Address—Robert Boulard
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Good afternoon.
I'd like to start with #230.
But my habit is usually on a meeting just after lunch, everybody starts to nod off about halfway through, maybe sooner, depending on the subject matter and the speaker. And So what we do is we stand up halfway through and we sing another hymn. So let's sing #230 maybe someone can start it for us.
Well, there I'd like to just read a passage of scripture. It's in Second Chronicles.
I'd like to take up just a little portion, just a little passage. Second Chronicles, chapter 17. We're going to talk about Joshua Fat now.
Let me just say this at the outset. None of your older brethren here and myself included, none of us present ourselves as any better than any of you young people. We've all had our failures. We've all had times in our life when we walked with the Lord and then there needed to be restoration, repentance, confession of sin and all those things. So I'm not talking to you here as someone.
Any better than you are just one that is a Saint of God by the grace of God and preserved unto this day by the mercy of our God gathered to the Lords name and just desiring to encourage you this afternoon in the path of faith right at the end of the day of grace. And I think every one of us has a sense that we're not going to be here very long and we want to be found faithful and watching and waiting for the Lord when he comes.
00:05:20
So let's read this chapter together and then we'll try to bring out some points that might be a help in connection with the principles of life.
How we might apply these principles to our own lives and those of us that are older, maybe we'll judge ourselves in connection with how we failed and some of these principles. But you know, the Lord is able to take His word and apply it to each one of us. So let's read it. Second Chronicles, chapter 17, verse one. And Jehoshaphat, his son, reigned in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel.
And he placed forces in all the spent cities of Judah.
And set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which ASA his father had taken. And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Balaam, but sought to the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
Therefore, the Lord established the Kingdom in His hand.
And all Judah brought Jehoshaphat presence, and he had riches in honor in abundance, and his heart was lifted up or encouraged in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and Groves out of Judah also. In the third year of his reign he sent to his Princess even.
To Ben Hale, and to Obadiah, and to Zachariah and to Nathaniel.
And to Makaya to teach in the cities of Judah. And with them he sent Levites, even Shamaya and Nathanaya and Zebediah, and Asahel, and Shemar, Ramos and Jehonathan, and Adonijah and Tobaija, and toward the Noja, toward Tobad.
No nijah Levites with them ilashima.
And Jehoram the priests, and they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and went about throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people. And the fear of the Lord, or the New Translation says, the terror of the Jehovah fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presence and tributes silver.
And Arabians brought him flocks, 7700 Rams, and 7700 he goes. And Jehoshaphat wax great exceedingly. He built in the in in Judas, castles and cities of store, and he had much business in the cities of Judah. And the men of war, mighty men of valor, were in Jerusalem.
And these are the numbers of them.
According to their the House of their fathers of Judah, the captains of thousands.
Edna the chief, and with him mighty men of valor. 300,000 Next to him was Joho Hanan the captain, and with him 204 score 1000. Next him was a Messiah, the son of Zikri.
Who willingly offered himself unto the Lord, and with him 200,000 mighty men of valor, and of Benjamin Eliada, a mighty man of valor, with him armed men with bone shield. 200,000 Next him was Jawsabad Jehoshabad, and with him 104 score 1000 ready to prepare.
Ready, prepared for the war, these waited.
On the King, beside those whom the King put in the fenced cities throughout Judah.
Now, it's not my purpose to take up the failures. We know that that with the Old Testament Saints, many of them, they had divine life, you know, and.
They often times failed. I don't want to concentrate on failures of Jehoshaphat. And you wouldn't. I wouldn't want you to concentrate on my failures. You may know some of them, but you know, isn't it the grace of God? He writes this about his this king, He's the 4th king.
00:10:10
Of the divided Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin, remember there was a division among the people of God and it was allowed of the Lord and the Lord had two tribes that were preserved. We might just turn back and look in second in First Kings Chapter 11, and I'll just point that out.
Was that interesting that her brother Jonathan Grinton this morning had before us the thought of the light?
And it's a theme throughout Scripture that there's light and God wanted the nation of Israel to be a light and a testimony to the his wisdom and his glory, his the, the wisdom of his word and so on. He wanted that nation, those 12 tribes to go on and to shine throughout this world, that there would be 1 nation that served the living God and that there would be a testimony in this world.
Well, they there was failure, there was sin, and there was the light became dim and God allowed judgment to come in and he separated the 10 tribes from the two. And so the majority went in division and they went out and they fell into idolatry immediately. The sin of the neighborhood, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that made Israel the sin, but God preserved 2 tribes.
Just a little remnant. It's umm, first Kings Chapter 11.
Let's read verse 36. Well, let's read verse 35. I will take the Kingdom out of his sons hand, and will give it unto thee even 10 tribes. He's speaking to Jeroboam, and unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant, may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen to put my name there.
So, young people, God preserves a little testimony of those that.
Are associated with his name, identified by his name, and he preserved them in Jerusalem at the divine center. Now we know that in Israel they had a physical location where they could meet with the Lord, a physical location, Jerusalem. You know what that name means? It means the abode of harmony, the possession of peace, a possession of peace, the abode of harmony. You know, I think that's a nice picture of what the assembly.
Be like a place of peace, a place where there's harmony, a place where the Word of God is read and it's bowed to. The principles of the Word of God are bowed to. And so there was a light. And here this man is 1/4 king. We know that Rehoboam, he really syndicates God. He lost those 10 tribes. He lost most of his territory within a few months, a few weeks of his becoming king.
He lost most of his subjects. He.
He lost everything. There was just a little remnant and God preserved that.
There would be a light and a testimony in Israel for His name, for his glory. Well, what's the first thing that God has to say about Jehoshaphat? This chapter is almost like a little synopsis that gives us why. I just ask you a question. You've got first and second Samuel, 1St and 2nd Kings, First and Second Chronicles. What's the difference?
Many of the stories, they're told slightly differently. There's a little content variation and so on. Why does God tell us the same story in First and 2nd Kings and 1St and Second Chronicles? Well, First and 2nd Kings, he takes up the history of the all of the nations, all of the tribes of Israel, you might say, but particularly deals with the 10 tribes and 2nd Kings, I believe. And then but here in First and Second Chronicles, he speaks.
It really takes, it really takes up the history of the Jews.
But from his perspective.
Isn't that nice? You know the Lord's going to have us each at the judgment seat of Christ. He's going to look into our faces and he could tell all the good, the bad, and the ugly.
And it might dishearten us. I don't. We're not going to have the flesh. But he wouldn't, he wouldn't do that. He's going to review our lives and he's going to tell us what he saw.
What he approved of and what he delighted in, he's going to tell us about it and we'll rejoice together and he'll give us a reward for those things. But the other things, you know are going to go on the big burn pile and Hammer Bay. We have a burn pile and the construction materials and everything come in and old sofas and things that people bought brand new and we really, really delighted with. But then a few years later.
00:15:15
They go into the bucket of the front end loader and up on top of the big burn pile that ends up to be 1520 feet high and then in November it goes up in flames.
Nobody misses that sofa.
But you know there's going to be then then shall every man have praise of God. The first thing God says about Jehoshaphat, he says Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his stead and strengthened himself against Israel and that is that he didn't want to go on in the air of the religious systems of the day. He wanted to go on in the truth and instead of being associated with.
Ahab and the 10.
Tribes that had broken off in rebellion against God.
Why he wanted to go on in the truth and God makes mention of this first in connection with Jehoshaphat. I just wonder young people, do you know why you come to the assembly meetings, Why you're gathered to the Lords name? Maybe you're remembering the Lord in his death. You know why it's you know we don't have time to go into the principles what it is to be gathered with the Lord's name. But I won't tell you this.
It's the most precious.
Precious thing to the heart of God to have his people in in the presence of the Lord Jesus on a continual basis at the Lords Table and in the when we remember the Lord in his death and two at the assembly prayer meetings, the assembly reading meetings, the assembly meetings. It's a delight to the heart of God to see the Saints in the presence of the Lord Jesus and there's a delight to the heart of the Lord Jesus himself to have you there.
In his presence. And it's the most wonderful privilege in all of Christendom to be found gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and to be able to have the liberty as our brethren have been able to bring before us. These last couple of meetings and the reading meeting, the distinction of doctrine, the distinction between doctrines, and the distinction between the truth and error.
And it's not wonderful, you know, that we have the privilege of not going on.
In error and being able to identify those things that are error.
You'll forgive me for giving a little personal reference, but my father was saved out of Roman Catholicism at 20 years old.
And it was a traumatic thing for him to leave Roman Catholicism and to receive Christ as Savior.
And in those days in Quebec, he was 20 years old and.
The Roman Catholic Church had the power to seize property if someone died, and under other circumstances they could seize a persons property if they belong to the church.
And so he wrote.
A letter of withdrawal to the Roman Catholic Church.
He left the Roman Catholic Church. It was something very difficult for him to do. He wrote that letter of withdrawal and he sent it to the local church and he withdrew from fellowship with the Roman Catholic Church. It was heir. They didn't teach the truth of God in connection with salvation. They said that there was another mediator. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. And they said there's another meteor there.
Hope there's the priest and so on. No, he said, can't go on with that. But you know, young people, there's an aspect of this that is necessary for each one of us. Jehoshaphat's father ASA died. He went to be in the presence of the Lord. Now he had to take up responsibility himself. He had a major responsibility leading the people of God.
And the first 6 verses of this chapter.
Tell us of his personal exercises, what he went on with and what his decisions were personally at the beginning of his life in connection with the responsibility of the people of God. The first one is that he didn't want to go on an error. So know the truth, learn the truth.
Enjoy the truth, savor the truth. And in these meetings, you know, you can just draw a little note of something to search out a little bit later. And do you have a library, young person? Do you have a little library yourself?
00:20:08
You'll forgive another personal reference, but I became interested in a young lady years ago, ended up being my wife.
But I went to her house on Thursday morning.
She was out on the screen porch.
And she had a book of ministry. She was reading a book of ministry. I had never seen this before.
I said, well, a sister in the Lord that's reading ministry on the I, I'd never seen this before. I asked her what book she was reading. It was a book by Mr. Edward Dennett. And so that's what she was reading and she was studying a little bit and just encouraging herself. And the Lord, you know, the word of God is written for all of us and God has given us teachers in the Scripture, in the assembly and.
In he's given, let's let's read it in Ephesians chapter 4, He's given us teachers. He's given us those that can teach us not just one teacher, but many. And so you find that there are brethren that have the ability to communicate the truth in a different line of things perhaps, but God has given us a variety of those that can expound the Scriptures.
He's given them to us. Let's read it in Ephesians chapter 4.
And.
Let's read verse nine. Now he that now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far all heavens, that he might fill all things, and he gave some apostles. Now the common is in the wrong place in the King James Bible. It should be after.
The apostles, He gave these gifts to the Church.
So he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Why did he do it? For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so God has given gifts to the church. And what does a teacher do?
He teaches orally, he can give an address, he can teach in a home, He might write his a certain passage on a a certain document, a booklet or a book, and he might write it in an orderly fashion. And the Saints are taught a line of things in connection with the truth. I'm just saying this, young people, I just encourage you to do what Jehoshaphat did. The first thing he did is strengthen himself.
In the things of God against the error of the day, against the ecclesiastical error of the day, he didn't go along with everything that was religious, and he delighted to learn more of the God of Israel. And I just suggest that this is one of the first things that should characterize us in our youth is that we should be studying the scriptures ourselves and that we should know what is truth. Not everything, not everyone that names the name of Christ.
Is speaking the truth in connection with the Lord Jesus?
You know, I was in a shopping mall.
Years ago and I was looking at one of these signs at the at the mall and it tells you where you are and you're looking for a store and where it is on the map and so on. And I had a fellow standing beside me and I said something and he responded and I, but there was a little something. I said something about the Lord and he responded and it was just a little off.
So I said.
What are you connected with?
He said I'm Jehovah's Witness. I said no, you're not.
He said, yes, I'm Jehovah's Witness. I'm I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses. I said no, you're not.
He said yes I am. I said no, you're not.
Jehovah is Jesus. Jesus is Jehovah.
He didn't answer me. He turned on his heel and he walked away. Now I'm perhaps a little more dramatic in how I might approach some of something. You don't have to be that dramatic, but it's nice to be able to know what the truth is and know that these individuals are deceptive. It says in Second Corinthians chapter two. I think it is. We are not ignorant of his devices.
That Satan, we're not in the Kelly translation says we're not ignorant of his stratagems. He has strategies.
00:25:03
To just try to take us off base, OK. The second thing we want to notice in connection with Jehoshaphat is he placed forces in all the fence cities of Judah, set garrisons in the land of Judah and the cities of Ephraim, which ASA, his father, had taken.
Some of us are 3rd, 4th.
5th generation at the Lord's Table.
I think I could look into the face. I know that some are first generation at the Lord's table.
By Father and grace and goodness of God, my father was saved out of Roman Catholicism, bought the truth, was gathered to the Lord's name and.
I heard the gospel of the grace of God from his lips Himself. I took Christ as my Savior and then a little later on I was gathered by the Spirit of God, I believe to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then I had to learn the truth for myself. And so it says here that he fortified himself in the cities of Ephraim, which Asas father had taken. So he needed to learn the truth for himself. He needed to fortify himself in connection with those cities and all of the truth of God. Now the whole land of Israel had was 12 tribes and then ten went off and.
Well, they didn't have much access to those other that property where the 10 tribes were.
But you know, this is a fabulous little story of Jehoshaphat because there was a little recovery. It speaks to us of a recovery, a little remnant desiring to go on for the glory of God. And this man had energy.
You're not going to learn the truth of God by just cruising. It's nice to come to meetings like this, but it's nice, you know, to be able to study the Word for yourself and to fortify yourself in connection with the doctrines of Christianity. Could I make a suggestion to you? You know, there was a brother, an older brother, Chapter Brown. I never met him.
That I listened to his ministry.
Very, very thankful. Listen to the Ministry of others that I never met Harry Hajo.
Never met some of these older brethren, but I listen to their ministry on recorded ministry and so on.
And, umm.
He had this little expression. He used to say, you know, young people, this book, The Concise Bible Dictionary, will answer 75% of all the questions that you have about scripture.
That's what he would say.
Do you have one?
Well, my dad has one.
That's not good enough. Could I just encourage you to get it? You know, I think it's $25 or something like that, maybe slightly more. John, Brother John Kaiser might be able to tell you.
But some of us as young men, I don't know, maybe Brother Nick and others used to read other materials, but I used to sit down on a Saturday afternoon, a Saturday morning.
And I used to read through the Bible dictionary. Now that sounds like dry reading, right? A dictionary. But, you know, there's little gems that you can read and there's little outlines of each of the books of the Bible. Well, a brother, Nick has written a little outline. It's called short sketches.
Of all the books of the Bible? And isn't it nice to know something about every book of the Bible?
You know, some of our older brother in the past used to say, how would you like to go and meet Hosea? Hosea says, oh, did you read my prophecy? Said, oh, sorry, Jose, I I don't know. I where was it? Didn't didn't get to it. No, we should have a knowledge of the whole of the Scriptures. It's not a very big book. You know, it takes maybe 50 hours or 53 hours to read from front to back of the Bible. Have you ever done it?
It's necessary. Well, this is the second thing that Jehoshaphat did. He strengthened himself.
It took energy, it took time, and he allocated resources to acquire this objective in his life. Well, verse three says the Lord was with Joshua because he walked in the first ways of his father David. That's really referring to David's sin, I believe, with Bathsheba. But David walked with the Lord. He was he was a type of Christ and there was failure. But here was Jehoshaphat.
00:30:00
A generations later.
And he was walking in the ways of his father David, and sought not unto Balaam, but sought unto the Lord God of his Father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.
Therefore, the Lord established the Kingdom in his hand. All Judah brought Jehoshaphat presence and he had riches and honor and abundance. Well, you know this next thing that we want to speak of really versus.
Three to six is really in connection with having a value for the presence of the Lord.
A value for the communion. A walk of communion with the Lord.
Did the Lord value having Josh fat walk with him?
You know, it says that Enoch walked with God, and God took him, for he was not.
Enoch was walking with the Lord one day and they were enjoying something together, a divine things.
And the Lord just took him. And there's Enoch with the Lord.
Jehoshaphat.
Notice.
That it was his personal desire was to walk with the Lord. You know what just point out and maybe you've heard me point it out before, but in the French translation, you'll notice in verse three it says Lord capital L capital O capital R capital D Lord. And in the French translation messenger Garvey uses the word Jehovah. He doesn't. There is no.
Or late Almel, it's the equivalent to Jehovah the Eternal 1.
Isn't that nice? The Eternal 1.
Maybe you're a boy, six years old, eight years old. You can walk with the Lord. You're a teenager. Maybe you're a little older than a teenager, but you can walk with the Lord.
And the Lord will notice that he'll value that.
And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat. The eternal One was with Jehoshaphat.
Oh, Jehoshaphat had a sense of it, I believe. Would you want anyone else to be with you? I delight to have my wife with me, and I know she's not well today, but it's nice to be together and to be on a trip and to be able to share thoughts together and so on, but isn't nice.
For you and I that know the Lord Jesus as Savior to cultivate speaking with the Lord, having a time of prayer and being able to with ease, to pray with reverence and godly fear, to pray with the Lord, to pray to him and just to communicate with him the feelings of our thoughts, of our hearts, and just to express ourselves. Don't you ever think, young people?
That people that are older. I think John Kemp is 84.
Is that right? 84 years old? Don't you ever think that John Kemp isn't afraid? Sometimes he is.
And you know what he does when he prays, when he, uh, he's afraid, He prays, He tells the Lord he's afraid. And don't you ever think that your mother and father aren't afraid either? They're afraid sometimes and they pray, they ask the Lord for help. Your older brethren are no better than you are. Know they desire in some measure. The brethren here at Pella have gone to an extreme measure of work labor.
Expense so that the word of God could go forth.
And that you would come here and receive something for your soul, and that you wouldn't go back home the same way that you would go back home with a renewed desire to live for Christ and to make the changes in your life that would produce fruit for him. That's what these brethren have desired, and that's what the Lord desires. Well, it says here that this one.
These few verses really show us that Jehoshaphat wanted to.
Walk in communion with the Lord.
'S presence and he wanted the Lord's approval. Therefore the Lord established the Kingdom in his hand. It's a blessing of the Lord.
And then it says his heart was lifted up, or it should be encouraged in the ways of the Lord. Moreover, he took away the high places and Groves out of Judah.
Well, this verse here speaks of the high places you know the religious system in.
Israel time when they were a nation, there were two kinds of high places. Do you remember? There were high places that were idolatrous, high places, and they had idols there, they had Groves. And let's read it. I think it's Deuteronomy chapter 12 That illustrates that, really speaks against those.
00:35:12
Two kinds of high places. One of them is idolatrous, it says in verse 2.
Deuteronomy 12, verse two. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess serve their gods, upon the high mountains, upon the hills, and under every green tree. And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their Groves with fire. Ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.
You shall not do so unto the Lord your God. So there were idolatrous high places.
But then there were other high places where you could practice Judaism, but not at the divine center. You could choose to go to another place and offer sacrifices in a high place, and you could practice Judaism but not go to Jerusalem, where the Lord had chosen to place His name. So there were imitations, you might say, of what God had established in Jerusalem.
And so neither of them were acceptable to God.
The first was a true abomination to the Lord, and the people of God were to destroy those things, those images, and so on. But it says he took away the high places in the Groves out of Judah. He took away the idolatrous places, the idolatrous high places. We'll learn in another place that he didn't take away.
The religious high places. Let's sing a hymn. Let's stand up and sing a hymn.
#318.
Oh Lamb of God, still keep.
On and tears up around us and love.
Well, let's look at verses 7 to 9 here. It's really that the another aspect of this man's reign. In the third year of his reign, he sent to his Princess, even to Ben Hale and Obadiah and Zachariah and Nathaniel and so on.
So he selected 9 Levites. Really. There were 5 Princess.
9 Levites and two priests.
00:40:04
And, you know, this was a little bit of a recovery in the nation. Remember, Solomon's reign is a type of the millennial reign of Christ. And there's going to be in that reign. There's no, not going to have to be a, a restoration or a recovery. But, you know, Solomon's reign was a high point in Israel's history. And he fell into idolatry himself. And then Rehoboam, his son, lost most of the Kingdom, as we said previously, and all those things and.
But God for his own glory.
For his own delight wanted to have a place where he would be glorified and he arranged that this man Jehoshaphat would have an exercise to send out these men to teach the truth throughout the nation. That wonderful. You know, I think of how the Lord raised up the different ones at the recovery of the truth in 1800s and men like GV Wigram and.
Mr. Darby and chapter Macintosh and all these.
Beloved brethren. And they went out throughout the known world at that time, and the truth was recovered and they taught and it took a lot of energy and they went by steamship and train and they wrote. They didn't have computers, so everything had to be handwritten and.
It was hard work.
But it was something, you know, in connection with the truth of God, that Jehoshaphat had had an exercise that all of the people of God should come into the knowledge of the truth and that they should be made aware of what God had for the Saints of God in that time. And it says in verse nine that they taught in Judah and had the book of the law of the Lord with them.
And went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people.
You know, it's just, umm, I think of this in connection with, I think it's Second Timothy, Second Timothy Chapter 2.
Yeah, Second Timothy, Chapter 2. And Paul was speaking to Timothy, you know, he says.
Now therefore, my son, not nice term, the Lord looks at you and he looks upon you with favor. You know it doesn't matter whether you're a sister, whether you're a brother. He looks upon you with favor in relationship that he has with you. And he says as it were, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able.
Teach others also.
You know what's the responsibility of every generation? To pass on the truth to the next generation in its entirety and in its purity, exactly the way we received it. Don't add anything to it and don't take anything from it. It's our responsibility. And did you know that Joshua had that sense of his responsibility and he had learned the truth? I believe he had learned it.
From his father ASA, Thank God that many of us have godly parents and that we had had Christian parents, failing Christian parents, and I'm a failing Christian parent more perhaps than any others, but we have had Christian parents that brought something of the knowledge of the truth before us.
And we would be very, very we ought to be very, very thankful for parents that have brought us into the knowledge of the truth and then for those that have ministered the truth among us. But they took the word of God that he read out of the law of the Lord with them. They went throughout all the cities of Judah. So there was the truth was all for all of the.
People of God and this man Jehoshaphat labored that the truth might be ministered.
Do you know what the truth of God is? Do you know what Paul's doctrine is? You have a little outline of it.
You know, Paul's doctrine, that's not very complicated. There's really 4 main parts to what he presented as received from the Lord and presented as his doctrine. You might say one of the things is Christ and the church. Christ and the church. It was a mystery. It was a secret in God's heart from way back, and God revealed the secret of it to the apostle Paul that Christ would have a church. And he speaks of it in Ephesians.
And of the mystery and in Colossians and he speaks of it a little bit in as his gospel at the end of Romans chapter 16 where I think verse 25 perhaps, but you know, it's Christ in the church that we are heavenly people and so on. He speaks of the Lord's coming, the coming of the Lord Jesus at the rapture. The Old Testament Saints knew that the Lord was coming at the appearing. They had no idea about the at the rapture. They didn't know it was not revealed.
00:45:28
But it's a part of Paul's doctrine that we we learn about it in First Thessalonians chapter 4 and the change in our bodies and so on in in First Corinthians chapter 15. It's Paul's doctrine. We need to know what it is and we need to enjoy it. He wrote it for us because he loves us and he wanted us to enjoy it as young people. He wanted us to enjoy it and to be found waiting and watching for him as young people and.
Two and then the breaking of bread, the remembrance of the Lord. We read it this morning, First Corinthians Chapter 11. You know, it's Paul's doctrine. You say, well Mark and Matthew and Luke, well they have that same story and so on. How do you say it's Paul's doctrine? Well, historically and perhaps we might say from a Jewish perspective, it's written in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but.
In Paul's ministry, it's written from the church's perspective and it gives us the doctrinal significance.
Of what it is to remember the Lord in his death. When I take the loaf, a piece of that loaf, I'm confessing publicly professing that I'm a member of the body of Christ and I'm participating in that way at the Lord's table. And the blood or the cup represents the blood, and it's a cup of blessing. I couldn't be better blessed.
I'm within the veil. I have the ability to offer sacrifices, praise to God continually. I can come right into the presence of God. Aaron could come once a year, but you can come anytime. It's Paul's doctrine and all of those things too that we have in Christ. You could read Ephesians chapter one. You get a good portion of them, but all of the blessings that we have in Christ and the fact that we're heavenly citizens, that's Paul's doctrine.
And so we should have an outline of that. Well, it says in verse 10, the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. Also some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presence, tribute, silver Arabians brought him flocks, 7700 Rams, 7700 goats, you know.
Young people, God wants your life to be blessed, and he wants you to receive a blessing from Himself. It says in the Proverbs. It says the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. A better translation is The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and labor addeth nothing to it.
You couldn't add to it. Do you want the blessing of the Lord?
In your life.
Well, I think everyone of us would say, yes, we want the blessing of the Lord in our lives, but you know, we have to be going on in a state, spiritual state. Our standing before God is sure, certain, we can never lose our salvation. We're safe and secure, but our state ebbs and flows and we need to walk in communion with the Lord. But the Spirit of God gives us this little story about Jehoshaphat says this was a high point.
Jehovah Jehoshaphat's life was such.
Oh, I was just so enjoying Jehoshaphat. I'm going to bless him. And he's not going to have war. Philistines are going to bring him some presents and so on. You know, it's a little picture of the millennial scene. But remember, this is a recovery.
There was a little bit of a recovery in the nation of Israel here, and you live in days of weakness.
Sometimes maybe I'm.
A little different, but sometimes I pass a church building and I see people going in and I begin to cry. I weep.
When I see what's the name is on the building.
Well, I see how many people are going in there.
I have a hard time with that. It's difficult.
You know, we live in a day of ruin, a day when many are following the blind leaders or leading the blind and men are just being LED into error. It's a sad day, but you know, we are susceptible to repeating the history if we don't go on in the truth ourselves. We don't learn the truth ourselves and we don't study the scriptures ourselves.
00:50:24
But.
Here. There's a little picture here of the Lord's reward, the Lord's blessing.
And he said had said to them in in the Old Testament, we could turn to it Deuteronomy Chapter 11.
It says.
There when there was a time when they would walk in obedience to the Lord.
Verse Deuteronomy 11 Verse 25. There shall no man be able to stand before you, for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you, and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
You know the Lord moves hearts of people, the hearts of men. It says in the Scriptures that the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He turneth it whithersoever he will. And so sometimes in the governmental ways of God, he has to introduce some difficulties in our lives, to turn us and to educate us perhaps, and to in love and His faithfulness to chasten us or to train us.
In a certain matter that we might allow in our lives.
But you know, Jehoshaphat pleased the Lord, he walked in communion with the Lord, and the Lord saw fit that there wasn't necessity to bring in disciplinary matters in his life at this point. And so there was a fear of the Lord that fell. The terror of Jehovah fell upon all the kingdoms of land. So he didn't have to go and fight any battles. He didn't have to go fight wars. It was very expensive and time consuming and so on, loss of life.
And he had gifts from the Gentiles.
He had gifts.
You'll forgive a little personal.
Story it's not that the Lord is going to give you a physical physical gifts. You might say he'll give you spiritual gifts in the day that we live in but you don't have only one son running a construction company and in the Lord's mercy as he seeks to live for the Lord for his glory and you know I've been astonished at some of his customers say one of his customers had.
A Honda.
I think it was some sort of a leaf blower, some sort of a very expensive piece of equipment said, you know, I'm never going to, I bought this thing to blow my leaves and so on. I'm never going to use it. Would you like it?
Here he ends up with a leaf blower, Honda leaf blower, and the Marina at the end of the Bay. Jonathan was kind to them and so on. And man had a a boat, an aluminum work boat. I don't know how much these things cost.
Men wanted to get another one as a demo boat and he says to Jonathan, would you like this other boat?
I'll give you a really good price on it.
Aero Jonathan Schott burned five years ago. Lost all of his tools, lost one front end loader, lost a boat with a brand new motor on it.
Lord gives them aluminum work boat.
Best boat in the business that you'd possibly have. The Lord always gives the best. Never, never think young people, that the Lord is withholding something good from you as He allows trials in your lives.
He always gives the best you can search the scriptures. He always gives the best. He never holds back what is not good for us. Well, we noticed something else here in verse 12. It says that he had he vax great exceedingly built Judah city castles and cities, and he had mighty men of valor. And then he goes on and says that there's Edna the chief and a Messiah, the son of Zechariah a little.
On verse 16, who gave himself unto the Lord. So this last point is that.
One of the last points, he kept company with people that would help him. He kept company with those that were exercised. It appears that they were exercised men and they didn't just get to be the chief by buying.
The privilege, you might say. They worked.
Hard they became one of them, became the chief Adna, the chief Johannan in verse 15, the captain and Messiah, son of Zechariah, men of renown.
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I just want to point this out to you.
You are making a mark in the day that you live in.
You have a testimony.
And you personally?
Are influencing the Christian testimony.
In the day that you live in and you are either building or you are.
Eroding the truth, contributing to the error, contributing to the erosion of the truth and the weakening the hand of your brethren, whatever it might be, Wasn't it wonderful that Jehoshaphat had an exercise to surround himself with those that were building, those that were defending the truth of God and defending really the country of Israel? And if you add it all up.
1,160,000.
He had an army of these men, five of them that are named, or five or six of them, five of them that are named, and he had surrounded himself with those that would help him. I hope that you choose your friends rightly, those that want to go on for the Lord for His glory. Now the last point we want to make is that this man in verse 16, MSI of the son of Zechariah, who willingly offered himself unto the Lord.
Jehoshaphat, I believe, had taken this step. He had offered himself to the Lord, to Lord's people.
And he had sought to sacrifice his resources and so on for the blessing of God's people. There was a failure in his life a little bit later on, but I don't want to dwell on that. These points here, The first point, verse one, that he was, he strengthened himself against the religious error around them. And the second thing is that, you know, he had a value for what he had been taught, what Issa's father had taken.
And so he had a value for his heritage, for his spiritual heritage.
And then you find in verses three to six, you find that he had a sense of the Lorde blessing and the sense of the Lorde approval. He wanted it. And so that's something that we should seek as well. And then in verses 7 to 9, why we find that he was doing the work of the Lord, and he was.
Strengthening the people of God in connection with the the Truth.
And then a little bit later on verse 10 and 12, we find the blessing of the Lord, and He had.
A sense of the presence of the Lord and blessing of the Lord. And then another thing might be that he built that testimony. He valued the divine center and versus really 12 to 13.
He built, I didn't really comment on that, but he was a builder and then he also kept company with those that were of like precious faith. And then he offered there were he kept company with one who offered himself to the Lord.
Have you done it? Have you offered yourself to the Lord? Have you made yourself available to the Lord?
You know the Apostle Paul did.
Cost him his life.
You know the Lord Jesus did.
Suffered himself a sacrifice to God for the sweet smelling savor cost him his life.
Says he was a faithful and true witness. Cost him his life.
Let me read it to you this little in this little hymn book that we have.
When we were had a young family, we typed this out on a computer and put it on our refrigerator.
So that might remind us a little bit of the reason that we were here in this world. This is what we had on our refrigerator. I gave my life for thee. My precious blood I shed that thou minest.
Ransom be and quicken from the dead. I gave my life for thee. What hast thou given me for me?
My Father's House of light, My glory circled throne I left for earthly night, for wanderings of sad and lone. I left it all for thee. What hast thou left? Hast thou left aught for me?
I suffered much for thee, more than thy tongue can tell. A bitterest agony to rescue thee from hell. I've borne it all for thee. What hast thou born for me? And I have brought to thee down from my home above salvation, full and free, my pardon and my love. I bring rich gifts to thee. What hast thou brought to me?