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UH-14.
But now your heart be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me.
In my father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And whether I go you know, and the way you know.
Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou doest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the light. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If he had known me, he should have known my Father also, and from henceforth you know him and have seen him. Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffice to us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yes, hast thou not know me, Phyllis?
Either have seen names, have seen the Father and house, saith thou then show us the Father, Believe us, thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father and me. The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, who doeth the work. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very worst sake.
Verily, verily, I said to you, he that believeth on me the works that I do, shall he do also, and greater works than thee shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified through the Son. If we shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.
If he loves me to keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it's feathered not, neither knoweth Him. But you know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will now leave you comfortless. I will come to you, get a little while, and the world seeth me no more. But you see me.
Whoever I live, he shall live also.
At that day he shall know that I am in my father, and ye and me, and I am you either have my commandments and keepeth them.
Here it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him not mysterious Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loved me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and the word which he hears, not mine.
But the Father would send me these things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, not as the world give us, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled either, let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you love me, you would rejoice, because I said I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it is come to pass, you might believe hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the Prince of this world cometh.
And I have nothing in me but that the world may know that I love the Father. And as the Father gave me commandments, Even so I do arise. Let us go ahead.
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It might really surprise. I can't even hear this. So I think it's often said that John doesn't really speak of heaven.
But John's ministry really brings heaven down to earth.
And even in the Book of Revelation.
What you get is John being taken up to heaven to see what is going on in heaven as it's going to influence the affairs on the earth and Heaven's judgment of what is going on in earth.
But here in this particularly lovely passage that the if I may say this to savor an odor of heaven could characterize our lives here, Let not your heart be troubled. If we go back into the 13th chapter, Peter was trying to dissuade the Lord previously from going to the cross, and now he said that he would lay down his life for the Lord.
Not understanding what the way was that was marked out for the Lord.
And it led to failure in Peter's life. And so the Lord, immediately after telling Peter that the CAUC shall not crow to allow us, denied him thrice, goes on to say, let not your heart be troubled. And he marks out, He lays out for Peter what the pathway is in this world, pathway of peace.
There's a lot of things in that chapter that are troubling aren't you Neil if you look at that 13th chapter and consider some of the things that the doors himself in verse 21. He was troubled in spirit talks about one of them delivering him up and then they they all have doubts as to who it could be. And besides the the case of Peter that you brought before us. So I think it must have been especially precious word.
When the Lord says, let not your heart be troubled and, uh, the.
The, uh, the whole end of the 13th chapter. I mean, it's a very precious chapter, but the end of it is.
Would be troubling if you were sitting there, wouldn't it? If you were sitting there with the disciples, wouldn't it be troubling to hear that one of them was gonna deliver the Lord up, and another posting that he was not gonna?
He was gonna stand with the Lord, and the Lord said, you're gonna deny me three times. I mean, the Lord didn't try to discourage them, but the circumstances could have discouraged them. And so the Lord tells them.
Don't let your heart be troubled. We believe in or on God. Believe also in me.
So that, uh, the Lord assures them with his own person, doesn't he, that, umm, uh, these things that he's brought before them are not to be troubling to them. They're to be, uh, seen in their perspective. I don't think we ever ought to, uh.
Active zip.
These were not troubling things that we're reading here that we had could have read if we read the 13th chapter. They're very troubling.
But in all the circumstances of life.
The Lord presents himself as the object of faith, and once the eye is on him.
The troubling things don't have the same dimension, do they?
Troubling. Uh, I was thinking of how troubling it would it was to them to know, as the Lord had said, he's going to leave them. He's going to go back to glory. He's going to go back to heaven.
We'll go back to the father, really, and we find that at the end of his 13th chapter. But then he says let knock your heart be troubled or disturbed.
Umm, believe in God, believe, uh, uh, you, you believe in God, believe also me. They believed in God, but they didn't realize that with them was that God himself was the Lord Jesus Christ and he was going to leave them. So he says, let not your heart be disturbed. He said he's going to leave, but he said you believed in God. Now you're going to have to believe in me.
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Because he's going to not going to be there for their every want and every desire because they were with him and when they had a question they would ask him and so on. So it's very lovely to think that he said you believe in God, but after I'm gone, you're going to have to believe in me. So it's very beautiful isn't to think that we too right at this moment, the Lord Jesus is not here in the in the true sense of the word.
But we believe on him, and we can petition him, and he hears all of our prayers.
It really is. The foundation of state is to believe what God has said. Paul said that in connection with ministry. I believe therefore I have spoken. And this brings to mind Paul's words in Acts 27, when Paul had warned them not to undertake this voyage and they wouldn't heed.
Paul and umm.
Perhaps read this because there's another situation here.
From verse 20 in Acts 27.
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, no small Tempest lay upon us, and all hope that we should be saved was taken away. But after a long absence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, he should have hearkened unto me, and have not loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you.
Part of the chip or there stood by me this night, the Angel of God.
Whose I am and whom I serve, saying, Fear not all, for thou must be brought before Caesar, and loha. God has given thee all them that sail with thee, wherefore stirs thee of good cure. For I believe God that it shall be, even as it was told unto me. And so the foundation and resting place of our faith is, that we believe God.
And so he says, you believe in God, believe also in me. He's marked out a pathway for us here.
In this earth.
A little expression I believe in or believe on.
Uses a preposition.
A I don't like to be sounding like I know anything about Greek because I don't let me start out by saying that. But it has a wonderful sense, according to anything I've read about it, that it means to rest on a person. To rest one's based on a person. I use this illustration sometimes. Years ago we took our children on the UMM.
Through the empire's empires, the, uh, World Trade Center in New York, uh, the twin towers and they, you can go up in the elevator there. And just before you go up, there's a, a group standing at the bottom. And the, the lady who is the guide tells you that now these elevators are very rapid. They're very safe. They go up 9595 floors and so many seconds. And, uh, uh, it all sounds very assuring. And then he says, all right, now we'll step on the elevator.
Well, one could stand outside and believe all those wonderful things about them. And to illustrate it, one time I did that. I, I stood outside and I, I didn't get on. Whimsy said, get on. And she says certain. Don't you believe what I said.
And I said, oh, you want me to believe on the elevator, right?
Well, he says yes, and that is the rest oneself on it. And that's in connection with, and of course it's always used with a person when it has that little pronoun to believe on someone.
Is to rest all my, all my, uh, life, my future, my everything on that person.
And so the Lord encourages the disciples to do that, doesn't it? Here, believe you, believe in God, believe also in or on me.
Mr. Ironside uses the illustration of a lady that he was visiting one time and his illustrations of Bible truth. He says, uh, he was trying to get across to an old Scots lady, Uh, what it meant to rest on the Lord Jesus and to trust in him and, and, uh, he just didn't seem to get it. And as he went out, there was a little bridge across from her property across a little ditch on the side of the road with a little.
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Fridge across it and not a a just a few planks, I guess. And he stood there and looked at it. He put a foot on it and and drew the foot back again. And, and she says, uh, can you not listen?
I don't know it's got either, but they tell me that means to trust me and rest on it. And, uh, Mr. Iron said, that's what I've been telling you. That's what I've been telling you. It rests on the Lord. Trust in him, put your faith in Him. And that's what the Lord is telling here to the disciples, isn't he? He isn't saying, well, there's a body of doctrine that I'd like you to believe.
There are people who believe a body of doctrine and they're going to hell.
Because they've never put their personal faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, they're not resting on Him. So I believe it's important to understand this. The Lord is inviting them in a troubling time.
To rest on him.
A little bit of a practical work for those that take the gospel to often young men to stand up and take the gospel and like anyone who started out doing that to wonder what should I take up and so on but preach Christ and preach what he has done.
That's what brings certainty to Seoul is preach the person of Christ, open up the word of God and preach the person of Christ and preach what he has done. If you preach experiences and how to get saved and so on, it's a very uncertain resting place for faith. Did I say the right words? Did I do it in the right way? There's turmoil there, but when the gospel really is the announcing of facts.
It's announcing a person. That's why there's so much uncertainty in Christendom, because they're not clear as to the person of Christ who he is, and they're not clear as to the work that he has done. And so that's what really the preaching of the gospel is. It's the announcing of facts, Mr. Darby said preach facts. And so that's a resting place for facts because my acceptance is going to go to speak about being accepted here.
In the Father's house and we say, what is it that renders us acceptable? It's a person and we rest in that. If we rest on an experience or my faithfulness or my faith or whatever, it's a it's a completely unsafe ground, but just to rest on a person and what he has done. So preach that. And so he speaks here in my father's house are many mansions or abodes.
At Windsor Palace, I've seen that if you're traveling, you've traveled in England or Europe at all. All the great houses, they have what are called abodes. They maybe aren't all called that, but Lady Baden Powell, the founder of the Girl Guides, I believe, lived in one of these abodes at Windsor, Windsor Palace. It's called a grace and favor apartment. And so when she was old, she was brought to liberate in the Queen's Palace and there was a place great for her there. It's not the image like there's a street of gold with a lot of fancy houses on it, but there was a place there right in Windsor Palace for her to live.
And that's really the picture here. In my father's house are many mansions or a boat, and he's prepared a place for us, and he's prepared us for that place.
When I was a boy and learned this chapter and I hope some of you boys that are here and girls too will memorize this chapter. It'll be very precious to you when you get older.
You're already crowded. 70 and it's precious to look back on that scriptures and thank God for somebody who made me learn them. But I used to have the picture of the Lord up in heaven. I speak reverently.
And he said, I'm going up there and I'm gonna take a hammer and some nails and some stuff, and I'm gonna get that place ready for you. I think I misunderstood completely what the Lord is saying here when he said I go to prepare a place for you.
I read something very precious.
Probably 1520 years ago. That has been so precious to me. It says this. The entrance of the Lord into that place prepared it for us. The entrance of the Lord into that place prepared it for it. There's no progressive preparation, is there? That's not the thought. He went to the cross. He laid the foundation.
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We went into glory and once he was there in glory, the places a prepared place.
Am I right, brother? Nor am I off the track on that. Well, he said it is finished when he completed the work on the cross, didn't he? I was thinking too of, uh, again of this verse. In my father's house. There are many mansions or abodes going back to Psalm 65. We have a picture of the Millennium, and here's a little encouragement in connection with that. Of course, we know we're gonna be in the Father's house above, but here in.
Psalm 65 we have a little picture of the Millennium and uh, notice what it says. Verse four. Blessed is the man whom thou chooses.
We've been chosen in Christ, haven't we, brought into a place of blessing and causes to approach unto thee? What a privilege this is. And also the endings goes on. And he says that we may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house. What a glorious thought, isn't it? This is for the people of Israel. But our place will be in glory, and the Father's house.
Even of our holy temple. And I was thinking of this in connection with our chapter here because he says, let not your heart be disturbed. You believe in God, believe also. We just turn over to the umm, uh, 27th verse of that same chapter. He brings in this thought, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled or do not be disturbed.
Neither let it be afraid. Why? What was their piece? There was more trials difficulties after the Lord left. They were, they all died, uh, you know, as almost like martyrs, sufferings and so on. But he left them a wonderful heritage, didn't he? His piece, his piece, it says, uh.
Umm, my a piece. I leave with you my piece.
Yeah, his. His was always at peace with the Father, and so he's gonna lead them. But he said not as the world giveth, give I unto you, Let not your heart be disturbed.
I go unto the Father, and my Father is greater than I. How wonderful all this is for us as we think of it now. We think of people, the people of God is gonna be brought into a marvelous place in glory there. Uh, that is the, uh, in the, in the time of the Millennium. But where is our place? It's far above that, isn't it? In the Father's house.
Isn't the place prepared the place of the sun?
Profitable came back to the father and one to be made as one of the hired service, but he found a place that he had was the place of a son.
It's a place different than the thought of a boat.
What was that? And the boat is the dwelling. The place is the position that I have in my father's house. There many of those go to prepare a place to play for the sun.
I'd like to say this is our brother Robert suggested this scripture, and I hope he will be. He and any other younger brothers that might have something on their hearts will not be intimidated, but will feel free to to help us with what they might have. I assume you had some exercises. Further, are we squishing them out? I don't wanna see us through that.
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Different old. I was sitting here this afternoon, uh, I mean this morning thinking of different meetings that I've been to in this very room and thinking of brothers that caught us here and helped us here. They're not here. Some have gone to glory. Some are not able to be here and I think, uh.
God raises up men for a generation, doesn't they? And uh, I just say this to encourage our younger brothers not to be forward, but to to be.
Willing to offer that which the Lord may give you, as led by Him.
And uh, some of us, you take a lot apart. Maybe we do well to sit quietly and listen to you.
It's interesting, our brother, you mentioned that, uh, the question is asked, are you willing? Are you willing to help out? Are you willing to take part? Are you willing to encourage the things of God? Then someone said, well, you can go beyond that. Are you willing to be willing?
Are you willing to be willing?
Sometimes we are abstinent. We we set our thoughts against that, but and we say, well, so and so is there they they, they can tell us all these things, but what about those that do take part? They need encouragement too, perhaps from some of the younger ones, from some of those who the Lord has given something, but they fear to speak up. So I think it's very interesting point you're bringing out.
Such a wonderful thought to express whether Steve and connection a place for you. I believe anyone of us could be picked up and taken to live in Buckingham Palace, but I don't think any one of us in this room would fit in there. We'd find that there was a place for us there. There might be a place prepared for us, but it's a wonderful, uh, uh, a room for us and a boat for us there. But we aren't fit for there. And so a place is prepared for us. I thought you've expressed that we've been brought into this, into sonship.
By the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. And that's really John's ministry, isn't it?
The setting forth in this chapter of the Lord's Coming.
Is the foundation for our hope that he's coming the details as to when?
Whether it's premillennial or pre tribulation, as I believe it is in both cases. But those details are left to another place. What the Spirit of God stirs in our souls here is the pre precious hope that He's coming again.
We may not know when.
And we don't know when. We may even be in confusion as to some of the details, but.
Is your heart looking for it? I I read a pamphlet when I was younger and I hope, uh, I would encourage any of us to have not read it to read it. The difference between holding premillennial doctrine and waiting for the sun from heaven.
The Spirit of God is not interested in solely in making you a premillennial pre tribulation person.
He wants to engage your heart with the Lord Jesus. I will come again and receive you. And I'm glad it was pointed out. Not unto heaven. It doesn't say that it will be happening.
But the point here is unto myself, that where I am.
There you may be also. And so the apostle Paul in First Thessalonians 4, where he begins to unfold some of those details, he said, I want you to be ignorant. Now there's no point in being ignorant. There's no special virtue. In fact, there's not a virtue at all forces. I don't want you to be ignorant concerning those details. And so he sets out by revelations and wonderful things.
But even there, he says.
That the Lord himself is going to descend, and then the end. So shall we ever be where?
OK.
Where's the Lord? That's what counts, isn't it?
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With some more.
That's what the Spirit of God would engage your heart with.
Just heaven or premillennial doctrine or pre tribulation teaching. And by the way, don't think I'm putting that down in any way. I think that we need to get more careful about that because it's being given up on every side. But uh, the point is.
Let me be with it. Let me be with thee. Wherever he is, that's where I wanna be. And, uh.
We're, we're thankful, of course, that we know that it's going to be heaven itself, isn't it? The Father's out, and so we're glad for that. But the important thing here is to be with Him.
That's very important, the senior in these verses, isn't it? It's in verse two he says I go to prepare a place for you. And then in verse three, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, that where I am, there you may be also, and whither I go, ye know, and the way you know. So the whole point is the occupation of the person himself, isn't it?
Doesn't say a word here about heaven, as our brother has already said.
But he said, if I I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am ye there you may be on the whole point is the person of Christ, and that's very beautiful because will he not occupy that scene of glory? He will be the center of that scene of glory. Re Revelation chapter 54 tells us that.
There in in the in the scene and glory. So we're we're gonna be occupied with one person. What is our occupation now?
It should be with Christ while we wait his return.
That was the Father, That was the son's desire to the Father. When the heart is done, 17 and he says, wait here, I said that was the son's desire for the Father. When he prayed in John 17, he said, Father, I will that they also who now have given me the 24 be with me where I am.
That they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
So it was his own desire expressed to his father, that we might see where he is, and then he goes to the cross and prepares that place for us to be there.
I can get pretty worked up sometimes over the hardiness with which, umm.
Some of our Dominican sisters have been granted visas to come here, but I've learned a lot out of it because I've talked with some of those girls. I, I, here's Jaime as an example up there in, uh, when she was still not with Alberto. I was up there one time up in, uh, in, uh, La Novia, beautiful little place. If you've never been there, visited sometime it's, I think it's something like Abraham's dwelling. I often think of it, but if I, I was sitting there talking with her.
And I said, uh, you know much about Tampa.
No, I don't know anything about Tampa.
Well, are, are you a little bit apprehensive about going to, to, uh, live in Tampa or be with Alberto's? He said. Gonna be with Alberto.
Less years now and I think to myself.
Isn't that where we really are?
We don't know an awful lot about.
The Father's house, but we know the Son and I think that's what makes it a blessing place for us. Little boys sometimes will say to us, and little girls too, will I be able to take my toys when I go to heaven? And they seem disappointed sometimes when you tell them that you don't know or you don't think so.
But the point isn't to get them occupied with toys or no toys there, to occupy them with a person of the Lord Jesus so that they can say I'm gonna be with Jesus, I will be with Jesus. I visited the man out in Long Island in the Long Island Medical Center who was dying of AIDS.
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Young man who would receive the Lord into jail.
And.
I stepped into his room. Alberto and I were together.
And developed from Puerto Rico.
And I looked in and I was.
Just bones and skin over the bones and I fall. I just had used contaminated needles with in a drug addiction and had gotten HIV.
And my heart is.
Almost burst out crying at the moment when I saw it and suddenly he caught my eye, looked over and he was talking to some of the doctors and he waved. He says come in brother **** come in. I don't look like much but I'm gonna be with Jesus pretty soon.
That made it all the difference.
And he said that we further **** would you take my funeral?
What would you say at a time? Like I said, sure.
Then he shows there's gonna be a jungle Puerto Rico. Well, I hadn't quite bargained for that, but the Lord gave grace and we flew down for on a Tuesday and took his funeral and came back.
It's the person that engages our hearts and that's what the Spirit of God would do. He would engage your heart and mind with grace.
This meeting will be worth well worth it, wounded Robert, if that's the result of it, if our hearts be engaged with him. Lord Jesus to be with me, that man who was in such a terrible condition in Lucade and other passengers parallel passages where he was.
Demoniac came out of the came out of the desert and, and, uh.
He, uh, was, were no clothes and he had no home and.
It was in a terrible condition. They tried to restrain him with chains, and he broke the chains, but the Lord delivered him, and they find him sitting at the feet of Jesus. And then what is he saying? He bestowed him much that he might be with him.
He thought him much that he might be with him. I believe that that is the desire that the Spirit of God creates in every true believer to be with the Lord Jesus.
I will come again and take you on to myself. I didn't say that. I didn't say I'll come again and take you as myself.
If I see you candy the candy store.
I take it, but if somebody offers me a candy, I receive it from that person.
Receive anything, it's presented to you by someone else. And uh, you see that illustrated in the 24th chapter of Genesis, where? At the end of the wilderness journey. Why?
Rebecca, Steve, Isaac. And he asked the servant there.
She said, verse 65 she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, That is my master.
Have they all uncovered themselves? And the servant told Wiser all things that he had done and deserve it?
Presented Rebecca to either. And so here it will be the Holy Spirit that will present the variety of Christ. Christ will receive the bride at the hands of the Holy Spirit.
A question I'd like to ask, you know, are we ready to go with?
When, uh, when we're invited to this conference.
Be prepared to come that our suitcases out of our closet and that our clothes out, our phones and food practices, et cetera.
We're ready to go and often our car or whatever means that we got here, but we're ready to go because the ones that we received in.
But I wonder, are we begging for heaven? Are we ready for those mannequins?
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We woke up in the morning and say even still come over here.
Are we ready or are we attached to something here that would say, well, I wanna do this or I just wanna do that? We know this dimension waiting for us in a moment, but are we making the goal at any moment?
Every change is ready. I thought of that malefactor on the cross with Matthew's Gospel had railed on him and then turning to Jesus.
Oh good.
Confess the Lord and ask the Lord to remember him when He came in his Kingdom. He said, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. I believe he was the first one who knew that he was going to be with the Father, because as we know, the Lord was dead already. And he said, Father into thy hands, I commend my spirit at that. Faith knew that he was going to die, but he was going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, with the Father. And he was prepared, and every St. is prepared.
Perhaps you're Speaking of the practical side of that. That should have a sanctifying effect on us. And I believe that that's why he said, and whether I go in and whether I go, you know, and the way you know, how do they know where the Lord was going?
Well, they had dwelt with galore and that's what heaven is going to be like. It's going to be with Jesus. They came to Jesus and said, Master, where dwelleth thou? And he said, come and see. And so it is in walking in communion with the Lord that we get a foretaste of heaven. The two UMM, Peter and James and John went up to the Lord and Mount of Transfiguration and he spoke with Moses and Elias. They were there.
And they saw, they got a, they got a vision of what it was going to be like in heaven. Here were two men, Moses and Elias, who had never met each other on the face of this earth, who had, according to Peter's epistle, questions, they prophet side of things that they didn't understand. And they were told that they were not going to understand, that they prophesied them for us. And they had questions. And So what did they speak of to the Lord? The very things that had puzzled them.
And so we get a vision of what heaven is like. And so we know. And walking in communion with the Lord here, we get a glimpse of what heaven is like.
And we know the way. How is it that we enjoy communion with the Lord? Well, this passage tells us how we enjoy communion with the Lord.
Interesting too about Elisa and Elijah. Remember I just noticing this in Second Kings how that it's interesting there how you went to these four different places, but just noticing here in verse two, Second Kings 2.
Uh, and in the middle of adverse, Elijah said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He stayed right with him.
So they went to Bethel.
Then in verse.
Uh.
Four, Elijah said to Elijah, Carry you here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
So they came to Jericho very interestingly. It's interesting to see this. And then in verse six, Elijah said unto him, Terry, I pray thee hear, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on together, finally came to Jordan. But I just thought of how how attached Elijah was.
To Elijah, and it's a little picture of us, isn't it, for us to see that we should be attached, not only to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, but to be attached to him as our Lord, the one who did it all for us and is waiting for that very moment when you're going to give this out and we're going to be called home to go to be forever with him.
I used to wonder about those sons of the prophets in that chapter because, umm.
They, umm, they do too, that, that he was gonna be taken from them, didn't they? But he says to be quiet. I know it. But he knew it in a different way, didn't he? He knew it from companionship with him. And there are people who could probably set out the truth of the Lord's coming. And we even write a book on it. I've just been reading a book and it happens to be a very helpful book on it's called There really is a difference on.
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Setting out the difference between covenant theology and dispensationalism. But I was thinking that a lot of the things that the brother sets out in that book could be written.
By someone who did not really have the joy of the Lord's coming before us. It was not waiting for them, he says. I know it. Be quiet.
How did he know? He knew it in an experimental way, didn't he? He knew that he was with him, going from place to place.
And so I think that's the difference between knowing doctrine.
Is a wonderful thing and you can be in error on the details of it and still have that waiting for the sun from heaven. Now again I say the apostles. I don't want you to be ignorant about it. That's why you wrote what he did. But the point is not the details and whether we can set out the pre tribulation or post millennial or.
All those things, you know, some people are, they can set it out so neatly and put names on all of it, but God wants our hearts to be engaged with a man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what this chapter is all about. The details come later. And uh, when Paul preached to the Thessalonians, they turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God.
And to wait for what? For the pre tribulation rapture of the church? Is that what it says? The sun from heaven? To wait for the sun from heaven?
Now the rest of that book kind of straightens it all out, so we understand the details of it. And sometimes I'm sure they were perplexed when Grandma died. And did you miss the blessing?
When a child died, did my child miss the blessing? And so Paul is led by the Holy Spirit to set it all out clearly. And we do not despise that. We should learn it and hold it and not let it go. But above all, not let go the the the joy of waiting for the sun from heaven. I know he's coming. He's coming again, he said, So I will come again.
Somebody asked in the conference one time, what was the basis?
I never forget this. What was the basis for our statement that we're waiting for the coming of the Lord?
Is it some of the developments in Europe? And some of that question was raised and a brother is no longer in fellowship, I'm sorry to say, but a brother who taught me a lot when I was a teenager, who said the basis of it is I will come again.
I will come again and surely I come quickly, he said. That's the basis. It isn't any development in prophecy or Israel regathered in the land or any of those things.
Because some of those things you might, you might even not be sure if this is, is this really the, the time that he's talking about or is there going to be something that looked like they were fulfillment of something and then they later on they didn't, Am I right?
And, uh, the promise of his coming again, nothing can rob us of that kind of. He will come again and he will receive us unto himself. You were talking about received and emphasizing that brother. And I, I made me think back to, uh, the time was when I was recently gathered, may even be in the first conference I went to. First conference I went to was in Scranton, believe it or not. And uh.
Is in September 1954 after being gathered earlier that year.
My dear father-in-law got up and he spoke on the second of Luke.
Have you ever heard my father-in-law? You know, he warmed your heart. But he spoke about Simeon and he talked about Simeon. First thing he said was a Simeon was a very old man. And then he said, he said, Lord, uh oh, he said. And he took him into his arm. He took him into his arms and.
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After the meeting I over overheard Jay Ruskin Gil talking to my father-in-law and he said Brother Guilford how do you know he was an old man?
And my father-in-law slept for many, so I guess I don't know that well, he said we don't know. He probably was, but he said doesn't say that.
There is a point there is, he says, and he also pointed out, he said if you read it in J&D, it says he received him in his arms. Very appropriate, isn't it? He received him in his iron. And then he says, Lord, let now thy servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen thy salvation.
My father-in-law had offered that as a proof that he resolved that he was waiting to, to die. No, he said, Brother Gill said every one of us is in that position. Every one of us is in the position that there's nothing that could detain us here now because our eyes have seen our salvation. And he said that, umm, well, surely, uh, the, uh, the old widow there.
Anna was old. Scripture makes her old. Reuben. I have a difference over how old he was, but she was. But, umm, I'll say I think she was over 100, uh, 114 I think something like that. And uh, uh, you can ask me later, what do you think? But, uh.
That's not the point with Simeon, Simeon.
Says my guys have seen thy salvation.
If I ask one of the children here who saved, have your eyes seen his salvation? Can you say, yeah, I can go in peace now. So we're all at any moment ready to be received, Aren't we into the glory because our eyes are seeing thy salvation? Well, that was a lesson I learned. My. It's gotta be 40. Uh, no, it's, it's uh, almost 50 years now ago that I heard that conversation and.
It stuck with me.
It's the person of Christ that attracts our.
You've been speaking about being ready. We're speaking just a little bit being ready and we, it's good to be clear on, on that, uh, for the sake of all young and old and everyone that traditionally in our standing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are ready.
As Neil was saying, and I believe that what these brought out, uh.
I bet it being in a place of sun.
Uh, we have an enrollment 8. Might just look at a couple of verses there.
Roman's 8.
And verse 14.
Or as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of ******* against fear, but he have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we try ABBA, Father, the Spirit itself. There is witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.
So please that we suffer within that we may.
We also glorified together, so we we are in that position of everyone who is believed on the word Jesus Christ.
Is a good air with Christ, and after our position is over because of the work that He's done on the cross, we're ready to go. The 2nd to be with them. But as their brother Carl brought in, there is a sense of not being ready in a practical way.
And a practical way, and I think we have that going back to our chapter in Thomas would be not.
And.
Thomas is probably typical of the other disciples as well as as we've had in the 13th chapter spoken about in the 13th chapter, We're in the fifth verse of chapter 14. Our chapter says, Promise that unto him, Lord, we know not whether thou goeth, and how do we know the way?
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Thomas should have known if he had listened to the Lord and, and uh.
And taken in what he was saying and under understood the good of what the Lord was saying. But because of his whole nature that cropped up. I've already done he was he was staying here, right? We don't know.
Whether our goal is but how can we know the way because of his practical.
Walk he perhaps wasn't ready to enjoy.
And really understand what the Lord was going to do.
And so often is not the case with us too. So maybe, maybe we learn from from that.
The practical side of our sanctification. In John 17, the Lord says, Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is true. As we walk here on this earth, we get sanctified through Thy truth.
Umm.
Peter.
Cut off the ear of the one who was gonna take the Lord Jesus.
He didn't understand the plan and many times we stumbled because we don't understand the, the truth of the word of God where our minds are not uh, in tune with his mind. Umm enjoyed another thought and uh, Matthew 1128 about the person of Christ. Where has come unto me are you that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest. So the call is to come under him, the person of Christ.
And I rest lies in Christ.
And it says, take my yolk composure, and learn of me frying, meek and lonely, and heart you shall find rest into your soul. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. So when we come up to the person of Christ.
We find that rest that we desire is not a denomination, even though these things not in our doctrine, and these things are important, very important, that we get the truth of the word of God, but our rest is in Christ.
What are you doing? I'm sorry.
Giving us, uh, somewhat of a definition of faith earlier. And, uh, I was reminded as he spoke that, uh, I'm not sure if it's in the Hebrew or in the Greek, but that the word to trust or believe has the thought of rolling over onto.
And as our brother was speaking here just now, I was reminded that if we roll over on through, the implication is there that we're needing and we're helping and.
What better could thrust us into his arms when he returns? To receive them is to realize that we are just that. We're needing or helpless. You know we can go through this world in confidence.
The world prepares us with confidence to to work amongst them and and to to accomplish and to succeed. But the Lord is faithful, and as He says in his gospel.
In in the world, you shall have tribulation. There are things that come our way so that we're not long without the knowledge and appreciation for the fact that we're needing and we're helpful and that the Lord alone brings salvation, brings comfort and prepares us for what is yet to be, which is far better than anything here. We can lose sight of that. But if I say.
That's what you're talking. That's what you're talking. It's really a type of remnant in Israel and they were looking for certain things.
We thought that sour heated should restore the Kingdom to Israel. They were looking for something, but they weren't really looking for the Lord. And we see Job as another type of that who trusted in his own integrity and he was a good man. The Lord could turn to Satan and has said to him, hast thou considered my servant Jill, when he was brought to that place, when he should see himself as vile, to see that his standing rested in another, that he was brought to peace.
And the Lord blessed his latter end. That's the whole work of God with Israel is to bring them to the sense of their need and so that's why I really believe the bearing of Thomas question was he didn't really understand where the Lord was going and how can we know the way where there's real faith in the person of Christ. We realize that he is the way the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me the truth is it is in Jesus and as.
01:00:30
Some comments have been made to that suggestion as we can have a lot of truth, so to speak, truth things out of the Word of God.
But the truth is a person prophecy concerns a person and his rights in connection with this earth.
And when we see that, we really makes a lot of things clear. When we see how is it that God is going to bring this world in subjection and set things in order in this world, we see is when Jesus has his proper place. We get a look at that in the Book of Revelation.
And so.
It's the light. What kind of life are we gonna have in heaven? We're gonna have the life into we. We have that life now. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, We shall appear with him in glory. That's our light.
Not getting something, a little parcel of something that you need, something like an insurance policy. We have the life of Christ and that's our brother was bringing that out in connection with the place, but we have a light that's fitted and suited for that place.
And Jesus is that light.
You say 44 in the back of the book, 44 in the appendix.
Yes.