word that you've used in the midst.
Exodus chapter 25 that someone said to me years ago, they said you use this term in the midst and you use it so frequently and it's only used in one passage of Scripture. And you, you use this as your mantra. And I thought to myself, well, I wonder where it's used in the Old Testament and it's used many times. Here's one time in Exodus chapter 25 and verse eight. And the Lord desired to dwell in the midst of his people. He says, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell.
00:15:18
Among them, in the French translation, the word is translated that I may dwell in the midst of them.
Oh, it's precious. You know the Lord desired to be in the midst of his people, and we find it in the New Testament too, as soon as resurrection.
Took place and the Lord was there in the upper room. Let's read it in John's Gospel chapter 20, he says in verse 19, the same day at evening being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and said to them, peace be unto you. While many other times we could read it, but I just wanted to say as a word of encouragement, you know the Lord desires to be in the midst of his people.
Collectively, and He's the one that gathers us by His Spirit to where He is in the midst. He desires to bring us there. And so He says, here, let us go forth therefore unto Him. Where is He in the camp? No, He's actually in a place that is a clean place. It's a fellowship that He has raised up, and it's a privilege in the day that we live in to be called out to follow Him, not only to be saved.
By His grace but to be gathered to his precious name. And so it says unto him. Now when it says, let us go forth therefore unto him, it really is a call to spiritual energy, to rise up in spiritual energy into gold in faith. And so I tell you this afternoon that I'm saved by the grace of God as a young boy, 7 years old, maybe 7 1/2 years old.
I took Christ as my Savior one day, but I say by faith that I'm gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Now, I didn't gather myself. Let's never say this. You know, I say this, I don't want to say it critically, but in many circles Christians say we gather to the name of the Lord. It's not true. We're not smart enough to gather ourselves. We're not smart enough to save ourselves. And so here the language of Scriptures says.
Let us go forth therefore unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach. And so it's wonderful to take the name of Christ, to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, by the power of the Spirit of God, to find ourselves there, not only saved in the Saints of God, but by grace gathered unto him. So here in Hebrews we have the exhortation for, for spiritual energy and exercise. That's our responsibility.
But in Matthew 18 and other scriptures, we learn that if by the grace of God we find ourselves at the Lord's table where the Lord is in the midst and brethren, it's only by the grace of God. But if we find ourselves there, we find that in the end it was nothing of ourselves. Because the Scripture teaches us in Christianity that the onus in the end is never on me. The Old Testament, the responsibility and onus was placed on the people of God and they utterly failed. It showed that man couldn't without a work of God.
And so where two or three are gathered, and I've sometimes used this simple illustration, birds gather together. And those of us who live in the north, we find that as they get ready to migrate in the fall, they gather together. But eggs are gathered. If you see a dozen eggs in a basket, you know those eggs had no energy to gather themselves. Someone had to go. There was an energy, a person outside themselves.
That had to go and gather those eggs together in the basket. And so we have the exhortation here. Yes, there needs to be prayerful exercise and energy of faith, as Robert has said. But in the final analysis, when it's all said and done, if I find myself at the Lord's table and if I am preserved there, when I get to heaven and I look into the face of the Lord Jesus, I'm going to realize that it was all his grace.
So that brought me there and all His grace that preserved me there as well.
It's like that a little something to that gym. I've heard the the illustration with the eggs being gathered and appreciated it. I have had some conversations with some who have felt that that.
00:20:10
That construction put on the word gathered is not warranted, ever.
I'd like to turn to a verse in Second Thessalonians in chapter 2.
2nd Thessalonians 2 and verse one.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, are you going to go up in your own power? You're not. It's His power that's going to gather you to Christ in that day. It is a legitimate construction on that word gathered to see it as a power outside of ourselves. I reject that argument that says it cannot be.
So just just so that I can understand, are we are, are, are we saying that we are predestined to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus or is this a separate thing?
Let me put it this way, it is normal Christianity for a believer to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
At the Lord's table and in the early days of the church, you didn't go to Corinth or Troas or any other city where there were believers and say, where are those gathered to the Lord's name, or where such and such a Christian or where does such and such a Christians meet because they were all together? If I went to Troas in the days when Paul visited there, I would simply say, where do the believers meet to remember the Lord Jesus on Lord's Day night?
And they would tell me.
Today the enemy has done a masterful job of fragmenting the people of God outwardly doesn't change the fact there's one body. But today you find Christians in various pockets and fellowships of Christendom. And if you were to come to Smith Falls where I live, you'd see one of those famous church signs that say the churches of Smith Falls welcome you. When, when did that start? Well, it started long ago, way back in the days of the of the Corinthian brethren.
But originally they were all together, they had all things common. They were gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus where the wherever there were whatever community there were believers in. And so it's normal Christianity for a believer to be at the Lord's table. And yet we are down at the end. Now we're sad to say how many are really there. And so it's a work of the Spirit of God. And if a believer is willing to bow to the word of God.
And to follow the word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. God wants them to be there. You know, sometimes I hear people say, I hope I'm where the Lord wants me to be. That is not a good statement. It's better to say I want to be where the Lord is. Because as soon as I say where the Lord is, I recognize that there is a place on earth already established.
Where the Lord Jesus is in the midst of His own and my saying where the Lord is gives recognition. And as soon as I say that if I have vowed to the Word of God and allow the Spirit of God to direct me, then He's going to bring me to the place that we're just where He wants me to be. He does want me to be there, but He is going to bring me to the plate already established where the Lord is. Isn't the desire the same as we have in Luke?
Where wilt thou?
Yeah, that we should prepare the Passover. And I just wanted to say too, that this is always God's plan, even in the Old Testament. I believe, Jim, this is what he had, that they should have that desire as to where he would gather them together. And I just want to give one verse for that First Chronicles, chapter 16.
And this is David Tom here.
And speaking to the people First Chronicles 16 verse 35, he says, and say, ye save us, O God of our salvation. That was his work, not theirs. And they were to pray that and gather us together.
And deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.
In fact, always the position of the believer in any age isn't it to think that God would do his work, whether it's originally in the salvation, that's what they were to acknowledge there, or that He would gather them together with a different thing, no doubt. But it was still His work in Israel and it's His work today. And it's our place to have that desire to know where He would have us to to be.
00:25:28
And to seek that guidance from himself is to that place.
You were mentioning that, Ironside said. It was presumptuous.
That.
We're preferred to only Judaism. I was talking to one brother who has been a fellowship with us for quite a long time and held on view, and I found that rather trouble.
Yeah. Now if we're going to go outside the camp, be associated with the person of Christ where he is in the midst collectively, it's never going to be a popular truth. Don't ever think that being gathered to the Lord's name is popular. Don't ever think that separating from other believers because of an ecclesiastical connection is going to be popular. Again, I know we mentioned this briefly, but yesterday, but.
It's not that we might have reproach, but it is bearing his reproach.
I enjoyed the way an old sister, she's along with the Lord in my hometown of Smith Falls. Years ago, she met a Christian on the street, another who was in another fellowship. And this Christian said, you know, you go up to that little hall on George St. every every week. And they said, you know, you don't even take a name up there. Oh, she said, we do take a name. And she said, what better name can we have than to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, it brought reproach. This person was not satisfied with that. Yes, but I go to a place where we have, we take such and such a name. And to really take any other name is to deny the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Philadelphian brethren. And I trust there's no thought even in corners of our heart to being Philadelphia, but we do see it. Philadelphia what met with the Lord's approval. And isn't that what we really want, brethren, the Lord's approval?
And what met with the Lord's approval was that they kept His word and not denied His name.
And I say to take any other names on the name to be gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is to deny that name. And do we want to deny that blessed name, that name that was our salvation, none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That name that was placed upon us in baptism, that name that is going to be displayed to this world when he comes back as King of kings and Lord of Lords and Word of God and so on. Do we, do we want to deny that name now?
Brethren, do we want to take any other name? Now? It is a privilege, an unspeakable privilege by the grace of God, to be gathered to the that name alone and take no other name. But brethren, if you go home to your little assembly where you came from, and you expect to be popular in your town or city or neighborhood because you tell people you're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you have missed the whole point.
The Lord Jesus was not popular here, He said. The servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they hated me, they will hate you also. And brethren, it is normal Christianity not only for a Christian to be at the Lord's table gathered under his name, but to bear his reproach as well.
Let's remember that reproach, a definition of reproach, it's a word that we don't use very often, is shame. Does everyone understand what shame is? Shame is a very clear definition in our minds. And so the name of the Lord Jesus was shamed by this world. That name, that blessed name is used in a shameful way even today. And for you and I to take no other name and to acknowledge.
The goodness of God, our responsibility to be gathered to the Lord's name, to be where he is in the midst, but in the sovereignty of God to recognize that He has done all the work.
And we can be thankful and by faith give him the glory and be in a place where we can offer the Thanksgiving and praise and worship of our lips as we come a little bit further on into this chapter. But we ought to remember that this world preached that name with shame. I want to give you a little illustration. You may not think that people of the world are watching you. You may not think that they're watching you as you leave the home in the morning.
00:30:21
With your Bible and you get into your car and so on. But I had this experience personally. You will forgive me for giving this personal story, but we had a neighbor across the road in Massillon. OH, and we lived in Massillon and he invited me over to his home. The family was up in Hammer Major in the summer and I was working there. He invited me over to this home, served me a nice meal, knew I liked fish, so we had a nice slab of salmon.
And we spent time in the Word and he said, listen, the reason I invited you over for a meal tonight is we're looking for a church. And so we went over some scriptural principles and we said, you know, there's one thing in the passages, there's more than one thing, but there's one thing in the word of God that we never have liberty to do. And that is to choose a place for ourselves that says, take heed unto thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou see us, but in the place which Lord thy God shall choose.
Deuteronomy chapter 12. Well, he says, well, where do you go? And I said, well, there's no name on the building where Christians gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, well, where is it? I said, well, it's in Cago Falls. He said, where In Cuyahoga Falls. I said, he said, how do you get there? I said, well, I'll go up Route 8 and then I get off at port. He said Portage Trail. I said, yeah. And then I go up and I turn at the fire station. Oh yeah. And then you jog over and you go to Bailey Rd. I said, yeah, I go to Bailey Rd. And then I, I go across to Myrtle.
And I said, he said, oh, he says, and justice before you turn at the bottom of the street and, and there's a park there. There's a brown building.
Brown brick building, he says, and it doesn't have a name on it.
Said you're right, it doesn't have a name on it.
I said, yes, we're Christians gathered only to the name of the Lord Jesus. There's no invitation to the breaking of bread, the remembrance of the Lord. There's a gospel meeting that we have an open invitation to, and all those sorts of things. So I just say, dear brethren, to be faithful to the Lord and to be thankful to the Lord that we're gathered to the Lord's name and to leave our homes and to go in our little way of testimony to the assembly meetings. The world is watching. And this man lived 28.2 miles away from that meeting room and he knew.
Where that building was.
So you're being watched, and the world watches to see whether you're thankful to be bearing that reproach.
That really helped me going back to another question which I asked someone, an older brother, one-on-one, almost word for word that same question, I said.
Are are we going to claim that?
We were pretty devastated together to make a board in the same way that we are predestinated for salvation and and he summed it up very nicely. He told me in scripture there is no difference between.
Salvation is being gathered.
Well, here he goes on in verse 14 and he says we have no continuing city, but we have one, we seek one to come. So he was referring to Jerusalem. The Jews had a city and it was a physical city. They could go to that city and that had been, it had the divine center during those times of the when the temple was there. But you know, that place was going to be destroyed and God was going to deal with Judaism and he was going to judge it.
And it was going to be destroyed. And so now we seek one to come. Our place is heavenly. We have an heavenly Jerusalem. We have a heavenly city. And a city is a place where there is a community of those that are joined together for a common bond of fellowship and to enjoy one another's company. And in an earthly city is for protection and those sorts of things as well, commerce and so on.
But that city is a city that Abraham was waiting for. He longed for that city whose maker and builder is gone.
A heavenly city not characterized by sin and not founded on the principles of the cities of this world. He was looking for that city, that residents, that was eternal. And so we have that one that we seek to come. It's not an earthly thing.
00:35:13
Patient for us then, that we as we seek to be where the Lord Jesus is in the midst to be gathered to the Lord's name. We are to have the character of strangers and pilgrims. We're not to settle down here. When we remembered the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread this morning at his table. It was with the realization that that made this may have been the last Lord's Day that we would have this privilege because we need to realize that perhaps before another Lord's Day.
We'll be home in the Father's house where we won't need a loaf and a cup on the table as a reminder, a remembrance of what the Lord Jesus suffered for us. And it's very significant that when the Lord Jesus sent the disciples to prepare the Passover, and I knew, I know it's the Passover, that was in view, but the Lord knew that was the very spot where he was going to set aside the Passover supper and institute the new order of things, the Feast of Remembrance with the loaf in the cup.
And it's interesting when you go to John's ministry, the Upper Room ministry, that which was given in the Upper Room, it was in view of, first of all, the fact that he was going to depart out of the world under the Father, and then that he was going to come again and receive his disciples. So you have in the 13th chapter, he was going to depart out of the world under the Father. In the 14th chapter he's going to come again and receive them unto himself. What is it really saying?
This is a temporary thing. This is just for now. This is not the end of the story. This is not home. I'm going to give you this ministry. I'm going to institute the Feast of Remembrance. I realize we don't have its institution as such in John, but we know it was on that occasion. And it was all in view of the fact that they were going to be left in this world, but only temporarily. And if I can just say a little word about the expression, strangers and pilgrims, it appears twice in Scripture.
One in Peter's ministry, and if we were to back up in Hebrews, we would find that there were those who didn't receive the promises, but they saw them afar off and noticed this. They confessed that they were not pilgrims and strangers, strangers and pilgrims. And that's the way Peter puts it to when he says abstain from fleshly lusts, because we're as strangers and pilgrims. Sometimes we quote that as pilgrims and strangers.
But as we have already said in these meetings, the order of something is very important in Scripture. Why is it strangers first? Because, brethren, we need to realize that we do not belong to this world. We are strangers here. The Lord Jesus was a stranger here, and a stranger is one who recognizes they don't belong. And a Pilgrim is one who's just passing through. But as soon as we lose sight of the fact that we're strangers, we're no longer going to be pilgrims.
And we're going to settle down and look for a city in this world. We're going to look for something more permanent in this world. Poor lot, he lost that character and he.
Eventually lived and saw them, had a house, but he saw it all burned up. Well, it's a little bit of side, but again, as gathered to the Lord's name as we enjoy the privileges we do from week to week, let's remember brethren, we have no continuing city here.
This is not the end of the story. We're going on to something permanent, yes, but it's not physical and it's not here in this world.
One mediator says between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So it says by him, by him. Let us therefore offer the sacrifice of praise that God continually, that is the fruit of her lips, giving thanks to his name.
It it takes us back really to verse 10. We have an altar.
Whereby they have no right to eat which serve the Tabernacle.
And altar, you know, in the Old Testament is something that the sacrifice was placed upon and it went up to God as an offering, either a sweet savour offering or a sin offering, whatever the occasion might be. The priest that offered it up had a part in that offering them enough, and they're part of it. But it frees out the thought here, I believe that the altar that we have now is Price himself.
00:40:00
Uh, our praises of Thanksgiving ascend up to God in Christ.
What the God in Christ, so he is our altar of sometimes you go to.
View inside of the one of the systems and there's up front of the worship, there's an altar place there, physical altar where people are encouraged to go out and confess their sins and so on. It's a dishonor to God to have that thing there.
It's a physical thing that was done away with by Christ and the cross. We haven't altered. It's a person. He lives in the glory. He has come down here, He has died, He has gone back to glory and now we're to offer praise and the Thanksgiving continually with their lips upon that Albert, which is Christ. I might point out that in the Old Testament when a priest was partaker of of what was sacrificed to God on the altar.
That's been carried over into criticism. Where?
Those things that take place in the system.
The person that perhaps is, whatever he may be partaking of there, it's whatever is offered or sacrificed up, he's a partaker of it. So it puts him into a, an ecclesiastical situation perhaps if he's partaker of those things.
He's a partaker of everything that goes on in that system. If he's breaking bread there, he's a, he's a partaker of what goes up upon that altar. And so we're to be separate from all of that. A whole system of things that have been has been carried over from Judaism into Christianity. Very simple here, isn't it? We have an altar, which is Christ. Our sacrifices ascend up to God.
On him and him and all the things that involved with Christianity.
All have been done away, and so we're to separate from it all. We have Christ, we promise to be in our midst, wherever two or three together, together under my name, not to a building or to a place, but to a person. He promises to be there in our midst, and He God has given to us.
Christ to carry our sacrifices of a sweet, lovely Savior up to Him.
It's interesting to notice here that the Spirit of God uses this little term. Let us.
In verse 13 let us go forth therefore, and then in connection with worship in verse 15 by Him therefore, let us offer sacrifice and praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Then it speaks of another offering. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God as well, please. So there are two offerings 2.
Sacrifices, you might say.
One is our holy priesthood, our ability to give thanks and to offer the sacrifice of praise to his name. And so we have the liberty and the presence of the Lord, Those that are brothers audibly to give thanks and praise and worship to the Lord. It's our holy priesthood. We have the ability to exercise that holy priesthood. God always gets his part first. So isn't it wonderful to have the privilege of giving the Lord?
The first place and on the Lord's Day, oftentimes we don't come to the breaking of bread. We don't call it a worship meeting. But there is worship that does flow forth from our hearts. If we're in communion with the Lord and those passages of Scripture that are brought before us that present Christ and the loveliness of Christ and the perfection of his work and the completeness of that work, our hearts rise up and our lips pour forth that worship them praise and Thanksgiving to our God. But then there is the royal priesthood in our ability of those that are kings and priests.
To give of our personal riches, as it were, to give a physical offering, communicate, forget not, which is with such sacrifices. God as well, please. And so there are those things that we have a collection basket on the table. And without getting into debate as to whether it should be under the table or on top of the table, I heard once the brother, Clarence Lundeen just suggest that it's nice to have it on the top of the table because it is an offering.
It's an offering for God. It's a sacrifice. And so the Saints have brought and have given a sacrifice and it's there on the table. But we have those two sacrifices. God gets his part first, and then man gets his part second. You might say the physical offering of funds. And so both are necessary, and it's a part of Christianity. God's not going to force us. He says let us.
00:45:29
And if you would pardon another little comment, when he's desiring the sacrifice of our lips and our hearts worship, it's something that is going to be spontaneous on a Lord's Day morning or perhaps another time. It says continually so it's not only the breaking of bread.
But it says let us, and it's going to be something that is a part of our lives. We are reading the scriptures during the day, during our weekday, and we're praying privately. We are in the presence of the Lord and then praise bursts out in our hearts and even in the home. But I suggest that this is really referring to collectively here. But we should be always in that prayerful state.
State.
And available as it were to be found as worshippers might be helpful just to make a little differentiation between 3 notes that we give the Lord Jesus. We worship the Lord Jesus, we worship deity for who they are. We praise for what the Lord for what he has done.
Particularly to the glory of God, and we thank Him for the blessings that we have as a result. So worship is the highest note we can give praise.
And then Thanksgiving, and it's all part of it. But I just want to say this about praise. Praise in Scripture is always audible. Always not. Worship isn't always audible. It's sometimes. But marry and worship poured out her appointment at the feet of the Lord, and she never said a word.
You'll never read in John 12 of Mary saying one word, but the whole house was filled with the odor of the ointment and that's an encouragement for the sisters. The sisters don't take the same part on Lord's Day morning, but a sister who comes with a heart full of worship, an appreciation of the person of Christ. Why she fills the whole house with the odor of the ointment like Mary again, you not only need your presence is not only vital at the prayer meeting, but at the worship, at the at the remembrance.
Because there's worship at the remembrance, and a sister who comes with a heart full of worship.
Has a tremendous effect on all those that are there. But just to get back to praise for a moment, let me give you a couple of examples.
He says I create the fruit of the lips. He has put a new song in my mouth. He that offers praise, not silence, but he that offers praise glorifieth me. Now praise should come from our hearts, because this generation draws nigh unto me with their mouth and praises me with their lips, and their heart is far from me. He doesn't just want lit service, but He does want us to open our mouth in praise.
And Braden, sometimes on Lord's Day morning, when I have sat for 10 or 15 minutes in the breaking of bread with complete silence, sometimes I think the chairs are going to cry out. Brethren, we don't come on Lord's Day morning to get. We come to give. We come to give the sacrifice of praise. I know we don't. The other extreme is what you had in Corinth. Everyone had a Psalm, everyone had a doctrine, and they were tripping over one another.
That is not what I'm talking about. And there needs to be a few moments of meditation after we sung hymn, perhaps to read a scripture or a brother has offered a little word of worship and praise and Thanksgiving. But brethren, long silences on Lords Day morning, don't we have to confess, are usually the result of weakness, not piety. And why? Because we haven't come with hearts full of Christ.
I'm going to give you a little illustration from Scripture, and I know it's only an application. I want to stress that what I'm going to say is just an application, but I think it's very suitable. At the marriage of Canaan of Galilee, there were six water pots. Now I know there's a prophetic character to what we have there in the millennial joy for Israel in the coming day and so on, but there were six water pots, and vessels in Scripture often speak of the human form.
00:50:00
Which treasure we have in earthen vessels and so on. And when they wanted wine, which so often speaks of joy and praise and scripture.
What did the Lord tell them to do? He told them to fill the water pots and you know they went beyond his instruction.
He did not tell them to fill them to the brim, but they had the faith to fill the water pots to the brim. And if you fill something to the brim, there's no room for anything else. And filling the water pot to the brim may not. In the in. My application is to fill our lives with Christ 6 days of the week. How do we fill our lives with Christ? It's the word of God. It's the water of the word that we need. And so we fill our lives with the water of the word, which brings before us Christ.
And when they did that, then the Lord had something that He could turn to joy, that which speaks of joy and praise, so that they could come and pour out to the governor of the feast. And brethren, if we don't fill our water pots with Christ 6 days of the week, we're not going to have something for the true governor of the feast to be able to turn to praise and joy on Lord Steve morning. And it is too late, as Robert said, to sit down at 10:50 and expect to generate.
Our response of praise in our hearts if we haven't been occupied with the person and work of Christ during the week.
And so these things are very practical. But then notice it is continually. He doesn't want our praise just for one hour on Lord's Day. He wants us to cultivate the habit of praise and Thanksgiving in our life. And it's fruit. You want to bear fruit for God's glory. You know, when I'm in a home and I hear the sister out in the kitchen or working around the house, and I hear a little note of praise on her lips, that's true for the Lord's glory.
Are brothers working around the yard or his shop? And there's a little note of praise on his lips that's being recorded in God's book of remembrance as fruit for the Lord's glory. So much does he value every note of audible praise from your heart and mind on our lips that he says it's a sacrifice, not tremendous. He implants it there and then he says it's a sacrifice. And he says it's fruit for my glory and I'm not going to forget it in the future.
I'd like to just pick up for a minute here. I'm still a little burdened about the subject of pre estimation that came up.
As to break your breath.
I find it a bit awkward, but I think it should be addressed.
Maybe some have wiser words, and I might, but I would say this. That just takes the word predestination. It has to go through destiny.
And where you go on horses. Good morning to talk to her yesterday.
Glory in Christ, and glory is a heaven at sheer destiny.
And.
I think that we need to take a little bit of care.
In in some of these spots.
Because there is such thing as hatred.
There is such a thing as.
Way on the other part for the scale which development and there's a lot of things in sleep.
And so it's hard to give a catch all but.
These were written to Hebrew believers and so when you do have verse 13.
Let us.
So more unto him.
Without the camp, it's very specifically addressed to the Jewish system.
I do realize, I do know, and I feel very keenly that Christianity has taken on Judaism.
Don't get me wrong.
But if there was this very specific instruction.
To these people in the book of Hebrews, it's called Hebrews because they're Jewish. And that the Tabernacle or even the synagogue in the various cities throughout the world with that high point still are, and that was not an appropriate place.
To manifest our attraction to Christ.
It was a religious.
Capsule and he would go there to maintain traditions.
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And that is not what the Lord wants it for those who were Hebrews. And he doesn't want to throw up Hebrews.
But.
None of I said very clearly, none of them thankful.
Has anything to do with our destiny.
It does not have anything to do with our eternal.
Joy, physicians, and respect from God.
In the time to come, I'll tell you why.
Because we are seeing in Christ.
And his sacrifice, that is what gives us our weight and position. And to add something that unfortunately slips into the subject, and that is, are there going to different levels of Christians in eternity, some bearing this level, with that level and that level, Believe me, that's a judicial clock.
We are going to be eternally blessed.
Because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and that only.
In God's eternal glory, and even people that had schools, they went to synagogue and maybe did a lot of mistaken things, but in God's eternal glory there will be no radiation of believers because there's no radiation in the work of Jesus Christ.
He was once for all, perfect and eternal, and accepted in the presence of God.
I think if we get those kinds of concepts very clearly in our minds, it will.
Really goes back to what subject.
He gathered the Lord, saying We'll be so impressed.
So impressed by the work of fighting that even if we still end up going to a church, at least in our souls our thoughts will be raised the level that Christ is like a body raised, and that is to Him and Him only.
Go back to what we said earlier. I know Bruce will agree with me that it is simply the fact that it is normal Christianity for a believer to be at the Lord's table.
And it is the desire of the Lord to have every believer gathered together in practical unity. It's not reality, I realize, but it is the desire of the Lord to have every believer gathered together in practical unity at His table. That's not what we see, sad to say today, but that is normal Christianity and what He desires. And if there is a desire on our part, then He is willing and able to lead us in the power of the Spirit directed by the Word of God to the place where He is.
Is that right, Bruce?
Yeah.
I guess I feel it was answered.
Then somebody else said something. I wasn't sure whether it was answered, but there's a verse in Philippians 24213. I think it's helpful. It's helpful to me.
Uh, it is gone. Which worketh in you both the will and to do.
So we're not chosen in Christ to practice some aspect of normal Christianity, but He's given us the power to do it, and it is His power. So I think that if I'm understanding it right, and I'm a young brother, but the way I understand it is that we are given the power to do this, and it is God that does it in gathering us.
But it so it is a wrong thought for us to think. I gathered myself as was said. However, to go to the other extreme, to say I was predestined to be gathered and you weren't, that also would be an extreme fallacy. So if someone was to say that they would be wrong, I would suggest, and there are teachers here who know far more than I. Please correct me if I am wrong.
It's a dip.
Chapter 4, verse 10, it says the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worshipped him, that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And so we'll recognize in that day that all that took place.
01:00:19
In our lives, as was, obedience to the Word of God was.
That he could reward it was in his sovereignty and His goodness.
I believe too, just looking at Romans 8 for a moment.
Verse 30.
Predestination, as far as I understand it, doesn't. It doesn't apply at all to our salvation.
It's what comes afterwards. Predestination has more to do with our privilege in place as believers. It says there in Romans 8 chapter 30 or verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate.
29 I think is better for whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of the sun. He might be the first born among many brethren. All believers are come under this. We're all predestinated to be conformed to the image of the sun. There's no exceptions there. Every believer is meant to.
Have this privilege.
In Ephesians, it's more to do with our place.
Ephesians chapter one and verse 5 predestinate us onto the adoption of children.
By Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Every believer is a child in Christ Jesus. We all have been brought into that same privilege. And so to be at the Lord's table is a privilege that's available for all believers, with no exception there.
To say that I've predestinated to be at the Lord's table, I think would be exaggerating scripture. I I don't believe that's true.
I believe that the Lord has placed me where I am.
Which is a privilege he's given me to see the truth that is. That's true also. But every believer has that opportunity to search out Scripture and to find out where the Lord would have him to be. It's the responsibility, I believe.
Not a predestination.
See if you had a comment.
Come, just let me know. We tend to use the word predestination to cover every aspect of the sovereignty of God and the life and it's a misuse of the word predestination is to a relationship election is God's sovereign choice. Very distinct terms. We are going to see many things in our life, as Brother Rob was saying that were the sovereignty of God, The sovereignty of God extends to many aspects of our life.
Beyond election.
And we're going to look back and see that it was his sovereign grace.
That gathered us to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as much as it was that saved our souls.
We'll look back and see it was his sovereign grace.
Good evening. I know I've mentioned this on other conferences before, but by the grace of God.
I was drawn to the place where he, Lord Jesus, his place is saying six weeks after I was there, six weeks and I didn't know much of it. When I sat back and watched the ambulance being passed around and the breaking of bread, I knew I was in the right place. Praise God.
245.
145.
So maybe you can see.
All right.
Can be community, the way I get the rest of the breaking all the time and what I'm going to do.
We need to see you tomorrow.
When you come on your heart and the Lord of our history, you're in the heart and the Lord, and the Lord can hear me through the world of being in fear of the nation.
01:10:17
Close. God and our Father, thank you for the proportion that we've had for our souls.
And the enjoyment that we can have, and things of Christ he our altar.
By Him we can offer worship and sacrifice and praise.
And we do give thee thanks for the blessed truth of.
Being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus our Savior, and yet we know that when we are finally with Him.
We will give thanks and say with Jacob, the God that shepherded me all my life long till this day, but we give these thanks for the time that we've had together during these these meetings.
Thanks in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.