Address—G. Hayhoe
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Number 209209 Our times are in my hand, Father. We wish them there. Our life, our soul are all we leave entirely to thy care. 209.
Our times are.
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Our.
Garden in Northern Ireland.
You really love our hands and will be crying.
I'd like to turn first of all to the 25th chapter of Jeremiah.
Put on my head in my heart especially was how we have two things in our lives. We have the sovereignty of God and we have our responsibility. And I believe they're beautifully brought before us in God's ways in connection with the people of God. I was thinking of the captivity which they had and how God brought them back from that captivity as it's described in the book of Ezra. But in this 25th of Jeremiah we see that it is announced long before.
25th chapter of Jeremiah.
A tent burst.
Moreover, I will take from thee the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment. And those these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.
It shall come to pass, when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation sayeth the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it a perpetual desolation. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in the this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.
Here we see that long before the captivity took place, when the children of Israel were taken captive and brought down to Babylon, God announced that this was going to happen. He told how long it would be. They would be there, how long this captivity would last. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if you and I just thought for a moment that God knows all about us, He could talk about our lives for 70 years to come. He could tell exactly what's going to happen.
What's going to happen to those who are acquainted with us and that we have to do with, you know, known unto God, are all his works from eternity? Isn't a blessed thing for us as children of God. To be able to say that God, who knows all things, makes all things work together for good tells us in Romans chapter 8 and verse 28. All things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to His purpose.
And I've always enjoyed the context there, because it immediately follows by these words whom he did for know, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Who he did predestinate them, he also called. Whom he called them he also justified, and who he justified them he also glorified You and I might say, well, my life story hasn't been written yet, but in God's ways and in his purposes it has been written.
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And so as we read those verses in Romans chapter 8, we might say, well, how is all this going to work together for good? Perhaps at some time you picked up a book and you came to a very, very dark page. Dark.
Paragraph or a dark chapter in that book. And you said, I don't know how this is going to work out. It certainly looks pretty dark. And what did you do? Well, you went over to the end of the story.
And when you saw that the story ended all right, you went back and you read that sad chapter with perfect confidence. Why?
Because you said I peaked. I know how the story ends and so it's going to be all right. Maybe the tears were running down your face as you read this sad chapter. So God says, I know that's going to happen in your life too. You're going to say, how are all things going to work together for good. So God says, well, I'll tell you the end of the story. What is the end of the story? There were going to be conformed to the image of his son and every believer in this room.
Some are passing through real times of stress and sorrow in your life. Isn't it wonderful when we meet in the glory?
Everyone of us are going to say, well, I see how God worked that all out, but he knows that beforehand and he's working those things. Would you say, don't we have anything to do? Yes, responsibility comes in. We're going to see in God's dealings with Israel how responsibility came in.
The two things run concurrently in our lives, responsibility and sovereignty. And God who knows the end from the beginning knows how to make those things work out. So God said that they were going to be in captivity for 70 years before this ever happened at all. And so I just want to say this word of encouragement for any who may be passing through trials or perhaps there is something ahead of you that.
You don't quite know about yet. This often happens. We start out and everything looks very bright and some tragic things happen and we say, however, can that work together for good? Will God use this period in Babylon for blessing? We've all read the book of Daniel, and God gave a wonderful testimony in Babylon through some of those who were captives there. We think of Daniel and we think of his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
God had his own way of bringing a testimony into Babylon through these men. And so, even though they were, because of their failure, brought their God can overrule circumstances like that and make them turn into a blessing. And so we love to read the book of Daniel and find all that God did through Daniel and his friends, how faithfully were when they were placed in that land.
For they might have easily said, well, what have we done that we have to be down here? Because they were faithful believers, and yet God allowed it, and God turned everything out for blessing. And now let's turn over to Daniel. I'd just like to notice one thing in Daniel Chapter 9.
Chapter 9 in the second verse.
In the first year of this reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years for of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord my God to seek by prayer and supplication, and fasting and sackcloth and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said.
Oh Lord God, the great and terrible God, keeping the covenant with and mercy, to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments, We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from My precepts and from Thy judgments. Neither have we hearkened unto Thy servants the prophets, which spake in Thy name, to our kings, our Princess, our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
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Oh, Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near, and that are far off through all the countries, whether thou hast driven them because of their trespasses.
Because of their trespass, which they that they have trespassed against thee, oh Lord, to us belong with confusion of face to our kings, to our Princess, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him.
Well, here that had taken place, that God had foretold because God knows the future. There they were down in Babylon. Babylon, as we know, was a picture of confusion, and they kept the people of God down there in *******.
But we see that those Daniel and his three friends, they were faithful. They didn't allow themselves to be irritated by their condition. They might have easily said, well, it wasn't our fault that all this happened. It was fault of our fathers that had happened.
See them taking their circumstances from the Lord. First chapter of Daniel says the Lord delivered them into the hand of King of Babylon. The Lord gave them favor in the sight of those who were over them. The Lord gave them the ability that they had, for they did very well in their school training and it got good positions. God was overall, but now we find that Daniel is 1.
Who reads the word of God? He searches the word of God, and I'd like to encourage every young person here to read the word of God and read every bit of it. You may not always understand it, but the Spirit of God is. The remembrance tells us in John 16. He shall bring all things to your remembrance. How can he bring things to our remembrance if we have never read them? For as we were saying in the meetings, the Bible is unlike any other book.
It's God's book and it's perfect when you think of all those books, 66 books. And if you take the five books of the Psalm, 70 books. And isn't it wonderful? Do we have this word of God spoken over a period of hundreds and hundreds of years and all fitting together perfectly because it's God's word? Well, here was Daniel in this captivity, perhaps feeling badly that the people of God were down there in Babylon and.
He found written there that God had said this captivity was going to last 70 years. So what does he do? Does he say, well, that's going to that's good news. No, he didn't just stop there. It was indeed good news. It was a wonderful thing for him to have discovered this, that the captivity was going to come to an end. But now the responsibility side comes in. What did Daniel do? He humbled himself. He acknowledged their iniquity and their failure.
And sometimes this is a hindrance to our blessing, brethren. It's because we're not willing to acknowledge our faults and our failures. Too easy for us to see faults and failures in others, but too often we're very slow to see them in ourselves. But the Word of God would encourage us to get into the presence of God and acknowledge those things that are coming to our own lives that are a hindrance to blessing. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.
For his name's sake. Well, you see Daniel here confessing his sins and the sins of his people.
And acknowledging that the hand of God was upon them, so the sovereignty of God.
Had allowed them to be there, and they were going to be there for 70 years. The time hadn't yet come for its fulfillment, but Daniel knew that there was going to be an end to this captivity as far as those who are faithful was concerned. And God would bring some of them back to the land of Israel. And so here he is making confession and it's good for us. I say again, does anything in your life or mine.
That we have done we've not pleasing honoring to the Lord. Let's get before the Lord about it, you say. Well there's lots of faults in other people, but Bible says every one of us shall give account of himself to God. I'm not responsible for what you did, but I am responsible for what I did. It's good for us to remember that we'll never be happy if we're constantly seeing the wrong in other people and not seeing it in ourselves, but if we are before God.
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He will point out to us those things in our own lives that are a hindrance to blessing.
Well, it's very beautiful to see here Daniel owning and confessing this. So God was beginning to work, Del.
We know that later on he caused the cane to make a decree that the children of the captivity could go back to their land. But he first worked in the heart of Daniel, and Daniel knows and owns their failure. Now we go over to Ezra. We'll see how God worked in the heart of the king.
Ezra, Chapter One.
Verse one now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his Kingdom, and put it also in writing. Saying Thus, saith Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth.
And he hath charged me to build him in house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah, who is there among you of all his people. His God be with him.
And let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of the Lord.
God of Israel, He is the God which is in Jerusalem, And whosoever remaineth in any place where he saw Jerneth, let the men of his place help him.
With silver and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the free will offering for the House of God, which is at Jerusalem, Then rolls up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the House of the Lord, which is at Jerusalem. And only that were about them, strengthened their hand with vessels of silver.
With gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.
We've been noticing how God foretold this would happen before it ever happened. They had spent 70 years down there. God had wrought in the heart of Daniel, and Daniel had found out from the scriptures that their captivity was going to last 70 years. Now we see God working in the heart of this great king. You say, well, there's no hope that that would happen. Yes, it could happen. It did happen. And God is able. And it's a wonderful thing. Brethren, you may be in an impossible situation.
I've heard people say you'll never change that person, but God can change them. God can change him. You pray about it. You may be surprised when you pray and ask the Lord that he can touch the heart of that person and make him show an altogether different attitude.
Found that so often we just get sort of stubborn about it and say it's no use. But isn't it sweet to see that God wrought in the heart of this great king? And he said, not only can the people go back, but I'm going to help them and I'm going to give them what is necessary so that they can go back and build that House of God. Oh, how wonderful are the ways of God. Perhaps behind the scene it was the faithfulness of dear Daniel and his friends.
Because we know when they were there, they didn't fail to let their light shine. And during those 70 years we have a little record of the three friends of Daniel and himself and how they were faithful in their school life, and then how when there was a decree made that.
Everyone was to fall down and worship an image. There were three boys that said no, we're going to honor the Lord. We will not fall down and worship that image. Even if you put us to death, we'll still not do it. And they threw them into the fiery furnace, but the Lord walked with them in the fiery furnace. God is able to do what seems impossible. He can't touch people's hearts. But what I was saying was it may have been the testimony of Daniel and his friends while they were there that made this King Cyrus realize.
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That there was a true God in the whole world, the God of this whole world. And now he makes this decree and says that they can go back. He actually helps them, and he commands others that if they're willing, they can help them. And now we see that their hearts are stirred up to go back. And if we come to this second chapter.
Tells us here all the names of those who came back.
You might say, well, I always have found it hard to read over a list of names, but I'm sure if your name was in there, you would be very interested in that list. Sometimes when they publish a list of the ones who have graduated from certain courses, you're very anxious to see that list if you're some hope that your name is going to be in there.
The Lord calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. We all like to be addressed by name. I confess I forget people's names, but it's very nice when somebody comes up to you and says hello and gives you your very name. Well, here we have the list of the names of those who came back. And the Lord takes notice of us not just as a group, while 100 people, or 200 people or 500. No, He has He calleth his own sheep by name.
All I want to encourage you. I don't know the names of all who are here, but you know God has a list of the names of all who were here present. He knows, perhaps that some it's been a real difficulty to take time off and get here. The Lord takes notice of all those things, and I'm sure it wasn't a very easy thing for these people to make those journey. There's one little point I'd just like to notice also in this, the 61St verse.
And of the children of the priests, the children of Happy Ayah, the children of cause, the children of Basilia, which took away for the daughters of Basilia, the Gileadite, and was called after their name. These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, But they were not found, Therefore were they as polluted put from the priesthood. And that Hirsha said unto them, they should not eat of the most holy things till they're stood up. A priest with Urim and Thummim. Thummim.
Here we find that there was care.
And this is an interesting feature here too, that there is such a thing in the word of God as defilement by association. People sometimes say, well, I'm walking godly where you associated with something that is contrary to the Word of God.
That's very solemn.
Association with evil defiles were told in Second Timothy 2 That those who would be vessels to honor for the Lord had to separate from the vessels to dishonor.
The man therefore purged himself from these. He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepare it unto every good work. Be careful what you get associated with, I'm sure, when these people.
Married the daughters of Brazilian. They never thought this was going to happen. And so I say to you, dear young people, be careful the partner that you have, be careful. Let you choose one who loves the Lord Jesus, who wants to follow him, Who wants to honor him? How can two walk together except they be agreed He's going to have an effect on your whole life If you get married to one who is not saved or doesn't want to follow the Lord, what a hindrance it's going to be.
Well, here in this little company there were those. They were polluted by their association. May the Lord keep us. He's able unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. I couldn't keep myself.
Could easily have been LED astray. I just thank the Lord for his preserving grace. Ask him to keep you.
He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
And I'm not going to read the remainder of this chapter, but I'd sort of as interested me that it should tell about the number of horses and mules. You would wonder why Everett is the word of God. Deal with the details as that. But in that, very lovely to see that God is interested in the smallest details of our lives. We all need the transportation to get here. Was he concerned whether we had a way of transportation, whether art had a car or the car was in order and able to carry us here? Yes.
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He's interested in all these things. What a wonderful God we have. A God who counts the very hairs of your head. You haven't got a friend that ever did that for you. My wifes never counted the hairs of my head. And yet there's a lot of love between us, and there's no one that would do that for you. But the Lord numbers the very hairs of your head and mine. What a wonderful God we have. I want to encourage you. If you belong to him, acknowledge him in your life. Give him his rightful place.
And you'll find how he'll come in. I don't see you won't have difficulties. Christian life is beset with that. But we learn in all those difficulties that come how good the Lord is and how he comforts us. I tell a little story sometimes about my father. He went to the dentist in those days when they didn't freeze your when they're taking doing a filling or something. And sometimes they were quite painful and this time the dentist was going to do a rather deep cavity and he said.
Mr. Hey. Oh, this is going to be rather painful. Oh, do it as gently as I can. But we have drill this out to fill the tooth. And you know what my father said to him? He said Doctor Lyon. That was his name. Doctor Lyon. He said if I never suffered pain I would never know what the word PAIN meant. And when I heard about the Lord's suffering pain untold for me, he said it would be just a word to me. I wouldn't know what pain was.
But he said, every time I suffer a little bit of pain, it just gives me a little conception of the sorrow and the pain that my Savior had when He bore my sins in His own body on the tree. So let's think about that, that sometimes these things teach us lessons that are going to be valuable to us even here and for all eternity. Well, so we see the number of the horses and all that they had, and we come to the third chapter.
Of Ezra here.
Says here, And when the 7th month was come, and children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Then stood up Joshua the son of John Adec, and his brethren, the priests and Rubble, the son of Chihuahua and his brethren, and builded the altar of the Lord God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God. And they set the owner upon his basis for fear upon them because of the people.
Of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings there on unto the Lord, even burnt offerings, mourning and evening. They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number.
According to the custom, as the duty of every day required. But here what was the first thing that they did? You might have said, Well, you must have felt so very feeble you would think by themselves first of all. But no, it was the first thing they did.
They gave the Lord his rightful place. That was the first thing that says. They gathered themselves as one man to Jerusalem. God had a center when Daniel was in Babylon. He couldn't get there. There he was. But he opened his window toward Jerusalem. He said, If I can't get there, I at least recognize that God has an earthly center and I'm going to pray toward that place because the Lord, who for knew everything, he said that he would answer a prayer that was made in that place.
But also prayer that was made toward that place. And so he opened his window toward Jerusalem. Well, now, there may be times when you and I might be able. We might be isolated, not be able to get to the meetings. But on Wednesday morning we can think of it. I know some when they were in a place where they couldn't remember the Lord, they said, well, I just went for a little quiet time. And I we just sat there in the Lord's presence. We couldn't get to the meeting at Lord's Day.
But we recognize that there was a place where the Lord put his name. We couldn't get there, but we were going to think about him during that hour and in our hearts remember him well, it's a privilege when we can get there. Well, they were there. This company Daniel had opened his window, but now here are the people and they're there and they offered burnt offerings. They're on. No, there are different offerings that are mentioned, but the burnt offering is the first one and the burnt offering brings before us.
What the work of Christ is to God, And I think it's very precious. Not only has it met our need.
But it has glorified God, and it is brought out what is in the heart of God toward us too.
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Sometimes I use illustrations because they help me at least to understand things.
Closing I have a debt and I cannot pay that debt. And someone says, well, Gordon, I know you've got a big debt and I'll.
Go and pay it for you. So he goes and pays the debt. He hands me the receipt. I know my creditor can never bother me because I've got a receipt, but I don't know whether my creditor likes me or not. Maybe he likes me, maybe he doesn't. But supposing, let's put it this way, my creditor himself, he says, you know, I love that Gordon Hayhold. And he says to his son, he said, would you be willing to sell your house and raise the money so we can take this big debt off our books?
And here Stan says, Oh yes, I'd be glad to do that, to tell out your heart and my heart toward Gordon Hayhoe. So he sells his house, the money is raised, and I get a receipt in the mail, and it says paid in full through the kindness of my son.
In both cases I knew the debt was paid a lot of difference. In the second case, I know my creditor, I know his son and dear brethren, not only knowing that our debt is paid, but it's knowing that God himself, as it was mentioned this morning, Who am I? Who will I send? He said I will go to Lord Jesus. God had one son and he said he would send his son and he did send him. And when you and I.
Give thanks that our debt is paid. Many of the hymns that we sing in Christendom bring before us how wonderful it is to know that the debt is paid. But to me it's so wonderful that it was God himself who shall I say, send his son to accomplish that work that would tell out his heart. That's what pictured in the burnt offering. The peace offering is the communion offering. The sin offering is the wrong things that we have done.
Perhaps not always knowing that they were wrong. Trespass offering is knowing that they're wrong and still doing them. That's the trespass offering. And the peace offering is the communion offering. That is, we can be now in communion with God our Father. Well, they offered these burnt offerings and isn't it interesting what it says here?
In the third verse. And they sat the altar upon his bases, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries.
And they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings, mourning and evening. Isn't this quite striking? It says, for fear of the people. Why would that, wouldn't you say? Well, surely they would have got swords and Spears ready if they were afraid of the people now.
They said if we give the Lord His rightful place, we can count on him. If we give the Lord his rightful place. So they said the first thing is to give him that in all things he might have the preeminence. So they first of all built this altar and offered offerings morning and evening. Good to start the day with the Lord. It's good to end the day with the Lord too, morning and evening.
Well, so this was done, and it tells us about them offering willingly unto the Lord. So I'd just like to go over now to the.
8th chapter because.
I.