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Perfect peace with God.
In her eyes.
Prayer, Faith and Faith. God.
I saw them very nice.
I can, honey.
Hey bar in the first son of his son.
I am.
Near.
He.
My dear I.
Cannot.
Hear all the way.
I.
Ever careful.
I.
Watches on.
Army night and day.
And tells me.
The.
One may be crying. I am new.
Grace.
We thank the.
The 6th chapter of John might not be profitable for us to consider today.
It's a long chapter and the latter part of it.
Is really?
What I have on my heart.
I hate the Bread of Life, but then perhaps we could either go through the first part quickly and.
Or perhaps another brother has another portion.
The whole chapter, brother.
That's a long chapter. I'm wondering if we could start with verse 22.
And.
Perhaps.
Now in verse 65.
Perhaps Chuck will have some thoughts of.
As to how to.
We'll have a portion to read.
It's good to me.
Good, what you suggested verse 22 started verse 22. Yes.
Then we're 22.
The day following when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there save that one, where into his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone.
Albeit there came another there came other boats from Tiberius nigh unto the place where they did eat bread. After that the Lord had given thanks.
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus.
And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hit her?
Jesus answered them, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed.
Then said they unto him.
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What shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.
They said therefore unto him, What sign show us thou then, that we may see and believe thee?
What dost thou work?
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not.
That bread from heaven. But my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven, For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord Evermore, give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him.
May have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
How is it then that he saith I came down from heaven?
Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets.
And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God. He hath seen the Father.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
I am that Bread of Life.
Your father's did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him.
As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father.
So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your Father's did, eat manna and are dead.
He that eateth of this bread shall live forever.
These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this said, this is an hard saying. Who can hear it?
When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
What? And if ye shall see the son of man ascend up where he was before?
It is the Spirit that quicken us. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life.
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But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him.
His power and his love and his wisdom and feeding the 5000.
The bread of his own providing miraculously.
Now crossing the sea.
He He begins this ministry which?
Displays himself.
As the bread of life.
Lessons that we can learn from the feeding of the multitude.
We find that here in John's Gospel, the Lord Jesus.
Tests or proves his disciples by asking what they thought could be done to feed the multitude. In Mark's Gospel it is presented somewhat different.
There the disciples want the Lord to send the multitude away. The same incident in Mark's Gospel. But the Lord Jesus said dear to them, give ye them to eat.
And that's a challenge, beloved brethren, for all of us.
Do we have an exercise to contribute to the feeding of the Saints or the people and?
We find quite a bit of instruction in the fact that.
This lad had five lobes and two fishes.
They were not loaves, as we understand them to be. Slices of loaf, you might say. There are sandwiches, and they were prepared for him without any thought that the Lord might use these sandwiches and the two fishes to feed the multitude. I believe that's very instructive for us.
The Lord might use you or me or any of us to help meet needs, but the most desirable way is that we have been exercised about having food for our own souls.
And that we might have prepared, you might say, for ourselves not so much with the thought of having something to give to others, but when we have come into the good of it ourselves. Then the Lord might use that at any given time to contribute towards feeding the needs of God's people. And that's the most desirable way that we search the scriptures for ourselves, make provision for our own spiritual needs.
And then the Spirit of God can use that and don't be sometimes feel.
Very insufficient. And that which we have what is it when you consider the needs? But what makes the difference is that these 25 loaves and two fishes go through the hands of the Lord Jesus.
And in that way that which in itself, naturally speaking is insufficient, becomes sufficient, and really it multiplies.
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You know, they have more to gather up than what they started out with.
And we too are like the disciples sometimes, that what we have to offer and give is not something that started with us.
Somebody else had been exercised, and it goes through the Lord to us, and the Lord uses us to distribute it, you might say. What we have to offer in our day is not something that we necessarily individually have dug up. Others have dug these things up for us, and but the Lord might still in His grace use us.
To help distribute it. You know, there is very little originality with us in our day. We have benefited from that which others have searched out and we have benefited from it. And it can be used of the Lord even to meet needs today.
Experiment in our local assemblies when we feel our weakness, and it's good brethren that we do feel our weakness and our own insufficiency.
Because that's where the Lord can come in. If we feel that we are sufficient, we don't leave room for the Lord to display His sufficiency. Here was the 12 apostles, and they seemed to be completely at a loss to know what to do. They make calculations. 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient, but that's about all the farther they can go.
Until Andrew brings the little boy and.
Think of that, that little boy, that lad, probably his mother like you say, brother, had fixed the lunch for that little boy to come and to listen to the Lord Jesus. But our meager little bits and pieces, if put into the hands of the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus blessing them all will be filled, and there will be enough to take home to others.
That haven't been able to come to that meeting, so we should be encouraged rather than a really am struck when I visited Latin America at times and you see what seems to be an appearance of a total lack of outward evident gift. And yet when there's liberty given to the spirit of God and the word of God is open in simplicity.
The way God feeds his people in spite of us, in spite of our weakness in our insufficiency, we have a God who is sufficient, brethren. And I think there's another lesson too here that this story at the beginning of the chapter about the loaves and fishes being multiplied.
It seems to be the same thing theme that runs through the chapter of eating.
Of the bread that came down from heaven, and that is that OFT times these material lessons.
Give us to understand spiritual ones that are deeper and brethren we need that. Our dear young people need it too. And I think it is easier for them to understand if we begin with lessons that they understand. In normal everyday life. What more normal, What more common than eating bread and fishes? That was very common, but upon that the Lord basis it seems.
The Teaching, the Profound Teaching we have later on in this chapter.
Just a word I would like to read from the 31St.
The 31St chapter of Proverbs about where the little boy got the bread. It comes right back to the mother.
And that was mentioned by our brother that the mother had prepared for this little boy. But look what it says. Who can find a virtuous woman? Verse 10, And then we come down what she's doing. She rises also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household. And the lunch for her little boy. I just put that in there. But how appropriate the place of the mother in the house providing those needs, as you say in the natural, but how much more the spiritual along with it.
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The man of God and.
Evidently learned much of what he learned from his mother, from his grandmother, and what a lesson that is. We know he all we know about his father was that he was a Greek. That's all we know about him. We don't even know if he was a believer. But what a lesson, The faith of a godly mother and grandmother in teaching the children.
Because someone read from the new translation the.
11Th verse of our chapter. Here it is that he distributed to the disciples.
And the disciples to them that were set down, I think it's very instructive point.
I don't have it, but I'll just read it from memory. When Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down. So in the Gospel of John, the Lord is the bread of life and he blesses it and he distributes to them that were set down. How important in this gospel to see that particular aspect of the Blessed Lord, isn't it?
We visualize this moment when the Lord takes his lunch into his hands. He was anticipating this moment, and I believe that he especially delighted in it because he was the same one that fed his people for 40 years in the wilderness. And so he takes this lunch and Can you imagine trying to hush 5000 people down in order to lift up his praise to his father?
And so we have a beautiful parenthesis in verse 23.
However, albeit there came other boats from Tiberius nigh on to the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks. It might have been emphasized that this is where we ate and were filled, but there was something more precious than that, and that was the Lord giving thanks. And what must He have said in their hearing as he held that little lunch?
And knowing of all the souls that were going to be fed from it is lovely to think of that. And my dear wife and I stood in that approximate place there in that land. And it's a natural amphitheater, so that in that place no matter should say there's 5000, no doubt easily heard what he said when he thanked the Lord God the Father for that month.
And I was thinking of that verse. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. And it reminds me, brethren, of a remark that perhaps we've heard many times, read the word of God to find Christ in it.
And it'll flow to others. If I read it merely to communicate it to others, I'll become dry as a millstone. But if I enjoy it for his own sake, it'll flow to others.
I recently received a little article. The name of it was the Diary of a Bible, and it was very, very searching to my own heart in connection with the need of our daily reading the word of God more than our necessary food, as scripture tells us. But in this little article, to be very brief, it started out with the first of the year, and for a few days the Bible was read faithfully. Then it was put on the shelf.
Later it was picked up because there was a.
A verse that someone was looking for, and it was found and so on until the year went by and little time had been spent in the reading of the word of God. One was struck with this that if in normal reading it would take about 15 minutes a day to read the whole Bible through. In one year, brethren, we're speaking about being fed. The word of God is our food and all. May we find ourselves consistently reading His precious word together.
Will find Christ in it. It will bring joy to our hearts. It will bring instruction into our lives.
It'll bring protection to us. It'll bless our souls.
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And adjust the word to what Larry said. Certainly Amen. But in First Timothy 4:15 I and I say this in a loving way, I objected to Larry's comment that you can read the Bible through in 15 minutes a day unless you're a speed reader, but.
Because it takes more than merely reading the Scriptures. Notice what it says in First Timothy 415. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them.
That they profiting may appear in all things, take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine continue in them. For in doing this I shall both save thyself and them that hear thee how important. And some have used this. And and like Brother Heinz said, what have you that you did not receive? Reading, prayer, and meditation. RPM how important is it? And let's say that we can read a portion. We can get it from the choice gleanings.
Where is it now? It's in. We're in the book of Joshua.
In Isaiah and the Gospel of Luke, for instance, in those daily readings, well, you can read And if you ask me two hours later what I'd read, unless I really meditate upon it, I'm going to be embarrassed because I won't remember. And so how important that the reading of the Word be associated with prayer and meditation. Meditate upon these things, give myself holy to them. And if we were to just take the choice cleaning's calendar and follow through with the reading of the word.
Just reading and even just meditation.
It still isn't enough. We need to compare scriptures, don't we? And to get what is beautifully unique for that particular book. And if we're in the New Testament, where is it? A quotation from the old? Because it's a it's a divine book, isn't it? And and we need that divinity, that divineness implanted in our hearts because we have a new nature. How important it is. Vital.
For our continuous is to read and to pray and to meditate and to compare scriptures for the understanding for our own hearts. And once, like the Apostle Paul, in a little chapter in, well, the next few chapters in Second Timothy one, he says, have an outline of sound words. Well, Paul didn't give an outline. He gave words. And we need to take the words that we've heard and we need to form an outline so if we hear somebody say something.
That's contrary to the person of Christ. We immediately know it does not fit the outline of scripture. How important have an outline of sound words, especially in the days in which we live.
Brother Stan, what you were saying? Let's turn just for a moment to the first chapter of the book of James and.
Verse 21.
Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word, and not hearers, only deceiving your own selves.
And so on the next verse, 2 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man, beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and he goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. Just this thought brethren, we need to not only read the word of God daily, but we need to meditate upon it. We do need to make it our own, and it's one thing to be able to speak and say lovely things.
About the word of God. And I'm thankful that we hear them and that we say them, but may we be doers of the Word.
It needs to be more than just precious things that we enjoy in our minds. It needs to be in our feet.
A young man asked he recently How do we grow as Christians?
And I said, well, how do you grow just naturally? Well, you have to. You have to eat, you have to sleep, and you have to exercise. Those are the three things that are essential to a healthy life. And we need to read the word and.
We need to to meditate upon it. Often times the sweetest meditations you have is on your bed at night.
As you're lying there and no one else around and you're talking with the Lord can meditate or on your knees. It's a wonderful place for meditation. When you're praying, the scriptures come before you, and the Lord talks to you through His word. You talk to Him in prayer. It's a lovely exchange. And then exercise if you don't have, exercise, if you don't get the word out, if you don't witness to souls, if you don't tell them. I remember when I was first saved, I just wanted everyone to hear.
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And it didn't take me very long in that exercise to find out that most people didn't want to hear.
But still, to get the word out, how important how I think we have fallen into a a kind of Christianity where there's not that much exercise in in witnessing to souls. We have the highest truth of any company of Christians, I believe. When did we last share those truths with other Christians? Or when have you last witnessed to a lost soul? And that can apply to the youngest here as well as the oldest.
Are we witnessing while these are things I was thinking of the clean animal in in the Leviticus, 2 Things he had to chew the cod. And that's meditation, isn't it? And pondering these things consider Paul says to Timothy. Consider what I say and the Lord will give the understanding in all things when we don't understand the passage, the tendency.
I know it was mine when I was a young man. Is to go to the books. You pull your you pull Darby Kelly off the shelf and you read what they have to say. But there's another way of finding out what the word means, and that's to just spread it out before you on the bed and kneel down and say, Lord, I don't understand this passage. I don't understand this. Teach me. Now He may not answer that immediately, but if there's a real sincere heart, he that seeketh shall find he that knocketh to him and shall be opened.
And the diligent soul shall be made fat in spiritual things. It's good to be fat. And we can fill our souls with the precious word of God. Well, these are things. And the other thing that records required for the clean animal is a separated path that clothes the cloven hoof, a separated path to walk in separation from the world you will not grow, you will not digest.
The food that you eat and feed on, you don't. You won't digest it properly. It won't give you the proper benefit for your body if you don't exercise. And so if you don't tell others and walk in a divided in a separated path from the world. This is one of the things that is all these movements that are out there today of getting Christendom together, Christians together, they leave out separation.
They leave it out entirely and if you press that then.
The movement to gather Christians together in a unity which is man made. It's not the unity of the Spirit, it's not of God. It is to just forget separation, go on together as though all our differences don't make any difference and we can, under the umbrella of Christian love, have fellowship with everyone. Well, that's that's not God's way, is it?
The gentleman really a Christian, when I lived back in Pittsburgh and in talking about some of the things just like Chuck has said, he got very upset. He said stand don't talk doctrine doctrine separates Christians.
And I, to myself just said one word. Amen. Amen.
And Maputo and visited in the home of Jeremiah, and somebody came there and we were talking about the divided state amongst the Christians and the denominationalistic approach to things and he said.
I don't believe in denominationalism either. Well, I said, you're not the only one that has told me that. But people that have expressed that many times continue to go on in an interdenominational or in a denominational way. You know, they have built fences around themselves, man made fences. And in the interdenominational way, they try to reach their hands across the fences instead of tearing down the fences.
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And removing a that's God's way. But would we not also in the clean and unclean animals see this Not only that there is to be a separated walk, there are outward things and inward things. In the scriptures we are to show outwardly what there is inwardly in our day People undermine.
Scriptures that speak very definitely about outward things, they're not important. Then why does scripture mention outward things? That's all part of our walk outward things.
We don't have to be specific, but we can mention modest apparel. That's outward things, isn't it? And other things. The scripture is very specific about these things. And young people, don't be deceived by people who say they're not important, they are important. That's why the Word of God mentions these things. But we don't want to be like the Pharisees that may clean the outside of the cup.
You know, they're like the pigs. You know you can't fault them outwardly. They have what you might say split hooves, but it doesn't flow from inward reality. That is what the Lord is looking for, that we come into the good of scriptural truth, and that it affects our outward work and even our appearance. And we don't need to look like the people in the world.
We want to look different if outward appearance makes us different.
From others? Never mind. Of course, we don't recommend that we run around like the Amish. You know, they call attention to themselves by their outward appearance. But there is this line of truth in Scripture that there is There are outward things that should flow from inward reality. Having come into the good of scriptural understanding, our consciences being exercised, we want to practice not only the truth of gathering and separation from the systems of men.
But about my individual walk as a Christian?
Very solemn issues that we're Speaking of here. I'm reminded of a remark we used to often hear, my dear brother, now with the Lord be occupied with Christ. It'll make you humble because you're so little like him, and it'll make you happy because he loves you so much. And one was thinking, we see the importance of separation. But old brother, may we couple with that ever that falling on our faces because if it's not so.
The very separation itself can become.
Sectarian. And so we want to be separated not from, but unto unto him.
Size 2. When we come together that there be food for God's people. I was thinking of the verse in Matthew 24 where the Lord Jesus is speaking about the faithful and wise servant in verse 2045. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season. So when we come together, what God's people need is food.
And when they're fed in a proper way, they're strengthened that it's meat induced.
Efficiency in every way to meet the need of God's people, but it is something that should be an exercise to every one of us, because as we've been mentioning, brethren, it's not a matter merely of gift. God gives gift to teach the word. Thank God for it. But in the days of ruin and weakness that we live in, the important thing is to in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Is to give the Spirit of God his liberty to open the things of Christ.
And sometimes he uses, as he did in this case here, a little lad. Sometimes he uses a question. And I like to encourage younger people. If you have questions about what is being said in the local Bible reading, maybe There's quite a few others that have the same question and it might be very profitable to ask a question in that way. I think there needs to be exercise about that. Sometimes we don't like to ask questions for fear of.
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Looking a little bit stupid, but we need to forget ourselves. We need to think of God's people and the need of being fed. The bread needs to be broken down. These loaves were broken and given to the people, and sometimes to give it whole their younger ones who don't get very much. It needs to be broken down and so we need to be exercised, Peter says to the elders.
In First Peter 5 Feed the flock of God, which is among you.
The Lord help us when we come together to have an exercise. We feel our insufficiency. We need to feel it, brethren, especially in these days of ruin and failure. But oh, we don't have a God who has changed, brethren. He's just the same. He cares for His people, He loves them. Even when they are unfaithful. He still loves them, and He's a giving God. Oh, how?
Greater God we have, He hasn't changed one iota.
In connection with the reading meeting, I have a suggestion for those that are older. Sometimes I've observed that those that are younger make a comment in Scripture, make a comment concerning the scripture, and no one says anything. And I think they feel like shooting an arrow into the ocean and it goes down and it sticks in the bottom of the ocean without having too much effect. But those that are older, how nice. Suppose it's even. Let's just suppose that it's not exactly the right expression that should be used, or the OR the right inclination.
How beautiful for someone to say brother, thank you for that thought and have you seen this? But in general my my comment is directed towards.
Sharing with one another, especially if there's a younger brother that speaks up that acknowledged that he spoke up and say in some way let it be known. I enjoyed that and had you thought of that. Just a comment to encourage those that may not be younger but may not frequently speak up.
So that there is that togetherness in the assembly and oftentimes obviously none of us come from an assembly as large as we are here today and we're very small and and it adds to a cohesiveness amongst us, doesn't it, to do that.
As very clearly cease to do evil, learn to do well. So we need both. We need to separate from evil and cleave to that which is good. So to make our separation exclusively just to him, without the negative from the evil is not a complete picture. We need both. Mr. Darby wrote two very very very helpful papers.
They were separated by a number of years. The first one was titled Separation from Evil.
God's principle of unity.
Separation from evil, God's principle of unity.
Then he wrote to complete the whole thing. He reread what he had written. He said I agree with it later on, but he said it's it doesn't have the whole picture. And then he wrote Grace, the power of unity and of gathering. Grace the power of unity and of gathering. The two supplement each other. So you got the negative you're separate from, and you've got the positive.
Which is the enjoyment of the Lord himself. I think one of the big problems why we don't understand the word is because we are feeding on the trash of the world.
And if you have a child that fills his stomach with candy and then you sit down at the table, he's not hungry. Why isn't he hungry? Because he's.
Said on the other stuff that he had too much of. And sometimes the reason we can't understand the scriptures is because what what we've been feeding on, you can't feed on the things of the world all week long and then expect one day of the week to be able to enjoy the word of God. It doesn't work that way. And if we're not going on with the Lord daily.
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We're going to have problems Understanding his word requires A suitable state of soul, doesn't it? And it's not that that we fail. Maybe we do. I'm sure we do fail to get down to the youngest and so on. But you'd be surprised how much the younger ones take in and understand.
It's it's a state of soul which is involved, not so much how old you are.
You can be 60506070 and you're not going on with the Lord and you're you're not getting it because a state of soul is necessary.
Individual exercise. And If there is no individual exercise, you can talk till you're blue in your face and you don't accomplish anything. Even if what is presented is the truth of God, if there is not individual exercise in the hearers, it won't accomplish anything. And what about our individual life? Do we read the Bible for ourselves or do we strictly depend on the assembly meetings?
What about sisters?
Sisters, have the habit of reading the Bible for yourself.
You better get into the habit. If you don't have that habit, you'll be a better mother and a better wife. If you do, you will be able to bring the scriptures before your children and children. How old do you have to be before you read the Bible? Do you have to be 20 years old? If you wait till you're 20 years old, you might have missed the boat. You might have gotten into all kinds of habits and customs which are difficult to break.
Start early in life to read the scriptures.
And many times, young people don't have any questions because they're not reading the scriptures for themselves. If they would, they would have questions. And the brethren and the parents will be just delighted to have you come to them with questions. And if we would feed our body only once a week, how long would we survive physically? We cannot just depend on the assembly meetings.
We have to have the habit of reading the scriptures for ourselves and start early in life. Early will I seek thee. That does not just mean early in the morning, that means early in life. And a brother said to me when I was in this country very long. I've mentioned that before. It's worth repeating, he said.
Search the scriptures and see if it isn't true that those whom God used for blessing amongst God's people started early in life.
So early. Get into the habit of reading the Bible for yourself and meditate on it and try to get help from those that are able to help you. And that's the normal Christian life. It's not normal Christianity to repent only on the meetings twice a week. We wouldn't survive physically if we would only eat food twice a week, and we certainly won't survive spiritually if we do not feed our souls daily.
What has been described, has been mentioned, describes this multitude in general, that after they're fed they come and seek the Lord. But he had to say to them in verse 26. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled, that is, that they were treating the Lord like he was a welfare agency. And so.
No doubt they were poor, and they needed physical food, and so on that basis they sought him. And but he could say to them, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man shall give unto you. Well, in our chapter the Lord could say, I am the bread of life, and so as the bread of life, He's the object of faith now.
And we have the privilege of drawing near unto him and to have our souls fed spiritually instead of treating him as a welfare agency. And I believe even as Christians we can get into that in neglecting the word of God. But we'll come to meeting, and we'll get what we can there, and be in a major thankful. But it will not give us the nourishment that we need on that basis. But we must seek him as the one who is the bread of life.
00:55:24
The brother told me he used to come to meeting with this attitude. Well, here I am. Feed me.
And he didn't come with an exercise to give anything out himself. Just feed me.
And he realized after a while that that wasn't enough, that he should come prepared to help. It was very small meeting and and there's been a nice growth with that soul, but.
We we have a a self-centered kind of Christianity. Oftentimes consider that we talk about meeting our needs. That's not Christianity at all.
It's being occupied with the Blessed Lord and seeking to help others. That's the flow of love to others.
Meeting others needs not our own, not being occupied with ourselves. Feed me well. We will be fed. If we come with the right state of soul and have been diligent in the scriptures ourselves, then we'll be able to relate to it.
Isn't one of those shall be watered? Also himself is not a scripture.
When you are faithful in speaking to your friends, to your workmates, to your school chums, whatever it is when you're faithful.
You will find out how little you know, or how much you know the word of God, because you'll you'll you'll want to quote them a scripture or refer them to something. And that will make you want to know this book better, so that you'll be able to help others, not just to feed yourself, but to help others too.
The character that comes to us when we have been in and over the word of God as we relate to others in the world without us. I've enjoyed this verse in Jeremiah 15 and verse 16, which really, for myself at least.
Has had a tremendous impact in my own enjoyment of the word. It's that which we take from himself.
God's words and we eat them. That is, as has already been illustrated this morning, we've we take them and we meditate upon them and we digest them. And what what's the effect of it? Well, as in natural food, and we have to do just that with natural food to get the benefit of the food. So here it speaks of our eating these words.
These words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me, the joy.
And rejoicing of mine heart. And you know, so often those outside of the circle of faith will recognize something about you that distinguishes you from the rest of the world. The world is so burdened with cares and trials and troubles, and they have their own Ways and Means of alleviating of this, or at least forgetting it for a season of their troubles. Here we have the ability.
By feeding and digesting.
The word of God to display a joy and a rejoicing that the world really doesn't understand what they desire it and they want it and they covet it and so.
I just bring that thought out as to this verse. I think that would this is applicable because it really does have that effect in our lives when we're enjoying something that God has given us from His word and we've meditated upon it, we've digested it, having eaten it, so to speak.
Then the result and the effect of that diet, if you will say.
Is evident to those about us, not only to ourselves, but those around us, and certainly for those in the world.
Finish that verse, please.
Thy word was under me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Thy name. O Lord of hosts. That is one of the main reasons that we rejoice. We're called by His name and.
01:00:09
He speaks of himself. Jeremiah speaks of him as the Lord of Hosts.
And he says in the next verse, 2, which is helpful, I sat not in the assembly of them offers, or nor rejoice. I sat alone because of thy hand, for thou hast filled me with indignation, indignation against that which is contrary to himself. He sat alone. And sometimes the Lord's people are called to sit alone. Ask brother priestly.
I remember reading the biography of JG Ballot. I think it was his daughter that wrote it. And I in reading Mr. Ballet's ministry, it's so full of Christ, his Son of God, nothing like it, and the moral glory of the Lord Jesus, beautiful one on his deity and his eternal sonship and the other his humanity. And as you read his other writings, they're just filled with Christ. And when I read the biography.
I learned that he had much sorrow in his life, many, many things that lead lost some children and through sickness. And there was a lot of sorrow, but you'd never know it when you read his ministry. It was just filled with Christ. It was an occupied with himself, with his troubles and so on. But it was Christ that came out.
It's the way it is with Paul. You read Philippians and he doesn't tell you the awful conditions that he was living in. Rejoice in the Lord always and again. I say rejoice. He was in a prison that was not not not like our present ones. It was terrible. And yet he could speak of rejoicing. Remember Chaka? Particular incident.
In that book that the daughter that's writing the book was walking with him to meet him and he was meditating out loud about some subject. And she said to herself, all this is a prelude of what we're going to get at meeting. But when they got the meeting as an address, he had something entirely different. His heart was so full that it could be one thing on the way talking to his daughter and it could be another when he got there. That to me is rich.
A brother was talking, just to follow up what you said. A brother was talking to a neighbor. I was another was standing there and.
This neighbor was a Christian and she thought very highly of this brother that lived in the neighborhood. He lovely Christian witness. And he introduced his friend to her and said come to meeting this afternoon and he's going to have an address for you, for us. And she looked to him and she said what are you going to talk about? What's your sermon going to be?
And he said to her, I don't know yet. I'm looking to the Lord for that.
She couldn't relate to that. Usually they have them all written out way ahead of time, but not so in this case. That's what you're talking about, isn't it?
We need to be familiar with the word has been said. I thought of this so often. We see someone and we we kind of marvel. They seem to know so much about the word of God. How much did they know when they were born? Nothing.
But there was that consistent reading of the Word of God and rejoicing in it. And there are those things which, as we've never had brought before us that hinder our involvement in the word of God. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. And as Brother Chuck was saying earlier, there needs to be that definite step of separation from that which is not of God. And so may there be that with us and may there.
Be that necessity. Like Daniel of old, who prayed three times a day, even though there were threats of his life. He read three. He prayed three times a day. May it characterize our lives. May we be feeding. And this is the subject that's before us on the precious word of God, that we might grow, that we might have strength. We become very weak. And we can say this too. Is there a day that goes by in our lives, brethren, that we do not need our thoughts?
To be adjusted by the word of God. We're prone to wander, we're prone to think, and to listen to the council of the ungodly. Perhaps that would turn our thoughts away from that which is right, that which is the truth of the Word of God.
01:05:04
Just want to encourage the young, younger ones to form that habit in their lives, to read the word of God daily. I think it's so important. Can't insist on it enough really. But I recognize in my own life that pressures of daily living are often so great that this book gets pushed to the side. And if I do not have a definite purposeful.
Decision to read the scriptures, to be quiet, to listen to his voice. I can almost guarantee if you don't have that young brother and sister in the Lord Jesus, it's not you're not going to find time to read the word. So I really want to encourage you to do it. It is surprising, like Larry was saying, that you can read a lot if you just put 15 minutes aside to read it. How much time do you spend reading the newspaper or a magazine?
I could. It could be kind of embarrassing when we think of how much time we give to other things.
15 minutes is quite a small amount of time breathing. Sometimes I try to figure out how much time do I occupy in eating three meals a day. Let's be honest and frank, I think most of us spend around an hour a day at least. Maybe some of us have jobs that don't allow that much time, but at least 1/2 hour. How much time do we spend feeding our souls with? What is going to allow forever?
Oh, brethren, let's be exercise. Let's be stirred in our decision to read the living, the abiding word of God. We were talking about the other night in Reading and somebody said sometimes young people are discouraged, but they because they don't see that they get that much out of it. Read it anyway because it is profitable, Apostle Paul said to Timothy. Till I come give attention to reading.
Read it, it is important, another brother said. My mind is like a sieve. It all runs through. I don't keep any of it, another brother said. Well, the water running through the sieve cleans it out anyhow, and it'll do that, brethren. It has a sanctifying effect, the precious word of God.
Word. It says here about the Father's hating man in the wilderness. The manner is the meaning of the word is what is it? What is it? And our brethren have been speaking about what is it? You know, it's nourishment from heaven for the children of Israel. And so in our chapter here look where it says that our fathers verse #31 did eat men in the desert. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Isn't that wonderful? You stop and you think about it. And why was the effect it nourished them through the desert. You know you and I are in a moral desert of this world. We need the nourishment from heaven. And so what's the next verse? The Lord Jesus says to them, Verily, verily or truly, truly, I say to you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. And that's what we've been talking about. And how do you get it? But what is it? It's Christ in the vessel. Now let me turn over to the 20th chapter of Acts, because it's put in very simple words here.
And I've enjoyed these words. The Apostle Paul is warning the people that had the highest truth.
How high is the truth that you and I have, brethren, where we were singing about grace, That's the highest truth the brothers got on the gospel one time, brother, well known to us. He said, Tonight I'm going to talk about the grace of God. And he did. And when the meeting was over here, I went up to him with a kind of a kind of a tongue in cheek. And I said, brother, couldn't you find a higher subject, a better subject than the grace of God?
You know, and boy, you should have heard the answer. He said, there is no better subject than the grace of God. Brother, I said, thank you. That's what I was hoping that you would say. But look what it says here. The Lord, the Apostle Paul in the 20th chapter of Acts, he's speaking about. Take heed there for unto yourselves. What about taking heed to somebody else? No, #1, take heed to number one. That's what we've been hearing from these different brothers this morning. And so he says take heed to yourselves.
And to all the flock, oh, all the flock, over to which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood. You and I are purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Individually as well as today. Collectively we can say that we are sheltered by the precious blood of Christ. But look, it goes on, the apostle warns. He says, I know this, and I have to my departing. Shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not spurring the flock?
01:10:23
Well, that's all around us. We've been getting some warnings this morning about the grievous wolves are all around us in Christendom. But look, let's go on also of your own selves. Shall men arise. Speaking perverse things should draw away disciples after them. Are you going to follow a man? Watch out, there's only one man worth following. That's the man of the glory. The man that is seated on the throne of the right hand of the majesty in the heavens. And what is his desire for your heart and mind? Let's read on.
Therefore, watch and remember. Oh, you're going to watch. And remember. What are we hearing about today? Things to watch and remember about. Let's go on and the I want to get down to verse #32. And now, brethren, I commend you to God. Oh, that's where I can. I can speak to the Lord anytime of the day or night. Whether on my knees, whether I'm flying through the air, whether I'm in the car. I can say, Lord, help me.
But you know, the Lord likes to hear something else. He likes to hear those words. Praise the Savior, we who know Him. Who could tell how much we owe Him. That's the response. It should be a response in your heart and mind. Beloved, as our brother Chuck was telling us, laying on the bed, meditating about what? His love to me. What is the response? That it should be in my heart? Praise, praise the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul and the.
Psalmist could say those words, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. And then he goes on and gives some of the list. But let's go on in this next verse.
And now, brother, and I commend you to God and to the word of what? What we've been talking about. Grace we were singing about a few minutes ago. Grace taught what our wandering feet to tread. The heavenly Rd. as it taught my feet. Something about treading that road, You know, I was just thinking in the mountains they got the deer, you know, the deer, the little the dough, you know, she goes and the buck.
They tread those pants through the brush, and they do it with such a grace that you and I can watch them sometimes they just slip through the bushes, like like there was just a way opening for them all the time. And you know, that's the cloven hook, because the deer's got the cloven hoof. And you hear about the goat. He goes up in the wild goats, but you never hear about the wild sheep. How come? Because the lion is right up there to grab him or the coyote or whatever. You don't get wild sheep on the mountains. Because they don't. They don't.
They need a shepherd. You and I can't be wild sheep like the wild goats or like some of these other animals that might divide the hoof, But God and the word of his grace. And here's the result which is able to build you up. Build me up. Jimmy and I need building up. I need building up. And we've been talking. Our brother's been telling us how to get built up. Read the Word. That's what it says. Prayer and reading of the Word. It's so simple. That's the way the apostle puts it. But who is telling it to?
The Ephesian elders, oh those brethren there in the heavenlies, you don't have to tell them anything, do you? Absolutely. You know, you and I might have our heart in the eye of God, our position in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That's the difference chapter of Ephesians. But look what it says. That build you up and give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Sanctified. We've been talking about things. Set apart for what? His glory. And we'll wait for the final sanctification, beloved of being forever with the Lord and the Father's house.
And the heavenly choir to sing his praises unhindered, and I should be singing his praises.
What does it say? Rejoice evermore. Is that right now? That's right. Now it says pray without ceasing. When's that? Later, Right now. And the word, you know, like our brother brought it out. He says he did feed on the Word. And what was the result? The joy and rejoicing of his heart. May it be so more with us, brother.
01:15:06
And then get an outline of the chapter. I was thinking that sometimes what we need to give the young people is something to work with and saw this chapter really is putting before us Christ as the object come down from heaven for the people. So somebody has said that from down to the 21St verse is the historicity of it. In other words, the Lord has promised it is under 32nd song.
In the 15th verse he had promised that when the Messiah had come, he said I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread. The Lord shows from the first verse down through the 13th verse that he is Jehovah.
Jehovah.
Has his foot has touched this earth and he proves that he's able to supply all the provisions that he had promised to the 14th verse brings him out as the king or the prophet, I should say the 14th verse. Then those men, when they had seen the miracles that Jesus did, said this is of a truth that prophet.
That should come into the world. Moses said that God would raise up a prophet like unto himself. He shows himself to the world that he's that prophet. And now in the 15th verse he's the king.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king.
Because of what he was doing, but now he goes up on high and becomes the priest.
He departed again unto a mountain himself. Alone he becomes the priest, a high priest interceding for his people, and then as his people are subjected to different trials and temptations.
He at last comes back to this remnant, and he finds them toiling on the sea the moment that he gets back into the ship.
Says in the 21St verse, and this is 20th verse is what he says to this remnant. But he sayeth unto them, it is I.
Be not afraid.
He's the object here, come down from heaven. Now on the 21St verse, then they willingly received him into the ship and immediately the ship was at land whether they went. And that's that's where it'll all end when the Lord comes back.
To identify himself with that remnant and set up his Kingdom. And then where the brother had the exercise, which we haven't got to yet, is in the 22nd verse and goes down to the through the 53rd verse. And this shows us how that the Lord as the bread of life gives us life, communicates eternal life to us from the 54th verse down through the 59th verse.
It's what we have been talking about, where he becomes the sustenance to those who do have eternal life to sustain that life in happiness and enjoyment. I just thought that we needed a little outline.
And before you know, we jump on the horse and ride off in all directions, but this will give us something, I believe, for young people.
To be able to meditate, be able to see what the Spirit of God really had.
And this is no mean thing that the God of heaven.
Has come down and his foot has touched this earth to become like one of his creatures that he might die for us and that's in this chapter. And then also he is risen in a 62nd verse he goes back, he said, If you cannot understand that, how will you understand?
What? And if ye shall see the Son of Man ascending up where he it was before, and there he is today?
I know our time is about gone, and if you see this not to you might take it up in the next reading, but a very important distinction you made in the division between the 53rd and the 54th verses that I personally think is is not often seen. Could you just in a in a brief way make that distinction again between what is taken up prior, including verse 53, and what is taken up starting with verse 54?
01:20:11
Why don't you do that?
Well, I'd only be saying Amen to what you said. I think it's important that up through the 53rd verse, to put it in a simplistic terms, it's salvation. Starting with verse 54, it's the enjoyment of the believer having come into the good of the work of Christ. In the 53rd verse, it's the enjoyment of that person, of the person of Christ by the believer. So up to and including verse 53, it's salvation. And starting with verse 54, it's the enjoyment.
Of the person of Christ by the believer so.
The eating the flesh and drinking the blood.
Is for the believer starting with the verse 54.
Is that right?
Then we shall be where we all be, and we shall be like we should be.
In the heart and God of the Way.